CHAP. X.

IT is customary with the members of the New Church in Lancashire and other parts, to commemorate annually, the opening of their places of worship, and to hold anniversary meetings for the support of the various Sunday-schools instituted by them. {215} At one of these provincial meetings, held at Bolton, in Lancashire, on the 11th of June, 1813, a proposal was made to form a Missionary Society, for the purpose of supplying with Ministers and Preachers such of the country Societies as stood in need of, and were desirous of obtaining, the benefits of public worship. In consequence of the wishes so generally and strongly expressed by those present, that the proposed measure should not be lost sight of, a meeting of several Ministers, Leaders, and other members of the New Church was held at the New Jerusalem Church, in Peter Street, Manchester, on Wednesday, the 16th of June, 1813, to take into consideration the best means of carrying the above design into execution, the Rev. RICHARD JONES* in the chair; when it was Resolved unanimously,
* The Rev. Richard Jones departed this life on the 22nd November, 1832, in the 62nd year of his age. He was the highly esteemed Minister of the Society in Peter Street, for the period of nearly thirty years; and rendered his services gratuitously.- ED.

“1. That, in consequence of the ardent desire so generally expressed by numerous Societies and individuals of the New Church, in various parts of Lancashire especially, and in prospect of the incalculable benefits to be derived from the universal extension of the Lord’s new kingdom on earth, it is highly expedient, that a fund be raised for the purpose of providing suitable Ministers or Teachers, and of defraying the expenses which may be incurred by their visiting the different Societies already formed, or here-after to be formed, within this county and its vicinity.
“2. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the most effectual way of raising such fund, will be by weekly, quarterly, and annual subscriptions, to be immediately set on foot among all the Societies of the New Church; which may also be increased by the friendly donations of individuals, who may not meet in society with their brethren, but who nevertheless are equally desirous of contributing to the more general dissemination of divine truth.
“3. That it be recommended to the various Societies, that weekly meetings be held by them, either in one body at the place where they usually assemble, or in smaller parties at each other’s houses, for the purpose of reading and conversing on the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem; at the conclusion of which meetings the weekly subscriptions may be most conveniently collected.
“4. That the persons who may hereafter be authorized to act as Ministers or Teachers, and to visit the different Societies in the country, be first approved and recommended by at least two of the Ministers already appointed, and now officiating in their respective places of worship in the New Church, either in Manchester, or in other parts of Lancashire.”

These Resolutions, with some others relating to the same subject, though unanimously passed at the meeting held in Manchester, as above stated, and afterwards printed, were yet (from causes not necessary to be here mentioned) never circulated among the Societies in Lancashire, nor in any respect acted upon for at least two years. But at length the Manchester and Salford Societies jointly brought the subject before the General Conference in the year 1815; when the establishment of a Missionary Ministry was declared to be highly expedient, and strongly recommended to the support of every individual member of the New Church. Of the proceedings on this subject more will be said in its proper place hereafter. In the mean time we proceed with the regular History of the Church. {216}
At Heywood, near Bury, in Lancashire, a Society had lately been formed: yet their zeal and success have been so great, that they have already erected a commodious building, which serves them both for a place of worship and a Sunday school. It was opened on Sunday, the 9th of October, 1814, and the collection amounted to L28. 2s. 8d.; a large sum for a country village. The Society in this place took its rise in the following manner. Four or five years before this time there was scarcely a single reader of the new doctrines in the whole village, which is very populous. But providentially one or two of the inhabitants were led to the New Church meeting in Middleton, where Mr. Richard Boardman*, a Leader of the Society in that place, has successfully officiated for many years. They were struck with the beauty and simplicity of the doctrines, but chiefly with their evident tendency to promote a good and useful life, by leading men to the true knowledge of the Lord and his Word, and at, the same time to the practical exercise of every Christian virtue. They continued their attendance at Middleton for about twelve months, during which time some others were added to their number; until by degrees they formed themselves into a society, established a library, as well for the benefit of their neighbours as themselves, and held regular meetings once a fortnight at the house of Mr. James Ashworth, which were begun in April, 1812, and continued till the December following. They then found it necessary to take a larger room, which might serve both for a Sunday school, and a place of worship. Their number still continuing to increase, a subscription was entered into, to enable them to build a more convenient place, which, by the assistance of their friends, and particularly of Mr. John Richardson, of Heywood, they at length accomplished. The place was accordingly opened, as before observed, on the 9th of October: and Mr. Boardman, of Middleton, who was the chief instrument under the Lord of raising the Society, regularly dispenses among them the great truths of the new dispensation. The number of actual members is about twenty; but the congregation, that usually attends, is computed at not less than four hundred. The school is likewise in a flourishing condition; and what with the assiduity of the teachers, the zeal and activity of the members of the Church in general, and the great reputation which the institution has already obtained among the inhabitants at large, the prospect of extensive usefulness is every week becoming more and more evident.
* Mr. Richard Boardman departed this life, at Middleton, on the 21st Jan. 1845, in the 81st year of his age, highly and deservedly respected by all who knew him. He was the gratuitous Leader of the Society for nearly forty years.- ED. {217}
Another Sunday school, founded on the principles of the New Jerusalem, was also opened in Bridge Street, Manchester, by the members of the Church meeting in Bolton Street, Salford, on Sunday, the 23rd of November, 1814: and it soon met with a liberal support from those, who duly estimated the advantages arising from an early initiation into the knowledge and worship of the one true God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
A new Chapel having been erected at Brightlingsea, in Essex, by the united efforts of the friends in that village, and in London, it was opened for public worship on the 28th of August, 1814.* It is a neat building, containing seats for about two hundred persons. At present it has no galleries, but is so constructed, that they may be added whenever there shall be occasion for them. The services were performed, in the course of the day, by the Rev. M. Sibly, from London, in a manner highly satisfactory to the congregations assembled therein. The cause of the New Church seems to be in a very flourishing condition in Brightlingsea. Her advocates have met with considerable opposition from the Methodists; but this appears to have no other effect than to add to their strength; and they number amongst their members some of the most respectable inhabitants of the place.**
* As stated in page 201.- ED.
** A scurrilous pamphlet was published at Colchester, entitled “A Dialogue between Captain Condescension and Jack Honesty,” which was refuted by the Rev. J. Proud, and the Rev. Mr. Sibly, in two distinct replies.- ED.
On the following day thirty persons assembled to dinner, to celebrate the anniversary of the introduction of the heavenly doctrines into Brightlingsea and a neighbouring village called St. Osyth; and the company was joined, in the afternoon, by a considerable number of the female friends. The chairman, Mr. Fletcher, reported, that a number of the small tracts had been circulated round the neighbouring country, by means of a person employed to carry them out, who would re-commence the same employment as soon as the harvest was got in. The chairman also reported, that the spiritual harvest, in that neighbourhood, was greatly in want of labourers; and instanced the case of the large village of Great Bentley, about four miles from Brightlingsea, where, he stated, many of the inhabitants were so favourable to the cause of the New Church, that they were desirous of building a Chapel in which the doctrines might be preached to them, and were willing to begin immediately, if they could obtain a properly qualified person to perform the Ministerial duties. It was indeed the general opinion, that if a Minister could be found, whose private circumstances would enable him to require but a very moderate remuneration for his labours, he might perform the most essential uses, by opening the doctrines of genuine truth to the numerous affectionate and well-prepared minds, with which this sequestered part of the kingdom abounds. {218} Harmony and peace pervaded every breast and conversation on spiritual subjects occupied the attention of the meeting till 9 o’clock, when an appropriate hymn was sung, and the meeting adjourned to the last Monday in July, 1815.
Notwithstanding these gratifying accounts, it was afterwards stated, that the opposition, which the New Church experiences at this place, has of late increased to absolute persecution. The clergyman and leading persons of the parish have expressed a determination to compel the friends of the heavenly doctrines to renounce their sentiments or quit the village; to accomplish which they have entered into an engagement not to deal with or employ any of them, whereby many inoffensive characters have been reduced to great distress. One poor man with a family, who had engaged with a farmer to perform a certain portion of harvest work, was dismissed from his employment the day after the opening of the Chapel, for having attended the service; and several children were expelled from the Sunday school on the same day for a similar offence on the part of their parents;- an action which adds ingratitude to cruelty, as the Sunday school owes its establishment to the active exertions of some of the receivers of the New Church writings. It is astonishing that any set of men can be so blind as not to see, that by such conduct they are, contrary to their own intentions, contributing to establish the very cause which they wish to overthrow, by drawing to it the favourable attention of all who can sympathize with suffering innocence, and who feel indignant at the wrongs inflicted by petty tyranny and oppression.
It appears from the Fifth Annual Report of the London Printing Society, that it has undertaken to publish a translation of The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine in the Welsh language; which may prove the means of introducing the truths of the New Church into a part of the kingdom, where there is great reason to hope that they will find many minds prepared to receive them.* The Society has also taken up the plan, so beneficially pursued by the Manchester Society, of circulating small tracts, extracted from, or illustrative of, the Writings, by means of hawkers; and having met with some encouraging success, it is desirous of prosecuting the undertaking on a more extensive scale.
* This translation was published in 1815, under the immediate inspection of Mr. T. Jones, of Long Acre, London, a native of the Principality, and a member of the Printing Society’s Committee.- ED.
A New Church Society has lately been established in Stockholm, consisting of many respectable members, some learned, several of the Nobility, and some men high in office, the number altogether is about two hundred. The title, which they have assumed, is, “Pro Fide et Charitate.” {219} (“For Faith and Charity.”) Mr. Billberg, the President of that Society states, that they have it in contemplation to print new editions of the Writings in the original Latin, for the use of readers on the Continent, where that language is very generally understood, and where many appearances, favourable to the propagation of the heavenly doctrines, have of late become manifest. But it is doubtful whether their beneficent design can be at present accomplished, for want of sufficient funds for so great an undertaking. It is also matter of regret, that the state of opinion in Sweden renders it necessary for the members of the New Church to conceal their sentiments, even in the name which they assume. But it is to be hoped, that the time is fast approaching, when, the tendency of those sentiments being more justly appreciated, the open acknowledgment of them will cease to be considered a reproach in any country on the globe.
Letters were received from Russia, Jersey, Jamaica, Demarara, and other places, giving the most pleasing accounts of the demand which is made for books both in English and French. Public worship, preaching, and conversation, in agreement with the new doctrines, must be highly useful in any country: but the actual possession of the Writings in illustration of the Word, and the diligent study of them, together with a life conformable to their heavenly dictates, must ever be considered as the basis, whereon all our hopes of the success of the New Church ought to rest. For which end the circulation of the works of the Honourable Author, in all the modem and living languages, cannot fail to be regarded as a prime object with every sincere lover of the truth.

