PREFACE.
In the year 1868, the editor, while professor at the Washington University of St. Louis, Missouri, was requested by the General Convention of the New Church in America to undertake a journey to Sweden, for the purpose of securing a photo-lithographic reproduction of all the unpublished manuscripts of Swedenborg. He accordingly embarked for Europe at the end of July of the same year, and towards the end of September arrived in Stockholm, where he at once entered upon the work of his important mission.
After accomplishing the preliminary part of his task, that of making a most minute and careful examination of the Swedenborg MSS., which are preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, he, while engaged one day in the Royal Library in turning over some of its literary treasures, laid his hand upon some documents respecting Swedenborg which had never been published in the English language. It was then that the idea occurred to him of not only making an exhaustive examination of the author's unpublished writings, but also of collecting such documents respecting him as might still be in existence, scattered over the various parts of his native country.
The Royal Librarian in Stockholm, Mr. C. E. Klemming, kindly entered into the editor's plans, and, at his request, at once issued a circular which was inserted in most of the Swedish journals, soliciting all who were in possession of letters addressed to, or written by, Swedenborg, or other documents respecting him, to send them to the Royal Library in Stockholm, where certified copies would be taken. At the same time direct appeals were made by the Royal Librarian and Mr. I. A. Ahlstrand, librarian of the Royal Academy of Sciences, to all antiquarians and collectors in furtherance of this object.
The result was the accumulation, in a short time, of a vast mass of information respecting Swedenborg, the very existence of which had not previously been suspected.
The most fruitful sources of documentary information were: First, the Cathedral-Library at Linkping; whither the editor, by the advice of his faithful coadjutors, undertook a journey about the end of October, 1868, and where the Consistory, under the presidency of Bishop Bring, with the greatest readiness resolved to send to the Royal Library in Stockholm all the volumes which contained letters or other documents respecting Swedenborg; at the same time instructing the Royal Librarian to place these volumes freely at the service of the editor. From these volumes are derived seventy-one of the documents in Section III, and two of those in Section IV. Secondly, the Library of the Academy of Sciences, which supplied twenty-five of the letters in Section II, seventeen of those in Section III, four documents of Section IV, twenty-five of Section VI, and three of great importance in Section VII; it provided, besides, the journals of Swedenborg's travels, which are printed in Section VIII, with some letters contained in Section IX. Thirdly, the Royal Library in Stockholm; the present custodian of the treasures of Count Engestrm's library (see footnote to Document 137), from which have been derived two letters in Section I, four documents in Section IV, one in Section V, and several in Section XI. In the Royal Library is preserved also the interesting document entitled "Swedenborg's Dreams," of which an account is given in Section VIII.
In November 1868, the editor left Sweden in order to lay the results of his investigations respecting the Swedenborg MSS. before the friends of the New Church at large; and in June 1869 he returned to Sweden with instructions from the General Convention of the New Church in America (which was soon after joined by the General Conference in Great Britain) to commence the photo-lithographic reproduction of the unpublished writings of Swedenborg.
While engaged in the superintendence of this work he continued to seek, by all available means, to increase his stock of Documents; and permission having been granted by the authorities of the College of Commerce, he entered upon a systematic examination of the records of the College of Mines during the time Swedenborg had been officially connected with it, from 1717 to 1747. The results of this investigation are contained, partly in Section V, and partly in Section VI. He supplemented his researches in the College of Mines by investigations in the Royal Archives, free access to which had been granted him by the superintendent, Count Oxenstjerna. Besides, the Court of Appeals opened to him its hidden treasures, and an interesting law-suit was there discovered, an abstract of which is contained in Document 132, Section IV.
The funds which were required for collecting and transcribing this vast mass of documents, were supplied by the American Document Committee, which is under the direction of the Rev. W. H. Benade, secretary of the American Swedenborg MSS. Committee; L. C. Iungerich, Esq. of Philadelphia, and the editor of the present work; to this committee also belong the original documents which were thus obtained. A copy of these documents was taken by the General Conference at its own expense, and deposited by resolution with the Swedenborg Society, for safe custody.
At the end of May, 1870, the editor left Stockholm, having successfully accomplished the task of reproducing, by the photo-lithographic process, the unpublished MSS. of Emanuel Swedenborg. Soon after his arrival in London, an account of the documents he had collected was published in the "Intellectual Repository;" and the Rev. Augustus Clissold was so much impressed with the importance of having them made accessible to the English reader, that he placed L200 at the disposal of the Swedenborg Society, for the purpose of having them translated.
At the request of the Committee of the Swedenborg Society the editor undertook the work of translating and preparing these documents for the press. He soon found, however, that it would be necessary for him, not only to translate the new documents discovered by him in Sweden, but also to give a new version of almost all those that had been previously published, as, for instance, Sandel's Eulogium, Robsahm's Memoirs, and others, which had been rendered into English, not from the originals, but from French and German versions.
It was found necessary also to subject all the documents which had been discovered to a close scrutiny, and to separate the genuine from the spurious. Doubtful testimony had to be analysed, and reasons given for either accepting or rejecting it; and where contradictory evidence occurred, an attempt had to be made to arrive at the truth according to the laws of evidence. All this entailed on the editor a great amount of labour. But that labour, great as it was, rendered further exertion necessary. He found it, requisite to make laborious researches, in order to obtain information respecting the life and character of the various persons whose names occur in the documents, or who have given their testimony concerning Swedenborg. The results of these researches are embodied in notes appended to the first and second volumes. The authorities chiefly consulted in the preparation of these notes are, Anrep's "Svenska Adelns Attar-Taflor," the "Biografiskt Lexicon fver Namnkunnige Svenska Mn," "Nya Kyrkan och dess inflytande p Theologiens Studium i Sverige," and Dr. Kahl's "narratiunculae de vitis Hominum in E. Swedenborgii Diariis Commenoratorum," the German "Conversations-Lexicon," and the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." It was thought it would be interesting and instructive to those who accept Swedenborg's testimony as a seer, to learn what he has said regarding the state in the other world of the more prominent of those persons who figure in these documents, therefore his theological merits, and especially his "Spiritual Diary," have been frequently brought into requisition in the preparation of the notes.
At the request of the editor, the Committee of the Swedenborg Society appointed the Rev. William Bruce, editor of the "Intellectual Repository," to assist him with his advice and otherwise, in preparing the materials for the press. Besides his assistance, help has also been rendered by Mr. James Speirs, the publisher of the work. Notwithstanding, however, the care and labour bestowed upon it, it has been found impossible in all instances to make the meaning quite clear, the originals being in many passages very obscure. This is especially the case with the letters that passed between Swedenborg and his brother-in-law, Ericus Benzelius, in many of which allusions are made that could only have been understood, and were only intended to be understood, by each other.
Still, with these and other imperfections, the editor indulges the hope that the present collection of documents, many of which have no doubt been rescued from destruction or oblivion, will be accepted by the members of the New Church as an important contribution towards a knowledge of one, in whose personal as well as official life and character they must feel a deep interest.
London, May, 1875.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE
SECTION I.
GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
DOCUMENT
1.--Rev. T. Hartley to Swedenborg 1
2.--Swedenborg's Autobiography in a letter to Hartley 6
3.--Rev. T. Hartley to Swedenborg 10
4.--Sandels' Eulogium on Swedenborg 12
5.--Robsahm's Memoirs of Swedenborg 30
6.--Pernety's Account of Swedenborg 52
SECTION II.
SWEDENBORG'S ANCESTRY, AND THE GENEALOGY OF THE SWEDENBORG FAMILY.
7.--Report on Swedenborg's Paternal Ancestry 75
8.--P. Schnstrm's letter on Swedenborg's Maternal Ancestry 77
9.--Genealogy of the Swedenborg Family 82
10.--Bishop Swedberg's Biography 96
11--34.--Twenty four letters of Bishop Swedberg to Johan Rosenadler 155-193
35.--Extracts from Bishop Swedberg's autobiography 194
SECTION III.
SWEDENBORG'S CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE YEARS 1709-747.
INTRODUCTION 199
36, 37.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 200-204
38.--Polhem to Ericus Benzelius 205
39, 40.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benezlius 206-212
4.--Extracts from the Minutes of the Literary Society of Upsal 213
42.--Professor Elfvius to Swedenborg 214
43-50.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 216-242
51.--Polhem to Swedenborg 242
52.--Polhem to Ericus Benzelius 243
53.--Polhem to Swedenborg 245
54, 55.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 247-251
56, 57.--Polhem to Ericus Benzelius 251-253
58.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 253
59.--Ericus Benzelius to Swedenborg 255
60-62.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 258-265
63.--Polhem to Ericus Benzelius 265
64.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 266
65, 66.--Polhem to Swedenborg 269-273
67-70.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 273-281
71.--Polhem to Swedenborg 281
72-83.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 283-306
84.--Polhem to Ericus Benzelius 306
85-97.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 307-332
98.--Ericus Benzelius to Swedenborg 333
99.--Swedenborg to Lars Benzelstjerna 334
100-102.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 335-340
103.--Ericus Benzelius to Swedenborg 341
104.--Jesper Swedenborg to Emanuel Swedenborg 342
105.--Ericus Benzelius to Swedenborg 343
106.--Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 344
107.--Jonas Unge to Swedenborg 345
108-110.--Swedenborg to A. D. Schnstrm 346-348
111.--Jonas Unge to Swedenborg 349
112.--Swedenborg to Brita Behm 351
113.--Bishop Swedberg to Emanuel Swedenborg 352
114.--Jonas Unge to Swedenborg 353
115.--Bishop Swedberg to Emanuel Swedenborg 354
116.--Jonas Unge to Swedenborg 355
117.--J. F. Henkel to Swedenborg 356
118.--Lector Sparschuh to C. J. Benzelius 357
119.--Jacob Forskl to Swedenborg 358
120, 121.--Jonas Unge to Swedenborg 359-360
122.--Ericus Benzelius to Christopher Wolf 361
123.--Christopher Wolf to Ericus Benzelius 362
124, 125.--Lars Benzelstjerna to Swedenborg 362-364
126.--Jesper Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius 365
l27.--Ericus Benzelius to C. J. Benzelius 367
128.--Swedenborg to an anonymous correspondent 367
129.--Swedenborg to Councillor * * * 369
SECTION IV.
DOCUMENTS CONCERNING SWEDENBORG'S PRIVATE PROPERTY.
130.--Swedenborg as Mine-Owner in Skinskatteberg 373
131.--Bishop Swedberg to Jesper Swedenborg. 374
132.--Swedenborg's law-suits with Brita. Behm 376
133.--Ericus Benzelius to C. J. Benzelius 381
134.--Moneys received by Swedenborg in 1743 and 1744 382
135.--Extracts from Swedenborg's common-place book for the years 1747 and 1748 383
136.--Memorandum of the year 1748 386
137.--Swedenborg's account with Messrs. Jennings and Finlay from
1759 to l763 387
138.--Statement of Swedenborg's Income for the years 1765 and 1766 388
139.--List of Swedenborg's valuables from the year 1770 389
140.--Official description of Swedenborg's house and garden in Stockholm 390
141.--Letters of Chas. Lindegren respecting Swedenborg's decease and burial 393
142.--Bjrnsthl to C. J. Benzelius 395
SECTION V.
SWEDENBORG'S OFFICIAL LIFE IN THE COLLEGE OF MINES, FROM 1717 to 1747.
INTRODUCTION 399
143.--Swedenborg's appointment as extraordinary assessor in the College
of Mines 401
144.--Swedenborg's entrance upon his office 402
145.--His description of Swedish Iron Furnaces 404
146.--His proposal respecting the exsiccation of vitriol 405
147.--His application for a salary in 1720 406
148.--His letter to the College of Mines in 1781 407
149.--His memorial to the King on an improvement in the metallurgy of copper 408
150.--His report to the College of Mines respecting the improvement 411
151.--Reply of the mining authorities at Fahlun to this report 414
152.--Swedenborg's rejoinder 421
153.--Swedenborg's entrance upon his active duties in the college in 1723 426
154.--His life at the college in 1723 429
155.--His life at the college in 1724 431
156.--His life at the college in 1725 434
157.--His life at the college in 1726 437
158.--His life at the college from 1727 to 1732 438
159.--His first application for leave of absence in 1733 441
160.--Expiration of his leave of absence in 1734 444
161.--His life at the college in 1735 446
162.--His second application for leave of absence in 1736 447
163.--His connection with the college from 1737 to 1742 456
164.--His third application for leave of absence in 1743 457
165.--His connection with the college from 1744 to 1746 462
166.--His retirement from the college in 1747 463
167.--Royal decree accepting Swedenborg's resignation 465
SECTION VI.
SWEDENBORG'S PUBLIC LIFE AS A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES.
INTRODUCTION 469
168.--A Memorial on the state of Sweden's finances in 1723 471
169.--A Memorial on legislating in favour of copper to the detriment of iron 475
170.--A Memorial showing the importance of the production of iron for Sweden 477
171.--A Memorial on the establishment of rolling-mills in Sweden 480
172.--A Memorial on the impolicy of Sweden declaring war against Russia, with
an introduction 483
173.--Fragment of a memorial principally for the regulation for the liquor-traffic 493
174.--A Memorial in favour of returning to a pure metallic currency 496
175.--An appeal to the Swedish Diet in favour of restoring a metallic currency 504
176.--On the causes of the rise of exchange 505
177.--A Memorial addressed to the King against the exportation of copper 507
178.--Swedenborg declines to be a member of the private commission on
exchange 509
179.--Swedenborg's resolution with regard to the secret deputation on exchange 510
180.--A Memorial addressed to the Diet on the subject of Councillor
Nordencrantz's book 511
181.--A review of Nordencrantz's book 515
182.--First letter of Swedenborg to Nordencrantz 521
183.--Swedenborg to Baron C. F. Hpken 522
184.--Nordencrantz's reply to Swedenborg 523
185.--Swedenborg's statement in the House of Nobles 525
186.--Swedenborg's statement in reply to a memorial addressed by
Nordencrantz to the House of Nobles 526
187.--Swedenborg's answer addressed to the four houses of Diet 527
188.--Second letter to Swedenborg to Nordencrantz 528
189.--Swedenborg to Baron C. F. Hpken 529
190.--Nordencrantz's reply to Swedenborg's second letter 530
191.--Third letter of Swedenborg to Nordencrantz 531
192.--Memorandum to be appended to Swedenborg's review of Nordencrantz's
book 534
193.--Swedenborg's reply to a second memorial of Nordencrantz 535
194.--President Oelreich to Swedenborg 536
196.--His Memorial in behalf of Senators v. Hpken, Palstjerna and Scheffer 538
Spuriousness of a document imputed to Swedenborg by Dean Wieselgren 542
SECTION VII.
SWEDENBORG AS A MAN OF SCIENCE.
INTRODUCTION 553
197.--Swedenborg's mechanical feat before Fredrikshall in 1718 554
198.--Prospectus of a metallurgical work from the year 1722 555
199.--Swedenborg's letter to Dr. Nordberg about Charles XII. 558
200.--Swedenborg's Controversy with Professor Anders Celsius of Upsal,
in 1740 and 1741 Cause of Controversy 565
A. Extract from Prof. Celsius' paper questioning the correctness of Swedenborg's Principia 566
B. Swedenborg's Reply to Prof. Celsius 568
C. Celsius's Rejoinder 578
D. Magister Hiorter's computation 580
E. His strictures of Swedenborg's computation 583
F. Swedenborg's Reply to Magister Hiorter 584
201.--Prospectus of books to be published, from the year 1742 585
202.--Swedenborg's paper on inlaying marble, from the year 1763 586
203.--Swedenborg's Method of finding the Longitude reprinted in 1766 590
A. His letter to the Academy of Sciences 591
B. Swedenborg to Dr. C. J. Benzelius 592
C. Professor N. Schenmark to Swedenborg 593
D. Swedenborg's reply to Schenmark 596
NOTES TO VOLUME I.
NOTE
1.--Rev. Thomas Hartley, A. M. 599
2.--Dr. Messiter 601
3.--Charles XII. 602
4.--Queen Ulrica Eleanora and King Frederic 605
5.--Swedenborg's Sisters and their Husbands 607
6.--Ericus Benezlius the younger 607
7.--Jacobus and Henricus Benzelius 609
8.--Lars Benzelstjerna 610
9.--Bishop Filenius 611
10.--Bishop Lars Benzelstjerna 611
11.--Adolphus Frederic and Louisa Ulrica 612
12.--Gustavus III. 612
13.--Samuel Sandels, Councillor of Mines 613
14.--Christopher Polhem 613
15.--Ludwig Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick 615
16.--Linnaeus and Swedenborg 616
17.--Prof. Niles Celsius 617
18.--Christian von Wolf 617
19.--Carl Robsahm 620
20.--Carl Frederic Nordenskld 620
21.--The opening of Swedenborg's Spiritual Sight 623
22.--Dr. Beyer 623
23.--Anders Carl Rustrm 627
24.--Edward Carleson 627
25.--Carl Reinhold Berch 627
26.--Swedenborg on Toothache 627
27.--The Statement that Swedenborg had a Mistress considered 628
28.--Count Anders Johan von Hpken 630
29.--Emerentia Polhem 634
30.--Reinhold Rckerskld 634
31.--Swedenborg's marriage engagements 634
32.--Gabriel Polhem 635
33.--Swedenborg's Estrangement from Polhem 635
34.--Abb Nordenskld 636
35.--Augustus Nordenskld 639
36.--Charles Berns Wadstrm 644
37.--Swedenborg's marble table 646
38.--John Augustus Ernesti 647
39.--Count Tessin 647
40.--Jacob Bhme 649
41.--Swedenborg and Bhme 650
42.--Swedenborg and Hermetic Philosophy 650
43.--Madame de Marteville 653
44.--Bishop Halenius 654
45.--Dr. Johan Rosn 655
46.--Bengt Bergius 656
47.--Peter Schnstrm 657
48.--Anrep's "ttar-taflor" 658
49.--Olof Rudbeck 658
50.--Brita Behm 659
51.--Johan Rosenadler 660
52.--Jesper Swedenborg 662
53.--Urban Hjrne 663
54.--Professor Elvius 664
55.--Dr. Edmund Halley 665
56.--Flamsteed 665
57.--Jean Paul Bignon 666
58.--Ericus Benzelstjerna 666
59.--Philippe de Lahire 667
60.--Pierre Varignon 667
61.--Johan Palmqvist 668
62.--Leibnitz 668
63.--Gustav Chronhjelm 669
64.--Hedwig Eleonora 670
65.--Gustav Benzelstjerna 670
66.--A. Anders Swab 671
B. Anton Swab 672
C. Johannes Moraeus 672
67.--Johan Henric Werner 673
68.--Starbo 674
69.--Eric Esberg 674
70.--Dr. Roberg 675
71.--Professors Valerius 676
72.--Dr. Magnus Bromell 676
73.--Georg Stjernhjelm 677
74.--Linea Carolina 677
75.--Birger Vassenius 678
76.--Dr. Johan Hesselius 679
77.--Nils Hasselbom 680
78.--Baron Grtz 680
79.--Count Mrner 681
80.--Martin Ludwig Manderstrm 681
81.--Albrecht Schnstrm 682
82.--Baglivi 682
83.--Descartes 682
84.--Borelli 683
85.--Robert Boyle 683
86.--Count Lagerberg 683
87.--Count Carl Gyllenborg 684
88.--Baron Cederhjelm 684
89.--Professor Burman 684
90.--Olof Nordborg 685
91.--Anders Hesselius 685
92.--Raumur 685
93.--Sir Hans Sloane 686
94.--Jonas Alstrmer 687
95.--Abraham Dan. Schnstrm 688
96.--Lientenant-Colonel Horleman 689
97.--Sebastian V. Tham 689
98.--Johan Friedrich Henkel 689
99.--Dr. Carl Jesper Benzelius 690
100.--Johan Christoph Wolf 690
101.--Baron Conrad Ribbing 690
102.--Baron Gustav Rlamb 691
103.--Adam Leijel 692
104.--Count Arvid Horn 693
105.--Joachim von Ners 693
106.--Baron Feif 694
107.--Axel Cronstedt 694
108.--Harald Lybecker 695
109.--Niklas von Oelreich 695
110.--Anna Frederica Ehrenborg 695
111.--Peter Hultman 696
112.--Anton and Johan Grill 696
Claes Grill 697
113.--Carl Broman 697
114.--Jennings and Finlay 698
115.--Count Frederic Gyllenborg 698
Countess Gyllenborg 699
116.--Carl Wilhelm Seele 700
117.--Charles Lindegren 701
Johan Spieker 701
118.--Pastor Mathesius 701
119.--Pastor Ferelius 704
120.--Jacob J. Bjrnsthl 705
121.--Christopher Springer 705
122.--Jonas Cederstedt 709
123.--Anders Strmner 710
124.--David Leijel 710
125.--Johan Bergenstjerna 710
126.--Gran Vallerius 711
127.--Nils Porath 711
128.--Baron Cederstrm 712
129.--Hans Bierchenius 713
130.--Gustav Boneauschld 713
131.--Stanislaus Leczinsky 714
132.--General Lewenhaupt 715
133.--Councillor Nordencrantz 715
134.--Baron Carl Frederic von Hpken 717
135.--Baron Palmstierna 718
136.--Count Scheffer 719
137.--Count Eric Brahe 719
138.--Baron Gustav Jacob Horn 720
139.--Bidenius Renhorn 720
140.--Dean Wieselgren 720
141.--The De la Gardie family 721
142.--Professor Schenmark 722
143.--Johan Helmik Roman 722
144.--Prof. Anders Celsius 722
145.--Magister Olof Hjorter 723
146.--Dr. Andreas Lanaerus 724
147.--Joannes Vastovius 724
148.--Dr. Nordberg 724
SECTION I.
GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
DOCUMENT 1.
LETTER FROM THE REV. THOMAS HARTLEY1 TO EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
WHICH DREW FROM HIM THE LETTER CONTAINING HIS BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHY.*
* The Latin originals of Documents 1 and 3 were formerly in Count Engestrm's Library, but they are now preserved in the Royal Library of Stockholm.
Most respected and beloved Sir,
I consider myself most highly favoured and I rejoice from my inmost heart in having had the honour, which you lately granted me, of conversing with you; and also in your having been so kind and friendly towards me who am quite unworthy of such a favour. But your charity towards the neighbour, the heavenly benignity shining from your countenance, and your childlike simplicity, devoid of all vain show and egotism, are so great, and the treasure of wisdom possessed by you is so sweetly tempered with gentleness, that it did not inspire in me a feeling of awe, but one of love, which refreshed me in my innermost heart. Believe me, O best of men, that by my intercourse with you I consider myself crowned with more than royal favours; for who among kings, if he is of a sane mind, would not gladly converse with an inhabitant of heaven, while here on earth? But the things which are hidden from the great men upon earth, are revealed to the humble.
In speaking with you every suspicion of flattery must be hushed. For what ground for flattery can there be, when I attribute everything in you, however great and extraordinary it may be, to the Lord, and not to yourself, and when I look upon you only as an instrument of His mercy and great kindness!
There are many things in My mind, dear Sir, that I should like to ask if time would permit; but may I be allowed to submit to you the following few. In the Wisdom of angels concerning the Divine Love, n. 221, you say that the Lord (Jehovah) in the world superinduced a humanity over the former humanity. Did not the Lord, therefore, have a two-fold humanity, while on earth, one which was Divine, and another which was natural, and not yet glorified. If it was not so, how can we answer those who urge, in favour of separate persons in God, the following words of John xvii, 5: "Father, glorify me with the glory, which I had with Thee, before the world was made?" If, then, He had a twofold humanity,--which of the two said these words to the Divine Essence or to the Father, inasmuch as the former Humanity had not lost the glory, and therefore could not ask for its restoration, and the latter had not yet attained glorification, and therefore could not say, "Glorify me with the glory, which I had with Thee," &c. Does there not seem to be a dilemma on either side? I do not ask this, because my faith about doctrine can be shaken by a thousand difficulties, but because I should like to answer those who wish to know the reason.
Secondly, If Jehovah had always a Divine Humanity--as I verily believe He had--what need was there, for the purpose in a state of humility and repentance, of His descent among men, to fill angels with His Divine Essence; and why could He not appear before the patriarchs as God-Man?
Pardon my troubling you so much, but allow me still to add the two following points:
First, If, perchance, after your departure from England, either Dr. Messiter,2 or I, or both of us, should be called upon publicly to defend your writings, and if likewise an occasion should arise of defending you, their author, against some malignant slanderer, who would wish to injure your reputation by a web of falsehoods--as those are in the habit of doing who hate the truth--would it not be well for you, in order to repel such slanders, and make them recoil upon their originator, to leave with us some particulars respecting yourself, your degrees in the University, the public offices which you administered, your friends and relations, the honours which, I am told, have been conferred upon you, and about anything else that might be useful in establishing your good character, so that pernicious prejudices may be removed; for it is our duty to use all lawful means, lest the cause of truth should suffer injury.
Secondly, If, perchance, after your return to Sweden, some persecution should be excited against you by the clergy, on account of your religion--which may God prevent--return, then, I beseech you, to England, where you may dwell in safety. Dr. Messiter and myself will prepare for you a convenient place and house, either in town or in the country, and we shall provide for every thing that may conduce to your well-being. This will be no trouble to us, but will give us the greatest possible pleasure.
I commend myself to your favour and affection, and I am, and shall always be, my teacher and most distinguished friend, with all due reverence,
Your most obliged servant,
THOS. HARTLEY.
East Malling,
near Maidstone, Kent.
August 2. 1769.
To the Honourable MR. SWEDENBORG.
DOCUMENT 2.
LETTER FROM: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG TO THE REV. THOMAS HARTLEY, CONTAINING HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY*.
* The Latin original of this letter was printed separately by Dr. Hartley in 1769, under the title: Responsum ad Epistolam ab amico ad me scriptam, and was reprinted in the aurora, Vol. ii, p. 224, in 1800. The first English translation of this letter was published by Dr. Hartley himself, in his English translation of Swedenborg's work on the "Intercourse" &c., which he published under the following title: "A Theosophical Lucubration on the Nature of Influx, as it respects the Communication and Operations of the Soul and Body. By the Honourable and Learned Em. Swedenborg. Now first translated from the original Latin. London. 1770," 4to.
THE friendship which you manifest in your letter greatly pleases me; and I thank you sincerely for both, but especially for your friendship. The praises with which you overwhelm me, I receive simply as expressions of your love for the truths contained in my writings; and I refer them, as their source, to the Lord, our Saviour, from whom is everything true, because He is the Truth Itself, John, xiv, 6. I have considered chiefly the remarks you make at the close of your letter, where you express yourself as follows: "If, perchance, after your departure from England, your writings should be the subject of discussion, and occasion should arise for defending you, their author, against some malignant slanderer, who may wish to injure your reputation by a web of falsehoods--as those are in the habit of doing who hate the truth--would it not be well for you, in order to repel such slanders, to leave with me some particulars respecting yourself, your degrees in the University, the public offices you filled, your friends and relations, the honours which, I am told, have been conferred upon you, and anything else that might be useful in establishing your good character, so that ill-conceived prejudices may be removed; for it is our duty to use all lawful means, lest the cause of truth should suffer injury."
I was born at Stockholm, on the 29th of January in the year 1689. My father's name was Jesper Swedberg;* who was Bishop of West-Gothland, and a man of celebrity in his time. He was also elected and enrolled as a member of the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts; for he had been appointed by King Charles XII3 Bishop over the Swedish churches in Pennsylvania, and also over the church in London. In the year 1710 I went abroad. I proceeded first to England, and afterwards to Holland, France, and Germany, and returned home in the year 1714. In the year 1716, and also afterwards, I had many conversations with Charles XII,3 King of Sweden, who greatly favoured me, and the same year offered me an assessorship tin the College of Mines, which office I filled until the year 1747, which I resigned it, retaining, however, the official salary during my life. My sole object in tendering my resignation was, that I might have more leisure to devote to the new office to which the Lord had called me. A higher post of honour was then offered me, which I positively declined, lest my heart should be inspired with pride. In the year 1719, I was ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleanora,4 and named Swedenborg; and from that time I have taken my seat among the nobles of the rank of knighthood, in the triennial Diet of the Realm. I am a Fellow and Member, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm; but I have never sought admission into any literary society in any other place, because I am in an angelic society, where such things as relate to heaven and the soul are the only subjects of discourse; while in literary societies the world and the body form the only subjects of discussion.
* A more detailed account of Bishop Jesper Swedberg will be found in Documents 9A and 10.
With respect to my family connections, I had four sisters.5 One of them was married to Ericus Benzelius,6 who subsequently became the Archbishop of Upsal, and through him I became related to the two succeeding archbishops,7 who both belonged to the family of Benzelius, and were younger brothers of his. My second sister was married to Lars Benzelstierna8 who became a provincial governor; but these two are dead. Two bishops, however, who are related to me, are still living; one of them, whose name is Filenius,9 and who is Bishop of East-Gothland, officiates now as President of the House of the Clergy in the Diet at Stockholm, in place of the Archbishop, who is an invalid; he married my sister's daughter: the other, named Benzelstierna,10 is Bishop of Westmanland and Dalecarlia; he is the son of my second sister. Not to mention others of my relations who occupy stations of honour. Moreover, all the bishops of my native country, who are ten in number, and also the sixteen senators, and the rest of those highest in office, entertain feelings of affection for me; from their affection they honour me, and I live with them on terms of familiarity, as a friend among friends; the reason of which is, that they know I am in company with angels. Even the King and the Queen,11 and the three princes, their sons, show me great favour: I was also invited once by the King and Queen to dine with them at their own table, which honour is generally accorded only to those who are highest in office; subsequently the Crown Prince12 granted me the same favour. They all desire me to return home; wherefore, I am far from apprehending, in my own country, that persecution, which you fear, and against which in your letter you desire in so friendly a manner to provide; and if they choose to persecute me elsewhere, it can do me no harm.
But all that I have thus far related, I consider of comparatively little importance; for it is far exceeded by the circumstance, that I have been called to a holy office by the Lord Himself, who most mercifully appeared before me, His servant, in the year 1743;
Your letter has induced me to write all these particulars, in order that as you say "ill-conceived prejudices may be removed." Farewell; and from my heart I wish you all blessedness both in this world, and the next; which I have not the least doubt you will attain, if you look and pray to our Lord.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
DOCUMENT 3.
LETTER FROM THE REV. THOMAS HARTLEY TO EMANUEL SWEDENBORG;
IN ANSWER TO THE PRECEDING.*
* This letter, which was formerly in the library of Count Engestrm, is now preserved in connection with Document 1 in the Royal Library in Stockholm. From this answer it appears that Dr. Hartley did not publish the whole of Document 2; for Swedenborg had evidently written to him on some points which are not mentioned in the letter, as it has been published.
Most respected and beloved Sir,
YOUR late kindness towards me, as well as your letter, which I received reverently, as if it had come down to me from heaven, I acknowledge with heart-felt joy and thankfulness. Your exhortation to perseverance I shall treasure up and cherish in the depth of my heart. May I never, after having once been made the participant of the gifts of heaven, suffer myself to be drawn away from the truth; for of what profit is it to gain the whole world, and lose one's own soul?
You, who are gifted with illumination, have, in your friendly reply, most abundantly satisfied me on the questions I had proposed to you. This is, and will be, of the greatest use to me. Should I be called upon to defend the truth in public, the enemy will not find me altogether unprepared; and I am confident the Lord will provide me with the necessary strength. I neither seek nor avoid such contests. The Lord's will be done in everything.
Allow me to congratulate your noble country on your performing the office of your apostolic mission among your countrymen; and on your being thus honoured by its princes, its governors, and high councillors. O happy Swedish nation, and happy ye its chiefs, who acknowledge and receive the Lord in your apostle!
* This can hardly be said now, inasmuch as England has been foremost in spreading the doctrines taught by Swedenborg, while the New Church has but a feeble existence in Swedenborg's native country.
About myself and my affairs I willingly keep silence; for I regard myself as of no consequence, and as a mere nothing; yet I am prepared to answer truly and fully all your questions; and if, after your return to Sweden, you should at any time do me the honour, to address a letter to me, and to make use of my services in any way whatsoever, you will find me a willing and delighted servant. Instruct me, exhort me, dispose of me in any way whatever; for if I know myself sufficiently, it will be the greatest pleasure to me to obey your admonitions and commands, and you will find me faithful to all my promises. But if you will not do me this honour, it will be enough for me to remember you always above all others, to love you always; and to have had you for my teacher in Divine things.
Most honoured Sir,
I am, with all due reverence,
Your most obedient servant
THOS. HARTLEY.
August 14, 1769.
East Malling
near Maidstone, Kent.
To The Honourable MR. SWEDENBORG.
DOCUMENT 4.
EULOGIUM ON EMANUEL SWEDENBORG,
PRONOUNCED IN THE GREAT HALL OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES, IN THE NAME OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF STOCKHOLM, OCT. 7, 1772, BY SAMUEL SANDELS,13 COUNSELOR OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MINES, AND MEMBER OF THE SAID ACADEMY.*
* The Swedish original of this Eulogium was printed by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, in the year 1772, with the following title: Aoration to the Memory (minnelse-Tal) of the late member of the Academy of Sciences, Herr Emanuel Swedenborg, Assessor in His Royal Majesty's and the country's College of Mines, delivered on account of the Royal Academy of Sciences in the great hall of the House of Nobles, October 7, 1772, by Samuel Sandels, 13 Counselor of Mines, Knight of the Polar Star, and member of said Academy. Stockholm, printed by Lars Salvius, 1772."--A French translation of this oration was published soon afterwards, and this was made use of by the Academician Pernety, in his account of Swedenborg, contained in his French translation of "Heaven and Hell," 1782. An English version of this French translation was issued by the Aurora press, in 1799, or 1800; followed by a collection of "Anecdotes and Observations on Emanuel Swedenborg." In 1802, a new French translation of this oration was printed in the Introduction to a French version of the "True Christian Religion," in which the editor stated that his version of this oration was more faithful to the original Swedish, than that printed by Pernety. Of this second French translation the Rev. S. Noble prepared an English translation, and furnished it with "Introductory Observations, exhibiting the claims of the writings of Swedenborg to the attention of the public." Mr. Noble's translation, and also his "Introductory Observations," were transferred by the Rev. J. H. Smithson to his English edition of the "Documents concerning Emanuel Swedenborg collected by Dr. Im. Tafel," who had made his German translation from the Swedish original. The present is the first English version prepared immediately from the Swedish original.
GENTLEMEN, allow me, on the present occasion, to direct your thoughts, not to a distant or wearisome subject, but to one which it is both a duty and a pleasure for us to consider, namely, the memory of a noble man, celebrated alike for his virtues and the depth of his knowledge, who was one of the oldest members of this Academy, and whom we all knew and loved.
The feeling of affection and high esteem which we all entertained for the late Assessor of the Royal College of Mines, EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, assures me, that you will love to hear me speak of him; and happy shall I be, if I can fulfil your desire, and pronounce his eulogy as he deserves. But if, as artists declare, there are some countenances, of which it is difficult to give an exact likeness; how much more difficult will it be to do justice to a vast and sublime genius, who never knew either repose or fatigue; who, occupied with sciences the most profound, was long engaged with researches into the secrets of nature, but in later years applied all his efforts to unveil still greater mysteries; who, in respect to certain principles of knowledge, went his own separate way, but never lost sight of the principles of morality and the fear of God; who was possessed of remarkable power, even in the decline of his age, and boldly tried to find how far the power of thought could be stretched; and who, during the whole of this time, has furnished materials for a great variety of thoughts and judgments upon himself, differing from one another as much as do the faculties of the men who think and judge.
The more brilliant the faculties and other properties which are the gifts of nature, the more clearly appear the shadows by which they are attended. It is only those influenced by mere curiosity who, on the appearance of some new light, see on all sides nothing but marvels and wonders, even in mere shadows. The shallow, on the other hand, see trifles in every thing; quickness of apprehension in their eyes is superficiality; deep thought dreaminess; learning appears to them whimsical; experiments they regard as mistakes; and the fathoming of hidden things they consider as a proof of insanity, and so forth. The wise man, however, loves to hold fast to the good, and does not reject a rich ore because it contains some heterogeneous substance, indicating its origin. He explores the deviations of the needle, not for the purpose of doing away with it, but in order, with proper care, to make the best use of this incomparable guide.
The beautiful picture of his life, although it contain some involved parts, deserves therefore to be carefully examined.
The excellent Bishop of Skara, Dr. Jesper Swedberg,* a man full of zeal but without bigotry, was still chaplain of the Royal Horse-guards, when his first wife, Sarah Behm, daughter of Albert Behm, Assessor in the College of Mines, brought him his second son, EMANUEL SWEDENBORG; who was born at Stockholm, the 29th of January, 1688.** He was called SWEDENBORG from the time, when he, together with his brothers and sisters, was elevated to the rank of nobility, in 1719.
* For a detailed account of Dr. Jesper Swedberg, see Document 10.
** According to a letter written by Assessor Swedenborg in Latin, and printed in London in 1769, the year of his birth is said to be 1689; but this is an error of the printer: for according to his own statement made to the House of Nobles, and according to the Register of the Nobility, compiled by the Councillor of Chancery, von Stiernman, together with other certain proofs, he was born in 1658.
There is, however, an error in the said Register in regard to Swedenborg's birth-place; for Upsal is mentioned there instead of Stockholm.--Note by S. Sandels.
Nature and art both contribute in beautifying the earth, but birth and education in adorning the human race. Allowance, however, must also be made for malformations. For a choice fruit-tree does not always preserve its qualities in propagations from its fruit-seeds. This is due mostly to the modifications which are effected in a fruit-tree by art, by which the nature of its fruit is changed; but which are unable to prevent the nature of the root from affecting the nature of the fruit.
Still it cannot be denied, that, so long as any one has not rendered himself unworthy, this fact alone inspires confidence, and operates in his favour, if it is known that he descends from what is justly called a good family; a family, whose home, whether large or small, has always been the dwelling-place of virtue and honour; and which has been a good and excellent nursery of useful citizens in all kinds of trades and professions; a family, in fact, like that from which our SWEDENBORG derived his origin, and which was an old, honest, and intelligent family of miners in the neighbourhood of the "Stora Kopparberget" [the "great copper-mountain" near Fahlun]. In this family, a miner, of the name of Daniel Isacsson,* and his wife Anna Bullernsia,** are held in honourable remembrance as the parents of the ancestors of the noble families of the Schnstrms and of the Swedenborgs, and of the honourable family of the Swedbergs.*** I remember to have seen a family-register, in the form of a genealogical tree, which showed how this family spread and extended in every branch, and became incorporated with many other illustrious and celebrated families of these times. But as our Swedenborg, on his part, did not trouble himself with enlarging this genealogical tree, I too shall pass it by, and follow him.
* For some particulars respecting Swedenborg's paternal grandfather Daniel Isacsson, see Documents 7 and 9A, and the beginning of Document 10.
** Concerning Bullernsius, the father-in-law of Daniel Isacsson, see Document 7 and also the beginning of Document 10.
*** Concerning the members of the family Swedberg, see Document 7.
But, with him as a lender, I shall not dwell long on the years of his childhood, nor shall I lose time in discussing the exercises of his youth; for he himself pressed rapidly onward to reach the age of manhood.
A son of Bishop Swedberg could not fail to receive a good education, according to the tastes of his times, by which he would be led to acquire habits of steadiness, reflection, and industry, and would become thoroughly acquainted with those branches of knowledge, which he was to cultivate.
An enlightened and wise ruler does not in this manner promote an uncultivated and inexperienced youth to an important office in the state.
Mr. Swedberg was even then well-known, both in his own country and abroad, by his acquisitions in general literature and in science, and by his worthy demeanour. Still, at that time the learned had not included his name in the lists of celebrated authors. An academical disputation, which he published at Upsal in 1709,* may, indeed, be regarded as a clever work for a youth, but as in some parts not altogether a proof of sound learning. Likewise, a printed collection of Latin verses,** which he wrote about 1710, and in the following years, for different occasions, manifested, indeed, a remarkable readiness of wit, and showed that he had made a good use of his time in youth--it is such a work, indeed, as many could have wished to have written at such an age--but still, poetry was not his forte, nor was it his business.
* The subject of this disputation was: L. Annaei Senecae et Pub. Syri Mimi, forsan et Aliroum Selectae Sententiae, cum annotationibus Erasmi et graeca versione Scaligeri, notis illustratae.BS. SANDELS.
** This collection of Latin verses is printed in Skara, under the title: Ludus Heliconius sive carmina miscellanea, quae variis in locis cecinit Em. Swedberg.BS. SANDELS.
*** All the numbers were published in 4to at Stockholm in the Swedish language; but the fifth number was also translated into, and printed in, Latin.--S. SANDELS.
We shall have now to follow him in many long journeys, undertaken for various purposes and pursuits, and at times in ways where it is easy to go astray; and in order that in his society no doubt or uncertainty may arise in your minds, which often happens when one has not fully examined the character and disposition of another, picture to yourselves an harmonious development of memory, understanding, and judgment; imagine these qualities united with an intense desire of the heart, which can only be satisfied by the ceaseless endeavour to become profoundly learned in philosophy, in almost all parts of mathematics, in natural history, physics, chemistry, in anatomy, and even in theology, and to acquire proficiency in the Oriental and European languages; keep in mind, also, the power of habit, which in a certain manner acts in accordance with reason, certainly in respect to the order of thought; and remember that our thoughts when too much engaged with, and centred upon, abstract subjects, are wont to carry us away in the same direction, and sometimes too fast,--especially when accompanied with an ardent imagination--so that we are unable properly to discriminate the objects that come before us.
Any one who says that I have here presented any other than the manifest and truthful features of Swedenborg's inner being, must be prejudiced either on the one side or on the other. Let such a one consider more closely what I have already said, and what I have still further to say.
Let us hasten to receive him on his return home from his first journey abroad, which we have already mentioned; when we shall find his thoughts principally taken up with mathematics and physics.
These studies soon procured him an acquaintance, and an intimate connection during several Sears, with our Swedish Archimedes, Christopher Polhammar, then Assessor, and afterwards Counselor of Commerce and Commander of the Royal Order of the North Star, under the name of Polhem.14
By means of this connection he not only obtained access to the greater light which he sought, especially in mechanics, but he shared the special confidence with which King Charles XII had already honoured Polhammar, and which he thereafter extended to both. For this reason, also, it is stated in the diploma, by which he received his appointment as Assessor, and which was issued at Lund, December 18, 1716, that the King had particular regard to the excellent knowledge of Swedberg in mechanics, and that he was to accompany Assessor Polhammar, and be of assistance to him in his structures, and his various mechanical works.
This is not the place to speak of the great structures of Polhem, of the well-known dyke at Lyckeby, the locks of Trolhtta, the dry-docks of Carlscrona, and other works.
Swedberg, however, executed, on his part, a work of considerable importance, when during the siege of Frederickshall, in 1718, he transported by a system of rollers, over mountains and valleys, two galleys, five large boats, and one sloop, from Strmstadt to the Iddefjord, which separates Sweden from Norway on the south; a distance of 2-2 Swedish [about 14 English] miles. By this feat the King was enabled to carry out his plans, and, under cover of the galleys and large boats, convey on pontoons a heavier artillery under the walls of Frederickshall, than he could have done by land*. It is thus that the sciences and their proper application always become useful, and frequently accomplish what without them no mortal power could effect.
* For further particulars respecting this undertaking, see Document 195.
Mechanics did not, however, occupy the whole of his time. He not only published, in 1717 and 1718, a continuation of the Daedalus Hyperboreus; but in 1718 he printed an Introduction to Algebra, under the title of Regelkonsten; in 1719, "A Proposal so to arrange our coins and measures, as to facilitate computation and abolish fractions"; and in the same year a dissertation "On the orbit and position of the earth and of the planets"; and another, "On the height of the water, and the greater flux and reflux of the sea in former ages; with proofs furnished from Sweden".
Up to this time he had not entered upon his duties as Assessor in the Royal College of Mines. He did not desire to do so before he had thoroughly mastered the science of mining in its whole extent. We must not place him in the same category with those, who work themselves into offices of whose duties they know nothing; or, what is worse, of which they are able to learn nothing, on the principle that "out of nothing, nothing can come". He obtained an office which he had never solicited. At that time, indeed, he was thoroughly versed in certain sciences, with which alone he could have been of great use in his office in some particular branches of mining; and it would have been easy for him to acquire all the remaining knowledge which he still wanted; for those sciences to which he had hitherto mostly devoted himself,--mathematics and physics, are the pillars of the science of mining; but he could not content himself with theory without practice. Neither could he satisfy himself with experimenting in a Swedish mines and their structure, and studying their methods of working. For this reason he undertook a second journey abroad, in 1721, and examined various foreign mines and smelting-works, particularly those of Saxony and the Hartz. But he did not examine mines only; for nothing ever escaped him that merited the attention of a traveller.
During his stay in the Duchy of Brunswick, he enjoyed the particular favour of Duke Ludwig Rudolph's, and the Duke, in consequence, bore the expenses of his journey in his dominions, and upon taking leave presented him with his medallion in gold, and with a piece of plate.
During this journey he acquired new stores of knowledge, and enriched science with the following new works:
1. Prodromus principiorum rerum naturalium, sive novorum tentaminum chemiam et physicam experimentalem geometrice explicandi.
2. Nova observata et inventa circa ferrum et ignem, praecipue naturam ignis elementarem, una cum nova camini inventione.
3. Methodus nova inveniendi longitudines locorum, terra marique, ope Lunae.
4. Modus construendi receptacula navalia, vulgo "Dockebyggnader."
5. Nova constructio aggeris aquatici.
All these works were printed at Amsterdam, in 1721; and second editions of them were published in 1727.
7. Miscellanea observata circa res naturales et praesertim mineralia, ignem et montium strata, three parts printed at Leipsic, and the fourth at Hamburg, in 1722.
Who else, except perhaps Linnaeus,16 has given such an account of a journey abroad, and of one of so short duration? For after an absence of a year and a half, he, in 1722, gladdened his country by his return.
During the following years be divided his time between the College of Mines, the milling districts, and his study, until, in the year 1733, he had finished his great work, entitled: Opera Philosophica et Mineralia. He then went abroad for one year, to see this work, which was published at Dresden and Leipsic, through the press; meanwhile he undertook a separate journey, in order to visit the Austrian mines.
This last work consists of three volumes, folio; the first volume contains: Principia rerum naturalium, sive novorum tentaminum, phaenomena mundi elementaris philosophice explicandi; the second: Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de ferro; the third: Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de cupro et orichalco. These volumes, being all solid, scientific compositions, illustrated with copper-plates, could not fail to raise among the learned abroad the favourable ideas which they already entertained of the Swede, SWEDENBORG.
The Consistory of the University, and the Society of Sciences at Upsal felt proud at having previously recognized the merits of our countryman, and at having publicly testified the high esteem in which they held him; for the consistory had, in 1724, invited him, "for the advantage of youth, and as an ornament of the university," to apply for the professorship of the higher mathematics, which had become vacant by the death of Professor Nils Celsius,17 but which invitation he thankfully declined; and the Society of Sciences had admitted him into the number of its members in 1729.
The Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, by a letter of invitation, dated December 17, 1734, desired to admit him among its corresponding members.
Christian Wolff,18 and other foreign men of learning addressed him by letter, in order to obtain his ideas on subjects which they found it difficult to fathom.
The editors of the Acta Eruditorum in Leipsic, in which the contents of the works of the learned are discussed and impartial opinions pronounced upon them, found in his work a rich store with which to adorn their pages.
Nor has time deprived this work of any of its value. The authors of the magnificent Descriptions des arts et mtiers, which is now in course of publication in France, thought so highly of that part of the Opera Philosophica et Mineralia, which covers the same ground as their own publication, that they translated the second part, which treats of iron and steel, and inserted it entire in their collection.
Our Royal Academy, also, when it was founded, hastened to enroll among its first members a man, who already held so distinguished a rank in other learned societies.
I have hitherto spoken only of one part of SWEDENBORG'S works; but the others take a different direction. Let us therefore dwell a little longer on the former.
These works are unmistakable proofs, that his desire for learning extended in all directions, and that he by preference occupied himself with studies which cannot be mastered without mature judgment and profound thought. No one can charge him with having wished to shine in borrowed plumes, or with re-arranging and giving a different colouring to the work of others, and then publishing it under his own name; for everywhere we perceive, that he did not depend upon others, but followed his own thoughts, and often made observations and applications which cannot be found in any other author of his times: nor can he, like the majority of those who make it a point to acquire encyclopaedic knowledge, be charged with having remained on the surface only;
But let us suppose ourselves engaged in analyzing a great mechanical work. We were not present at its construction; nor have me penetrated to all its moving springs, and therefore from the effects only, with which even we are not perfectly acquainted, we are obliged to judge of the whole structure. What are we to do? Each one assumes certain principles of his own, which appear to him most probable, and under their guidance endeavours to advance step by step. This is the course which our greatest thinkers have pursued in speculative philosophy. Happy they who, in unfolding sublime subjects, have been least unintelligible! For although, even with the greatest perspicuity and the profoundest insight, they have not always succeeded in penetrating the depths of knowledge, or in keeping clear of error, still they have been often instrumental in opening new avenues for the exercise of our reason; or at least, one thought has led to another, and, finally, been productive of more reliable information.
Alchemists,--but not those that were merely ignorant empirics--by their unceasing experiments led the way to invaluable discoveries in chemistry, although they did not discover the art of making gold.
I am perhaps not mistaken in believing, that, from the time when our Swedenborg began to build his thoughts upon his own ground, he cherished a hidden fire to fathom the most secret things, and that, even then, he was seeking for ways, by which to reach his object; at least, a comparison of his earlier with his later works, although they treat on different subjects, leads us to think so.
He looked upon the universe at large, in the same light as he looked upon its parts, which can be examined with greater certainty. He saw that all is ruled simultaneously in a certain order, and according to fixed laws. He paid particular attention to those parts of this great system which can be examined mathematically.
He, therefore, imagined that the all-wise Creator had brought every thing, even in its hidden parts, into a certain mutual agreement; and this agreement he sought to bring out in his capacity of mathematician and physicist, by progressing from the less to the greater, and from that which may be distinguished by the naked eye to that which requires the aid of the magnifying glass. And, finally, he developed for himself a complete system, based upon a certain mechanism, and supported by logic; a system which is so carefully constructed, that there is much in it, in many respects, for the learned to reflect upon. As to the unlettered, they had better not meddle with it.
According to this system he explained everything which, either by experience or by sound reasoning, could become an object of thought.
If we do not accept the whole, there is at least much that is good to be gleaned from it. But he went still further. He desired to combine this system with the doctrine of salvation.
With this we find him occupied during most of the time, after he had published his Opera Philosophica et Mineralia.
He spent a great part of his later years abroad; for after the year 1736 he made eight different journeys into foreign countries, mostly to England and Holland; but during the journey he commenced in the year 1736, and which continued to 1740, he visited also France and Italy. His principal object in these journeys was the printing of new works.
I cannot help being filled with astonishment, in reflecting upon his extraordinary industry; for besides numerous treatises, and among them the great work I have already mentioned, he was the author of the following different works:
1. Prodromus philosophiae ratiocinantis de Infinito, de causa creationis, et de Mechanismo operationis animae et corporis. Printed in Dresden, 1733.
2. Ceonomia regni animalis. 2 parts, published at Amsterdam; the first in 1740, and the second in 1741.
3. Regnum animale. 3 parts; two printed at the Hague, 1744, and the third in London, 1745.
4. De cultu et amore Dei. London, 1745.
5. Arcana coelestia. 8 parts, published at different periods from 1749 to 1756.
6. De ultimo judicio.
7. E coelo et inferno.
8. De equo albo.
9. De telluribus in mundo solari, seu planetis, et de telluribus in coelo astrifero et illorum incolis.
10. De nova Hierosolyma. Printed in London, 1759.
11. De amore conjgiali et scortatorio. Amsterdam, 1765.
12. Sapientia angelica de Divino amore et de Divina sapientia.
13. Doctrina novae Hierosolymae de Domino. Printed in Amsterdam, 1763.
14. Sapientia angelica de Divina providentia. Amsterdam, 1764.
15. Apocalypsis revelata. Amsterdam 1766.
16. Summaria expositio doctrinae novae ecclesiae.
17. De commercio animae et corporis. London, 1769.
18. Vera Christiana religio. Printed in Amsterdam, 1771.
The titles of all these works point out lofty themes; and although they treat of different subjects, and follow different lines of argument, being based upon anatomy, physics, and philosophy, upon explanations of the Sacred Scriptures, and, according to his own statement, upon revelations, still, owing to his way of treating them, they all lead to meditations on the Supreme Being, the human soul, with other invisible and spiritual things, and the life after death.
We thus find, high above in the clouds, him whom a little while ago we followed into mines, smelting-furnaces, and workshops; and we find him alike industrious and zealous, and alike given to allegorical illustrations.
His latter works being of such a nature, he was unable to discharge his duties at the Royal College of Mines beyond the year 1747. In this year, at his own request, he obtained his Majesty's permission to retire from his office of Assessor. This request was accompanied by two others, which were also granted; the first was, that he might enjoy, during the rest of his life, half his salary as Assessor; the other, that he should not be promoted to a higher rank or title. Such distinctions are commonly much sought after, as implying that paper should go as far, and be worth as much, as the real coin--but fabula docet.
Although I have not extensively examined the Swedenborgian works I have just enumerated, I have, nevertheless, been confirmed by them in the ideas I have already expressed, with regard to the system which he followed, viz., that he explained both the visible and the invisible agreeably to the system he had adopted; that he drew conclusions from the risible respecting the invisible, and that he represented to himself another, spiritual world, in entire conformity with the world in which we live. He therefore attributed to the other life degrees similar to those in this life, by which every thing ascends into a higher state of purity and perfection; nay, he laid down a sort of harmony in inclinations and occupations, conveniences and difficulties, enjoyments and sufferings. Fully occupied by these vivid ideas which presented themselves to him, when he came to examine the Scriptures he connected them with his philosophical principles. Nay, while describing the spiritual after his own manner, he was unable to get rid of the ideas which are derived from our material being; but he insisted that they must be taken in a spiritual sense. Well. But there is danger, that a person may thus be led to trust too much to the imagination, and be too easily carried away by an illusion of the senses.
I am not quite sure whether Bishop Swedberg, although he was a great and celebrated teacher, had not a certain leaning in this direction. Some of his writings seem to manifest something of this kind. At least, he seemed inclined to look upon certain occurrences, as if they contained a special significance.
It is a better characteristic in a priest to believe too much than too little. But how very easily might not something of this sort of over-belief have place with his learned son, if an hereditary inclination supported and strengthened an effect, which is naturally produced, when any one resolves to examine, at the same time, that which is presented to his senses and that which is beyond the sphere of their knowledge, nay, beyond the limits assigned to the light of reason.
I have perhaps dwelt too long already upon what SWEDENBORG wrote on spiritual subjects, inasmuch as these are not topics for an academy of Sciences. It suffices that his good qualities and merits are conspicuous even on that side, where we look for those weaknesses in him which are inseparable from human nature.
I have not risen in this place to define errors or dogmas that are difficult to be understood; but I venture to say, and I am sure you will agree with me, that where others generally exhibit a lack of intelligence and confusion of thought, our SWEDENBORG displays an uncommon wealth of knowledge, which, in accordance with his system, he reduced into such order, that not even the elements were able to turn him out of his course.
If his desire of knowledge went too far, it still bears witness to his great zeal for enlightening himself and others; for we cannot discover in him any sign of arrogance, rashness, or intention to deceive.
If he cannot be numbered among the doctors of the Church, he still deserves to be counted among ingenious moralists; and to be set up as a pattern of virtue and of reverence for his Maker; for in him there was no sort of double dealing.
If I were called upon frankly to state his faults, I should imagine to myself some one who devoted his whole time to the preparation of a universal solvent--a menstruum which would solve everything that either nature or art had produced, without remembering that no vessel could preserve it. Our Swedenborg was not satisfied with knowing much; he desired to know more than can be comprehended by any man here below, in that state of imperfection which belongs to him while the soul dwells in a frail material body.
Any one who condemns this fault, cannot be regarded as impartial, so long as he does not first inveigh against those who ought to know much, and yet who know nothing.
But it is not so easy to be displeased with a man who was endowed with so many fine qualities.
He had a sincere love for mankind; and in examining the disposition of others, he always endeavoured first to find this virtue, as a sure indication of many Good qualities besides.
He was cheerful and pleasant in company, and as a recreation from his severe labours, he enjoyed intercourse with intelligent persons, by whom he was always well received and much respected. He could also properly meet, and playfully direct into a different channel, that kind of curiosity which frequently desires to obtrude itself into the consideration of serious things.
He was an honest servant of the state, who paid strict attention to the performance of his duties; the only thing he neglected in his public capacity, was to apply for any office when it was vacant. Having been called, unexpectedly, to an honourable post, he remained satisfied with it during the rest of his official career; and when his other occupations no longer permitted him to devote sufficient time to his official duties, he preferred to resign, being to the end of his life satisfied with the title of the office he had filled during thirty-one years.
He was a worthy member of this Royal Academy; and although in course of time he entered upon the study of other than academic subjects, still not wishing to remain a useless member, he enriched its Transactions with a description of inlaid work in marble, for tables, and other ornamental articles.*
* The paper referred to here is Document 200 of the present work.
As a member of the House of Nobles, he attended several Diets of the Realm, without incurring the reproaches either of himself or of others.
During his life there were several occupants of our throne, and during all these changes he enjoyed the favour of every reigning sovereign. Good sense, learning, and virtue secure this favour under enlightened governments.
Our SWEDENBORG (and this I mention not as one of his merits) remained during the whole of his life unmarried. But this was not owing to any indifference to the sex; for he esteemed the company of a fine and intelligent woman as one of the purest sources of delight; but his profound studies required that in his house there should be perfect stillness both day and night. He, therefore, preferred being alone.
He enjoyed a most excellent state of bodily health, having scarcely ever been indisposed; and, as he was always content within himself and with his circumstances, he spent a life which was, in every respect, happy, nay, which was happy in the very highest degree. At last nature demanded her rights. During his last sojourn abroad, while residing in London, he had on December 24, of last year, an attack of apoplexy, and on the 29th of last March departed this life, in his eighty-fifth year, rich in the honourable monuments which he left behind him, satisfied with his life upon earth, and joyful at the prospect of his final change.
May the Royal academy continue of retain many of its eminent and useful members to so advanced an age!
DOCUMENT 5.
ROBSHAM'S19 MEMOIRS OF SWEDENBORG.
THE Swedish original of these memoirs in Robsahm's own handwriting, which had been in the possession of Dean Kahl in Lund, was presented by him to the editor of these Documents in 1568, during his stay in Sweden for the purpose of photolithographing the unpublished MSS: of Swedenborg. These memoirs have never been printed in Swedish. Dean Kahl translated them into German, and sent his translation to Dr. Im. Tafel of Tbingen, who published this translation in the third part of his Swedenborg documents. It is remarkable that these memoirs have never before been translated into English. The English editor of the "Documents collected by Dr. Im. Tafel" has in his volume an article entitled: "Anecdotes collected by Mr. Robsahm;" yet this article is by no means a translation of the Robsahm Memoirs which were published by Dr. Im. Tafel--in fact it could not have been a translation of them, because Dr. Tafel published these Memoirs in the third part of his "Documents", which appeared in 1842, while the first English edition of the documents, containing the "Anecdotes collected by Mr. Robsahm", appeared in 1841. The Documents contained in Parts III and IV of Dr. Im. Tafel's work, with the exception of the real Robsahm Memoirs, appeared subsequently in the "Intellectual Repository," and were afterwards added as an appendix to the former volume. On analyzing the article entitled "Anecdotes collected by Mr. Robsahm," which figures in the English and American editions of the "Documents collected by Dr. J. P. I. Tafel," it proves to be made up of two separate accounts of Swedenborg, which are mixed up arbitrarily; the first of these is "the Life of Emanuel Swedenborg", which appeared in the "New Jerusalem Magazine" of 1790; the second is Pernety's account of Swedenborg, which appeared as an introduction to his French translation of "Heaven and Hell", and which was included by Dr. Tafel in his collection.
1. The late Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg, who by his works became so celebrated throughout Europe, died in London, on March 29, 1772, in his eighty-fifth year. A well merited eulogium was pronounced upon him in the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, on October 7, 1772. But posterity may perhaps be interested in knowing that which characterized this noble man at home, and in his intercourse with his friends; and as, since the death of his two old servants, a gardener and his wife, there are only a few of those still living, who were on terms of intimacy with him, who were acquainted with his habits of life, and who could relate their conversations with him on the subject of his visions and revelations, I was called upon by a worthy man20 to state what I had seen end heard in Swedenborg's company; especially, as I had the advantage of being frequently at his house, in the character of a friend, and of meeting him in company, at my own house, and at the houses of my relations.
2. Swedenborg's property was about a stone's cast in length and in breadth. The rooms of his dwelling-house were small and plain; but were comfortable for him, though scarcely for any one else.
3. Swedenborg worked without much regard to the distinction of day and night, having no fixed time for labour or rest. "When I am sleepy", he said, "I go to bed." All the attendance he required from his servant, his gardener's wife, consisted in her making his bed, and placing a large jug of water in his anteroom, his house-keeping being so arranged that he could make his own coffee in his study; and this coffee he drank in great abundance, both day and night, and with a great deal of sugar. When not invited out, his dinner consisted of nothing but a roll soaked in boiled milk; and this was his meal always when he dined at home. He never at that time used wine or strong drink, nor did he eat anything in the evening; but in company he would eat freely, and indulge moderately in a social glass.
4. For the sake of the public that came to see the old gentleman, generally from curiosity, he had a pretty summer-house built in his garden in 1767; on one side of this was his handsome library, and in the wing that stretched out on the other side were garden-tools. He had also another summer-house put up in the middle of his garden, according to the plan of one he had seen in England on a gentleman's estate; and still another, which was square and had four doors, and which could, by opening the doors across the corners of the room, be changed, into an octagon. In one corner of his garden he had also constructed a maze of boards, entirely for the amusement of the good people that would come and visit him in his garden, and especially for their children; and there he would receive them with a cheerful countenance, and enjoy their delight at his contrivances.
5. Among these things I must also mention a blind door which he had made; and when this was opened, another one appeared with s window in it; and as both these doors were directly opposite a green hedge where a beautiful bird-cage was placed, and as the window in the inner door was made of looking-glass, the effect was most charming and surprising to those who opened it with a view of entering Swedenborg's other garden, which, according to his statement, was much more beautiful than his first one.
6. Before his house there was an ornamental flower bed, upon which he expended considerable sums of money; he had there even some of those singular Dutch figures of animals, and other objects shaped out of box-trees; but this bed he did not keep up in his later years. The cultivation of the garden, however, and its produce he left to the gardener.
7. The fire in the stove of his study was never allowed to go out, from autumn, throughout the whole of winter, until spring; for as he always needed coffee, and as he made it himself, without milk or cream, and as he had never any definite time for sleeping, he always required to have a fire.
8. His sleeping-room was always without fire; and when he lay down, according to the severity of the winter, he covered himself either with three or four woollen blankets; but I remember one winter, which was so cold; that he was obliged to move his bed into his study.
9. As soon as he awoke, he went into his study,--where he always found glowing embers--put wood upon the burning coals, and a few pieces of birch-rind, which for convenience he used to purchase in bundles, so as to be able to make a fire speedily; and then he sat down to write.
10. In his drawing-room there was the marble-table which he afterwards presented to the Royal College of Mines; this room was neat and genteel, but plain.
11. His dress in winter consisted of a fur-coat of reindeer skin, and in summer of a dressing-gown; both well-worn, as became a philosopher's wardrobe. His wearing apparel was simple, but neat. Still, it happened sometimes, that, when he prepared to go out, and his people did not call his attention to it, something would be forgotten or neglected in his dress: so that, for instance, he would put one buckle of gems and another of silver in his shoes; an instance of which absence of mind I myself saw at my father's house, where he was invited to dine; and which occurrence greatly amused several young girls, who took occasion to laugh at the old gentleman.
12. It was difficult for him to talk quickly; for he then stuttered, especially when he was obliged to talk in a foreign tongue. Of foreign languages, in addition to the learned languages, he understood well French, English, Dutch, German, and Italian; for he had journeyed several times in these countries. He spoke slowly; and it was always a pleasure to be with him at table, for whenever Swedenborg spoke, all other talk was hushed; and the slowness with which he spoke had the effect of restraining the frivolous remarks of the curious in the assembly. At first he used to talk freely about his visions, and his explanations of Scripture, but when this displeased the clergy, and they pronounced him a heretic or a downright madman, he resolved to be more sparing of his communications in company, or at all events to be more on his guard, so as not to offer an opportunity to scoffers of inveighing against what they could not understand as well as himself.
13. I once addressed the pastor of our parish, an old and esteemed clergyman, and asked him what I ought to think of Swedenborg's visions and of his explanations of the Bible. This honourable man answered me with the spirit of true tolerance: "Let God be the judge, how these things are in reality! But I cannot pass the same judgment upon him that many others do; I have spoken with him myself, and I have found in company where he was with me, that he is a pious and good man."
14. It was also remarkable, that Swedenborg, unlike sectarian persons, never tried to make proselytes, or to force his explanations upon any one. This I know from a conversation I had with him, as to whether it is possible for any other man to come into the same degree of spirituality in which he was. He said, "Take good care; this is the direct road to insanity: for when a man pores over spiritual and hidden things, he cannot protect himself against the delusions of hell, which then come over him and trouble him, when from his natural man and by his own speculations he tries to fathom heavenly things, which transcend his comprehension."
15. This conversation gave me an opportunity of asking him, where and how it was granted him to see and to hear what takes place in the world of spirits, in heaven, and in hell. Thereupon Swedenborg answered as follows: "I was in London and dined rather late art the inn where I was in the habit of dining, and where I had my own room. My thoughts were engaged on the subjects we have been discussing. I was hungry, and ate with a good appetite. Towards the close of the meal I noticed a sort of dimness before my eyes: this became denser, and I then saw the floor covered with the most horrid crawling reptiles, such as snakes, frogs, and similar creatures.21 I was amazed; for I was perfectly conscious, and my thoughts were clear. At last the darkness increased still more; but it disappeared all at once, and I then saw a man sitting in a corner of the room; as I was then alone, I was very much frightened at his words, for he said: 'Eat not so much'. All became black again before my eyes, but immediately it cleared away, and I found myself alone in the room.
"Such an unexpected terror hastened my return home; I did not let the landlord notice anything; but I considered well what had happened, and could not look upon it as a mere matter of chance, or as if it had been produced by a physical cause.
"I went home; and during the night the same man revealed himself to me again, but I was not frightened now. He then said that He was the Lord God, the Creator of the world, and the Redeemer, and that He had chosen me to explain to men the spiritual sense of the Scripture, and that He Himself would explain to me what I should write on this subject; that same night also were opened to me, so that I became thoroughly convinced of their reality, the worlds of spirits, heaven, and hell, and I recognized there many acquaintances of every condition in life. From that day I gave up the study of all worldly science, and laboured in spiritual things, according as the Lord had commanded me to write. Afterwards the Lord opened, daily very often, my bodily (lekamlig) eyes, so that, in the middle of the day I could see into the other world, and in a state of perfect wakefulness converse with angels and spirits."
16. Swedenborg rarely went to Church; partly, because he could not be edified by preaching which was so different from his own revelations; and partly because he suffered from the stone. Neither did he partake of the Holy Communion; and as he was closely related to two bishops, one of them, during the diet of 1760, remonstrated with him upon it in a friendly manner. Swedenborg answered, that inasmuch as he was conjoined with the Lord God, and had been called by Him, and as he was, moreover, in company with angels and saints, this religious act, in his case, could not be looked upon in the same light, as in the case of the other inhabitants of this earth. But when he was reminded that by observing the sacrament he would set a good example, he yielded and he took the communion before the sitar of the Church which had been fitted up for the Maria parish after the conflagration of 1759.
17. A few days previously he asked his old serving people, which clergyman he might ask for this service, for he did not know them particularly. When the elder chaplain was proposed, Swedenborg said at once: "No; for he is a passionate man, and a violent priest; I was much displeased in hearing him thunder from the pulpit." His assistant was then proposed, the second chaplain, who was less liked in the parish.
18. Swedenborg once told me the reason why no others among the clergy, except Doctor Beyer22 in Gottenburg, had embraced his explanations of the Scripture. The reason of this is, that daily, from the time when they attend school in the gymnasium [academy], and in the university, they confirm themselves in the doctrine, and in favour of the doctrine, of faith alone; and whenever any one has confirmed himself in anything evil, he no longer looks upon the evil as evil, but becomes daily more delighted with it. "Nay," he added, "though they should actually see and find out that I speak the truth, their love of places of honour and of consideration, and their self-interest, will not permit them to profess publicly what, in accordance with their own conviction, they find to be incontestable truths." This conversation I had with Swedenborg, a short time after he had a visit from the celebrated clergyman, Doctor Rustrm,23 who died in prison, in the castle of Stockholm, some time after the revolution of 1772. Swedenborg said, "This Rutstrm saw every thing, but his life and deeds showed that his Moravian sect was dearest to him, in which he had long ago confirmed himself, even to persuasion;" and he added, that such was the case with the clergy of every religion, who, after they have confirmed themselves in the doctrines which they profess, can never more be induced to give up the most preposterous propositions.
19. The chaplain of the Imperial Russian Legation, Oronoskom, who was in Stockholm during the time of the ambassador, Count Ostermann, was a monk of the Alexander-Newsky order, and led an orderly and pious life; quite differently from the other Russian priests who had been here before him. He became acquainted with me, and I lent him Swedenborg's books, which, he said, he read with the greatest delight. Be desired to see Swedenborg, and to talk with this remarkable man. I complied with his desire, and invited Swedenborg and him to dinner, in company with the late president of the Royal College of commerce, Mr. van Carleson,24 and the Councillor of Chancery, Mr. Berch,25 together with several of my relations.
20. I have two proofs, that Swedenborg was firmly convinced that the works in manuscript which he took abroad, would be printed there. At his departure, the last but one, before he died in London, I met him in his travelling-carriage, when he was just starting from his house, here in Stockholm. I asked him how he, who would be soon eighty years old, could dare to undertake so long a journey, and whether we should meet again in this world. "Do not trouble yourself about that," said he, "if you live, we shall certainly meet again; for I shall have to undertake another journey like this."
21. When he left Sweden for the last time, he came of his own accord to me at the bank on the day he was to leave, and gave me a protest against any condemnation of his writings during his absence; which protest was based upon the law of Sweden, and, in which he stated, that the House of Priests was not the only judge in matters of religion, inasmuch as theology belonged also to the other Houses." On this occasion I asked him the same question as before, viz., whether I should ever see him again. His answer was quite tender and touching; "whether I shall come again, that," said he, "I do not yet know; but of this I can assure you, for the Lord has promised to me, that I shell not die, until I shall have received from the press this work, (the Vera Christiana Religio), which is now ready to be printed and for the sake of which I now undertake this journey;
22. I asked Swedenborg once whether his explanations would be received in Christendom. "About that," said he, "I can say nothing; but I suppose that in their proper time they will be received; for otherwise the Lord would not have disclosed what has heretofore lain concealed."
23. He was never ill except when temptations came over him; but he was frequently troubled with tooth-ache. I came to him once on such an occasion, when he complained of a severe tooth-ache, which had continued for several days. I recommended to him a common remedy for soothing the pain; but he answered at once, that his tooth-ache was not caused by a diseased nerve, but by the influx of hell from hypocrites, who tempted him, and who by correspondence caused this pain, which he said, he knew would soon stop and leave him.26
24. Respecting his temptations I collected information from his modest servants, the old gardener and his wife, who told me with sympathizing and compassionate words that Swedenborg often spoke aloud in his room, and was indignant when evil spirits were with him; this they could hear the more distinctly, because their room was near his when he was asked, why he had been so restless during the night, he answered that permission had been given to evil spirits to revile him, and that he spoke to and was indignant with them. It often happened that he wept bitterly, and called out with a loud voice, and prayed to the Lord, that He would not leave him in the temptation which had come upon him. The words which he cried out were these: "Oh Lord, help me! Oh Lord, my God, do not forsake me!"
25. Once it was very remarkable, that after such a lamentation he lay down, and did not rise from his bed for several days and nights. This caused his people much uneasiness; they talked with one another, and supposed that he had died from some great fright. They thought of having the door forced open, or of calling in his intimate friends. At last the man went to the window, and, to his great joy, saw that his master was still alive, for he turned himself in bed. The next day he rang the bell, and then the housekeeper went in, and told him of her own and her husband's uneasiness at his condition; whereupon he said with a cheerful countenance, that he was doing well, and that he did not need anything. She was satisfied with this answer, for neither of his servants dared to interrogate him, as they had the same opinion of him as the old clergyman in my parish; and they added that such a wise and learned man would never distress himself with work and temptations, if he did not know whence they came.
26. I asked the old housekeeper whether she had ever noticed anything unusual in Swedenborg's eyes after such a state. I asked this question, because I wanted to know whether his countenance was at all changed while he was in the spirit. She answered, that one afternoon, for some reason or other, she had to go into his room; and when she opened the door, the pupils of his eyes had the appearance of the brightest fire; whereupon she was frightened, stepped back, and cried out: "What, in the Lord's name, is the matter with you, my master? You look so terrible." "How," said Swedenborg, "do I look?" And when she told him what she saw, he said: "Well! well! don't be frightened. The Lord has opened my bodily eyes, and I have been in the spirit; but in a little while, I shall be all right again; and this does me no harm." She added, that half an hour afterwards, his eyes were entirely free from this appearance of fire.
27. I have just mentioned that Swedenborg was in the habit of saying: "Well! well!" This was a phrase which he often used, when he spoke with tiny one familiarly; another, which he frequently used, was, "Good! good!"
28. When Swedenborg went abroad, he never studied his comfort, but always travelled in an open carriage, without a servant, to Gottenburg; and thence he went by sea either to England or Holland, in order to get his manuscripts printed.
29. I am acquainted with two Englishmen, who are sea-captains and Swedish naturalized citizens the name of the one is Harrison, on board whose ship Swedenborg was once a passenger. During almost the whole voyage he lay in bed, and nearly the whole time he spoke as if he were in company. The cabin-boy and the mate said to the captain that Swedenborg must be mad; he answered, "he may be what he pleases, but as long as he remains quiet, I have no authority over him; he is always prudent and discreet in speaking to me, and in answering me; you see yourselves that we have the most favourable wind; and if this weather continues as it is, I shall make the quickest passage I have ever made." Harrison, added laughing, "If Swedenborg chooses, he can always have a free passage with me; for during the whole of my experience at sea, I have never sailed better."
30. The other sea-captain is Brovell, with whom Swedenborg sailed from London to Dalar, a passage which was made in eight days. During this voyage, as in that with Harrison, Swedenborg generally lay in bed and talked; but when he went on board at London, he said to the captain that he hoped they would have a favourable wind. This came soon, and it continued until their arrival at Dalar, whence Swedenborg pursued his journey by land. There is no doubt also that previously to this favourable change the captain had a contrary wind, which lasted several days; nevertheless, he regarded Swedenborg neither as a conjurer nor as a madman, but he looked upon the whole occurrence as a mere coincidence. I asked Swedenborg about these voyages of his, and he said, that he himself wondered at the remarkably good fortune which he always had when he travelled by sea; but he observed at the same time, that any intelligent man could see, that he was not able to do miracles.
31. During the session of the Diet he was interested in hearing news from the House of Nobles, of which he was a member by virtue of his being the head of the Swedenborg family. He wrote several memorials; but when he saw that party-spirit and self-interest struggled for mastery, he went rarely up to the House of Nobles. In his conversations with his friends, he inveighed against the spirit of dissension among the members of the Diet; and in acting with a party he was never a party-man, but loved truth and honesty in all he did.
32. I asked Swedenborg whether in our times it was worth while to pay attention to dreams; upon which he answered, that the Lord no longer, at the present day, makes revelations by dreams; but that, nevertheless, it may happen that one who understands correspondences may derive advantage from his dreams; just as a person that is awake, may examine his own state by comparing his own will with God's commandments.
33. Swedenborg did not appear in the character of an alms-giver; and when he was asked the reason, he said: "Those who are poorest are either lazy or good for nothing; and, moreover, alms are often injurious to those that receive them, when any one from mere goodness of heart takes pity on the indigent." He did not lend money; "for," said he, "this is the direct way to lose it;" moreover, he added, that he had need of all his money for his travels, and for the printing of his works.
34. Many, during Swedenborg's life-time, wondered where he obtained money enough to make such long journeys, and to incur such heavy expenses. But when we take into consideration his economical mode of living, and the little money he needed while travelling, a moderate capital only was required for this purpose; especially, also, as his philosophical and mineralogical works had a large sale. Nor did his spiritual writings remain on the booksellers' shelves, but always yielded him some resources. From his father, Bishop Swedberg, too, be had obtained a considerable inheritance [See Note 19], so that it was not at all surprising, that he could carry out, his purposes.
35. Swedenborg never allowed any female visitors to come into his room, without calling in one of his servants; and whenever, as happened very often, any ladies came to see him especially disconsolate widows, who desired to know the state of their husbands; or others who thought that he was a fortune-teller, and could reveal wonderful secrets, thefts, &c.--he always required some one to be present. "For," said he, "women are cunning, and they might pretend, that I desired to become too intimate with them; moreover, it is well known, that such people misrepresent, because they do not properly understand, what they hear." Wherefore, whenever such persons called upon him avowedly for such a purpose, he with great firmness refused to have any thing to do with them.
36. It is known, however, that in his youth he had a lady-love (en maitress), whom he gave up when she became faithless to him; but, otherwise, there is not the least trace in him of any disorderly love. [See on this subject, Note 27.]
37. Whatever Swedenborg wrote was printed from his own manuscript, and he never needed the help of an amanuensis. His handwriting was difficult to read when he became older; but he said to me: "the Dutch printers read my handwriting as easily as the English." There is one thing to be observed with regard to most of his spiritual writings, that the proof-sheets were corrected very badly, so that errata occur very often; the cause of this, he said, was that the printer had undertaken the proof-reading, as well as the printing.
38. As Swedenborg, in his younger days, did not think of the work which was to occupy him in his more advanced years, it can easily be imagined that in his time he was not only a learned man, but also a polished gentleman; for a man of such extensive learning, who, by his books, his travels, and his knowledge of languages, had acquired distinction both at home and abroad, could not fail to possess the manners and everything else which, in those so-called serious or sober times, caused a man to be honoured, and made him agreeable in society.
39. I know not how he was regarded abroad; but I hope it may not be uninteresting to know how he was regarded in Stockholm, especially by those who could not read his writings, and who met him only by chance in society, or heard others speak of him.
40. Those who were able to read his books judged of him then, as they do now, quite differently from those who were unable to read them; and what is remarkable, most of those who do read his books become in a greater or less degree his adherents; although "for fear of the Jews", and on account of many and perhaps just causes, they do not openly profess their sentiments. Their judgment generally is, that, with the exception of his memorable relations, and the conversations and visions which he quotes, there is much that is good in his writings; because he insists upon leading a life in conformity with the will of God and His commandments; which manifests itself by the shunning of sin, and a new life from the heart, and also by love to the Lord and the neighbour.
41. One day a prisoner was led out to be beheaded at the place of execution. I was with Swedenborg in the evening, and I asked him, how a person, who leaves the world in this manner, feels at the moment he is executed. He replied, "When such a one lies down upon the block he is already so much out of himself, that after decapitation, when the spirit enters into the world of spirits, and the prisoner finds himself alive, he tries to make his escape, is in expectation of death, and is very much terrified; for at the last moment no one thinks of anything but the happiness of heaven, and the misery of hell. Afterwards such a one is associated with good spirits who reveal to men that they are really dead; and then he is left to follow his own inclinations, by which he is led to that place where he is to remain to eternity." In Swedenborg's work on "Heaven and Hell" this change is treated of more at large.
42. Swedenborg added that when a person who has become matured in wickedness, is removed from the earth by the law and the axe, although to all appearance penitent, he still remains wicked to eternity; because his conversion is compulsory, and not brought about by his own free will, as required by God. For unless his crimes cast him into prison, where he sees death impending, he will never direct his thoughts towards God, and still less his heart, hardened by habit; and such a one, when he finds that he lives as before, rushes headlong into the practice of all those evil works which he did in the world; and he, consequently, quickly leads himself to hell, with the spirits of which he had been conjoined during his life-time upon the earth.
43. It is quite different, however, with those who are executed on account of some crime which they had committed while in a state of intoxication, anger, or indignation, or from rashness, without any real intention of doing it; such repent bitterly of what they have done, and if they do not confirm themselves against the Lord's commandments during the remainder of their life, they become after their death happy and blessed spirits.
44. When a certain clergyman died in Stockholm, who by his eloquence and his pathetic mode of preaching had always his church filled with hearers, I asked Swedenborg whether he was not in a blessed state. "This man," answered he, "went straightway to hell among the societies of hypocrites; for he was only spiritually minded while in the pulpit; at other times he was proud of his talents, and of the success he had in the world; he was an inflated man." "No, no," he added, "there, no dissimulation and no deceitful arts are of any avail; for all these disappear with death, and man involuntarily shows himself either to be good or evil."
45. The Dutch ambassador Marteville43 died in Stockholm. His widow, some time afterwards, was asked to pay a large sum of money, which she knew had been paid. At last she discovered the document among his papers; and there was a general talk in town, that Swedenborg had contributed towards it by his conversation with the deceased ambassador.
46. Swedenborg was once in the presence of a certain high personage (Queen Louisa Ulrica11), who asked him whether he could meet her late brother (Prince of Prussia), and whether he could find out what these high personages had said to one another on a certain matter. Swedenborg promised; and he came back a few days afterwards to give the answer, which he did in the presence of a high gentleman. The high personage then took Swedenborg aside to one part of the room, where he told her in private what she desired to know from the deceased gentleman. The high personage thereupon became amazed, and said that this was altogether incomprehensible; inasmuch as no one in the whole world knew anything about this, except herself and her deceased brother. [See on this subject paragraph 53.]
47. Swedenborg had ordered for the Diet in Norrkping (1769) a small box* of his works from England, which in accordance with the regulations of customs was detained in the customhouse, on account of their containing foreign or heterodox thoughts on religion. Swedenborg, therefore, asked a clergyman [Bishop Filenius, see Note 9], one of his influential relatives, to get this box released for him, because he desired to distribute the books among the members of the various Houses of the Diet. This man assured Swedenborg he would, and on leaving embraced and kissed him; but when he went up to the House, it was he who insisted most strongly that the books should not be released.
* It contained copies of his work on "Conjugial Love," which had been printed at Amsterdam, in 1768.
48. During the Diet of 1769 a cunning stratagem was planned by some members of the House of the Clergy, by which Swedenborg was to be summoned before a court of justice, and after the first examination to be declared a man who had lost his senses by his speculations in religion, whom it was most dangerous to leave in freedom, and who therefore ought to be confined in a lunatic asylum. As soon as a certain senator, a friend of Swedenborg's, heard about this, he wrote him a letter, in which he disclosed the scheme, and advised him to leave the country.
Swedenborg upon this became very sorrowful, and going straightway into his garden, fell upon his knees, and in tears prayed to the Lord, and asked Him what he should do; when he received the comforting assurance, that nothing evil should befall him--as was the case; for his enemies did not dare to carry out their persecution, when they considered that he was the head of a family, and related to other influential families, both in the House of Nobles and in the House of the Clergy.
49. This information I received from Mr. Seele, an agent here in Stockholm; to whose house Swedenborg very frequently went, and to whom he had told this.
50. I can assure the reader in all truth that these miscellaneous statements, which I remember of my intercourse with this venerable man, are true in every particular, and that I should not have written them down, if I had not been requested to do so by the honourable man who is mentioned at the beginning of these anecdotes, and if he had not intimated that they would be made use of in enlightening posterity about Swedenborg's personal character, and indeed by a society, whose purpose it is to translate several of his writings into French. [See Note 20].
51. I know from experience that there is not a single word in all his writings which leads man away from the doing of God's will, and consequently from a sincere love of the neighbour; there is contained, however, therein an entirely new system, which is opposed to the principal religions professed by men, and to all their sects, but which agrees with all of them in this particular, that blessedness and misery depend upon man's life in time.
52. All this Swedenborg has proved abundantly in his writings, and especially has he written against the dangerous doctrine of faith alone; and if we in the History of the Church follow those who have been instrumental in establishing religions, we find that all religions, from the earliest to the latest times, have been instituted by well-meaning prelates, and that afterwards they have been subverted partly by ignorant, and partly by cunning and crafty prelates. In conclusion, however, I earnestly desire that every one who reads Swedenborg's writings should do so with caution, and that he should rather remain in the faith he received in childhood, and which was often impressed upon him with severity, and which very few among the professors of faith examine, than that he should from frivolity or from blind zeal revile what he cannot understand For such persons read all the prophets and the book of revelation, where they understand nothing, with the same feeling of contempt with which they read Swedenborg's system, where, however, every thing may be easily understood by him who does not amuse himself at the expense of truth, and who does not reject every thing that does not agree with his own pre-conceived notions.
CARL ROBSAHM
Treasurer of the Bank, Stockholm.
Stockholm, March 29, 1752.
SUPPLEMENT TO ROBSAHM'S MEMOIRS.
53. Statement explanatory of paragraph 46, from the Minutes of the Exegetic-Philanthropic Society in Stockholm:*
* Extracts from these Minutes are preserved in the Library of the New Church Society in Stockholm, the leader of which is Mr. Oscar Tyboni; copies of paragraphs 53 and 54 were made by the editor of these Documents during his stay in Stockholm, in 1868.
"Truthful Account made by the late Queen Dowager11 in Haga,* in the year 1774."
* Haga is a royal castle in the neighbourhood of Stockholm; it was the favourite resort of Gustavus III.
Swedenborg was one day at a court reception. Her Majesty asked him about different things in the other life, and lastly whether he had seen, or had talked with, her brother, the Prince Royal of Prussia. He answered, No. Her Majesty then requested him to ask after him, and to give him her greeting, which Swedenborg promised to do. I doubt whether the queen meant anything serious by it. At the next reception Swedenborg again appeared at court and while the queen was in the so-called white room, surrounded by her ladies of honour, he came boldly in, and approached her Majesty, who no longer remembered the commission she had given him a week before. Swedenborg not only greeted her from her brother, but also gave her his apologies for not having answered her last letter; he also wished to do so now through Swedenborg; which he accordingly did. The Queen was greatly overcome, and said, 'No one, except God, knows this secret.' The reason why she never adverted to this before, was, that she did not wish any one in Sweden to believe that during a war with Prussia she had carried on a correspondence in the enemy's country. The same caution Her majesty exercised during her last visit to Berlin. When she was asked about this transaction, which had been printed in a German paper, she did not answer. This circumstance was narrated in the French translation of Heaven and Hell.*
* Pernety's translation of Heaven and Hell, published in two vols. in Berlin, in 1782.
The above was written with his own hand by His Excellency, Count Hpken,28 Feb. 9, 1784, after he had read Robsahm's Live of Swedenborg, and he desired this to be appended to it.
54. Statement explanatory of paragraph 36, taken likewise from the Minutes of the Exegetic-Philanthropic Society in Stockholm.*
* This statement, in the Extracts from the Minutes of the Exegetic-Philanthropic Society, follows immediately after our n. 53.
"Read before the Society, March 28, 1789.
By request; this furnishes reliable information on an occurrence which took place in Mr. Assessor Swedenborg's younger years.
"While Polhem,14 the Councillor of Commerce, by a gracious order from the late King Charles XII, was engaged in building the Trollhtta lock near Carlsgraf, there lived with him as a pupil in mathematics,* Assessor Swedenborg. The Assessor conceived a violent passion for Polhem's second daughter, Emerentia,29 who was afterwards married to Rckerskld,30 the Councillor in the Court of appeals. But as she was only thirteen or fourteen years of age,31 she could not be persuaded to enter into an engagement; whereupon her father, who loved Swedenborg very much, gave him a written claim upon her in the future, in the hope that when older she would become more yielding, and this contract her father obliged her to sign. She fretted, however, about it so much every day that her brother, Chamberlain Gabriel Polhem,32 was moved with compassion, and purloined the contract from Swedenborg, whose only comfort consisted in daily perusing it, and who therefore quickly missed his treasure. His sorrow at his loss was so evident, that her father insisted on knowing the cause; when by an exercise of his authority he was willing to have his lost document restored to him.
* This is a mistake; for Swedenborg was not with Polhem in the capacity of a pupil in mathematics, but as an assistant-engineer. Moreover, it was Swedenborg who furnished the necessary mathematics, in order to bring Polhem's mechanical and physical experiments before the public; which was done by Swedenborg in his "Daedalus Hyperboreus," which was published in the years 1716 to 1718.
** After the death of Charles XII on the 30th of November, 1718, Swedenborg left Polhem, and went to the ironworks in Westmanland, where he was part-owner of the ironwork Shillon in Skinskatteberg, and it was not until June 30, 1721, that he started on his second journey aboard.
It may be worth recording that assessor Swedenborg assured the daughters and sons-in-law of Emerentia Polhem, when they visited him in his garden,* that he conversed with their departed mother as often as he pleased."
* Emerentia Polhem died in 1759.
DOCUMENT 6.
PERNETY'S34 ACCOUNT OF SWEDENBORG.
THIS account was printed by Pernety in the Preface to his translation of Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell which was published by him in two volumes with the following title: Swedenborg, "Les Merveilles du Ciel et de l'Enfer." Berlin 1782. On p. 36 he says, "Not being able to procure the life of Swedenborg written in the Swedish language by Mr. Robsahm,19 I have supplied the same by an abridgment of the eulogium of our author, which was composed and read before the Academy of Sciences and Belies Lettres[?] of Stockholm by M. de Sundel,13 and by anecdotes and notices of his life which persons worthy of faith and of well-known probity have communicated to me, both from that town and from London, in which city Swedenborg made a comparatively long stay." The persons "worthy of faith and of well-known probity" who sent Pernety almost the whole of the following account, were the brothers, Charles Frederic,20 and Augustus Nordenskld,35 as appears from the following extract from a letter addressed by Pernety to the former of these, dated Oct. 30, 1781,--"Please assure your brother of those sentiments which his reverence for Swedenborg awakens in my breast, and try to persuade him, to send me a French biography of this phoenix among authors, as well as interesting notices and anecdotes about him, in order that I may embody them in the preface to my translation." In a postscript he adds, "I am at present engaged in seeing through the press Swedenborg's work on Heaven and Hell." It seems as if C. P. Nordenskld collected the materials for the above account, and as if Augustus Nordenskld, who was the elder and more experienced brother, worked them up into a connected whole, while Pernety put the finishing touches to it and added paragraph 26.
1. Robsahm's Memoirs, which, as we have proved in Note 20, were written at the request of C. F. Nordenskld. Upon these memoirs the Nordensklds drew in the preparation of the following paragraphs: 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 19, 30, 21, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36. In these paragraphs Robsahm's language is not, however, translated verbally, and sometimes considerable liberty has been taken with his text either by Mr. A. Nordenskld, or else by M. Pernety himself. It is quite possible also that the whole of Robsahm's account was not ready in time for the Nordenskiilds to make full use of it, inasmuch as it was not finished until March 29, 1782.
2. Information collected from the wife of Swedenborg's gardener, by C. F. Nordenskld: paragraphs 12(?), 22, 24, 30, and a portion of 34. In a letter to Dr. Im. Tafel in Tbingen, dated May 1, 1822. C. F. Nordenskld makes the following additional statement: "During my stay in Stockholm I visited one day the wife of Swedenborg's gardener, who, together with her husband, waited upon him. She had free board in a charitable institution. She told me that Swedenborg often lay for several days in his bed without eating. He gave orders that they were not to awake him, or to touch him in such a state, but to place a basin of water before his bed. When he awoke, he did not feel the least weakness, but was strong and hale, as if he had partaken of hearty meals during the whole of that time." See Tafel's "Documents", &c. Vol. IV. p. 205. The same statement C. F. Nordenskld made in his "Considerations Gnrales", &c. p. 174.
3. From Dr. Beyer: part of paragraph 32.
4. From Count Hpken: paragraphs 25, 27, 28.
5. From Sandels, the Councillor of Mines, paragraph 15.
6. From Swedenborg's Writings: paragraphs 8, 23.
7. Facts generally known in Sweden: paragraphs 13, 18.
8. Authorities unknown: paragraphs 7, 37.
Paragraphs 16 and 17 we consider as false and erroneous; our reasons for rejecting them are given in notes 41 and 42.
A complete translation of "Pernety's account of Swedenborg" was published by Dr. Im. Tafel in his German edition of the "Swedenborg Documents;" but this account as written by Pernety was not introduced into the English edition of these Documents, the editor substituting in its place an article entitled by him, "Anecdotes collected by Mr. Robsahm," which we have discussed in our introduction to the genuine "Robsahm Memoirs;" and which we have there stated was composed partly of "Pernety's account," and partly of a "Life of Swedenborg," which appeared in the New Jerusalem Magazine of 1790.
The "Life of Swedenborg" which appeared in that Journal seems to have been compiled by C. B. Wadstrm,36 who was one of the editors of the New Jerusalem Magazine, and a friend of the Nordensklds. The sources from which he drew in its preparation are Sandels' Eulogium, Pernety's Account, Robsahm's Memoirs, and Hartley's preface to Heaven and Hell. Yet much of Pernety's Account and also of Robsahm's Memoirs was left out in that "Life;" so that our translation of "Pernety's Account" is really the first complete one that has been published in the English language. A portion of the account from paragraph 1 to paragraph 29 was also published by the Aurora press, about 1800, in a little work entitled, "Anecdotes and Observations, with some account of the Life of Emanuel Swedenborg, to which is prefixed an Eulogrium composed by Monsieur Sandel, &c."
The above "Life of Swedenborg" was also translated into Swedish, and formed a part of a New Church periodical, which, under the name of "Frsamlings-Tidning," circulated in manuscript among the members of the "Society pro Fide et Charitate," from June 1796 to August 1797. This Society was a secret Society, which was established after the dissolution of the Exegetic and Philanthropic Society in 1790, and which continued to exist in Sweden until about 1835. The. Swedish "Life of Swedenborg" was enriched with extracts from the published proceedings at the trial of Drs. Beyer22 and Rosn142 in Gottenburg. A manuscript copy of the "Frsamlings-Tidning" was presented by the editor of the present Documents to the Swedenborg Society, in 1872.
After calling attention to the changes in the names of persons in the Sacred Scripture, Pernety begins his account of Swedenborg thus:
1. Emanuel Swedenborg was originally called Swedberg, after his father, Jesper Swedberg, Bishop of Skara in Wester Gothland, a learned man, who was respected on account of his virtues, and beloved by all good Christians. After Emanuel had (in agreement with a custom prevalent in Sweden, according to which the sons of bishops are raised into the rank of nobility with a seat in the Diet of the country) been ennobled, his name was changed to Swedenborg; which, in the German, as well as in the Swedish language, signifies protection or defence, according to the interpretation of the person by whom these notices or anecdotes have been communicated to me, and who adds: "He will certainly be a protector to all those who are disposed for regeneration, by a knowledge and reception of the truths which the Lord was pleased to reveal to him, in order that he might communicate them to men; and as he has been an instrument in the hands of the Lord of the universe, he may be looked upon as a tutelary angel, not only of the Swedes, but even of the whole of Europe."
2. Swedenborg was an Assessor in the College of Mines, and a member of the academy of Sciences. The little value which he placed upon titles, and honours, and greatness among men, induced him to resign his office of Assessor, as may be seen below from the letter which Springer,121* the Councillor of Commerce, wrote to me.
* Springer's letter to Pernety will be found in Section X among the Testimonies collected concerning Swedenborg in England.
3. He owned a house in the southern suburb [of Stockholm], which was built and arranged according to his own taste; its rooms, which were limited in number, were convenient only for him. Immediately adjoining the house was a garden of considerable size, in the centre of which he had erected a pavilion.
* Cfr. Robsham's Memoirs, paragraphs 4-6, and also the "Official Account of Swedenborg's property in Hornsgartan," published after his death, which is contained in Section IV., in which more particulars are given, and where also several of Pernety's statements are rectified; e. g. the pavilion described by Pernety; was not in the centre of Swedenborg's garden, but on one side of it; the arbour or hedge with a volire or bird-cage being on the opposite side; while in the middle of the garden there was another summer-house built "according to the plan of one which Swedenborg had seen in a nobleman's garden in England." Moreover, the maze of which Pernety speaks, was not "planted," i. e. did not consist of a living hedge, but was constructed of boards.
4. This gardener and his wife were his only domestics, and he kept them till the time of his death.* The wife made his bed, brought him water, and placed it in his ante-room. He made his own coffee, and drank it very freely, using a good deal of sugar. When at home he scarcely lived on anything but milk, in which he soaked some biscuits; then also he drank no wine, nor any spirituous liquor. When invited out he was very temperate in eating and drinking; but he was always of an even disposition, and inclined to sprightliness.**
*See an account respecting them, written by "Uncle Adam," Dr. Wetterberg, in Section XI: "Swedenborg end his Gardener-folks."
**Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 3.
5. His wardrobe was very simple, but becoming. In winter he wore a fur-coat of reindeer-skin, and in summer, when at home, a dressing gown.* The only remarkable piece of furniture which he had in his drawing-room, was a table of black marble, upon which, at a first glance, it seemed as if a pack of cards had been thrown; so well were they imitated. He made a present of it to the College of Mines, which preserves it with great care.37
* Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 11.
6. Ordinarily Swedenborg pronounced very distinctly; but he stuttered a little when he tried to speak quickly. As soon as he commenced speaking in company, all kept silence, partly on account of the pleasure which they experienced from his conversation, and partly on account of his well-known erudition, which, however, he did not display, except when he was obliged to furnish proofs of his assertions or to show the insufficiency of the arguments of those with whom he conversed.* Moreover, he was unwilling to enter into any disputes on matters of religion; and if obliged to defend himself, he did it with gentleness, and in few words. If he was urged beyond this, he drew back, saying: "Read attentively and without prejudice my writings, they will answer for me, and you will then change your ideas and your opinions."
* Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 12.
7. A clergyman, a follower of Zinzendorf,* and a doctor of theology in Gottenburg, undertook to controvert the writings of Swedenborg, and after stating that he had not read them, continued his preliminary discourse by the coarsest invectives, and the most malignant and stinging expressions against the person of Swedenborg. The latter spoke with so much modesty and gentleness, without referring to the person of his antagonist, that all applauded what he said, both in regard to its substance and its form.
* The founder of the sect of the Moravians.
8. A certain critic [Dr. Ernesti38], who was well-known for being very unsparing in his their writers, wrote a bitter review of Swedenborg's writings.
9. It is singular, or at least very remarkable, that almost all those who have read the writings of Swedenborg for the purpose of refuting them, have finished by adopting his views.*
* Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 40.
10. At the beginning of his revelations he used to talk freely about what he had seen and heard, end his explanations of the Sacred Scripture, but when he found that his discourses were not liked by the clergy, he followed the policy of being more reserved and circumspect, in order to deprive calumniators of every opportunity and pretext for finding fault with what they did not, or were unwilling, to understand.*
* Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 12.
11. He was not governed by that species of egotism usually noticed in those who start new ideas on matters of doctrine; neither did he desire to make proselytes, nor to communicate his views to any, except such as he considered single-minded, disposed to listen peaceably, capable of understanding him, and lovers of the truth.*
* Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 14.
12. Notwithstanding his caution in this respect, and although he had never preached a morality which was opposed either to the decalogue or good manners; although his conduct was exemplary, and he spoke neither against the government nor particular persons, he was not exempted from persecution. He found enemies so bent upon doing him injury, that he was obliged to leave the capital so as not to fall into their hands.* A young man had even entered his house with a view of assassinating him, and the gardener's wife, to save Swedenborg's life, told him that he was not at home. The young man, however, would not believe her, and ran into the garden, thinking he was there. God, however, provided means to protect him. As the young man was rushing into the garden, his cloak caught in a nail of the lock, so that he could not disengage himself; and his naked sword fell to the ground. Whilst in this embarrassment the fear of being discovered took possession of him, and he withdrew with all possible speed.** This young man was afterwards killed in a duel.
* This does not seem to be quite correct. Up to the year 1769, according to Swedenborg's own statement to Dr. Hartley, he had not met with any persecutions at all in his own country. But upon his return to Stockholm, in the latter part of 1769, an attempt was made by some of the clergy to have him confined in a lunatic asylum (cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs paragraph 48), and it was then that a certain Senator, a friend of Swedenborg's, counselled him to leave the country, advice which, however, he did not follow.
** Another more detailed version of this occurrence is given by "Samtidens Mrkvrdigaste Personer," Upsal 1820, in which a short biographical sketch of Swedenborg is given, which is in part based on oral communications. There is, however, an error in this account, inasmuch as it is reported to have taken place in the year 1756, when yet before the winter of 1759 it was not generally known in Sweden that Swedenborg's spiritual eyes were opened, (cfr. the letter of Baron D. Tilas to Count Cronstedt, dated March 16, 1760, which will be found in Section X). Moreover, it attributes to Swedenborg a feeling of revenge and a love of sarcasm, which were entirely foreign to his nature. The account on p. 141 is as follows. "During the Diet of 1756(?), Swedenborg was walking one day with several friends in his garden, when there entered a young man unknown to all the parties present. He walked up to Swedenborg with a self-sufficient smile playing around his lips: and informed him that he had recently lost his father, and that he therefore desired, by Swedenborg's intercourse with spirits, to know what was his lot in the other world. Swedenborg, who probably wanted to punish the youth's impertinence, said to him, "It is pitiable, if your father belonged to that order of which very few are saved. Your father was a clergyman, was he not?" As Swedenborg's supposition was really correct, the stranger blushed with astonishment and shame, and went away; but not in order to let this remark serve him as a warning. On the contrary, filled with a feeling of revenge against the satirical spirit-seer, he again desired to make his way into the garden, for the purpose of murdering him. But when he rushed in by the door, his cloak caught in the lock, and uncovered his sword, which fell to the ground. His design was thus betrayed, and he was prevented from executing it. The consequence ass that during that Diet, his door was closed against all unknown persons."
13. His writings raised him many enemies among the clergy, who found in them causes for persecuting him beyond endurance. His writings were denounced before the Consistory, and during a whole month meetings of the bishops and professors of theology were held for the purpose of examining them. At the end of this period they reported the result of their examination, which was nevertheless favourable; and there the matter rested for the moment. But his enemies filled with rage at their small success, tried other means, and they profited by Swedenborg's absence, who was abroad, and did not know what was taking place, nor the machinations that were resorted to, with the view of destroying him. Here me may well exclaim: Tantaene animis coelestibus iroe! Can so much gall enter into the hearts of the pious! of the ministers of the Lord, who preach a religion, the only basis of which is love to God, and charity! And whom did they persecute? An author whose writings breathe nothing but these two kinds of love, as the only means by which heaven may be opened to man, and show that the opposite of these, the love of self and of the world, lead to eternal perdition.
[Here Pernety inserts the whole of that letter which Swedenborg addressed to the King, dated the 10th of May or June, 1770, and which will be found in Section IX in Swedenborg's Correspondence from 1747 to 1772.]
Pernety continues: It is known that essential Truth has been hated and rejected; that its children by whom it was preached, have been despised and persecuted: ought we then to be astonished at the persecution of a disciple of the truth at a time when false wisdom, under the illustrious name of Philosophy, while seeking to destroy the truth and to establish itself upon its ruins, has gained by its tinsel and glitter the respect and admiration of men.
14. In London also a Moravian brother or Hernhuter,* and a clergyman, the curate of the Swedish Church,** were bent upon calumniating Swedenborg: the former, probably, in order to avenge himself for what Swedenborg had written concerning his sect; the latter because he was an enemy of the Swedish Councillor of Commerce, Mr. Springer121, who resided in London, and declared himself a friend of our author. In spite of the efforts made by his enemies to injure his reputation, and to deny his merit and his virtues, he was nevertheless well received at the Court of Sweden, during his sojourn in Stockholm. He was invited there to dine with the whole Royal family; and the Senator Count Hiipken,28 as well as the Senator Count Tessin,39 two very estimable men, declared themselves openly to be his friends, and frequently visited him.
* Mr. Brockmer, at whose house Swedenborg resided at one time: the whole of this charge is investigated in Section X.
** The Rev. Mr. Mathesius: the charge made by him is investigated in the same place.
15. The Councillor von Sandelsl3 made a visit at one time to Swedenborg, and seeing a quantity of manuscripts, written by his own hand, without any corrections or erasures, lying upon the table where he was writing, asked him whether he took the trouble himself to write out a clean copy.
* David Paulus ab Indagine (Job. Christ. Cuno) in a collection of anecdotes concerning Swedenborg, published at Hamburg 1771, under the title "Sammlung einiger Nachrichten Herm Emanuel Swedenborg betreffend" (Collection of some statements concerning Emanuel Swedenborg), says concerning him, "He said his angel dictated to him, and he could write fast enough for him." Cuno at the same time states that Swedenborg did not make a first draught of his works, but wrote out a clean copy at once. These statements are not borne out by the facts, inasmuch as among the Swedenborg MSS. in the library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm there are two copies of Swedenborg's treatise on the Apocalypse Explained, both in his own handwriting, one of these being the first draught of the work, and the other a clean copy written out for the printer. Moreover, in the same library, there is also a first draught copy of almost the whole of his largest work, entitled the Arcana Coelestia. This plan of making is first draught copy of at least a portion of what he intended to publish, Swedenborg followed to the end or his natural life, inasmuch as the first draught copies of a large number of the memorable relations contained in his last work, The True Christian Religion, are preserved in the Royal Library in Stockholm; these sheets having been left by Swedenborg on board the ship in which he sailed to Amsterdam in 1769, and afterwards having been presented by the captain of the ship to Magister Lanaerus,146 of Carlscrona.
16. A certain man, a great admirer of Bhme,40 asked him in London, what he thought of that author. "He was a good man," answered Swedenborg, "it is a pity that some errors crept into his writings, especially with regard to the Trinity." [See Note 41.]
17. He was asked whether there was any truth in Hermetic philosophy? "Yes," he replied, "I consider it to be true, and one of the greatest wonders of God, but I advise no one to work in this subject.42 [See Note 42.]
18. On arriving from London at Gottenburg, Swedenborg was told that his house had been consumed by a great conflagration, in which almost the whole of the southern suburb of Stockholm was destroyed in 1759.
* Mr. Springer's version of this occurrence is confirmed by the philosopher Kant (see Section X), who says that the friend who sent him the whole of his account about Swedenborg, had investigated this matter, not only in Stockholm, but also two months before in Gottenburg, where he was acquainted with the leading firms, and had every opportunity of collecting information on this subject.
19. He was asked why so few among the clergy of Gottenburg* had embraced his explanation of the Scripture. "The reason of this is," he said, "that during their studies at the academy and the schools, they have confirmed themselves in their prejudices in favour of faith alone; and whenever any one has confirmed himself in anything wrong, he no longer looks upon error as an evil; and although they perceive that I speak the truth, their ambition, their egotism, and their love of distinction or self-interest, seem to exact from them not to declare themselves openly in favour of it.
* Robsahm, from whom this statement is taken (see paragraph 18), introduces this sentence thus: Swedenborg once told me the reason why no others among the clergy, except Dr. Beyer in Gottenburg, had embraced his explanations of the Scripture....
20. He suffered severe and cruel temptations; at such times he prayed much. Those who saw him in a state of temptation considered him very ill; but when he was relieved from them, he thanked God, and said to those that pitied him: "God be praised forever! Comfort yourselves, my friends! all has disappeared; and rest assured that nothing ever happens to me, except what the Lord permits; and Be never imposes upon us a burden heavier than we can bear."*
* Compare Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 24.
21. During the sessions of the Diet he took a great interest in what was discussed there, when he was absent: for as the head of his family he had the right of attending, and of taking his seat in the Houses of the Realm.
* Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs, paragraph 31.
22. Swedenborg gave every year a sum of money to the poor of the parish in which his house was situated. But he said that good ought to be done with discretion, because otherwise there was danger of harm being done by ill-placed alms.*
* Compare Robsahm's statement on this subject, paragraph 33.
23. In his almanac for the year 1767, there s a note in his handwriting, stating that he had spoken with the great musician, Roman143, on the day when he was buried, and even at the very moment of his funeral.
24. Senator Count Hpken and the wife of Swedenborg's gardener both informed me with regard to the two following facts. After the death of Mr. de Marteville,43 a considerable sum of money was demanded from his widow, which it was stated her husband owed. She knew very well that this pretended debt had been paid, but she did not know where he had placed the receipt in her trouble she applied to Swedenborg. He informed her next morning, that he had spoken with her deceased husband, and that he had declared to him where he had placed the receipt, and that it would be found in the place described. The deceased person appeared also to his widow, in the same dressing gown which he wore before his death, and having given her the same indications, departed. She was so much frightened by this, that she wakened the lady attending her who was sleeping in the same room, and related this occurrence to her. The receipt was found in the place Swedenborg had named. This occurrence made a great deal of noise at the court and in town, and every one related it in his own fashion.*
* Compare Robsahm's account of this occurrence, as he obtained it from Swedenborg himself, paragraph 45; compare also the account of the Countess of Schwerin, sister of Madame de Marteville, and of the second husband of Madame de Marteville, in Section XI.
25. Second fact: The Queen Dowsger, widow of Adolphus Frederic, and sister of the King of Prussia12, having heard a report of the preceding story and of several others which were related of Swedenborg, said to the Senator Count Hpken, that she would like to speak with Swedenborg.
* In his work "Considrations Gnrales," &c. p. 182, C. F. Nordenskld gives some further particulars which he had collected from the gardener's wife; he says, "The wife of Swedenborg's gardener related to us that on the following days carriages stopped before the door of her master, from which the first gentlemen of the kingdom alighted, who desired to know the secret of which the Queen was so much frightened, but her master, faithful to his promise, refused to tell it."
26. The Queen having come to spend a few months in Berlin after the death of her husband, some academicians, to whom she did the honour of inviting them to her table, took the liberty of asking her whether that report was true. She avoided a reply, saying, "Oh, with regard to the history of the Countess de Marteville, that is certain;" but she said nothing respecting the matter that concerned herself. I was told this by M. M * * *, one of these academicians, to whom this princess afterwards sent some works of Swedenborg as a present, and who most kindly lent them to me. I subsequently procured them for myself, and the satisfaction I experienced in reading them again, induced me to translate some of them into French. The present translation is one of the number*.
