Page:The New View of Hell.djvu/90

 among just that class of persons whose society he prefers and finds congenial to his tastes.

But the societies of the hells, selfish and wicked as they are, are under a government as well as those of the heavens. And this government, too, is provided by the Lord, and is most wisely and mercifully adapted to their condition and wants. It is provided for the best good of the devils themselves, as well as for the good of all other parts of the moral universe. It is precisely such a government as they require; the only one, indeed, that is suited to their state—a government not of love, but of fear and force; for there is no love of the neighbor in their hearts, and therefore no desire to promote the common good. Hence their violent and malignant passions can only be restrained by fear of punishment. Says Swedenborg:

"All the inhabitants of hell are governed by fears; some by fears implanted in the world, which still retain their influence but because these fears are not sufficient, and likewise lose their force by degrees, they are governed by fear of punishments, and this fear is the principal means of deterring them from doing evil. The punishments in hell are various, more gentle or more severe according to the nature of the evils to be restrained. For the most part, the more malignant who excel in cunning and artifice, and are able to keep the rest in a state of submission and slavery by punishments and the terror thereby inspired, are set over the others;