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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour etre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche i droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^^r^mirimi^'^mn^ MANHOOD WRECKED AND RESCUED BY REV. W. J. HUNTER, Ph.D., D.D. MONTRKAL, CANADA A SERIES OF CHAPTERS TO MEN ON SOCIAL PURITY AND RIGHT LIVING TORONTO : VV^ILLIAM I3RIGGS, WESLEr BUILDINGS. MDCCCXCIV. 20^9 /Tdr^ T ^ ^< ^^ Jlntered, according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, by Wilmam J. Hunter, Montreal, at the Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. A PREFACE. This book is an expansion of a series of addresses on Social Purity, delivered to men only, in St. James Methodist Church, Montreal, on Sunday evenings after the regular services, in the autumn and winter of 1892-8. These addresses were largely attended, as many as fifteen hundred men being present on a single night; tliey evoked widespread interest, and called forth many requests for their i)ub]ication. To those requests I now respond, and send forth this book on its mission of rescue. 1 have dealt with every phase of the sub- ject, and have given in brief form and simple language what might have covered a thousand pages and bewildered the reader. This book ought to have a place PREFACE. in every home. No man can read it with- out an abhorrence of illicit pleasure ; no boy can read it without feeling ever after what a great sin self^pollution is, and no victim of that sin can read it without the inspiration of hope, and the assurance thtit, without medicine and ^vithout expense, he may be restored to perfect manhood, health, and happiness. W. J. H. Montreal, 1894. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE WllKCK. Primeval man-His dignity and purity-Some noble specimens of manhood still— Causes of the wreck- Ignorance of natural law— Poverty and lack of proper food- Stimulants and narcotics— Sexual ])or versions the crowning cause— Touches more than half the race- Puberty— When sexual passion abates in man- Rebukes to the clergy. . . . .' 9 CHAPTER II. AN ANCIENT WRECK, Sensuality the sin of the ages— Proof that the flood was a direct punishment of sensuality- The Mosaic ac- count critically examined— Testimony outside the Bible— Why Noah was spared— Per f Jet in his gen- erations— Bhimeless in his sexual relations— The indecency of Ham— Tlie old devil of sensuality— Cir- cumcision; its meaning and its lessons— Sensuality the sin which caused the destruction of Sodom and the cities of the plain— Sensuality in the patriarchal age— The chastity of Joseph-A modern incident- Prostitution in the i)atriarchal age— The Mosaic economy— Sensuality the sin which destroyed the Canaanites and surrounding nations— Sexual purity in the law of Moses 3J ■I. ,. .J ■ CONTENTS. CILVPTKRIir. A MODKUN WUIiCK. The history of prostitution — The Christina era — The diictrinc of cluistity — The voiee of the uposiies and tiie life of the early Christians — No coinproniise with impurity — Modern civilization — Statistics of prosti- tution — A startling testimony — The blood of the race poisoned by venereal diseases — Thirty thousand men daily infected iu the United States— History of venereal diseases — A State document — National de- cay—Prevention l)etter than cure — Licensed prosti- tution a failure — Roman laws for the regulation of prostitution — Facts and statistics of recent date — A threefold a))peal 61 CHAPTER IV. A YOUTHFUL WUKCK. Masturbation — Pul)erty, its indications and sequence — Prevalence of the solitary vice — An ancient habit — Referred to in the law of Moses — Impossible to ex- aggerate its ruinous results — Testimony of medical experts and of educationists — Duty of ministers — Duty of parents — Loss of semen is loss of blood— Re- sults of its expenditure — Seminal emissions — EfTeets on the nervous system — Conservatism of nature — The nervous system explained — Where masturbation and marital excess do their most deadly Avork — A word to parents and boys — Quacks and charlatans — No medicine required to cure seminal emissions. ... 95 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. A WIIKCK KSCAPED. CoDtiiicntc of young men— Is continence po8sil)lc?— Trc- memlous power of the sexual appetite— Created of God for the ])erpetuati()n of the race— Continence outside of wedlock is possible— None but impure men question this— Impure thoughts the cliief cause of self-abuse and fornication — Testimony of Ur. Acton and his personal experience — How to live ■■. continent life 14i CHAPTER VI. TIIK UKSCUE BEGUN. Does nature forgive?— Natural law is God's jnethod of operation — Forgiveness in the moral rr.ilm a higher type than forgiveness in the natural reahn — Nature repairs and restores when we cease to disregard her laws— Three letters to the author— Comments on the same — Difficult to convince the victim of seminal weakness that no medicine is needed — Cut loose from charlatans— Burn their i>:imphlets— High med- ical testimony that medicine is not required — Is mar- riage a cure? — The question answered— The habit abandoned — Helps and encouragements — A cure as certain as the rising of the sun— Old-time philos- ophy — An anudet — Perseverance and victorv. . . 157 CHAPTER VII. THE RESCUE CONTINUED. Some earnest words— Imperative— Philosophy of tlu; diflerence between nervous function and muscular CONTENTS. power — Nervous scnstition frequently evokes results it) sensitiveness und clel)ility — Strong drink — To- bacco and its effects on the nervous system — How to cure yourself of the tobncco habit without ex- pense and without inconvenience — What to eat and drink — Employ meut — Exercise — Bathing— Bleep — Society 195 CHAPTER VIH. THE RESCUE COMPLETED. , , The medical profession — If y(m must have medical advice, consult a resident ])hysician — Beware of medical companies and sharks — They take jour money and shorten your life— Additional testimony that medicine cannot cure seminal weakness— The parts affected— Their intimate relationship— The ])rincipal aggravating cause of seminal weakness — A flood of light on the subject— Special treatment, without exjiense— An absolutely infallible remedy— A certain cure for piles, and relief from the suttering resulting from irritation of the l)ladder and enlarge- ment of the prostate gland— It is your life— Worth a struggle — A man again 225 THE WRECK. MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. CHAPTER I. THE WRECK. " And God said, Let iis make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air. and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that ci-eepeth upon the earth." Gen. \, 26. