Such was the Last Judgment. Its centenary draws nigh; and how fruitful in good to mankind has been that century which is now drawing to a close! It is unnecessary to repeat the hackneyed phrases which tell of the progress of the world during the last hundred years. Every newspaper speaks of it. Everybody with open eyes observes it. It has become the universal opinion that the world is moving onwards and upwards; yet how few understand _why_ the world is so moving. Men have yet to learn that effects can no more take place without adequate causes in the universe of mind than in the universe of matter. Nowhere out of Swedenborg can we find a description of those spiritual causes which are changing society and revolutionizing the whole world. We, who live in the dawn of the new era, can form, even in our highest states, but a faint conception of its coming glory. Yet we see in the wonderful movements of our age, in its growing benevolence, in its increasing intelligence and thoughtfulness, and in the prodigious advances that are making in every department of science and art, so many indubitable signs that the former things have passed away, and that the Lord is making all things new. Every one knows that in the Scripture, the second coming of the Lord is described as simultaneous with the Last Judgment. We will hereafter endeavor to prove that the Lord has indeed come, and will describe the manner of his coming. The reception of the doctrine of the Last Judgment is somewhat difficult, because the comprehension of it demands the understanding of many principles and spiritual laws unknown to the world at large, yet most worthy of any amount of labor requisite to master them. The remembrance of this fact will serve as an apology for any appearance of unfounded assumption in the outline of the doctrine we have given. CHAPTER XIII. _Heaven and Hell._