{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_67821/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_67821","id":"gutenberg_67821","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67821","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Mystics -- Sweden -- Biography","Swedenborg, Emanuel, 1688-1772"],"text":"LIFE\n                                   OF\n                           EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\n\n                              TOGETHER WITH\n          A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HIS WRITINGS, BOTH PHILOSOPHICAL\n                            AND THEOLOGICAL.\n\n                            BY WILLIAM WHITE.\n\n                             [Illustration]\n\n                              PHILADELPHIA\n                         J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.\n                                  1880.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nDuring the few past years many biographies of Swedenborg have been\noffered to the public. Dr. Tafel, of T\u00fcbingen, in 1839, collected into\none volume the testimonies of Swedenborg\u2019s personal friends, his letters,\nand various documents relating to him which were scattered through\nmany volumes. This \u201cBook of Documents\u201d was translated into English,\nand edited by the Rev. J. H. Smithson, of Manchester, in 1841; and was\nagain reprinted in America and re-edited by Professor Bush, of New York,\nin 1847. From this \u201cBook of Documents,\u201d all the biographies which have\nappeared, have been more or less indebted. Nathanael Hobart, of Boston,\narranged these documents into a connected biographical form, interspersed\nwith judicious remarks of his own, and published it as a \u201cLife of\nSwedenborg.\u201d This \u201cLife\u201d has passed through three editions, and well\ndeserves the success it has attained. In 1849, Elihu Rich published, in\nLondon, \u201cA Biographical Sketch of Emanuel Swedenborg.\u201d The edition was\nexhausted in the course of a few months, and the work has not since been\nreprinted. In the same year, J. J. G. Wilkinson produced his \u201cEmanuel\nSwedenborg: a Biography,\u201d a work which, alike for its artistic excellence\nas a biography, and the originality and poetic beauty of its thought,\nhas, I believe, no equal in the English language. The comparative silence\nof our literary critics, in reference to this work, proves that any\none who cares to appreciate what is best in the world, had better not\nbe content to trust solely to _their_ eyes. From the quotations I have\nmade in the course of the following narrative, the reader will be able\nto appreciate a few of the good things contained in this Biography by\nWilkinson. In 1854, Edwin Paxton Hood published \u201cSwedenborg: A Biography\nand an Exposition,\u201d a work which has been the means of introducing\nSwedenborg to a large circle hitherto almost ignorant of his existence.\nIn the same year, Woodbury M. Fernald published, in Boston, Mass., \u201cA\nCompendium of the Theological and Spiritual Writings of Swedenborg,\u201d to\nwhich an excellent life of the Author was prefixed, compiled in great\npart from previous biographies. In other forms, many sketches of the\nlife of Swedenborg have been published. The Rev. O. P. Hiller gives an\nexcellent little biography in his volume of \u201cGems from Swedenborg.\u201d\nEmerson tells the story of his life, in his own way, in \u201cRepresentative\nMen;\u201d and a Lecture by George Dawson, on Swedenborg, is now circulating,\nas a tract, by thousands throughout the land. All these things evidence a\ngrowing interest in the greatest teacher of modern times.\n\nThe present work does not enter into competition with anything that has\nbefore been written. It pretends to nothing but simplicity, and would\nbe ranked as a hand-book, a guide, a directory. If it should lead any\nto form an acquaintance with the writings of \u201cthe most _unknown_ man in\nthe world,\u201d as Mr. Fernald calls Swedenborg, and I may add, the most\nabused man in the world, my end will be gained. I believe the day is not\nfar distant when it will be the greatest reproach of these times that\nthe works of Swedenborg lay in our midst, and only a few men cared for\nthem. Happily this number is steadily increasing; and, by and by, we may\nexpect a general acknowledgment of the fact, that Swedenborg was, without\nexception, the most gifted and extraordinary man that has ever lived.\n\n    36 BLOOMSBURY STREET, LONDON.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                      PAGE\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n\n    Birth and Parentage. Swedenborg\u2019s First Ideas of Religion, and\n      his Scholastic Life.                                              21\n\n                               CHAPTER II.\n\n    Travels, Becomes Author, and is crossed in Love.                    26\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n\n    Travels again. Publishes five Scientific Pamphlets, and\n      \u201cMiscellaneous Observations.\u201d Returns Home and enters on the\n      Duties of his Assessorship. Writes his \u201cOpera Philosophica\n      et Mineralia,\u201d and goes abroad to publish it.                     35\n\n                               CHAPTER IV.\n\n    \u201cOpera Philosophica et Mineralia.\u201d                                  40\n\n                               CHAPTER V.\n\n    Doings and Travels.                                                 47\n\n                               CHAPTER VI.\n\n    \u201cThe Economy of the Animal Kingdom,\u201d and \u201cThe Animal Kingdom.\u201d      51\n\n                              CHAPTER VII.\n\n    His Life, as a Man of Science, ends.                                57\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII.\n\n    His Spiritual Sight opened, and the Conditions of his Seership.     62\n\n                               CHAPTER IX.\n\n    Prepares for his New Office. Resigns his Assessorship. His\n      \u201cAdversaria.\u201d His \u201cSpiritual Diary.\u201d The death of Polheim.        73\n\n                               CHAPTER X.\n\n    \u201cThe Arcana C\u0153lestia.\u201d                                              78\n\n                               CHAPTER XI.\n\n    Anecdotes.                                                          89\n\n                              CHAPTER XII.\n\n    \u201cThe Last Judgment.\u201d                                                95\n\n                              CHAPTER XIII.\n\n    \u201cHeaven and Hell.\u201d                                                 102\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV.\n\n    \u201cThe White Horse.\u201d \u201cThe Earths in the Universe.\u201d \u201cThe New\n      Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine.\u201d                            130\n\n                               CHAPTER XV.\n\n    Anecdotes.                                                         136\n\n                              CHAPTER XVI.\n\n    \u201cDoctrine of the Lord; The Sacred Scripture; Faith; and Life.\u201d     142\n\n                              CHAPTER XVII.\n\n    \u201cThe Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom.\u201d \u201cThe Continuation\n      of the last Judgment.\u201d                                           151\n\n                             CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n    \u201cAngelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence.\u201d                 159\n\n                              CHAPTER XIX.\n\n    Life in Amsterdam. Character of the Dutch. Meets Dr. Beyer.\n      Republishes his \u201cNew Method of Finding the Longitudes.\u201d\n      \u201cThe Apocalypse explained.\u201d                                      169\n\n                               CHAPTER XX.\n\n    \u201cApocalypse Revealed.\u201d                                             173\n\n                              CHAPTER XXI.\n\n    Travels. Habits. Anecdotes.                                        180\n\n                              CHAPTER XXII.\n\n    \u201cConjugial Love.\u201d                                                  191\n\n                             CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n    Attacked by Dr. Ekebom. Visits France. Letter to Hartley, and\n      Hartley\u2019s opinion of Swedenborg.                                 204\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n    \u201cBrief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church,\u201d and the\n      \u201cIntercourse between the Soul and the Body.\u201d                     210\n\n                              CHAPTER XXV.\n\n    Persecution. Letter to the Academy of Sciences. Leaves Stockholm\n      for the last time.                                               219\n\n                              CHAPTER XXVI.\n\n    Swedenborg in Intercourse with General Tuxen and Paulus ab\n      Indagine. His reply to Dr. Ernesti. Letter to the Landgrave\n      of Hesse Darmstadt.                                              227\n\n                             CHAPTER XXVII.\n\n    \u201cThe True Christian Religion.\u201d                                     236\n\n                             CHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n    Anecdotes and Traits of Character.                                 256\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIX.\n\n    Last Days on Earth.                                                262\n\n\n\n\nLIFE AND WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n    _His Birth and Parentage\u2014His first ideas of Religion, and his\n    Scholastic Life._\n\n\nAuthors are never wiser than when they trust to time for justice. The\npoor thinker, neglected by his age, unseen amid the glare of mere show\nand pageantry, need not fret himself. Time will roll on, the false and\nmeretricious will sink into forgetfulness, while his true words will\nbecome accepted, and his thoughts the stars by which wise men guide their\ncourse across the dark ocean of life.\n\nIt was the lot of Emanuel Swedenborg to be cast on a shallow, sceptical,\nand perverse age. Living a life of the utmost purity, and teaching truths\nwhich we esteem it our great felicity to know, he had but poor thanks so\nfar as fame and disciples went. But the dawn of his day of justice is\napproaching. His name, which in past times has too often been used to\npoint a sarcasm at whatever is visionary and transcendental, has of late\nyears been slowly rising into estimation. Here and there, one eminent man\nafter another has spoken some brave words in honor and admiration of the\ngreat Swede. Slowly, but surely, his writings are claiming attention; his\ndisciples, though still few, are quietly earnest and enthusiastic, and\never and anon there is seen in the newspaper or periodical, the name of\nSwedenborg mentioned with respect, if not with reverence. Considerable\ncuriosity exists in large circles to know more of him, of what he\ndid, what were his doctrines, and the nature and number of his books.\nTo satisfy, in some measure, these queries and if possible to incite\na desire for an intimate personal acquaintance with the writings of\nSwedenborg, is the purpose of the present work.\n\nEmanuel Swedenborg was born at Stockholm, on the 29th Jan., 1688. The\nyear is a memorable one, as being that in which outraged England drove\nthe faithless Stuarts from the throne. His father\u2019s name was Jesper\nSwedberg, and his mother\u2019s, Sarah Behm; both descended from families of\nworth and usefulness in Sweden. His father, at the time of his birth, was\nchaplain to a regiment of cavalry. After passing through several offices,\none of which was a professorship of theology in the University of Upsal,\nJesper Swedberg was, in the year 1719, elevated to the bishoprick of\nSkara in West Gothland. His character stood high in Sweden. Simple,\npatriotic, and honest, he was, without being brilliant, a learned and\nindustrious man. He wrote much, and published occasionally, as the\nfollowing extract from his diary proves: \u201cI can scarcely believe that\nanybody in Sweden has written so much as I have done; since, I think,\nten carts could scarcely carry away what I have written and printed at\nmy own expense, and yet there is much, yea nearly as much, not printed.\u201d\nOf the professions of his sons, he wisely remarks; \u201cI have kept my sons\nto that profession to which God has given them inclination and liking:\nI have not brought up one to the clerical office, although many parents\ndo this inconsiderately, and in a manner not justifiable, by which the\nChristian Church and the clerical order suffer not a little, and are\nbrought into contempt.\u201d Writing in his diary forty years after Emanuel\u2019s\nbirth, he says: \u201cEmanuel, my son\u2019s name, signifies \u2018God with us,\u2019 a name\nwhich should constantly remind him of the nearness of God, and of that\ninterior, holy, and mysterious connection, in which, through faith, we\nstand with our good and gracious God. And blessed be the Lord\u2019s name! God\nhas, to this hour, been with him; and may God be further with him, until\nhe is eternally united with Him in his kingdom.\u201d\n\nOf Swedenborg\u2019s childhood we have little record. In a letter which,\nlate in life, he addressed to Dr. Beyer, he remarks; \u201cWith regard to\nwhat passed in the earliest part of my life, about which you wish to be\ninformed: from my fourth to my tenth year, my thoughts were constantly\nengrossed by reflections on God, on salvation, and on the spiritual\naffections of man. I often revealed things in my discourse which filled\nmy parents with astonishment, and made them declare at times, that\ncertainly the angels spoke through my mouth. From my sixth to my twelfth\nyear, it was my greatest delight to converse with the clergy concerning\nfaith; to whom I often observed, that charity or love is the life of\nfaith; and that this vivifying charity or love is no other than the love\nof one\u2019s neighbor; that God vouchsafes this faith to every one; but that\nit is adopted by those only who practise that charity. I knew of no other\nfaith or belief at that time, than that God is the Creator and Preserver\nof Nature; that He endues men with understanding, good inclinations,\nand other gifts derived from these. I knew nothing at that time of the\nsystematic or dogmatic kind of faith, that God the Father imputes the\nrighteousness or merits of the Son to whomsoever, and at whatever time,\nHe wills, even to the impenitent. And had I heard of such a faith, it\nwould have been then, as now, perfectly unintelligible to me.\u201d\n\nThis confession very vividly shadows forth the future man. We see how\nearnestly his sound, practical mind perceived and clung to the real and\nsubstantial in theology. His experience of the doctrine of justification\nby faith alone, finds parallels in the lives and experience of many\neminent men. It was not until after many years\u2019 preaching, that the\nfact of the existence of such a doctrine was presented to the mind of\nDr. Chalmers, to whom also it was quite unintelligible; yet, overcome\nby the sphere of learning and prestige with which the doctrine was\nenvironed, Chalmers yielded assent to it, and fancied, as thousands do,\nhe believed what by no possibility he could ever understand. Swedenborg\nwas too single-eyed in his pursuit of truth to be led aside by authority,\nhowever imposing; and often, in the following narrative, we shall have to\nobserve with what independence, yet with what humility and simplicity, he\nrecorded the truths which it was his mission to reveal.\n\nThis excellent son of good Bishop Swedberg received the best education\nthat the times and his country could afford. In his twenty-second year,\nat the University of Upsal, he took his degree of Doctor in philosophy.\nThe dissertation which he wrote for his degree was afterwards published.\nIt consisted of a selection of sentences from Seneca, Publius Syrus\nMimus, and other Latin writers, enriched by comments of his own, and\nnotes illustrating the obscurities of the Latin text. This work was so\nhighly thought of, as to occasion a poetic eulogy, written in Greek, to\nbe inscribed to its author. Swedenborg dedicated this, his first literary\nproduction, to his father, in a prelude full of veneration and love. Its\nlength alone prevents our gratifying the reader with the perusal of this\nbeautiful tribute of filial affection. Among his many virtues, it should\nnot be accounted the least, that Swedenborg was a loving, dutiful son.\n\nThe same year he published, in a work of his father\u2019s, a Latin version of\nthe twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, which proved, in a high degree, his\nmastery of the Latin language.\n\nIn 1710, was finished the strictly scholastic period of Swedenborg\u2019s\nlife. He had now reached manhood, and must live as a man among men.\nHis youth manifests less precocity than solid and regular development\nof mind. The record of his life at this time, evidences a common-sense\nappreciation of life and its duties, an honest love of virtue, and a\ndesire to be useful in his day and generation. The sequel will show that\nhis day of life was not unworthy of its dawn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n    _Travels\u2014Becomes Author\u2014Is crossed in Love._\n\n\nHaving completed his university education, Swedenborg entered on his\ntravels. In his journal, he thus briefly describes a four years\u2019 absence\nfrom Sweden.\n\n\u201cIn the year 1710 I set out for Gottenburg, that I might be conveyed, by\nship, thence to London. On the voyage, my life was in danger four times:\nfirst on some shoals, toward which we were driven by a storm, until we\nwere within a quarter of a mile from the raging breakers, and we thought\nwe should all perish. Afterwards we narrowly escaped some Danish pirates\nunder French colors; and the next evening we were fired into from a\nBritish ship, which mistook us for the same pirates, but without much\ndamage. Lastly, in London itself, I was exposed to a more serious danger.\nWhile we were entering the harbor, some of our countrymen came to us in\na boat, and persuaded me to go with them into the city. Now it was known\nin London that an epidemic was raging in Sweden, and therefore all who\narrived from Sweden were forbidden to leave their ships for six weeks,\nor forty days; so I, having transgressed this law, was very near being\nhanged, and was only freed under the condition that, if any one attempted\nthe same thing again, he should not escape the gallows.\n\n\u201cAt London and Oxford I tarried about a year. Then I went to Holland and\nsaw its chief cities. At Utrecht I tarried a long time, while Congress\nwas sitting and ambassadors were gathering there from nearly all the\ncourts of Europe. Thence I went into France, and passed through Brussels\nand Valenciennes to Paris. Here and at Versailles I spent a year. At the\nend of this time I hastened, by public coach, to Hamburg, and thence to\nPomerania and Greifswalde, where I remained some time, while Charles\nthe Twelfth was coming from Bender to Stralsund. When the siege began,\nI departed in a small vessel, together with a lady named Feif, and by\nDivine Providence was restored to my own country after more than four\nyears\u2019 absence.\u201d\n\nWhile traveling he was not idle; for we find that in 1715, while at\nGreifswalde, he published an oration on the return of Charles XII.\nfrom Turkey, and a small volume of Latin prose fables. On his return\nto Sweden, he issued, at Skara, a little book of poems, written for\nthe most part during his journeyings. These have been republished at\nvarious times; but, as poems, much cannot be said of them. Wilkinson,\nin his \u201cBiography of Swedenborg,\u201d remarks: \u201cThese poems display fancy,\nbut a controlled imagination. If we may convey to the English reader\nsuch a notion of Latin verses, they remind one of the Pope school, in\nwhich there is generally some theme, or moral, governing the flights of\nthe Muse.\u201d Indeed, it was well that Swedenborg was but slightly endowed\nwith the poetic faculty. Much of his future mission lay in fields\nwhich require the coolest and calmest of minds to describe; the sight\nand contemplation of which, would have sent a Shaksperian or Byronic\ntemperament into extatic frenzies.\n\nSwedenborg, himself the son of a bishop, was connected with high and\ninfluential families in Sweden. One of his sisters was married to\nEric Benzelius, afterwards Archbishop of Upsal; and another to Lars\nBenzelstierna, governor of a province. Other members of the family\nheld high and responsible offices in the kingdom. A young man thus\nsituated would find little difficulty in settling for life in a\nsphere of usefulness adapted to all his tastes. While on his travels\non the Continent he wrote letters to Eric Benzelius, detailing every\nnovelty in mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics, which came under his\nobservation; besides sending home models of all such inventions as he\nthought might be useful to his country. These letters and services\nwon for him considerable notice; and on his return to Sweden, he\nassumed the editorship of a new periodical work, entitled \u201cD\u00e6dalus\nHyperboreus.\u201d Among the contributors to this magazine, was the celebrated\nmathematician, Christopher Polheim, who has been called the Swedish\nArchimedes. Swedenborg\u2019s connection with Polheim seems to have led to his\nappointment to the office of Assessor of the Board of Mines, which he\nheld with distinguished honor for many years.\n\nIn the year 1716, Polheim invited him to go with him to Lund, on a visit\nto Charles XII., who had just escaped from Stralsund. He was very kindly\nreceived by the King, and obtained from him his official appointment as\nAssessor. He was to assist Polheim in his undertakings, to have a seat\nin the College of Mines, and to give his advice, especially when any\nbusiness of a mathematical nature was on hand.\n\nCharles seems to have at once discerned the rare abilities of Swedenborg,\nand with a desire of uniting him in still closer bonds of amity with\nhis favorite Polheim, he advised Polheim to give him his daughter in\nmarriage. To this proposal Swedenborg appears to have been in nowise\naverse. He lived with Polheim, at once as his coadjutor, and as his pupil\nin mathematics; and having thus constant opportunities of seeing the fair\nEmerentia, Polheim\u2019s second daughter, had become enamored of her graces.\nIn one of his letters, he remarks: \u201cPolheim\u2019s eldest daughter is promised\nto a page of the king\u2019s. I wonder what people say of this in relation to\nmyself. His second daughter is, in my opinion, much the handsomest.\u201d\nThe attachment, however, was not mutual, and the lady would not allow\nherself to be betrothed. Her father, who deeply loved Swedenborg, caused\na written agreement to be drawn up, promising his daughter at some\nfuture day. This document, Emerentia, from filial obedience signed;\nbut, as ladies generally do, when forced to love in this way, took to\nsighs and sadness, which so affected her brother with sorrow, that he\nsecretly purloined the agreement from Swedenborg. The paper was soon\nmissed; for Swedenborg read it over frequently, and, in his grief at its\nloss, besought Polheim to replace it by a new one. But as Swedenborg now\ndiscovered the pain which he gave to the object of his affections, he at\nonce relinquished all claim to her hand, and left her father\u2019s house.\nThis was his last, as it was his first endeavor after marriage. In after\nyears, when jocosely asked whether he had ever been desirous of marrying,\nhe answered: \u201cIn my youth I was once on the road to matrimony.\u201d And on\nbeing asked what was the obstacle, with his characteristic simplicity he\nsaid: \u201cShe would not have me.\u201d Considering the studious and abstracted\nlife which he eventually led, it is not to be regretted that he remained\nunwedded. That he was no harsh despiser of the sex, we know well from\nhis writings; and that his life was in agreement with his books, we also\nknow. The loveliest descriptions of female grace and beauty we have\never met with, are contained in his works, chiefly in his treatise on\n\u201cConjugial Love.\u201d M. Sandell, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences\nin Sweden, who pronounced a magnificent eulogium on his fellow-member,\nSwedenborg, shortly after his death, says: \u201cThough Swedenborg was never\nmarried, it was not owing to any indifference toward the sex; for he\nesteemed the company of a fine, intelligent woman as one of the most\nagreeable of pleasures; but his profound studies rendered expedient for\nhim the quiet of a single life.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg seems to have had much intercourse with the King. In one of\nhis letters, he says: \u201cI found his Majesty very gracious to me; more so\nthan I could expect. This is a good omen for the future. Every day I\nlaid mathematical subjects before his Majesty, who allowed everything to\nplease him. When the eclipse took place, I had his Majesty out to see\nit, and we reasoned much thereupon. He again spoke of my \u2018D\u00e6dalus,\u2019 and\nremarked upon my not continuing it; for which I pleaded want of means.\nThis he does not like to hear of; so I hope to have some assistance\nshortly.\u201d But assistance did not come, and \u201cD\u00e6dalus\u201d went the way of many\nsuch undertakings. Talking of mathematics one day, Charles remarked that\n\u201che who knew nothing of mathematics, did not deserve to be considered a\nrational man;\u201d a sentiment which Swedenborg thought \u201ctruly worthy of a\nking.\u201d[1]\n\nCharles XII. was now engaged in the siege of Frederickshall, and\nSwedenborg\u2019s aid was called in. He very ingeniously planned rolling\nmachines, by which two galleys, five large boats, and a sloop, were\nconveyed from Stromstadt to Iderfjol, overland; a distance of fourteen\nmiles. Under cover of these vessels, Charles was enabled to transport his\nheavy artillery under the very walls of Frederickshall; but it availed\nlittle, for at the siege of this town, on November 30, 1718, (old style,)\nthis inveterate warrior received the fatal blow which ended his troublous\nand eventful career. He was struck in the head with a cannon ball, and\nthough death must have been instantaneous, he was found with his right\nhand firmly grasping the handle of his sword; so prompt was he to put\nhimself in an attitude of defence.\n\n    \u201cHis fall was destined to a barren strand,\n    A petty fortress and a dubious hand;\n    He left a name at which the world grew pale,\n    To point a moral or adorn a tale.\u201d\n\nIn 1719 the Swedberg family were ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora,\nand Swedenborg from that time took his place with the nobles of the\nequestrian order, in the triennial Assemblies of the States. This\ndistinction conferred little else than a change of name. He was neither a\nCount nor a Baron, as has very commonly been supposed.\n\nEmanuel Swedenborg was rapidly winning for himself the name of a deep\nthinker and a ready writer. In 1717 he published \u201cAn Introduction to\nAlgebra,\u201d under the title of \u201cThe Art of the Rules.\u201d It was highly\npraised for its clearness, and the order and force of its examples. The\nfirst portion of the work, however, was all that was published. The\nsecond, containing the first account given in Sweden of the differential\nand integral calculus, still remains in MS. His second publication\nthis year was, \u201cAttempts to find the Longitude of Places by Lunar\nObservations.\u201d Both works were written in Swedish.\n\nIn 1719 four works proceeded from his increasingly fertile pen. \u201cA\nProposal for a Decimal System of Money and Measures;\u201d \u201cA Treatise on the\nMotion and Position of the Earth and Planets;\u201d \u201cProofs derived from\nAppearances in Sweden, of the Depth of the Sea, and the greater Force of\nthe Tides in the Ancient World;\u201d and \u201cOn Docks, Sluices, and Salt Works.\u201d\n\nHis work on the Decimal system of coinage and measures was republished in\n1795. Swedenborg\u2019s ideas on this and most other subjects were far ahead\nof the times in which he lived. In one of his letters he thus alludes\nto the discouragements he met with on this account. \u201cIt is a little\ndiscouraging to me to be advised to relinquish my views, as among the\nnovelties the country can not bear. For my part, I desire all possible\nnovelties; aye, a novelty for every day in the year; for in every age\nthere is an abundance of persons who follow the beaten track, and remain\nin the old way; while there are not more than from six to ten in a\ncentury who bring forward innovations founded on argument and reason.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n    _Travels again\u2014Publishes five Scientific Pamphlets and\n    \u201cMiscellaneous Observations\u201d\u2014Returns Home and enters on the\n    duty of his Assessorship\u2014Writes his \u201cOpera Philosophica et\n    Mineralia,\u201d and goes abroad to publish it._\n\n\nIn the spring of 1721, Swedenborg visited Holland a second time, and\nchose Amsterdam as a place of publication for the following five little\nworks:\u2014\u201cSome Specimens of a Work on the Principles of Natural Philosophy,\ncomprising New Attempts to Explain the Phenomena of Chemistry and Physics\nby Geometry;\u201d \u201cNew Observations and Discoveries respecting Iron and Fire,\nand particularly respecting the Elemental Nature of Fire, together with\na new construction of Stoves;\u201d \u201cA New Method of finding the Longitude of\nPlaces, on Land or at Sea, by Lunar Observations;\u201d \u201cA New Mechanical Plan\nof constructing Docks and Dykes;\u201d and \u201cA Mode of Discovering the Powers\nof Vessels by the application of Mechanical Principles.\u201d\n\nThe titles of these pamphlets prove that their author was no ordinary\nman. But the publication of them was not his only object in this visit\nto the continent. It was his desire to improve his practical knowledge\nof mining, to enable him the better to fulfill his duties as Assessor.\nFor this purpose he left Amsterdam for Leipsic, passing through\nAix-la-Chapelle, Liege, and Cologne, and visiting the different mines and\nsmelting works which lay in his route. At Leipsic he published, in 1722,\n\u201cMiscellaneous Observations connected with the Physical Sciences,\u201d Parts\nI. to III.; and at Hamburg, in the same year, Part IV., principally on\nminerals, iron, and the stalactites in Beaumann\u2019s cavern. The reigning\nDuke of Brunswick, Louis Rudolph, most hospitably received Swedenborg,\ndefrayed his traveling expenses, and on his departure, testified his\nadmiration of the young savant by presenting him with a gold medallion,\nand a weighty silver goblet. In return for these favors, Swedenborg\ndedicated Part IV. of his \u201cMiscellaneous Observations\u201d to him.\n\nIn speaking of the foregoing works, it is difficult, in the few words\nto which we must limit ourselves, to do them the justice which their\noriginality and daring speculation deserve. As Wilkinson remarks, \u201cthe\nfortress of mineral truth was the first which he approached, and with\nthe most guarded preparation. His method was furnished by geometry and\nmechanics; the laws of the pure sciences were to be the interpreters of\nthe facts of chemistry and physics. The beginning of nature, says he, is\nidentical with the beginning of geometry; the origin of natural particles\nis due to mathematical points, just as is the origin of lines, forms,\nand the whole of geometry: because everything in nature is geometrical,\neverything in geometry is natural. Carrying out this theory, he seeks to\ndefine the laws of chemical essence and combination, by the truths of\nmathematics.\u201d Mr. Strutt, the translator of these works into English,\nsays: \u201cThis extraordinary attempt to bring invisible things to light,\nhas been thoroughly justified by the success which has attended Dalton\u2019s\nhypothesis, in an age better prepared for its application; and by the\nequally remarkable fact that the definitions given of solids, acids, and\nalkalies, have gradually approximated very near indeed to those which\nresult from Swedenborg\u2019s hypothesis. We say nothing here of a latent\nconnection between the principle on which it is founded, and some of the\nresults obtained by Berzelius, whose fame, as a chemist, is as wide as\nthe civilized world.\u201d It need only be added that M. Dumas, the French\nchemist, ascribes to these works by Swedenborg, the origin of the modern\nscience of crystallography. He says, \u201cIt is to him we are indebted for\nthe first idea of making cubes, tetrahedrons, pyramids, and the different\ncrystalline forms, by the grouping of spherical particles; and it is an\nidea which has been renewed by several distinguished men, Wollaston in\nparticular.\u201d\n\nAfter an absence of fifteen months, Swedenborg returned to his home in\nStockholm, at midsummer, 1722. He now for the first time entered fully\nupon the duties of his Assessorship; having deferred doing so until his\nknowledge of metallurgy had become sufficiently practical and extensive.\nAt this time he published an anonymous pamphlet \u201cOn the Depreciation and\nRise of the Swedish Currency.\u201d The currency seems to have been a favorite\nsubject with Swedenborg; and in his senatorial capacity, it engaged much\nof his attention. The pamphlet seems to have been much thought of, for we\nfind that it was republished at Upsal in 1771. There are few productions\nof this kind that will endure a revival forty-nine years after their\nfirst publication.\n\nThe tenor of Swedenborg\u2019s life for eleven years after this, seems to have\nflowed quietly on in the regular fulfilment of the duties of his office.\nIt may be supposed that he had become tired of writing and publishing\nscientific works, and that for a time he wished to rest from this kind\nof labor. His abilities were appreciated by his countrymen, for we find\nthat he was solicited to accept the Professorship of mathematics in the\nUniversity of Upsal, in 1724. He declined the honor. It appears that he\nhad a distaste for the unpractical and merely speculative character of\nthe pure mathematician. We find him writing to his brother-in-law in\nthis strain:\u2014\u201cI wonder at Messieurs the mathematicians having lost all\nheart and spirit to realize that fine design of yours for an astronomical\nobservatory. It is the fatality of mathematicians to remain chiefly in\ntheory. I have often thought it would be a capital thing, if, to each\nten mathematicians, one good practical man were added, to lead the rest\nto market: he would be of more use and mark than all the ten.\u201d In 1729,\nSwedenborg became a member of the Royal Academy of Science at Stockholm.\n\nDiscontinuing the pamphlet style of publication, Swedenborg now centered\nhis thoughts upon the production of a much larger and more laborious work\nthan he had hitherto attempted. It was entitled \u201cOpera Philosophica et\nMineralia.\u201d In order to secure its proper publication, he went abroad,\nfor the third time, in May, 1733. After spending five months in Germany,\nseeing everything note-worthy, he commenced the printing of his work\nat Leipsic, in the month of October. In the course of the year 1734,\nthe whole was finished in three handsome folio volumes, enriched with\nnumerous copper-plates, and an engraved likeness of the author. At this\ntime he was again a visitor at the court of the Duke of Brunswick, who\nmunificently defrayed the cost of his expensive publication. The volumes\nwere published at Leipsic and Dresden.\n\nAt the same time he issued a little work called \u201cA Philosophical Argument\non the Infinite, and the Final Cause of Creation; and on the Mechanism of\nthe Intercourse between the Soul and the Body.\u201d It may be regarded as a\nsupplement to the foregoing.\n\nHis work being finished, he left Leipsic for Cassel, and passing\nhomewards through Gotha, Brunswick, and Hamburg, arrived at Stockholm in\nJuly, 1734. It is to be remembered that in this journey he had still the\nduties of his office in view. He visited mines everywhere, studied their\nmodes of working, and sought continually to make himself useful to his\ncountry.\n\nIt now becomes necessary to speak of his great volumes of philosophical\nand mineral works.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n    _Opera Philosophica et Mineralia._\n\n\nIn attempting to give the reader an idea of the contents and aims of this\ngreat work, within the compass of a few paragraphs, one feels extreme\ndifficulty in knowing where or how to begin. It starts so many topics,\nis so full of the deepest scientific truth, speculates so boldly, and\nreaches to such heights of subtle thought, that we must necessarily\nconfine ourselves to a very superficial view, and the enumeration of a\nfew of its prominent features.\n\nAs before said, the work occupies three large folio volumes. Of the\nsecond and third of these, it does not lie in our province to say\nmuch. Both are strictly practical works; one on iron, and the other on\ncopper and brass. They are evidences of Swedenborg\u2019s ardent devotion\nto the duties of his office; and as a testimony to the worth of the\nbooks themselves, it need only be said, that portions of them have been\nrepeatedly reprinted, and that they are held in high estimation by those\nwho study metallurgy as a science, or follow it as a profession. The\npublication of the secrets of trade and manufacture in these volumes,\nwas not relished by the narrow-minded and selfish. Of such the author\nobserves:\u2014\u201cThere are persons who love to hold their knowledge for\nthemselves alone, and to be the reputed possessors and guardians of\nsecrets. People of this kind grudge the public everything, and if any\ndiscovery, by which art and science will be benefited, comes to light,\nthey regard it askance, with scowling visages, and probably denounce\nthe discoverer as a babbler who lets out mysteries. But why should such\nsecrets be grudged to the public? Why withhold from this enlightened age?\nWhatever is worthy to be known, should by all means be brought to the\ngreat and general market of the world. Unless we do this, we can neither\ngrow wiser nor happier with time.\u201d These are true, liberal, and noble\nwords.\n\nBut it is the first volume which is the greatest and most important of\nthe three. It has recently been translated into English by the Rev.\nAugustus Clissold, and published in two considerable octavos. It is\nentitled \u201cPrincipia; or the First Principles of Natural Things, being New\nAttempts toward a Philosophical Explanation of the Elementary World.\u201d In\nthis volume an attempt is made to explain the generation of the elements,\nthe creation of matter, and the nature of the occult forces playing\nwithin nature. To pronounce an absolute opinion upon such a work would be\nhighly hazardous; for positive science at present, affords no sufficient\ndata to test many of its highest reasonings. So far, however, as such\ntests have been granted, they serve to manifest the fact that among\nspeculative natural philosophers, Swedenborg is second to none. G\u0153rres,\nan eminent German philosopher, speaking of the \u201cPrincipia,\u201d remarks:\u2014\u201cIt\nis a production indicative of profound thought in all its parts, and not\nunworthy of being placed by the side of Newton\u2019s mathematical \u2018Principia\nof Natural Philosophy.\u2019\u201d We will now adduce a few proofs of the truth of\nthis assertion.\n\nHumboldt, in his \u201cKosmos,\u201d remarks: \u201cThat great and enthusiastic although\ncautious observer, Sir William Herschel, was the first to sound the\ndepths of heaven, in order to determine the limits and form of the starry\nsystem we inhabit.\u201d The discovery of the place of our sun and system\nin the Milky Way, is certainly due to Herschel, but Swedenborg has a\nprior claim to the honor. In the \u201cPrincipia,\u201d written four years before\nHerschel was born, the statement of our sun\u2019s position in the heavens\nwas explicitly made, with the method by which the fact was observed. But\nthis is not all. The changes observed in the planetary orbits, seemed\nat one time to warrant the belief in a final destruction of all things\nthrough the falling of creation into chaos. After awhile, however, La\nGrange brought forward his beautiful theory, by which was established the\ndoctrine, that though the solar system is liable to certain mutations\nin the form and eccentricity of its orbits in very long periods, yet\nin consequence of a certain relation which prevails in the system,\nbetween the masses, orbital axes, and eccentricities, in time all orbits\nreturn again to what they originally were, oscillating between very\nnarrow limits. This discovery of a cyclar return, confirmed by the most\neminent astronomers, is pronounced by Professor Playfair to be, \u201cnext\nto Newton\u2019s discovery of the elliptical orbits of the planets,\u2014without\ndoubt the noblest truth in physical astronomy.\u201d This discovery has also\nto be claimed for Swedenborg. In his \u201cPrincipia,\u201d the fact of this cyclar\nmutation and return of the planets to order, is repeatedly stated, and\nwith great accuracy and plainness. Want of space alone forbids several\nquotations in proof. It need only be noted that the \u201cPrincipia\u201d was\npublished forty-four years before La Grange announced his famous theory.\nAgain, the doctrine of the translatory or progressive motion of the\nstars along the Milky Way, and their streaming out at the northern\nend, and in at the southern; diverging at the northern end in every\ndirection, while at the southern end they converge at every point,\u2014one\nof the most magnificent truths of modern astronomy,\u2014is clearly set forth\nin this wonderful work of Swedenborg\u2019s, years before the full fact had\ndawned upon the scientific world. Again, the sublime doctrine of the\ncosmical arrangement of the stars, or of the clustering of stars into\ndistinct systems, forming starry systems, as planets do solar systems,\ngenerally attributed to Kant, Mitchell, and one or two others, was\npromulgated by Swedenborg in the \u201cPrincipia,\u201d when Kant, the first of the\nacknowledged propounders of the theory, was a boy of ten years of age.\nThe first enunciation of the nebular hypothesis, is also to be referred\nto Swedenborg\u2019s \u201cPrincipia.\u201d Indeed La Place, to whom the hypothesis is\ngenerally attributed, indirectly owed some of his ideas on the subject to\nSwedenborg. La Place owned that Buffon was the first that suggested the\ntheory of the origin of the planets and their satellites from the sun.\nNow Buffon was acquainted with Swedenborg\u2019s \u201cPrincipia,\u201d as is evident\nfrom the fact that an eminent London bookseller recently sold a copy of\nthe \u201cPrincipia\u201d containing Buffon\u2019s autograph.[2] It need only be added,\nthat, fifteen years before Buffon published his theory, and seventy-five\nyears before La Place offered his own to the public, Swedenborg had\npropounded his version of the nebular hypothesis in the \u201cPrincipia.\u201d It\nis true that La Place and Swedenborg differ on several points; but recent\nscience and experiment have tended to prove that, wherein they differ,\nSwedenborg\u2019s theories are the most accurate.\n\nWhile advancing these high claims for Swedenborg, in astronomical science\nand theory, it is but right to remove from the public mind an erroneous\nidea, which, like his titles of Baron and Count, has no foundation in\nfact. We allude to his common repute as the announcer of the existence\nof the seventh planet, Uranus, discovered by Herschel in 1781. That he\nannounced the existence of this planet long before its actual discovery,\nhas been stated innumerable times, at home and abroad; and Emerson in\nhis lecture on the Mystic, takes opportunity to be witty in regretting\nthat he did not discover the eighth. The mistake has arisen from\nSwedenborg\u2019s talking of a seventh planet in \u201cThe Worship and Love of\nGod,\u201d a book of his yet to be noticed. Now the belief in the existence of\na seventh planet was entertained by most of the astronomers of his day,\nand even so far back as Kepler, in 1584. Swedenborg, in speaking as he\ndid, only expressed a general idea. Astronomers observing the wide space\nbetween the orbits of Mars and Jupiter conjectured that some planet must\nroll between. The after discovery of numerous asteroids between these\norbits, gave some show of truth to their conjectures. It was of this\nsupposed planet between Mars and Jupiter, and not of Uranus, (afterwards\ndiscovered by Sir William Herschel,) that Swedenborg spoke.\n\nIn magnetism, as in astronomy, the \u201cPrincipia\u201d is no less rich in\noriginal thought and discovery. It was not until the close of the\neighteenth century that the position of the magnetic equator was\ndiscovered to be different from that of the geographical. After\nobservations confirmed the fact that the mean latitudinal positions of\nthe magnetic poles and equators, are identical with those of the earth\u2019s\necliptic and ecliptical poles. This fact, over which there has been much\ncongratulation, was set forth in the \u201cPrincipia\u201d many years before it\nwas confirmed by actual observation. Again, the fact that the southern\nmagnetic pole has a longer axis from the center of the magnetic equator,\nthan the northern, and hence occupies a higher latitudinal position;\nand, as a consequence, that the revolution of the north magnetic pole\nis quicker than that of the southern; also that the south magnetic pole\npossesses a greater attractive force than the north,\u2014facts not suspected\ntill the investigations of Hansteen in 1819, and only fully confirmed\nby observation very recently,\u2014were all proclaimed in the \u201cPrincipia\u201d\nnearly a century before positive science had embraced them in her\ndomain. Swedenborg also takes precedence of all other discoverers in the\nannouncement of the identity of the magnetic streams forming the aurora,\nand those influencing the magnetic needle. So full is the \u201cPrincipia\u201d of\ntruths respecting magnetism,\u2014which the world generally supposes to be a\nnovelty of the present day\u2014that we could not imagine a greater pleasure\nor surprise awaiting any one devoted to the prosecution of magnetic\nscience, than the perusal of this commonly supposed old-fashioned and\nantiquated \u201cPrincipia\u201d of speculative science.\n\nWe will now say a few words on the great chemical truths which the\n\u201cPrincipia\u201d revealed. In 1734, not a whisper had been breathed regarding\nthe composite nature of the atmosphere. The earliest date which\ncan be assigned for the practical discovery of the two-fold nature\nof atmospheric air, is 1772-4, the date of Priestley\u2019s celebrated\nexperiments. But we find in the \u201cPrincipia,\u201d that Swedenborg sets forth\nthe following facts:\u2014that pure and dry atmospheric air is a compound\nof two constituents; that these constituents are combined in unequal\nproportions; that the element greatest in quantity is the extinguisher\nof combustion; and lastly, that the element greatest in quantity is a\nconstituent of water as well as of air. The merest tyro in science will,\nat a glance, perceive the importance and extent of ground which these\npropositions cover, and how profound must have been that genius, which,\nin the midst of the deepest scientific darkness, could draw from nature\nthese deep and choice truths. But this was not all. Water as well as air\nyielded to him the secret of its constitution. In Swedenborg\u2019s day, the\nwhole world thought and spoke of water as an element, and even after the\ncomposite nature of air was revealed, water maintained its elemental\ncharacter up to 1783, when the discovery was almost simultaneously made\nby Watt, Priestley, Cavendish, and Lavoisier, that water, like air, is a\nresult of the combination of two gases. Now in the \u201cPrincipia,\u201d written\nfifty years before, we are expressly told that pure water is a compound\nsubstance, and the particulars and quantities of the two elements in its\ncomposition are correctly given. There are many other truths in modern\nscience which the \u201cPrincipia\u201d anticipates; such as the atomic theory, and\nthe identity of electricity and lightning; but we must draw to a close.\nEnough has been said to show the high merits of the book, and to prove\nhow worthy it is of the study and attention of all true lovers of science.\n\nThe publication of the \u201cPrincipia\u201d gained for its author great\nreputation, and his friendship and correspondence were eagerly courted\nby all the philosophers of his day. In December, 1734, the Academy of\nSciences at St. Petersburg appointed him one of their corresponding\nmembers. The Pope honored the work by placing it in that noble catalogue\nof books, the Index Expurgatorius, in 1739.\n\nIt may be very pertinently asked, how it happens that a work abounding\nin such important doctrines and theories should be so little known.\nThe neglect is easily accounted for in the great subsequent fame of\nits author as a religious visionary. His later reputation effectually\nout-shone that which he so deservedly won in his younger days; and few,\neven of his own disciples, until recently, thought of lifting from\nthe dusty shelves those great books of scientific theory, which, of\nthemselves, established for their author a place among the greatest of\nmen. The \u201cPrincipia,\u201d as its translator truly says, \u201cis a book for the\nfuture;\u201d and taking these words in their full import, it would be hardly\npossible to pronounce a higher panegyric.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n    _Doings and Travels._\n\n\nFrom 1734 to 1736, Swedenborg remained at home. In July, 1735, his\nfather died; and a year after, Swedenborg went abroad, as he states in\nhis diary, \u201cfor a sojourn of three or four years, to write and publish a\ncertain book.\u201d During his absence he resigned half of his official salary\nto his substitutes. His father having left him some money, he was the\nbetter able to do so. He journeyed through Denmark, Hanover, and Holland,\nand arrived at Rotterdam during the fair. Observing the amusements of the\npeople, mountebanks, shows, etc., he took occasion to moralize thus upon\nthe character and prosperity of the Dutch. \u201cHere at Rotterdam, it has\nsuggested itself to me to inquire why it is that God has blessed a people\nso barbarous and boorish as the Dutch, with such a fertile and luxuriant\nsoil; that He has preserved them, for so long a course of years, from\nall misfortune; that He has raised them up in commerce above all other\nnations; and made their provinces the mart and emporium of the wealth of\nEurope and the world. On consideration, the first and principal cause\nof these circumstances appears to be, that Holland is a republic, which\nform of government is more pleasing to God than an absolute monarchy. In\na republic, no veneration or worship is paid to any man, but the highest\nand lowest think themselves equal to kings and emperors; as may be seen\nfrom the characteristic bearing of every one in Holland. The only one\nwhom they worship is God. And when God alone is worshiped, and men are\nnot adored instead of Him, such worship is most acceptable to Him. Then\nagain, in Holland, there is the greatest liberty. None are slaves, but\nall are as lords and masters under the government of the most high God;\nand the consequence is, that they do not depress their manliness either\nby shame or fear, but always preserve a firm and sound mind in a sound\nbody; and with a free spirit, and an erect countenance, commit themselves\nand their property to God, who alone ought to govern all things. It is\nnot so in absolute monarchies, where men are educated to simulation\nand dissimulation; where they learn to have one thing concealed in the\nbreast, and to bring forth another upon the tongue; where their minds,\nby inveterate custom, become so false and counterfeit, that, in divine\nworship itself, their words differ from their thoughts, and they proffer\ntheir flattery and deceit to God himself, which certainly must be most\ndispleasing to Him. This seems to be the reason why the Dutch are more\nprosperous in their undertakings than other nations.\u201d Then, with rare\ndiscrimination, he adds, \u201cbut their worshiping mammon as a Deity, and\ncaring for nothing but gold, is a thing which is not compatible with long\nprosperity.\u201d The silent and uninfluential place which Holland now fills\nin Europe, places the seal of truth on these quiet lines.\n\nThe Roman Catholic Church seems to have attracted much of his attention\nin his travels, and the grossness and sensuality of its priesthood were\nstrongly remarked upon. \u201cThe monks,\u201d says he, \u201cat Roye, are fat and\ncorpulent, and an army of such fellows might be banished without loss to\nthe State. They fill their bellies, take all they can get, and give the\npoor nothing but fine words and blessings; and yet they are willing to\ntake from the poor all their substance for nothing. What is the good of\nbare-footed Franciscans?\u201d In Paris, he spent a year and a half. There\nalso he was amazed at the clerical riot and corruption. \u201cIt is found,\u201d\nhe observes, \u201cthat the tax which they term the dixi\u00e8mes, yields annually\nthirty-two millions sterling; and that the Parisians spend two-thirds\nof this amount over their own city. One-fifth of the whole possessions\nof the kingdom is in the hands of the clerical order. If this condition\nof things last long, the ruin of the empire will be speedy.\u201d He little\ndreamed of the fearful verification which these words would receive.\n\nHis journal in Paris reveals the fact of his hearty enjoyment of\nsight-seeing and amusements. Visits to churches, monasteries, palaces,\ngardens, museums, and theatres, evidence with what zest he drank the cup\nof life, and with what interest he looked upon men and their affairs. In\nthis respect we do well to compare Swedenborg with many whom the world\nin its ignorance associate with him. At no period of his life was he a\ncold self-righteous ascetic, looking abroad upon men with a bitter and\naccusing scowl. At no time did he insult his Maker with upbraidings that\nhis fate was to live in an evil world, and with a wicked generation. He\nreceived life with thankfulness, partook temperately of all its lawful\npleasures, did his duty, and took care while living with the world to\nkeep himself unspotted from its evil. This social discipline was one of\nthe Divine means by which he was fitted for the full performance of his\nfuture mission.\n\nWe are not informed of the nature of the work which he at this time\nwent abroad to write and publish. From his manuscripts, however, it\nappears that he was preparing materials and disciplining his mind for\nhis great work, the \u201cAnimal Kingdom,\u201d by writing short papers on various\nphysiological subjects. Many of these papers have been translated and\npublished under the title of \u201cPosthumous Tracts.\u201d\n\nLeaving Paris in March, 1738, Swedenborg directed his steps toward Italy,\nand after visiting its principal cities, arrived at Rome on the 25th\nSeptember. Mr. Rich, in his \u201cBiography of Swedenborg,\u201d remarks,\u2014\u201cThis\nvisit should be a memorable one, for it brought the church of the past\nand the future into a singular communion with each other;\u2014Rome in the\nstill atmosphere and fading light of autumn, with all its trophies of\nPagan art, and its hoary traditions; and Swedenborg, the predestined\nSeer of the last ages, whose eye was just kindling with the light of\ninspiration. We should lose all faith in the instinctive prescience of\nthe human spirit when great events are at hand, if we might not believe\nthat a presentiment of something in the shadowy distance, connecting\nhis future with the strange mystery of the city, did not cross, for a\nmoment, the mind of Swedenborg, when he entered the once holy and revered\nmetropolis of the faith.\u201d\n\nAfter a sojourn of five months, Swedenborg left Rome on the 15th of\nFebruary, 1739, varying his homeward route. His journal from the 17th of\nMarch, 1739, when he was at Genoa, is a blank, and his after wanderings\nwe can only conjecture. \u201cIt is most probable,\u201d says Wilkinson, \u201cthat\nhe deposited the manuscript of the \u201cEconomy of the Animal Kingdom,\u201d at\nAmsterdam, on his way from Leipsic to Sweden, in 1740; that he lived in\nhis own country from 1740 or 1741 till 1744, and in the latter year went\nagain to Holland, and from thence came to England, where we meet him in\n1745.\u201d\n\nIn 1740-41, Swedenborg published at Amsterdam his \u201cEconomy of the Animal\nKingdom;\u201d and in 1744-45, the \u201cAnimal Kingdom,\u201d Parts I. and II. at the\nHague, and Part III. in London.