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27 - The Epilogue - The War of the Worlds - H G Wells · Classic Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter ten, the epilogue. I cannot but regret now that
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  Speaker 1: I am concluding my story, how little I am able
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  Speaker 1: to contribute to the discussion of the many debatable questions
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  Speaker 1: which are still unsettled. In one respect, I shall certainly
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  Speaker 1: provoke criticism. My particular province is speculative philosophy. My knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of comparative physiology is confined to a book or two.
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  Speaker 1: But it seems to me that Carver's suggestions as to
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  Speaker 1: the reason of the rapid death of the Martians is
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  Speaker 1: so probable as to be regarded almost as a proven conclusion.
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  Speaker 1: I have assumed that in the body of my narrative,
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  Speaker 1: at any rate, in all the bodies of the Martians
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  Speaker 1: that were examined after the war, no bacteria except those
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  Speaker 1: already known as terrestrial species were found. That they did
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  Speaker 1: not bury any of their dead, and the reckless slaughter
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  Speaker 1: they perpetrated point also to an entire ignorance of the
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  Speaker 1: putrefactive process. But probable as this seems, it is by
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  Speaker 1: no means a proven conclusion. Neither is the composition of
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  Speaker 1: the black smoke known which the Martians used with such
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  Speaker 1: deadly effect, and the generator of the heat rays remains
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  Speaker 1: a puzzle. The terrible disasters at the Ealing and South
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  Speaker 1: Kensington Laboratories have disinclined analysts for further investigations upon the
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  Speaker 1: latter spectrum. Analysis of the black powder points unmistakably to
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  Speaker 1: the presence of an unknown element with a brilliant group
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  Speaker 1: of three lines in the green, and it is possible
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  Speaker 1: that it combines with argonne to form a compound which
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  Speaker 1: acts at once with deadly effect upon some constituent in
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  Speaker 1: the blood. But such unproven speculations will scarcely be of
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  Speaker 1: interest to the general reader to whom this story is addressed.
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  Speaker 1: None of the brown scum that drifted down the Thames
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  Speaker 1: after the destruction of Shepperton was examined at the time,
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  Speaker 1: and now none is forthcoming the results of an anatomical
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  Speaker 1: examination of the Martians, so far as the prowling dogs
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  Speaker 1: had left such an examination possible, I have already given.
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  Speaker 1: But every one is familiar with the magnificent and almost
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  Speaker 1: complete specimen in Spirits at the Natural History Museum, and
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  Speaker 1: the countless drawings that have been made from it, And
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  Speaker 1: beyond that the interest of their physiology and structure is
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  Speaker 1: purely scientific, a question of graver and universal interest is
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  Speaker 1: the possibility of another attack from the Martians. I do
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  Speaker 1: not think that nearly enough attention is being given to
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  Speaker 1: this aspect of the matter. At present, the planet Mars
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  Speaker 1: is in conjunction. But with every return to opposition, I
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  Speaker 1: for one, anticipate a renewal of their adventure. In any case,
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  Speaker 1: we should be prepared. It seems to me that it
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  Speaker 1: should be possible to define the position of the gun
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  Speaker 1: from which the shots are discharged, to keep a sustained
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  Speaker 1: watch upon this part of the planet, and to anticipate
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  Speaker 1: the arrival of the next attack. In that case, the
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  Speaker 1: cylinder might be destroyed with dynamite or artillery before it
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  Speaker 1: was sufficiently cool for the Martians to emerge, or they
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  Speaker 1: might be butchered by means of guns so soon as
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  Speaker 1: the screw opened. It seems to me that they have
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  Speaker 1: lost a vast advantage in the failure of their first surprise.
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  Speaker 1: Possibly they see it in the same light. Lessing has
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  Speaker 1: advanced excellent reasons for supposing that the Martians have actually
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  Speaker 1: succeeded in effecting a landing on the planet Venus seven
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  Speaker 1: months ago. Now, Venus and Mars were in alignment with
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  Speaker 1: the sun. That is to say, Mars was in opposition
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  Speaker 1: from the point of view of an observer on Venus. Subsequently,
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  Speaker 1: a peculiar, luminous and sinuous marking appeared on the unillumined
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  Speaker 1: half of the inner planet, and almost simultaneously, a faint
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  Speaker 1: dark mark of a similar sinuous character was detected upon
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  Speaker 1: a photograph of the Martian disc. One needs to see
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  Speaker 1: the drawings of these appearances in order to appreciate fully
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  Speaker 1: their remarkable resemblance in character. At any rate, whether we
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  Speaker 1: expect another invasion or not, our views of the human
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  Speaker 1: future must be greatly modified by these events. We have
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  Speaker 1: learned now that we cannot regard this planet as being
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  Speaker 1: fenced in and a secure, abiding place for man. We
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  Speaker 1: can never anticipate the unseen good or evil that may
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  Speaker 1: come upon us suddenly out of space. It may be
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  Speaker 1: that in the larger design of the universe, this invasion
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  Speaker 1: from Mars is not without its ultimate benefit for men.
