Magi. When Christ cast out devils from the possessed, similar claims to miraculous power were asserted to exist among the Pharisees. When Christ assumed the character of King of the Jews, rival pretensions were made by others. "Before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves, who were slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to nought. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him; he also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed."— (Acts v. 36.) At the second coming of Christ into the world, we are told, it should be the same; "for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."-(Mat. xxiv. 22.) Thus at the end of the old and the beginning of new dispensations, arise false and true prophets in every direction; whence pretensions of both kinds become so mixed up one with the other, that, unless possessed of a clear spiritual discernment, a person runs the risk of receiving the false as the true, or the true as the false, or of rejecting indiscriminately both together; and, so in order to avoid the snare of enthusiasm, of falling into the pit of infidelity."(Clissold's Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin.).

Although the truths of the New Jerusalem are of such a character, that, when rationally received, they are their own witness, testifying whence they came and whither they conduct, still it is natural for those who are yet unacquainted with them, to desire some knowledge of the life and character of EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, who was the divinely appointed human agent in communicating these truths to mankind. And since this desire is lawful as it is natural, I shall devote the remainder of the present lecture to a brief notice of this great and truly extraordinary man, The world is fast coming to acknowledge that Swedenborg was, indeed, an extraordinary man. "Time," says a writer in one of our ablest American periodicals, (The Southern Quarterly Review for October, 1846,) "is beginning to pass a just judgment on the character of that extraordinary man, Emanuel Swedenborg, certainly one of the most gifted geniuses that ever appeared on the face of the earth. Seventy-four years have elapsed since his death. This period has constituted the mere sunrise of his fame the dawn of a meridian splendor that is yet to bless the nations. The fame of Bacon, Newton, and Locke of Milton, and Shakspeare, and

Scott, pales and grows dim before the brighter glory that clusters around the name and acts of this renowned individual. They acquired distinction for the splendor of their success in particular departments of inquiry, and in certain spheres of intellectual labor; but it was reserved for the more fortunate and celebrated Swede to master, not one science, but the whole circle of arts and sciences, and to understand and reveal the great connecting links that subsist between mind and matter, time and eternity, man and his Maker, in a far clearer manner than any of the most gifted and inspired of his predecessors."

The childhood and youth of eminent men are usually among the most interesting portions of their lives. Unhappily for us, the materials for this period of Swedenborg's history are very meagre. The most that we are able to gather, is, that he was born in Stockholm, Sweden, January 29, 1688. His father, Jasper Swedberg, was bishop of Skara in West Gothland, and is described as a talented, learned, and eminently pious man, and of an amiable private character. Few men ever entertained a more profound reverence than he, for God, the Holy Scripture, the Christian Sabbath, and all the institutions and ordinances of religion. He even went to the Bible for directions in regard to naming his children; and not finding there "a single example," as he says, "in which children have received the names of their parents or forefathers,” he scrupulously avoided giving his own children family names. Nor would he give them heathenish or unmeaning names, but names from the Bible, and such as seemed likely to awaken in them pious thoughts and feelings. "I have the full conviction," says he, "that only such names should be given to children as awaken the fear of God in them, and keep them mindful of propriety and virtue." And when Emanuel was about forty years of age, the good old bishop, contemplating his son's pious and useful life, writes thus:

"Emanuel, my son's name, signifies God with us '— a name which should constantly remind him of the nearness of God, and of that interior, holy, and mysterious connection, in which, through faith, we stand with our good and gracious God. And blessed be the Lord's name! God has to this hour indeed been with him; and may God be further with him, until he is eternally united with him in His kingdom.“

The bishop's views of education were greatly in advance of those of his own times. He believed that every man is endowed by the Creator with certain capacities which fit him for some

particular employment, and that it is the wisdom of parents not to strive to counteract the designs of Providence not to endeavor to make their sons lawyers, doctors or ministers, when possibly the Creator intended them for quite a different sphere of use, but rather to watch the native tendencies of their children's minds, and to allow and encourage them to pursue that particular occupation for which they seem to have been created. Accordingly he says: "I have kept my sons to that [profession] to which God has given them inclination and liking; and I have not brought up one to the clerical office, although many parents do this inconsiderately, and in a manner not justifiable, by which the Church, and also the clerical [order] suffer not a little, and are brought into contempt."

