moral good can therefore result from such an alleged experience, I cannot readily conceive; but I confess I regard the alleged visions to be altogether a delusion, and a fallacy disgracing at once the intellects and the judgment of sober-minded New Churchmen, and I therefore hasten to cast them off from myself, as well as from the great majority of my brethren, as entirely alien to our thoughts, feelings, tastes, and belief. Mesmerism, indeed, I consider to be too pernicious an evil of the day to be allowed to come within the walls of the New Church, without receiving its denunciation as such, at the hand of many who are as sincere lovers of her doctrines as the party who are the instruments of its introduction. On such ground as mesmerism, and other forms of quackery, stand, there is no opportunity afforded for the exercise of sober and legitimate reasoning, for assertion is heaped upon assertion, and conclusions are drawn from the incongruous mass which defy the powers of reason to refute; alas! that a case of the sort should have now to be referred to, as occurring within a Society of the New Church, and this too from the mouth and confessed practices of one of its voluntary teachers; but as "wisdom is justified of her children," so is folly condemned of its own ill-shapen offspring, for what is there but foolishness in the issues of the mesmeric passes; much, indeed, has been said of the suspension of sensation when the body is undergoing some serious operation, but the failure of the attempt to bring this about happens to be the rule, the success the exception; and this, after all, is no novel affair, for under other states of temporary insanity, severe injuries are borne without any pain being indicated by the poor patient.

With sorrow for the weakness of humanity, I have witnessed the exercise of mesmeric passes; and, with a full admission of the great lengths to which mesmeric influences will go, still I cannot help pitying the abandonment of liberty to them on the part of the mesmerized, and the consequent disorderly operation upon their faculties and powers both of mind and body, from various sources, external as well as internal. Of all our faculties, imagination is the most subject to disorderly impulses, whether from within, or from without; not only do intoxicating drinks produce their peculiar and varying effects on the imagination, but also our hopes and fears will play strangely thereon, and cause the individual to feel as much as the reality itself could communicate: nor can we omit here mentioning another most singular property of imagination, namely, that how variously and powerfully the imagination acts, we well know, if to the thirsty patient a lively description be given of some delicious fruit, his previously parched mouth will instantly become

moistened with saliva, as if the juice of the fruit itself were there; or if some nauseous drug is named to some people, a sense of nausea will fall upon the stomach and depress it as much as if an emetic had been swallowed; and a thousand cases of a like kind might also be adduced in proof of the effect of the imagination on every structure and function of the body. Nay, our most common ideas can be reproduced, rearranged, or recombined with endless variety, and so not unfrequently impart to the mind a notion of their originality, and even impress it with the fancy that other persons' ideas and experience are their own, independently of any previous affection or operation of their bodily senses. Nothing, however, of this sort can possibly happen, let the mesmerizer assert as strenuously as he may, that it can; that the ideas of the one party can be communicated to the other in this world, without the intervention of the organs of the senses, I here deny most unequivocally, and there is no instance which the advocates of mesmerism can produce, to substantiate their theory, that cannot be explained without having recourse to other than ordinary natural agencies. These people, however, are most especially lovers of the marvellous, and from that love seek after and find for themselves new agencies, which they put forth as new discoveries, and with which they endeavour to fascinate the world, as by so many enchanting arts. Let us contemplate for an instant the amazing susceptibility of the imagination of some people to be acted upon by multifarious influences, and especially by simply recalling certain classes of ideas previously existing in the mind of the party, or by imparting fresh ones; thus in the case of mesmerism, all the mesmerized are previously aware, from what they have heard of its operations, that they are to be put to sleep, and to sleep they go; and this happens with those subjects alone whose imaginations are morbidly weak and sensitive; for I assert that the very occurrence of the mesmeric sleep, proves the party sleeping to be a very weak person indeed; so again, the mesmerized are previously aware of certain phenomena, whether in the form of answers to questions, or of particular attitudes and muscular rigidity, or such like useless exhibitions being expected to be manifested by them, and then the spectators witness their occurrence as so many marvels. Hence, also, it may be understood how a kind of unity and coöperation exists between the agent and patient, and why the mesmerized party in our New Church Society should express themselves correspondently with the notions they had imbibed respecting the spiritual world; nor is it to be wondered at, that when individuals possessing New Church knowledges, are found weak enough to be wrought upon by absurd manual movements, which, as I have wit

nessed them, look more like insane actions than such as become men of reason or common sense; it is not to be wondered at, I say, that such individuals, who, I am sorry to observe, are mostly of the female sex, should then talk of what they see, and hear, as so many visions and experiences of the proceedings of divers persons in the spiritual world; nor are we to be surprized that the mesmerizing gentleman, who is the stirrer-up of such marvels, should, from a sense of self-satisfaction, return thanks to God for the special vouchsafement of his grace and favor, in imparting to him a power so magical and enchanting.

Now, Mr. Editor, this is all bad, very bad, and the worse for coming from a professed New Church Teacher, and out of a New Church congregation. Practices and exhibitions of this sort have no sanction whatever in any part of the New Church writings; they are, according to them, most disorderly, because they affect the freedom and independence of the will; because they close the understanding as to its superior regions, and hazard the introduction of a multitude of abuses into the very heart of society, even at our altars and our hearths.

Against all such empty vanities, I call upon the New Church members, one and all, to raise their honest protestations; for not only is her well-being endangered, but the great prerogatives of will and understanding, of liberty and rationality, are encroached upon by them.

Guildford-street.

REVIEW.

