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TESTIMONY OF THE CELEBRATED OBERLIN. 155
Strasburg, he met with the work On Heaven and Hell,
which a friend* recommended him to peruse. This
work, as he informed me, gave him a full and satisfactory
explanation of the extraordinary cases occurring in his
valley, and which he himselfwas, at length, from evidences
which could not be doubted, constrained to admit. The
satisfactory solution of these extraordinary cases afforded
great pleasure to his mind, and he read the ’ treasure,’ as
he called it, very attentively, and with increasing delight.
He no longer doubted in the nearness of the spiritual
world ; yea, he believed that man, by virtue of his better
part-his immortal mind—is already an inhabitant of the
spiritual world, in which, after the death of the material
body, he is to continue his existence for ever. He plainly
saw from the correspondent relation existing between the
two worlds, that when it pleased the Lord, man might
easily be placed, by opening his spiritual senses, in open
communication with the world of spirits. This, he
observed, was frequently the case with the seers men
tioned in the Old Testament ; and why might it not be
so now, if the divine Providence saw fit, in order to
instruct mankind more fully in respect to their relation to
* I think I have heard, that this friend was the celebrated Dr.
Jung-Stilling, with whom Oberlin was very intimate. He was
also intimate with the celebrated Lavater, of Zurich, with whom,
he told me, he corresponded ; and as Lavater is known, from his
letters to Swedenborg, (see below pp. 161-163,) to have been
a great admirer of his writings, he, no doubt, often mentioned
them to Oberlin. I have also understood, that these three
distinguished men were fellow-students. They all felt a deep
interest in the writings of Swedenborg, and their exemplary
Christian character and intelligence have exercised very con
siderable influence over great parts of Germany and Switzer
land, where their names will be held in everlasting remembrance.
In respect to Stilling, see above pp. 133-136. Here I would
observe in respect to Stilling, that he did not adopt the theological
doctrines of Swedenborg, which renders his testimony given above
so much the more impartial. It is evident, however, that in his
practical writings he infused many of Swedenborg’s sentiments
into those works which have rendered Stilling’s name respected
and revered among the pious of Germany. See, in particular,
his " Heimweh," or Desire for Heaven ; and his " Scenen aus dem
Geisterreiche," or Scenes fromthe World of Spirits.
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