Some misunderstanding having arisen between the Government of Great Britain and that of the United States of America, the correspondence between the members of the New Church in these two countries was for a long time interrupted. But at length, in 1814, a letter was received in London from Mr. Hargrove, giving an account of the state of the Church in different parts of North America, since the period of his former communications. The letter was addressed to the Ministers and other members of the New Jerusalem in Great Britain generally, and was as follows.

“Baltimore, 1814.
“To the Ministers and Members of the New Jerusalem Church in Great Britain,

“Grace, mercy, and salvation, be multiplied.

“Dearly Beloved,

“After a long and painful interruption of that, to me, pleasing and valuable correspondence, which has formerly existed between us, occasioned by the unhappy differences between our two Governments, an opportunity now offers (through a friend, a citizen of Baltimore, about to embark for your country on mercantile pursuits,) of remitting you a few lines; which, though hastily thrown together, for want of time, yet may be considered as a true report of the external aspect and state of the Lord’s New Church, as far as has come to my knowledge, since the interruption of our correspondence alluded to; and I trust that therein will be contained some pleasing reflections, in the midst of the surrounding gloom, and the numerous tribulations, to which, as members of the Lord’s future or New Church, we are subject, yet called to encounter and overcome; not in our own strength, however, but through the aid of omnipotent wisdom and love. {220}
“That you, my beloved, have long been involved in spiritual and deep tribulations, and opposed by all the infernal powers, it needs no argument to assure me of; for as face answereth to face in a glass, so doth the experience and inward feelings of one Minister or member of the Lord’s true Church answer to those of every other.
“Think not, then, that your unworthy brother and companion in the Lord’s new vineyard has not felt his full share of these deep but necessary trials. Separated as I am, and long have been, from your improving correspondence, and destitute of the sweet and animating influence of your converse and zealous labours of love; destitute, too, of any aid or assistance in the work of the Ministry, or any external support from glebes, patronage, or salary, or from the membership of any of the noble, the wise, or the wealthy of this world; think what a rough path has lain before me in my way to Zion. Yet, ‘glory unto GOD in the Highest,’ he hath made this rough path smooth, and led me by a way which I knew not; spreading, at the same time, beneath and all around me, his everlasting arms.
“In this city the dragon has erected a high seat, and decorated it with many a false but glittering gem. Our external increase, therefore, is apparently both limited and slow; yet we do increase some, even in outward manifestation, and I trust still more in a more internal and hidden way; hidden as to the sight of the natural man, but not from the sight of angels.
“Of myself I will only say, that I still continue to hold forth the Word of Life every Sabbath day, to those who incline to hear me, while the six days of the week are devoted, in a great measure, to the arduous and various duties of my office, as Register of this great and commercial city, the emporium of Maryland; and though my office is subjected annually to re- election by the two branches of our city council, yet, as a proof of the confidence placed in me by my fellow-citizens and the mayor, I have never, since the first year, had to encounter a rival for my office. This surely is of the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in my eyes, and in the eyes of all my friends.
“In some of my former communications to England, I reported the pleasing progress of the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem in some of the interior parts of this vast continent, particularly on the banks of the river Ohio. I corresponded with two or three plain pious recipients there, whose letters convince me, that the spread of genuine truth will not be effected so much by human eloquence, by human might, or human strength, but by the ‘Spirit of the Lord.’ I believe I also formerly reported to you the reception of our doctrines by the Rev. Hugh White, M.A., formerly an ordained Minister in the Church of Scotland. This gentleman is far advanced in life, yet still zealous and active, a natural philosopher, and a Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholar. His residence, for some years past, has been in the village of Charlotte’s Ville, Albemarle County, State of Virginia, where he has taught an academy for some time. Two pamphlets have issued from his pen in support of our doctrines, which discover a profound view of his subjects, though then not deeply read in our illuminated author’s works. About the middle of August, 1812, his zeal urged him to visit us in Baltimore, (a distance of two hundred miles,) for the purpose of being inducted or ordained, in a solemn and orderly manner, into the Ministry of the Lord’s New Church; which was performed by me in our Temple of worship, before a crowded audience, much after the mode adopted in London a few years ago, a printed copy of which I had received;- he having first produced a very high recommendation from a few inhabitants and recipients of our doctrines in his village; and having also delivered a sermon two or three days previous to his ordination, whereby he proved his ability to undertake the office of a Minister of the new dispensation.
“I have now to report to you the pleasing and very interesting intelligence of the reception of the doctrines of the New Church by two Rev. Gentlemen, and Doctors of Medicine. The first of these lives about 600 miles to the southward of Baltimore, in Edgefield Court House, South Carolina. The name of this gentleman is William Brazier, formerly an ordained Preacher among the Methodists; but he receded from the American Connexion of that Church about twenty years ago, when he took to the study of medicine, was admitted, and has for many years practised as a physician, at the same time preaching occasionally, particularly of late.
“The other Rev. M.D., Mr. Lewis Beers, postmaster in the town of Spencer, Fioga County, State of New York, was originally designed for the Ministry in the Presbyterian Church here; but, as he informs me, after his literary preparations for, and full intentions of entering into, the Ministry of that Church were past, he was unexpectedly and pain fully impeded by an honest and impartial re-examination of their creed. {221} Upon this he changed his original design, took up the study of medicine, and, in due time, was honourably admitted. Still, however, his mind inclined to the study of theology, and would occasionally manifest it so as to attract the attention of his neighbours, until finally he was requested to attend the Ministry of the Universalists, and to give lectures in that Church by a licence from their general meeting. This happened some three or four years ago, since which, though not satisfied, he was more so than to continue a member of the
Church of Scotland (so called).
“‘The Halcyon Luminary, or Theological Repository,’ a periodical work, commenced by some of our friends in New York, about the beginning of the year 1812, soon attracted Dr, Beers’s notice, and finding that one writer therein came forward under his own signature, viz. John Hargrove, on some subjects which attracted his attention, and gratified his inquiring mind, he delayed not to introduce himself to me, through the medium of the post-office, acknowledging the pleasure he received from my essays in the work alluded to, and begging further instruction in a variety of religious articles. To this pious request I could not object, but opened a correspondence with my unknown but esteemed friend, which daily increases in its importance, and in its anticipated consequences to the New Jerusalem Church.
“The first Sabbath in the present year, (fourteen full years since my own first appearance in the Temple in this city, dedicated to the worship of Jehovah Jesus in One person,) Dr. Beers informs me, that he openly and solemnly announced his belief in the second advent of the Lord, in his house of worship; and that, contrary to his expectations, but two or three individuals were offended, while the rest continue to attend his Ministry, and new hearers are daily added.
“It would greatly delight and gratify you, my dear brethren, had I time to transcribe here a few passages from the letters of each of these reverend gentlemen; wherein a spirit of deep piety and fervent zeal is expressed in a classical stile. The latter gentleman lives about 400 miles northward of Baltimore, consequently these twin brothers reside 1000 miles apart, while your humble servant, placed in the centre or focus of this ample periphery, is enabled to behold with pious rapture the respective revolutions of these new luminaries round the centre of the Lord’s visible New Church in this part of the world.
“Had I time to enlarge, I would say, surely the set time to favour our Israel is at hand. Happier days approach. The last trumpet’s sound will soon be heard from pole to pole, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. Probably I shall first be removed hence; the growing infirmities of sixty-four years justify me in this opinion; yet while I am spared here, and blessed, as I am, with all things necessary for life and for godliness, I trust I shall still run and not be weary, walk and not faint, until I receive an honourable discharge, accompanied with the divine approbation of ‘Well done,’- but I am not worthy to add the rest. I will now conclude with a renewed salutation, that grace, mercy, and salvation, may be multiplied onto you all: Amen.
“JOHN HARGROVE.”

