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1292 NOTES TO VOLUME II.
Mr. White in 1856.
slow, but certain growth into
acceptance and fame. They are
now placed before the world, and
in their excellence serve to mani
fest the profound understanding
and genius of their author" (pp. 19,
22, 23).
" The Worship and Love of
God
’ is a book of which little
need be said, as it was probably
written as much for an exercise
of fancy, as with any serious
intent" (p. 22).
"The ’Diary
’ is a work not
suited for an early student of
Swedenborg. The principles on
which it is written, not being
understood, a young reader could
hardly fail to form erroneous ideas
from it, and misjudge the work
itself
" (p. 35).
"No one who makes an inti
mateacquaintancewiththe’Diary,
will ever after allow a shadow of
doubt to cross his mind as to
the candour and truth of Sweden
borg; for in every page, he will
perceive that quiet and solemn
earnestness which belongs alone
to the upright and honest in
heart. In its whole range of ex
perience he will detect no vanity,
shuffling, double-dealing, or any
thing inconsistent with his pub
lished works" (p. 34).
Mr. White in 1867.
are forgotten." White exclaims
here, "What an excellent piece
of self-criticism and condemnation
have we here ! Often whilst dis
cussing ’The Principia’ ’The In
finite’ and ’ The Economy of the
Animal Kingdom’ have I felt
tempted to express my weariness
with Swedenborgian dreams in
terms like these" (I, p. 153).
" Of course Swedenborg wrote
all this [the Worship and Love
of God] confessedly as fiction,’
says the reader. There is no
sign that he did ; nay, my own
conviction is, that he believed
every word of it as sincerely as
he ever believed anything" (Vol. I.
p. 172).
In violation of the principle
that "the ’Diary
’ is a work not
suited for an early student of
Swedenborg," which Mr. White
laid down in 1856 ; in 1867 the
very first work which he discusses
with early students of Sweden
borg is the "Diary."
"The pieces in the ’Spiritual
Diary’ possessing any living
interest are commonly sundered
by wide tracts of wordy barren
ness, which it is hardly possible
for even the dullest reader to
trudge through sentence after
sentence without skipping" (Vol. I,
p. 290).
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