interstices are filled with pulp, and the whole organism is enclosed in a skin. The essential parts of the flower, and of the fruit,—the maximum stages of vegetable development,-consist of this identical green leaf, folded vertically upon its axis, as on a hinge, so that the edges come in contact, each being a miniature of the cavity formed by the spine, the ribs, and the breast-bone. In the cavities thus formed, the highest energies of vegetable life are concentrated, and the ends of that life accomplished. The stamens develope pollen; the pistils, or organs of female function, generate seeds. Looked at, accordingly, from the plant, the skeleton of the vertebrated creatures, or at least of the mammalian tribes, is seen to be an infinitely perfected Leaf;— looked at from Man, the carpel of the fruit (the pod of the pea, for instance), folded with such fine symmetry on its little spine, is the miniature idea of the human body, which is also folded, as it were, on the spinal column. Everything in nature shews more or less of the spinal column, a right and a left, standing side by side, and vertically united, since everything flows from the Good and the True, as conjoined in the Divine, and receives their dual and undivided impress.

IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT IDEAS ON THE NATURE OF
LOVE, AND ESPECIALLY ON THE LOVE OF DOMINION
AND PRE-EMINENCE.*

(From the Manuscripts of Swedenborg, not hitherto translated.)

FROM the ideas of spirits coming into the world of spirits after death, all the ideas which they have had concerning God, concerning heaven, love, faith, &c., can be known. Concerning God many have an idea as of a cloud or vapour, because they have thought that God is a spirit,

* Several of our Correspondents have requested us to insert translations from Swedenborg's Diary more frequently than we have done of late, stating that such extracts are more instructive and edifying to them than any other matter. In compliance with the wishes of this class of our readers, we beg to state that we shall more frequently translate and insert the extracts they desire to see. The present paper, which will be followed by others of great importance, will be found instructive and edifying, especially as to the love of rule and pre-eminence, so deadly hostile to all man's true and eternal interests. The time will soon come when a translation of the entire "Spiritual Diary" will be requested, as a work containing principles, facts, illustrations, and expositions of the Spiritual Life, that is, of the life after death, both as it is in the heavens in the world of spirits, and in the hells. The present paper is translated from the Spiritual Diary, part vii. Appendix, pp. 74-80.-EDITOR.

[Enl. Series.-No. 27, vol. iii.]

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and of a spirit they have had no other idea. Of heaven some have thought that it is in the air above, some that it is among the stars, some that it is somewhere in the [visible] universe, and scarcely any think that "it is in man;" (Luke xvii. 21.) for they cannot remove the idea of space. Concerning heavenly joy they have ideas of delight or pleasure such as arises from worldly or selfish grounds, in which their own peculiar love delights; but especially from the love of ruling and of living luxuriously in external pleasures, and but few in internal delights, the existence and nature of which they do not know.

Respecting Love, they have so gross an idea concerning its true nature that it may be called filthy; for when the term is mentioned, they have only a libidinous or an adulterous idea of it, and some have no idea at all. The case is similar as to mutual love; for when this is mentioned some have only an idea of it as of external friendship. In short, nearly all, when the term love is named, have an idea of it bordering on licentiousness. When the angelic idea of God, of heaven, of love, and of faith flows into such minds it is not perceived, for in such minds there is a thick darkness into which the light of heaven cannot enter. In such a state is the Christian world at the present day, from the corruptions of the church, brought on chiefly through the doctrine of faith only; for where that doctrine is received nothing of truth is loved.

Man, after death, comes into the world of spirits, which is in the middle between heaven and hell [signified by the great gulf between the rich man and Lazarus] and in this intermediate world he changes his societies, and is thus prepared either for heaven or for hell. That change of societies appears like a translation from one place to another, and also like a peregrination. He goes into different quarters, and sometimes he ascends into the higher regions of that world, and sometimes descends into the lower, and this is so perceived, but it is only an appearance arising from changes of state. I have also experienced this as to my spirit, or when I was in the spirit. At length when a man is prepared, then his ruling love is the head or chief of his other loves, and thus leads him. He then changes his associates, and turns his face to the society in which is his governing love, and he betakes himself to it as it were to his own home.

The knowledges of Truth are inscribed on the affection or love, so that the affection itself produces them as though known to itself, and it sees what is in agreement and harmony with itself, and what is not. Some have the faculty of confirming, wherefore, if the affection is good,: which must proceed from the life, it has inscribed upon itself knowledges

subservient to its confirmation, and it relishes or enjoys [sapit] those knowledges; it also adopts those things which it hears and sees, and which are suitable for this purpose, because similar and analogous to itself. Whereas, they who reduce the whole of religion to faith only, and who are confirmed in the love of self and of the world, can only be affected with such things as agree with their love, and which are inscribed upon it. Such things as spring from the love of self and the world, hold in contempt the truths of faith, which are, that God is to be loved above self, heaven above the world, the good of our neighbour above our own private or selfish interests, and that all uses are to be performed for the sake of the neighbour. These and similar truths are then held in aversion, which if not so evident in this life, is clearly manifest after death, when only those things remain which belong to the love or will.