* Compare paragraph 53, which is appended to Robsahm's Memoirs, where Count Hpken states the Queen's reasons for not answering that question at the time. To another academician, M. D. Thiebault, she gave a minute account of the whole occurrence, which was embodied by him in a work entitled: "Souvenir de vingt ans de sjour Berlin;" a translation of which will be found in Section XI, where all the various accounts of this occurrence are examined and sifted.
27. His Excellency Count Hpken28, who is still living, and is highly esteemed and honoured by the Swedish nation for his profound knowledge, and for having, in the capacity of prime-minister, conducted the affairs of the kingdom with great prudence during a most stormy and critical period, asked Swedenborg one day, why he had published in his writings*, what so many regarded as mere visions and fictions, and which led them to despise the admirable doctrines contained in them. "I was commanded by the Lord to write and publish them," replied Swedenborg; "do not suppose that, without such a positive order, I should have thought of publishing things which I well knew many would regard as falsehoods, and which would bring ridicule upon myself. If I assure them that I have received this command, and they are unwilling to believe me, the satisfaction will remain to me of having obeyed the orders of my God, and I shall answer them with Paul in the Corinthians: "We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ," and, "If we are mad, mad from God."
* Pernety mistook the meaning of Count Hpken's statement; for the latter did not ask Swedenborg, why he had published his "writings," but the "memorable relations" contained in his writings. The whole passage which is contained in a letter of Count Hpken to a friend (see Section X), is as follows: "I asked him once why he wrote and published those visions and memorable relations, which seemed to throw so much ridicule on his doctrines, otherwise so rational; and whether it would not be best for him to keep them to himself, and not publish them to the world? But he answered, that 'he had orders from the Lord to publish them,' and that 'those who might ridicule him on that account would do him injustice;' for, says he, 'why should I, who am a man in years, render myself ridiculous for phantasies and falsehoods.'"
28. The same Senator told His Majesty King Gustavus12, that if it ever happened that the Swedes should found a doctrine of the New Church of Jesus Christ, ought to be taught there; inasmuch as, according to his principles, the colonists would look upon the love of God and charity as the only motives of their conduct, and would be active, industrious, and intrepid in danger, convinced that what is called death, is but a passage from this into a happier life; and finally, as, according to the internal or spiritual sense which is hidden under the letter of the Sacred Scripture, nothing could be found there by which evil actions might be excused.
29. Although he had a large number of visitors of all ranks, he never would receive any one, especially of the other sex, alone, but always required one of his servants to be present, and the Swedish language to be used; "because," said he, "I wish to have witnesses of my conversation and conduct, so as to prevent all cause of slander and calumny."*
* Compare Robsahm, paragraph 38, who declares that he limited this precaution to female visitors.
30. The following fact, which I have heard immediately from the wife of Swedenborg's gardener, is a proof of my assertion. Bishop Halenius44, the successor* of Swedenborg's father, having paid him a visit, the conversation turned upon the ordinary sermons, Swedenborg said to the Bishop: "You spread falsities in yours." Upon this charge, the Bishop ordered the servant to withdraw, but Swedenborg told her to stay. The conversation continued. They each turned over the leaves of a Hebrew and Greek Bible, to find suitable texts, by which to defend their views. The conversation ended in Swedenborg's reproving the Bishop for his avarice and injustice, and saying to him, "there is already prepared for you a place in hell; but," added he, "I predict to you that in a few months you will be attacked by a severe illness, during which the Lord will seek to convert you. If you will then open your heart to His holy influences, your conversion will be accomplished. Write me then, and ask me for my theological writings, and 1 will send them to you." After a few months an officer of the province and bishopric of Skara called upon Swedenborg. "How is Bishop Halenius?" he was asked. "He has been very ill", replied the officer, "but he has now recovered, and is quite a different man.
* This ought to read, "one of the successors;" for Bishop Swedberg died in 1731, and Halenius was not appointed Bishop of Skara until 1783.
31. Swedenborg was of a very gentle disposition; but he was straight-forward, and would not betray the truth from respect to men, or for any other reason. Mr. Robsahm, the author of his biography, asked him, whether a certain clergy-man, who was highly esteemed in the capital on account of his flowery sermons, and who had died a little while before, had gone to heaven. "No;" said Swedenborg, "he went straightway to the abyss; for that clergyman left his piety in the pulpit; he was not pious, but hypocritical and proud, and was vain of the gifts he had received from nature, and of those which he sought and obtained from fortune. No, no, there is no use in deceiving by false appearances. With him, they disappeared after death; the mask was dropped; for there it appears whether a man is interiorly evil or good*."
* Compare Robsahm's account, paragraph 44
32. Mr. Robsahm asked him also how he began to have his revelations. "I was in London," answered Swedenborg, "and dined late at my usual inn, where I had a private room that I might be at liberty to reflect at pleasure upon spiritual subjects. I felt very hungry, and ate with eagerness. Towards the close of the meal I noticed a sort of dimness spreading before my eyes, and saw the floor covered with snakes, toads, caterpillars, and other hideous reptiles; and I became more and more astonished, as the darkness increased. However, it soon disappeared, (and with it the swarm of repulsive reptiles). Then I saw clearly a man, surrounded with vivid and shining light*, sitting in a corner of the room. I was alone; and judge of my alarm, when I heard him pronounce distinctly (but with a voice capable of inspiring terror**): Eat not so much.
* The passages in parentheses ( ) are found neither in Robsahm's account, nor in that which was communicated by Dr. Beyer22 to C. F. Nordenskld20 in a letter dated Gottenburg March 25, 1776, which is contained in Section X.
** See foot note above.
*** Robsahm, instead of the Lord's dictating to Swedenborg what he whould write, said, that the Lord would explain it to him.
**** The passage here placed in brackets does not occur in Robsahm's account, but it is quoted from Dr. Beger's letter. The Doctor's own words in that letter are as follows: "The information about the Lord's personal appearance before the assessor who saw Him in royal purple and in majestic light sitting near his bed, while he gave Assessor Swedenborg his commission, I had from his own lips at a dinner party in the house of Doctor Rosn,45 where I saw the old gentleman for the first time. I remember to have asked him, how long this lasted; whereupon he answered, about a quarter of an hour; also whether the strong light did not affect his eyes; when he said, no."
***** Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs paragraph 15, and also Note 25.
33. Swedenborg related the same circumstances to Doctors Beyer22 and Rosn45, while dining at the house of the latter in Gottenburg. Some may perhaps object that the man clothed in purple was an angel of darkness transformed into an angel of light, so as to seduce and deceive Swedenborg; but the Lord has taught us to know false prophets end hypocrites by their fruits. He said to the Pharisees: "If any man will do my father's will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or not." Did they not say to the Lord that he was a deceiver and a blasphemer; that He was inspired by the devil; that He did His miracles in the name and by the power of Beelzebub? It is the duty of good Christians to judge Swedenborg by his conduct and writings. Let them study his writings without prejudice, and they will soon see, that the angel of darkness must either have been instructed by God to teach the truth, or that he could not have been the author of the revelations which Swedenborg makes.
34. Mr. Robsahm having asked the wife of Swedenborg's gardener, if she had ever noticed any change in her master's countenance after he had conversed with spirits, she answered "One afternoon on entering his room his eyes had the appearance of the brightest fire; I stepped back, crying out: 'In God's name, sir, what has happened to you, for you have a most singular appearance?' 'How do I look,' he inquired. I told him what I had noticed; when he added: 'Well! well! (this was his favourite expression) do not be frightened, (the Lord has so disposed my eyes, that through them spirits may see into our world')*. In a short time this appearance will have passed away. This also happened as he said. I can see when he has spoken with heavenly spirits; for his face has then an expression of gentleness, cheerfulness, and contentment, which is charming; but after he has conversed with evil spirits, he looks sad."**
* This passage does not occur in Robsahm. The words which he uses are these: "The Lord has opened my bodily eyes, and I have been in the spirit."
** This last passage does not occur in Robsahm at all; yet it is possible that Mr. C. F. Nordenskld had heard this himself from the gardener's wife. Compare Robsahm's account paragraph 26.
35. Swedenborg did not study comfort in his journeys; he travelled without a servant, in an open carriage from Stockholm to Gottenburg, and thence by sea. Robsahm says, "I know two sea-captains who have conveyed him to England, and back. The name of one is Harrison, and of the other, Brovell. The former told me that Swedenborg lay in bed during almost the whole of the voyage; soliloquized much, and always answered very prudently. 'When he is in my ship,' Harrison added, 'I always have the most favourable wind.' 'I should like to have him on board always, and would gladly carry him as a passenger without any charge.' Brovell said the same; and he had taken him from London to Stockholm in a very few days. When I spoke to Swedenborg about it, he said, 'I am always very fortunate in my passages by sea.'"*
* Cfr. Robsahm's account paragraphs 29, 30.
36. "I met him in his travelling-carriage, when he left for London the last time but one, and I asked him, how he who would soon be eighty years old, could venture to undertake so long a journey; and I added, 'Do you think I shall see you back here again?' 'Do not trouble yourself about that,' he said, 'if you live we shall certainly see one another again; for I have another journey to undertake like this.' He returned indeed. When he left Sweden for the last time, he came to see me the day before his departure. I asked him, whether we should meet again. He answered with a tender and touching look: 'I do not know whether I shall return; but this I know, that I shall not die before I have finished the printing of my work entitled: Vera Religio Christiana (True Christian Religion); which is the object of my present journey. But if we do not meet again in this world, we shall meet again with the Lord, our good Father, provided we keep his commandments.
*Cfr. Robsahm's Memoirs paragraphs 20, 21.
37. Some time before his last journey, he addressed a petition to His Majesty King Adolphus Fredcric11, in which he asked him to have letters of instruction addressed to the Consistories of the kingdom, ordering them to examine his writings, and give their opinion with regard to their contents; but the Consistories did not make any report. When the King met Swedenborg, he said to him: "The Consistories have kept silence on the subject of my letters and of your writings and laying his hand upon his shoulder he added: "We may conclude then that they have not found anything reprehensible in them, and that you have written in conformity with the truth."
SECTION II.
SWEDENBORG'S ANCESTRY AND THE GENEALOGY OF THE SWEDENBORG FAMILY.
DOCUMENT 7.
EXTRACT FROM A REPORT,*
* This and the following Document are contained in Vol. XIV of the Bergius46 Collection of Letters, which is preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Document 7 was copied by Bergius from a certified copy of the original.
MADE BY THE LATE COUNCILMAN AND SENIOR JACOB INGLESSON TO THE COURT OF MINES AT "STORA KOPPARBERGET,"* MAY 17, 1716, RESPECTING SOME OLD FAMILIES AND HOUSES AROUND "KOPPARBERGET."
* "Stora gopparberget" (the great copper-mountain) is the name of the copper mining district around Fahlun in Dalecarlia.
The following have been school-masters at "Kopparberget:"
1. Magister Petrus Bullernesius*; he was the first school-master here at "Kopparberget," and afterwards became pastor of the church at Swrdsi; he was the maternal grandfather of Bishop Swedberg.
* Additional information respecting Magister Bullerncsius will be found at the beginning of Document 10.
A rich and opulent miner of the name of Mrten Larsson in Gruf Ryset; he was a sort of authority here in the mines, before there was any regular master of mines. He was many times in Stockholm, on account of some mining laws, with the late Ring Gustavus. He had only two daughters; the elder was married to a miner in Gruf Ryset of the name of Pder Erichson; after his death she married a man from Gefle of the name of Lars Behm,* who at one period of his life was a member of the Court of Mines. The second daughter was married to Johan Barckman, a councilman in Fahlun, when it first became a town; he lived near the new church, where the well now is.
* Lars Behm, was the brother of Swedenborg's maternal grandfather; see Document 8, p. 81.
An opulent miner lived in Sundborn parish, whose name was Otto of Sundborn; his son's name was Nils Ottesson of Helsingborn; he also had a son named Isaac Nilsson in Frmsbacka, and his son was Daniel Isaachson,* in Sweden, who was the father of Bishop Jesper Swedberg,** Daniel Swedberg, mine-master, assessor Peter Schnstrm,*** the late Johan Swedberg, and book-keeper Isaac Swedberg.
* Additional information respecting Daniel Isaachson, Swedenborg's paternal grand-father, will be found at the beginning of Document 10.
** An extended account of Bishop Jesper Swedberg, the father of Emanuel Swedenborg, is contained in Document 10.
*** Further particulars concerning assessor Peter Schnstrm and his family are given in Document 9, A.
That the preceding extract of Jacob Ingelsson's Report is an exact copy of the original, is certified by
PETER SWEDBERG [of] JOH.
DOCUMENT 8.
LETTER FROM PETER SCHNSTRM47 TO EMANUEL SWEDENBORG,*
* This Document is contained in Vol. XIV of the Bergius46 Collection of letters in the Library of the academy of Sciences at Stockholm, on Page 271, &c.
My honoured friend and brother,
I thank you for your kind letter, and also for the genealogical register of our ancestors. You may obtain one still more perfect, if you go into the Privy Archives (Cammar-archivo), and find out the homestead upon which our ancestors lived; for in the old registers of the transfer of landed property the proprietors are always mentioned. It would be an advantage to our family if you could establish from the old register, that their homestead was exempt from taxes; for at that time owners of untaxed property were considered as noblemen, and at that time not every one, as is the case now, but only certain families or houses, could become the owners of such property. For this reason Engelbrecht Engelbrechtson is called a nobleman in our histories, viz. because he was an owner of untaxed property; and in Messenius also Mns Nilson of Asboda, and Anders Person in Rankhyttan, who were beheaded by order of King Gustavus I, are called Nobiles Montani, i. e. mountain nobles. The Silfwerstrms* are said to have had the same origin with us on the fathers' side.
* This seems to be a mistake. Acording to Anrep,48 Vol. LII, p. 769, the Silfverstrms trace their origin to a certain Ludvig or Lydert Otto, who had emigrated from Germany, and who in 1643 was a councillor in Eahlun. As Daniel Isaakson, Swedenborg's paternal grandfather, married about 1640, this Ludvig Otto could not have been the Otto near Sundborn, who, according to Document 7, was the great-grandfather of Daniel Isaakson, and who must have been born between 1530 and 1550. And if, according to Peter Schnstrm, that Otto was a brother of Bishop Otto of Westerbs, who died in 1520, he must have been born before the year 1500.
** Engelbrecht was a noble mountaineer, under whose leadership the greater part of Sweden was delivered from the Danish yoke, in 1434. In 1436 he was assassinated, after having secured the independence of his country.
With regard to our mother's family I cannot name any one before Isac Behm, who was employed by Charles IX* as admiral, and in other capacities; for this reason mentioned in King Charles' "slaughter-bench" (slktare bnk). Messenius mentions him twice in his Scondia illustrata, but describes him as having been very cruel. This historian relates that after the battle of Stngbro,** when he commanded by sea, he ill-treated some Jesuits, whom he had made prisoners; and afterwards, he says, he was the commander opposed to the fleet which Flemming sent from Finland, in which was the young de Wijk, the handsomest man in Sweden, whom Isac Behm ordered to be put to death in a very cruel manner.
* Charles IX, the youngest son of Oustavus Wasa, after deposing his nephew Sigismund, ascended the throne of Sweden in 1600. He punished severely the Catholic adherents of Sigismund, and executed many of the nobles at Linkping. He has the reputation of having been the ablest of the sons of Gustavus Wasa. He was the father of Gustavus Adolphus.
** This battle took place near Linkping in 1698; in which king Sigismund was defeated by his uncle Charles X.
*** Peter Schnstrm, the writer of this letter, confounds here two Wernstedts. The elder Wernstedt, Christoffer von Warenstedt, married Lucretia, daughter of Duke Magnus, one of the sons of Gustavus Wasa. The younger Wefnstedt, Johan von marenstedt, the son of Christoffer, who was a, colonel, had a daughter Lucretia, who was married to her step-brother Seveil Ribbing--see "Anrep's ttartaflor"48 Vol. IV, p. 589. Moreover, the younger Warenstedt was a colonel, while his father was governor of the northern part of Sweden.
**** Gustav Blixencrona, who died in 1701, was married to Metta, daughter of Seved Ribbing. Their daughter Catharina Magdalena, who died in 1745, was married to Secretary Elias Palmskld, who died in 1719--see "Anrep"48 Vol. I, p. 223.
***** According to Anrep48 the relation between the Behm family, and the Palmskld, Cronstedt, and von Walcker families, was not through Mrten Hanson, but through his wife Ingrid Pedersdotter. In Vol. I, p. 422, this author makes the following statement respecting Peder Hansson, the ancestor of the family "Cederskld;" "Peder Hansson," citizen and member of the council in Gefle, died in 1612. He was married to Ingrid Pedersdotter (born 1574), daughter of Peder Pedersson from Helsingland, citizen and merchant in Gefle. Ingrid Pedersdotber was afterwards married to Mrten Hansson Rdbeck, councillor in the same town."
By her marriage with Peder Hansson, Ingid Pedersdotter had two sons: 1. Elias Pedersson Gavelius, burgomaster of Gefle: one of whose sons-in-law was Sigfrid Wolker, the father of Chamberlain von Walcker, and another was Eric Larsson Palmskld, the father of Secretary Palmskld; his son Petrus Elias Gavelius was ennobled, and assumed the name "Cederskld;" 2. Dr. Peder Pedersson Gavelius, who was the ancestor of the noble family of "Cronstedt."
By her marriage with Mrten Hansson Rdbeck, Ingrid Pedersdotter had one daughter, Anna Mrtensdotter Rdbck, who was married to the burgomaster Johan Eskilsson in Sderhamn; their daughter Catharina Johansdotter was married to Assessor Albrecht Behm, the maternal grandfather of Emanuel Swedenborg and of Peter Schanstrm (see "Anrep"48 Vol. I, p. 134, and also our Document 9, B); while another daughter Ingrid Johansdotter was married to Abraham Momma, ennobled under the name of Reenstierna, a Patriotic merchant and banker in Stockholm, who instituted many manufactures and iron-works in Sweden, and advanced money to the government. Their daughter Anna Maria Reenstierna was the second wife of Peter Schnstrm, brother of Bishop Swedberg, see "Anrep," Vol. III, p. 318.
But to return to the Behms. Isac Behm lies buried in Rrstel church in Roslagen, where he was possessed of an estate in fee; upon his tomb there is almost the same coat-of-arms which is upon the tomb of our maternal grand-father in Salberget. He had two sons. The name of the eldest I do not remember: he had a son in that war who was captain of horse in the East-Gothland regiment. This was the same who in the time of Charles XI looked after so much hidden treasure (rsen). The name of the other was Michael Behm; he was an officer at the court of Queen Christina, the mother of Gustavus Adolphus, who had Gefle for her jointure.
* Anrep's ttartaflor,48 Vol. I, p. 134, states that Jonas Behm was not married to a Schrder, but to a Krger, see Document 9, B.
** This is not the Brita Behm, with whom Swedenborg had several lawsuits; she was his maternal aunt and the daughter of Assessor Albrecht Behm; while the former Brita was the daughter of burgomaster Hans Behm; (see Anrep's ttartaflor,48 Vol. I, p. 31, Adlerstedt, Table I).
DOCUMENT 9.
GENEALOGICAL REGISTER OF THE SWEDENBORG FAMILY, FROM ANREP'S "TTARTAFLOR,"48
A.
SWEDBERG AND SCHNSTRM FAMILIES.*
* From Anrep's "ttartaflor,"48 Vol. III, pp. 699 and 700.
[Otto of Sundborg, an opulent miner. His son Nils Ottesson of Helsingbor; he had a son Isaac Nilson of Frmsbacka, and his son was Daniel Isaachson of Sweden.]*
* The portion in brackets has been supplied from Document 7.
Table I.
Daniel Isaacsson; Bergsman, i. e. miner, in Fahlun. Married about 1640, Anna Bullernsesia, daughter of the pastor in Svrdsj, Magister Petrus Bullernaesius. Their sons called themselves Swedberg after their homestead Sweden, near Fahlun.
SONS:
Peter Swedberg, after being ennobled, Schnstrm, born 1644, died in 1692. See Table 3.
Dr. Jesper Swedberg, born 1653; Bishop of Skara; died in 1735. See Table 2.
[Daniel Swedberg, master of mines (bergmster).
Johan Swedberg, father of the Peter Swedberg who communicated to Emanuel Swedenborg our Document 7.
Isaac Swedberg accountant.]*
* This portion has also been supplied from Document 7.
Table II.
Dr. Jesper Swedberg (son of Daniel Isaacson. Table 1) born August 25, 1653, in Sweden; was ordained into the ministry and appointed chaplain of the horse-guards in 1682; became master of philosophy in the same year; chaplain of the court in 1688; dean and pastor of Wingker in Sdermanland in 1690; professor in the university of Upsal in 1692; dean of the cathedral in Upsal, 1694 superintendent of the Swedish churches in America, London, and Portugal, 1696; Bishop of Skara, 1702; doctor of theology, 1705; died July 7, 1735, at Brunsbo, his bishop's seat near Skara. His children were ennobled on May 23, 1719, under the name Swedenborg (his sons were introduced in 1720 under the number 1598). He was married 1. on Dec. 12, 1683, to his brother's sister-in-law, Sarah Behm, who was born Jan. 4, 1666, and died June 17, 1696; daughter of Albrecht Behm, assessor In the College of Mines, (owner of the iron-works at Tallfors), and of Catharina Johansdotter; she was also sister of Captain-lieutenant Albrecht Behm, who was ennobled under the name De Behm, No. 1256: 2. on Nov. 30, 1697, to Sara, Bergia,* widow of Justice (hradshfding) Norling: 3. on Dec. 25, 1720, to Christina Arrhusia,** daughter of Johan Arrhusius, Dean of Fshlun.
* According to the Swed. Biog. Lex. Vol. XVI, p. 288, Bishop Swedberg was the third husband of Sarah Bergia. Her first husband was Michel Hising, a merchant in Kping; her second husband J. Nordlind, justice of the peace.
** Christina Arrhusia was born Dec. 6, 1661; she was the daughter of Dean Johannes Arrhusius in Fahlun and Sara Hising. In 1699 she was married to Anton Swab, clerk in the copper-office in Fahlun, whose second wife she was. Anton Swab died in 1718. His first wife had been Helena Bergia, a sister of Bishop Swedberg's second wife, Sarah Bergia. See Anrep, Vol. IV, p. 288.
CHILDREN:
1. [Albrecht, who died in childhood.]*
* Nos. 1, 5, and 6, of Bishop Swedberg's children are supplied from the Swed. Biogr. Lex., Vol. XVI, p. 285.
2. Anna Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, born 1686, died 1766. (See Document 9, C. Table 1).
3. Emanuel Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, born 1688; assessor; died 1772. (See Document 9, C. Table 2).
4. Hedwig Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, born 1690, died 1728. (See Document 9, C. Table 3).
5. [Daniel, died in childhood.]
6. [Eliezer, died in his 25th year*, was married to Elisabeth Brink, who after his death in 1717 married the Councillor of Mines, Anders Swab.]**
* This statement is made by Bishop Swedberg in his Autobiography, see Document 11.
** See Anrep's "ttartaflor," Vol. IV, p. 288, Table 2.
7. Catharina Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, born 1693, died 1770. (See Document 9, C. Table 4).
8. Jesper Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, born 1694; lieutenant. (See Document 9, C. Table 5).
9. Margaretha Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, born 1695. (See Document 9, C. Table 15).
Table III.
Peter Swedberg, when ennobled, Schnstrm, (son of Daniel Isaancson, Table 1), born 1644; attendant on the Swedish ambassadors, Fleming and Coijet, in London and Breda; clerk in the College of Mines, 1670; treasurer in the same, 1671; master of mines in Eastern and mestern Dalecarlia, 1675; was ennobled on Nov. 1, 1683, and introduced in 1686 under No. 1056. Assessor in the above-named college, 1691; died May 22, 1692, and was buried in Wed's church in Westmanland. We was married: 1. in 1680 to Anna Margaretha Behm, who was born in 1660 and died in 1688; she was daughter of Albrecht Behm, assessor in the College of Mines (owner of the iron-works at Tallfors) and Catharina Johansdotter, who was the sister of Captain-Lieutenant dlbrecht Behm, when ennobled, De Behm, No. 1256: 2. on May 14, 1689, to a cousin of his first wife, Anna Maria Reenstierna, this being her first marriage; daughter of the manufacturer Abraham Momma, when ennobled Reenstierna, No. 818, and Ingrrid Johansdotter;* in 1694 she was married a second time to Colonel Nils Djurlilo, when ennobled, Djurklow, No. 968; died 1714.
* Ingrid Johansdotter was a daughter of burgomaster Johan Eskilsson in Sderhamn and his first wife, Anna Mrtensdotter Rdbeck, see Anrep, Vol, III, p. 318. She was the sister of Catharina Johansdotter, who was married to Assessor Albrecht Behm.
CHILDREN OF HIS FIRST WIFE:
1. Peter, 47 born. 1682; lieutenant-colonel; died 1746.
2. Anna Catharina, born 1683. Married, June 11, 1697, to the Royal physician (archiater) Olof Rudbeck,49 the younger, when ennobled, Rudbeck, No. 1637, lord of the manor in Brunna, Kydingeholm and Bro-Lfsta, who was born in 1660. She was his second wife, and died in 1740.
3. Albrecht, born October 10, 1654; lieutenant-colonel of the horse-guards; he died in 1740, and was buried in the family vault in Hed's Church. Was married on Nov. 22, 1715 to the Baroness Ulrica Adlersten, born in 1694, and daughter of the provincial governor, Baron Gran Adlersten. One of their daughters, Elisabeth Maria, born in 1725, was married in 1748 to the Bishop of Westers, Dr. Lars Benzelstierna;10 and died in 1800.
4. Magdalena, born in 1680; married the Quartermaster General, Lars Spole, when ennobled, Rosenborg; she died in 1760.
CHILDREN OF HIS SECOND WIFE:
5. Margaretha Elisabeth, born 1690, died 1751; was married to Col. Henric Julius Voltemat, when ennobled, Voltemat, who was born 1689, and died 1764.
6. Sara Helena, born 1691, died 1779, at Karmanshbo iron-works in Westmanland; was married to Major Johan Lth, when ennobled, Lth-rnskld, born 1690, died in 1728.
7. Abraham Daniel, born 1692; chamberlain; died in 1759, without issue. He was married in 1750 to Hedwig Sophia Arosell, when ennobled, Adlerheim, daughter of Superior Judge (Lagman) Carl Arosell and Sophist Christine Hjrne; born 1713, died in 1780.*
* The last male descendant of the Schnstrm family, Captain Pehr Albrecht Georg, died in 1848.
B.
BEHM FAMILY.*
[Admiral Isaac Behm, married to a daughter of Christopher von Warenstedt and Lucretia Magnusdotter, a natural daughter of Duke Magnus, son of Gustavus Wasa.
* See Anrep's "ttartaflor," Vol. I, pp. 134, 135, and 535.
SON:
Michael Behm, an officer of Queen Christina, mother of King Gustavus Adolphus, who had Gefle for her jointure.]*
* The bracketed portions are supplied from Document 8.
Table I.
Jonas Michalson Behm; burgonmaster in Gefle about the year 1611. In 1610, he married Anna Krger, daughter of Daniel Krger and Anna, Margaretha Pehrsdotter of Gefle.
[They had twelve sons and one daughter. From the daughter are the Tehls, and the wives of Palmrot, Diurberg, and Wallin.]*
* The bracketed portions are supplied from Document 8.
SONS:
Daniel Behm, when ennobled, Behmer, owner of Ytterbyns and Tuppenhorn, born in Gefle 1611, died in 1669. He was tutor to one of the sons of Chancellor Buel Oxenstierna, to which circumstance he owed his rapid promotion. In 1649, he became assessor of the Court of Appeals; in 1650, he was ennobled; and in 1664, he was made councillor of the Court. He was married in 1643 to Brita Schytte, daughter of Henning Schytte, a merchant in Nykping, and sister of Joachim Schyttehielm, the councillor or finance (kammer-rd), and also of Bishop Henning Schytte; and in 1669, to Magdalena Lindegren, daughter of Assessor Nils Lindegren, and Anna Sjlad. They had four sons and seven daughters, but the last male descendant of this family, Daniel Behmer, Knight, died in 1710.
Albrecht Behm; Assessor, died in 1679. (See Table 2.)
[Hans Behm, burgomaster, who was married to Catharina Hanuson. See "Anrep," Vol. I. p. 31.
Lars Behm, a member of the Court of Mines in Fahlun, was married to the eldest daughter of Mrten Larsson in Gruf Rijset. See Document 7.]
Table II.
Albrecht Behm (son of Jonas Michalsson Behm, Table 1), owner of Tallfors iron-works; master of mines in Wester-Bergslagen; assessor in the College of Mines, 1675; died in Stockholm, in 1679. Married Catharina Johansdotter, who, in consequence of a long and severe illness, became diseased in her mind, and committed suicide in 1672; she, nevertheless, received an honourable burial, and lies interred in Sala church. She was the daughter of Johan Eskilsson, burgomaster in Sderhamn, and Anna Mrtensdotter Rdbck.
CHILDREN:
Albrecht Behm, when ennobled, De Behm; lieutenant in the Surbeck regiment in France; he was ennobled Jan. 24, 1693, on his return to Sweden, and introduced, the same year, under No. 1256; in 1695 he was made captain-lieutenant in the Helsinge regiment; he died unmarried, and in him his noble family ended. While in the service of France he was in several battles, and proved a bold and conscientious officer; he quitted the Swedish service on account of the state of his health and his melancholy. (See "Anrep" Vol. I, p. 535).
[Anna Margaretha Behm, born in 1660; the first wife of Assessor Peter Schnstrm. She died in 1688.
Sarah Behm, who was born April 1, 1666, and died June 17, 1696. She was married to Bishop Jesper Swedberg, and was the mother of Emanuel Swedenborg. (See Document 9, A, Table 2).
Brita Albrechtsdotter Behm,50 who was married to Prof. Johan Schwede in Upsal. Her daughter Eva Schwede was married in 1714 to Prof. Johan Upmark, when ennobled, Rosenadler,51 who became afterwards the censor of the press, and in 1728 Councillor of Chancery. Eva Schwede died in childbirth, 1717. (See "Anrep" Vol. III, p. 457).
Catharina, who died in 1686, second wife of Magister Laurentius Petri Aroselius, Dean of Sala. Their son Peter Arosell was ennobled under the name of Acllerheim. (See "Anrep," Vol. IV, p. 188).
A fifth daughter Erlena (?) was married to Major Erland Erling; they had a daughter Maja.] The names of Fru Erlena, Erling and of Maja Erlingr occur in the "Acts" preserved in the Hofrtten (Court of Appeals) of a law-suit which was pending in 1722, between the heirs of Albrecht De Behm, and Brita Behm.*
* The portion in brackets is supplied partly from other parts of Anrep's "ttartaflor," partly from the "Acts" mentioned above.
C.
SWEDENBORG FAMILY.*
* See Anrep's "ttartaflor," Vol. IV, 292-294, "Swedenborg," Table 1.
Anna Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg (daughter of Bishop Swedberg, see Document 9, 8. Table 2), born Sept. 19, 16S6, died May 20, 1766, in Linkping. Was married June 16, 1703, to the celebrated archbishop, Dr. Eric Benzelius6 the younger, who was born in 1675, and died in 1743. Their children, with those of all the other Benzelii, were ennobled under the name Benzelstjerna.
CHILDREN:*
* See "Anrep" Vol. I, p. 149. "Benzelstjerna," Table 2.
1. Eric Benzelius, when ennobled, Benzelstjerna, owner of Bksholm in Dref's parish and Kronobergs ln, was born April 29, 1705, in Upsal; he entered the College of Mines in 1726; became inspector in "Stora Kopparberget," 1731; member of the Mining Court, 1738; master of mines in Schonen, Halland, and Blekinge, etc., 1742; assessor in the College of Mines, 1760; retired as councillor of mines in 1763; and died 1767, at Bksholm. He was married in 1732 to Christina Ehrenholm, who was born in 1705, and died in 1770. One of his three sons was called Hans Emanuel.
2. Margaretha Benzelia, when ennobled, Benzelstjerna, born March 17, 1708, died Dec. 27, 1772, in Copenhagen. She was married in 1726 to Prof. Andreas Norrelius in Upsal, but was divorced from him.*
* See "Biographiskt Lexicon," Vol. X, p. 118. "Norrellius."
3. Dr. Carl Jesper Benzelius, was born Jan. 16, 1714, in Upsal; received holy orders, 1737; was appointed curate of the Swedish Church in Zondon, 1738; royal court-chaplain, 1741; doctor of theology in Helmstdt, 1748; professor of theology in Lund, 1750; Bishop of Strengns, 1776; received the order of the north-star, 1786; and died in Strengis, 1793. In 1748, he was appointed teacher of the Swedish language to Princess Louisa Ulrica [who subsequently became Queen of Sweden]. In 1751, he was ennobled together with his brothers and sisters, but he retained his former name on account of his being in holy orders. He had one son and four daughters; one of the daughters was married in 1783 to Jonas Cederstedt, the councillor of mines.
4. Albrecht Benzelius, when ennobled, Benzelstjerna, born Feb. 11, 1715. He was manufacturer of all sorts of woollen goods, with the title of director, and died in 1763 at Dingelvik Dahl. He was married in 1743 to Johanna, daughter of Timan, the administrator of crown-lands, in Linkping. One of their sons, Lars Benzelstjerna, who was an ensign in the Swedish navy, went to Copenhagen in 1789, for the purpose of setting fire to the Russian fleet; his plot was discovered, and he was condemned by the Danish government to pass the remainder of his life in a fortress in Norway. He was, however, subsequently released.
5. Adolph Benzelius, when ennobled, Benzelstjerna, born July 19, 1718; entered the service of engineers in Sweden; ensign in the Hessian army; lieutenant in the French army; lieutenant in the English army in 1755; engineer of fortifications in America, 1761; superintendent of forests in the district of Crown-Point; died at Crown-Point in 1775. He was married to Rebecca Trauberg, daughter of the Swedish pastor, in Racoon, New Jersey, and Elisabeth Andersdotter Rudman. His daughter Anna Ulrica was married to Thomas Sparham, M. D. of Kingston, in the province of Quebec.
6. Ulrica Benzelia, when ennobled, Benzelstjerna, born May 14, 1725, died May 5, 1766. She was married in 1740 to the Bishop of Linkping, Dr. Petrus Filenius,9 who died in 1780. She was his first wife.
Table II.
Emanuel Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg (son of Jesper Swedberg, See Document 9, A. Table 2), born Jan. 29, 1688; assessor in the College of Mines; retired in 1747. Died unmarried, March 29, 1772, in London, at Great-Bath Street, Coldbath Fields, and was buried in the Swedish Church in the same city. He is the Emanuel Swedenborg who became world-renowned on account of his visions and his religious doctrines.
Table III.
Hedwig Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg (daughter of Jesper Swedberg, see Document 9, A. Table 2), born Nov. 30, 1690, died Dec. 19, 1728; was married, July 18, 1714, to her sister's brother-in-law, Lars Benzelius, when ennobled, Benzelstierna,8 who was born in 1680, and died in 1755. His second wife, whom he married in 1732, was Catharina Insenstjerna, daughter of Commissary Henric Insen, when ennobled, Insenstjerna; but all his children are by his first marriage.
CHILDREN:*
* See "Anrep" Vol. I, p. 151. "Benzelstjerna," Tables 14, 15.
1. Eric, born June 18, 1715; auscultant in the College of Mines; 1735; notary, 1744; died March 15, 1745, at the Lindfors ironrvorlis in Wermland, and was buried in Spnga Church.
2. Jesper Albrecht, born May 13, 1716; volunteer of engineers, 1736; adjutant in the same corps, 1741; lieutenant; was drowned during the Finnish war, March 30, 1743.
3. Lars,10 born at Starbo in Dalecarlia, April 4, 1719; student in Upsal, 1728, in Lund 1735; master of arts, 1738; theological tutor, and received holy orders, 1741; professor of Greek in Upsal, 1746; professor of theology, and pastor of the Danmark Church, 1747; doctor of theology, 1752; Bishop of Westers, 1759, and also bishop of the order of seraphims member of the order of the north-star, 1784, etc.; died Feb. 18, 1800, in Westers. Was married to Elisabeth Maria Schnstrm (see Document 9, A. Table 3) born Oct. 24, 1725, died April 8, 1801, in Westers.
4. Hedwig, born in 1721, died the same year.
5. Carl, born Oct. 18, 1723; auscultant in the College of Commerce, 1741; vice-actuary in the same college, 1744; auscultant in the College of Mines, 1745; member of the Court of Mines in Fahlun, 1748, and in Sala, 1752; fiscal advocate, 1756; retired, 1759; died in Stockholm, April 3, 1808. Married in 1758 Louisa Sophia Brath, born in 1739, died in 1780, at Albo in lands parish and Upland, daughter of the Olof Larsson Brath, mine-owner at Fsked in Wermland, and Elsa Johanna Geijer.
Fredric, born March 10, 1726; corporal in the horseguards; lieutenant in the French army, 1745; captain in Stralsund, 1749; died, 1750, unmarried,
Table IV.
Catharina Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, (daughter of Jesper Swedberg) (see Document 9, 8. Table 2), born April 18, 1693, died March 8, 1770. Married the Dean of Lidkping, Magister Jonas Unge.5
[CHILDREN:]*
* These are all the children of Dean Unge whose names we could find in our researches.
1. Helena, married, first, the Vicar of Gthened, in the bishopric of Skara, Dr. Laurentius Svenonis Noring, who afterwards became the court chaplain in chief, and died in 1757, on his estate Rankra; and secondly, Baron Carl Adam Silverhjelm, at Flisholt, who was born in 1719, retired in 1764 as colonel, and died in 1771 (see "Anrep," p. 731).
2. Theophila, born in 1728, died in 1791; was married to Baron Fredric Silverhjelm (brother of Baron Carl Adam Silverhjelm), at rsbyholm, who was born in 1726, became colonel of infantry, and died in 1783.
3. Jesper Unge.*
* These two names are signed among others to a document, by which Swedenborg's heirs hoped to regain possession of his MSS., which had been committed to the custody of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
4. Stina Louisa, Unge.*
* These two names are signed among others to a document, by which Swedenborg's heirs hoped to regain possession of his MSS., which had been committed to the custody of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Table V.
Jesper Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg52 (son of Jesper Swedberg, see Document 9, 8. Table 2) at Brandstop, in Westergothland, born Aug. 16, 1694; lieutenant. Married in 1727, Christine Silfversvrd, born in 1708, daughter of Major Gustav Silfversvrd and Mrta Reutersvrd.
CHILDREN:
1. Sara Christina, born Dec, 11, 1727, married in 1752 to Sergeant J. Leijer.
2. Eleonora, born June 25, 1729, died, in 1791, unmarried.
3. Emanuel, born Dec. 2, 1731; ensign in Elfsborg's regiment; captain; died in 1794. Married in 1771, Christina Brita Hellenstjerna, daughter of Captain Johan Hellenstjerna and Brigitha Wetteyman.
4. Anna Mrta, born June 30, 1733, died in 1773; married in 1763, Lieutenant Johan Georg Ridderbjelke, who was born in 1726, and died in 1803.
5. Jesper Gustav, born in 1736; major; died in 1821. (See Table 6).
6. Maria Elisabeth, born Dec. 29, 1737, died in 1822. Married in 1770, her cousin, David Frlich, clerk of the justice, who was born in 1737, and died in 1818.
7. Hedwig Catharina, born Sept. 2, 1740, died in 1782; married in 1760 the master of ammunition, Carl Fredric Holt.
8. Johanna Gustava, born March 16, 1744, died in 1816 Married about 1780, Lieutenant Carl Jernfeltz, as his second wife; he was born in 1732, died in 1809.
9. Ulrica, born May 29, 1745, died in 1802, unmarried.
10. Magdalena, born June 30, 1748, died in 1796, unmarried.
Table VI.
Jesper Gustav (son of Jesper Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg, Table 5) born Oct. 23, 1736; major in the army, 1785; knight of the order of the sword; died in 1821 at Entorp, near Skara.
SONS:
1. Jesper, born in 1765, captain, (see Table 7).
2. Gustav, born in 1776, assessor, (see Table 11).
Table VII.
Jesper (son of Jesper Gustav, Table 6), born March 26, 1765; ensign in Skaraborg's regiment, 1781; lieutenant, 1756; captain 1796; retired in 1802. Married in 1788, Catharina Elisabeth Edman, daughter of Captain Gustav Magnus Edman; after her death he married in 1801, a widow, Edla Henrica, Lind, daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Bengt Lind of Hageby, and Gustaviana Charlotta Hammarhjelm.
CHILDREN:
1. Carl Gustaf, born 1795; chamberlain, see Table 8.
2. Jesper Emanuel, born 1796; captain, see Table 9.
3. Christina Louisa, born 1800; married in 1820, Captain Pehr Niclas Palmcrantz, whose second wife she was; she died in 1842.
Table VIII.
Carl Gustaf (son of Jesper, Table 7), born Jan. 25, 1795, notary in the Court of Appeals for Schonen and Blekinge; justice in Oxie, &c. in Schonen, 1830; chamberlain in His Majesty's Court. Married in 1825, at Carlshamn, Ulrica Maria E. Nolleroth, born in 1806, daughter of Eric Gustaf Nolleroth, burgomaster of Carlscrona, and Ulrica Msriana Ridderstsm.
SONS:
1. Carl August Emanuel, born Feb. 2, 1826.
2. Gustav Eric Oscar, born in 1828; cadet in Carlberg; second lieutenant in the Crown-prince's regiment of hussars, now (1849) the regiment of King Charles XV; lieutenant, 1854.
Table IX.
Jesper Emanuel (son of Jesper, Table 7) born Feb. 17, 1796; ensign in Elfsborg's regiment; lieutenant, 1818; captain, 1816; knight of the order of the sword, 1849; retired from the regiment, 1551, and from the army in 1855.
CHILDREN:
1. Pehr Gustaf, born 1895, lieutenant, see Table 10.
2. Edla Catharina Sophia, born in 1829. Married in 1856 Asel Ferdinand Leijer, lieutenant in Elfsborg's regiment.
3. Axel Emanuel, born 1833; proprietor of Sjgard, Grofvared, in Westergttland. Married in 1861, Elizabeth Ahlgren.
Table X.
Pehr Gustaf, (son of Jesper Emanuel, Table 9), born Nov. 3, 1825; second lieutenant in Elfsborg's regiment, 1844; lieutenant, 1848. Married in 1858, Catharina Dorothea Sophia Rosenberg.
CHILDREN:
1. Sigrid Anna Catharina, born 1858.
2. Jesper Gustaf, born 1860.
Table XI.
Gustaf (son of Jesper Gustaf, Table 6), born Aug. 14, 1776; surveyor, 1803; assessor; died in 1820. Married in 1809, Beata Sophia Sommelius, daughter of Professor J. Sommelius and D. Held; she was born in 1779, died in 1837.
SONS:
1. Jesper Gustaf, born 1810; doctor of medicine. See Table 12.
2. Sven Herman, born 1811, assessor. See Table 13.
Table XII.
Jesper Gustaf (son of Gustaf, Table 11), born Aug. 7, 1810; doctor of medicine and master of surgery; provincial physician in Calmar ln, 1848; in the district of Maristad, 1860. Married in 1841, Carolina Predrika Zickerman, born 1812.
CHILDREN:
1. Carolina Ebba Beata, born 1842.
2. Hedwig Louisa, born 1844; married in 1862, in Maristad, Herr Johann Eduard Rosenlind.
3. Jesper Gustaf Henric Herman, born 1846.
4. Carl Sigurd Wilhelm Emanuel, born 1849.
5. Signe Fredric Amalia, born 1853.
6. Agnes Clara Elisabeth, born 1857.
Table XIII.
Sven Herman, born Nov. 13, 1811; assessor in the Court of Appeals of Schonen and Blekinge, died 1849. Married in 1844, in Stockholm, Maria Louisa von Seth, born 1815, daughter of Chamberlain Johan Boman, when ennobled and adopted, von Seth, and of Louisa Sophia Cronacker.
CHILDREN:
Sophia Louisa, born 1845.
Johan Gustaf Emanuel, born 1847.
Table XIV.
Margaretha Swedberg, when ennobled, Swedenborg (daughter of Jesper Swedberg, see Document 9, A, Table 2) born Oct. 21, 1695. Married Anders Lundstedt, captain of cavalry.
DOCUMENT 10.
BISHOP JESPER SWEDBERG.
A BIOGRAPHY.*
* Taken from the "Biographiskt Lexicon," Vol. XVI, pp. 224-290, an account written by C. W. S.
Bishop Swedberg is one of the few churchmen of Sweden who have acquired a notable position in Church history; and few have exercised a more extensive influence upon Swedish society in general. Such an eventful and influential life as that of Swedberg deserves therefore to be treated in detail, and in extenso.
Jesper Swedberg was born Aug. 28, 1653, on the estate of Sweden, about a quarter of a Swedish mile from Fahlun, where his father Daniel Isaksson ("Daniel upon Sveden") was a miner and mine-owner. According to a custom of the times which is still prevalent, and to which many names, more or less peculiar, of clergymen owe their origin, his son Jesper was called Swedberg, after the estate, while another of his sons assumed the name Schnstrm. His mother's name, Anna Bullernsia, is even a more remarkable instance of this custom, being the Latinized form of the parish of Bollns in Helsingland. His mother's father was the minister of Svrdsj, Magister Peter Bullernesius, on account of whose supposed papistic tendencies a great noise was made by another clergyman of "Stora Kopparberget" [the Great Copper-mountain]. The memory of his maternal grandfather was held in great esteem by Swedberg, and he had great respect for his faith, although it had been stigmatized as heretical, and for the witness which he bore to the truth, even by his writings (e. g. by his "colloquium christianum de mendacio).
It has been remarked, as something significant in the case of not a few of the most eminent men of the Church, that they had in their childhood been in danger of losing their lives. Not unfrequently those who were called upon to arouse the Church to life, had themselves been taken up for dead. Something similar Swedberg noted down respecting himself.
From what we have stated, it may readily be concluded, that Swedberg had the benefit of early and excellent instruction in the home of his parents. Afterwards he was sent to the school at Fahlun. Here he was in danger of being frightened away from his books and studies, the teacher, as then too frequently happened, being a drunkard, who ruled by terror, rather than by wise guidance and kind words. But the desire for learning and the love of books were too strong in the young scholar to be beaten down by the rod of Ale-Peter, as the boys called their teacher.
For sons brought up under the care of parents of this class no vocation or office has usually such great attractions as that of the minister. Even in the sports of his childhood, Swedberg used to imitate the functions of that which he was destined one day so worthily to fill, and the duties of which he was to discharge with such deep earnestness. He read the Bible devoutly himself, and zealously to the people that used to come together "for hop picking," as well as on other occasions. "It used to be my greatest delight," he writes of himself, "to preach to these people." In the autumn of 1666, when he was thirteen, he was sent to Upsal. The three years he spent there under the care of the incompetent Preceptor S. Elfving he regretfully regarded as having been entirely lost.
Holm, who was, if se may trust Swedberg's judgment, an accomplished logician and metaphysician, encouraged his pupil to train himself in dialectic exercises. Scheibler's "opus logjcum et metaphysicum," together with Beckmann's "Logic," he had fairly to grind into his bend; but he insisted that they were not of as much use to him as a "paper of pins." On one occasion, when there was to be a disputation for degrees, Prof. Papke in the chair, Swedberg compiled from the disputation, what he called, "a merry paper," filled with empty metaphysical terms, read it aloud, and with the words "Risum teneatis sodales" (Restrain your laughter, my friends), he broke up the disputation, and moved towards the door. Samuel Puffendorf, who was present, is said to have praised him for this youthful exploit. Possibly, he ventured upon it, because he was sure of approval from this quarter; for Swedberg was intimate with Puffendorf, and, as is well-known, this learned man was opposed to anything that would lead to mere pedantry. This much is certain, that Puffendorf exercised an important influence not only on Swedberg's scientific education, but also on the whole of his after life.
Swedberg describes in the following words the freer views of life, which he acquired on his removal to Lund: "When I went to Upsal I was dressed in blue stockings, Swedish leather shoes, and a simple blue mantle. I never ventured to go forward in Church, but always remained near the benches of the common people. But in Lund I became as worldly-minded as the rest. I procured for myself a long, black wig (I too was dark and tall), to this I added a large, long over-coat, and above all a scarf over my shoulders, such as worldly-minded people wore. In my own opinion, there was no one equal to me: I thought all should make room for me, and take off their hats very humbly in my presence."
In the year 1674, he returned to Upsal, after having first visited Copenhagen and several towns of Zealand. On his arrival in Upsal, the student from Lund created quite a sensation. His plan in life had been determined in his early years. He applied for a theological scholarship to the professor of theology, Magister Brunner, who was dean of the faculty that year. Brunner, astonished at the student dress of Lund, which Swedberg had not yet laid aside, looked at him sharply, crossed himself, and asked whether he, who was dressed in such a worldly manner and in court costume, desired to become a minister of the gospel. Swedberg did not wait to be asked this question a second time. He went home, took off the offensive garb, and purchased a simple greyish-black cloak; and this, he added, was done just at the right time. Brunner, who probably did not limit his examination to his outer man, discovered the talents which lay concealed within. In short, after two years, he took Swedberg into his own house, as private tutor to his son Sebastian. "In Brunner's house," he said, "I learned much that was good, both in respect to manners and Literary acquirements, but especially I learned how to lead a pious, honourable, and serious life: for he himself was spiritually minded both in his conversation and in his intercourse with others, in his dress and in his whole being. In the same year (1676) he took part in a disputation upon the third pert of the treatise De usu et valore consensus Patrum in dogmatibus ecclesiasticis (On the use and value of an agreement of the Fathers in the dogmas of the church), by P. Rudbeck, who was then a professor, but soon became a, bishop; he also pronounced the funeral oration on the occasion of the death of A. Thermanius, the lector of the Greek language in Westers. He had likewise an opportunity of exercising himself in preaching in Brunner's prebend, Danmark; and after he had to mourn, in 1679, the departure from this life of his fatherly friend, he preached for three years in the church of the prebend, during the years of grace [i. e. during the time when the widow of the late prebendary was allowed to occupy the parsonage and enjoy the emoluments of the office].
In the years 1684-55, he undertook a journey abroad, after having obtained the royal permission. About the middle of the summer of 1654, he went to England. The severe church life, and especially the sanctity with which the Sundays are kept, made a deep impression upon him. In London and Oxford he spent three months, and enjoyed there the learned intercourse of Bishop Fells and the great philologist Bernhardi. In discussing the subject of church union, for which Bishop Fells laboured, he expressed himself to Bernhardi in the following language: "For this purpose the Lord's hand, an impulse from the Highest, prayer, and a peace-loving disposition are required." In France he learned to respect the excellent care which the Roman Catholic Church takes of the poor and needy, in noticing "how the wealthier members of the community went out in the evening into the streets and lanes, to look after the poor, the sick, and those without shelter; how distinguished ladies and countesses, dressed in common garments, sought the sick and the helpless, and exhibited towards them as much mercy as they would towards their own blood relations." Afterwards he went through Lorraine and Alsace to Strasburg. Here he enjoyed lodging, board, and hospitality in the house of Bebel, the professor of theology and church history, and formed also an invaluable intimacy with the learned and pious theologian. S. Schmidius.* These two men he revered in his after life as his "two spiritual fathers."
* Sebastian Schmidius, whose translation of the Bible, published at Strasburg in 1696, was used by Swedberg's son Emanuel Swedenborg in the preparation of his theological writings.
The regiment to which Swedberg was attached as chaplain, was ordered to Upland; so that he had not much to do with it. Immediately after his return home he therefore removed to Stockholm, "to preach by higher orders to the court, and perform the same kind of service as the other royal chaplains;" he supplied the pulpit also for the royal chaplain, Schfer, for a whole year, without any recompense. His ministerial disinterestedness was severely tried about this time; for his predecessor, Isogus, claimed one half of the income of his regimental chaplaincy for the year he was abroad; and Swedberg stood this trial so well, that he yielded to the claim, without wasting another word upon it. He even rejoiced, almost like a child, at his having been able to bear it, as may be judged from his own words, "How good and excellent it is, not only to read, teach, and preach God's Word, but also to live in agreement with it, and to practise it accordingly; especially for us, ministers of the gospel! I, therefore, always pray King David's beautiful prayer: 'Incline my heart, O Lord, unto Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.' So little was I ever troubled shout receiving my stipend, that I never sent a reminder to a farmer who owed me his tithe, but was satisfied with what he gave of his own free will.
Although Swedberg looked on his appointment to the chaplaincy of the regiment, as allowing him much time for his studies and ministerial work, still it must not be thought that on that account he neglected his duties as chaplain. On the contrary, he fulfilled them with the same zeal which he displayed in everything he undertook. He did not content himself with preaching, but also gave his regiment regular instruction in the catechism. We will allow him to give his own account of this. "In my duties with the regiment of guards," he says, "with God's grace I gave satisfaction to high and low, although I was not indulgent with them, either in preaching or calling them to account. I examined them diligently in the catechism, in accordance with the royal orders, at every muster, and at all their meetings--yet in the mildest and most moderate manner. They had not before been accustomed to this. Wherefore, whenever they saw me coming, they trembled, as they afterwards told me, much more than when they went into battle with the enemy. But after I commenced talking with them in an affable and mild manner, telling them stories from the Bible, and strengthening them in their faith and in their Christian course of life, the company which I had examined first would not go away, when another came in to be examined, but they all pressed around me, and almost bore me down. The officers also voluntarily sat around the table, and engaged with me in good, useful, and edifying discourse. Once I made a promise to the whole regiment, which consisted of upwards of 1,200 men, that on the next muster, which took place once every year, I would present every man who could read with a copy of Archbishop Dr. Swebilius' catechism. I also wrote in these books the names, about 300, of all those who could read. A year afterwards, when the whole regiment was mustered near Upsal, nearly 600 could read. This amounted to 600 dalers in copper; for each catechism cost a daler.
Fresenius says, that a proper fulfilment of the duties of a royal chaplain is the most difficult thing in the world.
Few have done justice to this office, as Swedberg did. It is true he had a court to preach to, where there were ears open to hear the truth, as we know of the pious Queen Ulrica Eleonora, and even Charles XI used to listen to the testimony of the truth; and this was also uttered by Swedberg with a frankness which proved that he filled his office without respect of persons. To the schools, which were in a lamentable condition, his care was especially directed. Here, however, he had to break through thick ice. He knew no better method than to present his wishes, both in private and public, to the King. Accordingly, on Friday, May 4, 1686, he delivered a sermon in the castle at Ulriksdal, where the King, the Queen, the Queen-dowager, the Crown-prince, and many courtiers were present. His text was, "The children of Israel did as their fathers before them had done." This text gave him an opportunity of making some sharp observations, in which he showed the necessity for the Christian instruction of children, and for the institution of schools. Towards the close of the sermon he said, "I will tell you, your Majesties, what God has spoken about you, in the Old Testament, viz. that kings ought to be the labourers of the Church, and princesses, its nurses. This word is certainly not obeyed, by appointing certain persons to act as godfathers and godmothers in your stead. No, you must take better hold, you must actually promote the education of the young, must see that the schools end their teachers are doing well, and that every thing is put in proper order." He expressly mentioned the country of Sweden, and the city of Stockholm, as places where the gravest abuses prevailed. A week after, he delivered a sermon on the same subject. Being very fond of illustrations and parables, he introduced school-children as dramatis person; he let them state their own necessities, and showed with powerful words how little all the polish of culture and refinement could do to replace the want of spiritual training both in schools and in the Church.
* That is, the policy of sequestration exercised against the manorial rights of the nobility.
On the 17th Sunday after Trinity, 1690, he preached in the Cathedral near the castle. Their Majesties were present. The rubric prescribes a sermon on the holiness of the Sabbath. Swedberg followed this command faithfully. To preach about hallowing the Sabbath, without at the same time preaching about not hallowing it, would be difficult for any one to do, but this was still more difficult on the present occasion. That the holiness of the Sabbath was violated, he dared to ascribe, in the first place, to those whose business it was to exercise some care and watchfulness in enforcing the royal orders, but who did not perform their duty. He could scarcely have made his sermon more trenchant, if he had had to preach it at this day, when the marching of soldiers and going to theatres are the order, or rather the disorder, of the Sabbath-day. Who will dare entirely to exculpate him from the weakness of having in his zeal thought of a certain person,--a sin which not unfrequently mars the purest zeal?
Another picture of the times ought to be added to this serious affair, which we shall relate here. The Church law of Charles XI was not five years old, and yet had been transgressed to such a degree, that, as we heard Swedberg observe in his defence, it had become the general custom in towns--although it was a breach of the law--for the baptism of children to take place in private houses, and not in the Church. It happened about this time that a daughter was born to Swedberg. He accordingly went up to the King and asked him humbly, whether he should have his child baptized according to the fashion of Stockholm, or according to the law of the Church. The King could not, without contradicting himself, answer otherwise than, "according to the law of the Church." "Yes, but I cannot do so, because in that case I shall get neither a priest nor godparents." The King was pleased with Swedberg's boldness, and so interpreted it, as if he invited the King himself to be godfather. The royal marshal was appointed to represent the King. The Queen was invited also, and consented. Nevertheless, Isogus refused to baptize the child. Swedberg was, therefore, obliged to lodge a complaint on the subject before Count Johan Stenbock, the royal marshal, who with the following sharp and severe words reproved the conduct of the rebellious priest: "Are you too good to baptize a child, when I in the King's place am godfather? What kind of priest are you who are unwilling to observe the law of the Church? How can you claim to judge other trespassers of the law?" The baptism consequently took place.
What encouragement, but at the same time also what temptation to self-exaltation, does there not lie in such marks of favour, as the above, which were shown to Swedberg! There is still more reason for such an exclamation in the promise His Majesty made him one day: "Ask of me what you will, and you shall have it." This was an instance of royal favour, such as few besides him have ever experienced; it also was a fiery trial through which he had to pass, and which few have endured as wellas he. "From that day," so he confesses, "I became more serious and more earnest in everything I spoke and in everything I represented, so that I never asked for anything, either for myself or for my family; not even a half farthing's worth;" but he asked for other deserving men, as well as for the needy, whose cause he advocated in his most approved style, and his petitions were always granted; he also spoke in favour of schools, academies, churches, and for the purchase of godly books. "When I found that I had ever freer access to His Majesty, I prayed to God fervently, that I might not exalt myself in consequence, nor abuse this favour; but that I might make use of it for the honour of God's name, for the service of His Church, and for the sake of the common welfare, performing faithfully the duties of my office, knowing the inconstancy of royal favour, especially when enemies and envious persons find something to insinuate and to gossip about. On this account I observed the following two rules at court: first, never to meddle in anything that did not belong to my office, and least of all in political or worldly matters; secondly, never to speak ill of any person, not even of my worst enemy or persecutor." There is not a shadow of doubt that Swedberg kept his word; and it was no small matter he had proposed to himself. When he was asked for his advice, in appointing any one to an office or occupation, it might well happen that he did not always propose the fittest person, but certainly always the one of whose fitness and merit he was himself convinced.
Let us now follow Swedberg to the place where he remained the shortest time, but where he spent his happiest hours. This was at Vinger, whither he removed before the summer of 1692. We have already seen how soon his affections entwined around the members of this country church. As for the rest me may let Swedberg himself describe his relations with these people, and the satisfaction he experienced there. "The affection and love which existed between the congregation and myself can scarcely be described. They sufficiently manifested their good-will towards me by pulling down the old dilapidated parsonage, and building in its stead a new one with many comfortable rooms, without any expense to myself. I received there so many marks of kindness and affection, that scarcely a day passed without their providing me richly with everything necessary for housekeeping. At first this pleased me very much, but it afterwards fairly oppressed and scared me." It went so far that he could with good conscience say to them, "You have entertained me as an angel." And we may safely add, they had good cause for doing so. In their affection for him he had a rich compensation among other things for the benefits he bestowed on the widow and children of his predecessor. He not only allowed them the use of the parsonage-house, fields, and meadows, with everything belonging thereto for a year, but he surrendered to them a half of the income, and paid all their taxes. "Nor did I lose anything by doing so," said he; "for I am firmly convinced, that more blessings and riches accrue from the prayers and petitions of widows, and of the fatherless and afflicted, than from the largest pastorate."
Before accompanying Swedberg to the new and more extended sphere of action to which he was soon called by the King's favour, we wish to give his account of one of his predecessors at Vingker, J. Baazius, who died in 1651 Archbishop of Upsal. "Dr. Baazius came to Vingker to let the people hear him, so that they might say whether they wished him for their minister.
Swedberg was in Stockholm, where he had gone to remove his furniture to Vingker, when he was surprized by receiving from the King an appointment to the third theological professorship in Upsal. The appointment was followed by a letter, in which the King expressed his "gracious hope that Swedberg would accept this charge, as a token of God's dispensation and the King's favour; that he would consequently lay aside private considerations, and consent to accept this office, and with his customary industry and zeal propagate pure evangelical doctrine," &c. The King knew his man, even as to his custom of "praying to be excused." He was faithful to this habit even in the present case; but "notwithstanding my entreaties to be excused," he says, "I had to give way." He, nevertheless, thought that on the present occasion there were more reasons why his desire to remain where he was should be granted, than when he begged to be released from his appointment to Westers. He represented to himself that for ten years he had been unaccustomed to all academical duties; as in the case of Westers, he also took into account the differences and controversies which then prevailed "among the theologians" in Upsal, among whom was one (Bilberg), who did not even follow God's Word to the extent of attributing to it authority in natural things, defending the opinion that the Sacred Scripture is only addressed to the "vulgar."
* At the Council of Upsal in 1593, the principles of the Reformation were formally adopted as the religion of the country.
Before Swedberg had entered upon his pastorate at Vingker, he was appointed a member of the Committee, which the King had established in 1686, for the purpose of revising and improving the translation of the Bible. The work of revision progressed with great rapidity, indeed too rapidly to inspire confidence in the result. It was commenced in August 1692, and finished by the 22nd of June of the next year. Swedberg's zeal was indefatigable, and showed itself both in hurrying forward the work and in furnishing the necessary means. A German printer, George Burchardi, probably from Lbeck, who had settled in Stockholm, was sent abroad for paper, printing apparatus, workmen, &c. Swedberg advanced him 50,000 dalers in copper belonging to his wife and children, the King guaranteeing him against loss. Burchardi came back with twelve journeymen and one foreman; and a large quantity of excellent paper from Holland, Germany, and Basle was sent after him. The preparations were certainly great, yet the whole undertaking miscarried. Burchardi with his machinery waited in vain.
Swedberg was little more successful in his attempt to improve the Swedish hymn and psalm book, which constitutes one of the brightest pages in his life. In respect to this work, a different result might have been expected, from the co-operation of two such men as Swedberg and Spegel. Spegel had previously, on his own account, made some improvements in the old psalm book. Hjrne, a learned man, and, according to Swedberg's judgment, skilled in Swedish poetry, thought of making some contributions, to supply some of the defects with which the psalm book was charged. Swedberg and Hjrne, who was a friend of his, drew up a plan for its improvement. They elaborated their plan in a private dwelling, unobserved by others; "for if it had become known what they were engaged upon, envy and jealousy would at once have opposed the work." They selected for their co-labourer, a common friend, Boethius, Dean of More, a judicious and pious man, who had to suffer evil for good. Every week he sent them his remarks on the psalms on which they were engaged. They also asked J. Kolmodin, the acting Bishop of Gothland, to associate himself with them, and towards the close he contributed to the work. The most important contributions, however, they expected from Spegel.
As long as the work was carried on privately by these devoted and vigorpus men, nothing occurred to interfere with its progress; but it was different when it passed into the hands of committees. To a committee Swedberg himself submitted his work. All this was done between 1691 and 1693. When it was nearly finished, he requested of the King that the committee, to whom the revision of the Bible had been referred, should report on the psalm book. He cannot therefore be charged with self-interest, or a desire to avenge himself on the committee that rejected his revision of the Bible. His request was granted. But not satisfied with this, he requested also from the King that the whole work should be submitted to the Chapter of the Cathedral at Upsal. He mentioned all the points which he desired to see fulfilled in the printing of the hymn book, and stated all the particulars. All of which were approved by the Chapter of Upsal, who suggested only a few alterations. The King was delighted, and at once ordered that the psalm book should be printed. But Swedberg was not yet satisfied. The Diet was to meet soon, and he proposed that the work should be submitted to the House of the Clergy. The matter was referred to a committee consisting of Bishops Rudbeck of Skara, Skytte of Calmer, Gezelius of bo, acting Bishop Kolmodin, and Deans Duan of Kping and Forselius of Alingss. Even they made only a few alterations; and all the Houses approved of the work. There was, therefore, no longer any objection to its being printed, and accordingly in 1694-95 four different editions of it were printed, one in quarto, one in octave, and two others in smaller sizes.
But scarcely had the psalm-book left the press, when it was severely attacked, and suppressed. Bishop Carlsson, by whom Swedberg had been ordained into the ministry, considered himself slighted in not having been placed on the committee, by which the psalm book was to be approved. This was really the heresy, to which he took objection. The psalm book was charged with being heretical. Professor Crispin Jernfelt of Dorpat wrote some derogatory remarks upon it. Bishop Carlsson was Jernfelt's friend and brother-in-law, and on account of this relationship made common cause with him. They were joined by Lang, acting Bishop of Oesel, who afterwards became Bishop of Linkping, and he began a hot and dangerous warfare, where there was no enemy to contend with. They said that the King, together with Swedberg, intended to introduce a new religion into the country. These charges were examined by Archbishop Svebilius, Bishop Carlsson's father-in-law, by Bishop E. Benzelius of Strengns, and several other theologians; and after a lengthened discussion on the Committee's report, in the presence of the King, by which Swedberg's innocence was clearly established, His Majesty, nevertheless, ordered the whole edition of the "unfortunate Swedberg psalm book"--as this was ever after called--to be seized and detained, until the bishops of the realm should meet, and either adopt or condemn it. By this new turn of affairs Swedberg lost upwards of 30,000 dalers in copper. Some of these books were made use of in the Swedish Church in America; but the greater part became mouldy and mildewed in Skeppsholm.
The meeting of the bishops took place in 1695, and after examining all the hymns one by one, they raised the following points of accusation: that the book had been printed before a proper notice of it had been given to the clergy generally; that several psalms which the clergy had approved were excluded; that, on the other hand, many were introduced which had not been previously submitted; that there were too many hymns (483), in addition to the Latin psalms approved in the year 1695, which had been retained in the larger editions; and lastly, that some prayers were added, which had the appearance of containing erroneous doctrine.
Judgment had been passed, and was irrevocable. Who can wonder that this affair deeply grieved Swedberg's noble soul, especially when he reflected upon the spirit by which his opponents were animated? They tried to find some cause of accusation against himself, but were not able; it would not have been very difficult for him to bring charges against them; for most of them furnished grounds for such in abundance.
The King consented to the resolution of the Committee against Swedberg, but did not agree with them in his heart, and "there was many an honest councillor who did not approve of their judgment." Swedberg knew this, and hoped to obtain indemnification for the material losses he had suffered by the failure of a work which at first had such fair prospects. He therefore went to His Majesty, and represented to him hem, without any fault of his own, he had come into this position, which was rendered more painful from the circumstance that the money he had advanced belonged to miners. At his request a court of investigation was appointed by the King, by which he was declared innocent. The King then ordered that 20,000 dalers in copper should be paid to him, which was the value of the copies that had been seized at Burchardi's. The secretary of state wanted to pay him with an order on Lapland--perhaps that he might clear, something for himself by this arrangement. But the King would not listen to his proposal. On the contrary, on hearing Swedberg's remonstrance, he ordered the whole sum to be paid to him at once. The remaining 30,000 dalers, which he had invested in this work, he lost through Burchardi, "who was ruined himself, and was ever afterwards somewhat disturbed in mind." Amid all the opposition which Swedberg encountered from men, he comforted himself with the rich grace of the Lord, "who also restored to him with full interest all he had lost."
Was it from pure forgetfulness, or from being scrupulously observant of the returning season, that the Bishops of Sweden celebrated the jubilee at Upsal, so soon after the defeat of the eloquent Upsal professor, in the work he had done for the improvement of the most important church books of Sweden? To answer this question, it may be useful to glance at the part he took in the jubilee in 1693. He was ordered to preach the jubilee sermon. It was delivered on the 3rd of March, in the presence of the King, the Princes, and the royal council. His text was taken from Psalm xxxiv. 7, in reference to the fifteen theological doctors appointed on this occasion. In the course of the sermon, he directed attention especially to the symbol of the ring with which the doctors were invested. "Had I been at the goldsmith's," he said, "when these rings were ordered, I should have given instructions to mark three L's upon them, so that the doctors might ever have them before their eyes. I do not mean hereby, that doctors ought to be Lazy, Laggard, and Lustful, taking a delight in the pomps and vanities of this world. But these three L's should signify Learning,* Life, and long-suffering; and hereby is meant that doctors should be apt to teach and call sinners to repentance; that they should live uprightly, leading a blameless, watchful, and sober life; not drunken, nor bitter, nor covetous; and that they should be willing to suffer, for they can only be faithful doctors by being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, and enduring many things for His sake." This, as it came from Swedberg's lips, was no mere play upon words; for upon the whole circle of his life, these three L's, which he here extolled, were deeply imprinted.
* In Swedish, as in some other languages, the same word means both to learn and to teach.
Swedberg's colleagues endeavoured to brand him as a heretic. The King's favour had sped him on in his career of preferment.
With regard to the two dwellings mentioned here, one of them was "a large, new stone house with a costly establishment, in the large square, which he several years before (1690-1695) had built for himself. It is interesting to hear him speak about the building of this new house. "I know, and I can testify--for I was always present--that not the least work was done, that not a single stone was raised, with sighs or a troubled mind, but all was done cheerfully and gladly. No complaint, no hard or disagreeable word was heard, no scoldings and no oaths were uttered." When the house was finished in the autumn of 1698, he inaugurated it by inviting and entertaining all the poor of the town. He and his wife and children waited upon them. Everything was done in an orderly manner, and this feast of charity was concluded with singing, prayer, thanbsgivingrg, and mutual blessing.
Swedberg did not share the apprehensions which most of his order entertained, when they saw "the young lion" beginning his pranks, after the death of the old King. His own open and frank nature did not miscalculate, when he hoped to obtain a hearing from the famous hero-son, who himself possessed these qualities in so eminent a degree. This appeared even in the year 1699, in a matter which concerned the clergy.
We know that the clergy bore their full share of the extraordinary levies which the long Northern war required. An order had been issued, which was executed with great severity, by which every pastor was obliged to equip a dragoon, and every curate a foot soldier. It was natural that not only the clergy, but also the clerical office, should suffer from this infliction. But this order was given by a King who had an iron will; and to bring about a change in his resolution, a more than royal power was required. Such power, in a certain sense, was possessed by Swedberg. He accordingly summoned his courage, end, calling God to his aid, he wrote a "very serious and impressive" letter to Charles XII, who at the time was in Poland, in which he represented to him in strong terms the oppression under which the clergy laboured. This letter was dated Dec. 21, 1705. At first the members of the Chapter refused to attach their names to it, but at length they all signed it, when it was sent to the King. It was referred by His Majesty from Ravicz in 1706, to the Defence-commission, who were instructed to take the complaints of the Consistory into due consideration, and make it as easy for the clergy as possible. This relief however, was not gained, because the other Chapters had neglected to apply to the King at the same time as the Consistory of Skara, Swedberg himself had to suffer for his zeal; for the Defence-commission insisted on his equipping every year two dragoons, although, according to a royal order, all who had suffered from the conflagration in Upsal were to be exempt. Swedberg bore this without complaint, for "charity does not seek one's own good, but the good of others."
"On the 21st of May, 1702, the royal decree came, by which my unworthy self was to become the Bishop of Skara. I had never expected this. It was the fourth royal decree I had received. And with a clear conscience I can declare before my God, who knows everything, that I never coveted this, never opened my mouth, and never stirred a step, still less gave a farthing, to obtain it. For I had always been an enemy of all importuning and bribery." It is thus, that Swedberg speaks of the last important turning-point in his life. This decree was dated from Prague, near Warsaw. On May 2, 1703, he presided at his disputation for obtaining the degree of doctor of theology, and on June 1st, he obtained his diploma during his absence. The day after he had occupied the chair at his disputation, which was a fast-day, he delivered his farewell sermon in Upsal. At the close of the service he was installed into the office of bishop by Benzelius, at the same time as Lars Norrman, who had at first been appointed his successor as dean of the cathedral of Upsal, but who was afterwards appointed Bishop of Gottenburg. On the 6th of July, Swedberg arrived in Brunsbo, which he called his Tusculanum. Here he hoped "to be able to do much good." And if many, not to say all, bishops had done half the good which he did, the outcry against the uselessness of the episcopal office, which is now so frequently raised, would never have been heard. Immediately after his accession to office he undertook journeys of visitation, in order to obtain a knowledge of the condition of the Church, such as every bishop ought to possess. This knowledge he increased by instituting a visitation every year. His duties as ephorus, or head of the gymnasium, he discharged with the same zeal and care. In this connection also we must mention that he was instrumental in establishing a printing-press in the cathedral town. There was no apprehension of its not being fully occupied as long as Swedberg lived; for few have committed more to the press than he, certainly few have printed a greater number of useful and able works. The report of his activity spread far and wide, and even reached the churches on the other side of the ocean.
Swedberg's attention had been early directed to this object. From Edzardi, who was deeply interested in the conversion of the Jews, he had received the information, that in Stade there was a very ancient endowment, for the purpose of converting the heathen. The income from Stade, which was under the Swedish sovereignty, accrued then to the Swedish crown, and was applied for the purpose of assisting the nobility in making journeys. As the benefit of this endowment was at the time enjoyed by a worthless person, Edzardi was fully justified in asserting, that "very little use was then made of it for the purpose of converting the heathen." A letter from the distressed Swedes in America, asking for clergymen and good books, arrived in 1690, addressed to the post-master in Gottenburg. He forwarded the letter to the King. His Majesty summoned Swedberg (in 1695?) in order to obtain his advice. Swedberg reported his conversation with Edzardi, representing to the King the testamentary application of the endowment in Stade, and how it was abused. Edzardi proposed that this fund should be applied to the Jews; Swedberg now proposed that it should be applied to the conversion of the heathen among whom the Swedes were living. "Otherwise it will not be easy for you to give a good account of the administration of this trust." The King answered: "The means shall be provided, and they shall have clergymen, God's Word, and the necessary books--only select for me useful clergymen." Matters stood thus, when Swedberg came to Upsal, where he took up the matter with more zeal. A letter was now sent by the King to the Archbishop, requesting him to supply the desired clergymen, and stating that the King "would take care of their journey, and would supply their traveling-expenses." The Chapter of the cathedral was summoned, and Swedberg was instructed to select suitable clergymen from among the students.
Reverses and oppression alternated uninterruptedly in Swedberg's life with successes and distinctions. He had often to endure, with the clergy, persecutions and sufferings. At one time he had to defend them against the arrogance of the governor of the providence, who complied of the manner in which they discharged their duties. In the year 1712, the Bishop's seat in Brunsbo was burnt down; "in the course of two hours the barns and out-houses with all their contents were reduced to ashes," and all Swedberg's books and manuscripts were destroyed.
Swedberg was singularly unfortunate in being visited by fires. He did not, so far as we can learn, experience any private losses from the great fire which raged at Skara in 1710; but it caused him great sorrow and anxiety, because the new building of the gymnasium was totally destroyed, and it interfered very materially with the restoration of the cathedral. That this was accomplished within five years, was, according to Gezelius, entirely due to Swedberg's "industry and zeal."
When Swedberg at the beginning of 1718 sought an audience of the King, who at the time was residing in Lund, the report was circulated that he not only was denied admittance to the royal presence, but also received an answer from one of the King's servants, which he took so much to heart, that he died in consequence. This report was spread orally and by writing. But Swedberg had not only gained admittance, but the King had also enjoyed his conversation so much, that he had invited him to dine at the royal table. His principal business was to have the salaries of the schoolmasters raised and the heavy burdens of the clergy reduced. There was also with him a teacher from Skara, Magister Wahlberg. Moreover, he desired to have a clergyman appointed for America, in the place of Prost Sandel, who on his representation received the pastorate of Hedemora, which he himself in his younger days had refused; and besides, he had to report the "miserable conduct" of an obstinate clergyman, who was unwilling to be ruled by the Consistory. Altogether, he remarked, his journey was by no means "a pleasure-trip." He arrived in Lund on Saturday, and was joyfully welcomed by Bishop Linnerius and his devoted wife, the daughter of Svebilius, at whose house he received "board and lodging." Next day, immediately after the morning service, he paid his respects to the King. His Majesty came out at once, and held out his hand, saying, "You are not at all changed since I saw you last, only your hair has turned very grey." Swedberg added, "the address which I had prepared for the occasion was consequently cut short, and no compliments were exchanged." He described afterwards, how not a word was spoken at the King's table, how the King ate quickly, and "how he drank water very freely, no matter how rich the various dishes;" further, how upon the King's command "he had to drink his own welcome in a goblet of Spanish wine," at which he observed "that such being the case, it was difficult for him to become ill or to die with chagrin and disappointment, everything being so very delightful."
It is wonderful in how many things Swedberg was in advance of his age, and even partly of ours. For instance, he regarded the pillory as a scandal; he thought that it promoted rather than checked sin; and yet this scandal was continued among us for more than a century and a half afterwards. Who enforced the observance of the Sabbath more than he? Moreover, he expressed his ideas on this subject with a freedom and frankness which, under any other government than that of the two Charleses, might have had serious consequences. The doctrine of expediency seemed to have in him its greatest opponent, and yet he expressed some thoughts with regard to marriage, from which it appears as if he favoured such a doctrine. In his efforts for the purity of the Swedish language he was such a radical, that even in this matter he was opposed by the champions of the aristocracy. All these subjects came up during his stay in Lund, and he expressed himself concerning them in such a peculiar and characteristic manner, that we cannot refrain from quoting his own words.
"Another Sunday," he said, "I again dined at the royal table. Even then I did not notice anything unfavourable, but on the contrary everything was gentle, gracious, and pleasant.
"Afterwards I came back to Lund, when I humbly waited upon the King again, end reported the result of my journey, and how I had spoken with the two women, remarking that in the parsonage of Bara there were sad and fearful sins." "What kind of sins?" asked the King. "To reveal them," I answered, "would cost this," pointing to my head. A short time afterwards I again presented myself before the King, on account of my chief errand concerning the compensation of the clergy, and the permission that they might retain their servants. The King then commenced speaking with me about our Swedish language, a subject which was introduced by my "Shibboleth," which the King had daily upon his table. His Majesty evinced great interest in this subject, and insisted that all foreign words ought to be eschewed, and that the Swedish language ought to be spoken and written in its purity. He asked, "Do they talk Swedish in France? Why then should we talk French in Sweden?" I said that my "Shibboleth" had been opposed by the Vice-president, Dr. Urban Hjrne, and that I had heard he had written and published a book against it, in which he was very personal, but that I had not yet seen it. The King then went into his private room, and showed me Hjrne's book, stitched and printed to page 152. I then said: "I shall go before the University here in Lund with my "Shibboleth," prepared to controvert any one who chooses to come and oppose anything written therein, and we shall then see whether anything contained in it can be disproved."
The favour with which Swedberg was regarded by the two Kings, was, if possible, greater with Queen Ulrica Eleonora. He had corresponded with her while she was Princess, and the correspondence was continued after she was raised to the throne. But the great confidence on the one hand engendered suspicion on the other. Notwithstanding his liberal views in general, Swedberg was royalist in a sense that no one need to blush for; but if this constituted a virtue while such Kings as Charles XI and Charles XII sat upon the throne, it became a great fault in the eyes of many, after the sceptre had passed into the hands of Ulrica Eleonora. He was suspected of attempting to sow discord between her and the Diet which assembled for the memorable session of 1719. These suspicions became more and more audible. That they troubled very much the heart of the aged such honourable man, appears from a defence which he wrote to the members of the Diet, and from a letter to the Queen, which were dated respectively the 4th and 26th of April, of the same year. In his defence he declared that "as long as Psalms xvii and xxvii stood in the Psalm book, no one, however great and powerful he imagined himself to be, would dare to touch a hair of his head."
In his letter to the Queen he recalled to her mind what he had told her orally, when she succeeded to the throne, about some remarks which her father, Charles XI, had made to him, not long before his death: "I have now reigned in Sweden twenty-three years," he said; "when I first became King, I had faith in all men, now I have faith in none;" whereupon Swedberg answered, "To have faith in all men is not well, for there are many wicked persons among them." The King said, "They are far too many." Swedberg resumed, "But to have faith in none, is not well either; for there are still honest and well-disposed men left;" Upon which the King observed, "Now it is too late." This incident, which Swedberg had mentioned to Charles XII, he communicated also to the Queen with an admonition, to test those to whose counsel she entrusted herself; and this remark it was, which had been explained to Swedberg's injury.
The opposition to Swedberg had, however, still deeper root. The powerful order of the nobility could not forget the severity with which he chastised their pride and their desire for orders and distinctions, and their shameful abuse of the rights of patronage which were in their hands. "This it was," says Swedberg, "which made me unpleasant in their eyes, and which made them hate me in their hearts." If he had not been protected by those highest in power, they would long before this have endeavoured "to remove and kill" him. But certainly it was not with the view of assuaging the wrath of his enemies, that he at the Diet publicly upbraided them with their love of rule; and that with more courage and fervour than Archbishop Steuchius, who was put down by them, he declared in the name of the clergy, that they could not on any account consider themselves justified in depriving royalty of that power with which God in His Word had invested Kings; for no King in the whole Sacred Scripture had ever such a limited power as they proposed to assign to the Queen.
When the constitution of 1720 was to be established, as the "pillar upon which Sweden's welfare should rest," a peasant of Dalecarlia, and another of Swedberg's former parishioners at Vingker, rose, and said with much zeal: "God preserve us from such a pillar as this, for it is a frail one. No, God's Word and the ancient laws of Sweden are our safest pillar, upon which Sweden's welfare rests; with these we have fared well for many years.
He well knew what apprehension there was of a rising of the Dalecarlians, in which case "they would have had a different kind of Diet." But this apprehension he endeavoured as much as possible to allay. Both the representatives from the people, as a reward for their frank speech, were imprisoned, and fed on bread and water. If the Diet could have dared to carry out their wishes, Swedberg would have been obliged to keep them company. This was the last Diet he attended.
Whatever judgment may be formed of Swedberg's greatest weakness, that of opposing the limitation of the royal power; it must be admitted that he acted in perfect agreement with his convictions; although he must have known what a hypocrite Ulrica Elenora was, and how weak a prince she had for her husband. It was consequently the regal office itself, regarded from a theocratic point of view, which he considered as holy, however unworthy the royal persons themselves might be. It certainly was not "despotism" which he contended for; for he openly acknowledged this to be injurious, and maintained that "he who should attempt to introduce it again ought to be punished." It was only the extreme limitation of the royal power which he considered dangerous.
The period of the absolute monarchy in Sweden had been brought to an end, whilst in the Church there was a transition from one epoch to another; the former of which was called by a well known author the epoch or period of symbolics, and the latter that of pietism. Swedberg was one of those who contributed most powerfully to the change, which was hastened by the despotism exercised by symbolics, a despotism worse than that inherent in an absolute monarchy. Even when he removed, as an academical teacher, to Upsal, he was known as, or rather was supposed to be, a friend of pietism, and this suspicion caused the defeat of the psalm book. But if he is to be looked upon as a representative of pietism in Sweden, it must be admitted that this schism was much better than its reputation. Suspicion fell upon the pietists chiefly from their holding their meetings in private.
What we have hitherto stated concerning Swedberg does not militate against the opinion which we now express, that his life was a "Pastoral-theologie in Beispielen," i. e. a pastoral theologie examples. At Brunner's death-bed he had expressed a wish, that a double portion of that pious man's spirit might rest upon him. This wish seemed to be fulfilled in much more than a double measure. He remembered especially the importance Brunner attached to a pure and lawful office or calling, outside of which nothing ought to be undertaken, but in which everything ought to be done with the utmost care and exactness. Swedberg could bear witness respecting himself, that during twenty-six years he had never neglected to attend public worship, but had indefatigably preached from the gospels and epistles, had held confessions, "read with his curates," &c. He followed and recommended the simple analytical mode of preaching, where the sermons flowed without any straining or forcing from the text; for, said he, "then God recognizes again His own Word."
It would not be easy to point out any public official who displayed greater practical usefulness than Swedberg. And yet he studied and wrote so much, that even in this respect it would be difficult to find any one who equalled him. He understood in a high degree the art of husbanding time. "I do not believe," says he, "that any one has ever been so economical with his money as I have been with my time." Among his Writings those that exhibit his merits regarding the Swedish language, especially his Schibboleth, have excited the greatest interest. According to the Swedish Mercury, his "Schibboleth," or "The Culture and Correctness of the Swedish Language" (published with a Royal privilege in Skara, 1716, in 4to)"--a work which cost him many years" hard study," would have contributed much to the purity and regularity of the Swedish language, if he had not spoiled his good purpose in two ways. The first of these, by which, according to the Mercury, he made his work "unpalatable and unpopular," was his orthography, and his introducing into it much "simply for effect and for causing ridicule, and secondly, by his insisting that the language ought to be instituted according to the orthography which prevailed "during Gustavus I's rule," and also that the Swedish language ought to be written "with its correct cases, genders, persons, &c.; in one word that it ought to be like the Swedish of the Bible.
The cheerful and frequently playful style which Swedberg employed both in his writings and conversation, was an expression of his vivacious temperament. Sometimes, however, he injured thereby both himself and the good cause which he advocated.
Swedberg's style furnishes also a clue to his every-day life. His fundamental character was serious, yet it was not that kind of seriousness which considers all manifestation of joy inadmissible. Like many of the most serious men of the Church, he delighted in music. By the whispering of the leaves in the forests and the noise of mill-wheels in the brook, was he reminded of the "heavenly music," the fundamental tone of which he found struck in the Book of Revelation. Every evening usually his good friend Dr. J. Hesselius came, and played hymns to him upon his violoncello. In this case it was not the violence of Saul that required to be calmed. Nevertheless, he, like other mortals, was not perfectly free from an inclination to vehemence and anger. A proof of this is his oft-mentioned judgment about Grtz. Yet this never lasted so long as to disturb the harmony in his soul, or let the setting sun find him brooding over schemes of revenge against his adversaries.
In speaking of Swedberg's theological views and activity, we cannot refrain from noticing, that his strong faith was frequently uttered by him in such a manner, that by some it seemed to border upon superstition. In his first year as a student at the university, he had such a wonderful dream, that he did not know whether he ought not to call it a revelation. "No human tongue," he says concerning it, "can pronounce, and no angel can describe, what I then saw and heard." He relates how in 1673, on the day he preached in Hoby Church near Lund, the third Sunday after Trinity, there were heard towards evening in the church, which yet had no organ, loud voices singing hymns. Everybody in the village heard them. From that time, Swedberg says, he felt for the worship of God and the priestly office that profound veneration which never left him, being sure that "God's angels are especially present in this sacred office." Every year after he had entered that office, he celebrated this day as a jubilee, and called it "the great sinner's great festive day;" even so late as 1727(?) he celebrated it by the publication of a book under that title. He was profoundly convinced that he had an angelus tutelaris--a guardian angel. The following occurrence related by him, may interest even those who feel no interest in the subject of guardian angels. "God preserved me during the whole of my student life from bad company. My company and my greatest delight were God's holy men who wrote the Bible, and the many other men who he made themselves well-esteemed in God's Church, and whose names are far spread in the learned world.
O, grant us, God, by thine not known,
To live and act thus every hour;
Thy spirit help us, prone to sin,
To do as God Himself desires!
And thus he departed from me after he had blessed me, and I had thanlied him most humbly." The following conversation which he had with Dr. Edzardi at Hamburg is also characteristic of him. Swedberg asked him, in what language we should speak upon meeting in God's kingdom. Edzardi did not answer. Swedberg continued: "I think it will be in the angels' language. As angels talk Swedish in conversing with Swedes, as they speak German with the Germans, English with the English, and so forth, I shall some day talk with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Swedish, and they will answer me in the same tongue; or else they will talk with me in Hebrew, and I shall understand them in that language." By these examples, which might easily be increased, it is easy to see how the presentiments of Swedberg's faith contributed to Swedenborg's experience; but it is very easy also to see how far the apple fell from the original tree.*
* It appears from this expression that Swedberg's biographer was not an admirer of the bishop's son, Emanuel Swedenborg.
Swedberg's thoughts in these matters were not allowed to pass altogether unnoticed by those gentlemen, who had already scented heretical and unorthodox notions in his pietistic sympathies. Infantile faith and faith in angels usually slumber together in the same cradle. The eldest son of Swedberg by his first wife, soon followed his mother to the grave in 1696. When, on his deathbed, he was asked by his father what he should do in heaven, he answered, among other things: "I shall pray for my father and mother." Swedberg stored up this answer in his heart, and he was confirmed thereby in his faith, that love and the bond of union between the dead and those who live after them, is not broken by death, without his in the least encouraging faith in the efficacy of the mediating prayers of the saints. Meanwhile he composed, in the name of his children, an inscription for the tomb of his wife, and let the above-mentioned doctrine flow into it. As soon as this appeared, one of his adversaries went to the King with the leaf, and said that the professors in Upsal were becoming Catholics, and prayed to the saints. But immediately afterwards Swedberg came himself, and refuted the accusation. His refutation had a double meaning. He asked the King whether His Majesty did not believe that the late Queen (the King's mother), now in God's kingdom, was praying for him and his children. The matter was hushed. But Swedberg had a great desire to prove publicly, in a rational manner, his agreement with the doctrine of our church on this point. He intended also to make this the subject of his disputation for obtaining his theological degree, but upon the King's remonstrance this was not carried out.
We do not wish, however, to occupy our pages by quoting the instances of credulity mentioned concerning him in collections of anecdotes; as for instance this, that one day, when Swedberg was saying his evening prayer in the church, one of the sextons went up into the tower and called out: "Swedberg, to-morrow then shalt die;" when he is said to have taken this as a warning from a good spirit, and to have gone home to set his house in order. What Swedberg relates himself, concerning his wonderful ministerial administrations in the case of melancholy persons, is more worthy of credit.
"Sometime afterwards one who was possessed was led about the country. When, one day in summer, we came out of saka church, I saw a great multitude of people standing all round the church-yard, but I did not ask why it was. But after me had returned home, I inquired of my servant what it had all been about; when he answered, that it was one possessed, who was led by ten men, and that when he saw me, he said: 'You grey-headed old man with short hair, you have served me a trick; you have taken a roast from me, for which I will pay you back.' The possessed said further, that he had been among those who had followed the woman that was a sinner, when she was led to Brunsbo, but that he could not get any further than the door, where he had to remain (so spoke the unclean spirit, and it was in winter when this had happened); and 'when she came out again, I had no longer any power over her, but I will make you pay for it.' The payment was probably this, that he received permission from God, as he did with Job, to destroy by a vehement fire, in the month of February in 1712, the mansion at Brunsbo with all my property. The fire began about midnight in the same room where the sinning woman was converted. But thereby he did not gain much. AGod has since restored me everything double, as he did to Job of yore, and has given me a much more comfortable house and dwelling."
"As I am showing by these things, how wonderfully God's grace has manifested itself through me, I must also relate what follows.
Swedberg was married three times. His statements about his marriages are by no means the least characteristic portions of his autobiography. We shall quote some of them.
His first wife was Sara, daughter of Assessor Albrecht Behm, of the Royal College of Mines. They celebrated their wedding on Dec. 16, 1683, and she brought him considerable means, by which he was enabled to undertake his journey abroad. Of her he relates, "Although she was the daughter of an Assessor, and had been the wife of the Dean of Upsal, and possessed great riches, she did not at any time dress in accordance with her wealth. When all in those times more that sinful and scandalous headgear called a fontange, she and her children followed the multitude. But when she heard that in Gothland a cow had with much pain and torture, and amid pitiful wailings, borne a calf with a fontange, she took her own and her daughters' fontanges, and cast them into the fire, making a vow that neither she nor her children, as long as they were under her power, should ever wear them again." By her Swedberg had eight children. She died June 17, 1696.
His second wife was Sara, daughter of Anders Bergiusus, the Dean (prosten) of Norrberke. She had been married before to a merchant in Kping called Michel Hising, and afterwards to J. Nordlind, the magistrate (hradshfding).
His children were: 1. Albrecht, who died in childhood; 2. Anna, married in 1703 to Archbishop E. Benzelius; 3. Emanuel, of whom more below; 4. Catharina, married to Dean Unge, to whom she bore nine children; 5. Daniel, and 6. Eliezer, who died as young men; 7. Hedwig, married in 1714 to Lars Benzelstjerna, who was then Assessor; 8. Jesper52, born 1694. He travelled to England in order "to learn navigation;" afterwards to America and to New Sweden, where he was a teacher for five years in the parish school of Rathkungs-Kihl. He returned to Sweden in 1724, and married Christina Silfversvrd.
In the year 1719, Bishop Swedberg's wife and children were ennobled under the name of Swedenborg. The Bishop, returning thanks to the queen, says in his letter of June 4, of the same year, that he was "surprized and pleased," although he "would willingly have continued in a lower rank." We cannot therefore say properly with Rhyzelius, that at the Diet "he procured for himself and his children the rank of nobility," and that "it is wrong to talk about a noble bishop, Doctor Swedenborg."
Swedberg's extended and manifold labours not only presuppose on his part extraordinary industry and vigour, but also a good old age. He reached his eighty-second year. Of all the bishops of Skara, after Benedictus the Good, he filled this once longest. His health and his mental faculties remained unimpaired until 1730. After the conflagration of that year he began to tremble very much, so that he could only write with difficulty. His memory also was very much impaired during the last year. But up to the time of his death his sight was so good, that he never used spectacles. As early as 1718, he wrote a minute description of the manner in which he was to be buried. "There shall no ceremony be made with my body; the nearest magisters and clergymen shall bear it out of the house for some distance, afterwards the peasants of the parish; it shall all be done in the day-time, without any torches or lights. The funeral sermon shall be preached on the text [from the creed]: 'I believe in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and eternal life. Amen;' the choir and the organ shall be silent, and only the prescribed hymns shall be sung (at the close 'I know, I shall arise'); at the dinner for those who are invited everything shall take place in an honourable manner, and what is left shall be given to the poor in saka and Skaraka; the funeral oration, (composed by himself,) shall be read before the sermon."
Swedberg died July 26, 1735. The funeral sermon was delivered by Jacob Benzelius, Bishop of Gottenburg. He was buried in the tomb prepared for him in the abbey church of Varnhem. Over the entrance to the tomb is the following inscription upon an oval stone:
The resting-place of
Bishop
Doctor Jesper Swedberg
and his dear wife
Fru Sara Swedenborg.
Anno 1720.
Of his portrait, engraved on copper, there have been several editions; 1. in 8vo, engraved in Upsal, 1700, by Olof Thelott; 2. in folio by the same, 1699, with this superscription: "M:r Jesper Schwedeberg. Denominatus Prpositus Wynicokrensis et Professor Theologi Ordinarius Upsaliensis" (i. e. Rector of Wingker, and ordinary professor of Theology in Upsal); with verses in Swedish and German; 3. in folio engraved at Leipzig by Johan Ch. Boeclilin. It has the same Swedish and German verses with this inscription: "Jesper Swedberg S. Theol. Doctor et Episcopus Scarensis antehac Theol. Professor primarius et Pastor Upsaliensis."
(Below is written:)
"Hc erat in mediis facies illsa, favillis
Cum deflagravit, nocte fluente, domus,
Sic quoque post ignes, Genitor, Tu fam, supremos
Postque rogos, vivet nomen amorque Tui."
(This portrait lay in the midst of the burning ashes unhurt,
When at night the paternal mansion was consumed:
So also thy name and loving remembrance, O father,
Shall survive the funeral pile and the raging flames.)
This last mentioned inscription is by Emanuel Swedenborg, and commemorates the wonderful preservation of the copper-plate with the bishop's portrait, in the fire which destroyed Brunsbo in 1712.
Among the testimonies in favour of Swedberg we may mention that given by a "trustworthy author," who says, that he was "a man, who if he had lived a few hundred years earlier, might have increased the number of Swedish saints, and whose learning, industry, exemplary life, good intentions, and zeal for God's glory deserve to be venerated even by a more enlightened century." And if any one should maintain, that, in episcopal worth, Swedberg stands foremost among the prelates of Sweden, this judgment could not be regarded as too venturous.
DOCUMENT 11.
FIRST LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER,61
*Bergrius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 1-5.
[The following twenty-four letters, which are now published for the first time, are contained in the "Bergius Collection of Letters," &c. (Vol. IV, pp. l-51), which is preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. According to the statement of B. Bergius, these letters were copied by him from the originals in the possession of J. Rosenadler.]
Noble and most learned Censor,
Dear brother, and good, old friend,
Your favour was duly received, for which accept my best thanks. I am glad to see that you are constant in your friendship for me, and that you will be kind enough to let me know the criticisms which we made in Stockholm upon my "Shibboleth," and my sermon before His Royal Majesty in Lund; also the criticisms which are made in other places, and likewise in Lund. I can write to you with much greeter freedom, as we have known each other for such a long time, and are acquainted with each other's modes of viewing things, and every day habits.
With respect to the "Shibboleth," I had foreseen all, especially about Vice President Hjrne,53 with whom I agreed in almost every thing, and who had been my good friend and brother.
With respect to the sermon, most of the high gentlemen were displeased with my having said, among other things, that we have received in the past, are now receiving, and shall receive in the future, the severe punishment of sinners, on account of the ungodly life led by us, which is indeed more ungodly than before the commencement of the war; so that when we come now to our King, as the people of Israel came to their Rehoboam, saying; "Thy father made our yoke grievous: now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke, lighter;" we deserve the same answer which they received: "My little finger shall be thicker than my father's lions.
Your most dutiful servant, and faithful friend,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Feb. 28, 1718.
[P. S.] Will you please peruse at your leisure my "Shibboleth," and let me kindly know if you have anything to remark.
You ought to propose to yourself to write the history of our gracious King. There is much to write, and no one can do this so well as you. I had a work ready about the "Northern Lion," as you may see in the dedication of the "Shibboleth," in the last paragraph; but it has been burnt.
DOCUMENT 12.
SECOND LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.51
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. 10. p. 6.
Noble and Respected Censor,
Dear Brother,
As you may rightly judge, I have been compelled to defend my honour from the abuse which Vice-president Hjrne,53 has heaped upon me. I have accordingly sent my Defence, which consists of two parts, to my son-in-law, the Librarian.6 The first part is devoted to a refutation of his publication, and I shall send you at once what in justice I have to say about it. The second part is a criticism on his orthography, with a preface. The first part I should like to keep back, until his work is completed. But the second I desire to publish, and the sooner the better. In it I shall unburden myself before God and men of my answer to the question, whether God allows me to defend myself when I have been injured by men. Moreover, as it is natural for me to do this, and as I am justified in doing it, I hope and I entreat, that by virtue of your office you will do me the justice to examine my Defence (the second pert), and permit it to be printed. I have written to the Librarian, that he compensate you for this trouble. I wish you joy and happiness at your meeting. Remember me kindly to my sisters,* and brothers-in-law, and be commended to God. I remain with satisfaction, always
Your most dutiful servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Sept. 2, 1718.
* The "sisters" here referred to are Brita Behm,50 Rosenadler's mother-in-law, who was Bishop Swedberg's sister-in-law, and her daughter Catharina Swede, sister of Rosenadler's wife. (See Document 18).
DOCUMENT 13.
THIRD LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
*Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 7, 8.
Noble and Learned Censor,
Respected Brother,
I thank you very much for your agreeable letter. You have not only the liberty but the right to make any reasonable alteration in the defence of my honour; especially if here and there I have in anything expressed myself too harshly. But if you consider how impudent an onslaught has been made on my honour, you cannot wonder at my using a sharp pen. As soon as you give me permission, I will publish the second part; but the first part I shall hold back until his whole work has appeared. Cannot a grammarian express his thoughts on matters of orthography, without an attack being made upon his honour? I myself having kept free from personalities. I hope also that in justice you will not allow him in future to print anything like his first publication. In speaking of compensation for your trouble I did not speak in jest, but in real earnest. I should like to get some information about Superintendent* Brm's pietistic controversy; will you please to let me know something about it? I also beg you to devote a few hours to the perusal of my "Shibboleth" for a second time. I am delighted also to see from your mode of spelling that you do not employ the unnecessary h in mig, jag, &c., nor double the vowels unnecessarily.
* The Swedish title of an acting Bishop.
Will you please to remember me very kindly to your mother-in-law [Brits Behm50] and the other members of your family, and also to receive my own kind remembrances?
Emanuel* is at present here, and is seeing partvi of his "Ddalus" through the press. The day after to-morrow he will leave for Strmstad, where he says he is always most kindly received by the King. People in our place are in distress from want of bread, which cannot be purchased for love or money, as all the grain has been bought up for the use of the army; and the little that remains has to be saved for sowing. God grant that everything may end well! The coinage also is causing a great deal of confusion.
* The Bishop's son Emanuel Swedenborg.
Remember me-kindly to Vice president Hjrne,53 my good old friend and familiar brother. I beg him to remember the hour of death; and to consider that, for the sake of my office, I am bound to defend my honour. Fama et vita pari passu ambulant. (Reputation and life go together). May God be gracious to him! Herewith I close. And commending you to the mighty protection of God, I remain joyfully, forever
Your most faithful and dutiful servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Oct. 3, 1718.
DOCUMENT 14.
FOURTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 9.
Well-born Secretary,
Dear brother,
I have, together with another good Christian, agreed to print abroad, in octavo, a Swedish. Bible which may be sold for a daler in silver, certainly not for more than one and a half; and all this for the sole purpose of spreading a knowledge of God's Word. Of this project I spoke in my humble address to His Majesty in the "Shibboleth," paragraph 38. I am well aware that those who have the privilege of printing the Swedish Bible are very much opposed to this. But ought not the honour of God's name, His Holy Word, and that which may promote the salvation of many souls, to avail more than the usury of many, derived from the sale of God's Word? I insist also that our Swedish countrymen in India must rejoice at an opportunity for letting God's Word live plentifully among them. This our godly proposal I herewith, as in duty bound, make known to you, that, in virtue of your office, you may submit it humbly to the Royal College of Chancery; and I beg you to let me know its favourable answer, or any other it may choose to give.
Again, as the clergy in India have recently written to me for an abridgment of my "Godly Exercise in the Catechism," I have prepared it. It amounts to about ten sheets. Will you please, on my account, or rather on account of your office, to submit this also to the Royal College, and obtain a favourable answer for it, with the privilege that no one shall reprint it; the same is at present in the hands of the Theological Faculty for examination and approval.
Vale, saluta, et porro fave,
Your most obedient,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Dec. 1, 1720.
[P. S.] I wish to make a present of this little book, and a considerable number of the Bibles, to the churches abroad.
DOCUMENT 15.
FIFTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
*Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 10-12.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
I thank you most humbly for your own and my dear sisters* congratulations on my marriage. I hope I have made a good choice. She** reached Brunsbo with her company late on Christmas eve. On the following day, at one o'clock, my son-in-law, Magister Unge,5 officiated at the marriage ceremony; no strangers being present. On the following day we had the school-teachers (Lsmestara) to dinner.
* Brita Behm. See Note 50
** Christina Arrhusia (see Document 9, A, Table 11)
Thank God, she is a very clever person, so that I could scarcely have fared better. You must follow my example. Do not wait until it is too late.
With respect to the printing of the Bible, it is a purely Christian work, the like of which has never been heard of before or will be again in Sweden, viz. a beautiful Swedish Bible to be sold for five marks in silver. The devil, however, opposes this with all his power, as he did in the time of the late King Charles XI, when I had obtained permission from the King to publish at Burchardi's a Swedish Bible with beautiful type and upon good paper for two dalers in silver. Will you kindly, with the weight of your office, promote such a holy and such an important work? I intend it chiefly for America.
It is sufficient, then, for me to let the Theological Faculty here examine the little work, "a Godly Catechism for Children," for the Swedish Churches abroad.
I have a "Complete Swedish Lexicon" ready; the words and explanations are given in Latin, as Soranus has done heretofore; quotations are made from the Bible, and from old Swedish books in general use. My son-in-law Doctor Benzelius6 thinks very highly of it, and he desires it to appear during my life-time. I wish to obtain for it the favour of the Royal Chancery, and of yourself. It is not one of those things, which are in danger of being opposed to the regulations of the Chancery, and the regulations for printing. It will be a legal quarto. If I could find a good publisher for it, it would be well. In time there would be a demand for it, and it would pay for itself. I have also finished: "Casa pauperum et Gaza divitum." (The poor man's house, and the rich man's treasure). During the prevalence of the pestilence I wrote and published my "Thoughts on Death" (Ddztanckar). I am now preparing for "Judgment," which is to sound thus: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, &c. I was an hungered thirsty, naked, &c." (Matt. xxv.) It has been examined by the Theological Faculty; I wish you would allow its publication. Both books have been mentioned in the "Acta Literaria," published in Upsal.
The reason why the Bible is to be printed abroad, is on account of the expense being less there.
My son, the Assessor,* has come home, and he reports that old Hjrne53 cannot digest the pills he has procured for himself. Let him, in his old age, consider for once, how he has acted, and endeavour to spare himself and others, by being less abusive. But should he do so again during my life-time, he shall not do it without requiring to give an account of himself God willing, the orthography of our Swedish language will become better known thereby, and more settled.
* Emanuel Swedenborg.
With many kind remembrances from myself, my wife, Emanuel, and several others present with us, to you, sister Brita, and sister Caisa*, and to the young people; and with many good wishes for the New Year, and for many others that may follow, I remain, full of affection and respect,
* Catharina Swede, daughter of Brita Behm Swede, and sister of Rosenadler's wife.
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Jan. 2, 1720.
DOCUMENT 16.
SIXTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 14.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
....... By the first opportunity I shall send you my Swedish grammar, which will amount to ten or twelve sheets, with the request that you may kindly examine it, and allow it to be printed. I have had many applications for it.
I have been informed that Governor Hjrne53 has received permission from the Royal College of Chancery to continue writing and opposing in print my "Shibboleth," and what I wrote in defence of my honour.
Your most dutiful
J. Sw.
In his letter dated Jan. 23, 1721, Bishop Swedberg asks: "...... How is it? Which iron furnace or forge has been destroyed in Helsingland or near Gefle by the Russians? Are the heirs of the late Behm to bear this loss?"
DOCUMENT 17.
SEVENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
*Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 21, 22.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
I thank you very much for your favour; I have no less cause to thank you for your kind and favourable judgment respecting my simple Swedish Grammar, and for your offer to have it printed at your own expense. What I rejoice most at is, that you consider the book of so great value. It will have such value, if, in your letter permitting the printing of it, you will, by a few words, render it worthy of being read.
On the other hand, however, I make this condition, that he who superintends the printing of it, should in all parts preserve my orthography: first, in respect to capital letters, in not using them except where needed, as shown in one of the chapters; secondly, that commas, semicolons, colons, and periods be properly attended to; thirdly, that with respect to the doubled vowels, and the unnecessary h, he should be very careful; fourthly, care must be taken not to put d or dhe instead of t or the, and so forth; and for this purpose the whole work must be read through twice, yea, three times, because the orthography is hereby made so very different from that of others; fifthly, the quotations must be exactly printed; and the printer must follow throughout my own orthography: for in case my manuscript should be copied, I am afraid the copyist would not be sufficiently careful and particular. I hope also that my writing is distinct enough. As for the rest, I hope you will allow me to have some copies for my good friends, on fine writing paper. But enough of this.
It is very bad that Werner67 should have so much influence as to be able to prevent the good work of printing the Bible. If the proposal be acceded to, he must promise that the Bible shall be printed on good paper, from good type, in royal 8vo, for live marks in silver, and that the work shall be done within a year and a day, he being bound to it by a severe fine and penalty. His only purpose is to prevent our good work, as was done by Keisar in making his estimates in the time of Charles XI. If we live, we must see that it be done. I will write to-day about it to His Majesty. It is a thing unheard of, yea, it is a sin, that such a good purpose should be defeated.
I understand that some persons have obtained a copy of Mr. Hjrne's book against me. I thank God that this does not interfere with my slumbers.
Please remember me and my wife kindly to sister Brita, yourself, and all your family. Commending you to God's mighty protection, I remain forever
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, October 20, 1721.
DOCUMENT 18.
EIGHTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 23, 24.
Well-Born Secretary.
Most honoured brother,
For your honoured letter, and the great trouble you are taking for me, I thank you very much. If, like many others, I did not write or work until an opportunity offered, I should not be so very troublesome to you. Yet I am so much interested in my subject that I cannot wait, and time and every hour would seem to me twice as long, unless I did so at once. I hope that this impulse comes from God. The person who is monetarily interested with me in the printing of the Bible, is beginning to get tired. But I hope I may succeed in so strengthening him, that he may not be gained over by those by whom I am opposed.
Here are several things which I noticed in the letter from the College of Chancery: first, that Werner is willing to print the Bible in ordinary 8vo, in very small type; while we intend to print it in royal 8vo, in larger type; secondly, that he charges six marks in silver for his, while we would charge only five marks; thirdly, he desires to be paid in advance for the copies intended for America. We give our copies away, without exacting payment in advance. If the College of Chancery takes this into favourable and just consideration, Werner will perhaps abate his terms. I would answer Werner as Moses' answered the servants, "Enviest thou for my sake? Would god that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them;" (Numbers xi, 29). Had I the spirit of the prophet Daniel, I should long ago, by prayer and calling upon God, have brought down the archangel Michael, who would have assisted me, and gained the victory for me (Dan. x).
