On the other hand it has been observed by most people that many marriages which seem to promise well, quickly lose even to the eye of the outsider all the romance of the days of courtship. Is not too frequent physical indulgence sometimes the cause?
Even the time of courtship is spoiled by unrestrained demonstration of affection, and the beauty of the higher side of love is apt to lose its delicate bloom by over accentuation of the physical in marriage; husband and wife sadly admit to themselves that disillusionment has come--the real truth being that in seeking only physical satisfaction in each other, their eyes have become blinded to those higher qualities which each glimpsed in the other during the happier days of courtship, and the "road of the loving hearts," which they hoped to tread through life, has been missed because they have forgotten that "man is a spirit and doth not live by bread alone."
To many the introduction of this aspect of the question may seem beside the mark. For them the practical question in a world of sense is how to avoid having children when for any reason they are not wanted, and yet leave unimpaired facilities for married life. It is true the problem is not always stated so bluntly. The uses of contraceptives are explained, together with a recommendation for moderation in physical intercourse; but as will be shewn below, if such moderation is really practised, it is possible to live a natural married life such as renders unnecessary the use of artificial contraceptives with all their attendant evils and yet limit the size of the family.
But it is necessary to consider more carefully the claim made to-day that contraceptives are both necessary and harmless, and that public propaganda on the subject is desirable.
There are several different groups for whom relief is claimed:--
1. Women who are suffering from chronic or from temporary ill-health are frequently not in a condition to bear the strain of child-bearing, and indeed it may become a real danger to their future health, either mental or physical.
2. There are cases of inherited disease, mental or physical, which ought to prohibit child-bearing.
3. There are over-worked women whose daily work, added to child-bearing, destroys their health and vitality. These people are found not only among the so-called working classes; the same conditions with somewhat different types of strain are found in wives of professional men with very slender incomes.