tion of the Lord's Supper than what every Christian can officiate in according to Christ's own institution—that there is no sin but what every Christian can bind and loose--that there is no other sacrifice than the body of every Christian-that there is no prayers except by the Christian only--and no judging of doctrines except by the Christian. These are his priestly and kingly prerogatives.--Id. Tom. ii. 485, a.

LETTER OF REV. JOHN CLOWES.

The following letter from the Rev. John Clowes, of Manchester, England, first appeared, we believe, in the "New Jerusalem Record," for 1820, published in Philadelphia. Its intrinsic interest fully entitles it to re-production in our pages, as the "Record" had originally but a limited circulation, and has now become exceedingly scarce.

DEAR AND RESPECTED SIR,

MANCHESTER, January 17, 1820.

The account which you give of the infancy of the New Church in America, is to me most interesting, because it is a convincing proof that the Child is born; and though at present he may be in his swaddling clothes, yet who doth not know, that this is a necessary state of introduction to an age of maturer growth, and finally to manhood? Who doth not also know, that at the time of the Lord's first advent, the Church was small in its beginning, slow likewise in the progress of its formation, and never attained to anything like perfection of being, but by passing gradually through numberless successive stages of life and activity? The same is true too, respecting the creation of an individual church, or the regeneration of every individual man, which, as experience testifies, begins from a grain of mustard seed, or the first insemination of truth, and never becomes a full-grown tree, until this seed first begins to expand itself in the earth, afterwards puts forth shoots above ground, then grows into a trunk with branches and leaves, next produces blossoms, and lastly brings forth the fruits of heavenly love, charity, and use. We are not, then, to expect that the New Church will be established here on earth, according to any other law than this providential and eternal one, of progress from a point of almost imperceptible diminutiveness, through various unseen gradations, until what was at first comparatively as nothing, or as the Scripture expresses it, without form and void, becomes something, and through indefinite and astonishing revolutions of nights and days, advances towards, and finally attains the end of its creation, when it is pronounced by the Creator to be very good. Convinced that the Almighty hath again said in these latter days, Let there be light, and that this light has now begun to dawn upon the earth, and is advancing insensibly towards its meridian splendor, I am no longer concerned about the present number, or even rank, of its recipients, being well assured, that, through the Divine Providence, it will be imparted to all who are in a state to profit by it. My only concern therefore is, that every one who is admitted to the high honor and happiness of beholding the glory of this light with the intellectual eyes, may see and perceive the blessed end to which it will conduct him, and may not be so dazzled with the brilliancy of the light, as to mistake it for the end, which is love and charity. Let no one, therefore, (as an enlightened writer cautions,) measure himself by his morning shadow, for this shadow will lead him into an erroneous judgment, respecting his real size and growth. Rather let him await the sun's ascent to his meridian altitude, and then measure himself by the conjunction of heat and light, in which case, possibly, the shadow of himself will be diminished, but his diminution will be amply repaid by observing, that the measure of the Lord, and of his mercy and loving kindness, will be proportionably increased. For as John the Baptist made a glorious confession respecting the Great Saviour, when he said he must increase but I must decrease, John iii. 30, in like manner every devout receiver of the heavenly doctrine of the New Jerusalem will estimate his spiritual advancement, not by the reception of that doctrine, in his understanding only, which

will but swell him up with conceited ideas of his own superiority above others, but by its reception in his will, or love, thus in his life, by virtue of which, discerning his natural vileness, pollution, ignorance, and misery. he will with incessant gratitude ascribe the kingdom, the power, and the glory, to his redeeming and regenerating Lord.

As to personal knowledge of our enlightened author, it was never my happiness to enjoy it, having never heard of him, or seen any of his writings, until the year after his entrance into the spiritual world. I have, however, had the gratification of seeing and conversing with his intimate friend Hartley, the translator of the treatise on Heaven and Hell, and also with another gentleman, who had, both of them, the honor of his acquaintance, and were frequently admitted to association with him, and from each of them I have received the most satisfactory information concerning him.