It is well that you are so kind as to take my Swedish Grammar under your protection, and I give you my best thanks for it. When Rudbeck,49 however, published his Atlantica, he asked of the reader that he should read his book ten times through; so also I may pray, that he who writes about my Grammar should read it several times through, before setting pen to paper. It is a work that requires to be done with great exactness. I wonder that the compositor is not able to set the types from my handwriting, for it is not so very difficult to read. Should a u be made instead of a v; a capital letter for a small letter, or vice versa; should an h be placed at the end of jug, mig an ii for an e, an for an o, a d for a t or th, then I lay myself open to an attack from my adversary. I asked you to let me strike off at my own expense some copies for my good friends, on white paper, after you had kindly written to me that you would print it at your own expense. Secretary Bonowskld130 especially is one of my good friends; should I not mention his name among the names of those to whom the book is dedicated? I submit this to your good judgment.
I thank you heartily for your kind congratulation. I return the same with God's best blessing, wishing you a happy New Year, and many happy returns, for bur country's honour and good, and the joy and profit of your family. I remain forever
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Dec. 29, 1721.
[P. S.] I hear that many are running about with Hjrne's book in manuscript, which he wrote, against my defence of my honour. They may do so; I enjoy my food and my sleep just as well. But should a copy fall into my hands, I will not leave it unanswered.
Will you please look round for some printer who would print the little catechism which is in your charge?
My dear wife desires to be remembered to you; and I myself, to sister Catharina Swede. When shall we hear of her being engaged to be married? She must not be too particular, nor be too long in choosing.
I must beg you again to make my grammar acceptable, by adding a few words to it; should they be no more than Burgomaster Lagerlf received for his milch-cow. This would profit my simple work very much. There is no necessity to write grammars for any other language, as many as ten for each.
DOCUMENT 19.
NINTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 26, 27.
Well-born Secretary.
Most Honoured Brother,
I thank you very much for your welcome letter. I thought I had sent you the little Catechism; it shall be forwarded at once. By the widow of the late kerhjelm I sent a few days ago my Address to the mountain-district of Fahlun, and to the clergy abroad: this is the proper copy. You will please make an agreement with an honest printer, who has good type, as to what I shall have to pay per sheet. I gave here twelve dalers, during the time of the paper currency. You will also please to inquire about the price of paper.
God grant my adversary53 a blessed end, which I wish for him with all my heart. I am under great obligations to him for writing against me, as it has been the cause of much enlightenment in respect to our language. I endeavour as much as possible to prevail upon the pious man, who has become tired and uneasy in respect to his godly undertaking, touching the Bible. For this reason I could not answer the letter of the College of Chancery. In case anything should be said about this in the College, you will have the kindness to represent the grounds, of which I spoke in my last, viz. that Werner insists on having sis marks for the ordinary 8vo in smaller type; while we propose to charge five marks for royal 8vo in larger type; that it is to be a present for America, I commend you to God's protection. I remain with due affection, forever
Your most obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Jan. 8, 1722.
[P. S.] I am very much troubled that the compositor insists on having my manuscript copied. Would it not be best for you to call him and the proof-reader to your house for a short time, and read with them a few leaves of my copy, and at the same time give them- some instruction how to print it?
As you have received ten talents to trade with, you ought, for the great honour and gain of our country, to write the histories of Kings Charles XI and XII. Think of this, when you have again a sleepless hour at night. Procure for yourself also a good bed-companion. Vale.
DOCUMENT 20.
TENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 29.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured and dear brother,
I am pleased with every thing. Some things I have improved. When one letter is too dark, a lighter one must be put in its place. Periods and commas must be well attended to. No capital must be put for a small letter, no u for a v. The proof-reader must study well my grammar; which may seem to many unusual. Some letter-paper and fine writing paper must be added. My gratitude shall not fail you for the trouble you take. I now am sending my little catechism, with the address to the clergy abroad, to Dr. Benzelius6 in Upsal, that he my superintend its printing; he will, I hope, gain your consent to have it done. If, in your order permitting the printing of my little grammar, you would be pleased to pass a favourable judgment upon it, it would add not a little to its worth.
I am working now with all my might upon my large dictionary or Swedish-Latin lexicon; on which I have been at work for more than thirty years, and if God grant me life, it will be finished without delay. If it see the light of day, language will be corrected and settled, i. e. if people will allow sense to govern them.
How goes it with the printing of the Bible? His Majesty promises much good, if he be allowed to have his own was. Such a godly and wholesome undertaking has never been, nor ever will bet set on foot again in our land. Though Satan is powerful, yet He who is more powerful will punish him.
Nothing must be allowed to interfere with the thought of your writing the history of the late King Charles. If you write the true history, and do not trouble yourself about what others may write, these will easily be refuted.
My wife and myself desire to assure you and sister Brita, and your family, of our best respects.
Commending you to God, I remain
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPEBUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Feb. 27, 1722.
DOCUMENT 21.
ELEVENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 30.
Well-born Secretary
Most honoured and dear brother,
I hear now that they have at last met for the purpose of dividing the estate of the late de Behm.* May God cause them to agree in their counsels, and not be too particular: for they are such near blood-relations. More is gained in the end by giving way a little, than by insisting on the strictest right. They have not been much troubled about it; but sister Brita50 has had most of the work to do, which ought to be honourably acknowledged. If there had been any other to superintend, there would certainly have been much less to divide. N. B. The poor ought not to be forgotten on any consideration.
[*There is an indication of a footnote here, but no text was found.]
I do not wish to look forward to anything else, than that His Majesty will act nobly with respect to the printing of the Bible: about which I have written again to His Majesty.
If I could have a sheet of my grammar posted to me as soon as it is printed, it would be well.
If I could have one or two leaves of my MSS., where, in the letter of a father to his sons, who are studying at the university, he recommends some auctores asceticos, as Herberger, Scriver, Gerhardi, Scholam Pietatis, I should like it very much, as I wish to add something to it.
By a scholar from Skara, travelling to Upsal to the University, I sent the abridgment of my Catechism, with the Letter to the Swedish clergy, which according to the regulations will be submitted for your scrutiny and approval.
Is Justice (lagman) Ulric Frhlich with His Majesty, or not? He accompanied him through the whole country, in the capacity of Secretary. Will you please to let me know?
If I had your talents, I should certainly leave an immortal name behind me, by writing the History of King Charles XII.
Is there in the Swedish language a history of King John, or of King Charles X?
With kind remembrances from myself and my wife to yourself, and to sister Brita and her family, I remain steadfastly
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, March 13, 1723.
DOCUMENT 22.
TWELFTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 31.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
I thank you most heartily for the great trouble you have taken in examining my humble books. I shall never forget to manifest my gratitude when opportunity offers.
I am sending now to Upsal, and afterwards to you, my Swedish Lexicon, submitting it to your judgment. Its publication might be useful. But I have so much to print here in Skara, that my old age does not suffice for that, and still less for this Lexicon. I have also ready a Latin-Swedish, and a Swedish-Latin Dictionary; which it is very necessary should see the light. Each of these volumes will make a legal octave.
Perhaps some printer in Stockholm will take upon himself the responsibility of printing them. He would soon reimburse himself.
I send back the first sheet of my Swedish Grammar, and I have asked Magister Scarin to send me one or two sheets more, that I may see whether he has adhered to my orthography. The passages you pointed out, in my letter in the Grammar, I have taken into consideration and made milder. You employ your office to correct what ought to be corrected. Two pair of eyes can see more than one pair, however sharp they may be. Please recommend the work in your official approval, as I have asked before.
Remember me and my wife kindly to sister Brita and the other members of your family.
Commending you to God, I am
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, April, 4. 1722.
DOCUMENT 23.
THIRTEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
*Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. pp. 32-34.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
I thank you very much for your letter. In my answer I take up the points in the same order in which they are treated in your letter.
You will please to send me the abridgment of the Catechism by Magister Enegren, who will journey hither at once in order to enter on his pastorate: for the printing-office in Skara will soon commence operations again. I hope I may obtain a mild censure [i. e, an approval by the office of censorship].
Who this Bjrckman is, who ventures to print my grammar at his own expense, I do not know. I did not know otherwise than that you expressed yourself so much in its favour as to be willing to have it printed at your own expense, whereupon I only made the condition of receiving a few copies on writing and on printing paper. If this had not been so, I would have borne the cost. But as matters now stand he must agree to allow me something considerable for my trouble. He will make a good thing out of such a rare work.
My son-in-law, Dr. Benzelius6 of Upsal has long ago received my larger Swedish Lexicon. As soon as he receives word from you, he will send it over at once. Besides this I have ready a smaller Latin-Swedish, and Swedish-Latin dictionary, the publication of which is quite necessary. Both will make legal octave volumes.
It is well that the College of Chancery took in hand a revolution in the school-regulations.
Governor H.'s53 book against me will probably be submitted for your examination. God grant he leave out all abuse; for the rest I am not afraid. I forgot to remark on the opinion of the College of Chancery on the subject of language, that no one can invalidate my opinion, that we have the best grammar in the Bibles of Gustavus I and II, and in the writings of the same period, and that if any one is not familiar with these works, he will never be able to succeed in this matter. If any one abandon these, he upsets the Bible, the prayers, the usual hymns, and also the laws, &c; and then the confusion will be worse than we have had at any time. It would be well, if this matter could be postponed until after the appearance of my grammar. This is the most difficult point in the whole regulation of schools. And if you [i. e. the College of Chancery] establish rules, if you order and command in opposition to my grammar, it, not you, will min, and thus the mutter will be settled.
It is a pity Major Schnstrm47 and his brothers-in-law are so unreasonable. I expect to hear better news about my son-in-law Assessor Benzelstierna.8 These, then, are the thanks sister Brita50 gets for all her trouble.* If another had had it in hand, there would be less money to quarrel about. Do not let the matter come before the courts, but only before good men. This is a fat goose to pluck before the courts. You had better let them have 5000 dalers, if they have the conscience to take them.
* See Section IV.
With kind regards to sister, and commending you to God, I remain
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, May 15, 1722.
[P. S.] If you should meet Secretary Bonoschld,130 please remember me kindly to him, and ask whether no answer will be given to my application to His Majesty for the free importation of paper?
DOCUMENT 24.
FOURTEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 35.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
When you wrote me that you would invest in my little grammar, I was highly pleased with the arrangement, provided I might advance the paper for some forty or fifty copies for my own use; but since Mr. Tengmark wrote to me that the printer Bjrkman wished to have some money in advance for his work, the subject has presented itself in a different light. It remains settled, then, as you have agreed with him, that Bjrkman should go on printing this on his own account.
I should like to get my little Catechism by some student travelling hither. The printing-office in Skara will be soon in order again. I hope for a favourable "censur." I cannot find a convenient Swedish expression for this word. "Bifall," i. e. applause, or assent, is too feeble.
Governor Hjrne's53 last essay against me has also come into the hands of many persons down here; by whom it is sought, copied, and read with avidity. I have not yet seen it. He is said to have been like himself. It is possible I may get to print the first part of my answer to his first abusive publication.
I should like to get a copy of the clever biography of the late King Charles XII. Please to remember me kindly to sister Brita and to the members of both your families. Commending you to God, I remain
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, June 12, 1722.
DOCUMENT 25.
FIFTEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 36.
Well-born Secretary,
Most honoured Brother,
I regret there are such stubborn and unreasonable heads, as are unable to receive in peace the rich blessings of God, without going to law about them. This also will be the reward to our good sister Brita for all the trouble she has taken. I should like to see whether they would have had as much, if another had taken it in hand. But such is the world's recompense. As for myself, I have had so little to do with such things during the last twenty years, that I know as little about them as a babe which was born yesterday. My son, the Assessor,* however, knows all about these things, and he will probably arrange matters so with sister Brita, as to bring about an agreement.**
* Emanuel Swedenborg.
** For further particulars respecting this affair, see Section IV.
Please admonish the printer to be a little quicker with my grammar. If I should come to an end before my grammar, I am afraid my adversary will find much to criticize. This might happen even if all were well and correctly printed: for much depends upon one word and one letter.
Your most dutiful servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, July 10, 1722.
[P. S.] Hjrne's53 essay or answer to my Defence is circulating down here; but I have not yet seen it. As long as arguments are taken for what they are worth, it does not worry me much.
You are acquainted with the gentlemen and secretaries in the Senate and the College. Let me know whether a resolution has been passed in favour of the free importation of paper. Also, whether the College of Chancery has handed in its opinion about the Printing of the Bible. It is a thing unheard of to sell a beautiful Swedish Bible in royal octave for five marks in copper: and yet such a thing is a matter to dispute about! O tempora!
DOCUMENT 26.
SIXTEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 37.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery,
Most honoured Brother,
With great joy I heard, on my arrival at Mariestad, that vou have been advanced to the office and honour of a Councillor of Chancery. I desire to congratulate you on this with all my beast; and I wish you may live long in the service, and for the honour of our country, and for our happiness, who are your nearest relatives. I do not doubt that you will more vigorously push to a gratifying end the godly purpose of printing the Bible, which has as long remained unsettled in the College of Chancery. Both His Excellency Count Swen and His Royal Majesty have promised that this matter shall be brought to a favourable close. Brother of my heart, help this most important object, and God will help you again.
The enclosed sheet I have received by mail here at Mariestad. As it was not accompanied by a letter, but only furnished with a large seal of authority, I have concluded, that it is from you. I wish very much that the printer would hurry a little more with the book than he has done heretofore.
My son Emanuel is probably in Stockholm about this time, and I have instructed him to come to an understanding with you on the division of the inheritance, and so avoid law-suits, which require roundabout ways, whereby the greater part of the moneys passes into the hands of the lawyers.
His Majesty will not come down to Westgothland till the month of September. Emanuel ought to know this. Would to God he succeed with his many experiments and discoveries (funder), and that experience may prove their value. Different ores are found, and other modes of treating them prevail in Germany and in Sweden.*
* For further particulars on this subject see the proceedings for 1722, in Section V.
Please remember me kindly to Sister Brita and your family. Commending you to God, I remain, with continued respect, forever
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
DOCUMENT 27.
SEVENTEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. pp. 39, 40.
Well-bon Councillor of Chancery,
My dear Brother,
Last week I had the honour of congratulating you, and of asking God's omnipotent protection for you in your distinguished office. On account of your web-known zeal for the promotion of learning, I hope that God will cause much good to come out of it. I am assured also that the affair of the printing of the Bible will now be pushed with proper energy, and that it will reach a desirable end. His Excellence, Count Swen, has promised much that is good and favourable. If this matter be not accomplished, the spiritual welfare of many will suffer; and many evil consequences will come upon us from God's judgment.
I thank you much for the favourable censorial opinion of my Catechism. I hope to receive the same for my Grammar, which will be of great use to the work. The Lexicon is probably now in your hands. It was a most difficult and laborious work, extending over thirty years. The lesser Swedish-Latin and Latin-Swedish Dictionary I have also ready, but without, any quotations. Each of these works will make a moderate octave volume, and will form a, useful and necessary work, so that the publisher ought to make a good profit by it. I have so many works on spiritual subjects to print, that ten years will not suffice for them.
I hear, then, that old Hjrne53 is selling out (sljer af).* May God change his heart!
*Perhaps this passage ought to read seglar af, i. e. is sailing away, is departing. Yet Hjrne did not die until 1794.
Emanuel gives me hope, that those concerned will soon agree about the division of the inheritance. God grant it!
As in the time of the pestilence I wrote my thoughts on death, so as to prepare myself for judgment, I have now written my thoughts upon the last judgment, calling the book Casa pauperum et Gaza divitum. It treats of real mercy towards the poor and wretched, on the basis of Matthew xxv. I was an hungered, &c.; striving to live in accordance therewith, and in such a manner, as not to be found wanting in the day of judgment. The book is of the same size as my Catechism.
Will it not be sufficient for the lectors in theology here at Skara to examine it, as they did with the "Sabbath Rest," the "Catechism," the "Thoughts on Death," "Rules for Youth," &c; so that I need not send it to you, who have, besides, your hands full of works that are to be printed?
Together with Emanuel I am waiting for the funeral sermon on the late King, and the personal account of him. The latter I have a great desire to read. The former is probably more general.
Please remember me kindly to sister and to the young people. I commend you to God, and remain with great respect
Your most dutiful and faithful servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo Aug. 7, 1722.
[P. S.] Her Majesty the Queen has graciously presented me with 600 dalers in copper for the printing of the Catechism, and also 600 dalers in copper for the printing of the Address to the mountain district of Fahlun. Thus God raises up those by whom that which is godly may be promoted. But the Bible is forbidden to be printed. Werner67 avails more, than many hundred souls.
I have now a very laborious, but, I hope, useful work in hand, viz. to make a list of those who have explained the various Bible passages; as Dorhus has done, who calls his work Biblia Numerata. But among the fifteen commentators that he has cited to each verse, scarcely three have furnished explanations; the rest have simply given quotations. The work does not allow me time for sleep. I have now gone as far as Micah.
DOCUMENT 28.
EIGHTEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 41.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery.
Most honoured Brother,
Thank God, the Grammar is progressing towards the end! The printer is now beginning the title, the censorial permission, and the dedication. According to the opinion you express in the censorial permission, the work will be appreciated and sought after. I therefore beg for a mild judgment. There is another member of the Chancery, who ought to be introduced into the dedication, viz. Secretary Carlsson.
As I do not know whether Emanuel or assessor Benzelstierna8 is in Stockholm, I beg you to be kind enough to receive, in return for the enclosed receipts, the gracious gifts of the Queen, and to keep them until, God willing, I come to the Diet. I had to promise His Majesty to come, although I was very loath to do so. If Emanuel and Benzelstierna8 are in Stockholm I beg them to hire a room and bed-chamber with board for me, for just charges. Would to God I could be your comrade at sister Brita's, to whom you will please remember me most kindly, and, commending both her and her family to God, I remain, with the greatest respect,
Your most dutiful and obedient servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, October 19, 1722.
[P. S.] Is no favourable termination to be expected in the College of Chancery to the application for printing the Bible? His Excellency Count Horn has made fair promises.
DOCUMENT 29.
NINETEENTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 43.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery.
Most honoured Brother,
I presume you will give your kind consent to the publication of the two useful school books which I left in your hands during my stay in Stockholm, viz, the Latin-Swedish, and the Swedish-Latin Dictionaries. In these I have endeavoured to give pure and correct Swedish, not only in respect to orthography, but also in respect to the declinsions and conjugations. On account of my having carefully attended to this, I hope that you will give your favourable assent to these two small dictionaries, and will speed them on. As soon as I receive your consent, I intend to have them printed here at Skara, during my life-time; for we have new type here. Unless this be done we shall remain barbarians in our own country. Could I get them sent here by some student who is returning home, I should like it very much. A student of Westgothland reads with the sons of Assessor L. Benzelstierna8; he no doubt could find out some returning student. My son Emanuel intends to come do here for Christmas. Cleverus is doing much better, but Fahlundius is just as difficult. How did the Committee on the affairs of justice find matters? Please remember me kindly to the sisters and the little boys. Commending you to God, I remain with great respect
Your most obedient servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, October 24, 1723.
DOCUMENT 30.
TWENTIETH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 45.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery,
Most honoured Brother,
I had the honour, a short time ago, of receiving your letter. With respect to Festus Magnus, this was originally a short sermon, which I did not think worth while to send through purgatory, especially as it treated of subjects to which no objection could be taken. Afterwards it grew to its present size. I ask to be excused. It shall not happen again. I thought you had seen a specimen of my Pharos Sacra.* I hope I may obtain leave to print it without sending it over; it comprizes six quartos. For the whole of my "Sabbath's Rest", I had in 1705 the consent of the late Hgwal, as has been stated at the beginning of the book; so that the two remaining parts need not be sent to the Consistory in Gottenburg, and so forth; moreover they will have to lie unprinted, on account of the difficulty of importing paper free of duty. Not fifty cart-loads would remove all the printed sheets I have in stock, and which were printed at my own expense; and I can testify upon my honour that I have not had at the utmost more than four hundred reams of paper free of duty. Let it be so. Let another write, print, and pay as much as I have: men have learned better. I am only sorry that paper free of duty is not granted for the printing of the Bible. Please remember me kindly to Mr. Barck, the Secretary of State; he is a countryman of mine, end a good friend and brother; a most learned man; inclined to promote the circulation of Swedish books; and likewise inclined to show to those across the sea that people live here.
*The nature of this Pharos Sacra, which means "Sacred Beacon-light," will be found explained in Document 33.
Vale, saluta et porro fave.
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, October 23, 1724.
DOCUMENT 31.
TWENTY-FIRST LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, pp. 47. 48.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery.
Most honoured Brother,
I find they are favourable to me in your College. Let this be so, until God intervene with His powerful hand. As I wrote you last, I sent to both their Majesties the original letter of Charles XII, respecting a yearly exemption of 500 reams of paper from the payment of duty; a copy of it I enclose herewith. So it goes when the authorities----.I can assert upon oath that I never imported a hundred reams since I began printing; and now several thousand reams are printed, as may be seen at my house, where all my rooms are filled with my writings.
I have also intended to publish a "Godly form of government," based on King David's Psalm ci. Where shall I send this to, in order to have it examined censorially? This too may in course of time be used by the women for their cakes.
If I had not written to the Queen on the subject, there would never have been any resolution about the paper for the Bible. She thinks a great deal of my Hymn-Book, and is anxious that it should be sent to America. But the authorities ---.You must do your best in favour of it by virtue of your office.
The gentleman of whom I wrote in my last is engaged to be married to General Rebener's daughter. He makes a rich match, since there was so much delay in taking any action upon his first proposal. My kind regards to all. Commending you to God, I remain to the end of my life
Your most dutiful and sincere servant,
JESPERUS SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Dec. 1, 1724.
DOCUMENT 32.
TWENTY-SECOND LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
*Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 49.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery,
Most honoured Brother,
Her Majesty the Queen has most graciously granted the means for publishing my America. Will you please get the copy of the MSS. from the Queen through Lady Duba, and give your consent, so that it may be printed? It consists mostly of historical matters, and does not contain anything for the censors.
Commending you to God, I remain
Your most dutiful servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Mariestad, March 15, 1728.
DOCUMENT 33.
TWENTY-THIRD LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
*Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV., p. 50.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery,
Most honoured Brother,
I thank you very much for sending me this reminder about my America. I will comply in all respects with your instructions; and shall submit it to the examination of the Theological Faculty, either at Skara or Gottenburg. I have here a copy exactly like that which you have now in hand.
The Queen had also ordered me to write on the Epistles, which I accordingly did; and after Her Majesty had kept the book for more than a year, she delivered it to Assessor Benzelstierna,8 with a handsome donation for the printing of both works. Will you please to call for the copy, and submit it to the ecclesiastical Consistory for approval?
I have a book in six quartos,* in which I have quoted with each verse the authors who explain it. I have also made a Swedish version of the Bible from the original text. After my death it will be deposited in the Library at Upsal. Likewise my Autobiography in large quarto. I intend now, if God grant me the time, to write on the passion of Christ. If I were a German, I would receive money for it. Here I have always to advance the money. If I had all the money which I have invested in the printing of books, I would be worth now from sixty to seventy thousand dalers in copper.
* The Pharos Sacra mentioned in Document 30.
Commending you to God, I remain with great respect,
Your most obedient servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, April 6, 1725.
[P. S.] Consul Ahlstrm,94 who is at present in Stockholm, and will return here at once, can bring the copy of the MSS.
DOCUMENT 34.
TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER* OF BISHOP SWEDBERG TO JOHAN ROSENADLER.
* Bergius' Collection, Vol. IV, p. 51.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery,
Most honoured Brother,
I have received now from the Theological Faculty at Linkping the approval of my America Illuminata, and from those concerned at Gottenburg the approval of my collection of sermons from the Epistles; so that I cannot see anything to prevent the printing of them. I therefore beg you, by virtue of your office, to grant me leave to print, and to inform me of it. As for the rest I remain, commending you to God's almighty protection,
Your most obedient servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Aug. 14, 1730.
[P. S.] I am issuing a second edition here of my "Godly Exercise in the Catechism;" which will be finished at Michaelmass, so God will. After that I desire with the aged Simeon to depart hence.
DOCUMENT 35.
EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP J. SWEDBERG'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.*
* Bishop Swedberg's autobiography fills a large folio volume of 1012 pages. As he himself states he wrote out a copy for each of his children. One of these copies is preserved in the Gymnasium-Library at Skara; this was carefully examined by Dr. Kahl in 1842, to glean from it everything it contains relating to Emanuel Swedenborg. The only information of interest which he found is contained in paragraphs 24, 25, 26, of Chapter xxv, of which the above is a literal English translation. These extracts were sent by Dr. Kahl to Dr. Immanuel Tafel, who inserted them in the Swedish and German languages in Part IV of his "Documents concerning Swedenborg." An English translation of them appeared also in the American, and, we believe, in the appendix to the English edition, of these "Documents." Another copy of Bishop Swedberg's Autobiography is among the Benzelius MSS. in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping.
MY SONS AND THEIR NAMES.
Moreover, I remained humble, and never asked persons of rank, as is frequently done, to stand sponsors to my children. I will also state my reasons for calling my sons, Emanuel, Eliezer, and Jesper, and not, as is customary, naming them after their grandfathers, or other relations; Albrecht, the eldest, was born while I was travelling abroad, and his mother named him after her father. I cannot find a single instance in the whole Bible, of children having received the names of their parents or grandparents. I will only mention the patriarch Jacob and King David. The former had holy, glorious, and honourable forefathers, widely celebrated; and, as is well known, he had twelve sons: none of these he called Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. So with King David.
I am far from presuming hereby to blame, find fault with, or disapprove of, those who name their children thus; yet I hope and expect that no one will find fault with my mode of naming my children, since I have the Bible, and the example of so many saints, on my side. I am also fully convinced that children ought to be called such names as will awaken in, and remind them of, the fear of God, and of everything that is orderly and righteous; quite different from many inconsiderate parents, who call their children by such improper names, as Bjrn (bear), Ulf (wolf), Thorheol (wheel of Thor, or of the Thunderer), or who name them after the heathenish god Thor, without remembering the answer which the prudent Abigail gave to King David concerning her husband Nabal: "Let not my Lord set his heart against this man of Belial, even Nabal: for he is a foolish man, even as is his name, and folly is with him." The name of my son Emanuel signifies "God with us;" that he may always remember God's presence, and that intimate, holy, and mysterious conjunction with our good and gracious God, into which we are brought by faith, by which we are conjoined with Him, and are in Him. And blessed be the Lord's name! God has to this hour been with him; and may He be further with him, until he be eternally united with Him in His kingdom! Eliezer signifies "God is my help;" and he has also been graciously and joyfully helped by God. He was a good and pious child, and had made good progress, when, in his twenty-fifth year, he was called away by a blessed death. The youngest son was called Jesper only for this reason, that he was born on the same day of the year and at the same hour as myself, who first saw the light of the world on the 28th August, 1653.
I am, a Sunday child (i. e. born on a Sunday), and the mother of my children, my late wife, was also a Sunday child: and all my children are Sunday children, except Catharine, who was born at Upsal on the 3rd day of Easter. I have put my sons to that for which God has given them inclination and liking, and have not brought up any for the clerical profession; although many parents do so inconsiderately, and in a manner not justifiable, by which God's Church and likewise the ministerial office suffer not a little, and are brought into contempt. I have never had my daughters in Stockholm, where many are sent in order to learn fine manners, but where they also learn much that is worldly, and injurious to the soul.
SECTION III
SWEDENBORG'S CORRESPONDENCE
FOR THE YEARS 1709-1747.
INTRODUCTION.
THE correspondence contained in this section is preserved chiefly in the Benzelius Collection of MSS. in the Cathedral-library of Linkping. The seven letters written by Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius before 1714, are contained in Vols. III. and IV of the Collection; those, however, which he wrote between 1714 and 1724 are contained in Vol. XL, which bears the title: Collectanea Physico-Mathematica, &c. Eleven of the forty-two letters contained in this volume were published by Prof. Atterbom in the Appendix to his "Siare och Skalder;" and forty-one of these letters were copied by Dr. Hhl, Librarian of the Linkping Library, at the expense of the Swedenborg Association, and sent by him to London about 1850.* Twenty-six of these letters, which had been translated into English by Mr. Charles Edward Strutt, were afterwards published by Mr. White in the "New Churchman" for 1856. The letters which Polhem addressed to Swedenborg and Ericus Benzelius are, with the exception of Document 38, contained in a separate quarto volume, in which Benzelius collected all the papers prepared by Polhem. This volume is also in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping. None of these letters had been previously published. Most of the remaining letters of this Section are from the Bergius Collection of Letters, which is preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Particulars concerning this collection may be found in Note 46.
* For further information respecting the Swedish copy of these letters received by the Swedenborg association, see. Note to Document 46.
DOCUMENT 36.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.6*
*Benzelius' Collection, Vol. III, No. 65.
Most learned Librarian,
Dear and honoured friend and brother,
The reason I have hitherto delayed writing so important a letter, was chiefly that I was uncertain where you might be at the present time. And although I am still in the dark about your return home from the springs, I am compelled to send you these lines because of some matters of importance to me; for relying on your usual kindness and on your friendly promise, I would humbly ask you to give me something in hand, that may assist me in taking my departure; and if you could add to this some letters to your acquaintances in England, or anything else that might be of use to me, I much wish you would do so. I do not intend to remain here longer than a fortnight,--only long enough to receive your answer respecting my journey. I should very much like, by your recommendation, to become acquainted with some one in the English College; (in Collegio Anglicano), where there are about twenty-one assessores, that I might improve myself in mathematics, or in physics and natural history, if these are their strongest points.
As I have always desired to turn to some practical use, and also to perfect myself more in, the studies which I selected with your advice and approval, I thought it advisable to choose a subject early, which I might elaborate in course of time, and into which I might introduce much of what I should notice and read in foreign countries.
During my stay here I have made such progress, as to acquire a manual art--the art of binding books; for we have a bookbinder with us; I have already displayed my skill upon two books, which I bound in half morocco. I herewith send you for examination an old coin; I do not know of what stock it is; yet it appears to me a suspicious circumstance that Sanctus Ericus is written on the outside; for he probably did not obtain this epithet, until some time after his death. Hl, the master of the horse, is said to have committed the extreme folly of castrating himself in a bungling manner; it is supposed that he will probably not live much longer. I do not know for certain whether this is true, but everybody says it is; perhaps he wishes to become a second Origen.
In case any one succeed me in my room,* I would beg of you to see that the papers which I left behind are gathered up and stored in the vault; because there are some things among them which I collected for Publius Syrus,** and which cost me a good amount of labour.
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo,*** July 13, 1709.
* Swedenborg while at Upsal stayed at the house of his brother-in-law. This is the first letter which he wrote to him after his return home from the university.
** His thesis upon leaving the university consisted of "Select Sentences from Pubius Syrus, Seneca, and others, with notes," which was printed at Skara in 1709, and reprinted by Dr. Im. Tafel in 1841.
*** The name of the Bishop's seat near Skara.
DOCUMENT 37.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. III, No. 83.
Dear and honoured friend and brother,
As Magister Unge5 intends to go to Upsal, to pass his academical examination for the lectorship* in theology which he desires to obtain, these lines will be conveyed by him, and he will wait upon you and pay his respects to you. I should have done this more frequently, if opportunity had offered, and I had been aware of your return. My greatest desire now is, to obtain some information respecting the plan now being discussed here, of my staying with Polhammar.14 If my journey abroad must necessarily be delayed till next spring, I have no objection to be with him for some time; and as I can be there with greater advantage during summer than during winter, and as everything then is more bright and enjoyable, I am still less opposed to going.
* Professors in Gymnasia, or Collegiate Schools are called lectors in Sweden.
I have little desire to remain here much longer; for I am wasting almost my whole time. Still, I have made such progress in music, that I have been able several times to take the place of our organist; but for all my other studies this place affords me very little opportunity; and they are not at all appreciated by those who ought to encourage me in them.
Some time ago a levy of all the country people was ordered here; and when the time came for assembling, they committed an unheard of outrage upon their own bailiff; for they first ill-treated and then killed him, after which they fired several hundred shots at him as a target, so that there was scarcely any part of him left entire; and even then they would have allowed the hogs to eat him, if the pastor of Horn had not restrained them. Magister Fegrus interposed his authority, but they threatened him with the same treatment, unless he would keep silence; two country-men and one country-woman, who expressed sorrow at this occurrence, were also killed. Magistrate Aurell took refuge with the pastor of Horn, whom I mention above, and concealed himself in a dark room in the cellar. The parsonage was surrounded and searched in every corner, but they had to retire without having effected their purpose. Part of them lay down near Billingen, and threatened every one with death who should go further. The provincial governor was then compelled to issue furloughs to all of them; for they gave him to understand, that they had determined to treat in this way all the officers they would have on their march. May God prevent our having an insurrection here; but it looks very much as if we should have one.
Four or five weeks ago the bones of a giant* were sent from here. I hope they have arrived safely; I wish it too, because I alluded to them in some verses, which Magister Unge5 will perhaps introduce into his dissertation; they are as follows:
Sunct Gothi nuper spatisoa membra gigantis
Avecta, ast cerebro, ast ingenioque carent.
Fertilis hc tellus alium nunc mittit alumnum,
Virbug ingenii hic, corporis ille, valet.
(From Gothland came a giant's bulky frame;
But brains and quickening intellect it lacked.
This fertile land a new alumnus sends;
In mind gigantic this, as huge in body that.)
* These bones which were those of a whale are still preserved in the museum at Upsal, and, if we are not mistaken, Emanuel Swedenborg is marked as their donor. He discusses these bones at large on p. 29 of his little work, Om Watnenshgd, &c., where he says that when they were dug out at first, they were supposed to be the bones of a giant, but after they had been joined together, it appeared that they were those of a large fish or whale.
For this reason I wish the bones may not be delayed on the may; the candidate who took charge of them seemed to be obliging. Brother Eliezer* is probably by this time at Upsal; I wish him all success, and rapid progress in his studies. Brother Jespers52 has a strange illness; may God help him through! With much kind love to sister Anna,5 I commend you to the protection of the Highest, and remain always
Your most obedient servant,
EMANUEL SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, 6th March, 1710.
* A younger brother of Swedenborg, who died when he was twenty-five years of age. See Document 9, A, Table II, end Document 86.
Viro Amplissimo et celeberrimo
Dmo. Erico Benzelio
Academi Upsal: Bibliothekario
h pateant.
(To the Most Worthy and Celebrated
Mr. Ericus Benzelius,
Librarian of the University of Upsal.)
DOCUMENT 38.
POLHEM14 TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. III, No. 101.
My very kind friend and well-wisher,
Some time ago I had the honour of receiving from the Right Reverend Bishop Swedberg a distinguished letter, in which he expressed a desire that his son might live for some time with me in my humble dwelling; but, for special reasons, I was obliged to give a negative answer. Since that time the pastor of Husby, on the strength of an additional letter from you on the same subject, has renewed this application and request, showing me at the same time your letter; for which I have every cause to express to you my sincere gratitude, for the good opinion and judgment you were pleased to express respecting my unworthy self.
With regard to young Mr. Swedberg, I must confess I was extremely well pleased that he came here, like the others, of his own accord, and without first making any conditions; and as we were pleased and satisfied with one another, his desire could be gratified without any difficulty; especially when I found him able to assist me in the mechanical undertaking which I have in hand, and in making the necessary experiments; in this matter I am more indebted to him, than he is to me. Moreover, I value more highly a quick and intelligent person, with whom I can enjoy the discussion of subjects on which I possess some little knowledge, than I do a few weeks' board and lodging.
I thank you very much for the last great pleasure I enjoyed at your house, and wish that I may have the honour and joy of seeing you at my humble dwelling; which would, indeed, be more than a pleasure to me, Meanwhile I desire to be remembered most kindly to your dear family, and remain
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPHER POLHAMMAR.14
Stiernsund,* July 16, 1710.
* An iron-work in Dalecarlia, where a mechanical institute had been established by Polhem at the expense of the King.
DOCUMENT 39.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* The original of this letter in the Latin language is contained in the Benzelius Collection, Vol. III, No. 125.
Dearest Brother,
One letter to you would scarcely be a sufficient apology from me, who so often missed you and your kind offices, at the time I was leaving for London. Further, I have not up to the present day answered your last letter, which was so full of kindness. I wish I might be allowed to cover my negligence with the veil and name of indolence and imprudence, and that I might thus make you feel for me as you did before. But I believe, dear brother, that I can satisfy you by taking all the blame upon myself, and thus anticipating your reproaches.*
* It appears from this as if Swedenborg had undertaken his journey abroad against the desire of Ericua Benzelius.
The idea of a journey to Polhammar,14 the Machaon of our age, I have not altogether renounced, but have only postponed till the time when, with the help of God, I shall again return to my country; for I might not only be charged with negligence, but also with ingratitude towards our age, if I neglected to profit by the teaching of so great a man, one such as our country will never see again.
* Probably "The Principia", Sir Isaac Newton's greatest work.
Whatever is worthy of being seen in the town, I have already examined. The magnificent St. Paul's cathedral was finished a few days ago in all its parts. In examining the royal monuments in Westminster abbey, I happened to see the tomb of Casaubon; when I was inspired with such a love for this literary hero, that I kissed his tomb, and dedicated to his manes, under the marble, the following stanzas:
Marmore cur ornas tumulum, cur carmine et auro;
Cum tamen hc pereant, Tuque superstes eris.
At puto sponte sua celebrant Te marmor et aurum;
Oscula quod marmor prtereuntis amet.
(Why adornest thou the tomb with marble, with song, and with gold?
When yet these will perish, and thou wilt survive.
But, methinks, the marble and gold for their own sakes praise thee;
For the marble loves the kisses of the passers by.)
Or else these:
Urna Tuos cineres, animum sed Numen et Astra,
Scripta Tuum ingenium, Nomen at orbis habet;
Has licet in partes Te mors distraxerit, ipse
Attamen in nostro pectore totus eris.
(The urn holds thy ashes, God and the stars thy Spirit;
Thy writings contain thy genius, but the world thy renown.
Let death dissolve thy mortal frame into fragments,
In our hearts thou shalt dwell forever entire.)
Otherwise, the town is distracted by internal dissensions between the Anglican and Presbyterian churches; they are incensed against each another with almost deadly hatred. The torch and trumpet of this tumult is Doctor Sacheverell, whose name is heard from every mouth and at every corner; and respecting whom every bookshop displays pamphlets.
Were you, dear brother, to ask me about myself, I should say I know that I am alive, but not happy; for I miss you and my home. Should I be so fortunate as to have a letter from you, you would almost carry me back to my country; for I not only love you more than my own brothers, but I even love and revere you as a father. I send you a few verses addressed to Sophia Brenner, the Sappho of our age, that you may polish and improve them, if you find that they require correction, and that, thus corrected, you may communicate them to her. Doctor Edzardus sends you his best greeting. May God preserve you alive, that I may meet you again,
Yours faithfully and affectionately, even to death,
EMANUEL SWEDBERG.
London, October 13, 1710.
To the Most Reverend Ericus Benzelius, Upsal.
DOCUMENT 40.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. IV, No. 20.
Received April 30, 1711.
Most learned friend and brother,
Several weeks ago I received your more than agreeable letter, in which, among other things, I was especially pleased that you placed so much confidence in me as to charge me with several commissions, which I shall endeavour to fulfil with the greatest diligence. With respect to the twenty-four feet telescope, I ordered the glasses for it at Marshal's, to whom Magister Valerius71 had written, and who is said to be the only one patronized by the Royal Society. These glasses are beyond expectation expensive, for they cost forty shillings; I do not know whether they are not cheaper in Holland; others in the same business charge fifty shillings, so that I did not purchase any for Magister Valerius; for I did not know whether he was willing to pay so much. When they are ready, and there is an opportunity of shipping them to Stockholm, I shall send them, together with Marshal's letter, who promised to do his best; he has sent some of the same kind to Switzerland and Russia, whence they were ordered. The microscope and some of the books shall follow. I must beg you meanwhile to appoint some merchant, to whom Marshal can go for his money; for I am on short allowance, and not permitted to purchase anything on credit; nor are our Swedish merchants willing to let me have money, unless they receive permission to draw for the amount in Sweden, when they charge generally 33 to 34 [Swedish dalers] for the pound, instead of 26 or 27, as is the case when the money is sent here.
Would you not like to have for the use of the Library a good air-pump, with all the apparatus belonging to it, and the improvements invented by members of the Royal Society? I will send you shortly the book about it, the price, and a list of everything belonging to it. Three have been sent to Russia; for there are many Russians here; they study mostly mathematics and navigation, applying themselves to the tastes of their chief, who took a wonderful interest in these subjects during his visit here. The Czar purchased also from Mr. Edmund Halley,55 for eighty pounds, his "incomparable quadrant," which he used in discovering the southern stars at St. Helena, and with which he took pretty good observations of the moon and the planets in 1683, 1684, and other years.
The books you asked me to get for you I have enquired for at all the bookshops, and also at book-auctions; but some I have not succeeded in finding. Vol. I of Coletlerii Ecclesi Grc Monumenta I found at a bookseller's in Paternoster Row; but I had to pay for it almost the value of the whole work. I purchased the old edition of Norris' Reflections upon the Conduct of Human Life since nothing new has appeared separately, but only together with his other works, i. e. his Christian Blessedness, Christian Monitor, Dialogue between two Protestants, Poetic Miscellany, &c., the whole of which may be bought for twenty or twenty-four shillings. I read his little book through, and found it very clever and ingenious; but he seemed to me to take too many roundabout ways, and not to touch upon the subject he was to treat, beeping one always in suspense, and wondering where he would end, and at what he would arrive. Baker's Reflections upon Learning I have read twice, finding in him my first delight; but I wonder why he does not approve of anything, but considers everything that has been discovered and written, imperfect and unworthy of his esteem; and, unless this has been the author's object, it may be used against him, for his own refutation; for he must include his own work among the number.
I visit daily the best mathematicians here in town. I have been with Flamsteed,56 who is considered the best astronomer in England, and who is constantly taking observations, which, together with the Paris Observations, will give us some day a correct theory respecting the motion of the moon and of its appulse to the fixed stars; and with its help there may be found a true longitude at sea; for he has found that the motion of the moon has as yet been by no means well determined, and that all theoretical luna tables are very imperfect, and that the same errors or deviations which are noticed in an earlier period of eighteen years and eleven days, occur again afterwards.
Newton has laid a good foundation for correcting the irregularities of the moon in his Principia; he has however not yet published the tables, but simply the theory; he has also corrected in it the precession of the equinoxes, and the periods of the tides.
Will you please ask Prof. Elfvius54 for the meridian or the longitude of Upsal; I know that he succeeded at one time in getting it very accurately by means of a lunar eclipse; I can make some use of it.
You encourage me to go on with my studies; but I think, that I ought rather to be discouraged, as I have such an "immoderate desire"* for them, especially for astronomy and mechanics. I also turn my lodgings to some use, and change them often; at first was at a watchmaker's, afterwards at a cabinetmaker's, and now I am at a mathematical instrument maker's; from them I steal their trades, which some day will be of use to me. I have recently computed for my own pleasure several useful tables for the latitude of Upsal, and all the solar and lunar eclipses which will take place between 1712 and 1721; I am willing to communicate them, if it be desired. In undertaking in astronomy to facilitate the calculation of eclipses. and of the motion of the moon outside those of the syzygies, and also in undertaking to correct the tables so as to agree with the new observations, I shall have enough to do.
* These two words Swedenborg wrote in the English language.
Would you like to have for the library the Philosophical Transactions, that is, everything the Royal Society has deliberated upon and discovered since its beginning in 1666; together with a Collection of some Natural Phenomena, published in 1707?
If you would be kind enough to order a quadrant for me of Polhammar's brother, I would be very much obliged to you; four or five feet long, of brass; if it be deemed advisable that he should make the division, I wish he would do it after the manner in which his brother computed one very accurately for Prof. Spole; which showed the fifth of every second. I think my father will not refuse to pay for it, if he has anything to spare.
P. S. Grabe's Septuagint was recently published; but I have only seen it in octave, together with a small pamphlet in quarto upon the Alexandrian codex. He was here for some time; but he had to change his lodgings every week, he was so over-run by visitors. Ephraim Syrius is very well published in folio, at Oxford. They have issued a book of all their poets in two volumes; likewise a universal index. I have much to tell about events among the learned, but I have neither time nor paper. In my next I will give you an account of what I have read of the doings of the learned. I asked Count Gyllenborg about your books; he said he received your letter, but not the books; they are detained in the custom-house, until the duty be paid; it is a great chance if I hear anything about them. The Vitis aquilonia is a catholic and superstitious book, which by an act of Parliament in the third year of William and Mary's reign was forbidden to be introduced into the country. If it was another book, I should try to get it for you, for then it would be free.
DOCUMENT 41.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OP THE LITERARY SOCIETY OF UPSAL.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, "Collectanea Physico-Mathematics," No. 66.
1711, June 20. Present Professor D. Boberg,70 Professor Elfvius,54 Magister Valerius.71
1711, July. [Instructions to be sent to Eman. Swedberg in London.]
Paragraph 1. Price and description of an air-pump.
Paragraph 2. That Emanuel Swedberg go to Flamsteed, examine his instruments, how they are made, in what manner the minute divisions are indicated; whether he uses a telescope instead of diopters; all about his other instruments; how they are moved by his apparatus; and also how he makes use of his instruments when it is dark, whether it is done by means of candles, &c.
Paragraph 3. Prof. Elfvius promised to communicate the mode and the points.
Paragraph 4. That Emanuel Swedberg notice the division in the instruments, and how they are tested or examined; also what they cost in respect to size.
Paragraph 5. How much the newest globes cost, and in what estimation they are held by the learned; also whether it is not possible to obtain engravings of them, so that they may be mounted here.
Paragraph 6. He is to be encouraged in trying to facilitate the computation of eclipses.
Paragraph 7. That the Philosophical Transactions be purchased for the Library.
DOCUMENT 42.
PROF. ELFVIUS54 TO SWEDENBORG.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol XL, No. 67.
Upsal, July 28, St. Swithin's day, 1711.
Most honoured Mr. Swedberg,
My good old friend and cousin,*
* Lars Spole (when ennobled Rosenborg), brother of Mrs. Elfvius, married Magdalena Schnstrm, cousin of Emanuel Swedenborg, on the ground of which relationship Prof. Elfvius addressed Swedenborg as cousin.
With great joy I read your letter to the Librarian; from which I not only learn that your health is good, but also that you apply yourself with most praiseworthy industry to the study of mathematics, and the things belonging thereto. Of this I am heartily glad, and I wish you all success in accomplishing your laudable design. I am coming to you now with a few small matters, which I should like to know myself, and which may also be of some use to you in your pursuits.
1. That you try to be present, at all hazards, while Flamsteed is making some observations; that you notice how he conducts them; that you describe his instruments with all the apparatus belonging to them, and especially the diopters, whether they are provided with a movable limb, after the manner of Hedrus, or with cross-lines, as is the case in Tycho's instruments, or with a screw in the limb, which Robert Hooke so strongly recommends, against the opinion of Hevelius; also whether he uses a telescope in the place of the diopters, and how it is fastened. How the instrument is placed parallel with the horizon; and especially that you find out all about the micrometer, which is placed inside the tube, and by which the diameter of the planets is taken.
2. What became of Hooke's observation, according to which he desired to prove the annual motion of the earth, in his treatise: "An attempt to prove the motion of the Earth," London, 1674. Whether it is approved of by the learned, and whether the observation is continued by others.
3. We should like to get a catalogue of all the writings of Flamsteed, which it would not be well for the Library to be without; but about this the Librarian himself will write.
4. Glass-grinding, I think, you ought to make yourself acquainted with, from the beginning even to the minutest detail.
5. What the learned mathematicians think about Newton's theory of the motion of the planets: inasmuch as it seems to be a pure abstraction without any physical ground, viz. how one planetary body could gravitate towards another, &c., which seems to be an absurdity.
6. Whether Flamsteed adopts the number given by Cassini for the greatest obliquity of eclipses, viz. 23" 29', or takes the number given by others, viz. 23" 30'.
7. Which tables of the moon's motion are considered the best.
[Here follows Prof. Elfvius' observation of the eclipse of the moon in 1706, which Swedenborg desired to have].
In conclusion I commend you to God's protection, and remain
Your most obedient servant,
P. ELFVIUS.
[P. S.] I recommend the above, and everything else that may be of use in our mathematical studies, to Mr. Swedberg's great desire of acquiring knowledge, &c.
DOCUMENT 43.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. IV, No. 66.
Received January, 1712. [E. B.]
Most learned Librarian,
Two weeks ago a letter was dispatched by a ship which started for Gottenburg, but which was unfortunately obliged to put back here again a few days ago, in company with several others. Meanwhile your much wished for answer to my last letter, together with a draft for 250 Rixdalers in copper, on account of the Library, has arrived. Part of this money has already been laid out for the books which you ordered in your last letter, all of which I have succeeded in finding and purchasing, with the exception of the Philosophical Transactions, of which however, after a great deal of enquiry, I have at last found a copy. All these shall be sent by the next opportunity either to Gottenburg or Stockholm, together with a very handsome microscope. With respect to the glasses for the telescopes, I shall wait until I hear from you again; for the manufacturers generally say that they never make more than two glasses for a twenty-four feet telescope, but for one that is only six or seven feet long they make four, and they add, that those which consist of four glasses can be used only in the day-time, but the others also at night. Flamsteed's sixteen feet telescope had only two glasses. The glasses which Hevelius made by hand are ah done, and they all stood the test. The bill will follow when they are sent off, and also a catalogue of everything belonging to the air-pump, of which I have the author's own description in a pamphlet in quarto; this I will also send, and it may then either be for my own use, or it may be ordered for the Library.
It is almost impossible to get the paper for the globes; for they are afraid they will be copied. Those that are mounted are, on the other hand, very dear. I have therefore thought of engraving a couple myself with my own hands; but only of the ordinary size, 10/12 of a Swedish foot, and after they are done I will send both the drawing and the plates to Sweden; after my return I may perhaps make some of more value. I have already perfected myself so much in the art of engraving, that I consider myself capable of it; a specimen of my art I enclose in my father's letter; this, which illustrates some of my inventions, was the first thing I took in hand. At the same time I have learned so much from my landlord in the art of making brass instruments, that I have manufactured many for my own use. If I was in Sweden, I should not need to apply to any one to make the meridians for the globe, and its other appurtenances.
With regard to astronomy I have made such progress in it, as to have discovered much which I think will be useful in its study. Although in the beginning it made my brain ache, yet long speculations are now no longer difficult for me. I examined closely all propositions for finding the terrestrial longitude, but could not find a single one; I have therefore originated a method by means of the moon, which is unerring, and I am certain that it is the best which has yet been advanced. In a short time I will inform the Royal Society that I have a proposition to make on this subject, stating my points. If it is favourably received by these gentlemen, I shall publish it here; if not, in France. I have also discovered many new methods for observing the planets, the moon, and the stars; that which concerns the moon and its parallaxes, diameter, and inequality, I will publish whenever an opportunity arises. I am now busy working my way through algebra and the higher geometry, and I intend to make such progress in it, as to be able in time to continue Polhammar's14 discoveries.
If the following books are not in the library, I think you ought to get them. Wilkins' mathematical works; his writings are very clever.
With regard to Wastovius147 I shall ask Bishop More about him; but he has been out of town for some time on visitation. I hope you will not be displeased at my having called him superstitious, for this can no more detract from his usefulness in ecclesiastical matters, than if I had called Virgil a heathen. This proposition, however, cannot, I think, be controverted: "All Catholics worshipers of saints and of the pope, and all worshipers of saints are superstitious." Religion cannot diminish the fame of any one in historical matters. If a precious little copper coin of my brother's should he rashly called by any one a little rusty bit of copper, none of its intrinsic value is thereby lost, perhaps its value is even increased.
I offer my best thanks to Prof. Elfvius54 for communicating to me his observation of the eclipse. I must beg you to procure for the Library a brass quadrant, after the model now in use, which will not cost too much to have imported into Sweden; for, heretofore, all the instruments have been made of iron, and only the circle has been made of brass. Wooden sextants, it is true, are large, but observations made by them are not so reliable as those made with a brass instrument about one third the size. I am also engaged upon a method for a quadrant, by which observations may be made without trigonometrical calculations. Falmsteed's56 largest instrument stands in a crypt, which is open only in the line of the meridian; it is fastened to a stone wedge, and nothing but its tube is movable. The sweep of the instrument is almost 130 [degrees], and it commands the whole of the arc from the horizon to the pole. The division is a mixture of the method employed by Hooke, Tycho, and others; it is divided by cross-lines only for the minutes; every sixth second is shown by some divisions in a brass ruler, which is like a member of a pair of scissors, and cuts off every circle [?].
*Compare Document 42.
I have also been asked about Flamsteed's56 publications; they are as follows: The Posthumous Works of Horroxius, together with a little about the eclipses of the sun, how they may be marked down, so that they may be computed in full; he has also published in folio his Observations during fifteen years, but they cannot be obtained. He told me also that he had in the press the Heavenly Constellations as they are found in Hipparchus, but corrected and emended; for he shows that the one among the ancients who first put them on record mistook right for left, upper for lower, and was especially wrong in the constellation of the ship, because he did not sufficiently understand the Greek language. He prefers to take the stars in the order in which they reach the meridian.
When the plates for the globes arrive in Sweden, Prof. Elfvius54 will perhaps take care to have them printed and made up; I shall send a specimen very soon; but no impression is to be sold.
P. S. Prof. Elfvius asks what is the opinion of Englishmen with regard to Newton's Principia; but in this matter no Englishman ought to be consulted, quia ccutit in suis, i. e. because he is blind about his own; yet it would be criminal to doubt them. The lunar tables that are most are, Horroxii tabul Britannic, Strechii [?] Carolinae, Greenwood's Anglican. Flamsteed informed me that he had made unerring lunar tables. No other writings are in use here, nor do the English employ any other writings in mathematics except those of their own countrymen.
P. S. As I have been hitherto so much taken up with astronomical speculations, I hope you will excuse my negligence; I promise to be more industrious in future, and not to let any opportunity pass, without paying you my respects. I do not expect to come home much before 1715. I have longed very much to see the Bodleiian Library, since I saw the little one at Sion College; but I am kept back here on account of "want of money."* I wonder my father does not show greater care for me, than to have let me live now for more than sixteen months upon 200 rixdalers; well knowing that I promised in a letter not to incommode him by drawing for money; and yet none has been forth-coming for the last three or four months. It is hard to live without food or drink like some poor drudge in Schonen.
* These words are in English in the original letter.
P. S. The expenses for postage you will please to charge either to me or to my father. Flamsteed desired Bilbergii Solem Inocciduum. I send my love to all my brothers and sisters. I hope brothers Gustav and Hennick* have not forgotten our former acquaintance. The little copper-plate may be taken out of my father's letter, which accompanies my first specimen. I thank sister Hedwig** for her letter; the one which she sent before starting for Stockholm arrived about a week ago, after it was half a year old. I will pay my respects to Prof. Elfvius54 by letter; a separate letter to him shall follow, though perhaps not very soon; his advice I will obey. I hope very soon to receive money. This letter goes by post to prichet-grubb[?].
* Gustav Benzelstjerna,65 and Dr. Henricus Benzelius, two younger brothers of Ericus, the former became Royal Secretary and Censor of the press, and died 1737; concerning the latter see Note 7.
** Swedenborg's sister Hedvig who was married to Lars Benzelstjerna,8 another brother of Ericus Benzelius.
DOCUMENT 44.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol., IV, No. 104.
London August 15, 1712.
Most honoured friend and brother,
Some time ago I had the honour of answering your letter. My letter was handed to Alberg, that, when opportunity offered, he might send it over; and as I understand that several ships have since left port, I hope it has arrived and is now in your hands. I was sometimes afraid of writing you too many letters; for if they come in too rapid succession they must necessarily be barren [of news]; wherefore I thought it best to reserve them from time to time, and collect them together, that they might become more important. In the above letter, and also in one that I sent to my father, I detailed the trouble I had taken to get the books out of the custom-house; which it is impossible to do, unless the conditions mentioned are complied with. Some of your friends desire these books, and have asked me to make you acquainted with the state of things, in order that, if they cannot be got out, others may be sent in their place. I am ready to start on my journey, and am delaying only that I may have an opportunity of procuring the friendship of the learned by means of your welcome presents; John Chamberlayne, however, with whom I am very well acquainted, and who has written "On the present state of England," has obligingly promised me, that in case any other of your learned books, as for instance, "Vitis Aquilonia, &c." should be sent over here, he will take care they shall be delivered to those to whom they may be addressed; so much interest does he take in this affair.
As my speculations made me for a time not so sociable as, is serviceable and useful for me, and as my spirits are somewhat exhausted, I have taken refuge for a short time in the study of poetry, that I might be somewhat recreated by it. I intend to gain a little reputation by this study, on some occasion or other, during this year, and I hope I may have advanced it as much as may be expected from me--but time and others will perhaps judge of this.
I have been at Woodward's, who was so polite as to introduce me to some of the learned and to members of the Royal Society, and also to some one by whom, he said, you were taken to a certain Doctor Postelwort (I think that is his name); this gentleman talked a good deal about you, and your intention to enter the Church, and both of them desire very much to be remembered to you.
Magister Alstryn will inform you what Hudson at Oxford has in hand; he is a little dissatisfied that he so seldom gets a letter from you; he is very anxious to have from you both a letter and several copies of Chrystostom.
I send you a part of the books which I was most particularly requested to purchase, viz:--
L s. d.
Miscellanea Curiosa, in three volumes 0 13 0
Notton, Reflection upon Ancient and Modern Learning 0 4 0
Reflection upon the Conduct of human Life 0 1 6
Reflection upon Learning 0 3 6
Hauksbee, Physico-Mechanical Experiments 0 6 0
Leslie, Truth of Christianity 0 2 0
Letter to Sir Joseph Banks 0 0 3
Glasses for a Telescope of 24 feet 2 0 0
L 3 10 3
In the same box I send a large quantity of my books--mostly mathematical--which I have been using here, and also some of my instruments; a part of my books and instruments I am keeping back. I trust that you will take good care of them; but if Prof. Elfvius54 desires to see them, you may show them to him. I am still several pounds in debt here, which I intend to clear off by means of some other books. The microscope I did not purchase, because it cost too much, viz. four guineas; and the others are scarcely worthy to be in a library.
* As will be seen from the original of this letter as published in Vol. III the greater part of what follows was written by Swedenborg in broken English, which we have endeavoured to render into good English.
Your great kindness, and your favour, of which I have had so many proofs, make me believe, that your advice and your letters will induce my father to be so favourable towards me, as to send me the funds which are necessary for a young man, and which will infuse into me new spirit for the prosecution of my studies. Believe me, I desire and strive to be an honour to my father's house and yours, much more strongly than you yourself can wish and endeavour.
P. S. I would have bought the microscope, if the price had not been so much higher than I could venture to pay, before receiving your orders. This microscope was one which Mr. Marshall showed to me especially; it is quite new, and of his own invention, and shows the motion in fishes very vividly.
P. S. At a watchmaker's, Antram, I saw a curiosity which I cannot forbear mentioning: it was a clock which was still, and without any motion. On the top of it there was a candle, and when this was lighted, the clock began to go and to keep its true time: but as soon as the candle was blown out, the motion ceased, and so on. There was nothing on the top, or near the candle, which could be heated by the flame or the fire, and which could thus set the clock in motion. He showed me also the interior, which was entirely different from any other clock. He told me that nobody had as yet find out, how it could be set in motion by the candle.
P. S. Please remember me kindly to sister Anna,* my dear sister Hedvig,** and also to Brother Ericus Benzel,58 the little one; about whose state of health I always desire to hear.
* Swedenborg's sister, the wife of Ericus Benzelius.
** A younger sister of Swedenborg, married to Lass Benzelstjerna.8
DOCUMENT 45.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* IBenzelius' Collection, Vol. IV, No. 149.
Most honoured friend and brother,
Since my last letter, which I sent you from Holland by the mail packet, I have not had the honour of paying you my respects; I am sorry it has been so long after that time I left Holland, intending to make greater progress in mathematics, and also to finish all I had designed in that science. Since my arrival here I have been hindered in my work by an illness which lasted six weeks, and which interfered with my studies and other useful operations; but I have at last recovered, and am beginning to make the acquaintance of the most learned men in this place.
What I hear from the learned, I note down at once in my journal; it would be too long to copy it out and to communicate it to you. Between the mathematicians here and the English there is great emulation and jealousy. Halley,55 of Oxford, told me that he was the first who examined the variation of the pendulum under the equator; they keep silence about this here; the astronomers here also maintain that Cassini's paper was written before Halley made his expedition to the Island of St. Helena, and so forth.
It is seldom that mathematical works are published here, and if you come a few months after, they are not to be had. All mathematicians take their papers to the Diaria publica Academi Scientiarum (the public Journal of the Academy of Sciences), and do not trouble themselves further about publishing and keeping a copy of them. I find in the book-shops in this country a much smaller number of mathematical works for sale than in England and Holland. I have also been a good deal in the libraries, with the exception of the Royal Library. I ordered Brander in England to send the microscope which was written for, to Sweden for the Library; it will probably cost from three to four pounds. It will be forwarded to you by some opportunity.
I suppose my books and other things, which Alstryn took to Sweden, have been forwarded from Gottenburg to Upsal. During my stay in Holland I was most of the time in Utrecht, where the Diet met, and where I was in great favour with ambassador Palmquist,61 who had me every day at his house; every day also I had discussions on algebra with him. He is a good mathematician, and a great algebraist, He wished me not to go away; and, therefore, I intend next year to return to Leyden, where they have a splendid observatory, and the finest brass quadrant that I have ever seen; it cost 2000 new guilders. They are continually making new observations. I will ask permission from the university to take observations there for two or three months, which I shall easily obtain; Palmquist said the same.
In Leyden I learned glass-grinding; and I have now all the instruments and utensils belonging to it.
Three months ago I received a letter from Hinrick Benzelius,7 from Dimmertess, near Adrianople, dated the 30April/11May, in which he mentions that he had been for six months with the King.* I do not know what he intends to do now, whether he will proceed farther into the East, or return to Venice by way of the Archipelago. Magister Eneman,* Professor at Upsal with a salary of 700 rixdalers, had been with him, hut he travelled afterwards to Jerusalem. He had a letter from him dated from Smyrna.
* Henricus Benzelius left Sweden in 1712; after passing through Germany and Hungary he spent some time at Bender in Turkey with Charles XII; afterwards he visited Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, and returned home towards the close of 1718.
** Magister Eneman made an equally extensive journey, and in addition visited Arabia, being the first Swede who had entered that country. While in Egypt, in 1714, he received the appointment of professor of the oriental languages at Upsal; whereupon he immediately returned home, but died a few weeks after his return.
Whatever I am able to gather, from the conversation of the learned, respecting the progress of literature and mathematics, I will always report to you whenever I have an opportunity.
You may rest assured that I entertain the greatest friendship and veneration for you; I hope, therefore, that you will not be displeased with me on account of my silence, and my delay in writing letters, if you hear that I am always intent on my studies, so that sometimes I omit more important matters.
Farewell.
Yours most faithfully, even to death,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Paris, 9/19 August, 1713.
DOCUMENT 46.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 110. This is the first of the letters copied by Dr. Hhl, the librarian of the Cathedral-library at Linkping, for the Swedenborg association. His transcript of these letters is of considerable value, as it contains Dr. Hhl's reading of doubtful passages. The order in which these letters follow in Dr. Hhl's copies is the same as that in which these letters were originally bound together in Vol. XL of the Benzelius Collection. This order was also preserved by Mr. White in publishing twenty-six of these letters in English; yet this order is by no means chronological, and only serves to confound the biographer of Swedenborg. Upon closer investigation it has been found that all the letters in the collection without any date had been bound up indiscriminately between letters one and two. After the true dates of these letters had been approximately determined by a critical examination of their contents, the true order of these letters, as numbered by Dr. Hhl and Mr. White, appears to be as follows: 1, 5 (omitted both by Dr. Hhl and Mr. White), 9, 38, 13, 8, 32, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 26, &c. Compare the English translation of this letter in Mr. White's "New Churchman," March, 1856, p. 29, "New Documents concerning Swedenborg" Letter 1.
Most honoured Friend and Brother,
It is some time since I had the pleasure of writing to you. I hope this has not caused any feeling of uneasiness. I admit that it was caused partly by procrastination, but in part it was also owing to my not having any opportunities for writing. This reason has also prevented me from giving my dear parents any intelligence concerning myself. But as I am now so much nearer home, I will make amends for all this by increased industry, if I can please you by doing so. Your last letter I received in Paris as I was on the point of leaving that city: nevertheless I attended to the commission respecting the books, several of which I was able to find; I intrusted Secretary Gedda with the care of receiving them from the bookseller, with whom they now are until further orders.
With Father le Long, also, who has a history of literature in hand, it was the same. It would be a heart-felt delight to them, and it is a strong wish of theirs, that you may once more have an opportunity of being with them.
I am very glad that I have come to a place where I have time and leisure to gather up all my works and thoughts, which have hitherto been without any order, and are scattered here and there upon scraps of paper. I have always been in want of a place and time to collect them. I have now commenced this labour, and shall soon get it done. I promised my dear father to publish an academical thesis, for which I shall select some inventions in mechanics which I have at hand. Further, I have the following mechanical inventions either in hand or fully written out, viz:--
1. The plan of a certain ship, which with its men can go under the surface of the sea, wherever it chooses, and do great damage to the fleet of the enemy.
2. A new plan for a syphon, by which a large quantity of water may be raised from any river to a higher locality in a short time.
3. For lifting weights by the aid of water and this portable syphon, with greater facility than by mechanical powers.
4. For constructing sluices in places where there is no fall of water, by means of which entire ships with their cargoes may be raised to ally height required within an hour or two.
5. A machine driven by fire, for throwing out water, and a method of constructing it near forges, where the water has no fall, but is tranquil. The fire and chimney would supply a sufficient quantity of water for the wheels.
6. A draw-bridge which may be closed and opened within the gates and the walls.
7. New machines for condensing and exhausting air by means of water. Also a new pump acting by water and mercury, without any syphon, which presents more advantages, and works more easily, than the common pumps. I have also, besides these, other new plans for pumps.
8. A new construction of air-guns, thousands of which may be discharged in a moment by means of one syphon.
9. A universal musical instrument, by means of which one who is quite unacquainted with music may execute all kinds of airs, that are marked on paper by notes.
10. Sciagraphia universalis. The universal art of delineating shades, or a mechanical method of delineating engravings of any kind upon any surface by means of fire.
11. A water-clock, in which water serves the purpose of an index, and in which, by the flow of the water, all the movable bodies in the heavens are demonstrated, with other curious effects.
12. A mechanical carriage containing all sorts of works, which are set in motion by the movement of the horses.
Also, a flying carriage, or the possibility of remaining suspended in the air, and of being conveyed through it.
13. A method of ascertaining the desires and affections of the minds of men by analysis.
14. New methods of constructing cords and springs, with their properties.
These are my mechanical inventions which were heretofore lying scattered on pieces of paper, but nearly all of which are now brought into order, so that when opportunity offers, they may be published. To all these there is added an algebraic and a numerical calculation, from which the proportions, motion, times, and all the properties which they ought to possess, are deduced. Moreover, all those things which I have in analysis and astronomy, require each its own place and its own time.
I have now time also to bring my poetical efforts into order. They are only a kind of fables, like those of Ovid, under cover of which those events are treated which have happened in Europe within the last fourteen or fifteen years; so that in this manner I am allowed to sport with serious things, and to play with the heroes and the great men of our country. But, meanwhile, I am affected with a certain sense of shame, when I reflect that I have said so much about my plans and ideas, and have not yet exhibited anything: my journey and its inconveniences have been the cause of this.
I have now a very great desire to return home to Sweden, and to take in hand all Polhammar's14 inventions, make drawings, and furnish descriptions of them, and also to test them by physics, mechanics, hydroststics, and hydraulics, end likewise by the algebraic calculus; I should prefer to publish them in Sweden, rather than in any other place; and in this manner to make a beginning among us of a Society for Learning and Science, for which pre have such an excellent foundation in Polhammar's inventions. I wish mine could serve the same purpose.
As to my Method for finding the Longitude, it is also contained on small scraps of paper. I gave only a few outlines and points of it in Paris, so that those who wished to see it, and to understand how it operated, could acquire some knowledge of it. But as I had no observations by which I could confirm it, I thought I would let it rest, until I had worked it out fully, and had confirmed it by observations; lest I might lose all my trouble, as well as any reward I might expect from it. I am afraid I might bring forth blind whelps (timeo ut ccos parerem catulos), if I produced it before its proper time.
Meanwhile, I should like very much to know what the Upsal Minerva thinks of the general of the Muscovites, who is only twenty Swedish miles distant; whether she has seized her arms and aegis, and is preparing to go and meet him, together with her muses, or whether she has an olive branch which she prefers to offer? Although afar off, I see how she is instructing her muses in the use of arms, and teaching the exercises of Mars rather than her own. I should have wished to bear the eagles before her, or to perform any other small service under her.
A thousand remembrances to my sister Anna.5 I hope she is not alarmed at the approach of the Russians. I have a great longing to see little brother Eric58 again; perhaps he will be able to make a triangle, or to draw one for me, when I give him a little ruler.
Farewell, and again farewell! This is the wish of
Your devoted friend,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Rostock, 8 September, 1714.
DOCUMENT 47.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 117. Compare the English translation of this letter in Mr. White's "New Churchman," June, 1856, p. 66 "New Documents concerning Swedenborg," Letter 7.
Most honoured friend and brother,
By the last mail I sent enclosed in my father's letter a drawing of an air-pump to be worked by water; I should also have added a letter, had not my time been too short.
In my last letter to my father I promised to send you by every opportunity, and in each of his letters, some machine or other of my invention. If I can thereby amuse you and Professor Elfvius,54 I shall continue to do so for some time.
I am relieving these mathematical studies with poetry; I have published a few things, and have now in the press some fables like those of Ovid, under which the deeds and other affairs of certain kings and great men are concealed.*
* The work in question was published by Swedenborg under this title: Camena Borea cum Heroum et Herodium factis ludens: sive Fabell Ovidianis similes cum variis nominibus script ab Emanuel Swedberg (The Northern Muse sporting with the deeds of heroes and heroines: or Fables similar to those of Ovid under various names, by Emanuel Swedberg). Gryphiswaldise (Greifswalde), 1715. A second edition of this work was published by Dr. Im. Tafel at Tbingen, in 1845.
As to the doings of the learned, there is nothing of much interest to be found in Greifswalde, which--you will excuse me for saying--is quite a paltry university. Papke is the professor of mathematics, fit for anything rather than for this science. I should have liked to meet Leibnitz,62 who is at present in Vienna.
I am exceedingly glad to hear that Professor Upmark51 and sister Eva Swede* are united in thalamo et lecto; I wish them every kind of happiness. I had intended to write a carmen nuptiale in their behalf, but as it is now too late, it will probably be a carmen geniale.
* Daughter of Prof. Swede of Upsal and Brita Behm50 Swede, Swedenborg's maternal aunt.
Remember me a thousand times to sister Anna5; and when you feel inclined to write, I expect to have a short account of how little brother Eric58 is.
I suppose Prof. Elfvius54 will use his greatest diligence at the great eclipse of May the 3rd.
I remain always, my dear brother,
Your most obedient servant and brother,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Greifswalde, 4 April, 1715.
P. S. Messrs. Estenberg and Cederholm, who are ordinarii (ordinary assessors) in the government office, relate that brother Hinric Benzelius7 was staying in Constantinople when they left it. I do not know whether he is with the suite. They arrived safely this week, so we shall soon hear whether he is with them.
DOCUMENT 48.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*:
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 118. An English translation of this letter is contained in NM. White's "New Churchman," June, 1856, Letter 8.
Most honoured friend and brother,
As I presume you have now returned from the springs to Upsal, I hope that this letter may find you in good condition and with renewed health, at which I should rejoice more than any one else. I received lately a very nice little Latin letter from brother Ericulus,58 at which I was very much pleased and gratified. I answered it in some extemporaneous Latin verses, in which I wished him every kind of happiness and success, both in his studies, and in everything else that may be agreeable to his parents and to himself.
I looked very carefully for the machines which I some time ago sent to my father; they were eight in number, but I was unable to discover the place in which he had laid them aside. He thinks they have been sent to you, which I hope with all my heart; for it cost me it great amount of work to place them on paper, and I shall not have any time during the next winter to do this over again. There were, 1. Three drawings and plans for water-pumps, by which a large quantity of water can be raised in a short time from any sea or lake you choose. 2. Two machines for raising weights by means of water, as easily and quickly as is done by mechanical forces. 3. Some kinds of sluices, which can be constructed where there is no fall of water, and which will raise boats over hills, sand-banks, &c.
The day after to-morrow I will travel to the Kinnekulle,* to select a spot for a small observatory, where I intend, towards winter, to make some observations respecting our horizon, and to lay a foundation for those observations, by which my invention on the longitude of places may be confirmed: perhaps, I may then in all haste travel first to Upsal, to get some things I need for it.
* The finest mountain in Sweden, which rises from the shores of Lake Wetter 936' above the level of the sea. A most beautiful view is commanded from its summit.
Please let me know whether Professor Upmark51 has yet obtained his appointment. If there is anything in which I can be of use to you again, I wish you would inform me of it. Will you be so good as to recommend me to any of the professors for any opening that may present itself? The rest I shall myself see to. By the nest opportunity I will send you something which I saw through the press before returning home: it is an oration on the King's return, and also some fables like those of Ovid, which I have called Camena Borea,* and have dedicated to Cronhjelm.63 I am waiting impatiently for your oration, about which you said a few words in your last letter. Remember me a thousand times to Anna.5 Whatever additional success I may have in my designs, I will first communicate to you. I wish you would allow me to do so.
* See note to Document 47.
Meanwhile I live in the hope of being allowed to remain, most learned friend and brother,
Your most obedient brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, 9 Aug. 1715.
DOCUMENT 49.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 119. The Swedish original of this letter was published by Prof. Atterbom in the appendix to his "Siare och Skalder," p. 101, Letter 1. Compare the English translation by Mr. Strutt in Mr. White's "New Churchman," June, 1856, p. 68. Letter 9.
Most honoured friend and brother,
According to promise I send these lines in the greatest haste to the post-office, thanking you first and foremost for the great kindness shown to me at Upsal. My highest wish is to find an opportunity by which I call repay it in someday or other. I only came here to-day. I could easily have arrived yesterday, had it not been for the darkness, and for the uncertainty of finding quarters for one in a blue dress.
The Queen Dowager64 is still living; she is better to-day. I intend to send for the ring to-morrow by Magister Rhyzell. I will inquire about the books to-morrow, and send you word by the next post.
We have heard both the best and the worst news; only it has here and there been exaggerated and coloured. Most people know nothing certain about the King's person. Some shut him up in Stralsund, and give him no means of escape; others vainly rejoice at his return, and expect him late this evening; carriages are in readiness at the Court to go to meet him. It is generally supposed, however, that he has made his escape; that after his horse had been shot under him, he ran two thousand paces on foot, before he could procure another charger.
Brother Gustaf65 sends his love, and apologizes for not having written. With a hundred thousand kind remembrances and thanks to sister Anna,5 I remain, most honoured brother,
Your most faithful brother and friend,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Stockholm, 21 November, 1715.
DOCUMENT 50.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 155. This letter which was written by Swedenborg in the French language, was not copied by Dr. Hhl for the Swedenborg Association, and consequently was not translated into English by Mr. Strutt.
My dear brother,
I have enjoyed the pleasure of reading your letter, my dear brother, more than half a dozen times, and each time it has given me increased pleasure; and if I should read it again, I should still derive from it new enjoyment.
My literary occupations* engage me every day; impatience only makes me somewhat restless, and restlessness interferes a little with my affairs here. Messrs. Swab66 and Morus have come to Stockholm, and have asked me to present their respects to you. Both these gentlemen express a hope that by corresponding with Mr. Geisler, the surveyor of the mines at Fahlun, I may obtain fine drawings of all the machines of our Polhammar:14 as he is the ablest and most delightful painter in Sweden of those small but difficult works connected with mines, I flatter myself that I shall by this means obtain some very interesting pieces, which will serve our common work, both in the place of an ornament and of tapestry in gold.
* These literary occupations consisted in the preparation of No. 1 of the "Ddalus Hyperboreus," a scientific magazine, which, upon consultation with Ericus Benzelius, Swedenborg undertook to publish.
The machine of Mr. Lunstrm in Avestad has already run its course; it has not yet paid the King's taxes, nor even two per cent like the others that are subject to the King; nor will it ever pay taxes, if it cannot defray its own expenses. Mr. Swab will report this to the College of Mines here. This is the destiny of machines invented by a master who is merely an empiric, and has no knowledge of theory. If it would not be displeasing to Mr. Polhammar, I would offer to present a more simple machine, in place of this unfortunate one.
The models in the College of Mines are going to ruin as time advances. After six or tell years they will only be good for fire-wood, unless I choose to prevent that destiny by means of a little brass, a little ink, and some paper. Just the opposite, therefore, to the common saying is going to take place; according to which that which is to have some share of eternity, will not smile upon the days of its master.* My dear brother, I suspected the same in regard to Mr. Werner,67 about which you enlighten me by very many proofs. He is a man who thinks he can accomplish everything by promises and pleasant words; and as he is solely intent upon his own puny glory, he thinks only of feeding it by all the worldly advantages that are offered to him. My dear brother, if you would favour me with a letter to him, he might be persuaded; but the principal motives must be honour and self-interest, to secure his services.
* Or in other words: According to the common saying, the works of a master are appreciated only by posterity, and not by his own times-and in agreement with this principle, the wonderful machines for mining purposes invented by Polhammar, which were in the keeping of the College of Mines, were allowed by the authorities of the College to go to ruin. Owing to the representations made by Swedenborg these machines, however, were saved from destruction, and they are, moreover, described by him in his "Ddalus Hyperboreus."
With regard to the dedication* I must obey you.
* The "dedication" of which Swedenborg writes here is the dedication of his "Dedalus Hyperboreus," which Ericus Benzelius insisted should be addressed to King Charles XII. Swedenborg did so only out of consideration for his relative, as he expected little advantage would result from the royal patronage.
But, my dear brother, a single word from you to my father about me, will be worth more than twenty thousand remonstrances from me. You can without any comment inform him of my enterprise, of my zeal in my studies; and that he need not imagine that in future I shall waste my time and, at the same time, his money. One word from another is worth more than a thousand from me. He knows very well that you have the kindness to interest yourself in my behalf; but he knows too, that I am still more interested in my own behalf. For this reason he will distrust me more than you, my dear brother.
I will take care of the shoes for brother Eric, and we will also take care of the dress. But the dyers of [Stockholm] have their hands full; the shops here are all changed into black chambers, to make the goods appear still more dreary, and everything that has been red or gay has assumed now the colour of mourning.* This is the reason why my sister's dress cannot be dyed black.
* All Stockholm seems to have gone into mourning on account of the death of the Queen Dowager, Hedvig Eleonora,64 which occurred on the 24th of November.
I should like very much to form one of the company at Starbo,68 but the affairs of the journal keep me confined here. It is necessary to push matters to a termination first; but a week or a fortnight after your departure I shall probably share the road with you on my way to Brunsbo.
The news that are reported here, arrived from Stralsund this morning, viz:
1. That the Royal government office with all its employes has embarked for Sweden. There was probably a place left in the vessel for the King.
2. That Stralsund has been reduced to ashes, and has become its own grave, and that of many officers.
3. That Mr. Adelstrm has been advanced to be keeper of the Library; no other advancements.
Pardon, my dear brother, that I write to you in French. But the language in which you think usually suits you best. My thoughts at present move in this language; but whenever Cicero shall again engage me, I shall endeavour to address you like a Ciceronian.
Farewell, my dear brother, and think of
Your very affectionate and very humble servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
[Stockholm, beginning of December, 1715.]
DOCUMENT 51.
POLHEM14 TO SWEDENBORG.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 335.
Noble and most learned Sir,
Most honoured friend,
With peculiar joy and delight I have heard of your praiseworthy intention to publish, under your own care and at your own expense, the interesting and useful information in physical mathematics and mechanics which has been collected by the Collegium curiosorum at Upsal and by yourself. For this you will deservedly receive many thanks, and acquire great reputation, if not at present, while the condition of our country is so overclouded, at least in after times when our just God again allows the sun of his grace to rise upon us.
I read with great pleasure the description of the ear-trumpet; and I see from it that you are a ready mathematician, and well qualified for doing this and similar achievements.
I thank you most humbly for the great praise which you were pleased to shower upon me in your preface, but I would advise you to do this more sparingly, so that the sense of delicacy may not be offended thereby; because for one who has been brought up in his own country no such high reputation can be expected, at least not in his own times.
Meanwhile, I remain constantly, most honoured sir,
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHAMMAR.14
Stiernsund,* December 7th, 1715.
* An iron-work in Dalecarlia where the King of Sweden had established a mechanical institution of which Polhem was the director, (see Document 38).
To Mr. EMANUEL SWEDBERG, Stockholm.
DOCUMENT 52.
POLHEM TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 339.
Most worthy and most learned Librarian,
Most respected friend,
I thank you most humbly for your kind letter, which arrived by the last post; it was the more welcome, as it was some time since I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from you. I find that young Swedberg is a ready mathematician, and possesses much aptitude for the mechanical sciences; and if he continues as he has begun, he will, in course of time, be able to be of greater use to the King and to his country in this than in any thing else.
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHAMMAR.
Stiernsund, December 10, 1715.
* The Swedish naval station.
P. S. Would you be bind enough to send back my former papers, so that I may see what I have heretofore written and thought upon those things which Mr. Swedberg desires to bring out. They might be received and brought here by my boys at Upsal, only they ought to be sealed up in a packet.
DOCUMENT 53.
POLHEM TO SWEDENBORG.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 343.
Noble and most learned Sir,
Most honoured friend,
The copper-plate which you desire is entirely at your service; only you must take the trouble to ask it from Magister Naclerus, who borrowed it for his disputation, and has forgotten to return it to me. What you desire to know about the water-wheel, with regard to its driving power and velocity, together with several other things, requires more space for a proper discussion than a mere letter, especially if all is to be demonstrated by mathematics. In the mechanical laboratory experiments are made at the expense of the King, on the most important parts of a number of things, which agree pretty well with theory and mathematical computation, especially since I discovered the cause of the difference, viz. of the resistance of mediums and the friction of substances, which have also their proportions, but the subject of which is too extensive to be treated of in a letter.
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHAMMAR.
Stiernsund, December 19, 1715.
P. S. If you should have any business with my brother, who is a mathematical instrument maker in Stockholm, I should like you to remember me to him, and to tell him that about three months ago I wrote to him by post, and am still waiting for an answer.
To Mr. EMANUEL SWEDBERG, in Stockholm.
DOCUMENT 54.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius's Collection, Vol. XL, No. 120. Compare an English translation in Mr. White's "New Churchman," June, 1856, p. 68, Letter 10.
Most honoured friend and brother,
I herewith send you what I promised in my last letter from Starbo,68 with the view of getting it printed at Upsal. Perhaps some one may be found compassionate enough to read the proof-sheets for me; perhaps brother Esberg69 may do it. I enclose a draft for fourteen rixdalers upon Mons. von der Hagen, which is quite correct, and will be paid on presentation.
1. I have inserted Doctor Roberg's70 experiment, and his proposition for the manufacture of salt, which I have altered throughout, so that the experiment can now be made more accurately. I had also intended to make some experiments on it myself at Starbo, but the winter has not been very favourable for it. Should the Doctor desire his name to appear, notwithstanding the many changes which have been made in the article, he is free to have it.
2. I leave room also for Prof. Valerius'71 observation of the solar eclipse; which he can himself translate into Swedish, and leave with the printer; but with the understanding that it is to be short.
3. The calculation of interest by means of a triangle is Polhammar's, but the calculation of the carolins is my own. I have left them both without a name, and with no one to be answerable for them; still you are at liberty to insert the names.
4. Next time I hope to insert something more useful from the materials collected in Stiernsund, during my short stay there.
5. N.B. I send a drawing for the interest-triangle, and also one for a little instrument used in Polhammar's experiments; I do not know how this may be cut in wood. It would be a piece of good fortune, and a great advantage, if some one could be found at Upsal to do this. It is easy enough, and only requires one who has a knowledge of the first rudiments of the art of engraving. If it were necessary to have it done in copper, I could neither get it to, nor from, Aveln nor Hedengren. If, therefore, it be feasible to have it cut in wood at Upsal, try, I pray you, to have it done; I shall pay for it most willingly. Perhaps Prof. Valerius71 or Dr. Roberg70 will give the instructions.
6. How good it would be to get a copper-plate press at Upsal!
7. For the larger copper-plates and their printing I have made the necessary arrangements in Stockholm, through brother Gustaf.65
8. I wish from my heart that it [the magazine] could be printed--the sooner the better, so that I might take a few copies to Ystad,* to direct, while I am there, attention to this, as well as to the first, number.
* The royal court of Charles XII was at Ystad, at that time. Ystad is a Swedish sea-port in Schonen.
9. If I can remain at Brunsbo* long enough to get your letter, I will beg from you a proposition for providing means for a Professor of Mechanics, to be paid like the other professors; perhaps it may be done by diminishing the salaries of the others. I see no other plan by which this measure can be advocated in the proper place.
* The episcopal residence of his father near Skara.
10. I have also another little work to which Polhammar intends to contribute. It is called Ornament for Youth, Profit for Manhood, and Delight for Old Age, in which arithmetic, geometry, and algebra are treated of, beginning with the easiest problems, and gradually ascending to the more difficult. There are two sheets of it done, which I will send to Upsal at an early opportunity.
11. In my last letter I made a mistake. I ought to have written: Confido tibi hc, mi frater! Ut sacerdoti, simul ut politico; ut etiam hc--I entrust this to you, my brother, as to a priest and at the same time as to a diplomatist; even as I do what is contained in this letter. Farewell, my honoured friend and brother.
Your faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Sklwick, Feb. 14, 1716.
[P. S.] I am just on the point of departing.
DOCUMENT 55.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 121. Compare an English translation of this letter in Mr. White's "New Churchman," July, 1856, p. 78, Letter 11.
Most honoured friend and brother,
As an opportunity presents itself by Hkan, the journeyman printer, I herewith send to you a little work which Plhammar has commenced, and which he intends to publish from time to time. It is a "Mathematical Course," consisting solely of geometry, arithmetic, and algebra, of which this is the first and easiest part. I promised to have it printed, and I also intend to get it done at my own expense, unless some one else will please to undertake it in my stead; and as it is so very useful to beginners and others, it ought certainly, according to our expectations, to obtain a sale. Perhaps the printer may he willing to publish it at his own expense, for I do not care very much to act in such a covert capacity, or in that of a bookseller or a publisher; as I do not see any opportunity in it of doing something for my own benefit.
As the King is still on the Norwegian frontier, my journey to Ystad has been postponed, until I see how matters turn out.
1. Inasmuch as a Mathematical and Scientific Faculty is as necessary and useful as a Philosophical Faculty, and as more benefit would accrue to our country from the former, than even from the latter, partly by the establishment of manufactures, and partly from its application to mining, navigation, &c., therefore a seventh part of the appropriation made for the university might well be taken for the former; whereby the sum of 9000 dalers in copper might be obtained.
2. This sum might then be divided and applied, as follows:
Professor of mechanics 600
Secretary 300
4 fellows, at 200 dalers each. 800
4 auscultants, at 100 dalers each 400
Models, experiments, and observations 500
Instruments, annually 400
Making a total of 300 dalers in silver.
3. The four fellowships at 200 dalers in silver might be very well accepted by some of the professors, e. g., by Professors Valerius,71 Elfvius,54 Roberg,70 and Bromell:72 so that, with their professorships, they would get more than they do now. The office of secretary would be filled best by yourself. I should think that the professors would look upon this deduction of one seventh from their income with more favour than upon a deduction of one half, as is the case with all the other servants of the King; especially as they would only be called upon to give up something of their own for the purpose of advancing the cause of education in general.
4. Although all this is proposed more in jest than ill earnest, still if it should gain somebody's consent, it could be followed by the recommendation of those that are concerned,--but more of this anon.
If it were possible, I should like very much to have by some messenger, the camera obscura which is enclosed in a blue cylinder as a case; it lies in the store-room on the locker, near the closet. I intend by means of it to prepare "Reflections on the Art of Perspective," by taking with it many views and prospects. If therefore you could send it to me as soon as possible, you would confer a real benefit upon me, and gratify my chief desire.
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, 4th March, 1716.
DOCUMENT 56.
POLHEM TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 347.
Most worthy and most learned Librarian,
Most respected friend,
By the last post Mr. Swedberg's letter arrived, and it is, together with what I enclose herewith, to be printed. At his desire I read it through in the greatest haste, and as I cannot find but that all is correct, I have nothing else to remark respecting it, except that I see Mr. Swedberg desires to have the triangle introduced about compound interest, which we have lately discussed; and where it is more expeditious to use a curve in the place of the cross-lines, as is shown in the annexed figure:
[Drawing]
I left with Mr. Swedberg a small beginning or introduction to a mechanical and mathematical work for the use of young people, which he said he should see through the press; but as there is no great hurry for this, I should like to hear what the mathematicians at Upsal have to say about it, and in what it might be improved. I do not care whether my name appear upon it or not; if only it can be so arranged that the young people may profit by it; and whenever it is found that the work is in request, it may be increased to a considerable size, although its beginning appears so small and simple.
Some time ago Mr. Swedberg was at my house, when I became acquainted with his readiness of resources and with his other good dualities, so that I am still more willing he should bring to light my small amount of learning, inasmuch as, on account of his knowledge in mathematics, he is quite ready and able for it.
His letter does not indicate where and when it was written. I commend myself to your former favour and friendship; and remain, most worthy and most learned librarian,
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHAMMAR.
Stiernsund, March 6, 1716.
DOCUMENT 57.
POLHELM TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 351.
Most worthy and most learned Librarian,
Most respected friend,
On my way to Pahlun I was thinking whether something in Mr. Swedberg's publication ought not to be altered, viz. whether in place of saying, "that which describes the use of the 'Blankstts' work," it might not be better to say: "The use of this work is as follows," &c. [Here follows a long extract from Ddalus, part ii].
The experiment about the swinging ball under the water, together with its application to the motion of the earth and planets, involves several difficulties, which ought to be explained at the same time, but which cannot be done on this occasion; it would therefore be better to exclude it for the present, and everything else belonging to it. Whenever any of my experiments or theories are introduced I should like to know about them beforehand, so that nothing unripe may see daylight, and foreigners may find no occasion for criticising, but may be able to see the subject in its true connection.
A little time ago I received a letter from His Majesty, instructing me to travel to Carlscrona,* on account of some work that is to be done there. How long I shah have to stay there I do not know, nor will the journey be undertaken for several weeks in consequence of some obstacles. I remain, most worthy Librarian,
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHAMMAR.
Fahlun, March 8, 1716.
* The chief naval station in Sweden.
DOCUMENT 58.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 115. See an English translation in Mr. White's "New Churchman," May, 1856, p. 53, Letter 5.
Most honoured friend and brother,
The last post brought me your very welcome letter of the 12th of March. I am glad to hear that Assessor Polhammar has kindly sent to Upsal his paper for this or the following month. I should like very much to know the general tenor of his observations: for I admit that I have been too much in a hurry with it, inasmuch as I was travelling at the time, and my thoughts were distracted by other occupations and amusements. Further, it is not at all easy to put another's thoughts on paper, so as to agree fully with his own ideas. Still, when I have some leisure again, I will devote more time and industry to it, and will send it to him in good time, although it will be in small portions.
I was very glad to hear your opinion and ideas upon my proposition. I have never been, and I never will be, so forgetful of myself and of my standing at Upsal, as to expect that the professors would support me to their own prejudice; but I thought that by such a desperate and execrable proposition I should compel your prudence and imagination to discover something better for me; the whole of it was conceived merely as a joke, and this can very easily be mended en disant la verit-by telling the truth about it. Besides, it is impossible for it to spread further, inasmuch as I had concealed it well in the envelope directed to you, and had stamped my seal upon it, so that no one could have peeped into it. Still it would be very desirable that such a faculty should be established, and if it is not practicable now, and we have to wait, it could be done with the greatest ease by dispensing with some of the professorships which are least necessary, e. g. in course of time one professorship might be spared both from theology and medicine, and the professorship of Oriental languages might be transferred either to a professorship of theology, or to the professorship of Greek; so also that of morals might be transferred to the professorship of history; especially, as there are few universities where there are so many professorships established. But as it would probably take from six to ten years before this could be carried out, it would be well if meanwhile some other arrangement could be made; and this your prudence will be best able to find out.
By the last post I sent 150 dalers in copper for the liquidation of my debt. I do not know whether this is sufficient, as I do not know what I have sent over on the former account, except two glasses to Valerius, and also the Transactions of the Royal Society, which was fifteen shillings, and a few other small books; the whole account of which amounted to about four pounds, more or less. My travelling-book, in which those and other things are entered, lies at Ramburg. Whatever may be wanted besides, shall be remitted immediately, with much gratitude. I should ere now have discharged my debt on this score in Stockholm; but I scarcely knew then how I should square my accounts, and every stiver was then of consequence to me.
Hkan, who has gone [to Stockholm] to become a master, understands engraving on wood: he supplies a desideratum.
I remain
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
[Brunsbo, about March 20, 1716]
P. S. I am sorry for the death of Prof. Valerius;71 I congratulate the junior, and wish him success, and also his successor in the adjunctship, whoever he may be. In my next I will send you a specification of the books sold; I have already taken the necessary measures.
DOCUMENT 59.
ERICUS BENZELIUS TO SWEDENBORG.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 69.
Upsal, April 2, 1716.
My very dear friend and brother,
Now at last your Ddalus, part ii, is ready, and it seems as if it ought to be, as it does not contain more than two sheets. Mr. Polhammar's thoughts about the motion of a ball in water, with its application to the motion of the planets, I had to leave out, in accordance with a wish he expressed in a letter. If you would let him have a copy of it, he might have better grounds for changing or adding as he pleases.
Dr. Bromell72 promises something better for insertion in the Ddalus; at present he is occupied with an anatomy of the human body.
The camera obscura Magister Norberg took with him. When the woodcut of the triangle for the computation of interest is printed, I shall be present, so that the printers may not derive any extra profit, by giving copies away on their own account. Will you be so kind as to ask after the Theophrastus,* and to leave the money with your father.
* "Theophrasti notationes morum," a work published by Ericus Benzelius at Upsal in 1703, some copies of which it seems that he had sent on sale to Skara.
P. S. With regard to the Schyttian professorship nothing is heard at present. When it is vacant, Major General Count Gyllenstjerna has the right of appointing a successor, and he must be applied to. In case Dr. Roberg70 should be willing to make a drawing of Mr. Polhammar's tap, he would have to open one, and there is no one here who is willing to have his tap destroyed.
[ERICUS BENZELIUS.]
DOCUMENT 60.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius" Collection, Vol. XL, No. 112. See an English translation in Mr. White's "New Churchman," April, 1556, Letter 2.
Most honoured friend and brother,
I was much gratified at receiving your letter by the last post; it contained much that pleased me individually, as well as all in general who have any affection for study. That you have lighted on a subterranean treasure to pay the expense of the observatory, is a plan which, independently of its utility, is an exceedingly pleasant one. I should wish it to be laid before his Majesty, to receive his approbation, and be put in execution. It would be well that he should afterwards receive models of the observatories which are abroad, and which have a large balcony above, and perhaps a small one all round below; but more of this some other time. If more come out of this than a mere proposition, the public will have to thank and to love you for it.
I have now finished writing what I intended for the June or July number [of the "Ddalus"]; it will only contain the calculation for a steel-yard, with a description of my air-pump. I hope it will give more satisfaction than the preceding ones, since I have had more time and leisure for improving and working it out. If you like, you may leave it with Prof. Valerius,71 that he may make his criticisms upon it, the more the better; and afterwards, if you be kind enough to accede to my wishes, I desire you to send it by the next post to Stiernsund; the postage to be placed to my account; so that I can make arrangements for having what is already drawn properly engraved on copper.
I do not know whether Dr. Roberg70 can be persuaded to engrave this on copper; the pump is already engraved, as you may see. Aveln makes very had letters and figures, of which there is a large number. I am willing to pay as much at Upsal, as I do to Aveln; and I hope it will come out there much neater.
With regard to the second proposition, I thought I might prevail upon you to exercise your imagination and prudence in such a manner, as to propose to me something more plausible; the chief objections, however, are these: 1st. That no vacancy exists in the College of Commerce for any ordinarius; 2ndly. That it might happen, that in such a case assessor Plhammar would resign his office. I cannot myself say anything on this subject, lest it might be looked upon in an unfriendly manner; but if by any means whatsoever his assent be obtained, I should then make every exertion to secure the position. In this matter, I rely principally upon you, who have hitherto shown me so much kindness, which I entreat you to continue.
I thank you for the trouble you took in the publication. I wish to know whether you have received Polhammar's paper which S. Hkan took with him; I had intended to take care of it myself, as I had promised. I am very glad that the paper on the rotation in water has been left out; especially, as I was in too great a hurry with the preceding numbers. I hope, however, that an improvement has taken place in what I send you now.
I have inquired about Theophrastus.* The widow says that it is not entered in the late Mr. Kelberg's book; but she has 14 copies still remaining, so it seems that 12 copies have been sold. The money for these is subject to your order at the widow's; she desires, however, to see Kelberg's acknowledgment, to ascertain whether there were so many copies received.
* See note in Document 59.
I remember now also the thirty silver pennings which I forgot to re-pay you for the copper plter* which I exchanged at Upsal. Lest you might lose by the raised standard of money, I have made an arrangement with brother Lars8 to have them exchanged, for which purpose I left with him a small sum in silver coin. With regard to the other obligations which I owe to you, I shall remember them in due time, with the greatest thankfulness.
* A Swedish copper coin.
I must ask you once more to send the enclosed to Assessor Polhammar14 by the next post, that the drawing may be returned to you, and that, if it cannot be engraved in copper at Upsal, I may make the necessary arrangements for it in Stockholm; and this ought to be done in time. In the newspaper there was something about a new method of computing the exchange of carolins into dalers. I do not think that Werner67 has copied mine and published it in Stockholm. Mine can be sold perhaps for half a daler in copper at Upsal and Stockholm.
I remain, dear friend and brother,
Your servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
[Brunsbo, beginning of April, 1716.]
P. S. I shall not be able to come over to Upsal for some time; for I intend to remain here until there is some opening for me; as I am nearer here to advocate it in the proper quarter [i. e. with the King]. Further, I have a little poetical work in the press, here at Skara.*
* The poetical work in question is entitled: Ludus Heliconius, sive Carmina Miscellanea, qu variis in locis cecinit Emanuel Swedberg. (The Heliconian Sport, or Miscellaneous Poems written in various places by Emanuel Swedberg), Skara, 1716. A second and enlarged edition appeared in Stockholm in 1826; and a third edition was published by Dr. Im. Tafel at Tbingen in 1811. The original edition published by Swedenborg himself included all up to p. 30 of Dr. Tafel's edition.
I should like to get some information either from Dr. Bromell72 or Roberg70 about the clay which they use in Holland and England for making their crockery and tobacco pipes; and how the pipes are afterwards prepared in the sun, and in the oven.
P. S. I am now making arrangements with Werner67 in Stockholm to insert a notice in the news about the Ddalus Hyperboreus, in the following words: "The second part of the ADdalus Hyperboreus" is published, for the month of April, containing a description of assessor Polhammar's hoisting machine at Fahlun with a copper-engraving; also a quick method of computing compound interest, with another method of exchanging carolins, since the increased standard of their value, into any other kind of money. There are also contained in it other curious experiments described by Em. Swedberg. Sold by the booksellers, Messrs. Long & Rger, in Stockholm, and also at Upsal." If there is anything to be changed in this, brother Gustaf65 ought to be informed of it.
DOCUMENT 61.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius" Collection, Vol. XL, No. 183. See an English translation in Mr. White's ANew Churchman," August, 1886 Letter 13.
Most honoured friend and brother,
On my return home from a little pleasure excursion here in Westergyllen, I received your welcome letter from Upsal. I thank you for having taken the trouble to send me fifty copies of Ddalus, part ii. They arrived here yesterday. I have received ten copper-engravings from Stockholm, and I shall receive the remainder by a convenient opportunity.
In the following number the title-page may be saved, and the title placed on the matter itself, as you were pleased to suggest; the same arrangement may be followed in the number which will be issued at the close of the year, or is that for the month of October.
* Concerning this dedication see Document 50.
** The Russians and Danes, who were planning an invasion of Sweden by the Sound.
I thank you for the favour of taking care for me of that little sum. Me thinks that the whole world will soon be filled with jetsam (i. e. with things thrown overboard), wherefore I am glad that my possessions are in such good care and in such a safe place with you.
Palhammar has not come down, and, as I infer from his letter by the last post, all good propositions and all good plans will come to nothing.
The month of July is the time for Ddalus, part iii, to appear; I do not know whether I am not over-taxing your kindness, in asking you to take care of this, as you have done of the former. Brother Gustaf65 will perhaps have the goodness to have the plate well printed; the whole of it is to be printed, but so that only a quarto leaf will be required. It would be well, if the plate could first be corrected; at least that those letters be added, which I put down in the first proof-sheet I sent off. If Dr. Roberg70 could be induced to continue his first article, according to a promise which he made in it, it would be well; because all this is just as interesting as useful.
I ought to be present myself at Upsal; but you scarcely know now where you are safest; and moreover, it is my intention to save all expenses, until I have an opportunity of seeking my fortune, when these same savings may make my greatest fortune, if well applied.
I wonder at your friends, the mathematicians, who have lost all energy and desire to follow up so clever a design, as the one you pointed out to them of the building of an astronomical observatory.
With regard to the Esbergs69 I improved an opportunity, and spoke to my father in their behalf; but he seeks to evade my request by all sorts of means, on account of their relationship--for if any suspicion should arise that they obtained any favour by their relationship, he thinks, that they would be deprived of it again. Still, I believe, that gradually he may be brought to the point; I will not fail to solicit him about it from time to time.
If an opportunity for sending to Stockholm occurs, the first volume of Sturm's AMathesis juvenilis" might be bought, and sent to Magister Rhyzelius. I have his copy down here, and he has several times asked me for it.
Will no one take upon himself the expense of publishing Palhammar's "Second Basis of Wisdom?" it may perhaps be rather too expensive for me. Still, I believe, that the sale will pay for the work; if there is no one, I must keep my word, and bear the expenses myself.
From the little camera obscura which you had the kindness to send me, I have already learned perspective drawing to my own satisfaction. I have practised on churches, houses, etc.; if I were among the lifting machines in Fahlun, or elsewhere, I could make drawings of them, as well as any one else, by means of this little instrument.
Sister Caisa (Catherine)3 has increased the world and our family; she has had a little daughter, at whose baptism I was a witness the day before yesterday.
A thousand kind remembrances to sister Anna5 and little brother Eric;58 I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, Promotion day [June 12?], 1716.
DOCUMENT 62.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 128. Mr. Strutt's English translation, see in Mr. White's "New Churchman," July 1856, p. 76, letter 12.
Most honoured friend and brother,
My last letter I sent to you enclosed in my father's, as I thought I would be travelling about this time to Carlscrona; but as the Assessor has postponed his journey, and as I now feel but little inclination for it, it will not take place on my account. In the mean time I am engaged upon the subject which I intend for the last number of this year, and which I shall finish this week; viz. Plhammar's14 ideas upon the resistance of mediums, which at first were written down in Latin, and which has cost me a great deal of labour and mental exertion to reduce into such a form as will please the assessor and the learned; likewise, my method of finding the longitude of places, which I warrant to be certain and sure--I must hear what the learned say about it. I bought in Stockholm a. project of a Venetian, Doroth. Olimari, for finding the longitude, which is speculation and nothing more; the difficulty of reducing it to practice is immense. By the next post I will send it over, together with some other matter which is to go into this last number.
At the end of this week we expect brother Lars8 and sister Hedvig5 up here; brother Eliezer's widow,* we think, set out upon her journey to-day.
* Elisabeth Brinck, born in 1684, daughter of Sven Brinck, commissioner of the Bank, and father of Col. Gabriel Brinck, when ennobled Leijonbrinck. She was first married to Georg Brandt, owner of mining property (brukspatron), secondly to Eliezer Swedberg, a younger brother of Emanuel Swedenborg. Upon the death of her second husband she married in 1717 her third husband Anders Swab,66 appointed Assessor in the College of Mines in 1716; and upon his death in 1731 she married her fourth husband, John Bergrenstjerna: who was likewise assessor in the College of Mines. The names of Assessors Swab and Bergenstjerna frequently occur in connection with that of Eman. Swedenborg, in the Proceedings of the College of Mines. See "Anrep's ttartaflor," Vol. IV, p. 285, "Swab."
Nothing else has happened, except that the Gottenburgers have been ennobled, as the Stralsunders mere in former times. May God guard them, lest a similar fate await them in other respects. They have now presidents and burgo-counts over them, instead of burgomasters. We do not yet know how sweet this tastes to them; as they must first pay for it by building three men of mar, fitting them out, &c. With kindest remembrance to sister Anna, I remain, most honoured friend and brother,
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, 26 June, 1716.
DOCUMENT 63.
POLHEM TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection, p. 363.
Most worthy Librarian,
My distinguished friend,
As I have no doubt that Mr. Swedberg's work* is going to be continued, I should like very much to receive a copy of it, as soon as it leaves the press, by post, no matter what it may cost; and the copy itself, also, will be duly paid for. I had expected to be by this time at Carlscrona, but in obedience to orders, I have remained for a little time in Stockholm, busy with the Committee engaged in purchasing the old coinage of Avestad and exchanging it for the new copper coins; which are to be exchanged every third month for the sake of greater security, so that foreigners may not counterfeit and import them.
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLLHEIMER.
Stiernsund, July 18, 1715.
* The publication of "Ddalus Hyperboreus."
DOCUMENT 64.
SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 124. See Mr. Strutt's English translation in White's ANew Churchman," August 1856, p. 92, letter 14.
Most honoured friend and brother,
When J last wrote you by brother Olaus,* I intended to be at Upsal about the 10th but from one circumstance and another I am prevented from being there before the 18th or 20th.
* Olaus, Olaus being the latinized form of Olof; probably Olof Benzelstjerna, a younger brother of Ericus Benzelius, who was assessor in the Court of Appeals in Stockholm (Svea Hofrtt), and who died in l726.
I am very glad that Ddalus, part iii, has appeared; I thank you for having taken so much trouble and care with it; when I am present with you, I will thank you still more. I am already thinking of the contents of No. 5 of the "Ddalus."
I think of inserting in the fourth number of the Ddalus some Ddalian speculations about a flying-machine, and to leave room for Dr. Bromell's72 curiosities, if he be pleased to insert them.
Assessor Plheimer14 writes, that in the following number he wishes to insert such matter as will be of use to the public, such as water and mind machines, mills &c; which I am very glad of. But let us quit these literary topics.
Last Thursday night, His Majesty travelled incognito through Skara and Skarke to Hjo, where he crossed over Lake Wetter to Wadstena, to call on the Princess. We had the lad with us who was his outrider, and who accompanied him from the monastery to Hjo; he reported many amusing questions and answers, of which I send you one.
Your most faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
[Brunsbo], 4 September, 1716.
* That is to say, that the Danes and Russians will not invade Schonen.
P. S. If there is accommodation, I should like very much to stay at your house; and to be allowed to enjoy the favour of your table. Farewell.
DOCUMENT 65.
POLHEM TO SWEDENBORG:*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 367.
Noble and most respected friend,
With great pleasure I read through the fourth number of your Ddalus, which, as far as I could see, is worked up with great industry and understanding. With regard to the article on Resistance, I may perhaps mention, that it seems to depend rather upon some additional deductions, which might follow here-after, and which we might meanwhile discuss orally, than to need any Changes or corrections that I can point out; but if I may be allowed to express candidly my opinion, it seems to me that the last correction was somewhat unnecessary. With respect to flying by artificial means, there is perhaps the same difficulty contained in it as in making a perpetuum mobile or gold by artificial means; although, at first sight, it seems as easy to be done as it is desirable; for whatever any on approves strongly, he has generally a proportionate desire to carry out. In examining it more closely some difficulty arises, for nature, as in the present case, is opposed to all common machines preserving their same relations when constructed on a large, as on a small scale, though all parts be made exactly alike, and after the same proportions. For instance, although some stick or pole may be capable of bearing itself, and some weight besides, still this does not apply to all sizes, although the same proportion may be preserved between the length and thickness; for while the weight increases in a triple ratio, the strength increases only in a double ratio.
* Swedenborg's article on the art of flying appeared in No. 4 of the "Ddalus Hyperboreus," under the signature of N. N., but he appended to it all the objections which Polhem made in this letter. This problem, with a design from Swedenborg's hand, is contained in Vol. I of the photolithographic edition of his MSS., pages 21 and 22.
With regard to the finding of the longitude of places, I must confess, that I cannot yet comprehend the thing so clearly in all its parts as I ought; but still it appears plausible to me. I took occasion myself to think in what manner this might best be done, and I have found three methods of ascertaining the longitude of places by means of the moon, although they all have their objections; 1. By means of the eclipses, which is not feasible at all times; 2. By the difference of latitude between the moon and the equator in each meridian; but as this is at times small, and sometimes equal to nothing, it has therefore its difficulties; and 3. By means of the parallaxes, which make a smaller difference. A plan which pretends to perfection in this matter is certainly entitled to a hearing; and it is, therefore well worth while to follow out these things a little more, if not for the sake of gain, at least for that of curiosity.
Your arrival in Stiernsund will be most agreeable to me, and if my experience can be of any use to you, I will give it with so much the greater pleasure, as the fruit of it will be of use to the public and will accrue to my own honour. After you enter upon physics, it might be useful to follow them up for some time more extensively, especially those which concern the causes of natural things, and also all other things necessary and curious, especially those of the household, etc. Immediately after I sent off my letter to you, I received yours. My wife and children desire to be remembered to you most kindly, and they also thank you for your compliments. I remain, most respected sir,
Your most dutiful,
CHRISTOPH POLLHEIMER.
Stiernsund, September 5.
DOCUMENT 66.
POLHEM TO SWEDENBORG.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection. p. 371.
