respecting the genuine teaching of the Holy Word, and the great subjects of theology. The common doctrine of the fall of angels has existed for ages as a dark cloud, preventing all genuine light from entering into the mind respecting the origin of angels, their true nature, and their relation to mankind. The time, however, has now come, when the darkness on this subject, as well as on many others, will be dissipated, and Dr. Lamb's work may be referred to, as confirmatory, in some essential points, of the doctrine of the New Church respecting angels.—A correspondent also has kindly pointed out to us a note, at the end of the late celebrated Dr. Burton's Bampton Lectures, at Oxford, in which this great authority in the theological world, strongly discountenances the doctrine of the resurrection of the same material body. We shall take the first opportunity of transferring this note to our pages.-ED.] DOCUMENTS CONCERNING SWEDENBORG. WE have lately received from Germany certain additional documents concerning Swedenborg, which we shall transfer to our pages. The sheets containing these documents commence with the account of Swedenborg, and his father, bishop Swedberg, translated into the Germam from the "Penny Cyclopedia." As these accounts emanate from so respectable a society as that for the "Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," of which Lord Brougham is the president, they will, no doubt, be duly appreciated in Germany, and referred to, we trust, as a standard historical sketch of Swedenborg and his labors, calculated to satisfy the general reader.* After the translations from the "Penny Cyclopedia," the German editor, Dr. Tafel, says, "This is the account of the London [Penny] Cyclopedia concerning Bishop Swedberg; to which may properly be added, what the Bishop himself says in his autobiography, which is still in manuscript, concerning his sons. From this manuscript the vener able Dean *** sent to us, on the 6th Sept., 1842, an extract with these words:" "After my convalescence at the wells, my physicians advised me to make a tour. I accordingly went, in the middle of July, to Westgothland, in the hope of finding there some documents interesting to us both, which hope was in some measure realized. During my stay at Skara, I visited the library of the Gymnasium at that place, in which a copy of the MS., entitled 'Bishop Swedberg's Lefvernesbeskrifning * In the German Conversation's Lexicon (Leipzig edition), which, we believe, served at first as a model to the "Penny Cyclopedia," there is an excellent article concerning Swedenborg from the pen of Dr. Tafel. af honom sjelfvan för sattad,'* is preserved. In a few days I perused this MS., consisting of 1012 folio pages, but, alas! without finding anything of importance concerning Emanuel and the other children of the bishop. I send you an extract of what I found." "This extract, (says Dr. Tafel,) we here subjoin, both in the original and in a German translation :" "EXTRACT FROM THE BIOGRAPHY OF JESPER SWEDBERG, BISHOP OF SKARA, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF IN THE MONTH OF APRIL, 1729. "CHAP. XXV. "My Sons, and their Names. "24. Moreover, I kept myself humble, and entreated no sponsors of rank, as is commonly the case [to stand for my children]; and I shall give the reasons why I called my sons, Emanuel, Eliezer, and Jesper, and none, according to custom, after their grandfathers, or any person of the family; (Albrecht the eldest, of whom I have just spoken, was born during my travels in foreign parts, and his mother named him after her father). I do not find in the whole Bible a single example, in which children have received the names of their parents or forefathers. I will only mention the patriarch Jacob, and king David; the former had holy, celebrated, glorious ancestors, extensively known, and he had twelve sons, of whom not one was called Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. King David had also many sons, not one of whom he called Jesse, or David. Solomon had also many sons, none of whom he called David, Jesse, or Solomon; and amongst his numerous descendants there were many kings and princes, and not one was called Solomon or David. This good custom, however, had, before the time of Christ, given way, as is evident from the history of John the Baptist, whom at first they wished to name after his father Zecharias, (Luke i. 59.) which is a noble and significant name,-memoria Domini, that is, remembrance of the Lord, in order that he might be constantly mindful of the Lord. "25. Hereby however, I by no means presume to blame or to disapprove of those who call their children after their own names; yet I hope and expect, that nobody will blame my manner [of naming children], since I have the Bible and the examples of many saints on my side; and I have the full conviction 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 not, as many inconsiderate parents do who give improper names to their children, such as Björe, Ulf, Thorheol, after the heathen god Thor, and do not think of the answer which the reasonable Abigail gave to king David concerning her husband Nabal, 'Let not my Lord, I pray thee, set his heart against this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabalt is his name, and folly is with him." (1 Sam. xxv. 25.) 