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Mr. Final, of Pulteney-terrace, Islington, London, aged 65, was removed into the spiritual world, having suddenly departed this life, February 27th, 1862, almost without previous intimation, on sitting down to supper. He had been a consistent and respected New Churchman for upwards of 20 years. His life was a model of order, gentleness, integrity, and peaceableness. He was a member of the Argyle-square Society, and was beloved by all who knew him. He

Capt. Henry Lancaster, R.N., departed into the eternal world, Feb. 25th, in the 71st year of his age. He embraced the doctrines of the New Church in 1818; they were introduced to his attention by a gentleman then a clerk in his employ, and his frank and straightforward manner led him heartily to adopt them when he saw their truth. They had continually grown upon him, and influenced his life more and more thoroughly as age wore on; and they were his solace in sickness and in death. attended Argyle-square church when his health permitted, which, of late years, was not often, except on Sacrament occasions; and in the last year of his life, the Communion was generally administered to him at home, and these occasions were always seasons in which he took great delight. He was a liberal supporter of the institutions of the church, and his contributions were generally given in the name of "Nautus." Almost his last act was giving a cheque for ten guineas, to liquidate the debt of the church in Argyle-square, in aid of the generous support being made by a few friends for that purpose. He was fully sensible of his approaching departure for several days, but spoke comfortably of the change, and evidently had full reliance on the mercy of the Lord and the teachings of the New Church. Captain Lancaster was son of the Vicar of Merton, and at Lord Nelson's request went out with him on board the "Victory," on the last cruise of that great commander, only six weeks before the battle of Trafalgar. He was engaged in that dreadful encounter, and after that took an active part throughout the war. He was often noticed for his intrepidity and daring, both in battle and in saving the lives of men who fell overboard, of which several instances occurred. After he became a New Churchman, he was vigorous in aiding, by letters and in conversation, every symptom of improvement in the Church of England. He corresponded with Lord Ebury, and pressed upon him the necessity of omitting the Athanasian Creed, and everything tending to a divided God, from the Prayer-book. We have no doubt he was diligently fighting the battles of his salvation within, and preparing for that victory which is followed by a never ending peace.

Mrs. Louisa Sharpe, widow of the late Benjamin Sharpe, of Derby, departed this life on March 4th, 1862, aged fifty-four years. She had been for many years an earnest member of the society, and we fully trust an humbleminded and devoted member of the Lord's Church above.

"It was not much, I wot,

That lowly, patient wife
Could make of her poor lot,
Or hidden angel-life.
Yet might she claim the prize

In meekness, as she stood,

Of the loving Saviour wise,

'She hath done whate'er she could.'"

M. A. C.

Mrs. George Sheppard, aged 41, died at her uncle's residence, James Adamson, Ely-place, March 18th. She received the doctrines of the New Church through the instrumentality of her uncle, and guided her life by them. She died of disease of the heart, which was apparently hereditary, as her mother left this life from a similar complaint. Her life had many alternations, but her end was perfect peace.

Departed this life, on the 21st March, aged fifty-five years, Mr. Joseph Skeaf, of Liverpool. Our friend was born in Edinburgh, in the year 1806, and received the doctrines of the New Church through the instrumentality of the late Mr. Tuting. He joined the society in that city at an early age, when under the leadership of the late Mr. Parker. In his eighteenth year, our late friend was appointed the secretary of his society, and frequently conducted the public worship. In his native city, Mr.

Skeaf was the founder of the Mechanics' Library, and for some time was president of that institution. In the year 1833 he came to Liverpool, where he found the society in a very low state, meeting in a room in Gerard-street. Soon after he joined this little band they elected him their secretary; and he, in conjunction with several of his colleagues, not wholly acquiescing in the management of the society's affairs, as then conducted, withdrew from membership, and to the number of twelve ladies and gentlemen, commenced a society in Clare-street, in 1835, this was the beginning of the present society in Bedford-street North. Again Mr. Skeaf was entrusted with the secretaryship, and he took a very active part in the conduct of affairs. Soon after, the Gerard-street congregation dissolved, and joined the new society at Clare-street, bringing with them their library, &c. After the society had somewhat improved its position and become more consolidated, they rented a church in Russell-street, which, after several years' experience, being found too large and expensive, they ceased to occupy, there being a growing desire that a suitable place of worship should be erected. The society now met for worship in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelsonstreet, as a temporary place, until they could complete the necessary arrangements for their new building. These preliminaries occupied a much longer time than was at first anticipated, consequently their sojourn in Lord Nelsonstreet lasted several years. During this period Mr. Skeaf frequently conducted the service. In 1857, the new church in Bedford-street North was erected, and opened for public worship on the 21st of June.