Noble and most learned Sir.
My good friend,
Your letter of the 4th September was received. With respect to the computations for the fall of water for wheels, pipes, and all sorts of works and machines, they require more explanations than can be given in a letter; especially as each case has many circumstances peculiar to itself, so that, although they have altogether their certain rules and demonstrations, as well mathematical, as physical and mechanical, there is still scarcely any rule so perfect that it has not its exceptions under certain contingencies. For instance, although the rule is generally known, by which to produce the greatest effect by means of a wheel, both in respect to time and expenditure of force, which rule must be carefully observed, if you wish to gain all the effect which an ordinary and a scarce supply of water may produce, still the size of the wheel, the direction and shape of the buckets and several other things, differ in a wheel for a saw-mill, a forge, for driving bellows, for a hour-mill, for fountains and water-works, so that there is scarcely any work whatever, which does not require special properties.
In fine, if the learned wish to have real satisfaction and honour from that which they teach others, they ought to have a better understanding of many things that are now taught; for nature is in many things quite differently constituted, than is thought by Descartes and almost all his followers; and this can scarcely be taught better than by daily experience in mechanics, and an investigation into its principles; and although what I have gained there is extremely little in comparison with what still remains to be done, I nevertheless hope that my principles may pave the way for the rest. For I never approve of anything which does not apply to all cases and all consequences flowing from it, and whenever there is one single thing opposed to it, I hold its fundamental principle to be false. Moreover, it would be no small honour for the learned mathematicians, if they could point out what their principle and most intricate figures are good for in practice, especially the geometrical curves, etc.; which I found useful in mechanics on more occasions than I expected I would, while teaching them at Upsal, and ignorant of their use.
[The rest of the letter is occupied with a project for introducing thrashing machines into the kingdom, the proceeds from which were to aid in the establishment of a laboratorium mechanicum at Upsal, and elsewhere.]
With many kind remembrances from all of us, I remain
Your most dutiful servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHEIMER.
Stiernsund, September, 1716.
[P. S.] Will you please present my respects to the honourable Librarian,6 to Professor Elfvius54 and several others. Excuse my haste.
DOCUMENT 67.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius Collection, Vol. XL, No. 114. The Swedish original of this letter is No. II of the Swedenborg letters printed by Prof. Atterbom in the appendix to his "Siare och Skalder," p. 102. Mr. Strutt's English translation appeared in Mr. White's "New Churchman," May, 1856, p. 52, letter 4.
Most honoured friend and brother,
I wrote you a letter from Lund, and should have written to you more frequently, had I not been prevented by my mechanical and other occupations; moreover, I had enough to attend to in order to accomplish my design. Since His Majesty graciously looked at my Ddalus and its plan, he has advanced to the post of an extraordinary assessor in the College of Mines; yet in such a way, that I should for some time attend the Councillor of Commerce, Polheimer.14
* Probably Cronhjelm;63 for the warrant itself, and the letter addressed by Charles XII to the College of Mines, are signed by him.
Ddalus has enjoyed the favour of lying these three weeks upon His Majesty's table, and has furnished matter for many discussions and questions; it has also been shown by His Majesty to many persons. Within a short time I intend to send you what is to follow for Ddalus, part v; when perhaps Drs. Roberg70 and Bromell72 will not refuse to honour it with their contributions; they might possibly derive some profit from it.
We arrived here at Carlscrona a few days ago, intending after three weeks to go to Gottenburg, and afterwards to Trollhtta, Lakes Wener and Hjelmar, and Gullspngelf, in order to examine sites for sluices and locks; a plan which meets with His Majesty's entire approbation.*
* Ericus Benzelius discovered a letter written by Bishop Brask to Ture Jnsson in 1526, in which the Bishop first proposed the plan for joining the Baltic and the North Sea by a canal. "Of this letter," sags Benzelius (Linkping's Bibl. Handlingar, Vol. I, p. 191), "I gave a copy to my brother-in-law, Mr. Emanuel Swedberg, during his stay at Lund, in 1716, in the suite of the King, and it was the occasion of directing attention to the plan of building a canal between Lakes Wener and Wetter, and of making the river from Gottenburg to Lake Wener navigable; all this, however, was stopped by the King's death."
** The Institution of a Mechanical Faculty at Upsal. See Document 59.
A thousand kind remembrances to sister Anna. The kid gloves have been purchased. I remain, my dear friend and brother,
Your most obedient servant, and faithful brother,
EM. SW.
[Carlscrona, towards the end of December, 1716.]
[P. S.] Upon the whole the journey has been made at very little beyond the travelling expenses. The making out of the warrant which is usually expensive, did not cost me a single stiver; this I affirm solemnly.
[Swedenborg here gives a copy of the letter sent to the College of Mines. But we prefer to refer our readers to a translation of the original letter which is still preserved in the College of Mines, together with Swedenborg's warrant for his assessorship; see our Documents 142 and 143, in Section V.]
DOCUMENT 68.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 125. The Swedish original was published by Prof. Atterbom as No. III of the Swedenborg Letters in the Appendix to his "Siare och Skalder," p. 104. Mr. Strutt's English translation appeared in Mr., White's "New Churchman," Sept. 1856, letter 15.
Most honoured friend and brother,
I hope that this letter may find you still at Brunsbo, and that you will remain there long enough, that I too may have the same good fortune; although it will not be possible for me to get away for ten days, even though my wish and longing mere twice as strong as they are. To leave Polheimer,14 the Councillor of Commerce, in a place where there are important plans in hand, would be opposed to His Majesty's intention and pleasure, as well as prejudicial to my own prospective interest. Still I hope that a want of conveyance will prevent you from leaving within that time. If you could remain so long, something useful to both of us might possibly result from it.
I thank you very much for your congratulations, which I received at Carlscrona a short time before my departure. I can assure you conscientiously, that the only pleasure I derive from this appointment is, that it may give my parents and yourself pleasure, which is my greatest aim and delight.
I am now working upon Ddalus, part v. I hope to have it ready by the next post, and to take it to Brunsbo next week. Should I not find you there, I will send it after you to Upsal, and I entreat your former kindness for this number. As we are to meet the King again in April at the latest, I hope to get this done, as well as an enlarged separate edition of the treatise on the longitude of places.
Your most faithful brother until death,
EMAN. SWEDBEBG.
Gottenburg, 23 January, 1717.
* Polhem.
** Swedenborg himself.
DOCUMENT 69.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 126. No. IV in Atterbom's Collection; and letter 16 in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 102.
Most honoured friend and brother,
Enclosed I send Ddalus, part v, and I most humbly solicit you to extend to it the kindness that you have shown towards the former numbers. I should have finished it long ago, but I have been continually on a journey of ever altering direction, which scarcely left me an hour's time for such work. But as I have now arrived at Stiernsund, I have found an opportunity, for a few days, to get this up, as well as I can. I hope it will win the approval of the Upsal people, and especially your own.
I have added the Latin to it on the opposite page, according to His Majesty's wish, who pointed out to me where the Swedish should be, and where the Latin.
With regard to his project for manufacturing salt, His Majesty discussed it, and took the opposite side; proving his case by Hungarian wine, which may be entirely frozen, and stating that when he was in Poland a cask of Hungarian wine was so completely frozen, that he dealt it out in pieces with his sword to the men, although there remained a kernel in it, of the very essence of the wine, as large as a musket-ball. As His Majesty seemed to be interested in the manufacture of salt in Sweden, we gathered minute information about it in Uddevalla; and me found that in Sweden there are the best opportunities for its manufacture, as there is abundance of forest and water for promoting the work; and we might venture to promise to produce almost as much as is required at eight or ten dalers in copper per ton; this will be demonstrated in its proper place. I will confer with Dr. Roberg about something on this subject which must be sent to the King; viz. the drawing of some new salt-pans, by which wood is economized, and the operation considerably accelerated; and also the drawing of the pumps and graduating pipes, which are likewise new; although even there, as in other places, the brine may be concentrated by the drying process, by being exposed to the air in summer, and by being frozen in winter, so that it may be worked and boiled down with the least amount of trouble. At Strmstad there is a salt boilery, but it is constructed with the greatest want of judgment, and without any other graduation than from the water being pumped up from the deep; it has also the most unwieldly salt-pans imaginable, but it nevertheless succeeds in producing three tons with one cord of mood within twenty-four hours.
We hope that our journey hither will in time be of importance. At Trollhtta, Gullspngelf, and Lake Hjelmar also we found everything feasible, and at less expense than had been anticipated. If I do nothing more in the matter, I act at least as a stimulus in it.
Will you please remember me kindly to Prof. Elfvius,54 and try whether he will part with his Linea Carolina,74 which he has in the original. I shall willingly pay what he would like to have for it, if it be not too unreasonable. It is not for myself, but for a gentleman of high rank, who desires to have it. I beg you to assist me in the matter.
Will you please remember me kindly to Little brother Eric.58 I hear that his love for mechanics and drawing continues. If he can give the slip to his preceptor, I should like to induce him to follow me; when I would try in every way to promote his welfare, to instruct him in mathematics and other things, should it be desired. Please remember me also a hundred times to sister Anna. I remain, my honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant, and faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Stiernsund, February 23, 1717.
P. S. I require a new sign in my Ddalus, viz. [two dots above and two dots below a line]; I wonder whether such a one exists in the printing-office, or whether it can be made up by means of points; this I think may be done. I beg you to send the enclosed to the printing-office, together with the first, as I am very anxious that it should at least be ready before I start upon my journey to Lund.
DOCUMENT 70.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 129. No. V, p. 107 in the Appendix to Atterbom's "Siare och Skalder." Letter 19, in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 115.
Most honoured friend and brother,
I arrived in Stockholm the day before yesterday. I intend to remain here until Easter; for I have much to do in order to get everything ready that I contemplate. Your letter followed me from Stiernsund to Starbo; but I could not answer it earlier, as I have been taking a little journey in the mining district. I thank you for taking so much care about the Ddalus. I wish that Dr. Roberg70 would be pleased to help it with the engraving. If you would kindly supply Ddalus, part vi, with Stjernhjelm's Linea Carolina,74 and afterwards add his life to it, I should be very much pleased, as it deserves to be done, and I have now so little time to write anything that requires quiet and reflection.
The salt boiling and inland navigation are in a good way; I think they will obtain the King's approbation. I am now sending down to Deputy-counsellor Fahlstrm, the project about the observatory at Upsal. I am inclined to think that His Majesty will approve of it; and also that he will call upon Upsal to hand in a proposition about the institution of a faculty. The result will perhaps be known between Easter and Whitsuntide. Will you please give my compliments to Prof. Elfvius,54 and ask him about his Linea Carolina.74 It does not matter that he is hard to deal with for it; he is not usually so with me; I must insist upon begging for it, as I have already half promised it.
Would that I might be so fortunate as to get Ddalus, part v, and if possible Ddalus, part vi, ready before Easter, so that I could take them with me, and present them to his Majesty! Perhaps our journey will first be directed to Lund; if, therefore, it be possible, it ought to be done. There is also a Latin translation to be added to part vi. In Gottenburg I paid your draft upon Magister--, which I had accepted. A thousand greetings to sister Anna.5
Your most humble servant, and most faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Stockholm, March 24, 1717.
DOCUMENT 71A.
POLHEM TO SWEDENBORG,*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 359.
Respected Assessor,
I avail myself of the present occasion to send my daughters Maja31 and Mrensa* to Stockholm, and at the same time to forward you the first draught of the continuation of my paper on physics, which I have not taken time to read over since, and there are therefore more particulars still to be noticed. If Prof. Hjrne53 like it when written out clean, and give it his approval, it may be printed; but if any objections be raised, which require additional explanations, it will be best to wait until all is properly ventilated. It is very appropriate that Stiernhjelm's73 life, his intelligence, and learning should be described, and it would do no harm if some verses were placed over it in honour of Sweden, and of him about whom the paper is written. However short and cold the days may be which the sun grants to Sweden in winter, so much the longer and warmer are they in summer; and southerners have in this respect nothing to boast of over us, when the year is over.
* A shortened form of Emerentia; for information concerning her see No. 53 in the Appendix to Robsahm's Memoirs in Section I, and also Notes 29, 30, and 31.
Your dutiful,
C. P.
Stiernsund, March 27, 1717.
DOCUMENT 71B.
POLHEM TO SWEDENBORG.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 380.
Respected assessor,
My last letter and parcel by the children have probably arrived. As the time approaches when we are to depart, you will please arrange your affairs accordingly. His Majesty urges our return to Lund; yet I will first go to Carlscrona. You are, however, quite at liberty either to so down to Lund or to remain at Carlscrona. We send our respects to you.
Your dutiful and obedient servant,
C. P.
Stiernsund, April 3, 1717.
P. S. It is not my intention that the second part of the Nature of Mechanics should be printed this time, but only that something should be selected, to illustrate the first part.
DOCUMENT 72.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 127. Letter 17 in Mr. White's ANew Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 103.
Most honoured friend and brother,
My last, I hope, has arrived. I request you now to have the kindness to send of Ddalus, part v, twenty copies on fine paper, and also some on the other paper, because I must complete the sets here as well as at Lund with the same quality of paper as the parties received at first. I shall perhaps follow with the Theory of the Earth, as I mentioned in my last. In a fortnight from yesterday I intend to leave; should no opportunity present itself during the interval for sending over the copies and the plate, I shall willingly pay for an express to bring them, on account of the use they will be to me at Lund. I wonder what decision has been arrived at with regard to the Astronomical Observatory, inland navigation, and salt-boiling, plans for which have been submitted to His Majesty. I will let you know about it when opportunity offers; on the last point I will also communicate with Dr. Roberg,70 although the present time seems unseasonable for all good plans. The remaining pair of kid gloves I leave with brother G. Benzel.65 I should like to hear when my maternal aunt, Brita Behm,50 is expected from Upsal. With a thousand kind remembrances, I remain, most hononred and dear brother,
Your most faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Stockholm, April 4, 1717.
P. S. It would be well if twenty or thirty copies of Ddalus, parts i and ii, could be sent here by some opportunity, and also some notice of what has been published this week about the work done during the year, and its cost. I think I should prefer to confine myself to one agent for their sale, and to allow him a fixed percentage, as the booksellers are unreasonable in fixing the price so high as to have but a small sale for them; and yet they pay me two stivers less for them than the retail price. For Ddalus, part iv, Rger has asked no less than twenty stivers, and has refused to sell it to those who offered sixteen, when yet he ought to have sold it for eight. If you would kindly print the price on those of part v which have not yet been struck off, I will endeavour to find an agent whom I can trust. The ASecond Fundamental Principle of Wisdom"* has been exhausted at Rger's; it would be well if more could be sent. I wonder whether it has commanded any sale at Upsal; I should like to know, to see whether it is worth while to continue it. It was sold here for five stivers; but I shall perhaps get one and a half for it.
* Polhem's work, which was printed at the expense of Swedenborg.
DOCUMENT 73.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 128. Letter 18 in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 9, p. 114.
Most honoured friend and brother,
Since I left Upsal I have returned you neither thanks nor anything else for your late hospitable reception. You will no doubt have been told the reason, why I departed so hastily from Ribbingbeck without taking leave. Five weeks ago, after I came here to Lund, I presented to His Majesty Ddalus, part v, and he was pleased, yea, more than pleased with it. The plan respecting the Observatory I have communicated only to Secretary Cederholm, but I found him cold and indifferent about it, inasmuch as it does not emanate directly from the faculty at Upsal; we shall have to wait therefore for an opportunity.
With a thousand remembrances to sister Anna, and little brother Eric, I remain, honoured and dear brother,
Your most faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Lund, June 26, 1717.
P. S. I wrote the preceding for the last post. The privileges of the Salt Company have since been signed; they are fairly advantageous, as those who wish to interest themselves with the Councillor of Commerce [Polhem] in a Salt Company, have liberty to purchase any forest that can be bought, and to select any place they choose; are exempt from taxation for twenty years, and are subsequently never to be charged more than half the duty which is levied on foreign salt.
P. S. We shall leave here in eight days. How does Ddalus, part vi. get on. I have spoken twice with Attorney Liljenstedt about Dr. Rudbeck's49 yachts; he promised to do his very best, and said that he has already several times made application for them.
DOCUMENT 74.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 130. No. VI, in the Appendix to Atterbom's ASiare och Skalder," p. 108; and Letter 20 in Mr. White's ANew Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 115.
Most honoured friend and brother,
I sent you a few lines from Carlscrona, and have now come to Brunsbo, where I intend to remain till Christmas; here I can correspond with you from a shorter distance. When I came here, I found that my dear father had gone to Lund, on account of the Consistory. I wish all may turn out well. He had no permission to travel; yet I hope that his business and his good friends will shield him from blame.* I hear that little brother Eric58 has gone to Upsal and caught the small-pox; I should be very sorry if any harm befell him in consequence.
* This seems to refer to an order of Charles XII that no one should wait upon him at Lund, unless he had previously received permission.
I am writing to Mons. Vassenius,75 which I could not do before, as I did not know where he was. I should like to be able to do something in the matter of the stipendium duplex, and of anything else in his favour; but the difficulty is simply this: if one presents anything to His Majesty which does not properly belong to his office, he knows what answer he will get; again, if any one were asked to present it, it would have to be Secretary Cederholm, mho will do nothing. The Councillor of Commerce [Polhem] has applied for twenty things, and has only obtained a decision in the matter of the salt works. I myself have not spoken to His Majesty more than twice, and then it was only some nonsense about mathematics, riddles in algebra, etc. On account of the Councillor of Commerce I have tried very earnestly not to obtain this grace more frequently; should I anywhere else have occasion to speak to him alone, I will try to accomplish something. Meanwhile, I have done what I could in Mons. Vassenius'75 favour, and have secured him the good graces of Polhem, the Councillor of Commerce, and of my father.
Present my most respectful compliments to Prof. Vslerius,71 as well as to sister Anna.5 I remain, honoured and dear brother,
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, December, 1717.
DOCUMENT 75.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 131. No. VII, in the Appendix to Atterbom's "Siare och Skalder," p. 110. Letter 21, in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 116.
Most honoured friend and brother,
Enclosed I send you something which I found time to write at Brunsbo; it is a new method of calculation, of which I received a hint while I was at Lund. His Majesty is much interested in this kind of calculation, and has himself prepared characters, names, and rules for a method; but in it there was no turn until 64. I have two sheets which he himself wrote on this subject, which shall belong to the Library. The present method goes to 8 before it turns; and could it be introduced into use, it would be of great practical advantage. The example proves this. It is to be left with Prof. Valerius71 for inspection first; and then to be Printed in octave. I have also another work in octavo, which may be joined to it. As I find leisure here at Brunsbo, I shall write down something which I will send you, and which I think will please the public. I have something ready for two posts. If Mons. Vassenius75 will take the trouble to read the proof-sheets, I will find some opportunity of serving him in return. Such opportunities may frequently occur. My dear father is still at Lund; He is about to argue his "Shibboleth," end has perhaps done so already, Sandell* has obtained the pastorate of Hedemora, and one named Samuel Hesselius is to travel in his stead.
Your most faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, January 7, 1718.
* Andreas Sandell, the father of Samuel Sandels, the Councillor of Mines, who delivered the eulogium on Emanuel Swedenborg before the Academy of Sciences. Sandell had been Dean of the Swedish Churches in America for eighteen years.
P. S. If anything has to be corrected in the preface, I wish you would undertake the trouble, and help me, in honour, as you have done before.
As to the salt-works, something will certainly come out of them, unless self-interest, which is already beginning to show itself, rule too strongly. It is to be regretted. I yield as far as I can; and I think of withdrawing from the affair entirely, that no blame may fall on me, in case it go on lamely and slowly. Meanwhile I do not believe that it will rest on a good foundation, unless Polhem be as well supported as he thinks he ought to be. The salt can be made tolerably good, quite as good as that from Lneburg--useful for cooking purposes. More some other time.
DOCUMENT 76.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No 132. Letter 28 in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 125.
Most honoured and dear brother,
As I had some leisure hours here at Brunsbo, I have prepared an Art of the Rules (Regel-konst)*- or Algebra in Swedish; and although I had no book or other help at hand, I have tried to make it as easy and concise as possible; it will probably not exceed six sheets in print. I was induced to write it chiefly because so many in Lund and Stockholm have begun to study algebra, and because I have been requested by others to prepare it; I hope that it will be of service to the public. I should like very much that it might, with your usual care, be sent to press, in octave like the last work which I sent over to you, so as to form a volume. I have still enough left for the Ddalus. It would be well to have it done in a handsome style, even in a more handsome one than the ASecond Fundamental Principle" (Andra Grundwahlen).** As to the expenses, they shall be met, as required. Is there any one at Upsal, skilled in algebra, who could read the proof-sheets? for he who undertakes it must have some knowledge of the subject; whenever there is an opportunity he shall be repaid. Can it be true that Bishop Gezelius has received orders to present clergymen and others in his diocese, and also to fill up vacant professorships?
* Regelkonsten frfattadt i tjo Bkker, &c. Algebra in ten sections, by Emanuel Swedberg, Upsal, 1718, 8vo, 135 pages. A comprehensive review of this work appeared in the "Acta Literaria Sueci" Vol. I, pp. 126 to 134, and also in the "Neuere Zeitungen von Geiehrten Sachen auf das Jahr l722," Leipzig, Vol. I, p. 378.
** See Note to Document 72.
Could there not be a little more delay in sending out the contents of the Ddalus; I should much prefer that something more mature should appear first, something which I have in hand at present, and which only needs time and disposition [for its completion]; some of the things for the Ddalus have been done without sufficient thought; these I should like to replace with others. Towards spring I intend to have some of these things quite ready--but of these anon.
I had the pleasure to receive two letters, one inclosed in my dear father's, and the other in Magister Varolin's, but the one which was sent by the person from Gottenburg I have not seen; he has probably taken it on further.
I have heard nothing about the salt spring in Sdermanland; I should like to have some additional information respecting it, especially whether there is any forest in the neighbourhood, within two [Swedish] miles. I have seen and tested the waters from Finland, but besides the springs being close to the sea, there is no forest or peat near: they are also weak, containing only half a loth [2 oz] in the pound (i. e. half a loth in 32 loths of water); however those in Germany are not much stronger. The sea brine is strongest at Strmstad, or in the province of Bohus, as in the winter it is charged with two loths (i. e. it contains two loths of salt in thirty-two loths of water). In Smland also I know of a salt spring, but in that neighbourhood likewise there is no wood; I mean to learn something more about the one in Sdermanland. I hope the salt-work will go on well, if self-interest does not obtain too strong a hand in it.
There is nothing certain respecting the warm spring which it was thought might be found in Westergyllen. The circumstances are these: When I was travelling on business to Gielle, the estate of Governor Hrdz, I had a countryman with me, whom I asked about all kinds of springs, and amongst them, about salt springs and hot springs. He said that a soldier living in the next parish had told him of a spring in the neighbourhood which was boiling hot.
With regard to the building [of the dock] at Carlscrona it has not gone on altogether as expected; yet no doubt is entertained that what was intended is still intended, although there is some hitch about it.
Our dear father has not yet returned home; but he is expected to-day or to-morrow, when we shall hear much news. He seems to have been well received by His Majesty; he dined with him three times, and preached before him on the second Sunday in advent; he also conversed with him many times. He preached also at Malm, when the people nearly tore the church asunder. Upon his return to Lund he conversed with the King again, and received orders to argue his "Shibboleth" in a public disputation; many opposed it, but it nevertheless took place. It is not yet known how it turned out, but we hope well. The King had Hjrne's53 scurrilous publication against him, which our dear father received from him as a loan. What ought to be done with this Hjrne?53 Should he be allowed to make such a scandalous personal attack? If he had only attacked the subject itself, and supported it with arguments--but he makes a personal attack and uses [foul] language! I read through his Chemistry, and found that he is but very little grounded in the principles upon which chemistry is founded. Yet more some other time.
With kind remembrances to sister Anna, I remain,
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, January 14, 1718.
DOCUMENT 77.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 133. Letter 23 in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 125.
Most honoured and dear brother,
By the last post I had the honour to receive your letter, with the intelligence of the death of Prof. Elfvius. God grant him peace and rest; I think it was his own wish. In the advice which you so kindly gave me about becoming his successor, I recognize most gratefully your kindness and good-will; and as I know that no one of my relatives has ever entertained such kind wishes towards me as you, I recognize the same good-will in the present matter. The arguments you adduce are very good, yet on the other side I can also muster some very strong arguments; as for instance, 1. I already have a honourable post; 2. In this post I can be of use to my country, and indeed of more practical use than in the other position; 3. I thus decline a faculty which does not agree with my tastes and my turn of mind, by both of which I am led to mechanics, and will be in future to chemistry; and our College is noted for having assessors who know very little on these subjects; for this reason I will endeavour to supply this deficiency, and I hope that my labours in this direction will be as profitable to them, as their own may be in another; I trust also that no one will judge me unworthy of my office. With regard to envy, this is more a matter of laughter to me than of apprehension; for I have always striven to cause myself to be envied, and in the future I shall perhaps become a still greater object of envy.
As to your having thought it advisable to delay for a while the publication of the new method of reckoning, for the reasons you have named, I did not at first comprehend your meaning, and it was certainly some discouragement to me in a matter I had in hand, to find that my mathematical discoveries were considered as novelties which the country could not stand. I wish I had some more of these novelties, aye, a novelty in literary matters for every day in the year, so that the world might find pleasure in them. There are enough in one century who plod on in the old beaten track, while there are scarcely six or ten in a whole century, who are able to generate novelties which are based upon argument and reason. But I afterwards perceived that you meant those matters concerning the revolution in coinage and currency. That is a different thing. Still, I know that I have not proposed anything that can occasion the slightest inconvenience to the country. The only thing I have pushed is the scheme for the salt-work, which I maintain would be more useful to the country than any other proposition in the world, and which is more feasible than is generally supposed, as may be seen from what follows. 1. There are above thirty salt-pans in Strmstad which have been in use for a hundred years.
As the King has already approved of the calculation based on number eight, you must be so good as not to create any difficulties, that may prevent its publication. I have five little, treatises which I desire to lay before my friends: one, which I have finished to-day, is on the round particles, in which Dr. Roberg70 will probably be interested, for he is well skilled in all that concerns these least things, and is delighted with such subjects. I will send this from rebro or Starbo, where I shall go to to-morrow to transact some business connected with the Skinskatteberg furnace.
With my best remembrances to sister Anna, I remain, hononred and dear brother
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, January 21, 1718.
P. S. With regard to my money, you will please to call for the pltar at the treasury-office, as I require them for the printing; in case they should not be there, I consider a plt worth 3 currency bills (mynttecken) or 9 dalers in stivers.
P. S. Our dear father has returned home from his journey; he has many things to tell, and also a number of wholesome truths which he told the King. With regard to the venison, my father sent a messenger at once to Governor Fock about some which has been promised, and which Morelius will send over to Upsal by the first messenger.
DOCUMENT 78.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 134. Letter 29 in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 3, p. 137.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I send you something new in Physics, upon the particles of air and water, proving them to be round, which may militate against the philosophy of many; but as I base my theory upon experience and geometry, I do not expect that any one can refute it by arguments. Preconceived ideas received from Descartes and others will be the greatest obstacle to it, and will cause objections. Dr. Roberg,70 who, in everything that is minute and subtle is himself subtle, is best able to judge respecting it: if you would therefore be kind enough to leave this with him, I should like to hear his opinion. If Prof. Valerius71 would lay aside his own and his father's Cartesianism, his opinion would also be valuable to me. I have materials enough on this subject to fill a large book, as is done by the learned with their speculations abroad, but as we have no appliances here for such large publications, I must cut my coat according to the cloth, and introduce only the most general views.
With respect to the professorship at Upsal I expressed my thoughts to you from Brunsbo, and I hope you will kindly receive them. I hope I shall be able to be as useful in the post which has been entrusted to me, and also to secure to myself as many advantages; my present position being only a step to a higher one, while at Upsal I should have nothing more to expect; moreover, I do not believe that the King would like me to give up my present position. With regard to the College, I will try most diligently to make myself at home in mechanics, physics, and chemistry, and, at all events, to lay a proper foundation for everything, when I hope no one will have any longer a desire to charge me with having entered the College as one entirely unworthy; still I have no desire, either, to be called legis consultissimus [i. e. the one most versed in the law].
The new method of calculation I intend for the learned; and I hope you will order it to be printed. I take all responsibility upon myself, and assure you that nothing of this kind will be prohibited. The King has full power in everything that concerns law, war, and taxes, but none whatever in what concerns words, language, and calculation. We have great cause to be wearied with all the "innovations" that happen. Would to God that no innovations had taken place with our currency, but only with the method of reckoning it--then our country would have been better off. Good Lord! what extraordinary regulations have been issued with regard to the skjuts [i. e. the relays furnished by the Swedish peasants]; the like of it has never been heard of. If this had not been done with a view to encourage the regular posting vehicles in Sweden, I should entertain different thoughts about it.
I arrived here at Starbo68 last night, but found no one at home. Brother Lars8 and sister Hedwig5 are at the fair. I came here to confer about the Skinskatteberg property, which my brothers and sisters intend to dispose of to one Jonas Ahlgren for 32,000 dalers in copper, on condition of his paging 6000 dalers a year; which is an agreement I am also willing to enter into, as iron has a fixed price, viz. 32 dalers. If I find that I cannot draw any money from the furnace, I shall try to obtain it elsewhere. A thousand kind remembrances to sister Anna.
Your most faithful brother,
E. S.
Starbo, January 30, 1718.
P. S. Morelius sent a messenger to Wenersborg to fetch a buck which was promised by the Governor there, and which shall be forwarded to you by the messenger, I had intended to send off this letter by the last post, but was prevented. Meanwhile Dr. Rudbeck49* has come here, which affords me an opportunity of sending it over to you. If postage is to be so frightfully raised as they say, we shall be obliged to take leave of our friends and customers. I had the honour to receive your letter. I thank you for having sent my algebra to press. If Mr. Hasselbom77 would be kind enough to see that all the numbers are correct, it would be most acceptable. I know that many will be interested in it who have turned their minds to algebra. I have three or four other small matters on hand, which are short and may appear next spring; I will then stop for some time, to see what will be thought of them.
* See Document 130.
DOCUMENT 79.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 135. No. VIII, in the appendix to Atterbom's "Siare och Skalder," p. 111. Letter 25, in Mr. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 138.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I send something new in physics by brother Rudbeck;49 but do not know whether it will arrive before this letter. It treats of the smallest round particles, or of air and wind. I believe that it will be acceptable abroad. I have also several other matters, and among them a more thorough explanation of the method of finding the longitude of places; in the calculation of which I have gradually acquired greater facility.
I received to-day a letter from the Councillor of Commerce [Polhem] at Wenersborg, in which he presses and urges me to journey thither. He has now received the order that the locks are to be built, and that the navigation between the Baltic and North Sea is to be through the lakes of Wener and Wetter to Norkping, at His Majesty's private expense. There is therefore considerable work ahead, but I shall have to stay here for two weeks yet. Then, with your leave, I will come as fast as possible to Upsal, in order to see through the press what I have in hand. The Councillor of Commerce writes, that the King wonders and expresses dissatisfaction at my not going on with the Ddalus as before. I should like very much to take something down with which will please the King. Let nothing interfere with my new method of calculation; it may be very useful for those who desire to use it; I take the whole responsibility upon myself.
I wish to put down a few memoranda, on which I should like to get your opinion and your answer when I come to Upsal: 1. I think of dedicating the little treatise which Dr. Rudbeck49 takes with him, to Abb Bignon,57 abroad, and the other about the longitude to Edward Halley,55 Oxford, who has also done something in this subject; 2. That this be done in pure Swedish, and that I make a translation of both, and thus send them over; I hope that by so doing I may gain the favour of some one; 3. Whether in the place of the professorship of the late Elfvius, another might not be established for the benefit of the Swedish language; 4. Whether Magrister Unge5 might not be promoted thereby to something.
I shall write further some other time; I am prevented at present from doing so.
I remain
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Starbo,68 February, 1718.
DOCUMENT 80.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 136. No. IX, in the Appendix to Atterbom's "Siare och Skalder", p. 112. Letter 26, in Dir. White's "New Churchman," Vol. 2, p. 138.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
Some time has elapsed since I wrote to you. The delay is in proportion to the distance, and the rise in the postage; yet I hope that your confidence remains as before.
We are now daily occupied in bringing the first lock to completion, which cannot, however, be done before Michaelmas. The expenses are small beyond all expectation, because the whole work is of timber. Yet it is built so as to last a long time, and any part which gives way can be repaired without renewing the whole structure.
It seems to me there is but little reward for the trouble of advancing the cause of science; partly on account of the lack of funds, which prevents our going as far into it as we ought, and partly also on account of the jealousy which is excited against those who busy themselves more than other persons with a given subject. Whenever a country leans towards barbarism, it is vain for one or two persons to try to keep it upright.
Baron Grtz78 has passed twice through this place, and inspected the work at the locks, over which he is chief, when he returned, he was met by the French ambassador, and they had two days' conversation together. Afterwards the former went to land, and the latter to his former residence at Lund. Some persons of his suite gave assurances in the town that we should have peace in a short time, and that we had better terms and conditions to expect than is generally supposed. O! Utanam ne sub melle lateant.... (Would, that under the honey there mere not concealed....!)
His Majesty examined also Trollhtta, and I had the favour of conversing much with him. I did not offer him my part of the Rules," and my "Attempt to find the Longitude," further than by leaving them upon his table, when he sat and perused them for a considerable time. Many wonderful tales are reported about us in the neighbourhood; among other things they say that we stopped up the Trollhtta Falls at the moment the King was there. Such unbounded confidence they have in art.
How is Prof. Valerius71 doing now? God grant that I may hear of his health and prosperity! With a thousand kind remembrances to Anna,5 to Count Mrner,79 and little brother Eric,58 I remain
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Wenersborg, the end of June, 1718.
DOCUMENT 81.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 137. No. X, in the Appendix to Atterbom's "Siare och Skalder," p. 114.
Most honoured and dear brother,
Your welcome letter reached me in Strmstadt; it had come after me to Wenersborg and Strmstadt, and therefore I could not answer it sooner. I have been twice at Strmstadt, and I shall have probably to go there soon again. I found His Majesty most gracious towards me; much more so than I had any reason to expect, which I regard as a good omen. Count Mrner79 also showed me all the favour that I could wish.
Every day I had some mathematical matters for His Majesty, who deigned to be pleased with all of them. When the eclipse took place, I took His Majesty out to see it, and talked much to him about it. This, however, is a mere beginning. I hope in time to be able to do something in this quarter for the advancement of science; but I do not wish to bring anything fonvard now, except what is of immediate use. His Majesty found considerable fault with me for not having continued my Ddalus, but I pleaded want of means; of which he does not like to hear. I expect some assistance for it very soon.
With respect to brother Esberg,69 I will see that he gets some employment at the locks; but nothing can be done before next spring.
Polhem's eldest daughter31 is betrothed to a chamberlain of the King, of the name of Manderstrm.80 I wonder what people will say about this, inasmuch as she was engaged to me (som det r MIN bestlling). His second daughter is in my opinion much prettier.31
How is Prof. Valerius?71 I should be very glad to hear of his health and good condition. Remember me to sister Anna.5 I remain
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Wenersborg, September 14, l718.
DOCUMENT 82.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 138. No. XI, in the Appendix to Atterbom's "Siare och Skalder," p. 115.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
I am just starting for Carlsgraf, after having been here about three weeks. Meanwhile I have seen Ddalus, part vi, through the press. It contains the following articles: 1. Directions for pointing mortars, by C. Polhem; 2. An easy way of counting balls, which are stored in the shape of a triangle, by Em. Sw.; 3. Useful directions in ship-building; 4. A proof that our vital nature consists of small tremulations, with a great number of experiments;
By the first opportunity I will also send it to Vice-President Hjrne53 with a courteous, but at the same time decided, letter, [warning him] to stop his impertinencies; because it is quite possible that some one may show up the puerilities and shortcomings in scientific matters, which he himself has had the daring to publish. I will send you a copy of this letter some other time.
Our dear father has made us a present of his share in the mining property. I wish we may succeed in arriving at an equitable arrangement. Brother Lars8 is somewhat unpleasant towards me. It would be well for him not to continue in this course; for it does not seem proper in a relative that he should be more on the side of Ahlgren,* than on that of his brother-in-law. Among all my brothers and relatives there is not one who has entertained a kind feeling towards me, except yourself; and in this I was confirmed by a letter which my brother wrote to my father about my journey abroad. If I can in any way show a due sense of gratitude, I will always do so. Brother Unge5 does not hold his hands away from any one; at least he has estranged from me my dear father's and my dear mother's affections for the last four years; still this will probably not be to his advantage.
* Respecting Jonas Ahlgren, see Document 78.
His Majesty will probably go to Wenersborg, at the close of the month, to inspect the army. I will see if I cannot get leave to follow [the army] to Norway. If I can be of any service there to my brothers and sisters, it will be the greatest pleasure to me. I remain
Your most faithful servant,
EMANUEL SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, October, 1718
DOCUMENT 83.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XL, No. 139.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I had the pleasure to receive your letter at Brunsbo, where I intend to remain until the Christmas holidays, and then to go for a few weeks into the mining districts and to Stockholm. Thank God! I have escaped the campaign to Norway, which had laid a hold sufficiently strong upon me, so that I could only escape by dint of some intrigues. I was glad beyond measure to hear of your intended journey hither; I will by all means wait for you here. Although our dear mother makes some remarks about the fodder, still your horses will be very well taken care of at Magister Unge's,5 who is Rector (prost) of Fgre, or else at the inn where brother Lundstedt5 stopped for two weeks; I will take care of this. If my sledge and furs would be of use for the journey you might bring them with you. I have an idea that the harness also is still there. If my muff too could be brought, it would be well. I should like very much to have my telescope and thermometers down here. They might be packed in a wooden case stuffed with hay. If it were not too much trouble, I would ask you to bring them. I shall have the pleasure of showing you Ddalus, part vi, on your arrival. With Ddalus, part vii, I will wait until His Majesty provides the means, which, I understand, will be forthcoming; I have everything ready [to complete] the second year. I have also seen through the press here my theory about the earth's diminishing its course,* which I tried very hard to make pleasant reading.
Your most obedient and faithful brother,
EMAN. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, December 8, 1718.
* Om Jordenes och Planetsmas Gng och Stnd (About the Course and Orbits of the Earth and the Planets), Skara, 1718. 40 pages.
P. S. Gyllenlw, a redoubt near Brederickshall, was taken by storm on the 27th November.
I expect my sledge, my furs, and muff.
DOCUMENT 84.
POLHEM TO BENZELIUS.*
* Polhem's MSS. in the Benzelius Collection at Linkping, p. 386.
Reverend and most Learned Librarian,
Most honoured friend and patron,
I hope the friendship which we formerly cultivated by letter has not ceased, although our correspondence has stopped for some time. On these matters I have conferred instead with Assessor Swedberg, and I have done so partly on your recommendation, and partly because the Assessor has a quick genius for grasping and ventilating such subjects. We have been mutually pleased with our conference, or at least with our correspondence. but I am troubled about its continuance, as it has been interrupted for some time, and I have received three of my letters, which I had written to him, unopened from Stockholm. And as I understand that he is probably now at Upsal, I must beg you to offer him my greeting, or else to send it to him by letter wherever he may be at present, and also to ask him to favour me with one of his welcome letters, which are so much the more acceptable in our house, as he has given us sufficient cause to love him as our own son. With regard to the work at the locks, you are aware it is suspended at present between the will of going on with it and the universal poverty; for although several thousand banknotes are in hand with which to build, yet it is very difficult to go to work with these, so long as people doubt the certainty of getting these notes changed into good silver coin.
With many kind regards to you and your family, and to my other friends and acquaintances at Upsal, of which there are now not many, I remain
Your most obedient servant,
CHRISTOPH POLHEM.
Carlsgraf, April 18, 1719.
To the Reverend and most Learned Librarian,
ERIC BENZELIUS, Upsal.
DOCUMENT 85.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS,*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol, XL, No. 140.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
A few days ago I arrived here in Stockholm, when I was at once informed by various persons that a new discovery had been made in France affecting the inhabitants of this earth, viz. that our earth had approached 25,000 miles nearer the sun, and that they had written on this subject to the learned Academies. I should like very much, for better information, to obtain all the particulars respecting it, viz. whether observations have been made of the sun's diameter, and its visible increase, or of the parallaxes of the planets and their supposed displacement, which could not fail to be noticed, in case me approached nearer to our centre; for this could only show itself within our solar vortex, outside of which there is no possibility of any parallax with the sun showing itself, unless one should appear which could not be distinguished before.
* "Om Jordenes och Planetarnas Gng och Stnd," Skara, 1718. (On the motion and orbit of the earth and the planets; i. e. some arguments showing that the earth diminishes in its course, and goes more slowly than heretofore; causing winter and summer, days and nights to be longer in respect to time, than heretofore). The date of this little book which on the death of Charles XII. was dedicated to the Crown-prince, is Dec. 16, 1718. See also Document 83.
The case with the planets is, also, as if a long arm were made, with a ball upon it, which was free, and could slide either forward or backward on the arm, and thus could move either out or in by the least force; if, now, this ball should be spun round very rapidly--especially under waterthen the centrifugal force would be increased to such a degree, that the ball would run far out on the arm, away from its centre; but if the motion should decrease, the ball would be drawn inward.
During the summer I took the necessary leisure to commit some things to paper, which I trust will be my last; as speculations and arts like these are left to starve in Sweden, where they are looked upon by a set of political blockheads as scholastic matters, which must remain in the background, while their own supposed refined ideas and their intrigues occupy the foreground.
What I have in hand consist, first, of a minute description of our Swedish blasting-furnaces; secondly, a theory or an investigation into the nature of fire and stoves, where I have collected everything I could gather from blacksmiths, charcoal-burners, roasters of ore, superintendents of iron-furnaces, &c., and upon this the theory is based.*
* Swedenborg's theory concerning fire was published by him in Amsterdam, in 1721, under the title: Nova Observata et Inventa circa Ferrum et Ignem, et prcipue circa naturam Ignis elementarem, una cum nova Camini inventione. An English translation of this work by Charles E. Strutt was published in London, in 1847, under the following title: New Observations and Discoveries respecting Iron and Fire, and particularly respecting the elemental nature of Fire: together with a new construction of stoves.
** This treatise which was never published is still preserved in the College of Mines; it bears the following title: Beskrifning fver Svenska Masugnar och deras Blsningar (A Description of Swedish Iron Furnaces and the processes of melting Iron). See Document 145.
I have also written a little anatomy of our vital forces, which, I maintain, consist of tremulations; for this purpose I made myself thoroughly acquainted with the anatomy of the nerves and membranes, and I have proved the harmony which exists between that and the interesting geometry of tremulations; together with many other ideas, where I found that I agreed with those of Baglivius.82 The day before yesterday I handed them in to the Royal Medical College.*
* During the editor's visit to Stockholm in 1869 and 1870, he found the following entry in the Proceedings of the Board of Health (Sundhet's Collegium) for the years 1710-1720:--"October, 1719. 2. The Syndicus reported that the extraordinary Assessor of the Royal College of Mines, the well-born Emanuel Swedenborg, had submitted to the College for examination a work entitled: Anatomi af vr aldrafinaste Natur wisande att vrt rrande och lefwande wsende bestr af Contremiscentien. (Anatomy of our most subtle nature showing that our moving and living force consists of tremulations). The College resolved that this treatise should be read in turn by all the assessors of the College; and that afterwards they should pronounce an opinion respecting it."
The work itself is not contained in the library of the College, but a large portion of it, Chapters I to VI, and Chapter XIII, filling 46 pages in 4to, is preserved in the Cathedral-library at Linkping in Vol. XL of the Benzelius Collection, No. 109. Of this a photo-lithographic copy was taken, which occupies pages 132 to 180 of Vol. I, of the photo-lithographed MSS. of Swedenborg. These chapters Swedenborg had sent to his brother-in-law, Ericus Benzelius, for examination, as is shown in Document 88.
Besides this, I have improved the little treatise which was published at Upsal, about the High Water in primeval times, and I have added .number of clear proofs, together with an undeniable demonstration how stones were moved in a deep ocean; I have also adduced arguments to show how the northern horizon was changed, and that it is reasonable to suppose that Sweden in the primeval ages was an island; this I have handed in to the Censor of books, so as to publish it anew.* There is also quite a number of smaller papers. The deep study by which I have endeavoured to compass these subjects, has caused me to look with contempt upon everything I have heretofore published; I intend to improve them very much when they are to be translated.
* Of this little work which bears the title: Om Watnens hgd och frra werldens starcka Ebb och Flod, Bewis utur Swerige (Respecting the great depth of water, and the strong tides in the primeval world; proofs from Sweden), two editions were published by Swedenborg, both bearing the date of March 17, 1719, but in the first the author signs himself Em. Swedberg, and in the second Em. Swedenborg. A very favourable opinion respecting this little work was given by the great Swedish chemist, Benzelius, before the Scandinavian Scientific Association of 1842. It will be found on pages 46 and 47 of the printed Report.
Vice-President Hjrne53 showed me a letter from an anonymous writer at Upsal, which reports that our dear father's reply to him is in the press, in which he (Hjrne) is said to be assailed in unmeasured terms, and which the letter characterised as a mean work (fdum opus). The Vice-President is very much incensed at this, and is ready to lay a wager of ten to one, that you and I are at the bottom of it; although it is merely a defensive work. I wish you would smooth the old gentleman down as much as you can. With much love, I remain
Your most faithful servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, November 3, 1719.
DOCUMENT 86.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 141.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
I am glad to hear that you are enjoying good health, and am delighted also to hear that what I wrote you in my last was to your liking; wherefore I feel encouraged to give you some more of my thoughts on the subject. I cannot derive any proofs from the velocity; but I believe that so rapid a change in the earth's motion could not have taken place in so short a time; for you cannot make me believe that a planet should all at once rush towards the centre, as if it were driven by a Phaeton, without this being shown at once by the sun's diameter. If the sun became larger and larger before our eyes, there would then be occasion for fear, and it would be time to commend oneself into God's hands. That the earth is gradually drawing in towards its centre, may also be inferred from the change in our horizon; for the same shape which belongs to the vortex of our earth exhibits itself in the sea, or upon the earth; and if the very horizon has changed considerably during 100 years, i. e. if the sea has become rounder, then this is a clear proof that the earth revolves more slowly, and consequently draws itself inwards. I have treated on this subject to some extent in the abused little work on the "Depth of Water and the Tides in the Primeval ages,"* which I send you.
* See Note to Document 85.
It is very certain that the whole vortex of our earth, in which we and our globe are contained, is held together merely by motion; if motion should cease, the very vortex itself would be dispersed, and every thing above and below would be irrevocably destroyed; the centrifugal and centripetal forces as well as everything else by which our elementary substance is held together, would lose their direction.
With regard to the place of the damned ([Greek] damnatum) being in the sun, I have exactly the opposite idea; it seems to me rather to be the place of the blessed ([Greek] beatum). My reasons are the following: first, that the sun is the centre of the whole of our planetary system, and that motion, with the existence of everything in the solar vortex, derives its origin from the above-named centre; secondly, that above, or the heaven of the planets, is towards the sun; so that any ascent in the solar vortex is towards the sun, but below is towards the extremities of the vortex, towards Saturn and Tartarus; thirdly that the principal light and splendour are in the sun, and on the other hand, darkness and other terrors are at the greatest distance from it, where the sun can scarcely be seen; fourthly, but the principal reason seems to be, because the most refined air, and the most subtle essence which exists in the least elements, are in the sun: for the nearer we draw to the sun, the finer everything becomes, and in its centre we should probably find such a degree of refinement and subtlety, that the particles would be almost without any composition, when they would also lay aside the name of matter, as well as of form, gravity, and other properties which belong to compound particles. It seems also probable, that in the greatest refinement, there would likewise be the most refined existence; that God, and the angels, that a something which has nothing material in its substance, would be there chiefly in their element; like seeks like, and the finer does not naturally seek the coarser; so that there are more grounds for believing (although I willingly leave this to your judgment) that God has His seat in the sun, as the Bible says.
With respect to the written matters which I mentioned in my last, I should like very much to have an opportunity to publish some of them, but I would prefer to show some of them actually at work. I did not say anything about my having made a minute description of our Swedish blasting-furnaces, which I handed in to the Royal College of Mines; this is the beginning of a description of all our mines.* I have also submitted a little treatise with this title: "New Directions for discovering mineral veins, or some hints hitherto unknown for the discovery of mineral veins and treasures long hidden in the earth," which was favourably received by those whom it concerned.** It is very probable, however, that what I have printed in connection with a decimal system in our coinage and measures, and which fills a sheet,*** will be my last; for I see that Pluto and envy have taken possession of this Northern People; and that greater fortunes are made by acting the part of an idiot than that of a wise man.
* See Note to Document 85.
** A duplicate of this treatise was sent by Swedenborg to Ericus Benzelius for the benefit of the Upsal professors, before whom it was read on Feb. 6, 1720. A photo-lithographic copy of it is contained in Vol. I of the photo-lithographed MSS. of Swedenborg, from pages 106 to 119. The original is at present in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping, in Vol. XL of the Benzelius Collection, No. 73.
*** Frslag til wrt och Mlas indelning, s at rekningen kan lttas och alt brck afskaffas (Proposal for regulating our coinage and measures, by which computation is facilitated, and fractions are abolished). Stockholm, 1719.
At the time I received your letter, I was in company with that old gentleman, Mr. Hjrne,53 and as I saw that what you had written about him might be communicated to him, I showed it to him; but he promised to answer it himself. My best regards to all your family. I remain
Your most faithful brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, November 26, 1719.
P. S. Brother Albert Schnstrm81 desires to be remembered to you, and wishes me to tell you that if you have not made arrangements about carriage horses, he has two pairs to show you, of which you may choose one.
DOCUMENT 87.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius" Collection," Vol. XL, No. 142.
Most honoured and dearest brother,
I send you herewith the little work which I mentioned in my last respecting a decimal system in our coinage and measures.* This is the last that I will publish myself, because quotidiana et domestica vilescunt (i. e. because things that have reference to domestic and every day affairs are considered of no account), and because I have already worked myself poor by them. I have been singing long enough; let us see whether any one will come forward, and hand me some bread in return.
* See Note to Document 86.
There are, however, some plans which I have entertained for some time, and which at last have assumed a definite shape; I should like to see how far they meet with your approval:
Your most faithful servant and brother,
EM. SW.
Stockholm, December 1, 1719.
* See Document 130.
DOCUMENT 88.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection, Vol. XI;, No. 116; an English translation of this letter was published by Mr. White in his "New Churchman," Vol. 2, P 130, p. 53, letter 6.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
By the last post I began sending over to you my novelties in literary matters (nouvelles litteraires).* I should be very glad if they, as well as what are to follow, meet with your approbation. It is certainly true that Baglivius82 first started the theory; and that Descartes83 treated upon it, end afterwards Borellus;84 but no one has yet furnished any proofs, or treated the whole subject fully; wherefore I claim my proofs as new and as my own, although the subject, or the theory itself, I am willing to leave to others. Still I must say that a great part of what I discovered myself, I afterwards found I had done in conjunction with Baglivius,82 which has rather pleased my fancy; as, for instance, what I have to say about the function of the meninges.** The whole will cover a large space; I think it will occupy seven or eight weeks, even if I send you portions twice a week.
* "The anatomy" or the anatomical treatise spoken of in Document 85, and discussed there in a footnote.
** The cerebral membranes usually called dura mater, and pia mater.
If it be possible to have my two papers, of which I spoke in my last, translated into good Latin, I should like very much go have it done. I remain
Your most obedient servant,
Em. S.
Stockholm [about the middle of January, 1720].
DOCUMENT 89.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 143.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I have received one of your letters, but the other, which was enclosed in Doctor Rudbeck's,49 has, it seems, been mislaid in the post-office. I break off my article now, and send Chapter XIII,* else there will be a squabble about the proper meaning. It would be very desirable if, in the objections that may be raised, respect were had to such things as would contribute to set this matter in its proper light for me; I mean, that such objections should be raised, by which I might in a certain measure see whether I am on the right or on a wrong track; but merely to imagine many things about the animal spirits, and to admit only such things as have reference to their chemistry and their function, and none that concern their geometry, seems too weak a defence: for I lay it down as a principle, that the tremulation begins in the liquid, or in the fluid contained in the membrane;
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, February 24, 1720.
* See footnote to Document 86.
DOCUMENT 90.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 144.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
I send you now the continuation of the preceding part. I wish much that it may gain the approval of the learned who are concerned in the subject; but as I am doubtful of this, I will allow some interval to elapse, that I may meanwhile learn, what objections may be raised to it: for if any one entertains an opposite opinion, the best arguments may be thrown away; in preconceived opinions every one is almost totally blind; still I will with all my heart leave to your good pleasure, and to the service of the public, anything that may be demanded. Care must be taken, not to draw down upon oneself the anathemas of the learned, on account of new discoveries, or some hitherto untried argumentations.
The whole of what has been sent over to you has been written off from the first draught; should any mistakes have crept in with regard to the orthography, you will please attribute it to the fact, that a proper copy does not yet exist.
I have just received your letter of the 26th February; the review* also is pleasing, ipsa latinitas etiam laudanda est, (i. e. its very Latin is even worthy of praise); yet it would not have done any harm, if a little more had been said of the proof of the moving of stones at a great depth; yet this map be supplied by the treatise itself. I offer you my best thanks for it. On p. 10, towards the close, instead of "Singulis horis" it ought to be Singulis sex horis, which may be corrected by a slip in the copies which are sent abroad.
* Swedenborg here alludes to the review of his work: Om watnens hgd, &c. (About the water's height, and the strong tides in the primeval world), which appeared in the first number of the "Acta Literaria, Sueci," Anno 1720.
I must beg of you to have an inventory made of the Ddalus; I should like to hear how far the auction has advanced. Two Bibles ought to follow in the book parcel, which are to be bound at my father's expense, one for himself, end one as a present to me; if they are at Upsal, I should like the binding to be done there.
The books of the Councillor of Commerce, Polhem,14 must be lying somewhere among my papers; as soon as they are found, they ought to be sent back.
If I may safely send the continuation of the former paper,* it shall be done as soon as possible, but I would not like to leave anything sinistris arbitris (i. e. to unfair critics); for all heads are not always exactly alike.
* I. e. of the anatomical or anthropological treatise.
As a matter of curiosity, worth communicating, I subjoin an extract from a letter which has recently been received from Kohlmter, who is at Newcastle, respecting a curious pumping machine; he is an auscultant (i. e. assistant) in the College of Mines.
COPY.
Just outside the town, a newly invented pumping machine has been set up for the coal-mines, which are very liable to be flooded with water, which is a great hindrance to them. This work which was only completed six weeks ago, is an invention which is ingenious beyond measure, being driven by means of fire and water. There is a large iron boiler, which is covered above and has a very small hole in the top; in this vessel mater is boiled, and the whole machine is driven by the steam, which comes out of the small hole above, and which is so strong as to push up the handle of the pump; and in proportion as the blast is withdrawn, the opening draws the pump or the handle down again; for at one end of the handle which causes this motion, there is a sort of chum or drum, constructed of iron, like that in which butter is made, and which is so tight that no air can press in at the sides of the piston-rod, which goes inside the drum. This machine can scarcely be described. Such a work would be of great importance, in Sweden, in mines where there is no falling water. It pumps out 400 hogsheads an hour, and may be made to do still more; it consumes about nine tons of coal a day, and can descend as far as you please. Secretary Triwald's brother, who is in the employment of Messrs. Ridley, has promised to send a drawing, with full description, to his brother in Stockholm.
My own thoughts about this, with reference to the letter and the models for a similar purpose which were published a few years ago, I will show, with directions how they are to be applied in Sweden, at greater length some other time.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
February 29, 1720.
DOCUMENT 91.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 145.
Most honoured and dear brother,
By the last post I sent you a double quantity,* which accounts for the deficient supply by the present post, and must be held sufficient also until I learn whether what has been sent meets with praise or blame; otherwise the small matters I have collected are entirely at your command. Will you please express my thanks to Magister Valerius71 for the trouble he has taken with the translation. I am glad you will get my treatise on the Longitude** reviewed; I only wish it may be done carefully, so that it may meet with favour abroad, especially as it may be of such great use to the public generally, for I still feel assured that, of all the methods that have been discovered, it is the easiest. In the translation, and also in the review, chapters 21, 22, 23, ought to come immediately- after chapter 12, so as to present the following order, 12, 21, 22, 23, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, to preserve the continuity of the subject.
* A double quantity of the anatomical treatise.
** This review is contained in the "Acta Literaria Sueci," for 1720, pages 27 to 33.
Have not the time and opportunity arrived for proposing to the Diet the plan which was projected during the time of the late King Charles XII, for the establishment of a Mathematical Society, similar to those which exist in other countries where the sciences flourish, so as to promote this important interest, for the cultivation of which there are men of genius indeed in Sweden, but very small encouragement otherwise in the form of advancement, salaries, and means of sustenance.
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, March 8, 1720.
DOCUMENT 92.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 146.
Most honoured and dear brother,
Since my departure from Stockholm I have not had time to send you the continuation of my Anatomy; nor can I send it to you from here, because I have not my first draught with me, and my head does not well recall things from memory; with the first opportunity I will again communicate something to you.
At Starbo68 I heard something from a person named Kock, which is worthy of an observation, that will take about midsummer in the coming month of June: He watched one night with another man on a mountain, about a mile and a half from Starbo; the name of the mountain is Hnsberget, it lies midway between Ldwiken and Hellsjn, and has at its base, on the side which lies towards the setting sun, a large lake, known by the name of Wesman; there he has seen the sun during almost the whole night above the horizon; and when, in the middle of the night, the sun set for about half an hour, he still saw it in Lake Wesman.* He told this as substantially true to the master of mines, Lars Benzel,8 and myself; if this really is so, Lake Wesman must have been the chief cause of the phenomenon, from its making the horizon clamp and more disposed for refraction. Meanwhile, I do not wish to place any reliance on this account, until I have made the same observation, which would be worth a place in the Acta eruditorum. With kind regards to sister Anna and little Eric, I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Brunsbo, April 12, 1720.
* Near Marns and Smedjebacken.
DOCUMENT 93.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 147.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I received your letter yesterday. It would be my greatest delight if I could continue my Anatomy from here. The first draught was left at Starbo,68 and without it it would make my head ache, to endeavour to hunt up the various threads which are already deeply obducta alius generis cogitationibus (i. e. covered up by thoughts of a different kind). Still it shall he done, as soon as opportunity offers.
As you intend to be here on Ascension Day, I may be back at Starbo about the 11th or 12th of June, so as to take there the observation de sole inocciduo aut refracto (i. e. of the non-setting or refracted sun), about which I wrote to you. I will suspend my faith in it, until I have witnessed it with my own eyes.
I am at present engaged in examining all the chemistry contained in the treasury of the Sudeman Library, which belongs now to Hesselius,76 for I have proposed to myself to examine thoroughly everything that concerns fire and metals, a primis incunabilis usque ad maturitatem (from the first attempts and experiments to the maturer results), according to the plan of the memorandum which has already been communicated to you. I take the chemical experiments of Boyle,85 Reucher,* Hjrne,53 Simons(?), etc., and trace out nature in its least things, instituting comparisons with geometry and mechanics.
* This name probably stands for Kircher, a celebrated Jesuit, who lived in the 17th century, and who was one of the very first who distinguished between chemistry and alchemy, and is regarded as the founder of the science of chemistry.
If it would not be too much trouble, I should like you to bring Hauksbee's Experimenta Antle su, (i. e. the experiments made with his air-pump), which the Library has purchased from me. There are, if I remember rightly, contained in it, a considerable number of interesting experiments upon fire, the magnet, etc., which were made either in a vacuum, vel in moto [or in common air?]. If I could but glance over it down here, I would immediately return it to you with much gratitude. Please remember me kindly to sister Anna, brother Eric, and the others, I remain, most honoured brother,
Your most obedient brother and servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Brunsbo, May 2, 1720.
[P. S.] I must beg of you to bring Hauksbee. In travelling down here I noticed how the very largest stones, from 80 to 100 tons weight, like small mountains, were raised to the highest eminences. Look upon these on your journey down as demonstrative proofs in favour of my assertion that stones were rolled and distributed at a great depth, viz. that they were raised up higher and higher (those of the largest size are near rebro), i. e. nearer and nearer the shore, or towards the surface of the sea, until at last they came into such shallow water, that they could no longer be rolled away again. This is what I prove, that a deep sea could have done this, but by no means a shallow one.
DOCUMENT 94.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 113. an English translation was published by Mr. White in his "New Churchman," Vol. 2, page 41, letter 3.
Most honoured and dear brother,
Respecting the theory that the Aurora Borealis originated in fiery eruptions, which converged hither from Hecla, Vesuvius, or Etna, my candid opinion is as follows:
1. It is well known that the air has been loaded or impregnated with sulphur, as has been noticed from so many meteors and other phenomena, which have appeared in the air, from the Aurora- Borealis, from the effects of thunder, and the luminous appearances around lofty towers from sulphurous air, and also from the fact that sulphur and other substances accompany rain, showing that the air has occasionally been highly charged with sulphur.
2. It seems that the origin of these conditions ought to be ascribed to the great bent of some summers, unaccompanied by rain, or to the severe dry cold of winter.
3. We know that in every soil, during summer, perpetual distillations and sublimations are going on; sometimes particles are loosened, sometimes they are combined, sometimes they are formed into certain growths, sometimes the particles vegetate; so that according to the state of the weather an infinite number of chemical operations are noticed in the earth.
4. Moreover, it is known that the sublimations of sulphur abhor all dampness, and require certain higher degrees of heat; if now there have been one or two summers without rain, preceded by severe winters, it is no wonder that the particles should at first be dissolved, and afterwards the most subtle sulphur be sublimated, and that the air should thus become impregnated with it; which perhaps would not have happened, if a different temperature had existed in the air, sufficient to bind the particles together.
5. To maintain that an Etna or Vesuvius could fill the whole atmosphere with sulphur, would be the same as if we were to say that the rain ascends into the atmosphere from the River Motala alone, or that one shower could give birth to 200 waterfalls like those of the Motala. On the contrary, the surface from which such a sublimation can take place must be immensely large, i. e. it must take place from the whole surface of the earth upon which the sun shines, and whence continually particles are exhaled that fill the air. For, besides, an eruption from one mountain can no more be assigned as the cause of this, than one brook can be assigned as the cause of rain.
6. On the same ground it might be supposed that more meteors of this sort would appear in Sweden than anywhere else in the world, and particularly at Fahlun, where at least as much sulphur is drawn up as from Etna, since 200 roasting furnaces burn there day and night, and at least 200 blasting furnaces are there at work, and yet no more meteors are seen there, than anywhere else.
7. The sulphur which causes meteors, and which can remain suspended in the air, is far more subtle than that which has already passed through an open fire, is not long held suspended in the air, but is soon precipitated again; but that which has not yet been in the fire can be suspended in water, as in acidulous springs, in the air, in the clouds, and afterwards in dry weather it may be combined with the air.
8. Therefore, neither the eruptions of Etna nor Vesuvius, nor the roastings of ore at Fahlun, are the cause of any meteors; for it is only when Etna or Vesuvius is about to burn, that a quantity of fire is seen in the atmosphere in the form of meteors, and some other phenomena; for then that subtle sulphur is exhaled; but never to my knowledge after an eruption is over.
EM. SW.
[Probably written between June 1720 and June 1721, either at Skinskatteberg or at Starbo.]
DOCUMENT 95.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.
[Swedenborg added to a MS. copy of his Miscellanea Observata, which he sent from Liege, Holland, to Ericus Benzelius, on December 12, 1721, the following:--]
P. S.* Great illuminations are made in Holland by the Russian ministers for certain reasons, and I was present at the Hague when Prince Kurakin let his rockets fly and his wine flow; the following verses were exhibited upon this occasion:
* The original of this P. S. is contained in the "Benzelius Collection," Vol. XL, No. 148D, and a photo-lithographic copy is included in Vol. I of the photo-lithographed MSS. of Swedenborg, page 193.
"Marte triumpharunt, aquil, jam pace triumphant,
Quo Mars ante stetit, Pax sedet alma loco.
Bis denis gemuit Septentrio turbidus amnis,
Ast ltam retuilit Pacis oliva diem.
Sanguinis iverunt, jam flumina nectaris ibunt,
Marte catenato, Bacchus ad arma venit.
(The eagles victorious in war, now triumph in peace;
Where Mars once stood, there lovely peace now reigns.
For twenty long years the wild northern stream rushed forth.
But olive-branched peace now ushers in days of joy.
The rivers of blood into rivers of wine are changed,
When Mars is chained, then Bacchus will call to arms.)
These verses, if demanded, could have easily been changed into the following:
Morte* triumpharunt aquil, sic pace triumphant;
Quo Mars** ante stetit, Czar sedet ipse loco,
Et denis gemuit Septentrio Russicus amnis,
Ast ltam retulit Pacis oliva Diem.
Sanguinis iverunt, jam flumina nectaris ibunt,
Mate*** catenato, Bacchus**** ad arma venit.
(The eagles prevailed by death,* and thus they triumph in peace;
Where Mars,** once stood, even there the Czar now reigns.
For ten full years the wild Russian stream rushed forth.
But olive-branched peace now ushers in days of joy.
The rivers of blood into rivers of wine are changed;
When Mars*** is chained, then Bacchus**** will call to arms.)
* Caroli, i. e. of Charles XII.
** Carolus.
*** Carolo.
**** This name is illegible in the original MSS.
DOCUMENT 96.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* These lines were added to a MS. copy of some of Swedenborg's "Miscellanea Observata," which he sent to Ericus Benzelius, and which were afterwards published in Leipzig. A photo-lithographic copy of this letter is contained in the photo-lithographic edition of Swedenborg's MSS., Vol. I, p. 199; the original is preserved in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping in the "Benzelius Collection," Vol. XL, No. 148.
Most honoured Brother,
As I have occasion and time I send you some of my thoughts," which may be of use to you in your conference with those of the Society. At a future time I hope to be able to communicate to you something more pleasant; I am now very much occupied during the day in making experiments, and testing one thing and another.
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Liege, December 15, 1721.
[P. S.] To-morrow, with God's will, I shall start for some of the mining districts of Germany.
DOCUMENT 97.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 150.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I thank you very much for your agreeable letter from Upsal, which brother Gustav Benzelstierna65 has handed to me. I am glad to hear that you are enjoying good health. I should like very much, if I had the time, to make a trip to Upsal; but as it is of great importance for me to be as soon as possible at Starbo,68 whence I have not received any news at all, and especially as long as the iron conveyance from Kping is here, I therefore reserve this honour for myself until after my return, when I may profit at your house by any books that I find in the Library.
With respect to what you were kind enough to observe about my proposition,* I gratefully acknowledge your kind intention, but first of all I do not proceed in this matter on such loose principles as Kunckel**; on the contrary I have on my side two new and important proofs, with a great many minor ones; and also the computation and the [whole] theory, and in addition their own ignorance in what concerns smelting, so that I am more embarrassed at the outset by the fact that there is nothing at all on the other side to counter-balance my proposition, than with the [difficulty of] setting it to work, and with whatever will come afterwards; in this matter I will take proper measures.
* This proposition will be found discussed fully in Documents 149 to 152, section IV. Swedenborg's object in this proposition was to increase by ten per cent the yield of copper from the ore; and to demonstrate the feasibility of his proposition, he applied to the King for permission to institute a competitive trial at Fahlun.
** Johan Kunckel, a well-known chemist, born 1630, at Rendsburg in Holstein. He was inspector of the mines at Annaberg, and chemist to Elector John Georga of Saxony. In 1679 he came to Sweden, where in course of time he became councillor of mines. He was ennobled in 1693, when he assumed the name of von Lwenstern. He is known as the discoverer of phosphorus, and died in 1708 on his estate of Brend. As appears from Document 151, he had proposed a change in the smelting process for copper at Fahlun, but without success. His process is discussed and criticized by Swedenborg in Vol. III of his Opera Philosophica et Mineralia, p. 45; but he wrongly calls him "Kunckle von Ljwenstein." See "Anrep's ttartaflor," Vol. II, p. 844.
If you consider what I wrote down in haste, my Amicum Responsum, worthy, I give you leave to introduce it into the Acts.*
* ThisAmicum Responsum, or "Friendly Reply," is addressed to Prof. Quensel of Lund, who in the "Acta Literaria," p. 270, had objected to a statement made by Swedenborg in his "Method of finding the Longitude." Swedenborg's reply was inserted in the "Acta Literaria," of 1782, p. 316.
The affairs at Axmar* will soon be settled now, as it only requires brother Peter Schnstrm's47 signature under the deed; so that all pretensions will be killed for all times, and there can be no opportunity for reviving them, and disturbing any one who may be in possession.
* Concerning Swedenborg's affairs at Axmar, see Document 132.
With kind regards to sister Anna,5 and brother Eric,58 I remain most respectfully, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, August 9, 1722.
DOCUMENT 98.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
*This fragment of Benzelius' letter to Swedenborg is contained in Vol. XVI of the Bergius Collection of letters in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, p. 289.
To Assessor Eman. Swedenborg.
Dearest brother,
I wish very much that the "Historie der Gelhrsamkeit"* (i. e. the History of Learning), might arrive, so that we may see her with our own eyes; because she herself desires to go about with a mask before the face, and thus raises our suspicions****
I am, my dear brother's
Most faithful servant and brother,
E. BENZELIUS.
Upsal, December 11, 1722.
* The full title of this work is "Historie der Gelehrsamkeit unserer Zeiten," Leipzig, 1722. In part 4, p. 320, of this work Swedenborg=s theory, that large rocks were shifted about in the aboriginal ocean was attacked, and as this "Historie" was published anonymously, and no list of contributors was given, Swedenborg, after explaining his theory and answering the objection in the Acta Literaria Sueci, Vol. I, p. 353-356, declares that he would never enter into the list against any antagonist who attacked others anonymously, and thus under a mask.
DOCUMENT 99.
SWEDENBORG TO LARS BENZELSTJERNA.*
* The original of this letter in Swedenborg's own handwriting, but with the signature cut off, is in the possession of the editor of these documents.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
I hope that you are now at Starbo,68 so that this letter may reach you. I was uncertain of this when the last post left, and further had nothing to write to you about.
Most noteworthy occurrences happened yesterday, viz: 1. Daleen's* sentence was so modified by the House of Nobles, that he shall during his life-time be confined in Marstrand with a crown, and an iron round his neck, and upon the crown is to be written: "His country's traitor." In all towns, also, through which he will pass, he is to stand in the pillory. It is not yet known what the other houses will decree in this matter. 2. Landmarshall Lagerberg,86 Count Gyllenborg,87 and Josias Cederhielm88 were proposed as councillors of state; and when this list was presented to the King, he expressed a desire to have them all in the council; and after this had been deliberated upon, it was unanimously agreed to, which caused a good deal of talk. 3. The list of appointments was also read yesterday, which likewise grave origin to many speeches and conferences. I should like to ask you what the condition of things is at Starbo; inasmuch as he never lets me know about the iron-works [in general], only about some particulars now and then.
* Notary Dahln and Field-secretary Brodzenius, who, in the year 1723, laboured for the restoration of an absolute monarchy in Sweden, were condemned to death, at the instigation of Count Arvid Horn, but this sentence was commuted by the House of Nobles into imprisonment for life. (See "Biografiskt Lexicon," Vol. VI, p. 260.)
With my kind regards to sister, I remain, most hononred brother,
Your most obedient servant,
[signature cut off]
[No date, but written in 1723; for in that year Lagerberg, Gyllenborg, and Cederhielm received their appointments as councillors of state].
To assessor LARS BENZELSTJERNA
at Ster or Starbo.
DOCUMENT 100.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 151.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
I had the honour to receive your letter on the 3rd inst. I am infinitely obliged to you for letting me know in time that I shall not be able to have any grain from the Academy. As I found that there was some delay in the matter, and as at the iron-works they were finishing the preparation of the charcoal, the hauling and every thing else, I thought it best meanwhile to provide myself from some other source. I had never any doubt of your kindness and care in this matter, and I should be very sorry, and indeed very much grieved, if you should have any idea that I thought otherwise; for what you promise, I know to be promised so far as it lies in your power; I am therefore just as much obliged to you, as if it had turned out well. It is, nevertheless, true that the Academy's treasurer or commissary has been guilty in this matter of a trickery, which no business man would ever allow himself to become guilty of, viz. of acting against a resolution of the Academy. If this should occur more frequently, their credit in the end will become very small; for in a similar case it would be far preferable to deal and to close a bargain with an upright and honest merchant.
With regard to your suggestions for my work on metals,* it would occupy too much room to introduce them all: for about each of the following metals, gold, silver, and iron, I shall probably have more to say than about copper. But if you think it worth while, it might first be treated in a general way, and afterwards some particulars might be inserted. I have nothing more to say in this matter than that paragraph 2, i, e. the process at Fahlun, should come after paragraph 14, i. e. the process in Hungary, for some special reasons. What I send you now, as well as an article I sent before, on the refining of metals, is indeed considered a secret; for it is difficult for a foreigner to obtain information on such subjects; but according to my simple notions, there ought to be no secrets at all in metallurgy; for without such knowledge it is impossible for any one to investigate nature. Still less ought our Swedish processes to be kept secret; inasmuch as foreigners cannot benefit by any information concerning them. I hope I may in time increase my cabinet or collection of minerals, as others increase their collections of stones. Meanwhile I remain with all due respect, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Presthyttan, February 14, 1724.
* This refers to a large work "De Genuina Metallorum Tractatione" (the genuine treatment of metals), of which Swedenborg had published a prospectus in the year l729 (see Document 196); but which was never printed in the form set forth in that prospectus. The parts on iron and copper were published by Swedenborg in 1734, as volumes II & III of his Opera Philosophica et Mineralia. The parts on sulphur, common salt, and vitriol are preserved among his MSS. in the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm.
P. S. You can see from the pages whether anything is wanting; if there is, I should like to know; for some may have been mislaid in the post-office, and may otherwise be lost.
DOCUMENT 101.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 152.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
By the last post I had the honour to receive your dear letter. With regard to the professorship of the late Celsius,17 for which the Chancellor desires an able man, whoever he may be, to be proposed--there are some fine men at the University, as Magister Buhrman,89 and after him Vassenius,75 or Hasselquist.* My own business has been geometry, metallurgy, and chemistry, and there is a great difference between them and astronomy. It would be inexcusable for me to give up a profession, in which I think I can be of good use; further, I have not the donum docendi (i. e. the gift of teaching); you know my natural difficulty in speaking; I hope, therefore, that the Academy will not propose me, as it would act as an obstruction on the part of the Chancellor with His Majesty in the matter of my receiving a salary at the College, which is now before him, and which I expect to obtain some time; again, I no longer find my thoughts directed towards an academical life, and I should no longer feel satisfaction in it, even were I to receive a salary of 1500 Rixdalers, which is, however, out of the question. You will do an act of great friendship to me, if, in case any one in the Consistory should think of me, you will answer with an absolute No, yet at the same time expressing my gratitude to them for considering me worthy.
* Thus name ought probably to be Hasselbom, see Note 77.
I thank you for your kind invitation to Upsal; I should like very much to accept it, if I could venture, immediately upon my return, to ask the College for another leave of absence for taking a journey; were I to tell them the reason, they might answer, that I could very well dispense with it.
I should like to see the sharp answer of my antagonists;* but words will not rouse me, and I will not make any reply to them, as I have stated in what has been printed; for this would be a most ignoble contest, between one with a mask and another without one; probably it is some low, vituperative person, which I infer from his laying the greatest stress upon mere words, and from his not seeming to have any understanding at all of the matter itself; inasmuch as he supposes my meaning to be, that whole mountains bed been removed, and is not at all aware that in Sweden large stones are found in the middle of flat fields, and also that many ridges and mountains in Sweden consist entirely of piles of stones. In order to please the learned in Sweden I shall, therefore, at once make a clear proposition of given dates, introduce experiments from hydrostatics and hydraulics, apply geometry to them, and thus arrive at a clear conclusion, without even mentioning this low character, who seeks his glory in involving another in a dispute in a mean manner out of which no honour can accrue, inasmuch as while he is unknown, the other is well-known. This demonstration I will afterwards send to Polhem, the Councillor of Commerce, and after he has expressed his opinion upon it, you might send a copy to Wolf18 at Halle, and Julius in Leipzig. I presume that you and other learned men will be pleased and satisfied with the judgment of these gentlemen; and this will be sufficient.
* Compare Document 98.
By brother Anton Swab68 I send you my collections on sulphur, vitriol, alum, common salt, saltpetre, and the acids;* but these collections are not yet set up with any care, and as I desire to keep them for myself alone, I should like to have them returned with my former collections about copper, not later than July.
* See Note to Document 100, p. 336.
I thank you very much for your offer of money, but I have already plenty in Norrberke,68 which will not be wanted until next winter, so that I have no occasion for it. I am glad that you effected a good sale; I should like to hear at what price it was sold.
I remain, honoured and dear brother, most respectfully
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, May 26, 1724.
P. S. I shall have the honour now of congratulating you on obtaining the theological profesjorship in succession to Diurberg.*
* Ericus Benzelius continued as professor of theology at Upsal until 1786, when he was appointed Bishop of Gottenburg.
DOCUMENT 102.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. XL, No. 153.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I thank you with all my heart for your company and the welcome you gave to me on my visit. I had no difficulty on my journey to Stockholm; and on my arrival I met my brother Jesper,52 Magister Nordborg90 from England, and Magister Andreas Hesselius91 from Pennsylvania. Magister Hesselius is now pastor in Ster; he collected many curious objects during his stay in Pennsylvania, and wrote a minute description of the country; but he had the misfortune to have this, as well as his other things immersed in water, and spoiled; still he will try to refresh his memory, and put the descriptions on paper again.
Reaumur,92 who has written about steel in France, has come here, and is at the College; from what I have seen of him already, I consider him to be a clever scientific man. At present I have only time to think of my preparations to travel again to rebro; but after my return, I will set apart a certain time each day, which I will employ for things useful in science and literature.
When you answer Dr. Sloane93 in England, you may mention that we have spoken on the subject together; and that I am willing to correspond with them on matters connected with metallurgy, if they are willing to print it at their own expense; for were I to go on printing at my expense, I should lose as much by it as I did formerly; moreover I should not take the time afterwards to keep an account of these printed works.
With my best regards to sister Anna5 and brother Eric,58 I remain, honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, August 20, 1764.
DOCUMENT 103.
BENZELIUS TO SWEDENBORG.*
* From the "Bergius Collection," in the academy of Sciences at Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 289.
To Assessor EM. SWEDENBORG.
Most honoured end dear brother,
* * * * I rejoice at the safe arrival of Brother Jesper52 and his good companions at Stockholm, and I hope to see them here, which would be a great pleasure to me. I will write to Dr. Sloane93 in London, as soon as I obtain an observation on the state of the barometer in the mines at Sahlberg, whither young Celsius17 will travel to-day for this purpose. Dr. Martin* has left for Roslags-skieren in order to make there his ichthyological observations. I thank you for the promised paper, which will be an ornament in the Acta Literaria. I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most faithful servant and brother,
E. BENZELIUS.
Upsal, August 25, 1724.
* Dr. Per Martin, Assessor in the Royal Medical College and adjunct in the Medical Faculty at Upsal; he was married to a daughter of Prof. Olof Rudbeck the younger.49
DOCUMENT 104.
JESPER SWEDENBORG52 TO HIS BROTHER EMANUEL.*
* "Bergius' Collection," Vol. XIV, p. 287.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I had the honour to answer by the last post your two agreeable letters, but I forgot to write about several important matters, which I now wish to submit to you.
1. The first point is about my specie rix-dalers, which you were kind enough to send to Mr. Myra, who is chaplain of St. Mary's Church in Stockholm; he has received the royal commission for Floby [Floda?].
2. The other point is, whether you think I ought to go out to America again, or not. I have a great inclination to go, but good advice is sometimes very necessary in such a matter. Some advise me to go there again, and others dissuade me from it; most dissuade me.
3. In case I should go, I should like you to receive my money here, and to procure for me again letters of exchange on London, to be payable either at Consul Ahlstrm's,94 or at any other banker's, as you may think best. About this and similar things I should like to get your advice, when I go out again.
Mr. Ahlstrm94 was here to-day; he left for Stockholm. He has a great desire to talk with you; he wishes very much to take you with him to England, where he will show you much that is interesting, and that would be useful to the country. He has done some great things here at Alingss, and he has hid machines constructed, the like of which cannot be found in all Europe.
Remember me kindly to brother Benzelstierna8 and sister Hedwig.5 I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
JESPER SWEDENBORG.
Brunsbo, February 26, 1725.
DOCUMENT 105.
BENZELIUS TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," Vol. XIV, p. 290.
To assessor E. SWEDENBORG,
My most honoured and dear brother,
I acknowledge with all clue respect the favour which you have shown towards my Ericus,58 and which he has received in so many ways from you in Stockholm, both by instruction in physics and mathematics, and more recently by a new present. I wish you mould restrain yourself a little in this respect, especially at the present time, when expenses are so great and pressing with severity.
A good friend has translated your calculation respecting the well-known ttebackan (genealogical tree?), so that this may be introduced into the Acta. He made the calculation from a conical figure, although you made it from an oval. Should any thing require to be noted respecting his calculation, I await your orders, and remain, my dear brother,
Your most faithfnl brother and servant,
E. BENZELIUS.
Upsal, July 13, 1725.
P. S. The Royal Society in England has been pleased to send me one of Hauksbee's thermometers, in order to make observations with it. It will probably be here by this time by the yacht.
DOCUMENT 106.
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.*
* "Benzelius' Collection," Vol. X, No. 61.
Most honoured and dear brother,
By Friday's post a letter arrived from dear father, which I enclose herewith. A few days ago there was sent me by post a treatise on "Finding the Longitude of Places," which has been written by some one in England, of whom I know nothing. His method seems principally to consist, in observing the moon when it reaches the meridian, and in order to find her there, he makes use of another star. But two things seem to conflict with this method: First that it is difficult to find out the precise time when the moon reaches the meridian of a place, which it must pass at its height, and although other auxiliary means may be resorted to, still the moon cannot be got there with accuracy, nor can it be known precisely when this appulsion to the meridian takes place; moreover it is more difficult to find this when at sea than on land. Secondly, that it is just as difficult to get the parallax there correctly as in any other place, so that this method has the same difficulties in this respect as the other methods. Moreover, this method really belongs to Kircher, mho besides acknowledges its difficulties. I remain meanwhile with all due respect, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, June 6, 1726.
P. S. I will send you by the yacht to-day this treatise; Prof. Buhrman89 would perhaps like to read it.
To ERICUS BENZELIUS, Upsal.
DOCUMENT 107.
MAGISTER UNGE5 TO SWEDENBORG.*
*ABergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 296.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
My most honoured and dear brother,
Last Tuesday I had the honour of writing to you, and I informed you then, that the Bishop accepted your draught for 700 dalers, for the sake of assisting brother Anthon Swab.66 It would be well if he could really be helped by it. The Bishop's wife thanks you very much for the trouble you have taken. But is Anthon Swab66 so poor that he requires the Bishop's assistance? I thought the Swabs had a good inheritance, and if this is so, why does the Bishop's wife trouble him with it? I remember her saying once, when she was troubled about him, that if the Bishop would only come to his assistance, she would willingly pay it back to him again from what would some day come to her. I believe that he must have received a snug little sum, when all is added up.
With regard to the deputies in the House of Nobles--I do not mean the heads of families which hitherto have been there--there has been considerable talk about them down here; but I believe that the House of Nobles will lose much of the authority, which it has maintained thus far, as long as it could derive strength from the Biblical saying: plures sumus. I wish the present Diet may close well, and indeed by Christmas. In every other respect, I remain with many kind remembrances and esteem, my most honoured and dear brother's.
Most obedient servant,
J. UNGE.5
Wnga, September 25, 1726.
DOCUMENT 108.
SWEDENBORG TO A. D. SCHNSTRM.95*
* The original of this letter is in the possession of one of the Counts Hamilton in Sweden, who kindly sent it to the editor of these documents through the Librarian Klemming, to take a copy of it.
To Mr. Abraham Daniel Schnstrm, gentleman in attendance on His Majesty, at Kping and Jnsarbo,
I thank you for your favourable letter. With regard to the meadows belonging to Aslittforst, a resolution was taken last week, Brother Horleman96 has probably taken a copy of it. The governor's resolution was simply confirmed. With respect to Fru Behm50 nothing further has been decided; although, whichever may it may be decided, I shall be satisfied with it. With regard to your plan, we can discuss it better orally; meanwhile I have placed your letter where it cannot be summoned by any judge; for after reading it through, I committed it to Vulcanus, and if he after reading it can make any use of it, it lies in his power. Remember me kindly to my aunt and other brothers and sisters at present in Jnsarbo. Meanwhile I remain with all due respect, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, October 24, 1727.
DOCUMENT 109.
SWEDENBORG TO A. D. SCHNSTRM.95*
* The original of this letter in Swedenborg's own handwriting is in the possession of John Bragg, Esq., Birmingham.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I thank you for your kind letter, and also for having returned me my letter. With respect to the matter about which you asked. me in confidence, and where I was to point out to you the way by which to obtain it, I can see no better way or mode for it, than that you should first sound them orally, so as to be able to tell whether those who are concerned are flexible or not; no one wishes you better success than I, and if the appearances are favourable, I will help you as much as I am able, according to my small ability. But as you make your request so very urgently, I can surmise nothing else, than that there is something very pressing involved in it, which you endeavour to reach by it. In case there should be any pretty maiden in question, I wish you as much success in the latter, as in the former case.
With respect to the letter to Mr. Balgerie, I have not written him a letter for the last three years, and he may no longer remember me; at all events it would be difficult for me to compose a letter in French, which you might approve. In order to oblige you in this matter, I yesterday therefore requested the Councillor of Commerce, Camen, to do this service for you, which he has promised to do in all due form, and to send it to you, at least if you request him to do so; and I can assure you that one word from him will weigh more than a thousand from me, who have never had any dealings with him.
I remain, meanwhile, with all due respect,
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, November 21, 1727.
[To ABRAHAM DANIEL SCHNSTRM.]
DOCUMENT 110.
SWEDENBORG TO A. D. SCHNSTRM.*
* The original of this letter in Swedenborg's own handwriting is in the possession of Mr. J. R. Boyle, Bacup, Lancashire, England.
Most honoured and dear brother,
****Brother Benzelstierna8 is in Sahlberg, wherefore I cannot confer with him on this matter, as you wished me to do, before his return. If there is some maiden in your thoughts, and I hit it correctly, I wish you much success in it. * * * * The king has ordered the College to meet together upon the trade through commission merchants, which I also demanded in my memorial before the Diet.
I remain with all due respect, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, November 27, 1727.
P. S. There is a loud rumour that the young Czar was murdered on the 11th inst.
To Mr. Abraham Daniel Schnstrm,95 gentilhomme de la Cour, at Kping and Jnsarbo.
DOCUMENT 111.
MAGISTER UNGE TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 291.
Most honoured and dear brother.
****When I have closed my account with Zelow, I have also closed the account of my moneys. The little real estate which I have purchased, cannot yield more than 300 dalers in silver; and I had to expend a good deal in building upon it. But I am happy and contented that, with God's help, my wife and children are provided for to some extent, in case they should lose me. If God grant me life, I shall always be able to gain a little extra. Brother Jesper Swedenborg52 has likewise bought a little estate, so that he too can take care of himself; the best thing in his case is, that he is temperate and economical, does not run into expenses, and has a good and pious wife. Brother Lundstedt5 seems to be worst off, inasmuch as he has no other property than a rusthll [a farm which is obliged to equip a cavalry soldier], which has its difficulties in times of peace, and still more in times of war.
There is one matter with which I would trouble you, if you will allow me. Vice-magistrate Rydbeck, the son of the late Dean at Lidkping, has applied to His Majesty for the benefit of the year of grace; on which account I must remain one year longer in Wnga, which for several reasons I do not like. But the Consistory has opposed his application, and has forwarded a written objection to His Majesty, that he, as an only son, who has come of age, and occupies a position of honour, is not entitled to enjoy the privilege. His Majesty has therefore referred this matter to the revenue office, and to the office of the exchequer, that they should give him a definition of what is meant by minors and unprovided children who may enjoy the privileges of the clergy;
In conclusion, I desire you to consider well, why you let all chances of a good marriage slip away from your Major Otter is engaged to be married to Tham's97 eldest daughter; again; will you not take your measures accordingly? I am inclined to think that Tham97 would think well of it. I believe that there are considerable means with each of his daughters, so that you could not find a better match in the whole country. Muster courage in God's name, and trust for success in His gracious Providence; lenta remedia et longas deliberationes non patitur tempus, et periculum in mora (i. e. time does not admit of slow remedies and long deliberations, there is danger in delay). With kind remembrances from my wife, I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your obedient servant,
J. UNGE.
Wnga, March 18, l729.
DOCUMENT 112.
SWEDENBORG TO BRITA BEHM.50*
* The original of this letter is in the possession of the Rev. W. H. Benade, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Madam,
With regard to the goods conveyed, which I gave in charge to Chamberlain Count Gyllenborg,87 I am not at all willing to take them back, and I neither ought nor can do so; and as what I sent there from my own works amounts to a total of 608 copper dalers in currency, and 144 skeppund, 18 pund, pig iron, I have always suspected, that you would not give it up on closing up correctly and without objections. If you really entertain such pretensions as your letter intimates, where you demand that these assignments should be accepted and paid for, it is well that I have taken all necessary precaution in this matter; if, therefore, you make such a demand by law, I shall give you an answer, and meanwhile it is quite unnecessary for us to talk about it; I will only tell you this much beforehand, that with such a case you will lose more by going to law, then win.
Moreover it may be necessary to go into court with respect to the considerable expenses in the building of the forge, and also about the large amount of out-standing debts with which me are charged, with several other things, inasmuch as I cannot agree to several things which are entered into the account; all of which will also have to be examined by law, should we be unable to agree. I remain meanwhile, with esteem, madam,
Your dutiful servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, Dec. 23, 1729.
DOCUMENT 113.
BISHOP SWEDBERG TO HIS SON EMANUEL.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol, XIV, page 294.
To assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
My dear son, Eman. Swedenborg,
1. I have written to Assessor Benzelstierna,8 that either you or he ought to go over to Upsal, and look after my large stone house there, which must be repaired this summer, or else it will go to ruin, and be beyond repairing.
2. I wish you would apply to the authorities for leave to take out of Skepsholm a number of my psalm books. I wrote about this to both Their Majesties, and the Queen most graciously answered me, that it shall be done. Talk with Lady Dube* about it.
* Probably Baroness Frederica Ulrica von Daben, in attendance on the Queen, who was married in 1734 to Skutenhjelm, the Councillor of Court.
3. I have the spiritual exercises of my catechism in the press. As you are a good Latin poet, I wish you would write a few verses for it. It is the book which was burnt in the year 1712; two copies were, however, found in the ashes, a little singed outside, but not as to their contents.
4. Send me a hundred copies of my portrait or pictures, which also escaped being burnt in the same conflagration; and as you have written some clever verses upon it, I shall let them be printed, and added to the picture. You may send them with Consul Ahlstrm,94 who is in Stockholm on account of his works at Alingss.
5. Send also Scriver's Gotthold, which is said to be translated into Swedish.
6. I have written a copy of my biography for each of my children. Write me also some verses for it. I think very highly of your verses.
Your most obedient servant,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, April 10, 1730.
DOCUMENT 114.
MAGISTER UNGE TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection, Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 293.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG,
Most honoured and dear brother,
You are probably aware that Brunsbo was again reduced to ashes by a vehement conflagration between the 18th and 19th of August, and the Bishop came very near being burnt himself. The large wooden building together with the stone house is destroyed, and everything it contained. The silver in the chest, as much as was in it, was saved, but every thing out of it, for ordinary use, was lost. All our dear father's printed works, the newly re-printed Catechism, all his manuscripts, with the exception of one copy of the book of sermons, and one of the biography, and his entire remaining library, are lying in ashes. This latter damage is almost greater than the first. Three banknotes were saved, one for 900 dalers, another for 1,060 dalers, and a third for 1,686 rix-dalers in silver, if I remember rightly. I think there were four bank- notes, but you probably know, as you collected the interest last. Before brother Swab66 left, the Bishop gave him a quittance for all he had cost him, which was considerable.
The printer, the rogue, had, against my advice and consent, prevailed on the Bishop to reprint the Catechism, for which he received a considerable sum, so that the Bishop is now in debt to the diocese for 700 dalers in silver, and the book itself is in ashes.
With kind remembrances, I remain, my dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
J. UNGE.5
Lidkping, August 24, 1730.
DOCUMENT 115.
BISHOP SWEDBERG TO HIS SON EMANUEL.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 296.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
My dear son,
I wrote to Their Majesties about getting a few of my psalm books from Skepsholm. Look after it. If you get permission to take 10, take 50. Try to find out whether Their Majesties received recently my newly printed Catechism, which I sent them by Henrich Kohlmter. Let me know what happens at the Diet. I am writing to-day to Landmarshall Count Arvid Horn,* about some important matters, which ought to be taken into consideration by the Diet. Let me hear how they are received, and what is resolved upon respecting them. My best remembrances. Be commended to God. I remain,
Your loving father,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, March 1, 1731.
* Concerning Count A. Horn, see Introduction to Document 172 and likewise Note 104.
P. S. My collection of sermons is now ready, and has passed the censors. Will you invest in it? you will gain a good deal by it. Or perhaps some one else in Stockholm? Try to find out, also, whether Their Majesties have received my "America." Mine was burnt. The Queen must certainly have received hers.
DOCUMENT 116.
MAGISTER UNGE TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV., p. 295.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
Most honoured and dear brother,
They are doing well at Brunsbo. Mller is now beginning to swindle the Bishop on a new account, for he desires to print the collection of sermons which was burnt. The Bishop has no money, and he owes from 500 to 600 dalers to the Cathedral, which Mller received for printing the Catechism last year. How will this end if he begin printing in his poverty? I really believe that Mller has bewitched the Bishop, as no man can prevail upon him to have nothing to do with this swindler. No one is allowed to see their accounts, but dear father enters it all in his book. Some days ago we made a computation, but how much it really amounts to or how much. Mller has received, no one knows. I was told for certain that he received last year 1500 dalers in silver merely for the Catechism.
What will this lead to? The Bishop plunges himself more and more into debt. He is now writing daily with great industry at the two other volumes of the collection of sermons, which was burnt; but you can imagine what they will be in his old age, and without any help from his library. With kind remembrances from my wife, I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your obedient servant,
J. UNGE.5
[Lidkping, 1731].
DOCUMENT 117.
HENKEL, THE COUNCILLOR OF MINES, TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 284.
To assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
I rejoice in the honour of having made your acquaintance; and this so much the more, because I have long desired to make it, on account of your great merits, which your fellow-countrymen who have honoured me with their visits have testified to. You would oblige me infinitely, if, in accordance with your offer, you would kindly assist me with some observations in respect to the mineralogy of your country, because I shall need them very much in a real mineralogical dictionary which I am preparing, and which is an enterprise as difficult as it is important. Mr. Hekel,* an honest man, understands his business; you will therefore, have patience with him, if he does not accomplish what he has promised, in the desired time. I assure you, that no booksellers exist at the present time among us who will not try to perform their contract. As for myself I shall never fail to do every thing for it I can. With all due consideration, I am, Sir,
* Friedrich Hekel, a printer of Leipzig and Dresden, who published Swedenborg's "Opera philosophica et Mineralia," and his "Prodomus de Infinito," in 1734.
Your most humble and obedient servant,
J. F. HENKEL. 98
Freyberg, November 21, 1732.
P. S. I have changed my place of abode, and will be for the future stationed at Freyberg, where His Majesty the King has placed me in the capacity of Councillor of Mines.
DOCUMENT 118.
LECTOR SPARSCHUH TO CARL JESPER BENZELIUS.*
* This letter is contained in the correspondence of Dr. Carl Jesper Benzelius,99 Professor at Lund, which is preserved in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping.
This week we were visited by the most noble assessors of the College of Mines, your paternal uncle, Mr. Lars Benzelstjerna, with his most noble wife, and your maternal uncle, Mr. Em. Swedenborg. The former departed yesterday for Stockholm; but the latter directed his journey to Germany, in order to see through the press a work written by himself. May God lead him and bring him back again!
Linkping, May 19, 1733.
DOCUMENT 119.
JACOB FORSKL TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 285.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
Most noble Assessor,
Promoter of learning, most worthy of honour,
I am compelled by necessity to overcome my timidity, and address to you these lines, which are barbarous, rather than Latin. You will please to overlook their defects. I appear as a captive in a doubtful victory, in daring to molest you, a man of many sciences, with these lines. I, who have not yet quite rubbed off the rudiments of Latinity acquired in the elementary schools, and who, from straitened domestic circumstances and the storms I have passed through, was unable to be within the walls of a university, would not have dared to molest you, if necessity had not compelled me. For I have heard, most noble Sir, that you have in the press some helps in metallurgy in the Latin language. I beseech, and most humbly beg of you, that you will let me have a copy of this work, for which I will send you the amount of its cost.
Meanwhile, I thank the High and Most blessed God, from the depth of my heart, that by His blessing He has made our country worthy of such a genius, so that I also, who am sweating in the dust, may be able to derive the necessary light from your work, most noble and celebrated Sir, and master of many sciences, to enlighten my darkness. For I long to have some clear insight into metallurgy.
Most noble Sir, hearken to me, and favour me with a copy of your work, for which I will pay you. To continue my humble thanks even to the time of my death, is the vow of, most noble assessor,
Your humble servant,
JACOB FORSKL.
Ironworks Koskis [in Finland], Aug. 27, 1734.
DOCUMENT 120.
MAGISTER UNGE TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm Vol. XIV, p. , 297.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
Most honoured and dear brother,
Your last letter seems to put it beyond a doubt that you will come down to the funeral.* The old atheist, Chamberlain Eric Sparre,** who lived in Ryholm, has also recently deceased. Re was a regular Lucian, and, if possible, worse than Lucian. Besides many other disciples of atheism, he had a fellow religionist even at Upsal--our age seems almost in decay. It is said that on his death-bed he discovered that the light he had followed in his principles was a seductive, hidden fire, and in itself the thick darkness of hell. He is said to have repented very sincerely, and to have condemned it, and done penance for it, and also to have prepared himself in a Christian fashion for a blessed end. I trust that this may have been so. With many kind remembrances from my wife, I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
J. UNGE.5
Lidkping, January 17, 1736.
* Among the letters, etc. from Their Royal Majesties, of the years 1736, 1737, p. 99, in the College of Mines in Stockholm, there is a document in which the King grants leave of absence to Assessors Swedenborg and Benzelstierna for three or four weeks, to go to Westergthland to attend the funeral of Bishop Swedberg. That document is dated Jan. 13, 1736.
From the minutes of the College it appears that the funeral of the Bishop was to take place on the 29th of January; yet the Bishop died as early as the 26th of July, 1735. See the letter in which the widow announces his decease to Ericus Benzelius, which is dated Brunsbo, July 27, 1735, and which is among Bishop Benzelius' letters at Linkping, Vol. XIV, No. 114.
** Baron Eric Sparre, chamberlain of the Dowager-Queen Hedwig Eleanora; he was born in 1660, and died in 1736. See "Anrep," Vol. IV, p. 40.
DOCUMENT 121
MAGISTER UNGE TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 297.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
Most honoured and dear brother,
As much as I was pleased with your former letter, in which you wrote me that your journey abroad was given up, so much the more disappointed was I at your last letter, in which you say the French journey is again determined upon. Remember me kindly to brother Benzelstierna,8 whom I will not answer this time, as he wishes to have some particulars respecting the earthquake that took place here. There is another thing which happened to a man here, who some years ago, while he was young, in the course of half an hour got a beard which was so long that it reached down to his waistband, and he would no doubt have kept this long beard, if he had not been too young to run about with it. The man is still living; he is over seventy years old. This was done through sorcery or rather by the evil one himself. I will send an account of this to brother Benzelstierna, together with the former.
Your most obedient servant,
J. UNGE.
Lidkping, April 24, 1736.
DOCUMENT 122.
ERICUS BENZELIUS TO CHRISTOPHER WOLF.100*
* This served as a letter of introduction for Swedenborg, and was delivered by him in Hamburg to Christopher Wolf,100 one of the leading clergyman of that town. It is now preserved among the letters of Christopher Wolf, in the town-library of Hamburg, where it was found by the editor in 1868.
Most reverend and learned Sir,
****From my boyhood I was seized with such a zeal for collecting letters of learned men, that even now I refresh my mind in reading them. My little Museum consists of only twenty volumes. I will tell you very soon, in what manner I desire to dispose of them; but I am importuned now by my very best relative, Emanuel Swedenborg, who brings this letter, and who is the author of most distinguished works in mineralogy, which, as you are probably aware, have been published, in three folio volumes at Leipzig, etc. Farewell.
Yours most respectfully,
E. BENZELIUS.
Linkping, July 13, 1736.
DOCUMENT 123.
CHRISTOPHER WOLF100 TO E. BENZELIUS.*
* This letter is found in the "Benzelius' Collection" of letters, Vol. XIV, No. 185, at Linkping.
I received recently your most welcome letter, which was handed to me by your relative, the most noble Swedenborg, who was known to me by name already. I value his most celebrated work in mineralogy so much the more, because in the present age scarcely any one can be compared with this most excellent and clear-headed man in this department.
September 1, 1736.
DOCUMENT 124.
LARS BENZELSTJERNA8 TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 298.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG.
Most honoured and dear brother,
I, as well as all your friends and relatives, rejoice most heartily at your being in good health, and at having arrived safely again in Paris, of which your last welcome letter of May 14 assures us. You are quite right in supposing that things have changed here considerably since your departure. In our sphere, in the Royal College of Mines, things are in statu quo, i. e. they have not changed since President Ribbing's101 death brought us for president Baron Ramb;102 only Leyell,103 the Councillor of Mines, has had a hard time of it, and has been unable to attend our sessions for 17 or 18 months on account of a severe affliction, the stone and cramps.
In private matters I have to relate that the widow of Bishop Swedberg* has recently deceased. Otherwise your brothers and sisters, my dear wife, and my children are all doing well, and they desire to be most kindly remembered to you. Lars Benzelstierna10 is now Master of Arts, and has several times stood his trial in preaching; he is staying at present at Lund.
* The Bishop's third wife, see Document 16.
I remain, most honoured and dear brother,
Your obedient servant,
LARS BENZELSTIERNA.
Stockholm, June 26, 1739.
DOCUMENT 125.
LARS BENZELSTJERNA8 TO SWEDENBORG.*
* "Bergius' Collection," in Stockholm, Vol. XIV, p. 286.
To Assessor E. SWEDENBORG,
Your last honoured letter was received last November, and sometime afterwards the table of which you had spoken37 arrived. I had to use sundry expedients in the College of Commerce and the Committee on Customs to get it out of the Custom-house; for it was looked upon as contraband and subject to confiscation, but it nevertheless got through purgatory. Many of your friends of both sexes paid a visit to it in the College of Mines, where the table is placed, and they examined the beautiful work with surprise and pleasure. The Court-Intendant, Horleman,96 is the cause of my answering your letter so late, and only after receiving your second letter of the 16th inst; for this same Court-Intendant has been so busy, that I had to wait for a definite answer from him. Be finds the work very well done, and he and also young Cronstedt* maintain that they have seen this kind of work abroad, and that it is an artificial compound. The above mentioned Court-Intendant does not think that there is any chance of the master of this art obtaining employment in this country, inasmuch as the building funds of the Royal Castle cannot be counted upon for such an object; and although there may be some who would fancy such a curious work, still the taste for art in 1696[?] does not warrant the expectation that it would find many purchasers now.
Your most faithful servant,
LARS BENZELSTIERNA
Stockholm, February 22, 1740.
* Probably Axel Frederic Cronstedt, see Note. 107.
DOCUMENT 126.
JESPER SWEDENBORG52 TO ERICUS BENZELIUS.6
Most reverend Doctor and Bishop,
Most honoured and dear brother,
Since you have always been favourably inclined towards me, I am so much the more assured that you will not receive my letter unfavourably; for I am compelled by necessity to address you, I have written many times to brother Lars Benzelstierna8 about the moneys that have been received for the large stone house, but I am unable to have justice done me in Stockholm, inasmuch as I have never had a word in reply. If he say that he has not received my letter, be the case, because I have in truth written him at least thirty letters, and have received no answer to any of them, which appears to me very surprising. I, therefore, entreat you most humbly for the sake of justice to write to brother Lars Benzelstierna,8 and endeavour to prevail upon him to be so good as to hand over to me the money he has had in his possession for a long time, and to pay me the following sums, which I know [belong to me].
I have been informed that he has paid 3,000 pund[?] of the money for the large stone house to the widow of the Bishop; two-sevenths of that purchase money I am entitled to. I have, therefore, to receive for my share 500 pund[?] more than the other brothers and sisters. In addition to this, brother Lars Benzelstierna has to pay me brother Emanuel's money for Barby; for which he has to pay the Bishop's widow, as well as myself. The next is the 8,500 pund from Schultz, out of which I received 1,600 pund after the Bishop's widow received hers, but I have not received my second seventh of the remaining stock; of this there are still 233 pund due to me; now I know that Schultz has paid all correctly.
Your humble servant,
JESP. SWEDEBBORG.52
Swedendahl, October 26, 1740.
DOCUMENT 127.
EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF E. BENZELIUS TO HIS SON CHARLES JESPER BENZELIUS99 IN STOCKHOLM.*
* This letter is contained in the Correspondence of Doctor Carl Jesper Benzelius,99 professor at Lund, which is preserved in the Cathedral-library at Linkping.
Visit your uncle Emanuel Swedenborg as often as possible, but at such hours as he may himself appoint; for he is not always at leisure, and is most economical with his time.
Linkping, October 25, 1740.
DOCUMENT 128.
SWEDENBORG TO -------.*
* "Bergius" Collection," in Stockholm Vol. XIV, p. 299.
Most hononred Sir,
I had the honour to receive from you another letter, from which I saw that you were pleased with meditating upon the causes of the change of colour in metals. As I am always willing to furnish whatever may serve this object, I appeal therefore to my former [letter], especially as this depends chiefly upon the experiments themselves, and upon all the circumstances by which they are necessarily attended, all of which must be taken into consideration, before a statement can be made about their cause. For in order that anything may be judged a posteriori, and a priori, such data must be given, as may enable one in the end to arrive at the cause; because one and the same phenomenon cannot only be produced in a great many ways, but one thing may be apparently like another, although in itself it is entirely different.
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
[Written from 1741-1743; for 30 years after Councillor Lybecker's death would be 1744; he was made Councillor of Mines in 1713.]
DOCUMENT 129.
SWEDENBORG TO COUNCILLOR-------*
* The original of this letter is preserved in the Royal Library in Stockholm.
Well-born Councillor of Chancery,
Dear brother,
I heard from Professor Oelreich109 that you had perused the two small treatises on the "Worship and Love of God," and mere pleased with them; I, therefore, take the honour to send you two larger treatises, but on a different subject, viz. "On the Heart, etc.," which you will perhaps examine in some of your leisure hours; inasmuch as in them the intellectual mind and the soul are here and there treated of. The copies which I have of this work are freely at the service of those who possess understanding, and are interested in such subjects.
I remain, dear brother, most respectfully
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, September 16, 1745.
SECTION IV.
DOCUMENTS CONCERNING
SWEDENBORG'S PRIVATE PROPERTY.
DOCUMENT 130.
SWEDENBORG AS MINE-OWNER IN SKINGSKATTEBERG.
[In the year 1679 died Assessor Albrecht Behm, who had a son and five daughters, one of whom was the mother of Emanuel Swedenborg. (See Document 9, p. 87.) In the year 1693 his estate was divided among his heirs, and the children of Bishop Swedberg received as a portion of their inheritance the larger share in some iron-works at Skinskatteberg in Westmanland. This share was valued in 1718 at 32,000 dalers in copper. (See Document 78.) In October, 1718 (see Document 82), Swedenborg wrote to Ericus Benzelius, that Bishop Swedberg had presented his share in the mining property to his children. Finally, Emanuel Swedenborg and Prof. Olof Rudbeck49 the younger, who had married one of Swedenborg's cousins, (see Document 9, p. 85) became the sole owners of the property, as appears from the following entry in the archives of the College of Mines, which was communicated to the editor in the year 1870 by Prof. A. E. N. Nordenskld, of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.]
Schillon, Skinskatteherg.
Managers: Erland Cameen and Ludwig v. Hagen.
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG AND RUDBECK.
Iron-furnace and forge.
[Symbol] [This is the trade-mark of Swedenborg's mining property at Skinskatteberg.]
DOCUMENT 131.
BISHOP JESPER TO HIS SON JESPER.90
[On March 3, 1720, died the second wife of Bishop Swedberg, Sara Bergia, daughter of the Dean and. B. Bergius, at Norrberke, Dalecarlia. She was sole owner of the Starbo68 iron-work in the perish of Norrberke, which she left to Emanuel Swedenborg. At first she had intended him to be her sole heir, but on the representation of the Bishop she consented that the other children should have an equal share; she insisted, however, that her son Emanuel should remain the sole owner of the works, and that he should pay the other children their share in money. All this appears from the following letter, which was written by Bishop Swedberg to his son Jesper,52 who was at the time in America. The division of the property of Sara Bergia must have taken place some time in the winter of 1720, as, by the funds accruing from this inheritance, Swedenborg was enabled to make his journey abroad in 1720, and to print sundry books there. The Swedish original of the following letter is in the Bergius Collection of letters in the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Vol. XVI., p. 288, and according to a statement of Bengt Bergius, it was copied by him from the original letter.]
My dear son Jesper Swedberg,
I forgot to inform you about the will of my late wife. She had always said, even while she was in good health, that after her death Emanuel should have her property at Starbo.68 I reminded her of this when I found that she was about to die, when she repeated the statement. But I begged her not to exclude the other children. When she said, they may have equal shares, but Emanuel shall have Starbo alone, and he shall pay out the others.
Your loving Father,
J. SWEDBERG.
Brunsbo, April 20, l724.
