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LETTER TO THE REV. T. HARTLEY. 37
quaintance with their author, and was admitted by him to his intimate friendship. Mr.
Hartley has left his testimony respecting him, which we shall adduce below. The fol-
lowing- letter was written by Swedenborg to Mr. Hartley, in reply to one which that
gentleman had sent him, requesting that he would leave, in his hands, some account of
himself, of his family and connexions :*
—
’•
My Dear Friend,
" I take pleasure in the friendship you express for me in your letter, and re-
turn you sincere thanks for the same : but as to the praises which you bestow
upon me, I only receive them as tokens of your love of the truths contained in
my writings, and so refer them to the Lord our Saviour, from whom is all truth,
because he is the Truth (Jolm xiv. 6). It is the concluding part of your letter
that chiefly engages my attention, where you say as follows :
’
As after your
departure from England disputes may arise on the subject of your writings, and
so give occasion of defending their author against such false reports and asper-
sions as they who are no friends to truth may invent to the prejudice of his char-
acter, may it not be of use, in order to refute any calumnies of that kind, that
you leave in my hands some short account of yourself; as concerning, for ex-
ample, your degrees in the university, the offices you have borne, your family
and connexions, the honors which I am told have been conferred upon you, and
such other particulars as may serve to the vindication of your character, if at-
tacked ; that so any ill-grounded prejudice may be obviated or removed ? For
where the honor and interest of truth are concerned, it certainly behoves us to
employ all lawful means in its defence and support.’ After reflecting on the
foregoing passage, I was induced to comply with your friendly advice, by briefly
communicating the following circumstances of my life :
—
"I was born at Stockholm, in the year 1 689,f Jan. 29th. My father’s name
was Jesper Swedberg ; who was bishop of West-Gothland, and a man of celeb-
rity in his time. He was also elected a member of the [English] Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ; for he had been appointed by King
Charles XII., as bishop over the Swedish churches in Pennsylvania and London.
In the year 17101 began my travels ; first going to England, and thence to Hol-
land, France and Germany ; whence I returned home in 1714. In the year 1716,
and afterwards, I had many conversations with Charles XII. King of Sweden,
who was pleased to bestow on me a large share of his favor, and in that year
appointed me to the office of Assessor of the Metallic College ; in which I con-
tinued till the year 1747, when I resigned it; but I still retain the salary annexed
to it, as an appointment for life. My sole view in this resignation was, that I
might be more at liberty to devote myself to that new function to which the
Lord hath called me. On my resigning my office, a higher degree of rank was
offered me : but this I utterly declined, lest it should be the occasion of inspiring
me with pride. In 1719, 1 was ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora, and named
Swedenborg .•
from which time I have taken my seat with the Nobles of the
Equestrian Order in the Triennial Assemblies of the States of the Realm . I am a
Fellow, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm : but I
* The original Latin may be seen in a former periodical pubhcation called the Aurora,
vol. ii. p. 224.
t It has been ascertained that this should be 1688. See above p. 24.
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