Meanwhile, he learned Hebrew, and read the Bible through several times in its original languages. Like all true students, he read and thought with pen in hand; and as the hidden and Divine wisdom of the Word was opened to him, he embodied in “Adversaria,” or notes, the truths thus revealed. These Adversaria extend over the historical books of the Old Testament, and several of the prophets. They have all been printed of late years, from their author’s original Latin manuscript, by that indefatigable and learned Newchurchman, Dr. Tafel, of Tübingen. They have not yet been translated into English, probably because they were not published by Swedenborg himself, and are only to be regarded as preparatory studies for future works. They also abound with indistinct views on many subjects, which subsequent knowledge rendered clear. As records of their author’s spiritual progress, as well as for the many valuable facts which they contain, it is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when the “Adversaria” will appear in an English dress. We cannot spare anything which serves to illustrate the mental history of such a man as Swedenborg. In 1747, he ceased writing his “Adversaria,” and commenced a Spiritual Diary, which he continued for twenty years. This Diary, written also in Latin, (as all his theological works were,) has been lately published by Dr. Tafel in ten closely printed octavos. Two volumes have been translated and published in England and America, and the remainder will probably soon follow. It will hardly be necessary for us to go into a detailed account of the principles and facts scattered throughout its long and miscellaneous record. We shall meet with all the leading ideas in noticing the books published by himself, and laid before the world as matured and finished productions. It may be said, however, that the “Diary,” as a work, is perfectly unique; for in no literature can we find its counterpart. We have in it, for twenty years, an almost daily record of Swedenborg’s spiritual states and temptations; his interviews and conversations with angels, spirits, and devils; and accounts of their pleasures, punishments, and thoughts. No one who makes an intimate acquaintance with this “Diary,” will ever after allow a shadow of doubt to cross his mind as to the candor and truth of Swedenborg; 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 experience, he will detect no vanity, shuffling, double-dealing, or anything inconsistent with his published works; but all as straightforward, open, and unreserved, as truth itself. Although written in the quietude of his own study, and for his own eye and use alone, he could not have been more ingenuous and sincere had the whole universe been looking down upon its pages.