"THE SWEDENBORG LIBRARY.' editions of the author, or the more elaborate and pon- derous single treatises, would be politely declined ad- mission. The advertising circular calls attention to some of the ' distinguishing merits and obvious advan- tages of this series,' enumerating among these its cheapness, its convenient size, its attractiveness, its compactness and brevity of statement, and the aid it affords to the reader in its classification of subjects. It is especially the last-named feature which commends the work, in our judgment, and which puts the jS'ew Church, as well as the general reading public, under special obligation to the painstaking editor of this series. ^' The diffuseness of Swedenborg's sC^^e has been the general complaint urged by most novitiate readers, and the very vastness of the field his writings cover, makes the investigation of them seem at first an almost hopeless task. Just where to turn for enlightenment on this or that special topic, has not been always at the command of well-read New Churchmen, without the aid of the somewhat rare indexes ; and then no little time is consumed in searching for passages, in half a dozen volumes it may be. "Now we would not think for a moment of recom- mending this analysis of the writings by Mr. Barrett as a substitute for any student to adopt in any thor- ough or fundamental investigation of any topic. The editor never intended them for this use. He refers his readers to the complete works of Swedenborg for the thorough and final study of any of these subjects. But we are free to say that for a ready reference and a convenient summary of what Swedenborg has said on any of the themes here mentioned, we do not know where to look for a more valuable work than this. Moreover, it is of the first importance that in the study of any subject there should be an order and 5
