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REMARKS ON THE TESTIMONY OF KANT. 131
borg declines to appeal to it. Doubtless, however, it was
of Divine Providence that occasions arose which con
strained him to give such demonstrations, and that they
were recorded by others : because such things serve for
confirmations of the truth, though they are not the
proper grounds of its original reception. When pre
sented also upon testimony, and at a distance of time,
they lose that compulsive character which they possess
when they take place, or nearly so, before our eyes: and
thus they may then become useful to draw the attention
of receptive minds to the truth, which, when known, may
convince by its own evidence.
"That supernatural evidences, at a distance of time, lose
that compulsive character which they possess when they
take place, or nearly so, before our eyes ; and that minds
not receptive of the truth, will then throw off the atten
tion to it that was only compulsively induced, are facts of
which Kant himself afforded a melancholy example : for
he afterwards wrote a pamphlet in which he depreciates
Swedenborg and his writings. But, as observed by the
editors, when his letter was first published in English in
The Intellectual Repository,*
" On the whole, this letter of Kant’s must certainly be
deemed a very valuable document, and ought to have
great weight with all unprejudiced minds. He here, it
must be allowed, exhibits the true spirit of a philosopher.
Prejudiced, at first, like most men of science, against all
belief in spiritual intercourse, he consents, on finding a
primafacie case made out in favour of that of Sweden
borg, to investigate the matter thoroughly : he does so ;
and comes at last to the conclusion, that some of the
cases are so well established, as to set the assertion
respecting Swedenborg’s extraordinary gift out of all
possibility of doubt.
" Admit this, and as we have
already seen, the truth of his having received such a
* For January, 1830, from which some of the preceding
remarks are abridged. See all that is there said upon Kant and
his system, p. 57-62. For what he afterwards wrote against
Swedenborg, with an exposure of its utter futility, see pp. 197,
198, 199, of the No. for July, 1834.
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