ment of the finances, and the furtherance of education. An agitation for a constitutional reform, which purposed to replace the old diet of four estates by a directly elected parliament, was begun in this reign. But it was not carried until after Oscar I. (1844-59) had ceased to be king and Charles XV. (1859-72) had sat on the throne for seven years. The era of commercial and industrial activity set in in Sweden about the middle of the 19th century; and the national representatives into whose hands power passed with the new constitution the peasantry and bourgeoisie-have confined their attention to such matters as railway construction, the discussion of free trade and protection, army reform, national insurance for working-men, and so forth. Sweden has enjoyed uninterrupted peace since 1814, although she approached the brink of war with Prussia (on behalf of Denmark) in 1848, with Russia at the time of the Crimean war and again during the Polish rising of 1863, and with Prussia and Austria in 1864. Of late years, especially since 1891, some internal difficulties have arisen through the Norwegians insisting on greater independence for Norway in the foreign policy of the two kingdoms.

See Montelius, Civilisation of Sweden in Ancient Times (Eng. trans. 1888); the histories (in Swedish) by Strinnholm, Geijer, Fryxell, and Carlsson. English readers may consult Otté, Scandinavian History (Lond. 1875), and Dunham, History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway (Lardner's Cyclopædia, 1834-35).

Literature.-Setting aside what was written in the Old Norse tongue (see ICELAND; DENMARK, 758; and RUNES), there is very little Swedish literature to record prior to the Reformation, except a few provincial law-codes, translations of French romances, folk-songs, chronicles (in Swedish and in Latin), the Visions of St Bridget, a popular work On the Conduct of Kings and Princes, and translations of parts of the Bible.

The forerunners of the national literature were Olaus and Laurentius Petri (q.v.), who brought the Reformation doctrines into Sweden, translated the Bible into good Swedish, and manifested an enlightened regard for their mother-tongue. For several years the principal books were theolog ical and historical, such as the sermons of Matthiä (1592-1670) and Svedberg (1653-1735), which are still read. King Gustavus Adolphus founded the library at Upsala and gave direct encouragement to historical research, as by employing Schroderus (died c. 1650) to translate foreign historical works. Messenius (1579-1637) wrote an ambitious history of Sweden in Latin, and illustrated it by a series of historical plays in Swedish, that stood in high repute for more than a century. Political pamphlets and newspapers began to appear about the time of the Thirty Years' War. Bure or Buræus (1568-1652), besides constructing a fantastic scheme of universal knowledge, did sound work in Swedish mythology and language (runes).

But the title of Father of Swedish Literature' is usually accorded to Stjernhjelm (1598-1672), who composed didactic and humorous poems in the style of the classic epics. Baron Rosenhane (1619-84), in sonnets (Venerid), songs, and lyrics, composed in the manner of the French and Italian Renaissance writers, and Eurelius' or Dahlstjerna (1658-1709), in a patriotic epic (The King's Poet), and in heroic songs, strove to improve the current standards of literature. The Finlander Frese (1691-1728), who wrote very fair poetry, and Sweden's first satirist, Triewald (died 1743), who attacked the older writers, carry us on to Dalin (1708-63), who used his mother-tongue with an elegance and ease never previously attained. The Argus was conducted by him in the style of Addison's Spectator, and of his other works may be mentioned the witty allegories

9

Swedish Freedom and Saga about a Horse. Hedvig Nordenflycht (1718-63) won great fame by her Sorrowing Turtle-Dove, a collection of in memoriam lyrics. After Dalin's death the leading poets were Count Creutz (1729-85), a Finlander, whose pastoral idyll Atis and Camilla was long admired, and Count G. F. Gyllenborg (1731-1808), though none of his books take very high rank. In prose the most notable writers were Mörk (died 1763), author of a didactic romance in the French style, Adalrik and Göthilda; Wallenberg (1746-78), who wrote an original work of travel (My Son at the Galleys), and the best tragedy (Susanna) in the pseudo-classic style since Dalin; and Count von Höpken (1712-89), composer of elegant éloges and rhetorical addresses.