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n    _The \u201cEconomy of the Animal Kingdom,\u201d and the \u201cAnimal Kingdom.\u201d_\n\n\nIn the \u201cAnimal Kingdom,\u201d Swedenborg referred solely to the human body,\nit being the microcosm, or representative of all inferior systems. In\nthe \u201cEconomy of the Animal Kingdom,\u201d he treats of the blood, and the\norgans which contain it; the coincidence of the motion of the brain with\nthe respiration of the lungs; and of the human soul. The method pursued\nin this work is admirable. A careful series of extracts, containing\nfacts from the best anatomists, is prefixed to each chapter, and thence\nis deduced the author\u2019s theory. It would be very difficult indeed to\npresent, in an abstract, the substance of these quotations, and without\nthis, (which would be inconsistent with our limits,) the theories could\nnot be fairly understood or appreciated. His demonstration of the\ncoincidence of the motion of the brain with the respiration of the lungs,\nis well worthy of notice. Wilkinson, speaking of this in his \u201cBiography\nof Swedenborg,\u201d says: \u201cLet any reader think for a moment of what he\nexperiences when he breathes, and attends to the act. He will find that\nhis whole frame heaves and subsides at the time; face, chest, stomach,\nand limbs, are all actuated by his respiration. His sense is, that not\nonly his lungs but his entire body breathes. Now mark what Swedenborg\nelicited from this fact. If the whole man breathes or heaves, so also do\nthe organs which he contains, for they are necessarily drawn outwards\nby the rising of the surface; therefore they all breathe. What do they\nbreathe? Two elements are omnipresent in them, the blood-vessels and the\nnerves; the one giving them pabulum, the other life. They draw then into\nthemselves blood, and life or nervous spirit. Each does this according\nto its own form; each, therefore, has a free individuality like the\nwhole man; each takes its food, the blood, when it chooses; each wills\ninto itself the life according to its desires. The man is made up of\nmanlike parts; his freedom is an aggregate of a host of atomic, organical\nfreedoms. The heart does not cram them with its blood, but each, like the\nman itself, takes what it thinks right.\n\n\u201cBut, furthermore, thought commences and corresponds with respiration.\nThe reader has before attended to the presence of the heaving over\nthe body; now let him _feel his thoughts_, and he will see that they\ntoo heave with the mass. When he entertains a long thought he draws a\nlong breath; when he thinks quickly, his breath vibrates with rapid\nalternations; when the tempest of anger shakes his mind, his breath is\ntumultuous; when his soul is deep and tranquil, so is his respiration;\nwhen success inflates him, his lungs are as tumid as his conceits.\nLet him make trial of the contrary: let him endeavor to think in long\nstretches at the same time that he breathes in fits, and he will find\nthat it is impossible; that in this case the chopping lungs will needs\nmince his thoughts. Now the mind dwells in the brain, and it is the\nbrain, therefore, which shares the varying fortunes of the breathing. It\nis strange that this correspondence between the states of the brain or\nmind, and the lungs, has not been admitted into science; for it holds in\nevery case, at every moment. In truth it is so unfailing, and so near to\nthe center of sense, that this has made it difficult to regard it as an\nobject; for if you only try to think upon the breathing, in consequence\nof the fixation of thought, you stop the breath that very moment, and\nonly recommence it when the thought can no longer hold, that is to\nsay, when the brain has need to expire. Now Swedenborg, with amazing\nobservation and sagacity, has made a regular study of this ratio between\nthe respiration and the thoughts and emotions; he shows in detail that\nthe two correspond exactly, and moreover that their correspondence is one\nof the long-sought links between the soul and the body, whereby every\nthought is represented and carried out momentaneously in the expanse of\nthe human frame. It is difficult to give a more plain or excellent reason\nof the tie between the body and the soul, than that the latter finds the\nbody absolutely to its mind; while on the other hand, the living body\nclings to the soul, because it wants a friendly superior life to infuse\nand direct its life.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cAnimal Kingdom,\u201d written after the same plan as the \u201cEconomy,\u201d\ntreats of the organs of the abdomen, of those of the chest, and of the\nskin. Swedenborg, in setting forth his plan of operation, in which he\nannounces his intention to examine, physically and philosophically, the\nwhole anatomy of the body, and lastly of the soul, and of its state in\nthe body, says: \u201cFrom this summary or plan, the reader may see that the\nend I propose to myself in the work, is a knowledge of the soul, since\nthis knowledge will constitute the crown of my studies. This, then, my\nlabors intend, and thither they aim. To accomplish this grand end, I\nenter the circus, designing to consider and examine thoroughly the whole\nworld of microcosm which the soul inhabits; for I think it vain to seek\nher anywhere but in her own kingdom. I am, therefore, resolved to allow\nmyself no respite, until I have run through the whole field to the very\ngoal, or until I have traversed the universal animal kingdom to the\nsoul. Thus I hope that by bending my course inward continually, I shall\nopen all the doors that lead to her, and at length contemplate the soul\nherself, by the Divine permission.\u201d One of his manuscripts repeats this\ndesign in these words: \u201cI have gone through anatomy with the single end\nof investigating the soul. It will be a satisfaction to me if my labors\nbe of any use to the anatomical and medical world, but a still greater\nsatisfaction if I afford any light towards the investigation of the soul.\u201d\n\nIn striving to compass such high spiritual knowledge, by merely natural\nmeans, he necessarily failed. In one of his books, written several years\nafter, when a brighter light had dawned upon his mind, he says: \u201cMany in\nthe learned world have laboured in investigating the soul, but as they\nknew nothing of the spiritual world, and of the state of man after death,\nthey could not do otherwise than construct hypotheses, not respecting the\nsoul\u2019s nature, or its operation on the body. Of the soul\u2019s nature, they\ncould have no other idea than as of something most pure in ether, and\nof its continent as of ether. Now having such a conception of the soul,\nand yet knowing that the soul acts on the body, and produces everything\nin it that has relation to sense and motion, therefore they labored, as\nwe before observed, to investigate the soul\u2019s operation on the body,\nwhich some said was effected by influx, and some by harmony. But these\nmeans discovered nothing in which the mind desirous of seeing the ground\nof things, can acquiesce.\u201d We have in these sentences the cause of the\nfruitlessness of his own labors at this period, in their highest aims.\nThey formed, however, a part of that providential discipline which was\nfitting him for his future office.\n\nFruitless though these works necessarily were, in their highest aim, yet\nin lower ends they are treasure-houses of thought and suggestion. Taking\nfor his basis the dry facts of the anatomists, he proceeds to clothe them\nwith life and comeliness. He shows how part is bound to part in the human\nsystem, and fills the cold details of science with a warm and human\ninterest. Emerson well says: \u201cThe \u2018Animal Kingdom\u2019 is a book of wonderful\nmerits. It was written with the highest end, to put science and soul,\nso long estranged from each other, at one again. It was the anatomist\u2019s\naccount of the human body in the highest style of poetry; and nothing can\nexceed the bold and brilliant treatment of a subject usually so dry and\nrepulsive.\u201d\n\nIt was hardly possible for books to be ushered into the world to die\nmore quietly than did these physiological treatises. Slightly noticed\nin a few catalogues and reviews of that day, they were laid on the\nshelf, and reposed in dust and forgetfulness for a full century. Called\nto other thoughts and higher labors, their author was arrested midway\nin his plans; and ceasing to exist behind his books, and by his life,\nconversation, and activity, to keep up the public interest, the world\nsoon forgot their existence. But their worth has been their preservative;\nand now we behold their resurrection, and slow, but certain, growth\ninto acceptance and fame. Translated by Wilkinson, and enriched by him\nwith prefaces which Emerson describes as \u201cthrowing all the contemporary\nphilosophy of England into the shade,\u201d they are now placed before\nthe world, and, in their excellence serve to manifest the profound\nunderstanding and genius of their author.\n\nIn 1745, Swedenborg terminated his long series of scientific works, by\nthe publication, in London, of \u201cThe Worship and Love of God.\u201d This book\nis an embodiment, in a story, of its author\u2019s scientific doctrines. In\na connected narrative, it treats of the origin of the earth, the birth,\ninfancy, and love, of Adam; and of the soul in its state of integrity, in\nthe image of God. It is a book of which little need be said, as it was\nprobably written as much for an exercise of fancy, as with any serious\nintent. Cast into shade, as it is, by the brighter light of his after\nknowledge, it remains to mark the point of intellectual development at\nwhich Swedenborg had at this time arrived; and in this respect it will\nalways have a strong interest to those who delight in tracing the growth\nand education of his mind.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n    _His Life, as a Man of Science, ends._\n\n\nThe biographer of Swedenborg can feel no difficulty in distributing under\nproper heads the principal events of his life. It divides itself so\ndistinctly into two parts, at this juncture, that, between his past and\nhis future there is what he himself would call a \u201cdiscrete degree.\u201d\n\nIn 1745, when the merely scientific phase of Swedenborg\u2019s life closed, he\nhad arrived at the mature age of fifty-seven years. As we have seen, he\nhad, from early manhood, united an active and practical, with a deeply\nphilosophic, life. An earnest student of nature, he had never become so\nengrossed in thought as to forget the end of all thought\u2014the improvement\nand the happiness of mankind. His long series of scientific works had\ngained him a wide-spread reputation, and wherever he went, he was hailed\nas a friend and brother by the thoughtful and philosophical. In Sweden,\nas before said, he was well connected; and had he been desirous to live\nat home, and immerse himself in the cares and politics of his country,\nhe might have reached the highest offices and honors which royalty\ncould confer. At the age of fifty-seven, with Swedenborg\u2019s attainments,\nsuccess, and fame, a worldly man might have been content. Such a one\nwould, probably, have taken his ease, reposed upon the past, and have\nbeen content with the competence of comfort and reputation which he had\nattained. But Swedenborg was a man of a very different character. Love\nof ease formed no part of his constitution, and if he had not been led\nby the hand of Providence to the contemplation of the spiritual world and\nits glorious realities, he would, to the end of his life, have remained a\nzealous and single-eyed seeker after the truths of the natural world.\n\nThe annals of science do not furnish an instance of any one who surpassed\nSwedenborg in that humility of spirit, and that simple desire for truth,\nwhich is the crowning grace and glory of the true philosopher. Although,\nat times, he propounded views which he knew were antagonistic to the\nideas of some of the leading savans of his time, yet we never find him\ngetting angry or attempting to scold the world into belief with him. He\nsimply lays down what he believes to be the truth; and with the most\ncharming modesty trusts for its acceptance among men, to its agreement\nwith reason and facts. Full of this trustful spirit we find him saying\nin the \u201cPrincipia:\u201d \u201cIn writing the present work, I have not aimed at\nthe applause of the learned world, nor at the acquisition of a name or\npopularity. To me, it is a matter of indifference whether I win the\nfavorable opinion of every one, or of no one; whether I gain much or no\ncommendation. Such things are not objects of regard to one whose mind is\nbent on truth and true philosophy. Should I, therefore, gain the assent\nor approbation of others, I shall receive it only as a confirmation of\nmy having pursued the truth. I have no wish to persuade any one to lay\naside the principles of those illustrious and talented authors who have\nadorned the world, and in place of their principles to adopt mine. For\nthis reason it is, that I have not made mention so much as of one of\nthem, or even hinted at his name, lest I should injure his feelings,\nor seem to impugn his sentiments, or to derogate from the praise which\nothers bestow upon him. If the principles I have advanced have more of\ntruth in them than those which are advocated by others; if they are\ntruly philosophical, and accordant with the phenomena of nature, the\nassent of the public will follow in due time, of its own accord; and in\nthis case should I fail to gain the assent of those whose minds, being\nprepossessed by other principles, can no longer exercise an impartial\njudgment, still I have those with me who are able to distinguish the true\nfrom the untrue, if not in the present, at least in some future age.\nTruth is unique, and will speak for itself. Should any one undertake\nto impugn my sentiments, I have no wish to oppose him; but in case he\ndesire it, I shall be happy to explain my principles and my reasons\nmore at large. What need, however, is there of words? Let the thing\nspeak for itself. If what I have said be true, why should I be eager to\ndefend it? Surely truth can defend itself. If what I have said be false,\nit would be a degrading and silly task to defend it. Why then should I\nmake myself an enemy of any one, or place myself in opposition to any\none?\u201d And again, in the \u201cEconomy,\u201d he remarks: \u201cOf what consequence is\nit to me that I should persuade any one to embrace my opinions? Let his\nown reason persuade him. I do not undertake this work for the sake of\nhonor or emolument; both of which I shun rather than seek, because they\ndisquiet the mind, and because I am content with my lot; but for the sake\nof truth, which alone is immortal.\u201d These are long extracts, but they are\nwell worthy of citation, alike for their own intrinsic truth and beauty,\nand for the illustration they afford of the spirit and sentiments of\ntheir author.\n\nThe little thought he gave in after years to his scientific writings,\nand the little care he seemed to have lest the world should forget\nthem, is very evident from his subsequent writings, in which they are\nscarcely alluded to. Some of the friends he made in the latter portion\nof his life, appear to have had very faint ideas of the extent of his\nachievements in natural science. Count Hopken, a very intimate friend of\nhis, for many years, remarks: \u201cSwedenborg made surprising discoveries in\nanatomy, which are recorded somewhere in certain literary Transactions.\u201d\nThus it appears that he was entirely ignorant of the existence of\nSwedenborg\u2019s great work, the \u201cAnimal Kingdom.\u201d What stronger proof could\nbe given than this, of the sincerity with which the foregoing extracts\nwere penned, in which he commits his works to the care of the God of\ntruth, in humble acquiescence in whatever verdict his justice might\npronounce.\n\nGreat and manifold were the merits of these scientific works; yet we\nshould, perhaps, do well to look upon them, as their author seems to\nhave done, as school-boy exercises. Through the severe training and\ndevelopment of the whole powers of his mind, by the composition of these\nworks, his Divine Master was fitting him to gaze upon the awful realities\nof the spiritual world, and to become a worthy exponent of the hidden\nwisdom of the Holy Scripture.\n\nIt must, necessarily, be a matter of interest with many to know what\nwere the religious opinions of Swedenborg at this period of his history.\nOccupying himself so intensely with natural science, it was hardly to be\nexpected that theology could receive much of his attention. Among his\nposthumous papers, however, we find a little treatise on faith and good\nworks, in which he comes to the wise conclusion that \u201cthere is no love\nto God if there be none to the neighbor;\u201d or that \u201cthere is no faith if\nthere be no works;\u201d and therefore, that \u201cfaith without works is a phrase\ninvolving a contradiction.\u201d Throughout all his scientific writings we\nfind a simple and open assent to the primary truths of religion, and a\nconstant endeavor to confirm some truth of religious doctrine by the\nnatural facts which came under his notice. His religious views up to this\ntime were generally such as the Christian world held, with here and there\na quiet dissent as to particular points, and a strong tendency to eschew\nthe merely theoretical and mystical belief, for the practical and active.\nWe have his own testimony to the fact, that dogmatic and systematic\ntheology formed no part of his otherwise extensive reading; and thus\nhe came to the study of the Word of God unperverted by the sophisms\nof creed-makers. Of the gentle and earnest piety of his soul, we have\nstriking proof in his \u201cRules of Life:\u201d\n\n1. Often to read and meditate on the Word of God.\n\n2. To submit everything to the will of Divine Providence.\n\n3. To observe in everything a propriety of behaviour, and to keep the\nconscience clear.\n\n4. To discharge with fidelity the functions of my employment, and the\nduties of my office, and to render myself in all things useful to society.\n\nMore need not be said on this head than that he kept these vows.\n\nWe now close the first book of Swedenborg\u2019s life, and open the second.\nEmphatically his was a double life. So rich in thought and action were\nboth parts, that either would have been reckoned sufficient to render\nhim a remarkable man. The one life was an orderly and regular growth out\nof the other: the first was a providential preparation for the second.\nCarefully disciplined by thought and investigation in the outer world,\nthrough a long series of laborious years, the curtain which separated the\nseen from the unseen was, for him, drawn aside, and his prepared eyes\nsaw in clear sunlight those mysteries of life and spirit, which the best\nand wisest of men have most ardently desired to see. Let us, then, leave\nSwedenborg the Man of Science, and turn to him as the Servant of the Lord\nJesus Christ, the worthy exponent of the spiritual sense of the Word of\nGod, and the announcer of the New Era in which reason and faith are to be\nat one, and men everywhere friends and brothers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n    _His Spiritual Sight opened, and the Conditions of his\n    Seership._\n\n\nWe will now proceed, without circumlocution, to lay before our readers,\nin all its fullness, the claim which Swedenborg made, at this period,\nto open intercourse with the spiritual world, under the sanction and\nprotection of the Lord. This assumption runs through the whole of his\nafter life, and without a clear idea of its nature and conditions, we\nshall be unable rightly to appreciate aught else that follows. In one of\nhis letters, he says, \u201cI have been called to a holy office by the Lord\nhimself, who most graciously manifested himself to me, his servant, in\nthe year 1743, when he opened my sight to a view of the spiritual world,\nand granted me the privilege of conversing with spirits and angels, which\nI enjoy to this day. From that time, I began to print and publish various\narcana that have been seen by me, or revealed to me; as respecting\nheaven and hell, the state of man after death, the true worship of God,\nthe spiritual sense of the Word, with many other most important matters\nconducive to salvation and true wisdom.\u201d Again, in the preface to his\nwork entitled, \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia,\u201d he writes: \u201cOf the Lord\u2019s Divine\nmercy, it has been granted me now for several years to be constantly and\nuninterruptedly in company with spirits and angels, hearing them converse\nwith each other, and conversing with them. Hence it has been permitted\nme to hear and see stupendous things in the other life, which have never\nbefore come to the knowledge of any man, nor entered his imagination.\nI have there been instructed concerning different kinds of spirits, and\nthe state of souls after death; concerning hell, or the lamentable state\nof the unfaithful; concerning heaven, or the most happy state of the\nfaithful; and particularly concerning the doctrine of faith which is\nacknowledged throughout all heaven.\u201d\n\nWe are aware that these pretensions will be received by many with\nridicule, and by some with contempt, arising from a distaste for\nspiritual subjects; while by a few they will be treated with respectful\nattention. All that we ask, is, a little patience; and to readers of\nevery class, we would say,\u2014Do not be hasty; do not prejudge the matter;\ncondemn not till you are conversant with the whole circumstances of\nthe case. Swedenborg\u2019s claim, we admit, does appear startling; but to\ngreet its announcement with the laugh of scepticism, and to deny its\nvalidity, as many do, without an attempt at examination, is anything but\nphilosophical\u2014is anything but righteous.\n\nNo reader of this sketch can have failed to perceive the high\nphilosophical genius, and perfect truthfulness of Swedenborg; and\nall must agree with us in believing that wilful deception was an\nimpossibility with such a man. No explanation of what Swedenborg himself\ncalls the opening of his spiritual sight, can be offered, that is more\ntransparently ridiculous than that of imposture. The degree of vehemence\nwith which some have preferred this charge against him, may be taken as\nan accurate index of their ignorance of the man, or of their inability to\ndiscern a truthful and earnest spirit.\n\nNo denial of the possibility of such spiritual vision as is claimed by\nSwedenborg, can be accepted from the Christian. Such denial is alone the\nprivilege of the professed materialist. We all know how much of our loved\nand common faith rests on claims that are quite as startling as those\nof Swedenborg. From the visions of Abraham to those of John in Patmos,\nthe whole Scriptural narrative is interwoven with supernatural incident.\nNow, how is it that we yield such ready faith to whatever is related\nin Scripture, however marvelous, and have so much wonder to spare over\nthe unbelieving Jews? The Rev. O. Prescott Hiller, in a short memoir of\nSwedenborg, prefixed to a collection of \u201cGems\u201d from his writings, has\nsome very apposite remarks on this subject. He says: \u201cSwedenborg states\nthat there are three heavens; so does Paul, for he speaks of the \u2018third\nheaven.\u2019 Swedenborg affirms, calmly, that his spiritual senses were\nopened and elevated in such a manner that he might have a perception of\nthat state of existence, and see and hear what is there. So does Paul.\nSwedenborg states that he had, in spirit, been permitted to behold the\nLord: so does Paul:\u2014\u2018Have I not seen,\u2019 said he, \u2018Jesus Christ our Lord?\u2019\n(1 Cor. ix. 1.) Thus parallel are the cases. But, exclaims the prejudiced\nobserver: \u2018Paul! Paul! Paul was an apostle! Paul was one of the founders\nof the Christian Church! Paul lived eighteen hundred years ago! There\nare no visions now-a-days! The case is entirely different!\u2019 To these\nexclamations it may be replied: Your last remark is but a begging of the\nquestion under consideration. We affirm that though indeed unfrequent,\nyet there are occasionally spiritual visions in these times, as well\nas in former, and that there is good and very strong testimony that a\nremarkable case of the kind exists in the instance of this philosopher,\nSwedenborg, not by any means on account of his own declaration merely,\nbut from the nature of the truths and statements brought forth by him, of\nwhich our own minds, enlightened, we trust, by reason and God\u2019s Word, are\nthe judges. The burden of proof\u2014it may be continued in answer\u2014falls upon\nyou to show by what law of Divine order, by what change in the character\nand structure of man\u2019s mind, a spiritual vision can not exist now, as\nwell as in the time of Paul,\u2014in the eighteenth or nineteenth, as well as\nin the first century. The truth is, antiquity has a wonderful charm for\nthe mind, and a great power over it: \u2018distance lends enchantment to the\nview.\u2019 It is not difficult to believe anything, however wonderful, to\nhave taken place in that misty and mysterious region, the distant _past_;\nbut now in these dull, common times, to believe such strange things to\nbe capable of happening, seems absurd. But do you not suppose that those\ntimes, to the men then living, appeared as dull and common-place as our\ntimes to us? Did not the regardless rain fall on Paul\u2019s head, as well as\non yours and mine? and this very sun and moon light his steps as well\nas ours? Did not Paul, do you think, rise often in the morning with a\nheavy heart, and after breakfast, go forth to his duties, or sit down to\nwrite his epistles, sad and oppressed in spirit, dejected at the thought\nof the heavy responsibilities upon him, and awed with the idea that he\nmust address the Athenians to-morrow? And when at length he stood before\nthem and began, did they not ask: \u2018Who is this?\u2019 Think you that gaping\ncrowd knew anything about any great and celebrated Paul, whose name has\nbecome so familiar to our ears? They had not heard of such a person.\n\u2018And some said, What will this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a\nsetter forth of strange gods; because he preached to them Jesus, and the\nresurrection. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some\nmocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. Howbeit\ncertain men clave unto him, and believed; among whom was Dionysius the\nAreopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.\u2019 (Acts xvii.\n16-34.) Here we have a picture of human nature, as it was, and as it\nstill is. A new person comes forward, a stranger, unheard of before, and\nutters strange ideas, something new and unusual, something different\nfrom what men have been accustomed to hear, and think of, and believe;\nmost of the hearers jeer and mock, and turn away, calling him a babbler;\nsome are rather pleased at some things they have heard, but the interest\nhas not taken sufficient hold of them to make them anxious to pursue the\nsubject farther just now, and they go away and forget what they have\nheard; a few, whose minds were in a receptive state, whose hearts had\nbeen prepared, perhaps, by torturing doubts, and secret meditations, and\nby trials and sufferings of spirit\u2014these at once perceive and seize upon\nthe truths they have heard, clasp them to their bosoms as something long\nlooked for, as precious treasure, and go away rejoicing in their new\nfaith, and resolved to sell all they have and follow the Lord. Gradually\nthe truth spreads; these few tell what they have heard to others, their\nfriends, who they know have been troubled with similar doubts and\ndifficulties. By and by these believers meet together and form a little\ncongregation, and appoint the ablest of their number to preach to them in\nregard to these new truths, both for their own fuller instruction and for\nthe information of strangers. Years roll away. It becomes an established\nreligious society. Similar societies in neighboring cities league with\nthem; and they form a General Church, which begins to have a name\u2014the\n\u2018Christian Church.\u2019 Ages roll on, and this becomes a vast establishment,\nextending over whole nations, and reaching to distant quarters of the\nglobe. This Paul, who was once a nameless preacher, \u2018a babbler,\u2019 and\n\u2018mad,\u2019 is now looked back upon with the utmost veneration; his words are\noracles of truth; whatever he affirmed, whether in regard to himself or\nothers, is implicitly believed. Custom, general acceptance, the belief of\nages, undoubting confidence in the opinions of our parents and friends,\nall go to render the mind perfectly ready to believe those things.\nFaith is now an easy and natural thing, and we wonder at those strange\nand hard-hearted unbelievers of Paul\u2019s own time, who had the glorious\nopportunity of listening to him with their own ears. \u2018Oh! that we could\nhave enjoyed such an opportunity,\u2019 exclaim many, \u2018how gladly would we\nhave listened!\u2019\n\n\u201cBut these persons know not what they say, nor the nature of the human\nmind. If they are so anxious to have such an opportunity, so ready to\nbe tested, and to show that they would have discernment enough to see\ngenuine truth, though heard for the first time, and to acknowledge\na great teacher and apostle, though yet unknown to the world\u2014that\nopportunity is now before them. A Paul is again preaching to the\nAthenians and to the world. A great teacher is again uttering new and\nsublime truths. The Lord Himself has come a second time, not in Person,\nbut in Spirit; not as the \u2018Word made flesh,\u2019 as before, but as the\nessential Word, by the opening of the interior truth\u2014the _spiritual\nsense_\u2014which it contains. Those who believe, that, had they been on\nearth, they would have acknowledged the Lord at His First Coming, or\nwould have readily received the teachings of His Apostles, have now the\nopportunity of making trial of their faith; of showing whether they are\nable to overcome the inveteracy of custom, the natural opposition of\nprejudice, the fear of public opinion, the love of the world and its\npowers and pleasures, (all which difficulties the first Christians had\nto encounter,) whether, in the face of all these, they can, looking for\nthe truth with a single eye, discern it now at its feeble dawn; and,\nadvancing steadily and earnestly towards it, be among the first to hail\nthe rising day.\u201d\n\nWhat more can be said on the subject? The Christian has no choice but to\nacknowledge, or refute, Swedenborg\u2019s claims on the ground of their own\nintrinsic merit.\n\nSwedenborg was gifted with peculiar powers of respiration. From early\nchildhood, when on his knees at prayer, and afterwards when engaged in\nprofound meditation, he found that his natural respiration was for the\ntime suspended. As we have seen in his work on the \u201cAnimal Kingdom,\u201d\nhis attention to the correspondence between thought and respiration had\nbeen of long continuance,\u2014probably from the fact that his own system\nsupplied him with such constant illustrations of its nature. This power\nof suspended respiration under deep thought, common to all men, was\npreternaturally developed in Swedenborg. At this period he discovered\nthe use to which these peculiar powers of his were to be applied; for\nhe writes: \u201cMy respiration has been so formed by the Lord, as to enable\nme to breathe inwardly for a long period of time, without the aid of\nthe external air; my respiration being directed within, and my outward\nsenses, as well as actions, still continuing in their vigor, which is\nonly possible with persons who have been so formed by the Lord. I have\nalso been instructed that my breathing was so directed, without my being\naware of it, in order to enable me to be with spirits, and to speak with\nthem.\u201d Those who have studied mesmerism and clairvoyance know many facts\nthat confirm and illustrate this position of Swedenborg\u2019s with regard to\nrespiration; and it is quite evident that the Hindoo Yogi are capable\nof a similar state. There is this great difference, however, between\nsuch instances and the case of Swedenborg, that his powers were natural,\nand continuous in their exercise, and not sought after and induced by\nhimself; while theirs are only occasional, and are frequently brought\nabout by artificial means.\n\nSwedenborg\u2019s intromission into the spiritual world was a gradual process;\nand for this reason the date of his illumination is variously given,\nranging between 1743 and 1745. It appears, however, that he came into the\nfull exercise of his spiritual seership while living in London.\n\nOf late years it has become common to talk of Swedenborg as a\nclairvoyant, to associate him with mesmeric subjects, and make him a\nkinsman of French and American spiritualists, such as Cahagnet, and\nAndrew Jackson Davis. This mistake is made through ignorance. It is a\nlaw of the spiritual world that every man is associated with his like.\nSupposing, therefore, that any man\u2019s spiritual sight were opened, he\nwould come into conjunction only with spirits like himself; that is,\nwith those who would echo his own ideas and opinions, and repeat his own\nfeelings. It is evident, then, that in such a case the nature of the\nrevelations are entirely dependent upon the character of the revelator,\nand in all cases must be suspiciously received by the lover of truth.\nNow Swedenborg claims to have been under the special protection of the\nLord, and to have received the doctrines he promulgated directly from\nHim, and not in any case from spirits. Of course, every one will decide\nfor himself as to how far he can receive this assertion; but it is well\nthat all should be informed of the precise character of Swedenborg\u2019s\nclaim, and of his own testimony as to the source of his information. In\nhis Diary, written about this time, he says, that \u201cspirits narrate things\nwholly false, and lie. When spirits begin to speak with man, care should\nbe taken not to believe them; for almost everything they say is made\nup by them, and they lie; so that if it were permitted them to relate\nwhat heaven is, and how things are in heaven, they would tell so many\nfalsehoods, and with such strong assertion, that man would be astonished;\nwherefore it was not permitted me, when spirits were speaking, to have\nany belief in what they stated. They love to feign. Whatever may be the\ntopic spoken of, they think they know it, and form different opinions\nabout it, altogether as if they knew; and if man then listens and\nbelieves, they insist, and in various ways deceive and seduce.\u201d\n\nAny one who has paid attention to the phenomena of spirit-rapping, and\nto the communications received through clairvoyants from the world of\nspirits, and has observed the very Babel of contradictions uttered by\nthese \u201cmediums,\u201d will be able to appreciate the truth of the passage we\nhave quoted, as well as our desire to draw a broad and distinct line\nbetween such and Swedenborg.\n\nIt is a very natural question, and one often put by those unconversant\nwith the nature of spiritual intercourse, how it happens that such a\nman as Swedenborg, sitting quietly in his chair, could see and speak\nwith angels and spirits, and travel through vast spaces in the spiritual\nworld. It is thus: Space and time are attributes of matter alone. Their\nappearances do, indeed, exist in the spiritual world, but not as the\nfixed and mensurable things of our material sphere. Did not our subject\nforbid digression, it would be easy to bring this truth down to the\ncomprehension of every one, by reference to a few items of experience\nwhich must at some time have fallen to the lot of all. We are all, as\nto our minds, in constant, though insensible, communion with spirits;\nand from them we receive thoughts and feelings of every kind. A good man\nand a wicked man may be, as to the body, in the same room, while between\ntheir minds there may be the wide gulf that separated Dives and Lazarus.\nNow if the spiritual sight of these two men were opened, where would they\nbe? One would be in heaven, and the other in hell; and that, too, without\neither moving from the place where he stood. It was in virtue of this\nprinciple of the spirit\u2019s perfect independence of space, that Swedenborg,\nunder the Divine guidance and protection, was led through spiritual\nsocieties of all kinds: and in his various works we have the record of\nthe wondrous things thus heard and seen.\n\nAgain, it may be asked: What is the nature of this spiritual sight so\noften referred to? In the words of Paul we answer: \u201cThere is a natural\nbody, and there is a spiritual body;\u201d and, as a consequence, there is a\nnatural sight, and there is a spiritual sight. The natural body lives\nfrom the spiritual body, and derives its form and parts from it. The\nnatural body is the instrument of the spiritual body, and through it as\na medium, it is enabled to exist in this lower world, and in constant\ncontact with matter. Now it is possible for the spiritual body to be\nraised partially above the natural body, without causing death, or\nthe entire withdrawal of its life from the natural body. This partial\nwithdrawal of the spiritual body, and the enjoyment of sight in the\nspiritual world, is what is meant by the opening of the spiritual sight.\nTime forbids us to draw upon the innumerable illustrations of this fact\nwhich the history of the past and the experience of the present, in\nconjunction with the Word of God, afford. Let one instance from the Bible\nsuffice. In 2 Kings, vii. 8-17, we read that Elisha, compassed about with\nhorses, chariots, and a great host, sent by the king of Syria to seize\nhim, was on a mountain with his servant, who, full of terror, exclaimed:\n\u201cAlas! my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for they\nthat be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed\nand said, Lord, I pray thee _open his eyes_, that he may see. And the\nLord _opened the eyes_ of the young man, and he _saw_: and behold, the\nmountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.\u201d\nHere is a case quite to the point. The natural eyes of the young man were\nalready open; for how otherwise could he have seen the Syrian host, and\nhave been afraid? Elisha prayed that his eyes might be opened. What eyes?\nWhy, clearly, the eyes of his spiritual body; which done, he was enabled\nto perceive the heavenly guardianship which was extended over his master.\nEvery one will now understand what we mean, when we shall have occasion\nto speak of the opening of man\u2019s spiritual sight.\n\nHaving thus defined the conditions of Swedenborg\u2019s spiritual vision, and\ncleared away some questions which, if answered, would have impeded our\nnarrative, we will now proceed with our history.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n    _Prepares for his New Office\u2014Resigns his Assessorship\u2014His\n    \u201cAdversaria\u201d\u2014His \u201cSpiritual Diary\u201d\u2014The Death of Polheim._\n\n\nCalled to a high and holy office, Swedenborg set about preparing himself\nfor the fulfilment of its duties. Leaving London in the beginning of\nJuly, 1745, he took ship for Sweden, where he arrived on the 7th of\nAugust. On this voyage, his spiritual intercourse was suspended. He lived\nquietly at home during 1746; probably in the performance and enjoyment\nof the settled routine of his Assessorship, and in earnest meditation on\nthe heavenly arcana now fully opened to his view. In 1747, in order that\nhe might be more at liberty to devote himself to the mission to which\nthe Lord had called him, he asked leave of King Frederick to retire from\nhis Assessorship, and that he might enjoy, during life, as a retiring\npension, half of his official salary; requesting, at the same time, that\nno addition to his rank or title might be conferred upon him. The King\nyielded to his wishes; but in consideration of his long and faithful\nservice of thirty-one years, continued to him the whole of his salary.\n\nMeanwhile, he learned Hebrew, and read the Bible through several times in\nits original languages. Like all true students, he read and thought with\npen in hand; and as the hidden and Divine wisdom of the Word was opened\nto him, he embodied in \u201cAdversaria,\u201d or notes, the truths thus revealed.\nThese Adversaria extend over the historical books of the Old Testament,\nand several of the prophets. They have all been printed of late years,\nfrom their author\u2019s original Latin manuscript, by that indefatigable\nand learned Newchurchman, Dr. Tafel, of T\u00fcbingen. They have not yet\nbeen translated into English, probably because they were not published\nby Swedenborg himself, and are only to be regarded as preparatory\nstudies for future works. They also abound with indistinct views on many\nsubjects, which subsequent knowledge rendered clear. As records of their\nauthor\u2019s spiritual progress, as well as for the many valuable facts which\nthey contain, it is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when the\n\u201cAdversaria\u201d will appear in an English dress. We cannot spare anything\nwhich serves to illustrate the mental history of such a man as Swedenborg.\n\nIn 1747, he ceased writing his \u201cAdversaria,\u201d and commenced a Spiritual\nDiary, which he continued for twenty years. This Diary, written also in\nLatin, (as all his theological works were,) has been lately published\nby Dr. Tafel in ten closely printed octavos. Two volumes have been\ntranslated and published in England and America, and the remainder will\nprobably soon follow. It will hardly be necessary for us to go into a\ndetailed account of the principles and facts scattered throughout its\nlong and miscellaneous record. We shall meet with all the leading ideas\nin noticing the books published by himself, and laid before the world\nas matured and finished productions. It may be said, however, that the\n\u201cDiary,\u201d as a work, is perfectly unique; for in no literature can we\nfind its counterpart. We have in it, for twenty years, an almost daily\nrecord of Swedenborg\u2019s spiritual states and temptations; his interviews\nand conversations with angels, spirits, and devils; and accounts of\ntheir pleasures, punishments, and thoughts. No one who makes an intimate\nacquaintance with this \u201cDiary,\u201d will ever after allow a shadow of doubt\nto cross his mind as to the candor and truth of Swedenborg; for in\nevery page, he will perceive that quiet and solemn earnestness which\nbelongs alone to the upright and honest in heart. In its whole range\nof experience, he will detect no vanity, shuffling, double-dealing,\nor anything inconsistent with his published works; but all as\nstraightforward, open, and unreserved, as truth itself. Although written\nin the quietude of his own study, and for his own eye and use alone, he\ncould not have been more ingenuous and sincere had the whole universe\nbeen looking down upon its pages.\n\nOn the page of history, the \u201cDiary\u201d throws some wondrous light. In it,\nwe read of interviews with many of the famous men of ancient and modern\ntimes. From some names which the world has learned to revere, the mask\nof excellence is quite torn away, while the infamy of others is proved\nto have been but judgment from appearance, and from scandal. Any one\nwho is infected with the spiritual disease of hero-worship, should read\nthe \u201cSpiritual Diary.\u201d He will there discover that the most dazzling\nintellect fades into moping idiocy and insanity, when it lacks the\nsterling heart, and honest aim; and that goodness alone is the life and\nsoul of true wisdom. He will also learn why it is so.\n\nWe would here say a word upon a jest started by Emerson, (and which has\nre-appeared under many forms,) to the effect that all the souls with\nwhom Swedenborg held converse, talked Swedenborgese. In reply, we would\nask, how they could speak in any other way? Swedenborg did not profess\nto be a mimic; and if Cicero or anybody else spoke with him in the\nspiritual world and in the spiritual language, Swedenborg, in translating\nthe speech into his own simple diction, would, of course, seize the\nsubstance, and care nothing for the form. That the language was not\nCicero\u2019s, might be true; but if the ideas were, what matter? The subject\nwould hardly be worth mentioning, did we not see the jest receiving a\nwide currency; but a few words of common sense are all that are necessary\nto take the life out of it.\n\nThere is no work with which we are acquainted, that can give its readers\na better idea of the reality of the future life, than the \u201cSpiritual\nDiary.\u201d No other book, we know, can so stir up a man to set his mind,\nor spiritual house, in order here, so that he may be spared the turmoil\nand sorrow which otherwise he will encounter beyond the tomb. In its\npages, the life after death is portrayed in all its stern reality; not\nas a vague dream, or a shadowy vision, of which the mind can form no\nfixed idea. We read of the awful states induced in the other life, by\nevil habits contracted in this; from loose speech, jesting upon sacred\nsubjects, indulgence in idleness and luxury, down to blacker crimes.\nWe learn from sight, as it were, how evil is its own torment, and how\ngoodness is its own sweet and rich reward; and in view of the momentous\nissues of what we too often regard as the trifles of life, we feel\nimpelled to make our peace and heaven here, that we may bear them with us\ninto the Hereafter. Such high uses does the \u201cSpiritual Diary\u201d subserve.\n\nThe \u201cDiary\u201d is, however, a work not suited for an early student\nof Swedenborg. The principles upon which it is written, not being\nunderstood, a young reader could hardly fail to form erroneous ideas from\nit, and misjudge the work itself. It is only after some acquaintance\nwith the spiritual laws expounded in Swedenborg\u2019s theological writings,\nthat it can be read with profit. Incidents, which, at first sight, might\nappear ridiculous and irrational, are brought within the pale of reason\nand belief when the laws upon which they are founded are understood; and\nas effects, not causes, constitute the burden of the \u201cDiary,\u201d the need\nof this caution will be apparent. When, however, the laws of spiritual\nlife are understood, the \u201cDiary\u201d becomes a work of peculiar and most\nprofitable instruction.\n\nWhile Swedenborg was living in Sweden, in 1751, his old friend and\ncoadjutor, Polheim, died; and Swedenborg was favored with a view of\n_both_ sides of his grave. Writing in his \u201cSpiritual Diary,\u201d he says:\n\u201cPolheim died on Monday, and spoke with me on Thursday. I was invited to\nthe funeral. He saw the hearse, the attendants, and the whole procession.\nHe also saw them let down the coffin into the grave, and conversed with\nme while it was going on, asking me why they buried him, when he was\nalive. And when the priest pronounced that he would rise again at the\nday of judgment, he asked why this was, when he had already risen. He\nwondered that such a belief should prevail, considering that he was even\nnow alive; he also wondered at the belief in the resurrection of the\nbody, for he said he felt that he was in the body: with other remarks.\u201d\nSuch a relation will seem strange, very strange to many. But have\npatience. When the laws and principles upon which such phenomena take\nplace, are comprehended, all their strangeness and improbability will\nstraightway disappear.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n    _The Arcana C\u0153lestia._\n\n\nIt was about the middle of 1749, that Swedenborg made his first\nappearance as a theologian, by the publication of the first volume of\nthe \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia.\u201d At the beginning of 1750, we find his publisher,\nJohn Lewis, of Paternoster Row, announcing the issue of the second\nvolume, in cheap numbers, both in English and Latin. The issue continued\nin volumes till 1756, when the work was completed in eight good sized\nquartos. His publisher states in one of his advertisements, that though\nhe is \u201cpositively forbid to discover the author\u2019s name, yet he hopes to\nbe excused for mentioning his benign and generous qualities.\u201d He avers\nthat \u201cthis gentleman, with indefatigable pains and labor, spent one whole\nyear in studying and writing out the first volume of the \u2018Arcana,\u2019 was at\nthe expense of \u00a3200 to print it, and advanced \u00a3200 more for the printing\nof the second; and when he had done this, he gave express orders that\nall the money that should arise in the sale, should be given towards the\ncharge of the propagation of the gospel. He is so far from desiring to\nmake a gain of his labors, that he will not receive one farthing back\nof the \u00a3400 he has expended; and for that reason his works will come\nexceedingly cheap to the public.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia\u201d is an exposition of the books of Genesis and\nExodus, with intervening chapters which describe the wonders of the\nfuture life. At the outset, it will be necessary to state that\nSwedenborg believed the Bible to be the Word of God. \u201cWell, what\nChristian does not believe so?\u201d it may be asked. Few expressions pass\nmore glibly over the lips of religious people, than the short phrase,\n\u201cthe word of God;\u201d but how many take time to consider its infinite\nmeaning? The Word of God\u2014a production of the infinite Father of all, the\nCreator and Sustainer of the universe,\u2014must be infinitely superior to any\nhuman composition; and, like God\u2019s other volume, the book of nature, must\nyield up fresh wonders to every investigator; and the more it is searched\ninto, the more real unceasing beauties of wisdom and design, till at\nlength the strained intellect of man finds its truest wisdom lies in the\ndeepest humility and adoration. Thus logically thinking, we experience\na serious reverse when we turn to the opinions expressed regarding the\nWord by even its most reverential commentators. At no period of history\nhas the Bible been submitted to more earnest study than in these times;\nbut the results have been in the highest degree meagre and unworthy,\nwhen placed in comparison with the same exercise of mind on the subjects\nof natural creation. We have most elaborate and minute criticisms on\nthe sacred text; we have treatises on the animals, the insects, and the\nvegetables mentioned in the hallowed record; we have books filled with\ndescriptions of domestic life among the Jews, their customs, and their\nlanguage; the prophecies have been subjected to all manner of ingenious\ninterpretation, but after all, with the poorest spiritual results, and\nsuch as can in no wise excite a deeper respect, or a warmer love, for\nGod\u2019s holy Word, than was entertained centuries ago, when such learning\nwas a rarer thing. Yet if we believe that God inspired this Book, can we\nfor a moment suppose that it should have no other end than the narration\nof the history of a petty people, and the enunciation of dark prophecies,\nwhich the acutest of men pronounce impenetrable mysteries, and which\nthe daring and the foolish turn to all manner of profane purposes in\npolitical soothsayings? If the Bible be indeed the Word of God, it must\ncontain within itself much more than the majority of Christians suppose;\notherwise it presents a most startling anomaly when viewed in comparison\nwith the other Divine work, the natural universe.\n\nThe assumption, then, with which Swedenborg starts, is, that the\nScripture is in very truth the Word of God; that every syllable and\nexpression therein are His; that Moses, David, the prophets, and the\nEvangelists, were simply the inspired penmen, who wrote implicitly\naccording to Divine dictation.\n\nHe teaches, moreover, that the Word does not belong to men alone, but\nis the possession likewise of the angels of heaven, to whom it wears\ndifferent forms according to the degree of their love and intelligence.\nIn general, it may be said to have three senses, or meanings; first,\na celestial sense, apprehended by the celestial or highest angels;\nsecondly, a spiritual sense, apprehended by a lower range of angelic\nminds, the spiritual; and thirdly, a natural sense, with which we are\nall familiar, written down to the comprehension of the lowest, most\nworldly, and sensual of men\u2014the Jews. These three senses make one\nby correspondence; although diverse, they are still harmonious, and\nconnected by one divine life.\n\nThe Word, moreover, we are taught, has worn different garments, or\nvaried natural senses, at different eras. The first church, Adam, or the\nprimeval race of men, did not possess a written Word, but were gifted\nwith a perception of spiritual essences. Nature was literally spread\nbefore them as an open book. To them, Nature was the expression of the\nDivine Wisdom; and they saw in every beast of the forest, in every\nflower of the field, and in every scene of creation, evidence of the\nDivine presence, and material emblems of spiritual and heavenly things.\nAs men declined from purity, and, together with their innocence, lost\ntheir wisdom and their powers of celestial perception, a written Word\nbecame necessary, accommodated to the changed state of the new spiritual\nchurch called Noah. In time, this Word had also to be withdrawn, for\nits purity and language transcended the apprehension of a falling and\nsensualised world. Yet this Ancient Word, Swedenborg tells us, is not\nlost, but still exists in Tartary, probably as an unvalued treasure,\nwhich may be restored to the church in due season. To this Ancient Word,\nwe have two allusions in the Jewish Scriptures; the first in Numbers\nxxi. 14, where we read: \u201cWherefore it is said in the book of the _Wars\nof Jehovah_;\u201d and the second in Joshua x. 13: \u201cIs not this written in\nthe book of _Jasher_?\u201d The book of the Wars of Jehovah, and the book\nof Jasher, forming parts of the Ancient Word, became unintelligible\nfrom being written in high correspondential and emblematic language;\nand uninteresting because not associated with the personal and worldly\ninterests of men. The Jewish Scriptures were then written. The Divine\nWisdom clothed itself in such words, histories, and laws, as the\nearthly-minded Jews could love and reverence, and thus be kept, in some\nmeasure, in connection with heaven, and in the possession of the most\ngeneral and leading truths of religion. The Gospels, added in the course\nof time to the Jewish Word, served still further to preserve the church\nin union with heaven and the Lord. But now we see that mankind having in\nthe course of centuries re-ascended to a higher degree of intellectual\nlife, begin to be dissatisfied with the Scriptures, to arraign the truth\nof science against them, to wonder how it is possible that such writings\ncan be the Word of God, and to ask, with Emerson, \u201cWhat have I to do with\njasper and sardonyx, beryl and chalcedony, what with arks and passovers,\nephahs, heave-offerings, and unleavened bread; what with chariots of\nfire, and ephods; what with lepers and emerods; what with dragons crowned\nand horned, behemoth and unicorn?\u201d But the Lord anticipates all man\u2019s\nwants; and, caring above all things for his spiritual well-being, never\npermits him to live without a witness of His love and designs towards\nhim. By His Word, the Lord reveals himself to man; and without it, man\ncould know nothing of God, of heaven and hell, and of a life after death.\nHow necessary then it is that man be preserved from falling into contempt\nof its teachings; and yet if it contains no other than a literal sense,\nwhat can a Christian say in reply to such questionings as those above\nquoted? and what tenable theory can be advanced to meet the objections of\nthe sceptic drawn from geology, astronomy, and many other sciences which\nclash with the letter of Scripture? In the \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia,\u201d we find\na solution of all such doubts in the clear manifestation of the Divine\nauthorship of the Word, through the revelation of its spiritual sense,\nwhereby reason and faith are perfectly conjoined; and man, while here\nbelow, is fed with angels\u2019 food.\n\nBut it is not to be concluded from this that Swedenborg in any way\nslights or undervalues the literal sense of the Word. Far from it. He\nsays: \u201cThe literal sense of the Word is the basis, the continent, and\nthe firmament of its spiritual and celestial senses; and hence in it the\ndivine truth is in its fulness, its sanctity, and its power; therefore\nthe doctrine of the church should be drawn from the literal sense, and\nconfirmed thereby.