that is to say, "action;" thus, the faculty of the will operates when it wills; the faculty of the understanding operates when it understands; and the faculty of operation operates in the action proceeding from it; and in the operation or action of the third faculty, the two first faculties, the will and the understanding, are present as impulsive and guiding powers. It is evident that the word operatio is used by Swedenborg in the sense of a faculty, because it means, in his writings, something permanently existing IN the mind of man, and as truly and really existing in him when he is asleep, as when he is actually engaged in operating or acting, which of course is not the case with any operation or action in the ordinary sense of the word.

In a former paper (inserted in page 295) it was argued that, in the regenerate mind, in which the internal man has been opened, the seat of the spiritual will and understanding, and consequently of love and faith, is in the internal man; and the seat of the faculty of operation, and its acquired habits, is in the external mind; this is shewn in the following passage of Swedenborg, which at the same time demonstrates that action, or operation, is a permanent faculty, and, consequently, that the word operation does not mean merely the outward action, which is inconstant and transient :-" He who is unacquainted with the nature of the internal and external man may possibly suppose, that the internal man is that which thinks and wills, and the external that which speaks and acts it is true, indeed, that speech and action belong to the external man, and thought and will to the internal; but still these are not what essentially constitute the internal and external man. According to the notion of the generality of people, it is the mind of man which constitutes the internal man, but the mind of man itself is divided into two regions; one, which is superior and interior, is the spiritual region; and the other, which is inferior and exterior, is the natural region. * All human action and speech proceed from the inferior region of the mind directly, and from its superior region indirectly." (T.C.R. 420.)

*

*

We have been speaking hitherto of the mental trinity which, in respect to the Lord, is presented in the spiritual sense of the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which names signify the Divine Trinity IN the Lord; and the last also includes the idea of the Divine Operation or action which proceeds from, and is exercised by, the Holy Spirit, as well as the idea of the Divine faculty of Operation which is IN the Lord, and proceeds from Him actively, to all on whom He operates from and by the Spirit, or the Divine faculty of Operation which is

in Him.

Let us now speak of the Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit, as it is taught from the Literal sense of the Word, namely, as existing IN the Lord, as the Divine Essence or Soul, the Divine Humanity or Body, and the Divine Operation thence, resembling the trine IN man of soul, body, and operation. But first, adverting to the trinity in the mind, we remark that, in every minutest part of the mind there is a marriage of the will and the understanding, producing as their offspring the third faculty, operation, whence comes the capability of bringing the will and understanding into action. In like manner, in man's compound nature of soul and body, there is at every point of the meeting of the two, the generation of the third, called also (as in the mental trinity) "operation," and from this third permanently existing essential faculty, comes the capability of the soul and body of going conjointly into operation, in the ordinary sense of the word. No doubt there exists an analogy to this in the relations of the Divine Soul, Body, and Operation. (A. C. 10125.)

Thus, in both the case of the mental or spiritual Trinity in the Divine mind, consisting of the Divine faculties of Will, Understanding, and Operation, (answering to, or involving the Divine principles of Love, Wisdom, and Power) and also in the case of the literal or dogmatic Trinity in the Lord of the Divine Essence, the Divine Humanity, and the Divine Proceeding or Operation, the third (Operation) always means a faculty or essential IN the Lord, as well as action thence proceeding.*

By the help of this consideration, a novice in the doctrines will be able to reply satisfactorily, when it is objected somewhat plausibly (as often has been the case, to the embarrassment of the New Churchman) that "the third essential, called Operation, cannot be a permanent essential of the Trinity IN the Lord, if it really resembles the operation of a man; for a man's operation, or action, is not an abiding faculty, or principle, but a transient, intermitting activity, beginning, and ceasing, and having nothing of the nature of an essential permanent attribute of being." To this objection it is suitable to reply, that "although the English language does not recognise as a sense of the word "operation," that of a faculty, we use it in that sense, (and we affirm that we are entitled to do so, since the progress of science constantly requires both

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* The Lord indicated that the Holy Spirit is both in Him and proceeds from Him, by breathing on His disciples and saying, Receive ye the Holy Spirit," (or, as the original would justify, the Holy Breath.) In this case, the faculty of breathing previously existing was brought forth into action, shewing clearly the distinction between operation as a faculty, and its action.

the introduction of new words and of old words in new senses,) for we regard the Lord's Operation as unceasingly active, and consequently with Him it exists at the same time both as faculty and action; it is otherwise with man, in whom it exists potentially, or as a faculty, always, but only occasionally actually, or in action. Man has his alternations

It

of action and rest, but the Lord never slumbers nor sleeps, and therefore the faculty of operation with Him is ceaselessly active. And what reasonable objection can lie against "Operation" being thus regarded? The word understanding implies both the faculty and its action; and why may not the term operation imply both the faculty and its action ? appears desirable that the third faculty should not be described by us by any shifting sort of nomenclature. Thus, in our Catechism, in the answer to question No. 7, it is called both “ operative energy,” – and "operation." Probably this change in the term originated in the experience of the individual who composed the catechism, that some embarrassment had been felt by persons from the objection above mentioned, and so he introduced the new term " operative energy" incidentally, to help the children to a new and more just and exact idea. Let us take Swedenborg's term operatio in the sense of a faculty called "operation," (as we should do) and then the apparent difficulty will be obviated.

