and actions, so that scarce anything appears but what flows from the love of good to the Lord and towards other infants; whereas the latter do not discover the same softness, but something, as it were, of quickness and smartness manifests itself in all their behaviour; the like also appears from their resentments, and from other circumstances. Thus every infant differs from another as to its complexional temper, and every one is educated according to such difference.

2302. There are certain societies of angels, and those many in number, which have the care of infants; they are chiefly of the female sex, consisting of such as in the life of the body have had the most tender love towards infants.

2304. Many may possibly conjecture that infants continue infants in another life, and that they are as infants amongst the angels. They who are unacquainted with the nature of angels, may possibly be confirmed in this opinion by the carved images often to be seen in churches, and in other places, where angels are exhibited under the figures of infants; but the case is altogether otherwise. It is intelligence and wisdom which constitutes an angel; and so long as infants have not intelligence and wisdom, they are, indeed, amongst angels, but they are not angels; but when they become intelligent and wise, they then first become angels, and do not appear as infants, but as adults; for then they are no longer of an infantile genius, but of a more adult angelic genius. Intelligence and genius are ever attended with this effect, for it must be obvious to all that understanding and judgment, and life grounded therein, cause every one to appear as an adult, both to himself and others.

2305. There are some who imagine innocence to be the same thing as infancy, by reason of what the Lord said concerning infants, that of such is the kingdom of heaven, and that they who do not become as infants cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven; but they who give in to such imagination, are unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word, and consequently with what is meant by infancy. By infancy is meant the innocence of intelligence and wisdom, which is such that they acknowledge themselves to have life from the

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Lord alone, and that the Lord is their only Father, for man is man by virtue of the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good, which he has solely from the Lord. Real essential innocence, which in the Word is called infancy, has no existence or abode but in wisdom, insomuch that the wiser any one becomes, so much the more innocent he is; wherefore the Lord is essential innocence, because He is essential wisdom.

2306. With respect to the innocence of infants, inasmuch as it is without intelligence and wisdom, it is only a sort of plane to receive genuine innocence, which they receive in proportion as they become wise. The nature and quality of the innocence of infants was represented to me by a kind of wooden image almost void of life, which is vivified in proportion as they are perfected by the knowledges of truth and the affections of good. Afterwards the nature and quality of genuine innocence was represented to me by a most beautiful infant perfectly alive and naked; for real innocents, who are in the inmost heaven, and thereby nearest to the Lord, appear in the eyes of other angels no otherwise than as infants, and indeed naked, for innocence is represented by nakedness, which does not excite shame, according to what is written of the first man and his wife in paradise. In short, the more the angels excel in wisdom, so much the more innocent they are; and the more innocent they are, so much the more they appear to themselves as infants. Hence it is that innocence in the Word is signified by infancy.

2307. I have discoursed with the angels concerning infants, whether they are pure from evils, inasmuch as they have committed no actual evil, like the adult; but it was given me to understand that they are alike in evil, yea, that they are nothing but evil; nevertheless, that they, like all the angels, are withheld from evil, and preserved in good by the Lord, &c., &c.

CONCERNING THE MEMORY OF MAN REMAINING AFTER DEATH, AND THE REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE THINGS WHICH HE HAD DONE IN THE LIFE OF THE BODY.

2469. It is scarce known to any one at this day that every man has two memories—one exterior, the other interior-and that the exterior is proper to his body, but the interior proper to his spirit.

2470. Man, during his life in the body, can scarce know that he has an interior memory, because then the interior is almost one in its memory with the exterior memory; agency for the ideas of thought which are of the interior memory flow into the things which are of the exterior memory as into their recipient vessels, and are there joined together. The case in this respect is the same as when angels and spirits speak with man. On such occasions their ideas, by which they discourse with each other, flow into the expressions of man's language, and join themselves with those expressions in such a manner, that they know no other than that they discourse in man's mother tongue, when yet the ideas alone are theirs, and the expressions into which they flow are man's.