\u201d From this, every one will see that no mysticism can\nbe sheltered under a belief in the spiritual sense of the Word; for, from\nthe literal sense, determined by the severest criticism, all doctrine\nmust be drawn, and all creeds tested. Swedenborg also teaches, that by\nmeans of the literal sense, men enjoy conjunction with the Lord; for\nHis divine spirit is with all who read his Word devoutly. To promote\nthis divine communion, the letter of Scripture has been so framed as to\npossess a universal interest. The child reads the Bible, and is delighted\nwith its charming stories; the simple cottager loves it and prizes it as\nhe prizes no other book; the poet draws from it his richest inspirations;\nand the man of learning, who has gathered knowledge from all times and\nlands, turns to its hallowed page, and in the light of its divine wisdom\nsees himself but a child in knowledge.\n\nThough the Scriptures are thus marvellously adapted, in the literal\nsense, to the tastes, feelings, and necessities of men of all grades\nand states, yet, as before said, many portions of them do, in our days,\nrequire to be vindicated from the charge of being inconsistent with\nscience\u2014from the charge of insignificance, and dealing in petty details.\nThey need, in fine, to be elevated from mere history, poetry, and\nobsolete law, into practical use and connection with the daily life and\nconduct of every man and woman; so that they may be to us, in very deed,\nthe Word of God, as truly as they were to the Jews three thousand years\nago.\n\nLet us now see how, in the \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia,\u201d all this is effected.\n\n\u201cFrom the posterity of the most Ancient Church, Moses received what he\nwrote concerning the creation, the Garden of Eden, etc., down to the\ntime of Abraham,\u201d writes Swedenborg. Describing the method by which the\npeople of that church expressed themselves, he adds: \u201cWhen they mentioned\nearthly and worldly things, they thought of the spiritual and celestial\nthings which they represented; so that they not only expressed themselves\nby representatives, but also _reduced their thoughts into a kind of\nseries, as of historical particulars_, in order to give them more life;\nand in this they found their greatest delight.\u201d Understanding this\nfully, we shall not be surprised to learn that the first eleven chapters\nof Genesis are _purely allegorical_; written not as a description of the\ncreation of the material world, and its fortunes, but as a description\nof the internal life of the earliest people, of the development of their\nminds up to celestial perfection, and then of their gradual declension\nfrom purity, their love of the evil and the false, and finally the\ndestruction of their souls, symbolized by the deluge overspreading the\nface of the whole earth. These chapters were thus written by the Lord\nin accommodation to the tastes of the men of the Ancient Church, who,\nas we read, had \u201ctheir greatest delight in the expression of spiritual\nand celestial things in a series of historical particulars;\u201d just as, in\nafter times, He clothed His Wisdom in Jewish history and law, so that\nHe might be with the Jews, and preserve within them some small remains\nof spiritual life. What a relief to the mind, torn and troubled with\nthe thousand doubts which science has cast upon the early chapters of\nGenesis, is the acceptation of the truth of their entirely allegorical\nsignification! And how plainly, in their spiritual sense, do we find\ntestimony of their divine authorship! It should not be forgotten that\nthe doctrine of the symbolical nature of these chapters, was set forth\nby Swedenborg long before science had demonstrated that their merely\nliteral sense was wholly irreconcilable with the facts of nature; thus\nquite independently of any external pressure or necessity. It must be\nknown to every one that geology\u2014the science which, above all others,\nhas brought the most weighty objections against the six days\u2019 creation,\nand the deluge of the whole earth by a flood which covered the tops of\nthe highest mountains,\u2014is a new science. At the time when Swedenborg\nwrote, it was entirely undeveloped. The reconciling of the literal\nsense of these chapters with the facts of geology, has perplexed more\nminds, and engaged more intellect, than did ever perpetual motion and\nthe squaring of the circle. The amount of speculation which has been\nexpended upon this theme, is immense, as every one at all acquainted with\nthe religious history of the last fifty years is aware; and still the\nlabor is vigorously prosecuted. We have no inclination to undervalue the\nmotives that prompt to it. For all sincere lovers of the Word of God we\nentertain the deepest respect, and rejoice to think that their faith in\nthe Bible remains unshaken amid such fiery trials. Yet if Christians were\nwise and unprejudiced, they would turn to Swedenborg\u2019s \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia,\u201d\nand there find all that heart or mind could wish. Its readers, who have\nbeen many, (and yet, when compared with the wide world of Christendom,\ninsignificantly few,) have had, during all these seasons of doubt, the\nfullest peace; and have been ready to welcome every truth of science,\nhowever militating against the literal sense of the early chapters of\nGenesis; and all the while have remained such lovers of the Word as\nnone but believers in its spiritual sense can be. We believe that the\nreligious world will, in process of time, when all methods of reconciling\nthe letter of Scripture with geology shall have manifestly failed,\nfinally turn to Swedenborg; and when the heavenly truth glowing in his\npages shall beam upon their opened sight, they will wonder why they did\nnot read his luminous volumes sooner.\n\nFrom the Call of Abram, the Word is to be looked upon as a narration of\nhistorical events. Yet while, as history, it possesses a great charm and\ninterest to every mind, from its matchless and beautiful simplicity, we\ncannot see what claim it could have to the title of the Word of God, did\nit not contain within itself, as Swedenborg abundantly demonstrates, a\nspiritual sense, universally applicable to men in all states, times, and\nsituations. In the highest or celestial sense, the Word refers solely\nto the Lord, and is a description of his nature and attributes, of his\nassumption of corrupt humanity, and the process of its glorification. Man\nbeing formed in the Lord\u2019s image and likeness, whatever treats of Him,\nis, in a secondary sense, or in a lower degree, descriptive of man, his\nnature and regeneration. This secondary application of the Word forms its\nspiritual sense, which when understood, transforms Genesis and Exodus\nfrom mere history and dull ceremonial law, into a Divine revelation of\nthe laws of spiritual life, pregnant with practical benefit to all men,\nbecause applicable to every incident and thought of life.\n\nTime and space would alike fail were we to attempt to give the most\ngeneral outline of the multitude of spiritual truths which are unveiled\nin the course of the exposition of Genesis and Exodus; and not of these\ntwo books alone, but of passages from all parts of the Word, which are\ndrawn upon to illustrate and confirm the truth of the interpretation.\nAs Wilkinson says, \u201cConsider, gentle reader, twelve goodly 8vo volumes\n[in English,] written with such continued power that it seems as if\neating, drinking, and sleeping, had never intervened between the penman\nand his page, so unbroken is the subject, and so complete the sense. Add\nto the other health and harmony of this unflagging man, a memory of the\nmost extraordinary grasp, which enabled him to administer the details\nof an intellect ranging through all truth on the one hand, and through\nthe whole field of Scripture illustration and text upon the other. Then\ntake into account the unity of the work from first to last; the constant\nreference that binds all parts of it together, and shows the caution\nwith which each strong affirmation is at first set down. Observe also\nthe felicity of phrase, the happiness of mind, the easy greatness, which\nshine along and dignify those serious pages. Remark also, that the author\ndoes not deal in generalities, but sentence for sentence, and word for\nword, he translates his text into spiritual meaning, and criticises and\nsupports himself with nearly every parallel text in the sacred writings.\u201d\n\nThe earnest reader of the \u201cArcana\u201d will never question the reality of\nSwedenborg\u2019s mission. He would as soon question the reality of the world,\nor his own existence. This is a strong assertion, a stranger to the work\nwill perhaps say; but it is only a stranger to these wondrous volumes\nthat will say so; for every one at all familiar with them will agree with\nus. We never take down a volume of the \u201cArcana\u201d to read, without feeling\nmore and more assured that Swedenborg was an anointed servant of the\nLord. The depths of spiritual experience he reveals, his insight into the\ninmost recesses of the heart, his explanation of the causes of thoughts,\nand the origin of our various desires and inclinations, of lowness of\nspirits, of pleasant and dull moods, in short, of all spiritual trials\nand temptations, with the heavenly ends they are permitted to serve,\ntogether with a thousand other matters which it concerns us all to know,\nare of such a nature that we cannot but feel that such knowledge must\nhave been derived from a Divine source, and that unless his stand-point\nhad been most peculiar, and providentially appointed, it would have\nbeen impossible for him to have written as he has. To speak of the\n\u201cArcana\u201d as it deserves, would, to one unacquainted with it, appear like\nexaggeration, while every reader would feel that we had fallen far short\nof the truth in many points. No criticism, however reverential, can\nadequately express the innumerable and marvellous excellencies of the\nwork; and should this feeble testimony to its worth excite any one to\nread and _study_ it,\u2014and it is a work which should be studied, if read at\nall,\u2014we know that he will say, as the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon, \u201cIt\nwas a true report that I heard of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit\nI believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and\nbehold the half was not told me.\u201d\n\nWe have not spoken of those chapters which come between the expositions\nof Scripture, because the subjects therein treated of will recur in\nnotices of his other books. They serve to diversify the work, and to\nrelieve the mind tasked with the deep thought involved in the spiritual\nexpositions, by the contemplation of some of the leading facts of the\nfuture life.\n\nThe \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia\u201d was translated into English by the late venerable\nJohn Clowes, a clergyman of the Established Church in Manchester, and a\nmost cordial receiver and preacher of the doctrines of the New Church.\nIt is published in twelve octavo volumes, with an index prepared by\nSwedenborg himself, which forms a thirteenth volume. This index has\nbeen greatly extended by Elihu Rich, filling two large octavos. Several\neditions of the \u201cArcana\u201d have also been published in America; and the\nsale, considering the size and cost of the work, has been in both\ncountries very considerable. It is a work which will in coming days\nrun through many cheap editions; and when that time shall come, many\nwill wonder why such a treasury of spiritual wisdom lay so long in our\nmidst, and yet men thought so little of it. But the world is approaching\nSwedenborg as fast as steady progress will permit.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n    _Anecdotes._\n\n\nOf Swedenborg\u2019s external life, during the composition of the \u201cArcana\nC\u0153lestia,\u201d we know little. From his \u201cSpiritual Diary,\u201d we incidentally\nlearn that he was in Stockholm on the 23d of July, 1756. A revolution had\nbeen attempted, and the leaders of the conspiracy, Count Brahe and Baron\nHorn, were executed on that day. Swedenborg writes of Brahe thus:\u2014\u201cBrahe\nwas beheaded at ten o\u2019clock in the morning, and spoke with me at ten at\nnight; that is to say, twelve hours after his execution. He was with me\nalmost without interruption for several days. In two days\u2019 time, he began\nto return to his former life, which consisted in loving worldly things;\nand after three days, he became as he was before in the world, and was\ncarried into the evils that he had made his own before he died.\u201d (S.\nDiary, 5099.)\n\nRobsahm, a friend of Swedenborg\u2019s, probably alludes to this circumstance,\nwhen he writes: \u201cOne day as a criminal was led to the place of execution\nto be beheaded, I was by the side of Swedenborg, and asked him how such a\nperson felt at the time of his execution. He answered: \u2018When a man lays\nhis head on the block, he loses all sensation. When he first comes into\nthe spiritual world, and finds that he is living, he is seized with the\nfear of his expected death, tries to escape, and is very much frightened.\nAt such a moment no one thinks of anything but the happiness of heaven,\nor the misery of hell. Soon the good spirits come to him, and instruct\nhim where he is, and he is then left to follow his own inclinations,\nwhich soon lead him to the place where he remains for ever.\u2019\u201d It appears\nthat whatever happens at the hour of death, is carried into the other\nlife, and the state is continued for some time. Thus we read in the\n\u201cSpiritual Diary\u201d of a person who had been reduced by melancholy to\ndespair, until being instigated by diabolical spirits, he destroyed\nhimself, by thrusting a knife into his body. \u201cThis spirit came to me,\u201d\nwrites Swedenborg, \u201ccomplaining that he was miserably treated by evil\nspirits. He was seen by me, holding a knife in his hand, as though he\nwould plunge it into his breast. With this knife he labored very hard, as\nwishing rather to cast it from him, but in vain.\u201d\n\nIt soon became widely known that Swedenborg had intercourse with spirits;\nand many and various were the demands made upon him, for information of\none kind and another. The Queen of Sweden asked him whether his spiritual\nintercourse was a science or art that could be communicated to others. He\nsaid: \u201cNo, it is the gift of the Lord.\u201d \u201cCan you then,\u201d said she, \u201cspeak\nwith every one deceased, or only with certain persons?\u201d He answered, \u201cI\ncan not converse with all, but only with such as I have known in this\nworld, with all royal and princely persons, with all renowned heroes,\nor great and learned men, whom I have known, either personally, or from\ntheir actions or writings; consequently with all _of whom I could form\nan idea_; for it may be supposed that a person whom I never knew, and of\nwhom I could form no idea, I neither could or would wish to speak with.\u201d\n\nThe Prince of Prussia was brother to the Queen of Sweden, and shortly\nafter his death, Swedenborg being at court, the Queen perceiving him\nsaid: \u201cWell, Mr. Assessor, have you seen my brother?\u201d He answered, \u201cNo.\u201d\nWhereupon she replied: \u201cIf you should see him, remember me to him.\u201d In\nsaying this, she did but jest. Eight days afterwards, Swedenborg came\nagain to court, but so early that the Queen had not left her apartment\ncalled the white room, where she was conversing with her maids of honor,\nand other ladies of the court. Swedenborg did not wait for the Queen\u2019s\ncoming out, but entered directly into her apartment, and whispered in\nher ear. The Queen, struck with astonishment, was taken ill, and did not\nrecover for some time. After she was come to herself, she said to those\nabout her: \u201cThere is only God and my brother who can know what he has\njust told me.\u201d She owned that he had spoken of her last correspondence\nwith the prince, the subject of which was known to themselves alone.\n\nThe following is narrated by J. H. Jung Stilling:\u2014\u201cAbout the year 1770,\nthere was a merchant in Elberfeld with whom, during seven years of my\nresidence there, I lived in close intimacy. He spoke little; but what he\nsaid was like golden fruit on a salver of silver. He would not have dared\nfor all the world to have told a falsehood. His business requiring him\nto take a journey to Amsterdam, where Swedenborg at that time resided,\nand having heard and read much of this strange individual, he formed the\nintention of visiting him. He therefore called upon him, and found a\nvery venerable looking, friendly old man, who received him politely, and\nrequested him to be seated. Explaining his errand, and expressing his\ndeep admiration of Swedenborg\u2019s writings, he desired that he would give\nhim a proof of his intercourse with the unseen world. Swedenborg said:\n\u2018Why not? Most willingly.\u2019 The merchant then proceeded to tell that he\nhad formerly a friend, who studied divinity at Duisburg, where he fell\ninto a consumption, of which he died. Visiting this friend a short time\nbefore his decease, they conversed together on an important topic. The\nquestion he then put to Swedenborg, was: \u2018Can you learn from the student\nwhat was the subject of our discourse at that time?\u2019 Swedenborg replied:\n\u2018We will see; what was the name of your friend?\u2019 The merchant told his\nname, and Swedenborg then requested him to call in a few days. Some days\nafter, the merchant went again to see Swedenborg, in anxious expectation.\nThe old gentleman met him with a smile, and said: \u2018I have spoken with\nyour friend; the subject of your discourse was _the restitution of all\nthings_.\u2019 He then related to the merchant, with the greatest precision,\nwhat he, and what his deceased friend, had maintained. The merchant\nturned pale; for this proof was powerful and invincible. He inquired\nfurther: \u2018How fares it with my friend? Is he in a state of blessedness?\u2019\nSwedenborg answered: \u2018No, he is not in heaven; he is still in the world\nof spirits, and torments himself continually with the idea of the\nrestitution of all things.\u2019 He ejaculated: \u2018My God! What! in the other\nworld?\u2019 Swedenborg replied: \u2018Certainly; a man takes with him his favorite\ninclinations and opinions, and it is very difficult to be divested of\nthem. We ought, therefore, to lay them aside here.\u2019 The merchant took his\nleave, perfectly convinced, and returned to Elberfeld.\u201d\n\nAn ambassador from Holland, named Martville, died at Stockholm. After his\ndeath, a considerable sum of money was demanded of his widow in payment\nof a debt. She felt certain the debt had been paid, but was unable to\nfind the receipt for the money. Being advised to consult Swedenborg,\nwho, she was told could converse with the dead whenever he pleased,\nshe adopted the advice, more from curiosity than from a belief in his\npowers. The lady called on Swedenborg and told him her trouble; and he\npromised if he met her husband in the spiritual world, he would inquire\nof him about the matter. Eight days afterwards Martville appeared to his\nwife in a dream, and mentioned to her a private place in his cabinet,\nwhere she would not only find the receipt, but also a hair pin set with\ntwenty brilliants which had been given up as lost. This happened about\ntwo o\u2019clock in the morning. Full of joy, she arose and found them in\nthe place designated. She returned again to rest, and slept till nine\no\u2019clock. About eleven Swedenborg was announced. His first remark, before\nMadame had time to speak, was, that he had, during the preceding night,\nseen several spirits, and among others her late husband. He had wished to\nconverse with him, but Martville excused himself on the ground that he\nmust go to discover to his wife something of importance. This account,\nattested by the lady herself, was noised through all Stockholm. It may be\nadded that Madame desired to make Swedenborg a handsome present for his\nservices, which he, of course, declined.\n\nSometimes Swedenborg\u2019s announcements of the states of the departed\nalarmed his auditors. We read of a case of this kind which took place on\na voyage from Gottenburg to London. The vessel staying at Oresound, the\nSwedish Consul invited the officers of the custom house, together with\nseveral of the first people of the town, all anxious to see and know\nSwedenborg, to dine with him at his house. Being all seated at table, and\nnone of them taking the liberty of addressing Swedenborg, who likewise\nwas silent, the Consul thought it incumbent on him to break silence,\nand asked Swedenborg, as he could see and speak with the dead, whether\nhe had seen Christian VI., King of Denmark, after his decease. To this\nhe replied in the affirmative; adding, that when he saw him the first\ntime, he was accompanied by a bishop or other prelate, who humbly begged\nthe King\u2019s pardon for the many errors into which he had led him by his\ncounsels. A son of the deceased prelate happened to be present at the\ntable: the Consul therefore fearing that Swedenborg might say something\nfurther to the disadvantage of the father, interrupted him, saying:\n\u201cSir, this is his son!\u201d Swedenborg replied: \u201cIt may be, but what I am\nsaying is true.\u201d\n\nSuch anecdotes might be greatly multiplied, but space forbids. No one,\nperhaps, has a lower idea of the worth of these stories, as testimonies\nto Swedenborg\u2019s veracity, than the writer; yet they could not well be\nomitted from an account of his life. Gossip spread them far and wide in\nhis own day, as is evidenced by the various forms in which they have come\ndown to us; and any biographer would fail in his duty did he not show\nhow the common world of men dealt with, and regarded Swedenborg. These\nanecdotes also in some degree manifest what a kind, affable, simple, and\nhonest man Swedenborg was.\n\nHaving finished the \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia,\u201d Swedenborg\u2019s pen yet knew no\nrest. In 1758 he published in London the five following works:\u20141. An\nAccount of the Last Judgment and the Destruction of Babylon; showing\nthat all the predictions in the Apocalypse are at this day fulfilled;\nbeing a relation of things heard and seen. 2. Concerning Heaven and its\nwonders, and concerning Hell, being a relation of things heard and seen.\n3. On the White Horse mentioned in the Apocalypse. 4. On the Planets in\nour solar system, and on those in the Heavens; with an account of their\ninhabitants, and of their spirits and angels. 5. On the New Jerusalem and\nits Heavenly Doctrines, as revealed from heaven. Let us now examine these\nworks in order.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n    _The Last Judgment._\n\n\nTo the early reader of Swedenborg\u2019s writings, few of his declarations\nappear stranger, at first, than his affirmation that the Last Judgment\nis past, that it took place in 1757. Yet although startling at first, it\nis a doctrine which, on closer acquaintance, readily comes within the\ngrasp of reason and common sense; and we discover that all its early\nstrangeness was owing to our having looked at it through the mist of\nprejudice and preconceived opinion.\n\nThe treatise on the Last Judgment, (although, as to size, only a\npamphlet,) is a most effective and masterly exposition of the nature\nof the end of the church, the new heavens, and the new earth of the\nApocalypse.\n\nIn the first place, it is shown that the day of the Last Judgment does\nnot mean that of the destruction of the world; for neither the visible\nheaven nor the habitable earth will perish, but both will remain forever.\nThe reason is that the heaven of angels is formed from the human race,\nall angels having lived the life of men, and none having been so created;\nand as the perfection of heaven increases to eternity with the increase\nof regenerate men from the world, it follows that the earth will never\ncease to exist, nor men to live and be born upon it. The world is the\nseminary of heaven. Heaven depends upon the world for its growth,\nincrease, and perfection. Heaven could not exist without worlds.\n\nHeaven being formed from the human race, so likewise is Hell; all devils\nand satans having at one time been men on this or some other earth. \u201cThat\nis not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural.\u201d\n\nThese doctrines, it will be seen, militate against what are called\northodox opinions, which teach that angels were created before the world,\nand that no man can go to heaven or to hell before the time of the Last\nJudgment; when the souls of men having returned into their bodies, the\nvisible world will be burned up; the sun and moon be quenched in nature\u2019s\nnight; and the stars, each surrounded with its own system of worlds,\nhaving first fallen upon this speck of a globe, are to be wiped out of\nexistence. These common but crude and unscriptural ideas have afforded\nthe best subjects for scoffing at the Christian religion which the\nskeptic could desire. For he triumphantly asks, How can so vast a heaven,\nand so many stars, with sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated? And\nhow can the stars fall from heaven upon the earth, when they are larger\nthan the earth? How can men\u2019s bodies, eaten up by worms, consumed by\nputrefaction, scattered to all winds, absorbed by vegetation, and again\nincorporated into other men\u2019s systems, be re-collected for their souls?\nWhat is this day of Judgment? And has it not been expected for ages in\nvain? Together with many other such questions, all pertinent, but to\nwhich the church can give no rational answer.\n\nAnd yet ignorance on such subjects cannot be excused; for men might have\nknown from the Word that heaven and hell are from mankind, and that man\nis raised up and lives immediately after death. Information on these\nsubjects might have been obtained from the Lord\u2019s words to the thief\nupon the cross, \u201cVerily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me\nin Paradise;\u201d and from those which he spoke concerning the rich man and\nLazarus, that the one went to hell, and spoke with Abraham, and that the\nother went to heaven; and what the Lord told the Pharisees respecting the\nresurrection, that \u201cGod is not the God of the dead, but of the living.\u201d\nAnd then we see how inconsistent men are with themselves on these\nsubjects. A worthy church-member, who is a firm believer in the burning\nup of the world, and the resurrection of the dead at the Last Judgment,\ncomes to his death-bed, and straightway all his doctrine passes into\nforgetfulness; and he talks of going home to glory in heaven, and being\nwithin a few hours of the angels. He dies; and his friends, as orthodox\nas himself, think of him as happy in heaven; and yet they profess to\nbelieve in the resurrection of his corrupt and diseased body. What\nstrange inconsistency is this! But it is one of the marks of error, that\nit is always inconsistent with itself.\n\nThe leading fact in Swedenborg\u2019s doctrine of the Last Judgment, is,\nthat it takes place in the spiritual world, where all men congregate\nafter death. A judgment takes place in the world of spirits whenever a\nchurch comes to its end; that is, when its charity, and consequently its\nfaith is dead, and all things that remain are mere empty forms of life.\nA judgment took place at the end of the Jewish church. For proof of\nthis, we need only turn to the Gospel of _John_, (xii. 31,) where Jesus\nsaid: \u201c_Now_ is the judgment of this world: _now_ shall the prince of\nthis world be cast out.\u201d We all know there was at that time no visible\njudgment in the natural world. Everything went on as before; yet, we\nlearn from the Lord\u2019s own lips, that a judgment was effected.\n\nIt is a great mistake, and one which even the best of men labor under,\nto suppose that the soul of man exists alone, and independent of any\ninfluences but those that are external to him, and of which he is\nconscious. We would ask, Who ever saw a grain of matter independent of\nthe law of gravitation,\u2014that cause which binds it to kindred matter\nwith a bond as indestructible as its own existence? It is the same with\nmen\u2019s souls. No man lives independent of spiritual association. Place\na man in the middle of some distant and desolate island; yet he is not\nalone. Around his soul are the spirits of those who have left the world\nbefore him, who love as he loves, and think as he thinks. The minds of\nmen and spirits are most closely and intimately conjoined; for in the\nuniverse of mind, as in the universe of matter, there is no such thing as\nisolation and independency. And what can be more philosophical than such\na doctrine? The laws of matter represent the laws of spirit; in every\nparticular there exists a perfect correspondence. As matter is everywhere\nbound to matter, and compacted in firm communion, so likewise are the\nminds of men to be regarded as a universe of atoms, bound together by\nloves and affections. In meditating on this subject, we must remember\nthat spirit knows nothing of material space.\n\nThe church had been declining from the days of the Apostles. Men had\nforsaken the pure spirit of the gospel, and had sought to hide their\nevils of life by doctrines and creeds formed from their own darkened\nunderstandings. The popedom had arisen; and in the black night of the\ndark ages, had established its fearful assumptions, and blasphemously\ninvoked the name of the Highest to sanctify its crimes. The Reformation,\nthe last flicker of an expiring candle, had indeed established free\nthought, but it failed in its highest aims; and in the erroneous doctrine\nof justification by faith alone, had deadened the consciences of men,\nand extinguished all aspirations after spiritual life. Last and worst of\nall, Atheism reared its horrid front, and openly manifested itself; yet\nwhat of it was open and confessed, was as nothing to what lay concealed\neven under the vestments of the church. Toward the middle of the last\ncentury, Christendom had reached its lowest point of degradation; and\nany one who is anxious to test this affirmation of Swedenborg\u2019s, need\nonly turn to the history and literature of that period, and observe the\nselfishness, the negation and ridicule of everything pure and spiritual,\nthe gross ignorance, the licentiousness and intemperance, and in fact\nthe reduction of humanity to its lowest and most bestial condition. He\nwill then understand the cry of the good, at that time, in the world of\nspirits, \u201cHow long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge\nour blood on them that dwell on the earth?\u201d\n\nIt is to be noted that from the time of the Lord\u2019s advent, when he\neffected the Judgment upon the Jewish church, there had been pouring\ninto the world of spirits, in countless myriads, the souls of those who\nwere full of evils and falsities, and who, collecting around terrestrial\nhumanity, lay as thick clouds between it and heaven. Forming themselves\ninto societies by spiritual affinities, the reformed churches were in the\nmiddle; the Romanists around them; the Mahommedans in a still outer ring;\nand the various Gentile nations constituted a vast circumference; while\nbeyond all, lay the appearance of a sea as a boundary. Of the states\nof those associations, we have a most graphic picture in Swedenborg\u2019s\ntreatise; and no where else out of the Apocalypse, do we find a more\nthorough exposure of the internal atheism of the priests of Rome, their\nblasphemies and subtlety. But the time of the end had come; the world\ngroaned to be delivered; and the eyes of Swedenborg were favored to\nbehold the process of the great redemption.\n\nThe vast concourse of these spirits, formed into societies, is what\nis meant in the Revelation by the first heaven and the first earth\nwhich passed away. The manner in which these societies were dissolved,\nSwedenborg describes as follows:\u2014\u201cVisitation was made by angels, and\nadmonition given, and the good were singled out and separated by the\nheavenly ministers, agreeable to the Lord\u2019s words, \u2018He shall send his\nangels, and they shall gather together the elect from the four winds,\nfrom one end of heaven to the other;\u2019 and again, \u2018All nations shall be\ngathered together before the Son of Man; and he shall separate them one\nfrom another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats, and he\nshall set the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left.\u2019\u201d Then\nfollowed destruction. There were great earthquakes, and a vehement wind,\nwhich swept all before it. Then gulfs yawned, and seas appeared, into\nwhich the wicked threw themselves, and were drawn to their place in hell.\n\u201cThen,\u201d says Swedenborg, \u201cI saw angelic spirits in great numbers rising\nfrom below, and received into heaven. They were the sheep who had been\nkept and guarded by the Lord, and who are understood in the Word by the\nbodies of saints which arose from their sepulchres and went into the holy\ncity; and by the souls of those slain for the testimony of Jesus, and who\nwere watching; and by those who were of the first resurrection.\n\n\u201cAfter this, there was joy in heaven, and light in the world of spirits,\nsuch as was not before; and the interposing clouds between heaven and\nmankind being removed, a similar light also then arose on men in the\nworld, giving them new enlightenment.\u201d\n\nSuch was the Last Judgment. Its centenary draws nigh; and how fruitful\nin good to mankind has been that century which is now drawing to a\nclose! It is unnecessary to repeat the hackneyed phrases which tell of\nthe progress of the world during the last hundred years. Every newspaper\nspeaks of it. Everybody with open eyes observes it. It has become the\nuniversal opinion that the world is moving onwards and upwards; yet how\nfew understand _why_ the world is so moving. Men have yet to learn that\neffects can no more take place without adequate causes in the universe\nof mind than in the universe of matter. Nowhere out of Swedenborg can we\nfind a description of those spiritual causes which are changing society\nand revolutionizing the whole world. We, who live in the dawn of the new\nera, can form, even in our highest states, but a faint conception of its\ncoming glory. Yet we see in the wonderful movements of our age, in its\ngrowing benevolence, in its increasing intelligence and thoughtfulness,\nand in the prodigious advances that are making in every department of\nscience and art, so many indubitable signs that the former things have\npassed away, and that the Lord is making all things new.\n\nEvery one knows that in the Scripture, the second coming of the Lord\nis described as simultaneous with the Last Judgment. We will hereafter\nendeavor to prove that the Lord has indeed come, and will describe the\nmanner of his coming.\n\nThe reception of the doctrine of the Last Judgment is somewhat difficult,\nbecause the comprehension of it demands the understanding of many\nprinciples and spiritual laws unknown to the world at large, yet most\nworthy of any amount of labor requisite to master them. The remembrance\nof this fact will serve as an apology for any appearance of unfounded\nassumption in the outline of the doctrine we have given.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n    _Heaven and Hell._\n\n\nThe treatise on Heaven and Hell is among the most charming of\nSwedenborg\u2019s writings. Its subjects possess a universal attraction; for,\nwhat believer in the immortality of man has not, at times, longed to\npenetrate the awful mysteries of the unseen world? And there is nothing\nunreasonable in the desire. True it is, that, until Swedenborg came, any\nbut the most general knowledge of the nature of the future life had been\nwithdrawn from mankind since the days of primeval innocence; yet not\nfrom anything hurtful in the knowledge itself, but simply because the\nsublime facts of the future state transcended the apprehension of men\nimmersed in worldly loves and cares, and denying and ridiculing every\nidea which was not an object of sensual perception. For this reason the\nLord said to his disciples: \u201cI have yet many things to say unto you,\nbut ye can not bear them now.\u201d (_John_ xvi. 12.) We frequently see this\ninability to \u201cbear\u201d things spiritual and divine, manifested in our own\nexperience. We offer Swedenborg\u2019s treatise, for perusal, to some man of\nscience, full of self-confidence, with the laws and facts of the universe\nat his finger\u2019s ends; or to some deeply-read theologian. The title page\nis read,\u2014\u201cHeaven and its Wonders, the World of Spirits, and Hell; being\na relation of things heard and seen.\u201d It is enough. \u201cWhat nonsense! What\nfoolishness! The lunatic! What could _he_ know of heaven or hell? How\ncould he get there? The impostor! None but a fool could write such a\nbook!\u201d And so on. The title page settles the whole question. Now what can\nbe said in reply to these railers, of whom the world is full? How can\none argue with, and combat, such inveterate prejudice? Yet these people\nare professing Christians. They profess to believe there is a heaven and\na hell. But, does not their condemnation of Swedenborg betray a lurking\ninfidelity in their hearts? If they really possessed a living faith in\nthe existence of heaven and hell, it could not appear to them so utterly\npreposterous that some account of their nature might in these times have\nbeen revealed, through the abounding mercy of the Lord.\n\nBut the world now contains many who are willing to receive, and able to\nunderstand, the truths of the future life. The Lord, who never allows his\nchildren to lack any good thing, has, in due season, given them, through\nSwedenborg, this precious and delightful volume. Let us briefly enumerate\nits important statements.\n\nThe spiritual world divides itself into three great regions,\u2014Heaven, the\nWorld of Spirits, and Hell.\n\nHeaven is formed of all who have loved the Lord on earth by living a life\nin accordance with his laws. The laws of spiritual life are known, more\nor less perfectly, in all nations, even among the heathen. The lowest\nof the Gentiles have some faint rays of the light of spiritual truth;\nand if they live in obedience thereto, regeneration, and consequently,\nheaven, is attainable by them. Yet heaven has its degrees of bliss. Good\npersons of every variety of character pass into it. But the promiscuous\nassociation of these different kinds of character would not be orderly,\nand could not be blissful. By the law of spiritual gravitation, (from\nwhich the law of natural gravitation is but a derivation, and of which it\nis a type and image,) all who possess similar affections and intelligence\nare drawn together, and co-ordinated in the most blissful harmony.\nThe infinite variety of heaven thus arranges itself, in general, into\ntwo kingdoms; specifically into three heavens; and in particular, into\ninnumerable societies. The two kingdoms are respectively called celestial\nand spiritual. The angels forming the celestial kingdom are characterized\nby their exceeding love of the Lord and of goodness; and the angels who\nform the spiritual kingdom are distinguished by their exceeding love of\ntheir neighbor and of truth. The celestial angels are immensely wiser\nthan the spiritual, and their blessedness is ineffable. Specifically\nthere are three heavens, perfectly distinct, called the first heaven,\nthe second or middle heaven, and the third or highest heaven; or they\nmay be called external, internal, and inmost; or natural, spiritual, and\ncelestial. Of these three heavens the highest or third, together with\nthe internal of the first or lowest heaven, forms the celestial kingdom;\nand the middle or second, together with the external of the first or\nlowest heaven, forms the spiritual kingdom. These three heavens and\ntwo kingdoms, arising out of the varieties of the human mind, are not\narbitrary distinctions. The external, first, or natural heaven, is formed\nof those who, from a principle of obedience and duty, live in accordance\nwith the Divine will. The second, spiritual, or middle heaven, is formed\nof such as love truth, delight in things intellectual, and at the same\ntime are in disinterested love to the neighbor. The inmost, third, or\ncelestial heaven, is formed of those who, full of love to the Lord, are\nin innocence. These celestial angels, gifted with the highest wisdom\nand peace, yet full of humility, indefinitely exceed all beneath them\nin beauty and wisdom. The existence and order of the three heavens was\nrepresented by the courts of the Jewish temple. The celebrated Oberlin,\na diligent reader of Swedenborg, had a plan of the courts of the temple\nhung upon the walls of his church, by which he taught his hearers, that,\naccording to their humility, piety, fidelity, and love of being useful\nto each other, would be their elevation in the Lord\u2019s kingdom, either\nto the first, second, or third heaven. We think that no one, in whom\nreign the heavenly principles of \u201clove\u201d to the Lord and the neighbor;\n\u201cjoy\u201d in duty under all circumstances; \u201cpeace\u201d in every change of state;\n\u201clong-suffering\u201d under all provocations; \u201cgentleness\u201d of behaviour;\n\u201cgoodness\u201d of disposition, ever manifesting itself in good actions;\n\u201cfaith\u201d or truth, believed, loved, and thence trusted in; \u201cmeekness\u201d\nin doing and in suffering; \u201ctemperance\u201d both in external and internal\ndelights, Gal. v. 22, would be an unwilling inhabitant of such a heaven\nas Swedenborg describes. Is not this at least presumptive evidence that\nhe has spoken truly?\n\nThe three heavens are further subdivided into innumerable societies,\nsome smaller, and some larger; some consisting of myriads of angels,\nand some of hundreds. Their association into societies, is a result of\nsimilarity of character, which similarity is imaged in their faces; and a\ngeneral likeness of countenance is observed among the angels who form one\nsociety. All who are in similar love know each other, just as men in the\nworld know their kindred, relations, and friends; and thus, as it were,\nspontaneously associated, they feel at home and in freedom, and thence\nin the full delight of their life. From this it also follows that angels\nwho differ much are far apart; and few depart out of their own society\ninto another, because to go out from their own society is like going out\nof themselves, or out of their own life, and passing into another which\nis not so agreeable. Nevertheless all the societies of heaven are bound\ntogether in one perfect form, which is strictly human.\n\nAll angels are in the human form, and are just such men and women as they\nwere on earth, except that they have rejected the material body. That\nwe should have to write and enforce such truisms\u2014for such they must\nappear to a mind really rational,\u2014is owing to the strange and ridiculous\nfancies that are commonly entertained on this subject. We often hear the\ndeparted talked of as shades, and thought of as minds without forms, or\nmere thinking principles composed of some sort of ethereal vapor; and\nwhen artists draw them, we see perhaps an exquisitely beautiful human\nform, but disfigured with large feathery wings, which, having no adequate\nmuscles, would have no power of motion. None of these vague, shadowy,\nand erroneous ideas do we find in the Bible. The angels seen by Abraham,\nLot, Manoah, the prophets, and the Lord\u2019s disciples, were all seen as\nmen, and talked with as men. Our author writes thus explicitly on this\nsubject. \u201cThe angelic form is in every respect human; angels have faces,\neyes, ears, breasts, arms, hands, and feet; they see, hear, and converse\nwith each other; and, in a word, no external attribute of man is wanting,\nexcept the natural body.\u201d\n\nAnd now comes a doctrine which on a first view may appear very mystical,\nand yet when pondered over, and understood, commends itself to our belief\nby a thousand irresistible evidences drawn from analogy, and confirmed\nby right reason. It is, that every society of heaven is in the human\nform; and that the universal heaven, viewed collectively, is also in the\nhuman form; and is called by Swedenborg the Grand or Greatest [Maximus]\nMan. Wilkinson well expresses this sublime truth. \u201cHeaven,\u201d he says, \u201cis\nsupremely human\u2014nay more, it is one man. As the members of the body make\none person, so before God, all good men make one humanity: every society\nof the angels is a heavenly man in a lesser form, and every angel in a\nleast. The reason is, that God himself, (the Lord Jesus Christ,) is a\nDivine Man, and He shapes His heaven into His own image and likeness,\neven as He made Adam. The oneness of heaven comes from God\u2019s unity:\nits manhood from His humanity. Heaven has, therefore, all the members,\norgans, and viscera of a man; its angel inhabitants, every one, are in\nsome province of the Grand Man. Indefinite myriads of us go to a fibre\nof its humanity. Some are in the province of the brain; some in that\nof the lungs; some in that of the heart; some in that of the belly;\nsome are in the legs and arms; and all, wherever humanized, that is to\nsay, located in humanity, perform spiritually the offices of that part\nof the body whereto they correspond. They all work together, however\nspaced apparently, just as the parts of a single man. Their space is but\ntheir palpable liberty, and they touch the human atoms, more closely,\nby offices which unite them in God, than the contiguous fibres of our\nflesh.\u201d Every society of heaven also increases in number daily, and as it\nincreases, it becomes more perfect; and from its perfection the universal\nheaven becomes more perfect, because heaven is composed of societies.\nSince increasing numbers make heaven more perfect, it is evident how\nmuch _they_ are deceived who believe that heaven will be closed when\nit becomes full. On the contrary, heaven will never be closed, for the\ngreater its fullness, the greater its perfection; and therefore the\nangels desire nothing more earnestly than to receive new comers.\n\nThis part of our subject would require considerable expansion to make it\nintelligible to minds that have never meditated on these high themes, and\nwhose theological education has perverted all perception of the truth on\nthese matters. The subject is enticing, but our limits command restraint.\n\nIt was a remark of a profane wit and epicure that \u201cas to heaven, he had\nno great longing, as he could not see what great pleasure there could\nbe in sitting on a cloud and singing psalms to eternity.\u201d We have in\nthis expression a thought which we know to be common to many minds, but\nrespect for the externals of religion forbids its expression. The general\nbelief respecting the nature of life in heaven, is so vague, and contains\nso much of clouds and psalm-singing, that it is not to be wondered at\nthat some free and daring spirits should openly avow their preference for\nthe more substantial realities of this life. And is it not a pity that\nthe divine glories and delights of the heavenly life should become so\nveiled in mystery as to lose their attraction, and cease to be desirable?\nWith the exception of the church\u2019s ignorance of the humanity, unity, and\ndivinity of its Saviour and Lord, no surer evidence could be adduced\nof its consummation, than its inability to answer the simplest child\u2019s\nquestions as to the nature of life in heaven. Let us be thankful that\nman\u2019s utmost wants, in this respect, are satisfied in the writings of\nthat New Church which the Lord is now raising up, and of which Swedenborg\nwas the divinely-appointed herald.\n\nThe sun of heaven is the Lord. The light of heaven is the divine truth,\nand its heat the divine love; both proceeding from the Lord as a sun. The\nsun of this world is not seen in heaven. Nature commences from the sun\nof this world, and everything which is produced from it, and subsists by\nit, is called natural; but the spiritual world in which heaven is, is\nabove nature, and entirely distinct from it, although it is ever to be\nremembered that nature is a derivation from spirit, and communicates with\nspirit by correspondences. We shall have more to say on this conjunction\nyet perfect separation, between nature and spirit, when we come to speak\nof the doctrine of degrees.\n\nThe sun of heaven, or the divine sphere of glory surrounding the Lord,\nthe \u201clight which no man can approach unto,\u201d 1 Tim. vi. 6, appears\nvariously to the angels of heaven according to their states of love and\nintelligence. To the angels of the third heaven, the sun appears fiery\nand flaming; to the angels of the second heaven, white and brilliant;\nwhile to those of the first heaven its light is more subdued and veiled\nwith clouds, yet at intervals bursting forth and pouring his glorious\nradiance upon them. Although the Lord is thus seen by the angels as a sun\nabove them, yet at times He appears in their midst, in an angelic form,\nand with a resplendent countenance. What tongue can describe the rapt\nadoration and ineffable joy which must thrill angelic bosoms on these\noccasions!\n\nHeaven has its times and its seasons, but they are not like those of\nearth. In heaven there is no winter and no night. The times and seasons\nof heaven are consequences of the variations of the states of angelic\nminds. While to all appearance they are objective as on earth, they are\nin reality strictly subjective. The external changes of light and heat\ncorrespond to the internal changes of love and wisdom in the angelic\nmind. Now as the angels are sometimes in a state of intense love, and\nsometimes in a state of love not so intense, morning, noon, evening,\nand twilight, exist in heaven as the external emblems of these changes.\nWithout such changes life would lose its zest. Eternal uniformity would\nbe eternal dullness.\n\nSince angels are men, and live together in society like men on earth,\ntherefore they have garments, houses, and other things similar to those\nwhich exist on earth, but of course infinitely more beautiful and\nperfect. The garments of the angels correspond to their intelligence.\nThe garments of some glitter as with flame, and those of others are\nresplendent as with light; others are of various colors, and some white\nand opaque. The angels of the inmost heaven are naked because they are in\ninnocence, and nakedness corresponds to innocence. It is because garments\nrepresent states of wisdom that they are so much spoken of in the Word,\nin relation to the church and good men. Thus in Isaiah liii. 1, \u201cAwake,\nput on strength, O Zion; put on thy _beautiful garments_, O Jerusalem.\u201d\nAnd in Ezekiel xv. 10, the Lord says of his church: \u201cI girded thee about\nwith fine linen, and covered thee with silk.\u201d And in the Apocalypse iii.\n4, 5, it is said: \u201cThey who have not defiled their _garments_, shall walk\nwith Me in _white_, for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same\nshall be clothed in _white raiment_.\u201d What a depth of meaning appears in\nthese passages when we remember the spiritual signification of garments!\n\n\u201cThe garments of the angels,\u201d writes Swedenborg, \u201cdo not merely appear to\nbe garments, but they really are garments; for they not only see them,\nbut feel them, and have different ones, which they take off and put on,\nlaying aside those which are not in use, and resuming them when they come\ninto use again. That they are clothed with a variety of garments, I have\nwitnessed a thousand times; and when I inquired whence they obtained\nthem, they told me \u2018from the Lord,\u2019 and that they receive them as gifts,\nand that they are sometimes clothed without knowing how. They also said\nthat their garments are changed according to the changes of their state.\u201d\n\nSince there are societies in heaven, and the angels live as men, it\nfollows that they have habitations, various, like all else in heaven,\naccording to the degree of love and wisdom in which they are principled.\nNo words are like Swedenborg\u2019s own on this subject. \u201cWhenever I have\nconversed with the angels mouth to mouth, I have been present with\nthem in their habitations, which are exactly like the habitations on\nearth called houses, but more beautiful. They contain chambers, parlors\n[conclavia], and bed-chambers, in great numbers; courts also, and around\nthem gardens, shrubberies, and fields. Where the angels are consociated\ntheir habitations are contiguous, or near to each other, and arranged in\nthe form of a city, with streets, ways, and squares, exactly like the\ncities on our earth.\n\n\u201cI have seen palaces in heaven, magnificent beyond description. Their\nupper parts were refulgent as if they were pure gold, and their lower\nparts as if they were precious stones: some were more splendid than\nothers, and the splendor without was equaled by the magnificence within.\nThe apartments were ornamented with decorations which neither language\nnor science can adequately describe. On the south were paradises, in\nwhich all things were similarly resplendent; for in some places the\nleaves of the trees were like silver, and the fruits like gold, while\nthe colors of the flowers which were arranged in beds, appeared like\nrainbows; at the boundaries appeared other palaces, which terminated the\nview. Such is the architecture of heaven that one might say it is the\nvery art itself; nor is this to be wondered at, because the art itself\nis from heaven. The angels said that such things, and innumerable others\nstill more perfect, are presented before their eyes by the Lord, but that\nnevertheless they delight their minds more than their eyes, because in\neverything they see correspondences of things divine.\n\n\u201cThe angels who constitute the Lord\u2019s celestial kingdom, dwell for the\nmost part in elevated places, or mountains; those who form the spiritual\nkingdom, on hills; but those who are in the lowest parts of heaven, in\nplaces which appear as rocks. There are also angels who do not live\nconsociated, but separate. These dwell in the midst of heaven, and are\nthe best of the angels.\n\n\u201cThe houses in which the angels dwell, are not constructed by hand, like\nhouses in the world, but are given them freely by the Lord, according to\ntheir reception of good and truth. All things whatsoever which the angels\npossess, they hold as gifts from the Lord; and they are supplied with\neverything they need.\u201d\n\nWe thus learn that in heaven there are not external, physical, or mental\noccupations to support bodily wants, as in this world.\n\nIt was said above that the angels have not wings, as is commonly\nsupposed. Their power of progression far exceeds anything that wings\ncould supply. They have no idea of space, such as we have in the world.\nAll who are of like disposition spontaneously associate together in the\nspiritual world. It thus follows that those are near each other who are\nin a similar state, and distant who are in a dissimilar state; and that\nwhat appears to be space in heaven is merely an external appearance,\nrepresentative of internal differences of mind. From this cause alone the\nheavens are distinct from each other, and each society of heaven, and\nevery individual in each society. Hence also the hells are altogether\nseparated from the heavens.\n\nFrom the same cause, any one in the spiritual world appears to be\npresent if another intensely desires his presence; for from that desire\nhe sees him in thought, and puts himself in his state. Again one person\nis removed from another in proportion as he holds him in aversion; for\nall aversion is from contrariety of the affections and disagreement of\nthe thoughts; therefore many who appear together in one place in the\nspiritual world, so long as they agree, separate as soon as they disagree.\n\nFurther: when any one goes from one place to another, whether it be in\nhis own city, in the courts, or the gardens, or to others out of his own\ncity, he arrives sooner when he has a strong desire to be there, and\nlater when his desire is less strong; the way itself being lengthened or\nshortened according to his desire of arrival. Hence again it is evident\nthat distances, and consequently spaces, exist with the angels altogether\naccording to the state of their minds.\n\nThese principles settle that often asked question, \u201cShall we know each\nother in the future life?\u201d We shall, if we are in the same state as\nto love and truth; but if in different states, we shall not, but shall\nbe separate; and, moreover, we shall have no desire for acquaintance.\nThe only friendships in heaven are those formed on the ground of\nsimilarity of character. If this similarity does not exist,\u2014with the\nexception perhaps of a short meeting in the world of spirits\u2014death is an\neverlasting, though in such case not a mournful, farewell.