,libraries47          ,an ,outline of   
,sexual ,morality       ,an ,outline of 
,sexual ,morality    ,kenneth ,ingram   
,the ,introduction by ,f4 ,w4 ,w4       
,griffin1   ,m4,a41 ,m4,d41             
,m4,r4,c4,s41 ,l4,r4,c4,p4    ,jonathan 
,cape   ,eleven ,gower ,street1 ,london 
,first published #aibb   ,all ,rights   
reserved     ,author's ,note   ,i am    
anxious to take this opportunity of     
thanking those friends who have helped  
me by valuable suggestion and criticism 
in correcting the proofs of this small  
book4 ,in particular ,i desire to       
mention ,canon ,lacey and ,dr4 ,griffin1
 and to apologize for the amount of time
 which ,i must have stolen from them4   
,,kenneth ,,ingram  ,march #aibb        
,introduction   ,any honest inquiry into
 the ,primal ,instincts of humanity will
 necessarily lead to a clearer          
understanding of their nature1 their    
functions1 and their potentialities1 and
 so will help to pave the way for the   
appearance of a healthier and happier   

race of men4 ,the dictum ,learn to know 
yourself1 inscribed on the ,temple of   
,apollo at ,delphi1 has never been of   
more vital importance1 both individually
 and nationally1 than it is to-day1 and 
the various schools of modern           
psychological thought1 which are        
steadily opening up those hitherto      
scarcely explored regions whence flow   
the springs of human actions1 are       
gradually clearing away the ignorance   
which has been the real cause of so much
 disease and distress4 ,the following   
chapters are to be welcomed particularly
 as an effort at the constructional     
reform of our treatment of one of our   
deepest and most powerful instincts4    
,even those who do not necessarily give 
assent to all the details in the line of
 argument therein pursued must surely   
approve the insistence upon the vital   
necessity of there being love in all sex
 relationships4  ,the word sexual1      
though indispensable perhaps in such a  
book as this1 invariably induces some   

measure of opposition by reason of the  
associations which it calls up1 and so  
is often replaced by the cognate        
adjective racial1 which emphasizes the  
wider aims of ,race ,preservation rather
 than the narrower matter of the        
reproduction of individuals4 ,it is not 
a matter of curing individual           
immorality1 not even of explaining it   
only1 it is the greater matter of laying
 a sound foundation for a practicable   
social morality that is the object of   
consideration here4 ,it is important    
that any such opposition should be      
neither hypocritical nor hyper-critical1
 for great national issues are at stake4
 ,without the healthy mind there can be 
no healthy body1 at any rate from the   
point of view of the community1 and thus
 such a scientific inquiry as is set    
forth in these pages is definitely      
leading towards the production of a     
healthier nation4  ,the necessity of    
there being established a balance       
between an unlimited self-expression and

 a rigid self-repression is clearly     
indicated also1 and the importance of   
self-control is not ignored here as it  
has been elsewhere1 unfortunately1 both 
as regards the individual's physical    
health and the weal of the community at 
large2 for self-control is a vital      
essential in the health of a man just as
 it is a vital necessity for the        
continuance of a nation4 ,the following 
pages contain information and           
suggestions which should tend to the    
formation of a wiser and more hopeful   
outlook over the problems of sexual     
morality1 and should therefore receive  
the careful consideration of all who    
have the interests of humanity at heart4
  ,f4 ,w4 ,w4 ,,griffin ,m4,a41 ,m4,d41 
,m4,r4,c4,s41 ,l4,r4,c4,p4  ,march #aibb
     ,contents   ,,chapter              
,,page     #a4 ,,apologia               
#g     #b4 ,,official ,,attitudes       
,,towards ,,sex        #ac     #c4 ,,the
 ,,general ,,principles ,,of ,,purity   
#bc     #d4 ,,celibacy                  

#ca     #e4 ,,non-,,celibacy            
#cf     #f4 ,,divorce                   
#de     #g4 ,,eugenics ,,and            
,,prostitution             #eb     #h4  
,,the ,,homosexual ,,temperament        
#fj     #i4 ,,the ,,sexless ,,class     
#gf    #aj4 ,,super-,,abnormalities     
#gh    #aa4 ,,sex ,,education           
#hg     ,an ,outline of ,sexual         
,morality     ,chapter #a3 ,apologia    
,i have been impelled to attempt this   
definition of sexual morality for at    
least three reasons4 ,the first is that1
 at this moment particularly1 science is
 emphasizing the large responsibility   
which sex assumes in our lives4 ,we may 
think that ,freud has overestimated this
 influence2 nevertheless1 all           
psycho-analysis tends to show that the  
sex-force cannot be wholly repressed and
 that even with the most passionless    
individuals sex is the unconscious      
motive in a large percentage of their   
activities4 ,it is well therefore that  
we should have as clear a conception as 

possible as to the moral rights of this 
enormous factor in our lives4           
,secondly1 a handbook of this kind is   
perhaps the most convenient medium for  
defining my personal attitude towards   
this problem4 ,my own views are1 of     
course1 unimportant1 but it so happens  
that ,i have often been asked1 in       
private conversations1 to define them4  
,now to summarize them to the extent    
which a casual conversation must almost 
necessarily entail1 is difficult2 and   
often1 ,i suspect1 ,i may have given a  
wholly wrong impression4 ,i am anxious  
to set that right4  ,but my chief reason
 is the chaos of public opinion on this 
question4 ,one is continually having    
this fact forced on one4 ,largely this  
is the result of transition and         
reaction4 ,in ,england1 the country to  
which ,i shall almost entirely confine  
myself1 we have been enormously affected
 by that presentation of religion which 
has been called ,puritanism4 ,we have   
been steeped in the theology of ,milton4

 ,all forms of religion--,catholic as   
well as ,protestant--have been          
comparatively infected4 ,when we speak  
of the religious attitude towards any   
question1 we find ourselves irresistibly
 considering the ,puritan attitude4  ,it
 is not1 ,i think1 unfair to define the 
influence of ,puritanism as a tendency  
to regard all amusement with disfavour4 
,the original ,puritans were notoriously
 dour in their manner and their dress4  
,it has been said that they attacked the
 sport of bear-baiting1 because it gave 
pleasure to the onlookers1 and not      
because it was painful to the bears4    
,sunday1 on which the outward observance
 of religion was necessarily            
concentrated1 became a day of complete  
abstention from worldly recreation4     
,puritanism might supply spiritual      
compensation1 but anything which gave   
pleasure to the senses was essentially  
evil4 ,thus art and beauty were banished
 from religious services and sacred     
buildings4 ,not only was the stage an   

entrance to hell1 but a consistent      
,puritan like ,bunyan prayed ,god to    
forgive him the sin of having played a  
game of hockey4  ,puritanism had reached
 its zenith1 not of intensity but of    
universality1 by the latter half of the 
last century4 ,those of us who are old  
enough to have been ,victorians were    
brought up on comparative doses of the  
,puritan medicine4 ,especially among the
 middle-classes the history of every    
,english family from the eighties till  
the ,war is extraordinarily similar2 it 
consists of a series of emancipations4  
,our grandparents were almost entirely  
,puritan in their manner of living1 our 
parents had compromised and extricated  
themselves to some degree1 and our      
children have become almost wholly free4
 ,how many of us realize that up to the 
seventies it was quite improper for a   
lady to ride on the top of an omnibus8  
,in no instance was the effect of       
,puritanism stronger than on sex4 ,for  
sex is pre-eminently inspired by a      

desire for pleasure1 whether it be      
spiritual1 emotional1 or carnal4 ,on    
this score alone it would have been     
marked out as a deadly evil4 ,but there 
was a further indictment in the ,puritan
 creed4 ,according to the ,miltonian    
interpretation ,paradise had been lost  
on account of the sex impulse2 original 
sin was nothing more or less than the   
sense of sex--the loss of sexual        
ignorance4 ,accordingly the whole       
sex-nature was regarded as evil1 and sex
 generally became a taboo1 a closed     
subject to which no reference could be  
made4 ,victorian ,puritanism often1     
indeed1 suggests the ostrich burying his
 head in the sand--the attempt to remedy
 evil by pretending that it does not    
exist4  ,the effect of ,puritanism on   
the ,victorian was precisely this       
conformity of outward behaviour4 ,it    
assumed that all men and women were     
innocent1 and that1 except in marriage1 
sex played no part in life4 ,it         
pretended they were innocent1 and it    

made them only respectable4 ,parents    
would often refrain1 on the plea that   
innocence must not be disturbed1 from   
teaching their children anything about  
sex4 ,so impure and evil a subject must 
not be referred to4 ,such unpleasant    
problems as venereal disease must be    
hidden out of sight1 although           
prostitution and venereal disease       
continue to flourish4 ,the ,victorian1  
in fact1 carried out the ,puritan       
doctrine that all sex is evil1 by       
outwardly pretending that1 unless       
married1 he possessed no sexual         
instinct4 ,actually he was no more      
inclined to abstention than any other   
human generation has been4  ,indeed1 we 
do not find any evidence that           
,puritanism succeeds in carrying its    
anti-sex theories into practice4 ,in    
,south ,wales1 for example1 where       
,puritanism has established a particular
 stronghold1 sexual laxity is peculiarly
 marked4  ,the reaction from            
,puritanism1 especially in regard to    

sex1 has been precipitated and          
exaggerated by the ,great ,war4 ,we have
 therefore in modern society two        
opposing policies4 ,among those who have
 thrown over all religious observance   
and have freed themselves entirely from 
,puritanism1 there seems to be a        
complete absence of any moral           
sex-standard4 ,we can appreciate that   
impasse if we consider the inability of 
the sex-novel or play to suggest any    
form of conduct which is immoral4 ,those
 who still adhere to organized religion 
continue to look at sex largely through 
,puritan spectacles4 ,the fallen woman  
or the convicted clergyman is genuinely 
regarded as being guilty of the most    
damning of all offences4 ,the sexual    
laxity of the neo-,georgian is used as a
 convincing argument that once the      
,puritan view is abandoned1 complete    
anarchy is the only alternative4        
,religious teachers continue to preach  
what many of them would deny to be      
,puritan doctrine1 but what ,i hope to  

prove belongs peculiarly to that aspect 
of ,christianity4 ,and meanwhile the    
non-religious world pronounces the      
opposite extreme4  ,it is because ,i    
believe both these attitudes to contain 
error1 that ,i am anxious to contribute 
the foundation for some principle in the
 current deadlock4     ,chapter #b3     
,official ,attitudes towards ,sex   ,it 
will now be convenient to define the    
chief collective or official attitudes  
towards sex4 ,in a mere outline such as 
this handbook professes to be1 we may   
divide these attitudes into three1 and  
label them the popular attitude1 the    
legal or ,state attitude1 and the       
religious attitude4  ,with the popular  
attitude we have already largely dealt4 
,it is still in a transitory1 confused  
state1 merging at one end into the old  
,puritan extreme1 and at the other to   
mere negativism1 mere opposition to     
,puritan asceticism1 and without even an
 attempt to reconstruct a moral         
standard4 ,this perhaps is an inevitable

 stage in any transition2 but it is none
 the less unsatisfactory4 ,man cannot   
succeed without a standard2 and moreover
 we know intuitively that all things are
 not morally permissible4 ,if there is  
purity and beauty and divinity in life1 
there must be impurity and sin4 ,will it
 be considered an exaggeration if ,i say
 that it is almost better to have a     
,puritan standard than none at all8 ,the
 ,roundhead at least was more than a    
match for the ,cavalier because he had a
 positive inspiration4  ,but there is   
one common feature in this chaos of     
evolving popular opinion4 ,the vulgar   
mind tends to measure morality by what  
is usual4 ,the sins which most men      
commit are regarded as hardly evil2 the 
acts which may not be evil1 are regarded
 as sins if they are peculiar4 ,thus an 
occasional lapse from continency on the 
part of a young man is popularly        
regarded as not very reprehensible1     
whereas the perpetrator of some weird   
act of bestiality would be hounded to   

prison4 ,the flaw in this estimate is   
not only that the normal standard varies
 in race and age1 but that there is no  
single human sex nature2 there are      
infinite varieties4 ,to condemn variety 
per se is1 as we shall presently        
observe1 a contradiction of the laws of 
nature4  ,the gradual emancipation of   
society from the taboo on sex in        
conversation is an undoubted gain4 ,we  
owe such men as ,bernard ,shaw a debt of
 gratitude for the way in which they    
have forced sex reference into the play1
 and therefore on public notice4 ,but if
 this is to result in eliminating sex   
modesty it is creating evils greater    
than those which it seeks to remove4 ,i 
will not here embark upon a             
consideration of such a theory as that  
which has been interestingly propounded 
by ,mr4 ,westermarck1 namely that there 
is a relationship between sexual modesty
 and the feeling against incest4#a ,i   
will only insist that modesty is natural
 in all qualities which we regard as    

sacred4  ,if we are modest about sex in 
our conversation to the extent of       
placing a taboo on sex1 and allowing    
sexual problems to remain unsolved1 or  
in letting our children confuse         
innocence with ignorance1 we are on     
indefensible ground2 indefensible1 ,i   
think1 because our modesty is based on  
the ,puritan doctrine that sex is at    
heart an unclean thing4 ,i wish         
especially to defend modesty because sex
 is so clean4 ,we do not want to        
vulgarize by public reference our most  
spiritual experiences1 our sense of     
love1 our feeling of exaltation in the  
presence of what is beautiful and       
divine4 ,we speak of these things only  
at more sacred moments1 if at all4 ,we  
must be careful1 too1 lest in a reaction
 from taboo we allow science to rob sex 
of its romantic and divine character4   
,we have carefully to preserve the      
centre of gravitation between two       
extremes4 ,we should look askance at a  
man who collected in a glass bottle1 and

 analysed1 his mother's tears4  ,in this
 connexion it may be well to call       
attention to the inconsistency of the   
male in making the sex-act a subject for
 humour4 ,whatever our religious belief1
 we know that the sex-act is the means  
of procreation1 and is1 for this reason 
alone1 a sacred function4 ,it seems     
inconsistent1 therefore1 that we should 
so persistently treat it as a mark for  
ridicule4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,the second general        
attitude is that of the ,state1 or      
legislature4 ,here we find ourselves in 
the presence of a consistent motive4    
,the ,state is concerned only with the  
preservation of the birth-rate2 any sex 
behaviour which defeats this object it  
regards as immoral and punishable4 ,the 
,state cannot interfere so far with     
individual privacy as to punish         
masturbation or artificial means of     
restraint2 but it does go to the extent 
of punishing unnatural acts between     
husband and wife1#b and in ,america1 the