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  Speaker 1: It has robbed us of that serene confidence in the future,
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  Speaker 1: which is the most fruitful source of decadence. The gifts
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  Speaker 1: to human science it has brought are enormous, and it
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  Speaker 1: has done much to promote the conception of the common
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  Speaker 1: wheel of mankind. It may be that across the immensity
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  Speaker 1: of space, the Martians have watched the fate of these
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  Speaker 1: pioneers of theirs and learned their lesson, and that on
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  Speaker 1: the planet Venus they have found a securer settlement. Be
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  Speaker 1: that as it may, for many years, yet there will
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  Speaker 1: certainly be no relaxation of the eager scrutiny of the
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  Speaker 1: Martian disk, and those fiery darts of the sky. The
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  Speaker 1: shooting stars will bring with them as they fall an
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  Speaker 1: unavoidable apprehension to all the sons of men. The broadening
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  Speaker 1: of men's views that has resulted can scarcely be exaggerated.
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  Speaker 1: Before the cylinder fell, there was a general persuasion that
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  Speaker 1: through all the deep of space, no life exists beyond
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  Speaker 1: the petty surface of our minute sphere. Now we see further.
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  Speaker 1: If the Martians can reach Venus, there is no reason
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  Speaker 1: to suppose that the thing is impossible for men. And
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  Speaker 1: when the slow cooling of the Sun makes this Earth uninhabitable,
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  Speaker 1: as at last it must do, it may be that
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  Speaker 1: the thread of life that has begun here will have
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  Speaker 1: streamed out and caught our sister planet within its toils.
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  Speaker 1: Dim and wonderful is the vision I have conjured up
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  Speaker 1: in my mind of life spreading slowly from this little
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  Speaker 1: seed bed of the solar system throughout the inanimate vastness
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  Speaker 1: of siderial space. But that is a remote dream. It
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  Speaker 1: may be, on the other hand, that the destruction of
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  Speaker 1: the Martians is only a reprieve to them and not
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  Speaker 1: to us. Perhaps is the future ordained? I must confess
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  Speaker 1: the stress and danger of the time have left an
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  Speaker 1: abiding sense of doubt and insecurity in my mind. I
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  Speaker 1: sit in my study, writing by lamp light, and suddenly
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  Speaker 1: I see again the healing valley below, set with writhing flames,
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  Speaker 1: and feel the house behind and about me empty and desolate.
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  Speaker 1: I go out into the byfleet road, and vehicles pass me.
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  Speaker 1: A butcher boy in a cart, a cab full of visitors,
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  Speaker 1: a workman on a bicycle, children going to school, And
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  Speaker 1: suddenly they become vague and unreal, And I hurry again
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  Speaker 1: with the artillerymen through the hot, brooding silence of a night.
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  Speaker 1: I see the black powder darkening the silent streets, and
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  Speaker 1: the contorted bodies shrouded in that lair. They rise upon me,
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  Speaker 1: tattered and dog bitten. They gibber and grow fiercer, paler, uglier,
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  Speaker 1: mad distortions of humanity at last, and I wake cold
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  Speaker 1: and wretched in the darkness of the night. I go
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  Speaker 1: to London and see the busy multitudes in Fleet Street
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  Speaker 1: and the Strand, and it comes across my mind that
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  Speaker 1: they are but the ghosts of the past, haunting the streets.
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  Speaker 1: That I have seen, silent and wretched, going to and
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  Speaker 1: fro phanfasms in a dead city, the mockery of life
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  Speaker 1: in a galvanized body. And strange too it is to
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  Speaker 1: stand on Primrose Hill, as I did but a day
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  Speaker 1: before writing this last chapter, to see the great province
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  Speaker 1: of houses, dim and blue through the haze of the
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  Speaker 1: smoke and mist, vanishing at last into the vague lower sky.
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  Speaker 1: To see the people walking to and fro among the
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  Speaker 1: flower beds on the hill, to see the sight seers
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  Speaker 1: about the Martian machine that stands there still, To hear
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  Speaker 1: the tumult of playing children, and to recall the time
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  Speaker 1: when I saw it all bright and clear cut, ard
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  Speaker 1: and silent under the dawn of that last great day.
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  Speaker 1: And the strangest of all is it to hold my
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  Speaker 1: wife's hand again, and to think that I have counted
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  Speaker 1: her and that she has counted me among the dead
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  Speaker 1: end of Section twenty seven