observer of marriage-bed phenomena should write: "_As a matter of
fact, nine young husbands in ten practically rape their brides at
their first sexual meeting." Could anything be more horrible, or
criminally wicked_? And it is all so needless! It is all the result of
ignorance, of "innocence," and the worst of false teaching. The pity
of it!

True, these unfortunate conditions are often modified by "mother
nature," who inspires the bride with curiosity, which, in a measure,
controls her in spite of her false teachings, and with passion, which,
to a degree, will assert itself over and above all false modesty, her
religious scruples and her fear of pregnancy; and so she _may_ come
through the ordeal of introduction to the act of coitus in a fairly
sane condition of mind, even though she may have practically been
_raped_! But, too often, the result of such first contact is _a shock
to the bride from which she may not recover during all the subsequent
years of married life_! And "here is where the trouble lies," for
untold thousands of married men and women, all over the civilized
world, to-day. And it might all be so different! It ought, _in every
case_, to be all so different! But if it ever does become different,
_knowledge_ has got to take the place of "_innocence"_ on the part of
the _bride_, and of _ignorance_ on the part of the _bridegroom_, both
of whom must be _taught_ to "_Know what they are about_" before they
engage in the sexual act, and be able to meet each other sanely,
_righteously, lovingly,_ because they both _desire_ what each has to
give to the other; in a way in which neither claims any _rights_, or
makes any _demands_ of the other--in a word, in _perfect concord_
of agreement and action, of which mutual love is the inspirer, and
_definite knowledge_ the directive agent.