 ,state has even penalized the          
activities of the neo-,malthusian       
propaganda4 ,all sex abnormalities are  
rigidly punished1 whereas the           
procreation of children outside wedlock 
is not a legal offence4#c  ,this is a   
consistent attitude1 but it suggests one
 serious flaw4 ,whatever may have been  
the case in early days when an increase 
of population was essential1 there can  
be little doubt that to-day that        
necessity has diminished4 ,indeed1      
without entering into the ,malthusian   
controversy1 it is almost impossible to 
deny that at the moment we are suffering
 largely from over-population4          
,consequently1 whatever opportunist     
policy may dictate1 we cannot poise our 
estimate of morality on so shifting a   
basis as the needs of population4       
,instinctively we cannot associate      
morality in anything with the legal     
attitude4 ,there are many acts even     
outside the sex sphere which most of us 
would consider immoral1 but which are   

unpunished by law1 and others which are 
illegal but are not immoral2 it is      
immoral to lie1 but unless we lie on    
oath there is no ,state offence2 it is  
punishable to ride a bicycle without    
lights after dark1 but we are conscious 
of no moral delinquency in so doing4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,the third attitude is that of religion4
 ,we have already discussed the ,puritan
 attitude and the manner in which it has
 permeated our unconscious religious    
thought4 ,in the ,anglican              
marriage-service there appears at first 
sight to be some endorsement of the     
theory that the sex-act is unclean and  
is only permitted in marriage as a      
concession to human weakness4#d ,this   
doctrine owes its derivation to ,st4    
,paul1 although it is important to      
notice that ,st4 ,paul specially        
emphasizes that he is not speaking      
ex-cathedra3 ,i say therefore to the    
unmarried and widows it is good for them
 to remain even as ,i4 ,but if they     

cannot contain1 let them marry2 for it  
is better to marry than to burn4#e      
,these words will probably be used as an
 argument against the statement that it 
is a specifically ,puritan doctrine to  
regard the sex-act as unclean4 ,it will 
be urged that the early ,christian      
,church1 as shown by the writings of the
 ,fathers1 discouraged marriage and     
upheld celibacy as the ideal4 ,i hope1  
in a moment1 to differentiate between   
the ,catholic and the ,puritan doctrine4
 ,but more immediately we will consider 
what ,i have broadly defined as the     
,puritan attitude4  ,the flaw in the    
argument that the sex-act is by nature  
unclean and must be suppressed1 even    
though in marriage it may be            
legitimized1 is that it is the ordained 
means of procreation4 ,further than     
this1 we have the inevitable fact to    
face that the sex-instinct in normal    
persons is so strong that it can only   
with great difficulty be suppressed1 and
 then results in an outflow of sex      

activity in what we usually know as     
non-sexual channels4 ,often this        
suppression will find its vent in mental
 dislocation and general nervous        
irritability4 ,but without analysing    
these complex symptoms1 it is sufficient
 to ask those who admit the control of  
,god1 why ,god created the sex impulse  
in order that it should be obliterated4 
,directly we move away from this strict 
doctrine to the modified popular        
expression of it1 we find that the      
position is becoming more intelligible  
but less logical4 ,it is consistent to  
regard all sex as evil4 ,but when the   
average ,christian1 while denouncing    
adultery as a sin1 insists on copulation
 in marriage as its consummation1 a     
difficulty arises which must not be     
ignored4 ,here1 in adultery1 is a sin   
which is so serious in the eyes of      
,christian men1 that it can never be    
redeemed2 the stigma of impurity remains
 for ever on the offender4 ,yet this    
same act1 if only committed under the   

regulation of marriage becomes not      
merely something permissible1 but the   
essential act of consummation1 the      
divine method of procreation4 ,one can  
understand how an act1 good in itself1  
can become a sin because it is performed
 under impermissible circumstances4 ,but
 it is difficult to conceive of an act  
changing its integral nature1 so that at
 one moment it is a necessary virtue1   
and at another the basest vice4 ,it is1 
for instance1 legal for a soldier to    
kill an enemy in battle1 while it is a  
crime for one civilian to kill another2 
but the act of killing is per se an evil
 thing1 even in the case of a soldier4  
,it never becomes so exalted as is the  
sex-act in marriage4  ,the ,catholic    
doctrine1 however1 while at first sight 
it appears to be identical with the     
,puritan1 is actually quite distinct4   
,for one thing there is a difference of 
attitude towards sin4 ,puritanism seems 
to suggest that those who have been     
converted are actually perfect4 ,it     

insists that they shall keep up this    
outward appearance1 and consequently    
ensures that their sins must be         
committed secretly4 ,they are then      
sufficiently perfect to ascend1 after   
death1 direct to ,heaven4 ,catholicism1 
however1 is continually recognizing that
 man is normally a sinner2 the          
confessional is a public recognition of 
this fact4 ,catholicism therefore       
approaches the question of sex with the 
expectation that man will sin1 that the 
probability of his fall is so great as  
to make it unnecessary and undesirable  
to hide all traces of his sin from      
public view4 ,the ,puritan attitude     
towards sex is really that of the prude4
 ,the ,catholic ,church is so ready to  
talk about sex in a decent manner that  
she provides the confessional as a      
permanent institution4  ,when we turn to
 the ,catholic attitude towards sex we  
are faced indeed with two significant   
dogmas which make up a position         
fundamentally distinct from that of     

,puritanism4 ,the first of these is the 
doctrine that marriage is a sacrament1  
and the second that the esse of the     
marriage is the consent of the parties4 
,the significance of the first is that  
marriage is not merely a licence whereby
 an unclean act is permitted as a sop to
 human weakness4 ,the sex function1 as  
the integral part of marriage1 is       
acknowledged to be an actual objective  
of divine grace4  ,the significance of  
the second doctrine is that wherever two
 people eligible to give consent1 give  
it1 there is the essence of marriage4   
,few non-,catholics realize that though 
the ,church normally requires the       
ecclesiastical and civil regulations to 
be observed1 she does not profess to    
marry the two persons2 she merely       
pronounces a blessing on their marriage4
 ,she may make conditions before she    
will give her blessing or even her      
witness to the validity of the marriage2
 but she recognizes that a marriage may 
be just as valid on a desert island as  

in a cathedral4#f ,and hence she really 
regards adultery1 not as does the       
,puritan1 but as an act which should be 
sacramental but has been prostituted by 
the absence of the love-motive1 or by   
becoming promiscuous rather than        
constant4 ,sexual union may even itself 
be of the nature of a marriage1 and it  
is significant that the ,church has     
always insisted on the right of parents 
subsequently to legitimize children born
 out of wedlock2 it is the ,english law 
which has forbidden that privilege4     
,this is the official ,catholic         
doctrine1 however much it has been      
assimilated to the ,puritan conception  
by the personnel of the ,church4  ,yet  
the ,church has consistently upheld the 
celibate life as the higher vocation4   
,she has represented a celibate         
priesthood as a greater ideal than a    
married priesthood4 ,she has exalted    
,our ,lady as a ,virgin4 ,she has       
insisted on the ,virgin ,birth4 ,but she
 has done this1 not because sex is evil1

 but because celibacy is better4 ,and1  
as we shall see1 religious celibacy is  
entirely distinct from a condition in   
which the sex impulse is merely         
repressed4     ,chapter #c3 ,the        
,general ,principles of ,purity   ,in   
attempting to define these principles ,i
 have no desire to enter into a         
controversy of relatives and absolutes4 
,it is sufficient to meet those who deny
 that there can be any abstract standard
 of purity by pointing out that we know 
the direction in which to look for what 
is good and pure4 ,just as we know that 
certain acts are less worthy than       
others1 so we are aware of the general  
direction of the nobler activities4     
,the first principle to be observed is  
that relatively purity is comparative4  
,this is a commonplace of all personal  
estimates4 ,however much we may adhere  
to the conception of a moral standard1  
which is abstract and unvarying1 we     
realize that there are also personal    
standards which vary very much4 ,we do  

not1 for instance1 consider a cat to be 
guilty of murder when she kills a bird2 
we do not execute her as we execute men 
who have taken human life4 ,we do not   
even condemn lions or tigers as         
homicidal criminals1 though we may kill 
them in self-defence1 thus showing that 
it is not the distinction between taking
 animal and human life which constitutes
 the crime2 it is the difference between
 the killers4 ,nor is it true that we   
draw a distinction merely between animal
 and human responsibility1 for even in  
the human kingdom we apply a comparative
 moral standard2 we do not consider a   
savage who steals or kills as being     
guilty to the extent which a civilized  
,european would be who performed a      
similar act4 ,we are in fact constantly 
applying a comparative standard to the  
comparative intelligences of            
individuals1 and quite rightly1 for all 
intelligence and moral sense is graded  
from brute-beast to savage-man and      
upwards4  ,we must be careful not to    

avoid this standard of comparative      
values in approaching sex morality4 ,so 
long as we admit that at least there are
 acts and principles which1 taken in the
 abstract1 approach purity more nearly  
than others1 we must not judge all      
individuals by the same standard4 ,we   
must not consider a very ordinary1      
unintelligent1 animal-blooded young man 
as being excessively sinful for having a
 vivid sex experience2 perhaps he is    
living right up to the level of his     
imperfect standard4 ,we must not expect 
people to be more moral than they can   
be1 though it is the duty of ,church and
 religion to educate them to see that   
there are better standards4  ,the second
 principle is simple1 but of the deepest
 importance4  ,it consists of the       
proposition that variety and not        
uniformity is the fundamental rule of   
nature1 or1 as ,christians would hold1  
the intention of ,god4  ,i cannot recall
 any distinctive attribute to which this
 rule does not apply4 ,there are an     

infinite species of creatures1 and      
infinite tastes and tendencies4 ,even if
 we narrow down our field of            
investigation to one nation or even a   
single family1 we find that each        
individual is approaching life by       
different byways1 with different        
prejudices and different temperaments   
and different conceptions4 ,but         
throughout history the majority of the  
normal type has been inclined to flout  
this divine principle4 ,the ,puritans1  
for example1 were a particular type who 
did not like the gayer life of the      
world1 and preferred a stern evangelical
 atmosphere4 ,consequently they regarded
 those amusements for which they        
happened to possess no partiality1 as   
evil1 and whenever they had the         
opportunity they suppressed them2 they  
eliminated ,christmas and the mince-pie4
 ,equally we can see that if the normal 
mechanical ,teutonic type had said that 
it was unnatural for men to be artistic 
and had suppressed the arts1 it would   

have been a disaster for the world4     
,there is not one vocation1 but there   
are many vocations2 all types are the   
design of intention1 and are there1 not 
to be suppressed1 but to carry out their
 particular mission4  ,this again1 is   
equally true of sex1 and we must apply  
the same conclusions towards the many   
types which we shall presently meet1    
abnormal as well as normal4 ,the        
,protestant1 for example1 really        
acknowledges a uniform sex-nature only4 
,you will continually hear a ,protestant
 declaring that it is unnatural for a   
man to be a celibate3 this is1 of       
course1 pure nonsense4 ,it might be     
unnatural for a normal sex-nature to    
remain celibate1 just as it would be    
unnatural for a natural celibate to     
marry4 ,the ,catholic ,church has been  
far wiser4 ,she can offer the ,religious
 ,life to the celibate and the          
,sacrament of ,marriage to the          
non-celibate4 ,there are few types of   
individual more unintelligent than that 

