If the suggestion made near the outset of these remarks, in _Plain Facts for Old and Young

the reproductive function in man and animals--viz., that the seasons

of sexual approach should be governed by the inclination of the

female--were conscientiously followed, it would undoubtedly do away

with at least three-fourths of the excesses which have been under

consideration. Before rejecting the hint so plainly offered by nature,

let every man consider for a moment whether he has any other than purely

selfish arguments to produce against it.

Early Moderation.--The time of all others when moderation is most

imperatively demanded, yet least likely to be practiced, is at the

beginning of matrimonial life. Many a woman dates the beginning of a

life of suffering from the first night after marriage; and the mental

suffering from the disgusting and even horrible recollections of that

night, the events of which were scarred upon her mind as well as upon

her body, have made her equally as wretched mentally as bodily.

A learned French writer, in referring to this subject, says, "The

husband who begins with his wife by a rape is a lost man. He will never

be loved."

We quote the following very sensible words from Dr. Napheys:--

"It sometimes happens that marriage is consummated with difficulty.

To overcome this, care, management, and forbearance should always be

employed, and anything like precipitation and violence avoided."

Cases have come under our care of young wives who have required months

of careful treatment to repair the damage inflicted on their wedding

night. A medical writer has reported a case in which he was called upon

to testify in a suit for divorce, which is an illustration of so gross

a degree of sensuality that the perpetrator certainly deserved most

severe punishment. The victim, a beautiful and accomplished young lady,

to please her parents, was married to a man much older than herself,

riches being the chief attraction. She at once began to pine, and in

a very few months was a complete wreck. Emaciated, spiritless, haggard,

she was scarcely a shadow of her former self. The physician who was

called in, upon making a local examination, found those delicate organs

in a state of most terrible laceration and inflammation. The bladder,

rectum, and other adjacent organs, were highly inflamed, and sensitive

in the highest degree. Upon inquiring respecting the cause, he found

that from the initial night she had been subjected to the most excessive

demands by her husband, "day and night." The tortures she had undergone

had been terrific; and her mind trembled upon the verge of insanity.

She entered suit for divorce on the charge of cruelty, but was defeated,

the judge ruling that the law has no jurisdiction in matters of that

sort.

In another somewhat similar case which came to our knowledge, a young

wife was delivered from the lecherous assaults of her husband--for they

were no better--by the common sense of her neighbor friends, who

gathered in force and insisted upon their discontinuance. It is only

now and then that cases of this sort come to the surface. The majority

of them are hidden deep down in the heart of the poor, heart-broken

wife, and too often they are hidden along with the victim in an early

grave.

PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION:

ITS EVILS AND DANGERS.

The evil considered in the preceding section is by far the greatest

cause of those which will be dwelt upon in this. Excesses are habitually

practiced through ignorance or carelessness of their direct results,

and then to prevent the legitimate result of the reproductive act,

innumerable devices are employed to render it fruitless. To even

mention all of these would be too great a breach of propriety, even

in this plain-spoken work; but accurate description is unnecessary,

since those who need this warning are perfectly familiar with all the

foul accessories of evil thus employed. We cannot do better than to

quote from the writings of several of the most eminent authors upon

this subject. The following paragraphs are from the distinguished Mayer,

who has already been frequently quoted:--

"The numerous stratagems invented by debauch to annihilate the natural

consequences of coition, have all the same end in view."

Conjugal Onanism.--"The soiling of the conjugal bed by the shameful

maneuvers to which we have made allusion, is mentioned for the first

time in Gen. 38:6, and following verses: 'And it came to pass, when

he [Onan] went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the

ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing

which he did displeased the Lord; wherefore he slew him.'

"Hence the name of _conjugal onanism_.

"One cannot tell to what great extent this vice is practiced, except

by observing its consequences, even among people who fear to commit

the slightest sin, to such a degree is the public conscience perverted

upon this point. Still, many husbands know that nature often succeeds

in rendering nugatory the most subtle calculations, and reconquers the

rights which they have striven to frustrate. No matter; they persevere,

none the less, and by the force of habit they poison the most blissful

moments of life, with no surety of averting the result that they fear.

