SECRET HISTORY 63 



mankind has for those who minister successfully to its material 

 needs, as soon as they are dead and mankind's judgment is no 

 longer influenced by these needs, such men are thrown into the 

 background and their servants — artists and scientists — come into 

 the center of the stage. The sober judgment of mankind thus con- 

 firms our assumption : the few men who enrich its spiritual life are 

 its true representatives in the light of eternity. Are we not right 

 then in believing that it is they, and no others, who fulfill its 

 destiny? 



This enables us finally to solve another paradox : how can one 

 reconcile the unity of mankind with a chronic state of distrust, of 

 discord and war, alas! all too obvious? Quite simply; the unity is 

 hidden but deep-seated; the disunity widespread but superficial. 

 The unity is felt and expressed primarily by the few men of all 

 nations whose aims are not selfish, or provincial, nationalistic, 

 racial or sectarian in any way, but largely human: the very few 

 men upon whom has devolved the fulfillment of mankind's pur- 

 pose. They realize intensely that their interests are different from 

 the disunity, from the antagonism felt and expressed by an over- 

 whelming majority: those who are jealous of their own brethren: 

 whose contempt, distrust or even hatred of all other men is one of 

 the emotional sources of their life, one of the stimulants of their 

 activity. These strange feelings are reinforced by what little his- 

 torical knowledge they may have. Indeed historical learning and 

 teaching has dealt thus far largely with the most obvious and 

 noisy part of human evolution, but the least important. In spite of 

 many appearances to the contrary, man's essential purpose is not 

 a struggle for existence or for supremacy, not a devastating 

 scramble for the goods of this world, but a generous and fruitful 

 emulation in the creation and the diffusion of spiritual values. 

 Now this creation takes place to a large extent secretly, for it is 

 not accomplished by crowds, nor by pompous dignitaries offici- 

 ating in the eyes of the people, but by individuals often poor and 

 unknown, who carry on their sacred task in mean garrets, in 



