signified, doctrine respecting faith.

By this expression, He was not, for God took him", is signified that that doctrine was preserved for the use of posterity.

Verse 25. And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years and begat Lamech. By Methuselah is signified an eighth church, and by Lamech a ninth.

Verse 28. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years and begat a son. By Lamech is here signified a ninth church, wherein the perception of truth and goodness was become so common and obscure, that it was next to none, and thus the church was vastated: by son is signified the rise of a new church.

Verse 29. And he called his name Noah, saying he shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed. By Noah is signified the ancient church by comforting us concerning our work and toil of our hands out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed, is signified doctrine, whereby what had been perverted would be restored.

Verse 30, 31. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven

years and he died. By Lamech is signified, as was said, the church vastated: by sons and daughters are signified the conceptions and births of such a church.

Verse 32. And Noah was a son of five hundred years; and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japhet. By Noah is signified, as was said, the ancient church: by Shem, Ham, and Japhet, are signified three ancient churches, the parent whereof was the ancient church called Noah.

The above specimens may suffice to give the reader a tolerable idea of Baron Swedenborg's Arcana Celestia; and many will, no doubt, think with the publisher of these extracts, that the commentaries are far more mysterious than the

text.

CONCERNING THE STATE AND NATURE OF MAN AFTER DEATH WITH A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.

792. "Who doth not know, or might not know, that man liveth after death, in consequence of his being born man, and created an image of God, and because the Lord in his Word asserteth the doctrine of a future life? With respect however to the state and nature of this future life, mankind have heretofore remained in the dark; it hath

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been generally believed that man after death is a mere soul, and the common idea concerning such soul hath been, that it is something like æther, or air, consequently that it is like the breath which goeth out of a man's body when he dies, in which nevertheless there resideth some vital principle; but then it hath been conceived that this vital principle neither hath the faculty of seeing, such as belongeth to the eye, nor of hearing, such as belongeth to the ear, nor of speaking, such as belongeth to the organs of speech; when nevertheless man after death is as much a man as he was before, and so little changed, that he does not know but he is still living in the former world; for he seeth, heareth, and speaketh, as in the former world; he walketh, runneth, and sitteth, as in the former world he lieth down, sleepeth, and waketh, as in the former world; he eateth and drinketh as in the former world; he enjoyeth conjugal delight as in the former world; in a word, he is a man in all and every respect. From which circumstances it is evident, that death is not an extinction but a continuation of life, and consequently that it is only a passage from one state to another.

793. The difference between a man in the natural world and a man in the spiritual world is, that the latter man is cloathed with a substantial

body, but the former with a material body, within which is his substantial body, and a substantial man seeth a substantial man as clearly and distinctly, as a material man seeth a material man; a substantial man however cannot see a material man, nor can a material man see a substantial man, by reason of the difference between what is material and what is substantial, the nature of which difference may be described, but not in a few words.

794. In consequence of what I have seen, and been an eye-witness of for many years together, I can assert the following facts relating to the spiritual world; that there are earths in that world, just as in the natural world, and that there are also plains and valleys, mountains and hills, fountains and rivers; that there are paradises, gardens, groves, and woods; that there are cities with palaces and houses contained therein; also that there are writings and books, employments and merchandises; and that there are gold, silver, and precious stones; in a word, that there is in the spiritual world all and every thing that is in the natural world, but that in heaven such things are in an infinitely more perfect state. The difference is, that all things which are seen in the spiritual world, are created in a moment by the Lord, as

houses, paradises, meats, and other things, and that they are created according to a correspondence with the interiors of angels and spirits, that is, of their affections and thoughts; whereas all things that are seen in the natural world begin to exist and grow from seed." True Christian Religion.

AN ANGEL CAST DOWN FROM HEAVEN FOR PROFESSING HIS BELIEF IN THE PERSONALITY OF THE SON OF GOD." MEMORABLE RELATION, NO. 110."

"I once saw in the spiritual world a meteor (ignis fatuus) in the air, falling to the ground, encompassed about with a lucid brightness, and I remarked the place where it fell; but, as is the case with all such phænomena, about sun-rise it totally disappeared. The next morning I went to the place where I had observed the meteor to fall the night before, and behold the ground thereabouts was a composition of sulphur, iron-filings, and common clay; and suddenly there appeared two tents, one immediately over the place, and the other beside it, towards the south; then I looked upwards, and saw a certain spirit falling down from heaven like lightning, into the tent which stood directly over the spot where the meteor fell,