Plain Facts for Old and Young Part 19

"The diseases dependent upon prost.i.tution are appallingly frequent, a distinguished surgeon recently declaring that one person in twenty in the United States has syphilis, a malady so ineradicable that a profound observer has remarked that 'a man who is once thus poisoned will die a syphilitic, and, in the day of Judgment, he will be a syphilitic ghost.' Prof. Gross says: 'What is called scrofula, struma, or tuberculosis, is, I have long been satisfied from careful observation of the sick and a profound study of the literature of the subject, in a great majority of cases, if not invariably, merely syphilis in its more remote stages.' Though there are doubtless many of us who believe that a not inconsiderable proportion of scrofulous and phthisical cases are clearly due to other causes than syphilis, we must admit that this statement contains a very large element of truth."

Hereditary Effects of Venereal Disease.--The transgressor is not the only sufferer. If he marries, his children, if they survive infancy, will in later years show the effects of their father's sin, exhibiting the forms of the disease seen in its later stages. Scrofula, consumption, cancer, rickets, diseases of the brain and nerves, decay of the bones by caries or necrosis, and other diseases, arise in this way.

But it generally happens that the child dies before birth, or lingers out a miserable existence of a few days or weeks thereafter. A most pitiable sight these little ones are. Their faces look as old as children of ten or twelve. Often their bodies become reduced before death to the most wretched skeletons. Their hollow, feeble cry sends a shudder of horror through the listener, and impresses indelibly the terrible consequences of s.e.xual sin. Plenty of these scrawny infants may be seen in the lying-in hospitals.

No one can estimate how much of the excessive mortality of infants is owing to this cause.

In children who survive infancy, its blighting influence may be seen in the notched, deformed teeth, and other defects; and very often it will be found, upon looking into the mouth of the child, that the soft palate, and perhaps the hard palate as well, is in a state of ulceration.

There is more than a suspicion that this disease may be transmitted for several generations, perhaps remaining latent during the life-time of one, and appearing in all its virulence in the next.

Man the Only Transgressor.--Man is the only animal that abuses his s.e.xual organization by making it subservient to other ends than reproduction; hence he is the only sufferer from this foul disease, which is one of the penalties of such abuse. Attempts have been made to communicate the disease to lower animals, but without success, even though inoculation was practiced.

Origin of the Foul Disease.--Where or when the disease originated, is a mystery. It is said to have been introduced into France from Naples by French soldiers. That it originated spontaneously at some time can scarcely be doubted, and that it might originate under circ.u.mstances of excessive violation of the laws of chast.i.ty is rendered probable by the fact that gonorrhea, or an infectious disease exactly resembling it, is often caused by excessive indulgence, from which cause it not infrequently occurs in the newly married, giving rise to unjust suspicion of infidelity on both sides.

Read the following from a noted French physician:--

"The father, as well as the mother, communicates the syphilitic virus to the children. These poor little beings are attacked sometimes at their birth; more often it is at the end of a month or two, before these morbid symptoms appear.

"I recall the heart-rending anguish of a mother whom I a.s.sisted at her fifth confinement. She related to me her misfortune: 'I have already brought into the world four children. Alas! they all died during the first months of their existence. A frightful eruption wasted them away and killed them. Save me the one that is about to be born!' cried she, in tears. The child that I delivered was sickly and puny. A few days after its birth, it had purulent ophthalmia; then, crusted and ulcerated pustules, a few at first, numerous afterward, covered the entire surface of the skin. Soon this miserable little being became as meager as a skeleton, hideous to the sight, and died. Having questioned the husband, he acknowledged to me that he had had syphilis."[45]

[Footnote 45: Bourgeois.]

Cure of the "Social Evil."--With rare exceptions, the efforts of civil legislation have been directed toward controlling or modifying this vice, rather than extirpating it.

Among other devices adopted with a view to effect this, and to mitigate in some degree the resulting evils, the issuing of licenses for brothels has been practiced in several large cities. One of the conditions of the license makes it obligatory upon the keepers of houses of ill-repute and their inmates to submit to medical examination at stated intervals.

