Page:Henry Mulford Tichenor - A Guide to Emerson (1923).djvu/14

 Rh (Sweden), by Charles XII. In 1716, he left home for four years, and visited the universities of England, Holland, France, and Germany. He performed a notable feat of engineering in 1718, at the siege of Fredericshall, by hauling two galleys, five boats, and a sloop some fourteen English miles overland, for the royal service. In 1721 he journeyed over Europe, to examine mines and smelting works. He published in 1716 his 'Daedalus Hyperboreous,' and from this time for the next thirty years was employed in the composition and publication of his scientific works.

"In 1743, when he was fifty-four years old, what is called his illumination began. He ceased to publish any more scientific books, withdrew himself from his practical labors, and devoted himself to the writing and publication of his voluminous theological works, which were printed at his own expense, or that of the Duke of Brunswick, or other prince, at Dresden, Leipsic, London, or Amsterdam. … The clergy interfered a little with the importation and publication of his religious works; but he seems to have kept the friendship of men in power. He was never married. He had great modesty and gentleness of bearing. His habits were simple; he lived on bread, milk and vegetables; and he lived in a house situated in a large garden. …

"The genius which was to penetrate the science of the age with a far more subtle science; to pass the bounds of space and time: venture into the dim spirit-realm, and attempt to establish a new religion in the world,—began