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Doc. 10.) 143
BISHOP JESPER SWEDBERG .
in spite of the complaints Swedberg had to hear from Hjärne
and others on account of his orthography, his merits in promot
ing the “ culture and correctness " of our mother-tongue cannot
be denied, and his writings scarcely bear a trace of the passion
prevailing at his time, of introducing words from foreign languages.
In the titles of his books he liked to play upon words and
to use alliteration, e. g. “ Ungdomsregel och ålderdomspegel"
(the rule of youth, and the mirror of old age), “ Casa pau
perum et Gaza divitum ” (the house of the poor and the treasure
of the rich ). He even composed school-books. When he
wrote to Bishop Spegel in 1707, to whose criticism he sub
jected his learned works, he had in the press at Skara a “Sen
tentiarum liber” (a book of sentences) in six divisions, pre
pared for schools and the gymnasia, in such a manner that by
means of it Latin , Greek, and also some Hebrew could be
learned pleasantly and almost playfully; he also encouraged
the scholars by prizes." Greek seems to have been his fa
vourite language, after leaving the university. He wrote so
uninterruptedly, that sometimes the printing was only delayed
for lack of paper; sometimes also because the higher autho
rities were “exceedingly slow in examining his works, and
granting permission to print them . ” For his “ Biblia parva,"
his small Bible, consisting of the Psalms, Proverbs, Tobit,
Ecclesiastes, Judith and Sirach, which he undertook " during
the time of the late King”, he had a “Royal privilege for
nine years, and also freedom from custom dues for 1000 bales
of paper.” Among his writings, which are not recorded by
Westén, there are also Rechenberg’s " Elements of Ethics and
Politics,” compiled from Grotius and Puffendorf, a useful little
school book for youth, in order to give them a taste for those
matters which are now studied with great industry in the
universities. This work was ready to leave the press in
1707. He had also commenced a work "A Swedish Commen
tary on the Bible, after the original Texts," which was destroyed
by the fire in 1712. He afterwards re-commenced this practical
.
commentary on the Bible, which we understand is preserved
in the Royal Library in Stockholm .
The cheerful and frequently playful style which Swedberg
employed both in his writings and conversation, was an ex
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