deed, the rules laid down for his own conduct, and which were found by M. Sandell, after his death, show that religion with him was not a mere outward conformity to the precepts of the gospel, but a regulation of the heart. They' were these: 1st, to read often, and to meditate well upon the word of God; 2d, to be always resigned and contented under the dispensations of Providence; 3d, to observe always a propriety of behavior, and to keep a conscience clear and void of offence; 4th, to obey what is ordained, to discharge with fidelity the duties of his employment, and to do everything in his power to be useful to all, without any exception!

"Could the man whose life was in strict accordancewith these rules, be the wicked impostor that some have supposed? It is impossible! There is nothing in his conduct, in his behavior, or in his pursuits, which can at all be connected with imposture or deception. No low cunning, no weak subterfuge, no studied concealment ; but candor, openness, piety, and virtue. If, then, he was a wilful deceiver, let those who maintain it, explain to us how a man can be, at one and the same time, a lying hypocrite and a consistent Christian!-a vile and detestable wretch, lost to all sense of religion, and a virtuous and pious character, leading an exemplary life, and manifesting the deepest reverence for his Creator. To explain and clear up this, will be a difficulty of no small magnitude.

"But further. No man becomes a deceiver without a motive. Every one who wilfully imposes upon another, has some purpose in view. There is either the love of honor, power, and influence, the desire of wealth, or the love of ease and pleasure to excite him; and without one or other of these stimulants, no man ever was, or ever will be, a wilful impostor. If, then, SWEDENBORG cunningly attempted to deceive, one of these motives must have operated on his mind, and the question arises as to which of them it can be. Was it for love of fame, or the hope of acquiring worldly titles or distinctions? Let us consider, then, how far he sought after these, and what means he took to acquire them. The son of one of the bishops of Sweden, he rose by his learning and abilities to one of the highest offices in that kingdom. His numerous philosophical works introduced him into the society of the most celebrated

characters, both on the continent and in Great Britain. His scientific writings were read and admired in the various universities, and his society was sought after by all who made any pretensions to literary talent. To crown all, he was invested with the honors of nobility, and received the highest favors that his sovereign could bestow. Had he sought for fame and distinction, his desire was abundantly gratified, for he possessed them in the highest degree. Yet this very man, who was courted by the noble and the learned, who possessed riches, fame and title, gave up all his employments, resigned all the hopes which ambition might be supposed to have excited, left his scientific researches, and in the 54th year of his age devoted himself entirely to the publication of those doctrines, which (as he affirms,) the LORD had commissioned him to declare. From this time he affected no honor, but declined it-pursued no worldly interest, but spent his substance in travelling and printing, and was so far from being ambitious of leading a sect, that wherever he resided, he was a mere solitaryseeing very few, and those only his intimate friends.' If, then, honor, or even religious power and influence, had been his object, he took the most unlikely method to obtain them. But so far was this from being the case, that he gave up what he had previously enjoyed. To see this selfdenial in a still stronger light, it must be considered that it was customary, on the retirement of any person from a place of high trust under government, to reward his services by raising him to a higher rank; this elevation of rank, however, SWEDENBORG absolutely refused, making it his particular request, that no additional honor might be bestowed upon him. The requirement of honor, therefore, in any form, or of any kind, could not have been the motive of SWEDENBORG.

"But was it wealth? If riches were the object of his deception, we must expect to see him seeking greedily for the possession of them, and making every other consideration bend to this. We must expect to find him seizing upon every opportunity of acquiring money, and this with all the eagerness of a man in whom avarice is the ruling passion. Yet how will this accord with the fact that he gave the allowance which he received from the state; and of the pension assigned to him, he laid out the greater part

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in the publication of his doctrines, of the profits arising from which be refused to receive a farthing?

"If these facts can be proved, it will at once follow, that whatever other motive might actuate the mind of SWEDENBORG, it could not possibly be the love of gain.

"And the proof is easy. We have already alluded to his being raised to one of the highest offices in Sweden, that of Assessor of the Board of Mines, a place of great. trust and considerable emolument. This situation, however, he resigned, in the year 1749, when he found that it interfered with his religious pursuits. In this transaction there is nothing to be seen which indicates either a love of wealth, or a desire to be possessed of it. 'Having food and raiment, he was therewith content;' he neither sought nor struggled for more. And when his great work of the 'Arcana Celestia,' first appeared in London, the publisher was requested to conceal the author's name, but in an advertisement, dated 1750, he says: 'I do aver that the gentleman (the author) was at the expense of £200 to print it, and also advanced £200 more; and when he had done this, he gave express orders that all the money that shall arise in the sale of this large work should be given towards the charge of the propagation of the gospel. He is so far from desiring to make a gain of his labors, that he will not receive one farthing back of the £400 he has expended.' This testimony, therefore, at once acquits him of any desire for the accumulation of wealth. In fact, neither his opinions nor his proceedings were calculated to bring him any pecuniary emolument.

