MAN IN THE AGGREGATE IS IN SUCH A FORM

By "man" is meant in a very general sense the whole human race, in a general sense the men in one kingdom taken together, in a less general sense the men in one province of a kingdom, in a still less general sense the men in a single town, in a particular sense those in a single household, and in the singular, each human being. In the Lord's sight the whole human race is as one man, all those in one kingdom are also as one man, likewise all in a single province, all in a single town, and all in a single household. Not that the men themselves thus appear together, it is the uses with them that do so. Those men who are good uses, those, that is, who do uses from the Lord appear together as a man, complete in form and beautiful. These are they who do uses for the sake of the uses themselves, that is, who love uses because they are uses to the household, or to the town, or to the province, or to the kingdom, or to all mankind. On the other hand, those who do uses, not on account of the uses, but on account of themselves only or the world only, also appear in the Lord's sight as a man, but a man defective and ugly. From the above it may be evident that the Lord looks upon men in the world individually, according to the use they each perform, and collectively, according to the uses assembled together into the form of a man. By "uses" are meant the uses a man carries out in connection with the office he fills, or with his occupation, or with his work. Such uses are, in the Lord's sight, good works themselves.

[18.] Since in the Lord's sight all in a single kingdom appear together as one man in accordance with their love of uses, therefore all the English so appear, all the Dutch, all the Germans, all the Swedes and the Danes, as well as the French, the Spanish, the Poles, the Russians: but in each case the nation appears in a form that is according to its uses. In each of these kingdoms, all those who love the uses of their employment because they are uses, are seen together as an angel-man, whereas all those who love the uses of their employment solely on account of pleasures unconnected with the uses, are seen together as a devil-man. The traders in the angel-man are traders who love their trading, and who love wealth for the sake of the trading, and who at the same time look to God; whereas the traders in the devil-man are traders who love wealth and who only love their trading for the sake of getting wealth; with these traders, there exists avarice, root of all evils, but not with the former. For, loving wealth only and not some use to be served by it, or in other words, regarding wealth in the first place, and trading in the second, is being avaricious. Such people are certainly useful to the kingdom, but not till they die and their wealth passes into the community, into use among traders; the benefit their wealth then brings is a benefit to the kingdom, but not to their own souls.*

In a word, procuring wealth by means of trading for the sake of the wealth alone is Jewish trading; but doing so for the sake of the trading is Dutch trading. Possessing wealth is not harmful to these latter, but to the others it is. * An annotation in the left hand margin of the MS. reads: He certainly benefits the public weal by accumulating wealth in it and enriching it, but he does not benefit his own soul.