Undue fixations of the parental images in the child's mind may unfavourably affect the reaction to the love life in another way. The child may be surrounded by every care; in the case of a boy the mother lavishes upon him undue affection, sympathizes excessively with him in his trials large or small, exercises great concern over his every act, and in other ways tends, unconsciously, to make the child dependent upon the parent; the father may act in the same way toward the daughter. If both parents act toward the child - boy or girl - in like manner the possible harm is doubled. The child when it becomes an adult may never marry; it is seeking, unknown to itself, some one who resembles the parental image; this will account for a number of bachelors and spinsters. Or should marriage take place no happiness results; the individual is lonesome, discontented, regretful. The reason is that the individual has become so attached to his former home life, to the ministrations of the parents, that life outside of this circle seems impossible. Frequently this desire to return to the family circle is so strong that divorce results. It is only natural for the parents to be solicitous of the welfare of their offsprings, but there is such a thing as being unduly solicitous. Some day it will be necessary for the children to work out their own existences, and they can hardly do so efficiently or happily if fixations in childhood bind them irrevocably to the family circle.

For the love hunger marriage is the most natural and the best solution. Judging from the divorce court records one would think that most marriages end disastrously; we hear, however, much about the ten per cent. that are unhappy and little about the ninety per cent, that are truly happy. Some of the causes for unhappy marriages have already been considered; other causes, though probably not great, are romancings when single of wedded bliss. There are many joys to be anticipated of course, but if one expects the road to be always smooth disappointment is certain to obtain. It is well for the newly married to realize that it takes a certain length of time for them to become adjusted to the new conditions; hence, disillusionment should not be permitted too much of a hold should it make an entrance. However, even though the trials be great, they can be conquered providing that both play the glad game fairly, are pals and partners, and strive always to help each other.

Without children marriage has not satisfied the love hunger entirely. Without them there is an emptiness, a sense of something missing, the cause of which may not be rightly placed. Some homes may be childless through cause, others for no wilful fault of the married persons. In the latter cases children are often desired. In these the best recommendation is to adopt a child. Many persons wish to do so but are restrained through fear that the child may turn out badly in later life.

While some care must be exercised, there is scarcely any more danger in adopting a child than in rearing one's own children. If the adopted child turns out badly this is usually because it has been reared like an only child - to whom faults are common, - or because of mental conflicts, physical ills, etc., which cause conduct disorders, erroneously attributed to heredity. If a due amount of prudence is used in selecting a child, and if the child is reared properly, it is practically certain to be a comfort to its foster-parents.

It is usually during adolescence that an individual decides his vocation. The decision is, of course, often difficult, but as a rule each person is able to select for himself, or with a little advice, the calling for which he seems most adapted. As a matter of fact very little is gained by seeking advice; the good and bad points of the various vocations may be pointed out, of course, but except in a few instances we are unable to tell a person dogmatically just what calling is most suitable for him. The decision must be made according to what one likes best, and what he will be anxious to pursue. Urging a person to enter a certain field of endeavour, as some parents do, is inadvisable; to please the parents the person may take up a certain work, but since he is not pleasing himself he may never rise above mediocrity or may even disgrace himself and his family.

In this place we wish to simply urge the youth to give the matter of his life work due thought, and once a decision is made to bend his energies toward realizing his ambition. Countless thousands squander their youths, idly dreaming of what they would like to be and never putting forth an effort directed toward making their dreams come true. Meanwhile the years speed by, and they find themselves adults, married possibly, and with no special skill in any field of endeavour. Not all of us can be or want to be doctors, lawyers, ministers, civil engineers, etc., yet in this age of specialization it is incumbent for material success that each person be profi- cient in some direction. It matters not what line of work one takes up, providing the individual is interested in it and strives to learn all he can about it; with application progress will surely be made. The cry "I never had a chance" is futile and erroneous. No matter how poor one may be, or what obstacles seem to stand in the way one always has at his disposal the means for overcoming the barriers to progress. The greatest barrier is the individual himself; he prefers not to bestir himself, to dream of success rather than work for it. Each and every one of us waste countless hours that might be profitably employed. George Stephenson educated himself in his spare moments; Thurlow Weed travelled miles to obtain books which he read by night while watching the fires in his father's maple sugar grove; Elihu Burritt mastered eighteen languages in his spare moments, while serving as a blacksmith's apprentice; Pope wrote his History of Greece in spare moments between his duties as a banker. The world is full of examples of train boys like Edison, handy Andys like Carnegie who rose from lowly positions because they worked and did not bewail. Every one has a chance to go ahead, but many act as if they did not care to take chances of any kind, at least such chances as require a little work on their part.

The point, then, is for youth to realise that the years speed by quickly, and it is in youth that the foundation of one's life work should be laid. If one dreams about what he would like to be all well and good providing his dreams are reasonable, and accompanied by actual work, mental and physical. As Frank W. Woolworth, who made $80,000,000 out of his five and ten cent stores, said: "Dreaming never hurts anybody if he keeps right behind the dream to make as much of it come true as he can." Day-dreams alone will always prove unproductive.