"There is only one motive more which could have led him to become an impostor, and that is the love of ease and pleasure Deceivers have arisen, preaching the most licentious doctrines, and undermining the support of virtue, that they might enjoy, with more ease, the gratification of their brutal appetites; or who have begun a course of deception, that the idea of their superior illumination might insure them a life of respect and comfort among their followers, to whose inclination their tenets were, therefore, adapted. This, however, was not the case with SWEDENBORG. The unquestionable testimony of illustrious contemporaries effectually contradicts the belief that he was a licentious person, and all his writings, in the strongest manner, con

demn every thing bordering on licentiousness; nor did he adapt them to the vitiated taste of his readers. On the contrary, they are such as are rather calculated to raise a corrupt world against him, than to influence it in his favor. Like the preaching of the apostles, they are a stumbling block' to some, and foolishness' to others.

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"And the result of these doctrines, with regard to himself, was very far from bringing either ease or comfort. He was persecuted, he was abused, he was ridiculed as a madman, and anathematised as an impostor-once his life was attempted, and several times his liberty; so that, to use his own words, in a letter to the king of Sweden, he had 'met with with such usage as no other person had experienced since the establishment of Christianity in that kingdom." Yet, in the face of this, and in opposition to the clamor and insults of the multitude, he steadily persevered in publishing his tenets, and for seven and twenty years withstood the persecution which on every side seemed to rise against him. So far was he from being in any degree changed by the troubles which his opinions brought upon him, that almost at the hour of death he solemnly declared, that he had propagated no tenet which he had not received from God himself, by that extraordinary illumination which had been bestowed upon him. The love of pleasure, therefore, had no influence upon the mind of SWEDENBORG; he neither sought for, nor found it. His habits were, indeed, remarkably abstemious, as testified by the Swedish Consul, C. Springle, Esq.

"And now to set the argument in a clear light.-If no man will knowingly deceive others without some purpose or end-if every religious impostor must be actuated either by wealth, pleasure, fame, influence, or power, then, as SWEDENBORG was not actuated by any of these motives, it is evident that, though he might deceive himself, or might be deranged in his mind, yet by no fair argument can he be proved a wilful deceiver.

"If however, the obstinacy of prejudice should lead his enemies to maintain the charge, let them explain why a man should persist in publishing a code of doctrines for nearly thirty years;-give up honor, ease and riches, for the sake of propagating them ;-face persecution and contempt from some, and injury and insult from others; gain

ing no profit, but ridicule; and no fame but that of a madman; and persist in maintaining their truth to the hour of his death, when he knew all that time, that the opinions he maintained were false. Such an instance of folly was never yet found, and never will be found among rational beings. A man may be wicked for a purpose, he may deceive others for gain, but no one ever did, or ever will, knowingly deceive others to receive only misery and contempt as his reward.

“Here, then, we rest the first proofs of the falsehood of common report. No pious and good man can willingly deceive others; but SWEDENBORG was a good and pious character, therefore SWEDENBORG was not a willing deceiver. And again, no man will knowingly impose upon the world without some motive of gain or reward; but SWEDENBORG had not such motive, for he sought neither worldly reward, nor temporal emolument; therefore, SWEDENBORG did not knowingly impose upon the world. To deny these conclusions, is to fly in the face of reason, and to give up all pretension to sound argument and consistency.

"The first objection of wilful deception and imposition, being obviated, we now turn to the second, and here it may be observed by our opponents Though he could not be, in the strict sense of the word, a deceiver, might he not be himself deceived, and, believing the falsehoods insinuated by the devil, propagate them as true?" I grant, most willingly, that such a case is possible, yet, in this instance, it is involved in as much inconsistency as the former. If SWEDENBORG Was the victim of delusion, that delusion could only proceed from Satan, for God neither deceives nor tempts any one. (James i. 13.) But if the devil was the agent in this work, he certainly assumed a character the most foreign to his nature, and followed a line of conduct which was calculated most directly to overturn his own kingdom. There are to be found in the writings of SwEDENBORG, the most sublime ideas of God, the most exalted description of the scriptures, as revelation from God, and the most impressive exhortations to holiness of heart, and consistency of conduct. Upon such subjects as these, one would fancy that the devil would continue silent; it does not enter into his plan to urge upon mankind either purity or charity. He would much rather that they had remained

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