the ten lepers that were cleansed by the Lord on his way to Jerusalem, the only one of the ten that returned and gave glory to God, by falling down on his face at the feet of Jesus, was a Samaritan,-he received the Lord as the prophet that should come into the world, and Jesus declared that his faith had saved him. The same may be seen also from the readiness with which the Samaritans received the Lord, and believed in him as the Christ, the Saviour of the world, and besought him to remain with them, which he did for two days. These circumstances, with others that might be adduced in abundance, fully prove the truth of Swedenborg's statement, expressed in various parts of his luminous works, that the Samaritans represented the Gentiles who were about to receive divine truths from him, and the woman of Samaria, the Church about to be established among the Gentiles. ΙΑΚΩΒΟΣ. ON THE COLOURS PURPLE, HYACINTH OR BLUE, THE following is translated from a work entitled "Symbolical Colours in Ancient Times, in the Middle Age, and in Modern Times, by M. Frederic Portal. We have already transferred to our pages several articles from this interesting work.* The colours called purple, hyacinth, or jacinth, or blue (Rev. ix. 17.) and scarlet, mentioned in the Word, are sometimes not sufficiently distinguished, and, consequently, not properly understood. But the Science of Correspondences requires us to form of these colours, as well as of every other subject, correct natural ideas, before we can properly perceive their symbolic and spiritual meaning.-See Exodus xxvi. 1; A. C. 9596. 66 66 Purple and hyacinth, or blue," says M. Portal, are two shades, or tints of the same colour, which it would be easy to confound together, which, however, have two different significations. Purple, in ancient times, was a red colour tinted with blue, Purple, say the treatises on heraldry, is mixed with azure and with gules. The heraldic art has preserved the tradition of colours, and probably also the knowledge of their signification. Red prevails in purple, whereas in hyacinth it is * See "Intellectual Repository" for 1842, page 361. An heraldic term denoting open mouths, in which the red colour appears.-ED. blue which is the principal colour. Oriental hyacinth is properly a bright blue tinted with orange-red. "In the symbolic language of mixed colours the prevailing tint forms the general signification, and the colour which is governed, modifies it. Red is the symbol of divine love; blue represents celestial truth; purple, consequently, relates to the love of truth, and hyacinth to the truth proceeding from love. Scarlet was [in ancient times] a colour composed of red, with a tint of yellow; it was the symbol of spiritual love, that is, of the love of divine truth, resulting from the meaning of red and yellow. "The garments of the priests of Israel ordained for the service of the sanctuary, and the costume of Aaron, were purple, scarlet, and hyacinth. Purple prevailed in all the ornaments of the high priest; it tinted the sleeves of the ephod, and the bands of the breastplate; Aaron himself having solely the right to wear the robes of blue. "In the signification of colours we have observed, that purple, blue, and scarlet, are used in an opposite sense. If purple relates to celestial good, blue to truth proceeding from that good, and scarlet to the manifestation of both, it follows that purple, in an opposite sense, is the emblem of evil, blue of falsity thence proceeding, and scarlet of the production of evils and falsities. It is in this sense that Jeremiah says of those who are falsely called wise, that 'blue and purple is their clothing.' (x. 9.) Ezekiel reproaches Samaria with her prostitutions, saying that she doted on her lovers, the Assyrians, clothed in blue, (xxiii. 5, 6.) for she had perverted, or falsified the truth. In the Apocalypse, St. John saw horses and them that sat on them, having breast-plates of fire, and of jacinth [or blue] and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. (Chap. ix. 17.) We also find in the Apocalypse the beast of a scarlet colour,' (chap. xvii. 3.) having an infernal signification. "Paganism inherited these symbolical traditions; the ancients saw in the various bright or obscure tints of the colour blue, the emblems of different degrees of virtue and of vice. Solinus said that azure-blue is precious for virtuous, and unfavourable for corrupt men, and that the finest kind of blue shines with a splendour mixed with light and with purple. "Philostrates gives to love wings of purple and azure. In the language of colours, hyacinth, or blue, has the signification of constancy in * Solini Polyhistor, chap. xxxiii. spiritual combats; the blue denoted fidelity, and the red represented war or combats. "Epiphanius compares the virtues of the precious stone called the hyacinth to those of the salamander. Not only, says Gregory of Nazienzen, does the salamander live and play in the flames, but it even extinguishes the fire. The hyacinth, says Epiphanius, placed in a fiery furnace, is not only not attacked thereby, but even extinguishes the fire. The salamander and the hyacinth were the symbols of a constant faith, which triumphs over the violence of the passions, and extinguishes them. When submitted to the fire, the hyacinth loses its colour and becomes white, in which case we may see a symbol of faith triumphant. Solinus asserts that the splendour of the hyacinth is according to the changes of the atmosphere,—that it shines when the