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418 TESTIMONY OF CONTEMPORARIES. [Doc. 253.
A.
COLLIN’S BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF EMANUEL Swedenborg.
"His family connections were such as he relates,*
and well-known in Sweden ; some of them by myself person
ally; particularly Bishop Benzelstierna [see Note 10] . The
mention of his father being, though honourable, modestly short,
I shall enlarge upon it. This Jesper Swedberg was well
qualified for one of the principal bishoprics in Sweden, by his
piety, learning, integrity, benevolence, and all other virtues.
His plain manner of living enforced his zealous remonstrances
against pomp and luxury, which, if not very common, were
yet the more pernicious in that distressful period, when Sweden,
having lost her veteran armies, depended in a great measure on
lads and old men against the combined forces of Russia, Poland,
and Denmark, and was moreover consuming by famine and
pestilence. The Bishop’s influence animated that patriotic
fortitude, which sustained such burthens and misery, and blazed
in so many battles. His popularity gave particular energy to
some public regulations, which lessened the havoc of pestilence :
a judicious and pathetic address to the people convinced them,
that interring in new grounds was a necessary measure, though
a temporary sacrifice to their laudable attachment to the con
secrated grounds in which the earthly remains of their beloved
relatives reposed. The Bishop was for many years superin
tendent of the Swedish mission about Delaware. His letters
to the clergy and the congregations, which are preserved on
his records, bear witness to his zeal, kindness, and love of
science. He requested of the missionaries to inform him of
any extraordinary events, in the moral and physical world,
which happened in these parts of America. Some of these
relations are recorded : one I find less credible, but founded
on popular belief, and in part on some very remarkable facts.
As this excellent man has been charged with a fondness for
the marvellous, and the same foible is imputed as hereditary
* Collin alludes here to Swedenborg’s . Autobiography, contained in
Document 2.
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