The Sun.
London, England, 1812-03-21 00:00:00

ORIGIN/IL LED
Of the celebrated BARON SWEDENBORG.

take pleasure i t the, friendship you express fot
Me in your letter, and return you thanks for the
same"; bUt as to the praises therein, I consider them
as belonging ,to the. truths contained in my writings,
and so refer them to the Lord our Saviour as, his
due, who i, in himself the fountain of all truth. It
is the concludiiz part of your letter, that chiefly en,
gages my attention, where you say. as follows As
after your departure from England, disputes may
arise on the subjea of your writings, and so give ()C.-
easion to defend their author against such false re-
' ports and aspersions, as they who are no friends to
truth may invent to the prejudice of 'hi, reputation,
may it not be of use, in order to repel any calumnies
of that kind, that you leave behind you some short
account of yourself, as concerning, for example,
your degrees in, the Universiry, the offices you have
boine, your family and conneaions, the honours
which I am told hive been conferred upon you, and
such other particulars as may serve to the vindication
of your chara&er, if attacked, that so any ill-ground-
ed prejudices may be obviated or removed; for
where the honour and interest of truth are concern-
ed, it certainly behoves us to ernp'oy all lawful me-
thods in its defence and support.' Atter retleding
on the foregoing passage, I was indticed.to comply
with your friendly advice by briefly communicating
the folloWing circumstances of my life.
I was born at Stockholm in the year of our Lord
I Gag, Jandary 29. My father's name was Jasper
S Wediterg, who was Bishop of West Gathia, and of
celebrated chata&er in his time: he was also a mem-
ber of the Society for the Propagation of the Gos-
pel, formed on-the model of Ono in England, and
apponted President of the Swedish churches in Penn-
sylvani,, and Ldndon, by King Charles XII. In
the year 1710, I began my travels, first into Eng-
laud, and afterwards into Holland, France, and
Germany, and returned home in 1714. In the year
1716, and afterwards I frequently conversed with
Charles XII. Kiog of Sweden, who was, pleased to
bestow upon me a large share of his favour, and in
that year appointed me to the office of Assessor in
the Metallic College, in which office I continued
from that time till the year 1747, when I quitted
the office, but-still retain the salary annexed to it
as an appointment for life. The reason of my with-
drawing from the business of that employment was
that I might be more at liberty to apply myself to
that new function to which the Lord had called me.
About ta.s time .a place of higher dignity in the State-
was offered me, which I declined to accept, lest it
should prove a, snare to me. In 1710, I was .enno-
bled by .t.,luee.n Ulrica Eleonora, and named Swe-
denborg, trona which time I have taken my seat, with
the Nobles of the equestrian order, in the, triennial
assemblies of the States. I ant a fellow, by insita-
tion„of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stock-
hohp, but have never desired to be of any other
co:ionunitv, as I belong to the Society of Angels,
in which things'spiritual and heavenly are-the only
subjects of discourse and entertainment ; whereas in
our literary societi,s, the attention is wholly taken
up with lions relating to the body and this world.
Ira theyear 1734, I published the liegnwirt Minerale
at,Leipsic, in three volumes, folio, and in I 735, I
took a journey into Italy, and staid a year at Venice
and Rome.

. With 'expect to my family connections : I had
tour sisters; one of them was married to Eric,,Ben-
zehns, afterwards made Archbishop of Upsal ; and
thus I became related to the two succeeding Arch-
bishops of that See, both named Benzelius, and
younger brothers of the former.' Another of my sis-
ters was married to Lars -Benzelstierna, who was
promoted to a provincial- government ; but these
are bath dead. However, two Bishops who are re-
lated to me are still living ; one of them is named
Filer.ius, Bishop o: Ostrogoteia, who,now officiates
as President of the Ecclesiastical Order in the Gene-
ral Asiembly at Stockholm, in the room. of the
Archbishop, who is infirm ; he married the daugh-
ter of my sister. The other, who is called Benzel-
stierna, Bishop of Westmannia and Dalecartia, is
the son of my second sister, not to mention others
of my family who are dignified. I converse freely,
and am in friendship with all the Bishops of my
country, who are ten in number, and also with the
sixteen Senators, and the rest of the Grandees, who
love and honour me, as knowing that I am in fel-
lowship with angels. The King and Queen them-
selves, as also the three Princes, their sons, shew me
all kind countenance, and I was once invited to eat
with the King and,Ctneen at their table, (an honour
granted only to the Peers of the Realm) and like-
wise since that with the Hereditary Prince. All in
my own country wish for my return home, so far
-am I from the least danger of persecution there, as
you seem to apprehend, and are also so kindly
tons to provide against, and should any thing of that
kind befal me elsewhere, it will give me no concern.
Whatever of worldly honour and advantage may
appear tO be in the-things before mentioned, I hold
them but as matters of low estimation, when coin-
Tared to the honour of that holy office, to which
the Lord himself bath called me, wild was gra-
ciously pleased
,to manifest himself to me, his un-
worthy servant, in a personal appearance in the
year 1743, to open in. me a sight of the spiritual
world, and to enable tne to converse with spirits
and angels, and this privilege has continued with
me to this day. From that time I began to print
and publish various unknown arcana, that have
been either seen by me or revealed to me, concern-
ing Heaven and, Hell, the state of men alter ()emit,
the true worship of God, the spiritual sense of the
Scriptures, and many other-important truths, tend-
ing to salvation and. true wisdom : and that man-
kind might receive benefit from these communica-
tions, was the only motive which has induced me at
different times to leave my home to visit other
countries. As 'to this world's wealth, I have what
is sufficient, and more .I neither seek nor wish for.

Your letter has drawn the mention of these things
toe,means
to
in case, as you say, they may be a
to prevent or remove any take judgment or ‘crong
prejudiceS with regard to my persondl circumstances.
Farewel ;' and I heartily* wish pm prosperity both
in things spiritual and 4empwal, of which I MPlte
no dOubt, if so be you go on to pray to our Lor.J,
and to set him always before you.
London, 1769. EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
'To Rev. T. Han ky; Itectorbt Winwick. Northamptonshire.