according to the scriptures, and the foundation of a New Church was laid, wherein all things are become new.

(12.) That therefore, as an act of divine mercy towards the human race, who would otherwise have perished in eternal death, the second advent of the Lord has already taken place, and still continues in the present day; being a coming, not in person, but in the power and glory of the spiritual sense of his holy Word, which is himself: and thus that the holy city, New Jerusalem, is now descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband.

Letter from Emanuel Swedenborg to the King of Sweden, written about the year 1769.

"SIRE,

"I find myself necessitated at this period to have recourse to your majesty's protection, having met with usage of such a nature, as no other person has experienced since the establishment of Christianity in Sweden, and much less since there has been liberty of conscience. The following is an abridgment of the particulars that are the occasion of my requesting your majesty's interference.

“On my arrival in Sweden from foreign parts, I was informed that bishop Filenius had suppressed and seized the copies of my treatise De Amore Conjugiali, that I had printed in Holland, and which were sent to Norkjoping. Having inquired of some bishops, whether bishop F. had acted in this manner from his own authority, or that of the clerical body, they replied, that they had heard of the affair, but that none of them had been consulted about it, or had given his consent thereunto; and that there was not one word set down in the journal of the ecclesiastical court concerning it. Some ecclesiastics at Gottenburg being emboldened by this inconsiderate and violent conduct of the bishop, began to speak and declaim loudly against my writings, and so far succeeded as to have an assembly appointed for their examination, consisting of some bishops and professors in divinity. This assembly continued sitting for the space of some months, and at length made a favourable report, which stopped the mouths of those accusers at once; their attempts were then thought to cease,

and the affair to have an end. To prevent all thought of its being rekindled, it was concluded, that a petition should be presented to your majesty, to issue orders to the chancellor of justice, to give an information of the authors who had raised the disturbance at Gottenburg. The bishop and deacon of that place, who were the principal movers in this affair, seeing the little success. of their project to engage the body of the clergy, to light up the fire for which they had made ready the materials, had recourse to calumnies and injuries, and filled twenty printed leaves with invectives, which they circulated among the public. I was farther informed, that your majesty, hearing of this dispute, took it under your own consideration, decided it in the senate, and ordered the chancellor to forward letters relative thereto to the consistory at Gottenburg.

"I had no notice sent me of all these proceedings; my person, writings, and sentiments on the worship of my Lord our Saviour, were attacked and persecuted, and I have neither been called to make my defence, nor been heard respecting it: but truth itself has answered for me. The accounts that were published at Gottenburg upon this matter, did not touch the substance of the cause, and were filled with invectives and gross injuries. The first account I had of these papers was from a general commissary of war, at Elsineur, and a friend at Stockholm, who lent them to me for a day; and I found therein two letters of bishop F. wherein it is said that he should meddle no more in it. I am desirous to convince the world, that all these proceedings, from their beginning to their end, have been carried on without my ever having been heard. A rumor has nevertheless spread throughout Stockholm, that the chancellor of justice has declared in writing to the consistory at Gottenburg, that my writings are prohibited from being brought into that place, under the penalty of fifty dollars; and that my revelations have been declared false, and not truth. I have already informed your majesty and beseech you to recall it to mind, that the Lord our Saviour manifested himself to me in a sensible personal appearance; that he has commanded me to write what has been already done, and what I have still to do that he was afterwards graciously pleased to endow me with the privilege of conversing with angels and spirits, and to be in fellowship with them. I have already declared this more than

• General Tuxen, a nobleman of very distinguished merit and erudition.

once to your majesty, in the presence of the royal family, when they were graciously pleased to invite me to their table, with five senators, and several other persons; this was the only subject discoursed of during the repast. Of this I also spoke afterwards to several other senators; and more openly to their excellencies count de Tessin, count Bonde, and count Hopken, who are still alive, and were satisfied with the truth of it. I have declared the same in England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, and at Paris, to kings, princes, and other particular persons, as well as to those in this kingdom. If the common report is believed, the chancellor has declared, that what I have been reciting are untruths, although the very truth. To say that they cannot believe and give credit to such things, therein will I excuse them, for it is not in my power to place others in the same state that God has placed me, so as to be able to convince them by their own eyes. and ears of the truth of those deeds and things I have made publicly known. I have no ability to capacitate them to converse with angels and spirits, neither to work miracles to dispose or force their understandings to comprehend what I say. When my writings are read with attention and cool reflection, (in which many things are to be met with as hitherto unknown) it is easy enough to conclude, that I could not come by such knowledge, but by a real vision, and converse with those who are in the spiritual world. As a farther proof, I beseech* their excellencies to peruse what is contained in my treatise on Conjugial Love, page $14 to 316. This book is in the hands of count D'Ekeblad, and count de Bjelke. If any doubt shall still remain, I am ready to testify with the most solemn oath that can be offered in this matter, that I have said nothing but essential and real truth, without any mixture of deception. This knowledge is given to me from our Saviour, not for any particular merit of mine, but for the great concern of all Christians' salvation and happiness; and as such, how can any venture to assert it is false? That these things may appear such as many have had no conception of, and of consequence, that they cannot from thence credit, has nothing remarkable in it, for scarce any thing is known respecting them.

