7. The Pure-Minded Wife.—Happily, as tens of thousands of husbands can testify, the pure-minded wife and mother is not carried away, as men are liable to be, with the force of animal passion. Were it not so, the tendencies to licentiousness in many sons would be stronger than they are. In the vast majority of cases suggestion is never made except by the husband, and it is a matter of deepest gratitude and consideration, that the true wife may become a real helpmeet in restraining this desire in the husband.
8. Young Wife and Children.—We often hear it stated that a young wife has her children quickly. This cannot happen to the majority of women without injury to health and jeopardy to life. The law which rendered it imperative for the land to lie fallow in order to rest and gain renewed strength, is only another illustration of the unity which pervades physical conditions everywhere. It should be known that if a mother nurses her own babe, and the child is not weaned until it is nine or ten months old, the mother, except in rare cases, will not become enceinte again, though cohabitation with the husband takes place.
9. Selfish and Unnatural Conduct.—It is natural and rational that a mother should feed her own children; in the selfish and unnatural conduct of many mothers, who, to avoid the self-denial and patience which are required, hand the little one over to the wet-nurse, or to be brought up by hand, is found in many cases the cause and reason of the unnatural haste of child-bearing. Mothers need to be taught that the laws of nature cannot be broken without penalty. For every woman whose health has been weakened through nursing her child, a hundred have lost strength and health through marital excesses. The haste of having children is the costly penalty which women pay for shirking the mother's duty to the child.
10. Law of God.—So graciously has the law of God been arranged in regard to the mother's strength, that, if it be obeyed, there will be, as a rule, an interval of at least from eighteen months to two years between the birth of one child and that of another. Every married man should abstain during certain natural seasons. In this periodical recurrance God has instituted to every husband the law of restraint, and insisted upon self-control.
11. To Young People Who Are Married.—Be exceedingly careful of license and excess in your intercourse with one another. Do not needlessly expose, by undress, the body. Let not the purity of love degenerate into unholy lust! See to it that you walk according to the divine Word. "Dwelling together as being heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered."
12. Lost Powers.—Many young men after their union showed a marked difference. They lost much of their natural vivacity, energy, and strength of voice. Their powers of application, as business men, students, and ministers, had declined, as also their enterprise, fervor, and kindliness. They had become irritable, dull, pale, and complaining. Many cases of rheumatic fever have been induced through impoverishment, caused by excesses on the part of young married men.
13. Middle Age.—After middle age the sap of a man's life declines in quantity. A man who intends close application to the ministry, to scientific or literary pursuits, where great demands are made upon the brain, must restrain this passion. The supplies for the brain and nervous system are absorbed, and the seed diverted through sexual excesses in the marriage relationship, by fornication, or by any other form of immorality, the man's power must decline: that to this very cause may be attributed the failure and breakdown of so many men of middle age.
14. Intoxicating Drinks.—By all means avoid intoxicating drinks. Immorality and alcoholic stimulants, as we have shown, are intimately related to one another. Wine and strong drink inflame the blood, and heat the passions. Attacking the brain, they warp the judgment, and weaken the power of restraint. Avoid what is called good living: it is madness to allow the pleasures of the table to corrupt and corrode the human body. We are not designed for gourmands, much less for educated pigs. Cold water bathing, water as a beverage, simple and wholesome food, regularity of sleep, plenty of exercise; games such as cricket, football, tennis, boating, or bicycling, are among the best possible preventives against lust and animal passion.
15. Beware of Idleness.—Indolent leisure means an unoccupied mind. When young men lounge along the streets, in this condition they become an easy prey to the sisterhood of shame and death. Bear in mind that evil thoughts precede evil actions. The hand of the worst thief will not steal until the thief within operates upon the hand without. The members of the body which are capable of becoming instruments of sin, are not involuntary actors. Lustful desires must proceed from brain and heart, ere the fire that consumes burns in the member.