er and magnificence of
their courtiers, ministers, and attendants; but then these persons of
high rank are chosen from those whose heartfelt delight consists in
promoting the public good, and who are only externally pleased with the
distinctions of dignity for the sake of order and obedience; and as the
public good requires that every individual, being a member of the common
body, should be an instrument of use in the society to which he belongs,
which use is from the Lord and is effected by angels and men as of
themselves, it is plain that this is meant by reigning with the Lord."
As soon as the angels had concluded, the kings and princes descended
from their thrones and seats, and cast away their sceptres, crowns, and
robes; and the mist which contained the _aura_ of phantasy was
dispersed, and a bright cloud, containing the _aura_ of wisdom
encompassed them, and thus they were presently restored to their sober
senses.

8. After this the angel returned to the house of assembly, and called to
him those who had conceived the joys of heaven and eternal happiness to
consist in paradisiacal delights; to whom he said, "Follow me, and I
will introduce you into your paradisiacal heaven, that you may enter
upon the beatitudes of your eternal happiness." Immediately he
introduced them through a lofty portal, formed of the boughs and shoots
of the finest trees interwoven with each other. After their admission,
he led them through a variety of winding paths in different directions.
The place was a real paradise, on the confines of heaven, intended for
the reception of such as, during their abode on earth, had fancied the
whole heaven to be a single paradise, because it is so called, and had
been led to conceive that after death there would be a perfect rest from
all kinds of labor; which rest would consist in a continual feast of
pleasures, such as walking among roses, being exhilarated with the most
exquisite wines, and participating in continual mirth and festivity; and
that this kind of life could only be enjoyed in a heavenly paradise. As
they followed the angel, they saw a great number of old and young, of
both sexes, sitting by threes and tens in a company on banks of roses;
some of whom were wreathing garlands to adorn the heads of the seniors,
the arms of the young, and the bosoms of the children; others were
pressing the juice out of grapes, cherries, and mulberries, which they
collected in cups, and then drank with much