France -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; French fiction -- Translations into English
dressing-gown which he wore just before his death; and he showed her the
paper in the place indicated by Swedenborg, where it had been securely
put away. At another time, embarking from London in a vessel commanded
by Captain Dixon, he overheard a lady asking if there were plenty of
provisions on board. ‘We do not want a great quantity,’ he said; ‘in
eight days and two hours we shall reach Stockholm,’--which actually
happened. This peculiar state of vision as to the things of the
earth--into which Swedenborg could put himself at will, and
which astonished those about him--was, nevertheless, but a feeble
representative of his faculty of looking into heaven.
“Not the least remarkable of his published visions is that in which he
relates his journeys through the Astral Regions; his descriptions
cannot fail to astonish the reader, partly through the crudity of their
details. A man whose scientific eminence is incontestable, and who
united in his own person powers of conception, will, and imagination,
would surely have invented better if he had invented at all. The
fantastic literature of the East offers nothing that can give an idea
of this astounding work, full of the essence of poetry, if it is
permissible to compare a work of faith with one of oriental fancy. The
transportation of Swedenborg by the Angel who served as guide to this
first journey is told with a sublimity which exceeds, by the distance
which God has placed betwixt the earth and the sun, the great epics of
Klopstock, Milton, Tasso, and Dante. This description, which serves in
fact as an introduction to his work on the Astral Regions, has never
been published; it is among the oral traditions left by Swedenborg to
the three disciples who were nearest to his heart. Monsieur Silverichm
has written them down. Monsieur Seraphitus endeavored more than once to
talk to me about them; but the recollection of his cousin’s words was so
burning a memory that he always stopped short at the first sentence and
became lost in a revery from which I could not rouse him.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account