Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners Part 20

9. INTELLIGENCE.--A mother must naturally possess intelligence, in order to rear her children intelligently, consequently it is natural for man to chiefly admire mental qualities in women, for utility and practicability depend upon intelligence. Therefore a man generally loves those charms in women which prepare her for the duties of companions.h.i.+p. If a woman desires to be loved, she must cultivate her intellectual gifts, be interesting and entertaining in society, and practical and helpful in the home, for these are some of the qualifications which make up the highest type of beauty.

10. PIETY AND RELIGION IN WOMEN.--Men who love home and the companions.h.i.+p of their wives, love truth, honor and honesty. It is this higher moral development that naturally leads them to admire women of moral and religious natures. It is therefore not strange that immoral men love moral and church-loving wives. Man naturally admires the qualities which tend to the correct government of the home. Men want good and pure children, and it is natural to select women who insure domestic contentment and happiness. A bad man, of course, does not deserve a good wife, yet he will do his utmost to get one.

11. FALSE APPEARANCE.--Men love reserved, coy and discreet women much more than blunt, shrewd and boisterous. Falsehood, false hair, false curls, false forms, false bosoms, false colors, false cheeks, and all that is false, men naturally dislike, for in themselves they are a poor foundation on which to form family ties, consequently duplicity and hypocrisy in women is very much disliked by men, but a frank, honest, conscientious soul is always lovable and lovely and will not become an old maid, except as a matter of choice and not of necessity.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

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History of Marriage.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. "It is not good for man to be alone," was the Divine judgment, and so G.o.d created for him an helpmate; therefore s.e.x is as Divine as the soul.

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2. POLYGAMY.--Polygamy has existed in all ages. It is and always has been the result of moral degradation and wantonness.

3. THE GARDEN OF EDEN.--The Garden of Eden was no harem. Primeval nature knew no community of love; there was only the union of two souls, and the twain were made one flesh. If G.o.d had intended man to be a polygamist he would have created for him two or more wives; but he only created one wife for the first man. He also directed Noah to take into the ark two of each sort--a male and female--another evidence that G.o.d believed in pairs only.

4. ABRAHAM no doubt was a polygamist, and the general history of patriarchal life shows that the plurality of wives and concubinage were national customs, and not the inst.i.tutions authorized by G.o.d.

5. EGYPTIAN HISTORY.--Egyptian history, in the first ostensible form we have, shows that concubinage and polygamy were in common practice.

6. SOLOMON.--It is not strange that Solomon, with his thousand wives, exclaimed: "All is vanity and vexation of spirit." Polygamy is not the natural state of man.

7. CONCUBINAGE AND POLYGAMY continued till the fifth century, when the degraded condition of woman became to some extent matters of some concern and recognition. Before this woman was regarded simply as an instrument of procreation, or a mistress of the household, to gratify the pa.s.sions of man.

8. THE CHINESE marriage system was, and is, practically polygamous, for from their earliest traditions we learn, although a man could have but one wife, he was permitted to have as many concubines as he desired.

9. MOHAMMEDANISM.--Of the 150,000,000 Mohammedans all are polygamists.

Their religion appeals to the luxury of animal propensities, and the voluptuous character of the Orientals has penetrated western Europe and Africa.

10. MORMONISM.--The Mormon Church, founded by Joseph Smith, practiced polygamy until the beginning of 1893, when the church formally declared and resigned polygamy as a part or present doctrine of their religious inst.i.tution. Yet all Mormons are polygamists at heart. It is a part of their religion; national law alone restrains them.

11. FREE LOVERS.--There is located at Lenox, Madison County, New York, an organization popularly known as Free Lovers. The members advocate a system of complex marriage, a sort of promiscuity, with a freedom of love for {134} any and all. Man offers woman support and love, woman enjoying freedom, self-respect, health, personal and mental competency, gives herself to man in the boundless sincerity of an unselfish union. In their system, love is made synonymous with s.e.xuality, and there is no doubt but what woman is only a plaything to gratify animal caprice.

12. MONOGAMY (SINGLE WIFE), is a law of nature evident from the fact that it fulfills the three essential conditions of man, viz.: the development of the individual, the welfare of society and reproduction. In no nation with a system of polygamy do we find a code of political and moral rights, and the condition of woman is that of a slave. In polygamous countries nothing is added to the education and civilization. The natural tendency is sensualism, and sensualism tends to mental starvation.

13. CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION has lifted woman from slavery to liberty.

Wherever Christian civilization prevails there are legal marriages, pure homes and education. May G.o.d bless the purity of the home.

Marriage.

"Thus grief still treads upon the heel of pleasure, Married in haste we may repent at leisure."--SHAKSPEARE.

