ithin himself something that "responds" to the appellation; and by
this internal response he must understand and decide in what this
"moral sense" consists. But religion is simple and precise: it calls
this internal sense which lies at the root of life, Love. Social laws
do not enter into this any more than does the entire universe. Love is
the contact between the soul and God; and when this exists, all the
rest is vanity. Good springs therefrom naturally, as sunbeams radiate
from the sun. Creation itself has been given in charge of this
wellspring of love, and it is love which maintains it, as the
contribution of the creature to the provident forces of nature.

Those biological studies which seek to probe the secrets of nature
have also recognized love as the key of life. Scientists have at last
perceived, after much research, this most evident fact: that it is
love which preserves the animal species, and not the "struggle for
existence." In fact, the struggle for existence tends to destroy; and
as regards survival, this is not the exclusive privilege of the
"fittest," as was at first supposed. But existence is indeed bound up
with love. Indeed, the individuals who struggle and conquer are
adults; but who is it that protects the new-born creature and infant
life in process of formation? If a hard and horny covering is the
natural protection of his species, he does not possess it; if it is
strength of muscle, he is weak; if it is tusks, he is without them; if
it is agility, he cannot yet move; if it is fecundity, he is not yet
mature. Therefore, all species should have become extinct, for there
is none so strong but that he once was weak; and there is no infancy
which is not more feeble than any adult life. It is love which
protects all this weakness, and explains "survival." Maternal love,
indeed, is studied to-day with the deepest attention by our scientists
as a natural phenomenon. If the struggle for existence presented to us
a uniform picture of destruction, the phenomena of maternal love are
to-day revealed to us in the richest and most fascinating forms, which
almost represent the occult and sentimental aspect of the marvelous
varieties of forms in nature. It is seen at last to be one of the
"fundamental characteristics of the species," which should be
recognized by all students.

Even insects, which Fabre has described with such a wealth of detail,
small and remote as they are from ourselves, exhibit wonderful