food nor cloaths; and if any one doth mischief to another, he is thrown into a corner of the cavern, upon a kind of couch of accursed dust, where he is miserably tormented, until the governor observeth in him some sign of penitence, and then he is taken off, and ordered again to his work; he is also informed, that every one is at liberty to walk, to converse, and afterwards to sleep, when he hath done his work; he is then led into an inner part of the cavern, where there are harlots, and he is permitted to take one to himself, and to call her his wife, but he is forbid, on pain of punishment, to connect himself. with more than one.Hell consisteth of such caverns, which are nothing but eternal workhouses. I have been permitted to enter into some of them, and to see the nature of them, to the intent that I might publish it to the world: all that were confined therein appeared like beggars, nor did any one of them know who he had been, or what office he had enjoyed in the former world; but the angel who attended me, informed me, that one had formerly been a servant, one a soldier, one a captain, one a priest, one a person of great dignity, another of great wealth; and yet they none of them knew but that they had constantly lived as companions in a like state of servitude, and the reason of this was, because

they had been inwardly alike, although they had differed in externals, and in the spiritual world all are associated according to their interiors.

With respect to the hells in general, they consist merely of such caverns and workhouses, but differing according to their inhabitants, whether they be satans or devils; they are called satans, who have lived in falses and in consequent evils, and they are devils, who have lived in evils and in consequent falses. Satans appear, in the light of heaven, pale and livid, like corpses, and in some cases of a darkish hue, like mummies; but devils appear, in the same light, of a fiery, dusky, complexion, and in some cases, black like soot; but the forms and faces of them all are monstrous; and yet, in their own light, which is like that of lighted charcoal, they do not appear as monsters, but as men; which appearance is permitted for the sake of consociation." True Christ. Religion.

A FARTHER ACCOUNT OF HELL.- MEMORABLE RELATION, NO. 80."

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"A single satan was once permitted to ascend out of hell, together with a woman, and to come to the house where I dwelt; as soon as I perceived them I closed the window, with an intent to converse with them as they stood out of doors, and I

asked the satan whence he came? He replied, from a society of friends; and I asked whence the woman came, and he gave me the same answer. She was of the tribe of sirens, who have the art to assume all habits and figures of beauty and ornament; at one time they put on the beauty of a Venus, at another the decent countenance of a princely virgin, at another they adorn themselves with crowns and robes like unto those of queens, walking in great state with wands of silver in their hands. All such are harlots in the world of spirits, and apply themselves to the study of phantasies, which they effect by means of sensual imaginations, whilst the ideas are closed against the admission of interior thought. I then asked the satan whether the woman was his wife? He re

plied, “What is a wife? Neither I, nor the society to which I belong, know the meaning of the word; she is my harlot ;" whereupon she inspired him with wanton lust, which these sirens can artfully do: and he kissed her, and cried out, "Ah! my Adonis!" But to be serious :-I asked the satan what was his employment? He answered, “My employment is the pursuit of learning; dost thou not see the laurel with which I am crowned ?”. But this his harlot had formed by a magical art, and placed privately on his head:-and I said,

since thou comest from a society distinguished for men of learning, tell me what thou and thy companions believe concerning God? He replied, "Our God is the universe, which we also call nature, and which the more simple among us call atmosphere, which they take to be air, but the more wise call it æther; God, heaven, angels, and the like, whereof various stories are invented by various people in this world, are all empty words and imaginary things, derived from meteorlike appearances which float before the eyes of many in this place. Are not all things which appear on the face of the earth created by the sun? At his approach in the spring of the year, are not all winged and creeping insects produced? And are not birds impelled to mutual love and prolification by virtue of his heat? And is it not owing to the same cause that the earth produceth plants and fruits from the seeds which she receiveth in her bosom? Is not the universe therefore a God, and nature a Goddess, who like the wife of the universe conceiveth, bringeth forth, educateth, and nourisheth her young offspring?" I next asked him what he and his society believed concerning religion? He replied, "Religion, amongst us that are raised by our learning above the common herd of men, is considered only as a charm for

the vulgar, which formeth as it were an atmosphere about the sensitive and imaginative powers of their minds, in which atmosphere the ideas of piety take wing, like butterflies in the open air, and their faith, which connected those ideas, as with a chain, is like a silk-worm in its silken web, from which it flieth forth as the king of the butterflies. For the illiterate herd of mankind, out of a strong desire to fly, are in love with imaginations that are exalted above the sensualities of the body, and bodily perceptions; and thus they make to themselves wings, whereby they may rise from the earth like eagles, and boast themselves in the sight of those below, saying, behold how far we are above you! But we believe what we see, and love what we touch;" whereupon he touched his harlot, and said, "I believe this, because I see and touch it; as to those ridiculous imaginations of which we have been speaking, we open the windows of our understandings to let them out, and expel them with the blast of ridicule." I then asked him, what he and his companions believed concerning heaven and hell? He replied with a sneer, "What is heaven but the ethereal firmament in its heighth? And what are the angels there but like the spots that revolve about the sun? And what are archangels but comets with long