Page:The Other Life.djvu/219

 original means enemy, adversary; devil in the original is he that sets at variance. Heavenly love unites all for noble uses. Infernal love scatters and repels. All the angels turn to the Lord as a common centre; every evil spirit turns to himself as the centre of the universe and would be ruler of all.

In hell, therefore, no one applies himself to any good and useful labor for the benefit of others, except under dire compulsion. Each one endeavors to prey upon others and make them subservient to his own ends. Each one despises others in comparison with himself. Strange as it may appear, evil spirits delight to inflict sufferings and punishments upon all they meet. Their cunning, subtlety, cruelty, hatred and spirit of revenge are almost incredible. They make war upon each other and upon men in the flesh, and would if they could destroy the order and peace of heaven itself.

The evil we see upon earth, at which the cheek pales and the heart bleeds, is the breath of these spirits in hell who flow into the wills and understandings of men, infusing their own hatred and false persuasions into all who receive them. The wicked man is a kind of automaton moved from