Yours, &c.,

J. S.

THE TEACHER'S COMPANION: designing to exhibit the Principles of Sunday School Instruction and Discipline, by R. N. Collins, Superintendant of the St. Bride's Sunday School, London. With an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. Daniel Moore, M.A. Second Thousand. Houlston and Stoneman, Paternoster Row. 1843. pp. 384.

SUNDAY Schools are of immense importance, as a means of securing the observance of the Sabbath; of guarding the young against a variety of pernicious influences and examples; of implanting into their minds the primary and essential seeds of divine truth; of leading them into the paths of religion and virtue; of training them to become honest, sincere, and useful members of society upon earth, and finally to become angels in the Lord's Kingdom in Heaven. These are the uses contemplated by every Sabaath school, and he who, in any degree, contributes to the accomplishment of these exalted, these heavenly uses, he who gives, as a disciple of the Lord, even a cup of cold water, spiritually understood,

to any of these little ones, shall in no wise lose his reward. And we consider that the author of this "Manual of the Principles of Sunday School Instruction and Discipline," has greatly contributed to the performance of these heavenly uses.

The members of the Lord's New Church consider no church or chapel, as a place of religious worship and instruction, complete, without a Sunday school,—the lambs of the flock are wanting, if there is no Sabbath school. And here, be it well noted, we do not mean that the Sunday school should comprise the children of the poor only, as is too commonly the case, but all the children of the society, or congregation,—of the rich as well as of the poor, should mingle together on the Sabbath day, teaching and edifying each other in the truths and in the divine spirit of Christianity. If this were more generally the case, Sunday schools would be far more productive of heavenly blessing and usefulness than they are now. The children of the respective classes

of society would not grow up so estranged to each other as distinct classes of beings, who have no other affinity with each other than that of the lord and the serf, or the master and the slave. If all the children of Christian churches were brought together in the Sabbath school, teaching and being taught, and mutually performing acts of kindness to each other, the different classes into which the world has divided society, would be blessed by the influence of Christian fellowship, and a greater degree of mutual coöperation and harmony would be the result. But although the members of the Lord's New Church have so high an opinion of the Sabbath school and its eminent uses, they do not confound it with the great work of EDUCATION. This can not be done on the Sabbath-day; every day in the week is necessary for this purpose. Hence the necessity of daily schools as well as Sunday-schools. To teach any secular instruction in the Sabbath school, is, in our opinion, a desecration both of the Sabbath and of the school; since it prevents that elevation to spiritual states and things, in which the mind can be instructed and edified in what is heavenly and eternal, which is the great object of the Sabbath, and of the Sabbath school to accomplish.

The subjects discussed in this Manual comprehend, we think, every thing which, in a general way, can be said of the management, teaching, and discipline not only of Sunday schools, but also of day and boarding schools as well; and every teacher will find numerous suggestions and hints, the results of experience, by which his own mind and states will not only be better prepared for the performance of his duties, but by the observance of which, his labors will be more effectually directed to accomplish the good intended. The work has both a subjective and an

objective use,—it relates both to the teacher and to the taught. The teacher is led to consider the duties of preparation for his work, the states of mind he should cultivate, the rules and regulations that should guide his own conduct, the plans to be adopted, the methods of instruction, the art of teaching, &c. All the remarks and suggestions on these subjects are of immense value to the teacher, and from our own experience we know, that they are the results of practical usefulness. The Second Part of the work comprises a multitude of useful remarks and suggestions on the management and discipline of the Sunday school, which, as before stated, are equally applicable to other schools. The chapter on Rewards and Punishments contains some of the most judicious remarks we have ever met with on these important subjects. No points of religious doctrine are discussed, or dwelt upon in the work,—a circumstance which renders it more generally acceptable to all denominations. From what has been stated, the reader will see, that from an ardent desire to promote the efficiency of education both in our Sunday and day schools, we sincerely recommend this little work, "The Teacher's Companion," to all who are immediately concerned in so useful and noble a work.

THE LONDON PRINTING SOCIETY.

The

THIS Society held its annual meeting on the 18th of June last, at which the Report for 1844, now before us, was read and adopted. We regret that we have not had an opportunity, according to our annual custom, of giving a specific account of this meeting; but the Report furnishes us with a detail of the proceedings of the Society during the past year. Society have printed, during the last year, 1000 copies of the "Divine Providence," and 1500 of the "Intercourse between the Soul and the Body." The VI. VII. and VIII. Vols. of the A.C. are under revision for the press. The Committee have purchased, from Dr. Tafel, 100 copies of the Latin work, "De Divino Amore et Divina Sapientia," and 75 of the "De Commercio Animæ et Corporis." These works could not be procured in the original, and when a copy of the former did turn up, not less than £2 or £3 were asked for it. The Committee have, consequently, performed an essential use, by rendering these works so easy of access to the public; and when we

consider, that if they had undertaken to reprint them in this country, a considerable outlay of capital would be required, we must acknowledge the judicious employment of their funds in purchasing, at so cheap a rate, a certain number of copies to supply the demand; especially when we further consider, that these new Latin editions are brought out by so experienced and able an editor as Dr. Tafel. No New Church library can be considered complete unless it possess an edition of Swedenborg's works in Latin; all libraries, therefore, ought to procure these works, which are nearly as cheap as the same in English, as soon as possible. The two works, named above, are admirably adapted as presents to learned men, who are philosophically disposed, and who wish to know the real principles and causes of things, and their relation to a higher sphere of existence, and finally, to the Creator Himself. There can be no philosophy, characterized by truth and genuine intelligence, unless the principles and causes developed and demonstrated in