I have seen spirits whose earthly condition was one of prosperity and grandeur,—those in whom a sense of worldly ambition and aggrandizement overcame every other consideration in their minds; whose hearts became haughty and arrogant; whose lives grew morbidly selfish beneath the desire for personal gratification and the greed of gain. Primarily, their motives for action were laudable; but as they grew in worldly influence, power, and grandeur, the stifling atmosphere of this condition effectually pressed out all emotions and aspirations higher than those for earthly affluence, authority, and ambition. I find the conditions of such spirits to be most unattractive yet pitiable. Deprived of their power and influence, unable to wield that authority which once belonged to them, powerless to attract the homage and laudation of the world in which they formerly lived and moved, longing for the things of material life which they cannot grasp with satisfaction, unfamiliar with things, conditions, and customs of spiritual life, they are restless and unhappy indeed. The things for which these beings crave belong to the material plane alone, and they are constantly attracted back to this sphere of life. But they have not the authority and power they once possessed. Coming in contact with the very individuals who once fawned upon and bowed down to them, these spirits are yet unable to make any impression upon their minds. The invisible ones speak what they believe to be loud words of authority and dignity; but they are unheeded, even unheard, by the mortal to whom they are addressed. Even should the spirits succeed in expressing their identity and in giving utterance to their thoughts through the lips of a trance medium, they will remain as unnoticed by those for whom they are intended as is the faint flutterings of a leaflet blown hither and thither by the autumn wind, even if they are not scoffed at or scorned by those individuals who once were wont to bow down in servile awe before a scrap of paper bearing the name that is given by the returning spirit. Imagine the unhappy, restless condition of such a spirit, and you will understand something of that peculiar, self-tormenting state which in former times was typified to mankind as a lake of fire and brimstone. WORLDLY SUCCESS OFTEN A MISFORTUNE. Picture to yourselves a man who has been full of energy and power, successful in every undertaking, prosperous in business, influential in his walks of life,—one recognized for great executive ability and dispatch, bowed down and even toadied to by a multitude; one having a large class of human beings in his employ and under his dominion, to whom he is the autocrat upon all questions pertaining to their comfort, even existence itself. The note of this individual is recognized and accepted on all sides; his lightest word is law, and he has only to speak to be immediately obeyed.