The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-06

ahgels. But for tho judicious expendi-
,ture Of tho Rotch fund. b~equeathed for
tho purpose, this accurate and exhaustive
exposition OF the Swedenborgian phil
osophy could never have seen the light.
70 TIE trustees or that fund and to the
present publishers oil thoughtful persons
tbo, desire 0 first hand and an extensive
3odualntahoe with the ideas Of n OF tho
&reat thinkers OF modern times are under
fr9ak pbligations. In the present notice
yeshail merely try to convey a faithful
Impression Of S~wedenborg's personality
Z Ind life, reserving for a later occasion
ansontIlhea Of his cardinal doctrines and
ftmay help us to understand the career
4 d Emanuel Swedenborg II We glance
at his progenitors aud their environment,
His gTapdfathea on both the paterpal
md maternal sides we're connected with
Svedep,s great mining industries, Daniel
Isasose1!sth the father Of Bishop ~Swedberg.
%6sa asmember OF q peasant family
vhol rose from comparative poverty TO
j~fRlonce. by q successful mining venture.
Alhretht Benin. Swedenborg's maternal
Grandfather. occupied at the Swedish
Board of Mines a position similar to
thSt which the philosopher was himself
h,'hold later, It will be observed tina.
Z Swedcaborg's surname differs from thet
dfhis father and grandfather. The variety
df names In the same family is due to
first, tho custom Of taking names from
the fniniiy seats in place OF the usual pat
rnnymio and. secondly, to the change
Z Of title brought about through the en-
noblement Of one branch Of the Swed-
bergs. The sons of Daniel Isaacson
called themselves Swedberg from the
name : OF their homestead. Sweden;
while Swedberg wal changed to Sweden
borg when Bishop Jesper Swedberg was
enpobled by Queen Ulrica In I7l9.
Jesper Swedberg. the second son Of
Daniel! Isaacsen. was born in 1858. His
parents. who were pious people. devoted
him tosthe Church. and he was ordained
in 1889. He was appointed successfully
chaplain of the Horse Guards, court
chaplain, dean and pastor Of vingaker,
professor in Upsala University. dean
of Upsala and Bishop Of Skara. which
Last Office he held for thirty-three years.
Z He was a devout and upright man, an in
defatigable worker and an enthusiastic
reformer; In fact, a man whose exem-
plary conduct and untiring zeal made
him conspicuous among the relatively
careless clergymen in the Sweden Of the
latter half Of the Seventeenth aud first
third Of the eighteenth centuries. He
was described by a contemporary rs
"a man full of zeal. but without bigotry.'
Such was the father Of the founder
Of the new religion. About Sweden
borg's childhood little is known. He
was born at Stockholm on January 20.
lbs, and " as the third child Of his parents.
His early education was received in Up
saia,, where he acquired a knowledge Of
tho Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages.
to,which-he subsequently added Arabic.
While still young he also became an adept
in pathematics and the natural sciences.
I Hasihg. completed his university course
at Upsala in ITO. he visited England,
Holland, france and Germany. but five
years later returned to the same uni
versity town, where he devoted himself
to natural science and engineering. In
17le Charles XII. appointed him assessor
in the Swedish College of Mines, and in
the same year Swedenborg published
varions mathematical works. In l724
h~erdeelihed the chair of mathematics
In Upsaia University. As early as i72l
he sought to lay the foundation of a scien-
tito explanation of the universe Inc
thirteen years later published his Phil
osophical and Mineral Works." the first
volume Of which. his Principal set
forth his views Of the first principles Of the
o6sfnos-a curious mechanical and geo
nfetrical theory Of the origin of things.
Some years before he had sent to a broth
er-in-law a long list OF inventions which
he had either completed or projected.
IN some, OF these he seems to have antici-
pated the mechanical oontrivances of
the present age, just as afterwards he
Anticipated scientific theories which are
usually regarded as strictly modern.
One of these inventions, for instance, was
'the plan OF a certain ship. which with
its men was to go under the surface of
the sea wherever it chooses, and do great
damage to the feet Of the enemy" An
other device was for setting mill wheels
in motion where falling water was not
available; -the wheel will nevertheless,
ravoiYe by can OF a fire which will
pat the water in motion" Further prod
UNITS of his active brain were a aga
zine air gun to discharge sixty or seventy
sbots in succession without %reloading
and a flying machine, TO the idea of which
he required later.
He had many schemes also for his
country's good; among these he tried,
but unsuccessfully, to secure the founda-
tion' Of a chair Of mechanics at the Uni
versity of Upsala. Among still other
novelties proposed by him which his fell
low oountrymen were slow to adopt we're
hb.plan for an astronomical observatory,
ascheme for the extensive manufacture
Of salt in Sweden, a new slow oombus-
ton stove. a new method OF discovering
mineral veins, q decimal system Of
coinage and measurement. Among the
services which he was able to render
the Government WIS tho transportation
under his direction of two galleys. asloop
and. five large boats for a distance of
fourteen English miles overland. Other
works in which he had a land were the
construction Of the great dock Of Carls-
crona and the scheme for connecting the
North Sea and the Baltic by n canal.
which. latter undertaking, however, was
not completed, owing to the death OF