Some forty years ago, Frederic J. Turner, the eminent American historian, called attention to the fact that the religious life of the frontier has not been sufficiently investigated. Since then, much important work in this field has been done. One aspect of the religious life of the frontier, however, has been almost entirely neglected, that of Swedenborgianism, or, as followers of the Swedish prophet prefer to say, that of the New Church. Emanuel Swedenborg was born in Stockholm in 1688. Since we are approaching the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of his birth, now is an opportune time to investigate a hitherto neglected influence, very potent on the American frontier during the nineteenth century.

The Restoration of 1660 restored not only the Stuart dynasty but the Anglican church. Both were mistakes of the first magnitude, partiqilarly the restoration of the Established church because it lasted longer. James II's unparalleled Unwisdom brought the Revolution of 1688 quickly and unanimously. No archbishop has to date so conducted himself as to bring a 1688 to Anglicanism. Recent discussion relating to the role of the church in the unusual abdication of 1936, and the no less unusual coronation of 1937, testifies to both its strength and its insecurity two hundred and fifty years after the Stuart dynasty, its curious restorer, had descended to pretenders and romance.

The death of Pope Anastasius II in 498 precipitated a bitter controversy in Rome and throughout Italy. Ostensibly the causes went back to the conflict over the ratification of the Henotikon, and the struggle between the Emperor Anastasius and Pope Gelasius I. But this was not the only line of demarcation, and it is the other elements entering in that make the situation difficult to define.

Professional Schools in the United States, whether of medicine, law, engineering, or theology, are of relatively recent orgin. It is a matter of interest that the ministry was the first profession in America for which a technical and standardized training was provided. While the first law school in America was founded in the same year as the oldest theological seminary (1784), the courses were loosely organized and there was no definitely prescribed amount of work required of graduation and no academic requirement for the practice of law. In all the institutions where there were law departments or law schools, even as late as the middle of the last century, the law students were considered as distinctly inferior to the regular college students.