2471. These two memories are altogether distinct from each other. To the exterior memory, which is proper to man during his life in the world, appertain all expressions of languages, also all objects of the external things of the senses, and likewise the scientifics which relate to the world; to the interior memory appertain the ideas of the speech of spirits which are of the interior sight, and all rational things from the ideas whereof thought itself exists. That these things are distinct from each other is unknown to man, as well because he does not reflect thereupon as because he is in things corporeal, and cannot so easily withdraw his mind from them.

2472. Hence it is that men, during their life in the body, cannot discourse with each other but by languages distinguished into articulate sounds or expressions, and cannot understand each other unless they are acquainted with those languages; the reason is, because this is done from the exterior

memory: whereas spirits converse with each other by an universal language distinguished into ideas, such as are the ideas of thought, and thus can converse with every spirit, of whatsoever language or nation he may have been; the reason is, because this is done from the interior memory. Every man, immediately after death, comes into this universal language because he comes into this interior memory.

2473. The interior memory vastly excels the exterior, and in comparison thereof is as many thousands to one, or what is bright and lucid to what is obscure and dark; for ten thousands of ideas of the interior memory flow into one of the exterior memory, and there form a sort of general obscure principle. Hence all the faculties of spirits, and especially of angels, are in a more perfect state than those of men, as well their sensations as their thoughts and perceptions.

2474. Whatsoever things a man hears and sees, and is affected with, these are insinuated, as to ideas and ends, into his interior memory without his being aware of it, and there they remain, so that not a single impression is lost, although the same things are obliterated in the exterior memory. The interior memory, therefore, is such that there are inscribed in it all the particular things, yea, the most particular, which man has at any time thought, spoken, and done, yea, which have appeared to him as a shadow, with the most minute circumstances, from his earliest infancy to extreme old age. Man has with him the memory of all these things when he comes into another life, and is successively brought into all recollection of them; this is the Book of Life, which is opened in another life, and according to which he is judged. Man can scarcely believe this, but still it is most true. All the ends of his life, which were to him hidden in an obscure principleall that he had thought, and likewise all that he had spoken and done, as derived from those ends-are recorded, to the most minute circumstances, in that Book-that is, in the interior memory--and are made manifest, before the angels in a clear light whenever the Lord sees good to permit it. Man does not lose the smallest portion of anything which has ever been either in the exterior or interior memory, so that no cir

cumstance can be conceived so small and trifling which is not reserved with him. He leaves nothing behind him at death but only bones and flesh, which during his life in the world were not animated of themselves, but received animation from the life of his spirit.

2477. I once heard spirits discoursing together concerning this circumstance, that whatever is adopted as a principle, whatsoever be its nature and quality, may be confirmed by things innumerable, insomuch that to him who confirms it, it may at length appear as altogether true, notwithstanding its being false, and that hence arguments may be urged in favour of what is false, rather than in favour of what is true. In order to their fuller conviction herein, it was proposed to them to consider and discourse on this question, whether it is expedient for spirits to use the exterior memory (spirits, it is to be observed, discourse together on such subjects far more excellently than man can either believe or conceive, but each according to his affection). The spirits, who were disposed to favour worldly and corporeal things, confirmed the expediency by many arguments, endeavouring to show, that by the use of the exterior memory they should have lost nothing, but after death would have been men to all intents and purposes, such as they had been before; that thus they might have been able, by means of man, to come again into the world; that in the exterior memory consists the delight of life, and that intelligence and wisdom are grounded solely in this faculty and endowment; besides many other arguments, whereby they confirmed themselves in their principle, until it appeared to them as true. But others then thought and spoke from an opposite principle, knowing that what they said was true, because it was grounded in the Divine order. The arguments they urged were to this effect, that if spirits were permitted to use the exterior memory, they would in such case be in a state of imperfection like what they had experienced when men; that hereby they would be in gross and obscure ideas, in comparison with those which are in the interior memory, and thus they would not only grow more and more foolish, but would also descend instead of ascending, con