and false persuasions of wicked spirits were restrained by them. But sometimes when it was, of the Lord's divine mercy, permitted me to speak with others who transferred their intellectual operations to me, they said, that they knew not in the least, nor did they see, what I was doing, as the spirits nearest to me did. But, they said, that they were continually reacting against the endeavours and acts of evil spirits, or of their sphere, which they exquisitely knew, but from which cause and from what man they knew not. Thus it is only the Lord who sees and knows every particular, and who acts by the angels, and who thus disposes all human endeavours; this is what is meant when it is said: "Abraham doth not know us." To-day, by a certain abstract thought, something ascended to the angels, by which they were moved, at which they were surprised, and thus they spake with me through others,— 1747, Oct. 13, st. v. Nor are the angels willing to know what is transacted upon earth, because they know that every thing [as to the Church] is perverted and devastated, wherefore they desire that the Lord's kingdom may come, hoping that thus a communication may be opened between them and mankind.

Concerning the general spheres arising from those things which Constitute the Lord's Kingdom.

210. Nothing more wonderful and incredible can be stated, than that there are, as it were, general spheres arising from those things which constitute the Lord's Kingdom, and which correspond to those things in human minds which belong to the Lord's Kingdom. These spheres. cannot be described; but a certain idea may be formed concerning them, by comparison. These spheres are, in general, celestial and spiritual, or superior and inferior: the lowest is destroyed so long as evil spirits are permitted to inhabit it; which sphere at the present time ascends even to the rational mind and disturbs it.*

On this day I was raised of the Divine Mercy into that rational [or spiritual] sphere, so that the rational mind with me agreed with that sphere; nor was there any disturbance as on other occasions. The spirits who were then in that sphere were distressed, and they said that they could not live in it; they were like a bird in ether, or a fish in air, and thus they wished to flee away. From this experience I knew that when the Lord's Kingdom comes, evil spirits will be necessarily expelled, for they cannot even breathe in a heavenly sphere.—1747,

* This sphere, inhabited at that time by infernal spirits, constituted those imaginary heavens, denoted in the Revelation, chap. xxi., by the first heaven which passed away, or which were destroyed at the time of the last judgment. See Swedenborg's work on the Last Judgment, published about ten years after this was

written.

Oct. 20, st. v. When I prayed, especially when I said the Lord's prayer, I was received into that spiritual sphere, and then it was given me to perceive the interior things of that divine prayer. All those celestial and spiritual spheres regard the Lord's Kingdom, because they are from the Lord. From these things it can be deduced, that there must needs be a general sphere in order that there may be particular spheres; which particulars cannot exist except in a general, for all particulars relate to generals, and generals direct particulars, and at length reduce them into that order in which generals are, otherwise they must necessarily be expelled. These are rules with which philosophy is acquainted, and which prevail in the universe.

*

211. There are also spheres arising from evil spirits, which are infernal. * These spheres ascend according to the increase of wickedness among men, or according to the destruction of faith upon earth. As, therefore, these spheres have, at the present time, gained an ascendancy so great as to suffocate and extinguish all truth and faith, it must needs follow that the Lord's Kingdom will soon come, otherwise no flesh can be saved, and scarcely any of the human race can be regenerated.

212. As to the particular spheres which constitute the general spheres, every angel and every spirit forms his own sphere, and this has its own changes of state from particulars. In this manner the general sphere is formed by the Lord, and indeed by the arrangement of angels and spirits into genera and species, or into classes, and, as it were, into tribes.

*

* *

213. Hence also it is evident how all contingencies are under the Lord's Providence, which governs all generals and particulars, and directs them to the best end. That in the inferior spheres there should be so many inconstant things (inconstantiæ), which are ascribed to fortune, is also from various causes, and for the best ends.

Concerning those Spirits, who pervert holy things, denoted in Ezekiel, chap. xiii., by those who “daub with untempered mortar.”

245. It was shewn to me this day, how the worst spirits pervert holy things, which they apply as their own, and incrust, or daub them, as it were, with “untempered [mortar]," and in this manner bring them to the perception of man in such a way, that they who are innocent [unsuspecting] are easily persuaded that holy things, which are interior, flow from them, whereas it is nothing but an incrustation or daubing with untempered [mortar], as is described in Ezekiel. I thought at first, that the sensation of interior things proceeded from them; but afterwards, when I was better instructed, it was given me to expose to

them, by speech and representations, their deceit, at which they were angry. I told them that in this manner, a perception of what is good from evil, and of what is true from the false, can be induced [which is entirely contrary to order]; thus the "muddy wall" (mentioned in Ezekiel xiii. 10.) was explained.-1747, Nov. 12. They think themselves good and holy when they profess to be so, like those understood by the dragon in the Apocalypse; inwardly, however, they are wicked, which, when in that state, they are not aware of.

