"
"Then when we have grown to a good old age, I suppose we have no
instinct left in us?"
"Not so, my dear boy; there is one and a most powerful instinct
implanted in man which never deserts him on this side of the grave. It
is the fear, not of death, but of utter annihilation, that of becoming
nothing after death. This instinctive feeling could not have been so
deeply implanted in us, but as an assurance that we shall not be
annihilated after death, but that our souls shall still exist, although
our bodies shall have perished. It may be termed the instinctive
evidence of a future existence."
"That is very true, Mr. Seagrave," observed Ready.
"Instinct in animals, William," continued Mr. Seagrave, "is a feeling
which compels them to perform certain acts without previous thought or
reflection; this instinct is in full force at the moment of their
birth; it was therefore perfect in the beginning, and has never varied.
The swallow built her nest, the spider its web, the bee formed its
comb, precisely in the same way four thousand years ago, as they do
now. I may here observe, that one of the greatest wonders of instinct
is the mathematical form of the honeycomb of the bee, which has been
proved by demonstration to be that by which is given the greatest
possible saving of time and labour.
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