THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 189 



the sexes is the master-passion of humanity. In 

 youth, it is strong and mastering, in middle life 

 it is beautiful and fruitful and its memories lin- 

 ger long amid the growing years of the aged. 

 Love is life's most intense theme and touches 

 everything, and the novel that does not exploit 

 it and beautify it is disappointing. But for love 

 the novel would not be written. The poem and 

 the novel of all forms of literature dwell upon 

 it and revel in its possibilites and delights. 

 They weave it into garments, wreathe it into 

 coronets, shape it into scepters, gem it with 

 brilliant jewels, and crown its lordly men and 

 queenly women with exquisite beauty and 

 grace. The study of the fiction and poetry of 

 any nation is but the study of the real people 

 themselves, and you may easily read their con- 

 ditions socially, morally and religiously. Geol- 

 ogy is characterized by distinct ages, Silurian, 

 Devonian, Carboniferous, etc. Art and fiction 

 are so real and personal they mirror each its 

 own age in the line of history, and you may 

 read" the character of the civilization of any 

 age by its intellectual work. 



Fiction is a representative art. A great au- 

 thor is a great artist. He has insight and fore- 

 sight; he grasps facts and they speak with the 

 force of logic; he marshals events and they 



