Delos was a small but very celebrated island near the center
of the Egean Sea. It was a sacred island, devoted to religious
rites, and all contention, and violence, and, so far as
possible, all suffering and death, were excluded from it. The
sick were removed from it; the dead were not buried there; armed
ships and armed men laid aside their hostility to each other
when they approached it. All was an enchanting picture of peace
and happiness upon its shores. In the center of the island was a
large natural fountain, from which issued a fertilizing stream;
a populous city stood near the port, and the whole island was
adorned with temples and palaces of magnificence.
Such an island might our world be were it not for sin and its ravages;
were war no more, and were the Fountain of Life permitted to water it.
(Text.)
(1479)
=Idealism and the Practical Life=--See PRACTICAL, THE.