P. S. All send their love to thee. My book will appear shortly; within three weeks. If you are willing that the other book, on the forgiveness of sinners, should be printed at your expense, I will dedicate it to you. Give me a definite answer.
DOCUMENT 132.
SWEDENBORG'S LAW-SUITS.*
* Abstract from the records of the Court of Appeals (Hofrtten) at Stockholm, prepared by the editor.
During E. Swedenborg's absence on the continent in 1721 or 1722, died Captain-lieutenant Albrecht De Behm (see Document 9, p. 87), the only brother of Emanuel's mother, Sara, Behm. Captain De Behm had served with distinction in the French army, and on his return to Sweden in 1693 he was ennobled by the king; in 1695 he became captain-lieutenant in the Swedish army, but soon resigned his commission an account of ill health and melancholy. His property, which consisted of two iron-moth in Gefle-ln, was administered during his life-time by his sister, Brita Behm,50 widow of Prof. Johan Swede, of Upsal. Her administration of this properly is very much praised by Bishop Swedberg, in his letters to Johan Rosenadler,51 the Councillor of Chancery, son-in-law of Brita Behm (See Documents 21 and 23). In April 1722, after the death of De Behm, a meeting was held by his heirs for the purpose of dividing their inheritance, but on account of some claims which were made against her by some of the heirs, Brita Behm resisted the division of the inheritance, and she refused to give up her trust, until these claims should be withdrawn. Recourse was had by the remaining heirs, among whom was E. Swedenborg to the Court of Appeals, and by this it was ruled, that the division of the inheritance should be proceeded with at once. The final result was, that E. Swedenborg purchased the shares of some of the heirs in the iron furnace at Axmar in Gefle-ln, so that he and Brita Behm become the joint owners of the property: Brita Behm owning four-fifths, and Swedenborg one-fifth.
The acts of the lawsuit were kindly communicated to the editor during his stay in Stockholm in 1870, by Secretary S. Bergstrm, who was examining at the time the early Acts of the Court of Appeal (Hofrtten), with a view to their better arrangement.
The above suit was terminated some time during the month of August, 1722, since, in a letter dated August 7, 1722, Bishop Swedberg makes the following remarks respecting it to Johan Rosenadler:51 Emanuel gives me hope that those concerned will soon agree in the division of the inheritance. May God grant it! (See Document 27.)
The following letter, which was communicated to the editor in 1870 by the late Madame Ehrenborg110 of Linkping, and which was addressed by Swedenborg to his banker in Amsterdam, shows that he was at the time Anegotiating for some mining interest," which Amining interest" was no other than a share in the iron-works at Axmar, which belonged to the estate of his late uncle, and four-fifths of which came into the possession of Brita Behm. Swedenborg had also negotiated with the same banker for the money, by which he came into the possession of the iron-works at Starbo, in 1721.
SWEDENBORG TO HIS BANKER.*
* Swedenborg's banker in Amsterdam. A copy of this letter was received by the editor from Madame Ehrenborg of Linkping.
Most honoured Sir,
Yesterday I had the honour to receive your last letter, and I thank you for the trouble you have taken about the trunk; if it is not too late, I would ask the favour of your sending it by some ship coming here. The bill of exchange, which you sent for 300 pund, Dutch Currency, I have caused to be accepted, and I take it for the present on account, and hope it will be honoured at the proper time, of which I will give you notice.
* "Ofrgripelige Tanckar om Svenska Myntets frnedring ofch frhgning" (Frank Views on the Rise and Fall in the Swedish Currency), Stockholm, 1722.
With kind regards to --- and family, I remain with all--------
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, November 7, 1722.
Swedenborg's share in the mining-works of Axmar was anything but a source of comfort and satisfaction to him: as, in the first place, the furnace had been destroyed by the Russians, who had effected a landing in Gestrickeland in 1721, and before the lucrative operations of smelting could be resumed, it had to be re-built at the joint expense of himself and Brita Behm.*
* See Document 112.
Another difficulty between Swedenborg and Brita Behm arose at the division of the mining estate, of which Swedenborg owned one-fifth, and Brita Behm four-fifths: The bulk of the estate had been divided to their mutual satisfaction, when a difficulty arose as to the division of the dwelling-house belonging to the furnace, of which Swedenborg was entitled to one-fifth and Brits Behm to four-fifths.
By the ruling of the neighbouring law-court of Sderahla in Helsingland, by which all matters connected with the final division of the estate mere decided, Swedenborg was obliged to pay 484 dalers in copper for the rent of the premises occupied by his manager, from the autumn of 1724 to Dec. 1, 1727, and 456 dalers in copper for costs.
The acts of this lawsuit were likewise discovered by Secretary S. Bergstrm, during his re-arrangement of the acts belonging to cases decided by the Court of Appeals in Stockholm. They were kindly communicated by him to the editor, and carefully copied under his superintendence. As, however these acts and the lawsuit to which they belong have no intrinsic value, and are only worthy of notice from their being connected with the name of Swedenborg, we refrain from publishing them at large.
DOCUMENT 133.
BISHOP ERICUS BENZELIUS6 TO HIS SON CHARLES JESPER.99
Hand to your uncle Assessor Swedenborg 236 dalers in copper, which is a part of the sum paid by Momme for the hymn book, with notes. Send me the receipt.
Linkping, May 23, 1742.
(The same order is repeated by Bishop Benzelius to his son in a letter dated Linkping, May 31, 1742.)
* This letter is contained in the Correspondence of Doctor Carl Jesper Benzelius, professor at Lund, which is preserved in the Cathedral-library at Linkping.
DOCUMENT 134.
MONEYS RECEIVED BY E. SWEDENBORG DURING THE YEARS 1743 AND 1744.*
* This account is contained in Swedenborg's memorandum-book of the years 1743 and 1744, pp. 104-107, which is preserved in the Royal Library in Stockholm. In the same pocket or memorandum-book there is also contained an account of the journeys which Swedenborg made in l743, and of the dreams which he had in 1744. The contents of this memorandum-book were published by the Librarian G. E. Klemming in the year 1869 in a book, entitled: "Swedenborg's Drmmar" (Swedenborg's Dreams). A more minute account of this book will be given in Section VIII under the head of "Swedenborg's Journals and Diaries from 1733 to 1744."
From Hultman111 through Messrs. Anthon and Johan Grill,11 and upon Peter Hultman's account from Johan Spieker in London:
Jan. 20, 1744. Received by a bill of exchange upon Balair at the Hague 500 florins.
(exchange quoted at 42 1/2 to 3/4)
For contribution 640 dalers.
For the estate of Celsing 327
May 30, 1744. Taken out in London , L15 15 (at 43 1/4) 684
July 23, 1744. Received on account from Joh. Spieker ,60 2715
Total amount 6516
Muillman & Sons, n. 13 through Frantz Jennings:114
Sept. 2/13 1743. Taken out 500 florins.
Nov. 12, A do 500
Dec. 21, 1744. Received from Mr. Mackei in London ,60 (at 46 dalers
per pound) 2760
DOCUMENT 135.
EXTRACTS FROM SWEDENBORG'S COMMONPLACE BOOK* FOR THE YEARS 1747 AND 1748.
* This volume is Codex 6 of the Swedenborg MSS. in the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. This volume had previously been used as an Index of Bible passages and correspondences from the Prophet Isaiah and Genesis; but its contents, after having been transferred to Codex 4, crossed out by Swedenborg, and the volume was afterwards used by him as a commonplace book. N.B. The Index of Genesis is not crossed out.
A. Memorandum of business letters, which were to be written by Swedenborg, at the beginning of the year 1748:
To write to Hultman.111
An order upon Broman.113
Letter to the bank commissioner.
About the fire in the pavilion.
Letter to------with order upon Benzelstjerna.8
Letter to Benzelstjerna8 with statement of account, and a copy of the former letter; explanation of the order. He is to be asked whether he does not agree that they should be paid out of my funds in the hands of------
Letter to Broman.113
B. First draughts of some of the above business letters; to Hultman.111
By the last post I received your letter, with statement of account for the year 1745, together with a draft for the balance of 180 rix-dalers, Dutch Currency. With respect to the statement of account, it is quite correct; likewise the draft, which was endorsed at once. I thank you for your despatch. I enclose a letter which you will please forward to its address, post-paid; and in case there be an answer to it you will please send it to me, Care of Messrs. Grill.112
I enclose an order on Broman,113 the Master of Ceremonies, for 600 dalers, which you will please to collect.
C. To the Bookkeeper in the Bank.
Before my departure my account was examined, and although I have not written out any cheques since, I nevertheless send it over to be examined again. After examining it you will please enclose it in an envelope and seal it, and give it to the merchant, Peter Hultman, who will forward it to me. You will please to seal the envelope securely, so that no one may see my account.
D. To Benzelstjerna.8
Since my departure I have not written to you, because there was no occasion for it, but now-
E. To Broman.113
As the interest upon the capital of 10,000 dalers, to Jan. 31, 1745, is now due, you will please-
The well-born Master of Ceremonies, Carl Broman, will please pay to Mr. Peter Hultman111 six hundred dalers in copper, which is the interest on my capital in your hands, from Jan. 31, 1747, to Jan. 31, 1748; for which please to receive my receipt.
F. Memoranda, and list of articles which Swedenborg was to provide for his journey in 1748,*
* These memoranda are all crossed out in the commonplace book.
To see what is wanted,
linen socks,
muffler,
my documents,
to take the Ex[positionem] Sp[iritualem] (the Spiritual Explanation),* and to lay it on the top.
* Probably the MSS. of the Arcana Coelestia.
to buy strings,
to put in my most important books,
to buy snuff,
to take tea,
to take my penknife,
to take some pens,
to take shirts,
to take neckties,
to take handkerchiefs,
my night cap,
my dressing gown,
The Hebrew Lexicon,
two memorandum books,
the little memorandum book,
my small books.
Money,
socks,
my silk cloth,
two papers of strong snuff,
the wig-case,
to send to the tailor for my body-fur,
to see when the ship starts,
to talk to the landlord about something,
my snuff-box,
lead-pencil and the little note-book,
spectacles,
to take my signet, etc.
G. Small bills:
Oysters 5-1/2
meat 4-1/2
paper 4-1/2
figs 2
coffee 1-1/2
chestnuts 2
20
guilders styf.
Nov. 23. 1747. small wood - 12
white understockings - 11
shoes 2 10
wood - 3-1/2
lined shoes 2 15
Jan. 2. night gown 15 20
coarse white stocking - 11
10 finer stockings at 3-1/2 1 15
a band around nightgown - 4
warming pan 5 -
DOCUMENT 136.
MEMORANDUM OF THE YEAR 1748.*
* This memorandum is written on a fly-leaf of Codex 2, containing the MS. of the "Spiritual Diary."
Took lodgings on the 23rd of November, 1748, for six shillings per week for half a year; if the rooms are taken for a whole year there is a deduction made of 32 shillings, so that the whole rent amounts to L14.
DOCUMENT 137.
STATEMENT OF JENNINGS114 AND FINLAY'S ACCOUNT WITH E. SWEDENBORG.*
* This document was originally preserved in the library of Count Lars von Engestrm, who by marriage was connected with the families of Benzelstjerna and Schnstrm; after his death, it came with other documents into the possession of the Royal Library in Stockholm.
Twelve months after date We, the undersigned, agree to pay to the Assessor, the well-born Emanuel Swedenborg, or Order, the sum of ten thousand dalers in copper, with one half per cent interest per month. Value received, which is herewith acknowledged. JENNINGS & FINLAY.
Stockholm, Aug. 17, 1759.
D. 10,000 in copper with
1/2 per cent interest per month.
The above sum with the interest then due was paid in Amsterdam in the year 1763.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
1760. August 18, paid one year's interest D. 600.
1761. August 19, paid one year's interest D. 600.
1762. August 21, paid one year's interest D. 600.
DOCUMENT 138.
STATEMENT OF SWEDENBORG'S INCOME FOR THE YEARS 1765 AND 1766.*
* This document was originally in the library of Count Lars von Engestrm, but is now in the Royal Library in Stockholm.
Capital invested with Mr. Hultman.111
Besides the 30,000 dalers in copper, which are at interest:
According to statement made on the last day of Dec. 1764 14,479 13
Added since July 8 1,642 4
Dalers in copper 16,121 17
Before the end of the year there will come in:
From President Gyllenborg115 1200 --
From Governor Broman113 500 --
Six months' salary 848 --
Interest from Mr. Hultman111 1800 --
Dalers in copper 20,469 25
Next year, 1766, there will come in:
Salary for one year 1696 16
From Governor Broman113 500 --
From the Countess Gyllenborg115 1200 ---
Interest from Mr. Hultman 1800 --
Dalers in copper 5196 16
together with the former 25,666 9
In addition 27 lbs sugar at 4 111 12
together with the former 25,777 21
Mr. Hultman has in hand the certificate of indebtedness of Count Frederic Gyllenborg, with the security of the Councillor Henning Gyllenborg, which makes 30,000 --
From which there are to be deducted 10,000 --
Leaving a balance of Dalers 20,000 --
DOCUMENT 139.
LIST OF VALUABLES OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG FROM THE YEAR 1770.*
* This list, in the handwriting of Emanuel Swedenborg, was transferred from the library of Count Lars von Engestrm to the Royal Library in Stockholm.
The following articles are deposited in a drawer:
One silver waiter 174
7 plates belonging to it 65
One chandelier 140
One silver basket 93
One bowl, i. e. a plate belonging to it 89-1/4
Two dessert plates 70-1/4
One water-bowl with water-pitcher 108
One coffee pot 48-1/2
One milk can 28-1/4
One sugar bowl 34-1/2
One tea-caddy 36
Fine tea-spoons and one pair of sugar-tongs 9
Three table spoons 15
Two candlesticks 52
Six small pieces belonging to them, with snuffers 15
Sugar bowl 21
One antique waiter made of a shell, mounted in silver, with
several genuine stones.
Four tea-spoons and a pair of tongs of gold, in a case.
One scent-bottle of crystal with gold mountings, in a case.
One porcelain snuff-box in the form of a female figure, with a gold "charnire," in a case.
One gold-watch, with gold-chain.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
In the year 1770, in the month of July.
On behalf of the heirs of the late assessor Emanuel, We, the undersigned, have received from Mrs. Maria Seele all the plate and other articles mentioned above, with the exception of one tea-spoon, and two small articles belonging to the candle-sticks, all of silver, but in their stead there was found a box of mirror-glass and two small snuff-boxes not mentioned in the list. All these we have received and sign our names. Jonas Breding, Job. George Ridder[bielke].*
July 16, 1772.
* He was married to the third daughter of Jesper Swedenborg; see Document 9, p. 92.
DOCUMENT 140.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE ASSESSOR EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, SITUATED IN SODERMALM.*
* This is an official description of Swedenborg's house, published after his death, and printed by Johan George Lange, in Stockholm, 1772. It is exceedingly scarce, the only copy known to exist having been presented in 1870, by prof. A. E. N. Nordenskld to the Royal Library in Stockholm.
1. This suburban property is situated in Hornsgatan, Sder, in the quarter Mullwaden, No. 1, on freehold ground.
2. The plot of ground, after measurement, was found to extend in length on the northern side, along Hornsgatan, 112 yards; upon the southern side, where it is contiguous to other property, likewise 112 yards, and in breadth, on the eastern side up to Cheesemonger Wempe's property, 53 yards, and on the western side, where it touches Ropemaker Nyman's property, 52 yards, which, when added together, amount to an area of 5880 square yards.
3. This plot is well protected and enclosed, on the one side by the house, and on the other by a board-fence, and is also first of all divided into two parts by a neat wooden fence with gates; the eastern portion containing about one-third of the whole area, and the western portion two-thirds. The eastern division is again, with the dwelling-house, subdivided into three portions by means of wooden fences and gates. The first division, which is narrow and passes along the whole eastern division, is simply a place for gathering up and carrying off the offal from the stables the second northern portion embraces the dwelling-house itself, with a sufficiently large and handsome yard, and the third portion, towards the south, includes, first of all, a building which, of its singularity, must be described, and outside the same is a flower garden with curious figures in box-tree. The larger western division of the property is taken up by a large garden with choice young fruit-trees, flowers, and vegetables, and also large and splendid lime trees, which are planted both in the garden itself and in the part around the dwelling-house. In the garden there are several buildings which will be specified below.
4. The out-house, near the dwelling, consists of a barn not long since built of wood with a roof of tiles which is ..... yards long, and 14 yards wide, and has three large rooms, two in the lower and one in the upper story; adjoining it, near the street, there is a stable for horses and cows with the necessary room for holding fodder, together with other conveniences; all built of wood and covered with tiles, and painted red like the barn.
5. The building which is to the south of the dwelling-house, and which occupies the whole northern side of the flower garden, 19 yards long, and 16 yards wide. It has doors and entries both on its northern and southern sides, and has in its lower story a large room serving for an orangery, well provided with furnaces.
6. On the larger western division of the property, which we style above the large garden, there are several buildings: first, there is a square house in the middle, which has openings towards the four paths of the garden, which meet here; the walls are made of wood, in wicker-work, with a flat roof, likewise of wicker-work, going all round and forming a pretty balcony; there is a round seat in each corner. Secondly, right along the northern board-fence is a house with three sides, and three double doors opening into the garden, it has a pointed roof, with three large three-cornered windows in it. This house is so arranged that when all the three doors are opened, and a mirror is placed in front of the fourth wall, which is along the board-fence, three gardens are seen reflected in it, in which every thing is represented in the same order as in the original garden. Thirdly, on the southern side, right opposite the last building, there is a many-sided bower, usually called a volire, which is intended for all kinds of larger and smaller birds; the walls are of net-work, and made of coarse brass wire. Fourthly, in the middle, directly opposite the large walk, there is a pretty summer-house, consisting of a hall, inside from which there is a little room, whence there is a passage into a library, which, fifthly, is a lower house with a neat room, extending towards the south from the above-named summer-house. This last house, viz. the summer-house, has a good covering of planks on the outside, painted yellow, and in the interior it is hung with pretty tapestry. Sixthly, between the library and the board-fence on the south there is a Dutch structure like a vaulted cellar, but covered with earth, which is for the purpose of keeping vegetables. Seventhly, in front of this cavern there is a maze, built of boards, which is so contrived that if any one unacquainted with it goes in, he cannot find the entrance again without help.
7. Under the summer-house, No. 5, in the large garden, is a new vaulted cellar, and under the dwelling-house the foundation is laid for building a stone house.
DOCUMENT 141.
A.
LETTER WRITTEN BY MR. CHAS. LINDEGREN117 TO MESSRS. BOHMAN, HASSEL AND GRGES,
DATED JULY 18, 1772.*
* These two letters have been transferred from Count Engestrm's library to the Royal Library in Stockholm.
By Captain Fox, of the ship Nancy, I forwarded to you all the effects of the late Assessor Swedenborg which I received from himself, or found in his lodgings, and which are specified in the enclosed bill of lading. They are of little value, especially his clothes and linen, which I should not have sent, if I had not thought that his dear and worthy family would wish to possess something which was worn by the good and worthy man in this life. The most important is a brown parcel sealed, and addressed to yourself, in which there are all-important documents and bills for the moneys which he drew from young Mr. Clas Grill and myself, all of which are sealed up; in order to avoid all suspicion, I must beg you not to break the seal, except in the presence of some of his relations, and of the agent Carl Wm. Seele. Besides this I paid to him in cash ,70, for which I have two receipts, and also 12-1/2 guineas and 1 Dutch ducat during his sickness, and likewise 5 banknotes, which, according to the enclosed specification, amount to 2140 dalers in copper. The bank-bills I will send to you by next Tuesday's post, because it is safer. There are now only a few unsold books left with two booksellers, concerning which I will report in my next by post.
In addition I will only repeat, what I have already reported to the agent Seele, viz. that the deceased has not left behind, nor has he ever made, a will.
B.
LETTER OF MR. CHAS. LINDEGREN117 TO MESSRS. BOHMAN, HASSEL AND GRGES,
DATED LONDON, AUG. 11, 1772.
I hope Capt. Fox has arrived, and delivered the effects of the late Assessor Swedenborg.
I send you enclosed his account up to the present, showing a balance in my favour of ,18. There are still three bills to come in which I have paid, and which are in my books. I enclose also the five bank-bills which were described in my last, amounting in all to 2140 dalers. After Assessor Swedenborg's death only three guineas, or L3:3, were found in his possession. These I will not put down in my account, but I shall pay ,2:2 to Magister Mathesius,l18 who officiated at the funeral, and ,1:l to the sexton. In addition, I must remark that I have not given Pastor Ferelius119 any satisfaction in respect to his complaint about the funeral. I offered him L3:3, or three guineas, but he considered this too little, and I did not feel authorized to pay away the money belonging to the heirs. This matter can be settled best with Pastor Ferelius himself according to the Swedish usage, either by yourself or Mr. Seele; for this gentleman is now in Stockholm. There are still some books with two booksellers, but I cannot get them without a order--about this I will however write to you in my next.
DOCUMENT 142.
LETTER FROM THE SWEDISH TRAVELLER, BJRNSTHL120 TO DR. CARL JESPER
BENZELIUS,99 PROFESSOR AT LUND.*
* This letter is preserved in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping in a bound volume containing the correspondence of Doctor Carl Jesper Benzelius.
Right reverend Doctor and Professor,
With respect to the books of the late Assessor Swedenborg, Mr. Springer,l21 who was his very intimate friend, could not help expressing his great astonishment, that you should never have been able to obtain any information on the subject; for he himself, about two years and a half ago, wrote a very minute letter on the subject to Matthias Benzelstjerna,* the Secretary of State. Mr. Springer has wondered no less at never having received an answer to his letter, especially as he had offered his services; and had a power of attorney been sent over, all books would doubtless have been sold, inasmuch as there is a great demand for them. They may be worth about L200. He has showed me a copy of the letter which was written on Nov. 13, 1773, where the number of all the books in stock at the book-sellers in London is given, and a mode is explained by which they might be quickly sold, and the heirs in Sweden be benefited by their sale. If, therefore, you will ask the Secretary of State for the above-mentioned letter, it will not be necessary for me to do any thing more in this matter. Good old Mr. Springer however cannot be troubled any more with it, as the infirmities of old age have rendered him incapable; it would therefore be best for you to put the whole matter into the hands of Mr. Clas Grill,112 an honourable Swedish merchant in this place, and a good friend of Mr. Springer,121 who will assist you with his advice, and will procure the services of a man able to estimate the value of books, as you cannot in such a matter depend on the booksellers themselves.
* Son of Bishop Jacob Benzelstjerna.7
I understand that many books of the same kind are also in store at Amsterdam; I wish I had known about them while I was there. If Mr. Springer's letter had been answered, this matter could have been settled both in England and in Holland. Are you acquainted with the circumstance that the Assessor had moneys on deposit with the Messrs. Hoop in Amsterdam? those which he had deposited with Mr. Lindegren117 in London have long since been paid off and despatched.
Do you not consider it good and advisable that a small stone should be raised in the Swedish Church, where assessor Swedenborg is buried, upon which at least his name, with the date of his birth and death, should be engraved? This cannot be very expensive; and he has been such a very remarkable man. Several of his books have been translated from Latin into English; one has been accompanied with a very clever preface by Doctor[?] Hartley,1 who was an intimate friend not only of the Assessor, but also of his mode of explaining the Bible.
Your obedient servant,
JACOB JONAS BJRNSTHL.120
London, March 2, 1776.
SECTION V 7:
SWEDENBORG'S OFFICIAL LIFE IN
THE COLLEGE OF MINES,
FROM 1717 TO 1747.
INTRODUCTION.
This Section contains the results of a thorough examination of the Archives of the College of Mines in Stockholm, which was instituted with the view of obtaining an authentic account of the official life of Emanuel Swedenborg, as one of its assessors. This investigation was carried on by the editor of these documents during several months of the year 1869, permission having most kindly been given him for that purpose by the authorities of the College of Commerce, with which the College of Mines is now combined. This College no longer holds its meetings in the building so long frequented by Emanuel Swedenborg, that being now occupied by the Royal Archives of Sweden (Riks-Arkivet); but has removed to a building in the "Stora Ryrko brinken" Cathedral Lane No. 9, which was formerly the residence of Count Fr. Stenbock.
The College of Mines, although formerly an independent department of the State, is now a branch of the College of Commerce, or of what is more properly called the "Department of Commerce:" for there never was anything of the nature of a College in the English meaning of the word in the Swedish College of Mines. It was, and still is, the government department, under the charge of which the whole mining interest of the kingdom of Sweden is placed. The functions
of this college are administrative, and at the same time judiciary, i. e. it appoints the various mining officers in Sweden, and receives reports from them, and it also judges in all law-suits arising, in which mining interests are involved.
The College of Mines in Swedenborg's times consisted of a president, who always belonged to the highest order of nobility, two councillors of mines, and about six assessors.
The meetings of the College were daily, Sunday of course excepted; and the proceedings were commenced by the Secretary calling the roll. If any one of the members was absent, the reason of his absence was recorded; if he was unwell, it was so stated. It appears, therefore, that by examining the muster-roll of the College of Mines during the whole time Swedenborg was connected with it, an exact knowledge of his whereabouts and of the condition of his health during that time would be obtained. For this purpose mainly, the editor went through the laborious process of turning over the voluminous proceedings of the College of Mines, from the year 1717 to 1747. The result of his work is given in the following pages. Besides noting the times when Swedenborg was absent and when he was present, the editor took a note of all proceedings in which Swedenborg took a particular part, or which had any special reference to him. All these particulars are stated in the order and in the language in which they are recorded in the numerous volumes, in which these proceedings are contained.
In conclusion the editor must state that the assessors and councillors of mines are ranged according to seniority by the date of commission, and that the oldest assessor was entitled to a councillorship, when one became vacant.
DOCUMENT 143.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES.*
* Extracted from the volume containing the Minutes of the College of Mines for the year 1717.
Jan. 7, 1717.
paragraph 1. A letter of His Royal Majesty, dated the 18th of December last, was read, in which it was announced that His Royal Majesty had most graciously commanded that Emanuel Swedberg should be extraordinary Assessor in the Royal College of Mines. Resolved, to put it on file.
[A copy of this letter herewith follows:]
LETTER OF CHARLES XII3 TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES, RESPECTING EMANUEL SWEDBERG.*
* Preserved among the Royal Letters and Rescripts (AKongl. Majt's Bref," &c.) for the year 1717. p. 934.
Charles, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothia, and Wendia, etc. Our special favour and gracious pleasure, under God Almighty, to the true men and servants, to our Council and President, as well as Vice-president, and to all the Members of the College of Mines. Inasmuch as we have graciously deigned to command that Emanuel Swedberg shall be Extraordinary assessor in the College of Mines, although he at the same time is to attend Polhammar,14 the counsellor of commerce, and to be of assistance to him in his engineering works, and in carrying out his designs, therefore it is our pleasure hereby to let you know this, with our gracious command, and that you allow him to enjoy a seat and voice in the College, whenever he be present, and especially when any business be brought forward pertaining to mechanics.
Lund, December 18, 1716. CAROLUS.
S. CRONHIELM.63
To the College of Mines concerning the Extraordinary assessor Swedberg. Arrived December 29, 1716; read January 7, 1717.
DOCUMENT 144.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF 1717.*
* Extracted from the volume containing the Minutes of the College of Mines, for 1717.
April 6. paragraph 1. Inasmuch as Mr. Emanuel Swedberg, who was appointed by His Royal Majesty to be extraordinary Assessor in the College of Mines, has now made his appearance therefore, as a beginning of his introduction the royal decree which had been received, was read. Afterwards the above-named assessor, after delivering to the Royal College the formulary of the oath signed by himself, took the oath of loyalty and of office, with his hand upon the book, and then took the seat belonging to him.
[The following is a copy of this Royal Warrant, which is preserved at the College of Mines:]
ROYAL WARRANT, BY WHICH SWEDENBORG WAS APPOINTED EXTRAORDINARY ASSESSOR.*
* Preserved among the Royal Letters and Rescripts for the year 1717, p. 935.
We, Charles, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothia, and Wendia, Grand-duke of Finland, Duke of Scanin, Estland, Liffland, Curland, Bremen, Verden, Stettin, Pomerania, Cassuben, and Wenclen;
Lund. December 18, 1716. CAROLUS. S. CRONHJELM.63
Presented and read before the College of Mines, on April 6, 1717.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF 1717.
April 17.
paragraph 2. Assessors Joh. Angerstein and Emanuel Swedberg gave notice that they were obliged to depart, the former only for a week to Strengns, on account of some business; the latter, in company with Councillor of Commerce Polheimer,14 to Carlscrona and Schonen. Whereupon the College could scarcely do otherwise than give its assent.
DOCUMENT 145.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF 1719.
Feb. 13, 1719. Emanuel Swedenborg was present.
Nov. 2. Emanuel Swedenborg handed in to the College of Mines a "Description of Swedish Iron furnaces and their working."
[This treatise, which contains a minute description of the subject in Swedenborg's own handwriting, is preserved in the archives of the College of Mines; an authorized copy of it is also preserved among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Library of the Academy of Sciences. It was dedicated to the following officers of the College of Mines:
To the well-born Count, Councillor of State, and President of the College of Mines, Jacob Spens:
and also to the well-born, noble, and honourable gentlemen, the Vice-president, the Councillors and all the Assessors of Mines, Mr. Urban Hierne,53 Mr. Robert Kinnimundt, Mr. Jones Cederstedt,122 Mr. Andreas Strmner,123 Mr. Jacob Angerstein, Mr. Adam Leijell,103 Mr. David Leijell,124 and Mr. Anders Swab.66
The introduction to this treatise is as follows:
It would have been more becoming in me to bring before Your Excellency and the Honourable Royal College something of greater importance and value than a mere treatise on a coarse and ugly iron furnace; especially as opportunity is afforded in the Swedish mining districts of studying more important furnaces, as those in which silver and copper are smelted. Still, as my principal object has been to investigate the nature of fire, and the manner in which it acts in all kinds of furnaces and blasts, i. e. in everything that concerns smelting, the treatment of ores, and roasting--therefore I considered it more advantageous to examine the coarser first, and to investigate the nature of fire on a large scale, in fact to dissect it in a large subject, in order more easily to draw conclusions thence with regard to its mode of operation and its qualities on a small scale.
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.]
DOCUMENT 146.
INSTRUCTION OF QUEEN ULRICA ELEONORA TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES
RESPECTING A MEMORIAL FROM EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.*
* From the volume containing the Royal Letters and Decrees addressed to the College of Mines during the years 1718 and 1719, p. 150.
Ulrica Eleonora, by the grace of God, Queen of Sweden, Gothland, and Wendia, Grand-duchess of Finland, etc.
Our especial favour and gracious pleasure, under God Almighty, to the true men and servants, our and our country's State-councillor, Count, and President; as well as to the Vice-president, the Councillors of Mines, and Assessors. We graciously send you herewith a humble petition handed to us by assessor Swedenborg about setting up works in connection with the mines in the Great Copper mountain (Stora Kopparberget) for the purpose of exsiccating vitriol, and inasmuch as this seems both necessary and useful for the country in future times, it is our gracious will and order, that you take this subject into due consideration, and afterwards submit to us the opinion at which you arrive on the subject.
ULRICA ELEONORA.
Stockholm, November 14, 1719.
To the College of Mines, together with the humble petition handed in by Assessor Swedenborg.
DOCUMENT 147.
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the "Bref och Suppliquer" for 1720, p. 2.
To His Excellency the President, the honourable Vice-President, and the Councillors and Assessors of Mines.
As there is nothing I wish more ardently than to have an opportunity of giving satisfaction and being of actual service to Your Excellency and to the Honourable Royal College, I therefore, for this very reason, am emboldened to approach you with a humble prayer, that you would support the petition, in which I apply to you in the deepest humility, to graciously provide me with some salary or other means of support, by virtue of my appointment as an extraordinary Assessor, or that you would interest yourselves in my behalf in any other way which may seem to you best. I feel the more justified in making this humble application, as I have already spent whatever has come to me by inheritance and through other channels in perfecting myself in what I thought would help to make me useful to my country, and in travelling abroad for four years, and more recently in assisting the Councillor of Commerce, Polhem, in the construction of docks and sluices, in which I, at my own expense, obeyed the most gracious command of His late Majesty, Charles XII.
Most humble servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Skinskatteberg,* June 19, 1720.
* See Document 130.
DOCUMENT 148.
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the Letters and Supplications (Bref och Suppliquer), for 1721, p. 155.
To His Excellency the President, and to the Honourable Councillors and Assessors of Mines.
As I am about to undertake a new journey abroad, it is my duty to make it known to Your Excellency, and to the Honourable Royal College in writing; especially as my only object is, to collect more minute information respecting the condition of the mines abroad and the processes which are followed there, and also to make inquiries respecting commerce, so far is it relates to metals. For this purpose I intend to visit the places where there are mines, and also those where there is a trade in metals. For the accomplishment of my design I consider it most useful first to travel to Holland, thence to England, afterwards to France and Italy, by way of Venice and Vienna to the Hungarian works, and lastly to the German. If Your Excellency and the honourable Royal College approve of this well-meant purpose, and if you would communicate to me instructions and directions, telling me with what I should make myself particularly acquainted in the various places, I would not only feel it a duty to place myself under these instructions, but would esteem it most valuable advice, as it would show me how I might best employ my time for the benefit of the public.
I remain, with the greatest deference, Your Excellency's and the Honourable Royal College's
Most humble servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Helsingborg,* June 30, 1721.
* A Swedish sea-port on the Sound, opposite Helsingr in Denmark.
DOCUMENT 149.
SWEDENBORG TO THE KING.
[On his return to Sweden, Emanuel Swedenborg addressed the following letter, dated Medevi,* July 14, to King Frederic,4 who was staying at the same place. Of this letter, which was sent the very same day by the King to the College of Mines, with instructions to report thereon, two copies exist in Swedenborg's own handwriting: the identical copy he addressed to the King is preserved in the College of Mines among the Letters and Supplications (Bref och Suppliquer) for the year 1722, p. 156; the other, which he sent to his brother-in-law, Ericus Benzelius, is preserved in the Cathedral-library at Linkping. A copy of the latter is contained in Vol. I, of the photo-lithographic edition of Swedenborg's MSS.
* A Swedish Spa on the borders of Lake Wetter.
This letter was read before the College on October 4, and is as follows:]
Most Mighty and Gracious King,
As your Royal Majesty takes a gracious interest in the mining produce of your country, and as you are likewise pleased to encourage all efforts by which the productiveness of our mines may be stimulated and increased, I therefore venture in all humility to come before you with some measures, by which the mode of working the mines in Sweden may be improved, limiting myself for the present to some improvements in the working of copper.
Should your Royal Majesty grant me permission, I am willing to undertake to get at least eleven skeppund out of the same amount and the same kind of ore, that which is found in the Great Copper Mountain near Fahlun, from which, by the customary process in use in Sweden, only tell skeppund are obtained at present; which amounts, for all the mines in Sweden, to ten per cent, and will increase the yield of copper altogether from 800 to 900 skeppund.
If your Majesty should look with favour on my project, I am willing to give a proof of it on a large scale; which may be done by an equal division being made of the same kind of ore and coal: and the Royal College of Mines may order such precautionary measures to be taken that neither party can have recourse to any unfair means.
In order to put all obstacles out of the way of such a trial, I agree, in case my new process should result in any loss of coal or copper, compared with the yield obtained by the usual process, to make up at once this loss out of my own means to the mining authorities. But if, on the other hand, it is proved that ten per cent has been gained, Your Royal Majesty will most graciously grant me the first year's gains which may thus accrue, extending the same to the whole yield of copper in Sweden which may have been benefited by my process; all of which is to be paid to me by the public, as soon as the proof has been declared to be satisfactory. Further, as our Swedish process of smelting copper is subject to uncertainty as to what may and ought to be got out of a certain quantity of ore or copper stone; as in Sweden this depends upon the smelters, the furnace, and principally, as is maintained, upon luck, and sometimes there is only turned out one half, or even less, of what had been estimated, this also may be placed on a surer foundation, and the causes may be shown and means suggested for improvement.
Should some saving in coal be effected, this also ought to be borne in mind by Your Majesty, so that I may enjoy the same proportion of the profit accruing from that source.
But as a single trial, considering that those who make it are unaccustomed to new processes and furnaces, is unavoidably subject to some uncertainty, I reserve to myself the right of making a second trial, which must be granted me if I find it necessary; on the other hand the mining authorities (bergslagen) have also the right to insist on a second trial. In all which I submit myself to the most gracious pleasure of Your Royal Majesty, and remain, Your Royal Majesty, my most gracious King's
Most humble and faithful subject,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Medevi, July 14, 1722.
DOCUMENT 150.
MEMORIAL RESPECTING MY HUMBLE REMONSTRANCE AND PETITION ADDRESSED TO HIS ROYAL MAJESTY.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the Bref och Suppliquer, for 1722, p. 168.
[On leading the letter contained in Document 149, the College of Mines seems to have instructed Emanuel Swedenborg to prepare a more definite statement of his proposal, with the view of communicating it to the mining authorities at Fahlun; on which he prepared the following Memorial, which was read and discussed before the College of Mines on the 11th of October:]
1. Your Excellency the Count and the Honourable College of Mines will kindly and graciously order all whom it may concern to supply everything that is required in order that the trial maybe instituted, including ore, coal, materials for building the furnaces, etc.
2. They will grant me permission to choose the place which I may consider most favourable for making the trial. Also that I may employ the ablest smelters and roasters, and may be allowed to select them myself. Likewise that I may appoint some adjunct to assist me in superintending the trial, when it is instituted on both sides.
3. Although there is no reason to apprehend that in these trials any one will act unfairly, since Your Excellency the Count, and the Honourable Royal College, will look to this; still, as the labourers at the works generally desire to cling to their old practices, and can with difficulty be induced to abandon them, no matter how strong the reasons may be in favour of a new mode, or how great the advantages that may result from it--therefore it may be necessary that all who are engaged in the trials should be bound by oath to act honestly;
4. I beg most humbly that the mining authorities be instructed to make their trial first, and that mine should follow: as it is possible one or the other of the processes I intend to show may be improved, and applied by them with advantage were theirs the second trial.
5. That the trial of the mining authorities should be made according to the usual process without any change.
6. In order to reach the desired end as early as possible, the mining authorities might make a beginning next winter, or as soon as it can be done conveniently, by instituting experiments on a small scale.
7. It seems necessary that at least three trials be made to afford the means of drawing a surer inference regarding the difference in the yield, and also respecting the correctness of the process.
8. After three or more trials have been made, according as the mining authorities may see fit, and these trials have been approved by them it may be necessary to enact, in order to stimulate them to pursue these trials with all diligence and caution, that afterwards no excuses shall be admitted.
9. That each trial may be made on about ten skeppund or more, in order that the difference and the advantage in the process may be determined with greater certainty; and that no objection from any one alleging that the trials were made on too small a scale, may be admitted afterwards.
10. That the ore and coal be divided into two parts as equally as possible, and that lots be drawn in the presence of witnesses.
11. With regard to the first trial, Your Excellency the Count, and the Honourable Royal College, will please, in agreement with my humble petition to His Royal Majesty, to have no account made of the first trial, as the furnaces must be still cold and damp, and the workmen unaccustomed to the new process.
12. I and several others are to be allowed to be present when this copper is to be refined, and, if deemed necessary, that person belonging to the place who is fittest for this work is to be employed.
13. That a gracious assurance be communicated to me that I shall enjoy the increased amount of copper produced during the first year, for which I have humbly applied to His Majesty. I have been emboldened to apply for the surplus of the copper produced, on account of the great trouble, expense, and time required to set this work in operation; and on account of the risk I run of my name suffering, if, by the carelessness of one of the workmen or by some other accident, the whole should miscarry,--but which I scarcely expect. Moreover, as this is to be left by me for the public benefit, without any further compensation, I therefore shall consider it as a great favour, if I be allowed to enjoy a small portion of that which in the course of time will be gained by my process.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, October 11, 1722.
[These two documents, viz. Swedenborg's letter to the King, and his memorial addressed to the College of Mines, were submitted by the College to the mining authorities at Fahlun, with instructions to take them into consideration and report back to the College of Mines. Their Report which was presented and read to the College on November 19, is contained in the following document.]
DOCUMENT 151.
REPLY OF THE MINING AUTHORITIES AT FAHLUN.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the Bref och Suppliquer, for 1722, No. 153.
To the well-born Count and President, and to the Honourable Councillors and assessors of Mines.
Inasmuch as the well-born assessor Emanuel Swedenborg has stated that he has discovered some new means by which the working of copper in this country, and especially in the Copper Mountain may be improved considerably, and probably increased from ten to eleven skeppund, therefore the Board of Mines have carefully considered both his humble petition submitted to His Royal Majesty, and also the gracious letter of the Royal College, dated the 11th of last month, with a memorial consisting of sundry detached portions. Moreover, as Your Excellency the Count, and the Royal College have been pleased to order the Board of Mines, in case they have anything to reply to the demand made by Assessor Swedenborg in his memorial, to report the same at their earliest convenience to the Royal College; therefore in humble compliance therewith the Board of Mines has carefully examined and considered his demands, and for convenience sake have added their remarks to each of his points. In doing so their object has been, on the one hand, to enable Assessor Swedenborg to reflect more on such an important subject, and on the other hand to express and to establish between him and the said Board of Mines such conditions and such limitations, that no dispute and no misunderstanding may arise, but that each may take all necessary precautions at first, and afterwards enter with greater zest, and a greater feeling of security, on so delicate and difficult an undertaking as that which is involved in the change of a process which has been elaborated during several centuries, and which has become the rule in the smelting of copper;
* He was an Italian who arrived in Sweden in 1688, offering to the government a better process for obtaining the copper from the ore. His process is discussed by Swedenborg in his Opera Philosophica, &c, Vol. III, p. 48.
** Joh. Wendelin Schumejer, and a certain Heldeberg, both Germans, offered to do the same thing in 1689, but failed likewise. Their process is described by Swedenborg at p. 44 of the same volume of the same work.
*** See Note to Document 97.
**** Joh. Dan. Neithard, and Nicol. Clari, likewise from Germany, promised to change iron immediately into copper; they are mentioned by Swedenborg on p. 46, of his Opera Philosophica Vol. III.
2. The Board of Mines are willing that he should select the most suitable place and the ablest smelters for the trial; but they cannot order any miner, after having been in want of coal, now that the coal is beginning to come in, to leave his works and give up his smelters and roasters, before having finished the ore he has in hand. Moreover, in connection with this paragraph, there is this to be mentioned, that before the reward which the Assessor claims in his thirteenth paragraph can become his, it is his business to see that all those who may be charged with paying his reward, have equally good smelters, and places as serviceable as that which he chooses to select: for all the circumstances that belong to the subject in question, and have to be considered in regard to the assessor, must also be taken into consideration on behalf of the mining district.
From the fact that this right of selection is demanded we conclude that many of the usual situations for mining-works are unsuitable for the new process, even as the labourers themselves are unused to it and untaught, and they have not all the same facilities for learning speedily this new process. For this reason also no one can be charged for this eleventh skeppund for compensation, who has not enjoyed all those advantages which the Assessor himself has had in making his trial. Moreover, both opportunity, willingness, and ability to pay this compensation will be wanting with most mine-owners and labourers, and in collecting it as many disputes will arise as there are differences between their own works and the work where the trial has been made for the Assessor.
3. The Board of Mines consider it not only necessary that the labourers on both sides should be pledged by an oath but on account of the importance of this matter the Board of Mines desire also to have two good men, who would take turns in being present at the Assessor's trial, even as the Assessor is at liberty to do the same in the trial made by the mining district--and this for the purpose of removing suspicion on both sides.
4. It does not seem to be a matter of consequence who makes the first, and who the last trial. But it seems best that the trials on both sides should be made in the same time; for after the trial has been made any part of the Assessor's process which has proved useful, may be adopted.
5. The Assessor may rest assured that in the trial to be made by the mining district, the usual process shall be followed without change, as it is supposed to be the best, until another process be proved to be better.
6. As soon as convenient, and as soon as the Board of Mines can agree with the Assessor upon a surer basis by which to compute the compensation, than what has been proposed, they are willing that the trial on both sides should begin.
7. How far two trials can be supposed to give certainty as to the difference and the increased yield in copper, the Board of Mines give their; opinion in their consideration of paragraph 13.
8. The eighth point of the memorial treats of the same subject, wherefore it also is considered in the same place.
9. It is a little doubtful, why the assessor insists that the trial should consist of about 10 skeppund or more, lest an objection might be made in the computation of the increase, should it be based on a trial made on a small scale: for, as is well known, the mining district consists for the most part of such miners as are unable to smelt more at a time than from four to five skeppund, and many even less. If then the increase be correct, it must be the same whether made on a large or small scale; and if it be not so, the basis of its computation is false, and can only be approximated with the greatest inconvenience and trouble.
10. The ideas of the Board of Mines are, that when the trial is made, the Assessor himself must be present, and take the same ore as the persons of the mining district, and indeed from the same lot, heap upon heap, both from the better and the inferior sort. The Assessor also must make arrangements so as to receive coal by one of his own men, this matter being so important, that by all means possible every suspicion of unfairness should be avoided, and all dispositions be made, so that the security which both parties seek may not be lost in sundry objections and difficulties.
11. Whether the assessor desires to make one or two trials without counting them, is a matter of indifference to the Board of Mines, provided they be made at his own risk, and provided the Board of Mines do not incur any expenses beforehand. Those trials, however, which are to be the basis on which this presumed increase is to rest, are all to be made most accurately, and of the same kind of ore as that used by the other side, that is, as far as it can be judged to be so.
12. The purity of the copper obtained by both parties must be tested; this testing must be done by a master of known ability, and be must test both the copper obtained by the trial of the mining district, and that which the assessor proposes to obtain by his process.
13. Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg in the humble proposition which he submitted to His Royal Majesty, demands, that the increase in the yield of copper of the first year should be paid to him by the public, but the public will certainly not make any such payment, unless they who have the benefit of this increased yield refund it to the public; thus, should the trial succeed, it will be the mine-owners' duty to pay 10 per cent of the copper they obtain--this also the Board of Mines are willing to grant, if only the proposition will not lead to mere disputes. It is well-known to all who have an accurate knowledge of this branch of metallurgy, how many circumstances must conspire to obtain the desired result: how much depends upon a proper mixture of the ore, upon the position of the works, upon the work-people, the time, the putting on of coal, the cold roasting or first calcining, upon the second calcining, and so forth. The ore; also is in itself so various that sometimes two stones from the same lode are quite unlike; that the one contains one kind of combinations, and the other quite a different kind; so that these things in so great a work as the above cannot be separated, nor sifted apart. As so many circumstances conspire, it is really good luck when they all work together, and bad luck when there is a want or deficiency in some of them. A miner may be as cautious as possible, yet as circumstances change so much in the mine itself, and as his work-people vary so much, it cannot happen otherwise than that at one time he will have good luck, and at another time bad luck.
It is therefore vain to try to regulate the production of copper by making a few trials: for if all places for the works, all ores, coal, etc. were the same, if smelters and calciners were all equally industrious, faithful, intelligent, and good, it would be a different thing. Yet so great a work as this cannot be settled in this manner. If a physician cures three patients of fever or some other disease, not all who suffer from the same disease are bound to pay him fees, nor can he insist that they shall all adopt the same treatment. If the different mine-owners could be entered in an account of debit and credit, and be taxed thereupon unconditionally-which would be an impossibility in so great a work and in one which is subject to so many contingencies--then the compensation or the increase in the yield of copper might be more easily computed; but where no correct debit is entered, no correct credit can be computed, and consequently no correct balance can be drawn. Besides, the Board of Mines do not know to what extent the Assessor desires to make use of our existing furnaces, whether he proposes to build new ones with chimneys, which has often been talked of, or whether he desires to employ a new process like that in use in the Hartz and Goslar, which requires more time and is more costly.
In consideration of all this, and of more that might be discussed at length on this matter, the Board of Mines and the mine-owners of the district resolve, in conclusion, that if Assessor Swedenborg is confident that he can accomplish what he has promised, the mine-owners are very willing that the desired trials should be instituted; and that if it be made evident that his process is better than that which is usually followed, and that it is of such a nature that it can be introduced into the whole mining district without inconvenience and great expense, they are quite willing to honour and recompense the Assessor for his invention, according as it be found useful; but that they should, amid so many difficulties and contingencies, and upon the result of a few trials, bind themselves before-hand to give up every eleventh skeppund, this both Your Excellency, and the Honourable Royal College, and also Assessor Swedenborg himself, will find to be a claim of a nature to which the mine-owners on their part cannot accede.
We remain, with all due respect,
Your Excellency's and the Honourable Royal College's most obedient servants,
AND. SWAB.66 JOHAN HOLENIUS. GERHARDT J. SAM KRSTNER. JACOB IWARSSON. JOHAN NSMAN. OLOF JONSSON. PHILIP TROTZIG. JOH. PLANTIN. E. S. SJBERG. WALLENSSON. SAMUEL KRSNER JR. HANS JANSSON. JOHAN CASTOR. IFWAR DANIELSSON. JOHAN NSMAN. JANSSON. SIMON FUNK. OLOF PRSSON with several other illegible names.
At the Mine, November 10, 1722.
[On the reception of this report, it was communicated by the College of Mines to Emanuel Swedenborg; and his strictures upon it, which are contained in the following document addressed to the College of Mines, were considered by that body on December 13.]
DOCUMENT 152.
SWEDENBORG'S REPLY.*
* Presented in the College of Mines among the Bref och Suppliquer for 1722, No. 154.
High well-born Count and President,
In obedience to the order given by Your Excellency and the Honourable Royal College of Mines, the Board of Mines of the Great Copper Mountain have given their humble opinion respecting a trial which I intend to make, to prove that the yield of copper in Sweden may be increased 10 per cent above that which is obtained by the usual process, when all that belongs to the nature of fire, the blast, furnaces, and the ores themselves, is properly considered; and inasmuch as the above-mentioned Board of Mines are pleased, on the one hand, to doubt, and on the other, to pronounce incorrect those postulates which I deemed necessary to institute a fair and just trial, and to arrive at perfect certainty; therefore I humbly submit to Your Excellency the following, by way of explanation:
1. The Board of Mines, in the first place, express their unqualified general opinion as to the impolicy of changing the customary processes of smelting, which have been elaborated during many centuries, and have thus acquired authority, mentioning the names of all those who have boldly attempted, unsuccessfully, to effect any change in them, and stating at the same time the distance and objection the mine-owners around Fahlun have acquired to the so-called new-fangled miners.
2. With regard to the second point, the Board of Mines offer as a proof of their argument, that if the most suitable place and the smelters were left to he selected by me in instituting my trial, that, should it prove successful, the increase in the yield could not be computed for all the mine-owners in proportion, as some have not the advantage of a suitable place and able smelters: but my reply is, that I reserved for myself this selection, so that no unfit work-men, and no unsuitable place, might be offered to, or forced upon, me. For with regard to the workmen, I cannot with any show of justice be compelled, and it is even an impossibility, to accommodate myself to the comprehension and capacity of every one, or to provide them all with the same degree of understanding, or finally to let the computation of my compensation depend upon their inclination, their will, and their capacity. On the contrary, I hold that I have fulfilled my duty after having placed before their eyes the thing desired, and after having instructed as far as practicable, the ablest among them.
That there is a great difference in the situation of the copper-works, is a matter well known to myself, and still more so to Your Excellency; but as the Board of Mines have the same liberty of selecting as I have, there is no inequality in this respect. If they choose to give me an unsuitable place, and if they reserve a similar one for themselves, then it amounts to the same, as the increase in the yield does not depend upon the excellency of the place, but upon the excellency of the process. Moreover, what those who occupy unsuitable positions for their works lose, I do not undertake to make up for them, but I simply propose to procure for them an increase of 10 per cent above that which the owner obtains in the same place by the usual process.
Besides, the Board of Mines do not seem to have been called upon to make so very close a, computation of the royalty to be paid, as this was not demanded of the mine-owner, nor was it asked for many years, or even for a lifetime.
3. That two good men should in turns be constantly present at the trial, is for the purpose of removing suspicion, and is very much needed; also the pledging of these good men with an oath, as well as all the others who are present at the trial. That also is necessary which is mentioned in the fifth paragraph, which is that the trial should be made according to the usual process.
4. But if the Board of Mines insist on the fourth point, that the trials should take place on both sides at the same time, there is room given for suspicion, since no one can be in two places at the same time, nor bear witness that everything took place fairly. Moreover, this would be a means of placing the trials on an insecure foundation, as an opportunity is given on both sides of changing the original designs, and bringing all into confusion and dispute. I beg, therefore, most humbly that the Board of Mines be instructed to make their trial first, and declare the same to be satisfactory, before I go to work with the counter-trial.
5. I also beg, that before the trials are commenced, an agreement should be arrived at respecting the basis, on which the royalty will be computed.
6. It is no matter of doubt why I insist that the trial be made with about 10 skeppund or more, so that no objection may be taken to the computation of the royalty, on the ground that the trial was made on too small a scale. It would, however, be a great matter of doubt for me to consent to have the trial made on a smaller scale, on account of reasons which I do not wish to state here, and also for this reason, that one must unavoidably lose in a furnace which is entirely cold, and where only from 3 to 4 skeppund are worked up; and this loss is not only in time, but also in coal and in copper; a loss not so sensibly experienced in a trial on a larger scale. I will explain this by a more convincing example. In iron furnaces the owner loses considerably in coal and also in iron during the first eight to fourteen days, likewise in time; since only one half or one third is obtained during that time. But as it is reported by the Board of Mines, that the mine-owners, for the most part, consist of such persons as can at the utmost work up from four to five skeppund, and many much less, and as they undeniably lose both in time and in coal, this ought to be remedied, by several smelting together from ten to fifteen skeppund. Now, as a loss is sure to accrue from small trials, and as, consequently, the certainty which may justly be demanded from trials is not obtained, therefore the basis on which my royalty is to be computed is not summarily false, as has been alleged, but the mine-owners themselves are the cause of it, since they are opposed to an increased yield and wilfully cause a loss to themselves.
7. With regard to the conclusion at which the Board of Mines have arrived in respect to the institution of the trial, and the computation of the royalty, I leave it to Your Excellency's consideration, as well as to that of the Board of Mines, how far a trial can be instituted under a mere promise, when so many difficulties are brought forward beforehand about the settlement of the basis for the computation of the royalty; all of which, as well as one's reputation, would have to be risked in the safest case and the most successful issue, whenever the examination thereof is left to the judgment of those who are opposed to the whole matter.
8. The Board of Mines consider it to be vain to regulate all copper-works after some trials have been made, and they are pleased to compare this to a physician who has succeeded in curing some patients one after another, etc. But it must be well known to the Board of Mines that a certain knowledge of the nature and contents of an ore is obtained after an analyzer of ores has done his work, and still more when this has been done on a large scale; whence it follows that this comparison cannot show us anything more, than that the processes which are in use at Fahlun are more uncertain than anywhere else, and that in several particulars they require improvement and remedy.
Now, as the Board of Mines, for their own benefit, as well as for that of the public generally, will without doubt promote so important and useful a work, I so much the less doubt their desire to do so, as on all previous occasions, even when foreigners have offered their services to them, they have manifested an interest in them; and this so much the more as their own interests are deeply concerned in it. Offering herewith my humblest thanks to Your Excellency for having deigned to favour my proposition hitherto, and as such a matter cannot be promoted by the writing of letters, but simply by results produced, I do not in the least doubt that Your Excellency will continue your favour in the future. I remain, with all due respect,
Your Excellency's most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, December 7, 1722.
[It does not appear from the Proceedings of the College of Mines that the trial here spoken of was ever made. It is doubtful. A full description of the improved processes of gaining copper was given by Swedenborg in Vol. III of his great work, "Opera Philosophica et Mineralia," which was published at Leipzig in 1734.]
DOCUMENT 153.
SWEDENBORG'S ENTRANCE INTO THE COLLEGE.*
* Extracted from the Minutes of the College of Mines for the year 1723.
April 1, 1723.
The petition sent in by assessor Emanuel Swedenborg on February 12 was read, to which was added the decree of His Majesty, King Charles XII, with his letter to the Royal College, by which Swedenborg received the appointment of an extraordinary Assessor in this College. The assessor reported that he was prevented from enjoying the privileges of the said appointment on account of his journeys in Sweden and abroad; and as his only object has been to perfect himself in those branches which concern the economy of mines, which he could not have done while attending the sessions of the Royal College here in town, he considers it his first duty to await an expression of the Royal College, as to whether there is any obstacle to his re-entrance.
Another petition sent in on the 20th of last month was also read, in which Assessor Swedenborg begs the Royal College to arrive at some result with regard to his right of sitting and voting in the Royal College here.
As the Royal College had summoned Assessor Swedenborg's attendance that he might express himself more fully on this subject, and as he was then present, he was called. The President stated, that the College had had his petitions read to them respecting his vote and seat in the Royal College, and had found it necessary to hear from him, whether he had made up his mind to grant precedence to Assessors Bergenstierna125 and Brome72* so that no disputes might arise on this subject.
* Both these gentlemen had received their appointments as Assessors in 1720; but Bergenstierna had been Secretary of the College of Mines from 1713.
Councillor of Mines Cederstedt.122BThe action of the Royal College is based on a statement of Judge Cederholm,* who had been before them, and who had deposed that Assessor Swedenborg had stated to him, that inasmuch as Assessor Bromell,72 whose appointment as Professor antedated Swedenborg's, had yielded precedence to Assessor Bergenstierna125 also assessor Swedenborg, in consideration of assessor Bromell's appointment, would not claim precedence of Assessors Bergrenstierna and Bromell, but would acknowledge their seniority.
* Bernhard Cederholm, in 1718 Lagman or Judge in Wadstena ln; in 1741 he became President of the Court of Appeals (Gtha Hofrtt) at Jnkping.
Assessor Swedenborg.--It is also my opinion, and I agree to this, Mr. President.
There only remains a question therefore between Assessor Swedenborg and his brother-in-law assessor Benzelstjerna,8 which of the two should have precedence. Assessor Swedenborg was asked whether he might not arrange this with his brother-in-law; for if they would confer with one another they might so settle the matter, that no dispute could arise between them. Assessor Swedenborg.--I am willing to talk with my brother-in-law on the subject, and am quite willing to make an arrangement with him.
April 3rd.
Swedenborg was present at the College of Mines.
April 11th.
As it was reported that assessor Emanuel Swedenborg was in the ante-room for the purpose of stating to what extent he had come to an agreement with Assessor Benzelstjerna respecting the seat in the Royal College, he was therefore called in, when the result of the last conference on the 1st inst. was stated by the President, according to which Assessor Swedenborg was willing to grant precedence to Assessors Bergenstierna and Bromell, and also expressed his willingness to make an arrangement with Assessor Benzelstjerna on the subject of seniority. The President said the College was now prepared to hear what arrangement Assessor Swedenborg had made with his brother-in-law.
Assessor Swedenborg.--I have conferred with my brother-in-law assessor Benzelstjerna, and as he has an appointment as ordinary Assessor, and is consequently obliged to be always present at the session of the Royal College; and as I, on the other hand, have only an appointment as extraordinary Assessor, and have therefore the liberty of being present here at my good pleasure, or not, therefore, in consideration of this, I have consented to sit below my brother-in-law, assessor Benzelstjerna; with this reservation, however, that if at any future time a change should occur, and any one should be appointed ordinary Assessor in this Royal College, my present declaration should not be turned against me, and that the place which I now occupy, after my brother-in-law Assessor Benzelstjerna, should be preserved to me for all future times.
Hereupon Assessor Swedenborg took his place in the board of the Royal College immediately below Assessor Lars Benzelstjerna.*
* The appointment of Lars Benzelstjerna as assessor in the College of Mines, dates from the year 1722.
These minutes were read before Assessor Swedenborg on the 29th of April, word for word, and acknowledged by him to be correct.
DOCUMENT 154.
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE AT THE COLLEGE IN 1723.*
* Extracted from the Minutes of the College of Mines for the year 1723.
A.
Swedenborg was present at the College: April 13, 20, 23, 25, 29; May 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13.
May 24.
During Swedenborg's absence from the College a memorial* was discussed at length which he had read before the Swedish Diet (Riksens Stnder), and which had been referred to the College of Mines. In this memorial Swedenborg endeavoured to prevail upon the Diet to abolish the distinction between the noble and ignoble metals, by which copper mining and the interests of copper were protected at the expense of the iron interest.
* This memorial is our Document 169.
The College opposed a change in the existing laws, and instructed Assessor Bergenstierna125 to oppose the measure orally in the House of Nobles.
B.
Swedenborg was present at the College: May 7, 30; June 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28.
From July 1 to 9 he was absent on account of business connected with the Swedish Diet.
He was again present at the College: July 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24, 26, 29; August 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 13, 16, 21, 26, 29, 31; September 5, 9, 11, 12, 14.
C.
Sept. 18.
A letter addressed by Swedenborg to the Royal College was read, in which he protests against the granting of a privilege or a patent by the College to Col. Wollan for the manufacture of steel. This letter, which is dated Sept. 16, 1723, is as follows:
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved among the letters (Bref och Suppliquer) addressed to the College in 1723, p. 220.
To His Excellency the President, and to the Honourable Councillors and Assessors of Mines,
Inasmuch as Col. Wollan obtains a privilege for a new process of making steel in Sweden, and as I have during my stay abroad collected information from Vienna concerning a process, by means of which steel may be produced of such excellence as may be desired, and according to which it may be made better and harder, if more time is allowed for it, and at a lower price, than by following the usual methods, I therefore, for the purpose of reserving the right of trying and testing this process, and if found serviceable of making use of it, leave in the hands of Your Excellency the President, a copy of this process, before the privilege is granted to Col. Wollan, and request most humbly an entry on the Minutes on this subject.
I remain, most respectfully, Your Excellency's and the Honourable Royal College's
Most humble servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, September 16, 1723.
Swedenborg was further present in the College: Sept. 19, 30; October, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 25, 29.
D.
October 30.
The following letter was read, in which Swedenborg applied for leave of absence, to attend to some private affairs in the country:
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved among the letters (Bref och Suppliquer) addressed to the College in 1723, p. 354.
To His Excellency the President, and the Honourable Councillors and Assessors of Mines,
Inasmuch as I have been obliged during the session of the last Diet, ever since the beginning of the present year, to remain constantly in Stockholm, and as I have neglected thereby some of my private affairs, I therefore beg most humbly of Your Excellency, and the Hononrable College of Mines, that you will grant me leave of absence, to look after my little property in the country.
Awaiting your most gracious consent, I remain, most respectfully, Your Excellency's and the Honourable Royal College's
Most humble servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, October 29, 1723.
The College acceded to Swedenborg's request, but it ordered that, before leaving, he should first report himself to His Excellency the President.
From the proceedings of the law-suit adverted to in our Document 132, it appears that Swedenborg went to the iron-works at Axmar, Gestrickland, of which he owned one-fifth, and his aunt Brita Behm four-fifths, and that he went to erect there, at their joint expense, a new furnace, to replace one which had been destroyed by the Russians, when they landed there in 1721.]
DOCUMENT 155.
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE AT THE COLLEGE IN 1724.*
* Extracted from the Minutes of the College of Mines for 1724.
A.
April 28.
It was resolved by the College of Mines to make an application to the King, requesting that, as Assessor Bromell72 had been appointed physician to His Majesty (archiater) and as Assessor Benzelstierna8 who had hitherto only a bergmaster's salary of 800 dalers in silver, had succeeded to assessor Bromell's salary, Assessor Benzelstierna's salary of 800 dalers in silver be given to Assessor Swedenborg, who had hitherto laboured in the College without salary.
Swedenborg was again present sit the College on May 18, and he was further present on May 20, 21, 22.
On May 23 he presented a letter on a suit pending in the College between the iron-works at Krabsj and Norgowik.
He was present: May 24, 25, 30; June 1, 3, 4, 6, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 25, 26, 27, 30; July 1, 3, 4, 6.
B.
July 6.
A letter was received from the King, in which he agrees to the disposition of Archiater Bromell's salary, in giving it to Assessor Lars Benzelstierna,8 but he does not grant the transfer of Benzelstierna's salary to Swedenborg.
Whereupon the following letter was read, addressed by Swedenborg to the College of Mines, which had been received on June 14, and in which he thanks the members of the College for the interest which they have shown in his behalf.
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Presented among the letters (Bref och Suppliquer), addressed to the College in 1724, p. 88.
To His Excellency the Count and President, and to the Honourable Councillors and Assessors of Mines,
I herewith offer my humble thanks to Your Excellency, and the Honourable Royal College, for the high favour which you have showed to me, in kindly proposing me to His Majesty for the salary which has been made vacant by the promotion of Mr. Bromell72 as physician in chief. I desire also to state to you that I recognize with deep respect the high favour you have shown me; and I most humbly beg of Your Excellency and the Most Honourable College, in consideration of my having now for eight years served in the Royal College as an extraordinary Assessor without salary, upon the warrant which was most graciously granted to me by the late King Charles XII, and having made during that time a journey to the mines abroad, and having expended my time upon what I thought would be of service to Your Excellency and the Royal College, that you would also henceforth be so gracious as to continue the favour you have already shown towards me. The favour of Your Excellency, and of the Honourable Royal College is the only thing I build upon on such an occasion; but, on the other hand, I shall with deep respect never cease to remain, Your Excellency's, and the Most Honourable Royal College's
Most humble servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, June 16, 1724.
Swedenborg present at the College: July 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15. Recess until September 8.
[Until Aug. 18 Swedenborg seems to have been at Axmar in Gestrickland, where he was looking after his share in the following letter to the President of the College of Mines, the original of which is in the Royal Library in Stockholm:]
C.
SWEDENBORG TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF MINES.
Most honourable Baron and Governor,
Upon arriving in town a few days ago, Secretary Colling informed me, that he had directed a letter for me to Gefle, which was enclosed in one addressed to Bellander, the Master of Mines, and which he supposes to have been from your Honour. As this letter has not yet been received, and as I doubt whether it will be sent back to me from Gefle within a fortnight, as the Master of Mines, to whom it was addressed is absent upon a commission in Helsingland, I consider it my duty to inform your honour of this, and to beg you in all deference to renew your instructions, in case your letter contained any, before I, in obedience to your notification about time and place, enter upon my journey.
In case your Honour has not yet engaged permanently a secretary for the commission, I would venture to propose for this post an auscultant, by the name of Andreas Thunberg, who has occasionally acted as secretary in the Royal College of Mines, and who has had opportunity thereby of acquiring practice, and also of showing his ability. He is at present at Philipstad, and he might be reached through Ekman, the Master of Mines, in that town, through whom your Honour could kindly communicate with him upon this business.
Meanwhile I remain, Most honourable Baron and Governor, most respectfully
Your humble servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, August 18, 1724.
D.
Swedenborg was absent on this commission until Nov. 2, but present again on November 2, 3, 4, 5.
Nov. 9. There was read the Royal Warrant, dated July 15, 1724, by which the well-born Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg was appointed an ordinary Assessor in the Royal College, with a salary of 800 dalers in silver.
Swedenborg was present: November 6, 7.
On Nov. 9 he handed in to the College of Mines a complaint against his aunt Brita Behm,50 who was joint owner with himself of the iron-works at Axmar, and who sought to deprive him of the privilege of smelting in common with her at the furnace.
Present: November 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 15, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28; December, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31.
DOCUMENT 156.
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE AT THE COLLEGE IN 1725.*
* Extracted from the Minutes of the College of Mines for 1725.
Swedenborg present at the College: January 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29; February 1, 4.
Feb. 4, paragraph 8, After Assessor Swedenborg rose from the board and left the room, the memorial was read which he handed in on November 9th of last year, and in which he complained of the agent of Madam Brita Behm50 at the iron-works of Axmar.
[An account of this difficulty and a summary of the proceedings before the College of Mines is given in Document 129, Section IV, to which we refer our readers.]
Swedenborg present again at the College: Feb. 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15.
Feb. 15. paragraph 9. Assessor Swedenborg stated in a report, that he had examined all the machines and models belonging to the College of Mines, end he desires an appropriation of 50 dalers in silver, in order to repair them. The appropriation was passed.
paragraph 10. In another memorial, Swedenborg asks whether it would not be useful to import from England an air-pump, which might be done for 1000 dalers in copper. He also asks the College to have models taken of the machines used in raising the ore from the mines. Resolved, to see what appropriation can be made for this purpose from the funds of the mechanical laboratory.
paragraph 11. Another memorial from Swedenborg was read, in which he proposed that a hoisting-machine, invented by Polhem, should be removed to the college, and placed in the same room with the other machines.
Swedenborg present: Feb. 16, 17.
Feb. 17. Resolved that Assessor Swedenborg be instructed to order an air-pump from England for the use of the College.
Swedenborg present: Feb. 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25.
Feb. 25. The case of E. Swedenborg v. Brita Behm50 was again taken up.
Swedenborg present: Feb. 26, 27.
Feb. 27. The case of E. Swedenborg v. Brita Behm50 was continued.
March 1. This case was concluded before the College of Mines.
Swedenborg present at the College: March 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27; April 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30; May 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 27.
May 27. A memorial by Swedenborg was read, in which he proposes that a letter be addressed to the king, asking him to grant that the air-pump be allowed to enter Stockholm free of duty. Resolution passed.
Swedenborg present: May 28, 29, 31.
May 31. It was resolved that Assessor Swedenborg be appointed on the commission superintending the iron-forges outside the mining districts, instead of Assessor Bergenstierna125 who is prevented by illness.
Swedenborg present: June 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, (absent 14,) 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30.
July 1. An appropriation of 200 dalers in silver was made to cover the expenses of the commission on iron-works, on which Swedenborg had been engaged with Assessor Bergenstierna.
Swedenborg present: July 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16.
Assessors Bergenstierna,l25 Benzelstierna,8 and Swedenborg mere absent until October 29, on certain duties in the mining districts.
Swedenborg present again: October 29, 30; November 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 22, 23, 24, (on the 25th Assessors Benzelstierna and E. Swedenborg absent on certain commissions and deputations), 26, 27, December 2, 3, 4.
Dec. 4. An account was handed in of the expenses of the commission in Wermeland and Philipstad for the examination of some iron and copper works; the commission consisting of Assessors Bergenstierna and Swedenborg, and Auscultant Bergenstierna. The accounts were approved and passed.
Swedenborg present: December 6, 7, 8, 9.
Dec. 9. Resolution passed to pay to each of the Assessors, 203 dalers.
Swedenborg present: Dec. 10, (on the 11th absent on business with custom-house,) 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, (on the 22th Swedenborg and two other Assessors meet the Royal College in the House of Nobles in order to confer on custom-house affairs,) 23, 24.
DOCUMENT 157.
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE BT THE COLLEGE IN 1726.*
* Extracted from the Minutes of the College of Mines for 1726.
Jan. 18, 19. Assessors Benzelstierna and Swedenborg have not yet returned, the former of them being indisposed.
Swedenborg present again at the College: January 28, 29, 31; February 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28; March 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31; April 2, 4. 5, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25.
April 25. The Secretary reported, that the correspondence between Assessors Bergenstierna, Benzelstierna, and Swedenborg about precedence in the Royal College had been received. Resolved, to wait until Cederstedt, the Councillor of Mines, return.
Swedenborg present: April 27, 28; May 2, 3, 4, 5.
May 4 and 5. A correspondence between Assessors Bergenstierna, Benzelstierna, and Swedenborg on the one hand, and Assessor Swab66 on the other, in which the latter claims precedence of the former, was read and discussed.
Swedenborg present: May 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28.
June 3. An application was made to the commission consisting of Assessors Benzelstierna and Swedenborg to adjust difficulties between the iron and copper works which they visited last year.
Swedenborg present: June 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30; July 1, 4, 5, 6, 8.
July 8. An appropriation was made in order to enable Assessors Bergenstierna125 and Swedenborg to proceed to Wermeland again, to adjust the difficulties there.
Swedenborg present: July 9, 11.
July 12. Assessors Bergenstierna and Swedenborg take their leave of the College, and are away until August 31.
Swedenborg present again: Sept. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, (from the 7th to 10th, the-members of the College went to the House of Nobles, to transact business there,) 13, (from the 14th to 16th, the members of the College were again at the House of Nobles,) 17, 19, 26, 28; October 1, 3, 4, 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 21, 31, (absent Nov. 2,) 5, 7, 9, 10, (absent on the 11th,) 12, 14, (absent the 17th,) 18, 19, 21, (absent on the 23rd and 25th,) 26; December 1, 2, (absent on the 3rd,) 5, 6, 7, (absent the 9th,) 10, (absent the 14th,) 17, 22, (absent the 23rd,) 24, 31.
DOCUMENT 158.
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE AT THE COLLEGE FROM 1727 TO 1732.*
* Extracted from the Minutes of the College of Mimes from 1727 to l732.
A.
1727. January, present the whole month, except on the 18th; (absent from Jan. 30 to Feb, 11;) February, present the rest of the month, except on the 25th; March, present the whole month, except on the 8th and 24th; April, present the whole month, except on the 12th; May, present the whole month, except on the 19th and 25th; June, present the whole month, except on the 6th, 8th, 20th, 23th; July, present the whole month.
Recess from July 29 to September 26.
September, present from 26th to 30th; October, present the whole month, except on the 7th; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month.
B.
1728. January, present the whole month; February, present the whole month; March, present the whole month.
April, present on the 1st, (on the 2nd, the College went to the House of Nobles to confer with the other Colleges,) (absent 3, 4, 6,) 8, (absent 9, 10,) 11, (absent 12, 13, 15, 16,) 17, (absent 18, 20, 25,) 27, (absent 23, 30;) May, (absent 2, 3, 4, 6,) 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, (absent 13, 14, 15,) 16, 17, 18, 20, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, (absent 27,) 28, 29, 31; June, 1, 3, 4, (absent 5,) 6, 7, (absent 13, 14, 15), 17, 18, 19 (application was made for the expenses of the commission on which Swedenborg was engaged in 1726,) 20.
Recess from June 20 to October 3.
October, present the whole month; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month, except on the 20th.
C.
1799. January, present the whole month, except on the 11th; February, present the whole month, except on the 1st; March, present the whole month, except on the 3rd; April, present the whole month, (on the 7th, Count Bjelke was notified that Assessors Bergenstierna and Swedenborg would come in summer, and continue the inspection of iron-works around Stora koppar berget); May, present the whole month, except on the 12th; June, present the whole month; July, present the whole month. Recess from July 24 to September 9. Swedenborg absent on the inspection of the iron-forges, until October 27; October, present the rest of the month; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month.
D.
1730. January, present the whole month, except on the 5th; February, Present the whole month, except on the 28th; March, present the whole month; April, present the whole month; May, present the whole month; June, present to June 8.
June 8. paragraph 2. There was read and put on file a gracious letter from the King, which had arrived on June 4, in which it is ordered, that, on account of the promotion of Assessor Leyel103 to the vacant councillorship of mines, Assessor Swedenborg who had hitherto only a salary of 800 dalers in silver, should be promoted to the full salary of an ordinary assessor.
The purport of this letter is as follows:
THE KING TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the Royal Letters received in 1729, 1730, p. 248.
Frederic, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothia, Wendia, etc. Landgrave of Hesse, etc.
Our especial favour and gracious pleasure, under God Almighty, to the true men and servants, to the President, as well as the Councillors of Mines and all the Assessors.
FREDERIC.
Carlberxr, June 4, 1730.
Swedenborg present June 9, 10.
June 10. A letter was made out, in which Assessors Bergenstierna125 and Swedenborg are instructed, that in the ensuing month they are to inspect the forest lands belonging to the iron-works around Fahlun, and that they are to report respecting their condition, etc.
Swedenborg present to June 26.
June 26. Preparations are made for the commission on which Assessors Bergenstierna and Swedenborg are about to depart.
Swedenborg present till July 16.
Access till September 10; Swedenborg absent till September 22.
Swedenborg present the rest of September; October, present the whole month; November, present the whole month, except on the 24th; December, present the whole month.
E.
1731. January, present the whole month, (On the 23rd, the members of the College were at the House of Nobles; Swedenborg absent from 23 to 30;) February, present the whole month, except on the 13th; March, present to 9th, (absent 10, 11,) 12, (absent 13,) present to 19th, (absent 20,) 22, 23 (absent 24, 26, 27, on business at the House of Nobles,) 29, 30.
Swedenborg absent from the College of Miles on account of illness (opasslig) from March 31 to May 4.
Swedenborg present the rest of the month of May; June, (absent on the 1st, when he went with Councillor Leyel103 and Assessor Benzelstierna8 to the House of Nobles,) present the rest of the month; July, present from 1st to 12th; (the commission of Assessor Swedenborg and Councillor of Mines Bergenstierna, is to be continued this summer; they are to examine the iron-works around rebro,) present July 28.
Bergenstierna and Swedenborg absent till October 9; Swedenborg present the rest of the month; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month, except on the 1st when he was unwell.
F.
1732. January, Swedenborg present to 6th, (unwell, 7, 8,) present till 14th, (15th on a commission), present to 24th, (unwell, 26th,) present the rest of the month; February, present the whole month, (on 28th, Swedenborg sent in his account about the repairs of the machines;) March, present the whole month, except 21st, on the commission on coinage; April, present till 15th, (unwell, 17th,) present during the rest of the month; May, present the whole month; June, present till 8th, (on the 10th, Assessor Swedenborg desires to be excused,) present the rest of the month; July, present to 26th; August, (absent on 1st and 8th,) present 26, 29; September, present from 6th to the end of month; October, present till 13th, (unwell, 14th,) present 16, 27, (unwell from 18th to 27th October,) present 30, 31; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month.
DOCUMENT 159.
SWEDENBORG APPLIES FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN 1733.
[The volumes containing the Proceedings of the College of Mines of this year are missing; but in the State Archives (Riks-Arkivet), among the acts of the Council of State for this year, there was found the following memorial, addressed to the King by the College of Mines, in which they recommend him to grant Emanuel Swedenborg leave of absence for nine months, to enable him to print his "Opera Philosphica et Mineralia" in Dresden.
A.
THE COLLEGE OF MINES TO HIS MAJESTY, THE KING.*
* This Document is preserved in the State-Archives (Riks-Arkivet), in Stockholm among the Letters addressed to the King in 1733.
Most mighty and most gracious King.
As your Royal Majesty has been graciously pleased to require a humble opinion of the College respecting Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg's humble petition, which he presented to Your Majesty, and wherein he applies for leave of absence for nine months, to enable him to proceed to Dresden, there to superintend the printing of a work he has written, in which, besides other things, he treats of the processes of smelting and working metals in the various mines of Europe, with several other matters connected with mining and other subjects; the College has nothing to observe with regard to this humble petition of assessor Swedenborg, except that it is well known to the College that he has with commendable industry, perseverance, and care, written much pertaining to mining, which is useful and which the College would very much like to see printed. And as the Assessor's presence at the printing-office abroad is necessary, in order that his work may be published with greater accuracy, the College submits it to your Royal Majesty's consideration, whether the petition of the above-named Assessor ought not to be granted. And although by the absence of the Assessor the College will no longer have its full number, so as to be able to pronounce judgment; still, in accordance with the Royal Letters, dated March 5, 1688, and Nov. 12, 1702, it will, in all matters where a judgment has to be given, associate with itself the Secretary or Treasurer of the College, so that none of the duties and requirements of the College may be delayed or neglected, during the short time of the Assessor's absence.
Your Royal Majesty's humble end true servants and subjects,
J. Bergenstierna.l25 L. Benzelstierna.8 C. Bibbing.101 G. Valerius.126 O1.Colling.
[This was read in the Council of State, April 17, 1733; and it was resolved that inasmuch as Assessor Swedenborg can more advantageously contract for the publication of the above-mentioned work abroad than here in Sweden, and as it is necessary for him to be present there to read the proof-sheets, leave is granted to him for nine months, so that he may proceed to Germany.
The Royal Decree granting this leave follows herewith:]
B.
THE KING'S DECREE.*
* From His Royal Majesty's Letters, etc. of 1733 & 1734, under the date of April 17, 1733, in the College of Mines.
Frederic, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothia, Wendia, etc. Landgrave of Hesse, etc.
Our especial favour and gracious pleasure, under God Almighty, to the true men and servants, the President, Councillor of Mines, and Assessors. We have graciously had read to us your humble opinion concerning Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg's petition, which he presented to us, and wherein he prayed to be allowed to go for nine months to Dresden, to superintend the printing of a work which he has written respecting the processes of smelting and working the metals in the various mines of Europe, with several other matters relating to mining, and to other subjects. You submitted to our gracious consideration whether the petition of the above-named Assessor ought not to be granted. And inasmuch as we are willing, because of the arguments and reasons advanced by you, to give our approval and assent, we therefore make this graciously known to you herewith. We hereby commend you to the grace of God Almighty.
FREDERIC.
The Council-Chamber, Stockholm, April 17, 1733.
DOCUMENT 160.
SWEDENBORG'S LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN 1734.*
* From the Minutes of the College of Mines for 1734.
A.
A. Jan. 3. (Assessor Swedenborg absent on his journey abroad to Saxony.)
January 26. paragarph 1. There was read a letter which had arrived from Emanuel Swedenborg this day, dated Leipzig, the 19th of the present month of this year, in which he applies for a few months' prolongation of the permission to stay abroad, which had been graciously granted him by the King, as the work he has in the press cannot be finished before the coming Easter, and as in the interests of that work he desires to make a trip to Lnebnrg and Cassel, and also promises to return here during the next summer.
Resolved. As Assessor Swedenborg has not yet finished the work which he has in the press, and as he, moreover, intends on his return home to make a trip to Lneburg and Cassel, the Royal College decree that this desired prolongation cannot be denied him.
[The following is a translation of said letter:]
B.
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the Bref och Suppliquer for 1754, p. 27.
Most well-born Baron and President, as well as well-born and esteemed Councillors of Mines, and Assessors,
As at the close of next February the leave graciously granted me by His Royal Majesty expires, I feel constrained in great humility to ask the most well-born President, and most honourable Royal College for a prolongation of my leave of absence for a few months; because that time will be most important to me, as I am at last under way with the press-work, and fully at work, and as I am assured, and find by the preparations that have been made, that I shall have finished it by the coming Easter; but, in order to accomplish this in the manner it ought to be done, it is indispensable that I should remain on the spot.
Your most humble servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Leipzig, August 19, 1734.
C.
Swedenborg present again at the College, July 4, 5 (Councillor of Mines Leyel103 and assessor Swedenborg were engaged in the laboratory of the College of Mines, examining the candidates who applied for the situation of Assay Master at Sahlberget,) 6, (Swedenborg examined two candidates in the art of assaying,) present till the 17th, (on the 18th the members of the College called upon the King at Carlberg, it being his name-day,) present the rest of the month; August, present to the 11th, (on the 12th and 13th the members of the College were absent on business connected with the Swedish Diet,) present the rest of the month; September, present the whole month; October, present the whole month, (on 31st, Assessor Swedenborg in the House of Nobles,) November, (on 6th and 18th, Swedenborg went to the House of Nobles,) present the rest of the month; December, (absent 7, 11 to 13, in the House of Nobles, on the 14th the sermon before the Swedish Diet was delivered,) present the rest of the month.
DOCUMENT 161.
SWEDENBORG'S LIFE AT THE COLLEGE IN 1735.*
* From the Minutes of the College of Mines for 1735.
January, present the whole month; February, present the whole month; March, (unwell, 22nd,) present the whole month; April, present to the 19th, (unwell from 21st to 26th,) present the rest of the month; May, present the whole month.
May 17. An order was read instructing Assessors Swedenborg and Valerius,126 to inspect, during the course of the summer, the whole of the copper-works at Fahlun, and report respecting the buildings, shafts, etc.
June, present to 5th, (appropriation of money granted to defray the expenses of the Commission to Fahlun, Sahla, etc. during the ensuing summer,) present to the 16th. On the 17th, Assessors Benzelstierna,8 Swedenborg, and Valerius126 departed on their respective commissions to the mining districts.
Recess to September 3.
September, present the whole month; October, (absent on the 3rd,) present the whole month; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month to the 23rd.
DOCUMENT 162.
SWEDENBORG'S SECOND APPLICATION FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN 1736.*
* From the Minutes of the College of Mines for 1736.
A.
January, present to the 10th.
January 10. paragraph 1. Assessors Lars Benzelstierna8 and Emanuel Swedenborg having informed the Royal College that they were under the necessity of travelling to West Gothland to be present at the funeral of their father-in-law and father, Dr. Jesper Swedberg, Bishop of Skara, for which the 29th of the present month had been appointed, and the above-named Assessors having desired the Royal College to support with His Royal Majesty their humble application for leave of absence for three or four weeks, that they might make that journey: Resolved, that this application be in all humility made to His Royal Majesty by letter, and that His Royal Majesty be asked to assent to the same. Swedenborg present from 12th to 15th January.
January 15. paragraph 2. His Royal Majesty graciously assents by letter to Assessors Benzelstierna and Swedenborg receiving leave of absence for from three to four weeks, in order that they may proceed to West Gothland, to be present at the funeral of their late father-in-law and father, Bishop Swedberg.
Swedenborg present on January 16, 17.
January 19. Assessors Benzelstierna and Swedenborg left for West Gothland with the gracious permission of His Royal Majesty.
February, (Swedenborg absent the whole month at his father's burial;) March, present the whole month; April, present the whole month; May, present to the 26th.
May 26. The following letter was read, which had been addressed by Emanuel Swedenborg to the King, and which had been referred by His Majesty to the College of Mines:
B.
SWEDENBORG TO HIS MAJESTY, THE KING.*
* This letter is preserved in the State archives (Riks-Arkivet) among the Letters addressed to the King in 1736.
Presented May 27, 1736.
Most mighty and most gracious King,
I thank Your Royal Majesty most humbly for the great favour you conferred upon me several years ago in graciously granting me leave of absence, by which I was enabled to spend about a year abroad, and to see through the press a work on which I was then engaged. On my return I had the honour of humbly presenting to Your Royal Majesty that work which consisted of instructions and descriptions in metallurgy, and also of some new principles in philosophy. But as that work was only a beginning, and a part of what I had intended to work out more fully, as I had announced and promised in my former work; I therefore feel bound to do what I have promised, and to accomplish what has been begun, and am obliged, for this purpose, to employ all possible diligence, to bring it to a successful issue. But as from my own experience I see clearly that it is impossible for me to fulfil this promise, or to elaborate a work requiring great thought and diligence, with that coherence and accuracy which it demands, and at the same time to apply my time and thoughts to public occupations and to my official duties at the Royal College, to which I am bound in duty to attend; and as this very impossibility prevents my doing justice to both these kinds of works, as the work which in all humility I mentioned above requires long and deep thought and a mind unencumbered by cares and troubles--therefore because I am bound to fulfil my promise, I have been induced to beg of Your Royal Majesty, that, to enable me to follow out this design, and this well-intentioned purpose, and on account of the great extent of this work, you would graciously grant me leave to absent myself, during three or four years, from the public duties in Your Royal Majesty's College of Mines, and that you would allow me during that time, while I elaborate and finish my work, to stay abroad in any place where I may most conveniently carry on my work, i. e. where I may find all necessary help in libraries, and may profit by conferences with the learned, and where also I may publish my work when it is finished, which cannot be done at home in this country.
I feel so much the more assured in all humility of the most gracious assent of Your Royal Majesty, inasmuch as Your Majesty's and the Country's College of Mines will, at Your Royal Majesty's gracious command, make an humble proposition to you, how this whole matter may be best accomplished, without any part of Your Royal Majesty's service being neglected. I remain, to the hour of death, most gracious King, Your Royal Majesty's
Most humble and faithful servant and subject,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
His Royal Majesty graciously desires upon this subject the humble opinion of His Majesty's and the Country's College of Mines.
By the most gracious command,
O. CEDERSTRM.126
Stockholm, May 24, 1736.
After this letter had been read Assessor Swedenborg expressed himself orally, that, for the sake of finishing the work he had commenced, he required to be free and away from his official duties for three or four years, even as he had mentioned in his humble petition to the King; and as he is well aware of the importance of having these duties meanwhile attended to by an able and experienced man, well acquainted with them, he desires to give up half of his salary, or 600 dalers in silver, and he will not claim them back, until some vacancy arise;
After the assessor had left the room, and the Royal College had discussed the subject of some length, they Resolved that in consideration of the above circumstances the College had no objections to any part of the Assessor's humble petition, but that they submit the whole subject to the gracious pleasure of His Royal Majesty; and should the King give His gracious assent to the Assessor's proposition, when it would become the duty of the Royal College to declare in what manner the duties of Assessor Swedenborg would have to be fulfilled, the College recommend to the King that Secretary Porath127 should receive 300 dalers in silver, and Attorney Biercheniusl29 and Notary Thunberg Olofsohn should together receive 300 dalers in silver of Swedenborg's half salary, so that these three might fill his place during his absence.
[Swedenborg submitted his own proposition to the College in the following letter:]
B.
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* Preserved among the letters (Bref och Suppliquer) addressed to the College in 1736, p. 77.
Received and read on May 26, 1736.
I thank the most honourable Royal College most humbly, for having taken into consideration the arguments and motives contained in the petition which I handed in, in all humility, to His Royal Majesty, and which have induced me in all humility to apply for leave of absence for three or four years, during which I might absent myself from my duties in the Royal College, and employ my time in elaborating a useful work, which will be a continuation of the previous one, published three years ago.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, May 26, 1735.
[The resolution at which the Royal College had arrived communicated to the King in the following memorial:]
C.
THE COLLEGE OF MINES TO THE KING.*
* Preserved in the "Riks-Arkivet" among the letters addressed to the King in 1736.
Received May 31, 1736.
College of Mines, May 26, 1736.
Most mighty and Most gracious King,
Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg has informed Your Royal Majesty in a humble petition, that the work which he published abroad two years ago, and which consists of instructions and descriptions in metallurgy, and also of new principles in philosophy, was merely an introductory part of what he has intended to develope more fully, of which he has also spoken in his former work, and which additional part he has likewise promised to publish. But as he cannot elaborate such a work, requiring profound thought and much labour, with that coherence and accuracy which it demands, so long as he must apply his time and thoughts to his public official duties at the College, therefore, in order to follow out his design, and his well-meant purpose, and on account of the great extent of this work, he begs in all humility gracious leave to absent himself for three or four years from the College, and to bring this above-mentioned work to a close abroad.
As your Royal Majesty has graciously instructed the College to express a humble opinion with regard to this petition, the College first of all took occasion to hear further particulars concerning his design from Assessor Swedenborg himself, when he declared, that inasmuch as it was necessary for him, in order to accomplish his work, to be free and relieved from his office for three or four years (as he has himself stated in humility), and as he well understands, that it is of great importance that this office should be filled meanwhile by an able man who has acquired experience in these matters, he is on that account willing to give up half his salary, or 600 dalers in silver, and not to demand this again until a new vacancy occurs; so that the College may have this part of his salary at its disposal, and that it may accrue to the benefit of the immediate officers in order, according to the services that each may perform, and according to the trouble each may take upon himself; moreover, the above-named Assessor shall upon his return to the College be entitled again to his former seat and vote.
Under these circumstances the College has nothing to object to the above-named Assessor's humble petition, but submits it to Your Royal Majesty's most gracious approval; but as, should the College obtain the Royal assent in this matter, it will devolve upon the College to determine how the Assessor's office may meanwhile be appropriately filled, it submits for this purpose to Your Royal Majesty's gracious consideration, in all humility, whether the Secretary of the College, Nils Porath,127 who, on account of his ability and experience in everything belonging to mining matters, and his long, and faithful services, has already been twice, in all humility, proposed for an Assessor of the College, may not in addition to his salary as Secretary receive 300 dalers in silver, out of the half salary of Assessor Swedenborg, and in return fulfil in all its parts the office of Assessor, while the fiscal advocate, Hans Bierchenius,129 would fill the place of secretary, and the eldest notary, Thunberg Olofsohn, perform the function of the fiscal advocate, both on their former salaries; both of these, also, on account of their ability and the knowledge they had acquired, had been already proposed for these very offices; further, whether he who may be entrusted by the College with the notary's office, after Thunberg, and who has hitherto served without salary, may enjoy as a partial support the remaining 300 dalers in silver. In this manner Your Royal Majesty's service will be best fulfilled and done, and nothing will be delayed or neglected. Upon this proposal Your Royal Majesty's most gracious decision is awaited in humble submission. We remain to the last, most gracious king, Your Royal Majesty's
Most humble and faithful servants and subjects,
C. RIBBING,101 AD. LEYELL.103 J. BERGENSTIERNA.125 G. VALLERIUS.126 OL. COLLING.
For the Secretary, CARL MEURMANN.
To His Royal Majesty in all humility.
[This was read in the Council of State on June 1, 1736, and it was Resolved, that, in accordance with the letter of the College, leave be granted to Assessor Swedenborg to travel abroad, which resolution is to be despatched at once; further, an answer is to be sent to the College of Mines, that their recommendation has been agreed to.
The Royal Decree granting leave of absence to Emanuel Swedenborg for three or four years, is dated June 1, and reads as follows:
D.
ROYAL DECREE.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the letters from His Royal Majesty, for the years 1736, 1737, p. 165.
June 1, 1736.
Frederic, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothia, Wendia, etc. Landgrave of Hesse, etc.
Our especial favour and gracious pleasure, under God Almighty, to the true men and servants, the President, Councillors of Mines, and Assessors. From your humble opinion, dated May 26, concerning the humble petition handed in to us by Assessor Swedenborg, in which he begs that he may be allowed to absent himself for three or four years from the College, to finish at some place abroad his work on metallurgy and some new principles in philosophy, which has been commenced by him, we have graciously observed, that you took occasion to hear some further particulars concerning the proposed plan from the above-mentioned Assessor, when he declared, that, in case his petition be granted, he saw the importance of his place being filled meanwhile by an able man, and that he was on this account willing to give up half his salary, or 600 dalers in silver, and not to demand it again, until a vacancy should occur, so that this salary may be at the disposal of the College, and may accrue for the benefit of the immediate officers in order, and also that he should upon his return to the College be entitled again to his former seat and vote; as we have further observed that under these circumstances you have nothing to object to the above-mentioned petition, and as in case we give our consent and grant the leave of absence petitioned for by Assessor Swedenborg, you submit to our gracious consideration, whether Secretary Nils Porathl27 may not in the meantime, in addition to his salary as Secretary, receive 300 dalers in silver from the half salary of Swedenborg, and in return fulfil in all its parts the office of Assessor, while the fiscal advocate Hans Bierchenius129 would fill the place of secretary, and the eldest notary Anders Thunberg Olofsohn the office of fiscal advocate, both on their former salaries, and also that, according to you, he who is to be entrusted by you with the post of notary after Thunberg, and who has hitherto served without salary, should enjoy as a partial support the remaining 300 dalers in silver, in which manner you think our service in these offices will be best fulfilled, and nothing delayed or neglected.
FREDERIC.
The Council-chamber, Stockholm, June 1, 1736.
This decree was presented to the College of Mines on June 12, 1736.
Swedenborg Present in the College till June 19.
June 19. '. 5. His Royal Majesty's gracious letter, dated June 1, was read, in which leave is granted to Emanuel Swedenborg to stay abroad for three or four years, that he may finish his work on metallurgy and on new principles in Philosophy, etc.
The King also acceded to the propositions of the College that Secretary Porath129 should fill Swedenborg's place; Mr. Bierchenius,129 Porath's place; and Thunberg Olofsohn that of Bierchenius, end that they should divide half of Swedenborg's salary, in the proportions proposed.
Swedenborg present during the rest of the month July, present to the 8th, (absent on the 9th;) on July 10 the Assessors took their departure.
DOCUMENT 163.
SWEDENBORG'S CONNECTION WITH THE COLLEGE FROM 1737 TO 1742.*
* From the Minutes of the College of Mines from 1737 to 1742.
February 21, 1737. An application was made by Messrs. Roman and Hultman for Swedenborg's salary.
1738. Swedenborg absent during the whole year.
1739. Swedenborg absent during the whole year.
1740. Swedenborg absent until November 3; November, present the whole month; December, present the whole month, to the 28th, (on the 8th and 9th he was in the House of Nobles.)
1741. January, present from 5th to 9th, (on 12th in the House of Nobles,) present to the 16th, (on the 17th in the House of Nobles,) 19th, (absent on the 20th and 21st,) present the rest of the month; February, present to the 4th, (5th and 6th absent on a commission,) present the rest of the month; March, (absent on the 5th,) present remaining part of the month; April (absent on the 17th and 22nd,) present the rest of the month; May, present the whole month; June, present the whole month; July, present the whole month, (29th in the House of Nobles;) August, present the whole month; September, present the whole month; October, present 1, 2, (absent 3rd, unwell from 5th to 8th; 9th prevented from being present by removing,) present the rest of the month; November, present the whole month; December, (sick 16th,) present the rest of the month.
1742. January, (absent 11, unwell 12, 22,) present the rest of the month; February, (absent 18,) present the rest of the month; March, (unwell 23, 26, 27,) present the rest of the month; April, (unwell 2, absent 23,) present the rest of the month; May, present the whole month; June, present to the 29th, (on 30th went into the country;) July, (unwell 7, 8, 15,) present the rest of the month; August, present at the three sessions of the College held during the month; September, present from 1st to 9th, (10th in the House of Nobles, 11th absent on a commission,) present to the 15th, (16th in the House of Nobles,) 18, (unwell 20,) present to 23rd, (unwell 24,) present 25, (27th in House of Nobles, 28th absent on a commission urskillning deputation,) present 30; October, (unwell on 1st, 2nd in the House of Nobles,) present from 4 to 11, (12th absent on a commission, 13th in the House of Nobles,) present from 14th to 30th;
DOCUMENT 164.
SWEDENBORG'S THIRD APPLICATION FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN 1743.
A.
EXTRACTS OF THE MINUTES OF THE COLLEGE OF MINES.
January, 1743, (unwell on 1st,) present on 13th, (on 17th in House of Nobles,) present from 18th to 26th, (unwell 27, 28, 29,) present on 30th; February, (in the House of Nobles on 1st, 10th, and 19th; unwell 7th,) present rest of the month; March, (in the House of Nobles, 8, 16, 18, 19, 26; on a commission 29,) present rest of the month; April, (absent 2; in the House of Nobles 12, 14, 25; unwell 30,) present rest of the month; May, (absent 28; in the House of Nobles 11, 14,) present rest of month; June, (in the House of Nobles 1, 9, 14,) present rest of the month to June 17.
June 17. The following letter addressed by Eman. Swedenborg to the College of Mines was received and read:
B.
SWEDENBORG TO THE COLLEGE OF MINES.*
* This letter is preserved in the College of Mines among the Bref och Suppliquer addressed to it in 1743, p. 93.
Most well-born Baron and President, and also well-born and esteemed Councillors of Mines, and Assessors.
A few months ago I applied most humbly to His Royal Majesty for gracious leave of absence, to make a journey abroad on my own resources for the purpose of seeing through the press a work which is the continuation and end of one which had been begun and promised; when I received orally the gracious answer through Mr. Boneauschld,130 the Secretary of State, that my application had been graciously entertained, but that on a point of order it ought to be announced first at the College. Now, as ever since my return I have in addition to my official duties constantly laboured to accomplish this work and as I have now completed it so far, that after collecting some necessary information in the libraries abroad, I shall be able to publish it at once, and thus fulfil what I have promised, and what is I find desired by many abroad; I therefore entreat the honourable Royal College in the most humble manner that it would kindly accede to my wishes. As far as my individual preference and pleasure are concerned, I can assure you that I should a thousand times prefer to stay at home in my native country, where it would be a pleasure to me to serve in so illustrious a College, end to contribute my own small share to the public good; at the same time to watch opportunities for improving my condition, and attend to the little property I have acquired, and thus live at home and have pleasant times, which, as long as my health and means with God's help continue, nothing would disturb--than to travel abroad, exposing myself, at my own by no means inconsiderable expense, to danger and vexation, especially in these unquiet times, and undergoing severe brain work and other hard labour with the probability of meeting in the end with more unfavourable than favourable judgments.
I remain, and shall continue to remain, with profound respect, most well-born Baron and President, and most honourable Royal College,
Your most humble servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
[The College of Mines, acceding to Swedenborg's wishes, addressed the following letter to the Ring in his behalf:]
C.
THE COLLEGE OF MINES TO THE KING.*
* Presented in the State Archives (Riks-Arkivet) among the letters addressed to the King in 1743.
Most Mighty and most Gracious King,
Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg has expressed to the College in writing his wish to make another journey abroad, in order that after collecting some information in the libraries there, he may complete and see through the press a work begun and elaborated by him, which it is presumed will be of use to the scientific world in general; and he desires the College to make a humble application to Your Royal Majesty for a gracious leave of absence for this journey, of which nevertheless he cannot prospectively determine the length, inasmuch as the work which is to be printed amounts to about 500 sheets, and the despatch with which this can be done depends upon the publisher and printer, yet it is his greatest desire to bring this work to a close the earlier the better, and to return home and continue here that greater work which he has in hand, the Regnum Minerale, and thus be of actual use to the public in general, in those matters which properly belong to the College. Now, as the above-mentioned Assessor, during his last journey abroad, produced a clever philosophical work, which he intends this time to complete and to bring to a close, and from which the scientific world will derive pleasure and profit, and his country glory and honour; and inasmuch as the last time he travelled abroad Assessor Porath was appointed to perform his duties in his absence, for which purpose assessor Swedenborg gave up half of his ordinary salary, and as he is willing to give up this in the same manner as before, therefore the College does not see any reason why the Assessor should not be gratified in this his praiseworthy object, so that he may be enabled to finish the work he has begun and it therefore submits in all humility to Your Majesty's gracious consideration, whether his petition respecting his journey abroad, might not be graciously granted to him;
Most humble and faithful servants and subjects,
GUSTAV RLAM,102 J. BERGENSTIERNA.125 L. BEZLSTIERNA.8 G. VALLERIUS.126 HANS BIERCHENIUS.129
Stockholm, June 17, 1743.
Read in the Council, June 30, 1743, and approved.
Swedenborg present at the College, June 18th, (from 20th to 22nd went into the country,) present rest of the month, July, present to the 4th.
July 4. The following Royal Decree, dated June 30, was received and read:
D.
ROYAL DECREE.*
* Preserved in the College of Mines among the letters from the King (Kongl. Majt's Bref, &c.) For 1741, 1742, 1743, p. 290.
June 30, 1743.
Frederic, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothia, Wendia, etc., Landgrave of Hesse, etc.
Our especial favour, and gracious pleasure, under God Almighty, to the true men and servants, the President, Councillors of Mines, and Assessors. We have noticed in your humble communication of the 17th inst., Assessor Swedenborg's petition, in which he asks to be permitted to make another journey abroad; that, after collecting some information in the libraries there, he may complete and see through the press a work which has been begun by him; the above-mentioned Assessor desiring, the sooner the better, to return home again, and also to leave half his ordinary salary to Assessor Porath, that he may perform his service during his absence. And inasmuch as me, on account of your humble application, are willing graciously to grant Assessor Swedenborg's petition, where he asks to be allowed to make another journey abroad in the above-mentioned manner; we hereby make this known to you, and instruct you to acquaint the above-mentioned Assessor with it; and we commend you to the grace of God Almighty.
FREDERIC.
The Council-chamber, Stockholm, June 30, 1743.
Swedenborg present at the College: July 5th to 9th, (11th in the House of Nobles,) present from 12th to 20th, (absent 21st, unwell 22nd.)
July 25. In agreement with the gracious leave obtained from His Royal Majesty, Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg left for abroad.
DOCUMENT 165.
SWEDENBORG'S CONNECTION WITH THE COLLEGE FROM: 1744 TO 1746.*
* From the Minutes of the College of Mines from 1714 to 1746.
A.
Emanuel Swedenborg absent during the whole year, 1744.
B.
Emanuel Swedenborg absent to Aug. 22, 1745 September, present at the College the whole month. October, present to 9, (absent 10,) present 11 to 15, (absent 16,) present 17 to 19, (absent 21,) present to 29, (30, E. Swedenborg prevented,) present 31.
November, (prevented on 2nd; absent 4,) present 5, (absent 6,) present 7, (absent 8, 9, 10,) present 12, (absent 13, 14, 15,) present 16 to 19, (unwell, 20,) present 21, (absent 22, 23,) present 25, (unwell, 26,) present 27, (unwell, 28,) present 29.
December, (unwell, 2; absent 3; unwell, 4,) present 5, (absent, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12,) present 13, (absent 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 30.)
C.
1746. January, (absent to 21,) present 22, (absent 24; unwell, 27, 28, 29,) present 30, (unwell 31.)
February, (unwell 1; absent 3,) present 4, (absent 5,) present 6, (absent 7, 8; unwell 11,) present 12 to 20, (absent 21, 22,) present 25, 26, (absent 27,) present 28.
April, (absent 3, 4, 5,) present 7, 8, (absent 9, 10,) present 12, 14, (absent 15 to 26,) present 28, 29, (absent 30.)
March, (absent 1, 3,) present 4, 5, (absent 6, 7,) present 8 to 11, (absent 12,) present 13, (absent 14,) present 15 to 18, (absent 19,) present 20, (absent 21,) present 24, (absent 25,) present 26, (absent 27.)
May, present 2, (absent 3 to 7,) present 9, (absent 10, 12,) present 13, (absent 14 to 27,) present 28, 29, (absent 31.)
June, (absent 2,) present 3, 4, (absent 5 to 12,) present 13, (absent 14, 16,) present 17, (absent 18 to 27,) present 30.
July, present on the 4th; but absent the rest of the month.
August, absent the whole month.
September, (absent to 13,) present 15, 16, (absent 17 to 23,) present 24, (absent 26th to 30th; on 30th went to the House of Nobles.)
October, present 1st, (absent 2nd to 18th; on 19th went as a member to the House of Nobles,) present 21 to 25, (absent 27,) present 29, (absent 30, 31.)
November, present 3, (absent 4 to 8,) present 10, (absent 11 to 20,) present 21, (absent 22 to 29.)
December, (absent 1, 2,) present 3, (absent 11 to 16,) present 18, 19, (absent 20,) present 22, 23, 24, 30, 31.
DOCUMENT 166.
SWEDENBORG'S RETIREMENT FROM THE COLLEGE IN 1747.*
* From the Minutes of the College of Mines of 1747.
A.
January, present 3, 5, (absent 8, 10,) present 12, (absent 13,) present 14, (absent 15, 16,) present 17, 19, (absent 20,) present 21, (absent 22,) present 23 to 26, (absent 27,) present 28 to 31.
February, (absent 3,) present 4, (absent 5,) present 6, 7, (absent 9,) present 10, (absent 11,) present 12, (absent 13,) present 14 to 17, (absent 18,) present 19 to 23, (absent 25,) present 26, (absent 27,) present 28.
March, present 2 to 5, (absent 6,) present 7 to 11, (absent 12,) present 13 to 27, (absent 28, 30,) present 31.
April, (absent 1,) present 2, (absent 3, 4,) present 6, (absent 7,) present 8, 9, (absent 11,) present 13 to 16, (absent 17,) present 18 to 21, (absent 22,) present 23, (absent 24, 28,) present 27, 28, (absent 29.)
May, present 2, (absent 4,) present 5, 6, (absent 7,) present s, 14, (absent 15, 16, 18,) present 19, (absent 20,) present 21, 23, (absent 25, 26, 27,) present 28, 29.
June, present 1 to 3, (absent 4,) present 5, (absent 6,) present 8, (absent 9, 10, 11,) present 12, (absent 13,) present 15.
On the retirement of Councillor Bergenstierna,l25 from the College of Mines, in the spring of 1747, the College had unanimously recommended Assessor Swedenborg for the vacant councillorship, but instead of applying to the King for this promotion in rank, Swedenborg on June 2nd wrote to him the following letter, in which he requested permission to retire from his office. This letter, which was discovered in the Royal archives, among the letters addressed to the King in 1747, is as follows:
B.
SWEDENBORG TO THE KING.
Most mighty and most gracious King,
Your Royal Majesty's College of Mines, at your behest, have sent in their humble proposition with regard to the vacant place of Councillor of Mines in their College, and they have most humbly proposed me for this office in primo loco; but as I feel it incumbent on me to finish the work on which I am now engaged, I would most humbly ask Your Royal Majesty to select another in my place for this position, and most graciously release me from office.
But, as I have been for more than thirty years an Assessor in Your Royal Majesty's College of Mines, and have at my own expense made several journeys abroad, both to visit mines and other places; and as I have printed there several works for the benefit and honour of my country, for which I have never yet asked the least recompense from the public; but, on the contrary, in order to be able to devote myself without embarrassment to these well-intentioned .objects, I have given up half my salary, which, during the last eleven years, has amounted to upwards of 20,000 rix-dalers in copper, I therefore entertain the hope that you will graciously grant my request, and will allow me to continue to draw the half of my salary, as I do at present. I the less doubt that you will grant my request, because I have performed the duties of an Assessor for more than thirty years, and, as well as I can remember, no favour has ever been denied me.
It is, therefore, my humble wish, that you graciously release me from office, but without bestowing upon me any higher rank; which I most earnestly beseech you not to do. I further pray that I may receive half of my salary, and that you will graciously grant me leave to go abroad, to some place where I may finish the important work on which I am now engaged.
I remain, with deep respect, my most gracious Sovereign,
Your Royal Majesty's
Most humble and dutiful subject,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, June 2, 1747.
Read in the Council, June 12, and agreed to.
DOCUMENT 167.
A.
ROYAL DECREE ACCEPTING SWEDENBORG'S RESIGNATION.*
* This Document was originally preserved in Count Engestrm's Library, but has now been transferred to the Royal Library in Stockholm.
We, Frederic, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Gothland, Wendland, &c., make known herewith, that our loyal subject, and Assessor in our and the country's College of Mines, our well-beloved, noble, and well-born Emanuel Swedenborg, has humbly informed us that it will be necessary for him to go abroad in order to finish the work on which he is now engaged, praying most humbly that we would graciously release him from the office of assessor, which he holds in our College of Mines, that he may go unembarrassed to that place abroad where he can finish the work on which he is now engaged. And although we would gladly see him continue at home the faithful services he has hitherto rendered to us and to his country, still we so much the less oppose his wish, as we feel sufficiently assured that the above-named work, on which he is engaged, will in time contribute to the general use and benefit, not less than the other valuable works written and published by him have contributed to the use and honour of his country, as well as of himself.
