had written was true or not, since he had now nothing more to expect from the world, which he was so soon about to leave for ever. Upon hearing these words from me, Swedenborg raised himself in his bed as much as he could, and placing his sound hand upon his breast, said, with great zeal and emphasis : As true as you see me before you, so true is every thing which I have written; and I could have said more had I been permitted. When you come into eternity, you will see all things as I have stated and described them, and we shall have much to discourse about them with each other.' I then asked him, whether he would take the Lord's holy supper? He replied with thankfulness, that I meant well, in asking him to take the sacrament, although he did not need it, as he spiritually partook of it, being in association with good spirits and angels; he would, however, gladly take it in order to shew the connexion and union between the church in heaven and the church on earth. He then asked me, if I had read his views on the sacrament? Before administering the sacrament, I inquired of him, whether he confessed himself to be a sinner? Certainly, said he, in myself I am nothing but evil; and so long as I carry about with me this earthly body, I am kept in connexion with evil influences. With deep and affecting devotion, with folded hands and with his head uncovered, he confessed his own unworthiness, and received the holy supper. After which, he presented me, in gratitude, with a copy of his great work the Arcana Calestia, of which only nine copies remained unsold, which were to be sent into Holland. "On another occasion when I visited him, I heard him, as I was ascending the stairs, speaking with great energy, as though he were addressing a considerable company. But as I came into the antechamber where his female attendant was sitting, I asked her who was with the Assessor; she replied, that nobody was with him, and that he had been speaking, more or less in this manner, for three days and nights. As I entered his chamber, he greeted me with a sweet tranquil smile, and asked me to take a seat; he then told me that he had been tempted and plagued during ten days by evil spirits, which the Lord had permitted to assail and tempt him, and that he had never before been tempted by spirits so evil as these; but that he was now again favoured with the company of good spirits. "When he was in health I once paid him a visit in company with a Danish clergyman. We found him sitting at a table writing. The Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament, which appeared to constitute his whole library, were lying before him. After he had greeted us, he told us that he had lately seen the apostles. In this manner he spoke without reserve, but he never sought to make proselytes; he only recommended those whom he saw well disposed, to read his writings. He told us, that he contemplated writing a book, in which he would prove from the Epistles of the Apostles, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true and only God, and that there is none beside him. To the question, how it was that nobody besides himself enjoyed such uninterrupted intercourse with the spiritual world, he replied; that every man, when it pleased the Lord, could, at the present time, have this intercourse, as well as in the times of the Old Testament, if conducive to salvation; but that one reason why it was not so frequent as in very ancient times, was, on account of the sensual state into which mankind had fallen; for, in proportion as men become external and sensual, open intercourse with the world of spirits, or visions, are dangerous rather than useful. The only way by which man can become regenerate, is the Word; for if they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.' In his case, however, intercourse with the spiritual world was granted for the sake of opening the spiritual sense of the Word, and of unfolding and demonstrating the doctrines of Christianity, and also for the sake of communicating a variety of information concerning heaven and hell, and the state of man after death, &c., which could only be done by some person whose spiritual eyes were opened for the purpose. "Of the various news which on one occasion I received from Sweden through the post, was the announcement of the death of Swedenborg's sister, the widow Lundstedt. I communicated this information to a Swedish gentleman whose name was Meier, who was travelling in England at that time, and who happened to be at my house when the news came. This person went immediately to Swedenborg, and conveyed the intelligence of the death of his sister. When he returned, he observed that he thought Swedenborg's declaration respecting his intercourse with departed spirits could not be true, since he knew nothing of the death of his sister. The next time I saw Swedenborg I mentioned this to him; when he observed, 'That in such cases he had no knowledge, since he did not desire to know them.' The celebrated Springer*, who still lives in London, told Swedenborg on one occasion, that a Swedish nobleman, who I believe was a brother of the present Count Hopken, one of the Counsellors of State, was dead. Some days afterwards when they met again, Swedenborg said to him, * See Documents, &c., concerning Swedenborg, p. 65. Mr. Springer was a Swede, and, in his time, had taken a great part in the settling of several important political questions between Sweden and other states; at this time he was Swedish Consul in London. 'It is true, Hopken is dead; I have spoken with him; and he told me that you and he were companions together at Upsala, and that you afterwards entertained views partly similar and partly dissimilar concerning political subjects.' He also told him several anecdotes, which Springer acknowledged to be true; and declared, at the same time, that it was his firm conviction that Swedenborg could not have acquired the information from any other parties than from departed spirits in the other life. On this account, as well as on account of the respect with which the character of this venerable man inspired him, Mr. Springer became an adherent of Swedenborg's. "When Assessor Swedenborg, on one occasion, was about to depart from London to Sweden, and had already agreed with a captain for the voyage, he came down to the water-side to take a bed at the inn of a Swedish landlord of the name of Bergstrom, who is still living, and who undertook to supply provisions for Swedenborg during the passage. Amonst other things, Bergstrom asked him how much ground coffee he should pack up for him; when Swedenborg replied, for six days; Mr. B. observed, that that quantity would be too little, since he thought it impossible to make the voyage in six days to Stockholm. Swedenborg then said, 'Provide for seven days.' The Assessor's anticipation concerning the shortness of the voyage, turned out to be correct; for in six days the ship arrived off the port of Stockholm, and on the seventh they landed. The captain, who was an Englishman, after his return to London, said that he had never in all his life had so prosperous a voyage; for the wind was favourable to every turn of the vessel. "Although Swedenborg went sometimes to the Swedish Church, and afterwards dined with me, or with some