sky is serene, and becomes obscure when the sky is cloudy, and that it resists the engraver, and can only be attacked by the diamond. Notwithstanding 66 the authority of Solinus, there are, nevertheless, engravings on the hyacinth, almost all of which were effected by the artist Aulo. 66 But were the ancients ignorant of the art of engraving on precious stones? Whatever may be the difference of opinion on this subject, we should be entirely mistaken if we thought the description of animals, of plants, and of minerals, transmitted by antiquity, have always relation to natural history. The doctrine of symbols, or of correspondences, plays an important part in these matters; and, in what Solinus says of the hyacinth, a writer of the 17th century§ sees an emblem of the pious man, whose soul is opened to the beams of divine love, and who is sad when his affections are no longer enkindled thereby; no human power can subdue such a soul [as is thus enkindled with divine love]; God alone, like the diamond, engraves his image upon it." MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. LONDON MISSIONARY AND TRACT SOCIETY. To the Committee. fire-side, I must now proceed to give you some account of my missionary doings. It was on Tuesday, the 15th of September, that I left London for Bristol, and proceeded thence by steam-packet to Ilfracombe. On the next morning, a romantic walk of three miles brought me to the cottage of J. James, Esq., R.N., at * Lib. xii. de Gemmis. See Brard, Traité des Pierres Precieuses, page 73. § Caussin, Polyhistor Symbolicus, Lib. xi. cap. 38. Conf. Lib. ix. cap. 60. Lee, the friend whose liberal donation of £20. for the purpose, enabled you to send me upon this mission. Mr. J. is too much an invalid to take any active measures himself on behalf of the cause, but his zealous desire for its promotion was evinced by taking upon himself, in addition to his donation, the expense of advertising the lectures at Ilfracombe by large and small bills, and of the insertion in a local newspaper, for two succeeding weeks, of a long and excellent article, as an advertisement of Swedenborg's Theological Works; and also by the very kind hospitality which I experienced under his roof. After making all the necessary arrangements for a course of six lectures, at the public rooms at Ilfracombe, to commence on tho following Tuesday, I proceeded by coach to Barnstaple, for a similar purpose on Thursday evening. There I found their annual fair, which lasts for an entire week, and to commence on the Saturday; so that it was useless to think of lecturing there before the following Saturday week. Our worthy friend Mr. T. Berry, by whose hospitality I was saved any expense in board and lodging during my visits at Barnstaple, and who is an intelligent and zealous member of the New Church, accompanied me to the mayor's, with the hope of procuring the Town Hall for the lectures; but in this we were not successful, We then went to see the public rooms, but the proprietor was so exorbitant in his demands for the use of the principal room, that we thought it advisable to put up with a smaller room, in the same building, which could be had for the six evenings at the charge of two guineas; thinking likewise that it would be sufficient to accommodate as many as we could well hope would come to hear, but the sequel proved otherwise. Having engaged the room, and arranged with the printer for posting and other bills, I directed my way on Friday evening to Bideford, where I met with another warm-hearted and zealous receiver, Mr. Joseph Berry, brother to the Barnstaple friend. In anticipation of my visit, he had procured permission of the Mayor of Bideford to use the Town Hall for the first lecture, and for the other two lectures we engaged a public room called the Mansion-house, which was granted us by the authorities on the same terms upon which it is let for charitable purposes, viz. 7s. 6d., instead of one guinea per night; and even this small charge, by a N. S. No. 85.-VOL. VIII. subsequent regulation, was reduced to us to the nominal rent of 2s. 6d. per night. We arranged for commencing these lectures at the Town Hall on the following Friday. Remaining in Bideford until Monday, I had an opportunity on the Sunday of assembling all we could muster of New Church friends in one of their houses. The number was not great, consisting only of Mr. Joseph Berry and daughter, Mr. W. Berry, his brother, with wife and family, and Mr. Manning,— these being residents of the town; Mr. Oak, from a village three miles distant, and Mr. T. Berry, from Barnstaple, with his two sons, young men, whom I afterwards baptized. On this first occasion of social New Church worship in the town, the Lord's Second Advent was the subject of discourse. On the following Tuesday I commenced the lectures at Ilfracombe, to a numerous, respectable, and attentive audience, and distributed tracts at the close of the lecture, which were eagerly received. On the next Thursday I gave the second lecture. On Friday I began at Bideford. On Sunday I met in the afternoon with the New Church friends at Mr. T. Berry's house in Barnstaple; commenced the public lectures for that town on the same evening; gave the second lecture on Monday evening; proceeded on Tuesday to Ilfracombe, following the same order through that and the week after. At Ilfracombe, the lectures were not equally well attended, yet on every occasion the numbers were encouraging, and the attention paid was very great. On one occasion I was