So, who knows if the infants, too often feeble and weazen, are not the

fruit of these in themselves incomplete _procreations_, and disturbed

by preoccupations foreign to the generic act? Is it not reasonable to

suppose that the creative power, not meeting in its disturbed functions

the conditions necessary for the elaboration of a normal product, the

conception might be from its origin imperfect, and the being which

proceeded therefrom, one of those monsters which are described in

treatises on teratology?"

"Let us see, now, what are the consequences to those given to this

practice of conjugal onanism.

"We have at our disposition numerous facts which rigorously prove the

disastrous influence of abnormal coitus to the woman, but we think it

useless to publish them. All practitioners have more or less observed

them, and it will only be necessary for them to call upon their memories

to supply what our silence leaves. 'However, it is not difficult to

conceive,' says Dr. Francis Devay, 'the degree of perturbation that

a like practice should exert upon the genital system of woman by

provoking desires which are not gratified. A profound stimulation is

felt through the entire apparatus; the uterus, fallopian tubes, and

ovaries enter into a state of orgasm, a storm which is not appeased

by the natural crisis; a nervous super-excitation persists. There

occurs, then, what would take place if, presenting food to a famished

man, one should snatch it from his mouth after having thus violently

excited his appetite. The sensibilities of the womb and the entire

reproductive system are teased for no purpose. It is to this cause,

too often repeated, that we should attribute the multiple neuroses,

those strange affections which originate in the genital system of woman.

Our conviction respecting them is based upon a great number of

observations. Furthermore, the normal relations existing between the

married couple undergo unfortunate changes; this affection, founded

upon reciprocal esteem, is little by little effaced by the repetition

of an act which pollutes the marriage bed; from thence proceed certain

hard feelings, certain deep impressions which, gradually growing,

eventuate in the scandalous ruptures of which the community rarely know

the real motive.'

"If the good harmony of families and their reciprocal relations are

seriously menaced by the invasion of these detestable practices, the

health of women, as we have already intimated, is fearfully injured.

A great number of neuralgias appear to us to have no other cause. Many

women that we have interrogated on this matter have fortified this

opinion. But that which to us has passed to the condition of

incontestable proof, is the prevalence of uterine troubles, of

enervation among the married, hysterical symptoms which are met with

in the conjugal relation as often as among young virgins, arising from

the vicious habits of the husbands in their conjugal intercourse....

Still more, there is a graver affection, which is daily increasing,

and which, if nothing arrests its invasion, will soon have attained

the proportions of a scourge; we speak of the degeneration of the womb.

We do not hesitate to place in the foremost rank, among the causes of

this redoubtable disease, the refinements of civilization, and

especially the artifices introduced in our day in the generic act. When

there is no procreation, although the procreative faculties are excited,

we see these pseudo-morphoses arise. Thus it is noticed that polypi

and schirrus [cancer] of the womb are common among prostitutes. And

it is easy to account for the manner of action of this pathogenetic

cause, if we consider how probable it is that the ejaculation and

contact of the sperm with the uterine neck, constitutes, for the woman,

the crisis of the genital function, by appeasing the venereal orgasm

and calming the voluptuous emotions under the action of which the entire

economy is convulsed."

"We may, we trust, be pardoned for remarking upon the artifices imagined

to prevent fecundation that there is in them an immense danger, of

incalculable limits. We do not fear to be contradicted or taxed with

exaggeration in elevating them into the proportions of a true

calamity."

The following is from an eminent physician[25] who for many years

devoted his whole attention to the diseases of women and lectured upon

the subject in a prominent medical college:--

"It is undeniable that all the methods employed to prevent pregnancy

are physically injurious. Some of these have been characterized with

sufficient explicitness, and the injury resulting from incomplete

coitus to both parties has been made evident to all who are willing

to be convinced. It should require but a moment's consideration to

convince any one of the harmfulness of the common use of cold ablutions

and astringent infusions and various medicated washes. Simple and often

wonderfully salutary as is cold water to a diseased limb, festering

with inflammation, yet few are rash enough to cover a gouty toe,

rheumatic knee, or erysipelatous head with cold water.... Yet, when

in the general state of nervous and physical excitement attendant upon

coitus, when the organs principally engaged in this act are congested

and turgid with blood, do you think you can with impunity throw a flood

of cold or even lukewarm water far into the vitals in a continual stream?