That universal nature, in general and particular, represents the states of celestial and spiritual things; and that artificial things [or works of art] are as nothing in comparison to natural things. 251. This day I was in conversation with spirits and angels concerning those things which exist in visible nature; it was stated that no one scarcely reflects upon them as being the images of celestial and spiritual things, as that a plant or a tree arises from its seed, and grows, and by its root and bark extracts a sap, which is the life of the plant or tree, and which is hence distributed into all its interior and central parts; in like manner as spiritual things should relate to celestial things. Moreover, all things even the minutest in the plant and tree respect the fruit, as their end, that is, the renovation, and hence the perpetuity of the life of the tree. The same is the case with all fruits, even with those that are enclosed in hard shells, within which are the nuclei, or fruits. The shells and the various surfaces, one within another, by which the juice [or sap] is conveyed to the interior and inmost principles, represent correspondent things in man when being regenerated, namely, the natural, scientific, rational, and intellectual things which are spiritual, and which, in this manner, as from a common plane, divided into infinitely various ways, can be conveyed and distributed into all things, even to the most particular in the inmost recesses. Hence arises in such things [viz., in plants, trees, fruit, &c.] their perpetuity, which in the life of man corresponds to eternity. In like manner, all things of the animal kingdom, even the most particular, are constituted; and consequently all parts of the human body, even to the minutest.

252. It is also surprising, that men in general have not yet properly observed, that all things made by man, such as works of art,-statues, pictures, and innumerable other things, which on the outside appear beautiful, and are esteemed of great value, are nevertheless interiorly nothing but clay and mud, and devoid of beauty; it is only the external surface which the eye admires. Whereas those things which grow from seeds begin from an internal principle, and increase and assume an external. Such things are not only beautiful to the sight, but the more

interiorly they are examined the more beautiful they appear. It is the same with the life of man;—those things which begin from what is external, thus, which proceed from the man himself, may be compared to artificial works, whose external form is esteemed and admired, but whose internals are of no value. Whereas those things which proceed from the Lord are formed from inmost principles, and may be compared to those things in nature which are beautiful from within. This is what is meant by what the Lord says in Matthew, concerning the lilies of the field, "that Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Nov. 15th, 1747.

That to the production of a single human thought, thousands, yea myriads of spirits and angels contribute; all of whom are arranged and directed by the Lord.

254. This cannot but appear as a paradox to man, who supposes that thought is simply a one, and by no means compounded of myriads of things which form it. This, however, may be demonstrated by very many things in nature. For in order to produce a single act, thousands, yea myriads of muscles and fibres concur,-from the smallest fibres in the brain to the act itself. It is the same in universal nature; in order to produce a single object, myriads of rays are required, as is the case with plants, even to their propagation. But that a similar concurrence of influences and powers is necessary to produce the thoughts and affections of man, appears as a paradox, because the operation and influx of angels and spirits into human minds is not confirmed by experience. But from the experience which, of the Lord's mercy, I have been permitted to enjoy, I can say, that thousands of spirits and angels concur or conduce [to the production of thought], although only a few spirits are very near man. I cannot now detail all this experience, but I have sometimes sensibly perceived the operations, and so distinctly in my understanding, that I can affirm it as certain; * * * But this ought not to appear wonderful to any learned man, who rightly compares the things in nature with those things which exist in the heavens. 19th. Nov., 1747.

As often as I prayed the Lord's Prayer, I was raised into an interior sphere, but with variation.

258. As often as I said the prayer of our Lord, morning and evening, I was raised, almost every time with variety, into an interior [or superior] sphere, and indeed so perceptibly, together with the change or variation, that nothing could be more so; and this experience I have now had

upwards of two years. Interior explications of the prayer were then opened to my mind with very much variety. But when the prayer was finished, I came again into my ordinary sphere [or state].*

"WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO REMISSION."

THIS sentence, contained in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Missionaries inform us is in general estimation amongst the inhabitants of India, and has been so from remote antiquity, and, with similar maxims, constitutes the ground on which the belief rests with the devotees, that their self-inflicted tortures and shedding of blood, will procure the forgiveness of their sins.

The axiom before us probably originated immediately or soon after the fall, and was intended, figuratively, although it has since come to be taken literally, to express the same sentiment as the Lord intended when he said, that he that is willing to lose his life for his sake and the sake of his gospel, shall find it. "Blood" being the life of the body, (Lev. xvii. 11.) it corresponds to the natural degree of the life of the spirit, which is corrupt, through the fall. This life must be shed out in order to man's becoming fit for heaven, and being shed out, by selfrenunciation, there is a removal of evil interiorly, by which a way is prepared for the reception of new life, by the entrance of Divine Truth or Spirit of truth; denoted by the life which every man finds who loses his first life, and this new life was represented by the blood poured out upon the altar and sprinkled on the people. (Exod. xxiv. 6-8.) Thus the saying that "without shedding of blood there is no remission,” expresses, in figurative language, that the life of the new man enters only in consequence of the life of the old man being shed out. The old man, or the external man, in the New Testament is called "the flesh,"

* The translator would beg to remark, that the efficacy of this divine prayer, in opening and elevating the interiors of the mind, is here plainly shewn. There can be no doubt, that the same effect is produced on the mind of every sincere and devout person, whenever he offers up this prayer. This should operate as a strong inducement, with all who receive the testimony of our author, to cultivate morning and evening prayer, as a means of entering more fully into communion and conjunction with the Lord and His Kingdom, and of acquiring greater strength against the influences from hell which constantly surround us. The eminently useful prayers published by Mr. Clowes and Mr. Mason, the sentiments of which are all in agreement with genuine doctrine, and, for the most part, expressed in the language of the Word itself, tend as "Helps" to increase and confirm the salutary effects produced by the Lord's prayer.