breeze from effecting their infernal purpose, and enable you to ride safely past them, and steer onwards by chart and compass under canvas filled out with the fair breathings of the spirits of goodness that will be smiling around you. As an old mariner in the same service, let me tell you that I and my beloved mate invariably found those the happiest and most useful portions of our course when each heart, without troubling to ensure the other's devotedness to it, exerted all its warm energies to ensure the other's bliss. It was in such seasons that we were best able to follow the Owner's instructions and do His will, and it was then that we most proved that His will was love, far transcending our mutual flame, as it was its burning ardour that kindled ours. It is not improbable that you may have other experiences besides such as we had. It will most likely be the case that the higher powers may occasion the magnetism of your two hearts to result in their sending you other little loving hearts, so multiplying your joys with your increasing cares and endeavours for their good. You will find in your instructions how to love and train them for the Owner's service, which service, you know, is perfect freedom, being the service of love. Oh, who can tell the happiness that would then be waiting on you, whether these little hearts would be preparing for an early entrance into the higher service, or should continue to be prepared for following yourselves in similar voyages on the sea of Time! Once more let me congratulate you on the well-grounded hope of your final entrance into the boundless sea of immortality, where stormy winds never blow and clouds of darkness never gather, where dangerous rocks and shallows are unknown, where mated hearts never separate, where all the activities of true life are for ever joyfully utilized, where the great Owner of the universe is for ever loved, adored, and obeyed by the myriads of humanities, the images and likenesses of Himself, arrayed in His glory and quickened by the beams of His inconceivable refulgence. In your transport from this narrow sea to that wide ocean you may be outwardly separated a while, but you will have the comfort of knowing that conjugially united hearts can never be parted, and that during the brief time of such separation the apparently departed one is still present in spirit with the other, helping by its new acquisitions of the upper influences to complete the fitness of the seemingly bereaved, for their full indissoluble union in all that appertains to life eternal.

Anticipating the pleasure of making the acquaintance of your already much-esteemed wife, either in this world or the other, mutually believe me to be your affectionate friend and well wisher,

T. CHALKLEN.

MENTAL RAIMENT.

A VERY interesting and practical lesson for our spiritual life may be obtained by considering the clothing the soul has worn in different ages, and what it may be wearing now. What shall we wear? What shall we put on? are questions we often hear in anticipation of the necessity of appearing suitably attired at all times, and especially on occasions of more than ordinary interest, that we may not appear unbecomingly or show a want of regard for the esteem of those we respect.

A person ill-dressed, and still more one in slovenly and ragged attire, would be regarded among respectable society as one unfit for good company, and likely to be distinguished for nothing that would make their association desirable.

How is it with our mental dress? Is it such as will be pleasing to our angelic friends? What is it like if we could fairly see it? Let us inquire.

In the golden days of childlike innocence in the Celestial Church, the babyhood of the world, the skin was the suitable dress by which the innocence and purity of their minds were suitably expressed. They were naked, and were not ashamed. There was nothing to hide.

They moved, as it were, all face. Their love, wisdom, joy, and guilelessness were manifest all over.

When self-love began to seek predominance as represented by the utterances of the serpent, and mankind began to lean towards, and then absolutely to adopt, the teachings of the senses instead of Divine Wisdom, to live upon external knowledge-the knowledge of good and evil, instead of feeding upon the tree of life and all the trees of the garden of God-all the principles of celestial perception, they began to wish to hide themselves.

After the first excitement, when they began to cool and conscience began to stir within them, they felt that they were naked and could not bear inspection. So they sewed fig leaves together, and girded themselves about. They formed all manner of poor excuses from the appearances of things, and thus to cover themselves from condemnation. How vainly we know. The voice of the Lord God was heard in their garden, and they had to leave it, and to go forth. Only through long ages of bitter experience can mankind have the trees of paradise and the heavenly river, making glad the city of God, again fully settled amongst men on earth.

Since those early times cultivated men have adopted many clothings.

Savages don't care much about it. They have not the delicacy that knows there is much that needs to be hidden and concealed. Words clothe thoughts, and great numbers of thoughts are poorly dressed, and are turned out very roughly indeed. Thoughts clothe feelings, and great numbers are quite content to wear the old clothes of many generations. When I hear people priding themselves on having the sentiments of the dark ages, and glorying in the old creeds and the old notions, I am always reminded of the gloomy cry of the peripatetic tradesmen of the streets of London, "Old clo' ! old clo'!"

