ADDRESS FROM THE GENERAL CONFERENCE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

BELOVED BRETHREN,

There are certain great principles, apart from the external organization of the New Church, which must ever be associated with its existence. The laws of its organization, being simply forensic, may be changed from time to time, as reason may see it to be useful or expedient, but its principles will remain unaltered, even though a deeper insight into their meaning and working may be acquired, as the regeneration of the Church advances.

Among those principles are the recognition of the instrumentality of Swedenborg, in the work by which the Church has been established; and the position which the doctrinals of faith should occupy in our profession. On these two points the Conference desires, as a fitting conclusion to its present session, to address to you a few thoughts of affectionate counsel.

About the middle of the last century the Christian world was solemnly informed by Swedenborg that the Last Judgment, spoken of in the Sacred Scriptures, had been accomplished in the world of spirits, and that the influence of that wonderful phenomenon would induce a change in the interior state of the professing Church as it then existed, and also enable men to think with greater freedom on matters of faith, because it was attended with the restoration of spiritual liberty to men. He also further stated that the establishment of a new dispensation of Divine truth was then begun, and that, to this end, he, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, had been intrusted with the mission of conveying to

the world new information concerning the nature and quality of the Divine Word. Changes have since transpired in the general Church which verify the truth of those announcements. Such changes cannot be traced to any other adequate causes than those to which he assigns them; nor can there be any reasonable doubt upon this conclusion, by those who have intelligently accepted the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem. Religious persons, not professedly belonging to her communion, will at first, no doubt, hesitate to accept such extraordinary statements, but still, if they are sincere lovers of truth, they will experience some interest or curiosity to know something of the evidence on which they rest. This it should be our duty to supply.

To us, it seems impossible to look at the condition of the professing Church at this day, and notice the unhappy disturbances and divisions into which it has drifted, and not see that a great change must have taken place in its internal state; that men are thinking with greater freedom on matters of faith, and that they are everywhere feeling the right, and asserting the existence of liberty, in the spiritual things of the Church, before unknown in the history of Christianity. It is also true that those events have been attended with the establishment of a New Dispensation, which rests upon new views concerning the structure, teachings, and Divinity of the Word. These facts, being the result of principles, the action of which was predicted long before their accomplishment, encourage us to believe in the veracity of him through whose pious instrumentality the Lord has been pleased to reveal them to the world.

The illustrious Swedenborg, then, is to be regarded as an especial medium raised up by the Divine Providence, to make known the causes which have contributed to bring a perverted Christianity to its end, and also to initiate, through the Word, for the acceptance and regeneration of mankind, the knowledge of a series of spiritual principles, and heavenly doctrines before unknown. These are views to be fearlessly and honestly confessed by members of the New Church: they will admit of the most complete exposition and defence. There may be some among us who, while assenting to much of the philosophy, and believing the leading doctrines of the Church, hesitate to accept many of his spiritual relations, and pause before the duty of acknowledging his high commission. But is this consistent with equity and justice? believe such indecision to arise from the influence of inexperience and worldly considerations; that it will decrease with a profounder study of the truth, and cease with the advancement of a more devoted love.

The mistaken opinions which the world may have of us, and the injurious prejudices which ignorance will cherish, may be hard to bear and difficult to conquer: they, perhaps, find for themselves some response in our own unregenerated nature. To subdue the love of self and the love of the world, in these, as in all other things, may be a difficulty, but it is a duty. Such influences must not be permitted to stand in the way of a fair and open avowal of that instrumentality through whom the Divine Providence has introduced the New Dispensation to the world.

Swedenborg must ever be esteemed as a great authority in the Church of the Second Advent; and its knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word, together with the heavenly doctrines which it teaches, must ever be associated with his name. All hesitation to admit these truths, by professing members of the Church, should be discouraged and relinquished. He claims to have been a teacher sent by the Lord, and the credibility of that claim rests upon evidence which no fair inquiry will be able to gainsay or resist. It is true that the man may be overlooked amidst the brilliancy of his teachings, still, his claim to special illumination, and his connection with the development of the New Dispensation are never to be treated with forgetfulness, or to be spoken of with indifference. If the Lord has seen fit to employ such an instrument, why should men have any scruple to confess the truth of it? Our duty is to be frank and open in all things concerning our faith. The Lord will bring about what is best for His Church if we are sincere in the performance of our duties, and faithful to the truth we have professedly accepted. Prejudices against our heavenly doctrines have, within a few years, been mightily shaken, through religious distractions; and now a broader thought, with greater liberality, are awakened to approach their consideration. In all these respects the New Church stands upon a platform much more favourable to its progress in public estimation, than it did when some of its living members began to think and work and toil in its behalf. The numerical increase of its societies, and the improvement of its members may not be conspicuous, but even in these respects it is not without encouragement; but the ramifications of many of its holy sentiments in religious connections are wide and encouraging. It is not a Church in which sectarianism can nestle, and of the nature and progress of which the world may judge by the extent of its organizations, but it is a dispensation of religious truth and goodness, to be recognised in all by whom those spiritual principles are earnestly