\n\nThere are governments in heaven, various according to the varied classes\nof mind which compose the heavenly societies. The government of mutual\nlove is the only government which exists in heaven. Governors in heaven\nare distinguished by love and wisdom more than others, and by willing\nwell to all from love; and knowing, from their superior wisdom, how\nto realize the good they purpose. They do not domineer, and command\nimperiously, but minister and serve: not making themselves greater than\nothers, but less; for they put their own good last, and the good of their\nsociety first: nevertheless they enjoy honor and glory; for they dwell\nin the midst of their society, in a more elevated situation than others,\nand inhabit magnificent palaces; but they accept glory and honor, not for\nthe sake of themselves, but for the sake of obedience; for all in heaven\nknow that they enjoy honor and glory from the Lord, and that, therefore\nthey ought to be obeyed. These are the things which are meant by the\nLord\u2019s words to his disciples: \u201cWhosoever will be chief among you, let\nhim be your servant; even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered\nunto, but to minister.\u201d Matthew xx. 27, 28. \u201cHe that is greatest among\nyou, let him be as the younger: and he that is chief, as he that doth\nserve.\u201d Luke xxii. 26. A similar government prevails also in every house\nin heaven; for in every house there is a master, and there are servants,\nthe master loving the servants, and the servants loving the master, so\nthat they serve each other from love. The master teaches the servants how\nthey ought to live, and directs what they ought to do, while the servants\nobey, and perform their duties.\n\nDivine worship performed in heaven, is much the same in externals, as\non earth. In the heavens, as on earth, there are doctrines, preachings,\nand temples. As the angels have houses and palaces, so also they have\ntemples in which preaching is performed. Such things exist in heaven\nbecause the angels are continually perfecting in wisdom and love. But\nreal divine worship in the heavens does not consist, any more than on\nearth, in frequenting temples, and hearing sermons, but in a life of love\nand usefulness; sermons and prayers being only means whereby the mind is\nenlightened to perform its various duties. \u201cTo work is to pray,\u201d is a\nheavenly precept which we should all do well to engrave upon our hearts.\n\nThe sermons of heaven are fraught with such wisdom that nothing of the\nkind in the world can be compared with them. They are all drawn from the\nWord. The same Bible that we read here, the angels read in heaven; but to\nthem it is a very different book from what it is to us. Where we read and\nthink of earthly and material things, they read and think of spiritual\nand divine things. To them its spiritual and celestial senses are as open\nas the natural sense is to us. From the Word they derive their highest\nwisdom; and through continual converse with it, they grow wiser and wiser\nday by day. The Word is the wisdom of the Lord, and eternity can not\nexhaust it.\n\nAll infants go to heaven, whether born within the church or out of it;\nwhether of pious parents or wicked ones. When infants die, they are still\ninfants in the other life. They are not angels, but become angels. Every\none, on his decease, is in a similar state of life to that in which he\nwas in the world; an infant in the state of infancy, a boy in a state\nof boyhood, and a youth, a man, or an old man, in the state of youth, of\nmanhood, or of age; but the state of every one is afterwards changed. As\nsoon as infants are raised from the dead, which takes place immediately\nafter decease, they are carried up into heaven, and delivered to the care\nof angels of the female sex, who in the life of the body loved infants\ntenderly, and at the same time loved God. By these good angels, they\nare educated and brought up until they attain a suitable age, when they\nare transferred to other teachers. They grow up and become young men\nand women; are instructed in wisdom, and trained in the duties of the\nheavenly life: and when their character is fully developed, they become\nsettled in some society, either of the celestial or spiritual kingdom, in\nagreement with their inherited genius or disposition. What a delightful\nfaith is this! Do not its beauty and rationality prove its truthfulness?\n\nMany persons imagine that infants are forever infants in heaven, and that\nthere is indeed something infantile about all angels. This idea probably\narises from the pictures which are frequently seen, in which angels\nare drawn as infants. But this is a great mistake. Children in heaven\ngrow up into young men and women, and the aged return to the freshness\nof early manhood. They who are in heaven are continually advancing to\nthe spring-time of life, and the more thousands of years they live, the\nmore delightful and happy is the spring to which they attain; and this\nprogression goes on to eternity. Good women who have died old and worn\nout with age, after a succession of years come more and more into the\nflower of youth, and into a beauty which exceeds all the conceptions of\nbeauty which can be formed from what the eye has seen. In a word, _to\ngrow old in heaven is to grow young_. It is worthy of note, that the\nhuman form of every man after death, is beautiful in proportion as his\nlove and practice of divine truths is interior. The angels of the inmost\nheaven are consequently the most beautiful, because their love of truth\nis the deepest, and their lives are the most perfect. \u201cI have seen,\u201d\nsays Swedenborg, \u201cthe faces of angels of the third heaven, which were so\nbeautiful, that no painter, with the utmost power of art, could depict\neven a thousandth part of their light and life; but the faces of the\nangels of the lowest heaven may, in some measure, be adequately depicted.\u201d\n\nIt is believed by many in the world that heaven is a place of idleness,\nfull of refined sensual delights, of pleasant sights and harmonious\nsounds; in short, some such place as a laborious tradesman, struggling\nfor a fortune, fancies he shall enjoy when his gains shall have enabled\nhim to \u201c_retire_.\u201d But this is a great mistake. Man\u2019s nature remains\nthe same in heaven as on earth; and who has not felt that his happiest\nmoments are not those of mere pleasure and idleness, but those in which\nhe was rendering himself most eminently useful? Happiness is as little\nconsonant with idleness in heaven as on earth. Jesus himself said:\n\u201cMy Father worketh hitherto, and I work.\u201d John v. 17. The angels are\nemployed. All the delights of heaven are conjoined with uses, and are\ninherent in them. In proportion to an angel\u2019s usefulness, is his bliss.\nSome spirits, we read, conceived the opinion that heavenly happiness\nconsisted in a life of ease, and in being served by others; but they were\ntold that happiness by no means consists in mere rest from employment,\nbecause every one would then desire to take away the happiness of others\nto promote his own; and since all would have the same desire, none would\nbe happy; that such a life would not be active but indolent, and that\nindolence makes life torpid; and that without activity there can be no\nhappiness, and that _cessation from employment is only for the sake of\nrecreation_, that a man _may return_, with new vigor, to the _activity_\nof his life. They who entertained the idea that heavenly joy consists in\na life of indolence, and sucking in eternal delight without employment,\nwere allowed some experience of such a life; and they perceived that it\nis most sorrowful, and that all joy being destroyed, they would after a\ntime loathe and nauseate it.\n\nSome spirits who believed that heavenly joy consists solely in praising\nand celebrating God, were instructed that to praise and celebrate God\nis not properly an active life; and that God has no need of praise and\ncelebration. The Lord\u2019s will is that all should perform uses; and the\nangels testify that in the performance of good works is the highest\nfreedom, conjoined with ineffable delights.\n\nFrom all this it follows that heaven is full of employments, in\ncomparison with which those of the world are few. There are societies\nwhose occupation consists in taking care of infants; other societies,\nwhose employment is to instruct and educate them as they grow up; others\nwhich in like manner instruct and educate the young; others which\ninstruct the simply good from the Christian world, and lead them in the\nways of heaven; others which perform the same office to Gentile nations;\nothers which defend novitiate spirits, or those who are newly arrived\nfrom the world, from the infestations of evil spirits; some also are\nattendant on those who are preparing in the world of spirits for heaven;\nand some are present with those who are in hell, to restrain them from\ntormenting each other beyond limit: there are also others who attend\nthose who are being raised from the dead. In general, angels of every\nsociety are sent to men, that they may guard them, and withdraw them\nfrom evil affections and consequent evil thoughts, and inspire them with\ngood affections, so far as they are willing to receive them. All these\nemployments are performed by the Lord through their instrumentality;\nand hence it is that by _angels_ in the Word, in its internal sense, are\nnot meant _angels_, but something of the Lord; and for the same reason,\n_angels_ in the Word are called _gods_.\n\nThese employments of the angels are their general employments, but every\none has his own particular duty; for every general use is composed\nof innumerable others, which are called mediate, ministering, and\nsubservient uses. But in heaven there are so many offices that it is\nimpossible to enumerate them on account of their multitude. All angels\nfeel delight in their employment derived from the love of use, and none\nfrom the love of self or of gain; nor is any one influenced by the love\nof gain for the sake of his maintenance, because all the necessaries of\nlife are freely given them; their habitations, their clothes, their food.\n\nIt is De Quincey, we think, who accuses Swedenborg of sensualizing\nheaven, and reducing its sublime glories to the common order of things\nin this world. The assertion could only have been made through want of\npersonal acquaintance with the writings of Swedenborg. No one can use\nthe words, Isaiah lxiv. 4, quoted by the Apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 9: \u201cEye\nhath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of\nman, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,\u201d with\nmore fervor and truth than the New Church preacher. Everywhere we are\ntold by Swedenborg, that the joys and delights of heaven transcend the\nhighest power of language to express; everywhere we are told that our\nhighest ideas formed from natural things, fall indefinitely short of the\ncommon realities of the heavenly life. Yet we also learn that the common\nhumanities and pleasures of this life are not lost in the next; and that\nas men and women we carry with us to our eternal home every faculty\nof thought and affection which we possess here. In this most rational\ndoctrine there is gain every way. In thinking of heaven we know we can\nnever overrate its bliss, think as we will; and yet with this idea is\nassociated nothing of dreamy vagueness. We feel that as we live well we\nare but walking onwards to a pleasant home, in which all that is truest\nand best in this life will go with us. What stronger incentive can a man\nhave to a pure and religious life than this divine faith. Entertaining\nit, with what feeling may he, at the close of life, utter the poet\u2019s\nwords,\u2014\n\n                \u201cDraw near, sweet death;\n    Come raise me into life!\u201d\n\nThe condition of admission into heaven is the possession of a soul\nwhose existence is a continual fulfillment of those two commandments\non which the Lord says, \u201chang all the law and the prophets\u201d\u2014love to\nGod, and love to man. To enter heaven, we must habitually place self\nlast, and our neighbor first; and unless we can do this, we can never\nknow eternal bliss. Now we are born into this world selfish; and hence\nit is truly said we are hereditarily depraved. It is the Divine will\nto take all to heaven. To do this, it is necessary that we should be\ndivested of our corrupt hereditary nature; as the Lord said to Nicodemus:\n\u201cVerily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot\nsee the kingdom of God.\u201d This regeneration of mind, this change from a\nsupreme love of self, to a supreme love of God and our neighbor, is, of\nnecessity, a gradual work. It is not accomplished in a day, nor in a\nmonth, nor in a year. Like all Divine works, it proceeds gradually, step\nby step; \u201cfirst the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the\near.\u201d The regeneration of man is a Divine work, and as the Divine end in\nthe creation of man was the formation of heaven out of the human race,\nthe Lord\u2019s providence is unceasingly exerted to draw man out of evil,\nby all means consonant with the maintenance of the inalienable freedom\nof his will. It thus follows that the Lord, in all his dealings with\nman, has respect solely to his eternal state, and amid all the apparent\naccidents and vicissitudes of life, he is present, bending them and\nmaking them all conduce to man\u2019s everlasting peace. Life in this world,\nits cares, trials, pleasures, comforts, friendships, sympathies, and\naffections, form the divinely-appointed regenerative process; and those\nwho will only believe this great truth, and submit to the Divine leading,\nwill encounter nothing in life but what is good for them; and existence\nhere, however bitter and painful at times, will resolve itself into a\nseries of lessons devised by infinite wisdom to uproot all latent and\nknown evils, transforming the patient sufferer into a true child of God.\nThe Lord permits one man to be rich, powerful, and famous, and another\nto be afflicted with disease and perplexed with poverty; one to have a\nsettled and calm peace of mind, while another is tried and tormented\nwith doubts and anxieties; nor for any ultimate purpose on earth, but\nsolely as a means of spiritual regeneration,\u2014as a means of making man\nhappy in the eternal life to come. All man\u2019s states are under the minute\nguardianship of the Lord; and each day comes round with its circle of\npleasant and unpleasant occurrences, often, apparently, the result of\naccident and chance, but in truth all provided of the Divine Providence\nfor the eradication of evil, and the growth and nurture of goodness.\nThere is no trial encountered, no circumstance met, or cross endured, but\nhas its eternal issue; and man\u2019s conduct in relation to it is looked upon\nby the Lord with a love and interest infinitely transcending our highest\nconception. All has been foreseen; and these daily recurring tasks are\nappointed by that wisdom which guides the stars in their courses, and\nby that love which requires eternity to satisfy the ardor with which it\nwould bless. With what dignity does such a faith clothe existence! What\nearnestness and celestial patience must it infuse into life!\n\nFrom all that has now been said, it will be very evident that heaven\nis not a gift of immediate Divine mercy, to be obtained by a verbal\nconfession of faith at the hour of death. If man could be saved by\nimmediate mercy, all would be saved; even the inhabitants of hell,\nand hell itself would not exist; because the Lord is Mercy itself,\nLove itself, and Good itself, and wills the salvation of all, and the\ndamnation of no one. But man\u2019s spirit is substantial; and if formed to\nevil, to change it would be equivalent to annihilation. \u201cThe angels\ndeclare that it were easier to change a bat into a dove, or an owl into\na bird of paradise, than to change an infernal spirit into an angel of\nheaven.\u201d \u201cAmple experience,\u201d writes Swedenborg, \u201cenables me to testify\nthat it is impossible to implant the life of heaven in those who have\nled an opposite life in the world. There were some who believed that\nthey should easily receive divine truths after death, when they heard\nthem from the angels; and that they would believe them then, amend their\nlives, and be received into heaven; and the experiment was made on great\nnumbers of them, in order that they might be convinced that repentance\nis not possible after death. Some understood the truths they heard, and\nseemed to receive them; but as soon as they returned to the life of their\nlove, they rejected them, and even argued against them. Some rejected\nthem instantly, from entire unwillingness to hear them; but others were\ndesirous that _the life of the love they had contracted in the world,\nmight be taken away from them; and that angelic life, the life of heaven,\nmight be infused in its place_. This was permitted; but when the life of\ntheir love was taken away, they lay as if dead, and deprived of all their\nfaculties. From this it was manifest that no one\u2019s life can possibly be\nchanged after death, that evil life can not be changed into good life,\nnor the life of an infernal into that of an angel; because every spirit\nis from head to foot of the same quality as his love, and therefore of\nthe same quality as his life; and consequently to transmute his life into\nits opposite is to destroy him altogether.\u201d All this goes to confirm the\nLord\u2019s declaration before quoted, \u201cExcept a man be born again, he can not\nsee the kingdom of God.\u201d On no other terms can heavenly bliss be gained.\n\nWe now come to speak of the World of Spirits, which Swedenborg thus\ndefines: \u201cThe world of spirits is neither heaven nor hell, but an\nintermediate place or state between both, into which man enters\nimmediately after death; and then after a certain period, the duration of\nwhich is determined by the quality of his life in the world, he is either\nelevated into heaven, or cast into hell.\n\n\u201cThe spirits in the world of spirits are immensely numerous, because\nthat world is the general assembly of all immediately after their\nresurrection, and all are examined there and prepared for their final\nabode; but the length of their sojourn in that world is not in all cases\nthe same. Some only enter it, and are immediately taken up into heaven,\nor cast down into hell; some remain there a few weeks, and others several\nyears, but none (since the Last Judgment,) more than thirty years.\u201d\n\nA belief in the existence of an intermediate state has been entertained\nin all times and churches, except among Protestants, who, in their\nanxiety to divest themselves of every remnant of Popery, rejected the\ndoctrine entirely, through aversion to the follies of Purgatory. A\nreturn to the truth is however slowly taking place; not a few Protestant\ndivines having expressed their faith in the existence of Hades, or the\nintermediate state alluded to in the literal sense of Scripture. But the\nworld of spirits is not to be thought of as a revived idea of Purgatory.\nThe soul of no man is changed in the world of spirits. \u201cAs the tree falls\nso it lies.\u201d The discipline of this life is perfected at death, and its\nopportunities never return. The world of spirits is a place where the\nexternals of man are brought into correspondence with his internals; for\nno one, either in heaven or in hell, is allowed to have a divided mind,\nunderstanding one thing and willing another. What any one wills, he must\nunderstand, and what he understands he must will; therefore he who wills\ngood in heaven, must understand truth; and he who wills evil in hell,\nmust understand falsities. On this account also, falses are removed from\nthe good in the world of spirits, and there are given them truths which\nagree and harmonize with their good; but truths are removed from the\nevil, and they take to themselves falses which agree and harmonize with\ntheir evil. Let us explain this subject further.\n\nWe suppose the generality of our readers will admit that countless\nthousands of good men and women among the Mahommedans, Chinese, Hindoos,\nand all the heathen nations, who live according to the measure of their\nlight, are saved and taken to heaven. But it is very evident that they\ncan not go to heaven carrying with them false notions on religious\nsubjects, and knowing nothing of that good Lord into whose kingdom they\nare about to pass. They must be instructed. They must have errors removed\nfrom their minds, and truths implanted in their stead. Time is required\nto effect these changes, and the world of spirits is the school in which\nthe process is accomplished. Instruction in truth is readily received by\nthe simply good; and after being enlightened and purified from falsity,\nthey are led to their eternal homes among the blessed\u2014to those of a\ndisposition and order of mind like themselves.\n\nThen, again, among Christians, there are many who die with slight\nfailings pertaining to them, with infirmities of temper, with bad habits\nof one kind and another; yet who are really sound-hearted and good men.\nTheir lot can not be hell; yet with these flaws in their character, their\npresence in heaven could not be pleasant, because their state of mind\nis at variance with the perfect order and peace of heaven. Such, then,\nremain in the world of spirits, passing through trials, and temptations,\nand sufferings, until they reject all that is disorderly and impure. The\nprocesses by which this removal of external evils is accomplished, are\nfrequently extremely painful, and extend over many years. Their removal\nmight with less difficulty have been accomplished in the present life.\nThe Lord warns us of this in these words: \u201cAgree with thine adversary\nquickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the\nadversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the\nofficer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt\nby no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.\u201d\nMatthew v. 25, 26. Our adversary is the truth. Truth is ever an adversary\nto the evil. Elijah the prophet represented the Divine Truth. When he\napproached the wicked Ahab, Ahab cried: \u201cHast thou found me, O mine\nenemy?\u201d \u201cIn the way with him\u201d is in the present life; and the \u201cprison\u201d\nis the world of spirits, often so called in the Word, out of which we\nshall not be delivered until entirely divested of selfish affections,\nand false principles of thought. How practical, thus viewed, becomes our\nLord\u2019s advice! But without a knowledge of the world of spirits, and the\nspiritual sense of Scripture, it is quite mystical and unintelligible.\n\nThere are many in the Christian world who have confirmed their minds in\nfalse ideas on many religious doctrines. With such erroneous ideas they\ncan not enter heaven, where truth alone prevails. They therefore remain\nin the world of spirits until, through instruction, they see and reject\nthe false persuasions they had contracted on earth. In some cases, where\nfalse doctrine has been deeply reasoned upon, and ground, as it were,\ninto the mind, the process of its removal and rejection is attended with\ndeep and prolonged suffering.\n\nAs the good reject all false ideas in the world of spirits, so the evil\ncast off all true ones. It may be asked, Why? Why should bad be made\nworse? Bad is not made worse. It is for the peace of the evil themselves\nthat they should be divested of all truth. The presence of truth with\nthe wicked only adds to their torment by the continual protest it makes\nagainst their sin. It is also well that the evil lose all truth, for the\nsake of the good, whom they might trouble and disturb through the power\nthat truth would afford them to assume an angelic appearance; to become\nwolves in sheep\u2019s clothing; or as Paul states it, \u201cSatan transforming\nhimself into an angel of light.\u201d Hypocrites, who have used truth to\nsubserve their own selfish ends, remain longer than others in the world\nof spirits, and endure much suffering ere they allow their means of\nsubtlety and mischief to depart from them. The process of divesting the\nevil of the truths they possess, is described by the Lord in these words:\n\u201cTake heed, therefore, how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be\ngiven; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he\nseemeth to have.\u201d Luke viii. 18. What is heard is truth. The good alone\nhave truth, for their goodness loves truth, and cherishes it. Truth thus\nloved, multiplies; therefore it is said, \u201cmore shall be given.\u201d The bad\nmay have truth in their memory, may use it for selfish purposes, and talk\nmuch about it; nevertheless it is not theirs. Their internal evil hates\nit. \u201cEvery one that doeth evil hateth the light;\u201d and in the future life\nthe truth which he seemed to have, is taken from him. How just, and at\nthe same time how merciful, is this judgment!\n\nHell is the congregation of all evil spirits. As there are many heavens,\nso likewise there are many hells. As the inhabitants of heaven are\narranged from similarity of goodness and truth, so the inhabitants of\nhell are arranged from similarity of evil and falsity. The hells are\narranged so distinctly according to the differences of evil, that nothing\nmore orderly and distinct can be conceived. The Lord, speaking through\nDavid, says: Psalm lxxxvi. 13: \u201cThou hast delivered my soul from the\n_lowest hell_.\u201d Thus from Scripture we derive a direct proof, if proof\nwere wanted, of the gradations of evil. There are several other texts to\nthe same effect.\n\nThe scenery of hell, like that of heaven, is in perfect correspondence\nwith the states of those there. It is an outbirth from the minds of its\ninhabitants; and as _they_ are deformed and full of every pollution, so\ntheir scenery is full of horrors and things abominable. \u201cIn hell there is\nno sun, but the inhabitants roam in darkness corresponding to themselves,\nfor they are darkness: their light is artificial, as of coal fires,\nmeteors, ignes fatui, and the lights of night. They inhabit scenery of\nwhich they are the souls, as bogs, fens, tangled forests, caverns, dreary\ndeserts, charred and ruined cities. In the milder hells, there appear, as\nit were, rude cottages, which are in some cases contiguous, and resemble\nthe streets and lanes of a city. Within the houses infernal spirits\nare engaged in continual quarrels, enmities, blows, and violences,\nwhile the streets and lanes are full of robberies and depredations. The\ninhabitants are at continual war, hating and tormenting one another,\nand the cruelties they practice are indescribable.\u201d \u201cIt is impossible\nto give a description of the horrible forms of the spirits of hell. No\ntwo are alike, although there is a general likeness in those who are in\nthe same evil. They are forms of contempt of others, of menace against\nthose who do not pay them respect, of hatreds of various kinds, and of\nrevenge; and in these forms, outrage and cruelty are transparent from\nwithin; but when others commend, venerate, and worship them, their faces\nare drawn up, and have an appearance of gladness arising from delight.\nSome of their faces are direful and void of life, like corpses; some are\nblack, and others fiery, like torches; others are disfigured by pimples,\nwarts, and ulcers; and frequently no face appears, but instead of a face\nsomething hairy and bony, and sometimes nothing but teeth. Their bodies\nare monstrous, and their speech is the speech of anger, of hatred, of\nrevenge; for every one speaks from his own false, and the tone of his\nvoice is from his own evil. In a word they are all images of their own\nhell.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd does Swedenborg relate such horrors?\u201d some may ask. For facts,\nwe answer, Swedenborg is not to blame. Like the Israelites of old, we\nwould fain have our prophets \u201cspeak unto us smooth things.\u201d Let us rid\nourselves of all morbid delicacy, and seek to know the truth. We should\nall do well to peruse with patience those pages wherein our author\nnarrates the horrors of hell, so that we may see, shun, and detest the\nevils which make hell. It is well that every man should know whither his\nlust, his pride, his avarice, or anger, is leading him. If he shudder, it\nis for his eternal good.\n\nThe universal hell, like heaven, is as one man,\u2014not of beauty, as heaven,\nbut a hideous monster. In its collective capacity, it is the Devil and\nSatan; the Devil is the name of its evil, and Satan is the name of its\nfalsity. There is no individual evil spirit ruling hell, and bearing\neither of those names. An enlightened view of Scripture confirms this\ndoctrine in every point, and rids us of the innumerable absurdities which\nthe commonly received theory in regard to the Devil involves. There is no\nspirit in hell who was not once a man on earth. There is no spirit in\nhell who was ever an angel in heaven. The Lord himself rules the hells,\nand by all means possible restrains their violence and mitigates their\nsuffering.\n\nSome people believe that God turns away his face from man, rejects him,\nand casts him into hell, and that he is angry with him on account of his\nevils; and others go still further, and affirm that God punishes man, and\nbrings evil upon him. They also confirm this opinion from the literal\nsense of the Word, in which expressions occur that appear to sustain it.\nBut these opinions are formed through ignorance of the real sense of\nthese passages, and from a blind neglect of others, the literal sense of\nwhich teaches that God is goodness and mercy itself, and that fury is\nnot in him. Isaiah xxvii. 4. True doctrine declares that the Lord never\nturns away his face from man, never rejects him, never casts any one into\nhell, and is never angry. The Lord is continually withdrawing man from\nevil and leading him to good; but man\u2019s freedom is never taken away. If\nman _will love_ evil and _will do_ perversely, the Lord does not prevent.\nThat man should go to hell is at variance with the Divine design; but to\ninfringe man\u2019s freedom would be to destroy his life and take from him all\nthat is human, reducing him to the level of a machine or a brute. Those\nwho are in hell, cast themselves down thither, and keep themselves where\nthey are. \u201cThis is,\u201d as Wilkinson says, \u201che last dogma of free will,\u2014that\nof a finite being perpetuating for ever his own evil, standing fast to\nselfishness without end, excluding Omnipotence in all its dispensations,\nand making the \u2018will not\u2019 into an everlasting \u2018cannot,\u2019 to maintain\nitself out of heaven, and contrary to heaven.\u201d\n\nThis is a very brief abstract of the leading ideas in Swedenborg\u2019s\nwondrous treatise on Heaven and Hell. We are well aware how far short it\nfalls of doing full justice to the work. Let us hope that what has been\nsaid may induce some to make a personal acquaintance with it; and then\nthey will understand the difficulties we labor under in condensing within\na few pages its multitudinous facts and closely linked logic.\n\nIt remains only to add, that the treatise on Heaven and Hell has been\ntranslated into English, French, and German. The English editions have\nbeen many, and in some cases large. The latest may be accepted as a sign\nof the times, being in the form of an eighteen-penny volume, a second\nedition of which has been called for. We lay no claim to the gift of\nprophecy, but we feel certain that the time is coming when Swedenborg\u2019s\n\u201cHeaven and Hell\u201d will be the most popular and extensively read of\nreligious books.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n    _The White Horse\u2014The Earths in the Universe\u2014The New Jerusalem\n    and its Heavenly Doctrine._\n\n\n1. The treatise on the White Horse mentioned in the Apocalypse, forms a\ntract of about twenty pages. It is an exposition of the spiritual sense\nof Revelation xix. 11-16. It is shown that by the heavens being opened,\nthe White Horse, and its rider, are represented the Lord and his Word,\nand the quality of those to whom the internal truth of the Word is\nrevealed. The particulars of the text are all gone into and expounded,\nand copious references made to the Arcana C\u0153lestia for fuller details.\nIt is to be noted that voluminous as are Swedenborg\u2019s theological works,\nthat they form one harmonious whole bound together in the unity of truth,\nand mutually confirming each other. Literature, we believe, contains no\nexample of so great a mass of writing permeated with such a consistent\nspirit, and so little affected by the author\u2019s humors and fluctuations of\nmood. So far does this uniform spirit extend, that, had it been possible,\nwe might imagine his many volumes had been struck out of thought in one\nshort day, instead of being written continuously through a course of\nnearly thirty years.\n\nIn this small treatise we have a list of the books in our Bible which\nform the true _Word of God_. They are, in the Old Testament, the five\nbooks of Moses; the book of Joshua; the book of Judges; the two books\nof Samuel; the two books of Kings; the Psalms of David; the Prophets,\nIsaiah, Jeremiah, the Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos,\nObadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah,\nMalachi; and, in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark,\nLuke, and John; and the Revelation. The rest have not the internal sense,\nand are not to be regarded as a part of the inspired Word. We shall\nhave to speak of the plenary inspiration of the Word, when we come to\nSwedenborg\u2019s treatise on the Sacred Scripture, and show how broad is the\nline of distinction between the Word of God and the writings of men. It\nrequires but a slight acquaintance with the doctrine of correspondences,\nto perceive that this distinction between the books contained within the\ncovers of the authorized version of the Bible is not arbitrary; that it\nis a distinction as marked and visible as that between God and man, or\nnature and art. Apart, however, from the doctrine of correspondences,\nthe distinction may be sustained by the authority of the Jews, and the\nindirect testimony of many of the Fathers of the Christian Church,\ncoupled with numerous natural reasons founded on a critical examination\nof style, etc.\n\n\u201cThe book of Job,\u201d says Swedenborg, \u201cwas a book of the Ancient Church,\u201d\nand therefore, with the exception of the first chapters of Genesis, is\nthe oldest portion of the Bible. It has a kind of internal sense, but not\nlike that of the Word.\n\nThe exclusion of the Epistles from the Books of the Word, is perhaps,\nto a new reader, the most startling of Swedenborg\u2019s announcements. For\nthis exclusion and its reasons, we will simply quote his own words.\nWriting to Dr. Beyer, he says: \u201cWith regard to the writings of St. Paul,\nand the other Apostles, I have not given them a place in my \u2018Arcana\nC\u0153lestia,\u2019 because they are dogmatic writings merely, and are not written\nin the style of the Word, as are those of the Prophets, of David, of the\nEvangelists, and of the Revelation of St. John. The style of the Word\nconsists throughout in correspondences, and thence effects immediate\ncommunication with heaven; but the style of these dogmatic writings is\nquite different, having, indeed, communication with heaven, but only\nmediately or indirectly. The reason why the Apostles wrote in this\nstyle, was, that the First Christian Church was then to begin through\nthem; consequently, the same style as is used in the Word would not have\nbeen proper for such doctrinal tenets, which required plain and simple\nlanguage, suited to the capacities of all readers. Nevertheless, the\nwritings of the Apostles are very good books for the Church, inasmuch\nas they insist on the doctrine of charity, and faith from charity, as\nstrongly as the Lord himself has done in the Gospels, and the Revelation\nof St. John, as will appear evidently to any one who studies these\nwritings with attention.\u201d\n\n2. The treatise on the \u201cEarths in the Universe\u201d is formed from several of\nthose portions of the \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia,\u201d occurring between the chapters,\nexpository of the spiritual sense of Genesis and Exodus. It forms a\npamphlet of about fifty pages.\n\nMany and prolonged have been the discussions as to whether other planets\nare, like our own, the abodes of human beings. Great as has been the\nprogress of astronomical science, the learned are yet far from being\nunanimous on the question, as is evident from the recent controversy\nbetween Prof. Whewell and Sir David Brewster. Swedenborg does not\nentertain us with prolix reasonings as to whether or not the earths of\nthe universe are inhabited. That was a question far too trivial for his\nmasculine understanding. He saw that these vast spaces were not formed\nby the Lord, except for the highest end, the creation of a heaven of\nintelligent human beings, capable of satisfying the infinite desires\nof Divine Love. The earths of the universe are peopled even as our own\nglobe, or are in course of preparation for it. Any other view than this\nis unworthy of acceptance, and dishonorable to the highest truths of\nreason and revelation.\n\nSwedenborg was permitted to see, and hold converse with, the inhabitants\nof other earths; and most interesting are his relations concerning them.\nWilkinson aptly remarks that the work now under consideration \u201cmay be\ncharacterized as a Report on the Religion of the Universe.\u201d Swedenborg\ntells us that the dwellers in these distant spheres think of the Lord and\nworship him. He describes the quality of their love and wisdom, and how\nthey conduct themselves toward each other. It is a pleasant thought that\nthe people of this world are the worst of humanity, the most sensual, and\nthe least abounding in true intelligence and spirituality. In other words\nthere is sin, and its consequent suffering, arising from the same cause\nas with us; but it is not so deep nor so wide spread. The fact of the\nDivine Incarnation is likewise known in other worlds, and is regarded as\nthe great truth of faith.\n\nSwedenborg affirms that the moon is inhabited. We know that even those\nscientific men who hold to the doctrine of a plurality of worlds, do not\nbelieve in the habitability of the moon; because, say they, it lacks\nalike water and atmosphere. To say that it has no atmosphere is very\nunphilosophical. The atmosphere may not be of the same density as that\nof our earth; but that it should have no sphere or aura around it, we\ncannot for a moment believe. Swedenborg tells us that the Lunarians are\ndwarfs, like boys of seven years old, with robust bodies and pleasant\ncountenances. They do not speak from their lungs, on account of the\nattenuated nature of their atmosphere, but from a quantity of air\ncollected in the abdomen.\n\nIt is but just to state that Swedenborg speaks of Saturn as the outermost\nplanet of the solar system, he not being permitted to anticipate\nHerschel or Neptune. An opponent might make merry over this, and say:\n\u201cDon\u2019t you see that Swedenborg was but a dreamer? How could he know\naught of the inhabitants of other earths when he did not even know that\nbeyond Saturn rolled two immense worlds?\u201d We reply, that it would have\nbeen disorderly for him to have become possessed of such knowledge by\nspiritual means. \u201cBut how so?\u201d Because it would have compelled belief in\nthe spiritual doctrines he taught, without due thought and examination,\nas soon as science had established the existence of these orbs; because\nmiracles and prophecy are not permitted in these times, for they force\nand destroy man\u2019s freedom. How easy it would be for the Lord to witness\nto the truth of His Word by supernatural signs in the natural world!\nYet he does not, although belief in his Word, and life according to it,\nis essential to man\u2019s highest happiness. Belief so induced would be\nworthless, because compelled. It may be said that this is mere special\npleading; but it is not so. The laws laid down in a later work of\nSwedenborg\u2019s, on the \u201cDivine Providence,\u201d fortify, in a most rational\nmanner, the truth as we have endeavoured to set it forth. It is also to\nbe remarked that natural truth must be discovered by its appropriate\nmeans,\u2014natural investigation. It was necessary that Swedenborg should be\nskilled in all natural science previous to his illumination, so that he\nmight possess a basis for many spiritual facts which could neither have\nbeen expressed nor made intelligible without at the same time giving\ntheir correspondence in nature. It would have been altogether contrary\nto the Divine order to have taken Swedenborg in his early youth and\nignorance, and, making him a seer, have communicated natural truth to him\nin a supernatural manner.\n\n3. \u201cThe New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine\u201d is a brief exposition of\nthe leading truths of the New Church. After each of its chapters follow\nreferences, (in some cases more extensive than the chapter itself,) to\nthe \u201cArcana C\u0153lestia.\u201d These references, so numerous in Swedenborg\u2019s\nwritings, do not form a dry and unreadable index, but may be looked on\nas a series of precepts pertaining to moral and spiritual life. Were we\ngathering a volume of gems of thought, we should find an abundance to\nsuit our purposes in these references.\n\nThis work has been printed as a cheap pamphlet. We know of no other work\nwhich could more appropriately be placed in the hands of a stranger\ndesiring to know, without much reading, the nature of those doctrines\nwhich Swedenborg was commissioned to reveal to the world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n    _Anecdotes._\n\n\nThe trite observation that the lives of literary men are devoid of those\nincidents which make up a stirring and lively biography, applies with\ngreat truth to the career of Swedenborg. His quiet and unostentatious\nlife afforded but few materials for anecdotes; hence we have but faint\ntraces of his outward course. While writing the works we have just\nnoticed, from 1747 to 1758, the principal portion of his time must have\nbeen passed in London. Few men in those days were capable of sympathy\nor communion with the elevated and spiritualized mind of Swedenborg.\nYet though living as it were alone, he could not have been melancholy\nor desolate. Under the care and guidance of the Lord, favored with\nthe company and converse of angels, and enjoying the consciousness of\nfulfilling high and holy duties, he had every reason to be the cheerful\nand contented man that contemporary testimony represents him. His\nevenings he used often to spend with his printer, Mr. Hart, of Poppin\u2019s\ncourt, Fleet street. Mrs. Lewis, his publisher\u2019s wife, knew him, and\n\u201cthought him a good and sensible man, but too apt to spiritualize\nthings.\u201d Beyond a few particulars such as these, we know nothing of his\nprivate life.\n\nOn the 19th of July, 1759, we find Swedenborg at Gottenburg. Here\noccurred the following circumstance, of which Immanuel Kant, the\ncelebrated transcendentalist, is the narrator.\n\n\u201cOn Saturday, at 4 o\u2019clock, P. M.,\u201d says Kant, \u201cwhen Swedenborg arrived\nat Gottenburg from England, Mr. William Castel invited him to his house,\ntogether with a party of fifteen persons. About 6 o\u2019clock, Swedenborg\nwent out, and after a short interval returned to the company, quite pale\nand alarmed. He stated that a dangerous fire had just broken out in\nStockholm, at Sundermalm, (distant three hundred miles from Gottenburg,)\nand that it was spreading very fast. He was restless, and went out often.\nHe said that the house of one of his friends, whom he named, was already\nin ashes, and that his own was in danger. At 8 o\u2019clock, after he had been\nout again, he joyfully exclaimed: \u2018Thank God! the fire is extinguished\nthe third door from my house.\u2019 This news occasioned great commotion among\nthe company. It was announced to the governor the same evening. The next\nmorning, Swedenborg was sent for by the governor, who questioned him\nconcerning the disaster. Swedenborg described the fire precisely, how it\nhad begun, in what manner it had ceased, and how long it had continued.\nOn the same day the news was spread through the city; and as the governor\nhad thought it worthy of attention, the consternation was considerably\nincreased, as many were in trouble on account of their friends and\nproperty, which might have been involved in the disaster. On Monday\nevening, a messenger arrived at Gottenburg, who was despatched during the\ntime of the fire. In the letters brought by him, the fire was described\nprecisely in the manner stated by Swedenborg. On Tuesday morning, a royal\ncourier arrived at the governor\u2019s with the melancholy intelligence of\nthe fire, of the loss it had occasioned, and of the houses damaged and\nruined, not in the least differing from that which Swedenborg had given\nthe moment it had ceased: the fire had been extinguished at 8 o\u2019clock.\n\n\u201cWhat,\u201d continues Kant, \u201ccan be brought forward against the authenticity\nof this occurrence? My friend who wrote this to me, has not only examined\nthe circumstances of this extraordinary case at Stockholm, but also,\nabout two months ago, at Gottenburg, where he is acquainted with the most\nrespectable houses, and where he could obtain the most authentic and\ncomplete information, as the greatest part of the inhabitants, who are\nstill alive, were witnesses to the memorable occurrence.\u201d\n\nThis narrative is taken from a letter written by Kant, in 1768, to\nCharlotte de Knobloch, a lady of quality. Kant, it may be remarked, was\nno adherent of Swedenborg\u2019s. Two years before writing this letter, he\nhad attacked him in a small work entitled, \u201cDreams of the Great Seer\nIllustrated by Dreams of Metaphysics.\u201d Received from such a source, we\ncan entertain no doubt as to the truth of the story.\n\nAt home, in Stockholm, Swedenborg did not fail to excite much curiosity\nand attention, and his conduct and deportment were carefully watched. It\nwas observed that he seldom went to church, or received the sacrament.\nThis was owing partly to the contrariety of the Lutheran doctrine to\nhis own views, and partly, Robsahm says, to the disease of the stone,\nwhich troubled him. In 1760, two bishops, his relations, remonstrated\nwith him in a friendly manner upon his remissness. He answered, that,\nreligious observances were not so necessary for him as for others, as\nhe was associated with angels. They then represented that his example\nwould be valuable, by which argument he suffered himself to be persuaded.\nA few days previously to receiving the sacrament, he asked his old\ndomestics to whom he should resort for the purpose, for \u201che was not\nmuch acquainted with the different preachers.\u201d The elder chaplain was\nmentioned. Swedenborg objected that \u201che was a passionate man and a fiery\nzealot, and that he had heard him thundering from the pulpit with little\nsatisfaction.\u201d The assistant chaplain was then proposed, who was not\nso popular with the congregation. Swedenborg said, \u201cI prefer him to the\nother, for I hear that he speaks what he thinks, and by this means has\nlost the good-will of his people, as generally happens in this world.\u201d\nAccordingly he took the sacrament from this curate.\n\n\u201cIn general,\u201d says Robsahm, \u201cSwedenborg would not enter into dispute on\nmatters of religion. If he was necessitated to defend himself, he did it\nwith mildness and in a few words; but if any one would not be convinced,\nand became warm in argument, he retired, saying, \u2018Read my writings\nattentively and without prejudice; they will answer you in my stead, and\nwill afford you reason to change your ideas and opinions on such things.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe used, at first, freely to speak of his visions and spiritual\nexplications of the Scriptures; but as this displeased the clergy, who\nproclaimed him a heretic and madman, he resolved to be less communicative\nof his knowledge in company, or, at least, more cautious, lest the\ncensorious should have room to blame what they could not comprehend like\nhimself. I once,\u201d says Robsahm, \u201caddressed the rector of the parish where\nhe lived, an old and respected clergyman, asking him what he thought\nof Swedenborg\u2019s visions and explanations of the Bible. The venerable\nman answered: \u2018God alone can judge of this; but I can not think him to\nbe such a person as many do; I have myself conversed with him, and in\ncompany where we have been together, and I have found him to be a good\nand a holy man.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt was remarkable that Swedenborg never endeavored to persuade any\nperson to receive his opinions. He was in nowise led by that self-love\nwhich is observable in those who publish new opinions concerning church\ndoctrines; neither did he seek to make many proselytes, not even\ncommunicating his thoughts and sentiments, except to those whom he\nthought virtuous, disposed to hear them with moderation, capable of\ncomprehending them, and lovers of truth.\n\n\u201cIt is a very singular circumstance,\u201d continues Robsahm, \u201cthat all who\nhave read the writings of Swedenborg, with a desire to refute them, have\nfinished the attempt by adhering to his sentiments.\u201d This assertion must\nbe received, however, with qualification.\n\nThough busied with the composition of his works, and immersed in\nspiritual contemplations, Swedenborg was not forgetful of the world\nand of his duties to his country. In 1761 he took part in the Swedish\nDiet or Parliament. Three of his memorials or addresses to the Diet,\nare preserved. In the first of these he congratulates the House upon\nits meetings, and counsels the redress of all grievances which cause\ndisaffection. In the second he advocates an alliance with France instead\nof England from prudential motives, at the same time strongly protesting\nagainst the evil of despotic governments, and the danger to liberty in\nthe extension of the Roman Catholic faith. The third memorial is on\nthe subject of finance. Count Hopken, the Swedish prime minister at\nthat time, leaves on record that \u201cthe most solid memorials, and the\nbest penned, at the Diet of 1761, on matters of finance, were presented\nby Swedenborg; in one of which he refuted a large work in 4to on the\nsame subject, quoted the corresponding passages of it, and all in less\nthan one sheet.\u201d He was likewise a member of the secret committee of\nthe Diet, an office to which only the most sage and virtuous were\nelected. Consider, reader, for a moment, the dignity, the wisdom, and\nthe abounding common sense which must have permeated the whole being of\nSwedenborg, to enable him to live down the obloquy attached to the name\nof a \u201cghost-seer,\u201d and be received with high favor and acceptance by men\nof the world, sceptical and sensual!\n\nSoon afterwards Swedenborg left Stockholm; and we find him in July,\n1762, at Amsterdam. Jung Stilling received from a friend the following\ninteresting anecdote respecting him at this time. \u201cI was in Amsterdam,\u201d\nsays he, \u201cin 1762, in a company in which Swedenborg was present, on the\nvery day that Peter III., Emperor of Russia, died. In the midst of our\nconversation his countenance changed, and it was evident that his soul\nwas no longer there, and that something extraordinary was passing in him.\nAs soon as he came to himself again, he was asked what had happened to\nhim. He would not at first communicate it; but at length, after having\nbeen repeatedly pressed, he said: \u2018This very hour, the Emperor Peter III.\nhas died in his prison,\u2019 mentioning at the same time the manner of his\ndeath. \u2018Gentlemen will please to note down the day, that they may be able\nto compare it with the intelligence of his death in the newspapers.\u2019 The\nnewspapers subsequently announced the Emperor\u2019s death as having taken\nplace on that day.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n    _Doctrines of the Lord\u2014The Sacred Scripture, Faith, and Life._\n\n\nIn 1763, Swedenborg published, at Amsterdam, the following works:\u20141.\nThe Doctrine of the New Jerusalem respecting the Lord; 2. The Sacred\nScripture; 3. Faith; 4. Life; 5. Continuation respecting the Last\nJudgment and the Destruction of Babylon; and 6. Angelic Wisdom concerning\nthe Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. We will now speak of these works\nseriatim.\n\n1. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, is a small\ntreatise: but within its limits is concentrated so much light and\nrationality, that we might say the question it deals with was finally\nsettled, did we not too well know the perversity and pertinacity of\ntheological error, in closing the mind against the perception of truth,\nthough it were manifested with angelic wisdom.\n\nThe great truth in the treatise is the Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus\nChrist. This truth is brought forth from the collation of nearly every\npassage of Scripture which, in the literal sense, bears upon the subject.\nIt is shown, by an invincible logic, that there is but one God; and that,\nin the Bible itself, the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead is\nnot to be found. It is then shown that God the Lord, in the fullness of\ntime, came to earth, and put on human nature, or became incarnate. The\nobject sought to be effected by the incarnation, was the salvation of\nman. From the days of Adam, mankind had been treading a downward path.\nThrough wickedness, all true faith and spirituality had perished. Hell\nhad drawn near to men, even to the possession of their bodies, as we read\nin the Gospels. Isaiah describes the state of mankind thus: \u201cHell hath\nenlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure.\u201d Humanity was\nthus hastening to destruction, and final extinction. But the Lord Jehovah\ninterposed. Clothing himself with an arm of flesh, he met the powers\nof hell on their own ground; and rendering himself accessible to their\nattacks, in a series of the most direful temptation-combats, He reduced\nHell to order, and redeemed mankind forever from the absolute dominion\nof devils. But this was not all. The human nature that the Lord had\nassumed, full of hereditary corruption, was taken from the race of Jewish\nkings, the most depraved and perverted to be found on earth. He purified,\nglorified, and made it divine, ascending with it to heaven. The new\ninfluences flowing through the medium of this Divine Humanity, are called\nthe Holy Spirit. Of the truth of this we have the most convincing proof\nin John vii. 39, where it is said, \u201cthe Holy Ghost was _not yet, because_\nJesus was not yet glorified.\u201d\n\nFrom this it is very evident that the Trinity is not, as commonly\ntaught, a Trinity of persons, but of principles. In ourselves we see\na finite image of this Divine and Infinite Trinity. The soul of man\nmay be taken as the representative of Jehovah; his body represents\nthe Divine Humanity, or Jesus Christ; and his action or influence on\nothers corresponds to the Holy Spirit. Regarded in this light, that\nmost mystical and incomprehensible dogma of three Persons, and yet one\nGod, is annihilated, and we come into the enjoyment of a faith at once\nscriptural, intelligible, and rational. It is impossible for us here to\ngo into the details of this doctrine, or give even an outline of its\nproofs. To an earnest seeker after truth we can conceive no pleasure\nexceeding an acquaintance with this treatise on the Lord. If, especially,\nhe has vexed and worn himself in reading the profitless controversies and\nlucubrations of learned divines on the Trinity, his fretted and heated\nmind will experience a spiritual relief similar to the natural one which\nresults when patience has become exhausted in vain endeavors to unfasten\na lock, and a skilled mechanic draws near, takes the work out of our\nhands, and with dexterity and ease accomplishes the task in a moment.\nSwedenborg lays his hand on the tangled mass of mysticism and perverted\nScripture, and straightway the Gordian knot is untied. The simplicity of\nexplanation fills us with amazement, and we wonder that it was never done\nbefore.\n\n2. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem respecting the Sacred Scripture,\nnext demands our attention. The primary truth of this treatise is, that\nthe Sacred Scripture, or the Word, is Divine Truth itself, thus the Lord\nhimself. Let us see how this can be.