h
spirits as I am that I am writing at this moment. As a citizen and
as a friend his integrity was absolute; he abhorred deception and
led the most exemplary of lives. The version which the Chevalier
Baylon gave of these facts is, therefore, entirely without
justification; the visit stated to have been made to Swedenborg in
the night-time by Count H---- and Count T---- is hereby
contradicted. In conclusion, the writer of the letter may rest
assured that I am not a follower of Swedenborg. The love of truth
alone impels me to give this faithful account of a fact which has
been so often stated with details that are entirely false. I
certify to the truth of what I have written by adding my
signature.

Charles-Leonhard de Stahlhammer.

"The proofs which Swedenborg gave of his mission to the royal families
of Sweden and Prussia were no doubt the foundation of the belief in his
doctrines which is prevalent at the two courts," said Monsieur Becker,
putting the gazette into the drawer. "However," he continued, "I shall
not tell you all the facts of his visible and material life; indeed his
habits prevented them from being fully known. He lived a hidden life;
not seeking either riches or fame. He was even noted for a sort of
repugnance to making proselytes; he opened his mind to few persons, and
never showed his external powers of second-sight to any who were not
eminent in faith, wisdom, and love. He could recognize at a glance the
state of the soul of every person who approached him, and those whom he
desired to reach with his inward language he converted into Seers. After
the year 1745, his disciples never saw him do a single thing from any
human motive. One man alone, a Swedish priest, named Mathesius, set
afloat a story that he went mad in London in 1744. But a eulogium on
Swedenborg prepared with minute care as to all the known events of his
life, was pronounced after his death in 1772 on behalf of the Royal
Academy of Sciences in the Hall of the Nobles at Stockholm, by Monsieur
Sandels, counsellor of the Board of Mines. A declaration made before the
Lord Mayor of London gives the details of his last illness and death,
in which he received the ministrations of Monsieur Ferelius a Swedish
priest of the highest standing, and pastor of the Swedish Church in
London, Mathesius being his assistant. All persons present attested that
so far from denying the value of his