is really sound in his views and reasons, but who renders himself liable to be regarded as a dogmatist, because of his age. magisterial mode of pressing his opinions on others. 0. Obituary. Departed this life at Colchester, Mr. William Blatch, in the 64th year of his He had been afflicted a long time with an asthmatic affection, from which he frequently experienced great inconvenience, and at times suffered much pain: but his dissolution, which took place rather unexpectedly, appears to have been more immediately caused, or greatly accelerated, by the formation of an abscess on the lungs, which was attended with very acute bodily sufferings; but which he bore with true Christian fortitude and patience, manifesting an earnest desire to be entirely resigned to the righteous and merciful dispensations of his heavenly Father, under a full conviction that in all his afflictive dealings with his erring creatures, He has their everlasting good in view. Mr. Blatch was, in the early part of his life, a great admirer of the doctrines of the Methodists; in consequence of which he joined the society which was formed by the celebrated John Wesley, and continued in connexion therewith during the long period of nearly forty years, having been a very active and useful member thereof, and filled some important offices therein, with great satisfaction to his friends, during a great part of that time. But notwithstanding his long acquaintance with that body of Christians, he was, during the last few years that he associated with them for religious worship, far from being satisfied with many things, in regard to doctrine, which were taught and advocated from their pulpits; but at the same time, he felt an unwillingness on his part to separate himself from them entirely; and it is very probable that he might have continued among them to the end of his sojourning in this world, had not some of the writings belonging to the New Dispensation been providentially introduced to his notice, and urgently recommended to him for his perusal, by an old acquaintance,-one who had long been in the same connexion as and with himself, but who was then become an affectionate receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines. In these writings he soon began to feel himself much interested, in consequence of being enabled to discover therein such clear and explicit illustrations of some of the leading doctrines of the Bible--especially of the doctrine of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the He Divine Trinity, and the True and Proper Object of Religious Worship-as to afford him much pleasure, and entirely satisfy his mind upon those interesting and important subjects; and also to induce him to separate himself from his former Christian associates, and to join the little society of the New Jerusalem Church in this town; with which he was in the constant practice (when not prevented by illness) of uniting for religious worship during the last seven years of his life. The last time that he attended public worship, was on the Sunday evening on which a funeral discourse was preached for one of our members, Mrs. Gentry ;and it was remarked by one of our friends, that he appeared to be much more elated, and to join in the singing with more fervor, on that occasion, than usual. was very unwell that evening, but the next day he became worse, and in a few days after was removed from time into eternity. The last time that the writer of this saw him, which was but a few hours before his dissolution took place, he was then labouring very hard for breath, and suffering much as to his body; but his mind appeared to be tranquil and serene, and though he was not able to say much in his last moments, yet he gave full proof to those of his friends that were then present with him, that his sole dependence for life and salvation was placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only God of angels and men. He has left a widow, one son, and five daughters, and several grand-children, to deplore their loss. He was a man of piety and religion, living in the daily practice of reading the Word, and family devotion, an affectionate husband, an indulgent parent, a worthy member of the society to which he belonged, and a sincere friend. He was much respected in the neighbourhood in which he resided. Let us, then, who are left behind, endeavour to imitate him in all that was good and excellent, and thus be daily preparing to meet the Lord when he comes to us by his messenger death, that whether it be in the evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning, we may be ready, with loins girt and lamps burning, to enter into the joy of our Lord. Colchester. Cave and Sever, Printers, Manchester. U. W. M. It will be in the recollection of our readers, that we some time ago* presented them with an admirable Memoir on Swedenborg's Physiological Manuscripts, drawn up by Dr. P. E. Svedbom, the librarian to the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm. We are now in possession of a second Memoir by the same gentleman, on our Author's Manuscripts, kindly furnished, as the former also was, to the translator of the Animal Kingdom. And since the time appears to be at hand when the New Church will take the requisite steps to secure these manuscripts for posterity, we think it will not be out of season to lay this new Memoir before the public, accompanied with such remarks as may appear to be useful, for drawing attention to, and awakening interest in, the projected labours of the Swedenborg Association, which body must, we presume, be the agent in arranging the publication of all such documents as the present Memoir brings before us. How astonishing was the fertility of Swedenborg's pen! equalled only by the fertility, or perhaps we should rather say, the capacious receptivity, of his genius. It is not the rankness of a luxuriant verbiage, the growth of the lower faculties of the mind, but an abundant and ripe harvest of spiritual and rational truths, useful to mankind. It is not the leaf and the stalk and the outward adorning that make a shew of quantity here, but the grain itself is the main bulk and substance. And this is the case to whatever department of the author's works we direct our attention. Of his Theological Writings it behoves us to speak as of a sacred subject, in contemplating which a feeling of * See the Intellectual Repository, 1844, p. 41; and the Appendix to the Animal Kingdom. Erroneously given J. E. S. in our former article. the Divine Mercy predominates over our other perceptions, and we are forbidden to attribute anything to Swedenborg beyond a dutiful instrumentality. The magnitude and awful simplicity of the truths revealed,— the plain impossibility of arriving at them by human powers of induction or logic,—and yet their thorough reasonableness, and the powerful manner in which they commend themselves to our understandings,— these considerations furnish sufficient reason to prevent us from claiming the theological writings of Swedenborg as triumphs of the human mind, or classing them in a promiscuous sense with what are called works of genius. But when we speak of Swedenborg's philosophical and scientific works, we feel at greater liberty, from the comparative lowness of the sphere, and from the fact that the truths of nature are primarily involved, and not the truths of heaven, to cultivate some appreciation of the author's mind and manner, and to contrast his works with those of other labourers in this world's vineyard. And what a