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JONAS ALSTRÖMER. 687
[Hans] Sloane and [Martin ] Folkes conversing together in the spiri
tual world concerning the existence of seeds and eggs, and concern .
ing productions from them on earth : the former ascribed them to
nature, insisting that nature was from creation endued with the power
of producing such things by means of the sun’s heat; the other
said that that power is continually in nature from God the Creator.
In order to put an end to this dispute, a beautiful bird was exhibited
to Sir Hans Sloane, and he was told to examine whether it differed
in the least from a similar bird on earth. He held it in his hand,
examined it, and said that there was no difference; he knew also
that this bird was nothing else than an affection of a certain angel
represented without him in this form , and that it would vanish or
cease with his affection ; which also came to pass. Sir Hans Sloane
was convinced by this experience, that nature does not contribute
at all to the production of plants and animals, but only that which
flows from the spiritual into the natural world. He also said that
if this bird were to be filled in its least parts with corresponding
matter from the earth and so fixed, it would be a durable bird, as
birds on earth. He added further, that if he had known what he
now knew of the spiritual world, he would not have ascribed any
more to nature, than that it ministers to the spiritual principle
from God, in rendering solid the things that continually flow into
nature.”
NOTE 94.
JONAS ALSTRÖMER .
a
Jonas Alström , after being ennobled, Alströmer, the father of
Swedish manufactures, was born in 1685. In 1707 he went to London,
where he engaged in business, and became Swedish consul in 1722.
After making long journeys in England, France, and Holland, he
returned to Sweden in 1723, bringing with him mechanics and workmen
of every kind, and with a valuable cargo of machines for the manufacture
of silk and woollen goods. He settled in his birth-place, Alingsås,
between Gottenburg and Falköping, and soon transformed it into a
flourishing manufacturing town. Alströmer also imported sheep from
all parts of the world, and introduced the cultivation of potatoes
and tobacco into Sweden. He seems to have been on very intimate
terms with the Swedenborg family, as may be seen from Documents 33,
104, and 113. In Document 104 we read that he was desirous of
taking Em. Swedenborg to England in order “ to show him much
that is interesting, and that would be useful to the country.” Consul
Alströmer became councillor of Commerce in 1739 and was ennobled
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