But my greatest joy has been in assisting the inner powers of others to grow and expand, leading them in their cravings for knowledge, and aiding their faltering steps up the rugged heights of life, in search of truth and right. When I find a soul who delights to take a sentiment and to express it clearly in rhyme, I encourage that spirit, no matter how crude or uncertain its efforts may be, for I perceive that the spirit is putting forth its powers, that, like the feelers of a plant, it is groping around to find a support that will bear it in its growth; and that, if it receives the strength and prop it needs, it will develop into a thing of blossoming beauty. But I do not encourage these souls to put forth their first feeble expressions to the world any more than I would advise the florist to place a tiny, fragile slip of plant-life out in the full glare of a summer day. I watch them, and, by directing their thoughts into proper channels, and influencing them what to read in order to expand their minds, sometimes succeed in raising a rare stock, that favors the world with an abundance of rich and fragrant blossoms. Thousands of spirits are engaged in such work, in divers directions, and in multiplied ways; for they recognize the fact that to have the spirit world peopled by a race of noble, thoughtful, moral, and intellectual souls, we must refine and educate those who are still on earth,—educate them in a knowledge of life and its laws, an understanding of the soul and its requirements, and an appreciation of truth and its unfoldments; and to do this we are teaching and directing those sensitive, intuitive souls who can catch the inspirations of the spheres, and sending them forth as teachers to the masses. In my wanderings to and fro as a spirit, I have become a cosmopolite,—a citizen of the world,—claiming my home wherever I may be of use to humanity. But my efforts for the amelioration of suffering have not been confined to material life alone. I have met many distressed spirits who passed from the body, scarred and scathed by sin and passion, and who, in consequence, have been plunged in mental darkness; to them I have sought to bring hope and encouragement. The world beyond is thronged with those unhappy souls, and, though we cannot save them, as each one must work out his own salvation, yet we can aid and teach them to find the better way, and encourage them to persevere in their efforts to atone for the past by doing right. In my anxiety and eagerness to atone for my own past folly by helping others, I had taken no heed of the lapse of time, my whole soul having been wrapped in my work.