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626 NOTES TO VOLUME I.
“The work by which Beyer most served the cause to which he
had devoted himself, is his Index initialis in opera Swedenborgii
theologica tripartita, and which was printed in Amsterdam , in 1779.
This is an extensive lexicographical work upon which Beyer was
occupied for thirteen years, and which affords evidence of the closest
acquaintance with the contents of Swedenborg’s works, and of a
rare accuracy on the part of the author. After he had finished this
laborious work, and had sent the last sheet of the manuscript to
Amsterdam , he became ill, and died a few days afterwards, in the
year 1779. Beyer seems to have been more successful as a lexico
grapher, than as a preacher, and to have been generally qualified
more for the professor’s chair than for the pulpit. The language in
his collection of sermons, of which a new edition has been lately
published, is wanting in precision and is stiff and diffuse. On that
account his sermons did not meet with great success. Their sub
stance manifests, however, Beyer’s great love for the external and
internal meaning of the Sacred Scripture, and shows how deeply he
was imbued with the spirit of Swedenborg’s writings.
"By those persons who either knew Beyer personally or who
heard him described by others, he is said to have been a man of
the purest virtue and of the most amiable character; to have been
pious, simple-minded, humble, and frank ; gentle and conciliatory
with others; strict and severe towards himself; faithful to his con
victions; persevering in his undertakings, and filled with the warmest
sympathies for every thing that appeared to him beautiful, true,
good, and sacred. For his defection from the strict Lutheranism of
his times, he had to pay dearly enough in his life-time. Posteri
ty that has examined this with impartial eyes and in its proper
light, has not found in it anything blameworthy. Its judgment has
been less austere than that of Beyer’s former companion at school,
Bishop Lamberg, and of several of his colleagues.
“Beyer left a son, Anders Beyer, who became dean and pastor
somewhere in the diocese of Gottenburg. From Swedenborg’s letter
to Beyer, dated October 30, 1769, it appears that he was already
a widower at that time.”
Swedenborg’s Correspondence with Dr. Beyer, which is contained
in Section IX , constitutes one of the most valuable sources of in
formation respecting Swedenborg during the last years of his life
upon earth.
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