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 connexion, 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 farther with * "Bishop Swedberg's Biography, written, or prepared, by himself." +"Nabal," in Hebrew, signifies folly. him, until he is eternally united with Him in His kingdom!* Eliezer signifies "God is my help;" and he has been graciously and friendly helped by God. He was a pious child, made good progress, and was called home by a happy death in the 25th year of his age. The youngest son was called Jesper merely on this account, because he was born on the same day, and in the same hour, as myself, who first saw the light of the world on the 28th August, 1653. If the name Jesper be written (he will write), it has corresponded to the deed; for I can scarcely believe that any body in Sweden has written so much as I have done; since, I think, ten carts could scarcely carry away what I have written and printed at my own expense, and yet there is much, yea, nearly as much not printed. And my son Jesper had the same inclination, for he wrote much, and with pleasure. "26. I am a Sunday-child [that is, born on a Sunday], and the mother, my late wife, was also a Sunday-child, and all my children are Sunday-children, except Katharine, who was born at Upsal on the 3rd day of Easter. 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 Christian Church, and also the [clerical] order suffer not a little, and is brought into contempt. I have never had my daughters in Stockholm, where many reside in order to learn fine manners, but where also they learn much that is worldly and injurious to the soul." "CHAP. XXXIV. "3. This copper-plate† lay in my library, where the fire broke out, and where it raged the most. Of the many things that lay in a trunk, amongst a multitude of papers and many books scattered about, nothing was saved; every thing was burnt to ashes, so that no trace was to be seen. This copper-plate, however, which was so small and so thin, like a small plate of brass, was not consumed by the fire; it was not even injured, although a great copper kettle filled with water, and standing near the wall in the antechamber was melted together. "4. As, however, the plate was disfigured and blackened by the smoke, I gave it to my son Emanuel Swedenborg, who is at present Assessor in the Royal Mineral College, and who was, at that time, about to travel into Holland, where the plate was cleaned and polished; and my son had the following verse engraven upon it:— 'Hæc erat in mediis facies favillis, Cum deflagravit, nocte fluente domus; Sic quoque post ignes, Genitor! tua fama supremos "No further mention occurs (says Dr. K.,) in the biography of the bishop concerning his sons. On the last page, 1012, he says:" "God has granted me a cheerful disposition, and a peaceful life; wherefore, thank God, I have almost always been healthy, and seldom very poorly. I have also still * Emanuel Swedenborg was forty years of age when this was written by his father, and it is plain, we think, that the cause of the old bishop's gratitude and praise to God on account of his son, was, that he had led a pious aud useful life, thus confirming what is elsewhere said of E.S., that his life was a life of extraordinary diligence and usefulness, and of unfeigned piety.-ED. + The bishop's portrait, engraved on copper. See Swedberg, Ludus Heleconius, Ed. Tafel, 1841, p. 29, where also two other pieces of poetry on the same subject may be seen. my hearing and sight unimpaired, so that I can read and write without spectacles, as well as when I was thirty years old; my memory, however, is beginning to weaken."* At paragraph 60, in the same biography, we also find the following:"My dear wife, Sarah Swedberg, died in the year 1720, to my great grief and loss. My circumstances, and my extensive household required a faithful companion, whom God also gave me, in Christiana Arhusius the daughter of the dean and preacher at Fahlun, Magister John Arhusius; we were married in 1721. May God bless us both in the name of Jesus. Amen! Brunsbo, 12th June, 1729. The index to this Biograghy was completed on the 19th June in the same year." In another letter to Dr. Tafel, dated Feb. 14, 1841, the dean, Dr. K., says:-"In the Swenska Hof. Clereciets Historia af Westen I. Delens 2 dra Afdeln, sidan 440-529, the biography of bishop Swedberg is inserted. This biography I have lately read; quotations often occur from the life of Jesper Swedberg by Knös, and also from Swedberg's own biography written by himself, &c. Before Swedberg's Ungdomsregel och Alderdoms Spegel, Skara, 1709, stands a Latin paraphrase of the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes, or Preacher of Solomon, in elegiac verse, by Emanuel Swedberg."