The Life of the Bee 
no other purpose save that of amusing the 
darkness. So, too, is it possible that 
some stupendous incident may suddenly 
surge from without, from another world, 
‘from a new phenomenon, and either in- 
form this effort with definitive meaning, or 
definitively destroy it. But we must pro- 
ceed on our way as though nothing abnor- 
mal could ever befall us. Did we know 
that to-morrow some revelation, a mes- 
sage, for instance, from a more ancient, 
more luminous planet than ours, were to 
root up our nature, to suppress the laws, 
the passions, and raZical truths of our being, 
our wisest plan still would be to devote 
the whole of to-day to the study of these 
passions, these laws, and these truths, 
which must blend and accord in our 
mind; and to remain faithful to the des- 
tiny imposed on us, which is to subdue, 
and to some extent raise within and 
around us the obscure forces of life. 
418, 
