4363. Being afterwards permitted to defend himself, he spoke as in the world, in an external manner, employing arguments, and uttering well what he then conceived well, as, for instance, when he spoke of truth, of the common good, and went on to say that all others had respect to themselves and not to the public, that they even regarded truth and justice only as they bore upon their self-interest, and various specious reasonings of this kind. An answer was returned him by subjects from heaven, to the effect that he was a thief and a villain, aiming from self-love to plunder the public by means of exterior semblances and performing service, not from the love of country, but from the love of self; that official persons are the members and organs of the king, who is the head, while he, on the contrary, was acting solely for himself, and was consequently incapacitated for judging of others, inasmuch as things of an interior character do not appear outwardly. Consequently, as he was one who was utterly devoid of truth and conscience, he could form no other opinion concerning others [than such as accorded with his own quality]; adding, that these and similar things [in regard to character] became manifest in the other life, where everyone fares according to his quality in the present life; and where, if a thousand should conspire to speak the same thing, yet if it were not from the same origin with all, numbers would be of no avail - one and all would be obliged to suffer according to what they had been. All this and probably much more was said to him, and yet as no other traits appeared in him than such as were above described, he was informed that there was no alternative but that he must be cast into hell. - 1749, August 20. His present pleasure arose from the fact of his formerly delighting in authorship; this he wished to arrogate to himself as a merit. But this was his sole and paramount pleasure and delight, wherein he was influenced not by a regard to the public good, but from a view to his own enjoyment and emolument, as it yielded him a comparatively large income.