It is well known, that, in consequence of a long and destructive war, the various Ecclesiastical Establishments on the Continent have in some countries been entirely subverted, in others so much deranged as to approximate nearly to their extinction, but in all to have suffered severely; so that a general laxity of morals and want of religion have been too plainly observed in the different classes of society, and by good men of every nation most deeply lamented. Among the Sovereigns of Europe the King of Prussia was the first to give his sanction to a proposed reform of public worship throughout his own dominions: for which purpose his Majesty appointed a Select Committee of the Clergy, who were intimately acquainted with the state and circumstances of the Church, and authorized them to examine the different liturgies and religious ceremonies of foreign Protestant Churches, to compare them with those of his own country, and even to invite contributions from Ministers of religion in other kingdoms; in order that, from a well-digested view of the doctrines, forms, and ceremonies, of the Christian Church at large, especially of the Protestant and Reformed part of it, proposals for the most suitable improvements of public worship might be presented to the proper spiritual authorities in Prussia, and by them, in conjunction with the highest civil authorities, be adopted and acted upon, either in whole or in part, as soon as convenient after the return of his Prussian Majesty from the General Congress assembled at Vienna. {222}
This design was first announced at Berlin in the month of September, 1814; and the Prussian Ministry of the Home Department published, by authority of his Majesty the King of Prussia, the following remarkable Notification, which was afterwards copied into most of the public Journals of this and other countries.

“NOTIFICATION

“It has for a long time been very generally felt in the Prussian States, that the form of divine worship in the several Protestant Churches is destitute of that awfulness and solemnity, which inspiring and seizing on the mind, can elevate it to religious feelings and pious sentiments. There are few symbols, and even those which are introduced are not always the most significant, or have lost a part of their signification. The sermon is considered as the essential part of divine worship; whereas, though highly important, it is properly only instruction, and encouragement to worship. The liturgies are partly so incomplete, partly so unlike, and so imperfect, that much is left to the discretion of the individual clergyman: and the uniformity of the Church rites, one of the principal conditions towards their beneficent effects, is almost entirely lost. These defects have become more visible in these latter times, when the religious disposition of the people, revived by the great political events, by the sufferings, the struggles, and the triumphs of the country, has profoundly felt the necessity of expressing and pronouncing itself in a worthy manner. It would be to be lamented, if this era, so peculiarly favourable and proper for suitable reforms in divine worship, should pass over without any advantage being derived from it. In this spirit many of the worthiest clergymen, particularly of the Capital and the March of Brandenburg, have applied to his Majesty the King, requesting that this desired reform may be prepared and introduced.
“This pious request of the Clergy, which fully coincides with his Majesty’s own views, has been received by him with peculiar attention and satisfaction.
“In consequence, his Majesty has selected a number of Clergymen, who, to the purest intentions of promoting the kingdom of God, unite a thorough knowledge of the whole affairs of the Church, and necessary regard to all circumstances to be attended to; and his Majesty has commissioned them, after mature deliberation, to make proposals for the most suitable improvements of the public worship, by the highest spiritual authorities, after his return from Vienna.
“The wish and the will of the King is, that this Select Committee of the Clergy, according to the saying of the apostle, ‘try all, and keep the best,’ may examine the liturgies and all the religious ceremonies of the foreign Protestant Churches, compare them with ours, and with the spirit and principles of our holy religion, to produce the best form for a liturgy, which, maintaining and preserving the pure doctrines of the Protestant Church, may at the same time give to public worship new life and new energy, and confirm more and more the religious dispositions of the people. The clergymen commissioned by his Majesty to this end, are the chief counsellors of the Consistory, SACK, court chaplain; PEIBAECQ, GAUSTRIN, and HECKER, counsellors of the Consistory; OFFELSMEYER, and EYLERT, court chaplains.
“Contributions and proposals to promote this end, from judicious and experienced clergymen of both the Protestant persuasions, will be readily received, and carefully weighed by the above Committee; for which reason I invite those, who feel in themselves the call and ability, to promote this important cause, by speedily sending their contributions in writing. {223}

“Ministry of the Home Department,

“Berlin, Sept. 17, 1814.”        “VON SHUCKMANN.”

In consequence of the preceding Notification, and invitation to foreign Ministers of religion to send contributions or proposals for a reform in public worship, it was thought advisable, as no injury, but possibly some good, either present or remote, might be the result, that a communication should be made from some of the members of the New Church in England, to the Committee appointed by his Prussian Majesty to receive whatever might be sent relative to the object in view. Being requested by several of the members of the Society in Salford, Manchester, of which I was at that time the Pastor, to offer a proposal for the more direct worship of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, than that which has heretofore obtained in the Christian Church, I was therefore induced to address a letter to the Select Committee of the Clergy in Berlin, expressly on that Subject. But not knowing the proper channel, through which the letter, and the books intended to accompany it, might be most safely conveyed, I wrote to the Prussian Ambassador in London, stating the case, and requesting that he would have the goodness to give me the necessary information. My letter to His Excellency was couched in the following terms:

“To His Excellency the Prussian Ambassador, in London.

“Sir,                    “Manchester, Oct. 29, 1814.
“Understanding that the Ministry of the Home Department in Prussia have lately issued a public Notification, that it is the wish and the will of His Prussian Majesty the King, that a Reform should be made in the Worship of the Church; and observing also that a general invitation is given in the said document to foreign Clergymen, or Ministers of religion, to offer such contributions and proposals as they may judge serviceable in promoting the aforesaid Reform; I take the liberty to request, that your Excellency will have the goodness to inform me, by letter addressed as below, through what channel a Packet may be best forwarded, so as to reach the hands of the Select Committee appointed by His Prussian Majesty to receive and consider the various proposals which may be sent.
“I have the honour to be, Sir,
“Your Excellency’s most obedient, humble Servant,
“ROBT. HINDMARSH.”

“Please to direct for me at No. 25, Hodson Street, Salford, Manchester.”

Having waited a considerable time for His Excellency’s reply, without hearing a syllable from him, and my packet being in readiness to be forwarded, I made inquiry in another quarter; and soon found, that a captain of a ship was on the point of sailing from Hull to Hamburg, who, on application, undertook the charge of its safe delivery according to the directions given. To him I entrusted the packet, and in a few weeks afterwards I received an answer from the gentlemen of the Committee, to whom it was addressed, filled with sentiments of piety, charity, and Christian benevolence. The letter and answer, transcribed verbatim, were as follows:- {224}

Manchester, Nov. 24, 1814.
“To the Members of the Select Committee of the Clergy, appointed by His Majesty the King of Prussia to make Proposals for the Improvement of Public Worship.

