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 therefore to request of him, as a great favor, to procure me an interview with my brother, who had departed this life a few months before, a young clergyman officiating in Stockholm and esteemed for his devotion, erudition, and virtue. He answered that, God having for wise and good purposes separated the world of spirits from ours, a communication is never granted without cogent reasons, and asked what my motives were. I confessed that I had none besides gratifying brotherly affection and an ardent wish to explore scenes so sublime and interesting to a serious mind. He replied that my motives were good, but not sufficient; that if any important spiritual or temporal concern of mine had been the case, he would then have solicited permission from those angels who regulate such matters."

In another letter Mr. Collin said—

"Swedenborg was universally esteemed for his various erudition in mathematics, mineralogy, etc., and for his probity, benevolence, and general virtue. Being very old when I saw him, he was thin and pale; but he still retained traces of beauty in his physiognomy, and a dignity in his tall and erect stature."