sustain such vast armies and navies, involving
the necessity of directing and superintending them.

As a rule, people who have entered the second stage of existence desire a
change. They desire to live with more simplicity and freedom, and are
eager to begin their new life with nobler aspirations. Therefore, they
assimilate with comparative ease with our form of government.

Our directors are our fathers. The nearest approach to our system is the
government of the Mormons in Utah. Pardon me, if, in making this
statement, I offend any delicate sensibility. I allude not to their
creed, but to their mode of public administration.

As I have stated, the inhabitants of the spirit world are divided and
subdivided into associations, or bodies, which in your world would be
termed nations and states. For example, the nation to which I belong is
represented by the American people. The nationalities of earth present
different traits and characteristics which set them apart, though in a
general aspect they present one whole. Even as in the ornithological
world different species of birds represent the feathered race, and though
differing in many particulars and forming separate varieties, yet
assimilate as a whole, so nations migrating to the spirit world form
separate nationalities. And, as I have stated, some of them, educated in
the belief of the divine right of kings, choose a form of rule nearer
approaching the monarchial than the republican. Among such often arises a
Napoleon, a man of powerful intellect, a mind to grasp all circumstances,
and a will to direct, who succeeds in placing himself in a position which
he retains for years.

But as the hereditary right of kings cannot exist in the spirit world,
the emperor or dictator is chosen by the people, as was the custom of the
ancient Romans.

Intercourse of nations with us is not bounded by the obstacles that exist
on earth. Prominent ideas prevailing among the most intelligent masses of
spirits become the views of the whole. This your own world exemplifies.
As the means of communication become more facile, as the various arts of
locomotion obliterate distance, the remote and barbarous nations, brought
into proximity with the civilized, assume their habits, adopt their modes
of action, and follow their form of government.

I can safely predict for you a similar result. In the spirit world those
nations once most tenacious of kingly rights and of the majesty of the
thron