a Divine gift, a blessing which the Creator did not withdraw
from his erring children, when they were driven from a paradise of
innocence and loveliness into a world of desolation and strife. He left
it as an invisible cord by which to draw the human heart ever upward, to
a brighter home--the heavenly Eden. Love is the very essence of Divine
law, the source of inspiration, even the fountain of life itself. It is
spontaneous, generous, infinite. To its presence we are indebted for all
that is good, true, and beautiful in Art and Nature. It endows humanity
with countless virtues, and throws a mystic veil over our many faults.
It is this feeling, this immutable law, which controls the destiny of
the race. From its influence empires have fallen, scepters have been
lost. Literature owes to Love its choicest gems. The poet's lay is
sweeter when Cupid tunes the lyre. The artist's brush is truer when
guided by Love. Greece was the cradle of letters and art. Her daughters
were queens of beauty, fitted to inspire the Love of her noblest sons.

[Illustration: Fig. 96.]

The materialism of the nineteenth century has sought to degrade Love; to
define it as purely physical. The result has been a corresponding
degradation of art, and even literature has lost much of its lofty
idealism. Nudity has become a synonym of vulgarity; Love, of lust. "Evil
be to him who evil thinks." True Love never seeks to degrade its object;
on the contrary, it magnifies every virtue, endows it with divinest
attributes, and guards its chastity, or honor, at the sacrifice of its
own life. It increases benevolence by opening the lover's heart to the
wants of suffering humanity. Ideality is the canvas, and imagination the
brush with which Love delineates the beauties of the adored. Love
heightens spirituality, awakens hope, strengthens faith, and enhances
devotion. It quickens the perceptions, intensifies the sensibilities,
and redoubles the memory. It augments muscular activity, and imparts
grace to every movement. The desire to love and to be loved is innate,
and forms as much a part of our being as bone or reason. In fact, Love
may be considered as the very foundation of our spiritual existence, as
bone and reason are the essential bases of our physical and intellectual
being. Every man or woman feels the influence of this emotion, sooner or
later. It is the Kadesh-barnea of human existence; obedience to its
intuitions insures the richest blessings of life