soul the possibilities of such achievement; even as the crawling
caterpillar or the corpse-like chrysalis holds the latent
possibility, nay, barring destruction, the certainty indeed, of
the winged imago in all the glory of maturity.

"Mormonism" claims that all nature, both on earth and in heaven,
operates on a plan of advancement; that the very Eternal Father
is a progressive Being; that his perfection, while so complete as
to be incomprehensible by man, possesses this essential quality
of true perfection--the capacity of eternal increase. That
therefore, in the far future, beyond the horizon of eternities
perchance, man may attain the status of a God. Yet this does not
mean that he shall be then the equal of the Deity he now worships
nor that he shall ever overtake those intelligences that are
already beyond him in advancement; for to assert such would be to
argue that there is no progression beyond a certain stage of
attainment, and that advancement is a characteristic of low
organization and inferior purpose alone. We believe that there
was more than the sounding of brass or the tinkling of wordy
cymbals in the fervent admonition of the Christ to his
followers--"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.)

But it is beyond dispute that in his present state, man is far
from the condition of even a relatively perfect being. He is
born heir to the weaknesses as well as to the excellencies of
generations of ancestors; he inherits potent tendencies for both
good and evil; and verily, it seems that in the flesh he has to
suffer for the sins of his progenitors. But divine blessings are
not to be reckoned in terms of earthly possessions or bodily