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this publication is designed chiefly for those who are not established in every good word and work: and therefore I thought it better to give line upon line, and precept upon precept, than to leave any thing wanting to complete the conviction of such as are in anywise susceptible of it. There are many more passages in the bible of the same import with those quoted above, which have been purposely omitted for the sake of brevity. may be objected, "that every one who has a bible has all the above quotations comprehended in it." This is undeniable. But then it is also true that many have a bible who have neither leisure, talent, nor industry sufficient to collect and collate all the scriptures that bear upon any one point of doctrine and therefore it is the duty of those who can and will,—“ to seek out and set in order many words." (Eccles. xii. 9.)

OF THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS AND DEVILS ACCORDING TO BARON SWEDENBORG'S DOCTRINE.

The following extract will explicitly shew the Baron's doctrine on this subject.

"That heaven and hell are from mankind, is a doctrine entirely unknown in the christian world, it being therein believed by all, that the angels

were first created such, and so heaven became their dwelling and that the devil or Satan was an angel of light, but on revolting from his obedience was cast down from heaven, together with his rebellious crew, and that so hell came from them. It is their (the angels') desire that I would declare upon assurance from them, that there is not a single angel in the universal heaven, that was created such at first, nor a single devil in hell that had been an angel of light, and afterwards cast out from heaven; but that all, both in heaven and in hell, are of the human race; in the former, such as had lived in the world in heavenly love and faith, and in the latter, such as had lived in hellish affections and dispositions.” Treatise Concerning Heaven and Hell, No. 311.

The Baron supports this doctrine chiefly, as I understand him, by the following text, "And I John saw these things, and heard them, and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God." (Rev. xxii. 8, 9, see also Rev. xix. 10.)

Now, what can be fairly inferred from this text

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but that the angel forbade John to pay him divine honour, because himself was but a servant to the Most High, and therefore no more than a fellowservant with both himself and the prophets. This I am certain is the opinion of the best divines. Whereas the Baron will understand the words,"I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets," to signify, "I am a departed spirit of one of thy brethren, or one of the prophets." But the premises will not warrant the conclusion; and as far as I can find, the Baron stands alone in his opinion; at least he thinks so himself, for he says in the words cited above,-"That heaven and hell are from mankind, is a doctrine entirely unknown in the christian world."

This extraordinary man, therefore, is not content with changing times and seasons in this world, but he will needs revolutionize, at least reform, the two invisible worlds! He first rectifies the person of the divine Being-then he new-models the atonement-then again he makes a new thing of the Mediatorship-after which he proceeds to abolish the resurrection - onward he goes to the day of judgment, and having snugly set that aside, he proceeds, Jehu like, to shove all the angels in heaven, as well as all the devils in hell, out of existence! Samson with his jaw-bone of an ass, was

but a puny pigmy compared with Baron Swedenborg!

There are, however, several passages in the sacred writings which will give some annoyance to the Baron's new doctrine, as for instance, "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Jude 6.

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For if God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment, &c." II. Pet. ii. 4.

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"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts

your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John viii. 44.

"Whereupon are the foundations thereof (the earth) fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof, when the morning stars (the angels) sang together, and all the sons of God (the angels) shouted for joy?" Job. xxxviii. 6, 7.

The above passages are sufficient in all reason to convince any honest mind that angels are preexistent to our world, and consequently to the

human race; how then can angels be the souls of departed saints, and devils the souls of wicked people departed out of the body?

Besides what is already advanced, there is one special argument which might puzzle even a Swedenborgian; and which is comprehended in the temptation and fall of our first parents. Now Baron Swedenborg himself allows that the serpent tempted Eve; and all reasonable people are decidedly of opinion that the devil was in the serpent, and actuated and inflenced him during the whole of the temptation. The question then is, "Where did this devil come from, seeing that no one had ever died up to this time? And if no one had died, then there must have been a devil who was not the spirit of a departed wicked man! On the other hand I find it plainly recorded, that there were good angels before any one, good or bad, had died, as the following passage will shew. "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life!" (Gen. iii. 23, 24.) Now, if devils and angels are none other than the departed spirits of men, as Baron Swedenborg