For additional confirmation of this we sign our name, and order our royal seal to be attached hereunto.
FREDERIC.
GUST. BONEAUSCHLD.130
The Council Chamber, Stockholm, June 12, 1747.
B.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE COLLEGE FOR 1747.
June 15. Assessor Emanuel Swedenborg handed in to the College of Mines the Royal Decree by which he was released from his duties here in the Royal College, retaining during his life half of his salary as an assessor.
All the members of the Royal College regretted losing so worthy a colleague, and they asked the assessor to kindly continue attending the sessions of the College, until all those cases should be adjudicated that had been commenced during his attendance at the College, to which the Assessor kindly assented.
June, (Swedenborg absent from the College, 16 to 18,) present 20, 22, (absent 23 to 27,) present 29, 30.
July, (absent 1 to 9,) present 10, (absent to the 17th.)
July 17. Assessor Swedenborg, who intends as soon as possible to commence his new journeys abroad, came up for the purpose bf taking leave of the Royal College. He thanked all those at the Royal College for the favour and kindness he had received from them during his connection with the College, and commended himself to their further friendly remembrances.
The Royal College thanked the Assessor for the minute care and fidelity with which he had attended to the duties of his office as an Assessor up to the present time; they wished him a prosperous journey and a happy return; after which he left.
SECTION VI.
SWEDENBORG'S PUBLIC LIFE
AS A
MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES.
INTRODUCTION.
From the year 1719 Swedenborg was entitled to a seat in the House of Nobles, by virtue of his being the eldest representative of the Swedenborg family, all the members of which had been ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora4 in that year.
Respecting his character and influence as a member of the Swedish Diet, the author of "Nya Kyrkan och dess inflytande p Theologiens Studium i Sverige" (The New Church and its influence on the study of theology in Sweden), part II, p. 48, makes the following statement: "Up to the time of his extreme old age he interested himself in the financial, administrative, and political affairs of his country, as well between, as during, the sessions of the Swedish Diet. A considerable number of papers on these subjects, partly preserved to the present day, bears witness to his activity as the head of his family, and shows how great an interest he had in the debates that took place in the House of Nobles. As at one time, an ill-informed religious zeal attempted to present Swedenborg as an apostate from the Evangelical Church, so a no less misinformed political zeal sought to fasten upon him the suspicion of his being a partizan, and of being influenced by an exaggerated love of opposition. Both these charges are without foundation, and he can be justified as well in regard to the one as the other. As a member of the House of Nobles, Swedenborg belonged neither to the party of the "hats," nor to that of the "caps" in those times, but was an independent member, supporting whatever he saw to be worthy of his own position, and to be right and generally useful, without allowing himself to be influenced either by the right or the left side. He, like every true friend of liberty, was opposed alike to despotism and to anarchy.
The author here communicates several of the political papers which are preserved among the Swedenborg MSS.
DOCUMENT 168.
A MEMORIAL ON THE STATE OF THE FINANCES OF SWEDEN.*
* The original of this memorial is preserved in the State archives in Stockholm.
The chief cause of a country's increase in wealth is the balance of commerce: if its imports are greater than a country can pay with its own products, it follows that it loses annually considerable sums by leaving them in the hands of foreign nations; besides, it diminishes the capital, which it collected under more favourable circumstances and which it should hand down to posterity. As soon, also, as a country, by an imprudent course, suddenly falls into poverty, it unavoidably sinks in the estimation of other nations, and they refuse any longer to trade with it, although in former times they may have enriched themselves by its wealth, and sucked out its substance and marrow. Yea, more serious consequences still may ensue; for unless a watchful eye is kept on the balance of a country's trade, a general want may be caused thereby which makes itself felt in the private circumstances of every one; fortunes and possessions in the land are diminished in value; no means are forthcoming for the support of the navy and army; the defence of the country becomes weak and impotent; the public servants must be satisfied with small salaries; Swedish manufactures find agriculture, together with all the moneys invested in them, depreciate in value; besides other contingencies which in such a case overtake the higher as well as the lower nobility, and especially the business men, who must suffer most heavily from it.
Now, as the balance of trade is the genuine vein and source of a country's welfare, I have, for the purpose of showing this, made two computations which herewith follow. The first of these contains a calculation of the average exports and imports during the reign of King Charles XI, when the Swedish commerce was in its most flourishing state; and where it is shown that the balance consisted of four and a half million florins in favour of our country. The other exhibits the balance as it exists at the present day, where it will be found that this has changed to an incredible extent, so that there is now an annual loss of from two and a half to three millions of Dutch florins: from which it follows that the rich products of Sweden are no longer sufficient to pay the excess of imported goods and merchandize, but that annually a part of the cash property of the country has to be employed to adjust the difference. This deficiency has now for a long time been made up and replaced by the revenue which Sweden derives from its possessions abroad, and from which they have still to be made up But as soon as the revenues cease, the country must inevitably fall into the bitterest poverty, unless the Diet find means by which it may be obviated.
As every one, now, is left in freedom to express his well-meant thoughts, and to suggest how the common-weal is likely to be best helped, it is hoped that it will not be unfavourably received if I insist, in all humility, that there is nothing the present Diet can do of greater importance than to examine, and to assist and promote, all propositions, which have for their purpose to infuse new life into Swedish commerce, so as to make our balance square; and this for the sake of the private welfare of every one of us, and also for that of our whole posterity. Moreover, these are the kind of deliberations which are chiefly held in the English Paliament, and in the General States of Holland; and by their mature counsels and resolutions their trade is kept in the most flourishing state, their balance of trade is preserved, the country and its inhabitants are made wealthy, and the wealth and the produce of other nations flow into their treasury.
From the accompanying lists it appears,
I. That Sweden has been deprived of the considerable revenues which it used to derive from those countries now conquered by her enemies, from Liefland, Ingermanland, Wiborg, Stettin, Bremen, and Zmeibrcken, and which amounted annually to several millions of florins, received into the public exchequer, and which thence flowed into the pockets of her subjects, and thus contributed to the welfare of the people, in general and in particular. But inasmuch as these considerable sums are no longer available, no other means are left to make up the deficiency, but by improving the commerce and developing the resources of Sweden, so that those sums which have been lost by misfortune, may be made up again by industry.
II. From these same accounts it also appears that the advantages that used to result from the traffic abroad, and that used to accrue to the benefit of our own merchants from the carriage of merchandize, must now be left in the hands of foreigners; because Swedish ships have become dilapidated during the weary years of war, and the capital of our business men has been diminished, so that foreign merchants now gain the whole profit, which Sweden, during the reign of Charles XI, with so much difficulty and toil had acquired, and whereby insensibly many tons of gold are lost annually to the country.
III. There must be also deducted here the loss which Sweden must put up with in future, by being separated from those countries which were formerly incorporated with it, and which were an incredible source of gain and profit to Swedish merchants, who were able to work into one another's hands, in the conveyance of goods and merchandize from the various sea-ports in the Baltic, without mentioning any other than grain, hemp, oak, pitch, and tar, which form an important item in the computation of the balance.
IV. From the accompanying lists it also appears that the most valuable property and the surest source of income which Sweden has had for a long time, are its iron and copper works.
V. In order to produce these desired results it is necessary, 1. To obtain information respecting the condition of the Swedish mercantile marine, and to devise means by which it may be gradually improved, and brought to its former efficiency; 2. To examine the nature, quality, and quantity of all the goods which are imported from abroad, and to what extent they are necessary and indispensible to us; so that either the excessive importation may be stopped, or the merchandize may be imported more cheaply and with less expense in its transport; or that it may be manufactured at home, whereby an unnecessary importation may be prevented, and the gain arising from the manufacture of the goods may be kept in the land; 3. To see how the merits and manufactories in the country may be protected and promoted, so as to produce better results in regard to cheapness, duality, and quantity.
Such points with other similar ones might be delegated to the various departments of the government, which the Diet has entrusted with the administration of the country's affairs but as their attention is mostly occupied with the manner in which this work is carried on by individuals, and with the dispensing of justice, there is probably little time at their disposal to devote to the consideration of this subject in general, and in all its bearings and parts: wherefore the members of the Diet themselves are the only authority to whom recourse can be had in this important matter on which the welfare of our whole posterity depends.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, February 5, 1723.
[To this memorial there are added, in the original, the two lists referred to, but of these we do not deem it necessary to give a translation here.]
This memorial was read in the Committee on the affairs of the Diet, on Feb. 7, 1723, and referred by them to the Committee on commercial affairs; by whom it was read on Feb. 23.
DOCUMENT 169.
MEMORIAL PROPOSING TO ABOLISH THE DISTINCTION MADE IN MINING DISTRICTS IN FAVOUR OF COPPER TO THE DETRIMENT OF IRON.*
* This Document is preserved in the Archives of the College of Mines, among the letters and memorials delegated to the College of Mines by His Majesty, the King, for the year l723.
Sweden has been blessed over many countries with metals of various kinds. But when metals of several kinds are found in one and the same district, it has been the rule from olden times, to encourage the production of the nobler metal at the expense of the less noble; so that where silver and copper occur in the same locality, in consequence of the above rule, which has since become law, silver must have the preference over Copper in the use of the neighbouring forests and estates. Now, as this rule is so arbitrary that no other circumstances but the nobility of the metal are taken into consideration, I will therefore submit in all humility some cases, by which there will be proved, that this rule at times may militate against the common good of the country. As for instance: Suppose a poor and meagre copper or silver ore should be discovered in a mountain district, where iron-mines are situated and furnaces have been erected, by which the whole district is provided with iron, in this case that ore, on account of its nobility, and without taking into consideration the promotion of the public weal, is able to injure and put aside works that have been brought into a proper condition; i. e. for the sake of producing 200 marks of fine silver the production of 2000 skeppund of iron is prevented, which is equivalent to losing eight dalers for one, even though you may be assured that foreign merchants are willing to pay from fourteen to fifteen thousand fine marks in native silver and in the same noble metal for 2000 skeppund of iron.
Again, if near the mines of the Great Copper-mountain (Stora Kopparberget,) a large mountain of weak silver ore should be discovered, from which from six to ten thousand marks of fine silver could be obtained, at the same cost at which they are now got out of the great mine; yet on account of the above-mentioned rule we should be obliged to protect the nobler metal, and so put the ignoble on one side, although we were assured, that a foreign merchant would be willing to furnish from eight to ten times as much silver of the same purity as the above for the copper which that large work turns out every year.
Now, as such an absolute rule might do from ten to a hundred times more damage every year than it can do good, it is submitted to the mature consideration of the Diet, whether it is not necessary to limit the said rule in certain particulars, so that the nobleness of a metal be not considered exclusively, but also the public good, i. e. all those particulars and circumstances by which it may be shown, that one work will profit the country in time more than the other, or that the work itself is noble, and the metal in comparison with it ignoble. Otherwise there is danger of the country losing many tons of gold for the mere pleasure of getting an eighth part out of a metal which is of a nobler duality. This seems to be too unequal a distinction between the different metals in the general economy of the country, and one which is too costly and altogether excessive.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, February 18, 1723.
[This memorial was read in the Committee on the affairs of the Diet, February 20, 1723. By that Committee it was referred to the Committee on Mining matters, which had been appointed by the Diet, and before this Committee it was read on March 1, 1723.]
DOCUMENT 170.
MEMORIAL IN FAVOUR OF ENCOURAGING THE PRODUCTION OF IRON IN SWEDEN.*
* The original copy of this memorial is preserved in the Archives of the College of Mines, among the Letters from the King for the year 1723.
In the instruction issued by the Committee on Instructions to be given to governmental departments and the governors of provinces, which was communicated to the Royal College of Mines on the 15th inst., and which has also been submitted for approval to the Diet, it was ordered and commanded, that the above-named College should take all due care and interest in the welfare of the mining districts, but that it should take especial interest in the copper and silver works, as being nobler and more precious, and as being of the same importance as the welfare of the country itself. The iron-works, on the other hand, as consisting of less noble metals and being of less consequence, were spoken of in less careful and less honourable terms, it being added that these latter, as opportunity occurred, must yield preference and pre-eminence to the former. Induced, however, by weighty reasons, I venture to place before the right honourable members of the Diet some arguments proving that the Swedish iron districts deserve the same high consideration at the hands of the Diet as the copper-mining districts, as well as the same fostering and untiring care and protection.
1. It is well known that the Swedish iron-mines produce or yield to the country from 250 to 270,000 skeppund of iron, which, according to present prices, are worth from forty-eight to fifty tons of gold in dalers of silver, so that the public, or the country in general derives yearly from its iron-mines a capital or a revenue of upwards of fifty tons of gold.
2. From this the crown derives about six tons of gold by the tithes it receives from the forges, by free and compulsory tolls, and by other taxes that are raised immediately at the mines.
3. Sea-ports and inland-towns, by bridge-tolls, weighers, carriers, freight, storage and commission dues, receive about two tons of gold.
4. The community at large, by the many thousands of persons who are fed, and whose families are sustained by this interest, as well by selling wood and coal, and by cartage, as by working in the forests, in the mines, in the iron furnaces and forges, receive as their share about fifteen tons of gold, without counting the shares owned by communities themselves in mines and iron-works.
5. The merchants who supply the mining districts with salt, fish, tobacco, clothing, etc., and the farmers who provide it with grain and other produce of their farms, derive annually about twenty tons of gold: which causes a good deal of stir and bustle in the traffic and trade of the country.
6. The remaining gains, which flow into the pockets of the mine-owners, are of such a nature that they remain in the country, and are invested in carrying on and sustaining the production of iron; partly also they are used in working up the crude metal into more valuable forms, and contribute consequently to the public revenue and to the welfare of the country.
7. Now, inasmuch as the Swedish iron districts are instrumental in bringing into the country about fifty tons of gold, either in cash, or else in the form of merchandize; and as this is distributed among the public in the form just stated, and as it keeps thereby our foreign and inland trade in constant stir nod activity, and also causes the copper to remain in the land, we are certainly justified in concluding thence that the welfare of these mining districts has as strong a claim on the favourable notice and judgment of the members of this Diet, as that of those mining districts where the so-called nobler metals are produced, and that the protection of the iron interest deserves to be commended to the fostering care of the Royal College of Mines in much stronger terms, than seems to have been done in the above-mentioned instruction.
8. The copper-mines, on the other hand, are capable of annually producing to the public 8000 skeppund of copper, yielding from fourteen to fifteen tons of gold, which is about one-third of what the country derives annually from its iron-mines. Still, with respect to the works at Fahlun, which are the most important and the noblest in the country, they ought to be most carefully protected and cherished; yet not at the expense of the iron-works.
9. It is therefore my humble opinion that the Royal College of Mines ought not, by the above-named instruction, to be empowered to make a distinction and to establish exceptional rules, in favour of one kind of mines at the expense of others, simply because the metals they produce are called nobler, and seem to be of a nobler pedigree and genealogy; that the Royal College, on the contrary, be instructed to have regard to the merit and importance of a work in respect to the public good; that it ought, therefore, to take into consideration the nobility of the work, even though its metal may be of a lower order. But this may be placed in a clearer light, by an example: if for instance, a meagre silver vein, which might yield annually 200 marks of silver, should be discovered in proximity to an iron-mine which produces annually 2000 skeppund of iron, and if, in this case, the nobler metal should have the preference over the more common, this would seem to be entirely uncalled for, inasmuch as the 2000 skeppund of iron would be productive, not only of 200, but even of 1500 marks of the same fine and native silver.
10. Hence it appears doubtful whether these metals, on the mere consideration of their being nobler, ought to have a preference, and whether the other metals ought to be neglected on their account, as seems to be the drift of the said instruction. Moreover it is well to be considered whether in this case there is not a mistake made in computation and in political economy, by which the public will lose many tons of gold, with no other compensation than that it will obtain the eighth or ninth part back again, by working a metal which belongs to a higher class, and has a nobler name and a more high-sounding title. All of which is submitted in all humility to the mature deliberation of the Honourable Members of the Diet.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, May, 1723.
[This memorial was read before the full House of Nobles on May 22, and referred to the Committee on Instructions.]
It was discussed also at the College of Mines on May 24th, during Swedenborg's absence. The members of the College were opposed to the change proposed by Swedenborg, and they instructed Assessor Bergenstierna125 to oppose the motion orally in the Diet. See Section V, Document 154 A.
DOCUMENT 171.
MEMORIAL IN FAVOUR OF ESTABLISHING ROLLING-MILLS IN SWEDEN.*
* This memorial is preserved in the Archives of the College of Mines among the letters and rescripts from the King for the year 1735.
It is of the greatest importance for a country to promote mechanical works and manufactures, especially those for which the crude material is at hand: for by such works the common material is ennobled, and commands a better price, and the public derive benefit and advantage from it. It-is well-known throughout the whole world that no country has better opportunities for establishing manufactories of iron than Sweden; yet it is a source of regret to many, that we desire and hope for the establishment of manufactories, without doing anything to encourage and foster them. It is therefore my humble desire to propose a plan in which a way to establish and encourage such works is pointed out, so that they may not only be founded, but may also increase in power and importance.
1. Many thousand tons of Swedish pig-iron are annually shipped, with great expense in freight and custom-house duties, to Holland, whence it is re-shipped inland to Sauerland and Liege, where it is broken up, rolled, and converted into 4, 6, 10 to 12 iron rods or bars, or converted into sheet-iron. Afterwards it is carried back to Holland, and conveyed thence to many places in Europe, where it is sold with great profit: so that our Swedish iron must in this manner be ennobled in Brabant, and yield them a handsome income, which we, with small expense and industry, might keep at home.
2. Such iron, as has been worked up by rolling mills into rods and other fine articles and forms, promotes all sorts of small manufactories, whereby time, labour, and expense are saved; these rods and other articles being the medium between the coarse Swedish iron and the various manufactories of whatever kind they may be.
3. Iron thus worked up is in the form required by the various blacksmiths, locksmiths, etc., who expend much money in having the various sorts prepared for themselves; so that manufactories as well as the various smaller workers in iron are benefited thereby, and the country itself gains an immense advantage, and has the prices lowered at the same time.
4. A great deal of the iron thus obtained is used up in the country itself, but what is not required for domestic consumption can be shipped to other parts of Europe and advantageously sold there. Of this we may be the better assured, inasmuch as the greater part of the rolled iron which is sent out of Liege, consists of the iron of Liege and Brabant, which many nations are compelled to use for want of a better iron, although it is cold-short and brittle. But if Sweden would furnish the same sort of iron rods and sheeting, the inferior iron would be scorned and sink in price, while the better would rise. This may be proved by those who execute commissions abroad.
If the gentlemen of the Diet would be inclined to promote the establishment of such a work, and thereby lay a foundation for manufactories of iron in Sweden, you will please to grant privileges and exemptions to those who set up such works.
The accompanying drawing exhibits the machine which is in use abroad. Two furnaces will be required to feed the machine with 40 skeppund of iron per day, or with 8000 to 10000 skeppund during the whole year, for which skillful workmen will be required; from 12 to 14 stigar of coal will be consumed per day; and the cost for each skeppund of iron will be 6 marks. A part of the produce will be used for nails, rods, steel wire, gratings, etc.; while another part will meet the demand of the blacksmiths, locksmiths, etc.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, April 11, 1723.
[This memorial was read before the Committee on the business of the Diet on April 20, 1723; by them it was referred to the Committee on Mining and Commerce, where it was read on May 7. By the Diet it was referred to the King by whom it was submitted to the College of Mines and to that of Commerce on Aug. 10, 1725. It arrived in the College of Mines, Aug. 23, 1725, and was filed for future reference, September 1, 1726.
This memorial is accompanied by a description of a drawing, but the drawing itself no longer exists; wherefore we did not consider it worth while to translate the description.]
DOCUMENT 172.
MEMORIAL TO THE SECRET COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES ON THE IMPOLICY OF DECLARING WAR AGAINST RUSSIA.*
* This memorial is preserved among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Library of the Academy of Sciences, in Vol. 56, of the "Riksdagsskrifter," leaves 1-6.
[In order to understand the object of this memorial it is necessary to have a clear view of the contemporaneous history of Sweden and other countries about the year 1734.
After the death of Charles XII all true patriots saw the necessity of curtailing the royal power in Sweden, in order to prevent the Swedish kings from plunging the country into any new wars. From the year 1719 to 1772, which is called the period of Sweden's freedom, the executive power was vested in the Privy Council, of which Count Arvid Horn104 was the President until 1737. Of the party-spirit prevailing during his administration, and which induced him finally to resign the government in 1737, Fryxell gives us the following description, in his "Berttelser ur Svenska Historien," part 29, p. 187:
"After the death of Charles, the executive power rested for a considerable time in the hands of Arvid Horn, against whom a party rose Consisting partly of ambitious men, men of the future, who desired to supplant him and his friends, and partly of patriots, who desired to revive Sweden's warlike spirit, and to reconquer the Baltic provinces which it had lost; a desire which their ardour and imagination led them even to hope they might realize.
Stanislaus131 had been elected King of Poland in 1704, under the influence of Charles XII, after the latter had conquered Augustus II in 1703; but Stanislaus was able to continue his reign only until 1709, when Charles XII was defeated at Pultawa. After the death of Charles, by an invitation of the French court he went to Weissenburg in Alsace, where his daughter wits married in 1723 to Louis XV, King of France. In 1733, on the decease of Augustus II, Stanislaus Leczinsky was again proclaimed King of Poland by a faction of the Polish nobility, and his claim was very strongly supported by France, Spain, and Sardinia; while Russia, in conjunction with Austria, declared in favour of Augustus III, the son of Augustus II.
1. In declaring war, not only one year, or the existing state of circumstances, but from ten to twenty years, or the whole series of consequences that may arise, must be taken into consideration. Should we be unfortunate, we may be very sure that Prussia will covet the remaining portion of Pomerania, that Denmark will claim Schonen, and Russia the whole of Finland, and that to bring this about all the powers lying nearest to us will lend a helping hand.
Should mischief be brewing, or war be declared, Russia will certainly not fail to harass our freedom, to speculate upon our right of succession, and cause thereby more trouble to Sweden than can beforehand be imagined. Perhaps, also, some map hope to catch fish in the troubled waters, and their secret desire for war may thereby be strengthened.
2. It must also be taken into consideration that Sweden is no longer the formidable power it was in former times, that me have fewer men to serve in our army, and that it is generally known we have not the pecuniary means by which to sustain a protracted war.
If the seat of war should be in a foreign land, it is yet customary to fit out ourselves by our own means: moreover, we could not claim anything from Poland, as we would come to them as friends.
From France, on the other hand, there is not much to be expected, since they require their own means, even if they should succeed in their undertaking, and still more if they should prove unfortunate. They would not be wanting in promises; but in carrying on war present help is of more consequence than a mere promise of assistance.
3. Russia, also, is more formidable now than she was in former years; inasmuch as, on the one hand, she has become more powerful by the advantage she has gained over Sweden, and has been provided with better materials for her army from the conquered provinces; and, on the other hand, the Russians themselves are also better trained, and are more like Europeans in their military tactics, and they are officered by others than mere native Russians.
4. Sweden has owed her good fortune, both in Poland and against the Russians, to the circumstance that our kings have been with the army, and that they have encouraged by their own example our Swedish soldiers; and that such has been the case, from the time of King Gustavus, with all his descendants to Charles XII: But that the Swedish soldiers are not any better than other soldiers, when they are not led by the King himself, can be seen from the death of the late King in Norway; and by other examples since--so that we cannot flatter ourselves with the same good fortune as we have had before.
5. Moreover, it does not seem proper that we should act indirectly against ourselves: that, on the one hand, we should send an auxiliary force or a contingent against France, and, on the other, act indirectly with her; so that really with one hand we should seek her ruin, and with the other endeavour to support her; that, therefore, we should wish on the one hand that France should suffer, and on the other that she should have the advantage--when yet its advantage is so closely connected with our own, by Russia's alliance with the Emperor, that in Sweden we ought to regard only that advantage upon which our own depends.
6. That we should recover Livonia would, indeed, be a great advantage; yet I consider it a still greater advantage that Sweden does not now possess it; wherefore great caution ought to be used in this matter.
My reason is, that as long as Sweden held it there was always danger of her being involved in war with its neighbours, and of being attacked; so that she had always to be on her guard as well against Russia as against Poland and others: while now, there is no danger at all that any one will attack us offensively, inasmuch as we have already given away what might embroil us with our neighbours.
A war, or the outfitting of an army and navy, would draw more money out of Sweden's treasury, than Livonia has brought into it for many years.
If Sweden remain neutral, the harm that has been already done may be replaced by wise economy, by encouraging mines and commerce, and by the profit which Swedish merchants would derive from other powers being involved in war. It is most certain that under existing circumstances the country will gain by these means much more than Livonia could bring in for many years; and that by employing a constant time of peace for setting her economy and commerce in order, she will be compensated for all she has lost in her provinces: for the wealth of a country does not depend upon the largeness of its extent, and the number of its provinces, but upon the flourishing state of its commerce. And as there is no fear now of our being attacked offensively, we can increase our commerce and traffic, and can cultivate our land; and thereby render ourselves formidable, and in this particular we should act on the same principles as they do in Holland.
7. In declaring war now, or in involving ourselves in such a manner that it may be looked upon indirectly as a declaration of war or an offensive movement, we should do so without the appearance of our having a sufficient cause for it. A pretended cause can always be found; yet if we should flatter ourselves with the justice of our cause, many would see that this was really nothing else than a breach of peace with Russia under a pretext.
It is an unusual thing also for Sweden to break alliances or a treaty of peace, or to begin an offensive war; and but few examples will be found in Sweden's history of her having commenced a war offensively, although several where she took part defensively.
8. With respect of its being a point of honour that we should maintain the Polish election, this is a matter where we ought to take no part whatever; as Sweden is not the guarantee of the elections in Poland: besides, we are not obliged by any treaty to sustain them in their election. The greatest honour seems to consist in our acquiring a position of respect by wise economy, and in endeavouring to enrich our land, when we shall be as much respected as Holland and England, who maintain their honour among the great powers of Europe entirely by such means; yea, their essential honour seems to be founded upon this.
9. With respect to alliances, the Secret Committee will perhaps examine how far we can afford to send auxiliary troops, or how far, if Sweden considers herself bound to do this, it may be done without involving ourselves in the general war; moreover, they will exercise care, so that no alliances and no treaties with the countries concerned be violated. To nothing like this can I give my consent in this matter; for I think the whole of it ought to be farther inquired into by those who are acquainted with all the circumstances or, by some emphatic proposals made to the Russian court, we ought to settle both matters together.
10. That the present conjuncture of affairs is such as to hold out a fair promise, I on my part, for the reasons stated above, cannot see. There are, indeed, some apparent advantages by which we might be induced to take part in the proposed movement; but if any reverses should happen, such a conjuncture would arise as would render Sweden more unfortunate than she has ever been.
And as all depends upon the providence of the Highest, in a few years some better conjuncture may be discovered, so that Russia may be attacked on some other side, or be disturbed interiorly, which would result in a much greater advantage; for instance, if me should only now make such proposals to the Russian court, that Sweden, by receiving an adverse answer and a refusal, would thereby be justified, on such a conjuncture arising, in beginning an affair in which Sweden would be the offended party, for which contingency even now preparations might be made.
11. The argument, that Sweden is thought by other nations to be so exhausted and in such a condition, that for that reason and from being afraid, she does not venture to take part in the movement, is no reason in itself for commencing a war, which might possibly reduce the country to such a condition, that what is now a mere assertion, might prove to be a fact; but as even then this would be an assertion without a sufficient foundation, there would still be many, at least fully one half of those in Europe, who hold the opposite view, who do not like Sweden to engage herself in saving her honour by a mere process of reasoning; supported by such a fact, when she can save it in a much better way by thrift, and an improvement throughout the country:
To attack tiny one, simply to show that one possesses strength and courage, is false glory; but to defend oneself bravely when attacked is true glory. If that should be made a cause of mar, and if reverses should happen, there is scarcely any one who would not explain this to his disadvantage; it is different if you act on the defensive.
If a balance is drawn between the great advantage that might possibly arise from a war, and that which results from neutrality, I, for my own humble part, can see an immensely greater advantage on the side of the latter; if you are but willing to stretch your thought beyond the immediate present.
Neighbouring nations will always be afraid of us, when they witness our thrift and prosperity at home; when they see that we are out of debt, that our army is in good condition, that the arsenals add the regimental strong-boxes are well-filled, and, finally, when they see the various Houses of our Diet. in unity, and our country fortified in this wise, which is better than in any other manner. All this cannot be hidden, end the effect of it will be that no one will think that we are not in condition, or that we are afraid to have anything to do with one or two powers, if there be necessity.
12. That at the present conjuncture, when Russia allies herself with the Emperor, and France and Spain ally themselves against them, it would seem as if Sweden's interest demanded a closer approximation to France, we admit, and also that it seems required that we should assist France; inasmuch as Russia by this arrangement renders herself more formidable to Sweden and will be still more so, should a different one from him, who would me hope hold the balance against Russia, ascend the Polish throne. With respect to Russia, she is indeed rendered more powerful thereby in regard to Sweden, both on the side of the Roman Empire and on that of Poland, and perhaps by the fall of Dantzic she will make herself ruler of the commerce in the Baltic, and so forth.
Should Russia, however, by some good fortune, become still more powerful, and Sweden less able to defend herself, we have, nevertheless, always been able to defend ourselves hitherto. But if Russia should still more enlarge and become more powerful, we should be more surely enabled to withstand Russia, by the advantage of neutrality, than by an opposite course. [Nos. 13 to 16 are wanting.]
17. With respect to any conjuncture in Russia itself, if it should apparently be favourable to us, the reins are nevertheless held so tightly there, that not much can be expected from any internal dissension, no matter how it may turn out; as the principal chiefs in the provinces and in the army are fully able to keep every thing of that nature down.
18. Why the alliance with France should be of more consequence than a treaty of peace with Russia; or how the maintenance of Stanislaus131 upon the throne should be a just cause, are matters which can easily be judged of by every one. There is not a Swede who would not wish to see his success, partly on account of his many misfortunes, and partly on account of his being properly elected, and of being a gentleman who has gained the hearts of all in Sweden; but a sound policy does not suffer this to be done at too great a risk.
19. If we seek for a just cause, and bide our time, perhaps during this very ever a more favourable conjuncture may arise, at least we shall be better able to see which side is more likely to win, upon which all our chance of profit depends; we can see also whether Russia will not then be engaged in another direction.
20. That France is now much more ready to promise and to hold out inducements, as she stands in need of Sweden, because Russia is allied with the Emperor, seems natural; but whether she will keep her promise, or whether she will be able to keep it, is another question.
Moreover, if Poland be allied to France, the great necessity which Sweden, at certain conjunctures, may have of making common cause with France will disappear.
21. That Russia should consider herself more favourably situated and safer by having some one from the German Empire on the Polish throne, so that under all circumstances it may be safe on the Polish side, and that she should strive to ingratiate herself with the Emperor by promising to make common cause against the Turks, should occasion require it, it seems we cannot prevent; for even if King Stanislaus should be maintained on the throne for a number of years, me cannot expect his reign to be of long duration, because he is already advanced in years, not in very vigourous health, and in consequence thereof, should he even obtain the government, he would be more inclined to peace and a quiet government, in order that Poland may again recover herself, so that even in such a case the expected advantage would be small and short-lived.
To judge from the present conjuncture how it may be ten or twenty years hence, is like adventuring in a lottery, where, if you have once been favoured by fortune, you think it will be always so, and that in the future you will be successful also.
[EMAN. SWEDENBORG.]
Stockholm, in the Autumn or Winter of 1734.]
DOCUMENT 173.
FRAGMENT OF A MEMORIAL BY SWEDENBORG TO THE HOUSES OF THE SWEDISH DIET IN 1755, PRINCIPALLY RESPECTING THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.*
* The original of this Fragment is in the volume of Swedenborg's "Riks-dagsskrifter," leaf 7, in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. It is important on account of fixing Swedenborg's where-abouts in 1755.
[Swedenborg clearly saw the importance of preserving the balance of trade in favour of Sweden; and in order to obtain this desirable result, he advocated the development of the mining interest and of home manufactures, and he was in favour of stimulating the productive power of Sweden by all means possible. Intemperance, which prevailed in an alarming degree among his countrymen, he regarded as one of the worst internal foes of Sweden, preventing her from becoming a great manufacturing and agricultural nation. He was so much convinced of this, that he wrote on the fly-leaf of one of his theological MSS.: "The immoderate use of spirituous liquors will be the downfall of the Swedish people." He proposed several measures to the Swedish Diet intended to lessen the consumption of spirits, and the waste of grain in the distillation of this pernicious drink.
Another of the sources of Sweden's weakness was in his eyes a resolution passed by the Diet, by which the bank was empowered to grant loans on all fixed and movable property in the state, which he regarded as the chief cause of the enormous rise in the rate of exchange, from which the country was suffering at the time.
All these subjects are touched upon in the following fragment of a memorial, sent in to the Swedish Diet, in 1755, and which is contained in the volume of "Riksdagsskrifter," preserved among his MSS. in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
"[The excess of imports over exports] amounts now annually to from three to four millions of dalers in silver, from which every one may conclude as to the cause why our country decreases every year in wealth, and consequently in power; and from which he may likewise see that we are inwardly poor, though outwardly rich, as long as money advanced on our possessions constitutes the circulating medium of our land.
"The above [i. e. the calling in of banknotes advanced on mortgaged property, and the restoration of specie payments, and the farming out of the distillation of whiskey] is my well- meant proposition; for the sole purpose of restoring the balance of trade in our favour, and for providing sufficient means for the maintenance of our government. Should this proposition [i. e. the farming out of the distillation of spirits] be introduced and tried, it would be but fair that the so-called "drank" (swill) be distributed to the community without pay, and that the price of whiskey be properly adjusted, to as to meet with approval; also that some of their expenses [i. e. of those who formerly distilled whiskey] be re-imbursed to them.
"I am aware that the whole of this subject is under the consideration of the several Houses of the Diet at their various meetings; but as this is a subject belonging to the management of the state, which may be revised and amended at any subsequent meeting of the Diet, and as the welfare of our country depends upon it--as has been shown--I hope the various Houses will take it up and pass it: especially as such arguments have been advanced, as have not, it is supposed, been previously brought forward, and consequently neither examined nor sifted. If this subject be gone into, I have no doubt that the public good, which is entirely based upon it, will carry the day, and not self-interest, and that also in future it will meet with that consideration which it deserves.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, Nov. 3, 1765.
DOCUMENT 174.
MEMORIAL TO THE SWEDISH DIET IN FAVOUR OF A RETURN TO A PURE METALLIC CURRENCY.*
* The original of this memorial fills 6 pages on leaves 19 to 23 of the volume of "Riksdagsskrifter" among the MSS. of Swedenborg in the Library of the Academy of Sciences; it has been printed by the author of "Nya Kyrkan och dess inflytande p Theologiens Studium i Sverige," in part II, p. 73.
[The immediate cause leading to the preparation of this memorial is stated by the biographer of Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, in the Swedish "Biographiskt Lexicon," (Vol. X, p. 34,) in the following words: "Meanwhile the confusion in the course of exchange increased from day to day. As early as the year 1755 exchange had risen from 39 to 43 marks, and the bureau, which had been established for the purpose of regulating the course of exchange, had to declare its inability to do anything in the matter. Contracts mere indeed made with several business houses in succession, with a view to prevent this upward tendency, but these were all alike unsuccessful, especially when the war* meanwhile began and caused disorder: a rix-daler Hamburg currency had accordingly risen in 1760 from 55 to 70, and in the following year from 68 to 75 marks. This caused a meeting of the Diet to be called in 1760, in which a Committee of Finance was appointed, which afterwards was changed into a Secret Deputation, and of this Nordencrantz was a member; in it he was at first a shining light, but by a change in the parties [and we may add by the influence of Swedenborg, Who took strong ground against him] he lost his great power, and the Deputation finally passed a resolution, which differed very much from Nordencrantz's views."]
* The Seven Years' war, in which Sweden took part in 1757.
It is well-known that, from time immemorial, the course of exchange in Sweden has been on a par with the coin which has been in current use, and that such also has been the case in all other countries; whence it may be concluded that coin done regulates exchange. It may be seen clearly also from this consideration, that no merchant is willing to hand over his current coin, whether this be gold, silver, or copper, for bills of exchange which stand higher than the actual market-price of the money itself: inasmuch as he knows that the coin itself is worth more to him in Holland, England, or Hamburg, where payments are to be made, than is offered to him by the person issuing these bills of exchange. Whence it also has happened, and it happens daily everywhere, that as soon as exchange is above par, or above the real value of the current coin, silver is sent out in order to restore the balance, by which the course of exchange is raised. The same has also happened in Sweden at all times, even since our copper currency, which consists of plates, has been introduced; for the effect of our plate currency which corresponds to the increased value of silver amongst us, has been to keep exchange at the same value, with the difference of only a mark or a mark and a half below or above par, which has been caused by the difficulty or inconvenience of exporting our copper-corn, and trafficking, and afterwards paying with it. It hence appears very plainly that the intrinsic value of our current coin itself has kept exchange at its own value, and regulated its price, and also that in later times, as within the last 20 years, the rise of exchange from its par value, which was 35 marks, first to 40, afterwards to 50, and finally to 60 and 66 marks has been caused by paper which represents money, and yet is not money, becoming the medium of currency instead of coin. The exchange has thus lost its former basis, and has found a new one, which now rests principally upon iron, without mentioning the other products, as brass, alum, tar, masts, boards, etc.
I. The injury inflicted upon the country by the exchange having been forced to its present high rate, is to some extent known, from the universal complaint about it; but it may briefly be stated: 1. That all the necessaries of life which are imported from abroad, as the raw material for most manufactures, grain and eatables, and other merchandize subject to what is called wear and tear, must be paid for at the rate of exchange; likewise all home produce as oxen, cows, calves, cattle generally sheep, fowls, butter, tallow, fish, wood, timber, deal, and other things which follow the course of exchange, and are still rising in price; 2. Whence it follows that all the requisitions from the public exchequer for the requirements of the Royal Court, the clothing of the army, fortifications, the construction of ships, the fitting out and maintenance of vessels, the pay of ambassadors and resident ministers, must be bought and paid for at the rate of exchange, and thus at double the prices heretofore; 3. Wherefore all taxes and rates must be increased, for which in time but few resources will remain, inasmuch as most of the owners of real estate render themselves indigent by mortgaging their lands; 4. All labourers and workmen, of whom the chief sinew and strength of the country consists, are deprived of power, and they decrease in number on account of the rise in the price of everything which they need for their nourishment and maintenance; inasmuch as their wages do not increase in proportion to the rise in price; the injury which is thereby inflicted upon the public, may be seen, but cannot be described briefly;
II. With respect to the cause by which paper currency has taken the place of coined money possessing an intrinsic value, it has principally been,
III. How is this difficulty to be remedied? As the cause has been discovered by which exchange has been forced to its present height, the remedies for lowering it may also be discovered; wherefore, on the strength of what has been alleged before, I take the liberty of submitting in all humility to the Honourable Houses of the Diet the following propositions: 1. That the general loan upon all fixed and movable property do cease, and that henceforth no other loan be negotiated at any banking office (cassa), except for the purposes of the state, and upon gold and silver as was formerly the custom: for by such means alone did the bank again acquire strength and wealth after the death of Charles XII, during whose reign it was thoroughly emptied. If the general grant of loans by the bank upon property be stopped, there will soon be experienced a change in the dearth by which our country is distressed. a. That those who have raised money upon their property be obliged to pay back annually a certain percentage, besides the interest: whereby, after the lapse of a certain period, the greater part of the certificates of indebtedness, which are now in the market, will be called in, and will be replaced by banknotes, which not only represent money, but to all intents and purposes are money.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, November 17, 1760.
DOCUMENT 175.
APPEAL TO THE HOUSES OF THE DIET IN FAVOUR OF THE RESTORATION OF A METALLIC CURRENCY.*
* Four copies of this memorial are contained on leaves 28-32 in the volume of "Riksdagsskrifter" mentioned in the last document; it has been published by the author of "Nya Kyrkan," &c. in part II, p. 72. A copy of it was also communicated by him to Dr. Immanuel Tafel in 1841, by whom it was inserted in his "Sammlung von Urkunde betreffend das leben und den Character Emanuel Swedenborg's," part III, p. 70. It is also contained in the English and American editions of Dr. Tafel's "Documents."
Unless the various Houses of the Diet at the present session take steps to secure the return of the paper currency to the bank, and the issue of coin possessing an intrinsic value in its place, there is danger that the dearness of every thing will continue to increase more and more, until the country at last will become utterly exhausted and ready to perish; which it assuredly will, unless another remedy for its restoration be found than a general bankruptcy on all the paper currency. This bankruptcy, however, stares every man willing to reflect upon this subject in the face, when he considers that six dalers in paper are now equivalent to three dalers in "plates" in our foreign commerce, and two dalers in "plates" in our inland traffic; and if the dearness increases they may finally be equivalent to a single daler in "plates." 'What could then save the country from ruin? This fearful and terrible consequence can only be avoided by restoring specie payments. Many proposals may be devised and mentioned for forcing down the high course of exchange, and arresting the dearness, but they are all of little value except the one proposal, the purpose of which is: to restore a specie currency, such as has existed in Sweden heretofore, and as exists in all other countries in the world: for in coined specie itself lies the real value of exchange, and consequently that of all merchandize.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
DOCUMENT 176.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE COURSE OF EXCHANGE.*
* Two original copies of this memorial are found on leaves 23 to 27 in the volume of "Riksdaggskrifter" preserved among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Many proposals may be brought forward for the purpose of lowering the course of exchange, but they are all of little value, except one. In proof of this assertion I desire to discuss the following proposals:
I. That an Exchange-Bank be established, with "plates" or copper as its basis.-Answer: by the institution of such a bank the foundation would be drawn from under the present State-Bank (Riksens Stnder Bank), and it would lose all its credit.
II. That a large Company be formed to pay for all the property of the country, and for all products, where it may be desired, at a lower rate of exchange; and that rules be established for the government of the said company.-Answer: this cannot be effected without exercising compulsion on trade; and exchange cannot be forced thereby below 50 or 60 marks, and the general welfare is not thereby promoted.
III. That a paper currency based upon iron should be introduced, and that it should circulate with a paper currency based upon "plates."--Answer: this will not influence in the least the course of exchange.
IV. That a separate paper currency based upon "plates," and another based upon mortgaged property should be issued.-Answer: this is impracticable because all paper based upon "plates," would be purchased by paper based upon property, and the bank would remain empty.
V. That the rate of exchange should be fixed, and that it should be regulated by the price of those products of the country which are exported.-Answer: this cannot be done, as the rate cannot be fixed thus.
VI. Our chief care should be to obtain a surplus balance of trade in our favour:-Answer: this will not affect the course of exchange, inasmuch as this is exclusively in the hands of those who deal in iron, etc.
VII. That iron, which has now become the basis of exchange in the place of specie in "plates," should be held at a lower price.-Answer: those who hold iron are unwilling to do this; moreover, the course of exchange depends upon the discretion of the few who issue bills of exchange.
VIII. That all bank-bills in circulation should be diminished in value.--Answer: this would cause ill-feeling in the country, and yet not alter the course of exchange.
IX. That the present state of things should continue, until the Bank receives back again the moneys it has advanced on mortgages, and becomes rich thereby.-Answer: this will take twenty years, and meanwhile the country will go on from worse to worse.
Other propositions, besides these, may be originated and mentioned, but all are of but little value, except one, which consists in returning to a specie currency, such as has existed in Sweden heretofore, and as exists in all countries in the world: for in specie itself lies the real value of exchange. If any country could exist by means of a paper currency, which signifies money, but is not money; such a country would be unparalleled in the world.
DOCUMENT 177.
MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO THE KING, BY EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.*
* Two original copies of this "Memorial" are contained on leaves 16 and 17 in the volume of "Riksdagsskrifter" referred to above.
I have been informed that the official agent of the mining district of Fahlun, Mr. Muncktell, has applied to Your Royal Majesty for permission to export 1500 skeppund of crude copper, and that an opinion has been requested on this subject from the Colleges of the Treasury, of Mines, and of Commerce.
The injury that would be done to the country by granting the exportation of crude copper, may be seen from a memorial submitted by myself to the various souses of the Diet on the course of exchange, where among the remedies for the restoration of specie payment I demonstrated the necessity of not allowing copper, either in its crude state, or in the form of "plates," to be exported from the country before the State Bank (Riksens Stnder Bank) has again become a specie paying bank, as it has been heretofore. Should permission be granted to export crude copper, this resource would be lost. In order, however, to remove all cause of complaint from the mining district of the Great Copper-mountain, the following well-intentioned proposals are made: 1. That for a certain number of years' leave be granted to them to coin their copper freely into "plates," whereby they would receive, on the basis of a specie currency, 540 dalers in copper for each skeppund of copper. 2. In case this cannot be granted, to coin the copper nevertheless for them, in which case they would be able themselves to sell the "plates" in the country, at whatever price they can obtain for it; i. e. they might sell them wholesale and retail, whereby they would gain a part of what they would profit by the exportation of copper.
As this subject is one of the most important, and affects both our currency and the course of exchange, I most humbly submit to Your Royal Majesty whether, before a resolution is taken with regard to the exportation of these 1500 skeppund, Your Royal Majesty would not deem it judicious to refer said resolution together with my present humble memorial, to the Private Committee (Sekreta Utskottet), by whom it may be communicated to the Private Commission on Exchange.
Your most humble and dutiful servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
[Stockholm towards the close of 1760.]
DOCUMENT 178.
MEMORIAL TO THE HOUSE OF NOBLES, IN WHICH SWEDENBORG DECLINES TO BE A MEMBER OF THE PRIVATE COMMISSION ON EXCHANGE.*
* The original of this memorial is contained in the volume of "Riksdags-skrifter" referred to above, on leaf 48.
I thank you for the honour of inviting me to attend the Private Commission on Exchange, but the Honourable House of Knights and Nobles will please to excuse me from becoming a member of said commission, before I am convinced that the provisional committee, collected by Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, is authorized by law, and that it is not partially or entirely absorbed and thus incorporated in said Commission; inasmuch as this provisional Committee has not been appointed and ordered according to the statutes of the government regarding electors, but all its members to the number of 48 have been nominated from three Houses by Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, alone, and he has them bound by an oath not to divulge what is transacted there; which is yet opposed to the law and safety of our country, and also to many of the councillor's own expressions and objections recorded in his book.
The Honourable House of Knights and Nobles will, moreover, please to have submitted and read to them the oath, which has been taken in the above-named provisional Committee; and also to regulate and prescribe, as usual, the oath which shall be found necessary to be taken by those members of the Commission that have been nominated by Councillor Nordencrnntz's provisional committee, inasmuch as it cannot be permitted that an oath should be prescribed, and afterwards administered, by any Sub-committee within itself.
DOCUMENT 179.
RESOLUTION OFFERED IN THE DIET RESPECTING THE SECRET DEPUTATION ON EXCHANGE WHICH HAD BEEN APPOINTED.*
* Two original copies of this Memorial are contained on leaves 23 to 27 in the volume of "Riksdagsskrifter" referred to above.
A separate Commission on the course of exchange had been resolved on, and was afterwards appointed, by the various Houses of the Diet, and I had the honour to submit a humble memorial on this subject which has, at my own request, been referred to the Private Committee of the various Houses, because it chiefly concerns the Bank. As this important subject is to be examined and reported upon by two separate committees, it is submitted to the judgment of the Honourable Houses of the Diet, whether it is not advisable that the above-named Commission should meet with the Honourable Private Committee (Utskottet) on this subject, so that they may jointly deliberate and report upon it. Another reason is, that it very intimately concerns the Bank, which is under the special supervision of the Private Committee; moreover, it is the most important subject which has been brought before the Honourable Houses of the Diet during the present session.
DOCUMENT 180.
MEMORIAL TO THE HOUSES OF THE DIET BY EM. SWEDENBORG,
UPON READING A BOOK, WHICH WAS CIRCULATED AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE DIET, BY NORDENCRANTZ, THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE.*
* The Swedish original of this paper which is preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences on leaves 14 and 15 of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter" was printed by the author of "Nya Kyrkan," &c, in part II, p. 53-55. A French translation of it had previously been printed by Benedict Chastanier in his "Journal Novi-Jrusalemite," part IV, 1787; and from this a German translation had been prepared by Dr. Immanuel Tafel, and inserted in his "Sammlung von Urkunden," &c. part III, p. 52-63, where also Chastanier's French translation is reprinted. An English translation of this paper, which had been prepared from a French reprint of Chastanier's translation by M. Le Boys des Guays in "La Nouvelle Jrusalem," 1840, p. 53, was published by Prof. Bush in the American edition of Mr. Smithson's "Documents collected by Dr. Immanuel Tafel," p. 172.
Inasmuch as the Honourable Houses of the Diet meet now for the first time this year, and as the large Commission enters upon its duties, I therefore have the honour to wish a blessed progress to it, and a prosperous and unanimous conclusion. But, at the same time, I take the liberty of subjoining the following remarks, and of submitting them in all humility:
That the large Commission would please to take into consideration everything that is submitted to it as having taken place against law and regulations, and that it would pay due regard to the public affairs which concern the whole country, referring with recommendations to the separate committees whatever concerns private individuals. Further, that the large Commission should, with all care and prudence, seek to avoid the spread of general complaints against our established laws and government, on account of mistakes that may have been committed, or that may be committed in future, inasmuch as mistakes happen in every country, and with every man--but if a government should be considered simply from its faults, this would be like regarding an individual simply from his failings and deficiencies; and by this the road to its misfortune would be opened, and it would also, most undoubtedly, enter upon it.
The Honourable Houses of the Diet will kindly allow me to explain myself more at length, and to illustrate my meaning by what follows. 1. If an individual, who has an honest heart and loves the welfare of his country, has all his short-comings and faults added up and published among the people, is not his honour thereby assaulted, and he himself in the eyes of all men looked upon as unworthy and contemptible? In order to place this in a better light, I will take, as an instance, Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, and myself Should all our faults, arising from our weakness and ignorance, be traced out and summed up, and overlaid with black colours, we would very soon appear in the eyes of the public as black bodies, although in respect to our well-intentioned purposes and good disposition for our country's welfare, I presume we might appear as white as any other well-disposed man in the country. 2. Every human being is inclined by nature, and nothing is easier and pleasanter for him to do than to find faults in others, and to pass an unfavourable judgment upon them, inasmuch as all of us are by nature inclined to see the mote in our brother's eye, and not to see the beam in our own eyes; moreover, we are apt to strain a gnat, and to swallow a camel. All proud and evil-disposed men place their prudence in finding fault with, and blaming, others; and all generous and truly Christian souls place their prudence in judging all things according to circumstances, and hence in excusing such faults as may have arisen from weakness, and in inveighing against such evils as may have been done on purpose. 3. The same also happens in a general way is that which concerns governments: faults, numberless faults, may be found in all, so that volumes might be filled with them.
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
[January 12, 1761.]
DOCUMENT 181.
REVIEW OF NORDENCRANTZ'S BOOK.
[On the subject of Nordencrantz's book, the author of "Nya Kyrkan," etc. part II, p. 56, writes as follows: "The reason why Swedenborg mentioned the name of Norclencrsntz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, in his memorial of January 12, was, that that gentleman, who was one of those in the country who were dissatisfied with the manner in which the government was carried on, had published a special work, which had been submitted by him to each of the four souses at one of their full meetings. In this work he had sounded a fearful alarm about the condition of the country, and made charges in general against judges, senators, and civil officers, and also proposed several radical changes which seemed necessary to him in the form of government. A summary of these inculpations and of the proposals for improving the form of government, Swedenborg collected for the purpose of refuting them, in the following nine points, where what is printed in Italics is extracted from Nordencrantz's book, and the rest contains Swedenborg's refutation."
The whole of what follows is taken from the MSS. that were left by Swedenborg. The title of Swedenborg's paper is as follows:]
SHORT EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK OF NORDENCRANTZ,133 THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE, WITH REMARKS UPON THE SAME.*
* The Swedish original of this paper under the title: Kort utdrag utaf Commercie Rdet Herr Nordencrants Bok," &c. fills five pages on leaves 33 to 36 in the volume of "Riksdagsskrift" among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. It was printed by Dr. Kahl in his "Nya Kyrkan," &c., part II, pp. 56 to 63.
This paper was adverted to by Count A. J. von Hpken in his first letter to General Tuxen, in the following words: "The most solid memorials, and the best penned, at the Diet of 1761, on matters of finance, were presented by him (Swedenborg). In one of these he refuted a large work in quarto on the same subject, quoted all the corresponding passages of it, and all this in less than one sheet."
I. With respect to the first point, that all state offices high as well as low, except the ecclesiastical and military, should be changed every second or third year, every one may reflect 1. how the Swedish country would look if all State officers, viz. Senators, Presidents, Councillors in the Supreme Court, in the Departments of Chancery, War, Exchequer, Mining, and Commerce, all Assessors and provincial Governors, superior and district Judges, Mayors and Council-men, etc., should henceforth, after every second year, be dismissed, and new ones appointed in their place for two or three years. How should the new officers be obtained? What should their qualifications be? 2. What should those who have been dismissed do to feed themselves, their wives, and children? and would not the greater part of them be obliged to go about begging? 3. Does not every office require its own knowledge and experience, which are acquired and increased throughout a whole life-time? What great acts of injustice and what confusion would arise, simply from the ignorance and inexperience of the new officials, who would have to be changed every second or third year?
II. That the legislative and judiciary or executive power should not be united in one person; that is, that no government official should have a vote in the Diet, or be a member of a committee of the Diet; by the judiciary or executive (lagskipande) power are understood government officials, and by the legislative (lagstiftande) power the Houses of the Diet. The following points must here be taken into consideration: 1. How would our House of Nobles look, and how would it be composed, if all civil officials of the government, high as well as low, were separated from it? Again, how would the House of Burghers look, if all Burgomasters and Council-men were taken out of it? 2. What would become of the private committee and all the remaining committees, if there were no men of office among them who possess the requisite knowledge and experience of the matters discussed there? 3. At every Diet the practice is followed, and carefully preserved, of not having any members of the government departments and of the higher and lower courts of justice in the committees, which are placed over them? What more can be wanted? 4. This proposal also militates directly against our form of government, which decrees, that every noble family should have a seat and vote in the House of Nobles, and that none be excluded on account of his being an official of government; the very maintenance and security of our government depends upon this.
These are the two chief proposals which run through the book of Nordencrantz, the Councillor of Commerce, from beginning to end.
III. Statements respecting unjust dealings of a judge in general, and every other man in particular, also on the imperfections of our law, may be brought forward by thousands, and generally on unjust grounds, inasmuch as every one who loses his case considers himself unjustly treated; as is also probably the case with the specimen brought forward and specially mentioned by the Councillor of Commerce himself. The best course to be followed is to report special cases of this kind to the Houses of the Diet, when justice will be dealt out to him who is in the right.
IV. Denunciations against resolutions passed by the Houses of the Diet I will not touch upon, as the Houses themselves are in session, and are able to express themselves on these matters.
V. About corrupt practices and the arbitrary power wielded by man (mngvlde), and also by individuals (envlde) at the sessions of the diet, much is said, and by the arbitrary power wielded by many are meant the combinations, cliques, or caucuses (sammansttningar), which are formed at the various Diets. Hereupon the following answer may be given. 1. In free governments it is impossible to prevent corrupt practices and power being exercised by cliques on the ground of such practices; yet these are continually undergoing changes, i. e. they increase and decrease at every session of the Diet: in Sweden, however, these practices are much more insignificant than in England, as is even admitted by the author; moreover, they cannot grow to such an extent as to be injurious to our government, inasmuch as me have four Houses, one of which has as much power as the other; besides every member in each House has the same right of voting, so that a general and individual counter-balance is provided against corrupt practices and against power being exercised by combinations. 2. Moreover, corrupt practices in free governments are like small ripples, compared with large waves in absolute monarchies (enwlde); in absolute or arbitrary monarchies favourites and the favourites of favourites, yea the unlimited monarch himself, are corrupted by men studying and appealing to their passions; of which many terrible instances may be given, which have taken place in such kingdoms. I may be allowed to cite in a few words what has happened under two of our unlimited monarchs, viz. King Charles XI and King Charles XII.
VI. Against promotions to higher posts of honour, and on ranks and titles: against the former an objection is brought only in one place in the book, where a reply is made, that such promotions are no encouragement for virtue and merit.
VII. Against the establishment of mines and iron-works in Sweden objections are made in two places, where a statement is made, that they are scarcely of any use to the country;
VIII. That the power of the censor of the press is too limited in Sweden, and that he ought only to be answerable to the Houses of the Diet, and ought to rank with the Chancellor of the Court: on this subject I cannot make any observation, either in favour or in opposition to it; inasmuch as the Houses of the Diet, which are now in session, can themselves deliberate on this subject, and settle it in such a manner as may be found most useful to the country.
IX. The first two proposals and the fifth seem to furnish arguments in favour of an absolute monarchy; but that they do not furnish any arguments in its favour, may be seen from the preceding answers. I pass over several statements which have been made in certain places, because they seem to be disregarded in the book itself.
In conclusion, as the book has been published and circulated among the Houses of the Diet, and cannot be called in again, and it is not advisable that it should, it is submitted, whether free access to it ought not to be permitted to all, in order that the proposals discussed in it may be opposed in writing, and that such answers may be freely printed, so that all may appear in a light which cannot be seen clearly in the book itself, on account of its prolixity from the many long discourses, extracts from governmental acts, citations from authors and the digressions to which they give rise, which might cause an impression with the reader, as if they were profoundly excogitated, wise, and learned.
If a reference be required to the pages of the book where these nine propositions are sought to be established, such reference will be given on demand, as they are all marked.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
[To this the author of "Nya Kyrkan," etc., makes the following addition, "The preceding remarks with a few others of less importance, which we have passed over, Swedenborg made against Nordencrantz's book; he communicated them to the gentleman himself, had them introduced into the protocol of the House of Nobles, and announced to a full session (till plena) of each of the four Houses.]
DOCUMENT 182
FIRST LETTER OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG TO NORDENCRANTZ,133 COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE.
(ENCLOSING A COPY OF THE FOREGOING REMARKS.)*
* A Swedish copy of this letter is contained in Vol. XVI, p. 311 of the "Bergius Collection of Letters," &c. in the Library of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
I have the honour of communicating to you a few remarks on your book, upon which you have expended a good deal of thought, and I hope you will not regard with disfavour my having made and communicated them to you; but our form of government and our freedom are dear to me. You will not find any cause to retort in strong terms upon my remarks, as I have gone the mild and not the hard way, and have not employed harsh terms in exposing what has been written against our established form of government for the purpose of upsetting its chief fundamental pillar, where besides detracting language has been used of everything else: nor in exposing what has been said about an arbitrary monarchy, and other matters. Moreover, I do not intend to pursue the hard way, unless you should express yourself in too strong terms respecting my remarks--which I do not anticipate.
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, January 31, 1761.
DOCUMENT 183.
LETTER OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG TO BARON [CARL FREDRIC HPKEN].*
* There seems to be no doubt that this letter was written to Baron Carl Fredric von Hpken,134 the brother of Count Anders Johan von Hpken's as he was at the time President of the Exchequer-College (Cammar-Collegium). He was a younger brother of Count Hpken, and died in 1578. A Swedish copy of this letter in Swedenborg's own handwriting is preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences among Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter," on leaf 57.
High-born Baron and President,
I have the honour of sending to you the enclosed remarks on the book of Nordencrantz,133 the Councilor of Commerce, together with a copy of my letter to the Councilor of Commerce, which I addressed to him yesterday with a copy of my remarks. You will please not to let any one read the copy of my letter, with the exception of His Excellency your brother,* who does not yet know anything about this; the remarks, however, may be seen by any one who would like to see them; for they are made upon a printed book, against which any one may write or publish what he pleases.
I reamin with [all due respect,]
[EM. SWEDENBORG.]
[Stockholm, February 1, 1761.]
* Count Anders Johan von Hopken,28 who was at the time Prime Minister of Sweden.
DOCUMENT 184.
RELY OF NORDENCRANTZ,133 THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE, TO SWEDENBORG'S FIRST LETTER.*
* A copy of the Swedish original of this letter is in the "Bergius Collection of Letters," &c. Vol. XVI, p. 312, in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
I should he wanting in the esteem which I owe to so worthy and learned a man, if I left unanswered the letter with which you honoured me on the 31st of last month, and which contained some remarks on the work which has been distributed among the Honourable Houses of the Diet. Still with regard to its contents I have no other reply to make than this, that although both of us seem to have the same end in view, viz. to seek the truth, and to be of use to our country, we may vet err in respect to the ways and means, wherefore you are quite at liberty to expose my errors in public, either by the press or by memorials communicated to the Honorable Houses of the Diet. Again, it is not in my power, nor, if it was, is it my wish, for the sake of enlightening those whom it concerns, to deny to you either one or both of these ways; but, on the contrary, as you have sent me your remarks, which was scarcely necessary, I challenge you to do the same for the sake of truth and of light. I myself will furnish you an occasion of choosing the way through the Houses of the Diet, by an answer to a memorial written against me some time ago, and which was submitted to the Houses of the Diet while I was unwell, and of which I received notice only a few days ago.
Meanwhile I desire you to remain assured, that neither the censor nor I will allow the charge to be brought against us, either in public or in private, of having written against the fundamental laws. We repudiate the charge, as a charge of treason, which could be expiated only by the loss of life, honour, and possessions. I remain, well-born Assessor,
Your most obedient servant,
NORDENCRANTZ.
Stockholm, February 1, 1761.
[The reply of Nordencrantz, the Councillor of Commerce, upon Swedenborg's memorial read before the several Houses of the Diet on Jan. 12, 1761, was placed in due time before these Houses, while Swedenborg was out of town. Upon his return he read the following memorandum in the House of Nobles:]
DOCUMENT 185.
STATEMENT READ BY EMANUEL SWEDENBORG IN THE HOUSE OF NOBLES.
P. M. (PRO MEMORIA).*
* The Swedish original of this memorandum is found in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm among Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter" on leaf 56.
When the memorial which Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, wrote against me was read, I was not in town, but I had occasion to read it at the next meeting of the whole House; and I was surprised then to find, that tills gentleman had applied to himself every thing I had written in my memorial of the 12th of January; when yet it was written for all those, whoever they may be, who collect charges of faults and short-comings, and thereby seek to make the people discontented with our excellent government, and to prepare the may thereby for a revolution, by which the country might fall unawares into the hands of an arbitrary government. All this Nordencrantz, the Councillor of Commerce, ought not to have applied exclusively to himself.
Read in the House of Nobles on February 16, 1761.
DOCUMENT 186.
STATEMENT PREPARED BY SWEDENBORG IN REPLY TO THE MEMORIAL OF
NORDENCRANTZ,133
INSERTED IN THE MINUTES OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES.*
* The Swedish original of this paper, under the heading "Swar till protocollet," is preserved on leaf 58 in the volume of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter" in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
From what has just been read, I learn that my memorial, which was read on January 12, is supposed to militate against the liberty which every member of the Diet has of lodging complaints against unjust dealings committed either by judges or civil officers. But my humble memorial on the contrary insists that all such things ought to be reported, inquired into, and settled, especially by the large secret commission or committee. My object in submitting this memorial has been, to prevent in time our excellent established form of government from being darkened and blackened by the charge of a countless number of faults against it, whereby the desire for revolution is engendered. And as it is supposed by some-although I do not share this apprehension--that this result may be produced by the book of Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, I therefore beg permission to hand in a fem remarks upon it; especially as I understand that similar charges will be brought before the other Houses. In these remarks I propose to show the great absurdity of a proposal made there with the claim of being rational, by which all officers of the state, with the exception of the clergy and the army, are to give up their places every second or third year.
And inasmuch as Nordencrantz, the Councillor of Commerce, has nominated from three Houses the members of a Committee of which he is the chairman, and as he has bound them by an oath not to divulge anything that may be transacted there, I should like also to submit in all humility a paper wherein are shown what consequences and dangers such a gathering may have, unless the Honourable Houses of the Diet keep an eye upon it, and resolve that this committee shall not be a precedent for any future time.
DOCUMENT 187.
SWEDENBORG'S ANSWER TO NORDENCRANTZ'S133 MEMORIAL TO THE HOUSES OF THE DIET.*
* The Swedish original of this paper is in the Library of the Academy of Science in Stockholm on leaf 53 of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter," under the heading "Ad Protocollum."
In my memorial, which was handed in on January 12, I have not incriminated any one in particular but I have simply stated in general that there is no cause of inculpating our excellent government by charging it with short-comings, nor of blaming our judges and executive governors by accusing them of injustice and negligence, unless such cases are specifically stated: for such charges may be obtained by the thousand, though chiefly without any one being willing to certify to their truth, as every one who loses his considers himself unjustly treated, and from spite collects similar cases from others. The cause of my humble memorial was the perusal of a book which had been distributed among the several Houses of the Diet, and wherein I did not find a single passage in which our government is praised, but, on the contrary, in which it is found fault with from beginning to end; when yet our government is not only good, but is even the best of all.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
[Stockholm, February 16, 1761.]
[Addressed by Swedenborg to the Speakers of the Houses of the Clergy, of Burghers, and of Peasants.]
DOCUMENT 188.
SECOND LETTER OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG TO NORDENCRANTZ, THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE.*
* The original draught of this letter, of which the above is a translation, is preserved on leaf 50 of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter" in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
As I had the honour of communicating to you some passages from your book with remarks thereon, I am under the necessity of informing you that I have corroborated these remarks by some extracts, and have made them public simply for the purpose of showing that the nine points in my remarks are correctly made. I was obliged to do this, in order to avoid the imputation of having produced false charges. They are mere extracts without any addition; and as they fill ten sheets in large handwriting, I am unable to communicate them to you on account of the sheer trouble of transcribing them: still I have no doubt that you will be able to examine them in the hands of some one else.
I am surprised to find from the memorial which you have handed in, in reply to mine of Jan. 12, that you apply all that was written therein to yourself, when yet it was for all in general wherever they may be.
I remain with all due respect,
[EM. SWEDENBORG.]
[Stockholm, February 17, 1761.]
DOCUMENT 189.
LETTER FROM SWEDENBORG TO [BARON CARL FREDRIC HPKEN.]*134
* Compare Document 183. The original draught of this letter, of which the above is a translation, is preserved on leaf 55 of the volume of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter" in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Pro Memoria.
You will kindly permit me to send you these extracts from the book of Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, which are made for the purpose of proving that the excerpts and the remarks made upon them which I have quoted and sent you before, are correctly stated; for otherwise the author and his supporters may spread the idea, that these things are connected in a different manner. Will you, high-born Baron and President, upon receiving this, kindly give it a cursory examination; it consists of mere extracts without any indication that the former belongs to me, but not the latter. I do not know whether I dare take the freedom of asking you to have four copies of the enclosed made by one of your subordinates, so that upon receiving them I may be able to present one to each House; as they must have received my former document before this time.*
* Swedenborg seems to have delayed the handing in of his "Remarks" to the several Houses of the Diet for the purpose of gaining time for the preparation of the extracts, by which these remarks were to be supported.
[EM. SWEDENBORG.]
[Stockholm, February 17, 1761.]
DOCUMENT 190.
REPLY OF NORDENCRANTZ'S,133 THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE, TO SWEDENBORG'S SECOND LETTER.*
* The Swedish original of this letter is contained in the "Bergius Collection of Letters," &c. Vol. XVI, p. 314, in the Library of the Academy of Sciences.
Well-born Assessor,
You have been pleased to inform me in a recent letter, that you have made an additional extract from my book, by which you intend to prove, that I have written against the fundamental laws of the country, and also that I may receive a copy of it through some one else.
Since my last answer I have expected to see the first nine remarks made public, either by the press or by a memorial addressed to the several Houses of the Diet. As, however, this has not been done, and meanwhile copies have been circulated secretly in the town, you must not think it strange, if I leave such writings unanswered, unless they appear either in print, hire the one which is criticized, or are brought either before the Houses of the Diet or before His Majesty: but when I do answer them I shall class them among libels, if they are circulated secretly; and the charge of having written against the fundamental laws of the country I regard as a calumny and a lie of the most infamous kind, and the criminality of which cannot be excused on the plea of ignorance of what is properly understood by fundamental laws.
I remain, well-born Assessor,
Your most obedient servant,
NORDENCRANTZ.
Stockholm, February 18, 1761.
DOCUMENT 191.
A.
THIRD LETTER OF SWEDENBORG IN REPLY TO C. R. NORDENCRANTZ.133*
* The Swedish original of this letter is preserved in the "Bergius Collection of Letters," &c. Vol. XVI, p. 315, in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Well-born Councillor of Commerce,
My answer to your last letter is as follows: I have only done what was done by yourself. You announced your book "till plena," (i. e. to the four Houses in full sitting,) and afterwards made it public; I extracted from, and remarked upon, your book, and afterwards made extracts from it for the purpose of furnishing proofs; I thee announced this "till plena" in the four Houses, and afterwards made it public. The difference simply is, that the one is printed, and the other written; and as I did all openly, and, besides, communicated it to you, and informed you of it, and did not circulate it in secret, you ought to have hesitated before applying the offensive word "libel." Again as I have not once mentioned the word "fundamental law" either in my first or in my later communication, the words "calumny and lie of the most infamous kind" ought not to have flowed from your head into your pen: for to write in such a style is the mark rather of an irrational than of a rational man. Accordingly, you rubricate only my last communication, which consists entirely of extracts from your own book.
You are now at full liberty to address yourself to the Houses of the Diet, and to leave your own and my affair to their high judicature. I presume you will not indulge in offensive and insulting expressions, as these may recoil upon yourself; for there is an abundant cause given for them in your book. I remain, well-born Councillor of Commerce,
Your most obedient servant,
E.S.
February 19.
Several draughts of this letter were written by Swedenborg, before he agreed upon the foregoing; they are all preserved among his "Riksdagsskrifter" in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. These draughts follow here in their order.
B.
FIRST DRAUGHT OF SWEDENBORG'S THIRD LETTER TO NORDENCRANTZ,133 THE
COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE.*
* The Swedish original of this letter is contained on leaf 47 of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter" in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Well-born Councillor of Commerce,
I received your answer written in statu irati (in a state of anger). I desire to let you know herewith, that I have not once used the words "fundamental law." My remarks on your book, with their proofs, were submitted to the Houses of the Diet, and copies have been taken of them. I have accordingly done nothing else but what you have done with your own book, with the only difference that one printed, and the other written. If it pleases you to base the book with my extracts and proofs examined by the Houses of the Diet, this lies within your power.
I do not answer abusive language, well-born Councillor of Commerce; for one man is a greater adept in this than another; nor do I make any further remarks upon the severe criticisms which you have made on our government, and which are much severer indeed than appears from the extracts and your new book. I am willing to excuse your nature and your tendency to criticize every thing: bird and bill.
I remain respectfully your obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
February 18.
C.
SECOND DRAUGHT OF SWEDENBORG'S THIRD LETTER TO NORDENCRANTZ,133 THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE.*
* The Swedish original of this letter is on leaf 561 of the "Riksdagsskrifter."
ANSWER.
I have only done what was done by Councillor of Commerce Nordencrantz himself: he announced his book "till plena," and afterwards distributed the same. I made extracts from it, and announced them "till plena," and afterwards made them public. The difference simply is, that one is printed, and the other written.
I have heard the word "libel," and as that which has been announced and made public consists exclusively of excerpts and extracts from the book of Councillor of Commerce Nordencrantz, which has been announced and published, I desire to submit, whether it does not follow hence, that they are meant by that word.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
D.
I do not answer abusive language, for in this one is a greater adept than another.*
* The original of this scrap is on leaf 62 of the "Riksdagsskrifter."
DOCUMENT 192.
P. M. (PRO MEMORIA.)
(TO BE APPENDED TO SWEDENBORG'S COLLECTION OF EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK OF NORDENCRANTZ, THE COUNCILLOR OF COMMERCE).*
* The original is found on leaf 59 of Swedenborg's "Riksdaggskrifter," in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, This P. M. is probably an answer to a question raised in the House of Nobles upon the discussion of Nordencrantz's book.
That military offices are to be held during life-time, is contained in the book on page 650, but nothing is said about the right of military officers to sit in the House of Nobles, I do not therefore know what he means by saying that the judiciary power, which has to give an account of itself, ought not to be united in the same person with the legislative power, which has the right of demanding an account; perhaps noblemen possessing real estate and who are out of service, ought alone to constitute the House, and to them the heads of families who are in service are to give representative power; as is the case with civil officers, p. 238.
[EM. SWEDENBORG.]
DOCUMENT 193.
STATEMENT TO BE INSERTED IN THE MINUTES OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES.*
* Ten original copies of this document in Swedenborg's handwriting are preserved on leaves 36 to 45 of his "Riksdagsskrifter" in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, under the heading "Till protocollet."
[Nordencratz, the Councillor of Commerce, seems to have answered the strictures upon his book that had been submitted to the Houses of the Diet by Swedenborg, whose rejoinder to Nordencrantz's memorial is as follows:]
I have only done what has been done by the Councillor of Commerce himself; he announced his book "till plena" in the four Houses, and afterwards published it. I made excerpts from it and commented upon them, and extracts to serve as proofs; these I announced "till plena" in the four Houses, and afterwards made them public. The difference is simply that the one is printed, and the other is written. Moreover, I have communicated them myself to the Councillor of Commerce, and informed him of what I have done; and as the book is printed and distributed, every man, and especially every member of the Diet, is at liberty and consequently I myself am at liberty, to do what I have done. Besides, I have not charged the Councillor of Commerce with having written against the "fundamental lams," as he calls them, nor with having endeavoured either by open or secret machinations to introduce, assist, or promote a different form of government from that which has been established by the estates of the realm, according to the words of our law, chapter on crimes IV, '. 8. May God preserve him, and me, and all from this! But I have in a becoming manner extracted from the book whatever in it concerns our Swedish government, and I have commented upon it; more I do not intend to do; for then I should dispute what is clear without dispute,
[EM. SWEDENBORG.]
DOCUMENT 194.
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT NIKLAS VON OELREICH109 TO EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.
[The estrangement between Swedenborg and Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, does not seem to have been of very long duration, as may appear from the following letter, the original of which is preserved on leaf 46 of Swedenborg's Riksdagsskrifter in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.]
Herr Nordencrantz, Councillor of Commerce, invites the Herr Assessor and myself to come to church to-morrow morning at ten o'clock, and afterwards to dine with him. He will send his carriage, and at the above-named time I shall call for the Herr Assessor with the carriage. I am very anxious that you two should become good friends
N. v. OELREICH.
Stockholm, December 31, 1761.
DOCUMENT 195.
MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO THE FOUR HOUSES OF THE DIET ON BEHALF OF HIS EXCELLENCY, COUNT A. J. VON HOPKEN.28*
* The original of this memorial is contained in the "Bergius Collection of letters," &c. Vol. XVII, p. 22, in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
I have heard in pleno (in a full session of the Diet) that His Excellency Baron Hpken,28 has sent in his resignation as Senator, and that his has been graciously accepted, with greater distinction than the others.
EM. SWEDENBORG.
[Stockholm, March 1st or and, 1761.]*
* Count con Hpken left the Senate, together with Barons Palmstjerna and Scheffer, on February 28, 1761. See "Svenske Biografislrt Lexicon," Vol XI, p. 67.
DOCUMENT 196.
MEMORIAL TO THE HOUSES OF THE DIET, IN FAVOUR OF RE-INSTATING SENATORS BARON VON HPKEN,28 BARON PALMSTJERNA,135 AND BARON SCHEFFER.136*
* The Swedish original of this memorial fills leaves 8 to 13 of Swedenborg's "Riksdagsskrifter," in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. It was printed in the original language in the "Nya Kyrkan," &c., part. II, pp. 49 to 52. A French translation was published as early as 1787 by Benedict Chastanier in his "Journal Novi-Jrusalemite," No. 4, pp. 84-90; and from this French translation have been prepared Dr. Tafel's German version in his "Sammlung von Urkunden," &c., and also the English version contained in the English and American editions of Dr. Tafel's "Swedenborg Documents." The above is the first English translation prepared immediately from the Swedish original.
[This memorial bears the title:]
FRANK VIEWS CONCERNING THE MAINTENANCE OF THE COUNTRY AND THE PRESERVATION OF ITS FREEDOM.
There are two fundamental points to which it behoves the Honourable Houses of the Diet to devote particular attention, and to watch over as anxiously as each member would guard his own life and welfare. The first is the preservation of our noble form of government, and thereby of our invaluable freedom; the other is the maintenance of our alliances with foreign powers, and especially with France.
With regard to the first point, which concerns the preservation of our noble form of government, and thus of our invaluable freedom, every one who possesses a purely developed understanding and hence a rational insight is able to prognosticate what an unhappy people we should be, if our excellent form of government were changed and transformed.
With regard to the other fundamental point, the maintenance of alliances with foreign powers, and especially with France, it is well known, that at the very commencement of our excellent form of government, the Honourable Houses of the Diet, and especially the Private Committee and the Senate looked upon an alliance with France as being most in harmony with the interests of the country and its defence, should tiny of the neighbouring powers cause us any trouble; and this principally for the reason, that France, being situated at a distance from Sweden, and our relative positions necessarily precluding the occurrence of any differences between us respecting the partition of lands and provinces, can look upon the increasing wealth, industry, and prosperity of Sweden without jealousy.
From these grounds, therefore, the above two fundamental objects, our excellent government and our alliance with France, have, since the commencement of our good form of government which dates back now forty years and upwards, engaged the particular attention of the Houses of the Diet, who have maintained and protected both through the Private Committee and its considerate care, and by other arrangements; they have also, at the same time, confided the execution of such arrangements to the Senate, as the executive officers of the Diet. Now as three Senators, namely Baron von Hpken,28 Baron Palmstjerna,135 and Baron Schefferl36 have furnished proof of their care for our excellent form of government at home, and for our chief alliance abroad, and as they have accordingly, together with the other members of the Senate, supported the two fundamental pillars upon which the welfare and safety of the country depend; and as they are now missed from the Senate, I therefore hope that you will not take it amiss, that I venture in good faith to submit to you the propriety of recalling these three gentlemen to the Senate, and especially Baron von Hpken:28 for justice has lately declared in their favour, and since all the other senators who have taken part in the war have been retained, equity demands this course.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
[It is important for those who desire to have justice done to the memory of Swedenborg to understand well the bearing and object of the two state papers which constitute our Documents 195 and 196; as they furnish the means by which me are enabled to prove the spuriousness of another state paper bearing the date of that period, which has been falsely imputed to Swedenborg, and which would, if true, place his character as a member of the Swedish House of Nobles in a, most unenviable light. But to enable our readers to judge for themselves, it will be necessary to present to them briefly the circumstances which induced Swedenborg to prepare the two preceding papers.--
The three senators mentioned in Document 194, Barons von Hpken,28 Palmstjerna,133 and Scheffer136 had filled their offices for many years; von Hpken and Palmstjerna from 1746, and Scheffer from 1761. They all belonged to the party of the "hats," and were in favour of limiting and confining the power of the Swedish kings, a policy which constituted the chief feature of the government of Sweden since 1719, and which is so much approved by Swedenborg in the same document. This curtailing of the royal power in Sweden was carried so far, that when the King, in 1756, refused to sign measures which had been resolved upon by the Senate, i. e. by the privy executive council, the Swedish Diet in its session of the same year empowered the privy council, to imprint upon such documents the royal signature by a stamp.
In order to oppose the influence of the Diet, King Adolf Frederic,11 and his Queen, Louisa Ulrica,11 sister of Frederic the Great, organized a court party, whose object it was to revolutionize the existing form of government, and to enlarge again the royal power.
The second fundamental pillar of Sweden's welfare, according to Swedenborg: namely, its alliance with France, was defended and guarded by these three senators in their taking the part of France against the King of Prussia in the "Seven Years' War." Without entering into particulars respecting Sweden's share in that war, it will be only necessary to state that while the policy of the Privy Council in conjunction with the Diet in favour of France, and thus in favour of an armed alliance with France, Austria, and Russia, against the King of Prussia, the King and Queen of Sweden were on account of their close relationship with the King of Prussia antagonistic to this alliance, and opposed to Sweden's participation in that war.
As appears from Document 195, Baron von Hpken was steadily opposed to Sweden's taking an active part in the war, although he was willing, in agreement with the terms of the treaty existing between Sweden and France, to station an army of 6000 men in Pomerania, which was then a Swedish province. Barons Palmstjerna and Scheffer, on the other hand, were in favour of an active prosecution of the war, and their proposal to send out an army of at least 18,000 men, which was afterwards raised to 28,000 men, finally prevailed in the Senate.
The result of the war, as far as concerns Sweden, was inglorious, the Swedish arms being constantly repelled by Frederic; and as the subsidies received from France were insufficient to defray the costs of the war, the country was therefore burdened by a heavy war-tax.
Soon after a re-action set in in their favour; Swedenborg being one of the first who raised his voice is defence of the character of Baron von Hpken, in Document 195; afterwards he spoke in favour of the re-instatement of all the three senators in their former places of honour, in Document 196.
The authenticity of these two documents is beyond any doubt: for Document 195 was copied by Bengrt Bergius,46 the Academician, according to his own statement, from the author's original, and as he, at the same time, copied many other private letters of Swedenborg, we may take it for granted that he was well acquainted with his handwriting; Document 196, however, is still preserved in Swedenborg's handwriting in a volume entitled "Riksdagsskrifter" among his manuscripts in the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
By these two documents the following points are established:
First, that Swedenborg was strongly opposed to the reintroduction of an absolute monarchy into Sweden, and that he did not look disapprovingly upon the severe measures which were resorted to by the Diet and the Senate, and hence by von Hpken, Palmstjerna, and Scheffer, in 1756 in defence of what he calls "the excellent form of government" of Sweden.
Secondly, that he excused the declaration of war against Prussia, which had been advised by Palmstjerna and Scheffer, on the plea that it was clone to preserve the alliance of France, which he considered as one of the fundamental pillars of safety for the Swedish commonwealth.
Thirdly, that he seemed to be actuated by a feeling of friendship for the Prime Minister of Sweden, Baron von Hpken, and also to have been on terms of intimacy with him; as appears further from Document 183.
Fourthly, that in Document 194 he made an elaborate defence of the course of action of Senators von Hpken, Palmstjerna, and Scheffer, and expressed himself in favour of having them re-instated in their former posts of honour.
Fifthly, that in his state papers he used clear and forcible, but never intemperate language, and kept aloof from all personalities; yea, when he was obliged, in conscience, to oppose the measures proposed by Nordencrantz, the Councillor of Commerce, he very carefully distinguished between the person of his opponent, and the views he propounded (see Documents 174 to 194).
On the strength of these five points, which show the red ground taken by Swedenborg in the Swedish Diet in the affair of Barons von Hpken, Palmstjerna, and Scheffer, we deny that Swedenborg is the author of a paper, published is Vol. IX, (p. 191, et seq.) of "Delagardiska Arkivet" under the title: "Rent swar p falska Satser. Dediceradt till H:r O. b. Renhorn139 wid Riksdagen 1761;" (A clean answer upon false propositions; dedicated to Mr. O. B. Renhorn at the Diet of 1761), and we declare that this paper is wrongly attributed to Swedenborg by the editor of "Delagardiska Arkivet."140
The bearing which this paper has upon Swedenborg's character in the eyes of posterity, is best illustrated from the biographical sketch of Baron Nils Palmstjerna135 contributed to the "Biografiskt Lexicon" by the editor of "Delagardiska Arkivet" himself, in Vol. XI, p. 66, in which we read as follows: "The sharpest of those sent into the House of Nobles, and the severest speaker was, we believe, assessor Emanuel Swedenborg, otherwise less known by his speeches at the Diet, than by his spirit visions. It was after Bidenius Renhorn139 had arisen in defence of the Senate--the same Renhorn who had been one of the actors in the blood-commission of 1756, and who then carried the measure by which four noblemen and four commoners were executed on June 23. A burgromaster who commanded such influence ought to have been able to save his former patrons.
The real facts of the case are the following. Swedenborg, immediately upon hearing of the removal of Baron von Hpken front the senate, addressed a memorial (Document 196) to the Diet, in which he spoke strongly in his favour, and expressed a hope that the "honourable Houses of the Realm would continue to extend their confidence to him;" and in Document 196, which was written by Swedenborg between March and July 1761, he used the following language: "Now, as three of the senators, Baron von Hpken, Baron Palmstjerna, and Baron Scheffer have furnished proofs of their care for our excellent form of government at home, for our chief alliance abroad, as they, together with the other members of the Senate, supported the two fundamental pillars upon which the welfare and safety of the country depend; and as they are now missed in the Senate, I hope you will not take it amiss, that I venture in good faith to submit to you the propriety of recalling to the Senate these three gentlemen and especially Baron von Hpken:
Now compare this with the language attributed to Swedenborg by the editor of Delagardiska Arkivet the extract from his biography of Palmstjerna quoted above. In it he maintains that Swedenborg found it necessary, in a paper dated March 2, 1761, "to oppose most zealously Renhorn's defence of the grossest crime committed against the state, that of high-treason, for the commission of which Senators Palmstjerna and Scheffer had been justly removed from the Senate; considering it as 'crack-brained and devilish-minded' to deny that these senators for criminal intent by right and fact (pro intentione delicti jure et facto) ought to be censured, condemned, and punished by law;" while Swedenborg himself, in a document of the same period, preserved in his own hand-writing in the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, declares that "equity demands that these two senators should be recalled to the Senate," because they "have manifested and furnished positive proofs in their past lives of their zeal and anxiety to defend and watch over the present form of government in Sweden, and that alliance which is founded upon the interest of the country."
Again the editor of Delagardiska Arkivet reports Swedenborg to have declared, "it is enough to drive hell itself mad," that the Diet had refused to impeach these senators.
The document also, from which the editor quotes, and which fills eight closely printed pages in the work, "Nya Kyrkan," etc., (part II, pp. 62-69), bears on its very face the evidence that it was not written by Swedenborg: for its prolixity and the intemperateness of its language are at utter variance with Swedenborg's concise mode of expressing himself, and with his calm and temperate tone.
On the strength of this paper the editor of Delagardiska Arkivet further declares that Swedenborg belonged to the party of the "caps" or of the "night caps." Against this the author of "Nya Kyrkan," etc., protests very strongly on p. 71 of his work; although he does not feel prepared to impeach the genuineness of the paper.
Such then is the internal evidence on the strength of which we declare against the genuineness of the paper in question; but there is also external evidence to prove its spuriousness. Swedenborg was very particular to retain a copy of all the papers written by him in connection with the Swedish Diet, and he was especially careful to preserve a copy of everything he wrote which bore upon the Diet of 1760-1761. In proof of this we refer to our Documents 174 to 194, which contain a most minute record of his course of action during that memorable session of the Diet; get we look in vain in these papers for any allusion to O. B. Renhorn,139 nor is there the slightest trace among them of any paper bearing the least resemblance to the document imputed to Swedenborg by the editor of Delagardiska Arkivet.
While declaring against the genuineness of this document, and believing that it is wrongly attributed to Swedenborg by the present Dean of Gottenburgr,140 we desire, however, to express our respect for this gentleman, on account of his many valuable contributions to Swedish history, and his most excellent hand-book of Swedish Literature, Sveriges Skne Literatur; and especially on account of the many interesting biographical articles furnished by him to the Biografiskt Lexicon, on which we have largely drawn in the preparation of the Notes at the end of the present volume.
SECTION VII.
SWEDENBORG AS A MAN OF SCIENCE.
INTRODUCTION.
This Section differs from those which precede and follow in not containing all the documents or all the information that could be collected under its title: for in order to do justice to Swedenborg's scientific character this section would have to contain all the scientific works published and written by him from 1717 to 1745--which, however, lies manifestly beyond the scope of the present work. Nevertheless, there are documents illustrating Swedenborg's life and character as a man of science which are plainly included in the plan of our work; and among these are records of scientific experiments and mechanical feats, prospectuses of scientific works never published, scientific controversies, and, perhaps, small scientific papers not included in his published works. We venture, therefore, to include in the present section the last scientific paper communicated by Swedenborg to the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, and printed in their Transactions for the year 1763, and which to our knowledge has never before appeared in an English dress.
DOCUMENT 197.
SWEDENBORG'S MECHANICAL FEAT BEFORE FREDERICKSHALL IN 1718.*
* From Fryxell's Berttelser ur Svenska Historien, part XXIX, pp. 128, 129.
In the beginning of the year 1715, several Swedish men-of-war set sail from the Baltic, but they had soon to retreat, inasmuch as a superior Danish-English fleet approached, which completely commanded the channel.
This was a great hindrance to Charles. From the Cattegat and through Swinesund there extends beyond Frederickshall a deep inlet, called Iddefjorden. In this there lay several small Danish craft, which contributed very much both towards defending the fortress from the enemy and in furnishing it with provisions. Charles intended to attack and to destroy them, and for this purpose he had collected several galleys among the islands of Bohusln and around Strmstad. But on account of the presence of the Danish men-of-war, he could not venture to take them over the open sea between Strmstad and Swinesund. Charles then hit upon the same idea which Peter tried to carry out near Twerminne in 1713. Over heaps of brushwood, by means of rollers and through flowing water, he dragged and carried two galleys, several large boats, and a sloop over-land from Strmstad to the Iddefjord, about 2-1/2 Swedish miles [about 17 English miles]. Polhem had formed the plan, and he sent Swedenborg to execute it. At first the work went on very slowly; but soon Charles came himself, and urged on the work in person.
* The learned author of the "Berttelser," etc. is evidently at fault here in fixing the date of this occurrence; for in our Document 80, which is dated "The end of June, 1718," Swedenborg does not mention his having been at Strmstad at all, while in our Document 81, which is dated "Wenersborg, September 14, 1718," he says: "Your welcome letter reached me in Strmstad; it had come after me to Wenersborg and Strmstad, and therefore I could not answer it sooner. I have been twice at Strmstad, and I shall have probably to go there soon again." From which it would appear, 1. That the work which Swedenborg executed in the neighbourhood of Strmstad was done between the end of June and September 14, 1718; and 2. That it could not have been finished long before the date of our Document 81; that therefore it must have been finished between the middle and the end of August, 1718, and not on July 1, as is stated by Fryxell.
DOCUMENT 198.
PROSPECTUS OF A LARGE METALLURGICAL WORK, TO BE ISSUED IN THE YEAR 1722.*
* This prospectus was printed in 1789 in the Latin language, and the only copy of it known to exist, is preserved in the Royal Library in Stockholm, in a bound volume containing some of Swedenborg's earlier scientific works.
Towards the end of nest year, 1723, a work will be published under this title: On the genuine treatment of metals (De Genuina Metallorum Tractatione), by Emanuel Swedenborg: an Assessor in the College of Mines; if any one, therefore, is willing to prepay a certain amount for the work, he will obtain it at scarcely half the price which it would otherwise cost him.
The contents of the work will be as follows:
[Introduction]: On Minerals in general.
1. On Copper-ore; its varieties and qualities, and the signs by which it may be known.
The methods of treating it followed in Germany, Hungary, Sweden, etc.; also of fusing it into copper stone. The various modes of calcining it, and by repeated fusion of extracting the copper from it. Its purification accompanied by drawings of the various furnaces.
On assaying it in small quantities, giving the various methods followed by assayers generally, and also by the author.
An opinion concerning the excellence and the defects of the various processes by which the metal is obtained in large and small quantities.
Improvements proposed in the processes and furnaces for obtaining the metal in larger and smaller quantities.
2. On Silver, and its ore; the various methods used in calcining, fusing, and assaying the same their excellence and their defects. Improvements proposed in the processes and furnaces, which are similar to those recommended for copper.
3. On a similar treatment of Lead.
4. On a similar one of Gold.
5. On the methods of separating gold and silver from lead, copper, and other metals, in large as well as in small works; together with drawings of the furnaces, and suggestions towards better processes.
6. On a similar treatment of Quicksilver.
7. On a similar treatment of Iron.
8. On a similar treatment of Tin.
9. On a similar treatment of Zinc and Calamine. The conversion of copper into Brass.
10. On a similar treatment of Bismuth, Cobalt, Antimony.
11. On the methods of separating ores containing several metals, sulphur, arsenic, stones, etc., both in large and small quantities.
12. On the methods of crushing metals, and separating them by water, by the so-called crushing and washing apparatuses.
13. On the methods of obtaining Vitriol.
14. On the methods of obtaining Alum.
15. On the methods of obtaining Saltpetre.
16. On the methods of obtaining common Salt.
17. On various kinds of furnaces for the extraction of metals and the purposes of assaying, and on stoves for domestic purposes.
18. An investigation into the nature of Fire and the Atmosphere, as far as relates to the treatment of metals and of salts; which investigation will be based on experiments observed in connection with processes made on a large and small scale.
19. On the various menstruums for promoting the flux of metals, commonly called cand; and on the matrices of ores.
As in the above work not only those processes will be described which are in use throughout the whole of Europe, but also their excellences and defects will be pointed out, and many things pertaining to the better treatment of metals, which have been heretofore entirely unknown, will be made public, it is expected to be of the greatest use to all interested in the working of metals; and as it will embrace more than 150 sheets or 1200 pages in quarto, and will be adorned by more than 40 plates, those who will subscribe for it, will only have to pay three Dutch florins before the end of the present year, 1722, and three florins more upon the reception of the work; while those who have not made any prepayment will have to pay ten florins for a copy of the work.
The above three florins may be deposited: in Amsterdam, with Joh. Osterwick, bookseller; in Stockholm, with Werner, regal printer; in Hamburg, with Hermann Hollius, printer; and in Leipzig, with Weidmann, the royal bookseller,.
DOCUMENT 199.
LETTER OF SWEDENBORG TO DOCTOR NORDBERG.148*
* A copy of the Swedish original of this letter appeared in Vol. II, pp. 599-602 of Dr. Nordberg's "Carl XI's Historia," 1740. A German translation of this work was published in three volumes from 1745-51, and in the third volume published in 1751 on p. 570 et seq. is Swedenborg's letter which Dr. Immanuel Tafel transferred thence to his collection of "Documents." Dr. Tafel does not seem to have been aware of the fact that the Swedish edition of the work was published as early as 1740, or else he would not have dated the composition of the letter from the year 1745 or 1746. Prof. Atterbom inserted this letter from the Swedish edition of the work into the Appendix to his "Slare och Skalder," and in a note makes the following remarks with regard to the date of the letter. "Tafel, in the third section of his interesting 'Collection of Documents,' &c. supposes that Swedenborg had written this letter in 1745 or 1746, immediately after his return home from London, where he had received his first revelations. Yet it was without doubt written twelve, or at least ten years earlier, during his stay at Stockholm after his return from his journey in Germany, Austria, and Hungary in 1733, and before he started anew on his journey abroad from 1738 to 1739. The words in the beginning of the letter, 'As you are now engaged,' &c., seem to indicate that much time had not passed since Nordberg had entered upon his work. He received the commission for the work is 1731. It was published in two volumes in the Swedish language, in 1740, and the second volume contains Swedenborg's letter. Tafel has been misled by the date of the German edition which appeared several years afterwards." The English translation of this letter contained in the appendix to the English, and also to the American edition, of Dr. Tafel's "Documents" was made from the French translation of Dr. Nordberg's "History of Charles XII," published at the Hague in 1748. The above translation has been prepared immediately from the Swedish.
As you are engaged at present upon a life of Charles XII, I feel called upon to communicate to you some facts with which you are probably not acquainted, and which deserve to be transmitted by you to posterity.
* Cfr. Christ. Wolf's Elementa Matheseos Univers, Tom. I, p. 21, Genev, 1743. The passage is as follows: "Charles XII, King of Sweden, according to Emanuel Swedenborg, has invented a sexagenary calculus, with new characters and figures, and adding new values."
When Christopher Polhem, Councillor of Commerce, went by royal command to Lund, at the close of 1716, and he asked me to accompany him, it frequently happened after our arrival that in the King's presence subjects were discussed which related chiefly to mechanics with its rules, and the computation of forces, but included also geometry, arithmetic, and other things belonging to mathematics. This great King manifested a decided interest and pleasure in interrogating us on various subjects, as if he intended to collect information without our observing it; yet, now and then, he would let us perceive, that he was by no means as ignorant in these matters, as he pretended; which caused us to be more guarded and careful not to introduce anything of a merely general character or of minor value, and especially not to mention a thing as uncertain or unknown, where he might have brought forward a different view.
The conversation turning upon the analytic and algebraic calculus, and also upon the rule of false position (regula falsi) and the like, we were instructed to produce as instances some examples, which depended for solution altogether upon the notation, letters, and equations which had been brought into use. At each instance that was mentioned His Majesty put his thought and his calculation so much on a stretch, that in a short time, without the assistance and application of algebra, he traced out the connection, and said at once that the example in question might and also must be solved in such and such a manner. This also agreed so fully with the computation when made, that no mistake of any kind could be detected.
There was a particular object and point given to this learned sport, which point constitutes the burden of what I desire to have the honour of communicating to you; since no one else is able to give you such a detailed account of it. One day the conversation touched, among other things in mathematics, upon arithmetic and the method of counting, when it was stated that the usual method. which is now almost everywhere adopted, accomplishes a period at each number ten, so that the single numbers are continued until ten is reached, when two numbers are employed which are continued until the second number reaches ten, when three numbers are introduced; it was further stated that the cause of this was that in the beginning, before any written numbers were in use, the common and simple people used their fingers in counting; that this seems undoubtedly to have been the first method of counting, and that it is still employed by the simple and unlearned. In the course of time, however, when the world accumulated more end more empirical knowledge, and commenced its reduction into sciences, the same general method of counting was committed by the pen to paper, and figures were introduced which were to signify 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c.; the old habit, however, was retained, and thus the method which originated in counting with the fingers became established--the single numbers accordingly were continued till ten, then a progression was made with two numbers until one hundred, all changes being reserved to each multiple with ten.
His Majesty took occasion here to observe, that if such had not been the origin of our method of counting, another method, resting upon a better geometrical foundation, might be instituted; in which case, not ten, but another number, more advantageous and useful in every day life, would have to be selected.
What I have explained here in detail the king insisted upon as being true, and he desired that an experiment should be made with some other number than ten. It was observed, that this experiment could not be instituted, unless new numbers with new names were invented and introduced, totally unlike those in common use, because otherwise error and confusion would ensue; that, nevertheless, the experiment might be tried. It was accordingly made upon the royal command with number eight,* which is a cube of two, and which by halving can be reduced to its primitive number one. New characters also were invented, and for each character a new name; these signs were used like the common numbers; they were applied to money and measures, and also to cubical calculations.
* This was done by Swedenborg; see Documents 75 and 77.
When the experiment was submitted to His Majesty, he seemed to be quite pleased with it; yet it was plain that he desired a calculation of greater extent and of a more difficult arrangement, which would afford him an opportunity for displaying the greatness and power of his understanding, and his deep penetration.
The very next day he sent us his project elaborated on a whole sheet with new characters and new names; the sixty-four numbers above-named he had there divided into eight classes, and each class was distinguished by a peculiar mark from the others. Upon closer investigation it was found that these distinctive marks were all taken from the initial or final letters and from the characters of the numbers which he had introduced; and it was all done in such an ingenious and compendious manner, that after the first eight numbers were known, no difficulty was experienced in learning the numbers following until sixty-four. New names also were given to each class, and to each of the numbers in the first class, which names could be easily remembered; and the rest were marked so clearly that they could all be recited in their order without difficulty or burdening the memory, and that on account of their regularity they could also be written down.
When this project had by the royal command to be further developed, and an opportunity was then afforded to me, to examine it more in detail, and to see whether this method could not be arranged in a better and more convenient way, no matter how much I studied it, I could not discover anything which could be improved; and it is my frank opinion that nobody, though he had employed all his time upon mathematics, would have found anything to correct. The compendious mode of His Majesty in the discovery of characters and names, and the easy method in which they could be changed, so that by means of certain marks, they could be varied by each new number, as well as his project for multiplication, considering the short time he devoted to it, could not fail to excite my astonishment; and I am compelled therefore to regard him as a man of deeper thought and more subtle penetration, than could or can be supposed by any other man; I am forced also to admit that if he had chosen he could have been for all times the foremost among his subjects even in this particular; at least, he could have obtained as easily as any one else the laurel which is sought for by the learned.
I was also led to think and to believe that in the other matters too, of which you will leave to posterity a complete record, he must have had a deeper understanding than he showed outwardly;* especially as, in his intercourse generally, he gave people to understand that he deemed it low and vulgar to put on the air and the ways of superiority and learning in the company of such as have regarded and as still regard the external and superficial as wise, and the internal and real as unwise. I remember a truly royal and rational expression of his, that he regarded him who was ignorant of mathematics as only half a man. He exhibited also all his grace and favour towards those whom he considered able to bring a useful science to some degree of perfection. If, therefore, it had pleased the gracious providence of Almighty God, that he should have governed his people in peace and tranquillity, he would probably have brought the cause of learning and science in Sweden to a higher degree of perfection than it had before attained, or will ever attain hereafter; for he seemed inclined personally to take the lead of the learned forces, and to en courage everyone by his own appreciation of his work to make such progress, as to earn from him the acknowledgment of having acquired some degree of merit and of just renown.
* Compare the extracts from Swedenborg's "Spiritual Diary" in Note 3, respecting the internal character of Charles XII.
At the same opportunity, and about the same time, the plans of several mechanical undertakings in the country were made, where I was instructed to act as an assistant to Mr. Polhem, the Councillor of Commerce; as, for instance, of the dock at Carlscrona, which must be regarded as unequalled in Europe, if me take into consideration the fact that it was built in a place where there was no assistance derived from the tidal flow of the sea; and, likewise, of the locks and sluices between Lake Wener and Gottenburg, in the large streams and at the falls of Trollhtta, which is a work that, had it been accomplished, would have to be classed among the greatest mechanical enterprizes ever undertaken in the world; without mentioning several other projects.
The above I desire to communicate to you with all due respect. I remain
Your most obedient servant,
EM. SWEDENBORG.
DOCUMENT 200.
SWEDENBORG'S CONTROVERSY WITH PROFESSOR ANDERS CELSIUS,144 OF UPSAL, IN 1740 AND 1741.
This controversy was provoked by a paper which Professor Celsius read in 1740 before the academy of Sciences in Stockholm, in which he communicated the declination of the magnetic needle for Upsal and Torne as obtained by his personal observations, comparing his own results with those produced by a theoretical computation according to the principles laid down by Swedenborg in his Principia for the determination of the declination of the needle for all parts of the globe. After showing that there was a difference of about eight degrees between the results obtained by the two different methods, he closed his paper with these remarks: "From this it is made sufficiently clear that some improvement is necessary in the assessor's hypothesis."
Upon his return to Stockholm in 1740, Swedenborg himself made a computation of the declination of the needle for Upsal, according to his principles, and communicated the result to the academy of Sciences in a paper read before them on December 14, in which he proves that the difference between the practical observation made by Professor Celsius and the theoretical computation according to his principles amounts to scarcely 1 minute, instead of 8 degrees, 13-1/2 minutes, or 493-1/2 minutes.
Professor Celsius, thereupon, in a paper handed in on January 23, 1741, communicated the computation of Magister Hiorter,145 on which he had based his criticism of Swedenborg's principles, and he added the Magister's strictures of Swedenborg's own computation.
A.
EXTRACT FROM PROFESSOR CELSUIS' PAPER, READ BEFORE THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, IN 1740.*
* This paper is contained in the Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the year, l740, on pages 385-88.
I therefore observed the declination of the magnetic needle here at Upsal on the 88th of July last, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, in clear and warm weather; and for this purpose employed the same compass which has already been described in these Transactions, using therewith all possible precautions. First I made myself a meridian line of about sis yards long by means of a carefully set astronomical clock or dial, which I am sure did not deviate from the correct time by more than a few minutes; and, indeed, in the open air in my garden, to escape all local attraction of iron; further, I had no iron implements of any kind about me such as keys, buckles, &c. In the direction of the meridian line I stretched a fine thread, under which the compass eras placed in such a manner that the position of the thread was exactly on O of the, two graduated brass-arches.
I then observed the declination of the needle towards the west, away from the pole line to be 8 degrees 53'
After the needle had been removed from its place by means of a key,
it stood at 8 degrees 50'
When the compass was handled and replaced under the thread,
the needle indicated 8 degrees 45'
After being disturbed with a key 8 degrees degrees 47'
When the compass was rubbed and replaced under the thread. 8 degrees 50'
From all of which results a mean declination of the needle towards the west for this locality of. 8 degrees 49'
As Assessor Swedenborg has shown how the deviation of the magnetic needle may be found out a priori for any given locality, Magister aiorter145 upon my request has computed by means of 28 operations the declination of the magnetic needle for the present time at Upsal according to his theory, and has obtained. 17 degrees 2-1/2'
A difference from the result obtained by observation of 8 degrees 13-1/2'
He has also computed the declination for Torne for April 17, 1736 12 degrees 22'
Which according to my observations is 5 degrees 5'
Thus differing from the real observation 7 degrees 17'
From this it is made sufficiently clear that some improvement is necessary in the Assessor's hypothesis.
B.
SWEDENBORG'S REPLY TO PROFESSOR CELSIUS.*
* This paper was read before the Academy of Sciences, on December 14, 1740, and is preserved in its archives.
Computation of the declination of the needle for the meridian of Upsal, showing the use of such computations for finding the eastern and western longitude.
It is probably universally known that the learned among the ancients could not advance physical science to that height to which it has been brought by the learned of later times, especially by those of the last and of the present centuries: for in former times they were obliged unaided by observation and experiments to investigate everything from their own thoughts, and to derive their knowledge from their own brains; as they thus derived no help from visible tokens by which they could have been directed to the true way, it necessarily followed that in certain respects they were misled. Nevertheless, by their profound thought they encouraged posterity to examine things more closely, and by investigating effects to find out how closely or how remotely their rules agree with the actual order of nature.
There are two ways by which to trace out those things in nature which lie either open before us, or are hidden from our eyes, viz. the a priori which is also called the synthetical method, and the a posteriori, or the analytical method. Both are necessary in reflecting upon and tracing out one and the same thing: for in order to do so there is required both light a priori, and experience a posteriori. Now, while the learned among the ancients followed the former light as remotely and profoundly as they possibly could, those at a later period were induced not to accept anything as witness, unless it was confirmed by experience. Hence also some of the learned at the present day seem to have agreed to let thought rest, and to make experiments which would appeal to the senses; yet they did so with the hope and intent that some day experience would be connected with theory: for experience deprived of an insight into the nature of things, is knowledge without learning, and a foundation without a building to rest upon it.
For the purpose of reaching this noble end, the learned scientific men of these later times have collected and accumulated such an abundant and invaluable treasure of experiments and facts, that me seem likely to be able soon to advance a step beyond, and to trace out the secret properties of nature ex posteriori, or by the analytical method, and thus to meet our learned forefathers who reached the same goal a priori, and with their help to climb up a higher Parnassus, than they were able to do in their times.
Two objections are usually made to this: first, that we have not yet a sufficient stock of experiments and facts for this purpose; and that we ought still to go on for several centuries in laying the foundation and collecting materials for the intended building; some, indeed, go so far as to maintain that not even our posterity ought to erect the scaffolding for the building. Regarded in itself, however, this is a mere pretext for escaping the profound and laborious study and reflection, which such an important subject requires. For in order to reach that height where theory is, in order to go beyond probabilities into that region where pure truths meet, it is necessary to draw upon and to employ everything that has hitherto been discovered in nature. We have to draw upon, in fact, what I call the common experience; since there is a common bond uniting each thing to every other thing, so that but little knowledge is obtained concerning a single or individual thing, unless all things help and conspire. There is, in fact, a similar bond of union between all the phenomena of nature, as there is between the several sciences, and as soon as one is wanting there is a break in the chain.
The other objection is, that doubts prevail as to the advantage and use which experience may derive from theory; one single example, however, will suffice to place this in clear light: for if the true cause of the attractive force of the magnet, and of its declination and inclination, was brought to light, so that true ephemericles and maps could be constructed of its deviations, the longitude of places, which is so much sought after and desired, would be determined thereby, to the great advantage of navigation, greodesy, and geography. In that case also the unnecessary talk and controversies about the inconstant nature of the course and progress of magnetic declination, and many other things which unnecessarily worry and disturb the experiments of the learned, and obstruct an advance, would cease. The same applies to everything else. To trace out and investigate, and to acquire a knowledge of and to know, what nature in its inmost recesses contains, map be compared to some one who fumbles about in a valley among bushes, trees, and rocks, and who is looking there for the path and the direction which will lead him to his home, while another has ascended a high tower, from which he is able to take in at a glance the whole wide field, with all its corners and angles, and its many tortuous paths.
Now, as I find in the Transactions of our Academy of Sciences for the months of July, August, and September of the year 1740, page 384, that Professor Anders Celsius has been pleased to undertake the labour of comparing my computation of the declination of the magnet with an accurate observation which he made at Upsal on July 28, 1740, I express to him my sincere thanks for the real service which he has rendered to me: for in order that a computation based upon theory may be established, it must be proved by observation.
1961025.
Sine 75 degrees 35'= 998610
Sine 24 degrees 53'= 962415.
19. We must now find the side and angle at the south pole
59 degrees 50'-20 degrees 5'=39 degrees 45'.
20. By decimal calculation 39 degrees 45' x 38' 22"=2 degrees 28'.
21. By reduction according to the rule at p. 320 (English edition, Vol. II, p. 160) of the Principia:
as 60 degrees is to 90 degrees so-2 degrees 28' is to 3 degrees 7'.
1934071.
Sine 36 degrees 44'= 977676
Sine 21 degrees 30'' 956395.
27. 75 degrees 35' = 24 degrees 53'
143 degrees 14' = 21 degrees 31'
218 degrees 49' = 46 degrees 23'.
From this arises the proportion:
218 degrees 49': 46 degrees 23'::75 degrees 35':16 degrees 1'.
28. If 16 degrees 1' be subtracted from the angle 24 degrees 53', there remains the declination west, 8 degrees 52'.
Between the declination observed by Professor Celsius 8 degrees 49' and that obtained by computation 8 degrees 52', there is a difference of 3 minutes.
