Page:Emanuel Swedenborg, Scientist and Mystic.djvu/320

304 he saw as still concerned with business and wealth; very crafty and taciturn in their designs, most incredulous as to things of the spirit, but also most constant to them if the truth had once dawned on them. Yet, tenacious, stubborn, secretive people was his opinion of them.

In spite of the fact that the English had been anything but welcoming of his freely distributed books, he seems to have liked them best of any. Why, he asked, have they such a capacity for seeing and for following truth? He thought it was free speech. There was liberty in England, he said, to speak both about civil and church matters, but no liberty at all to cheat, murder, or rob. In Italy, on the other hand, there was almost entire liberty to cheat and kill "on account of there being so many sanctuaries," but no freedom at all to speak and write about the matters so openly discussed by Englishmen. Hence the fire of evil smoldered inwardly in the Italians, whereas with the English it flared up and burnt out "because it is conceded to them to speak and write freely." 5

Swedenborg regarded the English as the best and the most sincere of the Christians. Alas, in his opinion, the same could not be said about the Swedes. He blamed them for being only externally sincere, for being envious and revengeful, and he attributed this to the fact that, not being a wealthy nation, they sought eminence by way of public office, seeking to govern others, either for honor or for profit.6 And "in the love of governing there dwells contempt, enmity, envy, hatred, revenge, ferocity, cruelty."

He visited cities too in the other world. Incidentally there was one "on the edge of Gehenna," which with its cloud-capped buildings with many windows, square blocks, and dark streets sounded not too unlike New York7 (after all, time is not a factor in the other worldl). In London, this time the best people were in the East End.

But he also came into Stockholm. Being escorted by an angel through Stora Nygatan, he was told that if the inhabitants of the houses were spiritually dead no lighted windows would appear there, but only dark holes. So it was. The angels shuddered and said they could go no farther, all in that street were dead. At the market place scarcely anyone was living, except in one house at the corner,