Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/232

 It could be only one case out of thousands, he decides.

"Great heavens! Among what terrific unseen forces we live! And in exact proportion to every man's arrogant denial of the 'Divinity that shapes our ends,' so will be measured out to him the revelation of the invisible. Strange that the human race has never entirely realized as yet the depth of the meaning in the words describing hell: 'Where the worm dieth not, and where the flame is never quenched.' The 'worm' is Retribution, the 'flame' is the immortal Spirit,—and the two are forever striving to escape from the other. Horrible! And yet there are men who believe in neither one thing nor the other, and reject the Redemption that does away with both! God forgive us all our sins—and especially the sins of pride and presumption!"

Other of the Doctor's thoughtful utterances are well worth quoting. "To the wise student of things there is no time and no distance. All history from the very beginning is like a wonderful chain in which no link is ever really broken, and in which every part fits closely to the other part,—though why the chain should exist at all is a mystery we cannot solve. Yet, I am quite certain that even our late friend Araxes has his connection with the present, if only for the reason that he lived in the past."

Armand asks him how he argues out that theory, and the Doctor replies: