a wrong construction; but he was checked by the angels.  When he apperceived that he was with one who was not a man of his own earth, he began to speak to me, saying, that when he comes to a man, he knows all things in general and particular that the man has done and thought, and that he severely reproves him, and also chastises him with various pains.  At yet another time such a chastising spirit came to me, and applied himself to my left side below the middle of the body, as the former spirit had done; he also wanted to punish me; but he, too, was restrained by the angels.  He showed me, however, the kinds of punishments which they are permitted to inflict on the men of their earth, if they do evil, or harbour the intention of doing it.  These were, besides the pain of the joints, a painful contraction about the middle of the belly, which is felt like compression by a tight belt; a deprivation of respiration at times even to suffocation; also a prohibition to eat anything but bread for a time; and, lastly, the threat of death, if they do not discontinue doing such things, with the deprivation, at the same time, of conjugial, parental, and social joy; grief on this account is then also insinuated.

73.  The spirits who instruct also apply themselves to their left side, but more in front.  They, too, reprove, but mildly, and then teach them how they ought to live.  They also appear dark, yet not, like the former, as clouds, but as if clothed with sackcloth.  These are called Instructors, but the former, Chastisers When these spirits are present, angelic spirits are also present, sitting at the head, which they fill in a peculiar manner:  their presence there is also perceived as a gentle breathing, for they fear lest their approach and influx should cause man to perceive the least pain or anxiety.  They govern both the chastising and the instructing spirits; the chastisers, lest they treat the man more hardly than is permitted by the Lord, and the instructors, that they may teach the truth.  While the chastising spirit was with me, angelic spirits were also present, and kept my face continually cheerful and smiling, the region about the lips prominent, and my mouth slightly open.  This the angels easily effect by means of influx, when the Lord permits.  They said that they induce such a countenance on the inhabitants of their earth, when they are present with them.

74.  If a man, after chastisement and instruction, again does evil, or thinks to do evil, and does not restrain himself in accordance with the precepts of truth, he is more severely punished when the chastising spirit returns; but the angelic spirits moderate the punishment according to the intention in the deeds, and the will in the thoughts.  From these facts it may appear, that their angels who sit at the head have a kind of judicial power over man, since they permit, moderate, restrain, and influence.  It was said, however, that it is not they who judge, but that the Lord alone is Judge, and that all things which they enjoin on the chastising and instructing spirits inflow into them from Him, and that it appears as if it were from them.