Most Noble Duke and Landgrave,* When I received your most kind letter, I was in doubt whether it had been signed by yourself, most noble Duke. I disclosed the reason for this doubt to the Reverend Mr. Venator who was with me; but after learning from him that this was not so, and having my doubts set aside, I became worried, and I delayed until I had finally just received from the press my recently published theological work entitled, THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION that contains the complete theology of the New Church foretold by the Lord in Daniel vii 13, 14, and in Revelation xxi 1, 2 ff. I have today, most noble Duke, sent off to you two copies by the coach which leaves this city for Germany twice a week. I beg you to give this work your favourable attention, for it contains pure truths disclosed from heaven.

As regards the book called ARCANA COELESTIA published in London, this is no longer available, since all copies, those in England as well as those that were in Holland, have been sold. I know that certain people in Sweden have it, and I will write to two of them and ask whether they are willing to sell it at some price or other. I will, with your permission, communicate their replies to you as soon as I receive them.

In your kind letter I was asked how I came into contact with angels and spirits, and whether this gift can be passed on from one person to another. Please accept the following reply from me:

Our Lord and Saviour had foretold both in the Gospels and in the book of Revelation that He would come into the world again and establish a New Church; and because He cannot now come into the world in person, it was necessary for Him to do this by means of a man who could not only grasp the doctrines of this Church with his understanding but also publish them in print. And because the Lord prepared me from childhood for this, therefore He showed Himself in person before me and set me on this task. This took place in the year 1743; and after this He opened the sight of my spirit for me, and thus introduced me into the spiritual world, and granted me to see the heavens and the wonders there, as well as the hells, and also to speak with angels and spirits; all this now for 27 consecutive years. I swear to the truth of this. It is only for the sake of the New Church mentioned above that this has been done with me. The gift of conversing with angels, as I have with them, cannot be passed on from one person to another. It does happen occasionally that a spirit comes in and babbles out some word or other to a man, but still it is not granted to speak with him face to face. It is also extremely dangerous, since the spirit enters into the affection belonging to a man's self-love, which does not accord with the affection belonging to heavenly love. As regards that man who was plagued by a spirit, I have heard from heaven that this arose from the meditation in which he indulged, but that he need not fear any danger, because the Lord protects him. The sole remedy is for him to be converted and pray for help to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I remain respectfully, most noble Duke and Landgrave, Your most humble servant, Eman. Swedenborg Amsterdam 18 June 1771

* Ludwig IX (1719-90), a man who was 'ardently devoted to military matters' and who became the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1768, was also 'fanatically devoted to what is now called spiritism'. Having learned of Swedenborg and of his communication with the spiritual world through Oetinger's Swedenborgs und Anderer Irrdische und Himmlische Philosophie, he then instructed his minister at The Hague, de Treuer, to call on Swedenborg who, he learned, was at that time residing in Amsterdam. De Treuer wrote to his master on 7 June 1771 of his visit, and soon afterwards the Landgrave sent direct to Swedenborg a letter that has not survived, though its contents may be deduced from Swedenborg's reply of 18 June. Probably because of its flattering language and because he certainly doubted the genuineness of the signature, Swedenborg ignored the letter until Pastor Venator, whom the Landgrave had sent to speak on his behalf, assured him that the signature was quite genuine. (It is probable that this pastor was in fact named Jager which means "Hunter," as does Venator.) From Swedenborg's letter of 18 June, the original of which, like all his letters to the Landgrave, is now among the state archives in Darmstadt, it is clear that this German prince sought (i) to obtain a set of ARCANA COELESTIA, (ii) to know how Swedenborg had entered into communication with spirits, the nature of that communication, and whether anybody else could receive the same gift, and (iii) information concerning a certain deceased person.