General Law of the typical nations—France, England, and the United States. But with the gradual decay of religious faiths in the nineteenth century, a change has taken place, and is still going on. English Practice has fallen behind English Law, and the method of dealing with licentiousness has changed in a striking manner.
The Church, also, has loosened its restraining hand. It shrinks from plain and forcible condemnation of this deadliest evil, and neglects to train the young in the strong virtue of purity. In Catholic countries, the Confessional (which, notwithstanding its great inherent evils, did try to deal with this vice) has lost its power over men, and no other institution has taken its place. The Ordinance of Godfathers and Godmothers, which might have wisely replaced the Confessional in the Episcopal Church, is a dead letter. "Discipline" in other religious bodies is relaxed or given up. Thus the difficult but imperative duty of guarding and guiding youth, in relation to their sexual powers, is not provided for.
Religion and Law, equally, must be aroused to the fulfilment of their heavy responsibility toward the rising generation.
May 1st, 1883.
