those "cockatrice-eggs," of which the Scripture speaks, "breaking forth into vipers." Then, too, loathsome insects began to move, and to crawl, and to spread their ugly wings, and to break the sweet stillness of nature with their odious hum. Thorns, too, and briers sprung from the soil, and the stinging-nettle; while the "deadly nightshade," with its large leaves, fair purple flower, and sweet berries, stood, like sin, offering its pleasant but poisoned feast to the passerby. All these noxious and noisome things in the natural world must have had their origin in correspondent evil qualities in the moral world. Hence, as God is not the author of evil, so neither is He the author of such things in nature as do evil to man. God is essential Goodness and Truth: hence from Him nought can be derived that is not useful and beautiful; for goodness is the soul of usefulness, and truth is the essence of beauty. Hence we draw the conclusion, that noxious things in nature, whether animal, mineral, or vegetable, are—like evil itself—not God's work, but man's: they are effects and derivations from man's evil thoughts and affections; whence it follows that man, not God, is chargeable with the existence of such things.
In confirmation of what we have thus reasoned out, we will conclude this section with the following striking passage from the writings of Swedenborg: "None of the noxious things that exist on earth are from the Lord, but are all from hell. But before this can be seen, something must be premised concerning heaven, and hell. In heaven, appear all those things which are called good uses: in hell, appear all those which are called evil uses, or noxious things, such as wild beasts