interrupted by a noisy captain, who is also a preacher. The effort of the audience was to keep him quiet; not an easy task, such was the fury of the poor man's zeal. With this exception the lectures were throughont listened to with evident interest; and this remark applies equally to the other two places. An opposition was met with at Bideford after the close of the second lecture, but this was not repeated. At Barnstaple, while explaining what should be understood by the Devil and Satan, one man quoted in a loud voice the words "He goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." The effect of his interruption, however, was such as to afford him no inducement to repeat the attempt. It was a matter of much regret that a larger room could not have been engaged at this latter place, especially for the Sunday evenings, as I understood C that at those times hundreds went away, signed the declaration of faith. Though not being able to gain admission. their number is small, I trust they constitute a healthy germ of a future large and good society. At Bideford, the room at the Mansionhouse was crammed to excess at the last lecture there, and on every occasion the tracts were received with great eagerness. Besides the two younger Berrys, I baptized on the same evening Mrs. Berry, their mother, her youngest child, their apprentice, and Miss Gilbert. The latter lady informed me that during the previous week she had lent New Church books to ten applicants for them. While at the inn at Ilfracombe, I had opportunities on three or four occasions of introducing New Church subjects in conversation to gentlemen that I there met with; I trust not without some effect. Some of them came to hear the lectures. On Monday, October 12th, I finished my work in this part of Devon, by the delivery of my last lecture at Barnstaple; and on Tuesday left that town for Exeter, where arrangements had been previously made for a course of six lectures at the public rooms. The attendance at these lectures was not of so encouraging a nature as it had been at the other places, yet on some occasions the audiences were numerous; and it was gratifying to observe several individuals attending regularly through the course. The two Sunday afternoon lectures at the society's room, were attended by several strangers. Messrs. Clapp and Lane were baptized after the morning service on Sunday, October 18th; and the Lord's Supper was administered on the Sunday following. I took an opportunity of recommending the members of the Church to meet and organize themselves into a society, according to the recommendation of Conference. They did so, requesting me to preside on the occasion, when the recommended rules were adopted, and other regulations made for their future government. Among other things, it was agreed that they should have two services on the Sabbath; the Conference Liturgy to be used, and a service to be read each time.-Mr. Clapp being appointed to lead the services. I was glad to find, before I left, that they had received a grant of books from the London Printing Society, which, with the loan of other volumes by some of the members until the society can purchase more, will form a lending library for them. To this department of their infant cause they intend to pay great attention. Their secretary, Mr. Trowbridge, has since sent me word that twelve individuals had I left Exeter on Saturday, Nov. 1st, and proceeded to Taunton, not with the view of lecturing in that place, but merely to reconnoitre the town for information against some future mission, in which it may possibly participate. The town presents a sufficient field for any efforts, and I found that the lecture-room of the Mechanics' Institution can be had for theological lectures—a more favourable sign than exists in every town-and at about 10s. 6d. a night for a course. On Sunday, November 2nd, I preached in the morning at Tiverton, a village near Bath, at the place of worship recently opened by Mr. Goyder; and in the evening I delivered a lecture on the Resurrection, at the Church, Henry-street, Bath, to as many as could find room within the walls. On Monday I returned home, after an absence of seven weeks, feeling strongly that I had much cause for thankfulness to an allmerciful Providence.-Trusting that our endeavours will meet with the divine blessing, I remain, gentlemen, yours truly, THOS. CHALKLEN. THE LONDON PRINTING SOCIETY. This society, which is characterized by extraordinary activity in promoting the spread of the Doctrines of the New Church, by giving the freest and cheapest access to the Theological Works of Swedenborg, is deserving the support of all who desire to see the prosperity of Jerusalem. These works are now brought out in a form as handsome and as cheap as any that issue from the metropolitan press. The society having no view to profit in its useful labours, is desirous of placing within the reach of every inquiring reader the blessed truths of the New Dispensation;-truths so much required at the present period, when dissatisfaction in respect to the prevailing doctrines so generally exists, and is so generally expressed, especially in the periodical literature of the present time. The society have lately brought out a stereotype edition of the "True Christian Religion," which now forms one extremely handsome volume, in good type and on excellent paper, and at a lower price than any works that issue from the press. A new edition of the "Four Leading Doctrines" has also been published, and |