“REVEREND SIRS,

“Learning from an English Newspaper, that a public Notification has been issued by the ministry of the Home Department in Prussia, that it is the wish and the will of the King, that a reform should be made in the service of public worship, so that the spirit and principles of the true Christian religion may more fully appear, both in the worship and in the lives of the people;- and observing further, that a general invitation is given in the said document, by the express desire of his Prussian Majesty, to foreign Clergymen, or Ministers of religion, belonging to Churches reformed from the errors and superstitions of Popery, to send contributions and proposals for the promotion of the above ends;- I take the liberty, with the advice and at the request of the principal members of the Church, whereof I am the Minister, to transmit to you, as forming the Commission appointed by his Majesty to receive the said contributions, the Liturgy and other services of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. This New Church differs in various points of doctrine from the Established Church of England, as you will readily perceive on examination. But as we believe, that our doctrines are the pure doctrines of genuine Christianity, purged as well from the errors that have crept into the Protestant and Reformed Churches, as from the gross abuses and superstitions of the Catholic Church, the Liturgy and Hymns herewith sent to you, may possibly suggest some hints for the improvement of your public worship, which is all that we have in view on the present occasion.
“But particularly I would recommend the most scrupulous attention to be paid to the true and proper OBJECT of religious worship: and therefore I beg leave most humbly to propose, that, instead of addressing the Father for the sake of the Son, which is nowhere commanded, but expressly forbidden in the Sacred Scriptures, (John x. 1, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16,*) the approach be directly and immediately made to the Saviour JESUS CHRIST Himself, who is One with the Father, John x. 30; who hath all power in heaven and in earth, Matt. xxviii. 18; in whom the whole fulness of the Divinity dwelleth bodily, Coloss. ii. 9; who is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, who Is, who Was, and who Is to Come, the Almighty, Apoc. i. 8, 11, 17; chap. xxii. 13; and who therefore must be the One Only God of heaven and earth, manifested to men under a Divinely-Human Form.
* See also Matt. xi. 28; Luke xviii. 16; John v. 40; chap. vi. 35, 45, 68; chap. vii. 37; chap. x. 27, 28; chap. xx. 28.
“To be consistent, however, in our addresses to this GREAT OBJECT of divine worship who is One both in Essence and in Person, it appears to be highly necessary, that, in agreement with the Sacred Scriptures, we pray to Him either for his own sake, or for his Name’s sake, or for his mercy’s sake, as in Ps. xxv. 7, 11; Ps. xxxi. 3, 16; Ps. xliv. 26; Ps. li. 1; Ps. lxix. 16; Ps. lxxix. 9; Isa. xliii. 25; chap. xlviii. 9, 11; Jer. xiv. 7, 21; Dan. ix. 19. Whereas in the various Protestant Churches, in imitation of the Romish Church, the worship is offered to One Divine Person, for the sake of the merits, righteousnesses, and death of another, which implies, in the first place, that the merciful God needs to have his compassion excited, or his wrath pacified, by the extraneous consideration of what another has done and suffered; and in the next place, that some other Being, different from, and superior to, our Lord JESUS CHRIST, is the proper Object of worship.
“It is true, the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice and atonement is received and taught by the generality of Christians. But as it is not on that account the more reasonable, or the more Scriptural; and it being as possible for Christians in the present day to misapprehend the true nature of their religion, as it was for Jews in ancient times to misunderstand the drift and design of theirs; so it becomes us again and again to examine the Scriptures, in order that we may discover their genuine meaning on this, as well as on other most important subjects.
“I will therefore only add, that the two fundamental principles of what our Church conceives to be the true Christian religion, consists in,
“1st. An acknowledgment of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST as the One Only God of heaven and earth, in whom is a Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, like the human trinity of soul, body, and operation, in every individual man, agreeably to his own words in Matthew, chap. xxviii. 18 to 20; and in various other parts of the Holy Gospels. {225}
“And, 2ndly. A life according to the commandments, by shunning evils of every kind as sins against God.
“These doctrines may be seen more fully stated in our Liturgy*, particularly at page 54, &c., to which you are therefore referred; as likewise to another book accompanying the Liturgy, written by me, and just published, entitled, A Seal upon the Lips of Unitarian, Trinitarians, &c. This latter work, as well as the former, together with two others, written by the late Honourable EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, (viz. The Doctrine of the Lord, and The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine,) you are most humbly requested to accept, and to peruse, for the purpose of drawing from them whatever may be thought useful in promoting the undertaking, to which you have been appointed.
* The Liturgy here referred to is that formerly used by the members of the New Church at Salford, Manchester, before the Conference Liturgy was compiled and adopted. The former, together with several others then in use among the various Societies, has been superseded by the latter, which was published in January, 1828, and is now very generally received by the New Church, for the sake of uniformity of worship.- R. H.
“As it is the pious wish of your enlightened and benevolent King, that you should try all, and retain the best; so it is the prayer of the members of the Church with which am connected, and also of myself, that you may be providentially led to adopt, from the variety of proposals and contributions which may be submitted to your notice, such principles of doctrine and of life, and such only, as shall most redound to the glory of the INCARNATE GOD, and at the same time be most conducive to the real welfare of the people, whose eternal interests you have now in charge.
“With the greatest respect I beg leave to subscribe myself,
“Reverend Sirs,
“Your most obedient, humble Servant,
“ROBERT HINDMARSH,
“Minister of the New Jerusalem Temple
“in Bolton Street, Salford, Manchester.”

ANSWER to the above, received on the 12th of February, 1815, and addressed –

“To the Rev. Mr. Hindmarsh, Minister of the New Jerusalem Church, Manchester.

REVEREND SIR,        “Berlin, the 12th January, 1815.

“WE received very well your kind letter, dated Nov. 24, 1814, and the most valuable present you made us, with the works of the celebrated Baron SWEDENBORG, and the writings concerning the New Jerusalem Church. Accept, dear Sir, our most sincere thanks for the warm interest you take in the most important business which our gracious Sovereign entrusted to our care, as well as for the assistance, by which you have the favour to facilitate the progress of our endeavours. Though we cannot agree in all points with the opinions laid down in the system of the New Jerusalem Church, we must heartily approve your zeal in promoting the honour and respect due to our Divine Master and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, Who, according to Scripture, is the Image of the Invisible God, the First-born of every creature, and in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins. The doctrine, that to JESUS alone our prayers are to be addressed, appears to us inconsistent, not only with the Ecclesiastical Orthodoxy of all ages, but with the clearest assertions in the Old and New Testament.
“With respect to the other fundamental doctrine of your Church, we are quite of the same opinion. A life, conform to the precepts and the example of Christ, is certainly as essential to the Christian faith, as the most orthodox dogmatical theory. We have an unerring principle of acting in the dictates of our conscience, and in the directions of our Lord; and if we do right according to our best knowledge, the merciful Creator of our nature will certainly forgive the erroneous judgment of our understanding. Let us rejoice, dear Sir, that a state awaits us, in which we shall be nearer to the Source of all light, and wherein truth, so often veiled to us in this sublunary world, will dispel all the clouds of uncertainty and doubt.
“We will do our possible to deserve the esteem and approbation of all those, who are convinced of the high importance of public worship, paying the most serious regard to the Form of Prayers and Hymns contained in the Liturgy you had the kindness to send us, and in that of the Episcopal Church of England. {226}
“We most sincerely pray God, that you may enjoy the satisfaction of seeing promoted, by your instructions, Christian knowledge and virtue. We may differ in opinions; but we are all in the right way, if we join in seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
“Accept, Reverend Sir, the assurances of our highest esteem, and our best wishes. May all possible spiritual and earthly blessing render your life as comfortable as the imperfection of human condition permits!
“The grace of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you!

{” SACK,
“The Committee appointed by His    {” PEIBAECQ
Majesty the King to make Pro-        {” GAUSTRIN
posals for the Improvement of        {” HECKER,
Public Worship.”                {” OFFELSMEYER,
{” EYLERT.”

