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Doc. 253. ] HIS CONVERSATION WITH SWEDENBORG. 421
the author above-mentioned,* so candid in his eulogium, laments,
nevertheless , the striking contrast between the Algebra and
the visions of the New Jerusalem.
"Swedenborg states properly his rank of nobility. He had
the common degree ; and was not, as many in America style
him, a baron ; which title denotes the second class of noble
men; the first among the three classes being counts."
B.
COLLIN’S CONVERSATION WITH SWEDENBORG.
"In the course of my education at the Uni
versity of Upsal, I had free access to its excellent library,
which, by its own revenue and by donations, receives con
tinually one or more copies of every interesting new book.
There I perused the theological treatises of Swedenborg, pub
lished in the year 1765 ; among them Arcana Coelestia, De Colo
et Inferno, &c. In that year I went to reside in Stockholm,
and continued partly in that city, and partly in its vicinity,
for nearly three years. During that time, Swedenborg was a
great object of public attention in this metropolis , and his
extraordinary character was a frequent topic of discussion. He
resided at his house in the southern suburbs, which was in a
pleasant situation, neat and convenient, with a spacious garden
and other appendages. There he received company. Not
seldom he also appeared in public, and mixed in private
societies ; therefore sufficient opportunities were given to make
observations on him. I collected much information from several
respectable persons who had conversed with him; which was
the more easy, as I lived the whole time, as private tutor, in
the family of Dr. Celsius,211 a gentleman of distinguished talents,
who afterwards became Bishop of Scania: he and many of the
eminent persons that frequented his house knew Swedenborg
well.
"In the summer of 1766, I waited on him at his house ;
introducing myself, with an apology for the freedom I took;
* That is, the author of a "Dissertation on the Royal Society of Sciences
at Upsal."
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