a

But the strength of Swedish intellect in the 18th century seems to have been chiefly expended in the departments of science, as the following names conclusively attest-the Elder Rudbeck (1630–1702), man of universal scientific attainments and author of Atland or Manheim (in both Swedish and Latin), a book, learned, bold, imaginative, written to prove the identity of Sweden with the Paradise of the Bible as well as with the Atlantis of Plato; the Younger Rudbeck (16601740), a botanist; Celsius (1701-44), whose name is perpetuated in the thermometric scale; the traveller Forskål (1732-6); Rosén or Rosenstein (1706-73), the founder of Swedish medicine; the great Linnæus (1707-78); the chemists Bergmann (1735-84) and Scheele (1742-86); and Ihre (170780), who compiled the first Swedish dictionary. The mystic Swedenborg (1689–1772), who, however, wrote in Latin, also belongs to this period.

The golden age of Swedish literature is coincident with the reigns of Gustavus III. and IV. (17711809). On its threshold stands Bellman (1740-95), an improvisatore of the highest genius. His finest work is Fredman's Epistles, songs that for gay humour and witty observation are unmatched in the language. Gustavus III., besides the direct and substantial encouragement he gave to the best literary talent amongst his subjects, founded the Swedish Academy (1786), and tried his royal hand at the drama. The foremost littérateur of his reign was Kellgren (1751-95), who made the Stockholm Post the supreme organ of literary taste in Sweden. In its pages a memorable feud was fought out between the writers of the old (Lutheran) school and the champions of revolutionary views borrowed in great part from the French encyclo. pædists. With this, however, a purely literary conflict was intertwined, carried on between the partisans of the pseudo-classic standards and the advocates of nature and romanticism. Kellgren, who adhered to the pseudo-classic (French) models, excelled in satiric and lyric poems: his New Creation is esteemed one of the finest poems in the language; and in conjunction with the king he composed two lyric dramas, Gustaf Vasa and Christina. Kellgren's ablest ally was Leopold (17561829), a master of polished prose, an excellent critic, and formidable and unsparing satirist, who wrote also in verse-odes, narrative and didactic poems, and weak pseudo-classic dramas. principal opponent was Thorild (1759–1808), who urged his contemporaries to cultivate something besides mere form, to emancipate themselves from the trammels of rule and law, and draw inspiration directly from nature. Nevertheless the standards of his rivals, although somewhat modified, continued for many years, chiefly through the Academy, to govern the taste of Swedish writers. Besides the three principal contestants the following participated in the fray: Rosenstein (17521824), who wrote on aesthetic and popular philosophic themes; Adlerbeth (1751-1818), author of

Their

some successful classic dramas and of greatly admired translations of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid; Count Ehrensvärd (1745-1800), whose aesthetic writings are couched in excellent Swedish prose; Count Oxenstjerna (1750-1818), famous for poetic descriptions of nature and humorous and didactic | poems, as well as for a good translation of Paradise Lost; the poet Lidner (1759-90); and a couple of humorous writers-Kexél (1748-96) and Hallman (1732-1800). Lindegren (died 1815) wrote comedies in the light and sentimental style of Kotzebue. Höijer (1767–1812) is perhaps the ablest and most original philosophical thinker Sweden has produced. After Leopold's death the mantle of his literary dictatorship was divided between Anna Lenngren (1754-1817) and the Finlander Franzén (1772-1847). The lady, a typical Swedish nature, celebrated the virtues of domestic life with great truth and much poetic feeling. Franzén's lyrics excel in the best qualities of the poets of Finland- -a pious naïveté, depth and refinement of feeling, simplicity and clearness of language, and great beauty of versification. Moreover he wrote very good prose (biographies). He is the main link between the Gustavian Academicians and the romantic schools. Archbishop Wallin (1779-1839), besides other poetry, wrote admirable hymns.