By this means, it is expected to detect the cases of foul disease at the outset, and thus to protect others by placing the infected individuals under restraint and treatment. It will be seen that for many reasons such examinations could not be effective; but, even if they were, the propriety of this plan of dealing with the vice is exceedingly questionable, as will appear from the following considerations:--

1. The moment that prost.i.tution is placed under the protection of law by means of a license, it at once loses half its disrepute, and becomes respectable, as do gambling and liquor-selling under the same circ.u.mstances.

2. Why should so vile a crime as fornication be taken under legal protection more than stealing or the lowest forms of gambling? Is it not a lesser crime against human nature to rob a man of his money by theft or by deceit and trickery than to s.n.a.t.c.h from him at one fell swoop his health, his virtue, and his peace of mind? Why not as well have laws to regulate burglary and a.s.sa.s.sination, allowing the perpetrators of those crimes to ply their chosen avocations with impunity under certain prescribed restrictions; if robbery, for instance, requiring the thief to leave his victim money enough to make his escape to another country; or, if murder, directing the a.s.sa.s.sin to allow his intended victim time to repeat a sufficient number of _Ave Marias_ to insure his safe transit through purgatory or to pay a priest for doing the same? Such a course would not be inconsistent with the policy which legalizes that infamous traffic in human souls, prost.i.tution.

3. By the use of certain precautionary measures the fears of many will be allayed, so that thousands whose fear of the consequences of sin would otherwise have kept them physically virtuous, at least, erroneously supposing that the cause for fear has been removed, will rush madly into a career of vice, and will learn only too late the folly of their course.

Prevention the Only Cure.--Those who have once entered upon a career of sensuality are generally so completely lost to all sense of purity and right that there is little chance for reforming them. They have no principle to which to appeal. The gratification of l.u.s.t so degrades the soul and benumbs the higher sensibilities that a votary of voluptuousness is a most unpromising subject for reformatory efforts.

The old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is strikingly exemplified in this case. The remedy must be applied before the depths have been reached. It was well said by a celebrated physician to a young man beginning a life of vice, "You are entering upon a career from which you will never turn back."

Early Training.--The remedy, to be effective, must be applied early, the earlier the better. Lessons on chast.i.ty may be given in early infancy. The remedy may be applied even further back than this; children must be virtuously generated. The bearing of this point will be fully appreciated in connection with the principles established in the preceding pages of this work, and which have already been sufficiently elucidated.

Children should be early taught to reverence virtue, to abhor l.u.s.t; and boys should be so trained that they will a.s.sociate with the name of woman only pure, chaste, and n.o.ble thoughts. Few things are more deeply injurious to the character of woman, and more conducive to the production of foul imaginations in children, than the free discussion of such subjects as the "Beecher scandal" and like topics. The inquisitive minds and lively imaginations of childhood penetrate the rotten mysteries of such foul subjects at a much earlier age than many persons imagine. The inquiring minds of children will be occupied in some way, and it is of the utmost importance that they should be early filled with thoughts that will lead them to n.o.ble and pure actions.

Teach Self-Control.--One important part of early training is the cultivation of self-control, and a habit of self-denial, whenever right demands it. Another most essential part of a child's moral training is the cultivation of right motives. To present a child no higher motives for doing right than the hope of securing some pleasant reward, or the fear of suffering some terrible punishment, is the surest way to make of him a supremely selfish man, with no higher aim than to secure good to himself, no matter what may become of other people. And if he can convince himself that the pleasure he will secure by the commission of a certain act will more than counterbalance the probable risk of suffering, he will not hesitate to commit it, leaving wholly out of the consideration the question, Is it right? or n.o.ble? or pure? A love of right for its own sake is the only solid basis upon which to build a moral character. Children should not be taught to do right in order to avoid a whipping, or imprisonment in a dark closet,--a horrid kind of punishment sometimes resorted to,--or even to escape "the lake of fire and brimstone." Neither should they be constantly coaxed to right-doing by promised rewards,--a new toy, a book, an excursion, nor even the pleasures of Heaven. All of these incentives are selfish, and invariably narrow the character and belittle life when made the _chief_ motives of action. But rather begin at the earliest possible moment to instill into the mind a love for right, and truth, and purity, and virtue, and an abhorrence for their contraries; then will he have a worthy principle by which to square his life; then will he be safe from the a.s.saults of pa.s.sion, of vice, of l.u.s.t. A mind so trained stands upon an eminence from which all evil men and devils combined cannot displace it so long as it adheres to its n.o.ble principles.