\n\nWe are too apt to abstract books from their authors, and to regard\nthem as matters impersonal,\u2014as type and paper merely. Now this is a\nchildish error, and a proof of the loose and external way in which we\nare accustomed to think. When I speak, or write, I manifest spiritual\ninfluences; and the force of these influences is proportionate to my\nearnestness, and their effect is proportionate to the state of reception\nof my hearers. Words are thus perceived to be the representatives of\nspiritual forces. The action of spirit on spirit is inappreciable by the\nsenses; but could we look behind the veil of nature when a crowd or a\ncongregation is swayed hither and thither by the speech of one man, we\nshould see that the influence exerted was as real and actual as muscular\nforce. From this we learn that words are not mere sounds, but are the\nsheaths or cases of spiritual life, and on this ground we at once see the\nforce of the Lord\u2019s declaration, \u201cThe words that I speak unto you, they\nare spirit, and they are life.\u201d John vi. 63.\n\nWhen we think of the Lord\u2019s words, we must conjoin with the thought an\nidea of the Divine Nature and Attributes. The Lord\u2019s speech being the\nmanifestation of His life, must partake of its every quality, thus of\ninfinity and of independence of time, and consequently of adaptation to\nevery possible condition of mind, for infinity includes all. Bearing\nthese facts in mind, we can easily perceive how true it is that the Word\nis the Lord Himself.\n\nBut while the Word in its inmost is the Lord, and is thus infinite, yet\nas apprehended by man, who is finite, it necessarily wears a finite\naspect. It is plain that as man\u2019s ideas become sensualized and bound\ndown to matter, his view of the Divine Truth, or Word, must involve many\nillusions; true, certainly, in relation to him, but very far removed from\nthe absolute Divine Truth. Now the literal sense of the Word, as we read\nit in our Bibles, is the presentation, if we may so phrase it, of the\naspect of the Lord to the natural man, whose senses constitute his court\nof appeal. The Jews, to whom the Word in its literal sense was delivered,\nwere just such men.\n\nAbove this natural state of mind, there are two marked grades of\nintelligence\u2014the spiritual and celestial. To these, the Lord\u2019s words bear\na far wider meaning, and are more fully instinct with the glory of the\nDivine Wisdom, and the warmth of the Divine Love.\n\nIt is thus said that the Word of God has three senses\u2014the natural, the\nspiritual, and the celestial. We attribute these senses to the Word:\nmore correctly we should charge them to the universal human mind, whose\ncapacity of reception they express. To no two men, or angels, does the\nLord,\u2014or in fact anything,\u2014bear precisely the same appearance, or suggest\nthe same meaning.\n\nThese three grades, separated by discrete degrees, make up the universe\nof humanity; and the enlightened eye of the true philosopher may trace\nin every object of external creation an image and representation of\nthem. But space forbids further explanation on this head; our author\u2019s\nreasoning is, moreover, so closely linked as to admit of no curtailment.\nSuffice to say, that after demonstrating the existence of an internal\nsense in the Scripture, he proceeds to show the many uses of the literal\nsense, and, at the same time, the manifold abuses to which it is liable,\nwhen the laws by which it is written are not understood.\n\nAccepting the sublime philosophy of this treatise, we find in it a\nperfect refuge from the attacks of the sceptic, and discover a thousand\nreasons for one we had before, for loving God\u2019s Holy Book, trusting in\nits wisdom, and committing our lives to its guidance.\n\n3. The Doctrine of Faith of the New Jerusalem, may be best understood by\na few extracts from the treatise itself. Swedenborg writes: \u201cThe idea\nattached to the term faith at the present day is this, that it consists\nin thinking a thing to be so, because it is taught by the church, and\nbecause it does not fall within the scope of the understanding. For it\nis usual with those who inculcate it, to say, \u2018You must believe, and not\ndoubt.\u2019 If you answer: \u2018I do not comprehend it,\u2019 it is replied: \u2018That is\nthe very circumstance which makes a doctrine an object of faith.\u2019 Thus\nthe faith of the present day is a faith in what is not known, and may be\ncalled a blind faith: and as being the dictate of one person abiding in\nthe mind of another, it is a historical faith. But this is not spiritual\nfaith.\n\n\u201cGenuine faith is an acknowledgment that a thing is so, because it\nis true. For he who is in genuine faith thinks and speaks to this\neffect:\u2014\u2018This is true; and therefore I believe it.\u2019 For faith is the\nassurance with which we embrace that which is true; and that which is\ntrue is the proper object of faith. A person of this character, also, if\nhe does not comprehend a sentiment, and see its truth, will say: \u2018I do\nnot know whether this is true or not; therefore I do not yet believe it.\nHow can I believe what I do not comprehend? Perhaps it may be false.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut the common language is, that nobody can comprehend things of a\nspiritual or theological nature, because they transcend our natural\nfaculties. Spiritual truths, however, are as capable of being\ncomprehended as natural truths. The reason that spiritual things admit of\nbeing comprehended, is, because man, as to his understanding, is capable\nof being elevated into the light of heaven, in which light no other\nobjects appear than such as are spiritual.\n\n\u201cHence now it is that those who are in the spiritual affection of truth,\nenjoy an internal acknowledgment of it. As the angels are in that\naffection, they utterly reject the tenet that the understanding ought\nto be kept in subjection to faith: for they say, \u2018How can you believe a\nthing, when you do not see whether it is true or not?\u2019 And should any one\naffirm that what he advances must nevertheless be believed, they reply:\n\u2018Do you think yourself a God, that I am to believe you? or that I am mad,\nthat I should believe an assertion in which I do not see any truth? If I\nmust believe it, cause me to see it.\u2019 The dogmatizer is thus constrained\nto retire. Indeed, the wisdom of the angels consists solely in this, that\nthey see and comprehend what they think.\n\n\u201cThere is a spiritual idea of which few have any knowledge, which enters\nby influx into the minds of those who are in the affection of truth, and\ndictates interiorly whether the thing which they are hearing or reading\nis true or not. In this idea are those who read the Word in illumination\nfrom the Lord. To be in illumination is to be in perception. Those who\nare in this illumination are said to be taught of Jehovah, and of them\nit is said in Jeremiah: \u2018Behold, the days come that I will make a new\ncovenant:\u2014this shall be the covenant,\u2014I will put my law in their inward\nparts, and write it in their hearts; and they shall teach no more every\nman his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know ye the Lord;\nfor they shall all know me.\u2019 xxxi. 31, 33, 34.\n\n\u201cFrom these considerations it is plain that faith and truth are one. This\nalso is the reason that the ancients, who were more accustomed to think\nof truth from affection than the moderns, instead of faith used the word\ntruth: and for the same reason, in the Hebrew language, truth and faith\nare expressed by one and the same word, amuna, or amen.\n\n\u201cIf any one thinks with himself, or says to another, \u2018Who can have that\ninternal acknowledgment of truth which is faith? I can not.\u2019 I will tell\nhim how he may. Shun evils as sins, and apply to the Lord; then you will\nhave as much as you desire.\u201d\n\nSuch then is the New Church doctrine of faith. Faith is the perception\nand acknowledgment of truth from a right understanding of it. True faith\nis something that grows. It is not the gift of a moment. It is attained\nby leading a good life, and through obedience to the truth so far as we\nknow it. In the course of time we find that a pure life is clearing our\nspiritual vision, and extending its range. Spiritual truths which we had\nlaid up in our memories, and perhaps fancied that we had believed, are\nbrought forth, are seen in new and striking light, are elevated into\nthe understanding, and are in reality believed. Thus a living faith is\nattained. This doctrine finds a Divine seal in these words of the Lord:\n\u201cIf any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it\nbe of God.\u201d John vii. 17.\n\nThe remainder of this little treatise is taken up with an exposure of\nthe fallacies involved in the common doctrines of faith prevailing in the\nProtestant and Roman Catholic churches. Faith separated from charity,\nis proved to have no existence, because evil can by no possibility love\ntruth. Spiritual and Divine Truth may, it is true, be reasoned upon,\ndefended, and expounded, by wicked men, for the promotion of their own\nselfish ends; but internally they are in deep hatred and denial of them,\nand in the other life their detestation of them causes them to cast them\nforth even from the memory. Thus the wicked have no faith and no truth.\n\n4. The treatise on the Doctrine of Life is a brief and compendious\nexposition of the nature of that life which leads to heaven and\nhappiness. In the first place, it asserts that all religion has relation\nto life, and that the life of religion is to do good; agreeable to the\nLord\u2019s saying: \u201cHe that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is\nthat loveth me.\u201d John xiii. 17. It is then shown that no one can do good,\nwhich is really good, from himself, as is taught in John, where we read:\n\u201cA man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven,\u201d iii.\n27; and again: \u201cHe that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth\nforth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing;\u201d\u2014\u201cHe that abideth in\nme, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit,\u201d signifies that\nall good is from the Lord; fruit signifies good: \u201cwithout me ye can do\nnothing,\u201d signifies that no one can do good from himself.\n\nNow, it may be asked, \u201cWhy can a man not do good of himself?\u201d For this\nsimple reason, that, as there is no goodness out of the Lord, if man\ndoes good, his power and disposition to do it must, in all certainty,\nbe derived from the Lord alone. Man, in his highest state, is but a\nmedium for the manifestation of the Divine Life or Goodness. Yet while\nonly a medium, he must act in freedom, as of himself. The appearance is\nthat the good he does is self-originated, and born of his own will; and\nthis appearance can never be removed, because on it depends his freedom\nof action. Man must subdue all tendencies to spiritual pride arising\ntherefrom, by habitual reference to the truth that the Lord is all in\nall; and that if he has done good, or been useful, he has been indebted\nfor the motive as well as for the wisdom, to the Divine Mercy alone; as\nPaul said to the Philippians: \u201cFor it is God which worketh in you _both\nto will and to do_ of his good pleasure.\u201d ii. 15. While thus saved by\nthe Divine Mercy, through a good life, and brought into spiritual health\nby obedience to divine laws, man has no reason whatever to boast, or to\ntake credit to himself for his bliss and salvation. The advocates of\njustification and salvation by faith alone, charge spiritual pride and\nmerit, as a necessity, upon all who believe that heaven and its happiness\nare attained through the regenerative influence of a good life; but this\naccusation falls to the ground when it is acknowledged that the power to\nlead a good life is the continual gift and inspiration of God. If man\nwould only think truly, he would see that humility is the acknowledgment\nof the grand primal truth of existence, that nothing we have or can do\nthat is good, is of ourselves, but solely of the Lord; and that just as\nwe are left to ourselves and our own wisdom, we do evil, and perpetrate\nfolly and mischief. Salvation through a good life, when thus rightly\nstated and understood, is seen to involve nothing of merit, but only the\nstrongest reasons for gratitude, humility, and worship.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n    _The Divine Love and Divine Wisdom\u2014The Continuation of the Last\n    Judgment._\n\n\nThe treatise on the Divine Love and Wisdom, is a book which, when\nmastered, affords a key to the whole philosophy of the New Church, and to\na rational understanding of all the writings of Swedenborg. When we say\nthis, it will be easily understood that it is not a book to be read in a\nfew hours, or hastily glanced over. Every page is pregnant with thought,\nand many of its paragraphs might be expanded into volumes. It is a book\nwhich, full of thought on the deepest subjects, demands an exercise of\nlike thought on the part of its reader; and if he has patience, and a\nsimple love of truth for its own sake, happy will he be when he has made\nhimself familiar with the divine thoughts which, like stars, gem every\npage of this matchless treatise.\n\nThe book is divided into five Parts. The First Part sets forth, in the\nsimplest language, the doctrine of the Divine Nature. The Lord\u2019s essence\nis shown to be Infinite Love, and its manifestation to be Infinite\nWisdom. It is proved that the Divine Love is the only life in the\nuniverse, and that in God \u201call things live, move, and have their being.\u201d\nThe Lord is also proved to be very and essential Man, yet above and\nindependent of all space and time, filling all spaces of the universe\nwithout space, and all time without time; and being in the greatest\nand the least things evermore the same. These statements may appear\ninconsequential, but in our limited space, we can not explain more\nfully. We could not give the proofs satisfactorily, without quoting the\nvolume itself. Argument is so linked to argument, that they hardly admit\nof separation.\n\nThe Second Part of the work treats of the sun of heaven, and the sun of\nour world. It is shown that from the Lord flows a Divine Sphere, which\nappears in the spiritual world as a sun. From its heat, angels and man\nhave their love, and from its light their wisdom, thus their life. This\nsun is not God, but it is the first proceeding from the Divine Love and\nthe Divine Wisdom of God-Man. By means of this sun the Lord created the\nuniverse and all things in it. The sun of the natural world is pure fire,\nand therefore dead; and since nature derives its origin from that sun, it\nalso is dead. Without two suns, the one living and the other dead, there\ncould be no creation. The end of creation is, that all things may return\nto the Creator, and conjunction may exist in its ultimates.\n\nPart Third declares that in the spiritual world there are atmospheres,\nwaters and earths, as in the natural world; but that the former are\nspiritual, whereas the latter are natural. We are then introduced to the\ndoctrine of degrees\u2014a doctrine which must be studied and understood,\nbefore any one can with justice speak of Swedenborg; for it is a doctrine\nwhich lies at the basis of that peerless spiritual philosophy of which he\nwas the promulgator. All that we can do here in the way of exposition,\nis to quote the heads of his articles which express the truth far more\nlucidly than we could do.\n\n\u201cThere are three degrees of Love and wisdom, and thence degrees of\nheat and light, and degrees of atmosphere. Degrees are of two kinds,\ndegrees of altitude and degrees of latitude. The degrees of altitude\nare homogeneous, and one derived from the other in a series, like end,\ncause, and effect. The first degree is in all the subsequent degrees.\nAll perfections increase and ascend with degrees, and according to\ndegrees. In successive order the first degree constitutes the highest,\nand the third the lowest; but in simultaneous order, the first degree\nconstitutes the inmost, and the third the outmost. The ultimate degree is\nthe complex, continent, and basis, of the prior degrees. The degrees of\naltitude in their ultimate, are in their fullness and power. There are\ndegrees of both kinds in the greatest and least of all created things.\nThere are three infinite and uncreated degrees of altitude in the Lord,\nand three finite and created degrees in man. These three degrees of\naltitude are in every man from his birth, and may be opened successively,\nand as they are opened, a man is in the Lord, and the Lord in him.\nSpiritual light flows into man by three degrees, but not spiritual heat,\nexcept so far as he avoids evils as sins, and looks to the Lord. If the\nsuperior or spiritual degree is not opened in a man, he becomes natural\nand sensual. The natural degree of the human mind, considered in itself,\nis continuous, but by correspondence with the two superior degrees, while\nit is elevated, it appears as if it were discrete.\n\n\u201cThe natural mind, being the tegument and continent of the higher degrees\nof the human mind, is a re-agent; and if the superior degrees are not\nopened, it acts against them, but if they are opened, it acts with them.\nThe abuse of the faculties which are proper to man, called rationality\nand liberty, is the origin of evil. A bad man may enjoy these two\nfaculties as well as a good man; but a bad man abuses them to confirm\nevils and falses, while a good man uses them to confirm goods and truths.\nEvils and falses, when confirmed, remain; and become parts of a man\u2019s\nlove and life. The things which become parts of a man\u2019s love and thence\nof his life, are communicated hereditarily to his offspring.\n\n\u201cAll these evils and consequent falses, both hereditary and acquired,\nreside in the natural mind. Evils and falses are entirely opposed to\ngoods and truths; because evils and falses are diabolical and infernal,\nand goods and truths are divine and heavenly. The natural mind, which is\nin evils and falses, is a form and image of hell, and descends by three\ndegrees. These three degrees of the natural mind, which is an image and\nform of hell, are opposed to the three degrees of the spiritual mind,\nwhich is a form and image of heaven: thus the natural mind which is a\nhell, is in complete opposition to the spiritual mind which is a heaven.\nAll things of the three degrees of the natural mind, are included in\nworks, which are performed by acts of the body.\u201d\n\nPart Fourth teaches that the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, created\nthe universe and all things therein from Himself, and not from nothing;\nthis would not have been possible if the Lord were not a Divine Man; He\nfrom himself producing the sun of the spiritual world, and by it creating\nall things. In the substances and matters of which earths consist, there\nis nothing of the Divine in itself; but still they are from the Divine\nin itself. All created things in the created universe, viewed from uses,\nrepresent man in an image; this testifies that God is Man. All things\ncreated by the Lord are uses; and they are uses in the order, degree, and\nrespect, in which they have relation to man, and by man to the Lord their\nCreator. Evil uses were not created by the Lord, but originated together\nwith hell, after man\u2019s fall. The visible things in the created universe\ntestify that nature has produced nothing, and does produce nothing; but\nthat the Divine has produced and does produce all things from Himself,\nand through the spiritual world.\n\nPart Fifth is devoted to a description of man\u2019s spiritual nature. It\nis shown that \u201cthe Lord has formed and created in man two receptacles\nand habitations for Himself, called the will and the understanding;\nthe will for His Divine Love, and the understanding for His Divine\nWisdom. The will and understanding are in the brains, in the whole and\nevery part thereof, and thence in the body, in the whole and every part\nthereof. There is a correspondence of the will with the heart, and of the\nunderstanding with the lungs; and all things that can be known of the\nwill and understanding, or of love and wisdom, consequently all that can\nbe known of man\u2019s soul, may be known from the correspondence of the heart\nwith the will, and of the understanding with the lungs.\u201d\n\nThere are many volumes in the world whose thinly spun thought, spread\nover page after page, it would be easy to condense into one brief\nparagraph; but the treatise on the Divine Love and Wisdom is not such a\nwork. It is one of those rare books which suggest and expand thought,\nbut can bear no abridgment or compression. We have well studied it, but\ndo not expect to finish it during our life on earth. Time was, when,\nimmersed in man made systems of faith, and wont to walk abroad in the\ngreen fields and woods, by the sea-side, and on the mountains\u2014we found\nit difficult, nay we should rather say impossible, to see the God we\nread of in our books, and thought of in our chamber, to be the same kind\nFather to whom those wide and beauteous scenes owed their existence.\nJustification by faith\u2014Jerusalem\u2014the Jews\u2014ephod and teraphim\u2014the Temple,\nand the sacrifice\u2014seemed to have no connection with the landscape, the\nwind, the falling rain, the flowing river, and the broad and limitless\nocean. We knew it should not be so. If the Bible were God\u2019s book, it must\nhave some closer affinity with his great work of nature. We knew that\none Lord was over all, and that this disunity should by no means exist.\nMuch mental pain and travail were our portion. The easy soothsayings of\nAtheism beguiled us. We \u201cwandered in the wilderness in a solitary way,\nand found no city (doctrine) to dwell in.\u201d We longed for the rest of\nZion. We sighed not in vain. The divine philosophy of this precious book\nwas revealed to us, and we knew the blessing of a faith which finds a\nconfirmation in every item and phase of creation, and makes the Bible and\nnature evermore at one, each confirming and illustrating the other. It\ngave to life new aims and aspects. It brought a mental peace we had never\nhoped to enjoy, and we went on our journey of life rejoicing.\n\n\u201cThe Continuation of the Last Judgment,\u201d is a small pamphlet forming a\nsupplement to the treatise on the Last Judgment, with which it is now\ngenerally published. It contains a very interesting account of the Last\nJudgment upon the Reformed. By the Reformed, upon whom the Last Judgment\nwas effected, Swedenborg means those who professed a belief in God, read\nthe Word, heard sermons, partook of the sacrament of the Supper, yet\nlived in all manner of evils. Living like Christians in externals, and\noutwardly in unity with heaven, while inwardly united with hell, they\nwere permitted after death to form societies, and to live as in the\nworld; and by arts unknown in the world, to cause splendid appearances,\nand by this means to persuade themselves and others that they were in\nheaven. From this outward appearance, therefore, they called their\nsocieties heavens. The heavens and the lands in which they dwelt, are\nunderstood by the \u201cformer heaven, and the former earth, which passed\naway.\u201d Rev. xxi. 7.\n\nAt the time of the Last Judgment, the hypocrisy of these spirits was\nrevealed in the light of heaven, and the simple good with whom they had\nassociated, separated themselves with horror from them. No longer able\nto simulate Christian lives, they rushed with delight into evils and\ncrimes of every description, openly appeared as devils, and found for\nthemselves the hells corresponding to their loves. At the same time all\nthe splendid appearances they had made for themselves vanished away;\ntheir palaces were turned into vile huts; their gardens into stagnant\npools; their temples into piles of rubbish; and the hills on which they\ndwelt, into heaps of gravel, in correspondence with their depraved\ndispositions and lusts.\n\n\u201cAfter the Judgment was effected,\u201d writes Swedenborg, \u201cthere was joy\nin heaven, and also light in the world of spirits, such as was not\nbefore. A similar light also then arose on men in the world, giving\nthem new enlightenment. I then saw angelic spirits, in great numbers,\nrising from below, and elevated into heaven. They were the sheep there\nreserved, and guarded by the Lord for ages back, lest they should come\ninto the malignant sphere of the dragonists, and their charity be\nsuffocated. These are they who are understood in the Word by those who\nwent forth from the sepulchers; also by the souls of those slain for the\ntestimony of Jesus, who were watching; and by those who are of the first\nresurrection.\u201d\n\nAfter this follows a description of many things seen in the spiritual\nworld. He writes: \u201cThere are lands in the spiritual world, just as in the\nnatural world: there are hills and mountains, plains and valleys, also\nfountains and rivers, lakes and seas; there are paradises, and gardens\nand groves, and woods, and palaces, and houses; there are writings, and\nbooks, functions, [_functiones_,] and employments; there are precious\nstones, gold and silver; in short, there are all the things, in general\nand in particular, which exist in the natural world; but in the heavens\nall these things are infinitely more perfect.\u201d\n\nHe then describes \u201cthe noble English nation\u201d in the spiritual world;\nthe more excellent of whom are in the centre of all Christians, because\nthey have interior intellectual light. This light they derive from the\nliberty they enjoy of thinking, and thence of speaking and writing. The\nDutch are then described, and then the Papists, and the Popish saints.\nThe Mohammedans, the Africans, and the Gentiles follow; and finally\nthe Jews, the Quakers, and the Moravians. The description of all these\npeople, as they appear beyond the grave, has an interest of a most\nabsorbing kind; and the light thrown by Swedenborg on their internal\ncharacter, serves to show cause for much that happens in the external\nworld, otherwise difficult of explanation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n    _Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Providence._\n\n\nStill living in Amsterdam, Swedenborg published, in 1764, his work\nentitled \u201cAngelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Providence.\u201d Its purpose\nis to\n\n                \u201cassert eternal Providence,\n    And justify the ways of God to man.\u201d\n\nIn the first place, it is shown that the Divine Providence is the\ngovernment of the Love and the Wisdom of the Lord. This Providence has\nfor its sole end the formation of a heaven from the human race, and thus\nhas respect only to what is infinite and eternal. In the Divine sight,\nthings temporal and natural are of no importance except so far as they\ncontribute to man\u2019s salvation.\n\nAlthough the Lord thus wills and works for man\u2019s eternal happiness, yet,\nafter all, heaven can only be attained through man\u2019s co\u00f6peration. The\nLord ever performs his share of the work, but man too often fails to do\nhis. Weeping over Jerusalem, the Lord exclaimed: \u201cO Jerusalem, Jerusalem,\nthou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto\nthee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a\nhen gathereth her chickens under her wings, _and ye would not_!\u201d Matthew\nxxiii. 37. How powerfully and tenderly is here expressed the Divine\nwillingness to save, and how pointedly and decisively is man\u2019s misery\nattributed to his own obstinacy. As the Lord Jesus is another place\nsays: \u201cYe _will not_ come to me that ye might have life.\u201d John v. 40.\n\nIn all the operations of the Divine Providence, human freedom is\nrespected. The Lord forces no man to do what is good, or believe what\nis true. He drives none to heaven. It is of the Divine Providence that\nwhatsoever a man hears, sees, thinks, speaks, and does, should appear\naltogether as his own. Without this appearance, men would have no\nreception of Divine Truth, no determination to do good, no appropriation\nof love and wisdom or of charity and faith, and thence no conjunction\nwith the Lord; consequently no reformation and regeneration, and thereby\nsalvation. Without this appearance, it is evident there could be no\nrepentance and no faith; and man would not be man, but void of rational\nlife like a beast. It is plain, then, that in order that man may be\nsaved, he must be induced to live a good life by means which in nowise\ntrench upon this appearance of free and independent life. Regeneration is\neffected by man\u2019s removing evils from his external life, _as of himself_;\nyet, knowing that all good and truth is from the Lord, he acknowledges,\nas a consequence, that all power to remove these evils is derived from\nthe Lord alone.\n\nIntensely as the Lord desires that man should shun evils and lead a holy\nlife in obedience to his commandments, yet He only seeks to win man to\npeace and heaven by means which do not infringe upon his freedom. It is a\nlaw of His Divine Providence, that man should not be forced by external\nmeans to think and will, and so to believe and love the things which are\nof religion. It has been asked by atheists, \u201cIf there be a God, why does\nhe not write so on the sun, and so save men from unbelief?\u201d Swedenborg\nanswers this question most satisfactorily, by showing that miracles,\nsigns, visions, conversations with the dead, threats, and punishments,\nare totally ineffective to produce that state of love and spiritual life\nwhich make true happiness and heaven; because these force, and destroy\nthe rationality and liberty which constitute the inmost life of humanity,\nand by the exercise of which, man can alone be delivered from evil.\n\nLet us read Swedenborg\u2019s testimony on miracles. He writes: \u201cThat such\nis the nature of miracles, may plainly appear from those wrought before\nthe Jewish and Israelitish people. Although they saw so many miracles in\nEgypt, afterwards at the Red Sea, others in the Desert, and especially\nupon Mount Sinai, when the law was promulgated, yet, in the space of a\nmonth, when Moses tarried upon that mountain, they made themselves a\ngolden calf, and acknowledged it for Jehovah who brought them out of\nthe land of Egypt. The same also may appear from the miracles wrought\nafterwards in the land of Canaan, notwithstanding which the people\nso often departed from the worship that was commanded; and from the\nmiracles which the Lord wrought before them when he was in the world,\nnotwithstanding which they crucified him. The reason why miracles were\nwrought among the Jews and Israelites was, because they were altogether\nexternal men, and were introduced into the land of Canaan merely that\nthey might represent a church and its internal principles by the external\nthings of worship; and a wicked man may be representative, as well as a\ngood man. The external things of worship among them were rituals, all\nwhich signified spiritual and celestial things. Even Aaron, although\nhe made the golden calf, and conducted the worship of it, could,\nnevertheless, represent the Lord and his work of salvation. And as they\ncould not, by the internal principles of worship, be led to represent\nthese things, therefore they were led, yea forced and compelled, to\ndo it by miracles. The reason why they could not be brought to such\nrepresentation by the internal principles of worship was, because they\ndid not acknowledge the Lord, although the whole Word, which was among\nthem, treats of Him only; and he who does not acknowledge the Lord, can\nnot receive any internal worship. But after the Lord manifested himself,\nand was received and acknowledged in the churches as the eternal God,\nmiracles ceased.\n\n\u201cThe effect of miracles upon the good, however, is different from what\nit is upon the wicked. The good do not desire miracles, but they believe\nthe miracles which are recorded in the Word; and if they hear anything\nof a miracle, they attend no otherwise to it than as a light argument\nwhich confirms their faith; for they think from the Word, consequently\nfrom the Lord, and not from a miracle. It is otherwise with the wicked:\nthey indeed may be driven and forced into faith, and even into worship\nand piety, but only for a short time; for their evils being shut in,\nthe inclinations thereto, and the delights thence derived, continually\nact against the external of their worship and piety; and in order that\nthese evils may escape from confinement and break out, they think\nabout the miracle, and at length call it a delusion, or an artifice,\nor an operation of nature, and so return into their evils; and he who\nreturns into his evils after worship, profanes the truths and goods\nof worship, and the lot of profaners after death is the worst of all.\nBesides, if miracles were to be wrought before those who do not believe\nin consequence of the miracles recorded in the Word, they must be\ncontinually performed, and constantly presented to their view. From these\nconsiderations, the reason may appear why miracles are not performed at\nthis day.\u201d\n\nIt is thus seen that the Lord will not force a man to lead a good life;\nbecause, in forcing him, his humanity would be destroyed, and all that\nmakes life worthy and manly would be lost, seeing that the exercise of\nrationality and liberty would be annihilated.\n\nIt is a law of the Divine Providence, that a man should be led and taught\nfrom the Lord out of heaven by the Word, and by doctrine and preaching\nfrom the Word, and this in all appearance as from himself. The Lord, as\nwe have before seen, is the Word; and when man reads the Word, he brings\nhis thought into contact with the Divine Wisdom, and when he obeys its\nteachings he is in very truth led by the Lord. Yet we all see that this\nteaching and leading of the Lord is effected without any violation of\nman\u2019s freedom, for he is led and taught in externals to all appearance as\nof himself.\n\nIt is a law of the Divine Providence that a man should not perceive and\nfeel anything of the operation of the Divine Providence, but yet should\nknow and acknowledge it. If a man perceived and felt the operation of the\nDivine Providence, he would not act from liberty according to reason,\nnor would anything appear to him as his own. It would also be the same\nif he foreknew events. \u201cThe reason why it is not granted man to foreknow\nevents, is, that he may be able to act from liberty according to reason;\nalso, that there is nothing that a man revolves in his reason which is\nnot from a desire that it may come into effect by thought. If, therefore,\nhe knew the effect or event from divine prediction, reason would become\nquiescent, and with reason love; for love, with reason, terminates in the\neffect, and from that begins anew. It is the very delight of reason, that\nfrom love in the thought it may see the effect,\u2014not in the effect, but\nbefore it, or not in the present, but in the future. Hence a man has what\nis called Hope, which in reason increases and decreases, as it sees or\nexpects the event. This delight is fulfilled in the event, but afterwards\nis obliterated with the thought concerning the event; and it would be the\nsame with an event foreknown.\u201d The whole zest of life would be dissipated\ncould man foreknow the future.\n\nWhile the operation of the Divine Providence is thus veiled from man\u2019s\neyes, and it appears to him that he is alone in the world, and that on\nhis small prudence hangs all things,\u2014if he would be wise he must not\nbe led by appearances, but rising above them, acknowledge the truth\n\u201cthat self-derived prudence is nothing, and _only appears as if it were\nsomething_, [and ought so to appear;] but that the Divine Providence in\nthings most singular is universal.\u201d And because our life and intelligence\nare momentarily derived from the Lord, it follows as a necessary\nconsequence, that all which we do that is orderly and effective, is done\nby the Lord, through our yielding ourselves to Him as His instruments.\n\nIt is often urged as a reason against believing in an overruling\nand universal Divine Providence, that the world is full of evil and\nwickedness; and if there be an omnipotent God, he would surely never\nsuffer such things to exist. Swedenborg enters very fully into this\nquestion. The reasons why Adam was permitted to fall, and Cain to slay\nAbel; Solomon to establish idolatrous worship, and many kings after\nhim to profane the holy things of the church, the Jews to crucify the\nLord; why impiety is allowed to exist, and the impious and profligate\nto be promoted to riches and honors, while the worshipers of God and\nthe doers of righteousness remain in contempt and poverty; why wars are\npermitted, men slaughtered, the property of the innocent destroyed, and\nvictories go with force and not with justice; why the earth is permitted\nto remain covered with idolatries, and the Christian religion to occupy\nso small a place, and even there to be deeply corrupted and devastated\nwith heresies,\u2014are stated at length and most satisfactorily. It is made\nplain, that, were the Lord to interfere and prevent such evils by force,\nit would defeat the end for which He created man, namely, salvation and\neternal life in heaven. Now as man can only be regenerated and enter\nheaven through the free exercise of his understanding and free choice\nof his will, any external interference of the Divine Providence with\noutward circumstances would suspend the action of man\u2019s faculties; would,\nin short, dehumanise the race, and leave only animals to be dealt with.\nIt is not of the Lord\u2019s will, indeed, that evil should exist; and His\nProvidence is unceasingly exerted to modify and mitigate it, alike in its\norigin and in its effect; but, since to prevent its manifestation would\nbe to take from man all that makes him man, its permission is a necessity.\n\nIt was said that the Providence of the Lord is unceasingly exerted\nto modify and mitigate evil, alike in its origin and in its effects.\nSwedenborg very beautifully and amply illustrates this truth, and shows\nthat the Divine Providence is equally with the wicked and the good. The\nwicked man, of his own free choice, continually plunges himself more and\nmore deeply into evil; because as he wills and does evil, he introduces\nhimself more and more deeply into infernal societies. But the Lord, by a\nthousand invisible means, continually withdraws him from evil; and where\na cure or complete prevention is impossible, mitigates his fearful fate\nby providing circumstances and situations in life which serve to lead\nthe evil into less hurtful developments. The operation of the Divine\nProvidence in saving man begins at his birth, and continues to the end\nof his life. The Lord sees what a man is, and what he desires to be,\nconsequently what he will be; therefore the Lord foresees his state after\ndeath, and provides for it from his birth to the end of his life; with\nthe wicked He provides by permitting and continually withdrawing them\nfrom evils; with the good He provides by leading them to good. Thus the\nDivine Providence is continually in the effort to save men; but more\ncannot be saved than desire to be saved. Those who acknowledge God and\nare led by Him, desire to be saved; and those who do not acknowledge\nGod, but guide themselves, do not desire to be saved: for the latter do\nnot think of eternal life and salvation, but the former do. This the\nLord sees; but still He leads them according to the laws of His Divine\nProvidence, against which He cannot act, for to act against them would be\nto act against Himself. Now, as the Lord foresees the states of all after\ndeath, and knows the places of those who are not willing to be saved, He,\nas far as is consistent with human freedom, labors to soften man\u2019s evil;\nand if He cannot lead him to heaven, still preserves him from sinking to\nthe lowest hell.\n\nFrom this it follows that every man may be reformed, that there is no\nsuch thing as predestination, and that it is a man\u2019s own fault if he is\nnot saved. All are created for heaven, and none for hell; and if man\nsink into perdition, he does so through his own obstinacy, and through\nthe deliberate choice of a life of evil. As saith the Apostle: \u201cThe Lord\nis long-suffering to usward, _not willing that any should perish_, but\nthat all should come to repentance.\u201d 2 Peter iii. 9. And the Lord himself\nsays: \u201cFear not, little flock; it is your _Father\u2019s good pleasure to give\nyou the kingdom_.\u201d Luke xii. 32.\n\nSuch, in brief, are a few of the principles in the treatise on the Divine\nProvidence. Nothing but a perusal of the work can give an adequate idea\nof its multiplicity of details, from the laws which regulate the affairs\nof kingdoms, to those which govern games of chance; and all expounded\nwith a lucidity of thought, which finds few parallels in works on\nsuch recondite themes. No book in the whole circle of literature more\nsatisfactorily disposes of the objections against religion, current\namong secularists and worldlings. The inward temptations and doubts of\nthe devout heart, and the weariness, cares, and fret of life, are shown\nin its pages to be all permitted by that Divine Love which suffers\nnot a sparrow to fall unheeded; and the minutest incidents of life are\nseen to be forever encircled by that Omniscience, which knows how most\neffectually to guard us from evil and draw us into the holy courts of\nheaven.\n\nAny view which we take of the Divine Providence that does not recognize\nthis life as a beginning, a progress, and not a consummation, is\nnecessarily erroneous. Life here is but a discipline, an apprenticeship.\nIt is a school wherein we are scholars, learning such lessons as will\nfit us for uses in a higher and eternal sphere. Were life consummated by\nwhat men call death, we might have reason to complain that the comforts\nand pleasures of existence were so unequally distributed; and the natural\nman might exclaim with the Psalmist: \u201cI was envious at the foolish, when\nI saw the prosperity of the wicked. They are not in trouble as other\nmen; neither are they plagued like other men. Their eyes stand out with\nfatness: they have more than heart could wish. Behold, these are the\nungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.\u201d But when we\nlook at the matter from higher grounds, and in the light of the Divine\nwisdom, or as the Psalmist did when he said: \u201cI went into the sanctuary\nof God; then understood I their end: how are they brought into desolation\nas in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors:\u201d\u2014\u201cThe evil doers\nshall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit\nthe earth: for yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea thou\nshalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be: for the Lord\nloveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints;\u201d\u2014then we obtain a right\nview of the matter, and find an all-sufficient reason for being patient\nand not fretting ourselves. Hard though our lot in life may seem, let us\nremember that\n\n    \u201cThe vain and fleeting things of earth,\n      (Though counted vain, alas! by few,)\n    In his esteem are nothing worth,\n      Who keeps eternal ends in view.\u201d\n\nOr, as Cowper says:\n\n    \u201cThe path of sorrow and that path alone,\n    Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.\n    No traveler ever reached that blest abode\n    Who found not thorns and briers in his road.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n    _Life in Amsterdam\u2014Character of the Dutch\u2014Meets Dr.\n    Beyer\u2014Republishes his \u201cNew Method of Finding the\n    Longitudes\u201d\u2014The Apocalypse Explained._\n\n\nIt is very trying to the biographer of Swedenborg that he can find so\nlittle to narrate of his outward life. Of his life in Amsterdam we have\nno particulars whatever. No Boswell was there to note down his sayings,\ndescribe his doings, his company, and conduct. But had even a Boswell\nbeen there, we fear he would have found but little to note. Quiet days\nin his study, calm reserve toward all around, musing, solitary rambles\nin the streets, would supply but few incidents for the pen of the\nbiographer. We must be content to know that, from out his quiet study in\nAmsterdam, proceeded books destined to be centers of spiritual light to\nthe church and to the world.\n\nSwedenborg liked the Dutch, and with good reason, for he was favored to\nknow them in that land where the secrets of all hearts are unveiled. He\nreports that the Dutch, above all other people, are under the influence\nof the _spiritual_ love of trade, valuing it for its uses, and regarding\nmoney only as a means to these uses, and not, like the Jews, as the final\nend. They are, moreover, inflexible in their obedience to the truth, when\nknown; and in many other respects are an estimable people.\n\nIt is probable that Swedenborg returned home toward the end of 1764;\nfor in the first half of the next year, we find him in Stockholm. Soon,\nhowever, he set out upon new travels; and in 1765, while at Gottenburg,\nwaiting for a vessel to England, he accidentally (as men say) met\nwith Dr. Beyer, Professor of Greek, and a member of the Consistory of\nGottenburg. Having heard that Swedenborg was mad, he was surprised\nto hear him talk sensibly, and manifest no symptom of his suspected\ninfirmity. He therefore invited Swedenborg to dine with him the following\nday, in company with Dr. Rosen. After dinner, Dr. Beyer expressed a\ndesire to hear from himself a full account of his doctrines; upon\nwhich Swedenborg, animated by the request, spoke so clearly, and in so\nwonderful a manner, that the Doctor and his friend were quite astonished.\nThey gave him no interruption; but when he ceased, Dr. Beyer requested\nSwedenborg to meet him the next day at Mr. Wenngren\u2019s and to bring with\nhim a paper, containing the substance of his conversation, in order that\nhe might consider it more attentively. Swedenborg came the day following,\naccording to promise; and, taking the paper out of his pocket, in the\npresence of the other two gentlemen, he trembled, and appeared much\naffected, the tears flowing down his cheeks. Presenting the paper to Dr.\nBeyer, \u201cSir,\u201d said he, \u201cfrom this day the Lord has introduced you into\nthe society of angels, and you are now surrounded by them.\u201d They were all\ngreatly affected. He then took his leave, and the next day embarked for\nEngland.\n\nDr. Beyer sent immediately for Swedenborg\u2019s writings, and soon became\ndeeply engrossed in their study. In order to arrange their subjects more\ndistinctly in his mind, he set about compiling an Index to them; which\nas he prepared it, he sent, sheet by sheet, to Amsterdam to be printed.\nHe was thirteen years in compiling the work, and on the day he sent off\nthe last sheet corrected, he sickened, took to his bed, and in a few days\ndeparted to the spiritual world.\n\nThe result of Dr. Beyer\u2019s study of Swedenborg\u2019s writings, was a firm\nbelief in their doctrines, and an open and enlightened advocacy of them,\ndeclaring in the public Consistory his full assent to them. As might\nnaturally be expected, he suffered much obloquy and persecution for his\nadherence to the truth; but he was consoled in having the firm friendship\nof Swedenborg, and in being favored with receiving from him many letters,\nsympathizing with him in his trials, and answering many of his questions\non doctrinal and psychological matters.\n\nSwedenborg did not make a long stay in England; but after a few weeks,\nor perhaps months, proceeded to Holland, spending the winter of 1765-66\nat Amsterdam. There, in the spring of 1766, he republished (it is\nsupposed by the solicitation of friends,) his youthful work on a \u201cNew\nMethod of Finding the Longitudes.\u201d \u201cThis method,\u201d as he informed the\nSwedish Archbishop, Menander, \u201cof calculating the ephemerides by pairs of\nstars, several persons in foreign countries were then employing, who had\nexperienced great advantage by the observations made according to it for\na series of years.\u201d\n\nFrom the time of the completion of the Arcana C\u0153lestia, in 1756,\nSwedenborg had been gradually composing an extensive work on the\nApocalypse. The exposition was continued as far as the tenth verse of\nthe nineteenth chapter, filling four large quarto volumes. He then\nlaid the work aside\u2014thinking, probably, that it was too voluminous and\nelaborate\u2014and commenced anew, but on a considerably reduced scale. The\nformer Exposition, a clearly written manuscript, ready for the printer,\nafter sustaining a narrow escape from burning, (the house of a gentleman\nwho had it for perusal having caught fire,) was published in the original\nLatin, in four quarto volumes, in 1790, eighteen years after the author\u2019s\ndeath. It was translated into English and printed in six octavos, under\nthe title of the Apocalypse Explained, in 1815. It is a most valuable\nwork, and one that could not well be spared from the Swedenborg Library.\nWithin its pages are several distinct treatises on very important\nsubjects, which, if extracted, would form complete and excellent books\nof themselves. The exposition of the spiritual sense of the text is very\ncopiously illustrated by parallel passages from other parts of the Word;\nand thus it must ever be a most useful work to the New Church preacher,\nas affording him a ready key to the internal sense of the Scriptures.\n\nThe shorter exposition Swedenborg himself published at Amsterdam, in\n1766, under the title of the Apocalypse Revealed. As was his custom, he\ndistributed copies of the work widely, sending it to the universities\nand superior clergy, and to many eminent persons in England, Holland,\nGermany, France, and Sweden.\n\nWe will now make a few notes on some of the most remarkable features\nof Swedenborg\u2019s exposition of that strange and mysterious book, the\nApocalypse.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n    _The Apocalypse Revealed._\n\n\nEvery one who is acquainted with theological literature, knows that\ninnumerable volumes of speculation have been written in attempted\nexplanation of the Apocalypse. He is aware that expositors have\ndiffered about it from the earliest times; that Protestants have found\nCatholicism the subject of all its denunciations, and that Catholics\nhave discovered that Paganism and Protestant heresy were in reality the\nmatters alluded to; that sceptics have proved that it refers to none\nof these creeds, but is a worthless astrological treatise; and that\nmany good Christians, vexed and wearied with this endless contest of\nopinion, have wished the book expunged from the canon of Scripture, as\naltogether incomprehensible, and a mere breeder of strife. And still the\ncontroversy goes on. The press swarms with volumes and pamphlets, all\nprofessing to have found the key to the mystery, informing the world of\nthe future destiny of Europe, of the result of its wars and battles, the\nprecise month of the fall of the Papacy, and the time of the descent of\nthe New Jerusalem, the Second Advent, and the restoration of the Jews to\nCanaan, and, so far as the political arrangement of the kingdoms of the\nearth is concerned, almost superseding the necessity of newspapers to\nthe credulous believer. Wise men generally now turn a deaf ear to these\nsoothsayings, convinced by long and repeated experience of their utter\nfutility, and thinking shrewdly enough that had the Divine Providence\nintended that man should know the future, the foreknowledge would have\nbeen communicated intelligibly and not through the medium of mysteries\ninterpreted by men more conspicuous for temerity than for any endowment\nof wisdom or common sense above their fellows. \u201cIt is a part of this\nprophecy,\u201d as Sir Isaac Newton remarks,\u2014and the same principle is\napplicable to all prophecies,\u2014\u201cthat it should not be understood before\nthe last age of the world; and therefore it makes for the credit of\nthe prophecy that it is not yet [about 1710] understood. The folly of\ninterpreters has been, to foretell times and things by this prophecy, as\nif God designed to make them prophets. By this rashness, they have not\nonly exposed themselves, but brought the prophecy also into contempt.\nThe design of God was much otherwise. He gave this, and other prophecies\nof the Old Testament, not to gratify men\u2019s curiosity by enabling them\nto foreknow things, but that, after they were fulfilled, they might be\ninterpreted by the events; and his own Providence, not the interpreters,\nbe then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things,\npredicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument that the\nworld is governed by Providence. For, as the few and obscure prophecies\nconcerning Christ\u2019s first coming, were for setting up the Christian\nreligion, _which all nations have since corrupted_; so the many and\nclear prophecies concerning the things to be done at Christ\u2019s second\ncoming, are not only for predicting but also for effecting a recovery and\nre-establishment of the long-lost truth, and setting up a kingdom wherein\ndwells righteousness. The event will prove the Apocalypse; and this\nprophecy, thus proved and understood, will open the old prophets; and all\ntogether will make known the true religion, and establish it.\u201d\n\nWith no claim to superior understanding or acuteness did Swedenborg\npresent his exposition of this mysterious book to the world. He humbly\ndeclares that the mysteries of the Apocalypse are totally beyond the\npower of human intellect to unravel, and that whatever of truth is to be\nfound in his work, owed its existence to the immediate illustration of\nhis mind by the Lord. We shall presently show what powerful reason there\nwas for this protestation on his part.\n\nThe Apocalypse, we are taught, is a portion of the Divine Word. It\nwas dictated directly by the Lord,\u2014John, in Patmos, being simply an\namanuensis.\n\nThe Apocalypse is a prophetic book, descriptive of the decline and\nconsummation of the Christian Church, and the establishment of the new\nand spiritual dispensation signified by \u201cthe New Jerusalem descending\nfrom God out of heaven.\u201d Being a prophetic book, it would have been\nat variance with the laws of the Divine Providence for man to have\nunderstood its prophecies until after the events it described were past;\nfor, as we have seen, a knowledge of the future would take from man all\nfreedom of action, all inclination to labor, and the whole hope and\npleasure of life. Therefore it was that the Apocalypse remained a sealed\nbook until the Christian Church had reached its consummation, and the\nLast Judgment was effected, in 1757, when the Lord graciously opened\nthe eyes of Swedenborg and manifested to him, in clear light, the deep\nmysteries of this prophecy.\n\nWilkinson, in his admirable Biography, well says: \u201cA volume, unless it\nwere a reprint, would not give an analysis of the Apocalypse Revealed.\nWhen we say that the commentary takes the text word by word, and\ntranslates it into spirit, we still convey but a slender idea of what\nis done. Our own first impressions on reading the work will not soon be\nforgotten. Following the writer through the long breadths and flights of\nthis vast empyrean, we were momently in anxious fear that to sustain a\ncontext of such was impossible. Each fresh chapter seemed like a space\nthat mortal wing must not attempt; and yet the fear was groundless, for\nour guide sailed onward with a tranquil motion as if he knew the stars.\nHistory and common sense, panting and grasping science, philosophy in its\nbetter part, above all, the confidence in a Divine support and a supernal\nmission, appeared to be covertly and unexpectedly present, to annihilate\ndifficulties, and pave the skyey way of this humble voyager. And when\nwe had again alighted from that perusal which strained every faculty to\nthe utmost, it was as though we had been there before, so entire was the\nimpression of self-evidence that was left upon the mind. Genesis and the\nRevelation were closely at one in this marvellous Apocalypse\u2014thenceforth\nthe most open of the Bible pages: the two ends of the Scripture called to\neach other; an arch of Divine light spanned the river of the Word, and\nthe original Eden blossomed anew in the midst of the street of the holy\ncity.