accepted and piously obeyed. All such may not bear the name of the New Jerusalem, nor be able to trace up their forms of spiritual thought to their actual source with so much exactitude as ourselves, still such thoughts being recognised in some measure by most religious communities, should be contemplated by us as eminently satisfactory, and we should feel grateful to our Heavenly Father for the great encouragement He has given us in those evidences.

Another point of some importance which the Conference would affectionately urge upon the attention of the Church, is the position which the Doctrines of Faith should hold in the estimation of its members.

The New Church exists in its real character only so far as the new spiritual information by which it is accompanied is heartily believed and lovingly obeyed. In this case it becomes the Lord's kingdom in the world; it then corresponds to His kingdom in heaven, and because they correspond they are conjoined. From their conjunction the Church on earth becomes a spiritual power for the propagation of goodness and truth among mankind. Without this conjunction the Church has no heavenly power, but by it the Lord's omnipotence has an orderly medium for its activity, which cannot fail to bring about beneficial results. Of this conjunction and its issues the Lord spake when He said-"Abide in me and I in you. If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you." (John xv. 3-7.)

Our chief aim, then, as professing members of the New Church, should be to attain this conjunction. This is effected by faith in the truths of the Word and a life in conformity with them. This is expressed by the Apostle as "Faith which worketh by Love." (Gal. v. 6.) Faith in the truths of the Word is an essential of the Church which every one should hold with reverent firmness; without this, charity will become a sentiment and lose its guidance. No doubt love or charity is the uniting principle, still it is by the teachings of faith that we learn what to love and how to love. We cannot love unless we have objects to love, and the truth of faith points out to us what those objects ought to be. Love and faith, then, are the two things which conjoin the Church on earth unto the Church in heaven. On these the Church must ever rely for its vitality and light; and its progress in the world will altogether depend upon the earnestness and fidelity of its professors. Conjunction between heaven and the Church

is the result of their reciprocal action, and heaven does not act on the Church with love alone, but with truth also; and the Church must react with those heavenly principles, or its regeneration cannot be accomplished. The conjunction, thus effected, is what constitutes regeneration. Although love or charity is the inmost power of the Church, faith is its guiding principle. Faith, then—that is, faith in the truth of the Divine Word-should have a prominent position in all our efforts to extend the influence of the Church. It is only through the laws of faith that we can indicate its existence or unfold its use. A wise love acts by means of the teachings of a true faith; each is necessary to the existence of the other, and the activity of both is required to make known the real glory of the Church. The circumstance that in the early stages of regeneration, the doctrines of faith excite the greatest share of our attention, and that as regeneration advances, charity comes to be felt as the most essential principle, does not lessen the importance which should ever be attached to the teachings of faith. Neither of these heavenly principles can properly exist without the other. Charity is the fire, and faith is the light of regeneration. Without the fire all spiritual life is cold, and without the light it is dark. Faith is truth confidently believed; charity is goodness affectionately loved. Hence no one can feel himself at liberty to think lightly of the truths of faith on the supposition that he has attained the good of charity. Regeneration does not require that we should be inattentive to our creed: none of the graces of charity can be acquired without the teachings of faith, nor can they be secured if those teachings are neglected. They are not like a scaffold employed in the building of a residence, which may be removed when the habitation is completed, but they are parts of the spiritual structure of our heavenly house, and they are indispensable to its permanence and safety. One of the most important acts of charity is the teaching of genuine truth to the world. The angels do not thrust their articles of faith into the shade. The Lord contemplated the members of His Church as children of the light; and He admonished them to believe in the light, and to walk in the light: He therefore regarded the doctrinal truths of His Word to be inseparable from the orderly existence of His Church. They are principles which its professors are commanded not to put under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they may give light to all that are in the house.

While, then, the Conference would earnestly urge upon all the great duty of cultivating love and charity, as the inmost things of the Church,