When I hear a preacher eloquent on the resurrection of dead bodies, that gross delusion revived by Arius, and the collapse of God's universe, that dreamy phantasy of the year 1000, which every now and then starts up by the short-sighted zealots who keep crying out yet that the kingdom of God does come with outward observation, although He who knew best said it does not, the fanatical cry always translates "Old clo' ! old clo'!"

itself to me,

What strange dresses must the vagaries of self-willed souls appear clothed in the bumptious, rollicking thoughts which they call "having their own way"!

What sordid, filthy garments must those wear whose ends are greedy gain and impure pleasures!

"Oh wad some power the giftie gie us

To see oursels as others see us!"

is especially needed here.

If persons who have never sought the noble pilgrimage of walking in the truth, on the way to purity and peace, would hear the Divine voice, "Take away the filthy garments from him. Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment," what a glorious change that would be!

Our poor pretences of getting on by our own merits, without real repentance and without spiritual concern, are all like tattered garments. Our virtues, like the Jewish righteousness of pharisaic tradition, are as filthy rags. "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." But when the Lord says, "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed," there is opened a view of better things.

White raiment means purified thoughts, the colour of truth, white. When the soul sees and feels its new privilege of taking up its heirship of heaven, resolving that it will live the angelic life, it puts on the white robe.

The white robe with a golden tint is the dress of the spirituallyminded man, the wedding garment. Those who do not clothe themselves thus cannot stay at the heavenly feast. The celestial man, all whose thoughts are the lights from the glowings of love, wears, like the king's daughter, the raiment of wrought gold.

His thoughts are thoughts of peace, gentleness, and wisdom. Such know that they have passed from death to life, because they love the brethren.

Their heavenly Father and Saviour has said, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; for this My son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

Again, we would ask our kind reader, what dress have you got, what dress are you going to wear? And happy will he be if he can truly answer, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."

"Once, we thought, that Power Eternal

Had decreed the woes of man;

That the human heart was wicked,

Since its pulses first began;

That the earth was but a prison,
Dark and joyless at the best;
And that men were born for evil,

And imbibed it from the breast;
That 'twas vain to think of urging

Any human progress on.

Old opinions! Rags and tatters!

Get you gone! Get you gone!"-MACKAY.

THE AGES.

It is very surprising that out of the New Church, until very recently, there seemed to be utter ignorance as to the succession of ages or dispensations. In this country this has partly been owing probably to the mistranslation of the Greek phrase which ought to be rendered "consummation of the age," by the erroneous sentence, "End of the world." The Revisers, in every place where it occurs in the new revision, state, that "consummation of the age " would be the true rendering, and in some cases change the rendering in the text.

The Apostle Paul evidently knew there had been several ages before,

He

and that when he was living it was the end of the Jewish age. knew also there would still be ages, or dispensations, to come. Thus we read (Eph. iii. 5), "The mystery of Christ, which in other AGES was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."

Swedenborg speaks of the Adamic age, the Noetic age. We have also the Patriarchal and the Jewish age. The apostle regarded his time as the end of the Jewish world or AGE. Hence he says of the Lord, "Now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself " (Heb. ix. 26).

"Now

The Revisers correct the text in this instance, and we read, once at the end of the AGES hath He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

The apostle speaks very definitely of ages or dispensations to come as well as of ages past. Thus we read, "That in the AGES TO COME He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii. 7).

How little these would have to do with any crash of the universe, any one may see who will read again, "Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all AGES, world without end. Amen" (Eph. iii. 21).

Correspondence.

(To the Editor of the "Intellectual Repository.")

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS-INSPIRATION.

[WE insert a letter from C. J. L., to remove what he conceives is a misunderstanding of his object. He makes certain inferences from the silence of A. C. on some points, which we cannot but be surprised that he should draw, especially as A. C. had promised a further paper on the Miracles.

We have a little condensed the epistle of C. J. L., and would counsel brevity. In the meantime we have received a note from A. C., which we append to that of C. J. L.—ED.]

DEAR SIR,-The courtesy with which your correspondent A. C. has noticed my questions, inserted in your February number, would of itself oblige me to explain more fully their object, which has evidently been misunderstood.