which1 while it cannot so interfere with
 personal liberty as to compel marriage1
 persists in uttering the convention    
that every man ought to do his duty to  
the ,state4 ,the truism is true2 what is
 wrong is the failure to conceive that  
there is no uniform duty for every man4 
,but the third principle is more complex
 in character1 or1 rather1 in the       
considerations which it involves4  ,it  
consists1 really1 of a re-affirmation as
 to the ,catholic condemnation of the   
heresy of ,manichaeism4  ,the ,puritan  
and the type he has evolved do radically
 regard the physical as evil4           
,protestantism1 until it became         
adulterated by the ,catholic movement1  
eliminated as far as possible1 the      
physical medium in religious worship4   
,not only doctrinally1 but liturgically1
 in the abandonment of ritual and       
artistic atmosphere1 it attempted to    
limit religion as far as possible to the
 spiritual level1 and it regarded       
sacramentalism as evil because          

sacramentalism involves an outward      
physical sign4 ,in the same way the     
average ,englishman1 who has been       
inculcated1 far more than he realizes1  
with ,calvinist dogma1 regards sex as   
immoral only when it is physical4 ,a man
 may indulge in sexual emotion and      
thought1 but so long as he suppresses   
any physical act he is not guilty2 if   
this can be regarded as an exaggeration 
it is certainly true that popular       
,protestant theology regards a man as   
more immoral if he commits the physical 
sex-act than if he thinks of it4 ,it is 
strange to note how far this theory has 
departed from the teaching of ,christ1  
,who declared that he that lusteth      
against a woman hath committed adultery 
against her in his heart4  ,it is       
obvious the moment we examine this      
conception that it is utterly           
indefensible4 ,if the sex-act is evil#g 
because it is physical1 then it is      
equally evil to eat or drink4 ,and if an
 attempt is made to avoid this          

difficulty by saying that it is evil to 
debase love by expressing it in a       
physical act1 or that it is better to   
love spiritually and non-physically1    
then it is equally evil to debase       
artistic inspiration by expressing it   
with paints on a physical canvas1 or    
better to allow melodies to float in    
one's mind than to reduce them to the   
level of a physical composition4        
,without entering into a highly involved
 philosophy and therefore at the risk of
 apparent dogmatism1 ,i wish now to     
emphasize that there are certain        
ascending levels1 with which man is     
concerned4 ,we may confine ourselves to 
the physical1 the emotional1 the mental1
 and the spiritual levels4 ,the physical
 level is the lowest1 in so far as man  
functions there in common with the      
animal4 ,he is more active emotionally  
than the animal4 ,but what distinguishes
 him chiefly from the animal1 and makes 
him master over all brute-creation1 is  
his activity on the mental level4       

,physically he is less powerful than the
 elephant2 but because he can function  
mentally and the elephant can do so     
hardly at all1 he can employ the        
elephant as a beast of labour4 ,here    
then we have a distinct gradation1 a    
gradation which continues to apply      
within the human kingdom and makes us   
able to distinguish a civilised man from
 a savage4  ,we should therefore apply  
this principle to sex4 ,sex activity is 
more pure or impure according to the    
level on which it chiefly functions4 ,a 
man who traffics with prostitutes is not
 immoral because he is functioning      
physically1 but because he is           
functioning almost entirely on the      
physical level4 ,purity is really sex   
emphasis on the highest levels4 ,ideally
 the physically sex-act should therefore
 be a mere expression of spiritual1     
mental1 emotional love2 it should just  
happen4 ,the moment one begins to lay   
the emphasis on the lower levels1 the   
more one becomes correspondingly less   

pure4 ,lust1 in fact1 is the desire only
 for physical sex experience--the wrong 
proportion and balance4 ,a man's stage  
of moral development is to be discovered
 by the particular level on which he is 
most active4  ,we must not avoid the    
consequence of this principle4 ,we must 
be prepared to admit as relatively      
moral1 behaviour which popular          
philosophy might regard as immoral4 ,we 
must also be prepared to regard as      
immoral many marriages in which the     
physical is the chief incentive4 ,the   
lowest stage of impurity would seem to  
be reached in cases1 whether between man
 and harlot1 or husband and wife1 where 
the physical function is so emphasized  
that artificial physical aids are       
invoked in order to excite the physical 
passions and make them the cause instead
 of the result of sex emotion and       
thought4     ,chapter #d3 ,celibacy     
,if once the third principle named in   
the preceding chapter is fully          
appreciated1 we have already laid the   

foundation of our moral standard4 ,we   
shall have seen that physical expression
 is the sacramental form of the         
invisible and super-physical motive1 and
 that immorality is the shifting of     
emphasis from higher to lower levels4   
,we shall be in possession of a test by 
which we may in almost all sex problems 
determine a comparative virtue or evil  
of any practice or conduct4  ,now this  
involves the equally fundamental theory 
that sex is not entirely a physical     
activity4 ,in the popular conception sex
 is always confused with physical sex   
expression4 ,but this conception1 ,i    
submit1 is entirely inaccurate4 ,even   
though ,freud may be justifiably        
criticised for straining the word sex to
 include many forces which do not       
directly tend to incite physical sex    
activity1 he has successfully shown that
 sex is the motive behind emotions and  
conduct which would not popularly be    
termed sexual at all4 ,a musician may1  
for example1 be drawing on his          

sex-energy in composing or performing   
musical works2 a humanitarian may be    
sexual in his diffused love of          
fellow-men and women4 ,we cannot        
possibly draw a line and say that here  
sex begins and there it ends4 ,we can   
only admit that it carries far beyond   
those particular physical manifestations
 which we popularly associate with sex4 
,if we accept the principle of ascending
 levels of physical1 emotional1 mental1 
and spiritual functions1 we should      
expect to find that sex makes its       
appearance in more than one form4 ,we   
know1 that is to say1 that there are1   
not one1 but many emotions and thoughts 
which are directly sexual1 and that     
there would seem to be every reason why 
sex1 which manifests variety in its     
physical expression1 should be equally  
various in the realm of the mind4       
,further than this1 we are able to      
advance the principle that when the     
emphasis is laid further away from the  
physical level1 the functioning power on

 that level weakens4 ,man1 as we have   
already agreed1 is a more developed     
animal than the elephant1 because he is 
active in thought4 ,but he pays the     
price for this by the inferiority of his
 physical strength4 ,similarly1 the less
 mentally equipped are frequently more  
physically powerful4 ,like all other    
rules1 there are of course exceptions4  
,but there does seem to be a principle1 
and a principle that we should logically
 expect1 that the more man functions on 
what we have described as super-physical
 levels1 the less powerful his strength 
on the physical level becomes4  ,again1 
we have seen that1 morally1 the physical
 level is the lowest4 ,the highest human
 developments are those which the animal
 cannot reach4 ,the ordinary physical   
instincts are not evil1 they are simply 
less evolved4 ,some of them1 like the   
sense of maternity1 are good4 ,but we   
cannot doubt that man's superiority over
 the animal lies precisely in his       
ability to do what the animal cannot do1

 and that1 therefore1 the realm of mind 
is higher than the realm of action4     
,when the ,catholic ,church therefore   
presents religious celibacy#h as being  
the higher vocation she is enunciating  
this very principle4 ,she is not        
suggesting that non-celibacy is an evil 
state4 ,we do not pretend that the      
profession of crossing-sweeper is evil  
because the profession of prime minister
 is a higher ambition2 indeed1 it would 
be probably disastrous to persuade a man
 who had a natural ability to be a      
crossing-sweeper to qualify as a prime  
minister4 ,relatively1 a man performs   
his moral duty in fulfilling his        
vocation1 for whatever grade it may be  
designed4 ,the true religious celibate  
is the extreme exception2 no one should 
attempt such perfection who has not the 
actual call4 ,the means by which we     
realize our true vocation is too        
individual a question to enter upon     
here4  ,the whole fault of the puritanic
 conception of sex is to assume that    

complete repression should be attempted 
by all men1 and that marriage is solely 
a concession to failure4#i  ,almost the 
exact reverse is the truth4 ,the        
celibate is a rare product4 ,and        
moreover he is not one in whom sex is   
repressed2 he is essentially a human    
being in whom the sex-force is          
sublimated into non-physical channels4  
,this may take the form of extreme      
religious devotion1 in wide             
humanitarianism1 in a love of children  
or animals1 in artistic creation or     
scientific research4 ,it becomes true   
celibacy only when the individual       
instinct is so far diverted towards     
these energies that desire for physical 
sex functions becomes eliminated4 ,nor  
is it true that such a man is barren2 he
 is procreating1 as really as the       
father1 a mental or spiritual progeny4  
,we cannot emphasize this distinction   
too strongly4 ,for the vast majority of 
men the celibate life is not intended1  
and to some extent1 though1 as we shall 

see1 not entirely1 other rules apply4   
,what indeed we have so carefully to    
distinguish is the transference of sex  
from the repression of sex4 ,to transfer
 the sex-force is a healthy and natural 
energy1 whereas to repress sex is an    
evil which must always tend to produce  
unfortunate results4     ,chapter #e3   
,non-,celibacy   ,we have now arrived at
 a point where we can emphasize a       
further distinction4 ,we must1 in fact1 
differentiate between those emotions and
 thoughts which are sexual in the sense 
that they naturally incite physical sex 
functions1 and those which manifest     
themselves in non-sexual activities4 ,it
 may be true that the energy which is   
exercised in the latter way is itself   
sexual2 that does not matter for our    
immediate purpose4 ,it is sufficient    
that the force is at work in a          
non-sexual channel4  ,here then we have 
two entirely different processes4 ,the  
first is the shifting of the emphasis of
 the sex-force from body to mind1 so    

that the sex-force ceases to be         
concentrated in physical sex-acts and   
begins to be concerned rather with love 
emotion and sex-thought2 the second is  
the transmutation of the sex-force to   
non-sexual channels4 ,both of these     
processes are necessary in the life of  
the non-celibate4  ,the latter process  
is what happens naturally in the case of
 the true religious celibate4 ,his      
development and temperament are such    
that his sex-nature finds a complete    
expression1 as we have already seen1 in 
such directions as a general love of    
humanity1 an intense spiritual devotion1
 the worship of art or nature4 ,there is
 no repression1 but a full exercise of  
the sex activities in a non-sexual      
direction4  ,the vast majority of men1  
however1 are not so developed1 and are  
not intended to carry out such a life4  
,yet1 for them1 too1 this process must  
be to some extent adopted4 ,it is       
largely a matter of common-sense4 ,the  
animal exercises no restraint2 whenever 

the sex-impulse arises1 it is           
satisfied--so far1 of course1 as the    
opportunity is provided4 ,but as we     
trace the conduct of the more developed 
species from savage to civilized man we 
are conscious of a new element of       
will-power4 ,the influences which cause 
this power to come into operation may   
vary4 ,religious obligations1           
considerations of business1 social1 or  
intellectual responsibilities1 help to  
intervene4 ,an intelligent man simply   
cannot afford to give vent to sex       
proclivities every time they arise2 he  
has other interests which must of       
necessity at many times of the day have 
the first claim4 ,imagine a man who     
sacrificed a business engagement for    
some sex gratification6 ,often in the   
recent war a man1 however strong his    
sexual emotions1 would be forced to cast
 away all ideas of sex in order to dodge
 a shell2 his mind for continuous       
periods would be so driven with         
anxieties and the stress of             

responsibility that sex would sink into 
insignificance4 ,this is an extreme     
instance1 but to a lesser degree it is  
what is happening to everyone who leads 
a normal life4 ,the more developed the  
man1 the wider his intellectual         
interests2 and it is precisely in this  
capacity to exercise his will-power that
 he proves his superiority over the     
animal4  ,this process of transmutation 
is the remedy which must be applied in  
cases where men find themselves the     
victims of sexual emotion out of all    
true proportion1 whether in married or  
unmarried life4 ,mere repression is     
useless2 it is actually harmful4 ,but   
the mind must be switched off to dig a  
thought-passage in other directions1 in 
non-sexual interests4 ,where there is   
undue sex obsession there is disease4   
,and this mental transference is the    
chief cure4 ,really1 this transmutation 
is a diffusing of the sex-force into a  
wide general area4 ,the man is no longer
 concentrating all his sex-energy in    

love for one particular person2 he is   
beginning sexually to love all humanity4
 ,he is finding sexual expression in the
 non-sexual forms of art or nature4 ,he 
is still in love--but in love with love1
 rather than with one separate personal 
fragment of the whole4  ,but with the   
ordinary man1 there must remain a       
balance of sexual inclination which     
cannot entirely be transmuted4 ,here we 
encounter the first process1 and our    
problem1 particularly in non-married    
life1 becomes acute4 ,is it possible1   
and is it healthy1 to deny the          
sex-instincts all satisfaction8         
,different answers are given by         
religious advisers and by men of the    
world1 while even in the ranks of the   
medical profession there is no consensus
 of opinion4  ,i suggest that there is  
only one general principle which can be 
our guide4  ,the natural tendency of all
 sexual thought and emotion is to find  
its outlet in physical expression of    
some kind4 ,if a man indulges in sexual 

thought1 it is almost impossible for him
 to avoid a physical result4 ,he may    
have recourse to prostitution or he may 
commit solitary practices4 ,the tendency
 of ,puritan morality is1 as we have    
seen1 to regard the physical act as the 
sin and to avoid the conclusion that the
 thought is evil2 consequently the      
patient is urged at all cost to refrain 
from action4 ,let it be stated1 quite   
frankly1 that this attitude is          
scientifically and morally indefensible4
 ,it is the thought rather than the act 
on which the responsibility should be   
weighed4 ,i have no hesitation whatever 
in asserting that it is worse1 medically
 and morally1 for the individual to     
indulge in sexual thought and repress   
the consequent action1 than to commit   
it4 ,the mere absence of physical       
conduct is harmful and deplorable if the
 mind is a seething mass of sexual      
energy which is being denied all outlet4
  ,the first duty in such cases is1 as  
we have seen1 to apply the process of   

transmuting this sexual thought to      
non-sexual interests1 so far as this can
 be done4 ,the extent to which this is  
possible must vary in each individual   
nature4 ,the comparative balance then   
remains4 ,and here we must bring into   
play the moral principle to which ,i    
have already referred--namely that the  
morality of sex is determined by the    
extent to which love is the motive4 ,sex
 inspired by love is moral2 sex inspired
 by any other motive is not4 ,the part  
which the physical sex-force should     
alone play is the sacramental expression
 of pure love2 so employed it is a      
perfect and divine activity4 ,when the  
love-motive is absent1 or is not the    
dominant incentive1 the sex-force       
becomes comparatively immoral and       
abused4  ,this is a general principle   
which can be rigidly employed4 ,and ,i  
do not want to escape from the          
consequences of this doctrine4 ,it      
appears to me the one natural1          
fundamental principle upon which a moral

 standard can be based4 ,therefore ,i am
 ready to accept the conclusion that    
there are many marriages which are      
highly immoral because the sex-act is   
not an expression of love1 but either a 
mere mechanical duty or the result of a 
physical and emotional excitement1 as   
distinct from love4 ,on the other hand  
there are many sex adventures1 inspired 
by love1 which do not occur within the  
matrimonial state4 ,this principle alone
 must guide us in any moral estimate we 
draw4  ,let us apply this doctrine by   
taking the simple case of a man and     
woman who are accused of having         
committed adultery4 ,we inquire first1  
whether mutual love was the true motive1
 whether in fact the act of adultery was
 an unpremeditated incident which       
occurred as naturally as the kiss which 
a child gives to its mother4 ,we draw a 
clear moral line between the sort of    
assignation which has for its one object
 the gratification of physical          
sensations1 or the even lower motive1 so

 far as the prostitute is concerned1 of 
substituting for love the earning of a  
few shillings4 ,but suppose we are      
satisfied that the physical act was not 
the object but the result1 and that     
there was love4 ,we go on to ask how    
deep was the love1 and if a deep love is
 alleged1 we ask why the parties are not
 married4 ,for it is doubtful whether   
normal love can be wholly spasmodic4 ,it
 seems contrary to the very nature of   
love that a man should love one woman   
for an hour and then throw her over for 
someone else4 ,the essence of love tends
 to completeness and permanence4  ,but  
we will imagine that even these         
conditions are satisfied1 and that      
financial difficulties or parental      
objections alone prevent the formal     
marriage4 ,we have also discovered that 
the two people have loved each other for
 some time1 and that there is not       
therefore simply a sudden fascination1  
but a love based on knowledge and       
matured by experience4 ,we are then left

 with a technical and not a moral       
offence4 ,in effect a marriage has taken
 place2 there has been the consent which
 is the essence of the union4 ,it is    
only when the ,catholic conception of   
the sacrament of matrimony is abandoned 
that we find ourselves regarding the    
ceremony in ,church or registry-office  
as the union1 and that therefore a moral
 offence is committed in the sex-act    
where no such ceremony has taken place4 
,it is true that the parties would be in
 honour bound to receive the blessing of
 the ,church4 ,the union is irregular2  
but it is a true union4  ,incidentally1 
,i suggest that this theory may be the  
basis of the scriptural exception in    
,st4 ,matthew's gospel made as regards  
divorce where there has been            
fornication1 or a pre-marital           
sex-act--namely that by this act a      
natural marriage has been consummated1  
and that the subsequent marriage is     
therefore invalid4  ,one might almost   
draw up a schedule of the tests which   

should be applied whenever we may happen
 to be forced to adjudicate as to the   
morality of any sex-behaviour4 ,for     
already there have emerged certain      
definite test-principles4 ,there is the 
consideration of the standard of the    
relative degree of intelligence to which
 the particular individual has          
developed1 and of the fact that there   
are many types of sex-temperament4 ,on  
the other hand we see that the direction
 of absolute morality to which our faces
 should be set1 is the raising of the   
sex-force to super-physical levels1 so  
that the physical side becomes a mere   
incident1 or is even eliminated         
altogether4 ,then we apply the rule that
 there must be an exercise of restraint 
and will-power1 so that sex obsession is
 entirely avoided4 ,the extent to which 
the mind can be diverted from sexual    
channels must depend on the stage of    
development which the individual has    
reached4 ,lastly1 we apply the test of  
how far love1 so deep and pure that it  

is permanent rather than spasmodic1 a   
monopoly rather than promiscuous1 is the
 motive4  ,modern society has gone1 ,i  
contend1 as much astray in drifting to  
the extreme of considering all things   
permissible1 as has ,puritanism in      
regarding the sex-act outside marriage  
as in all circumstances a deadly evil4  
,and ,i can only marvel that this latter
 attitude is taken up so often in the   
name of the ,christian religion1 when   
its ,founder1 while declaring that at   
the last day it would be more tolerable 
for ,sodom and ,gomorrah than for the   
,scribes and ,pharisees1 also said to   
the woman taken in adultery1 ,neither do
 ,i condemn thee2 go thy way1 from      
henceforth sin no more4     ,chapter #f3
 ,divorce   ,in leaving the moorland of 
general principles for the fields of    
particular problems it will be          
convenient to group sex natures under   
three heads3 7#a7 the normal or         
hetero-sexual1 7#b7 the invert or       
homo-sexual1 and 7#c7 the neuter or     

sexless4 ,it is necessary only to add   
that it will not be possible to deal in 
more than the merest outline with any of
 these important questions4  ,the most  
prominent of the problems concerned with
 the normal group is that of divorce4   
,the problem arises because on the one  
hand there is a sense that marriage     
ought to be a permanent state1 while on 
the other1 there are many human         
exigences which go to break up          
particular marriages4 ,separation1      
without permission to re-marry1 is of   
course an admitted remedy4 ,but the     
question then arises whether parties so 
separated will continue to live as      
celibates2 and as it appears certain    
that the vast majority will not1 we have
 to ask whether it is better to legalise
 the fresh unions which are formed1 or  
to permit adultery4  ,every modern      
,state has wrestled with this problem1  
and for the most part ineffectually4    
,where there is no divorce1 as in       
,england before #aheg1aj or among the   

poorer classes who cannot afford        
divorce1 irregular unions and           
prostitution undoubtedly flourish4      
,where a compromise is introduced1 the  
permanence of marriage1 and therefore of
 the home1 becomes correspondingly      
impaired1 while there are left a number 
of unhappy cases for which divorce is   
not allowed4#aa ,the ,english civil law 
is particularly unhappy in its          
compromise4 ,it is based on the         
,protestant interpretation of the       
passage in ,st4 ,matthew already        
mentioned1 namely that divorce is       
permissible where adultery has occurred1
 and it goes on to make it easier for   
the husband to sue for divorce when the 
wife has committed adultery than for the
 wife to do so in the reverse           
circumstances4 ,hence it places a       
premium on adultery1 and exaggerates its
 importance as regards other sins4 ,it  
deliberately incites an unhappy wife to 
commit adultery in order to obtain      
relief--she can usually evade the       

vigilance of the ,king's ,proctor--and  
it singles out adultery as a worse sin  
than1 let us say1 cruelty or habitual   
drunkenness1 for which divorce is not at
 present obtainable4 ,in fact it is     
difficult to find any logical or moral  
defence for the ,english law as it      
stands4  ,let us first see how far the  
popular critics of the ,catholic        
doctrine of indissoluble marriage are   
wrong4 ,they regard marriage as simply a
 contract1 from which it follows that   
divorce should be obtained by mutual    
consent1 or even on the application of  
one of the parties4 ,but this ignores1  
among other things1 one vital natural   
law4 ,marriage begets parenthood1 and   
between the parents of the same child   
there is a definite and permanent       
relationship4 ,no ,act of ,parliament   
can make men and women cease to be the  
parents of their own children4 ,nor1    
even in childless marriages1 is the     
sense of permanence an artificial       
convention which can be abolished by the

 decree of a court4 ,the deeper the     
love1 the more permanent must its nature
 tend to be4 ,love is not a contract2 it
 is a spiritual bond4  ,it is           
impossible1 ,i contend1 to think of a   
normally healthy marriage without       
realizing that both the man and woman   
naturally enter into it with the        
assumption that it will be a permanent  
relationship4 ,the possibility of a     
family1 the break-up of the maiden      
life--even the furnishing of a home1 is 
evidence of a strong probability in the 
minds of the parties that the step which
 is being taken is something more than a
 temporary contract4 ,indeed1 the       
marriage is only temporary if           
unhappiness arises4 ,men and women marry
 because they want to enter into as     
permanent a relationship as possible2   
they enter into it because1 as they say1
 they wish to settle down4 ,the natural 
desire of man is that marriage should be
 permanent4  ,a reversion to free love  
would be more than the undoing of the   

evolution from animal to man4 ,it would 
completely change the basis of human    
society4 ,and in proportion as any      
divorce law encourages the conception of
 a temporary contract this dangerous    
instability of home-life is threatened4 
,americans sometimes describe their own 
laws as approaching the ideal4 ,the     
question will soon be1 wrote a          
journalist describing the ,american     
smart set1 who is to be your husband    
next year8--or1 ,has your last season's 
wife re-married yet8 ,this is of course 
an exaggeration2 but it is a warning as 
to logical developments4  ,in fact1     
divorce tends to create itself4 ,divorce
 is only applied for where the marriage 
is unhappy4 ,a fair proportion of       
unhappy marriages arise because they    
have been hastily entered into2 with due
 inquiry many of them could have been   
prevented4 ,but the easier divorce is to
 obtain1 the more incentive will be     
given to enter into these hasty         
marriages--the type of union which so   

often gives rise to divorce4  ,on the   
other hand1 whatever their cause1 there 
are marriages in which all trace of love
 has disappeared1 and it may fairly be  
argued that the union is dead4 ,thus a  
husband may1 in later years1 become     
incurably insane or habitually drunk4   
,there are many unions in which the one 
party has married in blind infatuation  
only to discover that the partner is so 
contemptible a creature as to destroy   
all vestige of love4 ,such unions remain
 marriages in formality only2 their     
pretended existence is a sacrilege1     
particularly if there are no children   
and the husband and wife are not        
therefore co-related as parents4  ,for  
all such cases the ,catholic ,church    
permits divorce 7a mensa et thoro7--or  
separation1 as it is known in civil law1
 without permission to re-marry4 ,the   
issue1 therefore1 becomes simply a      
question as to whether it is right to   
expect the parties so separated to      
remain celibate4  ,in an outline such as

 this1 ,i suppose that one can only     
attempt a summary reply to these        
questions4 ,if1 for a moment1 we are to 
exclude the complications of a          
subsequent love-affair there appears to 
me to be no reason whatever why any man 
or woman should not remain celibate     
during the lifetime of the divorced     
partner4 ,the journalese theory that it 
is unnatural and unhealthy for people so
 to remain is simply untrue1 so long as 
the celibacy takes the form of          
sublimation or transmutation and not    
repression4 ,the complication of an     
intense love-romance however1 is a      
serious proposition4 ,ought two people  
in love to remain sexually apart simply 
because one of them is still married to1
 let us say1 an incurable lunatic8 ,in  
principle there seems to be every reason
 why they should2 no actual physical or 
mental harm is done to them1 provided   
they have a sufficiently developed      
will-power to transfer their sex-desire 
into other channels of activity4 ,the   

sacrifice will be immense1 but it is no 
more than any man has to make who       
refrains from marrying his beloved      
because he is too poor or is suffering  
from some disease which may affect his  
children4 ,in this case the sacrifice is
 offered for the supremely important    
principle that only ,god1 by the act of 
death1 can undo the vinculum of the     
original marriage4  ,but ,i am equally  
sure that most people under these or    
less intense circumstances will not     
remain celibate4  ,therefore1 to descend
 from theory to practice1 ,i see no     
alternative but to draw a rigid line    
between civil and religious marriages4  
,the ,state must make its own           
arrangements and go its own way4 ,but   
there should always be a higher type of 
marriage where the ,catholic ,church has
 been invoked for her blessing4 ,and for
 those who choose to ask for this       
sacrament1 the union should be          
irrevocable1 save by death4 ,the parties
 will receive that sacrament knowing    

what a heavy responsibility they are    
assuming4 ,and it is only right that the
 ,church should be far more particular  
in refusing to prostitute her           
sacramental grace on unions which ought 
not to be consummated4 ,she ought1 ,i   
conceive1 rigidly to inquire into the   
desirability of the union1 and not to   
give her blessing unless she is         
satisfied that both parties are giving  
their consent with as full a knowledge  
of the facts as is humanly possible4    
,equally she should refuse her          
ministrations where she is unconvinced  
that love is the motive of the marriage4
 ,i see no reason why some form of      
sponsorship should not be demanded4     
,and ,i think it may be argued that a   
consent without a knowledge of the facts
 is not a valid consent1 and that such a
 union is null4 ,i should welcome a     
careful extension of the decree of      
nullity1 for that reason4     ,chapter  
#g3 ,eugenics and ,prostitution   ,the  
doctrine that love is the only motive   

for sex--that physical expression is    
pure only so far as it is the           
sacramental accidence of love--leads to 
important conclusions4 ,there is1 for   
instance1 a class of moralist who teach 
that the sex-act in marriage must only  
be for the purpose of procreation4 ,it  
would follow from this that it is       
immoral for sex intimacies to occur     
between a man and his wife once she has 
passed a certain age4 ,in the ideal     
marriage1 so this school of thought     
affirms1 copulation is strictly         
regulated and occurs only when the      
moment is favourable for generation4    
,to this theory ,i cannot subscribe4 ,it
 runs counter to the doctrine in which  
,i believe4 ,it ,changes the sex-act    
from an incident or a result to a means 
or a cause4 ,it is really immoral       
because it lays emphasis on the         
physical4 ,this cold-blooded calculation
 of the times when sex is to be thus    
physically expressed is the exact       
opposite of the principle by which love 

directs and the act merely occurs1 with 
no purpose but to express love          
physically4  ,this leads us to a        
consideration as to how far those       
practices between man and woman are     
moral in which procreation cannot       
result4 ,it is interesting to note that 
the ,english law holds that unnatural   
acts between husband and wife are       
criminal4 ,although it is true that     
prosecution cannot occur unless there is
 an absence of consent1 for otherwise   
there would be no evidence--these acts  
are apparently regarded as per se       
criminal in nature4 ,and this indeed is 
a logical position1 when we remember the
 standpoint which the ,state adopts     
towards all sex questions4  ,to this    
class of conduct artificial             
preventatives are closely allied4 ,a    
chaos of opinion rages over this        
subject1 from the neo-malthusian who    
advocates the practice as a necessity1  
to the purist who talks of child-murder4
 ,it seems clear that this latter       

designation is an unwarrantable         
exaggeration2 to prevent the possibility
 of life coming into existence cannot by
 any strain of imagination be confused  
with destroying what is actually alive4 
,on the other hand1 the moral test which
 we are applying to all these problems  
hardly acquits the practice4 ,it is     
difficult to think of preventatives     
without being conscious that            
premeditation of the physical act is    
being emphasized1 and the ideal of a    
natural incident almost banished4 ,to   
prepare for a thing is to insist on its 
importance4 ,the minds of the two       
parties must almost necessarily be      
focussed--though not absolutely         
necessarily--on the physical sex-act4   
,there is no doubt however that1 apart  
from ideals1 preventatives are a means  
of averting more serious evils4 ,this is
 not the place to enter into a detailed 
consideration of eugenics4 ,we can only 
face the blatant fact that thousands of 
degenerate parents continue each year to

 breed degenerate children4 ,the moral  
aspect with which alone ,i am dealing1  
is that this is a crime against the     
community2 however irresponsible or     
ignorant the perpetrators1 they are     
helping to burden the ,state with an    
altogether undesirable progeny4 ,now1   
whether they are allowed to marry or    
not1 there is not the least likelihood  
that they will desist from sexual       
intercourse4 ,therefore1 it seems to me 
an obviously lesser evil to remove all  
excuse for procreation by placing within
 reach the artificial means of          
prevention4  ,in this1 just as in the   
divorce problem1 we have to determine   
whether it is better to insist on an    
ideal1 which we know the majority will  
not keep1 or to legislate down to the   
majority4 ,there is no doubt in my own  
mind that to legislate on an ideal is   
not only impracticable but dangerous4 ,i
 may believe1 for instance1 that it     
would be a higher ideal to live on      
vegetables and fruit rather than to     

slaughter animals and drink their blood4
 ,but even so1 ,i should vehemently     
oppose a law which attempted to impose  
vegetarianism4  ,i believe1 too1 that   
every moral influence should be brought 
to bear against marriages where the     
physical or mental degeneracy#ab of the 
parents renders the use of preventatives
 desirable4 ,i wish to emphasize that   
the ideal towards which we should set   
our faces is that of fewer but healthier
 marriages4 ,both ,church and ,state    
should1 ,i feel1 take pains to assure   
themselves that these undesirable       
elements are absent in all unions which 
they are respectively called upon to    
solemnize4 ,and ,i emphasize this       
because ,i believe that we are suffering
 far too much from the popular fallacy  
and the smug ,puritanic doctrine that   
the cure for all sexual proclivities is 
for men and women to marry1 and that    
once they marry all things are sexually 
permissible4 ,it is not only irritating1
 but it is a fallacy1 for men who are   

comfortably married to declare that     
there is really no sex-problem4 ,there  
is probably as much immorality within   
the married state as outside it2 and far
 from it being the duty of every man to 
marry1 there are many men whose duty it 
is not to do so4  ,closely allied with  
eugenics is the problem of venereal     
disease1 and out of this again1 arises  
the problem of prostitution4 ,how far is
 prostitution tolerable1 so that a      
medical system of registration should be
 introduced into ,england8 ,we have seen
 why prostitution is immoral2 it is     
concerned with the physical side of sex1
 and with little else4 ,but no          
thoughtful man could reasonably advocate
 the suppression of prostitution by law4
 ,the result of such a measure1 at the  
present state of national development1  
would be deplorable1 even if it were    
practicable4 ,people do not become moral
 because they are frightened to do what 
they still want to do4 ,it is always a  
confession of the weakness of religion  

or moral influences where you have to   
fall back on the police-force of the    
,state for support4 ,in moral questions1
 ,state prosecution seems only to be    
justifiable where the liberty of        
individuals1 or the welfare of the      
community1 is endangered4               
,prostitution#ac as an evil can only be 
treated by the slow process of moral    
education4 ,of that ,i shall speak      
later4 ,but it is worth while           
remembering in this connexion1 that the 
feminist movement must have a beneficial
 effect1 to some extent1 on             
prostitution4 ,largely1 it is an        
economic problem4 ,if a woman were able 
to earn a decent wage1 it is            
inconceivable that she should wish to   
submit herself to every voluptuous      
patron who happens to come along4       
,education and economic independence    
must tend largely to breed              
dissatisfaction with such a slavish     
occupation4 ,it will not do so entirely1
 for a certain percentage of women are  

prostitutes because they hunger for     
promiscuous sex intercourse4  ,that some
 serious attempt must be made1 not      
merely to alleviate1 but to prevent     
venereal disease1 is evident to all who 
are aware how widespread it has become4 
,and it may therefore be pointed out    
that it would not be impossible to      
prosecute the prostitute1 suffering from
 these diseases1 without introducing the
 vexed question of registration and     
official recognition of prostitution4   
,all unmarried men and women below a    
certain age could be compelled to submit
 to periodical medical examination1 and 
if any person was found to have         
solicited1 after having been certified  
as infected1 prosecution would lie4     
,probably a storm of protest would be   
aroused against an alleged interference 
with individual privacy4 ,but the danger
 of syphilis may necessitate such a law1
 and after all1 no one is being asked to
 do more than that to which every       
soldier and sailor has to submit4  ,we  

have seen that love1 and therefore      
marriage1 naturally contains the sense  
of permanence4 ,there is also a sense of
 distaste towards incest1 and of the    
apparently natural evils arising        
therefrom4 ,no-one will deny that the   
,state and the ,catholic ,church are    
scientifically justified in insisting   
upon some table of prohibited degrees4  
,how far this distaste is essentially   
natural ,i do not know4 ,i imagine that 
a sister who had been separated from her
 brother since birth1 and who did not   
know that he was her brother1 might fall
 in love with him4 ,but the scientific  
dangers of such marriages would         
remain4#ad  ,the ,church of ,england    
some years ago found herself immersed in
 a storm of controversy over the        
,deceased ,wife's ,sister ,act4 ,to most
 men her attitude seemed pedantic and   
unworthy of serious attention4 ,the     
,english ,church is unfortunate3 her    
apparently narrow ecclesiasticism was   
really the result of a liberal policy at

 the time of the ,reformation4 ,during  
the ,middle ,ages the ,church had       
extended her prohibited degrees to such 
an extent that it must have been        
difficult to know whom one could marry  
without a dispensation4#ae ,only a      
person more than four degrees removed   
from the other party was an eligible    
partner without dispensation1 the       
degrees so being reckoned as to include 
even second cousins4 ,the ,english      
,church swept away these anomalies and  
concentrated on an irreducible minimum  
of prohibition up to three degrees      
7reckoned in direct ascending and       
descending generation from the common   
ancestor7--thus sacrificing all         
regulation against marriage between     
first cousins1 who are four degrees     
removed4  ,the real opposition to the   
ecclesiastical attitude was1 however1   
that any affinity1 as distinguished from
 consanguinity1 should be a bar to      
marriage4 ,the unhappy deceased wife's  
sister was merely a convenient          

representative4 ,but this is a          
controversy which is not sufficiently   
imminent to engage us in these pages4   
,chapter #h3 ,the ,homosexual           
,temperament   ,we must now pass from   
the normal or hetero-sexual to the      
second-class of sex-temperament4 ,this  
is the homosexual--that in which the    
individual's sex attraction is directed 
towards the same sex4 ,and here it will 
be necessary to utter a note of warning4
 ,the sex instinct lies so deep in human
 nature that many men are incapable of  
regarding sex characteristics save      
through their own temperamental colour4 
,normal men are frequently found1 for   
instance1 of such underdeveloped mental 
faculties that they start out with an   
immense sex prejudice against the       
homosexual4 ,without being able to      
consider the question impartially they  
abhor this variety as an unspeakable    
evil4 ,it is essential that we should   
place such critics outside the area of  
practical investigation4 ,the homosexual

 tendency may be as evil as they imagine
 it to be1 but we must only arrive at   
that conclusion as a result of impartial
 and incontestable reason4 ,and any man 
who cannot undertake that inquiry is as 
valueless for our purpose as are his    
prejudicial opinions2 he must simply go 
back to the nursery4  ,let us therefore1
 as far as is individually possible1    
attempt to treat this question with an  
open mind4 ,and accordingly we shall    
find it most convenient first to        
consider the various attitudes which    
have been taken up with regard to this  
difficult problem4  ,the legal or ,state
 attitude we have already to some extent
 anticipated4 ,the ,state looks with    
suspicious eyes on any influence which  
tends to sterilize the birth-rate4      
,accordingly1 in ,england1 homosexuality
 is branded as a crime for which a heavy
 sentence can be pronounced4 ,it is true
 that legally this sentence1 under the  
,criminal ,amendment ,act1 can only be  
inflicted for the physical sex-act      

itself2 but this includes any assault or
 any behaviour which may be construed as
 an attempt to lead up to the commission
 of the act4 ,and1 accordingly1 any man 
is legally under suspicion if he is     
thought to be homosexual1 even though no
 perpetration of the physical offence   
can be alleged against him4 ,the hideous
 system of blackmail is thus encouraged 
by the law4 ,once a man is understood to
 be subject to these proclivities1 it is
 assumed that sooner or later he will   
commit the offence1 and he is watched1  
if not by the over-busy police1 by those
 idle persons who trade upon the legal  
attitude toward this problem4 ,any      
conversation or literature on the       
subject is suppressed1 so far as is     
possible1 by the ,state1 because the    
physical expression being a crime1 all  
that may become an incentive to the     
crime is itself criminal4  ,we have     
already mentioned the basic fallacy of  
the legal attitude4 ,it does not follow 
that because a line of conduct may      

decrease the birth-rate1 it is therefore
 wrong4 ,celibacy1 as we have seen1 may 
be an actual virtue4 ,but in this       
particular instance there is a still    
more serious error4 ,the ,english law1  
by branding homosexuality as a crime1   
assumes that it is a deliberate         
perversion2 for it would be obviously   
ridiculous to punish a man for doing    
what he could not help doing4 ,even the 
law is not so illogical as to sentence a
 madman to penal servitude because he   
insists on being mad4 ,no1 the ,state   
regards the homosexual as one who has of
 his own choice assumed this form of sex
 temperament1 in the same way as a man  
decides to rob or forge a signature4    
,the legal attitude must rest on this   
supposition1 for otherwise its policy   
would be flagrantly unjust4 ,and        
accordingly we find the law classifying 
this family of behaviour as unnatural4  
,now1 if there is one fact which is     
clear from an investigation of the      
problem1 it is that this supposition is 

