It has been only through ignorance and superstition, and the limited knowledge of the masses, that the kings and emperors of earth have been enabled to sway their jewelled sceptres over the necks of the people.  But their reign is drawing to a close; their glories have culminated; and the day is rapidly approaching when earth will be governed even as the heavens above are governed.  As in the world of nature, “the same chance happens alike to all,” and every child in time may become a man and every infant a father, and the experience of one becomes the experience of all, so in the government of the spirit world, every man can rise and become for a space of time the patriarchal dictator of a republic.

The prevailing form of our republic differs from that of the American republic in many particulars.  Our term of office is of shorter duration than with you.  Our directors while in office make friendly excursions to other republics.  Matters of state with us are not so weighty or complicated as with you, nor are encroachments and reprisals so common.  We are not compelled to 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.