It is remarkable of the latter gentleman, that he had frequently seen Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the sect of Moravians, and conversing one day with Swedenborg, he was led to inquire whether he (Swedenborg) had ever seen the Count? to which question Swedenborg replied, "Never in the body, but in the spiritual world frequently." The gentleman then proposed several questions to Swedenborg, respecting the Count, his aspect, manner, opinions, &c., &c., to which Swedenborg gave such answers, as convinced the gentleman that he must have seen the Count, otherwise he never could have described him so minutely and exactly.

I cannot conclude my long letter without giving you some account of what is passing here, in regard to the New Dispensation, particularly in our Manchester society, for you will receive general information from the Intellectual Repository. Allow me then to state, that we are at present occupied in a new translation of the Gospel according to Lake, which is intended to be published like the Gospels according to Matthew and John, with explanatory extracts from our author, &c., &c. We are also proceeding with the Scripture Histories, having already begun the eighteenth part, which will contain the history of Lot and his family. Concerning this work, I wish to acquaint you, if you have never seen any of its parts, that it is designed as an abridgment of the A. C. for the use of those who cannot spare money for purchasing the original, nor time for perusing it. We have also a new work preparing for publication, entitled Opposites, and intended to show their origin and use, by proving, that, without them, man could have no free will; consequently, could not be a man, and capable of happiness. Yours, &c.,

J. CLOWES.

PROGRESS OF RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT IN HOLLAND.

A No. of the "Christian Union and Religious Memorial," devoted to the interests of the American Evangelical Alliance, has recently come into our hands containing a brief sketch of the present condition of the Protestant churches in Holland, their numbers, sects, sentiments, &c. The following is an extract from a letter from the pen of the Rev. J. DeLiefde addressed to the Editor of the Evangelical Christendom. The Editors of the "Union" considered the article as one to be read with "painful interest" as showing a sad decline in the churches of Holland from the good old ways of early Protestantism, when the doctrines of Dort held unquestioned sway. To the New Churchman, however, the interest of perusal will be anything but painful, unless indeed he may be pained at the idea of a body of religionists approximating so near to the truths of the New Jerusalem, and yet failing to reach them in their full integrity. The writer is sketching the history of a number of Separatist churches whose members had outgrown the dimensions of the Calvinistic Creeds in which they had been reared.

Such was the state of circumstances, when, about the year 1837, some theologians of Groningen, with two professors of that university, Mr. Hof

stede de Groot and Mr. Pareau, at their head, and assisted by several clever preachers, as Mr. Rutgers van der Laeff, &c., began to publish a quarterly review, entitled Truth in Love. The first numbers of this periodical work, breathing deep respect for the "appearing of Christ," and urging, above all, "love to his person," besides avoiding the dry recommendation of the mere doctrine of the Gospel, which was the chief object of the fluttering theology, and being written in a very agreeable, popular style, met soon with the ap proval of innumerable persons, and rejoiced especially the minds of the or thodox with most happy expectations. It is true, the authors of the articles which occurred in that paper, did not express their opinions about the funda mental doctrines themselves, and went on steadily, moving in a sphere of devotional admiration of God's love in Christ in general, as well as of deeply deploring man's corruption; and it struck many that, although they read so much about the importance of Christ's personality, aud about the necessity of standing in the connexion of personal love towards Him, yet they did not meet with any distinct explanation or definition of Christ's very person, except of his humanity, which was everywhere made prominent. But the first numbers were generally considered as being merely preparatory, and promis. ing more definite developments in future, and every one inclined to suppose that he should soon learn what they were about. So one or two years had elapsed in deep silence, when gradually it became known that the scholars of that Groningen school diffused a most dangerous doctrine from their pulpits, and at the same time the authors of the review, Truth in Love, began to develope, or rather to betray, their dogmatic opinions, in a more positive and undisguised manner. The orthodox and all the friends of Jesus Jehovah, and among these above the rest, Mr. Capadose and Mr. da Costa, felt deeply struck with sadness on observing at length how the matter stood, and the more so, indeed, as they could not but acknowledge that the doctrine of the Groningen school had already got numerous friends among the preachers, and had rooted itself deeply in the heart of a great many of the people.