The reader will observe, on perusing the letter from Berlin, that though the gentlemen of the Committee appointed by his Prussian Majesty, did not at the time of writing it, and perhaps do not as yet, acknowledge the sole and exclusive Divinity of our Lord, and cannot see the propriety of addressing the Saviour alone as the great Object of religious worship, being still impressed with an idea of some Superior Being, who lays claim to the chief affections of the heart; and this probably from their respect to what they call the orthodoxy of past ages, rather than from any direct testimony or instruction of the Sacred Scriptures; yet the spirit in which they write, evidently appears to be that of the true Christian religion, which, allowing for the frailties and errors of the human understanding, ever holds up to view the undiminished necessity of loving the Lord above all things, and our neighbour as ourselves. This principle of love and charity, directed even to those who differ with us in opinion, or in the intellectual perception of divine truth, still tends to bind man with man, society with society, and nation with nation; and being now perhaps better understood, and more sensibly experienced by the sincere and pious of every name and profession, than in any of the preceding ages of the Church since the golden days of primitive Christianity, it cannot but be hailed as the harbinger of that glorious dispensation of mercy peace, and happiness, which every prediction and every promise of the Sacred Records have had in ultimate contemplation.
It is gratifying to remark, that the Committee of the Prussian Clergy, charged with the duty of preparing materials for the proposed improvement of public worship, having received one of the Liturgies of the New Church, are disposed to avail themselves of its contents, as well as of the Liturgy of the Established Church of England, in the prosecution of their work. May they in all their ways be led by the light of that divine truth, which, originating in, and flowing from the Holy Word, is far above all human wisdom! They will then become enlightened as well as faithful shepherds of the flock; conducting their people to the Door that opens immediately into the sheepfold; earnestly cautioning them against “climbing up some other way;” and encouraging them to direct all their thoughts, all their affections, and all their worship to Him, who alone is the Door, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. {227}
Some time after the date of the preceding correspondence between the Select Committee of the Clergy, appointed by his Majesty the King of Prussia, and myself, as Minister of the New Jerusalem Temple in Salford, Manchester, it was announced in the public journals of the day, that a convention, distinguished by the name of the Holy League, or, Holy Alliance, had been entered into by the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia. The design of this triple Alliance, which was left open for the accession of other Christian Princes, who might choose to adopt its spirit and resolutions, was to promote unanimity and friendship among the Powers of Europe, and to bind them in future to act towards their own subjects and armies, respectively, and towards each other in all their political relations, as members of one great family of Christians, acknowledging the Saviour Jesus Christ as their Head, and living according to the precepts of his holy
religion. In consequence of this new and extraordinary proceeding on the part of three distinguished Sovereigns, and judging that a way was hereby making, by the Divine Providence, for the amelioration of the state of society in general, and the introduction of the truths of the New Jerusalem among nations and individuals as yet ignorant of them, I was, in common with many others in this kingdom, led to reflect deeply on the tendency and probable issue of the Imperial and Royal Act thus announced to the world at large. It was plainly to be gathered from the whole tenour, as well as from the express language, of the Convention, that a new principle of Theology, different from that which generally prevails in the Christian Church, had been adopted by the parties concerned in it: for it is distinctly stated by them, that the nations, over which they are appointed to preside, have in reality “no other Sovereign than Him to whom alone power really belongs, because in Him alone are found all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom, that is to say, GOD OUR DIVINE SAVIOUR:” whereas the doctrines almost universally received by the Christian nations teach, that Omnipotence is shared among Three Divine Persons or Beings, of whom the Saviour Jesus Christ is only One, and that not the first or highest in rank, but the second. At the same time a fear was entertained, that these Imperial and Royal professions of the sole Omnipotence and exclusive Divinity of the Saviour, were not the result of a deliberate and well digested view of the whole doctrine of the Christian religion, but merely a selection of certain prominent parts of the Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles, which the three Monarchs and their Ecclesiastical advisers had judged expedient to bring forward on the occasion, rather as words of course, which could not be denied by the believers in revelation, than as a settled, firm, and enlightened belief, that the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is indeed the Divine Source of all power, and consequently the Only God of heaven and earth. {228} For it has been found by repeated observation and experience, that though in one frame of mind, when the commonly-received doctrines of Nominal Christianity are in a kind of abeyance, or for the moment not thought of, the professors of religion can plainly avow their faith in the Saviour as “the True God and Eternal Life,” that is to say, as the Great Jehovah Himself – they can yet, in another frame of mind, when under the influence of doctrines as contrary to the truth as darkness is to light, set up an absurd system of Gods, one of superior and another of inferior dignity to Him whom they acknowledge as “GOD OUR DIVINE SAVIOUR.” It is to be deplored, that Princes, Kings, and Emperors, are as liable to this delusion, as the meanest of their subjects.*
* That two contradictory sentiments, like those above named, may be entertained by the same mind, and nearly at the same time, is very evident from numerous examples to be met with among the professors of Nominal Christianity; and that this was actually the case with the Emperor Alexander himself, who first suggested the Holy Alliance, may be fairly deduced from the account given in a work published after his decease, and inserted in the Sunday Herald of Feb. 22, 1829, from which the following is copied:
“Some days before his departure from France, Alexander said to Mad. de Krudener, ‘I am on the point of quitting France; but I intend, first, by a public act, to pay to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, that homage and gratitude which we owe him. I shall therefore invite the nations to follow the precepts of the Gospel. Here is a draft of the Act; I beg you to go through it attentively, and to tell me if it contains any expression of which you do not approve. I wish much that the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia may accede to this religious act of adoration, that we may be like the Kings of the East, who acknowledged the Supremacy of the Saviour. Pray with me to God, that my Allies may be sure to subscribe this document.’ On the following morning Alexander came for the draft, which he himself carried to the Allied Sovereigns. He was delighted on finding, that they immediately entered into his views. Such was the origin of the Holy Alliance, which has employed so many tongues and pens, and on which such contrary opinions have been expressed.”
Here the Emperor speaks of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, plainly as if they were Three Gods: and shortly after he acknowledges the Supremacy of the Saviour, which, if there be any meaning in the words at all, must imply, that the Saviour is the Supreme Power, or Supreme Being; and if so, as there can be but one such in existence, that He is at the same time the One Only God of heaven and earth. Such are the contradictions, either expressed or implied, in all the systems of modern Christianity, which have so notoriously bewildered the Greek, the Romish, and the Protestant Churches. For neither of these Churches, nor their avowed partisans, will allow that God the Father is the same Person or Being as God the Son, or that either of them is the same as God the Holy Ghost; although at times, either through a sense of shame, or fear of being charged with Tritheism, the natural consequence of their system, they feel themselves constrained to say, that they are all one; which is a declaration, if consistently interpreted, amounting to no more, than that the Three Gods are perfectly unanimous.
Yet, again, this will serve the purpose only for a short moment: for by the same doctrines, which the leaders of the Church have contrived to make so generally prevalent, different and discordant attributes are ascribed to the Three Divine Persons. Thus the first is stated to be in the highest degree vindictive, and implacable without a sufficient atonement, which must be no less than the blood of an innocent Person, his own Son; and even after agreeing to accept such atonement, he is represented as still requiring something more, namely, the continual intercession of the Victim, after his restoration to life, in behalf of guilty sinners, for whom the penalty of death has already been paid. The second Person is considered as propitious, and merciful in his nature, having nothing of a vindictive character in his disposition, but willing to give full satisfaction to his incensed Father, while he himself requires nothing of the kind for his own offended Majesty. Lastly, the third Person is represented as neither giving nor requiring satisfaction, not at all interfering with the proposed plan of redemption, but leaving it to be settled by the Father and the Son as they should think proper, and standing as it were on tip-toe, ready to execute the commands or good-pleasure of the two former, wherever his services may become necessary. These are only some of the points, which might be adduced from the doctrines of the Tripersonal scheme, to disprove all that is said about the Unity or even Unanimity of the Three Divine Persons; but they are quite sufficient to satisfy any unprejudiced and intelligent mind, that the whole fabrick of theology built on such a sandy foundation, is a gross delusion, equally repugnant to the true sense of Scripture, and to the common reason of mankind, as well as destructive of all rational faith in the very Being of a God. {229}

With these considerations in view, yet willing to hope that some real conviction of the exclusive Divinity of the Saviour of the World, beyond the mere routine of phrases borrowed from the Scriptures, had providentially taken place in the Imperial and Royal minds; at the same time being desirous to have it universally known, that the religious principles professed by the three Monarchs in the terms of the Convention or Holy Alliance entered into by them respectively, were actually those of the New Jerusalem, though little suspected to be so by a great portion of the reading public; I was induced, at the earnest request of some pious and intelligent friends in Manchester, to make known my sentiments on the occasion, in a small pamphlet, entitled “Remarks on the Holy League, lately entered into by their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia; wherein they openly profess, and recommend to their own subjects, and to the Christian World at large, the Two Essential and Distinguishing Articles of the New Church, called the New Jerusalem.” These Remarks, ‘or at least the substance of them, together with a copy of the New Christian Treaty of Alliance, usually called the Holy League, or the Holy Alliance, and the subsequent Manifesto of the Emperor of Russia, being intimately connected with the History of the New Church, on account of their apparent tendency, to spread and support its doctrines, in the political as well as religious world, the Author here submits to the public, as a testimony of his best wishes and efforts to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth, the new and everlasting gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. {230}

REMARKS ON THE HOLY LEAGUE.

