The Moetal Remains or Swedenborg 77 



of the soul, and will never be resumed; for she was aware, that if at any future 

 period it should be discovered that the skull was gone, the robbery would be 

 imputed to the admirers of his doctrines, and that misrepresentations of their 

 sentiments, such as your anecdote contains, would be the result. Nothing, I assure 

 you, can be more abliorrent to their principles, or to the doctrines of the New 

 Jerusalem church, than anything that can tend to the revival of saint-craft. 



I am, sir, yours respectfully, 



S. Noble, 

 Minister of Hauover-street Chapel. Loug-acre. 



March 31, 1823. 



No. 4. 



Mr. J. I. Hawkins' letter to the Editor of >The Times for April 4th, 1823. 



Swedenbory's sknll. 



To the Editor of The Times. 



Pentonville, April 3, 1823. 



Sir, — In the wish of screening the poor sexton or gravedigger, whoever 

 he may be, from the infamous charge of having been bribed to aid in purloin- 

 ing the above-mentioned skull from its coffin, I feel it my duty to state the 

 following circumstances: — 



Captain Ludvig Granholm, of the royal navy of Sweden, called on me 

 near the end of the year 1817, invited me to his lodgings, and showed me a skull 

 which he said was the skull of Swedenborg. He informed me, that a few days 

 before that time, he had attended the funeral of one of his countrymen, into the 

 vault under the Swedish Ambassador's chajtel, in Prince's-square, Eadciiffe-high- 

 way. and that he remained there a short time, with others, looking at the in- 

 scriptions on various coffins. I'hat on reading the name of the Honourable Ema- 

 nuel Swedenborg, and observinü; that the coffin-lid w as loose, he was seized with 

 the idea of making a large sum of money, by taking the skull, and selling it 

 to some one of Swedenborg's followers, who, he had heard, amounted to many 

 thousands in this country, and amongst whom, he imagined, there would be much 

 competition for the possession of so valuable a relic. He \\atched his opportu- 

 nity, lifted the lid, took out the skull, wrapped it in his pocket handkerchief, 

 and carried it out of the chapel unnoticed. 



I informed Captain Granholm, to his great disappointment, that the mem- 

 bers of the new Jerusalem church reprobated the possession of any religious 

 relic, and more particularly a part of a dead body, which, they believe, will never 

 more come into use, the soul remaining, after death, a complete and active man 

 in a spiritual body, not to ))e again fettered with material tlesh, blood, and bones- 

 Captain Granholm died a few months afterwards in London, without hav- 

 ing disposed of the skull, and without having left this country, so that several 

 particulars of the account in yuur paper of the 31*' ult. are erroneous. 



