beauties which her rapt and excited soul saw in her adored lover; such as Dante saw in his departed Beatrice.  It was unbounded admiration for Abelard which first called out the love of Heloise; and his undoubted brilliancy and greatness were exaggerated in her loving eyes by her imagination, even as mothers see in children traits that are hidden from all other mortal eyes.  So lofty and godlike did he seem, amidst the plaudits of the schools, and his triumph over all the dignitaries that sought to humble him; so interesting was he to her by his wit, sarcasm, and eloquence,—­that she worshipped him, and deemed it the most exalted honor to possess exclusively his love in return, which he gave certainly to no one else.  Satisfied that he, the greatest man of the world,—­as he seemed and as she was told he was,—­should give to her what she gave to him, she exulted in it as her highest glory.  It was all in all to her; but not to him.  See, then, how superior Heloise was to Abelard in humility as well as self-abnegation.  She was his equal, and yet she ever gloried in his superiority.  See how much greater, too, she was in lofty sentiments, since it was the majesty of his mind and soul which she adored.  He was comparatively indifferent to her when she became no longer an object of desire; but not so with her, since she was attracted by his real or supposed greatness of intellect, which gave permanence to her love, and loftiness also.  He was her idol, since he possessed those qualities which most powerfully excited her admiration.

This then is love, when judged by a lofty standard,—­worship of what is most glorious in mind and soul.  And this exalted love is most common among the female sex, since their passions are weaker and their sentiments are stronger than those of most men.  What a fool a man is to weaken this sympathy, or destroy this homage, or outrage this indulgence; or withhold that tenderness, that delicate attention, that toleration of foibles, that sweet appreciation, by which the soul of woman is kept alive and the lamp of her incense burning!  And woe be to him who drives this confiding idolater back upon her technical obligations!  The form that holds these certitudes of the soul may lose all its beauty by rudeness or neglect.  And even if the form remains, what is a mortal body without the immortal soul which animates it?  The glory of a man or of a woman is the real presence of spiritual love, which brings peace to homes, alleviation to burdens, consolation to sufferings, rest to labors, hope to anxieties, and a sublime repose amid the changes of the world,—­that blessed flower of perennial sweetness and beauty which Adam in his despair bore away from Eden, and which alone almost compensated him for the loss of Paradise.