The wise father and mother are those naturally indicated to convey

this information to their sons and daughters by word of mouth. By

analogy, by fuller development and description of the reproductive

processes of plant and animal life on which we have touched, the

matter of human procreation may be approached. Parents should stress

the point, when trying to present this subject to the youthful mind,

that man's special functions are only a detail--albeit a most

important one--in nature's vast plan for the propagation of life on

earth. This will have the advantage of correcting a trend on the part

of the imaginative boy or girl to lay too much stress on the part

humanity plays in this great general reproductive scheme. It will lay

weight on the fact that the functional workings of reproduction are

not, primarily, a source of pleasure, but that--when safeguarded by

the institution of matrimony, on which civilized social life is

based--they stand for the observance of solemn duties and obligations,

duties to church and state, and obligations to posterity. Hence,

parents, in talking to their children about these matters should do so

in a sober and instructive fashion. The attention of a mother,

perhaps, need not be called to this. But fathers may be inclined, in

many cases, to inform their sons without insisting that the

information they give them is, in the final analysis, intended to be

applied to lofty constructive purposes. They may, in their desire to

speak _practically_, forget the moral values which should underlie

this intimate information. Never should the spirit of levity intrude

itself in these intimate personal sex colloquies. Restraint and

decency should always mark them.

In making clear to the mind of youth the fact data which initiates and

governs reproduction in animal and in human life, the ideal to be

cultivated is continence, the refraining from all experimentation

undertaken in a spirit of curiosity, until such time as a well-placed

affection, sanctioned by the divine blessing, will justify a sane and

normal exploitation of physical needs and urges in the matrimonial

state. To this end hard bodily and mental work should be encouraged in

the youth of both sexes. "Satan finds work for idle hands to do," has

special application in this connection, and a chaste and continent

youth is usually the forerunner of a happy and contented marriage. And

incidentally, a happy marriage is the best guarantee that

reproduction, the carrying on of the species, will be morally and

physically a success. Here, too, the fact should be strongly stressed

that prostitution cannot be justified on any moral grounds. It

represents a deliberate ignoring of the rightful function of sex, and




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