A GENERAL EUTHANASIA. 
289 
when thus stricken, the wasp saws it with three strokes of its teeth, and 
leaves the head and corselet to palpitate for some time longer, while the 
belly, filled with honey, the barbarian carries off as a gift for its young. 
It feels no remorse. The death of others apparently does not cause 
a pang to this creature, which knows that it too will die to-morrow. 
What do I say ? 
Our virgins of Tauris do not wait until Nature lays upon them 
her heavy hand and the ignoble leaden shroud of winter. They have 
borne the sword; they will die by the sword. The republic ends in a 
general massacre. The children, recently, ay, and still, so dear, are 
slain; dilatory children whom cold and want would kill to-morrow; 
their sisters, aunts, and affectionate nurses securing them at least the 
advantage of dying by the hands of those who love them. This latter 
gift, a speedy death, is freely bestowed on numerous unfortunates who 
had no thought of soliciting it,—on little useless males, even on young 
workers who were born late, and cannot boast of a constitution suffi¬ 
ciently strong to resist the winter. 
Let it not be said that the heroic race of wasps is ever seen to 
request the humiliating hospitality of the smoky roofs of man, and, for 
the sake of living a little longer, to expose its melancholy remains in 
the shambles of a spider’s web! No, children! No, sisters! Die ! 
The republic is immortal. Some one of us, favoured by the yearly 
miracle and great lottery of Nature, will be called upon to recommence 
the entire work. And if but one remains, it is enough. Should the 
world perish, a single true heart would suffice to re-create it. 
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