as false as it is possible for any      
supposition to be4 ,let it be granted   
that a certain number of homosexual     
offences are committed by persons who   
are sexually normal in temperament4     
,there remains the whole body of        
homosexuals1 of those1 that is to say1  
in whom the homogenic attraction is as  
integral a part of their nature as the  
appreciation of music or the love of    
colour4 ,abundant proof of this         
contention is to hand4 ,there have been 
thousands of individuals in every age1  
including the present1 who have never   
heard of homosexuality1#af have never   
met other homosexuals1 or come into     
contact with anything approaching       
homosexual practice2 and yet they have  
been homosexual all their lives4 ,i have
 known persons who believed that no one 
else in the world shared their          
aspirations1 and also have suffered     
tortures because of their supposed      
isolated abnormality4  ,the ,state      
attitude simply ignores this factor1 and

 accordingly reveals itself as          
unscientific4  ,it is true that perhaps 
by such an agency as psycho-analysis    
reasons could be found in many of these 
cases why the individual had developed  
on inverted sex lines2 home repressions1
 the system of early education1 the age 
of the parents1 these or other          
influences1 may have produced a complex 
which has switched the sex-nature on to 
a particular path4 ,but these reasons do
 not necessarily show the result to be  
artificial2 it is our very nature indeed
 which these influences construct4 ,it  
is impossible to trace an exact line    
between the inherent nature and the     
effect which outside influences have had
 upon it4 ,we must1 and we do in fact1  
regard the permanent and fundamental    
traits1 however derived1 as natural4    
,moreover psycho-analysis definitely    
indicates that there is a homosexual    
period through which all individuals    
inevitably pass4  ,the ,state theory    
that the temperament is unnatural cannot

 therefore be supported on any grounds1 
except in the cases where it is         
deliberately assumed by normal persons4 
,in most cases it is natural to the     
individual's nature1 and not unnatural1 
but abnormal4  ,once this simple        
scientific truth is grasped the legal   
attitude is seen to crumble in all      
directions4 ,the case for criminal      
prosecution rests logically on the      
assumption that unless homosexual       
practices are rigidly suppressed they   
will spread4 ,and since their increase  
would seriously diminish the birth-rate 
the ,state is necessarily anxious to    
avert this danger4 ,but it is an odd    
perversion which imagines that sober    
respectable citizens are only restrained
 from indulging in homosexual vice by   
the threat of penal servitude6 ,once the
 scientific truth is grasped and        
homosexuality is seen to be1 except in a
 small number of cases1 the natural     
temperament of a small minority1 it will
 be realized that normal persons are not

 likely to wish to commit unnatural     
acts1 whether there is or there is not a
 penal law2 nor can any ,act of         
,parliament prevent homosexuals from    
being homosexual4  ,and in practice this
 theoretical conclusion is found to hold
 true4 ,for in the countries1 such as   
,france1 where the ,code ,napoleon does 
not cover these prosecutions1           
homosexuality is far less rife than in  
,england1 or in ,germany1 where until   
the ,revolution the penal law was       
rigidly enforced4  ,it is well that we  
should face these facts unreservedly1   
however strong may be our personal      
antipathy to the practices4         99  
99       99       99       99  ,the     
second attitude may be described        
generally as that of society4 ,public   
opinion must necessarily be too vague to
 admit of succinct definition4 ,but     
generally its attitude towards this     
question may be defined as that of an   
ordinary man towards a freak2 he has no 
sympathy with freaks and indeed dislikes

 them--but they are so very rare that he
 can afford to ignore them4  ,the       
problem of the homosexual cannot however
 be avoided in this way1 for the simple 
reason that the invert forms so         
comparatively large and permanent a part
 of the community4 ,it is difficult to  
attempt an accurate estimate1 partly    
because many homosexuals are so afraid  
of incurring the odium of public opinion
 that they successfully disguise their  
true nature and are unsuspected even by 
their most intimate friends4 ,but there 
is a more fundamental difficulty4 ,it   
appears to be undeniable that a large   
number of normal people possess to some 
extent a strain of the homosexual       
temperament4 ,we have1 in fact1 as in   
almost all classifications1 not a       
naturally dividing gulf but a gradually 
ascending scale4 ,some individuals may  
have only #e per cent4 inverted and #ie 
per cent4 hetero-sexual tendencies1     
while others are only #aj per cent4     
normal4 ,there are a large and          

increasing number of persons who are    
almost equally balanced on either side4 
,these bisexuals often marry happily and
 at the same time enjoy homogenic       
experiences4  ,when we remember that1   
according to psycho-analysis1 everyone  
about the age of puberty passes through 
a homosexual stage1 it is probably not  
an exaggeration to state that few people
 fail to preserve a stratum of this     
nature1 however small the percentage and
 however deeply such tendencies may be  
buried in the unconsciousness4  ,if     
however we decide to draw an arbitrary  
distinction and to define persons with  
less than #cj per cent4 inverted nature 
as normal1 persons from #cj to #fj per  
cent4 as bisexual1 and the remainder as 
homosexual1 we are left with a          
considerable number of the last variety4
 ,havelock ,ellis has reckoned the      
percentage of homosexuals among the     
professional middle classes in ,england 
as #e per cent4 and among women as #aj  
per cent4#ag ,in any case the popular   

view that the proportion is so small as 
to be negligible is quite impossible1   
and is due to the fact that most men are
 so unobservant of psychological        
evidence that their opinion is of little
 serious value4  ,however undesirable1  
then1 this species of temperament may   
be1 it cannot be described as unnatural 
in the sense of artificial or unusual4  
,the third or current scientific        
attitude does seem at first to avoid    
these superstitions and to rest on a    
reasonable basis4 ,this attitude may be 
described as that of regarding          
homosexuality as a disease1 which should
 neither be punished nor ignored1 but   
treated4 ,the theory that we all pass   
through a homosexual period at a        
comparatively early stage1 lends support
 to this conclusion4 ,the hero-age of   
boys and girls1 it is urged1 is almost  
always directed towards the child's own 
sex4 ,therefore it can fairly be argued 
that where the sex development has been 
restricted to these lines it denotes    

some strange dislocation which has      
prevented natural growth4 ,the fact that
 in some cases this cause can actually  
be traced--such as a disappointment in  
an early love affair with the opposite  
sex1 or to artificial circumstances     
which have made for celibacy--confirm   
many students of sex-science in this    
opinion4  ,but as if nature deliberately
 intends to thwart all easily attained  
explanations1 she sets out certain      
facts1 in practice1 which entirely      
invalidate the theory4 ,it is true that 
many homosexuals1 both men and women1   
portray in general mental efficiency    
that peculiar want of proportion in some
 direction which is the inevitable      
symptom of mental abnormality2 the male 
may be obviously effeminate1 or1 male or
 female1 eccentric or hysterical4 ,but  
this is distinctly the exception4 ,so   
far as my personal experience goes1 the 
majority of homosexuals are             
indistinguishable from normal men1      
except by some psychic or intuitional   

sense1 in physical or mental appearance2
 and ,i observe that this experience is 
shared by all those scientists who have 
written on the subject4 ,the undeniable 
facts are that among this minority of   
the race a majority of men have1 in all 
ages and races1 held a pre-eminent and  
honourable position in society1         
revealing the brilliance of sanity      
rather than the abnormality of genius4  
,the homosexual has succeeded not only  
as might have been expected in the arts4
 ,it is true that1 in general1 he       
possesses certain feminine attributes1  
such as a gentler and more emotional    
positivity than the normal4 ,but he has 
excelled in such masculine paths as     
soldiering1 statesmanship1 and          
engineering4 ,it is almost irritating1  
where one wishes to find support for the
 scientific explanation1 to turn to     
history and discover that the homosexual
 section of the ,greeks were magnificent
 warriors as well as philosophers2 that 
not only ,shakespeare1 who wrote many of

 his sonnets to a boy1 or ,michael      
,angelo1 but ,alexander the ,great1     
,charles ,,xii of ,sweden1 ,frederick   
,,ii of ,prussia1 and ,william ,,iii of 
,england1 had their homosexual          
tendencies4 ,indeed1 were it permissible
 to do so1 it would be possible to      
instance some of our most famous        
generals and politicians of modern times
 as possessing this unmistakable        
temperament4  ,it is well then freely to
 admit that the scientific theory simply
 does not square with the full facts of 
the case4  ,the fourth attitude is that 
of religion4 ,the ,church's official    
position is mainly indistinguishable    
from that of the ,state1 although the   
atmosphere of the ,church has tended    
largely to be congenial to this         
development4 ,it is evident that        
,christianity was influenced in its     
early days by the appalling condition of
 vice in ,roman society1 and it is not  
to be wondered at that a severe legacy  
of prejudice has been inherited in the  

light of this indescribable experience4 
,but this brings us conveniently to a   
point where we must admit a fallacy     
underlying almost all considerations of 
the homogenic sex nature4 ,and unless we
 are able to dispose of the fallacy in  
our minds1 further investigation is     
useless4  ,the fallacy consists of the  
assumption that homosexuality means only
 the perpetration of the physical       
sex-act4 ,in reality this is as untrue  
as to suppose that the normal man is    
necessarily a patron of prostitutes4    
,such a confusion of thought is         
obviously ludicrous4 ,but not less      
inaccurate is this prevailing idea      
regarding the homosexual4 ,not only is  
the particular sex-act1 popularly       
associated with this subject1 an        
extremely rare occurence1 even as among 
the physical sex-expressions of this    
temperament1 but probably a vast        
majority of homosexuals are deliberately
 celibate4 ,homosexuality is a romantic 
cult rather than a physical vice4       

,nine-tenths of its energy is directed  
purely in the realm of ideals4 ,the old 
misconception of sex as a rather        
disreputable physical function again    
dogs our steps4 ,but sex is almost      
entirely emotional2 sex-love1 and       
especially homosexual love1 is not lust4
 ,its desire is romantic and idealistic1
 and when physical incidents occur1 they
 are usually the unintentional outlets  
of the purely emotional passion4  ,the  
literature of homosexuality is almost   
entirely romantic1 and small though it  
is forced to be1 in quality and ideal   
its average must rank as extraordinarily
 noble4  ,it is noticeable1 indeed1 that
 in a large proportion of the unpleasant
 cases which are tried in police-courts1
 the offenders are admittedly normal men
 who have deliberately perpetrated      
homosexual acts for various causes1 such
 as a neurotic desire for novelty1 or   
the desire to avoid disease4 ,there are 
also the considerable class of perverted
 normals whose deviation from their     

natural path as the result of some such 
influence as heterosexual disappointment
 or repression1 has been so emphasized  
as to render their perversion distinct  
from natural developments1 and who      
refuse1 or are unable1 to deny          
themselves physical gratification4  ,if 
we dissociate the true homosexual from  
this class1 and concentrate our         
attention only on the celibate species  
of such attachments1 it is evident that 
we are in the presence1 not merely of   
something which is not criminal1 but of 
an ideal which is sacred in character4  
,pure love1 especially so intense a love
 as the homogenic attachment1 is not    
profane but divine4 ,and though the     
,church may be unable to recognize it by
 her sacramental benediction1 because1  
unlike marriage1 it cannot effect       
physical procreation1 she possesses such
 ,biblical precedents as the story of   
,david and ,jonathan--an episode which  
is obviously homosexual in the sense    
that it describes not a platonic        

companionship but a romantic passion4   
,in the social sphere also1 the place of
 this aspect of homosexuality is        
obvious4 ,the homosexual must1 and does 
in fact1 exist in the most honoured     
offices of the community4 ,indeed1 it is
 no exaggeration to declare that few men
 can be successful in educational or    
philanthropic work unless they have some
 homogenic temperament in their nature4 
,without this they may compel discipline
 but they are powerless to attract      
sympathetic co-operation4 ,the testimony
 in favour of this assertion is         
overwhelming4  ,but when we admit that  
sex tends to find a physical expression1
 and we come therefore face to face with
 the physical problem1 the difficulty ,i
 admit to be considerable4 ,and ,i can  
only re-emphasize that this feature is  
numerically and potentially the least   
important1 but that there can be no     
religious countenance for any physical  
sex-act outside the sacrament of        
matrimony4         99       99       99 

99       99  ,rape1 and seduction       
without consent1 are obviously evils    
calling for legal prosecution1 as being 
an infringement of personal liberty4    
,and in this connexion it must be       
remembered that homosexual practices    
tend to seduction1 inasmuch as the      
attraction is frequently towards those  
who have not attained intellectual      
manhood4 ,for the rest1 ,i am inclined  
only to re-affirm the general principle 
which ,i have already attempted to      
define--namely1 that sex becomes a sin  
where the main objective becomes the    
physical gratification4 ,once the       
proportion is weighed on the side of    
physical expression1 love is            
prostituted4 ,the purity of true love is
 known by the fact that its face is     
turned not to mere physical functions1  
but beyond the emotional and even       
mental1 to the spiritual ideal4 ,indeed1
 a lover1 whatever his temperament      
happens to be1 loves even if his beloved
 is removed from all physical reach4    

