If the penalties meted out to the impure are so many, there is yet comfort for the unmarried man in those pages which show that perfect continence is quite compatible with perfect health; and thus a great load is at once lifted from the mind of him who wishes to be conscientious as well as virile and in health, with all the organs of the body performing their proper functions.
Impurity of course leads downward to decay and death; and out of consideration for the law of self-preservation any wise man will adopt the course of repressing his appetite, for the penalties which attend it are so inexorable as to be beyond accepting.
Unless a man understand fairly well that part of his nature which belongs to the sexual domain, he is not effectively educated, and is liable to be overtaken by injury and ruin. The result of good education is to teach self-control and a consideration for the welfare of others, while selfishness is the attribute of him who has little mentality or education.
A wise man will of course wish to know what he ought to do and what he ought to avoid, which is impossible if he relies solely upon his instincts and the common talk of his companions; and he will not be safe from harm unless he has a just appreciation of that side of his physical nature which is the well-spring of most that is noble and vigorous and majestic in him. One, if not the chief, object of education is to enable us to gain a mastery over our animal instincts, to raise ourselves above the level of the lower creatures, to occupy a dignified position among the solid men of the community, and to learn how to counteract the unfavorable hereditary tendencies which each individual inherits from some of his numerous ancestors. So strong is the sexual instinct that it is natural for men to long for women, and at some time or other to contemplate marriage: one from love, to make himself and the woman supremely happy by having his soul knit with hers; one from the praiseworthy desire to beget children who shall bring honor to his name and perpetuate the family line; another from romance; and others purely for the base purpose of gratifying their sensual appetites.
Since men unquestionably devote so much of their attention to sexual matters, it is of the highest importance that their thoughts should be directed in proper channels, and that they should clearly comprehend those fundamental truths which at present only a select few are privileged to know. Any impairment in power or function of the sexual organs is a terrible calamity, because it makes a man decidedly less a man, and because a vitiation of the sexual attributes is physiologically, or rather pathologically, necessarily associated with ethical defect.
Aruesthesia, or absence of sexual desire, is deplorable; for then the man has the neuter characteristics of the child or of senility, whom the beauties of women or the pleasure of their companionship do not stimulate to manly ambitions and conduct.
Hyperesthesia, or increased sexual desire, is deplorable; for then the man has an inordinate and unnatural concupiscence, and is thrown into an unseemly excitement, not only by the mere presence of women and personal contact with them, but also by lascivious mental images, or by anything of a nature which can be distorted into obscenity. Such men unduly magnify the importance of the vita sexualis, or sexual life, and look upon womankind, and even objects of feminine attire, with sensual eyes. Such a perverted tendency, which is easily acquired, leads to very great harm, such as obscenity of conversation and imagination, enthusiasm for vile literature and pictures and debasing theatrical exhibitions, and a preference for consorting with a low set of men and women.
Parcesthesia, or perversion of the sexual instinct, is deplorable ; for the individual is then a " step-child of Nature." Largely inherited, it may also readily be acquired by masturbating, or practising other execrable sexual acts. Individuals whose brains are stained in this way, with impressions which are often permanent, frequently follow the most abhorrent practices and lead astray such unfortunate youths as they can find for their victims. Unfortunately, the polluted mind does not appreciate its hurt.