The parties are wedded. The priest or clergyman has p.r.o.nounced as one those hearts that before beat in unison with each other. The a.s.sembled guests congratulate the happy pair. The fair bride has left her dear mother bedewed with tears and sobbing just as if her heart would break, and as if the happy bridegroom was leading her away captive against her will. They enter the carriage. It drives off on the wedding tour, and his arms encircles the yielding waist of her now all his own, while her head reclines on the breast of the man of her choice. If she be young and has married an old man, she will be sad. If she has married for a home, or position, or wealth, a pang will shoot across her fair bosom. If she has married without due consideration or on too light an acquaintance, it will be her sorrow before long. But, if loving and beloved, she has united her destiny with a worthy man, she will rejoice, and on her journey feel a glow of satisfaction and delight unfelt before and which will be often renewed, and daily prove as the living waters from some perennial spring.

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The Advantages of Wedlock.

'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark, Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home; 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark Our coming, and look brighter when we come.--BYRON, DON JUAN.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. Marriage is the natural state of man and woman. Matrimony greatly contributes to the wealth and health of man.

2. Circ.u.mstances may compel a man not to select a companion until late in life. Many may have parents or relatives, dependent brothers and sisters to care for, yet family {136} ties are cultivated, notwithstanding the home is without a wife.

3. In Christian countries the laws of marriage have greatly added to the health of man. Marriage in barbarous countries, where little or no marriage ceremonies are required, benefits man but little. There can be no true domestic blessedness without loyalty and love for the select and married companion. All the licentiousness and l.u.s.t of a libertine, whether civilized or uncivilized, bring him only unrest and premature decay.

4. A man, however, may be married and not mated, and consequently reap trouble and unhappiness. A young couple should first carefully learn each other by making the courts.h.i.+p a matter of business, and sufficiently long that the disposition and temper of each may be thoroughly exposed and understood.

5. First see that there is love; secondly, that there is adaptation; thirdly, see that there are no physical defects; and if these conditions are properly considered, cupid will go with you.

6. The happiest place on all earth is home. A loving wife and lovely children are jewels without price, as Payne says:

"'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

7. Reciprocated love produces a general exhilaration of the system. The elasticity of the muscles is increased, the circulation is quickened, and every bodily function is stimulated to renewed activity by a happy marriage.

8. The consummation desired by all who experience this affection, is the union of souls in a true marriage. Whatever of beauty or romance there may have been in the lover's dream, is enhanced and spiritualized in the intimate communion of married life. The crown of wifehood and maternity is purer, more divine than that of the maiden. Pa.s.sion is lost--emotions predominate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ALGERIAN BRIDE.]

9. TOO EARLY MARRIAGES.--Too early marriage is always bad for the female.

If a young girl marries, her system is weakened and a full development of her body is prevented, and the dangers of confinement are considerably increased.

10. Boys who marry young derive but little enjoyment from the connubial state. They are liable to excesses and thereby lose much of the vitality and power of strength and physical endurance.

11. LONG LIFE.--Statistics show that married men live longer than bachelors. Child-bearing for women is conducive to longevity.

{137} 12. COMPLEXION.--Marriage purifies the complexion, removes blotches from the skin, invigorates the body, fills up the tones of the voice, gives elasticity and firmness to the step, and brings health and contentment to old age.

13. TEMPTATIONS REMOVED.--Marriage sanctifies a home, while adultery and libertinism produce unrest, distrust and misery. It must be remembered that a married man can practice the most absolute continence and enjoy a far better state of health than the licentious man. The comforts of companions.h.i.+p develop purity and give rest to the soul.

14. TOTAL ABSTENTION.--It is no doubt difficult for some men to fully abstain from s.e.xual intercourse and be entirely chaste in mind. The great majority of men experience frequent strong s.e.xual desire. Abstention is very apt to produce in their minds voluptuous images and untamable desires which require an iron will to banish or control. The hermit in his seclusion, or the monk in his retreat, are often flushed with these pa.s.sions and trials. It is, however, natural; for remove these pa.s.sions and man would be no longer a man. It is evident that the natural state of man is that of marriage; and he who avoids that state is not in harmony with the laws of his being.

15. PROSt.i.tUTION.--Men who inherit strong pa.s.sions easily argue themselves into the belief, either to practice {138} masturbation or visit places of prost.i.tution, on the ground that their health demands it. Though medical investigation has proven it repeatedly to be false, yet many believe it.

The consummation of marriage involves the mightiest issues of life and is the most holy and sacred right recognized by man, and it is the Balm of Gilead for many ills. Masturbation or prost.i.tution soon blight the brightest prospects a young man may have. Manhood is morality and purity of purpose, not sensuality.

Disadvantages of Celibacy.