“It is with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction of mind, that the Author of the following pages now takes up his pen to address the public on a subject of the very first importance to the welfare and happiness of millions of human beings, who make a profession of the Christian name, and in this character have been hitherto agreed in their acknowledgment of a Trinity of Divine Persons in the Godhead, but who are now in the most open manner invited by their respective Sovereigns, henceforth to follow their steps in confessing, and consequently (as we have a right to expect) in worshipping, not Three Divine Persons in succession, nor one of them for the sake of another, as heretofore, but the One Only God of heaven and earth, namely, our ever-blessed and adorable Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST.
“It appears by the public journals, that a most important document has lately been published at Petersburgh, by authority of the Emperor Alexander, containing articles of a Convention entered into at Paris, in September, 1815, and signed by the three Sovereigns of Austria Prussia, and Russia; the first of whom is a Roman Catholic, the second a Protestant, and the third a professor of the Greek Church, which in doctrine and worship is nearly the same as the Roman Catholic. Nor is it a little remarkable, that these three Sovereigns, met together in Convention, unite in their own persons the three grand divisions of the Christian Church. They may therefore be said to represent the whole of the Christian community: and as they have given a proof of the enlightened and benevolent spirit, by which they are actuated, we cannot but indulge the hope, that the truly Christian Alliance, which they have now entered into, may form a new era of the Church, and be succeeded by a general reformation, both in religious principles and in moral life.
“In the preamble to the articles of this Convention, which they justly denominate a Holy Alliance, the three Christian Princes before named, make a solemn acknowledgment of the manifest interposition of the Divine Providence in the late arduous struggles for national independence, and declare their fixed resolution to take for their sole guide, in public as well as in private concerns, the too long neglected principles of justice, Christian charity, and peace.
“They then proceed, in the first article of their Treaty, to bind themselves, by the indissoluble bonds of love and brotherly affection, to aid and assist each other on all occasions, to act as fathers towards their respective subjects, and to stand forward as the protectors of religion, peace, and justice.
“In the second article, to which the attention of the    reader is particularly called, the three Allied Princes, after stating, that no other principle shall hereafter guide their steps, than that of good-will and mutual affection to each other, as members of one and the same Christian family, jointly and unanimously confess and declare, that they themselves possess no authority but what has been delegated or entrusted to them by Divine Providence; ‘that the Christian nation, of which they and their people form a part, has in reality no other Sovereign, than Him to whom alone power really belongs, because in HIM alone are found all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom,- that is to say, GOD OUR DIVINE SAVIOR, the Word of the Most High, the Word of Life.’ They then recommend to their people, ‘to strengthen themselves every day more and more in the principles and exercise of the duties, which the Divine Saviour has taught to mankind.’
“The third article contains an invitation to all other Powers, who shall find themselves disposed to avow these sacred principles, to join them in this Holy League.
“How far the English translation of the Treaty in question may be correct, we cannot undertake to say; but there is reason to believe, that in sense and substance it differs in no essential point from the original. Copies of it have been already very generally circulated throughout the kingdom: but we think the contents of a document so highly interesting, and so evidently announcing the Two Essential Doctrines of the New and True Christian Church, otherwise called the New Jerusalem, have not as yet been sufficiently noticed, either by the public writers or public speakers in this country. And certainly it is too valuable a testimony of that great change of public sentiment and feeling, which has taken place in our day, as one of the signs of the Lord’s Second Advent, to be suffered to pass without the most decided marks of our admiration, as well as approbation.
“We shall, therefore, before we proceed with our observations, insert a copy of the New Christian Treaty above named, together with the Manifesto accompanying it, by the Emperor of Russia, which in their own nature must, on some future day, bear consequences that cannot at present be duly estimated; since they have a direct tendency to prepare the minds of a great proportion of the inhabitants of Europe for the reception of the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, especially its two leading and fundamental articles, which are to the following purport:-
“I. That there is only One God in One Divine Person, in whom nevertheless is a Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, similar to the human trinity in every individual man, of soul, body, and proceeding operation; and that our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST is that One God. {231}
“II. That, if man would be saved, he must not only believe in the Lord, but also live, or endeavour to live, according to his divine precepts of love and charity, shunning evils of every description as sins against him.”

Copy of the NEW CHRISTIAN TREATY OF ALLIANCE, usually called the HOLY LEAGUE, entered into at Paris, the 26th day of September, 1815, by their Majesties the EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, the KING OF PRUSSIA, and the EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.

“In the Name of the Most Holy and Indivisible TRINITY.
“Their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, having, in consequence of the great events which have marked the course of the last three years in Europe, and especially of the blessings which it has pleased Divine Providence to shower down upon those States which place their confidence and their hope on it alone, acquired the intimate conviction of the necessity of founding the conduct to be observed by those Powers in their reciprocal relations, upon the sublime truths which the holy religion of our Saviour teaches,
“They solemnly declare, that the present Act has no other object than to publish, in the face of the whole world, their fixed resolution, both in the administration of their respective States, and in their political relations with every other Government, to take for their sole guide the precepts of that holy religion, namely, the precepts of justice, Christian charity, and peace, which, far from being applicable only to private concerns, must have an immediate influence on the Councils of Princes and guide all their steps, as being the only means of consolidating human institutions, and remedying their imperfections.
“In consequence, their Majesties have agreed on the following Articles:-
“Art. 1. Conformable to the words of the Holy Scriptures, which command all men to consider each other as brethren, the three contracting Monarchs will remain united by the bonds of a true and indissoluble fraternity; and considering each other as fellow-countrymen, they will on all occasions, and in all places, lend each other aid and assistance; and regarding themselves towards their subjects and armies as fathers of families, they will lead them in the same spirit of fraternity, with which they are animated, to protect religion, peace, and justice.
“Art. 2. In consequence, the sole principle in force, whether between the said Governments, or between their subjects, shall be that of doing each other reciprocal service, and of testifying by unalterable good will the mutual affection with which they ought to be animated, to consider themselves all as members of one and the same Christian Nation. The three allied Princes looking on themselves as merely delegated by Providence to govern three branches of one family, namely, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, thus Confessing that the Christian Nation, of which they and their people form a part, has in reality no other Sovereign than Him to whom alone power really belongs, because in Him alone are found all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom, that is to say, GOD OUR DIVINE SAVIOUR, the Word of the Most High, the Word of Life. Their Majesties consequently recommend to their people, with the most tender solicitude, as the sole means of enjoying that peace which arises from a good conscience, and which alone is durable, to strengthen themselves every day more and more in the principles and exercise of the duties, which the Divine Saviour has taught to mankind.
“Art. 3. All the Powers, who shall choose solemnly to avow the sacred principles which have dictated the present Act, and shall acknowledge how important it is for the happiness of Nations too long agitated, that those truths should henceforth exercise over the destinies of mankind all the influence which belongs to them, will be received with equal ardour and affection into this Holy Alliance.
“Done in triplicate, and signed at Paris, in the year of grace, 1815, (14, O. S.) 26th Sept.

“(L. S.) FRANCIS.
“(L. S.) FREDERICK WILLIAM
“(L. S.) ALEXANDER.

“Conformable to the original,

(Signed) “ALEXANDER.”

“Done at St. Petersburgh, the day of the Birth of our Saviour, the 25th of Dec. 1815.” {323}

“Copy of the MANIFESTO of the EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.

“We, Alexander I., by God’s Grace, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, &c.
“Make known: As we have learned from experience, and its direful consequences to all the world, that the course of former political connexions between the Powers of Europe had not the true principles for their basis, on which the wisdom of God, in his Revelation, has founded the tranquillity and prosperity of nations, therefore We, in concert with their Majesties, the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia, have proceeded to establish an Alliance, (to which the other Christian Powers are invited to accede,) in which we mutually bind ourselves, both for us and our subjects, to adopt, as the only means of attaining that end, the principle derived from the words and religion of our Saviour JESUS CHRIST, who teaches mankind to live as brethren, not in hatred and strife, but in peace and love. We pray the Almighty that he may send down his blessing thereon; yea, may this Holy Alliance be confirmed between all Powers for their general welfare; and may no one, unrestrained by the unanimity of the rest, dare to depart therefrom. We therefore order a copy of this Alliance hereto annexed to be made generally known, and read in all the Churches.”

