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Doc. 36.] SWEDENBORG TO ERICUS BENZELIUS. 201
have always pursued hitherto in my reading; and now, at my
departure, I propose to myself, as far as concerns mathematics,
gradually to gather and work up a certain collection, viz.
of things discovered and to be discovered in mathematics,
or, what is nearly the same thing, the progress made in mathe
matics during the last one or two centuries. This collection will
include all branches of mathematics, and will be, I trust, of
use to me in my journeys, since I can introduce into it every
thing that I notice in mathematics. If you do not disapprove
of this subject, I venture to expect much help and sup
port from you in the treatment of it ; I hope especially,
that if you meet with anything in this department, you will
make a note of it for me. It would greatly serve my pur
poses if Director Pålhammar14 could be prevailed upon
to communicate his inventions, before anything mortal happen
to him ; the mechanics contained therein would be an ornament
to the whole work. I have a valuable help in the post
humous work of Mochofvius, and also an excellent guide to
authors.
During my stay here I have made such progress, as to
acquire a manual art — the art of binding books ; for we have
a bookbinder with us; I have already displayed my skill
upon two books, which I bound in half morocco. I herewith
send you for examination an old coin ; I do not know ofwhat
stock it is; yet it appears to me a suspicious circumstance
that Sanctus Ericus is written on the outside ; for he proba
bly did not obtain this epithet, until some time after his death.
Hål, the master of the horse, is said to have committed the
extreme folly of castrating himself in a bungling manner ; it
is supposed that he will probably not live much longer.
I do not know for certain whether this is true, but
everybody says it is; perhaps he wishes to become a second
Origen.
In case any one succeed me in my room,* I would
beg of you to see that the papers which I left behind are
gathered up and stored in the vault; because there are
* Swedenborg while at Upsal stayed at the house of his brother-in
law . This is the first letter whicch he wrote to him after his return home
from the university.
ܪ
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