The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English: or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred; and Fifty Thousand
John Stuart Mill · en
intuition of love. This sentiment is displayed in every thought and act
of the lover. Every pleasure is insipid unless shared by the beloved;
selfish and exacting to all others, yet always generous and forgiving to
the adored. "Mine and thine, dearest," is the language of Conjugal Love.
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 be 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. Passion is lost; the
emotions predominate.
The connubial relation is not an institution; it was born of the
necessities and desires of our nature. "It is not good for man to be
alone," was the Divine judgment, and so God created for him "an
helpmate." Again, "Male and female created He them;" therefore, sex is
as divine as the soul. It is often perverted, but so is reason, aye, so
is devotion.
The consummation of marriage involves the mightiest issues of life. It
may be the source of infinite happiness or the seal of a living death.
"Love is blind" is an old saying, verified by thousands of ill-assorted
unions. Many unhappy marriages are traceable to one or both of two
sources, Physical Weaknesses and Masquerading. Many are the candidates
for marriage who are rendered unfit therefor from weaknesses of their
sexual systems, induced by the violation of well-established physical
laws.
We cannot too strongly urge upon parents and guardians the imperative
duty of teaching those youths who look to them for instruction, in all
matters which pertain to their future well-being such lessons as are
embraced in the chapter of this book entitled, "Hygiene of the
Reproductive Organs." By attending to such lessons as will give the
child a knowledge of the physiology and hygiene of his whole system, the
errors into which so many of the young fall, and much of the misery
which is so often the dregs of the hymeneal cup, will be avoided.
Masquerading is a modern accomplishment. Girls wear tight shoes,
burdensome skirts, and corsets, all of which prove very injurious to
their health. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, our young ladies are
sorry specimens of womankind, and "palpitators," cosmetics, and all the
modern paraphernalia of fashion are required to make them appear fresh
and blooming. Man is equally to blame. A devotee to all the absurd
devices of fashion, he practically asserts that "dress makes the man."
But physical deformities are of far less importance than moral
imperfections. Frankness is indispensable in love. Each should know the
other's faults and virtues. Marriage will certainly disclose them; the
idol falls and the deceived lover is transformed into a cold, unloving
husband or wife. By far the greater number of unhappy marriages are
attributable to this cause. In love especially, honesty is policy and
truth will triumph.