that "prejudice of education is not always on the side of truth," and, that, “if we are not to believe anything which we cannot comprehend, we must sink into atheism and universal unbelief." He says, It is now considered weak and superstitious to give credence to such things; and some of the followers of Wesley do not hesitate to laugh at, what they are pleased to call, his " proneness to superstition," because he believed in them. I think, therefore, that I can perceive an important end to be promoted by the disclosures of Miss D, and I shall not be astonished if similar occurrences be permitted to rebuke the infidelity of the present age. And in a recommendatory notice, prefixed, the Rev. R. Treffry says, Infidelity is fearfully prevalent; and the opinion that the whole of a man dies with his body is so widely disseminated, that every means to check its progress, and to convince men of the existence of another world, should be called into requisition. Can it be possible that these gentlemen are unacquainted with the writings of the illustrious Swedenborg? Supposing that to be the case, we would earnestly recommend his work on Heaven and Hell to their serious attention, not doubting that Mr. Young would recognize in it the Divine Providence operating by means of the "disclosures" it contains, to rebuke the infidelity they so justly deplore; and sincerely hoping that Mr. Treffry would regard it, as the most powerful means of checking its progress that had ever come under his observation. Mr. Young, it appears, was residing as a missionary in a British colony, and was called to visit the lady when she was supposed to be dying. Soon afterwards she seemed actually to die; but as the signs which speedily develop themselves in a hot climate did not occur, her friends thought she must be in a trance, and anxiously waited the event. She remained in this state nearly a week. Upon her reviving she stated that two persons of the neighbourhood were dead, for that she had seen them, the one descending into hell, the other entering heaven. The parties who heard these startling statements, fancied she was under the influence of delirium, and immediately made inquiry respecting the persons alluded to, when to their utter astonishment, they found that, about half an hour before, the former had dropped down dead while tying his shoe, and the latter had, about the same time, suddenly passed into the eternal world. Mr. Young solemnly attests these facts. When sufficiently recovered to go abroad, she visited Mr. and Mrs. Young, and gave them a minute description of what she had witnessed in the spiritual world. Under the conduct of a celestial guide, she had been permitted to behold heaven, but not to enter it, as she was still an inhabitant of this world. She beheld her Saviour; and amongst those who surrounded him she recognized many of the patriarchs and others of whom she had read in the Scriptures, and likewise all the missionaries who had died in the colony. She described those celestial spirits as being variously employed; and although she felt herself inadequate to convey any definite idea of the nature of that employment, yet it appeared to be adapted to their respective mental tastes and spiritual attainments. She described hell, in the most terrific language, as a burning pit, where princes and peasants, rich and poor, were tormented without distinction, and without the possibility of escape. Among the wretched beings there was no sympathy, and unmixed hatred, in all its frightful forms, prevailed. The deepest enmity existed between the nearest relations and those who had been companions in sin, who, in fiendish accents, bitterly upbraided and cursed each other. From one place she had a view of heaven, hell, and the earth; which last appeared like a vast stage crowded with human beings, some of whom were continually stepping off, and others were approaching its edge to follow them. She mentioned some persons as in this situation, who were known to her friends, and who, although quite well at the time, in every case, shortly afterwards left this probationary state. She was next taken to a place where she saw the moral state of the world symbolized. A female, holding a prominent situation in the church, was represented as sitting under a tree of most luxuriant and beautiful foliage, with a long tube in her mouth, by which she was drawing people to her; and the conducting angel informed Miss D that the tube indicated the power of this female's pursuasive language, the foliage of the tree her religious profession, and its trunk the state of her heart. On looking at the trunk, she beheld that its core was rotten, and full of venomous reptiles. Miss D told this to the female in question; and from the unchristian temper she manifested on the occasion, and her subsequent conduct, she fully proved the correctness of the representation. A lady whom she named was represented to her as attired in the purest white, and surrounded by a number of little children, whom she was striving to wash in pure water, that they too might be white and clean; and the angel told her that the lady's robe was indicative of her purity of heart, and her holiness of life, and that her employment symbolized the nature and effects of her exertions in the church of God. I was well acquainted with this lady, and could bear witness to the correctness of this picture; for she was in my opinion one of the holiest of women, and was exceedingly useful to children and young people; indeed the honoured instrument of bringing many of them to God. The truthfulness of these descriptions, and the simple beauty of the latter will be readily admitted by all. We derive unfeigned pleasure from the cheering hope we entertain that those who can read them with approval will have little difficulty in extending their approval to the more comprehensive and beautiful descriptions in Swedenborg's memorable relations. Although shackled, as might be expected, with the ordinary notions regarding time and space, Mr. Young seems convinced that in both respects the spiritual world is not remote from us and our sympathies, and that angels are not required to leave their celestial abode, in order to perform their ministrations on earth. His views on the subject are liberal and enlightened; far more so indeed, we fear, than those which generally prevail in the religious world: but we will let him speak for himself. No person is perhaps more disposed to scrutinize and to reject the disclosures of what are called trances and visions, than myself; and yet when they furnish so many marks of genuineness as those of Miss D——, I think they should be allowed their proper weight and influence in confirming and illustrating the doctrines of revelation. There is nothing in Miss D's disclosures inconsistent with that Book which is to be a light unto our feet, and a lamp unto our paths, and by which we are to regulate our faith and practice; but, on the contrary, there is the most perfect accordance. The word of God informs us that there is a world of spirits, into which men enter on quitting this life, and are happy or otherwise according to their moral character; and if the Lord should in some cases, for reasons best known to himself, lift the veil which conceals from our view that spiritual region, we ought not to reject the light thus let in upon us, but rather avail ourselves of its assistance for the better understanding of the Word of God, and the realities of another state of existence. With respect to the locality of the world of spirits, conjecture has been busily and fruitfully employed. Some suppose that it is in the sun; others that it is in the centre of the vast universe, attracting and governing all the celestial bodies in their revolutions: but the opinion which to me appears most plausible, is that of its being in the atmospheric region, and consequently all around us. It is true we perceive it not, because our "senses are holden." Our physical nature is supposed to be the veil, separating between us and the invisible world; but when this veil is removed by the hand of death, our souls will at once find themselves in that world, and discern things which, though now present, are not seen, because spiritually discerned. This view of the subject seems to be countenanced by the Sacred Scriptures. The mountain appeared covered with spiritual beings when the Lord, in answer to the prayer of the Prophet, opened the eyes of his servant, or drew aside the veil. (2 Kings 2. 17.) POETRY. ELEGY On the Removal into the Eternal State of Mrs. Sarah Coulson, Newcastle-on-Tyne. WHAT is it holds these waking eyes? * What is it locks this swollen tongue ?— Dull nature at her beck'ning tomb, Transfix'd and frantic, still would stand ;— Land of the Spirit! ever near, Where many a friend thy mem'ry wakes! Another bond of nature breaks. The early buds, the unfolding one*, The flow'r just spared to blush and pine,* The dearest ties of mortal birth, Should share no more than mortal trust; How soon, alas! this fragile frame The golden bowl, the silver cord, Shatter'd and shrunken, ends the strife; Then joy deserts the social board, And sad are all the scenes of life. Alluding to the death of infant brothers and sisters,-two sisters of different ages, and mother, younger sister of Mrs. C. † Eccles. 12, ver. 6. Some token, to remembrance dear, O! who can stay the last dread dart And give the wounded spirit rest? He gave!—and now He takes away!— Those, like the flow'rs that deck the field, And she so late by sickness worn, That flattery should thy name entwine; Thou liv'st where worth is not forgotFull many a heart shall treasure thine! And, known to Him whose Holy Word |