661. THAT EVIL SPIRITS DESIRE TO KILL AND TORTURE EVERY MAN: BUT AS REGARDS THE MAN WITH WHOM THEY ARE, THEY ARE RESTRAINED IN A TWOFOLD MANNER That evil spirits, or rather, the devil's crew, desire nothing else than to destroy man body and soul, and also to torture him in a thousand ways, is made evident from manifold experience: not only from those who have been with me in troops, and who have tried to do so in many nefarious ways; but also from souls in the hells, who take the greatest pleasure in successively torturing each other in a barbarous manner, and if this sensation were not intercepted by the Lord, the one who is being tortured would suffer unspeakable torments. The evil spirits who fly about freely are also of such a nature, but yet they are adjoined to men in order that, as said before, they may excite their life. Since they then know no otherwise than that they are the same man as the man with whom they are, they therefore do not desire to bring any harm upon him, for this would be, as it were, to bring it upon themselves. This is the first reason why they do not intend such things to the man with whom they are. Nevertheless, unless they were restrained by the bond of the law, those among their companions who do not adore them as gods and give them all their resources, they would desire to treat in like manner as they treat each other in hell. This is sufficiently evident from the souls of such after death, when their nature is restrained by no such bonds of law. It is also manifest from kings, soldiers, and others. The other reason why they do not torture and destroy man is because good angels are also at the same time present, and the Lord governs them according to permissions and concessions, as stated elsewhere, [nos. 193, 617]. 1748, Feb. 6.