Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/540

 516 SWEDENBORG tied him, as head of the family, to a seat in the house of nobles of the Swedish diet, but did not confer the title of baron, as has been sup- posed. Emanuel was educated at Upsal, com- pleting his studies in 1709. After two years of travel in England, Holland, and France, he went to reside at Greifswald in Pomera- nia, then a Swedish town, and busied himself with scientific research. He also wrote some Latin fables, which were published under the title of Camena Borea. A collection of Latin poems, written by him during his travels, was also published about the same time in a volume entitled Ludus Heliconius. In 1716 he re- turned to Sweden and established a periodical called Daedalus Hyperborem, devoted to math- ematics and mechanics, which appeared irreg- ularly for two years. During this time he had become intimate with Christopher Polhem, an eminent engineer, and Polhem introduced him to Charles XII., who appointed him assessor extraordinary of the college of mines, and as- sociate engineer with Polhem. For two years Swedenborg- maintained close personal rela- tions with the king, and assisted him much in his military operations. During the siege of Frederickshald, at which Charles met his death, Swedenborg constructed, under Polhem's di- rection, the machines by which several vessels were transported overland from Stromstad to the Iddetiord, 14 miles. At the king's sugges- tion, it is said, Polhem betrothed his daughter to Swedenborg; but as the young lady pre- ferred another man, Swedenborg relinquished his claim and never married. From 1717 to 1722 he published pamphlets on scientific sub- jects ; among them one describing a method of determining longitude by means of the moon. In 1721 he made a short tour on the continent, visiting mines and smelting works. On his return in 1722 he was promoted to be full assessor of mines, and for the next 12 years he devoted himself to the duties of that office, refusing the professorship of mathe- matics at Upsal in 1724. In 1734 he pub- lished Opera Philosophica et Mineralia in three large folio volumes, illustrated with nu- merous plates, viz. : vol. i., Principia ; vol. ii., De Ferro ; vol. iii., De Cupro et Orichalco. In the same year also appeared his Prodromus de Inftnito. In 1736 he began another tour of travel, which, with study and writing, oc- cupied him for several years. In 1740-'41 he published his (Economic/, Regni Animalis, in two parts, and in !744-'5 his Reqnum Ani- mate, in three parts. Between 1729 and 1741 he was elected successively a member of the academy of sciences at Upsal, corresponding member of the imperial academy of sciences at St. Petersburg, and member of the academy of sciences at Stockholm. His series of scien- tific publications ended in 1745 with the trea- tise De C'ultu et Amore Dei, &c., in which is set forth, under the form of a prose poem or allegory, his theory of the process of creation. Thereafter, as he says, he was called by God to the work of revealing to men a new system of religious truth. For that end he was per- mitted to converse with spirits and angels, and behold the wonders of the spiritual world. That he might be more free to perform his task, he resigned his assessorship, retaining half the salary by way of pension. He devo- ted himself first to the study of the Bible in the original, and then to the writing of books explanatory of his new doctrines, which were published entirely at his own expense. From 1749 to 1756 appeared the Arcana Cwlestia (8 vols. 4to), containing a commentary on Gene- sis and Exodus, interspersed with accounts of and in hell." This was followed in 1758 by the De Ccslo et Inferno, De Telluribus in Hun- do, De Ultimo Judicio, De Nova Hierosolyma, and /><? Equo Albo. In 1763 were published the four doctrinal treatises : Doctrina Vita, De Fide, De Domino, and De Scriptura Sacra, with a Continuatio de Ultimo Judicio, and the treatise De Dimno Amore et de Divina Sa- pientia. In 1764, the Divina Providentia appeared ; in 1766, the Apocalypsis Revelata ; in 1768, De Amore Conjugiali ; in 1769, Sum- maria Expositio Doctrines and De Commercio Animos et Corppris; and in 1771, the Vera Christiana Religio. Besides these, he left at his death an immense mass of manuscripts, of which the following have been since printed : Itinerarium, Clams Hieroglyphica, Opuscula, Apocalypsis Explicata, Adversaria in Libros Veteris Testamenti, Diarium Spirituale, In- dex Biblicus, Sensus Internus Prophetarum et Psalmorum, Dicta Probantia, De Athanasio Symbolo, De Charitate, Canones, Coronis .Veres Christiana Religionis, and Inmtatio ad Novam Ecclesiam. Copies of a few of these manu- scripts have recently been reproduced by the photolithographic process, by subscription, not so much for circulation as for the sake of pre- serving the contents of the originals from de- struction by decay. Swedenborg's manner of life was simple and modest. He spent much of his time, in later years, in Holland and England, for which countries he expressed great admiration on account of the freedom of speech and writing permitted there. He made no efforts to gain proselytes to his doctrines further than by printing and distributing his writings, and never referred to his intercourse with the spiritual world except when ques- tioned. Several instances are reported of his obtaining information from departed souls re- specting affairs unknown even to their families, and describing events in distant places in ad- vance of news by the ordinary means of com- munication. It is related that, as he lay on his deathbed in London, Ferelius, a Swedish clergyman, solemnly adjured him to tell the truth in regard to his teachings. Swedenborg raised himself half upright in bed, and placing his hand on his breast said with emphasis: "As true as you see me before you, so true is everything I have written. I could have said
 * ' wonderful things seen and heard in heaven