The truth which this school tried to diffuse in love, was, alas! the truth of natural human understanding, and not of scripture. It was, however, and is still more than most, difficult to point out their real system, the various opinions being dispersed through the numerous volumes of that periodical work, and not being expressed by one single author, but by different authors. But happily we are at length enabled to see the dispersed members of that theolo gical theory united together into one body by the Professors Hofstede de Groot and Pareau, in their Manual of Christian Dogmatics and Apologetics, which is written in the Latin language, and of which a second edition was published in the year 1845. Mr. A. des Amorie van der Hoeven, jun., a young pastor of the Arminian Church at Utrecht, and a most learned theologian, gave a critical account of this Manual in 1846, in which he pointed out many of its inconsistencies; but its heresies are put in the clearest light by Mr. da Costa, in his article entitled:-Some Observations about the true Character of the Groningen Theological School according to the Latin Manual of Christian Dogmatic and Apologetic of Messrs. Pereau and Hofstede de Groot, which article was published in the Christian Monthly Review of January, 1847. It may be deemed most interesting to give here a short account of Mr. da Costa's remarks with respect to the chief points of faith.

"The Groningen theologians," says Mr. da Costa, "have always adopted and defended the doctrine of Christ's pre existence. The question, however, was hitherto not resolved, what they understood by that word pre-existence. But now it is made evident that they assert, that Christ pre-existing was a Divine Being, (the word divine, however, signifies here in their language quite human, very conformed to God, and because of this conformity, highly loved by God,) who had no definite relation either to God or to the world; a being without any certain name or rank among the creatures of God; a human being of whom we are not allowed to form any idea, except such an one as may be drawn by analogy from our knowledge of that human being while living on earth." According to this theory, they often call Christ by the indefinite title

of The inhabitant of Heaven. Christ is in their eyes an ideal heaven-man, who existed in heaven before Adam the first man was created, and came down from heaven in order to be an earth-man. Consequently, the Groningen theologians venture to state the opinion, that there has been a humanity in heaven before Adanı; a humanity independent of Adam! Who can picture to himself the absurdity of such a monstrous assertion, and “who must not allow," says Mr. da Costa, "that this is such an unlimited anthropo-apotheosis as never has been performed in the sphere of theological philosophy, nor can be performed any more." The key to the whole system lies in the following words of the professor's dogmatical statement:

--

"The human nature of Jesus Christ is so little repugnant to his divine nature, that He may be said to have manifested his divinity in the most human manner, and to be quite a divine man. For every man is divine by his intelligence, and human nature can be cultivated, in such a high degree, to unlimited perfection, that it becomes, as to its kind, similar to God, if not here on earth, at least in life everlasting."

As to the salvation and forgiveness of sins in Christ, the Manual gives a declaration, which constantly circles round the doctrine of satisfaction and propitiation, without touching it. I cannot do better than translate the words which Mr. da Costa uses in the review just mentioned: "The doctrine of the professors," says Mr. da Costa, "teaches us that God forgives our sins, not, however, for Christ's sake, but through Christ, and especially through his death. They point out that Paul and John, speaking in figures derived from the ceremonies of the Old Testament, call the covering of sins a propitiation for our sins through the death of Christ. He being, as it were, a most holy victim, (not tanquam but quasi victima sanctissima.) This death of Christ is the greatest proof of God's forgiving love, but it was not properly intended by God for a ransom or a propitiation, or satisfaction to the claim of the law." Well, then, what after all, is this death? How can it be a proof of God's forgiving love? To this question the professors give no answer at all. Asserting that Christ's death is not the meritorious or procuring cause of the forgiveness of sins, they venture to appeal merely to the forgiveness which Christ himself imparted before He died, and which the believers of the Old Testament enjoyed; or they point out that in the parable of the prodigal son, no mention is made of any intercession between the father and his repenting child. On which ill-founded argument, Mr. van der Hoeven cannot refrain from remarking, that by such reasoning the whole mediatorship of Christ might be reasoned away, the parable keeping a deep silence with respect to this truth likewise, although it is acknowledged by the Groningen theologians. According to scripture, Christ's death is the deciding point in the whole work, reconciling man's deadly guilt, and restoring him to God; according to the Groningen school, on the contrary, Christ's death is merely something accessory to that work of our re-union with God.

