Fabre's Writings 



whence comes this sublime inspiration? . . . For 

 me and my friend, this was and has remained one 

 of the most eloquent revelations of the ineffable 

 logic that rules the world and guides the uncon- 

 scious by the laws of its inspiration. Moved to 

 the depths by this flash of truth, we felt, forming 

 upon our eyelids, tears of indefinable emotion." * 



The more he sees, the more he reflects, 

 the more radiantly clear does the meaning of 

 these facts appear to him: 



Can the insect have acquired its skill gradually, 

 from generation to generation, by a long series 

 of casual experiments, of blind gropings? Can 

 such order be born of chaos ; such foresight of haz- 

 ard; such wisdom of stupidity? Is the world sub- 

 ject to the fatalities of evolution, from the first 

 albuminous atom which coagulated into a cell, or 

 is it ruled by an Intelligence? The more I see and 

 the more I observe, the more does this Intelligence 

 shine behind the mystery of things. I know that I 

 shall not fail to be treated as an abominable " final 

 causer." Little do I care! A sure sign of being 

 right in the future is to be out of fashion in the 

 present. 



A long time ago [says a contemporary apologist], 

 I was discussing matters with an astronome* who 



1 Souvenirs, I., p. 220. The Hunting Wasps, chap, 



xiii., " The Ammophila." Souvenirs, v., p. 322. The 



Life of the Grasshopper, chap viii., "The Mantis: The 



Nest." 



351 



