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Selected Messages Book 2
standpoint of noble, elevated principles, reasoning in regard to what
they could expect of their posterity, but diminished energy of body and
mind, which would not elevate society, but sink it still lower.
Sickly men have often won the affections of women apparently
healthy, and because they loved each other, they felt themselves at
perfect liberty to marry, neither considering that by their union the
wife must be a sufferer, more or less, because of the diseased husband.
In many cases the diseased husband improves in health, while the wife
shares his disease. He lives very much upon her vitality, and she soon
complains of failing health. He prolongs his days by shortening the
days of his wife. Those who thus marry commit sin in lightly regarding
health and life given to them of God to be used to his glory. But if those
who thus enter the marriage relation were alone concerned, the sin
would not be so great. Their offspring are compelled to be sufferers by
disease transmitted to them. Thus disease has been perpetuated from
generation to generation. And many charge all this weight of human
misery upon God, when their wrong course of action has brought the
sure result. They have thrown upon society an enfeebled race, and
done their part to deteriorate the race, by rendering disease hereditary,
and thus accumulating human suffering.
Another cause of the deficiency of the present generation in physi-
cal strength and moral worth, is, men and women uniting in marriage
whose ages widely differ. It is frequently the case that old men choose
to marry young wives. By thus doing the life of the husband has
often been prolonged, while the wife has had to feel the want of that
vitality which she has imparted to her aged husband. It has not been
the duty of any woman to sacrifice life and health, even if she did love
one so much older than herself, and felt willing on her part to make
such a sacrifice. She should have restrained her affections. She had
considerations higher than her own interest to consult. She should
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consider, if children be born to them, what would be their condition?
It is still worse for young men to marry women considerably older
than themselves. The offspring of such unions in many cases, where
ages widely differ, have not well-balanced minds. They have been
deficient also in physical strength. In such families have frequently
been manifested varied, peculiar, and often painful, traits of character.
They often die prematurely, and those who reach maturity, in many
cases, are deficient in physical and mental strength, and moral worth.