Very early in the 19th century ideas akin to those of the German romantic school were promulgated in Sweden by Hammarsköld (1785-1827), a good critic and historian of literature; Livijn (died 1844), author of some extravagant romances and songs; and Askelöf (1787-1848), editor of the magazine Polyfem, which, until it was supplanted by Fosforos, was the literary organ of the new school. These innovators encountered a good deal of ridicule from the old school, especially from Wallmark (died 1858); and for a time another literary war was waged. But this time the new way of looking at things proved too strong for the Academic champions. The romanticists received valuable support from Atterbom (1790-1855), one of the best lyric poets (cf. Fågel Blå, Sångerlott, &c.) of Sweden; from Palmblad (1788-1852), who wrote good romances (Falkensvärd and Aurora Königsmarck) and clever polemical and miscellaneous works; Dahlgren (1791-1844), whose satire approaches Leopold's and Kellgren's in wit and polish, and whose humorous poems and novels recall Bellman's happiest effusions; Börjesson (17901866), the author of one of the best dramas (Erik XIV.) in the Swedish tongue; and Agadh (1785– 1859), a distinguished publicist. This movement dethroned didactic and pastoral in favour of lyric and epic poetry. There was, however, a richer and more momentous tendency operating contemporaneously with the romantic movement. Atterbom indeed directed attention to the ancient Scandinavian mythology, but it was Geijer (q. v.), no less eminent as a poet than as a historian, who pointed to the manly virtues of the Swedes' ancestors as models for imitation and sources of poetic inspiration. Tegnér (q.v.) showed in his early poems considerable sympathy with the approved Academic standards; but eventually he moved into line with Geijer, and thus stationed himself midway between the pseudo-classic and romantic schools. Around these great leaders of the Gothic revival' were grouped a crowd of less gifted writers, the more noteworthy of whom were Ling (1776-1839), who, although he wrote good drama (Agne) and some poems, is best remembered as having convinced his countrymen of the educative importance of gymnastics; Nicander (1799-1839), a lyric poet and author of a promising tragedy; Beskow (1796-1868), a biographer and excellent dramatist (Thorkel Knutsson); Afzelius (1785-1871), who composed sentimental tales in

one

melodious verse and along with Geijer edited the first collection of Swedish folk-songs; and Gumælius (1789-1877), the writer of a first-rate historical novel (Thord Bonde, in 1828). Next came halfa-dozen authors who stood more or less apart, each by himself. Almqvist (1793-1866), a man of brilliant genius and almost universal knowledge, and master of an exquisite style, excelled, despite his ultra-romanticism, in nearly all departments of literature; his best books are novels (Book of the Rose and The Palace). Stagnelius (1793-1823), another pronounced romanticist, is esteemed one of Sweden's best lyric poets, chiefly on the strength of the mystic Lilies in Sharon; an almost equal excellence distinguishes the grand epic Vladimir the Great and the dramas The Bacchantes and The Martyrs. The satires of Sjöberg or 'Vitalis' (1794-1828) compare not unfavourably with those of Leopold. Satire, too, is the principal note in Bishop Fahlerantz's (17901866) Noah's Ark, and in the witty but often coarse improvisations of Wadman (1777-1837) and Detlof von Braun (1813-60). Cederborgh (17841835), although he wrote celebrated romances (Uno von Trasenberg, Ottar Tralling), does not belong to the romantic school. Böttiger (1807–78) and B. E. Malmström (1816-65) published poetry of more than average merit. Talis Qualis' or Strandberg (1818-77), besides writing the satirical and fiery Songs in Harness, made an excellent translation of Byron. Wennerberg's (born 1817) student-songs take the same place in Sweden as Von Scheffel's do in Germany.