Often, too, women add strong medicinal agents, intended to destroy by

dissolution the spermatic germs, ere they have time to fulfill their

natural destiny. These powerful astringents suddenly corrugate and

close the glandular structure of the parts, and this is followed,

necessarily, by a corresponding reaction, and the final result is

debility and exhaustion, signalized by leucorrhoea, prolapsus, and

other diseases.

"Finally, of the use of intermediate tegumentary coverings, made of

thin rubber or gold-beater's skin, and so often relied upon as absolute

preventives, Madame de Stael is reputed to have said, 'They are cobwebs

for protection, and bulwarks against love.' Their employment certainly

must produce a feeling of shame and disgust utterly destructive of the

true delight of pure hearts and refined sensibilities. They are

suggestive of licentiousness and the brothel, and their employment

degrades to bestiality the true feelings of manhood and the holy state

of matrimony. Neither do they give, except in a very limited degree,

the protection desired. Furthermore, they produce (as alleged by the

best modern French writers, who are more familiar with the effect of

their use than we are in the United States) certain physical lesions

from their irritating presence as foreign bodies, and also, from the

chemicals employed in their fabrication, and other effects inseparable

from their employment, ofttimes of a really serious nature.

"I will not further enlarge upon these instrumentalities. Sufficient

has been said to convince any one that to trifle with the grand functions

of our organism, to attempt to deceive and thwart nature in her highly

ordained prerogatives--no matter how simple seem to be the means

employed--is to incur a heavy responsibility and run a fearful risk.

It matters little whether a railroad train is thrown from the track

by a frozen drop of rain or a huge bowlder lying in the way, the result

is the same, the injuries as great. Moral degradation, physical

disability, premature exhaustion and decrepitude are the result of

these physical frauds, and force upon our conviction the adage, which

the history of every day confirms, that 'honesty is the best policy.'"

[Footnote 25: Dr. Gardner.]

Within the last ten years we have had under treatment many hundred cases

of ladies suffering from ailments of a character peculiar to the sex;

and in becoming acquainted with the history of individual cases we have,

in many instances, found that the real cause of the disease which had

sapped the vitality and undermined the constitution slowly but surely

until cheerful health and freshness had given place to suffering,

debility, and, in many cases, most deplorable melancholy, was the very

crime against nature mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. The effects

of these sins against nature are frequently not felt for years after

the cause has been at work, and even then are seldom attributed to the

true cause. In some instances we have known persons to suffer on for

many years without having once suspected that the cause of their

sufferings was a palpable violation of nature's laws. Uterine diseases

thus induced are among the most obstinate of diseases of this class,

being often of long standing, and hence of a very serious character.

Dr. Wm. Goodell of Philadelphia has recently called attention to the

fact that the prevention of conception is one of the most common causes

of prolapsus of the ovaries, a very common and painful disease. Not

infrequently, too, other organs, particularly the bladder, become

affected, either through sympathy or in consequence of the congested

condition of the contiguous parts.

A difficulty which we have often met with has been the inability to

convince those who have been guilty of the practices referred to, of

the enormity of the sin against both soul and body. In spite of all

warnings, perhaps supplemented by sufferings, the practice will often

be continued, producing in the end the most lamentable results. Too

often it is the case that this reluctance to obey the dictates of

Nature's laws is the result of the unfeeling and unreasonable demands

of a selfish husband.

Shaker Views.--The Shakers do not, as many suppose, believe wholly in

celibacy. They believe in marriage and reproduction regulated by the

natural law. They, also, would limit population, but not by interfering

with nature; rather, by following nature's indications to the very

letter. They believe "that no animals should use their reproductive

powers and organs for any other than the simple purpose of procreation."

