Creation is arranged on a gradually ascending scale of perfection. Each class of beings accomplishes its own purpose in its own sphere, and leads on to something higher. Man, as he is in this present life, is no exception to the rule. Compared with the lower creation, he is the last and perfected product of this earth, the final term of its physical evolution; but he has not attained his own perfection; something more is to follow. The further development of man does not consist in the accumulation of the means of existence, and the multiplication of the works of his hands on a globe that must some day perish; these are but subsidiary to something better. Nor is it the wildly fancied improvement of the species till a higher form of rational animal shall emerge and the present type disappear. Revelation shows that the course of evolution comes to an end in the actual men who have lived and who are now living; for they are immortal, and each one is called to the higher life, and supernatural perfection, and the heavenly life. In human life on earth there is an intellectual advance through the ages. But this is not all. There is a social development, i.e., in organization, and in man's relations to his fellow-men. But beyond this, there is the development of the relations of the human race with the Infinite Spirit and with supreme absolute Life. This is the true line of human perfectibility. Take care that you do not come to a stand half-way, or that you do not mistake one of the means of progress for the object of all effort. Seek God alone.