But a long way the most illustrious poet of the 19th century was the Finlander Runeberg (q.v.), a man of almost the highest poetic genius. The most prominent of the more recent poets are the Swedes Count Snoilsky (born 1841), Rydberg (1829), and Bååth (1853), and the Finlanders Topelius (1818) and Tavaststjerna (1860). Amongst the remaining poets of the same period may be mentioned Sturzén-Becker or 'Orvar Odd' (1811-69) and King Oscar II. (1829). The 19th century has more than atoned for the paucity of novelists in its predecessors. Amongst the earliest to write in the modern spirit was Sophia von Knorring (1797-1848), who described the domestic life of aristocratic circles. But she is overshadowed by Frederika Bremer (q. v.) and Emilie Flygare-Carlén (1807-92), whose stories of the western skerries (A Merchant's House in the Skerries, The Rose of Tistelon) were deservedly very popular. Other female novelists of repute are Sophia Schwartz (born 1819); Frederika Runeberg (1807-79), wife of the poet; Fru Kerfstedt (1835); and Helene Nyblom (1845). Of the sterner sex Mellin (180376) and Sparre (1790-1871) cultivated the historical novel with more or less success. Wetterbergh or 'Uncle Adam' (1804-89) was a warm favourite for his democratic tales and his simple and humorous Genre Pictures of Swedish life. Rydberg the poet won fame also for his semi-historical novels (The Last Athenian, Roman Days) and learned works on Scandinavian mythology. Crusenstolpe (1795-1865) and Orvar Odd' are, like Rydberg, held up as models of Swedish prose-the former in novels, the latter in sketches and vignettes of Swedish life and in essays and critical papers. The poet Topelius has produced what are perhaps the most artistic historical novels in modern Swedish literature: his (prose) Army Surgeon's Stories ranks with Runeberg's Ensign Stål's Tales.

The light comedies of Blanche (1811-68) and of Jolin (1818-84), as well as the short stories and sketches of the former, run in the same vein of moderate romanticism that distinguishes the novels of Uncle Adam' and the verse of Talis Qualis' and Orvar Odd.' The plays of F. Hedberg (born

SWEDEN

1828) are somewhat more serious in aim. F. A. Dahlgren translated Shakespeare, Calderon, and Heiberg (Dane), and wrote a good popular play (The Vermlanders) and memoirs of the Stockholm stage. The poet Bäckström (1841-86) has written some good lyric dramas.

In quite recent years a whole literature has grown up out of the social problems and discussions of the day, especially the questions of literary realism versus idealism and of the relations of the sexes. The novel and the drama are the favourite forms of this literature; and deep earnestness, often bitter and pessimistic in mood, and a keen spirit of contention characterise most of its writers. The foremost in this 'modern' movement is Strindberg (q.v.); his fellow-workers, or more frequently antagonists, are Nordensvan (born 1855); Af Geijerstam (1858); Tor Hedberg (1861), one of the most promising of the younger writers; Levertin, the poet; Anna Edgren (1849), in descriptions of Stockholm society and in plays; Fru Agrell (1849), a playwright; Victoria Benedictsson or 'Ernst Ahlgren' (1850-88), in the excellent novels Fru Marianne and Money; and Matilda Roos (1852), a novelist. Molander (1858) has begun a promising career as a dramatist. Two novelists of promise have come forward recently-Af Heidenstam and Selma Lagerlöf (Gösta Berlings Saga). Lundqvist, Bondeson, and Hedenstjerna or 'Sigurd' enjoy considerable popularity as writers of fiction in a minor key.

The chief representatives of the more special departments of literature during the 19th century can only be briefly enumerated. Historians : Geijer (q.v.), Fryxell (q.v.), Strinnholm (1786-1826), Carlsson (1811-87), Axelson, Odhner (born 1836), and Baath; the principal historians of literature are quoted in the bibliography subjoined to this article. Literary critics: Ola Hansson and the Finlander Vasenius. The ancient civilisation and antiquities of Sweden: Montelius (born 1843), H. Hildebrand (1842), B. E. Hildebrand (1806-84), Nilsson (1787-1883), Rydberg, and Nyström. Church History: Cornelius (born 1828), Reuterdahl (1795-1870), and Anjou (1803–84). In public affairs and economics the writings of H. Järta (1774-1847), L. Järta (1801-72), and Agardh (1785-1859) rise above the average level. Bostrom (1797-1866) was an able philosopher. The most popular writers of devotional and religious books have been the poet Franzén, Schartau (1757-1825) Wallin, and Thomander (1798–1865). Philology boasts of Rydqvist (1800-78), Säve (181276), and Rietz (1815-68); law and jurisprudence of Schlyter (1795-1888) and Holmbergsson (17641842); ethnology of Retzius (1796-1860); botany of Fries (q.v.); chemistry of Berzelius (q.v.); and geographical exploration of Nordenskiöld (q.v.).