Mental Culture.--The cultivation of the physical organization must not be neglected. Healthful mental discipline should receive equal attention. By healthful mental discipline is not meant that kind of superficial "cramming" and memorizing which const.i.tute the training of the average school, but sound culture; a directing of the mind from facts to underlying principles; a development of the reasoning powers so as to bring the emotions and pa.s.sions into subjection; the acquirement of the power to concentrate the mind, one of the best methods of cultivating self-control,--these are some of the objects and results of sound culture of the mind.

To supply the mind with food for pure thoughts, the child should be early inspired with a love for nature. The perceptives should be trained, the child taught to observe closely and accurately. The study of the natural sciences is a most valuable means of elevating the mind above grossness and sensuality. To be successful in this direction, parents must cultivate a love for the same objects themselves. Take the little ones into the country, if they are not so fortunate as to live there, and in the midst of nature's glories, point their impressible minds upward to the Author of all the surrounding loveliness. Gather flowers and leaves and call attention to the peculiarities and special beauties of each, and thus arouse curiosity and cultivate habits of close observation and attention.

Early a.s.sociations.--As children grow older, watch their a.s.sociations.

Warn them of evil influences and evil practices. Make home so attractive that they will enjoy it better than any other place. Cultivate music; its mellowing, harmonizing, refining influence is too great to be prudently withheld. Children naturally love music; and if they cannot hear it at home, they will go where they can hear it. Supply attractive books of natural history, travels, interesting and instructive biographies, and almost any other books but love-sick novels, and sentimental religious story-books. Guard against bad books and bad a.s.sociates as carefully as though they were deadly serpents, for they are, indeed, the artful emissaries of the "old serpent" himself. A taste once formed for reading light literature destroys the relish for solid reading; and usually the taste, once lost, is never regained. The fascination of bad companionship once formed around a person is broken with the greatest difficulty. Hence the necessity for watching for the very beginnings of evil and promptly checking them.

The mind should be thus fortified against the trifles and follies of fashionable life. It should be elevated into a sphere far above that occupied by those who pa.s.s their time in fashionable drawing-rooms in silly twaddle, with thrumming a piano, with listless day-dreaming, or in the gratification of perverted tastes and depraved instincts in any other of the ways common to fashionable life.

SOLITARY VICE.

If illicit commerce of the s.e.xes is a heinous sin, self-pollution, or masturbation, is a crime doubly abominable. As a sin against nature, it has no parallel except in sodomy (see Gen. 19:5, Judges 19:22). It is the most dangerous of all s.e.xual abuses, because the most extensively practiced. The vice consists in any excitement of the genital organs produced otherwise than in the natural way. It is known by the terms, self-pollution, self-abuse, masturbation, onanism, ma.n.u.stupration, voluntary pollution, solitary or secret vice, and other names sufficiently explanatory. The vice is the more extensive because there are no bounds to its indulgence. Its frequent repet.i.tion fastens it upon the victim with a fascination almost irresistible. It may be begun in earliest infancy, and may continue through life.

Even though no warning may have been given, the transgressor seems to know, instinctively, that he is committing a great wrong, for he carefully hides his practice from observation. In solitude he pollutes himself, and with his own hand blights all his prospects for both this world and the next. Even after being solemnly warned, he will often continue this worse than beastly practice, deliberately forfeiting his right to health and happiness for a moment's mad sensuality.

Alarming Prevalence of the Vice.--The habit is by no means confined to boys; girls also indulge in it, though, it is to be hoped, to a less fearful extent than boys, at least in this country. A Russian physician, quoted by an eminent medical professor in New York, states that the habit is universal among girls in Russia. It seems impossible that such a statement should be credible; and yet we have not seen it contradicted.

It is more than probable that the practice is far more nearly universal everywhere than even medical men are willing to admit. Many young men who have been addicted to the vice, have, in their confessions, declared that they found it universal in the schools in which they learned the practice.