The first sentiment, perhaps, that will arise in the mind of every unprejudiced and enlightened person, on reading these highly important documents, will be that of approbation mingled with admiration; and he will immediately be led to inquire, Whence is all this? What can have prompted these three illustrious Sovereigns, in our day, more than in times past, in the first place to concur in the propriety and even necessity of a religious Treaty, that seems to have no other object or end in view, than the peace and happiness of mankind; in the next place to depart from the old beaten, and, it is to be hoped, now nearly worn-out path, of acknowledging a God divided into three distinct Persons, and to hold up to the Christian world at large, and to their own subjects in particular, as the Sole Object worthy of their adoration, as the Sole Fountain of love, wisdom, and power, and consequently as the One Only God of heaven and earth, the Divine Saviour, JESUS CHRIST? And how is it that they have now for the first time discovered, that the political connexions and intercourse between the various Powers Of Europe, were not heretofore founded on the principles of the true Christian religion; and that so long as any other Divine Person is acknowledged than JESUS CHRIST, or any other precepts of life, than those of love and mutual affection which he delivered to mankind, are acted upon, it will be impossible either for nations or individuals to enjoy a state of permanent tranquillity and happiness?
Questions like these cannot receive a more satisfactory solution, than by referring, at once to that great event, so long predicted, and which the many signs of the times have already most distinctly proclaimed to be now taking place in the world, namely, the Second Advent of our blessed Lord in the power and glory of his Holy Word. It is the near approach of heaven to man, that has in a great degree dispersed, and is still continuing to disperse, the thick clouds of superstition, intolerance, and darkness, from the human mind, and introducing in their place sentiments of love, universal benevolence, and mutual forbearance, together with the cheering beams of divine light; by virtue of which Princes and their subjects begin to feel a new impulse, while the principles of the true Christian religion, now better understood than ever, are taking a new direction, in consequence of the acknowledgment of One God in one Divine Person alone, who is seen to be no other than our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ himself. It is the New Jerusalem descending from above, in the midst of which is raised the standard of peace, concord, and love, that bids the nations of the earth to cease from anger, to forsake their wrath,” and to learn war no more; teaching them to “beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” It is the spirit of life from the true God, that has entered into the heretofore dead bodies of the two witnesses, which have been lying for the space of three days and a half without interment in the street of the great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified, and now causes them to stand upon their feet; while fear and astonishment fall, like lightning and thunderbolts, upon their distracted enemies. In short, it is the voice of the seventh angel, who is now sounding the last trumpet, and the shout of countless multitudes in heaven, who are now witnessing the fulfilment of prophecy, and the accomplishment of the deep mysteries of God, that proclaims in the ears of the people, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever,” Apoc. xi. 15.
But who are they that call in question the necessity of this Holy Alliance, into which the united Sovereigns have entered, and to the performance of which they have pledged their honour, their integrity, and their character as defenders and promoters of the true Christian faith? {233} Who are they, that presume to avow, in the face of the world, that the spirit of Christianity was already universally known and cherished, that its precepts of love were sufficiently cultivated by the professors of religion; that the families of mankind needed no other bonds of union, than such as they heretofore possessed; and that the new Royal Association is little better than a revival of the hateful spirit of persecution and fanaticism, which in former ages, under the pretence of a holy seal for the recovery of the land and birth-place of Redemption, carried war and desolation from Europe into Palestine? They are the men who can perceive no corruptions or abuses, except in the Civil State; no necessity for a reform, except in Elections and Parliamentary Representation; no need of any purification, but such as affects the outside of the cup and platter; while the internal principle of religion, which, like the first power in a piece of mechanism, governs all the movements of the body natural and political is either regarded as a matter of perfect indifference, or else adjudged to have no real existence in society.
But religion is, or ought to be, the spring of action both with individuals and with nations: according to the quality and state of religion in each case, such will always be the character of their acts, whether they be of a public or a private nature. Hence we may see the great importance of a genuine radical reform in the first principles of religion, such as has been lately announced by the three Crowned Heads on the Continent, in their own proper characters, and not by their ministers, as usual, consisting of an entirely new acknowledgment, on their part, of JESUS CHRIST alone as the Supreme God, and an equally new determination to make his will the unalterable rule of their future life. This is, indeed, that “new song,” which none can sing, but they who, “being redeemed from among men, follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.” These, having “obtained the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name;” that is, being at length emancipated from the shackles of that erroneous doctrine, heretofore so universally prevalent in the Christian Church, which divides the Godhead into Three Persons, instead of uniting it in one, and which teaches that salvation is attainable by a mere act of faith, without any regard to the life; and having, moreover, “the harps of God in their hands,” in other words, making an open confession of the Lord from the genuine principles of charity and faith united, may be said, in conjunction with their elder brethren in heaven, “to sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest,” Apoc. xv. 2 to 4.
To FRANCIS, FREDERICK-WILLIAM, and ALEXANDER, has been reserved the glory of commencing, in a public official way, a work of far greater importance to the real welfare and happiness of mankind, than the Reformation effected by Luther, Calvin, and Melanchton, in the sixteenth century; or than the patronage given to the Christian religion by the Emperor Constantine the Great, in the fourth century; or indeed than any event, which history records, since the first promulgation of the Gospel by our Lord himself and his apostles. In the two periods alluded to, when the Church received its patronage and its reform, no real change of principle could be discovered; though in the one case an amelioration took place in the external condition of those who professed the Christian name, and in the other case certain gross abuses were corrected, while the essential doctrines of the corrupted Church relative to the person and attributes of the Divine Being were still retained, and the dangerous error of justification by faith alone more widely propagated and confirmed.
But now two Emperors and a King, seriously reflecting on the past and present states of Christian society in Europe, and observing that the different nations composing that society have been continually harassing each other with their jealousies, intrigues, ambitious projects, and open wars, are providentially led to compare this conduct with the divine precepts and injunctions contained in that very Gospel, which they all in common profess to make the standard of their faith and practice. And they find, in the Words of the Imperial Manifesto, “that the course of former political connexions between the Powers of Europe had not the true principles for their basis, on which the wisdom of God, in his Revelation, has founded the tranquillity and prosperity of nations.” Being thus fully assured, that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will;” that “he changeth the times and the seasons” according to his own good pleasure; that “he removeth kings, and setteth up kings;” and that nothing less than a true acknowledgment of Him the Incarnate God, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, JESUS CHRIST, together with a life in strict conformity to the heavenly precepts of justice, charity, and peace, can secure for the future his divine protection and blessing; they have therefore, for themselves, and for their respective subjects, mutually engaged to adopt this faith, this law of love, in all their public and private acts, in all their foreign and domestic relations. {234} And they further, in the most solemn and formal manner, yet in the true spirit of brotherly affection and good-will, invite all the other Christian Powers, who are willing to avow the sacred principles now proclaimed, and to adopt them in practice, to join them in this Holy Alliance, which is so well calculated to put an end to all strife and contention, as well on political as on religious subjects, to give an extension to sentiments of liberality and kindness never yet experienced in the world, and to restore to immediate enjoyment the golden age of peace, harmony, and love.
The order, in which a genuine reform may most probably be effected in this country, if ever it should take effect, is conceived to be as follows. The seed of this reform has already been sown in the land, the root has struck deep and wide into the soil, and the germ is now opening in the spring of the year. In plainer language, the divine truths of the Holy Word, seen and understood in heavenly light agreeably to the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, have been promulgated and circulated now for some years in almost every considerable town and village of England: they have been received in silence, but with joy and gratitude to the Sower, who is the Son of Man himself, by minds duly prepared for so rich a treasure: and they are now beginning to manifest their reforming virtues in a multiplicity of useful and beneficent acts, both public and private. Of the numerous individuals, not yet associated together, who have embraced the doctrines alluded to, many are to be found in the National Church, and many among Dissenters of almost every denomination. But, besides these, societies are from time to time springing up, whose express object it is to adopt for themselves, and to disseminate among others, those principles of doctrine and of life, which they believe alone capable of effecting a genuine and permanent reform amongst all classes of the community. We are willing also to believe, that in due time these principles must extend themselves still more generally, until they find their way into the houses of the great and honourable men of the land. And then it may be reasonably expected, that the various Acts of an enlightened and conscientious Legislature, dictated by true Christian virtue, and framed in wisdom, will by degrees correct every abuse that has crept into the system of our Government, and finally, to a certain degree establish, even on earth, under the divine auspices of the Incarnate God our Saviour, his everlasting kingdom of peace, happiness, and love.
But if it should unfortunately be found, that the Hierarchy of the Church of England contains in itself, and presents before others, insurmountable obstacles to the introduction of a genuine reform in its constitution and principles, as it is much to be feared, from the express allusion to it in Apoc. xvi. 12 to 16, that it actually does; then the new and true Christian religion must remain in a state of relative depression in this the proper land of its nativity, while in distant climes it will, in all probability, meet with a more honoured and cordial reception; because none of those narrow prejudices arising from the fancied pre-eminence of a National Establishment, none of those baneful hopes of wealth, honour, and preferment, which tend to extinguish the love of truth in the minds of too many here, can be supposed to operate in a country, where no discredit attaches to the profession of any religious principles whatever, and where comparatively but little temptation exists to put the question, “Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him?” John vii. 48.
