1795. CONCERNING THE MALEVOLENCE OF CERTAIN SPIRITS. The malevolence of spirits consists not only in their inducing thoughts and speech upon man, but also responses, so that the man knows no other than that he responds; that is, that he gives a response in their favor, which has oftentimes been proved to me by lively experience, and spirits have iterated it again and again. They learn this by use, for they thus know how to seduce men most easily, so as to act out the entire man, both in speaking and in answering. At the same time, they inspire also such cupidities as favor the response, so that the man can by no means know but that he is the one [who speaks and responds], for while he is in that cupidity he is in his life, and believes that it is he himself. Such is the malignity of certain spirits, which I can affirm for certain from experience, for they spoke with me for a long time, and I had much to say with them on these points. - 1748, March 30.