Shortly afterwards Mr. Skeaf resigned the office of secretary, which he had held in Edinburgh and Liverpool, almost without intermission, for the long period of thirty-four years. He was, however, still an active member of the committee, and a trustee; and it was chiefly by his exertions and encouragement, in conjunction with one or two other zealous members, that the commodious schoolroom under the church was completed. The church was at once his delight and recreation. Ardently attached to her holy cause, he devoted his time, often at great personal inconvenience, to her

interests. Instead of raising a difficulty when he saw anything was required, he, with a hearty good will, immediately attempted its realisation. Until the year 1860, he was a member of the choir; at this time, however, a stroke of paralysis deprived the church of his useful services in that capacity.

Possessed of a genial and peaceable nature, combined with a high order of intellect, he was uniformly beloved by all who knew him. Of liberal and extended views, he was never known to cherish ill feeling, or to quarrel with others who might entertain opposite opinions, in whatever capacity of life he met them. Always looking above the personalities of differences, he sought the good of all, and has left this world beloved and respected, having been enabled, by a merciful Providence, to bear with fortitude and serenity the various trials of life. His connection with the Adelphi Hotel for upwards of twenty-nine years, in a responsible capacity, is evident testimony to his honesty of purpose and indefatigable discharge of incumbent duty. Here he frequently met with our American brethren, many of whom knew him well, and have been greeted by his openhearted spirit. Those who are left behind will, no doubt, long feel his removal acutely. The church will miss his cheerful happy face, ever encouraging, ever hopeful. Pious without pretension, generous but not proud, earnest but cautious, he was a pillar of the church militant; and has now been called "up higher" into the church triumphant, there to perform heavenly uses in a more extended sphere with those who love the Lord Jesus and live in mutual love. The Rev. J. B. Kennerley, of Salford, read the funeral service over his earthly remains, and also delivered an impressive discourse on the Sunday morning following, from the words, "Friend, go up higher," which was listened to by a numerous and sorrowing congregation. The following notice is from the Liverpool Mercury of the 22nd March :

"March 21, aged 55, Mr. Joseph Skeaf, of the Adelphi Shades. Deceased was a native of Edinburgh, and he possessed the best and most abiding qualities of his countrymen. He was well known from his connection, for more than a quarter of a century, with the Adelphi

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Hotel, in this town. Upright in all his dealings, and of a genial and unsuspicious nature, he secured the esteem of all by whom in business or in social life he was known or associated."

When by a good man's grave I muse alone,
Methinks an angel sits upon the stone,
Like those of old, on that thrice-hallowed night,
Who sat and watched in raiment heavenly bright,
And with a voice inspiring joy, not fear,
Says, pointing upwards- He is risen, not here."
FRATER.

Departed this life, March 23rd, in the 75th year of his age, at Accrington, Mr. Henry Heap, an old and much-respected member of our church. The deceased had enjoyed excellent health almost up to the last hour of his life; having retired to rest on Saturday evening in his usual health. He was, however, suddenly taken ill, medical aid was called in, and he passed out of this world calmly and peaceably, shortly after one o'clock on Sunday morning, to join the loved ones who had gone before, and whom he confidently hoped to meet in that better land "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." Our lamented friend had been singularly fortunate in obtaining the good opinion of everyone with whom he came in contact; the breath of envy was never heard in connection with him, and the voice of calumny never dared to busy itself with one whose disposition was so gentle, so charitable, and so peaceful, that it seemed to win the kind feeling and warm-hearted friendship of all, whether among his fellow-workmen, his fellow members of the New Church, or in society generally; thus enabling him to realise, to a much greater extent than is often the case, a foretaste of that glorious heaven above to which we all aspire. It deserves to be recorded of him, that he was with one firm, at Broad Oak, as a block cutter, 68 years, and that during this long term, he was only absent a fortnight through sickness. The funeral cortege, which was one of the most numerous and respectable ever seen in this town, shewed the esteem in which the deceased was held, and the universal good feeling towards him which prompted this last token of respect. He was connected with this

society very many years, and was ever anxious to promote its welfare, and keenly alive to its success; doing his part heartily in the good work; leading his family, by his example, to become active members of the society, and endeavouring thus to fulfil the noblest duty of every parent-the training of their families to become, by lives of active usefulness, pillars in the temple of the Lord.

