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CHARLES XII. 603
he, by obeying Görtz, ruined his country and all in it, he said he
desired the good of his country, was unwilling to see, that such was
not the case, and with the greatest obstinacy persisted in the
,
determination he had once taken; indeed, he never desisted until he
was reduced to such straits that there was no other help - yet even
then he believed that it was all for the glory of his country." (No. 4741.)
" Charles XII was a striking example of those who are inwardly
in the love of self, and outwardly civil and modest. Inwardly he
was one of the haughtiest of men, and he aspired to the greatest
name not only in his own country, but in the whole world, over
which he desired to rule; he even in a certain measure believed
himself to be interiorly a god. He could think more interiorly than
any other man ; under all circumstances and in every danger his
interior thoughts were remarkably clear. He saw all particular
things around himself at a single glance, and he collected these
things interiorly and drew his conclusions correctly. He was unwill
ing, however, that any one should know this ; he outwardly feigned
what he inwardly did not think, and was indignant if any one said that
he (the King] had a clear inward perception. This he considered to be
regal and accustomed himself to do so constantly. This was his interior
life; and in it he thought of his own dominion over all, both in
things general and particular, and also that this was a divine way
of acting: interiorly in that life he did not believe in the existence
of God, except in men, and in himself in particular. He thus set
no value on religion ; praised Mahometanism above Christianity,
which he said was only for the simple; he was also desirous of intro
ducing a natural religion, adapted to the comprehension of all men who
believe only in nature. He made royalty to consist in obstinacy even to
death . He was interiorly pitiless and cruel, caring nothing for human life.
He was able to invent excuses which could not be contradicted, and
because these were from his internal thought, he was in the per
suasion that the matter was as he had stated and thus right. No
one knew of all this in the world, except some by conjecture.*
lied and feigned justice and truth more perfectly than any other
man .” (No. 4748).
“It was observed that in the faculty of perception Charles XII
was pre-eminent; for when he was in interior thought, he was able
at a single glance to read the thoughts of a hundred persons, and
see how far they could be made to serve the end he had in view,
which was dominion; he could also see in what way he could make
* See Document 199, “ Swedenborg’s Letter to Dr. Nordberg respecting Charles XII,” from
which it appears that Swedenborg himself was one of those who in the world had formed
the opinion, that Charles XII possessed clear internal thought.
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