All who are in the love of rule from the love of self, and not from the love of their neighbour or of uses, retain after death the same love, and wherever they come they desire to rule. This love rushes forth without bounds in proportion as it is not restrained. This love despises everything Divine, except it can be employed as a means of ruling; wherefore, so long as anything divine, even the divine Truth of the Word, can be employed as a means of ruling, it professes to love those Truths; but when what is Divine does not serve as a medium for this purpose, it not only rejects it but hates it. The reason is, because that love is opposed to heavenly love. Such persons cannot be admitted into heaven, and should they, like hypocrites (or as the man not having a wedding garment), insinuate themselves into heaven, they fill the vicinity with an idea and with an image of themselves, and this, even, when they are speaking about God. Hence, such persons infest and offend the ideas of angels which are turned from themselves to God; hence it is that such spirits are driven away. Many of them are merely corporeal, because they are immersed in their proprium, and are not elevated above it. Such spirits are borne away to the boundaries of the spiritual world of our earth, where a lake smoking with fire appears, into which, as such a lake corresponds to the state of life they had contracted in the world, they are cast.

I beseech all men in the world, who read these things, to beware of the love of rule for their own sake, and not for the sake of uses or of love to their neighbour; let them know that this love is diabolical, and that in it are all evils; let them know and let them well consider that all evil loves and cupidities are involved in that diabolical love of rule or power grounded in the love of self, even such evil loves as during

his life in the world a man is not in the least aware of. I have seen examples in abundance of those who, in the external form, had in the world appeared moral and as Christians, but who in their hearts had thought of nothing else than about themselves and the world, and were associated after death with devils. I saw one for a considerable time who was so lofty in his spirit that any one could scarcely be more so, and yet in the world he could speak with theologians, and morally with all others, and could more than any other feign what is just and equitable; but after death he became so fiery a devil that he not only denied God, but wished to be the devil himself, if he could but exercise rule and fight against God, and destroy heaven. He burnt with deadly hatred against all who acknowledged the Lord; he was frequently punished, but in vain. If I were to narrate the malice, the cunning, and the wicked deeds of such spirits, I could fill many pages. Amongst such spirits I saw what a devil Charles the Twelfth, from this diabolic love of rule, had become. Such spirits do not acknowledge a God, but they believe that all who prevail over others are gods; they also wish to become gods themselves, and to be worshipped.*

There was once a conversation concerning the love of rule, in which it was said, that some believe that those who in the world had worshipped the Lord, also worship Him after death, whereas it was discovered that many who have professed to worship Him in the world, after death turn out to be His worst enemies. It was then said that any devil could be driven to worship the Lord, provided only it be promised to him that he become great, and still more devoutly would he worship

Not only are all wars engendered chiefly by this diabolical love of rule and power, as displayed in the history of Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, of Nicholas of Russia, and of other despots, which have filled the earth with misery and woe; but all, or nearly all the animosities amongst individuals and communities are originated by the same diabolical spirit. Most of the frauds and consequent law-suits which have wrung the hearts of millions with anguish, originate also in the same source of so much evil to mankind. Swedenborg is very emphatic in guarding his readers against this diabolic love of rule and pre-eminence. It is this which is signified by Babylon in the Word, and which in the Romish Church has organized itself by degrees into an external system of power so deadly hostile to all the interests, both temporal and spiritual, of the human race. This great evil is more or less characteristic of our fallen nature, and it is one of the first principles which endeavours to put itself forth in our earliest developments. When the child strives to have its own "will and way" in opposition to the will of the parent, it is this evil which is then seeking to come forth, and if not checked by salutary, and when necessary, by severe discipline, it will gain ground, and the child will grow up into a tyrant, and not into a man, and after death he will become a devil instead of an angel.-EDITOR.

the Lord if it be promised to him that he should become the greatest. It was then permitted that a devil should come forth out of hell who was most hostile against the Lord, and it was told him that he should be made the greatest by the Lord, when he endeavoured, with all his might, to lead all to the Lord, and even to compel them by empty threats, saying that the Lord alone should be honoured and worshipped; he thus addressed them with earnestness and persuasion. At the same time, he was thinking all the while that he should become the Lord's Vicar, and thus himself exercise the dominion and power over all. But when he found himself disappointed [of the wished-for dominion and eminence] he detested the Lord, and became as before his deadly enemy, and was cast into hell. In a word,-the pleasure of exercising dominion exceeds every pleasure of the body. Respecting the two kinds of dominion-the one grounded in the love of self and the other in the love of the neighbour-many things may be seen in the work on "Heaven and Hell," in the "Doctrine of the New Jerusalem," and in the little work on the "Earths in the Universe."

The interiors of such as have thus been confirmed in the love of dominion appear black, because they have abused the influx from heaven; but their inferiors or exteriors appear misty, because they are open to the hells. It was said that the superior principles or degrees of their mind, or even the proximate interiors cannot be opened towards heaven with those who are in the love of rule or dominion.

There appeared from various nations those who had, in the world, been of the equestrian or patrician order (nobility), who had decorations such as stars, diamonds, &c. on their breasts and on the shoulders, &c. Many of these were seen and inspected by the angels, and it was discovered that they had a constant regard to themselves, that they thought continually of their own eminence and excellence above others, and that they wished that all should turn their eyes to them. And because they believed that they were more worthy than others to preside and rule, offices were given to them; but when they were employed in devising measures for the common good, it was found that they had no affection for the common weal nor for uses, and that thus they could not discern what was good from evil, nor distinguish, from any true judgment, what was true from what was false; but could only speak in a lofty or haughty manner from memory. And because they were of this character they were ejected from their offices, and they were allowed to wander about in search of other offices. But wherever they came it was said that they only thought of themselves, and not of others. Thus they only thought from their sensual corporeal principle.