other Swede, he told us that he had no peace and edification in the church, since the spirits who were with him could not endure to hear sermons preached according to the common doctrine of three divine persons in the trinity, which amounted, in reality, to three Gods. "After my return from England, in 1772, I was requested, by the clerical order, through their president, to give an account of Swedenborg, in a manner similar to your present request, which I did in three sheets; but I have since regretted that I did not keep a copy of what I then communicated. "In conclusion, as many may suppose that Assessor Swedenborg was a very singular and eccentric person, I wish to state that this was by no means the case. On the contrary, he was very agreeable and complaisant in company: he entered into conversation on every subject, and accommodated himself to the ideas of the company; and he never spoke on his own writings and doctrines but when he was asked some question concerning them, when he always spoke as freely as he had written. If, however, he observed that any person desired to ask impertinent questions, or to speak in a frivolous manner concerning spiritual things and the spiritual world, he knew well how to put such persons to silence. 66 "I have the honour to be, Sir, yours, &c., REVIEW. On Sex in the World to come. By the Rev. D. G. HAUGHTON, B.A. (Concluded from p. 154.) 3. On the Christian Life. Our conception of worthiness and virtue is, that it consists in active and manly vigour. Our idea of love is, that it is manifested, nurtured, and augmented by oblivion of self, and practical beneficence to others. The enlightened mind turns with disdain from the religionist, who is ever nursing his devotions apart from his fellow-men, and neglecting to take his part in the offices of life, in order that he may have more time to cultivate what he calls "the interests of his soul." Those interests are best advanced, by eradicating from the mind every trace of selfishness; for that is a quality, which can find its food as easily in eternal as in temporal objects. A distinguished philanthropist, when devoting all his energies to the abolition of the slave trade, and making it the first, and last, and midst, in all his thoughts, was asked by a religious friend, what he thought would become of his soul all the while? "Why," replied he, "as to my soul, I have really no time to think of it; I am so incessantly brooding over the sufferings of the poor Africans, and devising measures for their liberation." Here was a Christian indeed! (238.) It will be said that the occupations of the blest are "spiritual," and that employments such as we have ascribed to them, are not of that description. We here remark a misapplication of the term "spiritual." That word is usually confined to one department of duties, to the great injury of religion and morals: whereas, it includes all duties of every kind. Whatever comes under the review of conscience, is spiritual in its nature. Every act of justice, fortitude, charity, prudence, nay even courtesy itself, deserves to be so denominated. He who rightly discharges any of these offices, is a spiritual workman. These are to be numbered among things eternal. The act may be long forgotten, but deep, deep, is the result engraven, and naught can efface it (257). Strange is the doctrine which excludes from the region of the spiritual some of its chief constituents. How often is it seen, that the man who deems himself pre-eminently "spiritual," and is the ornament and boast of the straightest sect of religionists, is yet a bad neighbour, an extortionate dealer, a grinder of the faces of the poor, but a great lover of the heathen. His heart may be hard; but what of that? His Bible is ever open. He neglects his duties that he may cultivate "the interests N. S. No. 30.-VOL. 3. H H of his soul" (258). Let us beware how we represent celestial goodness as of a lower stamp than that kind which we most prize on earth (239). 4. On symbols. Every part of the world of nature has its counterpart in the world of mind, of which it is the type and adumbration (20). In asserting that the spirit was first in the divine thought, as a substantive creation, and that a congenial body was afterwards prepared for it, we touch on that great principle which pervades the universe, that matter, though as distinct from spirit as opposite worlds can be, is yet, through all its regions, one symbol of it. Thus it is, that all the scenery of earth is lighted up with moral signification. Though it has neither speech nor language, yet its voice is heard. It falls on the attentive ear, and fills the heart with answering emotions. Wherever man may roam, he finds the landscape impregnated with character. Every milder sentiment, every loftier passion, every towering and majestic thought, has there its counterpart. Nature is to all, but the embruted, a constant companion. The visible panorama is a system of signs, intended to conduct us to the secret pavilion of God. But while nature is one mighty symbol, and when taken in its whole extent, represents "the varied God," and adumbrates his manifold qualities, yet mark how spirit still asserts its superiority and rightful ascendancy over matter. It is mind which lights up the surrounding scene, and enables us to read its features of beauty and glory. We are not passive recipients of an external influence, though we are very apt to deem that a cause which is only an occasion. The opening of the senses serves to kindle the latent fire of the soul, but never yet was able to create it (283). Mind is proudly superior to aught material, and wholly independent of it. The most awful grandeur of nature cannot create genius, nor can its meagreness or sterility take it away. In every case, it is God's own authentic fire, unborrowed from the sun. The glory which the poet sees around the visible universe, is but a reflection from his own bright and happy spirit. He sees without what he already is within. It is so too, in most cases of human attachment. "The cause of love can never be assigned; 'Tis in no face, but in the lover's mind." Or, as the metaphysician would render it, Beauty is not a sensation, but an emotion. But while we scorn the material philosophy in all its bearings, we only the more keenly feel how dear and precious is that marvellous dispensation, whereby visible things are made the conductors of thought and feeling, and of visible things that most significant and symbolical of all, the human form and countenance" (285). 5. Miscellaneous remarks. We could as easily conceive a soul annihilated, as one of its primal and essential attributes destroyed (16). The Sadducees were sensual, and almost atheists, regarding God as a Power or a Principle, not as a Person (15). Mental and spiritual have the same meaning. In them is included the whole mind of man; his will and affections, as well as his understanding (11). Time and space have no external objectivity, but are merely subjective, and the results of our mental organization (205). It is through the form that we love the soul (287). God rests not from the work of redemption, but continues working to the end of the world (51). If we are not rising upwards to be angels, we are sinking downwards to be fiends (17). In the |