The scenery of hell, like that of heaven, is in perfect correspondence with the states of those there. It is an outbirth from the minds of its inhabitants; and as _they_ are deformed and full of every pollution, so their scenery is full of horrors and things abominable. “In hell there is no sun, but the inhabitants roam in darkness corresponding to themselves, for they are darkness: their light is artificial, as of coal fires, meteors, ignes fatui, and the lights of night. They inhabit scenery of which they are the souls, as bogs, fens, tangled forests, caverns, dreary deserts, charred and ruined cities. In the milder hells, there appear, as it were, rude cottages, which are in some cases contiguous, and resemble the streets and lanes of a city. Within the houses infernal spirits are engaged in continual quarrels, enmities, blows, and violences, while the streets and lanes are full of robberies and depredations. The inhabitants are at continual war, hating and tormenting one another, and the cruelties they practice are indescribable.” “It is impossible to give a description of the horrible forms of the spirits of hell. No two are alike, although there is a general likeness in those who are in the same evil. They are forms of contempt of others, of menace against those who do not pay them respect, of hatreds of various kinds, and of revenge; and in these forms, outrage and cruelty are transparent from within; but when others commend, venerate, and worship them, their faces are drawn up, and have an appearance of gladness arising from delight. Some of their faces are direful and void of life, like corpses; some are black, and others fiery, like torches; others are disfigured by pimples, warts, and ulcers; and frequently no face appears, but instead of a face something hairy and bony, and sometimes nothing but teeth. Their bodies are monstrous, and their speech is the speech of anger, of hatred, of revenge; for every one speaks from his own false, and the tone of his voice is from his own evil. In a word they are all images of their own hell.” “And does Swedenborg relate such horrors?” some may ask. For facts, we answer, Swedenborg is not to blame. Like the Israelites of old, we would fain have our prophets “speak unto us smooth things.” Let us rid ourselves of all morbid delicacy, and seek to know the truth. We should all do well to peruse with patience those pages wherein our author narrates the horrors of hell, so that we may see, shun, and detest the evils which make hell. It is well that every man should know whither his lust, his pride, his avarice, or anger, is leading him. If he shudder, it is for his eternal good.