The spirit and soul of parents are not without-influence upon the soul of their offspring after its birth, as they exercise on the contrary a very great influence upon it. As I have already told you spirits are made to conduce to one another's progress. To the spirits of the parents is confided the mission of developing those of their children by the training they give them. It is a task which is appointed to them, and which they cannot without guilt fail to fulfill. You may ask how is it that good and virtuous parents often give birth to children of perverse and evil nature? In other words, how is it that good qualities of the parents do not always attract to them through sympathy a good spirit to animate their child. A wicked spirit may ask to be allowed to have virtuous parents, in the hope that their counsels may help to amend his ways, and God often confides such a one to the care of virtuous persons in order that he may be benefited by their affection and care. Parents cannot by their intentions and prayers attract a good spirit into the body of their offspring instead of an inferior spirit, but they can improve the spirit of the child whom they have brought into the world and who is confided to them for that purpose.

It is their duty to do this, but bad children are often sent as a trial for the improvement of the parents also. The similarity of character often no-ticed among brothers and sisters, especially so between twins, is owing to the sympathy of two spirits who have been attracted by the similarity of their sentiments and who desire to be together and who are thus made happy. Aversion is sometimes felt betwteen brothers and sisters and twins for one another owing to the fact that the bad spirits have been brought into this relation to improve them. Spirits constitute different families, formed by the similarity of their tendencies, which are more or less purified according to their elevation. Each body is a great family formed by the assembling together of sympathetic spirits. The tendency of the members of these families to unite together is the source of the resemblance which constitutes the distinctive character of each people. Do you suppose that good and benevolent spirits would seek to incarnate them-selves among rude and brutal people. No, spirits sympathize with masses of men as they sympathize with individuals.

They go to the region of the earth with which they are most in harmony.