And again the same author says, "He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune, for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Certainly, the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men, which, both in affection and means, have married and endowed the public".
Again, what is a conscientious man to do who realizes that there are strong reasons why his race should not be perpetuated? TJncured venereal diseases should halt him, as well as the hereditary tendencies to epilepsy, insanity, nervous breakdowns, alcoholism, malformations, and consanguineous marriage, etc., etc. Alcohol is the first cause of filling the insane asylums, with syphilis second. We need healthy parents or none.
Those who have themselves tied in the strands of their lives, or have had tied for them, such hard knots as cannot be untied, should I withdraw from the sexual life and find a useful outlet for their energies in other ways. However, every family has its skeleton in the closet, and there would be no children if scrupulosity were carried too far.
Marriages are usually contracted under certain adverse circumstances. It is considered the most important event of conscious life, and yet the man and woman are allowed to enter upon their marital duties in complete ignorance of methods, occasions, and purposes. Everything is left to chance and a long series of mistakes is the general rule. The typical bride, it is largely maintained, should be surprised at every revelation until her first child is weaned; and a frequent type of husband is one who has gained experiences of a wholly harmful kind. In reality the woman should be the queen of the sexual relationship and have authority over her body. Marriage is in no sense a makeshift for making a lustful life respectable, but all too frequently the wife is degraded and ruined by overpowering brutality when she should be the arbitress and have her feelings respected.
Physicians do not relish the encomiums which are showered upon families which are merely large. It sounds well to be called the patriarch of many children, but something repels when we see the tombstones of successive wives who contributed to the old sinner's fame, or if the one wife and the later children are enfeebled by undue rapidity of increase. Race suicide is to be found in over production as well as in childless marriages.
If one experience has shown that the wife cannot bear healthy children in safety to herself it is not right to re impregnate her. Instead of a careless relationship there should be forethought and consideration for wife and children. And, furthermore, during the long months of the wife's pregnancy the husband is called upon to be continent, and he is not normal if he cannot remain so.
The question is often asked if a celibate man or woman can be quite sexually normal and have complete peace of mind. The answer is nearly always negative. But let us observe the reason for this. The explanation is quite out Bide of the familiar argument which brings forward' atrophy of the blacksmith's arm from disuse' as a parallel example.
The lachrymal glands will not fail to secrete copious tears even though one has not wept for a score of years. It is the same with the testicles, as has been amply shown heretofore. All need the love and peace of heart which lie so deeply in the relationship of husband, or wife, or parent. It is that of which humanity stands most in need and which glorifies in conformity to established natural law. When that is corrupted the whole benefit of the married life is lost and profoundly degraded.