The Progress of the Race 



None of these, perhaps, will survive the 

 new revelation ; but the soul of those who 

 shall up to the end have fvilfillcd the mis- 

 sion that is pre-eminently the mission of 

 man, must inevitably be in the front rank 

 of all to welcome this revelation ; and 

 should they learn therefrom that indiffer- 

 ence, or resignation to the unknown, is 

 the veritable duty, they will be better 

 equipped than the others for the compre- 

 hension of this final resignation and in- 

 difference, better able to turn these to 

 account. 



[114] 

 But such speculations may well be 

 avoided. Let not the possibility of gen- 

 eral annihilation blur our perception of 

 the task before us ; ' above all, let us not 

 count on the miraculous aid of chance. 

 Hitherto, the promises of our imagina- 

 tion notwithstanding, we have always been 

 419 