See G. H. J. Ljunggren, Svenska Vitterhetens Häfder efter Gustaf III's Död (Lund, 1873 et seq.); J. H. E. Schuck, Svensk Literatur-historia (Stockh. 1886 et seq.); Fryxell, Bidrag til Sveriges Literatur-historia (186062); Malmstrom, Grunddragen af Svenska Vitterhetens Historia (1866-68): Wieselgren, Sveriges Sköna Literatur 1843-49); and consult Schweitzer's useful Geschichte der Skandinavischen Literatur (Leip. 1886-89), and Vasenius, Larobok i Sveriges og Finlands Literatur-historia (1887). Swedenborg, EMANUEL, was born in Stockholm, January 29, 1688, and died in London, March 29, 1772. His father was Jesper Svedberg, subsequently Bishop of Skara. Swedenborg's lifetime divides itself into two distinct periods; the first, ending with his fifty-fifth year, was given to business, science, and philosophy; the second, of nearly thirty years, was devoted to theology and spiritual communion. Swedenborg was educated at Upsala, and subsequently travelled for four years in England, Holland, France, and Germany.

In

On his return to Sweden he was appointed by Charles XII. an assessor in the College of Mines, and rendered some service to that monarch at the siege of Frederikshall as military engineer. The family was ennobled in 1719, and the name changed from Svedberg to Swedenborg. Swedenborg is sometimes styled Count or Baron, but erroneously; he was neither, though he had a seat in the Swedish House of Nobles as the head of his family. His mind at this time was busy with mechanical and economical projects. He published short treatises on algebra, giving the first account in Swedish of the differential and integral calculus; on a mode of finding the longitude at sea by the moon; on decimal money and measures; on the motion and position of the earth and planets; on the depth of the sea, and greater force of the tides in the ancient world; on docks, sluices, and saltworks; and on chemistry as atomic geometry. 1724 he was offered the professorship of mathematics at Upsala, which he declined from a dislike of non-practical science. Abandoning desultory studies, he devoted himself for ten years to the duties of his assessorship and to a systematic study of the methods of mining and smelting at home and abroad, and to the construction of a theory of the origin of creation. The result appeared at Leipsic, at the expense of the Duke of Brunswick, in 1734, in three massive folios, beautifully illustrated, entitled Opera Philosophica et Mineralia. The second and third volumes describe the best methods employed in the manufacture of iron, copper, and brass. The first volume, entitled Prin cipia, or the First Principles of Natural Things, being new Attempts towards a Philosophical Explanation of the Elementary World, is an elaborate deduction of matter from 'points of pure motion produced immediately from the Infinite.' This was followed in the same year by Philosophical Argument on the Infinite, and the Final Cause of Creation; and on the Mechanism of the Operation of Soul and Body, carrying the doctrine of the Principia into higher regions, and resolving the soul into points of motion, the soul being treated as one in substance with the sun. Dissatisfied with his conclusions, he determined to track the soul to its inmost recesses in the body. studies in human anatomy and physiology with this end in view were embodied in his Economy of the Animal Kingdom (2 vols. 1741) and his Animal Kingdom (3 vols. unfinished, 1744-45).