contrast we find! it is even as the serpent of Moses, which eats up the serpents of the Egyptians. The highest truths which had been attained by his predecessors, are appropriated to furnish, not the spiritual, but the material, basis of his perceptions. The architectonic achievements of Greek philosophy and the deductions of modern science are but the outhouses and porticoes of that central palace to which his philosophy conducts us, and where nature dwells, impregnate with the principles of things, and girded with the laws of order. And the moral elements of his philosophy as far transcend and exceed those of other systems, as the intellectual; which indeed is the true reason of its greatness, and will be the cause of its permanence. One feature of Swedenborg's scientific views is their congruity with the practical operations for which the present age is so remarkable: we allude to those stupendous works and machineries which, originating proximately from the human hand, execute labours and perform achievements that no effort of man, without the arts and sciences, could hope to accomplish. And one reason of this congruity is, that “the animal body is," as Swedenborg says, "the temple of the arts and sciences;" (Animal Kingdom, vol. 1, p. 317.) and as he has propounded a correct philosophy of the body, so he has given the highest statement of what practice has still to work out in the domestic, social, and political * "In constructing the body * * * there is nothing, how deeply soever and intimately it be hidden in the bosom of our sciences,-in geometry, mechanics, physics, chemistry, optics, acoustics, pneumatics, logic, psychology, &c.,-which the soul does not call forth in order, and determine into act, according to the end in view in the effect, or according to the use." (Animal Kingdom, n. 462.) spheres; and has really succeeded in supplying what Lord Bacon placed among the desiderata of learning; viz., "The art of inventing arts." On this subject we propose to dwell at large at another opportunity. But since we regard the practical science of this age as superior to the organic;—since we think the engineer and the mechanist stand higher for the present than the naturalist or the microscopist,-we therefore assert an agreement between Swedenborg's scientific views and the most pregnant and powerful class of results with which the time supplies us, in order that it may not be alleged that his writings are of no value, because the physiologist is not at present able to appreciate them. We doubt not that in time he, too, will come to a knowledge of their truth, but not, perhaps, before he has risen to the performance of practical uses, and by this means to the conception of universal ideas. For the point of uses is the true point of vision, (Animal Kingdom, vol. 1, p. 33.) and the class that does the most will naturally see the most. We need not, then, be without an audience, provided we use the means in our power. Our services are eminently wanted by the world. The men of railroads want us: the cotton spinners want us: we are called upon with mute imploring looks by the whole mechanic tribe! Their prime want is, to know what nature does under analogous circumstances to find out the most natural means of locomotion: the most natural means of absorbing dangerous excesses and incursions of force; the most natural means of weaving tissues and fabrics, &c. &c. &c. In short, if there is one thing preeminently which the complex of those classes that are carrying civilization beyond its ancient limits, is at present in need of, it is a just account of the Animal Body, as a means of indication and direction in Art and Science. We no longer want an anatomy and physiology simply for the medical profession: those sciences are now required for the world at large. And with a view to the use of man on this extended scale,—and indeed on a scale more extended than this, and which no time can exhaust, because with a view to spiritual things, they are, and have been, proffered to us in the scientific writings of Swedenborg. But Swedenborg himself, after having published the Economy of the Animal Kingdom, and the Animal Kingdom, and after having written extensively upon nearly all the parts and functions of the human body, was called by the Lord to the higher field of theology, to declare the spiritual truths of the Holy Word, and the establishment upon earth of a New Church. The consequence was, that his Physiological Manuscripts were preserved by him in an unpublished state; and they have been carefully preserved to the present day, until at length there is a spirit of interest awakened about them, and a gradual feeling of their import ance has arisen, and of the duty which the readers of Swedenborg owe to themselves and the world, and not less to posterity, to preserve them by the printing press. of At first sight, indeed, it might seem that the labour and expense accomplishing this object are beyond the means of the New Church to bestow. Each successive year appears to bring to light new manuscripts, and to render the task of fairly representing the labours of Swedenborg more and more hopeless. We seem to toil after him in vain, while he thus gains ground upon us. Yet if all the circumstances be duly weighed, it will be found that we are not inadequately prepared for the great and needful enterprise. The main bulk of the scientific works which he himself published, is now translated into English; and a small but energetic band, both in England and America, convinced by the study of these works that a highway is now to be opened from Egypt to Assyria, has taken the philosophy of Swedenborg as its point of union, and is determined, under the Lord's guidance, to use its best efforts for the production of every work and every document that can complete and illustrate the scientific literature of the New Church. This little band is the SWEDENBORG ASSOCIATION. In another part of this Magazine we have inserted the Prospectus issued by the Council of this Association, to procure subscriptions in aid of their first work,—a translation of nearly all the smaller scientific works of Swedenborg. And we do not doubt that their appeal will be cordially responded to. At the head of the Swedenborg Association, as its first president, is the Reverend Augustus Clissold, a name too well known in connexion with the New Church theology to render it necessary for us to dwell upon it here. This gentleman feels so deep an interest in the intended uses of the Association, as announced in its laws, that he has not hesitated to endow it with an unconditional gift of his translations of Swedenborg's Principia and Economy of the Animal Kingdom; a present which, when these works are realized by sale, should yield at least a thousand pounds. This, carefully husbanded, must give the Association, at all events, a permanent existence, although to enable it to be an active body, it will require the liberal patronage of the public besides. And since the establishment of the Association, it has been gratifying to find that it is by no means wanting in a staff of literary workmen, but on the contrary, applications have been made, which prove that it has a power in reserve that can execute even the large works which the Association contemplates. We are now alluding principally to translators and translations. But for the editing of Latin works the Association is at least as well provided. For this department Dr. Tafel, a zealous member of the body, has proffered his immediate services, and |