Recognizing the fact that this is the law among lower animals, they

insist upon applying it to man. Thus they find no necessity for the

employment of those abominable contrivances so common among those who

disregard the laws of nature. Who will not respect the purity which

must characterize sexual relations so governed? Such a method for

regulating the number of offspring is in immense contrast with that

of the Oneida Community, which opens the door to the unstinted

gratification of lust, separates the reproductive act entirely from

its original purpose, and makes it the means of mere selfish, sensual,

beastly--worse than brutish--gratification.

Those who are acquainted with the history of the founder of this

community are obliged to look upon him as a scheming sensualist who

well knows the truth, but deliberately chooses a course of evil, and

beguiles into his snares others as sensual as himself. The abominations

practiced among the members of the community which he has founded are

represented by those who have had an inside view of its workings as

too foul to mention. It seems almost wonderful that Providence does

not lay upon this gigantic brothel his hand of vengeance as in ancient

times he did upon Sodom, which could hardly have been more sunken in

infamy than is this den of licentiousness. It is, indeed, astonishing

that it should be tolerated in the midst of a country which professes

to regard virtue and respect the marriage institution. We are glad to

note that popular opinion is calling loudly for the eradication of this

foul ulcer. Only a short time ago a convention of more than fifty

ministers met at Syracuse, N. Y., for the express purpose of considering

ways and means for the removal of this blot "by legal measures or

otherwise." We sincerely wish them success; and it appears to us that

the people in that vicinity would be justified should they rise _en

masse_ and purge their community of an evil so heinous, in case no civil

authority can be induced to do the work of expurgation.[26]

[Footnote 26: Just as this edition is going to press we receive the

gratifying information that the younger members of the Community have

become disgusted with their sensual life and announced that their

former vile practices will be discontinued. Mr. Noyes with a few

followers has sought refuge in Canada.--J. H. K.]

Moral Bearings of the Question.--Most of the considerations presented

thus far have been of a physical character, though occasional

references to the moral aspect of the question have been made. In a

certain sense--and a true one--the question is wholly a moral one; for

what moral right have men or women to do that which will injure the

integrity of the physical organism given them, and for which they are

accountable to their Creator? Surely none; for the man who destroys

himself by degrees, is no less a murderer than he who cuts his throat

or puts a bullet through his brain. The crime is the same--being the

shortening of human life--whether the injury is done to one's self or

to another. In this matter, there are at least three sufferers; the

husband, the wife, and the offspring, though in most cases, doubtless,

the husband is the one to whom the sin almost exclusively belongs.

Unconsidered Murders.--But there is a more startling phase of this

moral question. It is not impossible to show that actual violence is

done to a human life.

It has been previously shown that in the two elements, the ovum of the

female, and the spermatozoon of the male, are, in rudimentary form,

all the elements which go to make up the "human form divine." Alone,

neither of these elements can become anything more than it already is;

but the instant that the two elements come in contact, fecundation takes

place, and the individual life begins. From that moment until maturity

is reached, years subsequently, the whole process is only one of

development. Nothing absolutely new is added at any subsequent moment.

In view of these facts, it is evident that at the very instant of

conception the embryonic human being possesses all the right to life

it ever can possess. It is just as much an individual, a distinct human

being, possessed of soul and body, as it ever is, though in a very

immature form. That conception may take place during the reproductive

act cannot be denied. If, then, means are employed with a view to prevent

conception immediately after the accomplishment of the act, or at any

subsequent time, if successful, it would be by destroying the delicate

product of the conception which had already occurred, and which, as

before observed, is as truly a distinct individual as it can ever

become--certainly as independent as at any time previous to birth.

Is it immoral to take human life? Is it a sin to kill a child? Is it

a crime to strangle an infant at birth? Is it a murderous act to destroy

a half-formed human being in its mother's womb? Who will dare to answer

"No," to one of these questions? Then, who can refuse assent to the

plain truth that it is equally a murder to deprive of life the most

If the suggestion made near the outset of these remarks, in comparing