* At that time the king only presided in the senate, to which body at Large he therefore addressed this letter.

"If it is true that the chancellor has written to the consistory at Gottenburg, in the terms which I have related from the public rumour, it will give occasion to conclude that my writings contain errors, and that what I have declared to be revealed to me, are falsities, which can in no wise be proved, unless construed to a sense I never intended. In such a case, according to the laws on that head, I might be arrested and shut up in prison, and all this without being heard in my own defence. This is the motive of my having recourse to your majesty for protection; for since the establishment of Christianity and liberty in our country, it is a thing altogether unheard of, that any person has been proceeded against in the manner they have against me.

"On this interesting affair, which concerns not only my writings, but also my person and reputation, I humbly request your majesty, that the reverend clergy may deliver their opinion to yourself on that matter, likewise the minutes of the council that examined the writings, and the letter said to be forwarded by the chancellor of justice to the consistory at Gottenburg, to the intent, that I may be informed thereof, and, as well as others of your majesty's subjects, be enabled to make a suitable reply, and heard in my own defence, possessing the like right and privileges to require it.

"As to what relates to the Doctors Beyer and Rosen of Gottenburg, I advised them to nothing, but to address themselves to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a means of attaining to Heavenly good and blessedness, for he only has power in heaven and earth, as declared in Matthew xxviii. 18. As far as I have been able to learn, they have said no more. This is conformable to the Augsburg confession, the Formula Concordia, and the whole of Sacred Writ. Yet these gentlemen have become no less objects of the most cruel persecutions than myself, arising from the enmity of the bishop and dean of that town. I can say the same of my writings, which I regard as another self; and that all that this dean has laid to my charge, is mere scandal and lies. I have farther to intreat, that the two letters adjoined to this, which I wrote to Dr. Beyer concerning this business, may be read.

"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.”

SWEDENBORG'S WORKS.

In order that our friends may have as complete a list of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, as we have been able to procure, we present to them the following catalogue, containing the chronological order in which they were written, or in which the first editions were published. All his theological works, originally written in Latin, have been translated into English. Those marked thus are posthumous.

*

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS.

1. Annæi Senecæ et Pub. Syri Mimi forsan, et aliorum selecta Sententiæ, cum Annotationibus Erasmi, et Græca Versione Scaligiri, Notis illustratæ, Upsala. 1709. This academical dissertation was the first work of our learned author; it was written when he was about twenty years of age.

2. Ludus Heliconius sive Carmina Miscellanea quæ variis in locis cecinit Eman. Swedenborg, Skaræ, 1710. A collection of Latin verses, which are pleasing proofs of the talents our author possessed in his early years.

3. Dædalus Hyperboreus, Stokolmiæ, 1716, 1717, 1718, in 4to. in 6 parts. Consisting of essays and remarks on some branches of Mathematics and Philosophy. These tracts were published in the Swedish language: the fifth has been translated and published in Latin.

4. An introduction to Algebra, under the title of the Art of the Rules, published in Swedish in the year 1717.

5. An attempt towards fixing the value of (Swedish) money, and finding a Standard for Measures, in such a manner as to suppress Fractions, and thus facilitate Calculations. 1719.

6. On the Position and Motion of the Earth and the other Planets. 1719.

7. Of the Height of the Tides, with proofs drawn from facts in Sweden, to show that the Flux and Reflux of the Sea was greater formerly than it is at present. 1719. We believe that the three last mentioned works were published in the Swedish language.

8. Prodromus Principiorum Naturalium, &c. An Essay on the Principles of Natural Things, or the way to Explain Experimental Philosophy by Geometry and Chymistry.