HORIZON LINES 



where they were. Change, but not destruction. 

 When the thunder-cloud disperses, where are its 

 terrible bolts? Withdrawn, probably, or redistrib- 

 uted into the inmost recesses of matter or of the 

 ether. The energy of the human brain and body 

 cannot be destroyed by death, only changed. If 

 consciousness is a force, then it, too, must persist. It 

 seems, in some way, the equivalent of the force of 

 the body, at least one of its phenomena. But is it 

 anything more than the analogue of the light which 

 the electric spark emits, and which is light only to 

 the eye? Consciousness is such only to itself; it can- 

 not be seen or felt or known by other conscious- 

 nesses. What we know about the consciousnesses of 

 others, we know through our own. 



In the presence of the death of our friends no 

 doubt this is a cheerless and depressing kind of 

 philosophy, but in the pursuit of truth, if we are 

 sincere, we do not seek to administer to, or to warm 

 and cheer our human affections. Our seriousness 

 will be measured by the extent to which we put all 

 these things behind us. Heroic self-denial finds a 

 field here as well as in the struggles of life. We do 

 not want to cheer ourselves with illusions, no matter 

 how welcome they are. "All 's right with the world." 

 The laws of life and death are as they should be. The 

 laws of matter and force are as they should be; 

 and if death ends my consciousness, still is death 

 good. I have had life on those terms, and some- 



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