And how does the Groningen school deal with the doctrine of the Trinity? After its usual manner, it states, instead of a unity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, a mere conjunction (conjunctio). And what idea do they picture to themselves of that conjunction? "God," so they say, "has a certain conjunction with all the other natures which are the offspring of His, and this conjunction is the more strict, the more these natures are related, or homogeneous with the Deity. Consequently the nature of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is only somewhat more related and homogeneous with that of the Father's than ours is." In order to prove their statement, they remark, "that if Christ had made himself equal with God, He should have called God his brother, and not his Father," and in order to defend their opinion with the more success, they borrow their arms from a certain Dutch theologian of the last century, H. A. Roëll, who publicly and undisguisedly attacked the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son. Most singular too is their definition of predestination. "It is the counsel of God to lead men, and decidedly all men to the highest degree of blessedness." And having remarked, that "God's love, as being just, cannot possibly love one man with the disadvantage (cum

damno) of another," they proceed to the conclusion, "that, therefore, the doctrine of propitiation, by satisfaction and substitution in the death of Christ, is to be rejected." We have to acknowledge that we do not understand how this conclusion can be derived from such a previous statement; for the Groningen theologians, though rejecting the doctrine of propitiation by satisfaction, yet preach a love of God which has blessed us to the disadvantage of his Son. Not less pitiable is the assertion of the professors that, if Christ's death were the price of our salvation, neither would the forgiveness be given freely, nor the salvation out of mere love. Indeed, we do not understand how the professors can get rid of that one word of Scripture: "Ye are bought with a price

The Groningen school are not willing to be called Pelagian. Yet the professors describe human nature by the figure of a certain statute of the god Glaucus, which Plato speaks of, and which, having been drawn up out of the sea, was so polluted and covered with weeds and mud, that it was not at all to be known again; but having been washed and purified, it showed the most beautiful form and countenance. Well, if this is not Pelagianism, what is it? And is it not quite intelligible, that after such a description, the professors, though they do not flatly contradict the doctrine of original sin, yet put it aside as a doctrine "which is not to be derived from the knowledge of Christ's person and history?"

The morality which the Groningen school derives from these principles has, it is true, the appearance of being quite Christian-like. Its writings and sermons abound in commanding love towards Christ and our neighbors, and the element of active Christian life they propose to excite, is to express the spirit of Christ in all our words and actions. However, if you ask how man can participate in that spirit, they answer, "He must behold Christ's person, look on his behavior and conduct in all the circumstances of his life; listen to his words, and to the words of those who have already imbibed his spirit in a high measure, as the apostles." But if you then go on asking what this spirit of Christ is, you find that they understand by the word nothing else but a mere influence (influx ?). Just as the spirit of Socrates came upon Plato and Xenophon, so-but of course in a still more perfect manner-the spirit of Christ rests upon those who behold his person and study his conversation. For Christ himself is the perfect Man, and we are not so perfect, and even far less perfect than He is. But carrying within us by nature the nature of God and the vital spark of God's own life, we only need to look upon such a perfect man and converse with Him, and then spontaneously, as it were, that hidden principle of divine life begins to develope itself. This is the spirit of Christ, or, which is the same, the Holy Ghost, and these are its (I may not say his) effects! The system of the Groningen school has been called by many of its antagonists a mixture of Schleier-macherianism and Platonical pantheism. And, indeed, after such facts, I do not know what could be said in reply to this charge.

From the ensuing paragraph of the letter it appears that a considerable body of this people have already emigrated to America, and that others are expected to follow. It would seem to be desirable that they should be put in the way of being made acquainted with the teachings of the New Church.

In spite of the laudable activity of the Separatists to uphold their communities, and to improve both their spiritual and material condition, this young and tender plant would not thrive, and remained constantly in a state of languor, as if it had been infected by some hidden disease from its birth. Financial difficulties on the one hand, and contempt from the side of their different antagonists on the other, made them gradually look out for some opportunity to escape from this trying situation. So nobody can be surprised, that they began at length to think seriously on emigrating to America. Some few of them made the first trial in the years 1843, 1844, and as their letters