From the latest information it appears, that the doctrines of the New Jerusalem are widely circulating in the United States of North America; that some of the most distinguished characters in public, as well as in private life, are among the number of those who make an open profession of them; that in some provinces able Ministers are going forth to evangelize the inhabitants; that in others Temples are erected for the worship of the One True God JESUS CHRIST; and that multitudes are flocking to the standard of the LAMB, many of whom have been already baptized into the faith, which acknowledges Him alone. It is highly probable, therefore, that the New Church will flourish among the Gentile Nations of the world, including the White, the Black, and the Red Families of mankind, to a degree surpassing all human calculation; and that the light of revelation, which first rose in the eastern, and now irradiates the western hemisphere, will, after making the circle of the earth, at length become stationary in the New Heaven, wherein “the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days,” Isa. xxx. 26. Then also will that other prophecy receive its accomplishment, which says, “Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. {235} Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified,” Isa. lx. 20, 21.
The blessings here anticipated from a very general diffusion and reception of the great doctrines of the true Christian religion, at length purged from the gross errors of tripersonal or tritheistic worship, and delivered from the spirit of intolerance, uncharitableness, and discord, heretofore so predominant in the world, may perhaps be thought of too celestial and pure a nature to be realized by man in his present earthly and imperfect state. They have, however, been distinctly promised by the Author of revelation: and if the womb of Heaven be already pregnant with them, as the most evident demonstrations announce, there must shortly be a delivery into the lap of those who are prepared to receive the divine gift. Indeed every thing around us proclaims aloud, that we are entering upon a new Era. By the extraordinary occurrences, that mark the times in which we live; by the general expectation (similar to that which prevailed at the time of our Lord’s First or Personal Advent in the flesh) of some great event now about to take place; by the new and successful institutions for promoting the instruction and reformation of the poor; by that splendid moral phenomenon, the association of men of every name and character for the purpose of disseminating the Sacred Scriptures through every region of the globe; and at length by that (if possible) still more splendid Act of Imperial and Royal devotion, the Covenant of Love, Friendship, Justice, and Peace, into which Three Great Monarchs of Europe have mutually entered, holding up to mankind the true sense of those Scriptures, and inviting them to observe their divine contents; not to mention other undoubted and infallible signs from heaven; we are distinctly instructed, that now is the period of the Lord’s Second Advent in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory; (i. e. in both the literal and spiritual sense of his Holy Word;) that now the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is descending from on high; and that henceforth “God our Divine Saviour, in whom alone are found all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom,” as well expressed by the three Sovereigns of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, shall be acknowledged by the Church on earth, as he has ever been by the Church in heaven.
Having now laid before the reader the Treaty of Alliance between their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, together with the manifesto of the latter, whereby they mutually bind themselves, both for themselves and their subjects, to adopt, as the only means of securing the tranquillity and prosperity of nations, the true principles of the Christian religion;- having seen also what those true principles are, which these illustrious Princes have not been able to discover in the former political connexions between the Powers of Europe, namely, the acknowledgement of our Divine Saviour JESUS CHRIST, as the One Only Omnipotent, Omniscient, and All-merciful God, in conjunction with an actual life of justice, integrity, peace, and love;- and having made such cursory observations as the important contents of the documents above referred to naturally suggested, we have only further to add, that TRUTH and CONSISTENCY, now in their turn, imperiously demand, that the New Treaty thus entered into, and thus publicly announced in the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity, (that is, in the name of the Supreme God JESUS CHRIST, in whom that Trinity is included,) and in the ears of all nations, peoples, and languages, throughout the Christian World, be henceforth put into a state of vital and permanent activity. Not only must the political transactions between nation and nation be founded on principles of true honour, integrity, justice, and conscience; but the reform must extend to all the social and domestic concerns between man and man. Religion and moral virtue must henceforth mark all the proceedings, public and private, of those involved in the terms of the Treaty. The three Sovereigns have bound themselves, not for themselves alone, but at the same time for their Ministers, their Agents, their Clergy, their Subjects at large, to live up to their new Christian profession: and though it cannot be expected, that the recommendation to this effect, issued by these virtuous and conscientious Princes, will in all cases be strictly observed by their subjects, yet a general improvement in the religious and moral character of the nations, over which they preside, is anticipated, and surely cannot fail to be the desirable consequence.
“For this purpose, as a necessary and most essential medium of reform, an entirely new system of Christianity must be immediately adopted, and together with it new forms, or at least corrected forms, of public worship, new creeds or confessions of faith, and other services of the Church, in agreement with the Imperial and Royal declaration, which expressly acknowledges the Saviour JESUS CHRIST to be the Only Sovereign of heaven and earth. For if, ‘in Him alone are found all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom,’ then He alone must be the Everlasting Father, as well as the Son born in time, consequently the only proper Object of worship, to whom all prayer praise, and glorification, ought by right to be addressed, in every ceremony, office, and duty of the Church. {236} And this is plainly the doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures, as well as the doctrine avowed by the three Crowned Heads in their late Treaty of Alliance, Their Proclamation or Manifesto is noble, generous, Christian-like; and it is worthy of being followed up in all its spirit and life. Nothing less can restore the nations to the simplicity and integrity of primitive times: nothing less can render them worthy of the name of their Divine Master and Lord, so long abused, degraded, denied, or falsified, but now about to be inscribed on their standards, foreheads, and hearts, as the great and glorious Name, alone to be sanctified, honoured, and held in everlasting remembrance.
“The olive branch of peace, harmony, and love, is now lifted up, and waves in the air. The virtuous and good of all nations hail it with acclamations of joy; while the sowers of discord, the disturbers of the world, the violators of public tranquillity, are either hushed into silence, or driven to despair, at least for one happy moment of our existence. But how long will this serenity endure? How long will this calm of life be enjoyed by the heretofore afflicted, but now comforted inhabitants of Europe? The answer is ready: So long as, and no longer than, they regulate their conduct by the pure evangelical precepts of that holy religion, which teaches mutual love and affection, justice, integrity, temperance, and humility. But such virtues, to be genuine and permanent, must be derived from their only proper source and fountain, that is, from the Saviour, JESUS CHRIST himself, in whom alone those heavenly treasures are to be found. If any other Person be acknowledged as Divine, any other object of worship be set up in the heart, or preached in the temple in other words, if the forms and practice of religious worship, which at present prevail in the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Protestant Churches, be still continued, and solemnly rehearsed, without amendment at least in this one point, which is the great hinge upon which the whole of Christianity turns; under these circumstances we do not consider it presumption, but on the contrary find ourselves authorized by the Sacred Scriptures, to declare with the utmost confidence, that neither the good understanding which now prevails among the United Sovereigns, nor the peace which now smiles on the earth, can possibly be maintained for any great length of time.
“A multiplicity of Objects of worship must, in the nature of things, beget a multiplicity of jarring interests; or, what is the same thing, a division of the One God into Three Distinct Persons, to each of whom are ascribed properties or attributes incommunicable to the others, and one of whom is addressed for the sake of the other, and not the whole God for his own sake, must and ever will produce discord in the Church, parties in the State, and war among the Nations. As it was in former times with the Jewish and Israelitish people, so it is now, and will be in all future ages, with those who make a profession of the Christian name: every deviation from the worship of the One Only True God of heaven and earth, whether it be by departing altogether from him, or by setting up some other in conjunction with him, will inevitably bring with it a scourge, either of famine, of enemies, or of pestilence. For, however these effects may appear to arise from merely natural causes, it will yet on mature examination be found, that the perverted state of religion, or the total want of it, among the different societies of mankind, is the true spiritual and primary cause of the many calamities, which they so often experience.
“A certain jealousy on this subject, it must be acknowledged, still rises in the mind, a fear lest our hopes have been too sanguine, our prospects too brilliant to be realized in all their fulness. Are the three Allied Sovereigns themselves conscious of the full purport of their own Act? Do they know the extent, to which their language, by just interpretation, may be fairly carried? Have they well considered, that they have, by the terms of their Holy League, virtually renounced the odious and absurd doctrine of a Trinity divided into distinct Persons, and in its stead promulgated the true scriptural doctrine of a Divine Trinity undivided and indivisible, because united in the One Person of their Divine Saviour? Or have they, after all, been proclaiming, in different languages, the high title of the KING OF KINGS, without being prepared to give any other reason for the fact, in answer to the inquiry of modern chief priests, than that which Pilate gave to the chief priests of his day, ‘What I have written, I have written?’ John xix. 22.
“The clouds of doubt and suspicion, we confess, are not yet entirely dissipated; they linger in the horizon, and seem unwilling to quit the land, over which they have so long cast a chilling shade. O what will be the final result? And when will the Sun of Righteousness drink up or dispel from the earth those mists, still visible to the mental eye, and take entire possession of our hemisphere?- {237} Silent as death is the proud wisdom of man on this important occasion. ‘I will (therefore) hear what God Jehovah will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: BUT LET THEM NOT TURN AGAIN TO FOLLY. Surely his salvation is nigh unto them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land,’ Ps. lxxxv. 8, 9.
“In conclusion; whatever may be the tide of events, this is our sheet-anchor, this is our assurance: At the name of JESUS CHRIST every knee must bow. The predictions contained in the Holy Word at large, and especially in the last book, concerning the present and future states of the Christian Church, must have their full accomplishment. The great Author of Revelation has pronounced the word: and nothing can be plainer to an enlightened mind, than that the whole angelic heaven has been put in a state of actual requisition, to serve as a medium for the conveyance, to mankind, of those divine energies, which are already in operation. ‘He maketh his angels spirits, (winds,) his ministers a flaming fire,’ Ps. civ. 4. The power of divine truth is urgent to perform its purpose, and the flame of divine love is lighted up.- See! see how the guilty fly, and cover their heads from the storm! Now they call upon the mountains and the rocks to hide them from the face of the Lamb;- and now they are scattered like chaff, and disappear from the sight. For ‘the first heaven and the first earth are passed away, and behold! all things are become new,’ Apoc. xxi 1, 5.”

On the 11th of June, 1815, a place of worship, capable of containing about three hundred persons, was opened for the use of the New Church, in Cockspur Street, Liverpool. By particular invitation, the services of that day were performed by me, in the presence of full congregations; the Minister engaged to officiate there regularly, was a resident, of very respectable talents as a public speaker and preacher. On his removal from Liverpool, a variety of other leaders succeeded each other, and place after place was hired, until Mr. R. G. Sheldon was appointed to the office, who continues to fulfil the pastoral duties to the satisfaction of one of the two societies which now exist in that town.