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:
