of a king,-'that he who had made no progress whatever in this science, did not deserve to be considered as a rational man.' Accordingly, he especially patronized those who have applied themselves to it; so that had it pleased Providence to permit him to govern his kingdom in peace, he would have raised literature and science to a higher state of perfection than they have hitherto attained in Sweden, or perhaps ever will attain. His example would have incited his subjects, who would have striven, with noble emulation, to deserve the praises of an accomplished prince, always disposed to give merit its due reward.

"At the time of which I speak, several projects, of great utility, had been laid before him; and I was directed to assist M. Polheim in putting them into operation. Such was the basin at Carlscrona, for laying down the keels of ships, which, as there is no ebb and flow in that part of the sea, is one of the most considerable works in Europe. Such, also, was the undertaking of sluices between Lake Wener and Gottenburg, in the midst of the rapid currents and cataracts near Trollhätta; an undertaking which would have been the admiration of the whole world, if it had not been neglected; to say nothing of other equally useful projects, which I need not enumerate.

"I have the honour to be, &c.,

"EM. Swedenborg."

[Translated from the 4th vol. of the "Histoire de Charles XII.,

Roi de Suède, Traduite du Suédois de M. I. A. Nordberg, A la Haye 1748," which contains the Documents, pp. 304-306.]

THE HEBREW IS THE BASIS OF THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES.

Men take the words they find in use amongst their neighbours, and, that they may not seem ignorant what they stand for, use them confidently, without much troubling their heads about a certain fixed meaning; whereby, besides the ease of it, they obtain this advantage, that as in such discourses they seldom are in the right, so they are seldom to be convinced that they are in the wrong; it being all one to go about to draw those men out of their mistakes, who have no settled notions, as to dispossess a vagrant of his habitation who has no settled abode. This I guess to be so; and every one may observe in himself and others whether it be so or no."-Locke's Essay, v. 2, chap. 10, § 4.

To the Editors of the Intellectual Repository. GENTLEMEN,

IN the Intellectual Repository for September, 1841*, there is an interesting and valuable paper on the Hebrew language as a basis for the

* P. 386.

science of correspondences: it is written with ability and learning, and by a mind evidently acquainted with the subject upon which it treats; but in October there is a hasty reply*, chiefly attacking the title given to this paper, and very properly given, if I am not in error or mistake upon the subject; to which I hope you will suffer me to offer a few remarks. The correctness of this title is very confidently disputed by your correspondent, Mr. Knight; but with what consistency now evidently appears from the second letter of M. Portal in January, 1842.† Not, however, satisfied with this second letter, Mr. Knight returns to the contest, and replies," But M. Portal observes, that in objecting to the title of his article I acknowledge I do not understand the meaning he attaches to it, and mentions that the article 'basis' in the dictionaries of Beyer and Nicholson might have informed me. In answer, I beg M. Portal to notice that it is a rule with the English nation' that words in common occurrence are to be taken in their ordinary and popular signification, unless a writer declares to the contrary;' and I ask whether readers are to consult either Latin or English dictionaries to enable them to discover the meaning of a writer, when the words used must have a plains ignification?‡ And Mr. Knight further continues, "I have referred to Beyer and Nicholson, and do not find any authority for the position that the Hebrew is the basis of the science of correspondences.' It is clear to me that the expressions, 'Hebrew,' ' basis,' and 'science of correspondences,' are used by M. Portal in some uncommon senses; and it is his peculiar views of these terms that cause my remarks." Mr. Knight then adds, “I have bestowed great labour to comprehend his views, and I do not believe that even now I understand his notions of such expressions."

But, gentlemen, how mysterious is this reply of our friend Mr. Knight! Is there any difficulty in fixing the primary idea of basis as a term in common use, and in perfect harmony with the use of that term in the writings of E. S.? Let us look at the meaning of this term in common use, and then compare it with its meaning in the Hebrew language and the science of correspondences, as prevalent in our Author's works.

The term base, in our common dictionaries, signifies the bottom of a thing, the foundation of a thing, the lowest of the three principal parts of a column, that on which any thing is raised,-the pedestal and the ground-work.

In the science of geometry, in which the definitions of its terms are most accurately given, it signifies the lowest, as in the base of a

* Ib. p. 449.

+ Vol. 3, p. 17.

‡ Ib. p. 94.

triangle. So in music, the base is the lowest part, whether vocal or instrumental; and in architecture the basement is the lowest story in a building, forming the base of a private house or public edifice. Such is the idea prevailing in common language, by which its meaning is accurately fixed.

,שפל

Let us now turn to the Hebrew language, and under the word a base, the prevailing idea, by which its radical meaning is determined, is, to be made low,-to be humbled,-to bring down,-to bring down to the ground. So the use of the term in metaphysical writers,—" Thus a certain proposition is to the system what the basis is to a building. It serves a similar office and purpose; and this last relation being well known is of use to illustrate the other which was less known,-e. g., the system rests upon it. It is useless to proceed with the argument till this is well established. If this were removed, the system must fall. The only cautions requisite in the use of this kind of analogy are, First, not to proceed to a comparison of the corresponding terms as they are intrinsically in themselves, or in their own nature, but merely as they are in relation to the other terms respectively; and, Secondly, not to presume that, because the relation is the same, or similar in one or two points, therefore, it is the same or similar in all."†

Let us now compare the use of the term in the writings of E. S., in which the like analogy and definite meaning are minutely preserved. "That the ultimate degree is the complex, continent, and basis of the prior degrees, appears manifestly from the progression of ends and causes to effects. That the effect is the complex, continent, and basis of the causes and ends, may be comprehended by enlightened reason; but not so clearly that the end, with every thing belonging to it, and the cause, with every thing belonging to it, virtually exist in the effect, and that the effect is the full complex of them. That the case is so, may appear from the following consideration, that one is from the other in a triplicate series, and that the effect is nothing else but the cause in its ultimate; and forasmuch as the ultimate is the complex, it follows that the ultimate is the continent and also the basis." D. L. W. 212.

In the letter of E. S. to Dr. Beyer, he observes, "When heaven was opened to me, it was necessary first to learn the Hebrew language, as well as the correspondences of which the whole Bible is

* Vide Gesenius Lex, under this root, and Passionei Lex, Heb. et Chald., vol. 2, in which the different significations of the term may be traced to one fixed idea as pervading all its relative meanings.

+ Dr. Copleston's Discourses on Necessity and Predestination, p. 123.

composed, which led me to read the Word of God over many times; and inasmuch as the Word of God is the source whence all theology must be derived, I was thereby enabled to receive instruction from the Lord, who is the Word."* By the expression, the Hebrew language, in the writings of E. S., I understand simply pure Biblical Hebrew, the fragments of which are contained only in the Hebrew Bible; not any of the dialects, as the Chaldee or Syriac. These, although they are extremely useful in illustrations of the New Testament writings, yet have only a kind of secondary reference as a basis to the science of correspondences. Mr. Knight informs us, that E. S. occasionally refers to words in the "Syriac and Arabict;" will he have the goodness to give us the references? As the term basis, when applied to the Hebrew language, in connexion with the science of correspondences, signifies an effect derived from some prior cause, so the like term, when applied to the Chaldee or Syriac, has the same relation to the pure Biblical Hebrew as the cause from which it is derived and the basis upon which it rests.

And the connexion between the science of correspondences and the Hebrew language is therefore sufficiently demonstrated by a quotation from E. S:-" It has been told me (i. e., by the angels) that the primitive language of mankind on our earth possessed agreement with that of the angels, because they derived it from heaven; and that the Hebrew language possesses such agreement in some particulars.” H. H. 237.

The study of theology as a science requires not only the use of dictionaries for the analysis of its terms, but one upon a superior construction or basis from any that has hitherto been composed, in which all the abstract terms in this science shall be metaphysically investigated and accurately defined; for in this science, the terms are equivocal; they admit not only of different but even of opposite significations. Sometimes they are used in relation to the cause, and at other times in relation to the effect. Sometimes in relation to Deity, and sometimes in relation to man; and these are so confounded and mixed up together in their use and applications as to leave no correct idea in the mind of the writer or speaker. Such terms as the atonement, election, expiation, imputation, propitiation, sacrifice, satisfaction, and trinity, are thus variously understood by different persons; and if understood "in their popular meanings," give such a laxity of interpretation as to afford room for contest and division without end, so that

See "Letter to Dr. Beyer," New Jerusalem Magazine, 1790, p. 73. + Intellectual Repository, v. 2, p. 451.

no two persons, however skilful or learned, can understand one another upon any point which requires the precise idea to be maintained and preserved throughout all the sources from whence they have been originally derived. Such a work as this is a desideratum in theology and in the science of metaphysics.*

When I began attentively to read and to investigate the writings of E. S., I was gradually struck with two peculiarities for which he is distinguished, the accuracy of his abstract terms, and the certainty of his definitions, and the uniformity of them throughout all his theological writings; a peculiarity so distinct, that he is without a parallel. And the second peculiarity was the accordance in the use of these terms with the Hebrew language, demonstrating a connexion like cause and effect. M. Portal seems to have felt a like impression and conviction upon a point of very great importance to the members of the New Christian Church hereafter; and I cannot forbear quoting a paragraph of his concluding remarks, as worthy of particular attention:-" In finishing this incomplete labour upon a single word of the dictionary of Swedenborg, we are struck with the

* In the course of this argument frequent mention is made of the equivocal use of words as the great source of error among men. Nothing is more common with argumentative writers than this remark, and yet the full extent of its importance does not seem to be understood, even by those who are sensible of its truth; for it continually happens that the same writer, who has laid down the caution most distinctly, and has employed it in the solution of a proposed difficulty, is guilty of the fault himself in the next page. It is most common too in treating of those subjects, where it is most necessary to guard against it, I mean in metaphysical inquiries; for in these, there being no sensible object to correct our misapprehensions, every thing depends upon the meaning of the words; and if this meaning be in the slightest degree changed, and the change escape our notice, it is mere matter of chance whether our conclusions are true or false. It is also to be observed, that the more familiar the words are about which the question turns, the more liable are we to be deceived by their ambiguity, because they not only excite less attention, but men are unwilling to suppose it possible that they should not exactly understand expressions which are so well established in use, and which are in every one's mouth.

After an example of this error, in which accuracy of definition is required and maintained, it is observed,—“ If this method were rigidly pursued, with all the terms most commonly employed in abstract reasoning, it would tend to abridge many a useless and to settle many a mischievous controversy. It is the key to a thousand errors which have abused mankind under the false name of philosophy; and nothing, I believe, would tend more to the advancement of knowledge than such an inquiry into the use of words; because the same vigour of mind, which is now often strained and baffled in contending with imaginary difficulties, would then be exerted in a right direction, or at least would not be spent in vain. Something of this kind I hope hereafter to be able to execute, not however without apprehension of incurring the displeasure of those who, if my speculations are well founded, will appear to have lost their time in logomachy, and to have wasted their strength in endeavouring to grasp a phantom, or in fighting the air.”—Dr. Copleston on Necessity and Predestination, Preface, 12-16. It is to be hoped, that the learned doctor, now seated in the episcopal chair, will not forget the expectation which he has raised in the public mind for the publication of this desirable work.