\u201d\n\nThe Rev. O. P. Hiller, in his Memoir of Swedenborg, writes: \u201cIn the\nApocalypse Revealed, the mysterious book is taken up and examined chapter\nby chapter, verse by verse, word by word, in the same manner as was\ndone with the books of Genesis and Exodus in the Arcana C\u0153lestia; and\nthe interior meaning, the spiritual sense, of every part, set forth in\nsuch a manner as to present a clear, connected, and rational meaning\nthroughout the whole book, from the first chapter to the last. And what\nis especially to be remarked, the spiritual sense of this book, the last\nof the New Testament, is shown to be founded on the same principles, and\ndiscovered by the same rules of interpretation, as the spiritual sense of\nthe books of Genesis and Exodus, the first of the Old Testament, written,\nas they were, by other hands, and more than fifteen hundred years before;\na strong proof, certainly, that however varied the human instruments\nthere was One Divine Author of the whole. Thus, with any particular word,\nfor instance, occurring in the book of Genesis, and declared to have a\ncertain spiritual signification,\u2014when that word occurs in the book of\nRevelation, it is shown to have the same signification; and this holds\ngood in all cases. And, moreover, while all these various significations,\ntaken together, make in the book of Genesis a complete spiritual sense,\nso in the book of Revelation they make their own complete spiritual\nsense. Now it will be readily seen, that such a coincidence would be\naltogether unaccountable, nay, impossible, unless there really existed\nsuch a spiritual sense in the Word of God: and it is, indeed, this\nuniform spiritual sense, full of high and heavenly truth, that raises\nthe holy volume infinitely above all other works of history or morals;\nand the existence of such a sense is the strongest proof of the Divine\ncharacter of those writings which we call the Sacred Scriptures. And\ntruly, had Swedenborg done only this, he would have deserved the\ngratitude of all who seriously revere the Word of God, for thus bringing\na new and most powerful argument from internal evidence, in favor of the\ninspiration and divinity of the sacred volume.\u201d\n\nWell, then, might Swedenborg disclaim the authorship of the ideas in\nthe Apocalypse Revealed, and ask: \u201cWhat man can draw such things from\nhimself?\u201d Those who tell us that Swedenborg was self-deceived, must\neither know very little of what they speak about, or must be quite as\nignorant of the capacity of the human mind and its powers of invention.\nFor ourselves, we could as readily believe that Swedenborg created the\nworld, as we could believe that the spiritual sense of the Apocalypse,\nand of the whole Word, was a fiction of his brain. Were the spiritual\nsense of the Word such a fiction, then it must be said that there lived\na man in the last century, with an intellect and creative faculty,\ncompared with which those of all the philosophers and poets of past\nand present time combined, were as nothing. We leave revilers of\nSwedenborg to make their choice; either to admit the existence of the\nspiritual sense of the Word; or, denying its existence, and pronouncing\nSwedenborg\u2019s discovery either a delusion or an imposture, to admit that\nSwedenborg was a man wholly unique\u2014a genius infinitely surpassing any\nwhich the world has ever known, and endowed with a power of invention\nwhich the mind of a nation incarnate in one man could never hope to rival.\n\nBut it will never come to such a pass. Anyone who will take the trouble\ncandidly to examine the subject, will become convinced of the spiritual\nsense of the Word, and of the truth of Swedenborg\u2019s revelations regarding\nit. The denial and mockery of them can only coexist with an ignorance,\nmore or less profound, of their nature; or, worse still, from a hatred\nof the truth, grounded in the life and love of evil. The spiritual sense\nof the Word is no invention. It is a discovery,\u2014accomplished by Divine\nmeans, however,\u2014just as the finding of Australia was a discovery; and we\nshall believe in its existence if we become _practically_ acquainted with\nit through reverent thought and study; even as We should know Australia\nbest, did we go there.\n\nIt may be said: \u201cWell, suppose the spiritual sense of the Apocalypse does\ndescribe the fall of the Christian Church, and the inauguration of the\nNew Church; and typifies the doctrine of justification by faith alone by\nthe Dragon; and the Romanists and their lust of dominion and atrocious\ndeeds by Babylon and the great Harlot sitting upon many waters; what\nthen? It is true such descriptions must ever have a certain interest,\nbut not sufficient to render them subjects of universal study in all\nages, and worthily forming a part of that Divine Book which is read by\nangels in heaven, as well as by men on earth.\u201d The objection is a sound\none so far as it goes, but it is made in ignorance of a great but very\nsimple truth, namely, that all that is true of a church is true of an\nindividual. The trust in mere truth in the intellect, and the lust of\npower and glory,\u2014the former signified by the Dragon, and the latter by\nBabylon,\u2014are evils which exist in all minds to a greater or less degree;\nand the Divine description of their nature and awful consequences may be\nthought of apart from any idea of Geneva or Rome. The Apocalypse being a\ndivine work, has infinite applications, and will be read to eternity in\nspheres where the names of Romanist and Protestant are unknown; and in\nsocieties of glorified spirits, compared with whose number and influence\nthis world is insignificant.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n    _Travels\u2014Habits\u2014Anecdotes._\n\n\nIn April, 1766, Swedenborg again visited England in order to observe the\neffect of his writings upon the English people. Of this visit we have no\naccount, except in reference to its conclusion, in September of the same\nyear, when he returned to Stockholm. Mr. Springer, the Swedish Consul in\nLondon, an old friend of Swedenborg\u2019s, has left the following interesting\nrecord of some incidents connected with his return.\n\n\u201cSwedenborg was about to depart for Sweden, and desired me to procure him\na good captain, which I did. I made the agreement with a person named\nDixon. Swedenborg\u2019s effects were carried on board the vessel, and as his\napartments were at some distance from the port, we took, for that night,\na chamber at an inn near it, because the captain of the vessel was to\ncome and fetch him in the morning. Swedenborg went to bed; and I went\nto sit in another room, with the master of the house, with whom I was\nconversing. We both heard a remarkable noise, and could not apprehend\nwhat it could be, and therefore drew near to a door, where there was a\nlittle window that looked into the chamber where Swedenborg lay. We saw\nhim with his arms raised toward heaven, and his body appeared to tremble.\nHe spoke much for the space of half an hour, but we could understand\nnothing of what he said, except that when he let his hands fall down, we\nheard him say with a loud voice, \u2018My God!\u2019 But we could not hear what he\nsaid more. He remained afterwards very quietly in his bed. I entered into\nhis chamber with the master of the house, and asked him if he was ill.\n\u2018No,\u2019 said he; \u2018but I have had a long discourse with some of the heavenly\nfriends, and am at this time in a great perspiration.\u2019 And as his effects\nwere embarked on board the vessel, he asked the master of the house to\nlet him have a shirt; he then went again to bed, and slept till morning.\n\n\u201cWhen the captain of the vessel came to fetch Swedenborg, I took my leave\nof him, and wished him a happy voyage. I then asked the captain if he\nwas provided with good and necessary provisions. He answered me, that\nhe had as much as was needful for the voyage. On this, Swedenborg said:\n\u2018My friend, we shall not need a great quantity: for this day week we\nshall, by the aid of God, enter the port of Stockholm at two o\u2019clock.\u2019\nIt happened exactly as he foretold, as Dixon informed me; saying, that a\nviolent gale accelerated the voyage, that the wind was favorable at every\nturn of the vessel, and that he never in all his life had so prosperous a\nvoyage.\u201d\n\nArriving at Stockholm on the 8th of September, Swedenborg resided in\nthe Sudermalm, the southern suburb of the city. Robsahm tells us: \u201cHis\nhouse was built and arranged after his own taste; the apartments were\nrather small, but suitable for himself. Although he was a man of most\nprofound learning, no other books were seen in his study than the Hebrew\nand Greek Bible, together with his own indexes to his works, whereby he\nsaved himself the trouble, when referring to different passages, of going\nthrough all he had before written.\n\n\u201cAdjoining the house was a rather large garden, in the midst of which he\nhad a summer-house, or pavilion. There were four doors to the apartment,\nwhich formed a square, and was occasionally turned, in an instant, into\nan octagon, by means of four other doors that belonged to it. One of\nthese doors shut with a secret lock, which being opened, there appeared\na glass door placed opposite a fine green hedge, where a bird was seen\nin a cage. This new spectacle produced an agreeable surprise of a second\ngarden to the person who opened the door, which Swedenborg used to say\nwas more agreeable than the first. At the entrance of the garden there\nwas a parterre, well covered with flowers, which he was very fond of. He\nderived no other advantage from the garden, for he gave the whole produce\nof it to the gardener who waited on him; so also that of a very excellent\ngreenhouse, in which he took much pleasure.\n\n\u201cThe gardener and his wife were the only servants he had; of the latter\nhe never desired other service than that of making his bed, and of\nbringing water into his apartment. He generally made his own coffee on\nthe fire in his study, and took much of it, well sweetened. When at home,\nhis dinner consisted of a small loaf put into boiled milk, and at that\ntime he neither drank wine nor any spirituous liquor, nor did he take any\nsupper. Though he was very sparing in his eating and drinking, yet he\nwould sometimes, when in company, take a glass of wine, but was always in\none equal temper of mind, and cheerful.\n\n\u201cHe had a fire constantly kept up in his study, from autumn, throughout\nthe winter, until spring; but his bedroom, contrary to the usual custom\nin Sweden, was always cold; and according as the cold was more or less\nsevere, he made use of three, or four, blankets. When he awoke, he went\ninto his study, where there were always live coals, on which he laid\nwood, with birch-bark, having a number of small bundles ready for use,\nand to make a quick fire before he sat down to write.\n\n\u201cIn his parlor was a table of black marble, on which, one would have\nsupposed, at first sight, that a hand of cards had been carelessly\nthrown, the imitation being so perfect. He made a present of this table\nto the Royal College of Mines, who preserve it with great care. This room\nwas neat and genteel, but furnished in a plain style.\n\n\u201cHis wardrobe was simple, yet suitable to the season. He wore in winter a\nfur gown; and when at home, in summer, a morning robe.\n\n\u201cHe spoke very distinctly. When he began to talk in company, every one\nwas silent, as well from the pleasure they had in hearing his discourse,\nas from a sense of his well known great erudition, which he did not\nshow but on occasions in which he found himself compelled to prove his\nassertions, or the little weight of the arguments of some with whom he\nconversed. Besides the learned languages, in which he was well versed, he\nunderstood the French, English, Dutch, German, and Italian.\u201d\n\nWe are thankful indeed for these details, trifling though they are. They\nevince the quiet practical character of Swedenborg, and the strong common\nsense which guarded him from all extravagance and eccentricity.\n\nFrom the gardener\u2019s wife, Robsahm received the following\nstatement:\u2014\u201cEntering one day, after dinner, into Swedenborg\u2019s chamber, I\nsaw his eyes like unto a most bright flame. I drew back, saying, \u2018In the\nname of goodness, Sir, what has happened extraordinary to you? for you\nhave a very peculiar appearance.\u2019 \u2018What kind of look have I?\u2019 answered\nhe. I then told him what struck me. \u2018Well, well,\u2019 replied he, which was\nhis favorite expression, \u2018don\u2019t be frightened, the Lord has so disposed\nmy eyes, that by them spirits may see what is in our world.\u2019\u201d In a short\ntime this appearance passed away, as he said it would. \u201cI know,\u201d said she\nto Robsahm, \u201cwhen he has conversed with heavenly spirits, for there is a\npleasure and calm satisfaction in his countenance, which charm those who\nsee it; but after he has conversed with evil spirits, he has a sorrowful\nlook.\u201d\n\nConcerning his temptations, they said that their master, in the night,\noften spoke aloud, when evil spirits were with him, which they could\neasily hear, their room being adjoining. When asked what caused his\ndisturbance in the night, he answered that it had been permitted the evil\nspirits to blaspheme, and that he had spoken against them zealously. It\nhappened often that, weeping bitterly, he cried with a loud voice, and\nprayed to the Lord that he might not be forsaken in his temptation, when\nthey assailed him. His words were, \u2018Lord help me! Lord, my God, do not\nforsake me!\u2019 Those who saw him in these states, supposed he was sick; but\nwhen delivered from them, he returned thanks to God, and said to those\nwho were troubled for him, \u2018God be eternally praised! Comfort yourselves,\nmy friends, all has passed away; and be assured that nothing happens to\nme but what the Lord permits, who never lays a burden on us more weighty\nthan we are able to bear.\u2019\n\nOnce it was remarkable that after such a state he went to bed, and did\nnot rise for several days and nights. This gave his domestics much\nuneasiness, and they consulted together, and supposed he was dead. They\nintended to break open the door, or to call their neighbors. At last the\ngardener went to the window, and discovered, to his great joy, that his\nmaster was alive, and turning in his bed. The next day he rang the bell.\nThe woman went in, and related her own and her husband\u2019s uneasiness for\nhim. He told her with a cheerful countenance, that he had been very well,\nand had wanted nothing.\n\nThe following anecdote, narrated to Robsahm by the gardener\u2019s wife,\nplaces Swedenborg\u2019s moral courage in a strong light, and shows the use of\njudicious plain speaking. Bishop Halenius, the successor of Swedenborg\u2019s\nfather, paying Swedenborg a visit one day, the conversation turned on\nthe nature of common sermons. Swedenborg said to the bishop, \u201cYou insert\nthings that are false in yours;\u201d on this, the bishop told the gardener,\nwho was present, to retire, but Swedenborg commanded him to stay. The\nconversation went on, and both turned over the Hebrew and Greek Bibles,\nto show the texts that were agreeable to their assertions. At length\nthe interview ended, by some observations intended as reproaches to the\nbishop on his avarice and various unjust actions; \u201cYou have already\nprepared yourself a place in hell,\u201d said Swedenborg: \u201cbut,\u201d added he,\n\u201cI predict that some months hence you will be attacked with a grievous\nillness, during which time the Lord will seek to convert you. If you\nthen open your heart to his holy inspirations, your conversion will take\nplace. When this happens, write to me for my theological works, and I\nwill send them to you.\u201d Some months after, an officer from the province\nand bishopric of Skara visited Swedenborg. On being asked how bishop\nHalenius was, he replied: \u201cHe has been very ill, but at present he is\nquite recovered, and has become altogether another person, being now a\npracticer of what is good, full of probity, and returns sometimes three\nor four-fold of the property which he had before unjustly taken into his\npossession.\u201d From that time to the hour of his death, he was one of the\ngreatest supporters of the doctrine of the New Church of the Lord, and\ndeclared openly, that the theological writings of Swedenborg were the\nmost precious treasures given for the welfare of mankind. What a blessed\nresult was this of the few severe but really kind words of Swedenborg,\nspoken in season!\n\nIn Stockholm, Swedenborg was very accessible, and visitors sought his\nadvice for all purposes. Widows went to him to inquire about the state\nof their husbands in the other world; and others fancying him a wizard,\nbeset him with questions about lost and stolen property. Notwithstanding\nthe number and frequency of these visits, from people of all ranks, he\nwould never receive any particular ones, and more especially those of\nfemales, without one of his domestics being present. He also required his\nvisitors to speak in the language of the country, saying, \u201cI will have\nwitnesses of my discourse and conduct, that all pretensions to malicious\nassertions and scandal may be taken away.\u201d He had probably suffered from\nthe tongues of busybodies: it would have been strange if he had not;\nand it was prudent for him to take this effectual plan to cut away the\nfoundation of all idle and malicious gossip.\n\nNicholas Collin, a young clergyman, at this time visited Swedenborg, and\nthus pleasantly narrates his interview. \u201cIn 1765, I went to reside at\nStockholm, where I continued for nearly three years. During that time,\nSwedenborg was a great object of public attention in the metropolis,\nand his extraordinary character was a frequent topic of discussion. He\nresided at his house in the southern suburbs, which was in a pleasant\nsituation, neat and convenient, with a spacious garden and other\nappendages. There he received company. Not seldom he also appeared in\ncompany, and mixed in private society; sufficient opportunities were\ntherefore given to observe him. I collected much information from several\nrespectable persons who had conversed with him; which was the more\neasy, as I lived the whole time as a private tutor in the family of Dr.\nCelsius, a gentleman of distinguished talents, who afterwards became\nbishop of Scania. He, and many of the eminent persons that frequented his\nhouse, knew Swedenborg well.\n\n\u201cIn the summer of 1766, I waited on him at his house. Introducing myself\nwith an apology for the freedom I took, I assured him that it was not\nin the least from youthful presumption. I was then twenty, but had a\nstrong desire to converse with a character so celebrated. He received\nme very kindly. It being early in the afternoon, delicate coffee,\nwithout eatables, was served, agreeable to the Swedish custom; he was\nalso, like pensive men in general, fond of this beverage. We conversed\nfor nearly three hours; principally on the nature of human souls, and\ntheir states in the invisible world; discussing the principal theories\nof psychology by various authors. He asserted positively, as he often\ndoes in his works, that he had intercourse with spirits of deceased\npersons. I presumed, therefore, to request of him, as a great favor,\nto procure me an interview with my brother, who had departed this life\na few months before, a young clergyman, and esteemed for his devotion,\nerudition, and virtue. He answered, that God, having for good and wise\npurposes separated the world of spirits from ours, a communication is\nnever granted without cogent reasons; and asked what my motives were. I\nconfessed that I had none besides gratifying brotherly affection, and an\nardent wish to explore scenes so sublime and interesting to a serious\nmind. He replied, that my motives were good, but not sufficient; but that\nif any important spiritual or temporal concern of mine had been the case,\nhe would then have solicited permission from those angels who regulate\nthese matters. He showed me his garden. It had an agreeable building,\na wing of which was a kind of temple, to which he often retired for\ncontemplation; its dim religious light rendering it suitable for such a\npurpose.\n\n\u201cWe parted with mutual satisfaction; and he presented by me, to the said\nDr. Celsius, an elegant copy of his Apocalypsis Revelata, then lately\nprinted in Amsterdam.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg was of a very mild temper, upright, just, and incapable of\nperverting the truth. Robsahm, one day, asked him if a certain preacher,\nlately deceased, and greatly esteemed in Stockholm for his flowery\nsermons, had a place in heaven. \u201cNo,\u201d said Swedenborg, \u201che went directly\ninto the abyss; for he left his devotion in the pulpit: he was not pious,\nbut a hypocrite; proud and greatly vain of the gifts he had received\nfrom nature, and the goods of fortune he was continually seeking to\nacquire. Truly,\u201d continued he, \u201cfalse appearances will stand us in no\nstead hereafter; they are all separated from man at his decease; the mask\nthen falls from him; and it is then made manifest to all, whether he is\ninwardly good or evil.\u201d\n\nThe exact month of Swedenborg\u2019s next foreign travel is uncertain; but\njust before he undertook it, Robsahm met him in his carriage, and asked\nhim how he could venture to take a voyage to London, at the age of\neighty, and expressed a fear lest he should not see him again. \u201cBe not\nuneasy, my friend,\u201d said he, \u201cif you live, we shall see one another\nagain, for I have yet another voyage of this kind to make.\u201d\n\nAt Elsinore, on these voyages, he frequently visited M. Rahling, the\nSwedish Consul, and during this transit, he made the acquaintance of\nGeneral Tuxen, at the Consul\u2019s table. The General asked him how a\nman might be certain whether he was on the road to salvation or not.\nSwedenborg answered, \u201cThat is very easy. A man need only examine himself\nand his thoughts by the Ten Commandments; as, for instance, whether he\nloves and fears God; whether he is happy in seeing the welfare of others,\nand does not envy them; whether on having received a great injury from\nothers, which may have excited him to anger and to meditate revenge, he\nafterwards changes his sentiments, because God has said that vengeance\nis His, and so on; then he may rest assured that he is on the road to\nheaven: but when he discovers himself actuated by contrary sentiments, he\nmay know that he is on the road to hell.\u201d\n\nThis led Tuxen to think of himself, as well as others; and he asked\nSwedenborg whether he had seen King Frederick V. of Denmark, deceased\nin 1766, adding that though some human frailty attached to him, yet he\nhad certain hopes that he was happy. Swedenborg said, \u201cYes, I have seen\nhim, and he is well off; and not only he, but all the kings of the house\nof Oldenburg, who are associated together. This is not the happy case\nwith our Swedish kings.\u201d Swedenborg then told him that he had seen no\none so splendidly ministered to in the world of spirits as the Empress\nElizabeth of Russia, who died in 1762. As Tuxen expressed astonishment at\nthis, Swedenborg continued: \u201cI can also tell you the reason, which few\nwould surmise. With all her faults, she had a good heart, and a certain\nconsideration in her negligence. This induced her to put off signing many\npapers that were from time to time presented to her, and which at last so\naccumulated that she could not examine them, but was obliged to sign as\nmany as possible on the representation of her ministers; after which she\nwould retire to her closet, fall on her knees, and beg God\u2019s forgiveness,\nif she, against her will, had signed anything that was wrong.\u201d\n\nAt the conclusion of this interesting interview, Swedenborg went on board\nhis vessel, leaving a firm friend and future disciple in General Tuxen.\nSome years after, Tuxen wrote: \u201cI thank our Lord, the God of heaven, that\nI have been acquainted with this great man and his writings. I esteem\nthis as the greatest blessing I ever experienced in this life, and hope I\nshall profit by it in working out my salvation.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg\u2019s stay in London at this time must have been brief; for on the\n28th of November, 1768, we meet him again in Amsterdam, whither he had\ngone to print another important work, \u201cConjugial Love, and its chaste\nDelights; also Adulterous Love and its insane Pleasures.\u201d This book he\npublished with his name, as written \u201cby Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swede.\u201d\nThis is the first of his theological works to which he affixed his name.\nHis reason for giving it in this instance, is said to have been, that no\nother person might be censured for writing on this delicate subject. We\nwill now examine the contents of this wondrous book.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n    _Conjugial Love._\n\n\nA wise man might well suspect the soundness of any system of morals\nwhich did not take into careful consideration the conjugial relation.\nMarriage\u2014the most important event in life, the relation which occupies\nthe whole thought of one sex, and the most serious regards of the other,\nthe institution around which all that is highest find holiest in life\ngroups itself, family, home, all that human hearts hold dear\u2014must ever\nhold a prominent place in a true code of moral and spiritual laws. How\nthen could the subject be omitted from the heavenly writings of the New\nJerusalem? or how could its apostle forget or pass it by.\n\nSwedenborg, in his treatise on Conjugial Love, first speaks of marriages\nin heaven. He shows that a man lives a man after death, and that a woman\nlives a woman; and since it was ordained from creation that the woman\nshould be for the man, and the man for the woman, and thus that each\nshould be the other\u2019s,\u2014and since that love is innate in both, it follows\nthat there are marriages in heaven as well as on earth.\n\nMarriage in the heavens is the conjunction of two into one mind. The mind\nof man consists of two parts, the understanding and the will. When these\ntwo parts act in unity, they are called one mind. The understanding is\npredominant in man, and the will in woman; but in the marriage of minds\nthere is no predominance, for the will of the wife becomes also the\nwill of the husband, and the understanding of the husband is also that\nof the wife; because each loves to will and to think as the other wills\nand thinks, and thus they will and think mutually and reciprocally. Hence\ntheir conjunction; so that in heaven, two married partners are not called\ntwo, but one angel. When this conjunction of minds descends into the\ninferior principles which are of the body, it is perceived and felt as\nlove, and that love is conjugial love.\n\nTo this doctrine of marriage in heaven will arise an objection from the\nLord\u2019s words to the Sadducees, when they asked Him whose wife, in the\nresurrection, a woman should be, who had been married in succession to\nseven brethren. The Lord replied: \u201cThe children of this world marry, and\nare given in marriage; but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain\nthat world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are\ngiven in marriage.\u201d\u2014Luke xx. 34, 35. To understand this reply, we must\nbear in mind the nature of the question. A woman had been married, quite\nin accordance with worldly usage, to seven husbands. Of course, nothing\nof this kind takes place in heaven; for, as the Lord says, there \u201cneither\ncan they die any more.\u201d After that fashion indeed there is no marrying or\ngiving in marriage in heaven. In truth, marriages, such as they are in\nheaven, could never have been comprehended by the gross and carnal-minded\nJews; and had the Lord entered into detail, He would have been as grossly\nmisapprehended by them as when He said, \u201cDestroy this temple, and in\nthree days I will raise it up.\u201d And they said: \u201cForty and six years was\nthis temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?\u201d not\nknowing that he \u201cspake of the temple of his body.\u201d John ii. 19-21. Now\nSwedenborg very plainly shows that Christians think as naturally of\nmarriage as the Jews did of the temple, if they suppose that the true\nmarriage of minds does not take place in heaven, or that it was any but\nthe carnal and sensual connections of earth that the Lord declared had\nno place in eternity. In the spiritual sense of the Lord\u2019s words, by\nthe marriage that does not take place in heaven, is meant the spiritual\nmarriage, or union of goodness and truth in the mind; in other words,\nregeneration: this must be accomplished in this life, or not at all.\nWhen the spiritual sense of the Word is understood, this interpretation\nbecomes manifest as the only true and rational mode of understanding the\ntext; and all the rest of Scripture goes to confirm it.\n\nMoreover it is true that there is no marriage in heaven in the exact\nsense of the word. Partners are born into this world, and by life in\nit are disciplined for each other. Separate, they are but parts of one\nwhole; and in each there is a continual longing for unition. Seen by\nthe eye of Omniscience, they are ever married; they are one, however\ndivided they may be by space or circumstances. Their meeting in heaven\nand recognition of each other is only the external completion of what had\nbefore in essentials been effected. And in this sense it may be said that\nthere are no marriages in heaven; for all are married, in reality, before\nthey reach heaven.\n\nMarriages on earth, Swedenborg teaches, are at this day entered upon\nso generally from merely worldly and sensual motives, and with so\nlittle regard for similarity of mind, that, save in few cases, they\nare not maintained and perpetuated in the other life. Married partners\ncommonly meet after death; but as their internal differences of mind are\nmanifested, they separate; for no married partners can be received into\nheaven, except such as have been interiorly united, or are capable of\nbeing so united into one; which is understood by the Lord\u2019s words: \u201cThey\nare no longer two, but one flesh.\u201d Such as are thus separated\u2014possibly\nboth very good people\u2014meet, in due time, congenial partners, whose souls\nincline to union with their own, so that they no longer wish to be two\nlives, but one.\n\nThe meeting of young partners in heaven is thus charmingly\ndescribed:\u2014\u201cThe divine providence of the Lord extends to everything,\neven to the minutest particulars concerning marriages, because all the\ndelights of heaven spring from the delights of conjugial love, as sweet\nwaters from the fountain head. On this account it is provided that\nconjugial pairs be born, and these pairs are continually educated to\ntheir several marriages under the Lord\u2019s auspices, neither the boy nor\nthe girl knowing anything of the matter; and after a stated time, when\nboth of them become marriageable, they meet in some place as by chance,\nand see each other, and in this case they instantly know, as by a kind\nof instinct, that they are pairs; and by a kind of inward dictate, think\nwithin themselves\u2014the youth that she is mine, and the virgin that he is\nmine; and when this thought has existed some time in the mind of each,\nthey accost each other from a deliberate purpose, and betroth themselves.\nIt is said as by chance, by instinct, and by dictate, and the meaning is\nby Divine Providence: since, while the Divine Providence is unknown, it\nhas such an appearance; for the Lord opens internal similitudes, that\nthey may see each other.\u201d\n\nWe are now led by Swedenborg, and introduced to a knowledge of the nature\nof conjugial love, and shown in what consists its essential blessedness.\nHe shows that this love originates in the marriage of goodness and\ntruth. Every one who has experienced anything of regeneration, knows\nthat there is no bliss so intense, no joy so extatic, as that arising\nfrom well-doing, and submission to the will of the Lord. When right is\ndone because it is right, when truth in the understanding is carried\ninto action, then good is inseminated in the will by the Lord, and\nconjoining itself to truth in the understanding, the soul overflows with\nthe sweetest peace, and the most interior delight. The conjunction of\ngoodness and truth is the heavenly marriage, to which the Lord compares\nthe kingdom of heaven; and He says that it is not here, nor there, but\nwithin us. Under the symbols of marriage and love, the regeneration of\nthe soul is continually described in the Word; and the meeting of Jacob\nand Rachel at the well, when \u201cJacob kissed Rachel,\u201d and for very joy,\n\u201clifted up his voice and wept,\u201d beautifully typifies the meeting of\ngoodness and truth, and the gladness resulting from their approaching\nunion.\n\nIt was said that in man the understanding predominates, and in woman\nthe will. In the mind of each, then, it is evident, there never can\nbe a perfect marriage, seeing that individual minds are in themselves\nimperfect, the balance of the will and intellect being in no case\nequal. The mental perfection or _wholeness_ of man then necessitates\nmarriage. Truth loves good, and good loves truth; and so the will and\nthe understanding ever long for conjunction. It is plain, then, that\nin man there must always be an unsatisfied desire, if he remain by\nhimself; and so, also, to even a greater degree, with the woman. This\ninsatiable desire for conjunction of soul, can not well appear in its\nstrength in this life for many reasons; nor can it receive here its full\nsatisfaction, as it will in eternity.\n\nTrue conjugial love can exist only between two; and in polygamists and\nadulterers it is utterly destroyed. Again, it can only exist with the\nregenerate, with those who love the Lord and their neighbor, and delight\nin keeping the divine commandments. In proportion as married partners so\nlive, they become more and more closely and interiorly conjoined; and\ntheir minds flowing into one, their peace, joy, and bliss are ineffably\nincreased. With the wicked there is no conjugial love. Their life, being\ninternally evil, conceals the deepest hatred; and the apparent affection\nwhich they may display in the world, arises either from sensual love, or\nworldly expediency. Be it well noted by all, that marriage can yield real\nhappiness only to the religious\u2014to those who love God and honor His laws.\n\nIt is impossible for us to give, even by way of catalogue, a view of\nthe details into which the treatise on Conjugial Love enters. It is so\nrichly studded with great principles, that no condensation is possible.\nIt is thus with all of Swedenborg\u2019s books; so that an exhaustive review\nis impossible. He never treats his readers to long moralizings that can\nbe condensed into one paragraph; but all his writings are crowded with\nthought, so that one is prompted not to condensation, but to expansion.\nThis excuse, which we have had to present on previous occasions, must\nform our apology for the following extracts, selected as illustrations of\nsome of the leading truths in this treatise.\n\n_The Delights of Conjugial Love._\u2014\u201cAs conjugial love is the foundation\nlove of all good loves, and as it is inscribed on all the parts and\nprinciples of man, even to the most particular, it follows that its\ndelights exceed the delights of all other loves, and also that it gives\ndelight to the other loves, according to its presence and conjunction\nwith them; for it expands the inmost principles of the mind, and at the\nsame time the inmost principles of the body, as the most delightful\ncurrent of its fountain flows through and opens them. The reason why all\ndelights, from first to last, are collated into this love, is on account\nof the superior excellence of its use, which is the propagation of the\nhuman race, and thence of the angelic heaven; and as this use was the\nchief end of creation, it follows that all the beatitudes, satisfactions,\ndelights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures, which the Lord the Creator\ncould possibly confer upon man, are collated into this love.\u201d\u2014n. 68.\n\n_Love truly Conjugial is essential Chastity._\u2014\u201cThe reasons are, 1.\nBecause it is from the Lord, and corresponds to the marriage of the Lord\nand the church. 2. Because it descends from the marriage of good and\ntruth. 3. Because it is spiritual, in proportion as the church exists\nwith man. 4. Because it is the foundation love, and head of all celestial\nand spiritual loves. 5. Because it is the orderly seminary of the human\nrace, and thereby of the angelic heaven. 6. Because on this account it\nalso exists with the angels of heaven, and gives birth with them to\nspiritual offspring, which are love and wisdom. 7. And because its uses\nare thus more excellent than the other uses of creation. From these\nconsiderations, it follows that love truly conjugial, viewed from its\norigin and its essence, is pure and holy, so that it may be called purity\nand holiness, consequently, essential chastity.\u201d\u2014n. 143.\n\n_Conjugial Love in Ancient Times._\u2014\u201cI have been informed by the angels,\nthat those who lived in the most ancient times, live at this day in the\nheavens, in separate houses, families, and nations, as they lived on\nearth, _and that scarce any one of a house is wanting_; and that the\nreason is, because they were principled in love truly conjugial; and that\nhence their children inherited inclinations to the conjugial principles\nof good and truth, and were easily initiated into it more and more\ninteriorly by education received from their parents, and afterwards as\nfrom themselves, when they became capable of judging for themselves, were\nintroduced into it by the Lord.\u201d\u2014n. 205.\n\n_Marriage elevates Humanity to its Highest Form._\u2014\u201cThe most perfect and\nnoble human form results from the conjunction of two forms, by marriage,\nso as to become one form; thus from two fleshes becoming one flesh\naccording to creation. In such a case the man\u2019s mind is elevated into\nsuperior light, and the wife\u2019s into superior heat.\u201d\u2014n. 201.\n\n_The Children of Good Parents._\u2014\u201cChildren born of parents who are\nprincipled in love truly conjugial, derive from their parents the\nconjugial principle of good and truth, by virtue whereof they have an\ninclination and faculty, if sons, to perceive the things appertaining\nto wisdom, and if daughters, to love those things which wisdom teaches.\nHence a superior suitableness and facility to grow wise, is inherited by\nthose who are born from such a marriage, and also to imbibe the things\nrelating to the church and heaven.\u201d\u2014n. 202-4.\n\nThe capacity of women to perform the duties of men, and men those of\nwomen, is thus spoken of.\n\n\u201cThe wife can not enter into the duties proper to the man, nor on the\nother hand the man into the duties proper to the wife, because they\ndiffer like wisdom and the love thereof, or like understanding and the\nwill thereof. In the duties proper to the man, the primary agent is\nthe understanding, thought, and wisdom; whereas in the duties proper\nto the wife, the primary agent is will, affection, and love; and the\nwife from the latter principles performs her duties, and the man from\nthe former performs his; wherefore their duties, from the nature of\nthem, are diverse, but still conjunctive in a successive series. It\nis believed by many that women can perform the duties of men, if they\nwere initiated therein like boys, at an early age. They may indeed be\ninitiated into the exercise of such duties, but not into the judgment, on\nwhich the rectitude interiorly depends; wherefore those women who have\nbeen initiated into the duties of men, are bound, in matters of judgment,\nto consult men, and then, if they are left to their own disposal, they\nselect from the counsels of men what favors their own particular love.\nIt is also supposed by some, that women are equally capable with men\nof elevating the intellectual vision, and into the same sphere of life,\nand of viewing things in the same altitude; and they have been led\ninto this opinion by the writings of certain learned authoresses; but\nthese writings, when examined in the spiritual world, in the presence\nof the authoresses, were found to be the productions, not of judgment\nand wisdom, but of ingenuity and wit; and what proceeds from these two\nlatter principles, on account of the elegance and neatness of style in\nwhich it is written, has the appearance of sublimity and erudition; yet\nonly in the eyes of those who call all ingenuity by the name of wisdom.\nIn like manner, men can not enter into the duties of women, and perform\nthem aright, because they are not in the affections of women, which are\naltogether distinct from the affections of men. As the affections and\nperceptions of the male and female sex are thus distinct by creation,\nand consequently by nature, therefore, among the statutes given to the\nsons of Israel, this was also ordained: \u2018A woman shall not put on the\ngarment of a man, neither shall a man put on the garment of a woman;\nbecause this is an abomination.\u2019 Deut. xxii. 5. The reason is, because\nall in the spiritual world are clothed according to their affections;\nand the affections of the woman and the man can not be united, except as\nsubsisting between two, and in no case as subsisting in one.\u201d\u2014n. 175.\n\nThe latter portion of the treatise on Conjugial Love is devoted to the\nmelancholy subject of the disorders of the married life, to coldnesses\nand quarrels, separations and divorces; and finally to adulteries,\nfornications, and all the abuses of the sexual relations. Of this it\nwould be out of place to speak here, except to remark, that it follows,\nas a consequence of the fact that conjugial love makes man\u2019s highest\nbliss and purest heaven, that its violations and abuses must needs lead\nto the bitterest misery and deepest hell. This portion of the treatise\nhas subjected Swedenborg to some gross calumny, which, if sincere, could\nonly have arisen from a very superficial acquaintance with the principles\nof its author. And yet it is hardly possible for a man to write on such\nsubjects, without provoking the censure of the sickly virtuous and the\nhypocritically pure. Religious people too generally treat the dire\nsexual evils which infest and corrupt society with silence and aversion;\npassing them by as the priest and the Levite did the wounded traveler.\nWhen the spirit of Jesus more fully actuates the church, and the love of\nthe neighbor prompts to heal the world\u2019s evils by all efficient means,\nthen, we have no doubt, Swedenborg on Scortatory Love will be taken into\ncouncil.\n\nWe have used the term \u201cconjugial,\u201d after Swedenborg, who generally uses\nthe Latin adjective _conjugialis_, in preference to _conjugalis_, perhaps\nbecause softer in sound.\n\nInterspersed between the various chapters of the treatise, are memorable\nrelations of scenes which the author beheld in the spiritual world, and\nconversations which he had with spirits and angels on the subject of\nconjugial love. Many of these possess the most fascinating interest,\nand convey at the same time the most profound and beautiful truths.\nOne interview which he had with two angels of the third heaven is so\nbeautiful that we present it at length.\n\n\u201cOne morning I was looking upwards into heaven, and I saw over me three\nexpanses, one above another. I wondered at first what all this meant; and\npresently there was heard from heaven a voice as of a trumpet, saying,\n\u2018We have perceived, and now see, that thou art meditating concerning\nconjugial love. We are aware that no one on earth at present knows what\ntrue conjugial love is in its origin and essence. Yet it is of importance\nthat it should be known. With us in the heavens, especially in the third\nheaven, our heavenly delights are principally derived from conjugial\nlove; wherefore in consequence of leave granted us, we will send down\nto thee a conjugial pair for thy inspection and observation:\u2019 and lo!\ninstantly there appeared a chariot descending from the third or highest\nheaven; in which there was seen one angel; but as it approached there\nwere seen therein two. The chariot, at a distance, glittered before my\neyes like a diamond, and to it were harnessed young horses white as\nsnow; and those who sat in the chariot held in their hands two turtle\ndoves.... When they came nearer, lo! it was a husband and his wife; and\nthey said, \u2018We are a conjugial pair; we have lived blessed in heaven\nfrom the first age of the world, which is called by you the golden age,\nand during that time in the same perpetual flower of youth in which thou\nseest us at this day. I viewed each attentively, because I perceived that\nthey represented conjugial love in its life and its adorning; in its life\nin their faces, and in its adorning in their raiment.... The husband\nappeared of a middle age between manhood and youth; from his eyes darted\nforth sparkling light derived from the wisdom of love; by virtue of which\nlight his face was radiant from its inmost ground; and in consequence\nof such radiance, the skin had a kind of refulgence in the outermost\nsurface, whereby his whole face was one resplendent comeliness. He was\ndressed in an upper robe which reached down to his feet, and underneath\nit was a vesture of hyacinthine blue, girded about with a golden girdle,\nupon which were three precious stones, two sapphires on the sides, and\na carbuncle in the middle; his stockings were of bright shining linen,\nwith threads of silver interwoven; and his shoes were of velvet: such\nwas the representative form of conjugial love with the husband. But with\nthe wife it was this; her face was seen by me, and it was not seen; it\nwas seen as essential beauty, and it was not seen because this beauty\nwas inexpressible; for in her face there was a splendor of flaming\nlight, such as the angels of the third heaven enjoy, and this light made\nmy sight dim; so that I was lost in astonishment: she, observing this,\naddressed me, saying, \u2018What dost thou see?\u2019 I replied, \u2018I see nothing\nbut conjugial love and the form thereof; but I see, and I do not see.\u2019\nHereupon she turned herself obliquely from her husband; and then I was\nenabled to view her attentively. Her eyes were bright and sparkling from\nthe light of her own heaven, which light, as was said, is of a flaming\nquality, which it derives from the love of wisdom; for in that heaven\nwives love their husbands from their wisdom and in their wisdom: and\nhusbands love their wives from that love of wisdom and in it, as directed\ntowards themselves; and thus they are united. This was the origin of her\nbeauty; which was such that it would be impossible for any painter to\nimitate and exhibit it in its form, for he has no colors bright and vivid\nenough to express its lustre; nor is it in the power of his art to depict\nsuch beauty. Her hair was adjusted in becoming order so as to correspond\nwith her beauty; and in it were inserted diadems of flowers: she had a\nnecklace of carbuncles, from which hung a rosary of chrysolites; and she\nhad bracelets of pearl: her upper robe was scarlet, and underneath it\nwas a stomacher of purple, fastened in front with clasps of rubies. But\nwhat surprised me was, that the colors varied according to her aspect in\nregard to her husband, and also according thereto were sometimes more\nglittering, and sometimes less; in mutual aspect more, and in oblique\naspect less. When I had made these observations, they again discoursed\nwith me; and when the husband spoke, he spoke at the same time as from\nhis wife; and when the wife spoke, she spoke at the same time as from her\nhusband; such was the union of their minds from whence speech flows; and\non this occasion I also heard the sound or tone of voice of conjugial\nlove; inwardly it was simultaneous, and it likewise proceeded from the\ndelights of a state of innocence and peace. At length they said, \u2018We are\nrecalled; we must depart:\u2019 and instantly they appeared again conveyed\nin a chariot as before. The way by which they were conveyed was a paved\nway through flowering shrubberies, from the beds of which rose olive and\norange trees laden with fruit. When they approached their own heaven they\nwere met by several virgins, who welcomed and introduced them.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n    _Attacked by Dr. Ekebom\u2014Visits France\u2014Letter to Hartley, and\n    Hartley\u2019s Opinion of Swedenborg._\n\n\nIn the spring of 1769, Swedenborg published at Amsterdam, A Brief\nExposition of the Doctrine of the New Church, \u201cin which work,\u201d he says,\nwriting to Dr. Beyer, \u201care fully shown the errors of the existing\ndoctrines of justification by faith alone, and of the imputation of the\nrighteousness or merits of Jesus Christ.\u201d He sent the little book to all\nthe clergy throughout Holland, and to the most eminent in Germany; but,\non second thought, sent only one copy to Sweden, to Dr. Beyer, requesting\nhim to keep it to himself, for true divinity in Sweden was in a wintry\nstate.\n\nSwedenborg\u2019s long preservation from attack and controversy, at this\ntime came to an end. On the 22d of March, 1769, Dr. Ekebom, Dean of the\nTheological faculty of Gottenburg, laid before the Consistory there\na series of objections against Swedenborg\u2019s theological writings,\nladen with untruth, and full of personal invective. The Dean branded\nhis doctrine \u201cas in the highest degree heretical, and, on points the\nmost tender to every Christian, Socinian.\u201d He stated, further, that\nhe \u201c_did not know Assessor Swedenborg\u2019s religious system, and should\ntake no pains to come at the knowledge of it_.\u201d As for Swedenborg\u2019s\nchief works, he \u201c_did not possess them, and had neither read nor seen\nthem_.\u201d Swedenborg\u2019s written reply, transmitted from Holland, was mild\nand effectual. He cited his writings themselves, and proved that,\naccording to Scripture, the Apostolic Creed, and whatever was not\nself-contradictory in the orthodoxy of the churches, his doctrine was\nanything but heretical. But the self-acknowledged ignorance and prejudice\nof the Dean were not to be removed by anything he might say. \u201cWas not\nthis,\u201d to quote Swedenborg\u2019s own words, \u201cto be blind in the forehead,\nand to have eyes behind, and even those covered with a film? To see and\ndecide upon writings in such a fashion, can any secular or ecclesiastical\njudge regard as otherwise than criminal?\u201d\n\nAbout the end of May, or the beginning of June, Swedenborg left Amsterdam\nfor Paris, \u201cwith a design which,\u201d in writing to Dr. Beyer, he says,\n\u201cmust not be made public beforehand.\u201d We hardly understand the remark,\nexcept that he anticipated some difficulty with regard to the object\nof his journey,\u2014the publication of another little work, entitled, \u201cThe\nIntercourse Between the Soul and the Body,\u201d in the French capital.\n\nOn his arrival in Paris, Swedenborg submitted his tract to M. Chevreuil,\nCensor Royal, who, having read it, informed him that a tacit permission\nto publish would be granted, on condition, as was customary in the case\nof doubtful books, that the title should say, \u201cprinted at London,\u201d or\n\u201cat Amsterdam.\u201d This, Swedenborg\u2019s nice sense of truth and honor could\nnot submit to, and he abandoned his intention of publishing it in Paris.\nHis enemies in Gottenburg then circulated a report that he had been\nordered to quit Paris, which he, in a letter to Dr. Beyer, pronounced a\ndirect falsehood, and appealed for the truth of the case to the Swedish\nAmbassador to France.\n\n\u201cRumor also,\u201d writes Wilkinson, \u201chas been busy with Swedenborg upon\nthis journey. The French \u2018Universal Biography\u2019 connects him with an\nartist,\u2014Elie,\u2014who, it is alleged, supplied him with money, and furthered\nhis presumed designs. Indeed, he has been accused of a league with\nthe _illumin\u00e9s_, and with a certain politico-theological freemasonry,\ncenturies old, but always invisible, which was to overturn society,\nand foster revolutions all over the world. We can only say that our\nresearches have not elicited these particulars, and that every authentic\ndocument shows that Swedenborg stood always upon his own basis,\naccepted money from no one, and was just what he appeared\u2014a theological\nmissionary, and nothing more.\u201d\n\nThe short visit to Paris was terminated by his departure for London,\nwhere, unfettered by censors, he published his little book\u2014\u201cThe\nIntercourse Between the Soul and the Body.\u201d\n\nOne of Swedenborg\u2019s warmest and most intelligent English friends, was the\nRev. Thomas Hartley, A. M., rector of Winwick, Northamptonshire,\u2014himself\nan author, and assistant translator of the first English edition of\n\u201cHeaven and Hell.\u201d At this time he wrote to Swedenborg, fearing that\nhe might be in want of money, and offering to supply his needs; also\nrequesting an account of his past life and connections, as a means of\nrefuting calumnies. In his reply, Swedenborg satisfied him on these\npoints. He says to Mr. Hartley: \u201cI take pleasure in the friendship you\nexpress for me in your letter, and return you sincere thanks for the\nsame: but as to the praises you bestow upon me, I only receive them as\ntokens of your love of the truths contained in my writings, and so refer\nthem to the Lord and Saviour, from whom is all truth, because he is the\nTruth. John xiv. 6.\n\n\u201cI live on terms of familiarity and friendship with all the bishops of\nmy country, who are ten in number; as also with the sixteen senators,\nand the rest of the nobility; for they know that I am in fellowship with\nangels. The King and Queen also, and the three princes, their sons, show\nme much favor. I was once invited by the King and Queen to dine at their\ntable,\u2014an honor which is, in general, granted only to the nobility of\nthe highest rank; and likewise, since, with the hereditary Prince. They\nall wished for my return home,\u2014so far am I from being in any danger of\npersecution in my own country, as you seem to apprehend, and so kindly\nwish to provide against; and should anything of the kind befall me\nelsewhere, it can not hurt me. But I regard all that I have mentioned as\nmatters of little moment; for, what far exceeds them, I have been called\nto a holy office by the Lord himself, who most graciously manifested\nhimself in person to me, his servant, in the year 1743; when he opened my\nsight to the view of the spiritual world, and granted me the privilege\nof conversing with spirits and angels, which I enjoy to this day. I am\na Fellow, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm:\nbut I have never sought admission into any other Literary Society, as I\nbelong to an angelic society, wherein things relating to heaven and the\nsoul are the only subjects of discourse and entertainment; whereas the\nthings which occupy the attention of our Literary Societies are such as\nrelate to the world and the body. As for the world\u2019s wealth, I have what\nis sufficient, and more I neither seek nor wish for. Your letter has\ndrawn the mention of these things from me, with the view, as you suggest,\nthat any ill-grounded prejudices may be removed. Farewell! and from my\nheart I wish you all felicity in this world and in the next; which I\nmake no doubt of your attaining, if you look and pray to our Lord.\u2014E.\nSwedenborg.\u201d Dated, London, 1769.\n\nMr. Hartley, in 1781, when far advanced in years, thus gives his opinion\nof Swedenborg:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe great Swedenborg was a man of uncommon humility. He was of a\ncatholic spirit, and loved all good men of every church, making at the\nsame time all candid allowance for the innocence of involuntary error.\nHowever self-denying in his own person, as to gratifications and\nindulgences, even within the bounds of moderation, yet nothing severe,\nnothing of the precisian, appeared in him; but on the contrary, an\ninward serenity and complacency of mind were manifest in the sweetness\nof his looks and outward demeanor. It may reasonably be supposed that I\nhave weighed the character of our illustrious author in the scale of my\nbest judgment, from the personal knowledge I had of him, from the best\ninformation I could procure respecting him, and from a diligent perusal\nof his writings; and according thereto, I have found him to be the sound\ndivine, the good man, the deep philosopher, the universal scholar, and\nthe polite gentleman; and I further believe, that he had a high degree\nof illumination from the spirit of God, was commissioned by Him as an\nextraordinary messenger to the world, and had communication with angels\nand the spiritual world far beyond any since the time of the Apostles.\nAs such, I offer his character to the world, solemnly declaring, that,\nto the best of my knowledge, I am not herein led by any partiality or\nprivate views whatever, being now dead to every worldly interest, and\naccounting myself as unworthy of any higher character than that of a\npenitent sinner.