,that is the test4  ,i do not look for  
salvation to the arms of mere criminal  
legislation4 ,this seems to me to be    
almost powerless as a moral force1 and  
indeed1 to encourage the hideous        
apparatus of blackmail4#ah ,gradual and 
unsensational as it may be1 ,i believe  
that morals can only be improved by     
educational and religious influences4   
,and so far as theoretical solutions are
 concerned ,i believe that ,mr4 ,edward 
,carpenter#ai comes nearest to the      
truth4 ,nature is deliberate in creating
 not uniformity but variety1 and ,i     
doubt if the world would continue if    
there were only normal men in it4 ,the  
homosexual has his place1 within        
restrictions1 as has the celibate or the
 sexless type4 ,the real truth1 ,i feel 
to be1 is that few men are wholly       
masculine or women feminine1 and that   
somewhere1 in comparative degrees1      
homosexuality is in us all4 ,it may     
become so excessive as to be a disease1 
or so feeble as to create that          

unaesthetic1 bourgeoise type1 which is  
an unpleasant symptom of                
super-normality4  ,we enter the realm of
 pure conjecture if we attempt to       
inquire the purpose for which this type 
has been deliberately created4 ,and ,i  
can only record my own entirely         
unproveable1 but definite opinion1 that 
the human race1 in the far ages ahead1  
will return1 by a spiral process1 to the
 bisexual species from which ,i believe 
it has come4 ,if this is so1 the        
homosexual is apparently a prototype1 a 
preliminary attempt of nature to combine
 both sex-natures in one individual4    
,and with all his present imperfections1
 ,i believe that there are evidences    
which go strongly to support this       
conjecture4     ,chapter #i3 ,the       
,sexless ,class   ,there is little that 
need be written on this subject1 not    
because it is devoid of interest1 but   
because it raises no vital sex problem4 
,the number of sexless people is small1 
though apparently increasing4 ,it may be

 questioned whether there are any really
 sexless people--individuals1 i4e4 whose
 sex-nature is non-existent4 ,probably  
in most of these cases sex1 for some    
reason or other1 is there1 dormant but  
positive4 ,but it is convenient so to   
classify those in whom1 for some reason1
 the sex-force has never yet been       
stirred4  ,it must be remembered that   
this class is quite distinct from the   
religious celibate4 ,the celibate has   
all the sexual ardour for his religious 
or humanitarian devotion4 ,the sexless  
man or woman is cold1 intellectually    
aloof1 and generally critical4  ,there  
are only two considerations calling for 
remarks on this interesting             
psychological problem4 ,the first is    
that we must not allow the great body of
 normal opinion to label such people as 
unnatural1 and as having no part to play
 in the community4 ,they have1 on the   
contrary1 an important role4 ,their     
intellectual ability is in itself a     
great asset1 particularly in abstract   

and critical directions4 ,and in all sex
 questions they should1 and frequently  
have1 an impartial outlook1 for the very
 reason that they can view sex from a   
detached standpoint4  ,but1             
conversely--and this is the second      
consideration--they possess the immoral 
tendency of regarding sex with          
abhorrence1 especially when they confuse
 sex with mere physical expression4 ,in 
extreme cases the sexless individual has
 been known even to faint or exhibit    
symptoms of nausea at the chance touch  
of a woman4 ,this is obviously to       
magnify the physical side out of all    
clean proportion4 ,and probably such    
cases show themselves to be the result  
of artificial repression and consequent 
complex4 ,it may be argued from this    
that all deviations from the normal are 
the results of repression4 ,but1 as we  
have seen1 the difference between       
natural and unnatural is comparative1   
and most of our nature is built up1 in  
the first instance1 by early exterior   

influences4     ,chapter #aj3           
,super-,abnormalities   ,under this head
 ,i have included a number of           
characteristics1 which have no          
connective bearing upon one another4 ,it
 seemed the most convenient             
classification4  ,perhaps it will be    
best to take as the first example a sex 
tendency which can hardly be described  
as super-abnormal1 for among single men1
 and especially among boys1 it is       
extremely common4  ,auto-eroticism in   
the form of self-abuse is not an easy   
problem to tackle4 ,the usual policy    
adopted towards boys is most immoral4   
,well-meaning but hopelessly vicious    
purists1 write terrifying pamphlets or  
deliver lectures in which they declare  
that this practice will inevitably lead 
to lunacy1 paralysis or even death4 ,the
 result is that the boy is scared into  
an ineffectual attempt at repression1   
which1 so far as it is successful1 sets 
the sex-impulse at work into morose     
channels and makes him a liar or a      

thief4 ,or he may be impelled to inquire
 for himself4 ,he finds that1 so long as
 self-abuse occurs infrequently1 it does
 not bring about these dire evils1 and  
accordingly he assumes that all moral   
doctrine is hypocrisy and often falls   
into the opposite extreme of constant   
self-abuse1 with the result that actual 
physical and mental deterioration sets  
in4  ,what is really the truth8  ,the   
first consideration is that frequent and
 unregulated abuse does cause physical  
harm4 ,the margin of frequency which    
will escape this harm varies with the   
individual4 ,but1 with growing boys1 the
 practice is perhaps more dangerous than
 after physical maturity4 ,the whole    
reserve of the physical constitution    
appears to be needed while the body is  
developing4  ,the difficulty of this    
problem is its complications4 ,there are
 several entirely conflicting influences
 which must be weighed one against the  
other4  ,we have seen the physical      
danger1 and1 since morality must not be 

founded on a lie1 we must freely admit  
that the physical danger may be         
eliminated by limiting the frequency of 
the practice4 ,it may then be physically
 harmless4 ,there remain1 however1 at   
least two causes which make for a misuse
 of the sex-force1 that is--for         
immorality4 ,the first is that it is    
usually the result of mental weakness1  
sheer inability to overcome the         
inclination4 ,the mind1 the will1 must  
be supreme in its own house4 ,until that
 is done little else matters4 ,and it   
comes1 therefore1 to this1 so far as    
this particular consideration is        
concerned1 that it is better for a man  
deliberately to regulate himself by     
programme to certain times1 than to keep
 up an ineffectual struggle1 or to obey 
whenever the inclination arises4  ,for1 
in both these cases1 remorse follows4   
,and this is as great an evil as the    
failure of will2 indeed1 it is failure  
of will4 ,remorse is not penitence4 ,it 
is useless thereby to regret what has   

been done4 ,a man must simply own to    
himself that he has failed1 make a      
resolution to be stronger next time1 and
 then sweep the recollection from his   
mind1 switching off on to other mental  
channels4  ,the second influence which  
makes for impurity is that by this      
practice the sex-force becomes literally
 selfish4 ,now1 sex is fundamentally a  
movement towards union through love1    
whether it be physical or               
super-physical4 ,this practice is merely
 a vicious circle1 in which the love    
element1 save in the perverted form of  
narcissism1 is absent4 ,accordingly1    
there must1 almost always1 be evil      
mental results from this abuse4 ,and1   
once again1 we see that the real evil is
 not in the physical act but in the     
realm of thought1 whether the act occurs
 or not4  ,on the other hand1 we must   
not become such abstract moralists as to
 deny that in many individuals the      
sex-force is so strong as to press      
almost irresistibly towards physical    

expression4 ,even dreams1 which are the 
normal outlet1 may not be sufficient4 ,a
 man who for some reason1 cannot marry1 
will therefore argue that his only      
alternative is recourse to prostitution1
 and that self-abuse1 so long as it is  
regulated1 is morally preferable4 ,one  
remedy is1 as we have already seen1 the 
transfer of the sex-force to higher     
channels1 so that all the glow and      
energy of sex is energized in devotion  
to a group of persons1 or to a religious
 or humanitarian ideal in concrete      
labour4 ,for sex is primarily creative1 
and if it is not creating physical      
children it may have1 and should have1 a
 spiritual progeny--as in art and       
literature4  ,the truth is that each    
individual case must be treated         
according to its particular state of    
development4 ,general rules in this     
instance are particularly dangerous4 ,we
 can only repeat that the repression is 
worse than commission1 that a seething  
mass of sexual thought is worse when it 

has no physical outlet2 that the ideal1 
when there may be no legitimate         
outlet--and1 indeed1 to some extent1 in 
all cases--is to find an emotional      
outlet1 to dig thought and emotional    
channels along which the sex-force may  
flow1 but the physical expression of    
which is1 in the ordinary sense of the  
term1 non-sexual4#bj  ,and this is quite
 possible4   ,,ii  ,attraction towards  
young children is frequently1 perhaps   
almost entirely1 sexual4 ,a symptom of  
this temperament is that romantic       
attachments are formed towards either   
sex1 because1 before puberty1 the child 
is bisexual or sexless4 ,this must      
essentially be a cult2 it is a clean and
 noble cult1 but the penalty of its high
 standard is that here all physical sex 
expression must be denied except in the 
lesser form of embrace4  ,here1 indeed1 
the prosecution of the law against      
sex-acts is justified4 ,for1 not only is
 the child incapable of giving valid    
consent1 but the commission of the      

sex-act is physically and morally       
injurious4 ,it is physically injurious  
beyond all doubt at a young age1 and it 
is morally injurious1 because it        
introduces sex to an age of development 
when the consciousness of sex should not
 have appeared above the horizon4 ,the  
inevitable result is that if sex-acts   
take place the child eventually ages    
rapidly1 as can be seen among the       
child-mothers of ,india4 ,maturity is   
induced far before its time4  ,the sex  
consciousness1 as distinct from the     
unconsciousness1 can be awakened in the 
earliest years of childhood4 ,the young 
boy or girl often shows an              
extraordinarily intuitive perception    
that there is a sexual design behind    
even the apparently harmless overtures4 
,and this is why this cult is           
particularly dangerous4 ,the lover1 in  
fact1 must not only entirely eliminate  
the morally criminal sex inclinations1  
but he must take care not to become so  
sentimental and romantic as really to   

suggest sex to the child's              
unconsciousness4 ,it is difficult to    
draw the line as to what is a lawful and
 what is an unlawful expression of this 
sex-temperament4 ,one can only say that 
the remedy is not to concentrate love on
 one child1 but on children generally4  
,the child must not be treated as an    
adult2 there must be no manifestations  
of jealousy1 or insistence on a return  
of love expression4 ,the embrace of     
children must be natural but not too    
ardent4 ,in fact1 the lover must diffuse
 his love and romp with children as a   
class rather than allow himself to      
appear emotional over one individual4   
,many unthinking people will at once    
regard this temperament as impure when  
they have been convinced that           
scientifically it is sexual4 ,but this  
is only because they cannot understand  
that sex is a clean thing and that the  
physical side of it is an occasional and
 by no means an inevitable incident4    
,the cult of child-love is in fact one  

of the purest and noblest of            
sex-expressions4 ,but it is a difficult 
path1 and he who treads it must beware  
of many pitfalls4  ,again1 ,i quite deny
 that it is due to thwarted paternal    
instinct4 ,i believe it to be as natural
 a variety as any other of the          
sex-temperaments4 ,we have suffered too 
long from the superstition that sex is a
 uniformity of type4   ,,iii  ,then     
there is that strange form of           
sex-expression known as bestiality4  ,to
 most of us the connexion between man   
and beast in sex is so revolting that   
there is a great danger of our prejudice
 running away with us4  ,i believe that 
prejudice against what seems to me so   
debased a vice1 is justifiable4 ,but ,i 
am equally sure that to punish such     
offences by criminal law has no shred of
 justification1 except when the act is  
done in public so as to be openly       
indecent4 ,no physical or moral harm can
 be done to the animal4 ,and were it not
 tragic1 the idea of sentencing the     

offenders to penal servitude would be   
itself a travesty4  ,the practice1 which
 is not so uncommon as many people      
imagine1 is not so much immoral as      
unnatural4 ,i mean that this can hardly 
ever be a variety of sex-temperament4   
,although the love of women for pet dogs
 is probably a form of perverted        
sex-outlet1 it seems impossible to      
discover here any actual love going out 
towards animals rather than to humans4  
,therefore1 the act is almost always due
 to a desire for mere physical          
expression1 when this happens to have   
been chosen as the most convenient4     
,the true remedy1 therefore1 can only be
 to take the individual and educate him4
 ,he must be shown that it is immoral   
for man to devolve back to the animal   
level4 ,he is superior to the beast4 ,he
 must be reminded that sex must be a    
result of love1 and that sex-love       
between man and animal would only be    
possible if it were moral for man to    
cease to reason1 to go down on all      

fours1 and to eat and drink and live    
like an animal4 ,even the most primitive
 man would not wish to do that4 ,and if 
he feels any sense of abhorrence at such
 a proposal1 then he must learn to      
extend his abhorrence to any attempt at 
a similar equality in sex4   ,,iv  ,the 
strange and almost endless forms of     
sex-association need not be considered1 
since they have no moral problem of     
their own4 ,the man whose sex-force is  
stirred into energy by the sight of some
 inanimate physical object is obviously 
the victim of a sex-repression4 ,and    
such diseases must be treated as any    
other repressions should be4 ,these     
general considerations must suffice here
 for all forms of sex perversions1 such 
as sadism and its converse4 ,and it is  
not difficult to distinguish between the
 unnaturalness of such practices and the
 natural character of the main sex-types
 which we have already mentioned4       
,chapter ,,xi3 ,sex ,education   ,it is 
becoming evident to all students of the 

