their existence, or in finally converting the devils into angels. Swedenborg says:
"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 punishment; and this fear is the principal means of deterring them from doing evil. The punishments in hell are various, more mild 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; but these governors dare not go beyond the limits prescribed to them. It is to be observed that the fear of punishment is the only means of restraining the violence and fury of the hells: there is no other."—Heaven and Hell 543.
"They who have not in the world acknowledged the Lord, and that all good and truth are from Him and nothing from man, cannot resist evils as of themselves after death; for they are in evils and in the delight thereof grounded in love; and to resist the delight of their love, is to resist themselves, their own nature and their own life. On one occasion the experiment was made whether they were able to resist evils while the punishments of hell were announced to them, yea, while