\u201d\n\nTwo others of Swedenborg\u2019s English friends were Dr. Messiter and\nDr. Hamp\u00e9, who had been preceptor to George I. From a letter of Dr.\nMessiter\u2019s, we extract the following remarks on Swedenborg\u2019s character:\u2014\n\n\u201cI have had the honor of being frequently admitted to Swedenborg\u2019s\ncompany, when in London, and to converse with him on various points\nof learning, and I will venture to affirm that there are no parts of\nmathematical, philosophical, or medical knowledge, nay, I believe I might\njustly say, of human literature, to which he is in the least a stranger;\nyet so totally insensible is he of his own merit, that I am confident he\ndoes not know that he has any; and as he himself somewhere says of the\nangels, he always turns his head away on the slightest encomium.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg\u2019s stay in England at this time does not seem to have been\nlonger than sufficed for the transaction of his business; for in\nSeptember, 1769, he sailed for Stockholm, arriving there at the beginning\nof October. But we must now suspend the narrative of his life to offer a\nfew remarks on his little works,\u2014\u201cA Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of\nthe New Church,\u201d and \u201cThe Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n    _\u201cBrief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church,\u201d and\n    \u201cThe Intercourse between the Soul and the Body.\u201d_\n\n\n\u201cThe Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church\u201d is an\nexposition effected by means of comparisons between the doctrines of the\nNew Church and those of Catholics and Protestants. The work is avowedly\nonly a sketch, and the precursor of a larger book\u2014\u201cThe True Christian\nReligion\u201d\u2014a work of some years, which will shortly demand our attention.\nThe Catholic doctrinals are taken from the records of the Council of\nTrent; and the Protestant from the Formula Concordi\u00e6, composed by persons\nattached to the Augsburg Confession. The disagreements between the tenets\nof the Old and New Churches are considered under twenty-five Articles,\nthe heads of which we will condense and present to the reader.\n\nThe Churches which, by the Reformation, separated themselves from\nthe Roman Catholic Church, differ in various points of doctrine; but\nthey all agree in the Articles concerning a Trinity of Persons in the\nGodhead, original sin from Adam, imputation of the merit of Christ,\nand justification by faith alone. The Roman Catholics, before the\nReformation, held and taught exactly the same things as the Reformed did\nafter it, in respect to these points; only with this difference, that\nthey conjoined faith with charity or good works.\n\nThe leading Reformers, Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, retained all the\ntenets concerning a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, original sin,\nimputation of the merits of Christ, and justification by faith, just as\nthey were, and had been, among the Roman Catholics; but they separated\ncharity or good works from that faith, and declared at the same time that\nthey were not of a saving efficacy, with a view to be totally severed\nfrom the Roman Catholics as to the very essentials of the Church, which\nare faith and charity. Nevertheless the leading Reformers adjoined good\nworks, and even conjoined them to their faith, but in man as a passive\nsubject; whereas the Roman Catholics conjoin them in man as an active\nsubject; and notwithstanding this, there is actually a conformity between\nthe one and the other as to faith, works, and merit.\n\nThe whole system of theology in the Christian World, at this day, is\nfounded on an idea of three Gods, arising from the doctrine of a Trinity\nof Persons, and when this doctrine is rejected, then all the tenets of\nthe aforesaid theology fall to pieces. The truth of this must be apparent\nto every one. The Doctrine of a Trinity of Persons in the Divine Being,\nis the key-stone of Roman Catholic and Protestant theology. If this\nDoctrine be false, the whole structure totters to its fall.\n\nWhen the faith in three Gods is rejected, then it is possible to receive\nthe true and saving faith, which is a faith in One God, united with good\nworks.\n\nThis faith is in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, and in its simple form is\nas follows: 1. That there is One God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and\nthat He is the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. That saving faith is to believe in\nHim. 3. That evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and\nfrom the devil. 4. That good works ought to be done, because they are of\nGod and from God. 5. That they ought to be done by man as of himself,\nbut with a belief that they are from the Lord, operating in him and by\nhim.\n\nThe faith of the present day has separated religion from the Church,\nsince religion consists in the acknowledgment of One God, and in the\nworship of Him from faith grounded in charity; but the faith of the\npresent Church cannot be conjoined with charity, and produce any fruits\nwhich are good works, because imputation supplies everything, remits\nguilt, justifies, sanctifies, regenerates; imparts the life of heaven,\nand thus salvation; and all this freely, without any works of man. In\nthis case, what is charity, which ought to be united with faith, but\nsomething vain and superfluous, and a mere addition and supplement to\nimputation, and justification, to which, nevertheless, it adds no weight\nor value?\n\nFrom this faith results a worship of the mouth and not of the life. Now\nthe Lord accepts the worship of the mouth in proportion as it proceeds\nfrom the worship of the life.\n\nThe doctrine of the present Church is interwoven with many paradoxes,\nwhich are to be embraced by faith. Therefore its tenets gain admission\ninto the memory only, and not at all into the understanding, which is\nsuperior to the memory, but merely into confirmations below it. Thus the\ntenets of the present Church cannot be learned or retained without great\ndifficulty, nor can they be preached or taught without using great care\nand caution to conceal their nakedness, because sound reason neither\ndiscerns nor perceives them.\n\nThe doctrine of the faith of the present Church ascribes to God human\npassions and infirmities; as, that He beheld man from anger, that He\nrequired to be reconciled, that He is reconciled through the love He bore\ntowards the Son, and by His intercession; and that He required to be\nappeased by the sight of His Son\u2019s sufferings, and thus to be brought\nback to mercy; and that He imputes the righteousness of His Son to an\nunrighteous man who supplicates it from faith alone; and that thus from\nan enemy He makes him a friend, and from a child of wrath a child of\ngrace:\u2014all which dogmas are the opposite of the truth, and repulsive to\nevery wise man.\n\nThe faith of the present Church has produced monstrous births; for\ninstance, instantaneous salvation by an immediate act of mercy;\npredestination; the notion that God has no respect unto the actions of\nmen, but unto faith alone; that there is no connection between charity\nand faith; that man in conversion is like a stock; with many more\nheresies of the same kind; likewise concerning the sacraments of Baptism\nand the Holy Supper, as to the advantages reasonably to be expected from\nthem, when considered according to the doctrine of justification by faith\nalone; as also with regard to the person of Christ: and that heresies,\nfrom the first ages to the present day, have sprung up from no other\nsource than from the doctrine founded on the idea of three Divine Persons\nor Gods.\n\nThe last state of the present church, when it is at an end, is meant by\nthe consummation of the age, and the coming of the Lord at that period.\nMatt. xxiv. 3.\n\nThe infestation from falses, and thence the consummation of every truth,\nor the desolation which at this day prevails in the Christian Churches,\nis meant by the great affliction, such as was not from the beginning of\nthe world, nor ever shall be: Matt. xxiv. 21: and that there would be\nneither love nor faith, nor the knowledge of good and truth, in the last\ntime of the Christian Church, is understood by these words in the same\nchapter of Matthew: \u201cAfter the affliction of those days, the sun shall\nbe darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall\nfall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken,\u201d verse\n29.\n\nThey who are in the present justifying faith, are meant by the he-goats\nin Daniel and Matthew; and they who have confirmed themselves therein,\nare meant in the Apocalypse by the dragon and his two beasts, and by the\nlocusts; and this same faith, when confirmed, is there meant by the great\ncity which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where the two witnesses\nwere slain; as also by the pit of the abyss, whence the locusts issued.\n\nUnless a New Church be established by the Lord, no one can be saved.\nThis is meant by these words: \u201cUnless those days should be shortened,\nthere should no flesh be saved.\u201d Matt. xxiv. 22. The reason why no flesh\ncould be saved, unless those days should be shortened, is, because the\nfaith of the present Church is founded on the idea of three Gods, and\nwith this idea no one can enter heaven. Not that all who are believers\nin the doctrine of a tripersonal God are lost; but that, unless a New\nChurch were provided by the Lord, and spiritual truth revealed, man,\nwanting truth, could never become regenerate, could never enter heaven,\nand thus the end of his creation would be defeated. In spite, however,\nof false doctrine, men are saved by the laying hold, as it were, of the\ntruths leading to a good life, which exist in the most corrupt faiths,\nand goodness always contains an internal acknowledgment and love of\ntruth, although false doctrine may fill the memory. Yet it is true,\nnevertheless, that false doctrine perverts, discourages, and in the end\ndestroys all inclinations to live well. For this reason, then, the First\nChristian Church has come to its end, or has been consummated; and the\nLord is raising up a New Church, endowed with truth capable of leading\nthe world in the way of life, and to heaven.\n\nThe opening and rejection of the tenets of the faith of the present\nChurch, and the revelation and reception of the tenets of the faith of\nthe New Church, is meant by these words in the Apocalypse:\u2014\u201cHe that sat\nupon the throne said, Behold I make all things new; and He said unto me,\nWrite; for these words are true and faithful.\u201d xxi. 5. The New Church\nabout to be established by the Lord, is the New Jerusalem, treated of in\nchapters xxi. and xxii., which is there called the Bride and the Wife of\nthe Lamb.\n\nSuch, briefly expressed, are the heads or leading ideas of the little\nwork, \u201cA Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church,\u201d a treatise\nwhich, as Wilkinson truly remarks, \u201cis unequaled among Swedenborg\u2019s works\nfor its destructive logic.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body,\u201d is a small treatise\ndesigned to illustrate a subject which has puzzled many minds from\ntime immemorial. Various have been the theories of philosophers on\nthis subject; but few could satisfy the intelligent mind, or explain\nthe varied phenomena of being. Swedenborg, in many of his previous\nworks, had, with greater or less fullness, explained the nature of the\nsoul\u2019s union with the body, and this treatise is, to some extent, but\na repetition of what he had elsewhere written,\u2014cleared, however, from\nextraneous matter.\n\nHis view of the subject is simple and intelligible, as is all truth.\nThe soul of man is a spiritual substance, of the same form as his body;\ntransfusing all the body\u2019s tissues, and wearing the body as a garment,\neven as the body wears its clothes. The body lives from the soul. In\nitself, the body is dead and without sensation, as is evident when the\nman leaves it at death; it then returns to its inorganic elements. As the\nbody is diseased or injured, the soul is more or less deprived of its\npower of action in the natural world, but the soul itself is uninjured.\nWe see an illustration of this in the use of spectacles. Man\u2019s external\norgan of sight is defective, and he cannot see objects distinctly.\nGlasses are put before his eyes, and he sees as well as ever. Now it is\ncertain the glasses in themselves do not restore his sight. They merely\ncomplete the defective organ, and the eye of the spiritual man uses\nthem as a means to look forth into the material world. Observation and\nmeditation will supply a multitude of confirmations of this doctrine of\nthe spiritual body animating and transfusing the material.\n\nAt death the spiritual body lays down the material, and makes its\nappearance in its higher sphere. Whether it is beautiful or deformed,\ndepends upon the man\u2019s conduct on earth. If the soul has loved goodness\nand truth, it is a beautiful human form, and increases in grace and\nloveliness to eternity in heaven; if, on the other hand, it has lived in\nevil and hated truth, it is deformed and hideous, and finds its place in\nhell, the abode of all that is ugly and abominable.\n\nBut from this it is not to be concluded that the soul has life in itself.\nLike the body, it also is dead, and is only a form receptive of life from\nthe One Only Infinite Life, in whom the whole universe lives, moves,\nand has its being,\u2014the Lord. The material body is proximately sustained\nby the light and heat of the material sun. The spiritual body of man\nis sustained by the light and heat of the spiritual Sun, which is the\ncircumambient sphere of the Divine Love and Wisdom. From this spiritual\nSun, our natural sun exists, even as our material bodies live from our\nspiritual bodies. But all alike exist and subsist from the Lord alone.\n\nSuch, in a few words, is the leading idea of this little treatise. For\nthe details, the charming confirmation and the able and simple refutation\nof the doctrines of Leibnitz and other philosophers, who have treated\non the same subject, we can only refer to the book itself. We append\nthe concluding paragraph of the treatise, as a delightful specimen of\nspiritual analogy:\u2014\n\n    \u201cI was once asked, how I, who was previously a philosopher,\n    became a theologian; and I answered, \u2018In the same manner that\n    fishermen became the disciples and apostles of the Lord: and\n    that I also from my youth had been a spiritual fisherman.\u2019 On\n    this, he asked, \u2018What is a spiritual fisherman?\u2019 I replied,\u2014\u2018A\n    fisherman, in the spiritual sense of the Word, signifies a man\n    who investigates and teaches natural truths, and afterwards\n    spiritual truths in a rational manner.\u2019 On his inquiring, \u2018How\n    is this demonstrated?\u2019 I said, \u2018From these passages of the\n    Word: \u2018And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the rivers\n    shall be wasted and dried up. The fishers also shall mourn,\n    and all they that cast a hook into the brook shall lament.\u2019\n    Isaiah xix. 5, 8. And in another place it is said, respecting\n    the sea, whose waters were healed, \u2018The fishers shall stand\n    upon it, from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be present\n    to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their\n    kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.\u2019 Ezekiel\n    xlvii. 10. And in another place, \u2018Behold I will send for many\n    fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them.\u2019 Jeremiah\n    xvi. 16. Hence it is evident why the Lord chose fishermen\n    for his disciples, and said, \u2018Follow me, and I will make you\n    fishers of men;\u2019 Matthew iv. 18, 19; Mark i. 16, 17; and why\n    he said to Peter after he had caught a multitude of fishes,\n    \u2018Henceforth thou shalt catch men.\u2019 Luke v. 9, 10. I afterwards\n    demonstrated the origin of this signification of fishermen from\n    the Apocalypse Revealed; namely, that since water signifies\n    natural truths, as does also a river, a fish signifies those\n    who are in possession of natural truths; and thence fishermen,\n    those who investigate and teach truth. On hearing this, my\n    interrogator said, \u2018Now I can understand why the Lord called\n    and chose fishermen to be his disciples; and therefore I do\n    not wonder that he has also chosen you, since, as you have\n    observed, you were from early youth a fisherman in a spiritual\n    sense, that is, an investigator of natural truths; and the\n    reason that you are now become an investigator of spiritual\n    truths, is because they are founded in the former.\u2019 To this\n    he added, being a man of reason, that \u2018the Lord alone knows\n    who is the proper person to apprehend and teach the truths of\n    His New Church, whether one of the primates, or one of their\n    domestic servants. Besides,\u2019 he continued, \u2018what Christian\n    theologian does not study philosophy in the schools, before he\n    is inaugurated a theologian.\u2019 At length he said, \u2018Since you\n    are become a theologian, explain what is your theology.\u2019 I\n    answered, \u2018These are its two principles, _God is one, and there\n    is a conjunction of charity and faith_.\u2019 To which he replied,\n    \u2018Who denies these principles?\u2019 I rejoined, \u2018The theology of the\n    present day, when interiorly examined.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n    _Persecution\u2014Letter to the Academy of Sciences\u2014Leaves Stockholm\n    for the last time._\n\n\nOn Swedenborg\u2019s arrival in Stockholm, he found that the long peace he had\nenjoyed from external interference and persecution was at an end. The\nfirst manifestation of hostility took place in the seizure of some copies\nof his treatise on Conjugial Love, at Norkjoping, which he had sent from\nEngland, intending to present them to his countrymen. The ground of their\nseizure was, a law prohibiting the introduction of any works into Sweden\nat variance with the Lutheran faith. The seizure having taken place\nin the diocese of his nephew Filenius, he naturally turned to him for\nexplanation and redress. Filenius thereon embraced and kissed his uncle,\nand assured him that he would fulfill all his desires, and procure the\nrestoration of his books. But his actions were the reverse of his words;\nfor he was, in fact, the prompter of the seizure, and secretly did all\nhe could to insure their confiscation. By and by Swedenborg discovered\nthe hypocrisy, and remonstrated with Filenius; whereupon he dropped the\nmask, and insisted on the books undergoing clerical revision before they\ncould be surrendered. Swedenborg urged that as his treatise was not\ntheological, but chiefly moral, its revisal by the clergy was absurd,\nand that such censorship would pave the way for a dark age in Sweden.\nBut Filenius was unmoved; and Swedenborg, now fully convinced of his\ndouble dealing, likened him, as he well might, to Judas Iscariot, and\nsaid that \u201che who spoke lies, lied also in his life.\u201d Having brought some\ncopies of his treatise on Conjugial Love with him to Sweden, he presented\nthem to many of the Senators, the Bishops, and the royal family. He had\nno fear of the result of free and open criticism. But worse things lay\nin store. Dean Ekebom, of Gottenburg, was indignant that Doctors Beyer\nand Rosen should have embraced Swedenborg\u2019s views, and the clerical\ndeputies from that town were instructed to complain of Swedenborg and\nhis disciples to the Diet. They found in bishop Filenius, then President\nof the House of Clergy, a willing instrument to further their designs.\nThey plotted to have Swedenborg put upon his trial, presuming that when\nquestioned he would openly assert his divine commission and powers of\nspiritual intercourse, and then they would pronounce him insane, and have\nhim committed to a mad-house. Count Hopken revealed to Swedenborg this\ncunning device of his enemies, and advised him to fly the kingdom. At\nthis news, Swedenborg was much afflicted; and going into his garden, he\nfell on his knees, and prayed to the Lord to direct him what to do. After\nthis prayer, he received the consolatory answer that _no evil should\ntouch him_. And so it turned out. His inoffensive bearing, his rank\nand connections, all tended to intimidate his adversaries, and prevent\nthe execution of their designed outrage. Had he been a farmer\u2019s or a\ntradesman\u2019s son, instead of being a bishop\u2019s, his fate might have been\nvery different.\n\nBishop Filenius, however, succeeded in gaining the appointment of\na committee of the House of Clergy on the Swedenborgian case. Its\ndeliberations were kept secret. Nothing came of it that was unfavorable\nto Swedenborg. They disregarded the charges of Filenius, and spoke \u201cvery\nhandsomely and reasonably of Swedenborg.\u201d\n\nFilenius gained one point, however, in the presentation of a memorial\nto the king, requesting the attention of the Chancellor of Justice\nto the troubles at Gottenburg. To this request the king yielded; and\nthe members of the Consistory of Gottenburg were commanded to send\nin an unequivocal representation of the light in which they regarded\nSwedenborg\u2019s principles. On January 2d, 1770, Dr. Beyer, as one of the\nmembers of the Consistory, rose, and gave his bold and honest testimony\nin favor of Swedenborg and his writings. He said: \u201cConvinced by\nexperience, I must in the first place observe, that no man is competent\nto give a just and suitable judgment on those writings, who has not\nread them; or who has read them superficially, or with a determination\nin his heart to reject them, after having perused, without examination,\nsome detached parts only; neither is he competent, who rejects them as\nsoon as he finds anything that militates against those doctrines which\nhe has long cherished and acknowledged as true, and of which perhaps he\nis but too blindly enamored; nor is he competent, who is an ardent, yet\nundiscriminating biblical scholar, who, in explaining the meaning of the\nScriptures, confines his ideas to the literal expression or signification\nonly: and, lastly, neither is he competent, who has altogether devoted\nhimself to sensual indulgences, and the love of the world.\u201d He then\nentered into the details of New Church doctrine, and concluded in these\nwords: \u201cIn obedience, therefore, to your Majesty\u2019s most gracious command,\nthat I should deliver a full and positive declaration respecting the\nwritings of Swedenborg, I do acknowledge it to be my duty to declare,\nin all humble confidence, that as far as I have proceeded in the study\nof them, and agreeably to the gift granted to me for investigation and\njudgment, I have found in them _nothing but what closely coincides with\nthe words of the Lord himself, and that they shine with a light truly\ndivine_.\u201d These were noble and brave words to speak in the midst of\nenemies.\n\nThe debate on his doctrines dragged its slow length along. His enemies,\nfull of spite, were yet full of fear, and seemed to dread the result of\nan open attack upon Swedenborg. Still the petty persecution continued,\nuntil, at last, May 10th, 1770, Swedenborg took up his pen and addressed\nhimself directly to the king. In this letter, he complains that he had\nmet with usage the like of which had been offered to none since the\nestablishment of Christianity in Sweden, and much less since there\nhad existed liberty of conscience. He recapitulated his grievances.\nHe said that he had been attacked, calumniated, and menaced, without\nthe opportunity of defending himself; though truth itself had answered\nfor him. He reminded his Majesty of their former interview. With great\nsimplicity, he says: \u201cI have already informed your Majesty, and beseech\nyou to call it to mind, that the Lord our Saviour manifested himself\nto me in a sensible personal appearance; that he has commanded me to\nwrite what has been already written, and what I have still to write;\nthat He was afterwards graciously pleased to endow me with the privilege\nof conversing with angels and spirits, and of being in fellowship with\nthem. I have already declared this more than once to your Majesty in\nthe presence of all the royal family, when they were graciously pleased\nto invite me to their table, with five senators, and several other\npersons; this was the only subject discoursed of during the repast. Of\nthis I also spoke afterwards to several other senators; and more openly\nto their Excellencies Count de Tessin, Count Bonde, and Count Hopken,\nwho are still alive, and were satisfied with the truth of it. I have\ndeclared the same in England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, and at Paris,\nto kings, princes, and other particular persons, as well as to those in\nthis kingdom. If the common report is to be believed, the Chancellor has\ndeclared that what I have been reciting are untruths, although the very\ntruth. To say that they cannot believe and give credit to such things,\ntherein will I excuse them; for it is not in my power to place others in\nthe same state in which God has placed me, so as to be able to convince\nthem, by their own eyes and ears of the truth of those deeds and things\nI publicly have made known. I have no ability to capacitate them to\nconverse with angels and spirits, neither to work miracles to dispose or\nforce their understandings to comprehend what I say. When my writings\nare read with attention and cool reflection, (in which many things are\nto be met with, heretofore unknown,) it is easy enough to conclude,\nthat I could not come to such a knowledge but by a real vision, and by\nconversing with those who are in the spiritual world. This knowledge is\ngiven to me from our Saviour, not for any private merit of mine, but\nfor the great concern of all Christians\u2019 salvation and happiness; and\nas such, how can any one venture to assert that it is false? That these\nthings may appear such as many have had no conception of, and which, of\nconsequence, they can not easily credit, has nothing remarkable in it,\nfor scarcely anything is known respecting them.\u201d He concluded by throwing\nhimself upon the king\u2019s protection, and requesting him to command for\nhimself the opinion of the clergy on the case; also the production of\nvarious documents that had been produced at Gottenburg and elsewhere; in\norder that he, and those maligned together with him, might be heard in\ntheir defence, this being their right and privilege. He protested, that\nthe only advice he had given to Doctors Beyer and Rosen, was to address\nthemselves to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a means to heavenly\ngood and blessedness; for He only has all power in heaven and on earth.\nMatthew xxviii. 18. Were this doctrine of the Supreme Divinity of the\nLord Jesus Christ taken away, he averred that he would rather live in\nTartary than in Christendom.\n\nHad the Consistory declared this doctrine heretical, it must have led to\nmany strange issues. But the Consistory came to no decision, and their\nreport on Swedenborg\u2019s writings was never written. A short time before\nSwedenborg left Stockholm for the last time, the king said to him: \u201cThe\nConsistory has been silent on my letters and your works;\u201d and, putting\nhis hand on Swedenborg\u2019s shoulder, he added, \u201cWe may conclude that they\nhave found nothing reprehensible in them, and that you have written in\nconformity to the truth.\u201d\n\nThroughout all this affair, Swedenborg remained perfectly calm; and,\nthough a very old man, worked on as industriously as ever. It might seem,\nfrom what has been said, that the controversy had terminated entirely in\nhis favor. But it was not so, as he, in the following year, 1771, found\nout; for then it appeared that his adversaries had succeeded in obtaining\na strict prohibition against the importation of his writings into Sweden.\nIt was his intention to send in a formal complaint to the States General,\nappealing against this prohibition; but it does not appear whether he\nfulfilled his intention, or not.\n\nFinally, he addressed a letter to the Universities of Upsal, Lund, and\nAbo, asserting that each of the estates of the kingdom ought to have its\nown Consistory, and ought not to acknowledge the exclusive authority of\nthat of Gottenburg. He declared that religious matters belong to others\nas well as the priests. Thus ends our account of this affair. It may be\nsaid to be the only thing approaching to persecution that Swedenborg\nendured; and considering the many heterodox opinions that he broached, we\ncan not but think that he had, on the whole, but little to complain of.\nMany who have followed him in the propagation of the new theology, have\nnot gone so far, yet have fared worse. The gentleness and simple prudence\nwhich, during so many years, shielded him from interference, we can not\ntoo highly admire. But, above all, we must be struck with the remarkable\nprovidence of the Lord, shown in his protection: the Divine promise was\ntruly kept, that he _should not be harmed_.\n\nHis old associates of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm,\nreceived, at this time, his last communication. He wrote them a letter\nexplaining some of the correspondences of Scripture, and their origin.\nIn it, he says: \u201cThe science of correspondences was esteemed, by the\nancients, the science of sciences, and constituted their wisdom; it\nwould surely be of importance for some one of your society to devote\nhis attention to it. Should it be desired, I am willing to unfold the\nmeaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, which are nothing else but\ncorrespondences; these being discovered and proved from the Word, in\nthe Apocalypse Revealed; and to publish their explications, is a work\nwhich no other person could accomplish.\u201d We have no record as to how the\nAcademy received this proposal. A copy of this letter was sent to Mr.\nHartley, and Swedenborg desired that he and his friends would think over\nthe subject. The letter is now published as an appendix to his treatise\non the White Horse.\n\nSwedenborg now prepared to leave Stockholm for another journey. Writing\nunder date of July 23d, 1770, to Dr. Beyer, he says: \u201cAs I am going, in\na few days, to Amsterdam, I shall take my leave of you in this letter,\nhoping that our Saviour will support you in good health, preserve you\nfrom further violence, and bless your thoughts.\u201d\n\nRobsahm tells us that, on the day that Swedenborg departed, he called\non him, and \u201cI then asked him,\u201d says he, \u201cif we should meet again. He\nanswered me in a tender and touching manner: \u2018I do not know whether I\nshall return; but I am assured I shall not die before I have finished\nthe publication of the book entitled the True Christian Religion; and for\nwhich only I am now about to depart. But should we not see one another\nagain in this lower world, we shall meet in the presence of the Lord our\nHeavenly Father, if so be that we observe to do his commandments.\u2019 He\nthen took a cheerful leave, and started on his last journey, with the\napparent vigor of a man of thirty years of age, although he was then\neighty-two. He took ship for Amsterdam, leaving his native land, never\nagain, in the body, to return.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n    _Swedenborg in intercourse with General Tuxen and Paulus ab\n    Indagine\u2014His reply to Dr. Ernesti\u2014Letter to the Landgrave of\n    Hesse Darmstadt._\n\n\nOn the voyage to Amsterdam, the ship that carried Swedenborg being\ndetained, by adverse winds, off Elsinore, General Tuxen, hearing that\nSwedenborg was in the offing, determined to improve the opportunity; and,\ntaking a boat, went off to see him. Introduced by the captain into the\ncabin, he found Swedenborg seated in an undress,\u2014his elbows on the table,\nand his hands supporting his face, which was turned towards the door,\u2014his\neyes open and much elevated. The General at once addressed him. At this,\nhe recovered himself, (for he had been in a state of vision,) rose with\nsome confusion, advanced a few steps in visible uncertainty, and then\nbade him welcome, asking whence he came. Tuxen replied that he had come\nwith an invitation from his wife and himself, to request him to favor\nthem with his company at their house; to which he immediately consented,\nand dressed himself alertly. The General\u2019s wife, who was indisposed,\nreceived him in the house, and requested his excuse if in any respect she\nshould fall short of her wishes to entertain him: adding that for thirty\nyears she had been afflicted with a painful disease. Swedenborg politely\nkissed her hand, and answered, \u201cLet us not speak of this; only acquiesce\nin the will of God, and it will pass away, and you will return to the\nsame health and beauty as when you were fifteen years old.\u201d The lady\nmade some reply, to which he rejoined, \u201cYes, in a few weeks.\u201d From which\nthey concluded him to mean that diseases which have their foundation in\nthe mind, and are supported by infirmities of the body, do not disappear\nimmediately after death.\n\n\u201cBeing then together,\u201d says Tuxen, \u201cin company with my wife, my now\ndeceased daughter, and three or four young ladies, my relations, he\nentertained them very politely, and with much attention, on indifferent\nsubjects, on favourite dogs and cats that were in the room, which\ncaressed him, and jumped on his knee, showing their little tricks. During\nthese trifling discourses,\u2014mixed with singular questions, all of which he\nobligingly answered, whether they concerned this or the other world,\u2014I\ntook occasion to say that I was sorry I had no better company to amuse\nhim than a sickly wife and her young girls: he replied, \u2018And is not this\nvery good company? I was always very partial to ladies\u2019 society.\u2019 After\nsome little pause, he cast his eyes on a harpsichord, and asked whether\nwe were lovers of music, and who played upon it. I told him we were all\nlovers of it, and that my wife in her youth had practiced, as she had\na fine voice, perhaps better than any in Denmark, as several persons\nof distinction, who had heard the best singers in France, England, and\nItaly, had assured her; and that my daughter also played with pretty\ngood taste. On this Swedenborg desired her to play. She then performed a\ndifficult and celebrated sonata, to which he beat the measure with his\nfoot on the sofa on which he sat; and when finished, he said, \u2018Bravo!\nvery fine.\u2019 She then played another by Rutini; and when she had played\na few minutes, he said, \u2018This is by an Italian, but the first was not.\u2019\nThis finished, he said, \u2018Bravo! you play very well. Do you not also\nsing?\u2019 She answered, \u2018I sing, but have not a very good voice, though\nfond of singing, and would sing if my mother would accompany me.\u2019 He\nrequested my wife to join, to which she assented, and they sang a few\nItalian duettos, and some French airs, each in her respective taste,\nto which he beat time, and afterwards paid many compliments to my\nwife, on account of her taste and fine voice, which she had preserved\nnotwithstanding so long an illness. I took the liberty of saying to him,\nthat since in his writings he always declared that at all times there\nwere good and evil spirits of the other world present with man; might\nI then be bold to ask, whether now, while my wife and daughter were\nsinging, there had been any from the other world present with us? To this\nhe answered, \u2018Yes, certainly;\u2019 and on my inquiring who they were, and\nwhether I had known them, he said it was the Danish royal family, and he\nmentioned Christian VI., Sophia Magdalena, and Frederick V., who, through\nhis eyes, had seen and heard it. I do not positively recollect whether he\nalso mentioned the late beloved Queen Louisa among them. After this he\nretired.\u201d\n\nDuring this visit to General Tuxen, in the course of other conversation,\nTuxen produced an autobiographical letter which Swedenborg had written\nto Hartley, and which began, \u201cI was born in the year 1689.\u201d Swedenborg\ntold him that he was not born in that year, as mentioned, but in the\npreceding. Tuxen asked him if this was an error of the press. He said\n\u201cNo;\u201d and added, \u201cyou may remember in reading my writings to have seen it\nstated in many parts, that every cipher or number has in the spiritual\nsense a certain correspondence or signification. Now,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen\nI put the true year in that letter, an angel present told me to write\nthe year 1689, as much more suitable to myself than the other; \u2018and you\nobserve,\u2019 added the angel, \u2018that with us time and space are nothing.\u2019\u201d\n\nWe give these anecdotes as Tuxen relates them. Every one, however, will\nknow from his private experience how little absolute dependence is to\nbe placed upon narrations of conversations, or actions, by even the most\ntruthful. Sir Walter Raleigh, while writing his History of the World,\nwas led to think of the errors into which he might be led, by observing\nthat an affray beneath his prison wall was variously described by\nseveral eye-witnesses. If the occurrences of the present are so liable\nto misstatement, what sort of faith can we place in the history of the\npast? Wilkinson, commenting on this anecdote of the date of Swedenborg\u2019s\nbirth, remarks, in his usual keen style: \u201cWe have here a reason for\nthat modification of events according to a context, of which the Gospel\nhistories, so often discrepant from each other, furnish numerous\ninstances. Manifestly it is the plan of the context which regards the\nevents from its own point of view, and paints the narrative in its own\ncolors. It is what all historians do in a lesser way, bending the history\nto ideas, or shaping it with an artistic force. Taking a certain larger\nblock of time as a period of birth, it is hieroglyphically truthful to\nplay down upon any date contained in the block, according to the subject\nand signification. There are many kinds of truth besides black and white;\nand generally, figurative truths require latitude of phrase. At the same\ntime it must be confessed that one would like to know when the writing\nis pure history, and when it is a base of history, made use of for\nsymbolical purposes, and touched, in part, by spirit. Literal people are\napt to be offended otherwise, and we sympathize with them.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg arrived in Amsterdam some time in September, 1770, and\nstraightway set about printing his manuscript of the \u201cTrue Christian\nReligion.\u201d From two letters of a gentleman, named D. Paulus ab Indagine,\nwho seems to have been on familiar terms with Swedenborg, we select\nthe following passages, illustrative of this period of his life. He\nwrites:\u2014\u201cYou asked me what this venerable old man, Swedenborg, is now\ndoing. This I can tell you; he eats and drinks very moderately, but\nkeeps his chamber rather long, and thirteen hours appear to be not too\nmuch for him.[3] When I informed him that his work \u2018On the Earths in\nthe Universe\u2019 had been translated and published, he was much delighted,\nand his eyes, which are always smiling, became still more brilliant. He\nis now indefatigably at work; yea, I must say that he labors in a most\nastonishing and superhuman manner at his new work. Only think! for every\nprinted sheet, 4to, he has to procure four sheets of manuscript; he now\nprints two sheets every week, and corrects them himself, and consequently\nhe has to write eight sheets every week; and what appears to me utterly\ninconceivable, he has not a single line beforehand in store.[4] His work\nis to consist, as he himself states, of about eighty sheets in print. The\ntitle of this work is the following:\u2014\u2018True Christian Religion, Containing\nthe Universal Theology of the New Church, Predicted by the Lord in Daniel\nviii. 13, 14, and in the Apocalypse, xxi. 1, 2; By Emanuel Swedenborg,\nServant of the Lord Jesus Christ.\u2019 I could not, in my open manner,\nconceal my astonishment that he should put himself upon the title page\nas the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he replied: \u2018I have asked,\nand have not only received permission, but have been ordered to do so.\u2019\n_It is astonishing with what confidence_ the old gentleman speaks of\nthe spiritual world, of the angels, and of God himself. If I were only\nto give you the substance of our last conversation, it would fill many\npages. He spoke of naturalists, those who ascribe all things to nature,\nwhom he had seen shortly after death, and amongst them were even many\ntheologians, or such, at least, as had made theology their profession in\nthis life. He told me things which made me shudder, but which, however, I\npass by, in order not to be over-hasty in my judgment respecting him. I\nwill willingly admit that I know not what to make of him; he is a problem\nthat I can not solve. I sincerely wish that upright men, whom God has\nplaced as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, had some time since occupied\nthemselves with this man.\n\n\u201cI can not forbear to tell you something new about Swedenborg. Last\nThursday I paid him a visit, and found him, as usual, writing. He told\nme that he had been in conversation that same morning, for three hours,\nwith the deceased king of Sweden. He had seen him already on Wednesday;\nbut as he observed that he was deeply engaged in conversation with the\nqueen, who is still living, he would not disturb him. I allowed him\nto continue, but at length asked him how it was possible for a person\nwho is still in the land of the living, to be met with in the world of\nspirits. He replied, that it was not the queen herself, but her _spiritus\nfamiliaris_, or her familiar spirit. I asked him what that might be;\nfor I had neither heard from him anything respecting appearances of\nthat kind, nor had I read anything about them. He then informed me that\nevery man has either his good or bad spirit, who is not only constantly\nwith him, but sometimes a little removed from him, and appears in the\nworld of spirits. But of this, the man still living knows nothing; the\nspirit, however, knows everything. This familiar spirit has everything in\naccordance with his companion on earth; he has, in the world of spirits,\nthe same figure, the same countenance, and the same tone of voice, and\nwears also similar garments; in a word, this familiar spirit of the\nqueen, said Swedenborg, appeared exactly as he had so often seen the\nqueen herself at Stockholm, and had heard her speak. In order to allay\nmy astonishment, he added that Dr. Ernesti, of Leipsic, had appeared to\nhim, in a similar manner, in the world of spirits, and that he had held\na long disputation with him. What will the learned professor say, when\nhe comes to hear of it? Probably he will say that the old man is in his\nsecond childhood; he will only laugh at it, and who can be surprised? I\nhave often wondered at myself, how I could refrain from laughing, when I\nwas hearing such extraordinary things from him. And what is more, I have\noften heard him relate the same things in a numerous company of ladies\nand gentlemen, when I well knew there were mockers amongst them; but, to\nmy great astonishment, not a single person thought of laughing. Whilst\nhe is speaking, it is as though every person who hears him were charmed,\nand compelled to believe him. He is by no means reserved and recluse, but\nopen-hearted and accessible to all. Whoever invites him as his guest, may\nexpect to see him. A certain young gentleman invited him last week to be\nhis guest, and, although he was not acquainted with him, he appeared at\nhis table, where he met Jewish and Portuguese gentlemen, with whom he\nfreely conversed, without distinction. Whoever is curious to see him, has\nno difficulty; it is only necessary to go to his house, and he allows\nanybody to approach him. It can easily be conceived, however, that the\nnumerous visits, to which he is liable, deprive him of much time.\u201d\n\nAbout this time, Dr. Ernesti attacked Swedenborg in his Bibliotheca\nTheologica, and, in reply, Swedenborg published a single leaf, which, in\nits decisive sharpness, is truly effective. It is as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cI have read what Dr. Ernesti has written about me. It consists of\nmere personalities. I do not in it observe a grain of reason against\nanything in my writings. As it is against the laws of honesty to assail\nany one with such poisoned weapons, I think it beneath me to bandy words\nwith that illustrious man. I will not cast back calumnies by calumnies.\nTo do this, I should be even with the dogs, which bark and bite, or\nwith the lowest drabs, which throw street mud in each other\u2019s faces in\ntheir brawls. Read, if you will, what I have written in my books, and\nafterwards conclude, but from reason, respecting my revelation.\u201d\n\nThe Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt now wrote to Swedenborg, requesting\ninformation on several subjects. Swedenborg having doubt as to the\ngenuineness of the epistle, did not at first reply to it, until his\nmisgivings were set aside by M. Venator, the minister of that prince. In\nhis reply to the Landgrave, he says: \u201cThe Lord our Saviour had foretold\nthat He would come again into the world, and that he would establish\nthere a New Church. But as He cannot come again into the world in person,\nit was necessary that He should do it by means of a man, who should not\nonly receive the doctrine of this New Church in his understanding, but\nalso publish it by printing; and as the Lord had prepared me for this\noffice from my infancy, He has manifested Himself in person before me,\nHis servant, and sent me to fill it.\u201d\n\nThe Landgrave again wrote to Swedenborg, inquiring about the \u201cmiracle\u201d\nof his intercourse with the Queen of Sweden\u2019s brother, and Swedenborg\nanswered that the story was true, but \u201cnot a miracle.\u201d He also wrote\nto M. Venator, \u201cthat such matters ought, by no means, to be considered\nmiracles: they are only testimonies that I have been introduced by the\nLord into the spiritual world, and that I have been in association\nwith angels and spirits, in order that the Church, which until now had\nremained in ignorance concerning that world, may know that heaven and\nhell exist in reality, and that man lives after death, a man, as before;\nand that thus there may be no more doubt as to his immortality. Deign, I\npray you, to satisfy his Highness, that these are not miracles, but only\ntestimonies that I converse with angels and spirits. You may see in the\n\u2018True Christian Religion\u2019 that there are no more miracles at this time;\nand the reason why. It is, that they who do not believe because they see\nno miracles, might easily, by them, be led into fanaticism.\u201d\n\nWriting of miracles, Swedenborg remarks in another place, \u201cInstead\nof miracles, there has taken place, at the present day, an open\nmanifestation of the Lord himself, an intromission into the spiritual\nworld, and with it, illumination by immediate light from the Lord in\nwhatever relates to the interior things of the Church, but principally\nan opening of the spiritual sense of the Word, in which the Lord is\npresent in his own Divine light. These revelations are not miracles,\nbecause every man, as to his spirit, is in the spiritual world, without\nseparation from his body in the natural world. As to myself, indeed, my\npresence in the spiritual world is attended with a certain separation,\nbut only as to the intellectual part of my mind, not as to the will part.\nThis manifestation of the Lord, and intromission into the spiritual\nworld, is more excellent than all miracles; but it has not been granted\nto any one since the creation of the world, as it has been to me. The men\nof the golden age, indeed, conversed with angels; but it was not granted\nto them to be in any other light than what was natural. To me, however,\nit has been granted to be in both spiritual and natural light at the same\ntime; and hereby I have been privileged to see the wonderful things of\nheaven, to be in company with angels, just as I am with men, and at the\nsame time to pursue truths in the light of truth, and thus to perceive\nand be gifted with them, consequently to be led by the Lord.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n    _The True Christian Religion._\n\n\nIn the early part of 1771, Swedenborg published his \u201cTrue Christian\nReligion, or, Universal Theology of the New Church;\u201d and in August of the\nsame year took ship, and left Amsterdam for London. Let us now turn to\nthe consideration of his last great work,\u2014a summary of the doctrines he\nwas commissioned to teach.\n\n\u201cThe True Christian Religion, containing the Universal Theology of the\nNew Church,\u201d the last work published by Swedenborg, may be looked upon\nas the summary of his spiritual thought, his theological labors, his\nheavenly message to mankind. In its ninth English edition, it forms a\nlarge octavo volume of 815 pages, and is a complete body of divinity. It\nis divided into fifteen chapters, a Supplement treating of the states of\nLuther, Calvin, and Melancthon, the Dutch, English, Germans, Papists,\nRomish saints, Mahommedans, and the Africans, in the spiritual world; and\nseventy-seven memorable relations of scenes and representations witnessed\nin that world, interspersed between the various chapters; altogether\nforming a volume unique in literature, ancient or modern. At the risk\nof an occasional repetition of what has before been said, let us take a\nrapid survey of the contents of this massive and marvellous work.\n\nChapter I. treats of God the Creator, His Unity, the Divine Esse which\nis Jehovah, His Infinity or His Immensity and Eternity, the Essence of\nGod which is His Divine Love and Wisdom, His Omnipotence, Omniscience,\nand Omnipresence, and of the creation of the universe. On these sublime\nsubjects, themes on which, for ages, the weary reason of man has exerted\nitself with the poorest results, Swedenborg, with a mathematical\nexactness, sets forth the true doctrine; and with a simplicity of logic\nwhich at every step calls the Word of God, and the reason and common\nsense of man, to witness; leading the reader to wonder why truths so\nsimple, so soul-satisfying, should have been hidden from human eyes so\nlong. Whilst elucidating subjects commonly supposed to transcend human\nideas, and yet which humanity is ever restless to discover,\u2014reverence is\nin nowise deprived of its exercise. It is a great mistake, yet a common\none, to associate mystery with true reverence; to talk of \u201cignorance\u201d as\n\u201cthe mother of devotion.\u201d Let any one ask himself whether the reverence\nof Sir Isaac Newton for that God whose operations in the universe he\nwas favored to discover, was inferior to that of an ignorant devotee,\nor an illiterate peasant. No. A knowledge of God and His attributes is\nno destroyer of faith, reverence, or devotion, but the reverse. Our\nknowledge of Him, however extended, is but the enlargement of a circle,\nwhich, as it is enlarged, expands our conception of the infinity beyond.\nHence it is that whilst this chapter on God the Creator, goes into\ndetails which are the death of mysticism, the truths which it opens to\nthe mind lead to an intelligent and reverential love, to which ignorance\ncan never attain.\n\nChapter II. is devoted to the consideration of the Lord the Redeemer.\nIt tells how Jehovah God descended and assumed humanity, that He might\nredeem and save mankind; and how the humanity was united to the Divinity,\nand thus God was made man, and man God, in one Person; that Redemption\nconsisted in bringing the hells into subjection, and the heavens into\norder, and in thus preparing the way for a new spiritual Church; and how,\nwithout such Redemption, neither could men have been saved, nor could the\nangels have remained in a state of integrity. Thus Redemption was a work\npurely divine, and could not have been effected but by God Incarnate.\nThe passion of the cross was in itself alone not Redemption, but was the\nlast temptation the Lord endured in His Humanity; and it was the means of\nthe glorification of that humanity. Hence it is a fundamental error of\nthe Church to believe the passion of the cross to be Redemption itself;\nand this error, together with that relating to three Divine Persons from\neternity, has perverted the whole system of Christian theology.\n\nChapter III. sets forth the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the Divine\nOperation. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth, and also the Divine\nVirtue and Operation, proceeding from the One God, in whom there is\nthe Divine Trinity, thus from the Lord God the Saviour, Jesus Christ.\nThe Divine Virtue and Operation in and on humanity, signified by the\nHoly Spirit, consists, in general, in reformation and regeneration;\nand, in proportion as these are effected, in renovation, vivification,\nsanctification, and justification; and in proportion as these are\neffected, in purification from evils, remission of sins, and finally\nsalvation. The Holy Spirit being the efflux of Jehovah through the\nglorified humanity, did not exist until after the incarnation. Hence it\nis nowhere said in the Old Testament, that the prophets spoke from the\nHoly Spirit, but from Jehovah God. We have a beautiful and irresistible\nconfirmation of this truth in these words, \u201cfor the Holy Spirit was not\n_yet, because_ that Jesus was not yet glorified.\u201d John vii. 39.\n\nIn this chapter he also speaks of the Trinity. There is a Divine Trinity,\nconsisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and these three are the\nthree _Essentials_ of One God,\u2014which make a One, like soul, body, and\noperation in man. To conceive of a Trinity of Divine _persons_ from\neternity, is to think of three Gods; and no amount of word-playing and\ncreed-making can prevent the mind from falling into Tritheism, as long as\na Trinity of _persons_ and not of _essentials_ is spoken and thought of.\nA Trinity of persons was unknown in the Apostolic Church. The doctrine\nwas first broached by the Council of Nice, and thence received into the\nRoman Catholic Church, and thus propagated among the Reformed Churches.\nThe Nicene and Athanasian doctrines concerning a Trinity, have, together,\ngiven rise to a faith which has entirely perverted the Christian Church;\nand hence has come that \u201cabomination of desolation, and that affliction,\nsuch as was not in all the world, neither shall be,\u201d which the Lord\nhas foretold in Daniel, the Evangelists, and the Revelation. For when\nthe Church ceases to know its God, the central point of all faith and\ndoctrine, all subsidiary points must necessarily become involved in\ndarkness. And thus it is that the Athanasian creed has given rise to\nso many absurd notions about God, and hence, also, to an innumerable\nbrood of heresies and phantasies on every point of doctrine and life,\nso much so, that had not the Lord effected a Last Judgment in 1757, and\nestablished a New Heaven and a New Church, no flesh could have been\nsaved. The \u201chealing of the nations,\u201d the new life, light and heat, that\nhave coursed through humanity during the past century, attest the working\nof Omnipotence for the salvation and restoration of what is most valuable\nand precious in man.\n\nChapter IV. is an exposition of the nature of the Sacred Scripture, or\nthe Word of the Lord, proving it to be the Divine Truth itself. The\nspiritual sense of the Word, and the means by which it is unfolded,\ntogether with the law of its composition, are explained at length, and\nwith great perspicuity. It is shown that the spiritual sense is in all\nand every part of the Word, that hence it is divinely inspired, and is\nholy in every syllable. Nevertheless the literal sense is not to be\ndisregarded. It is the basis, the continent, and the firmament of the\nspiritual sense; in it the Divine Truth is in its fullness, its sanctity,\nand its power; from it the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn and\nconfirmed; and by it conjunction with the Lord and consociation with the\nangels is effected. The Word is in all the heavens, and the wisdom of\nthe angels is thence derived. The Church exists from the Word, and the\nquality of the Church with man is according to his understanding of the\nWord. The marriage of Goodness and Truth, and of the Lord and the Church,\nis in every part of the Word. Men may collect and imbibe heretical\nopinions from the letter of the Word; but it is hurtful to confirm such\nopinions. Many things in the Word are appearances of truth, in which\ngenuine truths lie concealed; and many fallacies arise from the taking\nof these appearances of truth for genuine or absolute truth. The literal\nsense of the Word is a guard to the genuine truths contained in it, and\nin the Word is represented by cherubs. To the wicked, it is a mercy\nthat spiritual truth is thus hidden; for if known and not obeyed, it is\nprofaned, and profanation involves the deepest suffering and distress.