She asked again, whether our forefathers had been as wise, as men were at present, and had understood sense and reason, as well as they did now? They answered, that in former ages they had been as wise as they are in this present, nay, wiser; for, said they, many in this age do think their forefathers have been fools, by which they prove themselves to be such. The Empress asked further, whether there was any plastick power in nature? Truly, said the spirits, plastick power is a hard word, and signifies no more than the power of the corporeal, figurative motions of nature. After this, the Empress desired the spirits to inform her where the Paradise was, whether it was in the midst of the world as a centre of pleasure? or, whether it was the whole world; or a peculiar world by itself, as a world of life, and not of matter; or whether it was mixed, as a world of living animal creatures? They answered, that Paradise was not in the world she came from, but in that world she lived in at present; and that it was the very same place where she kept her court, and where her palace stood, in the midst of the imperial city. The Empress asked further, whether in the beginning and creation of the world, all beasts could speak?