A man wielding such authority, and delighting in it, is always ambitious and arrogant; he is held in fear by those under his charge, who endeavor to cajole him into some degree of mercy even while secretly despising him. This power, grandeur, prosperity, and worldly influence has been gained by the potency of a domineering, masterful will; but at the expense of the interior nature, which is stripped of all adornments and barren of those fruitful conditions necessary to the happiness and peace of spirits. Such a man passes from the body. With the temple of clay he is shorn of all his power, grandeur, influence, and wealth; for such as he had were of the earth, temporal in their character and perishable. But the qualities of his mind are still his; the energy of his nature has not departed, the positive will-force does not desert him; he remains ambitious still. He does not become an imbecile or an idiot, therefore he is capable of realizing all that he has lost; but he has not yet learned that those things were unworthy an immortal soul, and that there is something of inestimable value to the spirit that may yet be acquired. He is in the condition that a strong, passionate man on earth would be in who had lost all that was dearest to him. At times, he is violent in the expression of his emotions, again he sinks into the apathy of despair; frequently he returns to earth, seeking to command attention, and to force obedience to his behests, and occasionally he endeavors to burst asunder the conditions that surround him. Ask such a spirit as this of the beauties of the immortal life, and he will declare there are none,—that nature there is sterile and barren, that only damp clouds and fogs are to be seen, that rugged rocks and stones compose the roads, that the dwellings are uncomfortable and confining, and that the inhabitants are uncongenial and inhospitable. The truth is, this person is so enwrapped in the murky atmosphere of his own being, so chilled by the restless, combatant elements of his own mind, so torn by conflicting emotions, that he cannot see beyond the shadowy outline of his own selfish nature; and whatever object or person comes into the line of his vision becomes colored or darkened by the greyness of his own life, and presents an appearance corresponding to the conditions by which he is confined. EARTHLY CONDITIONS CONTINUED IN SPIRIT LIFE.