\nThe Lord, during his abode in the world, fulfilled all things contained\nin the Word, and was thus made the Word, that is, the Divine Truth, even\nin ultimates. Previous to the Word which the world now possesses, there\nwas a Word which is lost, but is preserved in heaven among the angels who\nlived as men in those times, and is also extant among certain nations in\nGreat Tartary, who, however, have probably no true idea of the treasure\nthey possess. By means of the Word, light is communicated to those who\nare out of the pale of the Church, and are not in possession of the\nWord. This is effected outwardly by the communications of commerce,\nwith those nations who have the Word; and internally and insensibly\nby that community of soul which makes humanity appear before the Lord\nas one man. There is no thought conceived, no deed done, but which\nradiates from soul to soul, and produces effects of which the doer is\nnot conscious. Thus it is that the Church\u2014composed of the men who read,\nlove, and obey the Word\u2014benefits the world, and conjoins it with heaven\nand the Lord. Without the Word, no one would have any knowledge of God,\nof heaven and hell, or of a life after death, and much less of the Lord.\nThe multiplicity of points involved in these statements, receive, in this\nchapter on the Sacred Scripture, most copious illustrations, both from\nthe Word itself, and from the common experience of mankind. In reading\nthis chapter, every candid person will feel that, strange and novel as\nmany of the statements are, he is not dealing with a mere theorizer; and\nthat facts and even Revelation itself must be done away, ere the doctrine\nof the Sacred Scripture here revealed can be overthrown or proved\nerroneous.\n\nChapter V. explains the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments, as to their\nexternal and internal sense. The Decalogue, in the Israelitish Church,\nwas the very essence of holiness, and from it the ark and the tabernacle\nderived their sanctity. In the Ten Commandments are contained all things\nwhich relate to love to God, and love towards our neighbor. In its\nliteral sense, the Decalogue contains general precepts of doctrine and\nlife, but in its spiritual and celestial sense it contains all precepts\nuniversally. Swedenborg then takes up each commandment singly, and gives\nan exposition of its literal, spiritual, and celestial application; and\nwhen he has done this, we perceive that these Ten Commandments, which\nevery school-boy repeats and feels he understands, nevertheless contain\nall precepts, and are such as may afford guidance to the wisest angel,\nand that man can never outgrow them. Taking, for instance, the Seventh\nCommandment, (the eighth, according to the common numbering,) \u201cThou\nshalt not steal,\u201d he explains it in the natural sense, after the common\nacceptation. In the spiritual sense, he shows that to steal means to\ndeprive others of the truths which they embrace in faith, in teaching\ndoctrines known to be false, or teaching for the sake of gain; and in\ndestroying in others, either by word or deed, those truths which lead\nto salvation. In the celestial sense, to steal is to take away divine\npower from the Lord, to be vain, to be proud, to arrogate to ourselves\nthe merit and righteousness which are the divine gifts. All who do such\nthings, notwithstanding their seeming adoration of God, do not trust\nin Him, but in themselves; and likewise do not believe in God, but in\nthemselves; they steal from God; they are spiritual thieves; and every\none who knows his own heart, must know how often he must refer to this\ncommandment, in order to govern his life, and restrain his thoughts,\nbefore he can know perfect obedience, and be in truth a child of God. As\nwith this commandment, so with all. We need to think of them every day,\nand to use them in all our states. If we purpose to lead a true and happy\nlife, we must cherish them as constant companions.\n\nChapter VI. treats of Faith. Faith, it is said, is first in regard to\ntime, and charity is first in regard to end; that is, the use of faith is\nto lead to charity. A saving faith is a faith in the Lord God the Saviour\nJesus Christ, because He is the visible God in whom is the invisible.\nFaith, in general, consists in a belief that the Lord will save all\nwho live a good life and believe aright; and a man receives this faith\nin consequence of approaching the Lord, learning truths from the Word,\nand living a life in conformity with them. Faith without charity is not\nfaith, and charity without faith is not charity; and neither faith nor\ncharity has any life in it but from the Lord. Although a man has power\ngiven him to procure for himself faith and charity, and the life of faith\nand charity, yet nothing of faith, charity, or the life of either, is\nfrom man, but from the Lord alone. Charity and faith are together in\ngood works; for charity consists in willing what is good, and good works\nconsist in doing what is good, from and under the influence of a good\nwill; and both charity and faith are merely mental and perishable things,\nunless they are determined to works, and coexist in them, whenever there\nis opportunity. The wicked have no faith, because wickedness is of hell,\nand faith is of heaven, and all the truth of faith is derived from\nheaven. Faith cannot dwell with evil, for evil is like fire,\u2014infernal\nfire being the love of evil, which consumes faith like stubble, and\nreduces it and all that belongs to it to ashes. Evil dwells in darkness,\nand faith in light; and evil by means of the falsehood which it loves,\nextinguishes faith, as darkness does light. And because the world is at\nthis day full of evil, (notwithstanding the morality of life, and the\nrationality with which faith is spoken and written about,) of true faith\nthere is almost none, because of goodness there is almost none.\n\nChapter VII. discourses of love towards our neighbor, and good works. It\nis introduced by the statement that there are three universal loves, the\nlove of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self. These three\nloves, when they are in right subordination, make a man perfect; but when\nthey are not in right subordination, they pervert and invert him. The\nlove of self and of the world are not in themselves evil. When the love\nof heaven, that is, the love of God, of goodness and truth, is supreme in\nthe mind, and the world is loved as a means to do good, and self is cared\nfor that uses to the neighbor may be performed,\u2014then the love of self\nand of the world are orderly and justifiable. But when the love of God\nand heaven is dethroned, and the love of self or of the world rules, and\na man is religious and just only so far as religion and justice conduce\nto self-interest and thus God and justice and all things holy are put to\nvile uses, then the soul of man is inverted,\u2014is a form of hell; and in\nthe light of heaven appears bestial, ugly, and deformed.\n\nEvery individual man is the neighbor whom we ought to love, but according\nto the quality of his goodness or his life. Man considered collectively,\nthat is, as a lesser or larger society, and considered under the idea\nof compound societies, that is, as our country,\u2014is the neighbor that\nought to be loved. The Church is our neighbor, to be loved in a still\nhigher degree, and the Lord\u2019s kingdom is our neighbor to be loved in\nthe highest degree. To love the neighbor is not to love his person, but\nthe good which is in him. Charity itself consists in acting justly and\nfaithfully in whatever office, business, and employment a person is\nengaged, and with whomsoever he has any connection. Eleemosynary acts\nof charity consist in giving to the poor, and relieving the indigent,\nbut with prudence. There are public, domestic, and private duties of\ncharity. Public duties of charity are, more especially, the payment of\nimposts and taxes. These are paid with different feelings by those who\nare spiritual and by those who are natural: those who are spiritual pay\nthem out of good will, because they are collected for the preservation\nand protection of their country and the church, and as a provision for\nthe proper officers and governors, who must receive their salaries out of\nthe public treasury, therefore those who consider their country and the\nchurch as their neighbor, pay such debts cheerfully and with a willing\nmind, and consider it a wicked act either to withhold them or to use any\ndeceit in the payment; whereas those who do not esteem their country\nand the church as their neighbor, pay such debts with a reluctant and\nunwilling mind, and, as often as they have an opportunity, withhold\nthem, or use some fraud in the payment; for they regard only their own\nhouse and their own flesh as their neighbor. The domestic duties of\ncharity are of several kinds, as those of a husband to his wife, and of\na wife to her husband; of parents to their children, and of children\nto their parents; likewise of a master and mistress to their servants,\nand of servants to their master and mistress. There are so many duties\nrelating to the education of children, and the government of families,\nthat it would require a volume to enumerate them. As to what particularly\nregards the duties of parents to their children, there is an intrinsic\ndifference in this respect with those who are under the influence of\ncharity, and with those who are not, although externally the duties\nmay appear similar. With those who are under the influence of charity,\nparental affection is joined with love toward their neighbor and love\nto God, and such parents love their children according to their morals,\nvirtues, pursuits, and qualifications for the service of the public;\nbut with those who are not under the influence of charity, there is no\nconjunction of charity with parental affection; the consequence is,\nthat such parents frequently love wicked, immoral, and crafty children,\nmore than those who are good, moral, and prudent; and thus prefer such\nas are unserviceable to the public, before such as are serviceable.\nPrivate duties of charity are also of several kinds, such as paying wages\nto workmen, returning borrowed money, observing agreements, keeping\npledges, and other transactions of a like nature, some of which are\nduties grounded in statute law, some in civil law, and some in moral\nlaw. These duties, also, are discharged from different motives by those\nwho are under the influence of charity, and by those who are not; by the\nformer they are discharged faithfully and justly, for the law of charity\nrequires that a man should so act in all his dealings, with whomsoever\nhe may have any connection; but these duties are discharged in a totally\ndifferent manner by those who are not influenced by charity. Then there\nare convivial recreations of charity, which consist of dinners and\nsuppers and social intercourse. Every one knows that dinner and supper\nparties are in general use, and are given to promote various ends; by\nmany on account of friendship, relationship, mirth, gain, recompense,\nand for party purposes of corruption; among the great they are given on\naccount of their dignity; and in the palaces of kings, for the display of\nsplendor and magnificence. But dinners and suppers of charity are given\nonly by those who are influenced by mutual love grounded in a similarity\nof faith. Among Christians in the Primitive Church, dinners and suppers\nhad this end alone in view, and were called feasts, being instituted that\nthey might meet together in cordial joy and friendly union. At table, the\nguests conversed together on various subjects, domestic and civil, but\nparticularly on such as concerned the Church; and as these feasts were\nfeasts of charity, their conversation on every subject was influenced\nby charity, with all its joys and delights. The spiritual sphere which\nprevailed on such occasions, was a sphere of love to the Lord and toward\nthe neighbor, which exhilarated every mind, softened the tone of every\nexpression, and communicated to all the senses a festivity from the\nheart; for from every man there emanates a spiritual sphere, derived\nfrom the affection of his love and corresponding thought, which inwardly\naffects those in his company, particularly at the time of convivial\nrecreations.\n\nThe first part of charity consists in putting away evils, and the second\nin doing actions that are useful to our neighbor. It is believed by many,\nat the present day, that charity consists only in doing good, and that\nwhile a man is doing good, he does no evil; consequently, that the first\npart of charity is to do good, and the second not to do evil: but the\ncase is altogether the reverse, it being the first part of charity to put\naway evil, and the second to do good. For it is a universal law in the\nspiritual world, and thence too in the natural world, that so far as a\nperson wills no evil, he wills what is good; consequently, so far as he\nturns himself away from hell, whence all evil ascends, he turns himself\ntoward heaven, whence all good descends; and, therefore, so far as any\none rejects the devil, he is accepted by the Lord. In performing the\nexercises of charity, a man does not ascribe merit to works, so long as\nhe believes that all good is from the Lord. Moral life, if it is at the\nsame time spiritual life, is charity. The friendship of love, contracted\nwith a person without regard to his spiritual quality, is detrimental\nafter death. The friendship of love, among the wicked, is intestine\nhatred toward each other. There is spurious charity, hypocritical\ncharity, and dead charity. There can be no such thing as genuine charity,\nwhich is living, unless it make one with faith, and unless both in\nconjunction look to the Lord. Spurious charity is such as is the charity\nof those who hold to faith alone for salvation, and who say charity is\nof no account in leading to heaven. Such charity as these may have is\nspurious, because not spiritual, and merely performed from selfish and\nworldly motives. Hypocritical charity is predicable of those who, in\npublic or private worship, bow themselves almost to the ground before\nGod, pour forth long prayers with great devotion, put on a sanctified\nappearance, kiss crucifixes and bones of the dead, and kneel at\nsepulchers, and there mutter words expressive of holy veneration toward\nGod, and yet, in their hearts nourish self-worship, and seek to be adored\nlike so many deities. Dead charity is predicable of those whose faith\nis dead, since the quality of charity depends on the quality of faith.\nFaith is dead in all who are without works, and in those who believe not\nin God, but in living and dead men, and worship idols as if they were\nholy in themselves, after the practice of the old Gentiles.\n\nChapter VIII. is devoted to the vexed question of Free-Determination,\nor Free-Will. The doctrines of the Church, as commonly held, are first\nstated, and then the New Church doctrine on the question is explained\nunder the following heads:\u2014The two trees in the garden of Eden, one\nof life, and the other of the knowledge of good and evil, signify the\nfree-will which man enjoys in respect to spiritual things. Man is not\nlife, but a recipient of life from God. Man, during his abode in the\nworld, is held in the midst between heaven and hell, and thus in a\nspiritual equilibrium, which constitutes free will.\n\nFrom the permission of evil, which every man experiences in his\ninternal man, it is evident that man has free-will in spiritual things.\nWithout free-will in spiritual things, the Word would not be of any\nuse, consequently the Church would be a nonentity. Without free-will\nin spiritual things, man would have nothing which would enable him to\nconjoin himself by reciprocation with the Lord; and consequently there\nwould be no imputation, but mere predestination, which is detestable.\nWithout free-will in spiritual things, God would be chargeable as the\ncause of evil. Every spiritual principle of the Church that is admitted\nand received in freedom, remains, but not otherwise. The human will and\nunderstanding enjoy this free-will; but the commission of evil, both in\nthe spiritual and natural worlds, is restrained by laws, or else society\nin both would perish. If men were destitute of free-will in spiritual\nthings, it would be possible for all men throughout the whole world, in\na single day, to be induced to believe in the Lord; but this would be in\nvain, because nothing remains with man which is not freely received.\nMiracles are not performed at the present day because they deprive man of\nfree-will.\n\nChapter IX. treats of Repentance. It is shown, in the first place, that\nrepentance is the first constituent of the Church in man, and that in\nproportion as a man practices it, his sins are removed; and as they are\nremoved, they are forgiven or remitted. Contrition, in the sense of a\nmere lip-confession of being a sinner, and of being involved in the guilt\nof Adam, without self-examination, is not repentance. Every man is born\nwith a propensity to evils of all kinds, and unless he remove them, in\npart, by repentance, he remains in them; and whoever remains in them can\nnot be saved. The knowledge of sin, and the discovery of some particular\nsin in one\u2019s self, is the beginning of repentance. Actual repentance\nconsists in a man\u2019s examining himself, knowing and acknowledging his\nsins, supplicating the Lord, and beginning a new life. True repentance\nconsists in a man\u2019s examining not only the actions of his life, but also\nthe intentions of his will. Those also do the work of repentance, who,\nthough they do not examine themselves, abstain from evils because they\nare sins; and this kind of repentance is done by those who perform works\nof charity from a religious motive. In repentance, confession ought to be\nmade before the Lord God the Saviour, and at the same time supplication\nfor help, and power to resist evils. Actual repentance is an easy duty to\nthose who occasionally practice it, but it meets with violent opposition\nfrom those who never practiced it. He that never did the work of\nrepentance, and never looked into, and examined, himself, comes at last\nnot to know the nature either of damnatory evil or saving good.\n\nChapter X. describes the nature of Reformation and Regeneration. Unless a\nman be born again, and, as it were, created anew, he can not enter into\nthe kingdom of God. This new birth, or creation, is effected by the Lord\nalone, through the medium of charity and faith, during man\u2019s co\u00f6peration.\nSince all are redeemed, all have a capacity to be regenerated, every one\naccording to his state. The several stages of man\u2019s regeneration answer\nto his natural conception, gestation in the womb, birth, and education.\nThe first act of the new birth, which is an act of the understanding,\nis called reformation; and the second, which is an act of the will, and\nthence of the understanding, is called regeneration. The internal man\nis first to be reformed, and by it the external, and thus the man is\nregenerated. When this takes place, there arises a combat between the\ninternal and external man, and then whichever conquers has dominion\nover the other. The regenerate man has a new will and understanding.\nA regenerate man is in communion with the angels of heaven, and an\nunregenerate man is in communion with the spirits of hell. In proportion\nas a man is regenerated, his sins are removed; and this removal is what\nis meant by remission of sins. Regeneration, can not be effected without\nfree-will in spiritual things. Regeneration is not attainable without\ntruths by which faith is formed, and with which charity conjoins itself.\n\nChapter XI. is devoted to a description of what imputation is, and what\nit is not. It is shown that imputation, and the faith of the present\nchurch, which alone is said to justify, are a one. The imputation which\nbelongs to the faith of the present time is two fold, the one part\nrelating to the merit of Christ, and the other to salvation as its\nconsequence. The faith which is imputative of the merit and righteousness\nof Christ the Redeemer, first took its rise from the decrees of the\nCouncil of Nice, concerning three divine persons from eternity; and,\nfrom that time to the present, has been received by the whole Christian\nworld. Faith imputative of the merit of Christ, was not known in the\nApostolic Church, which preceded the Council of Nice, and is neither\ndeclared nor signified in any part of the Word. An imputation of the\nmerits and righteousness of Christ is impossible. There is such a thing\nas imputation, but then it is an imputation of good and evil, and at the\nsame time of faith. The faith and imputation of the New Church can not\nbe together with the faith and imputation of the former Church; and, in\ncase they were together, such a collision and conflict would ensue, that\nevery principle of the Church in man would perish. The Lord imputes good\nto every man, and hell imputes evil to every man. Faith, with whatever\nprinciple it conjoins itself, passes sentence accordingly; if a true\nfaith conjoins itself with goodness, the sentence is for eternal life,\nbut if faith conjoins itself with evil, the sentence is for eternal\ndeath. Thought is imputed to no one, but will.\n\nChapter XII. is a luminous exposition of the uses of Baptism. Without\na knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word, it is shown no one can\nknow what the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and\neffect. The washing which is called baptism, signifies spiritual washing,\nwhich is a purification from evils and falses, and thus regeneration.\nAs circumcision of the heart was represented by circumcision of the\nforeskin, baptism was instituted in lieu of it, to the end that an\ninternal Church might succeed the external, in which all and everything\nwas a figure of the internal Church. The first use of baptism is\nintroduction into the Christian Church, and at the same time insertion\namong Christians in the spiritual world. The second use of baptism is,\nthat the Christian may know and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ the\nRedeemer and Saviour, and may follow Him. The third and final use of\nbaptism is, that man may be regenerated. By the baptism of John, a way\nwas prepared that Jehovah the Lord might come down into the world, and\naccomplish the work of redemption.\n\nChapter XIII. is taken up with a like description of the uses of the\nHoly Supper. It is shown that it is impossible for any one, without an\nacquaintance with the correspondences of natural things with spiritual,\nto know the uses and benefits of the Holy Supper. An acquaintance with\ncorrespondences serves to discover the signification of the Lord\u2019s flesh\nand blood, and that the bread and wine signify the same; namely, that\nthe Lord\u2019s flesh and the bread signify the divine good of His love, and\nlikewise all the good of charity, and that His blood and the wine signify\nthe divine truth of His wisdom, and likewise all the truth of faith,\nand that to eat signifies to appropriate. By understanding this, it may\nclearly be comprehended, that the Holy Supper contains, both universally\nand particularly, all things of the Church, and all things of heaven.\nIn the Holy Supper the Lord is entirely present, with the whole of His\nredemption. The Lord is present, and opens heaven to those who approach\nthe Holy Supper worthily; and He is also present with those who approach\nit unworthily, but does not open heaven to them; consequently, as baptism\nis an introduction into the Church, so the Holy Supper is an introduction\ninto heaven. Those approach the Holy Supper worthily, who are under the\ninfluence of faith toward the Lord, and of charity toward their neighbor,\nthus, who are regenerate. Those who approach the Holy Supper worthily,\nare in the Lord, and He in them; consequently, conjunction with the\nLord is effected by the Holy Supper. The Holy Supper is, to the worthy\nreceivers, as a signing and sealing that they are sons of God.\n\nChapter XIV., concluding the doctrinal portion of the work, describes\nthe consummation of the age, the coming of the Lord, and the new heaven\nand the New Church. The consummation of the age is the last time or\nend of the Church. The present day is the last time of the Christian\nChurch, which the Lord foretold and described in the Gospels, and in\nthe Revelation. This last time of the Christian Church, is the very\nnight in which the former Churches have set. After this night, morning\nsucceeds; and the coming of the Lord is this morning. The coming of the\nLord is not a coming to destroy the visible heaven and the habitable\nearth, and to create a new heaven and a new earth, according to the\nopinions which many, from not understanding the spiritual sense of the\nWord, have hitherto entertained. This, which is the second coming of\nthe Lord, is for the sake of separating the evil from the good, that\nthose who have believed and who do believe in Him, may be saved; and\nthat there may be formed of them a new angelic heaven, and a New Church\non earth; and without this coming no flesh could be saved. This second\ncoming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in the Word, which is\nfrom Him, and is Himself. This second coming of the Lord is effected by\nthe instrumentality of a man, before whom He has manifested Himself in\nperson, and whom He has filled with His spirit, to teach from Him the\ndoctrines of the New Church by means of the Word. This is meant by the\nnew heaven and the new earth, and the New Jerusalem descending out of\nheaven, spoken of in the Revelation. This New Church is the crown of all\nthe Churches which have existed, to this time, on the earth.\n\nOn all these subjects Swedenborg discourses at length, and in a style\nwhich, for its combined simplicity and purity, we believe, is unmatched\nin theological literature. Wilkinson says truly of the volume, that,\n\u201cviewed as a digest, it shows a presence of mind, an administration of\nmaterials, and a faculty of handling, of an extraordinary kind. There is\nold age in it in the sense of ripeness. If the intellectualist misses\nthere somewhat of the range of discourse, it is compensated by a certain\ntriteness of wisdom. As a polemic, not only against the errors of the\nChurches, but against the evil lives and self-excusings of Christians,\nthe work is unrivaled. The criticisms of doctrine, with which it abounds,\nare masterly in the extreme; and were it compared with any similar body\nof theology, we feel no doubt that the palm of coherency, vigor, and\ncomprehensiveness, would easily fall to Swedenborg, upon the verdict of\njudges of whatever Church.\u201d\n\nWe have said nothing of the seventy-six memorable relations strewn\nthrough the pages of the \u201cTrue Christian Religion,\u201d because the limits\nto which we are confined forbid anything approaching to an adequate\ndescription of them. They are a great trouble to new readers of\nSwedenborg, and many who love and delight in the doctrinal teachings of\nthe work, pass over, unread, the memorable relations, and try not to\nthink of them. But this is only for a time. They are only strange and\nincomprehensible because the principles upon which they are written are\nnot apprehended. The Indian king, who was told that in northern lands\nwater became solid, so that his elephants might walk on it, laughed, and\nwas an unbeliever. But, had the law or principle by which water becomes\nice, been made plain to him, his laughter and his unbelief would have\nceased. So it is with those who are shocked with Swedenborg\u2019s relations\nof things heard and seen in the spiritual world. Let but the great law\nof correspondence be understood, and the most marvelous of the relations\nstraightway attain an interest and reality, which none but those who have\nstudied them under the bright light of correspondences can understand, or\neasily believe possible. A memorable relation, which was to the writer\nof this, at one time, a thing to cause pity for the man that wrote\nit, is now the pleasant and practical study of a Sunday afternoon. He\nknows that his experience in this respect is paralleled by that of most\nNewchurchmen.\n\nCount Hopken, in a letter to General Tuxen, says, \u201cI once represented,\nin rather a serious manner, to this venerable man, (Swedenborg), that\nI thought he would do better not to mix his beautiful writings with so\nmany memorable relations of things heard and seen in the spiritual world,\nconcerning the states of men after death,\u2014of which ignorance makes a jest\nand derision. But he answered me, that this did not depend on him; that\nhe was too old to sport with spiritual things, and too much concerned for\nhis eternal happiness to give into foolish notions; assuring me, on his\nhopes of salvation, that no imagination produced in him his revelations,\nwhich were true, and derived from what he had heard and seen.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe True Christian Religion\u201d was the last work Swedenborg published; it\nwas a worthy conclusion of his grand labors. Among his papers, at his\ndecease, was found an incomplete \u201cCoronis\u201d or Appendix to the work. This\nhas been translated and published, and contains an elucidation of several\ninteresting points.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n    _Anecdotes and Traits of Character._\n\n\nSwedenborg arrived in London, from Amsterdam, in August, 1771, and\ntook up his abode in lodgings he had before occupied in the house of\nShearsmith, a peruke maker, at 26 Great Bath street, Cold Bath fields.\nFrom Shearsmith we learn several interesting items of intelligence\nregarding Swedenborg\u2019s habits and mode of life.\n\nThe dress that he generally wore when he went out to visit, was a suit\nof black velvet, (made after an old fashion,) a pair of long ruffles,\na curiously hilted sword, and a gold-headed cane. In his later years\nhe became less and less attentive to the concerns of the world. When\nwalking abroad, he seemed to be engaged in spiritual communion, and took\nlittle notice of things and people in the streets. When he went out in\nStockholm, without the observation of his domestics, some singularity in\nhis dress would often betray his abstraction. Once when he dined with\nRobsahm\u2019s father, he appeared with one shoe-buckle of plain silver, and\nthe other set with precious stones,\u2014greatly to the amusement of some\nladies of the party. When he lodged with Bergstrom, he usually walked out\nafter breakfast, dressed neatly in velvet, and made a good appearance.\nIn Sweden his dress was simple, but neat and convenient: during winter,\nhe was clad in a garment of reindeer skins; and, in summer, in a study\ngown: \u201cboth well worn, as became a philosopher,\u201d according to Robsahm.\nMr. Servant\u00e9 was one of the earliest and most affectionate receivers of\nNew Church doctrine. Before he received the truths of the New Church,\nhe was once passing along St. John\u2019s street, London, when he met an old\ngentleman, of a dignified and most venerable appearance, whose deeply\nthoughtful, yet mildly expressive countenance, added to something very\nunusual in his general air, attracted his attention very forcibly. He\nturned round, therefore, to take another view of the stranger, who also\nturned around and looked at him. This was Swedenborg; but it was not\nuntil some years afterward, on seeing his portrait, that he became aware\nthat the dignified and venerable old gentleman was the author of those\nworks he now so sincerely loved, and so earnestly studied.\n\nIn person, Swedenborg was about 5 feet 9 inches high, rather thin, and\nof a brown complexion. His eyes were of a brownish grey, nearly hazel,\nand rather small. He had always a cheerful smile upon his countenance.\nWhen Collin visited him, he was thin and pale, but still retained traces\nof beauty, and had something very pleasing in his physiognomy, and a\ndignity in his erect stature. Ab Indagine tells us his eyes were always\nsmiling; and Robsahm, that his \u201ccountenance was always illuminated by the\nlight of his uncommon genius.\u201d His manners were those of a nobleman and\ngentleman of the last century. He was somewhat reserved, but complaisant;\naccessible to all, and had something very loving and taking in his\ndemeanor. Personally, he left good impressions behind him wherever he\nappeared.\n\nHe did not understand the English language sufficiently well to hold a\nrunning conversation in it; and moreover he had an impediment in his\nspeech. He was well acquainted, however, with the principal modern\nlanguages, and, of course, was thoroughly familiar with Greek and Latin,\nand had a sufficient knowledge of Hebrew. All authorities agree that his\nspeech, though not facile, was impressive. He spoke with deliberation,\nand when his voice was heard, it was a signal for silence in others,\nwhile the slowness of his delivery increased the curiosity of the\nlisteners. He entered into no disputes on matters of religion, but when\nobliged to defend himself, he did it mildly and briefly; and if any\none insisted upon argument, and became warm against him, he retired,\nwith a recommendation to them to read his writings. One day, when Mr.\nCookworthy, a member of the Society of Friends, was with Swedenborg\nin his lodging, a person present objected to something he said, and\nargued the point in his own way; but Swedenborg only replied, \u201cI receive\ninformation from the angels on such things.\u201d One day, when dining with\nsome Swedish clergy in London, a polemic tried to controvert the doctrine\nconcerning the Lord, and the nature of our duty to Him; when, according\nto Mr. Burkhardt, \u201cSwedenborg overthrew the tenets of his opponent, who\nappeared but a child to him in knowledge.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg was practically a vegetarian. Shearsmith said he sometimes ate\na few eels, and his servant informs us that he once had some pigeon pie;\nbut his usual diet was bread and butter, milk and coffee, almonds and\nraisins, vegetables, biscuits, cakes, and gingerbread. The gingerbread he\nused to take out with him into the area of Cold Bath square, (now covered\nwith houses,) and distribute it among the children as they played around\nhim. He was a water-drinker, but occasionally, when in company, drank one\nor two glasses of wine, but never more. He took no supper. Of coffee he\nwas a great drinker, which he took very sweet, and without milk. At his\nhouse in Stockholm, he had a fire during winter almost constantly in his\nstudy, at which he made his own coffee and drank it often, both during\nthe day and in the night.\n\nFrom the commencement of his illumination, Swedenborg was very particular\nas to his diet; and his Diary contains many references to his food, and\nto the spiritual association which various kinds of nutriment induced.\nIn one place we read under the heading of \u201cthe Stink of Intemperance,\u201d\n\u201cOne evening I took a great meal of milk and bread, more than the spirits\nconsidered good for me. On this occasion they dwelt upon intemperance,\nand accused me of it.\u201d Indeed, on the first opening of his spiritual\nsight, in London, in 1743, when being very hungry from much exercise, he\nate with great appetite, the spiritual stranger who appeared, saluted\nhim with the words, \u201cEat not so much.\u201d In his treatise on Heaven and\nHell, n. 299, he writes: \u201cIt has also been granted me to know the origin\nof the anxiety, grief of mind, and interior sadness, called melancholy,\nwith which man is afflicted. There are certain spirits who are not yet\nin conjunction with hell, being yet in their first state, who love\nundigested and malignant substances, such as food when it lies corrupting\nin the stomach. They consequently are present where such substances are\nto be found in man, because these are delightful to them; and they there\nconverse with one another from their own evil affection. The affection\ncontained in their discourse thence enters the man by influx; and if it\nis opposed to the man\u2019s affection, he experiences melancholy, sadness,\nand anxiety; whereas if it agrees with his affection, he becomes gay and\ncheerful. Hence was made manifest to me the origin of the persuasion\nentertained by some who do not know what conscience is, by reason that\nthey have none, when they attribute its pangs to a disordered state of\nthe stomach.\u201d Of the killing and eating the flesh of animals, he writes\nthus in the Arcana C\u0153lestia, n. 1002. \u201cEating the flesh of animals,\nconsidered in itself, is something profane; for the people of the most\nancient time on no account ate the flesh of any beast or fowl, but only\ngrain, especially bread made of wheat, also the fruits of trees, pulse,\nmilk, and what is produced from milk, as butter. To kill animals and to\neat their flesh, was to them unlawful, and seemed as something bestial;\nand they were content with the uses and services which they rendered, as\nappears also from Genesis i. 29, 30. But in succeeding times, when man\nbegan to grow fierce as a beast, yea fiercer, then first they began to\nkill animals, and to eat their flesh. And because man was such, this was\npermitted, and at this day also is permitted; and so far as man does it\nfrom conscience, so far is it lawful, for his conscience is formed of\nall those things which he thinks to be true, and so thinks to be lawful:\nwherefore also, at this day, no one is by any means condemned for this,\nthat he eats flesh.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg took snuff, as was the custom in his day. Some of his\nmanuscripts yet bear traces of the dingy powder.\n\nShearsmith gives the same account of Swedenborg\u2019s habits of sleep, as\nhis gardener at Stockholm. He had no regard for times and seasons, days\nor nights, only taking rest as he felt disposed. This was naturally to\nbe expected, considering the peculiarities of his seership. At first,\nShearsmith was greatly alarmed, by reason of his talking day and night.\nSometimes he would be writing, and then he would be, as it were, holding\na conversation with several persons. But as Swedenborg spoke in a\nlanguage Shearsmith did not understand, he could make nothing of it.\nShearsmith was nevertheless well pleased with his lodger. His servant\ntold Mr. Peckitt, after Swedenborg\u2019s death, that \u201che was a good-natured\nman, and that he was a blessing to the house, for they had harmony and\ngood business whilst he was with them.\u201d A short time before his death, he\nlay for some weeks in a trance, without any sustenance.\n\nSwedenborg\u2019s pension preserved him from all pecuniary cares. Yet in his\nDiary we read: \u201cI have now been for thirty-three months in a state in\nwhich my mind is withdrawn from bodily affairs, and hence can be present\nin the societies of the spiritual and celestial. Yet whenever I am\nintent upon worldly matters, or have cares and desires about money, (such\nas caused me to write a letter to-day,) I lapse into a bodily state;\nand the spirits, as they inform me, cannot speak with me, but say they\nare in a manner absent. This shows me that spirits cannot speak with\na man who dwells upon worldly and bodily cares; for the things of his\nbody draw down his ideas, and drown them in the body.\u2014March 4, 1748.\u201d\nThis experience is worthy of record. Most of us, in our own way, know\nthe truth of it, from heart experience. Whatever his motives were, he\nwould receive back no proceeds from the sale of his theological works,\nbut dedicated the whole to religious subscriptions. To beggars he seldom\ngave anything. In his writings, he in several places protests against\nthe sham charity which satisfies itself by mere alms-giving. He tells us\nthat habitual beggars lead vicious and impious lives, and that to give\nthem money is rather to curse than to bless them. Swedenborg did not lend\nmoney; for that, he said, is the way to lose it; besides, as he remarks,\nhe required it nearly all to pay the expenses of his traveling and\nprinting.\n\nIn his later years, Swedenborg had no library but his Bible, in various\neditions, and his own manuscripts. What need had he of the books of men,\nwhen he knew the heavens,\u2014and the glorified authors of earth, in states\nof wisdom they never dreamed of here?\n\nSwedenborg seldom went to church; for, as he said, he \u201chad no peace in\nthe church, on account of spirits, who contradicted what the preacher\nsaid, especially when he spoke of Three Persons in the Godhead, which\namounted in reality to three Gods.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg\u2019s long and arduous labors on earth were now ended. Let us\napproach his death-bed with reverence, and observe how a good man can\ndie.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\n    _Last Days on Earth._\n\n\nOn Christmas eve, 1771, a stroke of apoplexy deprived Swedenborg of his\nspeech, and lamed one side. He lay afterwards in a lethargic state for\nmore than three weeks, taking no sustenance beyond a little tea without\nmilk, and cold water occasionally, and once a little currant jelly. At\nthe end of that time, he recovered his speech and health somewhat, and\nate and drank as usual. Mr. Hartley and Dr. Messiter at this time visited\nhim, and asking him if he was comforted with the society of angels,\nas before, he answered that he was. They then asked him to declare\nwhether all that he had written was strictly true, or whether any part\nor parts were to be excepted. \u201cI have written,\u201d answered Swedenborg,\nwith a degree of warmth, \u201cnothing but the truth, as you will have more\nand more confirmed to you all the days of your life, provided you keep\nclose to the Lord, and faithfully serve Him alone, by shunning evils of\nall kinds as sins against Him, and diligently searching His Word, which,\nfrom beginning to end, bears incontestable witness to the truth of the\ndoctrines I have delivered to the world.\u201d\n\nAt this time Swedenborg seemed to love privacy, and saw but little\ncompany. His old friend, Springer, the Swedish Consul in London, called\nupon him a week or two before his decease. Springer asked him when he\nbelieved that the New Jerusalem, or the New Church of the Lord, would\nbe manifested, and if this manifestation would take place in the four\nquarters of the world. Swedenborg replied: \u201cNo mortal can declare the\ntime, no, not even the celestial angels; it is known solely to the Lord.\nRead the Revelation, chapter xxi. 2, and Zechariah, chapter xiv. 9,\nand you will find that it is not to be doubted that the New Jerusalem,\nmentioned in the Apocalypse, which denotes a new and purer state of the\nChristian Church, than has hitherto existed, will manifest itself to all\nthe earth.\u201d\n\nAbout this time, says Springer, Swedenborg told him that his spiritual\nsight was withdrawn, after he had been favored with it for so long a\ncourse of years. This, of which the world knew nothing, and for which it\ncared nothing, it was the greatest affliction to him to lose. He could\nnot endure the blindness, but cried out repeatedly, \u201cO my God! hast thou\nthen forsaken thy servant at last?\u201d He continued for several days in this\ncondition, but it was the last of his trials: he recovered his precious\nsight, and was happy.\n\nAbout this time he wrote a note, in Latin, to the Rev. John Wesley, to\nthe following effect:\u2014\n\n            \u201cGREAT BATH STREET, COLD BATH FIELDS, _February, 1772_.\n\n    \u201cSIR,\u2014I have been informed, in the world of spirits, that you\n    have a strong desire to converse with me. I shall be happy to\n    see you, if you will favor me with a visit.\n\n                 \u201cI am, sir, your humble servant,\n\n                                              \u201cEMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\u201d\n\nWhen the note was handed to Mr. Wesley, he was in company with some of\nhis preachers, arranging their preaching circuits for the year. Wesley\nread the note aloud, and frankly confessed that he had been strongly\nactuated by a desire to meet Swedenborg, but he had revealed his wish to\nno one. He wrote for answer, that he was then occupied in preparing for\na six months\u2019 journey, but would wait upon Swedenborg on his return to\nLondon. Swedenborg, in reply, stated that the proposed visit would be\ntoo late, as he should go into the world of spirits on the 29th day of\nthe next month, (March,) never more to return. Wesley did not call, and\nthey never met. Had he been wise, he would; in spite of engagements, have\nembraced this opportunity of conversing with that wonderful man, after an\ninvitation of such a character. Had they met, Methodism might have been a\ndifferent thing from what it is. But let us believe that all such seeming\naccidents are overruled for the best.\n\nThe authority for this anecdote is the Rev. Samuel Smith, a Methodist\npreacher, who was present when Wesley received Swedenborg\u2019s letter. It\nexcited his curiosity to know something of the writings of so remarkable\na man; and the result was, a firm conviction of the rationality and truth\nof the heavenly doctrine promulgated in them, and a zealous activity in\ntheir diffusion, throughout the remainder of his life.\n\nMr. Bergstrom, the landlord of the King\u2019s Arms tavern in Wellclose\nsquare, at whose house Swedenborg had once lodged, called to see him in\nhis last days. Swedenborg told him, that since it had pleased the Lord\nto take away the use of his arm by palsy, his body was good for nothing\nbut to be put under ground. Mr. Bergstrom asked him whether he would\nreceive the Sacrament. Somebody present at the time proposed sending for\nthe Rev. Mr. Mathesius, a minister of the Swedish Church. Swedenborg at\nonce declined having that gentleman, for he had sent abroad a report that\nSwedenborg was out of his senses. (Mathesius himself, in later years,\nbecame deranged.) The Rev. Arvid Ferelius, another Swedish clergyman,\nwith whom Swedenborg was on the best terms, and who had visited him\nfrequently in his illness, was then sent for. Ferelius observed to him,\nthat \u201cas many persons thought he had endeavored only to make himself a\nname, or acquire celebrity in the world, by the publication of his new\ntheological system, he should now be ready, in order to show justice to\nthe world, to recant either the whole or a part of what he had written,\nsince he had now nothing more to expect from the world which he was so\nsoon to leave forever.\u201d Upon hearing these words, Swedenborg raised\nhimself half upright in his bed, and placing his sound hand upon his\nbreast, said, with great zeal and emphasis, \u201cAs true as you see me before\nyou, so true is everything which I have written. I could say more, were\nI permitted. When you come into eternity, you will see all things as I\nhave stated and described them; and we shall have much discourse about\nthem with each other.\u201d Ferelius then asked him if he would take the\nLord\u2019s Holy Supper. He replied, \u201cYou mean well, but I, being a member\nof the other world, do not need it. However, to show the connection\nand union between the church in heaven and the church on earth, I will\ngladly take it.\u201d He then asked Ferelius if he had read his views on the\nSacrament. Before administering the Sacrament, Ferelius inquired whether\nhe confessed himself to be a sinner. \u201cCertainly,\u201d said Swedenborg, \u201cso\nlong as I carry about with me this sinful body.\u201d With deep and affecting\ndevotion, with folded hands, and with his head uncovered, he confessed\nhis own unworthiness, and received the Holy Supper. He then presented\nFerelius with a copy of his Arcana C\u0153lestia, expressing his gratitude to\nhim for his kind attentions.\n\nHe knew that his end was near. He told the people of the house on what\nday he should die, and Shearsmith\u2019s servant remarked, \u201che was as pleased\nas I should have been, if I was going to have a holiday, or going to some\nmerrymaking.\u201d\n\nHis faculties were clear to the last. On Sunday, the 29th day of March,\n1772, hearing the clock strike, he asked his landlady and her maid, who\nwere both sitting at his bed-side, what o\u2019clock it was; and upon being\nanswered it was five o\u2019clock, he said, \u201cIt is well; I thank you; God\nbless you;\u201d and in a little moment after, he gently departed. He was then\n84 years, 8 weeks, and five days, old.\n\nHis body was taken to the undertaker\u2019s, where it lay in state; and then\nwas, on the 5th day of April, deposited in three coffins, in the vault of\nthe Swedish Church, in Prince\u2019s square, Radcliffe Highway, with all the\nceremonies of the Lutheran faith,\u2014the service being performed by the Rev.\nArvid Ferelius.\n\nThere the body still lies. No stone, or inscription marks the spot.\nSwedenborg of all men, least requires monumental commemoration.\nEvery year enshrines his memory in increasing numbers of grateful\nhearts;\u2014grateful to him, as a medium, whereby the Infinite Wisdom and\nGoodness might reach its end in blessing mankind by the advent of\nspiritual truth, and leading them within the gates of the Holy City, New\nJerusalem.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n[1] The following account of Charles XII., written by Emanuel Swedenborg,\nwas printed in the \u201cGentleman\u2019s Magazine,\u201d for September, 1754. It is\na portion of a letter which Swedenborg wrote to M. Nordberg, while the\nlatter was engaged in writing his \u201cLife of Charles XII.,\u201d in which work\nthe letter appeared at full length. It is too long to be quoted here; the\nfollowing extracts contain the pith of it. It may be proper to observe,\nthat it was written by the author prior to his being called to the sacred\noffice which occupied the last twenty-nine years of his life. This\naccounts for his speaking of the celebrated Swedish hero with so much\ngreater respect than he is known to have afterwards entertained for his\nmemory.\n\n\u201cHaving been frequently admitted to the honor of hearing his late most\nexcellent Majesty, Charles XII. discourse on mathematical subjects, I\npresume an account of a new arithmetic invented by him, may merit the\nattention of my readers.\n\n\u201cHis Majesty observed then, that the denary arithmetic, universally\nreceived and practiced, was most probably derived from the original\nmethod of counting on the fingers; that illiterate people of old, when\nthey had run through the fingers of both hands, repeated new periods over\nand over again, and every time spread open both hands; which being done\nten times, they distinguished each step by proper marks, as by joining\ntwo, three, or four fingers. Afterwards, when this method of numeration\non the fingers came to be expressed by proper characters, it soon became\nfirmly and universally established, and so the denary calculus has been\nretained to this day. But surely, were a solid geometrician, thoroughly\nversed in the abstract nature and fundamentals of numbers, to set his\nmind upon introducing a still more useful calculus into the world,\ninstead of ten, he would select such a perfect square, or cube number, as\nby continual bisection, or halving, would at length terminate in unity,\nand be better adapted to the subdivisions of measures, weights, coins,\netc.\n\n\u201cThus intent on a new arithmetic, the hero pitched upon the number\neight, as most fit for the purpose, since it could not only be halved\ncontinually down to unity, without a fraction, but contained within it\nthe square of 2, and was itself the cube thereof, and was also applicable\nto the received denomination of several sorts of weights and coins,\nrising to 16 and 32, the double and quadruple of 8. Upon these first\nconsiderations, he was pleased to command me to draw up an essay on an\noctonary calculus, which I completed in a few days, with its application\nto the received divisions, coins, measures, and weights, a disquisition\non cubes and squares, and a new and easy way of extracting roots, all\nillustrated with examples.\n\n\u201cHis Majesty having cast his eye twice or thrice over it, and observing,\nperhaps from some hints in the essay, that the denary calculus had\nseveral advantages not always attended to, he did not at that time\nseem absolutely to approve of the octonary: or, it is likely he might\nconceive, that though it seemed easy in theory, yet it might prove\ndifficult to introduce it to practice. Be this as it may, he insisted\non fixing upon some other that was both a cube and a square number,\nreferrible to 8, and divisible down to unity by bisection. This could be\nno other than 64, the cube of 4, and square of 8, divisible down to unity\nwithout a fraction.\n\n\u201cI immediately presumed to object that such a number would be too prolix,\nas it rises through a series of entirely distinct and different numbers,\nup to 64, and then again to its duplicate 4,096, and on to its triplicate\n262,144, before the fourth step commences; so that the difficulty of such\na calculus would be incredible, not only in addition and subtraction, but\nto a still higher degree in multiplication and division; for the memory\nmust necessarily retain in the multiplication table, 3,969 distinct\nproducts of the 63 numbers of the first step multiplied into one another;\nwhereas only 49 are necessary in the octonary, and but 81 are required\nin the denary arithmetic; which last is difficult to be remembered and\napplied in practice, by some capacities. But the stronger my objections\nwere, the more resolute was his royal mind upon attempting such a\ncalculus.\n\n    Obstructions made him eagerly aspire\n    All to surmount, and nobly soar the higher.\n\nHe insisted that the alleged difficulties might be overbalanced by very\nmany advantages.\n\n\u201cA few days after this I was called before his Majesty, who, resuming\nthe subject, demanded if I had made a trial. I still urging my former\nobjections, he reached me a paper written with his own hand, in new\ncharacters and terms of denomination, the perusal of which, he was\npleased, at my entreaty, to grant me; wherein, to my great surprise, I\nfound not only new characters and numbers, (the one almost naturally\nexpressive of the other) in a continued series to 64, so ranged as easily\nto be remembered, but also new denominations, so contrived by pairs,\nas to be easily extended to myriads by a continued variation of the\ncharacter and denomination. And further casting my eye on several new\nmethods of his for addition and multiplication by this calculus, either\nartificially contrived, or else inherent in the characters of the numbers\nthemselves, I was struck with the profoundest admiration of the force of\nhis Majesty\u2019s genius, and with such strange amazement, as obliged me to\nesteem this eminent personage, not my rival, but by far my superior in my\nown art. And having the original still in my custody, at a proper time I\nmay publish it, as it highly deserves; whereby it will appear with what\ndiscerning skill he was endowed, or how deeply he penetrated into the\nobscurest recesses of the arithmetical science.\n\n\u201cBesides, his eminent talents in calculation further appear by his\nfrequently working and solving the most difficult numerical problems,\nbarely by thought and memory; in which operations others are obliged to\ntake great pains and tedious labor.\n\n\u201cHaving duly weighed the vast advantages arising from mathematical and\narithmetical knowledge in most occasions of human life, he frequently\nused it as an adage, that _he who is ignorant of numbers is scarce half a\nman_.\n\n\u201cWhile he was at Bender, he composed a complete volume of military\nexercises, highly esteemed by those who are best skilled in the art of\nwar.\u201d\n\n[2] The bookseller referred to was Mr. Bohn, of Henrietta street, Covent\nGarden.\n\n[3] It is not to be supposed that this time was wasted in sleep. In his\nmeditations and spiritual intercourse, he, no doubt, loved the seclusion\nof his quiet chamber.\n\n[4] This is quite a mistake. His work he had in contemplation for some\nyears. It is probable the revisal, alterations, and additions in the MS\nand in the proofs, led Paulus into this misconception.","title":"Life of Emanuel Swedenborg: Together with a brief synopsis of his writings, both philosophical and theological","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":76666}