908. The great object of the more prudent and calculating portion of mankind, is to provide for that old age which they all hope to attain, or, if it be not reached, to provide the means for themselves or families which may insure a comfortable if not luxurious support, in case sickness or mutilation should deprive them of the power of making money, or competency to earn wages. 909. But how precarious and fleeting are any such worldly advantages, when compared with those of an eternal home, where every thing desirable may be had without causing a drop of sweat to fall from the brow! Let the description of the higher spheres be compared with any earthly paradise, which, besides inferiority in every attribute which can render it attractive, is open to all the ills of mental and bodily suffering to which flesh is heir. If there be any objection to the consequences of a due appreciation of the bliss which we may expect in the spirit world, it would seem to be founded on its tendency so to enfeeble our interest in this world, as to deter the human efforts on which this sphere is, under God’s laws, mainly dependent for improvement. But then, as a matter of principle, in order to merit elevation in the spirit world, exertion may be induced in this; and exertion _thus_ originating, can never be perverted to the perpetuation of those wrongs now so often forming the steps to human aggrandizement. The subjugation, the pillage, and extirpation of mankind, will never be induced by considerations founded on the desire to accumulate treasure in heaven. 910. There is hardly in respect to any subject, more error than in the estimate made of persons who strive to acquire wealth. The question lies not in the zeal with which it may be sought, but in the object for which it is desired. Although the maxim that the end justifies the means, be immoral when extended so far as to palliate any dereliction of the cardinal virtues, does it not hold good so long as the means employed are consistent with these virtues? Is it not charitable honestly to seek the pecuniary means of being charitable? Is it not liberal to seek the means wherewith to be liberal? Hospitable, to seek the means to support hospitality? Is it not the duty of each man to promote the welfare of his wife and children, by seeking the means wherewith to house, clothe, and feed them, and, moreover, to educate them intellectually as well as morally? Since, when destitute of education, a man is little above a brute, surely it must be meritorious to seek the means of educational improvement, both for ourselves and for those by whom we are surrounded; but more especially for those who are so dependent on us, that it can only through us be attained.