MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS. 223 



then expected her to save herself they would not 

 have been more truly responsible." 



Dr. Cowan, in commenting upon the subject of 

 continence during gestation, says, "During the 

 full period of gestative influence, as well as during S**9 wan on 

 the period of nursing, sexual congress should not 

 be had between husband and wife. This is the 

 law of nature, the law of God, and outside of 

 Christendom is never violated. -Animals will not 

 permit it savages do not practice it, and in over 

 three quarters of the world it is looked upon as 

 jnfamous by our own species." 



I have frequently met with the most bitter 

 opposition for advocating continence during ges- 

 tation. Strange to say this opposition has often 

 come from most excellent men who were highly 

 intelligent upon other subjects. Recently a very 

 bright lawyer, a Sunday School superintendent, 

 criticised me severely for advocating such a thing, 

 declaring that such relations were perfectly nat- 

 ural. How absurd! The conduct of all animal 

 life is a testimony against it. There is no argu- 

 ment in its favor save the argument of perverted 

 desire. 



Unchaste maternity is the principal cause of the 

 hereditary tendency toward sexual dissipation. 

 Most of the human race have been subjected to 

 this unnatural, debasing influence during their 

 prenatal development. Thousands of noble men 

 and women, whose lives are spotless, struggle 

 against these maternal impressions from early 

 youth to the decline of life ; while millions who are 

 considered chaste, are so, only because the present 



