333. I. THAT EXCEPT WITH ONE WIFE THERE CAN BE NO LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, CONSEQUENTLY, NO TRULY CONJUGIAL FRIENDSHIP, CONFIDENCE, POTENCY, AND NO SUCH CONJUNCTION OF MINDS THAT THE TWO MAY BE ONE FLESH. That at this day, love truly conjugial is so rare as to be generally unknown, has been pointed out several times above. That nevertheless, it does actually exist, has also been shown in its own chapter [no. 57 seq.] and after that, here and there in the chapters which followed. But apart from this, who does not know that there is such a love which in excellence and delight so transcends all other loves that they are relatively of small account? That it exceeds the love of self, the love of the world, yea, the love of life, experience testifies. Have there not been, and are there not now, men who, for the woman desired and solicited for a bride, fall on their knees, adore her as a goddess, and submit to her desires as the vilest slaves? a proof that that love exceeds the love of self. Have there not been, and are there not now, men who, for the woman desired and solicited for a bride, count wealth, yea, great treasures if they possess them, as nothing, and who spend them lavishly? a proof that that love exceeds the love of the world. Have there not been and are there not now, men who, for the woman desired and solicited for a bride, esteem life itself of no account and crave death if she does not consent to their entreaty? this, moreover, is testified to by the many combats of rivals even to the death--a proof that that love exceeds the love of life. Have there not been and are there not now, men who, for the woman desired and solicited for a bride, have been made insane by refusal? [2] Who cannot rationally conclude from this commencement of the love with many, that from its essence that love dominates as supreme over every other love? and that the man's soul is then in it and promises to itself eternal blessedness with the woman whom he desires and solicits? Who can see any other cause for this, wheresoever he may search, than that the man has yielded his soul and heart to the one woman? for if a lover while in that state were given the option of choosing the worthiest, richest, and most beautiful of the whole sex, would he not spurn the choice and hold to his chosen one, his heart being hers alone? All this is said that you may acknowledge that there is a conjugial love of such super-eminence, and that it is present when one only of the sex is loved. Viewing the chain of reasons with cultivated acumen, what understanding is there that cannot deduce from this, that if, from his soul or inmost being, the lover constantly persists in his love for that one, he would attain those eternal blessings which he promised himself before the consent, and promises himself when consent has been given? That he does attain them if he approaches the Lord and from Him lives [in accordance with] true religion, has been shown above. Who but He can enter man's life from above and impart internal heavenly joys and carry them over into all that follows? and the more so when, at the same time, He also gives enduring potency. The conclusion that there is no such love, nor can be, simply because it does not exist with one's self or with this man or that, has no force.