It hence appears plainly that my computed declination agrees so thoroughly with the Professor's accurately made observation which he has communicated to us, that scarcely one minute, much less 8 degrees 13-1/2 minutes or 493-1/2 minutes, separates us.
The Professor's observation, as may be seen in the Transactions of the Academy, p. 387, is as follows:
In 1740, on July 25, I observed at Upsal
the declination of the needle towards the west
from its northern direction 8 degrees 53'.
After the needle had been drawn from its
place by a key, it stood at 8 degrees 50'.
When the compass was handled and replaced
under the thread, the needle indicated 8 degrees 45'.
After being disturbed by a key 8 degrees 47'.
When the compass was rubbed and replaced
under the thread 8 degrees 50'.
From all of which results a mean declination
of the needle towards the west for that locality of 8 degrees 49'.
The difference between my computed declination which is 8 degrees 52' and that which resulted from observation is merely three minutes; but if a mean is taken between the first observation 8 degrees 53' and the second or last 8 degrees 52', the difference is merely half a minute, which amounts to nothing.
The reason why my computation is so prolix and difficult, consisting of 28 operations for finding out each declination, is, that I have to transfer the fluxion of a perpetually spiral vortex--which is really the origin of the declination of the magnet--from in algebraic to a trigonometric and arithmetical computation; and, indeed, without any assistance derived from previous experiment or trial.
I have to observe that I assumed the eastern longitude of Upsal from London to be fifteen degrees, in consequence of information I received in 1710 from the celebrated astronomer Flamsteed,56 at Greenwich, when I brought him the observations of two lunar eclipses made by the late Professor Elfvius,54 which he at once in my presence compared with his own observations. As soon as I shall be kindly informed of the approximate longitude and latitude of Torne, I am ready to make, and to communicate, a computation for the year 1736; where I am certain a similar result will be obtained to that which follows herewith.
If any one now, under proper instruction, took the trouble to compute the declination of the magnet for every fifth degree of latitude and longitude over the whole globe, between 65 degrees north and. south, and also every third or fourth year; and if afterwards he published his computed declinations either in the form of an ephemeris or of a chart, it might be determined thereby as well by land as by sea under what degree in an eastern or western direction any one is or sails; provided the declination of the magnet and also the latitude are accurately observed.
The only thing that seems to lie in the way of, or to obstruct, the feasibility of this method is the difficulty of observing the correct declination of the magnet with sufficient accuracy and exactness at sea and on land: for many and entirely different circumstances may cause an observation to be at fault for a half or a whole degree. Some of these I may here mention; if, for instance, the meridian line be not laid down most accurately, the compass with its breadth or diameter, (suppose this to have been most carefully constructed,) would not be placed correctly in accordance with the due north line: and this error would obtain, even though it should be placed upon a perfectly horizontal plane, without the least declivity; and though the needle should swing most freely on its pivot, without the least friction caused by rust, dust, smoke, vapour, water, or other thing. Further, it is almost impossible for a needle to swine; with absolute freedom and without any impediment whatever: for if the point of the pivot and the small cavity of the needle in which it runs, are examined by the microscope, great unevenness may be observed, which is increased by the least particles of vapour or dust which may be deposited there. Great care too must be taken lest any effluvia of iron either from a greater or shorter distance be conveyed to it; also that no pieces of iron be concealed in the window-frames, in the room, walls, mortar, or in the floor; also that they are not carried about by the observer: moreover, all currents of air must be carefully excluded. Any of these circumstances may cause the observation to vary several hours or days; yea, according to the experiments of Professor Celsius, (see Transactions of the Academy for the months of April, May, and June, 1740,) they may differ from twenty-seven minutes to six hours; and in one and the same observation the difference may amount to eight minutes, or range between 45' to 53', of which the Professor has taken the mean, viz. forty-nine minutes as indicating the true declination, (see Transactions of the Academy, p. 387.)
The fact of the deviation of the needle having its even and constant motion and orbit appears very clearly from the numerous observations instituted during a whole century at Paris, London, and other places; the difference or progress between them, from year to year, has shown itself so even that scarcely any increase is noticed in the course of one year compared with that of another, while yet the magnet at the same time continues to decline until it reaches its highest point, when it begins to turn about in the opposite direction. According to my computations this is not likely to happen in Paris for forty years to come. It is also remarkable that when the magnet is found to be stationary for a year, the very next year the declination is found to have progressed and increased at such a rate, that the deficiency of the one is compensated by the year following; whence it appears very clearly that: the magnet has not stood still, and that the error has not been due to the magnet, but to the observer.
Another consideration that presents itself is this, that if there actually were a deviation of six hours, as we are informed, it would be most dangerous for sea-faring people, for in that case the ship's course on the ocean would be changed from side to side every few hours, so as to resemble the course of those that skate on the ice. From this and several other arguments and proofs it can be very clearly seen that the declination and inclination of the magnet always preserves a uniformity in its deviation, and that it is caused by the surrounding subtle atmosphere which I denominate the purer ether, and which forms the large vortex of our earth: for if the perpetually spiral motion of this vortex be examined by means of a true geometry, it will be found that such a motion cannot otherwise than describe its larger and lesser circles, appoint and locate (utstta) its centres, and form its axes, i. e. form their equator and ecliptic, and together with their equators and ecliptics form the north and south poles--altogether as this is shown in our system at large, and also by each magnet on a small scale, when iron powder is scattered around: for whatever property and natural motion belongs to a large volume in its atmosphere, or in the atmosphere itself, belongs also to a smaller, and even to the smallest volume whenever it is put in motion. From all this, which is declared and demonstrated by geometry itself and cannot be disputed, it follows that there can be no other cause of the declination and inclination of the magnet than the very vortical fluxion by which our earth is kept enclosed as it were in its centre; and upon this also my calculation is based. If the progression of the magnet towards the east or towards the west was as inconstant as it is declared to be, the earth or our little world, the existence of which depends upon the constancy of this system, would most certainly vibrate to and fro in its course, and would consequently threaten to fall out of equilibrium.
C.
PROFESSOR A. CELSIUS'144 REPLY TO ASSESSOR SWEDENBORG'S CALCULATION OF THE DECLINATION OF THE MAGNET FOR THE MERIDAN OF UPSAL.*
*This paper was read before the academy of Sciences, on January 23, 1741.
As Assessor Swedenborg has now been pleased himself to calculate the declination of the needle according to his theory, and as he has found the same to agree pretty well with the observation I took here at Upsal, when yet following the computation of Magister Hiorter I had stated it to differ by 81 13-1/2'; I have therefore examined Magister Hiorter's calculation, and find it to agree with the rules and examples laid down by the Assessor in his philosophical work. But, on the other band, I notice that the assessor's own computation agrees with my observation, by mere chance; it being extremely faulty, especially from his having taken the latitude of Upsal, instead of its complementum or elevatio quatoris. I have therefore the honour of communicating to the Academy of Sciences Magister Hiorter's computations for the meridian of Upsal, and also the mistakes which occur in assessor Swedenborg's calculation, from which the Academy of Sciences can see clearly that the difference pointed out by me is not due to any error in Magister Hiorter's computation, but results from the theory itself; which is the less surprising, as Assessor Swedenborg was unable to obtain as many observations of the declination and inclination of the needle taken around the whole globe with sufficient accuracy, as allowed him to construct from them a theory so perfect that it needed no alteration and improvement by more recent observations. I believe that Dr. Halley55 has more than any other applied the deepest thought in establishing a theory of the declination of the magnet which the learned have been seeking to improve ever since; yet he does not venture to determine by geometry the situation of the magnetic poles upon the earth, and to establish rules for computing the declination.
Besides, as assessor Swedenborg is still pleased to persist in the objections to the hourly changes of the declination of the needle, which he had previously made in his philosophical work to the observations of Messrs. Muschenbrock and Graham, I cannot refrain from uttering my frank thoughts on the subject.
I, too, am of opinion that it is a very difficult and delicate matter to observe the declination of the needle so exactly, as to be always sure to have this value expressed in degrees and minutes; so that the circumstances alluded to by the assessor may cause an observation to be faulty, if their demands are not in every possible manner complied with. But these causes operate so much the less in observing the hourly changes of the needle in one and the same place, because in this case the mere differences of the declination are taken into consideration, without troubling oneself about the absolute determination of its direction. It does not matter, therefore, whether the needle is placed strictly in agreement with the meridian line, but a certain degree is marked down; further, it does not matter if the whole are is not divided with perfect accuracy, provided one half-degree is pretty accurately marked. Neither is it of any consequence if some iron objects are imbedded in the window-frame, in the door, in the wall, or in the earth, as they can only vitiate the absolute quantity of the declination, without, however, being able to produce a disturbance in the differences caused by the same force operating all the time at the same distance. Further, no draught or commotion in the air can influence the direction of the needle, after the compass has been enclosed with a glass, and so forth. On that account also Mr. Graham employed two needles, placed at some distance from one another, and he found that they agreed in the hourly variations pretty much to the same extent.
D.
MAGISTER HIORTER'S145 COMPUTATIONS.*
* Presented to the Academy of Sciences on January 23, 1741.
1. Computation of the magnetic declination for the year 1740, at Upsal, instituted according to the rules laid down by the most noble Assessor Swedenborg.
The latitude of the place is 59 degrees 52', and its complement 30 degrees 8'. The eastern longitude from London is 17 degrees 30'.
Operation 1. 1740-1720 = 20 x 56' = 180 40',
2. 112 degrees + 17 degrees 30'=129 degrees : 30-18 degrees 40'=110 degrees 50'.
3. 110 degrees 50"-90=
20 degrees 50' S. 955102
22v 30' S. 958285
(p a) 7 degrees 49' S. 913386.
4. 1740-1720=20 degrees x 20'=6 degrees 40'.
5. 145 degrees 30' + 17 degrees 30'=163 degrees 0'-6 degrees 40'=156 degrees 20'.
6. 156 degrees 20'-90 degrees =
66 degrees 20' S. 996185
22 degrees 30' S. 958284
(o h) 20 degrees 31' S. 954469.
7. For (p c) 30 degrees 8' + 7 degrees 49' = 37 degrees 57'.
8. 37 degrees 57' x 6" = 3' 48".
9. 22' 30" + 3' 48" = 26' 18".
10. For (p o) 180 degrees + 7 degrees 49' + 20 degrees 31'-208 degrees 20'.
11. (-ar.
180 Q-32400 Log. 5.48945
208-1/3 - 43278 - 4.63627
26' 18" - 1578"- 3.19811
35' 8" - 2108" - 3.32383.
12. (-ar.
37 degrees 57' = 2277" Log. 3.35736
10 degrees 0' = 600 A 7.22185
2 degrees 13-1/3' 7999 A 3.90304.
13. 22 degrees 30' + 21 13-1/3 = 24 degrees 43-1/3'
Latus.
14. gr. 55 . . 74-1/21
60 . . 90
5 15-1/2
00 00
300' : 930' : : 8' : 25 for proportion
90' : 0 - 25'-89 degrees 35' for Latitude
59 degrees 52' 60 degrees. 89 degrees : 35'. 307 degrees.
Log. logist.
2 : 13-1/3 14314 }
1 : 6 17385} 3 degrees 19'.
110 degrees 50' - 3 degrees 19'=107 degrees 31'
compl. 72 degrees 29'.
l5. For 8 d)
30 degrees 8-1/3' S. 9.70079
72 : 29 A 9.97938
28 : 36-1/2 A 9.68017.
16. For (a d)
72 degrees 29' =c-s. 9.47854
30 degrees 8-1/2f=c-t. 10.23613
9 degrees 55' T. 9.24241.
17. 9 degrees 55'+24 degrees 43'=(b d)
34 degrees 38'.
28 degrees 36-1/2' =c-s 9.94345
34 degrees 38' =c-s 9.91530
(b c). 43:45 c-s 9.86875.
18. For (b c a)
43 degrees 45' S. 0.16020. c-ar.
72 : 29 9.97938
24 : 43-1/3 9.62140
35 : 13-1/3 9.76098.
19. 30 degrees 8' - 20 degrees 31'=91 37'.
20. c. arithm.
10 degrees 0' = 600' 7.22185
35' 8"=2108" 3.32383
9 degrees 37'= 577' 2.76118
33' 47"=2027" 3.30686.
21. 60 degrees. 89 degrees 35'-307 degrees Log. logist.
33' 47"--2494}
16:39 5565} 50' 26".
30 degrees 8-1/2' S. 4.70079
22 : 49: A 9.58874
11:14 S. 9.28953.
24. For (n h)
22 degrees 49-1/2' c-s. 9.96459
30 : 8-1/2 c-t. 10.23613
28 : 9-1/2 T. 9.72846..
25. 28 degrees 9' + 24 degrees 43-1/3' = 3 degrees 25-2/3'.
For (g c) 11 degrees 14' c-s 9.99160
3 : 25-2/3' 9.99922
168 degrees :15-2/3'. 11 : 44-1/3 -- 9.99082.
26. For (g c h)
11 degrees 44-1/4' S. 0.69154
23 degrees 49-1/2' A 9.58874
24 : 43-1/3' A 9.62140
52 : 53 S. 9.90168.
27. b c 43 degrees 45' b c a 35 degrees 13-1/3'
g c 168 : 15-2/3 g c h 52:53
212: 0-2/3 88: 6-1/3
212 : 0-2/3 ' 1272-0-2/3 5.89549 c-ar.
88 : 6-1/3 ' 5286-1/3 3.72315
43 : 45 ' 2625 3.41913
18 : 10-5/6 1090-5/6 3.03777.
28. 35 degrees 13-1/3'-- 18 degrees 10-5/6'=17 degrees 2-1/2'.
Hence results the magnetic declination 17 degrees : 2-1/2' western.
As observed at Upsal 8 degrees : 49'
Discrepancy in calculation 8 degrees 13-1/2'.
In the above computation the latitude of the place was taken as 591 52', when yet accurately stated it is one-third of a minute less; as this small difference is however more sensible in the latter part of the computation, it has there been taken into consideration.
2. The computation of the magnetic declination for the year 1740, at Torne, instituted according to the rules laid down by the most noble Assessor Swedenborg.
[As this computation has neither been examined nor animadverted upon by Swedenborg, and as the principles followed are the same as those according to which Magister Hiorter computed the declination of the needle for Upsal, we do not deem it necessary to insert. this computation here.]
E.
MISTAKES IN THE COMPUTATION PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES BY THE WELL-BORN ASSESSOR SWEDENBORG, IN WHICH HE COMPUTED THE DECLINATION OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE FOR THE YEAR 1740 AT UPSAL, COMPARING THE SAME WITH THE PRINCIPLES, RULES, AND EXAMPLES CONTAINED IN VOL. I. OF HIS PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS.
Without translating the whole of Magister Hiorter's lengthy paper on this subject, we shall simply state the points to which he took objection.
First, he objected to Swedenborg's taking the latitude of Upsal to be 591 50', when it is 59 degrees 52'; and to his assuming the longitude eastward from London to be only 15 degrees, when it is really 17-1/21.
Secondly, he objected to Swedenborg's taking, in the 7th operation, the whole latitude 59 degrees 50', instead of its complement with respect to 90 degrees, viz. 30 degrees 10', and in employing this number five different times; when yet he stated clearly in his Principia, p, 319, that the complement is to be used instead.
Thirdly, in the 8th operation the sum of multiplying 66 degrees 45' by 6" is 6' 42-1/2" instead of 6' 36".
Fourthly, in the 11th operation 38 degrees 22' is written and used instead of 38' 29".
Fifthly, in the 12th operation 66 degrees 25' is put down instead of 66 degrees 45'.
Sixthly, in the 16th operation the complement of the cotangent is taken as 9.79435, instead of 9.76435.
Seventhly, in the 14th operation 6 degrees 11' is added to 108 degrees 20' instead of being subtracted therefrom; as required by the rule on p. 321.
Eighthly, in the 20th operation 2 degrees 28' is put down instead of 2 degrees 32-1/2'.
Ninthly, in the 21st operation 60 degrees is proportioned with 90 degrees, instead of with 89 degrees 29'.
F.
SWEDENBORG'S REPLY TO MAGISTER HIORTER'S CRITICISMS.*
*Read before the Academy of Sciences on Feb. 1, 1741.
1. It is quite true that I used the full latitude instead of its complement, but then I made an addition in the 14th, and a subtraction in the 22nd operation; when yet in those computations where I use the complement of the latitude, it subtraction is demanded in the 14th, and an addition in the 22nd operation.
It follows thence that after having taken the full latitude once, and not its complement, I was compelled to do so constantly; it was therefore quite unnecessary to amplify one observation into seven or nine, and to fill therewith a whole sheet, which yet has been done.
At the outset when I took the computations for my printed work in hand, I found that they had to be instituted in this manner upon approaching the north and south poles after 1720; yet I was under no obligation to inform the public about this. No other change has been introduced.
2. With regard to my having assumed the latitude of Upsal to be 59 degrees 50', and not 59 degrees 52', I leave it to others to decide which of these agrees most with the fact; yet as this does not cause quite one minute's difference in the result, it ought not to have been dwelt upon so much.
3. With regard to the longitude, I stated in the paper which was first presented, that I received my information from the celebrated astronomer Flamsteed, when he compared two observations of a lunar eclipse taken by the late Professor Elfvius with his own.
4. The cause of my having introduced into the 16th operation a wrong complement of the co-tangent, viz. 9.79435, instead of 9.76435, is due to an error in Vlacken's tables; but there does not arise from this so large a mistake as is pretended, viz. 81 38' instead of 33 degrees 40', when yet it produces 35 degrees 31'; which, in the end, or in the computed declination, causes a difference of four minutes.
5. The remaining observations are of so little practical account, that they do not deserve to be answered.
6. In the computation which was sent in I find at a first glance several mistakes, e. g. in the 12th operation instead of 101 there ought to be 37 degrees 57', &c.
DOCUMENT 201.
LIST OF BOOKS TO BE PUBLISHED BY EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, ASSESSOR IN THE COLLEGE OF MINES OF SWEDEN.*
* This list is printed after the title-page of an edition of Swedenborg's Economy of the Animal Kingdom, published in 1742. Attention has not previously been called to it.
In a short time the following four books are to be published:
1. The Medullary fibre of the Brain, and the Nervous fibre of the Body.
2. The Animal Spirit.
3. Concordance of the three systems of the Human Soul and its Intercourse with the Body.
4. Divine Prudence, Predestination, Fate, Fortune, and Human Prudence.
DOCUMENT 202.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MODE IN WHICH MARBLE SLABS ARE INLAID FOR TABLES AND OTHER ORNAMENTS.*
* This Paper is contained in the Transactions of the Royal academy of Sciences for the months of April, May, and June, 1763, Vol. XXIV, pp. 107-113.
The marble table or slab which is to be used for the work ought to be of a dark colour and well polished. By means of a fine sharp chisel the ground which is to be inlaid is cut or dug out to the depth of half a finger or less, and to the same width or size as the pattern, which may consist of a playing-card, jettons [counters formerly in use in playing cards], false faces, letters, papers of music, combs, shells, roses, &c. Two chisels with well hardened steel-ends are to be used, one of which should have a sharp point on one side. This point is used to trace correctly and accurately the outline of the object which is to be dug out in the marble. The other chisel is also sharp, but has a rounded edge for the purpose of digging out the marked surface. The handle of these chisels is to be of wood, and the mallet which is brought down upon the handles of the chisels in the usual fashion is also of wood. The work of digging out the objects, if there are from six to eight designs to be executed, occupies from two to three days, allowing four hours of work each day.
Fine and brittle spar (Spat) is now taken and exposed to the fire on an iron-plate of optional thickness for the purpose of calcination, and this purpose is accomplished when it can be rubbed apart between the fingers. This lime is now ground in a mortar and sifted through a fine hair-sieve.
The ground which has been thus prepared by means of the coarser powder, serves as a basis for the work which is executed upon it by means of the finer powder; for the whole of this ground is again cut out. At first this ground is smoothed perfectly even with the horizon of the table. By means of the edge of a knife a portion of it is scraped off, and afterwards it is polished with pumice-stone and sepia (ossa sepia, the bone of a fish used in polishing). After the polishing it is sponged evenly with mater, and then the drawing of the objects which are to be inlaid is made upon it. For instance, if a playing-card is to be inlaid, an actual card is taken and all its figures are pricked out with a needle; it is then laid upon the prepared surface, and pulverized red lead strewed over it; this powder falls through the holes and describes an outline of the figures on the card, which are afterwards finished with a lead-pencil, the size of the card and its sides being at the same time carefully marked. Several cards, if the prepared surface admits, may be traced out, if desired.
After the drawing has been finished, it is carved out of the white surface with small tools, one piece after another, as required by the drawing or the figures, and the parts removed are filled in afterwards with a composition consisting of the finer white powder and the requisite colours. This composition is kneaded in the hand like dough by means of a little spatula or trowel, being likewise moistened for this purpose with lime-water, which is more or less diluted with water, one twentieth part more or less, according as the composition is desired more or less hard. This little spatula or trowel is also especially useful in depositing the composition in its place, and in spreading it out and pressing it down.
There are four fundamental colours which are mixed in the various compositions in order to impart the proper tints to them, and this, as said above, is done in the hands by means of the little trowel. The first of these colours is lamp-black for black; the second, vermilion or cinnabar for red; the third orpiment for yellow; and the fourth, indigo for blue. All intermediate colours are obtained by a mixture of these, and they are heightened according to the quantity of the colours used: for instance, green is obtained by mixing blue and yellow; the colours in that case are laid upon the hand and mixed with the fine powder which has been passed twice through the fine sieve, and then moistened with lime-water in order to produce the requisite hardness. When indigo and lake* are to be used, small pieces of them must be soaked in water for a day, as they will not otherwise become hard upon drying on account of the salt they contain.
* Whiting or chalk saturated with vegetable or animal dyes, such as carmine, madder, &c.
The black mixture or composition, when black is required, is first inlaid; afterwards the red, yellow, green, and blue, and finally the white: for as a rule white does not injure any colour. If the colours are not inlaid in the order here stated, and thus allowed to dry, the colours which are first inlaid, are affected and injured by those that follow and by their compositions; wherefore it is important that this order should be observed,--if it is, this additional advantage is obtained, that it does not matter if any of the succeeding colours should cover any of the preceding ones; for when the surface is polished and made even with that of the table the excess of colour is rubbed off.
As the first inlaying is generally a little porous, on the following day it receives another coating of the same composition; but the finer the powder in the composition the less porous it will be, and the finer the gloss it will receive. The white composition must consist of the finest lime powder. The whole of it is then polished with pumice-stone and sepia, it being sponged immediately afterwards with water, until finally it is as smooth as the marble-slab or the table itself.
In order to produce the appearance of ivory, as in a comb or jettons [whist-counters], a little orpiment is strewn over the surface. Black edges or shadings are made with India ink by means of a little brush; this ink enters in pretty deeply, as may be known from the circumstance that it is not rubbed out by the polishing operation. For the production of red wafers Spanish lake (Lacca d'Espagna) is used, which is a red colour serving this purpose. Various dry colours may also be used and pounded into a coarse sand, and afterwards mixed with the compositions and thus inlaid, when a speckled or granulated appearance is required. Various species of marble and agate may also be imitated with all their edges and veins so that they can scarcely be distinguished from the real stones; for this purpose compositions of various colours are made which are mixed but not kneaded much together; with these compositions the cavities that have been made are filled up and smoothed over with the spatula in such a manner that the colours succeed one another in the order in which they are presented by the sample which is to be imitated. Roses are more difficult, and also more costly to make, as carmine, which is a most penetrating colour, has to be used in their preparation; experience also must teach how much or how little of it must be employed: for by a mixture with the white composition the colour is well graduated from a more intense to a paler shade. The proper shade, however, which remains, becomes apparent only when it is thoroughly dried, wherefore as a general rule less colour must be used [than seems to be required].
Afterwards the whole, including the table itself, is rubbed down or polished with fine tin-ashes upon a rag, and the gloss is restored to the marble by rubbing it with coal. Finally, the whole table together with its designs is spread over with olive-oil mixed with half its quantity of spirits of turpentine, or spirits of turpentine alone, which when absorbed by the marble heightens all the colours. It is then left to dry for two or three hours.
While the work is being done the table which is to be inlaid lies on a form which is of convenient access on all sides, and upon leaving the work it is always covered with a cloth, so that no dust may fall upon it.
DOCUMENT 203.
THE REPRINT OF SWEDENBORG'S "METHOD OF FINDING THE LONGITUDE," IN 1766.
This method, which Swedenborg originated as early as 1712 (see Document 44), and which had been printed by him in Swedish in 1718, and in Latin at Amsterdam in 1721, he reprinted at the latter place, in 1766. In the introduction to this reprint--which is exceedingly scarce--he says: "I have heard that it was thought by astronomers that the longitude of places on land and sea could be determined for certain only by means of the moon, and I have heard likewise that a method is now being instituted by which this result is to be attained. As in my youth I applied my mind for some time to the science of astronomy, and for that purpose studied Ricciolus, where I saw that the methods of several learned men for finding the longitude by means of the moon had been examined, but condemned on account of the difficulty presented by the parallaxes, or by the reduction of the moon as it was observed, or seen apparently, to its true position; I therefore exerted myself to find some method which should be free from these difficulties;
A
SWEDENBORG TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.*
* The original of this letter is preserved among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Library of the academy of Sciences in Stockholm; it was printed for the first time by Mr. G. E. Klemming, the Royal Librarian in Stockholm, in his edition of the so-called "Swedenborg's Drmmar," Stockholm 1859, p. 77.
I consider it my duty to present to the Royal Academy the accompanying "Method of finding the Eastern and Western Longitude, by sea and land, by means of the Moon," which I have published at Amsterdam; and as it is the only practicable method of doing this by means of the moon, I desire to make the following statement in connection with it.
As soon as this little work appeared in print I sent a copy of it to the Hague and to the Academies in Holland and Germany, as well as to Copenhagen; and subsequently also to the Royal Society of Sciences at Paris; and after my arrival in London I communicated it to Lord Morton, the President of the Royal Society in that place, on May 19, of the present year.
Since this was done, I have heard that several learned astronomers have tested this method, and are now engaged in constructing ephemerides in order to bring it into use, which may be done once, twice, or three times each night, when the moon together with the stars is visible; and as soon as these ephemerides are constructed, the correctness of the method will appear.
With respect to the certainty or possibility of finding the longitude of places at sea by means of the above-mentioned clock, which was approved by the Committee in London, time will perhaps determine and settle this, for Holland, France, and Spain will, with their own masters, make an independent trial of this clock, on voyages undertaken to the East Indies.
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, September 10, 1766.
B.
SWEDENBORG TO DR. CARL JESPER BENZELIUS.* 99
* This letter is preserved in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping, among the letters of Bishop Carl Jesper Benzelius.
Most honoured and dear Brother,
Eight days ago I safely returned from London, and I shall be glad to hear that you enjoy good health. I enclose you a "New Method of finding the Eastern and Western Longitude," with the copy of a letter* addressed to the Royal Academy of Sciences here in Stockholm.
* A copy of the preceding letter, our Document 203, A.
** Professor Nils Schenmark,149 who acknowledged the receipt of the documents in the following letter. [Note 149 is found in Volume II Part II on page 1063.]
I remain, in faithful friendship, most honoured and dear brother,
Your most obedient servant,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
Stockholm, September 16, 1766.
C.
LETTER OF PROFESSOR NILS SCHENMARK149 TO EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.*
* This letter is preserved among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
[Note 149 is found in Volume II Part II on page 1063.]
Well-born Assessor,
I had the honour to receive from Professor Doctor Benzelius your Methodus nova inveniendi longitudiines locorum terra marique per Lunam, and he desired that I should express my thoughts to you on the subject.
I have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted somewhat with your learned works, and they have awakened in me a respect for their author. I therefore consider it my duty on so important a subject as the determination of the longitude to communicate to you, at your request, the exceptions I take to it. I hope you will not take to it. I hope you will not take it amiss, if I express to you the difficulties which, upon reading your method, have presented themselves to my mind.
The method of finding the longitude of places by means of the moon consists principally in finding for a given time and place the apparent, and afterwards the true, position of the moon.
These questions you are accordingly pleased to answer thus, "The time when the moon comes into line with the above-mentioned stars is observed; and from this observation the apparent, and afterwards the true, position of the moon will appear." In considering the method of finding the apparent place of the moon by such an observation, i. e. when two fixed stars are in the same degree of longitude, in the first place, one insurmountable difficulty occurs to me. For suppose E L to be the ecliptic, Q its pole, Z the zenith, s and t two "fixed stars in the same longitude, and consequently in the same largest circle Q s t," I am indeed able to know that the apparent longitude of the moon is at a, which is the same as that of the stars; but if the latitude of the moon, or [moon drawing] at a is unknown, most undoubtedly no "apparent place of the moon" will result "without any observation of the altitude," as is said on p. 4, for the apparent place of the moon, is determined conjointly by the apparent longitude and latitude.
[Diagram]
With regard to the first argument on p. 4, I have the honour to observe, that the moon's distance [moon drawing] b taken in the vertical circle Z [moon drawing] I, from the point b, where the moon's vertical meets the ecliptic, can never be called the parallax of altitude, except in the sense that the moon has no true latitude; wherefore b a also cannot be called the parallax of longitude.
I have myself tried to resolve these difficulties (where I was aided by the printed figures, in which, however, I found the moon always a little below the ecliptic) by supposing the moon's distance below the point where the moon's vertical circle meets the ecliptic, to be the same in magnitude as the moon's parallax; or what is the same thing, that when the moon is observed, it has apparently the same longitude as the fixed stars s and t, although it has no true latitude.
New difficulties, however, arise here of a different kind which are no less important: first, how can I be assured that the moon at the time when it is observed at sea is really in the ecliptic, or that the true place of the moon has no latitude; secondly, as this happens but very rarely, it follows that seamen can make use of this method only very seldom, in case information can be obtained respecting what I mention in my first. But, suppose, I have information on this subject, in that case I already know what I desire to know, and it cannot be taken for premises without being the question (prmissa sine petitione principii). Besides, the astronomical tables are unable to furnish me with this information; for they tell me indeed the time under their meridians when the moon has no latitude, but they do not tell it to me under my meridian, which is unknown and in question.
As my objections are the same in the second case when the stars have both an unlike latitude and longitude as in the first case, I must conclude here; while I ask for the honour of remaining in the future with all due respect,
Your obedient servant,
N. Schenmark.149
Lund, March 22, 1767.
[Note 149 is found in Volume II Part II on page 1063.]
D.
SWEDENBORG'S REPLY TO PROFESSOR N. SCHENMARK.*
* The first draught of this letter with parts repeatedly crossed out and re-written is among the Swedenborg MSS. in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
I received your kind letter containing some remarks on the "Method of finding the lunar longitude," and I am glad that you who are so well acquainted with the science of astronomy have been pleased to examine it. Among the objections you make, the parallaxes of latitude seem to be the foremost; as my thoughts, however, for a long time have been estranged from this study, I am unable to enter into all the particulars as I ought to. I, nevertheless, recollect from the time when I was at work upon it, which is now nearly fifty years ago, that this method is circumstanced alike with the eclipses lun, where in the computations, as well as in the dates transferred from the ephemerides for the meridian of each, only such parallaxes of longitude[?] are observed in which there eclipses lun, it is also the case with this method; if it not so, it would be vain to seek for any method of finding the longitude by means of the stars and the moon; even as the research of astronomers for the last two hundred years, and also at the present time, has been vain. You can easily see, that if it is possible to obtain the longitude by means of the moon and the stars, this is the only [mode by which it can be obtained.] Moreover, this method has the advantage that it can be used every night when the moon and the stars are visible; and as I find that you have in such matters greater experience than others, I suppose that if you would make some experiments in accordance with the rules which I have given, you would find the computations for the several stars become gradually easier and easier. Among those who have from times immemorial been engaged upon this problem, there are some who have not found the proper method of computation; and if they do find it, which of the learned astronomers institute practical ephemerides?
In the "Upsal Acts" for the years 1723 and 1724 is contained a practical observation of the then Professor of Astronomy at Lund, which was made in accordance with the method as it was then stated. His expression in the "Acts" is, that the method is practicable, though very difficult. The difficulty, however, arose from the fact that the practical rules were not given as in the last publication.
You say something about the time at sea. Experienced seamen, have an instrument with which they make very exact observations of the sun, at twelve o'clock noon; and by these observations they set their clocks, which may be done every day when the sun shows itself.
The method itself was published by me in 1721; but then it was not communicated to any Society, nor mere any practical rules given, which depend upon ephemerides; it could not be used, therefore, by sea-faring men; for its case vias exactly like the observation of a lunar eclipse, which was not computed for a certain definite meridian.
NOTE 1.
REV. THOMAS HARTLEY. A. M.
The Rev. Thomas Hartley, a friend of Swedenborg's, and one of the first receivers of his doctrines, was a clergyman of the Church of England, and Rector of Winwick, Northamptonshire. He was the author of a volume of sermons, and of several other works. In the year 1770 he translated, and published, in quarto, the treatise on the Intercourse between the Soul and the Body, under the title of A Theosophic Lucubration on the Nature of Influx, as it respects the Communication and Operation of Soul and Body; to which he prefixed an excellent preface. In 1778 there appeared, under his superintendence, the first English translation of Heaven and Hell, respecting which me find it stated in the Memoir of W. Cookworthy, of Plymouth, by his grandson, that "he [Cookworthy] translated the treatise on Heaven and Hell, under the revision of Thomas Hartley, Rector of Winwick, in Northamptonshire," -whence it appears that Mr. Hartley revised the translation, and wrote the Preface which has been so much and deservedly admired. He departed this life on December 10th, 1784, aged 77, having been most highly esteemed and respected by a large circle. Among others he was on terms of friendship with Samuel Scott, of Hertford, a distinguished member of the Society of Friends, who in his Diary of some religious exercises and experience, published in 1809, speaks of Mr. Hartley in the following terms:
"Eleventh month, 22, 1780.--I was visited by my friend Thomas Hartley, who was just setting out for East Malling; peradventure, we may never more meet in mutability; a final adieu, in respect to time, may have this day been taken."
"Fifth month, 22, 1782.--At dinner we were unexpectedly visited by our ancient friend Thomas Hartley; probably the last time: he appearing to be much emaciated, and his countenance languid and meagre; but attended with a fresh and lively sense of vital and experimental religion.
"Eighth Month, 25, 1753.--I received a letter from our dear and worthy friend, Thomas Hartley; who, although aged and infirm, appears to retain a fresh and lively sense of that true and experimental religion, which consists not in the letter, but the spirit, and that circumcision which is inward."
"Twelfth Month, 20, 1748.--This day I was informed of the decease of my dear and worthy friend Thomas Hartley, who departed this life the 10th instant. I had been personally acquainted with him for more than nine years: we were very dissimilar in our natural dispositions, and in our sentiments respecting various points; in others we were firmly united; our union being more in the spirit, than the letter; the inward than the outward. He was a man of unaffected piety great sincerity, and exquisite sensibility; deeply suffering under a sense of his own defects in particular, and of the depravity of fallen nature in general; following a crucified Saviour in the regeneration, according to his measure: there is abundant cause for a comfortable hope, that he now rests from his labours, 'where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.'"
The following epitaph, designed for Mr. Hartley, and descriptive of his character, was drawn up by a friend about the time of his decease: (See "Aurora," Vol. II, 1800, p. 351) "Near this stone lies interred the body of the Rev. Thomas Hartley, who departed this life on the 11th of December, 1784, aged 77 years. His universal charity and benevolence of principle to all mankind led him to esteem every virtuous man as his brother and friend, and to bear the greatest respect and tenderness towards them, although of different establishments and sentiments from his own; ever regarding an advanced degree of vital religion and integrity, formed in the soul, and manifested in corresponding actions, as the sum of all profession, and sign of true faith. His sincere love for real truth led him from his early years to seek it in its most genuine and pure forms; in which researches, and the study and publication of writings that brought the strongest convictions to the mind of the excellency of Christianity, and certainty of a future state, he spent many years, and the latter part of his life manifesting in his own conduct, that of the sincere and truly pious divine, as well as of the learned and enlightened philosopher. "Vade et fac similiter."
NOTE 2
DR. MESSITER.
Dr. Messiter, an "eminent physician at his time," who lived at Broom House, Fulham, Middlesex; he was a friend of Emanuel Swedenborg and of the Rev. T. Hartley. According to Dr. Spence in his "Essays in Divinity and Physic," &c. (London, 1792), he attended Swedenborg professionally during his last illness. Mr. A. F. Nordenskld, in a letter to Dr. Immanuel Tafel (May 2, 1822), says that Dr. Messiter lived in the country, in the neighbourhood of London; that he [A. F. Nordenskld] had made his acquaintance, but that the Doctor died soon afterwards. Mr. Hartley describes him in the preface to his translation of Swedenborg's "Intercourse," &c., as "a gentleman of a learned profession and of extensive intellectual abilities." Swedenborg himself seems to have esteemed him very highly, as he asked him to write in his name to the professors of divinity in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, and to present them with several of his theological works.
NOTE 3.
CHARLES XII.
The famous Charles XII of Sweden, was born in 1682, and ascended the throne in 1697. He defeated Peter the Great at Narwa in 1700; conquered Poland in 1703; and finally concluded peace with Augustus, King of Poland and Saxony, in 1706. He was, however, himself defeated by Peter the Great, near Pultawa, in 1709; and had to take refuge in Turkey. In 1713 he was made prisoner by the Forte, but the next year he escaped, and arrived before Stradsund in the month of November. This fortress he defended against the Danes, Saxons, Prussians, and Russians, but was forced to surrender on the 23rd of December, 1715. He then crossed over to Lund in Scania, and invaded Norway. While besieging Fredericshall, he was killed on Nov. 30, 1718. Charles was characterized by undaunted courage and an iron will; but his firmness degenerated into obstinacy which sometimes bordered on insanity. At his death, Sweden lay prostrate and bleeding; and after a century the wounds she had received during his reign were not entirely healed. On the other hand he entertained great plans for developing the industry and resources of his country, and under his administration the Gta canal was commenced. He was besides a patron of the arts and sciences, and was especially fond of mathematics and mechanics. In 1716, Swedenborg was introduced to him by Polhem, when he at once became an object of his favour, and was appointed an assessor extraordinary in the College of Mines. After the death of Charles, the royal power in Sweden was greatly diminished and that of the nobles was proportionately increased.
It will no doubt be interesting to our readers to hear Swedenborg's account of Charles in the other life, where his true internal nature became manifest. He speaks of him in as many as thirty different places in his "Spiritual Diary," from which we collect the following information:
"There was a certain spirit, who had been one of the most obstinate of mortals on this earth [Charles XII]. So obstinate was he, that he would never desist from his purpose; but would remain in it, even though he should suffer the most cruel death, or indure the most terrible hell-torments. When he had made up his mind to do an evil, he was able to confirm his headstrong opinion by such arguments as might make it appear as if he acted from a motive not in itself wrong.
"Charles XII was a striking example of those who are inwardly in the love of self, and outwardly civil and modest. Inwardly he was one of the haughtiest of men, and he aspired to the greatest name not only in his own country, but in the whole world, over which he desired to rule; he even in a certain measure believed himself to be interiorly a god. He could think more interiorly than any other man; under all circumstances and in every danger his interior thoughts were remarkably clear. He saw all particular things around himself at a single glance, and he collected these things interiorly and drew his conclusions correctly. He was unwilling, however, that any one should know this; he outwardly feigned what he inwardly did not think, and was indignant if any one said that he [the King] had a clear inward perception. This he considered to be regal and accustomed himself to do so constantly. This was his interior life; and in it he thought of his own dominion over all, both in things general and particular, and also that this was a divine way of acting: interiorly in that life he did not believe in the existence of God, except in men, and in himself in particular. He thus set no value on religion; praised Mahometanism above Christianity, which he said was only for the simple; he was also desirous of introducing a natural religion, adapted to the comprehension of all men who believe only in nature. He made royalty to consist in obstinacy even to death. He was interiorly pitiless and cruel, caring nothing for human life. He was able to invent excuses which could not be contradicted, and because these were from his internal thought, he was in the persuasion that the matter was as he had stated and thus right. No one knew of all this in the world, except some by conjecture.* He lied and feigned justice and truth more perfectly than any other man." (No. 4748).
* See Document 199, "Swedenborg's Letter to Dr. Nordberg respecting Charles XII," from which it appears that Swedenborg himself was one of those who in the world had formed the opinion, that Charles XII possessed clear internal thought.
"It was observed that in the faculty of perception Charles XII was pre-eminent; for when he was in interior thought, he was able at a single glance to read the thoughts of a hundred persons, and see how far they could be made to serve the end he had in view, which was dominion; he could also see in what way he could make use of them: this quality he employed for his own purposes."(No. 4751.)
"Charles XII was present with me for some time; at first as he had been in his external form, which continued for a whole year. During this time he acted with becoming moderation, although the abominations which lay concealed occasionally burst forth. Afterwards he was let into his interior state in which he had been in the world; he then thought interiorly in himself which could not be observed in the world by any one, and which he was unwilling that any one should observe. It was also discovered that [during his life upon earth] he had for years been conversing with spirits; the nature of this conversation, what was spoken, and how he had replied, was shown for some time; that then he was not only instructed concerning the Lord, and the things of the Church, but was also frequently admonished, nay chastised; that he was exhorted to return home, and make peace: but this he was unwilling to do. His one constant wish was, to become the greatest of all, and when this was denied him, he resolved to destroy the name of the Lord by atheistic doctrines. At that time also he began to love from his heart such persons as atheists, and he took measures to have such men at hand, when he would annihilate religion. At that time also he rushed into wicked acts, that must not be named....and yet he concealed them all under his exterior form and appearance." (No. 4763.)
"Several transactions between myself [Swedenborg] and Charles XII were examined, from which it appeared manifestly that the Lord's Providence extends to the minutest particulars, and that all that happens during life and after death is foreseen and provided for. It clearly appeared from this examination that unless the state of Charles had been changed from a favourable into an angry one, some one [Swedenborg] would most undoubtedly have perished." (No. 4704.)
Further particulars respecting the state of Charles in the other life may be found in the following numbers: 3005, 4351, 4742, 4743, 4745, 4750, 4752, 4768, 4823, 4857, 4873, 4884, 4899, 4900, 4901, 4910, 4934, 5011, 6010, 6013, 6015, 6018, 6019, 6020, 6025, 6034, 6047, 6087, and Appendix 1 to "Spiritual Diary," p. 76.
NOTE 4.
QUEEN ULRICA ELEONORA AND KING FREDERIC.
Ulrica Eleonora, a younger sister of Charles XII, and second daughter of Charles XI, was born in 1658, and in 1715 was married to Frederic, the Crown-prince of Hesse-Cassel, who was born in 1676. Her elder sister, Hedvig Sophia, who died in 1708, was married to Duke Frederic IV of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, and left a son, Charles Frederic. After the death of Charles XII, on Nov. 30, 1718, Prince Frederic, who was then in the camp, immediately proclaimed his wife Queen of Sweden, without regarding the claims of her sister's son, Charles Frederic. In order to have her appointment as Queen of Sweden ratified by the Cabinet and the Diet, Ulrica Eleonora was obliged to renounce some of the most essential rights of the crown, among which was that of levying war without the concurrence of the people, or rather of the House of Nobles and the Council of state, into whose hands most of this power passed. By the wish of the Queen her husband Frederic was in 1720 acknowledged by the Diet as the reigning King of Sweden. among the most vigorous opponents in the Diet to the curtailment of the royal power was Bishop Swedberg; he argued that "we ought to be very careful not to tie the hands of royalty so much, that one day it will break these bonds, and reestablish a despotism" an opinion, the soundness of which was proved by the revolution in 1772, when Gustavus III regained most of the power that had been wrested from the king by the nobles. It was not on account of the Bishops devotion to the cause of royalty that his children were ennobled by Ulrica, Eleonora in 1719, but because the Queen, when a princess, had entertained great reverence and esteem for the intrepid Bishop. Owing to the great diminution of the royal power, neither Ulrica Eleonora, who died in 1741, nor her husband Frederic, who died in 1751, had much opportunity of distinguishing themselves as sovereigns of Sweden. Indeed they were upbraided for taking too little interest in the affairs of the state, among others by Bishop Swedberg, who told the King that his people did not like his so seldom attending the Council of State; to which the King replied that this was not to be wondered at, since he "had there sixteen preceptors." In her younger days, while Charles XII was imprisoned in Turkey in 1713, Ulrica Eleonora had seized the reins of government, and assembled the Diet in order to follow a more peaceful policy; but for this arrogation of power she was severely reprimanded by her brother on his return.
Of Ulrica Eleonora, whom most of her subjects looked upon as a bigot, Swedenborg gives the following account in the "Spiritual Diary:" "Early in the morning, August 15, 1761, there appeared to me an elegant carriage, in which there was a man magnificently; soon came a virgin of a common appearance, like a servant, with some spun threads in her hand: it was Ulrica, Eleonora, in that condition, who did not then know whence and who she was. As the carriage passed by, the man called to her to step into it, which she was unwilling to do; but after some coaxing she complied. The man was from some duchy in Germany; he had died when young, and like her had studied the Word, and was fond of the knowledge of spiritual truth. Thus these two drove away through several societies, and put on states suitable to them. They also put on companionable or connubial states, and were conveyed thence to a magnificent palace." (No. 6009.)
The state of King Frederic, her former husband, according to Swedenborg, was quite different. He says respecting him, in the "Smaller Diary" (p. 47): "King Frederic was with me on the fifteenth day after his decease [he died April 5, new style, 1751], and he heard on the same day that he was being buried; he also saw and heard a few things, as the ringing of the bells. He conversed with me for several hours, and wondered that, although dead, he should see and hear these things; he rejoiced that he still lived." His character during his life in the body is described at p. 54 as having been unchaste and voluptuous, so that he was unwilling to perform any use whatever, except for himself, and to promote his impure and voluptuous designs. He was at the same time a dissembler and hypocrite. Additional particulars respecting his state in the other life are contained in the "Smaller Diary," pp. 70 and 73; and in the "Larger Diary," Vol. III, No. 5799.
NOTE 5.
SWEDENBORG'S SISTERS AND THEIR HUSBANDS.
The four sisters of whom Swedenborg speaks in Document 2, are
A.
Anna, who was married in 1703 to Archbishop Ericus Benzelius (see Note 6, and Document 9, p. 88).
B.
Hedvig, married in 1714 to Ears Benzelstierna, Councillor of Mines (see Note 8, and Document 9, p. 90).
C.
Catharina, who was married to J. Unge, Dean of Lidkping. Her husband was a great favourite with Bishop Swedberg, whose curate he was for some time. The Bishop said of him to Queen Ulrica Eleonora,4 that he was "a learned and able man, and had travelled much;" he was promoted by the Queen to the pastorate of Wnga, and afterwards to the deanery, of Lidking. He had nine children (see Document 9, p. 91). Swedenborg says of him in Document 82, "Brother Unge does not keep his hands from any one; at least he has estranged from me my dear father's and mother's affections for the last four years." Nevertheless, they were afterwards on good terms, as appears from several letters that Dean Unge subsequently addressed to Swedenborg (see Documents 107, 111, 114, 116, 120, 121).
D.
Margaretha, who was married to Captain Lundstedt (see Document 9, Table XIV, p. 95; also Document 111).
NOTE 6.
ERICUS BENZELIUS THE YOUNGER.
Dr. Ericus Benzelius, son of Archbishop Ericus Benzelius the elder, was born January 27, 1675, and married Anna Swedenborg, the eldest daughter of Bishop Swedberg, in 1703. He was at first librarian, and afterwards professor of theology at Upsal. In the year 1726 he became Bishop of Gottenburg, and in 1731 of Linkping; in the year 1742 he was appointed Archbishop of Upsal, but died in 1743 before entering upon the duties of the office.
Of his departed kinsman. Swedenborg gives us in the "Spiritual Diary," No. 4749, the following account: "Er[icus] Benz[elius] was outwardly proud, yet inwardly he was good. In the world he had preferred himself to others, and despised them in comparison, with the exception of one who excelled him in memory, in which he placed all learning and wisdom. His ecclesiastical learning was of the memory, nothing being from himself, and because this was the case, he was not allowed to contaminate his internal therewith. At first he suffered severely in the other life. Around his brain there appeared as it were a bony callosity, which was sometimes broken, causing great pain, and he was by this means brought into his interior state which was good; he was then like a child, and was instructed by the angels in a manner accommodated to him." See also Nos. 4787, 5702, 6016.
There is another Ericus Benzelius mentioned in the "Diary," who was interiorly wicked; this appears to be Ericus Benzelius the elder, or the father of the foregoing; to him apply Nos. 4552, 4757, 4851, 5074, 5148, 5722, 5751, 5855, 6034, 6036.
NOTE 7.
JACOBUS AND HENRICUS BENZELIUS.
Jacobus and Henricus Benzelius, younger brothers of Ericus Benzelius the younger.
A.
Jacobus Benzelius was born in 1683, became pastor of Ns in 1709, professor of theology at Lund in 1718, doctor of theology in 1725, Bishop of Gottenburg in 1731, and Archbishop of Upsal after the death of his brother Ericus in l744. In his archiepiscopal capacity he married the Crown-prince Adolphus Frederic to the Princess Louisa Ulrica; and in 1746 baptised Prince Gustavus, afterwards Gustvus III. He died in 1747 in Stockholm, during the session of the Diet. Concerning him Swedenborg says in the "Smaller Diary," p. 49, "As long as he was in the world he was esteemed on account of his erudition, nor was his real quality known to any one. But in the other life it appeared after some time that he was crafty. He was for a time among those who are of this character, and had often to bear grievous things, and to suffer severe punishments." At p. 64 he describes how Jacob Benzelius desired to infest and persecute him, (see also pp. 65, 67, 72). His intense love of ruling is described in the "Larger Diary," Nos. 5004, 5006, 5074; and his vindictive spirit in No. 5597; (see also Nos. 5896, 6028, 6033, 6034.) He desired to receive the truths of faith in the other life, but could not on account of the falsities of evil in his mind, which could not be removed (see No. 6044).
B.
Henricus Benzelius was born in 1689. He undertook a long journey abroad from 1712 to 1718 (see Document 45); became professor of philosophy at Lund in 1719, and first professor of theology in 1738. In 1740, he was made Bishop of Lund; and in 1747, he succeeded his brother Jacobus as Archbishop of Upsal. He died in 1758. Swedenborg reports concerning him in the "Diary," No. 6072, "I learned by experience that idleness is the devil's pillow; that it is like a sponge which attracts impure water of various kinds.... This appeared from Henr. Benzelius; he loved idleness, and contracted very many evils from its delight; he suffered himself also to be led by the delights of these evils, and thus by the spirits which were in them."
NOTE 8.
LARS BENZELSTIERNA.
Lars Benzelstierna, son of Archbishop Ericus the elder, and brother of the Benzelii mentioned in Notes 6 and 7. He married Hedvig, a younger sister of Emanuel Swedenborg (see Note 5 B). In 1719 he was ennobled, when his name Benzelius was changed to Benzelstierna. He was a fellow-assessor of Em. Swedenborg's in the College of Mines from 1722 to 1744, when he received the appointment of Councillor of Mines. In 1747, he became the governor of a province [landshfding]. He was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1740, and its president in 1741. He died in 1755. The Swedish Biographical Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 113) says of him, "He was not distinguished by any great quality, but he possessed in an even degree many good qualities." As he was one of his fellow-assessors in the College of Mines, Swedenborg saw a good deal of him, but does not seem to have had any great liking for him. In Document 82, he complains of his being "somewhat unpleasant" towards him. After the decease of Bishop Swedberg's second wife, Sara Bergia, Lars Benzelstierna and Swedenborg became joint owners of Starbo,68 an iron furnace in Dalecarlia, which had been her property. This connexion seems to have been anything but a pleasant one: for against Lars Benzelstierna, we believe, Swedenborg made all those charges which are found written in Swedish on the last page of the original manuscript of the "Spiritual Diary," and which has been printed by the editor of "Swedenborg's Drmmar," on p. 72 of that work. Swedenborg simply gives there the initial B., and the editor of the "Drmmar" suggests E. before it; but by referring to the "Spiritual Diary," No. 5134, it is very evident that the initials are L. B. or Lars Benzelstierna: for the general charges there made against L. B. are the same as the particular charges made against B., in the passage mentioned; and he is there charged with nothing less than having made various attempts on Swedenborg's life. Swedenborg also accuses him of having been at the bottom of the difficulty which he had with his aunt Brita Behm50 (see Document 132), and with Councillor Nordencrantz133 (see Documents 182 to 193). Another accusation which he brings against him is, that he acted unfairly and unjustly in the division of his father's estate, as is proved by Swedenborg's brother Jesper in Document 126.
NOTE 9.
BISHOP FILENIUS.
Dr. Petrus Filenius, Bishop of Linkping, married, in 1740, Ulrica Benzelstierna, youngest daughter of Archbishop Ericus Benzelius the younger and of Anna Swedenborg. This bishop, while professing friendship for Swedenborg, advised the confiscation of his books, which he had promised to use his influence to have released from the custom-house. "For him Swedenborg entertained afterwards great contempt, calling him Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his friend with a kiss." (See Document 5, paragraph 47.)
NOTE 10.
BISHOP LARS BENZELSTIERNA.
Dr. Lars Benzelstierna, son of Lars Benzelstierna, (see Note 8) and Hedvig Swedenborg. He was born in 1719; became Professor of Greek at Upsal in 1746, and Bishop of Westers in 1759, which office he filled till the time of his death in 1800. Bishop Benzelstierna was altogether different from Bishop Filenius (Note 9), and entertained a friendly disposition towards Swedenborg and his doctrines. Swedenborg wrote concerning him to Count Hpken in 1769, "Bishop Benzelstierna is in my estimation a rational man even in theology, and does not accept irrational doctrines in obedience to faith."
NOTE 11.
ADOLPHUS FREDERIC AND LOUISA ULRICA.
Adolphus Frederic, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, born May 14, 1710, was elected Crown-prince of Sweden in 1743. He ascended the throne in 1751, and died in 1771. During his reign the royal power in Sweden was still further limited than it had been under that of his predecessor. He is described as an intelligent, well-inclined sovereign, of a quiet, phlegmatic temperament, and willing to submit to the limitations imposed upon him by the Swedish Diet. His wife, a sister of Frederic II, was more ambitious, and by her influence a party was formed whose object it was to break the power of the nobility. Their plot was discovered in 1756, and the leaders of the conspiracy, among whom were Count Eric Brahe137 and Baron Jacob Horn,139 were executed. For further particulars see the argument annexed to Document 196. Adolphus Frederic seems to have been personally very kind to Swedenborg, as appears from Document 2, p. 8, and Document 6, No. 37. Louisa Ulrica, the heroine of one of the incidents related to prove Swedenborg's intercourse with the spiritual world,* was born July 24, 1720. Her brother, Frederic D, declared her to be the ornament of the family. She was of a masculine understanding, was remarkably eloquent, and had great force of character. She was a great patron of the arts and sciences; founded by her private means the Academy of Belles Lettres and History in Stockholm; and established the library and the museum at Drottningholm, and the museum in Stockholm. She exercised great influence over her husband, and after his death attempted to exert a similar influence over her son, Gustavus III, but unsuccessfully. In consequence of this she very rarely appeared afterwards at Court. She died in 1782.
* See Document 5, paragraph 46, 53, and Document 6, paragraph 25.
NOTE 12.
GUSTAVUS III.
Gustavus III, to whom Swedenborg refers in Document 2, as "the Crown-Prince" at whose table he had the honour of dining, ascended the throne of Sweden on the death of his father, Adolphus Frederic,11 in 1771.
NOTE 13.
SAMUEL SANDELS.
Samuel Sandels was the son of the Rev. Mr. Sandel, one of the clergymen in the Swedish colony near Philadelphia, in the United States of America. He was born in 1724, and was intended by his father for the ministry, but this he abandoned. He studied chemistry and mineralogy, and entered the mining service of his country. In Stockholm he lived at the house of Swedenborg's brother-in-law, Lars Benzelstierna, the Counsellor of Mines (see Note 9). Benzelstierna took a great interest in the young man, and through his influence he was speedily promoted in the College of Mines. In 1754 he became secretary, in 1759 assessor, and in 1762 counsellor of mines, in which capacity he delivered his eulogium on Swedenborg our Document 4. In 1772 he was ennobled, when his name was changed to Sandels. The Swedish Biographical Dictionary greatly extols his private character, and speaks of him as a man of great practical usefulness to his country, in other respects besides in his official employment in the College of Mines. He interested himself especially in relieving the distress of the miners at Fahlun during the monetary crisis between 1763 and 1769, and in promoting the construction of canals. His son Johan August was a field-marshal of Sweden, who greatly distinguished himself in the war against Russia in 1808 and 1809, and afterwards in the war against Napoleon in Germany. He became a baron, and afterwards a count.
NOTE 14.
CHRISTOPHER POLHEM.
Christopher Polhem, the "great Swedish Archimedes," as Swedenborg, in the preface to his Daedaus Hyperboreus, first styled him. Before his elevation to the rank of nobility he was called Polhammer or Polhammar, but when he discovered, in 1716, that his ancestors in Hungary were called von Polheim, he called himself for a short time Polheimer. He was born at Wisby, in Gothland, where his father was a merchant.
NOTE 15.
LUDWIG RUDOLPH, DUKE OF BRUNSWICK.
Ludwig Rudolph, who is mentioned in Document 4, p. 20, was the second son of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbttel. On the death of his father in 1714, the duchy wits divided between his two sons; the elder, Augustus Wilham, succeeding his father as Duke of Brunswick, and the younger Ludwig Rudolph, receiving Blankenburg as an appanage.
NOTE 16.
LINNAEUS AND SWEDENBORG.
Linnaeus, or, as he was called after being ennobled, von Linn, the great Swedish botanist and naturalist, to whom Sandels compares Swedenborg in his Eulogium (see Document 4, p. 21), was a contemporary of Swedenborg, and he was related to him by marriage (see notice of Moraeus, in Note 66). Surprise has sometimes been expressed that there is no instance on record of these two men ever having met, or taken any notice of each other's labours. But it must be borne in mind that when Linnaeus first saw the light in 1707, Swedenborg was nineteen years of age; and when Linnaeus went to Upsal in 1725, Ericus Benzelius had already removed to Gottenburg, after which his brother-in-law had little occasion to visit Upsal. When, in 1734, Swedenborg brought out his great work Opera Philosophica et Mineralia, Linnaeus was persecuted by a clique of Upsal professors, and prevented from teaching at the University. In 1735, Linnaeus undertook a journey to Germany, Holland, England, and France, where he gained great renown by the publication of some of his writings. When he returned home in 1738, Swedenborg was abroad, publishing his Ceonomia Regni Animalis; and after he returned home in the latter part of 1740, he was so much occupied with the preparation of his Regnum Animale, that he had little time for cultivating the society of other men of learning. Moreover, early in 1741, Linnaeus removed from Stockholm to Upsal, so that there was actually only one year during which Linnaeus and Swedenborg lived in the same town. In 1743 Swedenborg made another journey abroad, in order to print his Regnum Animale, and in 1745 the Lord appeared to him, and introduced him as to his spirit into the spiritual world.
NOTE 17.
NILS CELSIUS.
Nils Celsius, born in 1659, died March 21, 1724; he became professor of mathematics at Upsal in 1719. He was the second of the family of Celsius who occupied the chair of mathematics at Upsal; his father Magnus being the first, and his son Anders (see Note 144,) the most celebrated of them, the third. As appears from Document 4, p. 21, and also from Document 101, Swedenborg was invited by the Consistory of the University to become the successor of Nils Celsius in 1724.
NOTE 18.
CHRISTIAN VON WOLF.
Christian von Wolf, the celebrated German philosopher and professor, who popularized Leibnitz's philosophy, and distinguished himself by the clearness and distinctness of his philosophical definitions, was one of Swedenborg's correspondents, as appears from Document 4, p. 22. He first taught in Leipzig in 1703, but removed thence in 1707 to the University at Halle, where he greatly distinguished himself by his philosophical lectures. By these lectures, however, he gave offence to the pietistic school of theology which at the time prevailed there, and which succeeded in 1723 in banishing him from Halle. The same year, he was appointed Professor in the University of Marburg; and in 1740, Frederic II of Prussia, who esteemed him very highly, re-appointed him to Halle, where he became vice-chancellor of the University, and where he died in 1754. From his earlier philosophical works it appears that Swedenborg thought very highly of Wolf; and in a paper dating about the year 1737, which is contained in Vol. III. of the photo-lithographic edition of Swedenborg's MSS., he institutes a minute comparison between his own system of philosophy and that of Wolf;
NOTE 19.
CARL ROBSAHM.
Carl Robsahm, who was the treasurer (camererare) of the Bank (Ln-Banquen) in Stockholm, was descended from a Scotch family called Robson, which had emigrated to Sweden towards the close of the sixteenth century. He seems to have been intimately acquainted with Swedenborg during the latter part of his life, and to have had great respect for him, as appears from the simple and unvarnished account which he has left of the great seer. His testimony, (which constitutes Document 5,) so far as he relates what he himself had seen and heard during the latter period of Swedenborg's life, seems perfectly trustworthy and reliable; but what he says concerning his earlier life, must be received as a mere matter of report, and must be judged according to the laws of evidence. This applies particularly to what he says in No. 36 of his "Memoris." That Robsahm was not acquainted with the circumstances of Swedenborg's earlier life, so as to deserve implicit credence, is proved from No. 34, where he states that "from his father, Bishop Swedberg, too, Swedenborg had obtained a considerable inheritance," when yet the facts of the case are, that Bishop Swedberg died a poor man, as appears from the following extract of a, letter which his son-in-law, Dean Unge, wrote to Swedenborg in 1731, four years before the Bishop's death. "Mller is now beginning to swindle the Bishop on a new account; for he desires to print the collection of sermons which was burnt. The Bishop has no money, but owes from 500 to 600 dalers to the Cathedral, which Mller, received for printing the Catechism last year. How will this end, if he begin printing in his poverty?.... The Bishop plunges himself more and more into debt."
NOTE 20.
CARL FREDERIC NORDENSKLD.
The "worthy man," by whom Robsahm was called upon to state "what he had seen and heard in Swedenborg's company," (see Document 5, No. 1) was no other than Carl Frederic Nordenskld, who together with his friend C. B. Wadstrm,36 was one of the earliest promoters of the cause of the New Church in Sweden. He was the youngest son of Colonel C. F. Nordenskld of Finland, and became acquainted in his youth with the writings of Swedenborg, which he considered "the greatest good fortune that had happened to him during his whole life."
A selection of the anecdotes which were thus collected by Mr. C. F. Nordenskld and his brother Augustus35 was sent by the former to Abb Pernety,34 Berlin, in 1782, and were embodied by the latter in the "Account of Swedenborg," which he prefixed to his French translation of "Heaven and Hell," published in Berlin in 1782. The "Account of Swedenborg," given by Pernety, is our Document 6, and by analysis it will be shown that almost the whole of that account was furnished to him by the two Nordensklds. In 1783, C. F. Nordenskld went to London, where he remained until 1786. Finding that the manuscripts of Swedenborg could not be published in Sweden, he took the original manuscript of the "Apocalypse Explained," and copies of several of the minor works to London, with a view of having them published there. The "Hieroglyphic Key," the "Summary Exposition of the Prophets and Psalms," were printed during his stay in London, as well as the first two volumes of the "Apocalypse Explained." The remaining manuscripts he left in charge of Dr. Spence in 1786, when he was summoned back to Sweden. On his return to Sweden he instituted, in conjunction with his brother Augustus Nordenskld,38 and his friend C. B. Wadstrm,36 the Philanthropic Exegetic Society, the object of which was to publish the writings of Swedenborg in the Swedish language, and to collect documents respecting him. There was likewise published by that Society a Journal called Samlingar fr Philantroper, of which four numbers appeared. The Society was at first very prosperous, and counted some of the most influential men in Stockholm among its members; but it was broken up in 1789. After its dissolution, Nordenskld began the publication of a periodical called "The Citizen" (Medborgaren), which was interdicted in 1789; in 1790, he published another journal entitled Allmnt Magazin, which was likewise prohibited. In 1792, he was appointed secretary to the Swedish legation in Hamburg; in 1801, he removed to Anklam, Pomerania, and thence in 1807 to Restock in Mecklenburg, where he had the title of charg d'affaires of Sweden, and where he remained till the end of his life in 1828. From 1822 to 1828, he corresponded freely with Dr. Immannel Tafel of Tbiyen, and furnished him with valuable information for his researches into the character of Swedenborg, and the state of the New Church in Sweden. His correspondence and literary remains are in the possession of his youngest son, Dr. O. von Nordenskld in Berlin. C. F. Nordenskld, throughout the whole of his life, appeared to be a man of integrity and to have intense love for the New Church.
NOTE 21.
THE OPENING OF SWEDENBORG'S SPIRITUAL SIGHT.
Swedenborg himself gives the following account of this occurrence (Document 5, No. 15) in the Adversaria, Vol. II, nos. 1956, 1957: "Unclean spirits of the lowest kind are here discussed, such as those who rule the lowest or ultimate parts of man, and who excite the lusts that belong to the body and the blood, and which are called pleasures of the senses, and such as are merely corporeal. Those unclean spirits who rule the outermost or the merely bodily parts of man, are called frogs, by which are understood larger insects, of various forms. Such frogs once appeared to me, coming out [of me], and indeed manifestly, so that I saw them crawling before my eyes; and very soon they became collected into one, when they assumed the appearance of fire, and burst with a noise, which when it reached my ears sounded like crackling; after that the place was cleared. This took place in London, in the month of April, 1745. It was as if smoke passed out of my pores, but on the floor there appeared crawling worms, in great numbers." That this occurrence took place at the time when Swedenborg's spiritual sight was opened, appears from the Adversaria, Vol. I, no. 1003, where he says, "From the middle of April, 1745, I was in heaven, while I was at the same time with my friends upon earth."
NOTE 22.
DR. GABRIEL ANDERSSON BEYER.
The following account of Dr. Gabriel Andersson Beyer, of whom Robsahm says, that "he was the only one among the clergy who embraced Swedenborg's explanations of the Scripture" (see Document 5, no. 18), is taken from the work entitled Nya Kyrkan och dess inflytande p Theologiens Studium i Sverige ("The New Church and its influence on the study of theology in Sweden"), Part III, pp. 12 to 26. In introducing this account the author says: "We have looked in vain for Beyer's name in the 'Biographical Dictionary of Celebrated Swedes.' That work contains an account, indeed, of the professor of eloquence, Dr. Johan Rosn, but does not mention anything about his relation to the New Church. Nay, even in the "History of the Bishopric of Gottenburg and its clergymen," by S. P. and J. G. Bexell, we have found only the name of Beyer, the year when he received his academical honours, and the year of his death.
"Gabriel Andersson Beyer was born in Bohusn. The year of his birth is not mentioned in the 'History of the Bishopric of Gottenburg.' Other sources also, which the author consulted, did not contain information on this subject. Of his childhood and early manhood nothing is known, except that, after finishing his preparatory course in the classical school at Gottenburg, he was admitted into its gymnasium in 1734, at the same time with Eric Lamberg, afterwards Bishop of Gottenburg, who in the trial above-mentioned evinced such an unfriendly disposition towards his former school companion and present colleague (in a subordinate capacity) in the Board of the Consistory. Both left the gymnasium at the same time, namely in the autumn of 1739, Lamberg going to Upsal, and Beyer to Lund. Among twenty members of the gymnasium who went to the universities, Montin, the dean of the gymnasium for the time being and the professor of theology, pointed out these two as classical scholars, who were already able to compose short dissertations in the learned languages. After taking the degree of master of philosophy at Lund, in l745, Beyer received the appointment of notary in the Consistory of Gottenburg in 1748; he was made Professor of Greek in 1762, and ten years after he became doctor of theology. In his capacity of professor, Dr. Beyer delivered several orations on anniversaries, the subjects of which were taken either from classical literature, or biblical philology. He seems to have been an abler Latin scholar than a, speaker in his own language.
"Beyer's acquaintance with Swedenborg took place in the following manner: In the year 1766, Swedenborg arrived at Gottenburg for the purpose of continuing his journey thence to England. Immediately after his arrival he engaged a berth in a ship, which was to set sail for London in a few days. During his stay at Gottenburg, Beyer happened by chance to make his acquaintance, and as he did not know Swedenborg personally, but only by hearsay, and as he shared the prejudices of those times with regard to his religious views, he was very much astonished, when he found Swedenborg discoursing in a most sensible manner, and without the least indication of any confusion in his imagination and thoughts, of which he had been suspected.
"All the time that Beyer could spare from the arduous duties of his professorship, he devoted to the preparation of works for the spread of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. Besides a 'Collection of Sermons,' which was the cause of his accusation before the Consistory, he composed the first catechism on Swedenborg's principles. This little work, which won much applause, circulated for some time in manuscript among the members of the New Church, and after the death of the author was published in Copenhagen by Mannerfeldt. Under the title of Cursus Philosophicus, Beyer wrote a summary of Swedenborg's religious philosophy, winch was preserved only by those of his friends who took the trouble to copy it. This exposition seems to have constituted his lectures (Dictata) which his enemies regarded as dangerous for the students of the gymnasium, and concerning which Assessor Aurell and Dean Ekebom stated in the trial before the Consistory, that they were received by the students with whistling and stamping. They were also talked about all over the kingdom as literary balderdash, from which learned institutions ought to be preserved. Thus a false idea of orthodoxy may excite fanaticism both in the minds of the old and of the young!
"The work by which Beyer most served the cause to which he had devoted himself, is his Index initialis in opera Swedenborgii theologica tripartita, and which was printed in Amsterdam, in 1779. This is an extensive lexicographical work upon which Beyer was occupied for thirteen years, and which affords evidence of the closest acquaintance with the contents of Swedenborg's works, and of a rare accuracy on the part of the author. After he had finished this laborious work, and had sent the last sheet of the manuscript to Amsterdam, he became ill, and died a few days afterwards, in the year 1779. Beyer seems to have been more successful as a lexicographer, than as a preacher, and to have been generally qualified more for the professor's chair than for the pulpit. The language in his collection of sermons, of which a new edition has been lately published, is wanting in precision and is stiff and diffuse. On that account his sermons did not meet with great success. Their substance manifests, however, Beyer's great love for the external and internal meaning of the Sacred Scripture, and shows how deeply he was imbued with the spirit of Swedenborg's writings.
"By those persons who either knew Beyer personally or who heard him described by others, he is said to have been a man of the purest virtue and of the most amiable character; to have been pious, simple-minded, humble, and frank; gentle and conciliatory with others; strict and severe towards himself; faithful to his convictions; persevering in his undertakings, and filled with the warmest sympathies for every thing that appeared to him beautiful, true, good, and sacred. For his defection from the strict Lutheranism of his times, he had to pay dearly enough in his life-time. Posterity that has examined this with impartial eyes and in its proper light, has not found in it anything blameworthy. Its judgment has been less austere than that of Beyer's former companion at school, Bishop Lamberg, and of several of his colleagues.
"Beyer left a son, Anders Beyer, who became dean and pastor somewhere in the diocese of Gottenburg. From Swedenborg's letter to Beyer, dated October 30, 1769, it appears that he was already a widower at that time."
Swedenborg's Correspondence with Dr. Beyer, which is contained in Section IX, constitutes one of the most valuable sources of information respecting Swedenborg during the last years of his life upon earth.
NOTE 23.
ANDERS CARL RUTSTRM.
Anders Carl Rutstrm, (see Document, 5, No. 18,) an able clergyman, who was persecuted during the whole of his official life by the Consistory of Stockholm, on account of his pietistic or Moravian sentiments. In 1752, he became pastor of the Hedvig Eleonora parish in Stockholm; and in 1757, in Ladugrdslandet, by which he obtained a seat in the Consistory. In 1765, his enemies succeeded in not only depriving him of his office, but even in banishing him from Sweden. For four years he lived in Hamburg and Copenhagen, until he was re-called in 1769 by a resolution of the Diet at Norrkping. On his return the clergy protested against his re-instatement in office, and even succeeded in having him confined in prison, "on account of his dangerous character." There he died in 1772.
NOTE 24.
EDWARD CARLESON.
Edward Carleson (see Document 5, No. 19), President of the College of Commerce, was born in 1704, and died in 1768. In company with Baron von Hpken he undertook a long journey, from 1732 to 1746, to eastern countries for the purpose of collecting information useful for the commerce of Sweden (see Note 134).
NOTE 25.
CARL REINHOLD BERCH.
Carl Reinhold Berch (see Document 5, No. 10), Councillor of Chancery, was born in 1706, and died in 1777. He was a very learned man, and a great numismatician; he was a member of all the learned societies in Sweden, and of the Antiquarian Society of London.
NOTE 26.
SWEDENBORG ON TOOTH-ACHE.
Cfr. Arcana Coelestia, No. 5720, where Swedenborg says as follows: "There were hypocrites with me, namely such, as spoke in a holy manner on Divine things, and, indeed, in such a manner as though they were affected with a love for the general welfare and the neighbour, and as if they loved justice and equity, when yet in their hearts they despised and ridiculed these things.
NOTE 27.
THE STATEMENT THAT SWEDENBORG HAD A MISTRESS
CONSIDERED.
The accuracy of the statement made in Document 5, No. 36, we contest for the following reasons: First, because it refers to a period in Swedenborg's life, when Robsahm was not personally acquainted with him, and because he relates it as a mere matter of hearsay; further, in Note 19 we furnish a proof that what Robsahm relates of Swedenborg's earlier life is not perfectly reliable. Secondly, after the establishment of the Philanthropic-Exegetic Society (see Note 20), in 1786, "Robsahm's Memoirs," were brought before that Society for discussion and approval. For in an abstract of the Proceedings of that body, which is in possession of the Society of the New Church in Stockholm, the editor of these documents found two emendations of "Robsahm's Memoirs," which have been appended by him as Nos. 53 and 54 to Robsahm's account. No. 53 is an emendation of this gentleman's account of Swedenborg's interview with Queen Louisa Ulrica, contained in his No. 46; and at the close of this amended account is added, "The above was written with his own hand by His Excellency, Count Hopken, Feb. 9, 1784, after he had read Robsahm's Life of Swedenborg, and he desired this to be appended to the same." Immediately after this statement of Count Hopken, in the abstract of the Proceedings of the Philanthropic-Exegetic Society, there comes our No. 54, which is an emendation of Robsahm's No. 36. This was laid before the Society on March 28, 1789. From this amended account it appears that Swedenborg in his younger years was in love with Emerentia, the second daughter of Polhem, the Councillor of Commerce, and that she was promised in marriage to him by her father; but that when Swedenborg discovered that his love was not returned, he left the house with a solemn oath, "never more to fix his affections upon any lady, and still less to enter into any other engagement of marriage." This vow, as is well known, Swedenborg kept to the end of his life.
The truth of this statement was confirmed by Swedenborg himself in his conversation with General Tuxen, by whom he is reported to have said, that "once in his youth he had been on the road to matrimony; King Charles XII having recommended the famous Polhem to give him his daughter." When General Tuxen asked him what obstacle had prevented it, Swedenborg is said to have answered, "she would not have me, as she had promised herself to another person to whom she was more attached."
This account was written out by General Tuxen for Augustus Nordenskold,35 brother of C. F. Nordenskold,20 and translated by Augustus Nordenskold from Danish into English, and published by him in 1790 in an appendix to the "New Jerusalem Magazine." In this account Augustus Nordenskold makes General Tuxen say further, that Swedenborg had told him besides, that "in his youth he had a mistress in Italy." Is this statement correct and reliable? We answer, No! for the following reasons: First, it is proved to be incorrect by internal evidence, for it declares that Swedenborg was in Italy in his youth; when yet he entered Italy for the first time in March, 1738 (as is proved by the journals of his travels), when he was fifty years of age, for he was born in 1688. Secondly, the whole of General Tuxen's account loses very much in weight and importance, as the Danish original has been lost, and we have only the English translation, which was made by Augustus Nordenskold, who was a talented man, and well versed in the doctrines of the New Church, but morally, in the latter part of his life, utterly depraved. The venerable Thomas Dawes* says respecting him, in a letter addressed to the Swedenborg Society, which is dated Jan. 14, 1842: "I think the New Church should not wholly depend upon the fidelity of Mr. Nordenskold's copying; for his unchaste conduct during his stay in Manchester was such as no New Churchman could overlook."
* According to the Intellectual Repository for April, 1860, "Mr. Thomas Dawes, formerly of Yoxall, in the county of Stafford, was for many years a well-known and ardent receiver of the doctrines of the New Church, who was removed into the spiritual world in advanced age, in 1849. He and his father were the instruments through whom the late Rev. B. Madeley, of Derby, was introduced to the writings of Swedenborg, of which Mr. Dawes has himself left an interesting account, in a letter published in the London 'New Jerusalem Magazine' for the year 1828. He was the writer of several papers in the 'Aurora,' and also in subsequent periodicals, the secretary of the General Conference held in Birmingham in 1808, and the author of an anonymous 'Treatise on Redemption.'"
NOTE 28.
COUNT ANDERS JOHAN VON HPKEN.
Count Anders Johan von Hpken, from whom proceeds No. 53 in Document 5, was the son of the President of the College of Commerce, Baron von Hpken, who descended originally from an English family called Hopking, which had emigrated to Germany, and thence to Sweden. He was born in 1712, and died in Stockholm in 1789. After having received a careful education, he travelled abroad in 1730, and during his journey in France became a member of the Acadmie des Belies Lettres of Marseilles. On his return home in 1734, he at once took an active part in the political affairs of Sweden, and became a member of the Swedish Diet in 1738 when he was but twenty-six years old. At the same time he took a great interest in everything pertaining to science and literature, and he proposed, in 1739, in connection with Linnaeus and others, the plan of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, which was instituted in the same year, and of which he was made the first secretary. In 1741, he became a secretary in the Department of the Exterior; in 1746, marshal of the court, and soon after in the same year senator or councillor of state, i. e. a member of the Swedish executive council.
Count von Hpken was considered one of the finest Swedish writers. The "Swedish Biographical Lexicon" says concerning him, "It was especially the power of his thought, the force of his expression, and the purity of his language, which were admired in this statesman. But although he, the Swedish Tacitus, in the capacity of author, had fairly reached his Roman model in the pith and force of his style, and in his grand mode of expressing himself, yet his character was not marked by the same freedom and decision which distinguished the Roman. There was a contrast or contradiction between his Literary and his personal character; and the Swedish Prime Minister lacked the necessary courage and decision, which would have enabled him either to come out victoriously from fierce storms or to have succumbed in an illustrious manner." Count Hpken's biographer alludes here to his dilatory and irresolute way of shaping the policy of Sweden during the "Seven Years' War," when the Council of State were equally divided as to the policy to be pursued by Sweden, and when von Hpken, instead of manfully meeting this difficulty, absented himself from Stockholm, leaving it to his colleagues to weather the storm and come to a decision as best they could.* Count Tessin said concerning him, in the Diet of 1760, "Count von Hpken's great talents are quite insufficient for our present emergency; and are of no more use than if an Axel Oxenstierna should rise from his grave. He is a dignified speaker, he writes better than any one in the country, is quick in finding expedients in all unforeseen matters--yet what is the use of all this?"
* See on this subject Documents 105 and 196, containing Swedenborg's views of this affair, which are slightly different from the above version, which is that of the editor of the "Swedish Biographical Dictionary."
In his letter to General Tuxen dated May 11, 1772, Count Hpken stated, that, "he had not only known the late Assessor Swedenborg these two-and-forty years, but also some time since daily frequented his company." This more intimate acquaintance with Swedenborg seems to have dated from the winter of 1759, when it first became publicly known in Stockholm that Swedenborg's spiritual eyes were opened, and that he enjoyed intercourse with departed spirits. (Cfr. Baron D. Tilas's letter to Count C. J. Cronstedt, dated March 24, 1760.) In this letter Baron Tilas, who was then councillor of mines, writes, that "Senator Count Hpken had called upon Swedenborg, and stayed with him from two to three hours." The interest which Hpken took in Swedenborg seems to have originated at first entirely in curiosity; but after he found that Swedenborg was sound in mind, and most learned in everything that concerned not only the spiritual but also the natural world, he made it a point to collect all his theological and philosophical writings, and he also requested from Swedenborg his portrait in oil. The books that were collected by Count Hpken are now in the possession of the Royal Library in Stockholm, and Swedenborg's portrait was presented by one of the Count's heirs to the National Portrait Gallery in Gripsholm. Among the books presented to Count Hpken at that time by Swedenborg was his copy of Swammerdam's Biblia Naturae which he sent in place of his Opera Philosophica et Mineralia, which the Count desired to possess, but which Swedenborg was unable to send to him, as he had presented his own copy of the work to the Royal Library in Stockholm. The copy of Swammerdam with Swedenborg's letter of presentation to Count Hpken is now in the possession of Dr. Lovn of the Medical Institute (Carolinska Institutet) in Stockholm. In a letter dated November 17, 1769, which will be found in Section IX of the present work, Swedenborg meets some objections of Count Hpken to his work "A Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church," and at the close of the letter he writes: "Your Excellency's pleasure in my writings rejoices me at heart, and I thank you for it with all due respect," &c. So that it would seem, as if Count Hpken was influenced by more than a mere feeling of curiosity in seeking Swedenborg's society.
"I am sorry that Agent Seele116 did not inform me sooner, that the late Swedenborg had sent me last autumn a copy of his last work. If I had heard of it sooner, I might have done my duty, and thanked him for this attention. If the book is not bound, I wish you would send it to my Commissioner, Mr. Nyrn, Blasieholmen, with instructions to have it bound in English binding, so as to match the remaining collection. After the coronation there ought to be a hundred opportunities to send it to Linkping to Professor lff. That honest old gentleman, Swedenborg, has spoken about me so favourably in various places, that he has even made me his apostle after his death. About a week ago I received a very courteous letter from an unknown gentleman in Denmark, in which he entreats me for his own and his wife's sake, to give them some information about Swedenborg's system, and to act as their guide. Never in my life have I been more surprised, nor have I laughed more, nor have been more non-plussed.
HPKEN
Ulfsa, May 17, 1772.*
* A copy of this letter is contained in the "Bergius Collection of Letters," which is preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
The unknown gentleman, of whom Count Hpken here wrote, was General Tuxen of Elsinore; and although Count Hpken was very much surprised by his letter, he still wrote General Tuxen a very interesting account of Swedenborg in reply, and corresponded with him for several years. In his letter of May 21, 1773, he says, "Your correspondence, Sir, is not only very agreeable to me, but also very edifying. In 1786, Count Hpken joined the Exegetic-Philanthropic Society, which was devoted to the spread of the doctrines of Swedenborg, so it would seem that during the latter part of his life until the time of his death in 1789, he really studied Swedenborg's doctrines more deeply, and became even to some extent a believer in them. This appears especially from the letters that he wrote to General Tuxen after 1772, which will be found in Section IX.
NOTE 29.
EMERENTIA POLHEM.
Emerentia Polhem was born June 25, 1703. She had a literary taste, and was known in her time for a work on Swedish rhyme. In 1723, she was married to Rckerskld, councillor of the Court of Appeals, to whom she bore nine children. She died in 1760.
NOTE 30.
REINHOLD RCKER OR RCKERSKLD.
Reinhold Rcker, called after his elevation to the rank of nobility Rckerskld, was born in 1690. He was at first in the civil service of Stockholm, where he remained until 1720; when he received an appointment as provincial judge (hradshfding) in a part of Dalecarlia. He married the same year his first wife who died in 1721. In 1723, he married Emerentia Polhem, whose acquaintance he probably made in Dalecarlia, where she resided with her father, at Stjernsund. In 1749, he became councillor in the Court of Appeals, and in 1752 he was ennobled. He died in 1759.
NOTE 31.
SWEDENBORG'S MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENTS.
In the spring of 1718, Swedenborg joined Polhem at Wenersborg in the construction of the locks at the outlet of Lake Wener, and on Sept. 14, 1718 he wrote to his brother-in-law, E. Benzelius as follows: "Polhem's eldest daughter is betrothed to a chamberlain of the King, Manderstrm by name. I wonder what people will say to this, inasmuch as she was intended for me. His second daughter is in my opinion much prettier" (see Document 81). From this it follows in the first place, that when Swedenborg became interested in Polhem's second daughter, Emerentia, the latter was between fifteen and sixteen, and not between thirteen and fourteen years of age; and in the second place it follows, that Swedenborg was actually engaged to be married at one time to Maria, the eldest daughter of Polhem, who was born in 1698; and was at the time twenty years of age, and who on the 11th of November 1718, was married to Martin Ludvig Manderstrm,80 chamberlain to the King.
NOTE 32.
GABRIEL POLHEM.
Gabriel Polhem, born in 1700, inherited his father's love for mechanics, but not his inventive genius. He assisted his father in the building of the dock at Carlscrona, and also at the building of the locks, and the digging of the Carlsgraf canal, near Wenersborg. Afterwards he prepared his father's inventions and papers for the press, and supplied him in a great measure with the assistance which Swedenborg had rendered him before. In 1752, he succeeded his father as director of the Mechanical Institute. He was never married, and died in Stockholm in 1772.
NOTE 33.
SWEDENBORG'S ESTRANGEMENT FROM POLHEM.
The only additional particulars relating to this occurrence (Document 5, paragraph 53) are contained in a letter from Polhem to E. Benzelius, dated Carlsgraf, April 18, 1719 (Document 84). It appears from it, that Swedenborg took his experience with Polhem's daughters so much to heart, that he broke off for the time all intercourse with the family, so that three letters which Polhem wrote to Swedenborg, were returned to him unopened;
NOTE 34.
ABB PERNETY.
"Anton Joseph Pernety was born Feb. 13, 1716. In the year 1763, he joined the order of the Benedictines, and after some time was made Abbot of St. Germain. In 1763, he went with Bougainville to the Malouinian Islands, in order to take possession of them in the name of France. He afterwards favoured the dissolution of the order of the Benedictines; and as his wishes were not realized, he left the chapter and his order, and accepted from Frederic the Great an invitation to Prussia. He was appointed by him chief librarian of the public library, and a member of the Royal academy of Sciences and Fine Arts in Berlin; he was likewise a member of the Academy of Florence. After some time he received the abbey of Brgel in Thuringia. In the years 1781 and 1782, he became acquainted with several of Swedenborg's followers, and collected his notices concerning him. With difficulty he was allowed to resign his position in Berlin, and return in 1783 to Paris. He then lived for some time in Valence, but finally retired to Avignon, where he resided during the French Revolution. Although he kept aloof from everything that savoured of politics, maintained silence, and lived in retirement, still he was made a prisoner, and was not released until the 9th Thermidor. He died in the year 1801." This notice of Pernety we translate from Dr. I. Tafel's German edition of the Swedenborg Documents, Vol. I, p. 69. To it we may add, on the authority of C. Lenning's "Encyclopaedie der Freimauerei" (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry), that at Avignon Pernety established a secret society which made use of masonic formulae and emblems. This Society which Lenning calls "Acadmie ou Socit des Illumins d'Avignon," had besides the three degrees of John, one higher degree, which was based on the doctrines of St. Martin and Swedenborg, and which was called "the true mason."
* Some further account of this society may be found in Hindmarsh's "Rise and Progress of the New Jerusalem Church," pages 41 to 49, from which it appears that that society was anything but a New Church Society.
Dieudonn Thiebault, another member of the Academy of Berlin, in his "Souvenir de vingt ans de sjour Berlin," finds fault with Pernety on account of his attachment to Swedenborg's Revelations, but on the whole he speaks very favourably of him. He says, "In general, my colleague, M. Pernety, was very learned (I speak of that learning which is a matter of the memory); but his learning was a crude and undigested mass (rudis indigestaque moles); in other respects he was an excellent man, moderate and good-natured, so that he scarcely ever got into difficulty with any body; yea, he was obliging when it lay in his power. In society he preserved habitually a precious evenness of temper, and was willing to believe to any extent, without disputing with any one. But in spite of this weakness he was universally loved; especially as, to all his other social qualities, he added a discretion which stood all tests; never did a word from his mouth require the least explanation, or cause any entanglement." Compare also "Biographie Universelle," Vol. 33, p. 388, et seq., where his various publications are enumerated.
Notwithstanding his great learning and his many good qualities, Pernety was not an accurate scholar, nor a reliable translator, as may appear from the following criticism which was made on his translation of "Heaven and Hell," by the French translators of Swedenborg's "Intercourse between the Soul and the Body," published in London in 1785. In their "Preliminary Discourse," p. 55, they say, "The French translator of the treatise on 'Heaven and Hell' has committed a real wrong in misrepresenting his author almost from beginning to end; in abridging him wherever he could, when yet he is nowhere too long; and especially in impressing upon his reader an error at the end of his note to the paragraph treating of the saints of the Catholics, where he says positively that these saints may be invoked, in contradiction to what the author himself teaches in several places of his writings, by the express order of the Lord from whom he received his mission."
In much stronger terms of condemnation the Marquis de Thom writes to C. F. Nordenskld on this subject, in a letter dated Paris, August 11, 1783: "Report, Sir, has not deceived you with regard to the attachment which I have vowed to the new revelation. No one is more intimately convinced and persuaded that the works of your countryman have in reality emanated from the Lord for the instruction of the men that are already born, and that will be born, and for the institution of a New Church, and the establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ upon this earth forever and ever.
From all this it appears that the testimony of Pernety respecting Swedenborg requires to be very carefully examined and compared with other testimony; for if he took such liberties in translating one of Swedenborg's works, it is quite possible that he took similar liberties with the testimony that he has published respecting him. Yet as the persons who sent him this testimony were still living at the time, and occupied important positions in Sweden and-England, he could not well have garbled their statements without being taken to account for it--wherefore he no doubt hesitated before altering it materially.
There are, however, two paragraphs in his account of Swedenborg, namely 16 and 17, which we consider false and erroneous; yet the errors seem to have been committed before the account reached Pernety, as will be shown in Note 42.
NOTE 35.
AUGUSTUS NORDENSKLD.
Augustus Nordenskld, the elder brother of C. F. Nordenskld,20 was born in 1754; he studied in bo in Finland, where he became much interested in chemistry and mineralogy. He afterwards continued his studies in Stockhohm, where he became an auscultant or assistant in the College of Mines; afterwards he became chief of a mining district (Bergshauptman), in Finland, and was admitted a member of the Academy of Sciences. During his stay in Stockholm, about 1773, he became acquainted with the writings of Swedenborg, which he received enthusiastically. He was looked upon by his brother Carl Frederic Nordenskld, his friend Carl Berns Wadstrm,36 and other ardent and zealous admirers of Swedenborg as the most intelligent and profound student of the doctrines of the New Church at the time; and in a limited sense he deserved their praise. During a journey abroad in 1780, he found in London in the possession of Dr. Messiter2 one of Swedenborg's MSS., in which he was so much interested that he had it printed at once at his own expense. This was the "Coronis; or, Appendix to the True Christian Religion." On his return to Stockholm he made a careful examination of the Swedenborg MSS. which were preserved in the Library of the Academy of Sciences, and most of which were in loose sheets. All these sheets he had well bound at his own expense; so that the careful preservation of the Swedenborg MSS. is in a great measure due to him. The most important works also, such as the "Internal Sense of the Prophets and Psalms," the Index to the "Apocalypse Revealed," the Index to the "Arcana Coeslestia," the "Doctrine of Charity," the "Canons," and several other works were copied under his superintendence, and some of them were taken by his brother C. F. Nordenskld to England in 1783, with a view to their publication there.
While, however, taking such a great interest in the writings of Swedenborg, he unfortunately became impressed with the fixed idea that he had discovered the secret of making gold. His object in trying to make gold was, to render both silver and gold so common, as to revolutionize society, and to do away with the distinction between rich and poor.
By his learning and the plausibility of his reasoning he exercised great influence on other followers of Swedenborg, especially Bergklint the mining engineer; nay, he even impressed Baron Munck, the governor of Drottningholm, with the idea that he was capable of making gold, so that this official built for him a laboratory in Drottningholm, where A. Nordenskld, together with Bergklint, tried for two years (17888 to 1790,) to carry out their scheme of making gold; but when they did not succeed, Munck employed Bergklint and a Captain Appelqvist to coin false Russian gold, and to make false Russian paper-money, making them believe that it was done by order of the King. This matter leaked out, and in 1792 Munck was deprived of all his offices and honours, and was exiled from Sweden. A minute description of all these transactions is contained in a paper read before the Academy of Finland in 1867, entitled: "Finish Alchemists" (Finska Achemyster), consisting for the most part of letters written by Bergklint to the Nordenskld family in Finland.
By mixing up the cause of the New Church with gold-making on the one hand, and mesmerism on the other, the early followers of Swedenborg did great injury to the cause of the New Church in their own country. This too was the cause of the breaking up of the Philanthropic-Exegetic Society, of which both A. Nordenskld and Bergklint were members. It was not A. Nordenskld however, but Baron Silfverhjelm (see Document 9 C, Table IV, No. 2, p. 91) who introduced mesmerism into that society, which was especially broken up by the attacks and satires of the poets Kellgren and Leopold, in "Stockholm's Post," of which the former was the editor.
Augustus Nordenskld and C. B. Wadstrm,36 who had been the president of that society, left Sweden in consequence of these attacks; Wadstrm as early as 1757, and A. Nordenskld in 1790; C. F. Nordenskld alone remained in Sweden and defended the cause of the New Church and its adherents against their assailants.
It is strange to see how A. Nordenskld, while being consumed on the one hand with a fever for making gold, busied himself intellectually on the other with developing the idea of the New Church according to his own notions.
Language fails us, to describe our horror at seeing the doctrines of the New Church falsified and slandered in such a manner. Where does Swedenborg say that he only is a member of the New Church who has been externally baptized into it? Where does he say that those only are united in true marriage and in conjugial love who acknowledge the doctrines of the New Church? Our very pen revolts, at being compelled to write such un-Christian, and even blasphemous language. Where does Swedenborg say that a wife who does not acknowledge the doctrines of the New Church, though it be from sheer ignorance, is a concubine, and not a wife? Shame! shame upon any one to say so who has had the privilege of studying the doctrines of the New Church! And where finally does Swedenborg say that if the wife of a New Churchman does not accept the doctrines of the New Church, her husband, if he cannot contain his lust of the flesh, is entitled to have a concubine, provided a minister of the Church give him written leave? No wonder that a man who held such doctrines and who, according to the testimony of Mr. Dawes, (see Note 27), acted according to them, should have endeavoured to whitewash and excuse his own sin, by declaring "that Swedenborg himself had a mistress in his youth in Italy."
At the time A. Nordenskld was publishing his "Plan of an Organization of the New Church," he received from General Tuxen (according to a statement which the latter made to C. F. Nordenskld in a letter dated May 8, 1790) his account of Swedenborg, together with certified copies of the letters he had received from Count Hpken; and while staying in Copenhagen and at Helsingr with General Tuxen, he sent to his friend C. G. Wadstrm,36 who had in conjunction with Mr. Servant, and several other friends of the New Church, commenced the publication of the New Jerusalem Magazine, his proposals for organizing the New Church, yet leaving out all the objectionable portions about marriage and concubinage. These proposals are contained in the March number of the New Jerusalem Magazine; while the letters which he had received from General Tuxen appeared in an appendix to that magazine.
Thwarted in his endeavours to make gold, and driven about by his restless spirit, A. Nordenskld, soon after his arrival in England, and in opposition to the advice of his friends, embarked for Sierra Leone in Africa, whither he went in quest of gold, and where in the interior of the country he died of exhaustion in 1792, after having been robbed of everything by the natives.
We conclude our notice of Augustus Nordenskld, with the account given of him by his brother C. F. Nordenskld20 in his "Autobiography," contained in the confiscated work "Considrations Gnrales," &c., to which we had occasion to allude before. This autobiography was written by the latter for the benefit of his children, as may appear from the following introduction to it at p. 250: "The kind reader will no doubt pardon us for adding here the summary of the life of a father, written by him in order to encourage his children in the path of virtue. This faithful recital, the truth of which we warrant, will prove how much Divine Providence interposes itself in order to save a mortal who trusts in God, and who tries his utmost to suffer himself to be guided by His will." On page 253 he continues, "God speaks sometimes to us feeble mortals in occurrences which thwart our projects, in order by this means to act on our reason, and save us from misfortunes; and when any one suffers himself to be directed by reason, this is not superstition. Superstition is incompatible with true religion, and on that account it was prohibited so severely by Moses." On p. 254 he introduces the life of his brother Augustus, in order to exhibit to his children the sad results which arise, when any one insists on following his own ways, and refuses to be guided by the Divine Providence. He introduces his brother anonymously, calling him one of his friends:
"I had a friend who, during the latter years of his life, told me, that he never engaged in any enterprise in which he thought his own welfare was concerned, without meeting with so many obstacles, that it was like forcing a way through thick walls. He observed also that when he actually succeeded in any of his undertakings, he was never made the happier. Nevertheless, he would not allow himself to be corrected. It seemed even as if these obstacles doubled the energy of his will. He undertook a voyage where he would be exposed to great dangers. All his friends dissuaded him from it, but neither their entreaties, nor the affection of his wife and children, nor his poor health, nor all the reverses and obstacles which he encountered before starting, could shake his resolution. It was to be commenced by sea, which he called his hell. He sailed from England, but the captain was very soon obliged to put into an Irish port, to take shelter from the storm, and wait for a favourable wind. My friend wrote from that sea-port, that he was seriously ill, and was obliged to borrow money to meet his expenses; he wrote also that he suffered so many pains and experienced such ennui, that he was often on the point of giving up his journey, and returning to London with a view of abandoning his great enterprise.
"The vessel sailed at last, and he left the place where he had remained over two months, and finally arrived at his destination. There also the feebleness of his body, the unhealthiness of the season for travelling, and the counsels of his friends were sufficient to prevent him from pursuing his journey into the interior of the country; but he was inflexible.
"He set out with a caravan of merchandize belonging to himself, and an escort of thirty persons whom he considered trustworthy. He had no suspicion that his travelling companions were robbers; but, while on his journey, he was stripped of everything; and all his great projects of making discoveries in natural history and chemistry and of finding gold-mines were for ever dissipated. Abandoned by his escort, he was left alone, and died either from fright or from fatigue. By his death his wife and children, whom he had left at home, were reduced to a deplorable condition, and I who had undertaken to pay some of his debts, am still a sufferer in consequence.
"God certainly intended to influence him by the reverses that preceded his journey, and induce him to give up his plan, so as to secure to him a longer life, and so enable him to repent of his evils before entering into eternity, and also to save his family from misery.
"One year before his death I was in London for several months daily in his society, and I foresaw that he was on the eve of a great misfortune. For contrary to his ordinary disposition he became angry without any cause, even against his friends and benefactors. He put a bad construction on their remarks, which were spoken with the best intention; he associated with persons without morals, and did not practise conscientiously that religion which he professed. In this manner he lost the interior discernment of what is good and true, or those presentiments by which we are saved from dangers."
NOTE 36.
CHARLES BERNS WADSTRM.
The following account of Charles Berns Wadstrm, from the pen; of Mr. J. A. Tulk, is written on the flyleaf of the copy of the "New Jerusalem Magazine," which he presented to the Library of the Swedenborg Society: "This gentleman came from Stockholm to London prior to the year 1790, and brought with him many of the manuscripts of Emanuel Swedenborg, such as the "Diary" and others. He was a man zealous in the propagation of the New Doctrines, and had been one of the members of the Exegetical Society established in Stockholm for the same purpose.
In addition to these remarks we are enabled to give some further particulars concerning C. B. Wadstrm from the notice contained in the "Swedish Biographical Dictionary," and we may also mention that the Swedish Academy a few years ago struck a medallion in honour of him, and had a careful biographical sketch of his life prepared by one of their number. This distinction was accorded him on account of the interest he took in the abolition of slavery. In the former of these works we read concerning him, "It was by the warmth he displayed in favour of the abolition of slavery, and his disinterested efforts in this noble cause, that Wadstrm became entitled to have his name immortalized. After returning from Africa to London [in 1780] he published his valuable 'Observations on the Slave Trade.' This subject had already begun to be agitated in the English parliament, and the publication of the Swedish gentleman excited much interest. William Pitt, who was prime minister at that time, discussed this subject with Wadstrm. He was invited to appear before the British Privy Council, and he appeared before a committee of the whole House of Commons, to furnish the information which was desired. Wilberforce now redoubled his efforts, in which he was supported by Fox.
NOTE 37.
SWEDENBORG'S MARBLE TABLE.
This table, which is mentioned in Document 5, paragraph 10, and in Document 6, paragraph 5, is still preserved in the back-room of the building which is at present assigned to the use of the College of Mines.
NOTE 38.
JOHN AUGUSTUS ERNESTI.
John August Ernesti, who is mentioned in Document 6, paragraph 8, the founder of a new theological and philosophical school, was born in Thuringia, in 1707. In 1734, he became rector of the Thomas School in Leipzig; in 1742, extraordinary professor of ancient literature; in 1756, ordinary professor of eloquence in the University of Leipzig: in 1759, he obtained in addition a theological professorship; which he held till the time of his death in 1781. From him, says "Brockhaus's Conversations-Lexicon," the enlightened study of theology principally grammatical explanation. He edited a large number of the Latin and Greek classics, and on account of his excellent Latin style merited the appellation of a "Cicero" among the Germans. Among his theological writings were the "Anti-Muratorius," (Leipzig, 1755,) his "Opuscula Theologica," (Leipzig, 1792;) and especially his "Neue Theologische Bibliothek," in 10 Vols. From 1760 to 69, in which he attached the writings and the personal character of Swedenborg.
NOTE 39.
COUNT TESSIN.
Count Carl Gustav Tessin, son of Count Nicodemus Tessin, the builder of the royal castle in Stockholm, was born in 1695, and was one of the ablest and most honourable men whose names are recorded in Swedish history.
Ehrenheim describes Tessin's character as follows: "It is important to notice the zeal he displayed in his youth in the cause of freedom, and his interest in the method of government, inasmuch as this was a principal feature of his character afterwards, and determined the course which he followed as an officer of the state. It might be said that his first bent in this direction he received in his father's house, but this cannot be supposed to have determined his actions for more than thirty years afterwards. It was no doubt an interior conviction with him, and he had a clear conception of the possibility of a free, independent, enlightened, and happy people, under a pacific king, seeking progress by peaceful means. The proofs which he had given of patriotism, industry, talent; his knowledge of the world, his ability, his skill in conversation, and his independent resources, would have secured for him an exalted position in society, and made him an object of attention to all parties, even had he not been invested with a high office."
Gadd wrote of his intercourse with artists: "He treats all artists like brothers; he shares his means with the needy, and stimulates their zeal.
Montgomery says concerning him: "If one examines C. G. Tessin in his capacity of statesman, courtier, and citizen we cannot but admire his consistency, his strength of character, and his patriotism. As the first man at Court he was not forgetful of his higher duties; as Prime Minister and an active citizen, and as a warm friend of his King and. country, he did not leave out of sight the more precious love which he owed to God, nor the precepts of the doctrine of Christ. He, therefore, never made any compromises with his conscience, and never took any step as statesman, courtier, or citizen at the expense of his conscience, of his religion, or of his oath of office."
Count Tessin died on the 10th of January, 1770, and was the last of his name.
NOTE 40.
JACOB BHME.
Jacob Bhme, see Document 6, paragraph 16, called Philosophus Teutonicus, and one of the most celebrated theosophists and mystics, was born in 1575, near Grlitz in Silesia. He was the son of poor peasants, and learned the trade of a shoemaker. On his journeys as a travelling journeyman he enlarged his experience and knowledge of the world. On his return to Grlitz in 1594, he became a master shoemaker, and married the daughter of a butcher, with whom he lived for thirty years in happy wedlock. In 1612, he published his first work, which he called "Aurora," because in it he kindled a new light for those who desired to know. This work contains his revelations and views concerning God, humanity, and nature, and it evidences a familiar aquaintance on his part with the Sacred Scriptures; still he made use also of the works of other writers, as Paracelsus, Valentin, Weigel, and others. The clergy in Grlitz opposed his book, and had it condemned, while the judges declared Bhme himself to be innocent. This persecution confirmed Bhme in his own views, and spread his reputation. Persons of distinction came from all parts and desired to see and to converse with him; they also provided him with the means of living, and of publishing his remaining works, which he did after the year 1619.
NOTE 41.
SWEDENBORG AND BOHME.
We do not object to paragraph 16 of Pernety's account because of its containing statements incompatible with Swedenborg's doctrines, or because of its throwing a false light on his character; but we refuse to admit its genuineness simply because Swedenborg declared in a letter to Dr. Beyer that he had never read the writings of Jacob Bhme. His words on this subject are contained in a letter, dated Feb. 1767, which will be found in Section IX: "You desire to know my opinion respecting the writings of Bhme and L.: I have never read them, and I was forbidden to read authors on dogmatic and systematic theology, before heaven was opened to me; because unfounded opinions and fictions might have easily insinuated themselves thereby, which afterwards could only have been removed with difficulty." The information contained in Document 6, paragraph 16, seems to have been conveyed to Sweden by Augustus Nordenskold, who was in London in 1780, thus two years before the above account was sent by himself and his brother C. F. Nordenskold to Pernety.
NOTE 42.
SWEDENBORG AND HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.
The truth of the statement contained in Document 6, paragraph 17, we deny in tote, because it is opposed in principle to Swedenborg's doctrine of discrete degrees, according to which there is a perfection in the particles of every created substance in a threefold ratio from the outermost to the innermost degree; the innermost degree being far above the range of chemistry. On this subject Swedenborg says in his work on the "Divine Love and Wisdom," Nos. 195 and 197: "The first degree is the all in all in the following degrees; and the reason of this is, because the degrees of every subject and of every object are homogeneous, and they are homogeneous because they are produced by the first degree. For their formation is such that the first by combining or gathering together, in a word by conglobating, produces the second, and by this the third; and that each is distinguished from the other by a surrounding covering.
Originally by the "Hennetic philosophy" was understood the wisdom contained in the sacred writings of the Egyptians, known under the name of the "Hermetic writings," and which are ascribed to the Egyptian god Thoth, called Hermes by the Greeks. These writings contained the mythological dogmas and history, the liturgy, the civil and religious law, the rules of life and ethics, and the entire circle of Egyptian science. In the third century after Christ there arose the school of the New Platonists in Alexandria, by whom the philosophy of the Greeks was combined with the science of the Egyptians, and in the fourth century after Christ the problem of changing the baser metals into gold was diligently pursued in the schools at Alexandria. This problem had, however, been studied at an earlier period by others, who declared that they had derived the secret immediately from a study of the ancient Egyptian writings; wherefore the Emperor Diocletian in the year 296 ordered that all Egyptian books on the art of making gold should be burnt. Nevertheless, as we have already seen, this problem continued to be pursued at Alexandria, and was handed down from generation to generation, and gave origin to the school of the alchemists.
Among his various writings Pernety had published a treatise on the "Mythology of the Egyptians," in which he presented his ideas on the "Hermetic Philosophy." This treatise was much relished by Augustus Nordenskld, who, as me have shown in Note 35, was very much interested in the problem of making gold, and had tried many experiments in order to realize it. In a letter, dated October 30, 1781, addressed to Charles F. Nordenskld, from which me have given an extract in our introductory note to "Pernety's Account of Swedenborg," Pernety writes on the subject of the "Hermetic Philosophy" as follows: "You see I write to you, judging you to be an honest man, who will I believe at some future time belong to the number of God's children who suffer themselves to be guided by caution and wisdom, and whose thoughts and actions must have for their only object the glorification of our good Father. I write to you as your upright friend, and as such I am glad to be able to tell you that, in respect to the subject of the "Hermetic philosophy," concerning which I wrote in my treatise on the "Mythology of the Egyptians," I was led more by my memory, than by a profound knowledge of that philosophy. This treatise contains extracts from other writings, to which I have added my own views on the subject. I had no understanding of this matter, and I ask God's pardon for the error into which a perusal of this book led those, who thought they discovered in it the truth which I was unable to show them. Still, you may believe that it is a Divine science; that God reveals this secret only to those whom he sees to be fit; that the philosophers have kept silence where it was their duty to keep it; that it is impossible to understand this secret except by a special revelation from God, which will supply the essential points that have not been disclosed by the philosophers; and, finally, that this science will not prove successful, unless God indeed commands the angel of his power to guide the artist and his work. You may judge then yourself whether your friend possesses indeed this secret, and you may see also how little dependence can be placed upon the words of those, who declare that they have found this secret. Let me repeat here my declaration, that this science is the mystery of mysteries of the all-wise Creator of nature. Depend upon it, and as a faithful fellow-brother and friend extricate the gold makers and alchemists from their bootless endeavours, and tell them that they will never succeed, unless God Himself holds out his hand."
Pernety's advice was not followed by the friend of Charles F. Nordenskld, who was no other than his own brother Augustus, and who, in conjunction with the engineer Bergklint, undertook in the years 1788 to 1790 to make gold on the island of Drottningholm. Proofs of this we furnish in Note 35.
In answer to his letter to Charles F. Nordenskld, Pernety received from the brothers Nordenskld the account of Swedenborg which he published as an introduction to his translation of the work "Heaven and Hell," and of which we gave an analysis in the introductory note to that account (Document 6).
If we take into consideration the peculiar and unreliable character of Augustus Nordenskld, who drew up this account; and if we consider that he made another statement concerning Swedenborg which me have proved to be false (compare Notes 27 and 35); and, if we consider further, that he himself was guilty of those practices and views with which he charged Swedenborg, it seems more than probable that the story related in paragraph 17 of Pernety's account originated also with him, and that it grew out of the letter which Pernety had written to his brother, and from which we gave a long extract.
NOTE 43.
LOUIS DE MARTEVILLE
Louis de Marteville was ambassador extraordinary from Sweden to the General States of the Netherlands. He died April 25, 1780, at the age of fifty-nine years, in Stockholm, where he had resided since 1752. (See "Neue Genealogisch-Historische Nachrichten von den vornehmsten Begebenheiten, welche sich an den Europischen Hfen zutragen," etc. part 136, Leipzig, 1761, pp. 244, 247.) Madsme de Marteville was a sister of Chamberlain von Ammon, who had been the ambassador of Prussia to the Courts of Holland and France. She had probably been with her brother in Holland, and had there made the acquaintance of her first husband. Her second husband, the Danish General von E....., wrote an account of her experience with Swedenborg to a clergyman, by whom this account was inserted in General von E.... this clergyman pays the following tribute to the character of Madame de Marteville: "In conclusion I desire to state that I was personally acquainted with Madame de Marteville, that she was by no means a sentimental enthusiast, but possessed an extensive knowledge of the world and of human nature, and was endowed with uncommon prudence; and on account of her intelligence she was highly esteemed throughout the whole of Holstein, in which country she resided during the latter part of her life.
