changes of the state of their minds, which sometimes favored one side and sometimes the other; for they were vertumni. Moreover, the angels said, "We will tell you a mystery; on our looking down upon the earth, and examining those who were celebrated for erudition, and who have thought about God and nature from their own judgement, we have found six hundred out of a thousand favorers of nature, and the rest favorers of God; and that these were in favor of God, in consequence of having frequently maintained in their conversation, not from any convictions of their understandings, but only from hear-say, that nature is from God; for frequent conversation from the memory and recollection, and not at the same time from thought and intelligence, induces a species of faith." After this, the satans were entrusted to a guard and ascended with the two angels into heaven, and saw the magnificent and splendid objects contained therein; and being then an illustration from the light of heaven, they acknowledged the being of a God, and that nature was created to be subservient to the life which is in God and from God; and that nature in itself is dead, and consequently does nothing of itself, but is acted upon by life. Having seen and perceived these things, they descended: and as they descended the love of evil returned and closed their understanding above and opened it beneath; and then there appeared above it as it were a veil sending forth lightning from infernal fire; and as soon as they touched the earth with their feet, the ground cleaved asunder beneath them, and they returned to their associates.
416. After these things those two angels seeing me near, said to the by-standers respecting me, "We know that this man has written about God and nature; let us hear what he has written." They therefore came to me, and intreated that what I had written about God and nature might be read to them: I therefore read as follows. "Those who believe in a Divine operation in everything of nature, may confirm themselves in favor of the Divine, from many things which they see in nature, equally, yea more than those who confirm themselves in favor of nature: for those who confirm themselves in favor of the Divine, attend to the wonderful things, which are conspicuous in the productions of both vegetables and animals:—in the production of vegetables, that from a small seed sown in the earth there is sent forth a root, by means of the root a stem, and successively buds, leaves, flowers, fruits, even to new seeds; altogether as if the seed was acquainted with the order of succession, or the process by which it was to renew itself. What rational person can conceive, that the sun which is pure fire, is acquainted with this, or that it can endue its heat and light with a power to effect such things; and further, that it can form wonderful things therein, and intend use? When a man of elevated reason sees and considers such things, he cannot
