THE ETHICS OF SEX 181 



CHAPTER IX 



THE ETHICS OF SEX 



The greatness of love The evolutionary outlook Man's 

 distinctiveness Self-control Healthfulness Eeatihy- 

 mindedness Clean living Two standards Facing 

 the facts Ideals Courage and kindness In summary. 



MANY difficult moral problems are involved 

 in the fact of sex and in the relations of the 

 sexes in mankind. What of masculine self- 

 control, of chastity before marriage, of the 

 possibility of a uniform standard for both 

 sexes, of faithfulness after marriage, of sexual 

 temperance, of the rights and wrongs of 

 divorce, of enforced celibacy and spinsterdom, 

 of the penalties imposed on breaches of 

 existing conventions and laws, of the finer 

 relations between the sexes and the moral 

 evolution of these to higher issues ? We can- 

 not do more than suggest certain considera- 

 tions to be borne in mind in facing these very 

 difficult problems. 



THE GREATNESS OF LOVE. Beside the love 

 of a mother for her children, comes the love 

 between man and woman, one of the great 

 things of the world, one of the mainsprings 

 of life. It is a transforming force in the 

 individual life-history, like an enthusiasm or 

 like religion. It is a spring of conduct which 

 has prompted much of the heroism and hard 

 work of the world. If we spoil it, or make 

 little of it, we lose one of the great possibilities 

 of happiness and uplift. If we degrade it, 

 one of the lights of life, a very " candle of the 

 Lord," goes flickering, guttering out. 



