there are endless kinds and degrees of evil as there are of good, and numberless societies therefore in hell; and the devils go (as do the angels) in perfect freedom into the society of those most nearly like themselves; for there they are most at home, and there they prefer to be. If they were conveyed to heaven, having in themselves none of the loves or life of heaven, their torment would be excruciating; they could not breathe that pure atmosphere, and they would writhe there like serpents on coals of fire.
There is government also in hell; but it is a government of force and fear, for no other is adapted to beings who are supremely selfish. It is only through fear of punishment that their evil passions can be restrained. And by means of punishment the external order of the hells, if not their internal quality, is being continually improved. Swedenborg says:
"The Lord never sends any one into hell, but desires to bring all out of hell: still less does He inflict torment. But as the evil spirit himself rushes into it, the Lord turns all punishment and torment to some good account. There would be no such thing as punishment if use were not the end aimed at by the Lord; for his kingdom is a kingdom of ends and uses." (A. C. 696.)
"Every one's life follows him after death, and he remains in the state which he had procured to himself by the whole course of his life in the
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