+ The dean, Dr. K., communicated, May 2, 1841, to Dr. Tafel the following anecdote concerning Swedenborg in his youthful years. He introduces the anecdote by saying:-" As I was perusing some days ago my correspondence with the late Mr. Tübeck, I met with some small Latin treatises of Swedenborg not yet printed, and also with an anecdote concerning him in his youthful years between 1716 and 1718, for the truth of which, Tübeck, as he assured me, could guarantee. This anecdote, communicated to me in Swedish by Tübeck, I send to you in a German translation:" "When the Councellor of Commerce, Polhem, erected, by the royal command, the Sluices at Trollhätta and Carlscrona, the young Emanuel Swedberg dwelt in his house as his coadjutor and as his pupil in mathematics. Here his heart glowed with love to the second daughter of Polhem, Emerentia Polhem, who was afterwards given in marriage to Rûckerskiold, the Councellor of Justice. As, however, the beloved object was not more than thirteen or fourteen years of age, and as she was not disposed to accept of Swedberg's overtures, she did not by any persuasion allow herself to be betrothed. But as her father loved Swedberg very much, he gave him, in writing, an agreement that at some future day she should be his, in the hope that, with increasing years, she would be more favorably disposed; this agreement his daughter, from filial obedience, was obliged to sign. She was, however, after signing it, daily so much depressed in mind, that her brother, Gabriel Polhem, the Chamberlain, seized with compassion, took the agreement secretly from Swedberg, who in his affection had no other consolation than to read it over every day, *The bishop at this time was 76 years old. + These verses are also included in the documents, and are inserted in our present number. on which account he soon discovered his loss. His unhappy state of mind was so visible, that Polhem, the father, constrained him to tell the cause of his unhappiness, upon which he entreated the father to procure again, through his paternal influence, the lost agreement. But as Swedberg himself at length saw how much grief he caused the object of his affections, he freely relinquished his claims, and took his departure from the house, with a determination that he would no more think of the ladies, nor endeavour to enter into the marriage covenant. Immediately after this he entered again upon his travels into foreign parts. This is all that can with certainty be said of this subject. It may, however, be remarked, that Swedenborg, in his old age, assured the daughters and sons-in-law of the ancient object of his affection as they visited him in his garden, that he could converse with their departed mother whenever he pleased." "Such experience, (says Dr. Tafel,) could only serve to give the young Swedberg a more serious tendency, and gradually to prepare him for the great work, which thirty years afterwards he had to commence." [In our next we shall publish an interesting Letter from Dr. Beyer, author of the Index Initialis, &c., to M. Nordenskiöld, dated Gottenburg, 25th March, 1776, which has not yet appeared in English.—ED.] QUESTIONS. 1. Is the account of the rich man and Lazarus to be considered a real history, or a parable? If the latter, on what grounds? 2. Was Lot's wife literally turned into a pillar of salt? 3. Was it a natural or a spiritual star which led the wise men of the East to the infant Saviour? 4. Were all the different races of men upon the earth equally the children of a first pair? 5. Can it be proved from the letter of the Holy Scriptures, that conjugial love is continued after this life? 6. In the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, 592, 593, we read That unless the Lord preserved the equilibrium between heaven and hell, neither heaven nor hell could exist." Query. Does that imply that, in order to preserve the equilibrium, it is essentially necessary that an equal number of both [good and bad men] should be saved or damned ?— Again, If the members of the New Church "advance in spiritual beauty and perfection," will not heaven then preponderate, and the consequent destruction of one or other, or both, be the result? 7. Can any of your correspondents point out, in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the appellation, "New Jerusalem Church ?" Permit me to ask why the appellation, "New Christian Church," is not adopted, since Swedenborg himself employs this appellation in the Ap |