His Life, as a Man of Science, ends.
The biographer of Swedenborg can feel no difficulty in distributing under proper heads the principal events of his life. It divides itself so distinctly into two parts, at this juncture, that, between his past and his future there is what he himself would call a “discrete degree.”
In 1745, when the merely scientific phase of Swedenborg’s life closed, he had arrived at the mature age of fifty-seven years. As we have seen, he had, from early manhood, united an active and practical, with a deeply philosophic, life. An earnest student of nature, he had never become so engrossed in thought as to forget the end of all thought—the improvement and the happiness of mankind. His long series of scientific works had gained him a wide-spread reputation, and wherever he went, he was hailed as a friend and brother by the thoughtful and philosophical. In Sweden, as before said, he was well connected; and had he been desirous to live at home, and immerse himself in the cares and politics of his country, he might have reached the highest offices and honors which royalty could confer. At the age of fifty-seven, with Swedenborg’s attainments, success, and fame, a worldly man might have been content. Such a one would, probably, have taken his ease, reposed upon the past, and have been content with the competence of comfort and reputation which he had attained. But Swedenborg was a man of a very different character. Love of ease formed no part of his constitution, and if he had not been led by the hand of Providence to the contemplation of the spiritual world and its glorious realities, he would, to the end of his life, have remained a zealous and single-eyed seeker after the truths of the natural world.
The annals of science do not furnish an instance of any one who surpassed Swedenborg in that humility of spirit, and that simple desire for truth, which is the crowning grace and glory of the true philosopher. Although, at times, he propounded views which he knew were antagonistic to the ideas of some of the leading savans of his time, yet we never find him getting angry or attempting to scold the world into belief with him. He simply lays down what he believes to be the truth; and with the most charming modesty trusts for its acceptance among men, to its agreement with reason and facts. Full of this trustful spirit we find him saying in the “Principia:” “In writing the present work, I have not aimed at the applause of the learned world, nor at the acquisition of a name or popularity. To me, it is a matter of indifference whether I win the favorable opinion of every one, or of no one; whether I gain much or no commendation. Such things are not objects of regard to one whose mind is bent on truth and true philosophy. Should I, therefore, gain the assent or approbation of others, I shall receive it only as a confirmation of my having pursued the truth. I have no wish to persuade any one to lay aside the principles of those illustrious and talented authors who have adorned the world, and in place of their principles to adopt mine. For this reason it is, that I have not made mention so much as of one of them, or even hinted at his name, lest I should injure his feelings, or seem to impugn his sentiments, or to derogate from the praise which others bestow upon him. If the principles I have advanced have more of truth in them than those which are advocated by others; if they are truly philosophical, and accordant with the phenomena of nature, the assent of the public will follow in due time, of its own accord; and in this case should I fail to gain the assent of those whose minds, being prepossessed by other principles, can no longer exercise an impartial judgment, still I have those with me who are able to distinguish the true from the untrue, if not in the present, at least in some future age. Truth is unique, and will speak for itself. Should any one undertake to impugn my sentiments, I have no wish to oppose him; but in case he desire it, I shall be happy to explain my principles and my reasons more at large. What need, however, is there of words? Let the thing speak for itself. If what I have said be true, why should I be eager to defend it? Surely truth can defend itself. If what I have said be false, it would be a degrading and silly task to defend it. Why then should I make myself an enemy of any one, or place myself in opposition to any one?” And again, in the “Economy,” he remarks: “Of what consequence is it to me that I should persuade any one to embrace my opinions? Let his own reason persuade him. I do not undertake this work for the sake of honor or emolument; both of which I shun rather than seek, because they disquiet the mind, and because I am content with my lot; but for the sake of truth, which alone is immortal.” These are long extracts, but they are well worthy of citation, alike for their own intrinsic truth and beauty, and for the illustration they afford of the spirit and sentiments of their author.
The little thought he gave in after years to his scientific writings, and the little care he seemed to have lest the world should forget them, is very evident from his subsequent writings, in which they are scarcely alluded to. Some of the friends he made in the latter portion of his life, appear to have had very faint ideas of the extent of his achievements in natural science. Count Hopken, a very intimate friend of his, for many years, remarks: “Swedenborg made surprising discoveries in anatomy, which are recorded somewhere in certain literary Transactions.” Thus it appears that he was entirely ignorant of the existence of Swedenborg’s great work, the “Animal Kingdom.” What stronger proof could be given than this, of the sincerity with which the foregoing extracts were penned, in which he commits his works to the care of the God of truth, in humble acquiescence in whatever verdict his justice might pronounce.
Great and manifold were the merits of these scientific works; yet we should, perhaps, do well to look upon them, as their author seems to have done, as school-boy exercises. Through the severe training and development of the whole powers of his mind, by the composition of these works, his Divine Master was fitting him to gaze upon the awful realities of the spiritual world, and to become a worthy exponent of the hidden wisdom of the Holy Scripture.
It must, necessarily, be a matter of interest with many to know what were the religious opinions of Swedenborg at this period of his history. Occupying himself so intensely with natural science, it was hardly to be expected that theology could receive much of his attention. Among his posthumous papers, however, we find a little treatise on faith and good works, in which he comes to the wise conclusion that “there is no love to God if there be none to the neighbor;” or that “there is no faith if there be no works;” and therefore, that “faith without works is a phrase involving a contradiction.” Throughout all his scientific writings we find a simple and open assent to the primary truths of religion, and a constant endeavor to confirm some truth of religious doctrine by the natural facts which came under his notice. His religious views up to this time were generally such as the Christian world held, with here and there a quiet dissent as to particular points, and a strong tendency to eschew the merely theoretical and mystical belief, for the practical and active. We have his own testimony to the fact, that dogmatic and systematic theology formed no part of his otherwise extensive reading; and thus he came to the study of the Word of God unperverted by the sophisms of creed-makers. Of the gentle and earnest piety of his soul, we have striking proof in his “Rules of Life:”
1. Often to read and meditate on the Word of God.
2. To submit everything to the will of Divine Providence.
3. To observe in everything a propriety of behaviour, and to keep the conscience clear.
4. To discharge with fidelity the functions of my employment, and the duties of my office, and to render myself in all things useful to society.
More need not be said on this head than that he kept these vows.
We now close the first book of Swedenborg’s life, and open the second. Emphatically his was a double life. So rich in thought and action were both parts, that either would have been reckoned sufficient to render him a remarkable man. The one life was an orderly and regular growth out of the other: the first was a providential preparation for the second. Carefully disciplined by thought and investigation in the outer world, through a long series of laborious years, the curtain which separated the seen from the unseen was, for him, drawn aside, and his prepared eyes saw in clear sunlight those mysteries of life and spirit, which the best and wisest of men have most ardently desired to see. Let us, then, leave Swedenborg the Man of Science, and turn to him as the Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, the worthy exponent of the spiritual sense of the Word of God, and the announcer of the New Era in which reason and faith are to be at one, and men everywhere friends and brothers.