Dr. Gardner speaks of it as "the secret cause of much that is perverting the energies and demoralizing the minds of many of our fairest and best." He further says:--

"Much of the worthlessness, la.s.situde, and physical and mental feebleness attributable to the modern woman are to be ascribed to these habits as their initial cause." "Foreigners are especially struck with this fact as the cause of much of the physical disease of our young women. They recognize it in the physique, in the sodden, colorless countenance, the lack-l.u.s.ter eye, in the dreamy indolence, the general carriage, the constant demeanor indicative of distrust, mingled boldness and timidity, and a series of anomalous combinations which mark this genus of physical and moral decay."

The extent to which the vice is practiced by an individual is in some cases appalling. Three or four repet.i.tions of the act daily are not uncommon; and the following from Dr. Copland is evidence of much deeper depravity:--

"There can be no doubt that the individual who has once devoted himself to this moloch of the species becomes but too frequently its slave to an almost incredible degree. A patient who was sent to London for my advice confessed that he had practiced this vice seven or eight times daily from the age of thirteen until twenty-four; and he was then reduced to the lowest state of mental weakness, a.s.sociated with various bodily infirmities; indeed, both mental power and physical existence were nearly extinguished."

Testimony of Eminent Authors.--Says a medical writer, "In my opinion, neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of onanism; it is the destroying element of civilized societies, which is constantly in action, and gradually undermines the health of a nation."

"The sin of self-pollution, which is generally considered to be that of Onan, is one of the most destructive evils ever practiced by fallen man. In many respects it is several degrees worse than common wh.o.r.edom, and has in its train more awful consequences, though practiced by numbers who would shudder at the thought of criminal connection with a prost.i.tute."[46]

[Footnote 46: Dr. Adam Clarke.]

"However revolting to the feelings it may be to enter upon such a subject, it cannot be pa.s.sed over in silence without a great violation of duty.

Unhappily, it has not been hitherto exhibited in the awful light in which it deserves to be shown. _The worst of it is that it is seldom suspected._ There are many pale faces and languid and nervous feelings attributed to other causes, when all the mischief lies here."[47]

[Footnote 47: Sir W. C. Ellis.]

We scarcely need add further evidence of the fearful extent of this evil, but will conclude with the following:--

"The pernicious and debasing practice of masturbation is a more common and extensive evil with youth of both s.e.xes than is usually supposed."

"A great number of the evils which come upon the youth at and after the age of p.u.b.erty, arise from masturbation, persisted in, so as to waste the vital energies and enervate the physical and mental powers of man." "Many of the weaknesses commonly attributed to growth and the changes in the habit by the important transformation from adolescence to manhood, are justly referable to this practice."[48]

[Footnote 48: Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.]

Not a Modern Vice.--That this vice is not entirely a modern one is proved by the fact that in many ancient writings directions are given for treating its effects. Even Moses seems to have recognized disorders of this cla.s.s. Hippocrates and others devoted considerable attention to them.

Victims of all Ages.--The ages at which the habit may be practiced include almost the whole extent of human life. We have seen it in infants of only three or four years, and in old men scarcely less than sixty, in both extremes marked by the most unmistakable and lamentable consequences. Cases have been noted in which the practice was begun as early as two years of age. It is common among African boys at nine and ten years of age, according to Dr. Copland.

Unsuspected Rottenness.--Parents who have no suspicion of the evil, who think their children the embodiment of purity, will find by careful observation and inquiry,--though personal testimony cannot be relied upon,--that in numerous instances their supposed virtuous children are old in corruption. Such a revelation has brought dismay into many a family, only too late in some cases.

Not long since a case came under our care which well ill.u.s.trates the apathy and blindness of parents with respect to this subject. The parents of a young man whose mind seemed to be somewhat disordered, sent word to us through a friend respecting his condition, asking advice.

We suspected from the symptoms described the real cause of the disease, and urged prompt attention to the case. In a short time the young man was placed under our immediate care without encouragement of a cure, and we gave the case still closer study. The characteristic symptoms of disease from self-abuse were marked, but the father was positive that no influence of that kind could have been at work. He had watched his son narrowly from infancy, and did not believe it possible for him to have been guilty. In addition, the young man had long been remarkable for his piety, and he did not believe there could be any possibility of his being guilty of so gross a crime.