644. THAT THEY CONFESSED THAT THEY CANNOT DO OTHERWISE These same spirits who were continually fabricating deceits, and inhered so closely in them that they could scarcely leave off, were admonished by others to desist; but they confessed that they could not, even if they were to die. In like manner others also sometimes confessed that they could by no means desist, to whom it was as often said that this did not excuse them, for thus all devils would excuse themselves. But they were told that they should go away or they would be driven away, until at length by suitable kinds of punishment they would be affected with disgust when doing such things, and thus, as usually takes place, by modes of punishment by evil spirits, they would put them off. Hence it is allowable to conclude that their natural instinct imbued in the life of the body is such, that not only do they feel the greatest pleasure in such evils, but they are also endowed with such cupidity from it that they cannot desist, just as wild beasts cannot desist from tearing to pieces. 1748, Feb. 5.