Page:The Life and Mission of Emanuel Swedenborg.djvu/63

 regard to the dedication I must obey you,. ., although I can flatter myself with only a small prospect of recompense from it. . . . But, my dear brother, a single word from you to my father about me will be worth more than twenty thousand remonstrances from me. You can without any comment inform him of my enterprise, of my zeal in my studies; and that he need not imagine that in future I shall waste my time, and, at the same time, his money. . . . I will take care of the shoes for brother Eric, and we will also take care of the dress. But the dyers have their hands full; the shops here are all changed into black chambers, to make the goods appear still more dreary, and everything that has been red or gay has assumed now the color of mourning. This is the reason why my sister's dress cannot be dyed black. . ..

"The news that are reported here arrived from Stralsund this morning,—

"1. That the royal government office, with all its employes, has embarked for Sweden. There was probably a place left in the vessel for the King.

"2. That Stralsund has been reduced to ashes, and has become its own grave, and that of many officers. . ..

"Pardon, my dear brother, that I write to you in French. But the language in which you think usually suits you best. My thoughts at present move in this language; but whenever Cicero shall again engage me, I shall endeavor to address you like a Ciceronian."

The mourning in Stockholm was for the Queen. A fortnight after her death, Charles XII., after boldly defending himself in Stralsund, escaped in a small boat on the town's surrender, was picked up by a Swedish vessel, and landed in Sweden on the 13th of December.

The interest that Polhammar took in young Swedberg's projected magazine is shown in the following notes:—