relation of cause and effect,—therefore Swedenborg's descriptions of the phenomena of the other world, and his unfoldings of the internal sense of the Word, ought not only to harmonize, but mutually to confirm and illustrate each other. And this they are found to do in a manner so remarkable and striking as clearly to demonstrate the truth of both. It is, as we have often remarked, one of those verifications of the truth of his statements, such as no human ingenuity, however subtle, could have possibly contrived and in all cases made to tally.
Take the case of houses in heaven, and their correspondence and significance. The Psalmist says, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple" (xxvii. 4). Is this to be understood literally? If so, one can hardly conceive of a more unreasonable desire than is here expressed. But, understood in its spiritual sense, the thing which the Psalmist here longs for above all else, is worthy the intense longing and supreme effort of every human being. For "the house of the Lord," interpreted by the rule of correspondence, means the will or life of the Lord,—his pure and unselfish love. To dwell in this house is to dwell in Him, or in that disinterested love which is from Him and is Himself—a love which pours itself forth liberally as the ever-bountiful sun,—a love which never seeks its own, but always the good of others. To dwell in this love is to have this love dwelling and operative in us. As saith the beloved disciple, "God is love, and