His

At this point his course as a natural philosopher was arrested, and he entered on his career as spiritual seer. The particulars of the transition are recorded in his diary for 1743-44, and comprise a variety of curious dreams and strange communings; he now professed to enjoy free access to the spiritual world. He resigned his assessorship in 1747, that he might devote himself to the office to which the Lord had called him. In 1749 he made his first public utterance in his new character in the issue in London of the Heavenly Arcana (1749-56, 8 vols. 4to.). His life henceforward was spent chiefly between Stockholm, London, and Amsterdam, in writing and printing a variety of works in exposition of his experience and doctrines. There is little in any of these which is not to be found in outline at least in the Heavenly Arcana, and a note of its contents may serve, therefore, as a general description of the whole. With many digressions, the Heavenly Arcana is a revelation of the internal or spiritual sense of Genesis and Exodus. The early chapters of Genesis are a fragment of an older Word, preserved at this day in Tartary, and are an allegorical and not a literal history. Adam signifies the Most Ancient Church, and the Flood its dissolution; Noah, the Ancient

Church, which falling into idolatry was superseded by the Jewish. The spiritual sense pervades the Scriptures, which are the genuine Word of God, as the soul does the body. The exceptions are Ruth, the Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles. These books have an edifying natural sense like other good productions of human authors, but, inasmuch as they do not possess the internal sense, they are not held to be inspired. The Scriptures are read in heaven in their spiritual sense, but, as that sense treats exclusively of God and man as a spiritual being, it is void of every reference to earthly scenes, persons, and events. By reason of its symbolism of the inward sense, the letter of Scripture is holy in every jot and tittle, and has been preserved in immaculate perfection since the hour of its Divine dictation. The Jewish dispensation having reached its period, God appeared in Jesus Christ; He assumed human nature in its humblest condition in the Virgin, wrought it into conformity with Himself, 'glorified and made it Divine.' The effluence from the Lord's Divine humanity is the Holy Spirit. In a sense the reverse of Socinian, Swedenborg was a Unitarian; he saw God in the Saviour, and regarded Him as the sole object of worship. The church initiated by the Divine Advent came to an end in the 18th century, and Swedenborg witnessed the Last Judg. ment effected in the year 1757 in the World of Spirits. Then commenced a new dispensation, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation, of which Swedenborg was the precursor, and his writings contain the doctrine. To the objection, that the doctrine is strange and novel, he replied that mankind were not prepared for its reception before that time, and that the early Christians were too simple to understand it.

One object of his mission was the revival of the lost science of correspondences-the science of sciences in the most ancient times. The law of correspondence is universal; the natural world is the outbirth of the spiritual world, and the spiritual world of the invisible mental world. Unseen evil is manifested in things hurtful and ugly, unseen good in things useful and beautiful. Man is a summary of nature; nature is man in diffusion; all things, therefore, in nature-fire, air, earth, and water-every beast, bird, fish, insect, and reptileevery tree, herb, fruit, and flower-represent and express unseen things in the mind of man. The Scriptures are written according to correspondences, and by aid of the science their mysteries are unlocked. By it, too, the constitution of heaven and hell is revealed. There are three heavens, consisting of three orders of angels: the first distinguished for love, the second for wisdom, and the last for obedience. All angels have lived on earth; none were created such. They are men and women in every respect; they marry and live in societies in cities and countries just as in the world, but in happiness and glory ineffable. All in whom love to God and man is the ruling principle go to heaven at death. Between heaven and hell a

perfect equilibrium is maintained. As there are three heavens so there are three hells, and every angelic society has an infernal opposite. Hell, as a whole, is called the Devil and Satan; there is no individual bearing that name. All in whom selflove is the ruling motive go to hell. There is no resurrection of the earthly body. Every one passes to his final lot at death, some making a short sojourn in an intermediate state, designated the World of Spirits, where the good are cured of their superficial infirmities and intellectual errors, and where the evil are stripped of all their pretences to good. Swedenborg's other notable works (all first

published in Latin) are Heaven and Hell, The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence, The Apocalypse Revealed, and The Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugal Love; his whole translated theological works numbering forty volumes of a good size.

