Page:Swedenborg's Doctrine of Correspondence.djvu/15

Rh thought. He was, during this entire period, the precise type of man which this generation delights to honor; strong, keen, self-reliant, practical. Endowed with a hardy constitution, he had a calm, placid disposition, led an active, laborious, cheerful life, traveling continually and keeping himself posted in the developments of scientific research and practical improvement; composed his works and conducted his literary business unaided; enjoyed the friendship and confidence of his king and fellow-statesmen; held a government position at the head of the College of mines, and developed the mineral wealth of Sweden; discussed politics in the Senate; memorialized the government on finance and other weighty matters; while he was elaborating in private and publishing from time to time the results of the most sublime and extensive philosophical attempts upon which any single man ever ventured. Here, I say, was the type of man which our age believes in. Learned, standing far ahead of his generation; exact, trained in mathematical accuracy and schooled to observation; practical, seeing at once some useful application of every new discovery; a man of affairs, able to take care of his own, and bear his part in