The grave physiological error of promoting marriage between the young and the old cannot be dwelt on here. It is productive of very grave evils, both to the health and happiness of the individual and to the growth of the Race. The steady decrease of marriage, and at the same time the late date at which it is contracted as licentiousness increases, is shown by a comparison of the statistics of Belgium and France with those of England. We find also that the character of the population deteriorates with the spread of vice--the standard of recruiting for the army is lowered, an ever-increasing mass of fatherless children die or become criminals, and, finally, the natural growth of the population of the country constantly decreases. The records of History confirm the teaching of Physiology and Observation in relation to the fundamental character of sexual virtue, as the secret of durable national greatness. The decline of all the great nations of antiquity is marked by the prevalence of gross social corruption. The complex effects of the same cause are strikingly observed in the condition of the Mohammedan and other Eastern races and in all the tribes subject to them. We find amongst these races, as the result of their sexual customs, a want of human charity. This is shown in the absence of benevolent institutions and other modes of expressing sympathy. A great gulf separates the rich and poor, bridged over by no offices of kindness, no sense of the sacred oneness of humanity, which is deeper than all separations of caste or condition. There is no respect shown for human life, which is lightly and remorselessly sacrificed, and punishment degenerates into torture. There is also an incapacity for understanding the fundamental value of truth and honesty, and a consequent impossibility of creating a good government. We observe that bravery degenerates into fierceness and cruelty, and that the apathy of the masses keeps them victims of oppression. It is the exhibition of a race where there is no development of the Moral Element in human nature. These general characteristics and their cause were well described by the celebrated surgeon Lallemand, who says: ‘The contrast between the polygamous and sensual East and the monogamous and intellectual West displays on a large scale the different results produced by the different exercise of the sexual powers. On one side, Polygamy, harems, seraglios--the source of venereal excesses--barbarous mutilations, revolting and unnatural vice, with the population scanty, inactive, indolent, sunk in ignorance, and consequently the victim of misery and of every kind of despotism. On the other side, Monogamy, Christian austerity, more equal distribution of domestic happiness, increase of intelligence, liberty, and general well-being; rapid increase of an active, laborious, and enterprising population, necessarily spreading and dominating.’