INTRODUCTION 29 



gained sometime, at any rate; and as it must come, 

 better let it be imparted by the parent, who can admin- 

 ister proper warnings and cautions along with it, than 

 by any other individual. Thus may the child be 

 shielded from injury to which he would otherwise be 

 certainly exposed. 



Young people should be left to find out these things 

 for themselves. 



If human beings received much of their knowledge 

 through instinct, as animals do, this might be a proper 

 course ; but man gets his knowledge largely by instruc- 

 tion. Young people will get their first knowledge of 

 sexual matters mostly by instruction from some source. 

 How much better, then, as we have already shown, 

 to let them obtain this knowledge from the most 

 natural and most reliable source! 



The following paragraph from Dr. Ware is to the 

 point : 



''But putting aside the question whether we ought 

 to hide this subject wholly from the young if we 

 could, the truth, it is to be feared, is that we cannot 

 if we would. Admitting it to be desirable, every man 

 of experience in life will pronounce it to be imprac- 

 ticable. If, then, we cannot prevent the minds of 

 children from being engaged in some way on this sub- 

 ject, may it not be better to forestall evil impressions 

 by implanting good ones, or at least to mingle good 

 ones with the evil as the nature of the case admits? 

 Let us be at least as wise as the crafty enemy of man, 

 and cast in a little wheat with his tares; and among 

 the most effectual methods of doing this is to impart 

 to the young just and religious views of the nature and 