Mr. Robert Ward, of Derby, departed this life March 24th, aged eighty. The feebleness of a life protracted beyond our common period pressed heavily upon him, and he calmly sank to sleep. His widow, and children, and grandchildren," sorrow not as without hope." They realise the consoling fact that he has but passed from the plane of labour to the more glorious plane of reward.

Mrs. Elizabeth Cheetham, wife of John Cheetham, on March 27th, aged fifty years. She had been suffering from congestion of the brain, which terminated in apoplexy. A numerous circle of relatives and friends mourn their loss, and rejoice in her gain. She has gone to her rest. Anticipating death, she felt willing and ready to die, confident in the assurance that "Death is the gate of life." H.

Departed this life, on the 31st of March, aged 51 years, Ellen, the beloved wife of Mr. John Bancroft. Deceased was a member of the Salford society. An earnest and duty-doing woman, truly religious and devout, without ostentation, she had lived for her partner and her children. During a long and painful affliction, her mind was serene, her hope unwavering, and her faith unswerving. She at times had spontaneous transports of internal felicity and joy, when some portions of the Psalms gave her tongue utterance, corresponding with the inward delight. "The good alone are great." STELLA.

CAVE and SEVER, Printers by Steam Power, Hunt's Bank, Manchester.

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To all who believe, with one of the greatest philosophers the world has yet seen—it is almost superfluous to add, for our readers, the name of Swedenborg-that "universal nature is but a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom," the progress of science in its every branch cannot fail to offer a field of the deepest and most lively interest. To such the physical sciences no longer treat of objects alien to their spirits' life and necessities, except in so far as they may nourish and subserve the needs of the spirit's fleshly instrument, the body. The living links of correspondence unveil a relationship between the soul and every object in its world of nature, which leaves these no longer to be dealt with as mere agglomerations, or even organizations, of dead matter; but endows each with a share of spiritual life and plasticity, proportionate to its rank in the scale of creative uses. The same holds good with all those branches of external knowledge which are classed as natural or physical sciences; and which embody, for the use of the intellect, all the results of human experience and observation in the various departments of nature of which they respectively treat. And precisely as every natural object requires to attain a given phase of development before it becomes capable of subserving the specific use to which man, the lord of nature, can apply it, so must each science in its turn achieve a certain phase of development, before it becomes adapted to the use and accessible to the light of the spiritual intellect, which alone is true regent-under Divine guidance of the whole vast realms of human knowledge.

[Enl. Series.-No. 102, vol. ix.]

17

For all physical sciences present, as Professor Müller observes, in the interesting work to which we here invite attention,* "three marked periods or stages in their history," which he designates as "the Empirical, the Classificatory, and the Theoretical." (p. 5) Now the first of these three stages in the development of science may be otherwise designated as the Sensual stage. Its facts are such as the senses report, and these are collected and valued mainly, if not solely, in proportion to their so-called practical utility,-their utility, that is, in relation to man's bodily, or sensual, comforts and requirements. The second, or Classificatory, may with equal propriety be termed the Intellectual stage, which is never attained till, the pressure of bodily wants being lightened in the progress of civilization, the mind begins to assert an independent activity, and ceasing to collect facts for application to external use alone, begins to seek out, sift, and compare them, for their own sake, and the sake of the intellectual delight and improvement thus enjoyed. The third, or Theoretical, may in its turn be classed as the Rational stage, being that in which the human mind, having first gathered, and then duly weighed, compared, and digested facts, arrives at the point of rationally appreciating and comprehending them. Too often, indeed, this Theoretical only merits the name of the Irrational stage instead, but this is simply owing to a perversion of the rational powers, over-ridden by the blind materialism which is the offspring of man's misplaced self-love and confidence. It is at this Rational or highest stage in the development of natural science that, unless subject to such perversion, it becomes accessible to spiritual light, and subservient to the needs of the spiritual For it is at this point that the process of inductive reasoning-as the process of reasoning upwards from the facts and phenomena of the external world is called, should meet the process of deductive reasoningor reasoning downwards from those great "first principles" which, whether he ascribe their origin to revelation or intuition, belong to man's internal or spiritual world,—the former confirming, the latter illustrating and vivifying. For inductive science is as a body, of which deductive science can alone supply the soul; and, as Mr. Buckle has justly remarked, in the second volume of his "History of Civilization," till deduction and induction do thus meet and confirm each other in any science, that science is somewhere at fault, and does not deserve to be considered a true and perfect science. This is an irrefragable truth to all who believe the world of spirit and the world of nature to be framed by one Divine Hand, and to be ruled alike by divine laws, in harmony, and not at

man.

* "Lectures on the Science of Language. By Max Müller, M. A., &c." London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. 1861.

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