Swedenborg professed to enjoy acquaintance with many departed celebrities, and some of his verdicts on character reverse the estimates of history. Nor was his intercourse confined to spirits from earth, but extended to souls from the moon and the planets. For these visions, experienced whilst sitting in his chamber, he had this explanation: although in the spiritual world there are appearances of space, there is nothing of the objective reality which here divides London from Melbourne. If one spirit desires to see another, the desire instantly brings them together. A good man is, as to his mind, in heaven, and an evil man in hell; and supposing the spiritual sight of either were opened-i.e. if the eyes of the spiritual body, which transfuse and animate the material ones, were disengaged from their fleshly vesture-he would see his spiritual companions and the country where he would abide after death.

The grand and distinctive principle of Swedenborgian theology, next to the doctrine of the Divine Humanity, is the doctrine of life. God alone lives. Creation is dead-man is dead; and their apparent life is from the Divine presence. God is every. where the same. It fallaciously appears as if He were different in one man and in another. The difference is in the recipients; by one He is not received in the same degree as another. A man more adequately manifests God than a tree; that is the only distinction. The life of devils is God's presence perverted in disorderly forms. 'All things, and each of them to the very uttermost, exist and subsist instantly from God. If the connection of anything with Him were broken for a moment it would instantly vanish; for existence is perpetual subsistence, and preservation is perpetual creation.' By this law of life is explained man's self-consciousness, freedom, and personality -notions communicated from God to man.

Swedenborg made no attempt to establish a sect. When he proclaimed the Christian Church at an end, his expectation was that a new church would be raised up among the Gentiles; but towards the close of his life he spent his energies in attacking orthodox theology, Catholic and Protestant, as if bent on the conversion of Christian lands, but especially of northern Europe. All his works were written in Latin, and received small measure of attention from his contemporaries. Swedenborg was shrewd in worldly affairs, affable in society, and discussed politics and finance in the Swedish Diet like a man of the world, and that for nearly a score of years after he began to write and publish his theological works. He was never married. His diet was chiefly but not wholly vegetarian.

The Swedenborgians, or, as they designate themselves in their corporate capacity, The New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation,' were first organised as a distinct denomination in 1788 by Robert Hindmarsh (1759-1835), a printer in Clerkenwell, who became one of the first ministers of the body. The Swedenborgians accepted Swedenborg's voluminous theological writings as containing a revelation from heaven. The body has grown steadily but not quickly. The number of its registered members in Britain in 1891 was 6239, divided into 75 congregations, chiefly in the large towns and in Lancashire; five are in Scotland, one in Wales, but none in Ireland. Their General Conference holds £66,431 invested on behalf of

SWEEPS

various missionary and church uses. There have always been a number of receivers of the doctrines of Swedenborg among the clergy of the Church of England. The first translator of the Heavenly Arcana and many of the other theological writings of Swedenborg was the Rev. John Clowes (17431831), rector of St John's, Manchester, for sixty-two years, who both in the pulpit and in his numerous publications made no secret of his faith. From the first those who accepted Swedenborg's teachings have been divided into separatists and non-separatists. In the United States the Swedenborgians have 104 societies and 5803 members, chiefly in the northern states; the largest congregation is in Boston. In France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Russia there are Swedenborgians, but they are so few and scattered that there are but eight congregations in these countries which meet for divine worship every Sunday. There is a Swedenborg Society, established in 1810, for printing and publishing Swedenborg's works, with a house in London, and an income of about £600 a year. They have a National Missionary Institution and eight local missionary committees, a training college for their ministry, and an orphanage.

See the biographies of Swedenborg by W. White (Lond. 1867), by J. J. Garth Wilkinson (1886), and Documents concerning the Life and Character of Swedenborg, by Professor R. L. Tafel (3 vols. 1875-77).

Sweeps are oars of great length used during a calm or in still water, either to assist the rudder or to propel the vessel. See also CHIMNEY.

