Is the Doctrine True: Is the Logic Sound?

IS THE DOCTRINE TRUE? 147 Parents, it is urged, should not enter upon the sacred duties of parenthood, before they fully know and understand these duties, just the same as a locomotive engineer must understand his machine, before he attempts to make a run, or as a university professor must know his calling before he is considered competent to follow it. This sounds plausible. It seems reasonable. It appears self-evident. But it is sophistry. Parenthood — grave as it really is, when viewed correctly — is made to appear either as a matter-of-fact occupation or position, easy of comprehension, being simply a question of "scientific" deductions — a science, pure and simple — which, once mastered and strictly lived up to, according to all the rules of eugenics, will bring results in the birth of healthy, beautiful, loving, obedient, dutiful children, as sure as two and two make four; or, true parenthood is pictured as a calling well-nigh unattainable by ordinary mortals, except learned by them, step by step, before entering into wedlock. I consider this as an absolute impossibility ; a something mysterious, incomprehensible, inscrutable, past all finding out. Any wonder that marriage is viewed either as a cold "business" transaction, or with an awe calculated to unnerve the average man or woman? Be it far from me to say that eugenics, heredity, environment, example, learning, opportunity and the like, have nothing to do with the rearing of children. Their bringing up, their life, their very being, are largely influenced by these agencies, be they for good or evil. But who of us can not call to mind earthly parents, exemplary men and women, possessing all the qualities, attributes and prerequisites necessary for perfect parenthood, filled with reverence for Deity and true to every trust, but who, notwithstanding all this, have children, who are a libel on humanity? On the other hand, how many are there not, children of vile and worthless parents, of the scum of society — children, begotten in sin and reared in environment most unhealthful in every way — who rise above all this and make a mark in the world? To the writer, it seems clear that very much depends upon the quality of the spirit sent here to inhabit an earthly tabernacle. It is reasonable to believe that the material world — even as regards intelligence — resembles the spiritual. It is generally conceded that there are no two persons alike — nay, no two blades of grass

148 IMPROVEMENT ERA alike — in this world of ours. How reasonable, then, to suppose that there are no two spirits, inhabiting any two bodies, who are alike. If this be true, how can so-called "science" solve a problem so intricate as the one under consideration ? MURRAY, UTAH. Testimony of Elder Nephi Pratt N. B. Lundwall, of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Gallatin National Forest, Bozeman, Montana, has forwarded the Era the following testimony of Elder Nephi Pratt, formerly President of the Northwestern States Mission. It was taken upon the phonograph, he says, about a year before Elder Pratt's death, and Mr. Lundwall has a record of it in his home at the present time. Here is the testimony, like a voice from the dead : "I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that he fought with and conquered death that all men might come forth from their graves and live ; and if I shall live to meet him face to face, in the great hereafter, and shall behold him in all his glory, even then I shall not know that he is and that he died that men might live more certainly and more surely than I this day know these eternal truths. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God ; that holy beings from the bosom of eternity appeared unto him. I know that holy messengers from God laid their sacred hands upon his head and gave him authority to preach the Gospel and administer the ordinances thereof. I know that this great Prophet held the keys to bind and seal on earth that which shall be bound and sealed in Heaven, and that by this authority and power family organization may in this world be formed for eternity, so that when a man and his wife and children shall enter through the veil into the enternal world, their union shall remain and shall continue through the endless ages of eternity. These things God has made known to me ; and whether come weal or woe, life or death, I testify that these things are true, and that these unspeakable blessings are within the reach of all who will seek after them. This is my testimony before God and his holy angels, and upon its truths I am willing to stand before my Redeemer in the great judgment day."

Little Problems of Married Life.* BY WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN XVI — The Spectre of Constant Jealousy When a man is afraid to remark at the breakfast table, even mildly and casually, that, from what he has heard, Cleopatra must have been a beautiful woman, it is fair to assume that the spectre of constant jealousy dwells, in that household. When a wife fears to look at the moon because she may be accused of admiring the man in it, the husband needs to be gently reminded that he is taking a very rapid short-cut to killing the love he seems to hold so sacred. Love is fed by confidence, trust, faith, and serene restful reliance. . Morbid jealousy is a poison of doubt, suspicion and injustice that dulls the love it does not deaden. Scientists tell us that every known poison is, in small doses, a stimulant ; in larger doses it is a narcotic ; in still larger it kills. In a mild form jealousy is inseparable from real love. It is the heart's guardianship of its treasure. It is the hunger for the sacredness of sole possession; the righteous demand to be first, absolute and supreme. It is the instinctive protest at even' the thought of another sharing in those little tendernesses, graceful attentions, and words, looks and expressions of love that should be concentrated on one, not syndicated among many. This instinctive jealousy, though roused in an instant, falls gently to sleep again with a smile of peace at the recognition of a false alarm. It makes sure that it is suffering from a real invasion of its rights, not from the fancied wrong that fear creates. It guards itself against solidifying the semblance of a suspicion into the solid, impregnable substance no truthful explanations can melt. This proper form of jealousy realizes that it is Love's guardian, not Love's jailer. It does not go round constantly with a thermometer to test half-hourly the temperature of loyalty. Jealousy, in any instance, must belong to one of two classes. *Copyright, 1910, by Fleming H. Revell Company.