CHANGES IN NEW ENGLAND POPULATION. 443 



with the high pressure in education and the neglect of house-work. 

 The nerves and the brain have been cultivated at the expense of the 

 muscles and physical stamina. 



In this artificial state of society wants multiply and fashion has a 

 powerful influence. A high and extravagant standard of living is set 

 up, and young people are unwilling to commence life as their fathers or 

 grandfathers did before them. For twenty or thirty years there has 

 been a steady decline in the marriage-rate. There are powerful influ- 

 ences, starting partly from internal sources and partly from external 

 agencies, which threaten the permanency and best interests of the 

 family. If the laws of the human system can be so changed or vio- 

 lated as to defeat its primary objects, this institution must suffer and 

 decay. There is a normal and healthy organization of the body as 

 well as of the brain, which favors married life and the family relations. 



On the other hand, there is such a thing as an abnormal develop- 

 ment of the body and a morbid condition of the nervous system, which 

 is decidedly unfavorable to the domestic relations ; especially is this 

 the case with females. 



The law of maternity is already violated to such an extent that it 

 is questionable whether half our New England women can properly 

 nurse their offspring. There is a general law in nature that " supply 

 and demand'''' go together and are co-equal, and if one fails the other 

 is endangered. There are also decided evidences that the maternal 

 instinct, " love of offspring," one of the strongest and holiest instincts 

 of our nature, is fading away. 



It should be borne in mind that when the harmony or balance of 

 organization in the body is materially changed that is, certain parts 

 obtain an extreme development, while the functions of others become 

 very much weakened a similar change and derangement of action 

 apply to the brain. The fact is well established that certain portions 

 of the brain perform distinct and separate functions. Let that portion 

 of the brain whose functions pertain to the family relation, and to do- 

 mestic life, fail in proper development and healthy action, and supreme 

 attention be given to the culture of the intellect and moral sentiment, 

 and, in process of time, its effects on character will become very mani- 

 fest. If this change in mental development applied only to an individ- 

 ual here and there, its effects on society would not be so marked or 

 injurious ; but, when the great majority of persons are affected by it, 

 the results become far more extensive and serious in their character. 



Again : the family constitutes the foundation or groundwork of 

 all society, and, when properly established, is the most powerful agency 

 in the world for human improvement. This institution must have its 

 bases and supplies in the social and domestic affections, guided by the 

 intellect and controlled by the moral sentiments. Without such a 

 foundation it can not be made permanent, happy, and prosperous. 

 The intellectual faculties will never alone cement and perpetuate this 