Sweepstakes, a method of gambling by which several persons contribute each certain stakes, the whole of which fall to one when a certain event happens. In the case of horseraces, each contributor gets either a horse or a blank (by lot or otherwise), and the one whose horse wins takes the stakes, though often the other horses that are * placed secure a share for those who have drawn them. Raffles and sweeps are illegal, though constantly carried on without interference from the authorities (see GAMBLING). The Pari-Mutuel is a kind of sweepstakes (see BETTING).

Sweet Bay. See LAUREL. For Sweet Brier, see ROSE; and for Sweet Flag, CALAMUS.

Sweetbread, the Pancreas (q.v.) of an animal, used as food; it is highly esteemed as being both delicate and nutritious.

Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus), a familiar garden annual plant belonging to the natural order Leguminosa. It is a native of Sicily and other parts of the south of Europe, and has been cultivated for its beautiful and fragrant flowers in British gardens for about two hundred years. The varieties are very numerous, distinguished chiefly by the different shades of colour of the flowers. It is cultivated as a hardy annual, and is so hardy that it may be sown in autumn and will not only withstand the cold of winter in all but the coldest districts, but will bloom earlier and better than when sown only in spring. Sowing in the latter season is, however, necessary to provide prolongation of bloom. Other species of Lathyrus are of interest either as ornamental plants or for the food for man or cattle which they yield. The Everlasting Pea (L. latifolius) is an old favourite in flower-gardens on account of its handsome but scentless flowers. The roots of L. tuberosus are eaten in Holland and other countries where it grows plentifully. The Chickling Vetch (L. sativus) is much used in Switzerland as fodder for cattle. The seeds ground into meal make palatable bread,

but to its use was ascribed sudden attacks of loss of power and rigidity of the limbs in both men and the lower animals, which were so prevalent in the latter part of the 17th and early in the 18th cen

tury that an edict was issued forbidding its use. Mixed with half the quantity of wheat-flour it is said to be wholesome; the peasantry in Italy use it in this way.

Sweet Potato (Batatas), a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Convolvulaceæ. B. edulis, the true sweet potato, is a twining or climbing plant, with stems 5 or 6 feet long trailing on the ground or clambering over neighbouring shrubs. The leaves are 5 or 6 inches long, heart-shaped at the base; the flowers pale purple, closely resembling those of the common convolvulus or bindweed. Having been long cultivated in the tropical and subtropical countries of both hemispheres, the native country of the plant is a matter of conjecture. It appears to be first mentioned by Pigafetta, an author of the 16th century, who found the root much used by the Indians of Brazil as an

Sweet Potato (Batatas edulis).

article of food. It was introduced into Spain about 1519, and the roots were known in England some time before the introduction of the potato, with which they were often confounded by the earlier writers on the latter. English supplies in those times were obtained from Spain and the Canary made into sweetmeats, were regarded as restorative Islands, and the roots, when steeped in wine or of failing vigour. The plant is cultivated in India, China, Japan, the Malayan Archipelago, throughStates, in southern Europe, the Canary Islands, out tropical America, and in the southern United Madeira, and North Africa. The roots grow to a great size to as much as 50 lb. weight, according to some authorities, in Java, but the ordinary ditions in the United States the yield per acre In favourable conis from 200 to 300 bushels. The taste of the roots is sweetish and agreeable, and they are considered ing matters. to be superior to the common potato in flesh-form

average

is from 3 to 12 lb.

B. jalapa, a species of Mexico, jalap of the pharmacopoeia, as its name implies, though purgative, is not the source of the true but is so called on account of its being very common in the vicinity of the Mexican town Jalapa. B. paniculata, which has a very wide geographic distribution, is commonly cultivated for food in species of Batatas the textile material named Natal western tropical Africa. From the seeds of another true cotton. Cotton is obtained; it has some resemblance to the

Sweet William. See PINK.

Swetchine, MADAME (née Soymanof), was born at Moscow in 1782, joined the Roman