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accord but are of a rude sound, and have no melody; others are only delighted with those instruments which are in tune and accord well together.

888. In respect to this interior memory and to the manner in which knowledges are insinuated into spirits, it cannot be otherwise known than from those things which occur in the life of the body, as that a man from infancy learns to speak, to think, and this more and more; nor does he ever know how these things are insinuated, still less how the faculties of understanding, thinking, judging, and concluding are implanted.

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That man himself, his natural ideas and his spiritual things, should be compared to vessels which yield.

2470. I have manifestly enough perceived by a spiritual idea, that nothing else is required with man than that he should be a yielding vessel; that is, that all things pertaining to him, even to the minutest particulars, should be, as it were, yielding, and thus applying themselves, and consequently applied to those things which are infused by the Lord through angels and spirits, so that there be no resistance or aversion against those things which are infused. In order that man may be not resisting but yielding, it is necessary that he be in the faith, and that he be in the truth of faith, that he be nothing, nor do any thing from himself, but that he suffer himself to be acted upon, and thus act, as it were, from himself with ineffable felicity. Man ought to be in those things, indeed in all things which belong to faith, in the love of his neighbour, in mercy, innocence, and this as to his most particular ideas, that he may be such a [yielding] vessel, and that he may enjoy felicity, or perceive the effect of those things which are infused by the Lord through the heavens. 1748, July 1. This was confirmed by the angels, who say that they are in such a state, since it is so well-pleasing to the Lord.

2471. I have also spoken concerning these things with angels through proximate spirits, who said that they wished to be in such a state, because they could then enjoy felicity; to whom it was permitted to say, that they cannot be such vessels unless they be in the truth-(truths are all things, even to the minutest particulars, which belong to faith, thus those things which are most remote from fallacies, and from the falsities hence derived, and also from falsities derived from any other source); for truth cannot dwell in a vessel of falsities, but must by all means dwell in its own vessel, namely, in truth, which was so clearly seen in a spiritual idea that nothing could be said against it. 1748, July 1. It was also given to the spirits around me to perceive the truth of this, wherefore they unanimously confessed, that they manifestly perceived that it is so, and that truth can, by no means, exist but in its own vessel, and that then it is a vessel of the Lord's. 1748, July 1.

MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.

(Continued from page 291.)

CCI.

WHEN the Lord gives to his faithful servants large natural bounties, He gives them, also, thankfulness for their bestowment, and watchfulness against their abuse. When He gives them sparingly of outward goods, He gives them, at the same time, content. When He permits affliction to overtake them, He gives them consolation, patience, resignation, and hope. It is the spiritual man's part to wait for, welcome, and thankfully receive these spiritual gifts, as he becomes successively placed in the circumstances which respectively call for their exercise.

CCII.

Never think you can practise too much forbearance towards those with whose principles you have reason to be satisfied. Should they err, give them time to return to the path of duty, and most probably you will not be disappointed. As for others, shew them as much forbearance as you see to be consistent with an enlightened regard to their well-being, always considering universal forbearance as a debt equally due to all, on the Lord's account, who requires us to exercise, more or less, according to a just discretion.

CCIII.

For the same reason that "honesty is the best policy,” moral conduct and political economy harmoniously meet in similar outward results. If all men were morally wise from a spiritual ground, the lesser light of political economy would not be required. Its objects would be realized in the necessary accompaniments of moral order. But as men are generally selfish, it is well for their selfish nature to be taught by political economy (what they are unwilling to be taught by genuine moral wisdom) that it is better for them, on all accounts, to act as if they were really moral philosophers. Spiritual-moral wisdom teaches to will and study the good of others for their sakes; while political economy shews that the good of each is best promoted when the good of all is consulted. Possibly the latter doctrine, so much cultivated at the present day, is the proper and necessary ground-work for the first, or iron-age of the New Church, now commencing.

CCIV.

Persons of recluse habits, and also those who do not emulate the refinements of civilization, will often, even with good intentions, convert disagreements of opinion into personal quarrels; for not being

aware, through intercourse with society, and the exercise of a just observation, of the exact force of their expressions, they are instigated by their undisciplined feelings to use stronger terms than their meaning requires, thinking, also, that strength of language is equivalent to strength of argument, and mistaking a ready phraseology for sound reasoning. Hence it frequently comes to pass that they only offend, where they fully expected to persuade.

CCV.

The feeling of deep and sincere contrition for specific sins may, for a time, so completely drive back the inclination to commit them, that the contrite person is apt to persuade himself that he is already the subject of an essential and radical change of heart. This, probably, is the origin of that conscientious belief in instantaneous salvation, so zealously inculcated by eminent theological leaders. It is a judgment according to appearance, for the nature of man is such, that the state of mind experienced by the contrite person can only be rendered permanent by his overcoming the evil propensity when it again returns with allurement.