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Although not exactly connected with the object of this paper, it may not be useless to remark, that when the Lord makes the declaration,— I am the First and the Last," (Rev. i. 17.) He does, in effect, declare, that the whole Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit is centred in Himself; for in this declaration, "the First" signifies the Divine Essence, or the Divine in its first principles; and "the Last" signifies the Divine in its last principles, accommodated to man in his lowest condition, by and through the Divine Humanity; and in reference to the Trinity; the Father, -the first of the Trine, signifies the Divine Essence; and the Spirit,-the last of the Trine, signifies the Divine in Ultimates, as prepared for human reception: hence the following popular argument is justifiable, as being consistent with truth, namely, that "the First" is the Father, the first of the Trine; and "the Last" is the Spirit, the last of the Trine, and He who is the Speaker being obviously the second in the Trine, or the Son, in affirming that He is not only the second, but also "the first and the third or last"not only the Son, but also the Father and the Spirit-declares that the whole Trinity exists in his Person. "He that seeth me seeth the Father:" "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you."

W. M.

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THE INDIVIDUAL.

EVIDENCES are everywhere exhibited that the wisdom of God, in the operations of his Providence, is ever filled with an infinitude of love. It needs no elaborate argument to show that the good of humanity is the end of the creation; and a truth so axiomatic could only be blurred and dimmed by vain efforts to put forth a demonstration clearer or stronger than the principle itself. But there is one proof of tenderness and mercy so universally diffused and continuously present, that men forget to regard it as cause for gratitude. It breathes through the spiritual sphere as an atmosphere of vitality, and though its presence is unfelt, the want of it would be fatal: as with the outer air, we breathe it and live, still regardless and unconscious, though in its absence we perish. That Providence which momentarily recreates all things, impelling by its power and guiding by its wisdom the vast and complicated movements of the universe, present to aid, direct, and restrain, in the least as in the greatest of human affairs, works, nevertheless, in such profound secrecy and quietude as to leave mankind all unconscious of its presence, and free to think, and speak, and act, as though it were not. Everywhere present, and always omnipotent, it nowhere appears to destroy or even limit the freedom of man. The powers of earth would often oppress us with the obtrusive display of ephemeral dignities, and the magnificent accessories that adorn them; and some who would rush into the wildest licenses of evil when in the presence, though unconsciously, of the Highest, would find their misused freedom cramped into cringing and cowering servility before the "principalities. and powers" of the world. But though man is insanely bad, God will not cease to love. His laws remain immutable. Still, with infinite tenderness and care, that great boon to mankind is guarded and preserved; and in relation to Him who is the Ruler of all things, we live and move in an atmosphere of freedom.

But that freedom which Providence has been careful to preserve, both by the secrecy of its action in human affairs, and the maintenance of those conditions in the spiritual world which preserve the equilibrium of the antagonistic forces of good and evil, men have not been wise and prudent to keep. That individual freedom in matters spiritual, in which alone the souls of men, in all their indefinite varieties, can be educated and developed in strength and symmetry, has been forfeited. It has been yielded up to the demands of power-seeking priests; and in their criminal insensibility, men have held forth their hands for the

fetters, and walk manacled in creeds and live imprisoned in the dead

walls of effete and worthless forms.

Men are driven in flocks. The

individual is merged in the mass. He gives up every feature that marks him as a distinct existence, and is trimmed and pruned to the prescribed form and dimensions. The church mis-named Catholic, demands only a more uncompromising surrender of the soul's freedom than the churches which once protested against its unrighteous assumptions; but whose acts would now seem to indicate that they regard the Reformation as an indiscretion which cannot be too soon retrieved. The sects appear to have freed themselves only that from other points they may threaten and invade freedom. And both the sects and the world, with bitter anathema and loud menace, by open force and insidious cunning, by the power of numbers, and the imperious demands of custom, are ever active to take away the freedom that has been given.

The ecclesiastical organizations of the time all arrogate to themselves, in some form or other, and with a greater or less degree of boldness, the power of the keys, and open or shut heaven to whom they will. The church as a whole, they say, is sound, pure, and infallible, even though the individuals that compose it bear all the marks of fallibility and impurity. By some unintelligible peculiarity, the parts in their case do not give character to the whole, and though the individual count as nothing, yet by some indescribable process of addition, these nothings amount at length to a perfect whole. When these organizations are thus assumed to be the only centres whence the influences can flow that are to regenerate mankind, what hope is there that a vital, effective, religious spirit can exist in the hearts of men? When they are thus pointedly requested to be religious by proxy, to do their ecclesiastical business through the authorised establishment, how can the torpor of indifference be avoided? Spiritual paralysis must supervene when total inaction has weakened and undermined the spiritual constitution. Hence, though it is true that while looking at the general aspect of society, with its much frequenting of churches and chapels, we are disposed to call it religious, still we are compelled to characterise it differently after an examination of its individual elements. This outward appearance of life is the "whited sepulchre" that hides from view the ghastly bones of death. But what shall issue besides weakness, disease, and death from the galling slavery of the "house of bondage"? Remove freedom, and there is taken away at the same time the primal condition of all developement. Without an unconstrained and independent interest in the great verities of the Word of God, this world can never see strong and healthy growths of pure and undefiled religion.