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550 [Doc. 265.
TESTIMONY OF CONTEMPORARIES.
means of ascertaining who was the proper heir to the property,
and Mr. Lindegren at that time had the reputation of being
a respectable and substantial merchant, well acquainted with
Swedenborg’s family in Sweden, and in the habit of corres
ponding with some of them, he thought himself justified in
giving up the property to him, that it might eventually reach
the legal owner or owners.
8. The following anecdote was communicated to me by
Mr. Shearsmith. Among the many gentlemen and others, who,
from time to time, came to his house, to make inquiries con
cerning Swedenborg, after his decease, one gentleman from
St. Croix called to see the apartments, which so great and
extraordinary a man had occupied ; and being led up to the
one pair, he was shown the front and back rooms, in which
the Author was wont to write and sleep. The stranger quickly
passed his eye over the two rooms, and then cast them to
heaven, as if in the greatest astonishment, that so humble a
dwelling should have been chosen for the abode of such an
exalted genius as he considered Swedenborg to be. After
putting some questions to Mr. Shearsmith, and receiving his
answers, he then said, "Place me, as near as you possibly
can, on the same spot in the room, as that on which he
formerly stood : that is all I request." Mr. Shearsmith accord
ingly took him to the door-way between the two rooms, where
he had often observed Swedenborg to stand, while he was
conversing with his invisible friends. "Here," says Mr. Shear
smith, "place your feet on these boards, and you will be on
the very spot you desire." The gentleman, then, standing as
he was directed, said, " Am I now exactly in the position, and
on the very spot of ground, on which you have observed
Swedenborg to stand?" "You are, Sir," replied Mr. Shear
smith. "Then here is half-a-guinea for you," said the gentle
man, "I am abundantly satisfied with the honour of having
for once trod in the footsteps of so great a man.”
9. In the printed Anecdotes of Swedenborg [Pernety’s
Account," Document 6] , annexed to Sandel’s Eulogium, p. 17,
of the first edition in 1784, it is said, "that he usually spoke
very distinctly, but stammered a little when he spoke too
fast." It may be regarded as a singular coincidence that
A
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