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EULOGIUM OF SANDEL. 25
be denied, that the advantage of having sprung from a respectable and virtuous
family, inspires a man with confidence, when he is conscious that he does not
disgrace his descent. In every condition, it is a real advantage to be born in a
family, which has been, for long time, the abode of honor and virtue, and a
nursery of citizens every way useful to the country. Such was that of Sw^eden-
borg.
Li a family of credit and respectability among the miners of Stora Koppar-
berg,* Daniel Isaacson and his wife Anne Ballernesia, are distinguished as the
parents of the first chiefs of the noble families of Sh6mstr6m and of Swedenborg,
as well as that of the Swedbergs. I remember to have seen a genealogical tree,
in which were represented many of the Swedbergs incorporated and allied with
other illustrious and celebrated families. But since our Swedenborg did not
assist to extend the branches of this tree, I will dwell upon it no longer, and will
endeavor to follow himself only.
In following him, the period of childhood and the exercises of that age can-
not detain me long ; for, in him, everything tended to maturity. A son of Bishop
Swedberg could not fail to receive a good education according to the custom of
the times, and such as was adapted to form his youth to virtue, to industry, to
solid knowledge, and especially to those sciences which were to constitute his
chief occupation. Times and manners change : but I am speaking of the youth
of a Swedenborg. What need is there to expatiate further upon the well-be-
stowed cares which were employed on his education ; upon his eagerness to
profit by such an advantage, which few men, comparatively, enjoy, and which
so many of those who enjoy it neglect; upon the acuteness of his talents, which
made the acquisition of knowledge easy to him, and cherished his excellent
inchnations ; in short, upon his diligence and early maturity ? What more
striking proof of them could be given, than the favor of a great prince, who,
possessing a penetrating judgment, knew how to discover merit and talents, to
encourage them by his bounty, and to employ them to the best advantage ?
Without any solicitation on his part, he was appointed by Charles XII. at the
age of twenty-eight years [in 1716], and when he was yet but a student at the
University, Assessor Extraordinary of his Board of Mines ; and with leave to
make his election between this office, and a Professorship in the Royal Univer-
sity of Upsal. It is not upon an effeminate young man, destitute of talents, that
an enlightened Monarch confers such employments. Swedberg was already
known, both within the kingdom and abroad, for his learning and his great
qualities.
Among the number of his successful, though not always acknowledged youth-
ful essays, is to be reckoned an Academical Dissertation, which he published at
Upsal, in 1709.t
* The great copper-mountain, near the town of Fahlun, in the Province ofDale-
Karlen, the principal copper-mines in Sweden.
t The subject of this dissertation waSj AnncEi SeneccB et Publii Syri Mimi, forsan et
aliorum, Select<2 Sententice, cum Annotationibics Erasmi et ChrcBca Versione Scaligeri,
Notis Illustratce. Swedenborg prefixed to this edition a dedication to his father a brief
introduction, and accompanied it with notes. Immediately following the I>edication
are some Greek verses addressed to Swedenborg himself, with the following inscrip-
tion : —Ad prajcellentis ingenii Juvenem Emanuelem Swedbergium generis claritudine
ac eruditionis gloria maxime conspicuum, cum in Mimos Publii Syri publica disser-
tatione commentaretur ; with the inscription, Fv^r)\id6ris.
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