Page:The Life and Mission of Emanuel Swedenborg.djvu/47



was the parentage of Emanuel Swedenborg; but in its happiest mood, to judge from the name his father gave him, and his reasons for giving it. The words will bear to be read again and well pondered. "The name of my son Emanuel signifies God-with-us; that he may always remember God's presence, and that intimate, holy, and mysterious conjunction with our good and gracious God into which we are brought by faith, by which we are conjoined with Him and are in Him. And, blessed be the Lord's name! God has to this hour been with him. And may He be further with him, until he be eternally united with Him in His kingdom!" God-given wish in the father's heart, that was to be fulfilled of God in the son! It links them together; the father shares the son's labor and grace.

In what ways the father's heart was gladdened, is partly explained in the following reply of Swedenborg to his friend Dr. Beyer, who had asked him for some particulars of his early life: "From my fourth to my tenth year I was constantly engaged in thought upon God, salvation, and the spiritual experiences of men; and several times I revealed things at which my father and mother wondered, saying that angels must be speaking through me. From my sixth to my twelfth year I used to delight in conversing with clergymen about faith, saying that the life of faith is love, and that the love which imparts life is love to the neighbor: also that God gives faith to every one, but that those only receive it who practise that love. I knew of no other faith at that time than