NOTE 44.
BISHOP HALENIUS.
Dr. Engelbrecht Halenius was born in 1700. In 1737, he became Professor at Upsal; in l752, doctor of theology; and in 1753 Bishop of Skara, where he died in 1767. His children were ennobled under the name of Hallencreutz. His meeting with Swedenborg, which is recorded in paragraph 30 of Document 6, is confirmed by the Swedish Biographical Dictionary, which says concerning him: "Bishop Hallenius was one of the most remarkable theologians of Sweden. He possessed great natural gifts, a penetrating understanding, a good memory, and a great facility in writing and speaking with force and clearness. His private character, however, was not stainless. He was very avaricious, and it is said that, during the period of freedom [1719-1773], he was involved in more party-strife than any other bishop. He had a controversy with Swedenborg, who at one time had foretold that a severe illness would overtake the Bishop, of which he would only be cured by an entire change of heart, to be brought about by an industrious study of Swedenborg's theological works; a prophecy which is said to have been literally fulfilled."
NOTE 45.
DR. JOHAN ROSN.
Dr. Johan Rosn, who shared the religious opinions of Dr. Beyer (see Note 22) and was subjected to the same persecution, was born in 1726. His father Rosenius was pastor of Sexdrga in Westgothland. The son enjoyed his father's tuition; was received into the gymnasium at Gottenburg in 1737; went to Upsal in 1742; and took his Master's degree at Lund in 1748. In 1755, he became the principal of the school in Gottenburg; and in the following year, lector, i. e. professor, of eloquence and poetry. Besides orations and arguments, which Rosen, according to the manner of the times, wrote in Latin verse, he published in 1759 in Swedish the "Gottenburg Magazine" (Gtheborgska Magazinet); in 1764, the "Gottenburg Weekly" (Gtheborg's weckoblad); in 1768, the "Monthly Clerical News" (Presttidningarne); and in 1772 a few numbers appeared of a periodical publication called, "What News?" (Hwad nytt? Hwad nytt?) Not to mention several other publications, which show that he had a clear understanding and a warm heart, and extraordinary talent as a writer. According to the "History of the Bishopric of Gottenburg," he combined with his acquirements in Roman literature, which was his favourite study, a great knowledge of his mother-tongue, in the service of which he wrote several critical disputations. The same authority points him out as the real founder of a Society in Gottenburg, which, after receiving the sanction of the government, became known by the name of the Royal Union of Science and Literature (Knigl. Wetenskaps- och Witterhets- samhllet), but which in the beginning consisted of a union of young men, some even from the commercial classes, who met for the purpose of perfecting themselves in the use of the Swedish language. Rosn did not long survive Emanuel Swedenborg, his revered teacher, from whose writings he derived those principles which constituted the basis of his religious conviction. Emanuel Swedenborg died in 1779, and Dr. Rosn in August 1773. An extended report of the trial of Doctors Beyer and Rosn before the Consistory of Gottenburg, on account of their belief in the teachings of Swedenborg, is contained in Section IX.
NOTE 46.
BENGT BERGIUS.
Bengt Bergius was born in 1733, and died in 1784. He became a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1766, and was its president in 1760, and again in 1780. He was also member of several learned societies abroad. While a student at Lund in 1741, he was encouraged by Prof. Lagerbring to make collections of historical articles and papers; and throughout the whole of his life he was a great antiquarian, and collected much useful information in history and the natural sciences. Concerning the Collection of Letters from which Documents 7 and 8, and many other documents in Sections III and IX, are taken, we read in the "Swedish Biographical Lexicon," under the head of Bengt Bergius. as follows: "Besides many historical contributions in manuscript, which were among the books in his library, Bergius left a collection of gapers and letters which throw light on Swedish history, and the history of literature. These letters are in his own hand-writing, and are mostly very beautifully written, and they fill twenty thick quarto volumes. The collection consists altogether of such papers as had never been printed before, and most of the letters are copied from the originals, their orthography being carefully preserved. Each document is furnished with a notice of whence it has been taken. There are documents extending over several centuries, but for the most part they belong to the times in which Bergrius himself lived. Agreeably to his wishes, which were complied with by his surviving brother, this collection became the property of the academy of Sciences. In obedience to his directions, it was placed in a box, sealed with the Academy's and his brother's seal, and deposited in the Riksens Stnder Bank, where it was to remain unopened until after the lapse of fifty years, when the Academy of Sciences might remove it and have it opened. In the year 1835, the seals were broken, and the collection was handed over by the Academy of Sciences to Professor Geijer, with instructions to examine it and report upon it."
The sources on which Bergius drew for the documents respecting Swedenborg that are found in his collection, were Swedenborg's correspondence, which was presented to the academy of Sciences by his heirs in 1772, together with all his other manuscripts. The most important of these letters Bergius embodied in his collection, but there was a large number which he did not consider of sufficient importance to copy. The whole of Swedenborg's correspondence has since disappeared from the Library of the academy of Sciences, and the transcript made from it by Bergius is all that has been handed down to us.
The fact of a number of Swedenborg's letters having been preserved by Bergius, was not known before the winter of 1868. During the visit of the editor of these Documents to Sweden in that year, it occurred to the Librarian of the Academy of Sciences, Mr. Ahlstrand, to ascertain whether there were any of Swedenborg's letters in the Bergius collection; and on meeting with a considerable number he communicated his discovery to him. On examining the collection more closely, the editor found in it, in addition, more than thirty letters addressed by Bishop Jesper Swedberg to Councillor Rosenadler,51 the censor of the press, one letter of Count Hpken respecting Swedenborg, which is introduced in Note 32, and two important letters of Baron Tilas, addressed to Count Cronstedt, contained in Section X.
NOTE 47.
PETER SCHNSTRM.
Peter Schnstrm, as appears from Document 9, A, Table III, 1, was the eldest son of Assessor Peter Schnstrm, brother of Bishop Jesper Swedberg. He was born in 1682, became captain in the "Adelsfanan," (the corps of nobility), received the title of lieutenant-colonel in 1722, retired in 1726, and died in 1746. In 1709, he was made prisoner near the Dnieper, and taken to Solikamsk, where be was detained till the end of the war in 1722. "In addition to his merits as a soldier," the Swedish Biographical Lexicon says, "he was a very well read man, and during his captivity in Russia he improved his opportunities by collecting much information relating to the history of the North." He wrote a work under the title of "Short directions for improving Swedish history," which was finished in 1741, but remained unpublished till 1816. His critical investigations into the early history of Sweden are greatly praised, and he is said to have started many ideas which have since been adopted by Swedish scholars. According to Anrep,48 Peter Schnstrm, in 1719, married Agneta Skogh, daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Clas Johan Skogh and Margaretha Elisabeth Armfelt. By her he had three sons and two daughters. Agneta died in 1767 at the age of seventy.
NOTE 48.
ANREP'S TTAR-TAFLOR.
Anrep's ttar-Taflor, in four large volumes, is a digest of the genealogical tables and registers of the House of Nobles (Riddarhuset) in Stockholm. It is the Swedish Book of Nobles, which appeared from 1857 to 1864. Too much praise cannot he awarded to this work, which has been executed with the greatest accuracy and completeness, and upon which we have largely drawn in the preparation of these notes.
NOTE 49.
OLOF RUDBECK.
Olof Rudbeck the younger, son of Olaus Rudbeckius the elder, Professor at Upsal, was born in 1660. Atterbom says of him in the Appendix to his "Siare och Skalder," p. 132: "Already in his father's life-time he became his successor at Upsal as Professor of Anatomy and Botany. In 1739 he received the appointment of Archiater or Royal Physician, and died in 1740. This Rudbeck could not certainly be compared with his father, the author of the "Atlantica," in the colossal dimensions of his polyhistorical and universal knowledge, yet he was a man of extensive erudition. He inherited much of his father's love for botany and antiquarian lore, but much less of his genius, and still less of his personal energy. While he was taxing his brain to discover a likeness between the Hebrew, Gothic, and Laponian languages, and was compiling a Thesaurus Linguarum Asi, Afric, et Europe harmonicus, which, besides other things, was to prove philologically his father's fundamental theory, the study of anatomy, medicine, and botany reached the lowest possible ebb in the university. Still, according to Gezelius, he was one of the principal helpers of Benaelius in establishing the Society of Sciences at Upsal. After the removal of Benzelius to Gottenburg as its bishop, and afterwards to Linkping, Rudbeck's zeal slackened considerably, and the publication of the "Acta Literaria" of the Society proceeded very slowly. And the Lexicon Harmonicum, which consists of ten quarto volumes, and in copying which four students were engaged for many years, remains unpublished to this day, and is preserved in the University-Library of Upsal."
NOTE 50.
BRITA BEHM.
Brita Behm, daughter of Assessor Albrecht Behm, was born in 1670, and hence was a younger sister of Swedenborg's mother. In 1684, she married Professor Johan Schwede of Upsal university, who died in 1697; and she followed her husband in 1755, in her eighty-fifth year. During a protracted illness of her only brother, Captain Albrecht De Behm, she had charge of his estate, which consisted mainly of mining property at Axmar in Helsingland. That her management was most judicious is admitted by Bishop Swedberg in Documental, where he says, "If there had been any other to superintend, there would certainly have been much less to divide." She seems on the whole to have been endowed less with feminine grace than with masculine will and energy; at all events, in her intercourse with De Behm's heirs, and afterwards with Emanuel Swedenborg, she manifested a most stubborn and even vindictive spirit. In the first place, on account of some irrelevant objections, she refused to proceed with the division of De Behm's property, until compelled by law to do so; and after she had become joint owner with Swedenborg of Axmar, she was an endless source of vexation and trouble to him, so that he was twice forced to go to law with her. Particulars of these transactions will be found in Document 132. According to an entry of Swedenborg's in the manuscript volume containing his "Spiritual Diary," Brita's abettor in these matters was one the initial of whose name was B, and who, as we have shown in Note 8, was no other than Lars Benzelstierna, Swedenborg's own brother-in-law. Of this B, he says in the passage mentioned (see "Swedenborg's Drmmar," p. 72), that Brita Behm admitted she had been instigated by him; and he further adds, that B. himself was convicted of having incited Brita Behm to begin a law-suit about the division of Axmar. Later in life Swedenborg's relations with Brita Behm seem to have been more amicable; in the "Drmmar," p. 47, he mentions a very pleasing incident he had with her in a dream, and the only other reference he makes to her in the "Spiritual Diary" (No. 5837), is to the effect that he conversed with her three days after her death.
NOTE 51.
JOHAN ROSENADLER.
Johan Rosenadler, who before he was ennobled in 1719 bore the name of Upmarck. In his capacity of Censor of the Press he became intimately connected with all Swedish authors and writers, and among them with Bishop Swedberg, with whom moreover he was connected by the ties of friendship and relationship through his marriage with Eva Schwede, daughter of Brita Behm (see Note 50). Twenty-four letters (Documents 11 to 24), addressed by Swedberg to Rosenadler, bear witness of a friendly relation between them. Towards the Bishop's son, Emanuel, who was a student at Upsal while Rosenadler filled the post of professor there, he seems to have been less drawn; at least in 1709 Swedenborg wrote concerning him to Ericus Benlezius (see Document 36), "Professor Upmarck for some reason or other seems to be angry with me, after having, towards the close, often shown himself dissatisfied with me; all this I had heard before, and I quite understand it; but I hope my fates will not continue so unpropitious that he will always remain thus unapproachable to me." That Swedenborg, however, bore no grudge of any kind towards Rosenadler appears from Document 47, where he, in 1715, writes, "I am exceedingly glad to hear that Professor Upmarck and sister Eva Schwede are unitedin thalamo et lecto; I wish them every kind of happiness. I had intended to celebrate the occasion in a carmen nuptiale, but as it is now too late, it will probably be a carmen geniale." Nevertheless Johan Rosenadler came afterwards into unpleasant personal relations with Swedenborg, as he was obliged to represent his mother-in-law Brita Behm in the lawsuits which she carried on with her nephew (see Document 132). In his public capacity Rosenadler was much respected and revered by his fellow-countrymen; and his critics characterize him as "the most eloquent speaker of wham Swedish literature can boast."
The "Swedish Biographical Lexicon" says respecting him, "He was born at Upsal in 1664, and devoted himself from his early boyhood to the study of the sciences and of many European languages; he was also renowned for his skill in fencing and gymnastic exercises; he graduated with high honours, and then went abroad, where he also studied fortification.
NOTE 52.
JESPER SWEDENBORG.
Jesper Swedenborg, the youngest son of Bishop Swedberg, was born Aug. 28, 1694. He was his father's favourite son, and, as appears from Document 35, was named after him, "because he was born the same day of the year, and the same hour of the day." In that document the Bishop states that the name Jesper means "he will write," a name, he says, which his son made good, "for he is fond of writing and writes much." Yet only one small work of his is known, Den sista basun fver Tyskland. (The last trumpet about Germany), which was printed at Skara in 1724. This work is dedicated to Count Dcker, Councillor of State, and in the dedication Jesper relates the events of his Life. In his youth he went to England to learn navigation, and afterwards to New Sweden in America, where he was schoolmaster for five years in the parish of Rathkungs-Kihl. He returned to Sweden in 1724. A letter, written to him in that year by his father, is preserved (Document 131), in which he advises him to remain in America. "There would be no use," he says, "in your being here, where you would only waste the best years of your life. You write well, are good at figures, and, thank God, are unmarried. Try to find a good wife, with some dowry. May God lead you in His good ways!" Either this letter was too late or the advice was disregarded, for in a letter dated August 20, 1724 (Document 102), Emanuel writes to Ericus Benzelius that on his return home he there met his brother Jesper. The letter in which Bishop Swedberg advised his son to remain in America informed him, that by the decease of Sara Bergia, the Bishop's second wife, he had become entitled to a considerable sum of money. The Bishop congratulated his son on his good fortune, saying his wife had intended all her property to go to Emanuel, and only on his earnest representations to her when on her deathbed, had she consented to the other children being co-heirs with her favourite step-son. In 1725, Jesper was hesitating about returning to America, and asked his brother Emanuel's advice (see Document 104); he decided however to remain at home, and entered the Swedish army as lieutenant. In 1727, he married Christina Silversvrd, daughter of Major Gustav Silversvrd and Mrta Reutersvrd. After his marriage he seems to have retired to the country; for his brother-in-law, Dean Unge, soon after wrote to Emanuel (Document 111), "Brother Jesper Swedenborg has bought a little estate, so that he too can take care of himself; the best thing in his case is, that he is sober and saving, does not run into expenses, and has a good and pious wife."
NOTE 53
URBAN HJRNE.
Urban Hjrne, a celebrated Swede, was born in Ingermanland in 1641. He was considered one of the greatest scientific men in Sweden of his time. He first studied medicine; but in 1675 he became Assessor in the College of Mines, a position which he filled until 1696, when he was appointed physician to the King. In 1678, he made known the virtues of the mineral spring at Medevi, which was opened for patients in the following year. Soon after, he instituted the first chemical laboratory in Sweden, by which he established his reputation as a chemist. He also directed the attention of his country to the mining interest, and was instrumental in opening again the mines at Sala and Fahlun. In 1713, he was appointed Vice-President of the College of Mines, in which capacity he made the acquaintance of Swedenborg who was appointed extraordinary Assessor in the College, in 1716. Hjrne seems to have been steadily opposed to Swedenborg, looking upon him as having received his office through royal favouritism, and not from his scientific attainments. Perhaps Hjrne visited upon young Swedenborg the wrath he entertained against his father, Bishop Swedberg, whose publication, "The Shibboleth," treating on Swedish orthography, he opposed and criticised in terms of unmeasured severity, (see Document 10, p. 133, and Documents 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18). In Document 76, Swedenborg says concerning him, "What ought to be done with this Hjrne? Should he be allowed to make such a scandalous personal attack? If be had only attacked the subject itself, and supported it with arguments--but he makes a personal assault. I have read through his Chemistry, and find that he is but slightly grounded in the principles upon which chemistry is founded." In Document 82 he writes: "By the first opportunity I will send Ddalas, Part VI, to Vice-President Hjrne with a courteous, but at the same time decided letter, warning him to stop his impertinencies; because it is quite possible that some one may show up the puerilities and short-comings in scientific matters, which he has had the daring to publish."
NOTE 54.
PROFESSOR ELFVIUS.
Per Elfvius was professor of astronomy and a member of the Literary Society of Upsal. Although not possessed of much original genius himself (see his remarks on Newton's theory of gravitation in Document 42, p. 277), he seems to have had the power or art of awakening genius in others, and of stimulating their zeal for the advancement of science. This appears from a letter (Document 42) which he addressed to Swedenborg when in London in 1711, and in which he urges him to visit the Royal Astronomer Flamsteed, at Greenwich, and instructs him how to turn his visit to the greatest advantage. This appears also from the interest he took in young Vassenius (see Swedish "Biografiskt Lexicon," Vol. 20, p. 337), and from the great affection and respect in which he was held by Swedenborg till the time of his death in 1718 (see Document 77, p. 322). His son Per, who was eight years old at the time of his father's death, became more generally known as an astronomer and mathematician; through is influence, while he was Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, the astronomical observatory in Stockholm was erected. Professor Elfvius, the elder, married Annica Spole, daughter of Anders Spole, professor of mathematics at Upsal; her brother Lars, who on being ennobled was called Rosenborg, was married to Magdalena Schstrom, first cousin of Emanuel Swedenborg (see Document 9, p. 85).
NOTE 55.
DR. EDMUND HALLEY.
Dr. Edmund Halley, the eminent English astronomer, was born in 1656. He first studied the languages and sciences, but at length devoted himself exclusively to astronomy. In 1676, he went to the Island of St. Helena to complete the catalogue of fixed stars by the addition of those that lie near the south pole; whence he returned to England in 1678. In 1683, he published his theory of the magnetism of the compass. He supposes the globe to be a great magnet, with four magnetical poles, or points of attraction; but afterwards, thinking that this theory was liable to great objections, he obtained in 1798 the command of the "Paramour Pink," with orders to seek by observations to discover the rule of variations, and to lay down the longitudes and latitudes of His Majesty's settlements in America. Having made observations at St. Helena, Brazil, Cape Verd, Barbadoes, the Madeiras, the Canaries, the coast of Barbary, and many other latitudes, he returned home in 1700, and in 1701, published a general chart, showing at one view, the variation of the compass in all those places. After having made other journeys through Europe, and collected additional observations, he returned to England in 1703, when he was made professor of geometry in the University of Oxford, and received the degree of LL.D. In 1713, he was made Secretary of the Regal Society; in 1720, Astronomer Royal at the observatory at Greenwich; and in 1720, a member of the Academy of Sciences in Paris. His principal works are: 1. Catalogus Stellarum Australium. 2. Tabul Astronomic. 3. "An Abridgment of the Astronomy of Comets," &c. Concerning Swedenborg's connexion with Dr. Halley, see Document 41, p. 222, Document 45, p. 227, and Document 200, p. 578.
NOTE 56.
FLAMSTEED.
John Flamsteed, a celebrated English Astronomer, was born at Derby in 1646. In his early youth he was a zealous student of astronomy; and on becoming acquainted in London with Newton and Halley, he was in 1676 appointed by King Charles II, astronomer at the newly erected observatory (Flamsteed House) at Greenwich. There he continued to be it most industrious observer of the starry heavens till the time of his death in 1719, when he was succeeded by Halley.55 He long delayed the publication of his observations; but by command of Queen Anne, he published the results of his observations in 1712, under the title of Historia clestis Britannica.
NOTE 57
JEAN PAUL BIGNON.
Jean Paul Bignon, Abb of Saint Quentin, was one of the forty of the French Academy, and honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, and of the academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. He was born in Paris in 1662. After the death of the Abb de Louvois in 1718, he became the Royal Librarian. That he might devote himself exclusively to the duties of this office, he parted with his own handsome library. He was a very diligent correspondent of Ericus Benzelius, Swedenborg's brother-in-law (Cf. Document 44, p. 222, and Document 45, p. 226). He died in 1743. He has not left any works of importance behind him, to perpetuate his memory, although he was a celebrated pulpit orator and a man of great learning. Concerning him Swedenborg says in his "Spiritual Diary," (no. 4539:) "It was perceived from various experiences that Babel exists when the doctrine of the Church is received that it may serve for purposes of dominion, and finally that persons may become gods and have dominion over heaven and earth. Another one (Abb Bignon) also approached, and when he perceived what Swab66 was doing, he, influenced by a similar desire, strove also to acknowledge the doctrine of the Church, and thus to incline the Lord in his favour, that he might obtain rule."
NOTE 58.
ERICUS BENZELSTJERNA.
Ericus Benzelius, afterwards Benzelstjerna, son of Ericus Benzelius and Anna Swedenborg, daughter of Bishop Swedberg. He was Swedenborg's favourite nephew, and his uncle took a great interest in him, as appears from the many references he made to him in his letters to his father; and especially from a letter written by his father Ericus Benzelius to Em. Swedenborg (Document 106).
NOTE 59.
PHILIPPE DE LAHIRE.
Philippe de Lahire, one of the most industrious and useful geometricians of France, was born in Paris in 1640. Some works on conic sections and the eyeloid curve, which he published between 1673 and 1676, opened to him the doors of the Academy of Sciences in 1678. From 1680 to 1689, he executed many geodesical surveys of France, and continued the measurement of the famous meridian commenced by Picard, which was, however, interrupted by the death of Colbert. In 1689, he published his first work on astronomy. His learning was not, however, limited to mathematics and astronomy, but extended to all branches of physical science. Fontenelle said concerning him, that in Lahire alone one might have had an entire Academy of Sciences. He was for a long time professor of mathematics in the Royal College of France, and at the same time professor of architecture. He died in 1719, in his seventy-ninth year. His most famous is his Tabul astronomic printed in quarto in 1702. These tables have been translated into all the languages of Europe and even into Hindostanee; and they have been surpassed only by those of Halley. Concerning Swedenborg's acquaintance with Lahire, see Document 45, p. 226.
NOTE 60.
PIERRE VARRIGNON.
Pierre Varrignon, the celebrated geometrician, was born at Caen in 1654. He arrived in Paris in 1686, and published in the following year a work entitled: "Le Projet d'une nouvelle Mcanique," by which he soon became favourably known in the learned world. On the merits of this work he became, in 1688, professor of mathematics in the College Mazarian; but his duties in this position did not prevent him from attending the sessions of the Academy where he frequently delivered lectures. He was one of the first in France to recognize the advantages to be gained by a study of the differential and integral calculus, and was one of the most ardent defenders of the geometry of infinitesimals.
NOTE 61.
JOHAN PALMQVIST.
Johan Palmqvist, the Swedish ambassador at the Hague from 1702 to 1715, was Swedenborg's patron during his stay in Holland in 1713. Swedenborg says of him in Document 45, p. 240. "During my stay in Holland I was most of the time in Utrecht, where the Diet met, and where I was in great favour with ambassador Palmqvist, who had me every day at his house; every day also I discussed on algebra with him. He is a great mathematician, and also a great algebraist. He wished me not to go away." During his stay at Utrecht, Swedenborg addressed a Latin poem to Palmqvist upon the arrival of his wife, who had lately presented him with a daughter. This poem occupies pages 6 to 9 of Swedenborg's Ludus Heliconius, Dr. Tafel's edition. Swedenborg expected a great deal from Palmqvist, who had in 1714 risen to the post of High Chancellor (Hofkanslr), as we may see from Document 47; but he died very soon after in the beginning of 1716. In anrep's ttar-Taflor (Vol. III, p. 146) we read further concerning him: "He was connected with the College of Chancery in 1678, became secretary of the commission at the French court in 1686; resident minister in France in 1697; and in 1702, he was appointed Extraordinary Ambassador to the General States. In 1714 he became High Chancellor; and died in Stockholm in January, 1716. He married Anna Christine Lindstow, daughter of the Dutch General Lindstow. Their daughter Margaretha Sophia was married to Boneauskld130 the Secretary of State.
NOTE 62.
LEIBNITZ.
The celebrated philosopher, Leibnitz, whom Swedenborg, according to Document 47, desired to see, resided at that time in Hanover, although he was absent in Vienna when Swedenborg passed through Hanover in 1715. Leibnitz died the year following, in his seventy-second year. Swedenborg describes several meetings which he had with him in the spiritual world.
NOTE 63.
GUSTAV CRONHJELM.
Gustav Cronhjelm, as Secretary of State, signed the royal warrant appointing Swedenborg an assessor in the College of Mines (see Documents 143 and 144). From this it appears that he was the person of whom Swedenborg writes in Document 67: "As my enemies had played too many intrigues with the above-mentioned warrant, and had couched it in ambiguous terms, I sent it back to His Majesty with some comments, well knowing on whom I had to depend; when there was immediately granted me a new one, and likewise a gracious letter to the College of Mines. My opponent had to sit down at the King's own table and write this out in duplicate in two forms; of which the King selected the best; so that those who had sought to injure me, were glad to escape with honour and reputation." In 1713, Cronhjelm had been appointed Chancellor of the University of Lund; partly for this reason, and partly also on account of the influence which he had with Charles XII, Swedenborg dedicated to him his little work, Camena Borea, which was published in Greifswalde in 1715. The first fable in the book also treats of him, yet it does not seem that Swedenborg thereby propitiated Cronhjelm. Cronhjelm was born in 1664; in 1658, he became chamberlain to the Crown-prince; in 1698, governor of Westmanland; in 1710, he was marshal of the Diet which met in that year, and in the same year he was made a senator. In 1712, he was created a count; and in 1719, he became Chancellor of the University of Upsal and President of Chancery, which is equivalent to being prime minister of Sweden. In consequence of a violent altercation he had with Prince Frederic of Hesse, the husband of Queen Ulrica Eleonora, he fell into disgrace at Court, and was obliged to resign the office of prime minister. He continued, however, to hold the chancellorship of the University until his death in 1737.
NOTE 64.
HEDWIG ELEONORA.
Hedwig Eleonora, the Queen Dowager, who is mentioned in Documents 49 and 50, was the grandmother of Charles XII, and wife of Charles X (Charles Gustavus of Zweibrcken), who died in 1660. Prof. Atterbom in his note to Document 49, speaks of her thus: "The Queen Dowager, Hedwig Eleonora, died three days afterwards, on November 24, in her eightieth year. Her son, Charles XI, did not derive his best qualities from her; her influence on his education and on his married life, and also on the childhood of her grandson, Charles XII, has contributed in no small degree to Sweden's misfortunes. Still the remembrance of all these things is drowned in a just feeling of pity for the aged mother of the two Charleses (Carla-modren), on seeing her a witness of Sweden's sudden fall from that height on which she herself had been enthroned, and also on beholding her on her deathbed surrounded by the gloomiest forebodings; nay, in her very last moments being uncertain whether her grandson, who was beleaguered in Stralsund, was not then a prisoner in the hands of his too powerful enemies. Charles XII, who, on the very day of her death, was boldly resisting an assault of the enemy against his walls, did not land in Sweden until the 13th of December. On the 17th the Adjutant-general Zander arrived in Stockholm bringing this news."
NOTE 65.
GUSTAV BENZELSTJERNA.
Gustav Benzelstjerna, a younger brother of Ericus Bezelius, whose name frequently occurs in Swedenborg's letters to Ericus Benzelius, (see Documents 49, 54, 61, etc.) Was born in 1683. He was at first clerk in the Royal Archives; and in 1732 was made Royal Librarian. On the resignation of Rosenadler,51 in 1737, he became Censor of the press, and died in 1746. He is known in the learned world by his "Correspondence" with his brother Ericus, which was edited by Lidn, the librarian of Linkping, and which is full of interesting information. Swedenborg mentions Gustav Benzelstjerna in his "Spiritual Diary" in several places; in the "Larger Diary" (p. 69) he says of him: "in the external form he seemed honest, but it appeared that he led a [different] life when by himself. It was his custom, when answering those against whom he entertained evil thoughts, to chide them with such cutting sarcasms as would wound them interiorly, so that they could not make any reply to them.
NOTE 66.
ANDERS SWAB.
A.
Anders Swab was born in 1681. His father was Anton Swab, a ruining official at Fahlun, and his mother Helena Bergia, sister of Bishop Swedberg's second wife. After the death of Helena Bergia, his father married Christina Arrhusia, who, on the death of her husband, became the third wife of Bishop Swedberg (see Document 10, p. 151, and Document 15; see also the footnote on page 83). Anders Swab studied at Upsal, and became auscultant in the College of Mines in 1702; and master of mines (bergmstare) at Stora Kopparbergsln in 1714. In 1716, he was appointed assessor in the College of Mines, and was ennobled in 1719. In 1730, he became councillor of mines, and died the year following in Stockholm. From 1709 to 1713, he travelled abroad and visited the mining districts of Bohemia; he has the reputation of having contributed much towards the development of the mining interest of Sweden. Anders Swab was married to Elisabeth Brink (see footnote to Document 62), the widow of Swedenborg's younger brother Eliezer. The following testimony is borne by Swedenborg in his "Spiritual Diary" (n. 5042), in respect to Swab's administration in the mining district of Fahlun: "The inhabitants of this district are more interiorly wicked than those of the others, but they have been made worse in recent times than they were before. This has been done] by their governor (A. Swab), who has made a division among the people in this wise: by gains and bribes he allured them, and all who were on his side he rewarded; he also honoured them by deed as well as in word. The rest, whoever they may have been, whether sincere or insincere, he persecuted in every possible manner; he deprived them of their gains, and calumniated them himself and through others. In one word, from a feeling of internal hatred he sowed discord in every community there; and the consequence was, that they, among whom sincerity had formerly prevailed from an hereditary principle, and who had been interiorly wise, by the destruction of this sincerity have now become among the worst of their class."
B.
ANTON SWAB.
Anton Swab, who is mentioned in Documents 101,107, and 114, was a step-brother of Emanuel Swedenborg's, his mother, Christina Arrhusia, having been, as already stated, the third wife of Bishop Swedberg. Anton Swab was born in 1702 at Fahlun; he studied at Upsal, became auscultant in the College of Mines in 1723; made master of mines (bergmstare) at Skne in 1736; fellow of the Academy of Sciences in 1742; assessor in the College of Mines in 1748; councillor of Mines in 1751, when he was also ennobled. He was never married, and died in 1768. Like his brother he interested himself very much in mining matters, and he undertook journeys to other countries in order to perfect himself in the science and art of mining.
C.
JOHANNES MORUS.
Johannes Morus, who is mentioned together with Anders Swab in Document 50, was first cousin to Emanuel Swedenborg, his mother Barbro being a sister of Bishop Swedberg. His father was tax-commissioner at Fahlun, and his grandfather, Magister Petrus Jon was Rector of Mora, and subsequently of Fahlun. After the death of his father in 1678, he was educated in Stockholm at the expense of Bishop Swedberg, who was then regimental chaplain. On leaving school, he was apprenticed to a chemist. After Bishop Swedberg had removed to Upsal, he appointed Morus in 1696 private tutor to his son Emanuel, who was then eight years old. He remained at Upsal seven years, enjoying the tuition of Rudbeck, Roberg, and other eminent professors, imparting at the same time the rudiments of learning to his young and gifted pupil. In 1703 he travelled abroad at the expense of his uncle Jesper Swedberg, who meanwhile had been advanced to the bishopric of Skara. After studying medicine under Boerhave at Leyden for a year, and spending another year in Paris, he returned home, having obtained the degree of doctor of medicine at Rheims.
NOTE 67.
JOHAN HENRIC WERNER.
Johan Henric Werner, Swedenborg's publisher, was printer to His Majesty the King, and also to the University of Upsal. In 1722 he received the title of "Directeur." From Swedenborg's description of his character in Document 50, he does not seem to have been actuated by generous impulses. He printed and published the Ddalus Hyperboreus, and all the author's other works written in the Swedish language, with the exception of one, "Om Jordens Gng och Stnd," which was published at Skara. For Bishop Swedberg's opinion of Werner see Documents 17 and 19.
NOTE 68.
STARBO.
Starbo, the name of an iron-work in the parish of Norrberke, or rather Norrbrke, in Dalecarlia. It is situated at the northern extremity of Lake Barken, near the borough of Smedjebacken. In the district around this place there are numerous iron-works and mines. The country itself is described as most beautiful and picturesque, and it is not surprizing therefore that it was a favourite resort of the Swedberg family, and of Swedenborg in particular. Starbo was the property of Bishop Swedberg's second wife, Sara Bergia (see Document 10, p. 147), who was the daughter of Anders B. Bergius, the Dean and pastor of the Norrberke parish. During her life-time the works seem to have been managed mostly by Lars Benzelstjerna,8 who was the master or governor of mines of the district from 1713 to 1722, and who, during the whole of that time, seems to have resided at Starbo, since this is put down as the birth-place of some of his children. Sara Bergia left the whole of the estate to Emanuel Swedenborg, as appears from Document 131, but with the proviso that he should pay the other children their share in money. From a memorandum on the fly-leaf of one of the volumes containing the "Spiritual Diary" it appears that Swedenborg possessed one-half of Starbo, and Lars Benzelstjerna the other. Regarding the relations between them consult Note 8.
NOTE 69.
ERIC ESBERG.
Eric Esberg, of whom Swedenborg in Documents 54 and 81 speaks as brother Esberg, was the son of Dr. Zacharias A. Esberg, Bishop of Wexi, and Christina Benzelia, an elder sister of Ericus Benzelius. He was born in Stockholm in 1699, where his father was at that time chaplain to the Queen Dowager, Hedwig Eleonor,64 and rector of the church on the Riddarholm. He studied at Upsal; in 1720, he became auscultant in the college of Mines. He died in 1769. In Document 61 Swedenborg speaks of the Esbergs in the plural number, meaning thereby Eric Esberg, and his younger brother Carl Henric Esberg, who was also a student at Upsal at the same time, and who subsequently, under the name of Bergenskld, rose to the dignity of Vice-President in the Court of appeals in Stockholm. He died in 1779.
NOTE 70.
DR. ROBERG.
Dr. Roberg, who is so often mentioned in Swedenborg's letters to Ericus Benzelius, is commemorated by Prof. Atterbom in his notes to Swedenborg's letters in the following words: "Lars Roberg, Doctor of Medicine, and Professor of Practical Medicine in the University of Upsal, deserves imperishable fame for the mode in which he cultivated his special science, and all other branches of physical science connected with it. To him the University owes its Hospital, The establishment of such an Institution had been proposed by Olof Rudbeck the elder as early as 1701. In the form in which it was presented by Roberg it was approved by Charles XII in 1706, and the "Oxenstjernian mansion" was purchased for it in 1708. Roberg was as cynical and eccentric (even in his orthography), as he was learned, quick, precise at repartee, brilliant, and satirical. In the Appendix to Acrel's "Essay on the Foundation and Development of Medical Science at the seat of learning at Upsal" are many humorous anecdotes of this Swedish Diogenes, and among others of the various law-suits in which he was embroiled by his zeal for anatomy and surgery, at a time when there was a great want of subjects for the prosecution of these important studies. Roberg died one Sunday morning in 1742, after he had taken his coffee at Chironius' restaurant at the usual hour." To this we may add that Dr. Roberg was born in Stockholm in 1664, where his father was apothecary to the King. Before Roberg's time all medical students were obliged to go abroad for their medical diploma, but by his untiring exertions he succeeded in obtaining for the University of Upsal in 1738 the right of creating doctors of medicine. among the anecdotes related of him is one in the Swedish "Biografiskt Lexicon," (Vol. 12, p. 123,) which deserves to be put on permanent record: "One day Professor O. Rudbeck the younger complained of a want of diligence among the students, although secretly he was not so much concerned about it (see Note 49); Roberg answered: "An industrious professor makes industrious students" (flitig Professor gr flittig Student). Roberg was never married, but led the life of an eccentric anchorite.
NOTE 71.
THE PROFESSORS VALERIUS.
Two Professors Valerius are spoken of in Swedenborg's letters to Ericus Benzelius; one, whose death is mentioned in Document 58, was Harald Valerius; the other, whose name occurs in Documents 59, 60, and afterwards, was his son Johan Valerius; a second son, Gran Valerius (see Note 126) occurs in Document 159. Harald Valerius was the son of Johan Valerius, rector of Wallersta in stergthland; he studied at Upsal, and graduated there as Master of Philosophy. He afterwards received the appointment of director of music, and of assistant librarian lecturing at the same time on philosophy. In 1690, he became professor of mathematics; and died in 1716. He was succeeded in his professorship by his son, Johan Valerius, who had been nominated as his father's successor by Charles XII, four years previously. There is not much known respecting him, but Swedenborg seems to have entertained a very favourable opinion of him, as appears from Documents 60, 75, 78, 91, where his name is mentioned. From Document 78, it appears that both professors were followers of Descartes, as Swedenborg charges them with their Cartesianism.
NOTE 72.
DR. MAGNUS BROMELL.
Dr. Magnus Bromell is noticed by Prof. Atterbom in his annotations to Swedenborg's letters, in the following words: "Magnus Bromell was at the date of Swedenborg's letter (Document 67), professor of medicine at Upsal; but just about this time he received the appointment of professor of anatomy in Stockholm. In 1720, he was made at the same time assessor in the College of Mines (see Document 153) and in the College of Medicine. In 1724, he became President of the latter College and Physician to the Royal family; he was ennobled in 1726, when he called himself von Bromell. He died in 1731. He is described as of very small stature, his height not exceeding two ells and a half; he had piercing eyes, uncommonly small hands, was quick and light in his movements, and was of a cheerful and upright mind."
NOTE 73.
GEORGE STJERNHJELM.
George Stjernhjelm, for whom Swedenborg seems to have entertained great respect, (Document 64, p. 267, and Documents 70 and 71 A.) Was a man of true genius, and at the same time of encyclopaedic learning. He was a poet and mathematician, a philologist and physicist, an historian and a commentator on Swedish laws. His allegorical and didactic poem "Hercules," is still regarded as one of the gems of Swedish literature. He introduced the microscope and magnifying glasses into Sweden, and made discoveries in the physical sciences. He wrote a theory of numbers and a work on trigonometry. He investigated the origin of the Swedish language, and published a glossary of Ulphilas' "Gothic Gospels;" and he left behind him a great number of unpublished writings on the most varied subjects in science, philosophy, and philology. He was a man of independent character, and the very opposite of a sycophant; wherefore he had many persecutions and privations to suffer, not only in his earlier but in his later years; yet he was always contented and cheerful, and was possessed of the most imperturbable good humour. This great man, of whom his countrymen feel justly proud, was born in Dalecarlia in 1598, where his father was a miner; in 1625, he became professor in the gymnasium of Westers; in 1630, he was made assessor in the Court of appeals at Dorpat, Livonia; in 1631, he had the ancient diploma of nobility of his family renewed, when he called himself Stjernhjelm, his former name having been Gran Olofssohn, and afterwards Lilje. In 1648, he became Vice-President of the Court of Appeals at Dorpat. In consequence of the troubled state of Livonia, and the continual incursions of the Russians, he several times lost all his possessions, and had to flee to Stockholm, where he was valued for his poetical genius, but was in disgrace at queen Christina's Court because of his independent character and unsparing denunciation of her extravagance and luxuriousness. After Christina's abdication he led a quieter life. In 1666, he was made President of the College of Antiquities at Upsal; and died in 1672. Stjernhjelm was the first Swede who was a member of the Royal Society of London.
NOTE 74.
LINEA CAROLINA.
Having submitted a memorial to the government on the subject, Stjernhjelm73 was commissioned in 1661 to determine more minutely the weights and measures which had been adopted in Sweden, and to discover a more reliable standard of measure.
NOTE 75.
BIRGER VASSENIUS
Birger Vassenius, who is mentioned in Documents 74, 75, 80, and 101, and in whom Ericus Benzelius and Emanuel Swedenborg took great interest, was born in 1687. He was the son of a peasant at Vassnda, near Wenersborg, from which he took the name of Vassenius. He went to school at Skara, where he became acquainted with Bishop Swedberg, and in 1712 he left for the University of Upsal. There he soon became favourably known to Prof. Elfvius (see Note 54), on account of the interest he took in astronomy. In 1717 he wrote a disputation on the "Planet Venus," which he dedicated to Polhem and Emanuel Swedenborg. Vassenius remained at Upsal till 1726, in the hope of receiving an appointment as professor, and meanwhile eked out a living by selling barometers and acting as private tutor to some of the students. After Benzelius became Bishop of Gottenburg he invited Vassenius to that town, where he soon received an appointment as professor of mathematics in the gymnasium, and where he greatly interested the students in astronomy and mathematics; from 1731 to 1738, he was rector of the gymnasium. In the year 1724, he published an almanac at Skara, which continued to appear annually till 1750. In 1751, he resigned his professorship at Gottenburg, and retired to the country, where he lived on his paternal estate at Vassnda for the rest of his life. Vassenius was the first to notice the rose-coloured protuberances of the sun during its total eclipse in 1733. He communicated his observations to the Royal Society of London, who inserted it in their "Philosophical Transactions," Vol. XXXVIII. These observations were confirmed during the total eclipses of 1842, and 1851. Vassenius was born one year before Swedenborg, in 1687, and he died one year before him, 1771.
NOTE 76.
DR. JOHAN HESSELIUS.
Dr. Johan Hesselius, who is mentioned in Document 76, was born in 1687, and was the son of Anders Hesgelius, Rector of Folkrna in Dalecarlia, and of Maria Bergia, sister of the second wife of Bishop Swedberg. He passed his examination at Upsal in 1714, and in the year following was appointed provincial physician of West Gothland, where for many years he lived at the house of his uncle Bishop Swedberg. While staying with the Bishop, we read, that "every evening usually, his good friend Dr. J. Hesselius played hymns for him on his violoncello" (see Document 10, p. 114). In 1721, he went abroad in the company of his cousin, Emanuel Swedenborg, and obtained his diploma as doctor of medicine at Harderwyck in Holland. He afterwards spent some time at Leyden where he heard Boerhave, Gravesand, and Albinus, and then travelled with Swedenborg through Germany and Austria. In the "Miscellaneous Observations" which Swedenborg published in Leipzig during this journey, he describes (English edition, p. 10) some petrified plants which he found near Lige, and expresses himself concerning his travelling companion thus: "The vegetable specimens to which I have alluded were collected by myself and my travelling companion, Dr. Johan Hesselius, physician to the province of West Gothland, and well skilled in the botany and fossils of Sweden." He mentions him again at p. 26 (English edition). In 1728, Hesselius was appointed provincial physician of Nerike and Wermland; in 1733, he became assessor of the College of Medicine; and in 1743, member of the Academy of Sciences. He died on his estate of Ahlqvittern in Wermland in 1752. The Swedish Biographical Lexicon says of him, "Hesselius was of small stature, but gifted with great natural talents. As a physician he liked to employ those remedies, which were nearest at hand and grew in the neighbourhood. His greatest delight consisted in making new experiments and new discoveries in botany. ***Through his brother (see Note 91) he received from America a large collection of snakes, lizards, and other animals hitherto unknown, which he left to the Senator, Count Carl Gyllenborg, by whom they were given to the Museum of the University of Upsal, where they are preserved under the name of Amphibia Gyllenborgiana. The merits of Dr. Hesselius were acknowledged by the Swedish Diet which met in 1747, and which made a grant of money to him." Swedenborg mentions the two brothers Hesselius in the "Spiritual Diary," grew (no. 5065.)
NOTE 77.
NILS HASSELBOM.
Nils Hasselbom, who was mentioned by Swedenborg in Documents 80 and 101, in connection with Vassenius, was the son of a peasant from Klefva. He left the gymnasium at Skara for the University of Upsal in the same year (1712) as Vassenius;75 Hasselbom being the first on a list of twenty-six students, and Vassenius second. Hasselbom took his degree as master of philosophy in 1722, and in 1724 was appointed professor of mathematics in the University at bo in Finland, which at that time belonged to Sweden.
NOTE 78.
BARON GRTZ.
Baron George Heinrich von Grtz was Privy Councillor at the Court of Holstein, by which he was sent, in 1706, on a mission to Charles XII, who was then in Saxony. At that time he gained the confidence of the King of Sweden, entered into his service, and became at first his minister of finance, and afterwards prime minister. He accompanied Charles XII on almost all his campaigns, and was employed by him in the most difficult diplomatic missions. Charles XII dreamed an army and a fleet; and Grtz provided it for him by draining the country of all men capable of bearing arms, and by possessing himself of all the coined money of the country, plunging it thereby into the greatest financial confusion and distress. While he was on the point of concluding peace with the enemies of Sweden, on terms advantageous to Sweden, Charles XII was killed before Fredrickshall in 1718. By order of Ulrica Eleonora, who succeeded Charles, Grtz was at once arrested and conveyed to Stockholm, where he was tried by a commission, and beheaded in 1719. The authorities are divided in opinion as to whether Grtz was not a mere instrument in the hand of the King, and therefore whether Charles was not alone answerable for the ruin he brought upon his country. If Grtz acted only in obedience to the King, his guilt is very much diminished.
NOTE 79.
COUNT CARL GUSTAV MRNER.
"Count Carl Gustav Mrner," says Atterbom in his note to our Document 81, "as senator and field-marshal. At that time [i. e. 1718] he stood in high favour with the King, and was with him to the last at Frederickshall. In Mrner's service was the dwarf Luxenburg, who used to amuse the King by signing French and Italian airs." Count Mrner was born in 1658. After the death of the King, he became President of the Court of Appeals at Jnkping, and died at the place in 1721. He has the reputation of having been a brave soldier and an able general.
NOTE 80
MARTIN LUDGWIG MANDERSTRM.
Martin Ludvig Manderstrm, who married Maria Polhem, (see Document 81,) was born in 1691. He was a page at the royal Court; studied afterwards at Upsal, and in 1713 became one of the gentlemen in attendance on the King. He followed Charles XII from Turkey to Stralsund in 1715; was with him during the whole of the memorable siege, and waited upon him to the hour of his death. He afterwards accompanied his corpse to Carlberg. In 1720 he became Chamberlain to King Frederic, which post he filled for twenty-three years. On the accession to the throne of King Adolphus Frederic he became general manager of his Court, which office he also held under King Gustavus III to the time of his death in 1780. Manderstrm became Councillor of War in 1747, and in 1771 was created a baron. He had five sons and one daughter.
NOTE 81.
ALBRECHT SCHNSTRM.
Albert Schnstrm, who is mentioned in Document 86, was the second son of Peter Schnstrm, brother of Bishop Swedberg, and hence was Swedenborg's cousin. See Document 9, p. 85.
NOTE 82.
BAGLIVI.
Of Baglivi, who is mentioned by Swedenborg in Document 88, we find in Hser's "History of Medicine," p. 605, the following account: "In a shipwreck, in the neighbourhood of Ragusa, of the whole crew only two tender boys were rescued; and they were afterwards entrusted to the care of the Jesuits. The orphans were subsequently taken charge of by two brothers, Baglivi, at Lecce, one of whom was a priest and the other a physician. The elder of the two boys took holy orders, but the younger, Giorgio, followed the profession of his adopted father, and studied first at Salerno, Naples, and Bologna, and finally at Rome under Malpighi. There he very soon became professor of theoretical medicine in the institution called "Sapienza," and afterwards professor of anatomy and surgery. He soon distinguished himself there by his great talent for teaching, as well as by his general scientific culture and estimable character. He died at the early age of thirty-four years. His most important works are: 1. De praxi medica ad pristinam observandi rationem revocanda libri II, Rome 1696. 2. Specimen quatuor librorum de fibra motrice et morbosa, Rome, 7101. 3. Opera omnia medico practica et anatomica, Lugd. Bat. 1704. Haller does not judge very favourably of Baglivi, and even expresses the suspicion, that he sought to pass off some discoveries of Malpighi as his own.
NOTE 83.
DESCARTES.
Rn Descartes, (Document 88,) but frequently called Renatus Cartesius, the well-known reformer of philosophy, was born in 1596, and died in 1650. In 1649 he was persuaded to go to Sweden, where Queen Christina desired his learned intercourse and instruction; but he died there a few months after his arrival. His philosophy prevailed much in Sweden during Swedenborg's time (see Document 78).
NOTE 84.
GIOVANNI ALFONSO BORELLI.
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, (Document 88,) the author of the important work De motu animalium (Roma, 1680, 1681), was born at Naples in 1608, and taught first at Messina and afterwards at Pisa as professor of mathematics. He returned to Messina, but on account of having been mixed up in some political complications he was obliged to leave that town. He now went to Rome, where he liked at the Court of Queen Christina of Sweden. After she was no longer able to maintain him, he withdrew to a monastery, where he was obliged to gain a livelihood by giving instruction in mathematics. His character is described as harsh and abrupt; but by misfortune he became milder and more sympathetic. He was not only a physiologist and mathematician, but also a physicist and astronomer. He died in 1679.
NOTE 85.
ROBERT BOYLE.
Robert Boyle, (Document 93,) a celebrated English physicist, regarded as one of the fathers of modern chemistry. He instituted a great number of experiments in physics and chemistry, and was the first who experimented on the chemical composition of air. His writings are a vast repository of important scientific discoveries and experiments. Boyle was the seventh son of the Earl of Cork, and was born in 1627. He died in 1691, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
NOTE 86.
COUNT SVEN LAGERBERG.
Count Lagerberg, Baron and Count, at the time mentioned in Document 99, was confirmed as Senator by King Frederic. He was born in 1672, and followed Charles XII as lieutenant and captain in the Russian campaign. While the King was enclosed in Bender, Lagerberg was sent as ambassador against Peter the Great. In 1714, he became colonel; and in 1717, major-general. In 1719, he was created a baron. In 1723, he became president of the Court of Appeals at Jnkping, and also senator; and in 1731, he was made a count.
NOTE 87.
COUNT CARL GYLLENBORG.
Count Carl Gyllenborg was born in 1679. He was an ambitious man, known in Swedish history as the leader of the party of the "Hats." The influence which he exerted on Swedish politics is fully described in the Introduction to Document 172. Dr. Kahl says of him that, as is the case with all distinguished men, he had both many friends and numerous antagonists; but that they all agree in describing him as a very learned man, as a poet not without merit, as an able politician, and a wise senator who served his country and the cause of freedom to the hour of his death. In 1728, he became chancellor of the University of Lund; in 1739, prime minister; and the same year he was chosen chancellor of the University of Upsal. He died in 1746. His state in the other world, where his interior nature, which was selfish and worldly, was made apparent, is described in the "Smaller Diary," p. 57, and in the "larger diary," 5008, 5024.
NOTE 88.
BARON CEDERHJELM.
Baron Josias Cederhjelm was born in 1673. He was made senator in 1723, and died in 1729. In his "Smaller Diary," No. 4676, Swedenborg speaks of a Cederhjelm, but Dr. Kahl, in his Narratiuncul, thinks that this was his father, Germund Cederhjelm, who died in 1719; it is more probable that the Cederhjelm spoken of there by Swedenborg is President Germund Cederhjelm, a brother of Josias Cederhjelm, who died in 1741, in his eightieth year.
NOTE 89.
PROFESSOR BURMAN.
Professor Burman, who was recommended by Swedenborg, in Document 101, as a successor to Celsius, the professor of mathematics at Upsal, was the son of Elof Burman, the commissioner of taxes at Upsal.
NOTE 90.
OLOF NORDBOBG.
Magister Olof Nordborg, mentioned in Document 102, was pastor at the Swedish Church in London from 1712 to 1724, when he was at the request of his congregation recalled to Sweden. On his return he received the pastorate of Fredsberg in the diocese of Skara. He is described as a learned and very talented man, but who in his after-years suffered from melancholy and aberration of mind. He committed suicide in 1745.
NOTE 91.
ANDERS HESSELIUS.
Anders Hesselius, an elder brother of Dr. Johan Hesselius (see Note 76), was born in 1677. After graduating at Upsal in 1707, he was appointed, in 1711, preacher of the Swedish congregations in Delaware and Pennsylvania, North America. He remained there till 1723, giving universal satisfaction, when he was suddenly called back to Sweden by Bishop Swedberg. He arrived in London at the end of the month of November, and had to remain there for seven months, before he found an opportunity of returning to Sweden. While in London he lost his wife, whom he had married in America. On being presented to the King in December, 1724, according to the Swedish "Biografiskt Lexicon," he received from him the pastorate of Gagnef in Dalecarlia, and not of "Ster," as is stated by Swedenborg in Document 102. He died at Gagnef in 1733. Concerning the fate of his collections in natural history, which are mentioned by Swedenborg, see Note 76.
NOTE 92.
RAUMUR.
Ren Antoine Ferchault de Raumur, who is mentioned by Swedenborg in Document 102, and described by him as a "clever scientific man," was born at La Rochelle in France, in 1683; and in 1708, became a member of the academy of Sciences.
NOTE 93.
SIR HANS SLOANE.
Sir Hans Sloane, by whom Swedenborg (according to Document 102) was invited in 1724 to become a corresponding member of the Royal Academy, was born in Ireland in 1660. In 1684, he settled in London, and was soon elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1687, he went to Jamaica as physician to the Duke of Albemarle, and resided there for fifteen months making large collections of natural curiosities. Returning to London he was appointed physician to Christ's Hospital in 1694, a position which he filled for thirty-six years. Having shortly before been elected secretary of the Royal Society he succeeded in reviving the "Philosophical Transactions," which had been discontinued, and until 1712 he acted as editor of the work. In 1707, the first volume of his "History of Jamaica" appeared; and in 1708, he was elected foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris. In 1716, he was created a baronet; and in 1727, succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as president of the Royal Society. In a scientific point of view he was noted rather as a diligent and discriminating collector than as a man of original ideas. His collections, amounting to two hundred volumes of dried plants, and over thirty thousand other specimens of natural history, besides a Library of 50,000 volumes and 3566 MSS., were by direction of his will offered to the nation for 20,000, a sum not equal to a fourth part of their value. The legacy was accepted by parliament, and in its purchase originated the British Museum. Swedenborg describes in his "Divine Love and Wisdom" (no. 344) an interesting interview he had with Sir Hans Sloane in the spiritual world; he says: "I heard two presidents of the English Royal Society, Sir [Hans] Sloane and [Martin] Folkes conversing together in the spiritual world concerning the existence of seeds and eggs, and concerning productions from them on earth:
NOTE 94.
JONAS ALSTRMER.
Jonas Alstrm, after being ennobled, Alstrmer, the father of Swedish manufactures, was born in 1685. In 1707 he went to London, where he engaged in business, and became Swedish consul in 1722. After making long journeys in England, France, and Holland, he returned to Sweden in 1723, bringing with him mechanics and workmen of every kind, and with a valuable cargo of machines for the manufacture of silk and woollen goods. He settled in his birth-place, Alingss, between Gottenburg and Falkping, and soon transformed it into a flourishing manufacturing town. Alstrmer also imported sheep from all parts of the world, and introduced the cultivation of potatoes and tobacco into Sweden. He seems to have been on very intimate terms with the Swedenborg family, as may be seen from Documents 33, 104, and 113. In Document 104 we read that he was desirous of taking Em. Swedenborg to England in order "to show him much that is interesting, and that would be useful to the country." Consul Alstrmer became councillor of Commerce in 1739 and was ennobled in 1751.
After the death of Jonas Alstrmer, Swedenborg seems to have maintained the same friendly relation with his son, Augustus Alstrmer, that he had with the father. Augustus Alstrmer was born in 1735; was a merchant in Gottenburg, and a friend of Drs. Beyer22 and Rosn.45 From a letter which was addressed to him by Swedenborg in 1770, and which will be found in Section IX, it appears that he was one of the few who during Swedenborg's life-time had a belief in his Divine mission. He died in 1773. His daughter, Anna Margaretha, after her father's death, was married to Baron Nils Silfverskld.
NOTE 95.
ABRAHAM DANIEL SCHNSTRM.
Abraham Daniel Schnstrm, to whom are addressed the letters constituting Documents 108, 109, and 110, was the son of Peter Schnstrm, brother of Bishop Swedberg, and hence he was Swedenborg's first cousin. As appears from Document 9, p. 85, he was born in 1692, was chamberlain to the king, and died in 1759 without issue. He was married to Hedvig Sophia Adlerheim, whose father, Carl Arosell, when ennobled, Adlerheim, was a son of Catharina Behm, a sister of Swedenborg's mother, Sarah Behm (see Document 9, p. 87). His state in the spiritual world is described in the "Spiritual Diary," no. 6037, and the nature of those who are like him in no. 5887. As early as October 27, 1748, thus eleven years before his departure into the spiritual world, Swedenborg describes a dream which he had bout him (see "Spiritual Diary," no. 3732), and says "Judging from externals I had formed a conception respecting him as if he were interiorly crafty and malicious; yet I refrain from judging whether he is so as to this interiors."
Swedenborg speaks of an "Adlerheim" in the "Spiritual Diary," nos. 4396, 4414, 4466, 4525. According to Dr. Kahl in his Narratiuncul this was "Peter Adlerheim," brother of the Carl Adlerheim mentioned above. Peter died in 1736, and Carl in 1717.
NOTE 96.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL HORLEMAN.
Brother Horleman, spoken of in Document 108, is Lieutenant-colonel Paco Horleman, when ennobled, Hrleman, who was born in 1694, and died in 1763. Swedenborg called him "brother," because he had married Anna Margaretha Rudbeck, daughter of his cousin, Anna Catharina Schnstrm, see Document 9, p. 85, no. 2.
The Court-intendant Horleman, mentioned in Document 125, is Baron Carl Hrleman, a cousin of the former, who was born in 1707, and died in 1753. By him the Royal Castle in Stockholm was finished.
NOTE 97.
SEBASTIAN V. THAM.
Sebastian Vollrathson Tham, whose daughter Dean Unge advised Swedenborg to marry (see Document 111), was born in 1666, and died June 25, 1729, three months after the date of Dean Unge's letter. He was first a merchant in Gottenburg, and afterwards an assessor, and finally a councillor in the College of Commerce. His father had immigrated into Sweden from Saxony, where he had been a burgomaster. Tham's younger daughter, who was intended by Unge for Swedenborg, was Johanna Christina, born in 1712. She was married in 1730 to Baron Salomon von Otter, Councillor of Commerce, brother of the Major Otter, who was, Unge says in Document 111, engaged to be married to Tham's elder daughter.
NOTE 98.
JOHAN FRIEDRICH HENKEL.
Johan Friedrich HENKEL, from whom dates Document 117, a great chemist and mineralogist, was born at Frieberg in Saxony in 1679. He studied medicine and practised for some time in his native town; but subsequently he devoted himself exclusively to the study of mineralogy and chemistry. He was appointed councillor of Mines by Augustus II, in which capacity he was of great service to his country, especially in the porcelain manufactory at Meissen. He died in 1744. His valuable collection of fossils and minerals was transferred after his death to St. Petersburg. HENKEL had been a very voluminous writer; his "Introduction to Mineralogy" was translated into French in 1756.
NOTE 99.
DR. CARL JESPER BENZELIUS.
Dr. Carl Jesper Benzelius, from whose correspondence, which is preserved in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping, are derived Documents 118, 127, 142, was the second son of Ericus Benzelius and Swedenborg's eldest sister Anna. For further particulars respecting him see Document 9, p. 89, no. 3.
NOTE 100.
JOHAN CHRISTOPH WOLF.
Johan Christoph Wolf, pastor-in-chief of St. Catharine's in Hamburg, was born in 1683 at Wernigerode. He studied theology in Hamburg under the celebrated Fabricius, and in 1710 became vice-principal of the gymnasium at Flensburg, and in the same year extraordinary professor of philosophy at Wittenberg. In 1712, he received the appointment of professor of Oriental languages in Hamburg, and soon after became the principal of the gymnasium; finally, in 1716, he was made pastor-in-chief at St. Catharine's in the same town. He died in 1739. As he never married, he left his large and valuable library, consisting of 24,000 volumes, to the public library connected with the Johanneum in Hamburg. His principal work is his Bibliotheca Hebra in four volumes; besides many other philological and theological works which he published in the Latin language. Wolf was an industrious correspondent of Ericus Benzelius. Wolf's letters to Ericus Benzelius are preserved in the Cathedral-Library at Linkping, and those of Ericus Benzelius in the Public Library in Hamburg. From these places are derived Documents 122 and 123.
NOTE 101.
BARON BIBBING.
Baron Conrad Bibbing, whose death is recorded by Swedenborg in Document 124, was born in 1671, and became Assessor in the Court of Appeals in Stockholm in 1705; provincial judge in Nerike in 1711; and in 1719, governor of Nerike and Wermland.
NOTE 102.
BARON GUSTAF RLAMB.
Baron Gustaf Cleason Rlamb, who is mentioned in Document 124, the successor of Conrad Ribbing101 in the presidency of the College of Mines, was the brother-in-law of his predecessor, and he continued to fill this office until Swedenborg's resignation in 1747. Gustaf Rlamb was born in 1673; he became chamberlain of the Queen dowager, Hedvig Eleonora,64 in 1692; and her court-marshal in 1711. In 1723, he became governor of Skaraborg; and in 1736, president of the College of Mines. He died in 1750. He had a most valuable collection of books, coins, and MSS. His collection of coins was sold after his death to the State; but most of his books and MSS. were burnt in the great fire of 1751. Count Tessin39 says respecting him, "He was an honest and honourable, steady and industrious, and also a wealthy man. Nothing of interest connected with Sweden and its affairs escaped his notice, and with everything of that nature he sought to increase his collections."
NOTE 103.
ADAM LEIJEL.
Adam Leijel, councillor of mines, was born in 1669. His father, Henric Leyel, was born at Arbroath in Scotland, and emigrated to Sweden in 1638. From his father, who had been a successful man of business, his son Adam inherited considerable property. Adam Leijel entered the College of Mines as auscultant, and in 1700 became master of mines (bergmstare) in Oster and Wester Bergslagen. In 1713, he was made assessor in the College of Mines, and was ennobled in 1717. In 1730, he received the appointment of councillor of mines (see Document 158), and on his retirement from this office in 1744, he received the title of governor, but died the same year. For many years Swedenborg enjoyed almost daily intercourse with Adam Leijel at the College of Mines, and hence he would naturally be thrown into his company in the other world. He furnishes a minute account of him in the "Larger Diary," nos. 4488 and 4495, and in the "Smaller Diary," nos. 4563, 4564, 4654, and p. 45. In the last passage he says concerning him: "During his Life in the body, he appeared in his external form endowed with much talent and prudence, and no one could have concluded otherwise, than that he was in the enjoyment of sound reason even in respect to spiritual things. It became manifest, however, that he attributed everything to nature, because he had led a merely natural life. In the other life he enjoyed a most excellent perception of truth, whence some thought that he might be converted; he himself desired also that others should think so on account of his clear perception. He was told, however, that life is everything and not perception."
Dr. Kahl in his Narratiuncul is doubtful whether the passages in the Diary refer to Adam Leijel, the subject of this note, or to David Leijel (see Note 124), or to Adam, the son of Jacob Leijel (see "Anrep," Vol. II, p. 621); still as Swedenborg in all these passages, except no. 4458, &c., speaks of A. or Ad. Leijel, and as David Leijel retired from the College of Mines in 1722, before Swedenborg became actively connected with it, there can be no doubt that in all these passages he could have meant Adam only and not David Leijel. Again, Adam Leijel, the son of Henric, was associated with Swedenborg for twenty years at the College of Mines, while the other Adam Leijel, the son of Jacob, was a mine-owner near rebro, and hence only slightly acquainted with Swedenborg; besides the latter Adam Leijel died as early as 1729, while the former Adam Leijel departed this life in 1744, and thus only one year before Swedenborg's sight was opened; it follows therefore that Adam Leijel, the subject of our note, was the Leijel who is mentioned by Swedenborg in his "Spiritual Diary."
NOTE 104.
COUNT HORN
Count Arvid Bernhard Horn was born in 1664. He entered the army in 1682 as a musketeer, and left it in 1704 a lieutenant-general. In 1705, he was appointed ambassador to Poland and a councillor of Chancery; of which, five years later, he became president. In 1719, he resigned all his offices; but next year became president of the Diet (landmarskalk) and leader of the House of Nobles, and senator and president of the College of Chancery, which is equivalent to being prime minister of Sweden. He held this office till 1739, when he was succeeded by Count Carl Gyllenborg. This change in the administration of Sweden is adverted to by Lars Benzelstjerna in Document 124. He died in 1742. Count Arvid Horn's activity as prime minister of Sweden, as the leader of the party of the "caps," is described in the Introduction to Document 172.
NOTE 105
JOACHIM VON NERS.
Joachim von Ners was born in 1689. He passed successively through the lower offices in the College of Commerce, until in 1728 he became burgomaster of commerce in Stockholm and chairman of the Board of Trade. In 1729, he was appointed a councillor of Chancery; and was ennobled in 1730, under the name of von Ners, his family name being Neresius. In the same year he married Catharina Schwede, daughter of Brita Behm. She is repeatedly mentioned by Bishop Swedberg in Documents 15, 18, and is the Miss Behm of Documents 30 and 31. Catharina Schwede died in 1735, and Ners married again in 1738. He resigned office as councillor of Chancery in 1739 (see Document 124), and died in 1748. Swedenborg speaks of him in the "Spiritual Diary," nos. 4995 to 4999, 5024, 5065. In no. 4995 he says, "everything he did was for the sake of gain; and in everything he had respect to gain; those who were rich he compelled by various means to give up to him some of their riches."
NOTE 106.
BARON CASTEN FEIF.
Baron Casten Feif, mentioned in Document 124, was a favourite of Charles XII. As Councillor of War he was with the King in Wallachia, and after Charles had made his escape to Stralsund, Feif soon after joined him there. In the introduction to his Journal for 1736 to 1739, Swedenborg mentions his having returned to Sweden from Greifswalde, in the spring of 1715, with a Madam Feif, who was no doubt the wife of Casten Feif. After the death of the King, Feif was made a baron, and in 1723, became president of the Administration of Crown-lands (statskontoret). He died in 1739 at the age of seventy-eight.
NOTE 107.
AXEL CRONSTEDT.
Axel Frederic Cronstedt, son of Lieutenant-General Gabriel Cronstedt, was born in 1722, studied at Upsal, and it appears from Document 125, that he returned from his travels about 1740. In 1742, he became auscultant in the College of Mines, where he met with Assessor Tilas, who subsequently became councillor of Mines, and took a lively interest in the talented young man. This interest matured into warm friendship, and these two scientific men exchanged many letters on subjects connected with mineralogy, chemistry, and on science in general, all which are carefully preserved in the Bergius Collection of Letters in the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm (see Note 46). Among these letters are two addressed by Baron Tilas to Cronstedt, in which he communicates to him his experience with Swedenborg (see Section X). In 1746, Cronstedt became notary in the College of Mines; and in 1758, master of Mines. From 1746 to 1751, he made a thorough examination of all the mines situated in the eastern and western "Bergslagen," and communicated the results to the College of Mines in a most masterly report which secured his election as member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1756, he published his text-book of Mineralogy, which was translated into German, English, and French. He died in 1765.
NOTE 108.
HARALD LYBECKER.
Harald Lybecker, councillor of Mines, who is mentioned by Swedenborg in Document 128, was born near Fahlun in 1649. He was a practical miner in 1671, and became connected with the administration of the mines at Sala in 1672, and at Fahlun in 1678. In 1691, he became master of mines at Fahlun; in 1692, assessor in the College of Mines, and in 1713 councillor of Mines. He died in 1714.
NOTE 109.
NIKLAS VON OELREICH.
Niklas von Oelreich, one of Swedenborg's personal friends, (see Documents 129, 188, and 194,) was born after his father's death in 1699, and his mother died before h, had reached his fourth year after a severe struggle with poverty he entered the University of Lund in 1716. In 1726, he took his degree of master, and became tutor in mathematics. In 1730, he became private tutor of the sons of Count Fersen; and in 1732, he was appointed Librarian, and in 1737, professor of literature in the University of Lund. In 1744, after a long journey abroad, he returned to Lund and entered on the professorship of philosophy, to which he had been meanwhile promoted. In 1746, he became censor of the press in Stockholm, a post which he filled till 1766, when this office was abolished. In 1747 he received the title of councillor of Chancery, and was employed by the party of the "hats," who were then in power, to defend their policy by means of the press. In their interest he published, during the years 1755 and 1756, a semi-weekly paper called, "The Honest Swede, by which he wielded great power. In 1756 he was ennobled, when he called himself von Oelreich. In 1766, when the party of the "caps" came into power again, Oelreich was obliged to retire from active political life, yet he was appointed president of the College of Commerce. He died in Stockholm in 1770.
NOTE 110.
ANNA FREDERICA EHRENBORG.
Anna Frederica Ehrenborg was the widow of (Vice Landshfding). C. I. M. Ehrenborg, Vice-Governonr of Skaraborg, who died in 1823.
NOTE 111.
PETER HULTMAN.
Peter Hultman, wholesale merchant and mine-owner (brukspatron) in Stockholm, who enjoyed the title of director, was Swedenborg's banker during the greater part of his life. He administered a portion of Swedenborg's property as early as 1737, when he was a member of the firm of Roman and Hultman (see Document 163). Swedenborg drew money from him in 1744 (see Document 134); and in Document 135 there is the first draught of a letter that Swedenborg wrote to Hultman from Amsterdam in 1748, from which it appears that this gentleman had charge of Swedenborg's house during his absence, and collected the interest of moneys due to him. From Document 138 it appears that Swedenborg had 30,000 dalers in copper invested with Ultman, and at the close of 1764 he had over 46,000 dalers in copper standing at his credit. Hultman's daughter Petronella was married to Count Frederic Gyllenborg, grandson of Count F. Gyllenborg (see Not. 115).
NOTE 112.
ANTON AND JOHAN GRILL.
Messrs. Anton and Johan Grill were Swedenborg's bankers in Amsterdam. Their father, Abraham Grill, was a wholesale merchant in Stockholm, of great wealth and liberality. Their brother Clas Grill succeeded to their father's business in Stockholm; he also was a man of great liberality, and furnished the means for constructing and fitting up the observatory in Stockholm. Most of his business in Amsterdam Swedenborg seems to have transacted through Joachim Wretman, from whom several important letters which are contained in Section IX have been preserved.
Young Clas Grill, whose name occurs in Document 141, was born in 1750, and was a son of the Clas Grill mentioned above. He came to London in 1769, where he was in the counting-house of Messrs. Lindegren,117 for some time. Bjrnstl speaks of him in 1776 (see Document 142), as an "honourable Swedish merchant and a good friend of Mr. Springer."121 In 1786, he was made Swedish Counsul-General in London; in 1815, he was raised to the dignity of a councillor of Chancery, and died in 1816.
NOTE 113.
CARL BROMAN.
Carl Broman, with whom Swedenborg, according to Document 135E, had invested a capital of 10,000 dalers in copper, and whom he there styles blaster of Ceremonies, was born in 1703. In 1722, he became a gentleman in attendance on the King. In 1733, he was appointed vice-master of ceremonies; in 1737, chamberlain; and in 1744, chief Master of Ceremonies. In 1748, or shortly after Swedenborg speaks of him as Master of Ceremonies, he was appointed Court-marshal, and in 1749 he became Governor of Elfsberg's ln and in 1751 of Stockholm's ln; wherefore Swedenborg, in Document 135, speaks of him as Governor Broman. He died in 1754.
Swedenborg speaks of a Carl Broman twice in his "Spiritual Diary," nos. 4151 and 5888. In the former number he says, that he "dreamed" and "spoke" in his dream with Carl Broman; and in the latter number, that "there was shown to him one who was like Carl Broman;" from which expressions, however, it does not follow by any means that the person there spoken of had departed from the natural world. Wherefore we also believe that the Carl Broman mentioned by Swedenborg in the above passages is the subject of our note, although he did not depart this life until twelve years after Swedenborg's death; and that Swedenborg did not mean his father Carl Broman who died in 1723), as is supposed by Dr. Kahl in his "Narratiuncul."
Carl Broman married Antoninetta Maria Stjerncrona, first cousin of the Countess Gyllenborg who is mentioned in Note 115.
NOTE 114.
FRANZ JENNINGS.
Franz Jennings, a merchant and banker in Stockholm, who is mentioned in Document 134, was born in Ireland in 1692. He amassed a large fortune, was ennobled in 1743, and became a councillor of Commerce in 1751. He died in 1754. He was associated with Robert Finlay, who was also born in Ireland. With the firm of Jennings and Finlay, which was continued after the death of Jennings, Swedenborg had invested in 1759 the sum of 10,000 dalers in copper at six per cent, as appears from Document 137. The firm of Jennings and Finlay was much opposed by Nordencrantz,133 the Councillor of Commerce, and at the instigation of the latter a Committee of the Swedish Diet was appointed to inquire into the transactions of the said firm, and as to their influence in raising the course of exchange. The revolution of 1772 put an end to the committee; but Finlay left Sweden in consequence, and resided to the end of his life at Bordeaux, in France.
NOTE 115.
COUNT FREDERIC GYLLENBORG.
Count Frederic Gyllenborg, a younger brother of Count Carl Gyllenborg (see Note 87), was born in 1698. In the beginning of his Journal for 1733 (see Section VIII), Swedenborg speaks of him and Baron David. Stjerncrona as his friends, and says: "On May 10, 1733, I left Stockholm with my friends, Count Frederic Gyllenborg and Baron David Stjerncrona and his relatives, Mr. Gallus, and others who accompanied me to a place called Fithia." Count Gyllenborg married Elisabeth Stjerncrona, sister of Baron David Stjerncrona, and daughter of President Stjerncrona, who is mentioned in the "Spiritual Diary," nos. 4754 and 5899. At an early age Frederic Gyllenborg became a page at the court of the Queen Dowager, Hedvig Elenora.64
The testimony which Swedenborg gives of him in the other life is quite different. He says among other things ("Spiritual Diary," Appendix 1, p. 79): "There was a certain one (Fr. G.) who in his childhood had applied himself to piety, and who hence had remained in the acknowledgment of God to the end of his Life; upon fortune favouring him, he came, however, into the love of ruling, and hence into evils of every kind. He did not, indeed, commit these evils, yet he excused them and regarded them as permitted. In the other life he prayed to God in the same manner as he had done in the world, and with such fervour that scarcely any one could surpass him; he prayed, however, to God the Father, and in doing so believed that all things were forgiven him; he began even to burn with such hatred against the Lord as to deny Him, and afterwards to persecute those who adored the Lord; and at last he denied God, and became like one deranged, and was sent among such as have little life." See also "Spiritual Diary," nos. 4740, 5161, 5976-7, 5983-4, 5996, 6026.
A peculiar interest is connected with the name of Gyllenborg from the circumstance, that one of Swedenborg's biographers, Dr. J. J. Garth's Wilkinson, declares on the authority of the late Charles Augustus Tulk, M. P., that "Swedenborg was in the habit of saying that he had seen in the spiritual world his future wife, who was waiting there for him, and that she had been known in the world as a Countess Gyllenborg."
NOTE 116.
CARL WILHELM SEELE.
Carl Wilhelm Seele seems to have been a kind of confidential agent of Swedenborg's. He is mentioned in Robsahm's Memoirs, no. 49, where we learn that Swedenborg frequently went to his house; from him also Robsahm learned the particulars contained in no. 48. of his account. To Seele's charge Swedenborg entrusted all his valuables, when he left Sweden for the last time in 1770 as may be seen from Document 139; he also is recommended by Mr. Chas. Lindegren, in Document 141, as a proper person in whose presence the packages are to be opened, which he had sent from London, after Swedenborg's departure into the other life; to the same agent also Mr. Lindegren had previously reported that Swedenborg had left no will.
NOTE 117.
CHARLES LINDEGREN.
Charles Lindegren, the writer of Document 141, and his brother Anders Lindegren, were the heads of a highly respected Swedish house in London. Their names frequently occur in the records of the Swedish Church in London (which were published in 1852 by G. W. Carlson), as trustees and members of the vestry of that Church. Of the two brothers, Charles seems to have been the more popular, as on several occasions when trustees were appointed, he obtained most votes. Through Charles Lindegren Swedenborg transacted most of his business during his last stay in London: before him Johann Spieker had been his banker, as appears from Document 134. Lindegren was born in Finland in 1685, and arrived in London in 1712, where he died in 1775, in his ninetieth year.
NOTE 118.
PASTOR MATHESIUS.
Magister Aaron Mathesius, who has gained an unenviable notoriety from having circulated a report that in consequence of a severe illness Swedenborg had lost his reason, and that on his deathbed he recanted his doctrines, was pastor of the Swedish Church in London from 1773 to 1784. He was born in 1736 in Phyjocki, Finland, where his father was dean (contracts-prost). He was the youngest of twenty-five children, and as his father died in 1740, he was educated chiefly at the expense of his elder brothers. After passing through the gymnasium at Uleaborg, he went to the University of Upsal in 1754; where he received the degree of master of philosophy in 1764. A short time afterwards he was engaged by Dr. Noring, Dean of the Swedish Church in London, as private tutor for his son, in which capacity he continued for three years. At the close of the year 1767 he went to bo in Finland, where he was ordained priest, and in 1768 he returned to London, where he acted as curate to Pastor Ferelius.119 In 1770 and 1771 he was acting pastor of the Danish Church in London. In 1772 he there became assistant-pastor of the Swedish Church; and pastor in 1773 (see Document 141).
We shall not enter here into a refutation of the slanders which Mathesius circulated respecting Swedenborg; these will be thoroughly exposed in Section X; but it may be necessary to furnish the materials which will give us an insight into his character.
In the "Records of the Swedish Church in London" (Anteckningar rrande Svenska Kyrkan i London), p. 82, we read:
"On April 29, 1777, the Swedish congregation sent a letter to His Regal Majesty, containing the following nine points of accusation against their pastor, Mathesius: arbitrary administration of the money belonging to the Church; personal attacks from the pulpit; keeping the minutes of the congregation in a slovenly manner; refusing the members of the congregation access to the church boobs; holding church-meetings without calling them in a legal way; signing the minutes of the proceedings with the names of members without their knowledge; going to the country without leave of absence; causing dissension in the congregation by exciting the lower classes against the higher, and persuading them that they possess rights which do not belong to them; and, finally, purchasing a parsonage in an unlawful way." This letter was remitted by the King to the College of Chancery, by which it was sent to pastor Mathesius, with the order that he should defend himself on these nine points, and send in his defence within a month; meanwhile he was suspended from his functions. Mathesius defended himself in a long reply, and as he changed his course of proceeding among the members of the congregation, and helped to procure the adoption of the constitution of the church which he had heretofore opposed, a petition was sent to the King by the congregation on March 7, 1778, praying to have him re-instated in his office. On March 21, 1779, he was accordingly re-instated. At p. 85 Pastor Mathesius is commended for his zeal in the performance of his ecclesiastical functions, and the particulars of the work which he performed are enumerated. And at p. 89 we find the following statement: "In the summer of 1783 Pastor Mathesius was overtaken by it severe illness, whereby he was disabled from continuing his office. In the quarterly meeting which was held on August 18 of the same year, it was announced that Ambassador Baron von Nolcken had made arrangements with the Danish minister to hold services in the Swedish Church every alternate Sunday. On May 16, 1784, in the presence of Mathesius, Magister Andreas Leufenius was installed as his successor. Mathesius had been so far restored that, after being relieved from the ministerial office, he was able to return to his native country, where he remained until his death."
The following particulars respecting Mathesius have been given by members of his congregation:
In a work entitled, "Tableau analytique et raisonne," &c., published in London in 1756, by Benedict Chastanier, we find in the preface, p. 21, the following words: "Mr. Springer121 informed us yesterday, March 15, 1785, in the presence of a numerous and respectable company, that Swedenborg had presented his "Arcana Coelestia" to Mathesius, who was never willing to read the work, and who, from an hostility he had conceived against the doctrines contained therein, had been constantly one of the greatest antagonists of Swedenborg" had at p. 24, we read: "Mr. Springer informed us yesterday that Mathesius, who had succeeded in supplanting the good Pastor Ferelius, who is now in Sweden, had become mad, and had in consequence of this been suspended from his ministry, and recalled to Stockholm, where he is now living on a pension granted by the King.
In the "Intellectual Repository" for January, 1836, the Rev. S. Noble inserted the following statement: "Mr. Peter Prove, a respectable gentleman of the medical profession, who published the work called Wisdom's Dictates, on May 2, 1787, called on Mr. Bergstrm of whom more will be said in the Notes to Volume II, and who keeps the King's Arms Tavern, in Wellclose Square; and who, during a conversation of an hour's length, related to him as follows: 'Mr. Mathesius was an opponent of Swedenborg, and said that he was a lunatic, &c.; but it is remarkable that he went lunatic himself, which happened publicly one day when he was in the Swedish Church, and about to preach: I was there, and saw it: he has been so ever since, and sent back to Sweden, where he now is: this was about four years ago.'"
This state of lunacy does not seem to have been permanent; for we learn in the Anteckningar, &c., that Mathesius was married in 1789 to Johanna Kjempe, and that their daughter Maria, who was born in 1795, was married to Magister C. G. Carln, who was a teacher in the gymnasium at Skara. Of Mathesius himself we read further, that he returned to Sweden in 1784, and at his own request, and by the recommendation of the Archbishop, was formally released from his duties in London by a royal decree, dated May 17, 1785, receiving at the same time a yearly pension of 66 rix-dalers 32 shillings, until he should be preferred to s pastorate in Sweden. Meanwhile he lived on St. Halfvara, an estate of his own, in the perish of Bjrster, belonging to the diocese of Skara, where he occupied himself with private tuition. On February 14, 1805, he was appointed pastor of Fogls in the same diocese, receiving at the same time the title of dean. He died in 1808.
NOTE 119.
PASTOR FERELIUS.
Magister Arvid Ferelius was the predecessor of Mathesius,118 as pastor of the Swedish Church in London. In the Anteckningar, &c., we read concerning him: "He was born in Mariestad, May 17, 1725, where his father Lars Ferell followed the vocation of a dyer. After passing through the gymnasia of Mariestad and Skara, he went to the University of Upsal in 1746, and was ordained a priest at Skara in 1754. In 1757 he visited the University of Greifswald, and during the war served as chaplain in the Royal Westgtha Dal regiment. He was made a master of philosophy at Greifswalde in 1757, and returned to Sweden in the beginning of 1768. Having passed his examination as pastor at Skara he was ordered the same year by the Chapter of Skara to act as curate to Dr. Noring, pastor of the Swedish Church in London. In 1761 he was installed as pastor in the same Church, and having returned to Sweden in 1772, he was the same year preferred to the pastorate of Skfde with the title of dean. He died in 1793. He was married June 1, 1768, to Sara Kullman, daughter of Dean Kullman of Thors in Westergthland, who went to London to meet her future husband; the marriage took place on board a Swedish vessel, the ceremony being performed by Magister Mathesius, who was at the time in London. Their daughter Helena Catharina, born in 1769, was married to Carl Joh. Schnherr, the Councillor of Commerce; Greta, born in 1775, to Gust. J. Billberg, and Maria Christina, born in 1777, to Dr. Levin Olbers, Dean of Skara.
After Ferelius had returned to Sweden in 1772, he was requested by the House of the Clergy through their Speaker, Bishop Forslenius, to make a report of his experience with regard to Swedenborg. A similar request was made to him by Professor Trtgrd of Greitswalde in December, 1779, with which he complied in a letter dated March 17, 1780. The editor of these documents succeeded in obtaining a certified copy of this letter during his stay in Stockholm in 1869, and a translation of it will be found in Section X. A third statement of his experience with Swedenborg, Ferelius made orally to Dr. Carl Johan Kns, Dean of Skara, who, when a young man on his way to the University of Upsal, staid with Ferelius in Skfde in 1784, and who entered in his Diary an account of what he had heard from Ferelius respecting Swedenborg. This account also will be found in Section X.
Swedenborg presented to Ferelius a copy of his Arcana Coelestia, and Benedict Chastanier says in his "Tableau analytique et raisonne," &c. (London, 1786, preface, p. 21): "Mr. Springerl21 reported to us in substance, that Swedenborg strongly advised Ferelius to attach himself to the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, without minding the opposition which he would probably meet with from men in general, and particularly from his colleague Mathesius,118 another Swedish minister, who had already expressed himself strongly against these doctrines." That Ferelius was favourably inclined towards the doctrines taught by Swedenborg seems also to be proved by the circumstance that his son-in-law, Councillor of Commerce Schnherr, was a most zealous receiver of these doctrines, and the names of his two other sons-in-law, Billberg and Olbers, are well-known in the annals of the New Church in Sweden; Gustaf J. Billberg himself having been the Secretary of the Society "Pro Fide et Charitate," the object of which was the dissemination throughout Sweden of the doctrines taught by Swedenborg. Still during his life-time Ferelius never openly acknowledged himself a follower of Swedenborg, and in his letter to Professor Trgrd he states: "I beg expressly that you will not mention my name as long as I live;" a request which was complied with by the professor, who first communicated this letter to a correspondent B[illberg?] in Stockholm, in 1796, three years after the death of Ferelius.
NOTE 120.
JACOB J. BJRNSTAHL.
Jacob Jonas Bjrnstahl, a celebrated Swedish scholar and traveller, born in 1731. In his "Travels," published in six volumes after his death by C. Ch. Gjrwell, he mentions having met with Swedenborg in Paris. He died in 1779, in Turkey, after having just received the appointment of Ordinary professor of the Latin, Greek, and Oriental languages at Lund.
NOTE 121
CHRISTOPHER SPRINGER.
Christopher Springer, one of Swedenborg's personal friends, who is often referred to as an authority, especially in matters connected with Swedenborg's residence in London daring the latter part of his life, was born in 1704. In his younger years he made many journeys in the interest of several commercial enterprizes; and in 1741 appeared on the theatre of politics.
From 1743 to 1747, Springer seemed to have taken a prominent part in Swedish politics; and either in 1746 or 1747, the following occurrence took place, which is related by Dr. Spence (see Section X in these words: "Mr. Springer told me before Mr. F. Nordenskld,20 Mr. B. Chastanier, and others that, differing about politics, Count Ekeblad had provoked him to draw his sword upon him, but that they had made it up, and promised not to mention it to any one while in life; that afterwards the Count had attempted to bribe him with a purse of 10,000 rix-dollars, which sum and the circumstances attending the affair Mr. Swedenborg particularly mentioned to him as having from conversing with the Count just then deceased. [Count Ekeblad died in October 1771]. Every time Mr. Springer told the story, for he repeated it more than once, he threw down his handkerchief on the floor, while relating that part of it by my fireside, to shew with what abhorrence he refused the purse." As Count Ekeblad had returned to Sweden from a, foreign mission in 1746, this occurrence must have taken place either in that or in the following year; for at the end of 1747, Springer fell a victim to the machinations of his enemies, as related above. On hearing of the order for his arrest, he took refuge at the house of the English ambassador, Mr. Guydiken; but he was betrayed by one of the Swedish servants of the ambassador, and the next night was forcibly dragged away, and in January 1748 taken to the Swedish state-prison, Marstrand, near Gottenburg.
In the Anteckningar &c. (p. 169), we read further concerning Springer: "He became finally reconciled to the Swedish government, and was honoured by letters from King Adolphus Frederic and King Gustuvus III, both of whom sought to induce him to return to his native country, which, however, he declined to do, pleading his advanced age.
On the relations between Springer and Swedenborg, the former wrote to Abb Pernety, "As regards myself, I cannot assign a reason for Swedenborg's great reward for me, who am not a man of literature. It is true that we were good friends in Sweden, but that this friendship should have continued between us with such constancy as it did, is what I did not expect."
NOTE 122.
JONAS CEDERSTEDT.
Jonas Cederstedt was a councillor in the College of Mines when Swedenborg became connected with it. He was first attorney and afterwards clerk in the Court of chancery at Upsal. In 1685 he became private secretary to Count Fabian Wrede, who was president of the Court of Reduction or Sequestration, and whose duty it was to reclaim to the crown from the nobility the estates which had gradually become alienated from it. On account of his services in that court he was promoted in 1687 to the position of attorney in the College of Mines. In 1704, he became assessor in the College; was ennobled in 1705, when he changed his name from Carlstedt to Cederstedt; and in 1713 he received the appointment of councillor of Mines. He died in 1730.
Swedenborg repeatedly mentions his former colleague in the "Spiritual Diary," (nos. 4701-4703, 4826, 5967, 6032.) His collusion with Secretary Porath by which he obtained various sums of money detailed in nos. 4701-4703, is described in Note 127.
NOTE 123.
ANDERS STMNER.
He was an assessor in the College of Mines, when Swedenborg became connected with it in 1717. After filling several important posts in the Bank and in the Swedish Mint, he was appointed assessor of the College of Mines in 1699, and was raised to the dignity of a councillor of Mines in 1720. He died in 1730 at the age of eighty-four. His daughter Anna Catherina was married to Assessor Olof Benzelstjerna (see note to Document 64), a younger brother of Ericus Benzelius.
NOTE 124.
DAVID LEIJEL.
David Leijel, a cousin of Adam Leijel (see Note 103), was an assessor in the College of Mines when Swedenborg became connected with it. He retired from the College in 1722, with the title of Councillor of Mines; and as he removed to his mining property, Elfkarleby, before Swedenborg settled down in Stockholm, they do not seem to have become intimately acquainted. He died in 1727.
NOTE 125.
JOHAN BERGENSTJERNA.
Johan Bergenstjerna, assessor and subsequently councillor at the College of Mines, was born in 1668 at Linkping, in the neighbourhood of which his father Peter Berg was a farmer. Bergenstjerna's name frequently occurs in the Acts of the College of Mines in connection with that of Swedenborg; for the two were not only members of the same board from 1723 to 1727, but they were often associated in making inspecting tours among the mines. Besides, they were in a certain sense related by marriage, as Bergenstjerna married in 1735 Elisabeth Brink, the widow of Swedenborg's younger brother Eliezer (see Document 62). Bergenstjerna entered the College of Mines in the usual way, being first auscultant, without salary, in 1699; in 1707, he became notary; in 1708, attorney, and in 1713 secretary. In 1720 he was ennobled, when he changed his family name, Berg, into Bergenstjerna; the same year he became an assessor, and in 1731 councillor of Mines; which office he held until 1747, when he retired. He died in 1746.
NOTE 126.
GRAN VALLERIUS.
Gran Vallerius, mentioned in Documents 159, 161, 161c, and 163c among the assessors of the College of Mines, was a younger son of Professor Harald Vallerius (see Note 71). He entered the service of the College of Mines at Fahlun in 1703; became master of Mines (bergmstare) in Upland and Vester-Norrland in 1714, and in the Oester and Vester Berglagen in 1722. In 1730 he joined the College of Mines as assessor. In 1742, he became a member of the Academy of Sciences, and died in 1744.
NOTE 127.
NILS PORATH.
Niles Porath was secretary of the College of Mines soon after Swedenborg became an active member of it in 1723. When Swedenborg applied for leave of absence in 1736, and relinquished half his salary, the College proposed to the King that Secretary Porath should receive 300 dalers in addition to his own salary as secretary, and that he should undertake the duties of Assessor in Swedenborg's place, as appears from Document 162.
NOTE 128.
BARON OLOF CEDERSTRM.
As secretary of State from 1728 to 1739, Baron Cederstrom dispatched the business connected with Swedenborg's application for leave of absence in 1736 (see Document 162, B). He was the son of Bishop Carlsson of Westeras, mentioned in page 108. He became a member of the Privy Council or Senate in 1739, and died in 1745.
NOTE 129
HANS BIERCHENIUS.
Hans Bierchenius was promoted to Secretary Porath's127 place, when Swedenborg left the College of Mines on leave of absence in 1736 (see Dr. Kahl's "Narratiuncul," p. 13). In 1750, he was raised to the dignity of assessor. He married Anna Catharina Leijel, who was related to the leijels of Notes 103 and 124. He is one of the few persons with whom Swedenborg was associated at the College of Mines whom he found in the other world in a good state. He says concerning him in the "Spiritual Diary," no. 4717: "I saw two with whom I had been acquainted in the world (Morus66 and Bierchenius). They appeared with countenances which differed from their former ones. When asked whether I recognized the latter, I said, No. I then divined that it was Bierchenius, and it was also discovered to me that it was he. He had a shining, fair human countenance, and was seen in a carriage which was half opened, for he was then reflecting on the doctrine of charity.
NOTE 130.
GUSTAF BONEAUSCHLD.
Gustaf Boneauschld was secretary of State after Baron Cederstrm,128 and in this capacity he affixed his name to the decree by which Swedenborg's resignation as assessor in the College of Mines was accepted (see Document 167). He was the son of Abraham Boneau, a merchant in Stockholm. He was private secretary to Count Arvid Horn,104 in 1707; and secretary to the president of the College of Chancery in 1714. In 1719, he was ennobled, and became secretary of the Department of the Interior; in 1727, he was made councillor of Chancery, and in 1739 secretary of State. He died in 1754. According to Anrepp, Boneauskld was the special favourite and confidant of King Frederic, but was not greatly loved by the people. He was also very intimate with Bishop Swedberg, as appears from Document 18, where the Bishop says, "Secretary Boneauskld especially is one of my good friends." Boneauskld married in 1727 Margaretha S. Palmqvist, the daughter of Swedenborg's former partron, High-Chancellor Palmqvist (see Note 61). His character, as it developed itself in the other world, is described by Swedenborg in the "Spiritual Diary," nos. 4788 to 4790.
NOTE 131.
STANISLAUS LECZINSKY.
Stanislaus Leczinsky, King of Poland, who is mentioned in the Introduction to Document 172, page 484, was born at Lemberg in 1677. His father, Rafael Leczinsky, was one of the most opulent nobles of Poland. As early as 1699 young Stanislaus was sent as Polish ambassador to Turkey, and in 1704 to Charles XII, after he had defeated August II, and deposed him from the throne of Poland. In his capacity of ambassador, Stanislaus made such a favourable impression on Charles, that he resolved to have him created King of Poland. This took place in 1705. The further particulars of his life until 1733 will be found in the Introduction mentioned above. There it is stated that Stanislaus reigned in Poland till 1709, when, upon the defeat of Charles XII at Pultawa, he was dethroned, and after staying for some time in Sweden, went in 7123 to Weissenburg in Alsace. After the death of Augustus II in 1733, Stanislaus was again proclaimed King of Poland by a faction of the Polish nobility, and went to Dantzic. He was, however, defeated by Augustus III, with the help of Russia. Besieged by the Russians in Dantzic, Stanislaus narrowly escaped being made prisoner, by fleeing in the disguise of a peasant to Marienwerder. By the conditions of peace, which was concluded in Vienna in 1735, Stanislaus was compelled to abdicate the Polish throne, though allowed to retain the title of King of Poland during his life. He recovered the confiscated possessions of his family, was created Duke of Loraine and Bar, and took up his residence at Luneville. After his death in 1766, these provinces were absorbed by France. King Stanislaus is said to have been one of the best sovereigns of Europe during the last century. He is also known as an author, having in 1765 published in Paris in 4 volumes his "Cauvres du philosophe bien faisant," which treats of philosophy, morals, and politics, and shows his love for the arts and sciences.
NOTE 132.
COUNT LEWENHAUPT.
Count Charles Emil Lewenhaupt, was born in 1691. In 1709, he was captain in the service of Holstein; and in 1715, colonel of the regiment of the island of Rgen. In 1720, he was extraordinary ambassador of Sweden to Vienna; and in 1722, he became major-general of cavalry. In 1734, he was appointed the presiding officer of the Diet; and when war was declared against Russia in 1741, he was made commander-in-chief of the Swedish army. On account of his non-success in war, he fell a victim to state intrigues, and was beheaded in August, 1743 (see p. 485).
NOTE 133.
COUNCILLOR NORDENCRANTZ
Anders Nordencrantz, Swedenborg's opponent at the Diet of 1760 and 1761, was born in 1697 at Sundswall, where his father Lorentz Backman, was burgomaster. His father had thirteen children, and could not devote much time or money to the education of Anders; besides, the Swedish: "Biografiskt Lexicon" informs, he was, while a boy, dull and of slow cnmprehension. The result was that he grew up without much information, and had, when a young man, to make up for his early deficiencies by close application and persevering study. Nordencrantz accordingly was a self-taught man, and combined in a great degree all the advantages and disadvantages of such a mode of study. The disadvantages were a great conceit of his own learning and opinions, and a contempt for the learning and opinions of others, coupled with great obstinacy; but at the same time with an iron will which enabled him to conquer difficulties and remove obstructions. Like all men of strong will, Nordencrantz had many friends and many not a single friend who remained his friend during the whole of his life. Nordencrantz engaged early in business for himself, and in 1720 removed to Drontheirn in Norway, whence he traded to Great Britain in fish and other merchandize. In 1722, he suffered shipwreck in going to Scotland, and on being rescued went to London, where he studied trade, political economy, and mechanics, and began the composition of a work on commerce and political economy. In 1724, he returned to Sweden, and performed some engineering works, by which he acquired credit at home and in Russia; and in 1727, was elected a member of the Diet for Sundswall.
In the year 1755 a rise in the course of exchange excited the attention of the whole country, and then arose those circumstances which are described in the Introduction to Document 174, and which on the one hand induced Nordencrantz to publish the work described in the Introduction to Document 181, and on the other hand led Swedenborg to compose Documents 174, 176, 176, and 177. Nordencrantz belonged to the party of the "caps," and Swedenborg was more in favour of the "hats:" Nordencrantz sought the cause of the rise of exchange in a combination of some of the leading merchants of Stockholm and in the Swedish form of government, of which Count A. J. von Hpken was the head. Swedenborg, in Document 174, traced the effects to entirely different causes; besides, he stood up boldly for the existing form of Government in Sweden, and defended Count Hpken and his colleagues against the attacks made upon them by the party of the "caps." Swedenborg's share in the proceedings of the Diet of 1761 is described by Count Hpken in a letter to General Tuxen (see Section X) in these words: "The most solid and best written memorials at the Diet of 1761, on matters of finance, were presented by Swedenborg. In one of these he refuted a large work in quarto on the same subject, quoting from it all the corresponding passages, and all this in less than a sheet." This was the book published by Nordencrantz; and Swedenborg's review of it constitutes Document 181. The racy correspondence resulting thence between Swedenborg and Nordencrantz is contained in Documents 182 to 183, and also the various resolutions and expostulations which were offered on the subject in the Swedish Diet.
The measures advocated by Swedenborg succeeded in the end, for in January, 1762, the members of the Secret Committee were called in, and it was resolved that henceforth no money should be advanced on movable property, which is the substance of Swedenborg's first resolution on page 501. Nordencrantz now held aloof from politics for a while, and also made friends with Swedenborg as appears from Document 194. The party of the "hats" also continued to hold the reins of government.
In the next session of the Diet, however, the party of the "hats" was forced to retire. Now Nordencrantz came again to the front; and a plan advocated both by Nordencrantz and Swedenborg was introduced, that the circulation of paper-money should be limited to the amount of bullion held in store by the Bank. Swedenborg, however, proposed to reach this result slowly and by degrees, while Nordencratz was in favour of more decisive and energetic measures, which were the measures adopted. But this procedure increased the difficulties instead of lessening them; so that they returned, in the Diet of 1769, to the original plan, by which the Bank was authorized again to advance money on every description of property.
Nordencrantz had meanwhile become a Bank commissioner, which gave him a more intimate insight into the nature of the financial crises in Sweden, and on these subjects he continued writing until the time of his death in 1772, the same year that Swedenborg departed this life.
Nordencrantz's biographer in the Swedish "Biografiskt Lexicon" sums up his character in these words: "He was a man of judgment and intelligence; but one-sided and partial; he was self-willed, conceited, and obstinate, like most self-made and self-taught men; dry, massive, uncouth, and strong in hate; yet I believe him to have been an honest man, a good citizen, and a disinterested lover of his country."
NOTE 134.
BARON CARL FREDERICK VON HPKEN.
Baron Carl Frederic von Hpken, a younger brother of Count Anders J. von Hpken, to whom are addressed Documents 183 and 188, was born in 1713. He was appointed royal chamberlain in 1732, and the same year he and Edward Carleson24 were sent by the College of Commerce to the East, to advance the commerce of Sweden. They travelled through Germany, Holland, and France, and then went by way of Italy, Greece, and Cyprus to Egypt, where they spent some time.
NOTE 135.
BARON PALMSTJERNA.
Baron Nils Palmstjerna was according to the Swedish "Biografiskt lexicon," the strongest member of the cabinet of which Count Hpken28 was chief. He was born in 1696, and served in the Swedish and French armies until 1738, when he was appointed Swedish ambassador to the Count of Denmark; which post he held until 1744. In 1746, he was appointed senator, together with Count Hpken, Count Ekeblad, and others; and in 1747, was elected chancellor of the University of Lund, which greatly prospered under his administration. From 1746 to 1761, he continued a member of the Swedish Senate, and according to his biographer "he was one of the most prudent, industrious, and certainly one of the most influential, in a government in which the King was a mere cipher. It was quite possible also that he had a hand in every thing, but he avoided the appearance of it. His was 'a Roman character' in the Latin meaning of that term. In the year 1756, when an attempt was made on Sweden's liberty, Palmstjerna seems to have been the one who more than any other of his colleagues held fast to the principle, Fiat justitia et pereat mundus let justice be done and the world perish." Particulars of the part Baron Palmstjerna took in shaping the politics of Sweden will be found in the remarks appended to Document 196, pages 542 to 546; where it appears that he was compelled to leave the Swedish Senate in 1761, in conjunction with Count Hpken28 and Baron Scheffer.136 he was recalled to the Senate in the same year, but refused to accept the office. He died on his wife's estate of Srby in Nerike, in 1766.
NOTE 136.
COUNT SCHEFFER.
Count Carl Frederic Scheffer, who was born in 1715, became a member of the Swedish Senate in 1751. From 1576 to 1762, he superintended the education of the Swedish princes, Gustavus III and Frederic Adolphus. In 1761, as appears from Document 196, he was obliged to resign his seat in the Senate, in conjunction with Count Hpken and Baron Palmstjerna. He was recalled, however, the same year, and continued in office until 1765, when the administration passed out of the hands of the party of the "hats," with whom Baron Scheffer was identified. In the year 1765, he left the Swedish Senate and at the same time his former party, and joined the party of the King. In 1770, he accompanied the Crown-prince Gustavus on his travels through Europe; and it is supposed that during this journey those plans were matured which, in 1772, when Gustavus III, on the death of his father, ascended the Swedish throne, culminated in a coup d'tat, by which the constitution of Sweden was superseded, and the King of Sweden became again the personal ruler of his kingdom. Baron Scheffer was made a count in 1766. He continued to wield great political power until the time of his death in 1786.
NOTE 137.
COUNT ERIC BRAHE.
Count Eric Brahe, one of the unfortunate noblemen who were executed in 1756 by order of the Swedish Diet (see Document 196, p. 543), was born in 1722. He entered the Swedish military service, and was made a colonel in 1752. In 1744 he was appointed a member of the special embassy sent to Berlin, to accompany to Sweden the Princess Louisa Ulrica, its future Queen.11 In 1752, Count Brahe, as the first count on the roll, was vice-president of the Swedish Diet, and in 1755 he was elected president. Swedenborg reports of him in his "Spiritual Diary," n. 5099: "He was executed at 10 o'clock, A.M., and he conversed with me at 10 o'clock, P.M. thus after twelve hours; and then he spoke with me almost continually for several days. After the second day he commenced returning into the former state of his life, which consisted in loving worldly things; and after the third day he was just as he had been in the world, and was carried away by the evils which he had imbibed in the world."
NOTE 138.
BARON GUSTAF JACOB HORN.
Baron Gustaf Jacob Horn of Rantzien, a fellow-sufferer with Count Brahe,137 was born in 1706. He was appointed chamberlain of the King in 1731, and in 1744 became court-marshal of the Crown-Princess, Louise Ulrica,11 who afterwards became Queen of Sweden. The names of the two others executed with Count Brahe and Baron Horn were Captain Johan Puke, father of the celebrated Swedish Admiral, Count Puke, and Captain Magnus Stlsvrd.
NOTE 139.
BIDENIUS RENHORN.
Bidenius Renhorn, burgromaster ofilrbogrt, was appointed by the Swedish Diet prosecuting attorney in the case against Count Brahe,137 Baron Horn,138 and others, in 1756, receiving 6000 pltar from the Diet as his fee. In 1761, he was one of the most zealous defenders of Barons von Hpken, Palmstjerna, and Scheffer, and against him is directed the document discovered by Dean Wieselgren140 among the archives of the De la Gardie family, a document which he ascribes, erroneously we maintain, to Swedenborg. Linnus16 in his Nemesis Divina relates the following anecdote of Renhorn: "Renhorn became unwell, and eight days afterwards went to the Djurgdsbrunn, to drink the waters there. One day he invited all the guests at the springs to a collation, with the exception of a skipper of the name of Ahlstrm, who, on account of his impertinent tongue, was generally called the Ottoman Forte. On the following day Ahlstrm demanded satisfaction from Renhorn according to the "brunnsrtt," a jocular custom of the springs. Ahlstrom, as prosecuting attorney, brought up Renhorn's part in the condemnation of Brahe, Horn, and the others, and he moved that Renhorn should suffer the same punishment. This occurrence worked so much on Renhorn's mind that he left the springs and returned home, where he caught a fever and died a few days afterwards." (See "Nya Kyrkan," &c., part II, p. 61.)
NOTE 140.
PETER WIESELGREN.
Peter Wieselgren, the present Dean of Gottenburg, was born in 1800. While studying at the University of Lund in 1552 he accepted an invitation from Count De in Gardie to arrange his collection of manuscripts; afterwards he had access to the manuscript collections of Count Engestrm and others, thus laying the foundation of a most extensive knowledge of Swedish history and biography.
NOTE 141.
THE DE LA GARDIE FAMILY.
The De la Gardie family is an old and well-known noble family of Sweden, to which their ancestor, Baron Pontus De la Gardie, emigrated at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The founder of the collection called "Delagardiska Arkivet" was Count Jacob Gustaf De la Gardie, who was born in 1768, and who died in 1842. Swedenborg describes in his "Spiritual Diary," n. 1627, a marriage between the Empress of Russia and De la Gardie. This account, which he wrote in the Swedish language, was inserted by the librarian Klemming in his edition of "Swedenborg's Drmmar," p. 66 to p. 70. Dr. Kahl in his "Narratiuncul" supposes that the De la Gardie mentioned there is Count Magnus Julius De la Gardie who was born in 1668, and who died in 1741, and was the grandfather of the Jacob Gustaf De la Gardie mentioned above.
NOTE 142.
PROFESSOR SCHENMARK.
Professor Nils Schenmark of Lund, Swedenborg's correspondent in 1766, was born in 1720 in stra Ny in the diocese of Linkping. In 1738, he became a student in Lund, where his uncle Dr. J. Whlin was dean and professor of theology. He took his degree of master of philosophy in 1745; and in 1749 the observatory at Lund was placed under his charge. In 1751, he was sent to Hernsand in the far north, to take observations there in connection with those made by the celebrated French astronomer De la Caille at the Cape of Good Hope, with the view of determining more precisely the parallaxes of the moon and of the planets Venus and Mars. He remained for a whole year at Hernsand, and acquitted himself so well in the work entrusted to him, that he was chosen a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1755. From 1758, to 1761 he surveyed the Swedish coast from the Sound to Norway, in 1763 he was appointed professor of mathematics at Lund. After a long illness he died in 1788, universally respected.
NOTE 143.
JOHAN HELMIK ROMAN.
Johan Helmik Roman, "the great musician," with whom, according to Document 6, paragraph 23, Swedenborg, "spoke on the day he was buried," was the son of Johan Roman, musical conductor to Charles XII, and was born in 1694. He is One of the few Swedish musicians of note. In his sixteeth year he became a member of the royal orchestra, and was sent by Queen Ulrica Eleonora to England, to study thorough bass under Handel. During his stay in London he was known as the Swedish virtuoso, and in 1720 was invited by the Duke of Newcastle to take up his abode in his palace. In 1721, he returned to Stockholm, and in 1727 became leader of the royal orchestra. In 1735, he again went abroad, and on his return was chosen a member of the Royal academy of Sciences. The last years of his life he spent on his estate near Calmar, where he died December 20, 1758.
NOTE 144.
ANDERS CELSIUS.
Anders Celsius, who questioned the correctness of Swedenborg's Principia (see Document 200, p. 566), was the son of Professor Nils Celsius17 of Upsal, and was born in 1701.
NOTE 145.
MAGISTER OLOF HIORTER.
Magister Olof Hiorter, who, under the direction of Professor Celsius, computed the declination of the needle for Upsal and Torne according to the principles laid down by Swedenborg in his Principia, (see Document 260, p. 580,) was born in 1703. His attention was early drawn to mathematics and astronomy.
NOTE 146.
DR. ANDREAS LANAERUS.
Andreas Lanaerus, who received as a present the first draught of some of the memorable relations contained in the "True Christian Religion," which had been left by him on board the ship in which he sailed from Stockholm to Amsterdam in 1771, (see footnote, p. 62) was at that time curate at Carlshamn. He acquired distinction as the author of a work on the manners and customs of European nations in general, and of the Swedish nation in particular; and also as a poet. He obtained the degree of doctor of theology in 1800, and was appointed pastor of Ingelstorp, where he died in 1810.
NOTE 147.
JOANNES VASTOVIUS.
Joannes Vastovius is the author of a book on Scandinavian saints, published at Cologne in 1623 under the title: Vitis Aquilonia seu vit sanctorum, qui Scandinaviam magnam illustrarunt, the preface to which was written in Warsaw, so that it appears as if Vastovius resided in Poland. He was a Catholic Swede, (see Document 43, p. 218) and court-chaplain of King Sigismund. This work was reprinted by Ericus Benzelius in 1708; and the reprint is meant by the Vitis Aquilonia of which Swedenborg speaks in Document 44, p. 221.
NOTE 148.
DR. NORDBERG.
Dr. Gran Nordberg was born in 1677. In 1691, he became a student at Upsal; and in 1703, took the degree of master of philosophy, received holy orders, and was appointed chaplain in the artillery. He rose rapidly into favour with Charles XII, and in 1707 was appointed royal court-chaplain in the King's body-guard.