Thus was Swedenborg born and nurtured under the most auspicious influences. He inherited talents of the first order- an excellent memory, keen perceptions, and a most clear judgment. The greatest care is said to have been bestowed on his early education. His youth was marked by uncommon assiduity and perseverance in the study of philosophy, mathematics, natural history, chemistry and anatomy, together with the ancient and modern languages. And the moral influences that surrounded him were of the benignest character. He was cradled in a sphere of heavenly love and wisdom. His earliest lessons were lessons of piety and virtue. The very atmosphere which he breathed from his infancy was the atmosphere of religion. And so encompassed was he with heavenly influences from his birth, that it seemed as if the angels talked to him and were his companions while yet a child. Writing on one occasion to a friend who inquired of him what had passed in the earlier part of his life, he says:

"From my fourth to my tenth year my thoughts were constantly engrossed by reflecting upon God, on salvation, and on the spiritual affections of man. I often revealed things in my discourse which filled my parents with astonishment, and made them declare at times that certainly the angels spoke through my mouth. From my sixth to my twelfth year, it was my greatest delight to converse with the clergy concerning faith; to whom I often observed, that charity or love was the life of faith, and that this vivifying charity or love was no other than the love of one's neighbor; that God vouchsafes this faith to every one, but that it is adopted by those only who practice that charity."

In early life, Swedenborg's mind was preserved in a remarkable degree from false theological doctrines, and from the trammeling

influence of the commentaries and biblical criticisms in use at that period. And those who are acquainted with the principles of spiritual interpretation which he was made the instrument in unfolding, will readily perceive the great importance of this, and the disadvantage it would have been to him if his mind had been early imbued with the dogmas of the church in which he was born. The following is what he himself says upon this subject:

"I was prohibited reading dogmatic and systematic theology before heaven was opened to me, by reason that unfounded opinions and inventions might thereby have insinuated themselves, which, with difficulty could afterward have been extirpated. Wherefore, when heaven was opened to me, it was necessary first to learn the Hebrew language, as well as the correspondences of which the whole Bible is composed, which led me to read the Word of God over many times. And, inasmuch as the Word is the source whence all theology must be derived, I was thereby enabled to receive instruction from the Lord who is the Word."

Swedenborg was educated at the university of Upsal in Sweden, where he pursued with distinguished honor and success the learned languages, mathematics and natural philosophy, which were his favorite studies; and where also he graduated, receiving the degree of doctor of philosophy at the age of twenty-two. Having now fairly entered the path to useful and extensive learning, with an ardent thirst for, and with unsurpassed powers of acquiring, knowledge, he advanced with a speed and success rarely if ever equaled.

The first few years after leaving the university were spent in travels in England, Holland, France and Germany. During his absence he visited the principal universities of these countries, and his mind was constantly occupied in treasuring up useful knowledge. In 1714 we find him again in Sweden; and in two years after, at the age of twenty-eight, he was appointed by Charles XII, Assessor Extraordinary in the Royal Metallic College. The appointment to this office, which was one of the most important in the kingdom of Sweden, is evidence of Swedenborg's singular and unequaled merits at this early age, and of the king's high consideration and confidence. Being anxious to prosecute his scientific researches for a time longer, and especially to perfect himself in the science of metallurgy, he did not enter on the actual duties of Assessor until six years after his appointment, most of which time was spent in various universities and in journeys to different

parts of Europe, to examine the principal mines and smelting works so anxious was he to discharge in the most faithful and perfect manner the duties of every station. The diploma appointing him to this office, states, "that the king had a particular regard to the knowledge possessed by Swedenborg in the science of mechanics, and that his pleasure was that he should accompany and assist Polheim in constructing his mechanical works." He remained in the office of Assessor of the Metallic College until 1747, when he resigned it on account of other more important duties, which claimed his attention. "My sole view," he says, "in this resignation, was, that I might be more at liberty to devote myself to that new function to which the Lord had called me. On resigning my office, a higher degree of rank was offered me; but this I utterly declined, lest it should be the occasion of inspiring me with pride."

In 1718, two years after his appointment to the office of Assessor, he gave to the world the first fruits of his inventive genius and great abilities in a work called "Daedalus Hyperboreus," consisting of essays and observations on the mathematical and physical sciences. And now he commences a philosophical career, the grandeur and extent of which is but just beginning to be appreciated by some of the learned and scientific men of our own times. He had a perfect passion for philosophical pursuits. He had fallen in love with the sciences, and he wooed them in so comely and engaging a manner, that they all came to him like a troop of virgins and clasped their arms lovingly around his neck. His mind was a great artesian well, from which the truths of science came gushing up in a constant, fresh and living stream, for nearly thirty years. We are absolutely amazed at the huge heap which this man wrote upon philosophical subjects; and still more amazed are we at the variety of subjects treated by him, and at the extensive learning, the varied and accurate scientific knowledge, the deep and comprehensive wisdom, the microscopic and telescopic reach of thought, the keen penetration and profound philosophical acumen indicated in the masterly manner in which he handled whatever he undertook. Not a department of natural science did he leave untouched. Earth, air, water, fire, the animal kingdom, and especially the human body, were each and all interrogated by him, and their hidden mysteries explored with an acuteness and penetration unequaled by any other philosopher before or since his time. No man ever questioned nature so clearly,