sex-problem that the remedy for many of 
the difficulties arising therefrom is a 
wholesome and efficient sex-education4  
,in many cases the parents are not the  
persons most fitted to give this        
education4 ,they may not possess the art
 of imparting knowledge1 and often there
 is a certain reticence between parent  
and child1 which when present creates a 
bar to the proper handling of this      
question4 ,the child goes to school to  
learn1 and the school must take its     
share of this responsibility4 ,where    
this is not done the effect is          
deplorable4 ,in the preparatory school  
sex has hardly appeared4 ,but in any    
school where there are older boys or    
girls1 and where sex-education is not   
given1 knowledge is rapidly obtained4   
,officially sex is ignored until1 on    
rare occasions1 it is detected4 ,severe 
punishment is then meted out1 and       
perhaps the offender is even expelled1  
although the school is really penalizing
 the results of its own system4  ,it is 

unnecessary to labour the apology that  
the absence of sex-education ensures    
innocence4 ,in no school is this the    
case4 ,if it were1 with growing boys and
 girls1 it would be unnatural4          
,sex-instinct is bound to grow as the   
physical body grows1 and to ignore this 
fact is to create the conception that   
sex-instinct is immoral4 ,we then obtain
 the usual attitude adopted in public   
schools--that sex is to be indulged     
behind closed doors and sex literature  
sniggered at in dark corners4 ,the boy  
grows up with a totally unclean view of 
sex4 ,he becomes either an intolerable  
prude1 or else he approaches            
sex-experience with an entirely twisted 
conception of sex-morality4 ,one is     
continually meeting instances of this   
perverted imagination4 ,not only boys1  
but men1 will regard an outspoken book  
on sex1 perhaps written with the purest 
of motives1 as hot stuff1 something to  
be greedily devoured when the eye of    
respectable authority is conveniently   

removed4 ,recently1 a man was told that 
a certain clergyman was a member of a   
group of students studying              
sex-psychology4 ,he expressed the       
opinion1 with a knowing leer1 that some 
parsons are not such fools after all4   
,these crude examples of the result of  
driving sex into a dark corner exactly  
represent what one is up against in     
school1 and in the world1 when one      
begins to deal with sex openly and      
cleanly as a natural and non-repressible
 instinct4 ,really these people are a   
type of prude1 much as they would resent
 this classification1 for they persist  
in regarding sex as something which is  
rather naughty4 ,they even imagine that 
to take away from it the cloak of       
unnaturalness with which they have      
surrounded it is to rob it of all its   
attraction4 ,this is ridiculously       
untrue4 ,sex is attractive because it is
 romantic1 and1 so long as one does not 
go to the opposite extreme of regarding 
it merely through the musty glasses of  

scientific classification1 it becomes no
 less attractive when it is open and    
natural1 and ceases to be the cause of  
giggling asides4  ,before any moral     
sense in the sex-problem can be         
established there must be a fundamental 
cleaning of this cess-pool1 this strange
 medley of official silence1 unnatural  
repression1 and unclean secretiveness4  
,the main road to a moral sense is      
sex-education4 ,and it is necessary1    
therefore1 to conclude this outline of  
principles by suggesting some conditions
 which should govern such instruction4  
,it is obvious that sex-education must  
be advanced on the process of a sliding 
scale4 ,before puberty sex should not   
appear on the horizon of the child's    
consciousness4 ,the precocious child    
must of course be specially dealt with1 
but usually the first lessons in sex    
should commence with the period of      
mental puberty4 ,before that time the   
small child jokes only about the normal 
excretory functions1 and this can be    

adjusted by emphasizing the unmanly and 
unnecessary character of such forms of  
humour4 ,a child has usually an         
exaggerated impression of the value of  
the adult standard1 an impression which 
it must be confessed is too often       
subject to subsequent disillusionment4  
,while it remains1 however1 it can be   
used1 and it can be pointed out that    
grown-ups do not consider the excretory 
system has any more claim to ridicule   
than the process of digestion or sleep4 
,vulgarity and coarseness are not       
symptoms even of immoral sexuality4     
,the problem commences1 then1 with      
puberty4 ,and here a warning should be  
uttered against that school of reformers
 which tends to the view that sex can be
 regarded as naturally and as publicly  
as natural history or chemistry4 ,this  
attitude ignores the fact that there is 
such a quality as sexual appetite4 ,and 
consequently1 sex education should be   
rather a matter for individuals than for
 public instruction4 ,we have remarked  

that the parent may not infrequently be 
an unfortunate educator4 ,but where     
these objections do not arise1 the home 
is an admirable atmosphere for sensible 
teaching4 ,the ,catholic ,church        
possesses the invaluable medium of the  
,confessional1 and where the ,confessor 
can give sound sex instruction no better
 opportunity can be imagined4 ,there    
remains the school1 but even here better
 work will be done in the study than the
 classroom4  ,the immediate problem in  
the early post-puberty age is the       
tendency towards solitary practices4 ,it
 must be recognized that this is usual  
with all children1 and that there is no 
evidence to show that1 save in extreme  
exceptions1 physical harm results4 ,all 
attempt at alarmist prudism must be     
abandoned4 ,sane instruction will tend  
rather to emphasize that sex abuse is   
due to a weakness of will-power1 and    
that man is most manly1 i4e4 most       
removed from the animal1 in the exercise
 of will-power4 ,all education should   

contain that subject which is at present
 consistently ignored1 namely1 the art  
of thought-control4 ,the child will be  
interested to follow certain simple     
rules of mental exercise1 and where this
 is followed the liability to indulge in
 sex-acts diminishes4 ,it is this       
element which must be emphasized1 the   
fact1 that is1 that solitary practices  
are usually the result of an inability  
to exercise the will and control the    
mind4  ,at a slightly later period1 the 
public-school age1 there emerges the    
tendency1 in addition to onanism1 for   
promiscuous practices1 usually of a     
homogenic nature4 ,a further stage of   
sex-education must now be opened out1   
namely the principle that physical sex  
expression must be the expression only  
of love4 ,the problem now becomes       
necessarily more acute1 but there is    
this element which tends to lessen the  
difficulties of the instructor's task4  
,the individual is always interested    
about himself2 he is naturally          

egotistical4 ,the youth will gladly     
listen to what can be told him of his   
own nature4 ,he must be shown the       
immense superiority of mind both over   
the emotional and physical natures4     
,this may involve a slight dethronement 
of the public school appreciation of    
sport4 ,so long as it is slight such a  
dethronement will be a reform in itself4
 ,the boy in his middle teens must be   
taught that man is greater in his mental
 than in his physical activity2 he must 
be reminded that he is inferior to many 
animals on the physical level4 ,the     
application of this doctrine to sex is  
that sex-expression for the purpose of  
physical curiosity or excitement is a   
denial of the monopoly of love1 which   
belongs to the emotional and mental     
capacities4  ,the young man and the     
girl1 who has left school1 will be ready
 to receive the whole standard of       
sex-morality as has been outlined in    
this manual4 ,the chief trouble now     
becomes over-sentimentality1 the        

tendency to develop emotionally at the  
expense of the mind4 ,and it becomes1   
therefore1 essential to remind the pupil
 that where there are continual passing 
and promiscuous sexual or love affairs1 
the mind is being shut out from its     
natural functions4 ,to be attracted     
sexually towards any pretty girl1 to    
develop sexual relations with different 
women from week to week1 is simply a    
form of mental unbalance4 ,the emotions 
are in the saddle4 ,for directly the    
mind begins to operate there is         
introduced the element of permanency and
 constancy4 ,the deepest and most real  
pleasures only begin in the realm of    
mentality4 ,the man who hears music only
 to beat time or remember a catchy tune 
is shut out of the immense joy of the   
intellectual love of music4 ,so the     
young man who lives in a fever of       
hot-house sexuality1 of absorbing       
intrigues in the dance-room1 or the     
morbid atmosphere of the street corner1 
is shut out of all the exquisite joys of

 love4 ,he does not know this1 any more 
than the irreligious man knows what he  
loses through an absence of the         
spiritual sense4 ,but he must be told4  
,the basic principle of sex values is   
that sex is immoral so far as the       
physical side outweighs in proportion   
the emotional and mental--so far indeed1
 as the act becomes the motive and not  
the incident4 ,sex may be dedicated only
 to love2 divorced from love1 it is an  
abuse4 ,there can be no exceptions to   
this rule1 and we can only clarify our  
ideas as to what is and what is not     
love4 ,perhaps this maxim1 which we     
learn by gradual experience1 will help  
us4 ,sex passion quickly burns itself   
out4 ,the pleasures derived from passion
 will be of a purely temporary nature1  
without the satisfaction which alone    
comes from permanence4 ,all physical    
things are less permanent than the      
mental4 ,there is no joy1 no divine     
nature in sex1 save where from the ashes
 of passion rises the phoenix of the    

sexual but the super-passionate         
attachment4 ,and this permanent         
possession can only come1 whether in    
marriage or outside1 where the mind1    
healthily developed and exercised1 is   
taking its true place in the expression 
of pure love4   ,printed in ,great      
,britain by ,hazell1 ,watson  ,viney1   
,ld41 ,london and ,aylesbury4           
,footnotes3  #a ,the ,origin of ,sexual 
,modesty1 by ,edward ,westermarck4  #b  
,vide ,r4 ,v4 ,jellyman 7#ahch7 #h ,c   
and ,p1 #fjd4  #c ,until recently incest
 was not a civil offence4  #d ,the      
second object of marriage is declared to
 be a remedy against sin4442 that such  
persons as have not the gift of         
continency marry and keep themselves    
undefiled members of ,christ's body4  #e
 #a ,cor4 vii4 #h1 #i4 ,burn means      
sex-obsession as mentioned on page #ch4 
#f ,where the decree ,tametsi of the    
,council of ,trent has not been         
proclaimed1 marriage is constituted by  
mere consent freely exchanged between   

persons who are by natural and canonical
 law competent and able to              
intermarry4--,geary's ,marriage and     
,family ,relations4 7,now altered by ,ne
 temere-decree1 but the principle       
remains47  #g ,we have already commented
 on the strange inconsistency of        
regarding the sex-act as evil per se    
outside marriage1 and as a virtue in    
marriage4  #h ,i am using celibacy to   
imply complete physical chastity4  #i   
,with the curious inconsistency1 already
 referred to1 that in marriage          
non-celibacy is a virtue4  #aj ,except  
by ,act of ,parliament4  #aa ,the       
,majority ,report of the ,divorce       
,commission is a good instance of the   
unnecessary hardship which results from 
half-hearted proposals of this kind4    
,divorce is to be allowed1 for example1 
after desertion for three years2 why not
 for two8 ,or again1 the wife of an     
incurable drunkard is to be free to     
obtain divorce1 while the unhappy wife  
of a man who suffers from violent fits  

of intermittent drunkenness is to be    
denied this relief4  #ab ,i refrain from
 adding economic reasons1 for ,i believe
 that the ,state should remove1 as far  
as possible1 all such obstacles against 
healthy parents begetting children4  #ac
 ,procuration for the purpose of        
prostitution is of course an entirely   
different matter4  #ad ,no actual       
physical harm need result from an       
incestuous union4 ,the only effect which
 seems to be caused is that the         
characteristics to be hereditarily      
transmitted are doubled4 ,thus with only
 a small grain of insanity in a family  
the chances of aggravated insanity      
appearing in the offspring of a brother 
and sister would be considerable4  #ae  
,spiritual affinity was a bar1 so that  
not only could not godparents marry each
 other1 but there could be no valid     
unions between a godparent and the      
child's father or mother4 7,geary's     
,marriage and ,family ,relations47  #af 
,some apology must be made for the use  

of this hybrid term4 ,the unwarrantable 
confusion of ,greek and ,latin          
terminology must1 however1 be laid at   
the door of popular use4  #ag           
,psychology of ,sex2 ,vol4 ,sexual      
,inversion4 ,dr4 ,hirschfeld in his     
,statistischen ,vatersuchunge ueber den 
,prozentensetz der ,homosexuellen1      
considers that out of #ajj1jjj          
inhabitants1 #id1fjj on the average are 
sexually normal1 #a1ejj exclusively     
homosexual1 and #c1ijj bisexual4  #ah   
,the existence of this danger was       
admitted in a debate in the ,house of   
,lords on ,august #ae1 #aiba1 on ,the   
,criminal ,law ,amendment ,bill4 ,the   
,earl of ,malmesbury1 speaking on a     
proposal to apply criminal prosecution  
to homosexual offences among women1     
declared that the opportunity for       
blackmail will be vastly and enormously 
increased4 ,other speakers concurred in 
this view1 and it was partly on this    
ground that the proposal was thrown out4
  ,it is hardly necessary to point out  

that if blackmail would be encouraged by
 such legislation1 it must equally be   
encouraged by the present law regarding 
similar offences between males4  #ai    
,the ,intermediate ,sex4  #bj ,i cannot 
enter here into that further theory     
which may be described as expression    
through a phantasy4