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CHAPTEK VII. 



OUR SUBORDINATE PERSONALITIES. 



We have seen that we can apprehend neither the be- 

 ginning nor the end of our personality, which comes up 

 out of infinity as an island out of the sea, so gently, 

 that none can say when it 'is first visible on our 

 mental horizon, and fades away in the case of those 

 who leave offspring, so imperceptibly that none can 

 say when it is out of sight. But, like the island, 

 whether we can see it or no, it is always there. Not 

 only are we infinite as regards time, but we are so 

 also as regards extension, being so linked on to the 

 external world that we cannot say where we either 

 begin or end. If those who so frequently declare that 

 man is a finite creature would point out his boun- 

 daries, it might lead to a better understanding. 



Nevertheless, we are in the habit of considering 

 that our personality, or soul, no matter where it begins 

 or ends, and no matter what it comprises, is neverthe- 

 less a single thing, uncompounded of other souls. Yet 

 there is nothing more certain than that this is not at 

 all the case, but that every individual person is a com- 

 pound creature, being made up of an infinite number 