CCVI.

It is a merciful arrangement, that past pleasurable sensations readily arise to remembrance; and also permanently unite themselves to form a general sense of happiness; while those of a painful nature spontaneously sink into oblivion, and except in occasional low states, are not brought to mind without an effort. Hence the reflective faculty of a well regulated mind, when looking back, beholds through a pleasant vista, uninterrupted by painful reminiscences, a train of glorious manifestations of the unceasing goodness of the Divine Providence. How evident a proof this, that man was made for happiness, and that his Maker is infinitely good!

CCVII.

It is an error, as common as it is lamentable, that in making comments on offences received, we make the measure of our own excessive feelings of vexation, and not the real extent of the offence, the measure of our blame.

CCVIII.

The obstinacy which never lends an ear, and the facility which listens without discrimination, are equally injurious to real improvement: and yet both are frequently passed off for virtues, under the names of firmness and good-nature.

CCIX.

It is a kind and prudent conclusion, that every mind, however unpromising, will yield some return for the labour of forbearing cultivation.

It is because we are not satisfied with a reasonable return, or cannot be attracted by a reasonable probability, or because we are too much in love with the reward of a present and visible return, that we become "weary in well-doing."

CCX.

A confirmed ill opinion of another, whenever we suffer it to become active, becomes ill-will; and to cherish a general feeling of ill-will, is to allow Satan to stand at our right hand as our counsellor. Hence it is that, in such cases, a readiness exists to take or make offence; and that offences are multiplied without end; and hence, also, it comes to pass, that the occasion of the last quarrel has as little to do with the real grounds of original difference, as the place of a battle has to do with the cause of the war.

CCXI.

A wise man is never impatient of necessary details. He knows that no one who is so can yield an adequate degree of attention to the essential matter to which those details relate. Details are like the roots of a tree, by which it lays hold of the earth firmly, so as to defy the wind; while its fibres, at the same time, draw forth, for the use of the trunk and branches, their chief support.

CCXII.

We naturally rejoice when we escape an apprehended calamity; and yet that calamity might have proved, as calamities often do, the best security to our spiritual happiness. Whether, then, is it better to receive calamity with spiritual happiness, or prosperity (often its bane) without it? Let us not rejoice in any created good for its own sake. "Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice.” (Phil. iv. 4.)

CCXIII.

We should learn to distinguish an individual's abiding character from the casual tint which it borrows from some transient circumstance or impression; for although the latter may entirely shroud the former, the former remains just what it was before. No one supposes, when the sunbeams borrow a tint from the stained window through which they pass, and which they apparently transfer to the pavement below, that the tint really belongs to the latter. As the glass is the medium of qualifying the sun-beams, so the transient circumstance or impression is but the medium which modifies the activity of the mind's fixed principles, and sometimes even in such a manner as to present a really false and distorted image of them, calculated only to mislead, so far as we allow the present to throw into oblivion the impressions which are past.

CCXIV.

We are apt to mistake one quality for another; hence a person, because he knows he is always conscientious, believes he is always right, even when he is most in error; he mistakes a strong determination of the will for a lucid conviction of the understanding.

CCXV.

Goodness can only be made palatable to those who are opposed to it, by being administered with discretion.

CCXVI.

It is well to possess a sharp sword wherewith to make war against mischievous errors; but it is not well to wear it unsheathed.

CCXVII.

There is a pride of simplicity in religion, as well as a pride of ceremonial; and there is a ceremonial humility, as well as the humility of simplicity. The truth is, that every man takes his individual pride or humility into his religious externals, whatever they may happen to be. To regard religious forms as conclusively indicative of the interior quality of its professors, or to judge of the character of persons from their religious observances, is fallacious.

CCXVIII.

He who would diminish the vexations of life, must learn to meet vexatious circumstances with calmness. While the spiritual mind obtains strength through trust in Divine Providence, the natural mind may in some measure calm and strengthen itself by those proverbial considerations which have been suggested by the common sense of mankind, such as,‚—“ What can't be cured, must be endured;"—“ To be by trouble troubled, is to have our trouble doubled."

CCXIX.

The practical definition given by energetic minds to the word "difficulty," is a thing to be overcome.

CCXX.

The fear of putting forth common-place truths, and an affectation of originality, are equally unfavourable to the formation of maxims from the observation of real life. Hence many clever persons acquire a theoretical rather than a practical character. Would we but duly appreciate and act upon the veriest common-places, how much anguish we should be saved! But such is our want of docility, that nothing but the actual experience of pain and grief can teach us the real value of

N. S. NO. 71.-VOL. VI.

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