up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money that take and give unto them for me and thee." (Matt. xvii. 25-27.)

Nothing but the immutable law of correspondence can unfold the religious instruction contained in this singular miracle. It was a practice with the Israelites, as appears from the historical parts of the Word, to take custom or tribute from strangers, who were not of their church. Those who are the true members of the Lord's body or church, are the spiritual and heavenly minded; they are the free, and the children of the kingdom; while the strangers signify those who are merely naturally-minded and worldly. In respect to man, individually, we know that the higher affections and thoughts of the mind, which connect him with God and heaven, are called spiritual; and the lower, which connect him with the world, are called natural. The spiritual mind is the Lord and Master, the natural is a servant and tributary. In every well-regulated mind, the supreme affections and thoughts provide comforts and pleasures for the lower, while these in return

pay the tribute, are obedient to, and serve the higher. To instruct us, then, in this universal law, it was provided and effected that neither the Lord nor Peter should pay the tribute, but a fish, by which is signified the living scientific knowledge in the external or natural mind.

To show what it is that willingly serves the interests of true religion by providing the tribute money, Peter was commanded to go to the sea, to cast an hook, to take the fish that first cometh up, and that he would find, upon opening his mouth, a piece of money, with which he was to pay the tribute. If the Lord's words are spirit and life, and no Christian can doubt it, we ought to receive them as such, and look at them as sacred vessels containing the wisdom of the Most High. Those who skim lightly over the pages of sacred writ, may probably be surprised at the tribute money being found in the fish's mouth, not reflecting that it is always found there. It was there at "the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end."

In respect to this tribute, Peter was the apostle who was to procure it. He received the

Divine command, "Go thou to the sea and cast an hook." Peter was the apostle who was first called, he was a fisherman, and by following the Lord he was to be made a fisher of men. This apostle, in his representative character, denotes all those who are grounded in a settled faith or confidence in all the Lord's promises. They are not doubters of, but believers in, the Truths of Revelation. This principle of faith in the Lord, in his divinity and power, is called the rock upon which the Lord would build his church. Spiritual faith in the Lord, in his providence and care, in the universality of his love, in his compassion and unchanging goodness, united with obedience of life, opens heaven to the soul; hence to Peter, as the representative of this living faith, the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given. The power of this faith, signified by the keys, when rightly exercised both in thought and life, opens, as a key does a door, the heavenly state in the soul, and introduces the man into the full enjoyment of angelic bliss. Whatsoever this faith binds on earth, by showing its entire opposition to the angelic state, is bound in heaven, that is, comes not into spiritual

liberty and peace.

Whatsoever this faith shall

loose on earth, by showing its conformity with the heavenly life, shall be loosed in heaven -shall come into the full liberty and exercise of the Divine life. This spiritual faith represented by Peter, brings man into perfect liberty of mind. Those who are principled therein, are, in matters of religion, free; for the blessings of those truths which bring life and immortality to light, they are not tributary to any earthly power. In these things they owe no allegiance but to the Lord alone: Peter, therefore, could not pay the tribute without violating the Divine arrangement of spiritual truth. If tribute be required, the command is still in force, "Go to the sea and cast an hook."

In a former part of this work, we showed that the several portions of the world of nature, such as mountains, hills, rivers, seas, and the like, are, in Scripture, mentioned in reference to man, as the world of mind. By the sea, according to correspondence, is meant Divine. Truth in its extremes or terminations, and which is properly termed Natural Truth; for as the sea is the boundary of the land, so natural truth

S

is the extreme boundary of human knowledge. In this mighty deep are contained all the principles of scientific truth, which are, by the same law of correspondence, the fishes of the sea, and by which man keeps his connexion with the world and its objects. In Scripture, not only the sun, moon, and stars, the beasts of the earth, creeping things and flying fowl, with storms, vapours, and clouds, but even the fishes of the sea are called upon to praise the Lord. I heard, says John the Revelator, every creature that was in the sea, praising the Lord, and saying, "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Rev. v. 13.) Now all these do constantly praise the Lord; for every true science within the wide range of human knowledge, will be found to contain its meed of praise, and by paying the tribute, to own religion as its master and lord, We may, perhaps, think that there can be not the slightest connexion between science and religion that these subjects are perfectly distinct, having no mutual relationship whatever: but this arises from our ignorance-from our un