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118 DOCUMENTS CONCERNING SWEDENBORG.
expected. The fact that Oberlin rendered this dreary solitude, in which a few-
wild, barbarous hordes of men barely existed, a comparative garden, abounding
with all the necessaries of life, and that he trained his flock to the knowledge
and practice of evangelical truth and virtue, and opened their minds to a per-
ception of heavenly realities, through the knowledge contained in Swedenborg’s
work On Heaven and Hell, is the cause of his wide-spread celebrity among the
continental nations of Europe. This would be the proper place, if time and
space permitted, to describe some of those acts of eminent usefulness, which
Oberlin performed in agriculture and the arts, which were not only so beneficial
to his immediate vicinity, but also to his country at large. His country acknow-
ledged his services, and honored his name, by presenting him with a gold
medal.
" Having received a few explanations from Oberlin respecting the diagrams,
models, &c., which I observed in his library, 1 prepared myself to converse with
him on things of a more exalted character—on his manner of perceiving the
truths of the Word, as well as his conceptions respecting the realities of heaven,
and the spiritual state of man in general. I at once asked him whether he had
read any of the works of Swedenborg .’
Without replying, he immediately
reached a book, and clapping his hand upon it, expressive of great satisfaction,
told me, that he had had this treasure many years in his library, and that he
knew from his own experience that everything related in it was true. This
treasure was Swedenborg’s work On Heaven and Hell. As I had lately become
acquainted with the theological writings of the enlightened Swedenborg, and as
Oberlin was almost the only person I had met with who had any knowledge of
those writings, T was, of course, highly delighted to meet with a man, whose
name was universally honored, and whose life and character were considered as
a bright example of every Christian virtue. The great weight which accompa-
nied the name of this good man, and the approving declaration he had already
made respecting one of the most important works of Swedenborg, materially
strengthened my convictions of the truth of his claims to universal attention. I
accordingly felt the deepest interest in conversing with Oberlin on the the sub-
ject of Swedenborg’s theology, and the amazing spiritual intelligence displayed
in his writings, and inquired how it had happened, that he had arrived at con-
victions so solid respecting the facts and truths contained in the work On Heav-
en and Hell. He replied, that when he first came to reside as a pastor among the
inhabitants of Steinthal, they had many superstitious notions respecting the prox-
imity of the spiritual world, and of the appearance of various objects and phe-
nomena in that world’which, from time to time, were seen by some of the peo-
ple belonging to his flock. For instance, it was not unusual for a ])erson who
had died to appear to some individual in the valley. This gift of second sight,
or the opening of the spiritual sight, to see objects in a spiritual state of exist-
ence, was, however, confined to a- few persons, and continued but a short
period, and at different intervals, of time. The report of every new occurrence
of this kind was brought to Oberlin, who at length became so much annoyed,
that he was resolved to put down this species of superstition, as he called it,
from the pulpit, and exerted himself for a considerable time to this end, but with
little or no desirable effect. Cases became more numerous, and the circum-
stances so striking as even to stagger the scepticism of Oberlin himself. About
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