Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/238

 The Prince of Prussia referred to was Augustus William, brother to Frederic II and to the Queen Louisa Ulrica, wife of Adolphus Frederic, King of Sweden from 1751 to 1771. It is amusingly told, on the authority of the wife of Swedenborg's gardener, that "for days following the occurrence carriages stopped before the door of her master, from which the first gentlemen of the kingdom alighted, who desired to know the secret of which the Queen was so much frightened; but her master, faithful to his promise, refused to tell it."

Christopher Springer, whose statement we have just quoted, was a Swede, and long a friend of Swedenborg, both in their own country and in London, where for political reasons he resided many years. He had been prominent in public affairs at home, and became the confidential agent of the English Government in all that concerned Swedish matters, being employed in bringing about peace between Sweden and Frederick the Great in 1762. In London he was regarded as the father of the Swedes, and was applied to for all aid and information. In answer to inquiries about Swedenborg, after his decease, Mr. Springer said—