THE New-Jerufalem Magazine; 1790. A LETTER to Mr. N—, concerning SWEDENBORG'S LIFE and WRITINGS, and their Relation to the prefent Times, which may be confidered here as a proper INTRODUCTIO N. "It is a Land full of Mifery and Darkness, and of the "Shadow of Death, without any Order, and where the 66 Light is as Darkness." JOB, chap. x. v. 22. ITUATED like yourself, Sir, I am an inhabitant of this lower world, but the troubles infefting it have not fhaken my belief; and I hope that the mifery of mankind will never induce me to deny a God, nor bring me into the Manichæan error, to believe that evil is equally eternal and immutable with good. Against the torrent of this corruption of the age, I will oppofe religion and good morals. The evil originates from the earth; but the remedy is to be fought in heaven.-Since mankind deftroyed the ancient tie between politics and morals, virtue and happiness are fled from them. Having ceafed to love God and their neighbour, they are become evil and unhappy. Corrupted manners and sciences, pride of birth and rank, contempt of laws, delight in wars, selfishnefs, and covetoufnefs; thefe are our enemies. It is easy to mention them, but the Lord God only can conquer them. The The corruption of manners (it is much to be lamented} has originated with the fex, too many of whom are, at this day, become dangerous, though the Lord, for our fakes, endowed them with fo much beauty, and defigned for mutual happiness. The defires with which they inspire us fhould be the origin of all good; for, marriage is the foundation of society. When private families are virtuous and peaceable, the whole kingdom, which altogether is a large family, is preferved in profperity and true happiness. Private life is the most happy, the most innocent, being the parent of fimplicity and humility, and is productive of fublime thoughts and good works; but this private or domeftic life, being held in contempt and deteftation, people rush into the world, like wild beafts into the field of combat, to tear each other in pieces; and, in the very enjoyment of laws, arts, and feiences, (of which they feem to be proud,) they live like brutes; and their elegant cities, their courts of juftice, their theatres, and shining palaces, refemble, in many respects, the dens of robbers. But why? Becaufe Conjugal Love, and with it parental fondness, filial piety, and fraternal love, are extinguished; for this love is, as it were, the fource and fupport of the general love of our neighbour. In oppofition to these honorable and religious affections, mankind have devoted themselves to debauchery, which debafes both body and foul; and to worldly levity, which prefers folly to reason; they have loved luxury, which renders man cruel and ftupid, fince it induces him to defpife or efteem his equals, according to their attire and figure. Thefe misfortunes are not to be alleviated by means of human fciences, which I call corrupt, having loft their true and real objects. The ftudy of nature, which ought to lead the beholder to its divine Author, has, on the contrary, removed the wife, fo called among us, farther from him. Placed between heaven and earth, inftead of lifting up their eyes, they have fixed them on objects below themselves. By their fenfes alone they have examined the impreffions of things thereon; and, being crampt and confined to this fcience of their external fenfes, they have regarded the indications of these natural organs as the light of the understanding, instead of submitting them to a fuperior tribunal; for, light, which in the fcriptural sense is wifdom, is from heaven: She is a fream, flowing from the The glory of the Almighty; therefore can no defiled thing fall into her. She is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unfpotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness. Wisdom of Solomon, vii. v. 25, 26. Religion, thus rejected by the learned and the vicious, could not eafily gain admittance to the palaces of the great. When mortals, without any other pretenfions than wealth, ftrove to become exalted and noble, they became proud and oppreffive; and, in the eyes of fuch, HE is nothing, WHO is but a man. This contempt between fellow-creatures has long fince produced contempt of the laws which are to govern them. The laws are the concurrence of the will, and are a power proceeding from the fupreme understanding; namely, the Divine Wisdom, which firft gave laws; but, in order to obferve thefe, it is neceffary we should first have justice in our hearts; that we may do good, we must firft love it. "Without morals, what are the laws?" faid one of the fineft geniuses in the Auguftan age. In fact, good morals produce humanity and mutual love: thefe are the fureft guardians of the laws which, by themselves, are but a covenant of benevolence. These ties of mutual benevolence, which pride defpifes, are entirely destroyed by the defire and cuftom of waging wars. Juft heaven! Wars between loving and reasonable creatures! Wars between mankind, who have but a few moments to pass on this earth, where both their present and future happiness depend on their mutual love! But we must destroy each other, is the cry of all Europe. The trumpet of war proclaims the differences of princes; the fignal of inhumanity is given, and thousands of men rush forwards to flay each other, without knowing the cause, and without either gaining or lofing by the issue. Whole provinces, overwhelmed by this destructive torrent, lose their inhabitants, their herds, their flocks, and their produce. The fword, artillery, provifions for the war, defertion, debauchery, and unwholesome seasons, complete the defolation; armies of 100,000 men diffolve like ice;but they may be recruited. Yes, perhaps, fome blood remains to be fhed; but gold is wanted; it is then they begin to think on peace, and a quarrel is amicably adjufted, which, if fooner fettled, would not have defolated the earth, and offended heaven. This, however, is the hiftory of all nations, even of modern times; it is this which confumes their wealth, and the fruit of their labour; which prevents governments from amending their internal constitution and morals. Of old, this calamity was not perpetual; after battles, armies were disbanded; but, now, war continues in the midft of the calms of peace. Nay, in the Genevan Philofopher himself, we find that, in a wifely formed fociety, every citizen is a foldier by duty, but not by force or profeffion. The wife of all nations have been fuffered to think and talk as they pleased; war has, nevertheless, continued to be, like commerce and law, a fcience and trade. Cruel and unwise people! your deftructive schemes are noxious to morals, to agriculture, to population, to arts, to fcience, and every thing valuable to man. You know, Sir, how far an inclination for earthly things has drawn men from the thoughts of coeleftial concerns. They come into this world naked, but live as if they were to carry gold away; they forget that virtue is the only riches, and that it will avail but little, at the hour of departure, to lift, towards heaven, hands polluted with avarice and deceit, Shall I point out to you all the pains and misfortunes produced by felfifhnefs, and the defire of money? Shall I fhew to you the depredations of this cruel monfter, whofe name I do not know, that is robbing with one hand to lavish with the other? No; when I wish to afford mankind comfort and remedies, I ought not to afflict them by melancholy pictures of their own mifery, The evil is fufficiently known; I have only to point out the fprings, to fhew how far it is gone, and to what height it is rifen. But this unhappy state of things cannot probably laft longer; the face of the earth must be changed; the evil that corrodes us, being of this world, cannot be infinite; arrived at its limits, it must be destroyed; but, this is only to be done by philanthropy, and by the regeneration of the human heart. To effect this great work, the fublimeft and moft refined politics are infufficient. Let us, therefore, turn ourselves to him, who alone can give ftrength to the endeavours of man. Perhaps the times appointed in his wifdom are now at hand if fo, he must have revealed it to fome chofen fervant. If, in our days, one of our fellow mortals, affirming himself to be a Meffenger from God, has dared to |