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and tlie son of man, that thou visitest him ? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and hom^r. Thou madest him to have dominion over the 12 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. works of tliy hands ; thou liast put all tilings under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field ; the fowl of tlie air, and the lisli of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." Psalm viii, 4-8. I accept as rational and trustworthy the Bible account of the creation of man. It is in harmony with well-estal)lislied scien- tific truth, and is confirmed l)y mythology and tradition. It is impossible to conceive of the dignity and purity of man as lie came from the forming hand of the Creator and while yet unstained by sin. A fine w^riter has given tliis pen-picture of tlie first man : " He was placed in a world of grandeur, beauty, and utility. It w'as canopied with other distant worlds to exhibit to his very sense a manifestation of the extent of space and the vastness of the varied uni- verse ; and to call his reason, his fancy, and his devotion into their most vigorous THE WRECK. 13 and salutary exercise. With a body per- fect in form, full of vigor as of life, he Lad an intellectual power that grasped all ci'eated objects, and ranged the loftiest heights of sublime in([uiry and research." That glory has passed awa^-, and we must study man as we see him to-day, with his long train of diseases, infirmities, and im- pedhiients. And vet, even now, in this world of marvels and of beauty, thei-e is nothing to compare wdth the human form and face divine. There are specimens of manhood ^vhom we cannot pass on the sti-eets without admiration; we involuntarily tui-n round and look at them as they move on with the tread of a giant. There are kings of the stage, the platform, the pul[)it, the bar, and the senate, who need but to speak and stand erect, when all eyes are riveted and all hearts are cai-ried away into a sweet captivity. These men inherited il- 14 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. noble forms and high intellectual faculties, and have lived in obedience to natural law, and are examples of what following genei'ations might become if |)eople were properly educated, and if the same care and common sense were exei'cised in the propagation of the race as in the breeding of cattle, sheep, and horses. DETERIORATION. The causes of deterioration are numerous and perplexing. Ignorance of the anatomy, physiology, r.ul functions of the human system is a most prolific cause. Sanitary science is doing much to remove this cause, and the time is approaching when in the homes of the peoph^, as well as in colleges and universities, these important subjects will be studied and understood. Poverty and consequent lack of whole- some food is another cause. The human body is the most delicate and exquisite f THK WRECK. IS DS piece of mechanism in the world, and can be sustained in strength and beauty only by regular and proper quantities of nutri- tious food. An engine cannot work with- out fuel ; a horse cannot work without grain, and a man cannot work without waste-repairing food. More than half the human family are inadequately fed, and fifty per cent of the remaining half are im- properly fed. Poverty is the mother of dirt, vice, and crime ; and the attention of the Christian, the statesman, and tlie phi- lanthropist must be directed more than ever to the elevation of the masses. Thev are fast filling the ^vorld with a race of imbe- ciles and incompetents who are becoming a charge on the State and a tax on the generosity of the thrifty and benevolent. Stimulants and narcotics are another cause of physical and national deteriora- tion. Strong drink works ruin everywhere, and tobacco, opium, and morphine are sap- m 16 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. M ping the foiuidatious of health and threat- en! ns: national existence itself. The habits of modern society in the matter of dress, recreation, late hours, and sensational literature tend to deplete vital force and convert men and women into pygmies and puppets. But towering high above all these, some- times gi'owing out of them, sometimes giv- ing lise to them, and always associated with one or more of them, is sexual perver- sion in its multitudinous forms and with its concomitant army of shame and degra- dation. Tiie subject is one of great deli- cacy, and hitherto has received but little attention save in publications of limited circulation ; but of late it has engaged the thought of the Church, the pulpit, the plat- foi'm, and social reformei'S in Europe and America. It is safe to say that sexual perversion in its various forms touches more than half \ THE WRECK. 17 •sion half the popuLitioii of every city, town, .'iiul country in our luodeni civiliziitioii. It shortens human lite, burdens it with intir- niities and diseases, de])letes its working power, enfeebles its mentality, and makes it a drudgery and a sorro\v. Look at the men \vhom you meet day after day, and how few s^^eciniens of perfect manhood do you see ! Note their walk aud beai'ing ; how sliilly-shally the gait, how lusterless the eye, how utterly devoid of snap and spirit the whole demeanor ! Contrast men with tlie males of the brute creation — the lion, the tiger, the bull, or the entire liorse. AVhat a majesty there is in the movements of these creatures, what fire in the eye, what thunder in the voice ! " Hast tliou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? canst thou make him afraid as a grass- hopper ? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in 18 MANHOOD: WliECKKD AND RESCUED. his strength: he goeth out to meet the armed men. He mocketh at feai*, and is not affrighted ; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. lie swallovveth the ground ^vitll fierceness and rage : neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha ! and he smelleth the battle afai* off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." Job xxxix, 19-25. That is Job's description of the war horse, and it is the climax of sublimity. And shall not man, standing at the head of creation, excel in beauty and in bearing all lower animals ? The eunuchs of the East were castrated and appointed to the care of bed-chambers in palaces and in the homes of the wealthy. They were effemi-. nate and harmless creatures with smooth faces and without force and energy of THE WRECK. \ 19 character ; for wheu sexual power is de- stroyed or depleted thei'e is always a lack of force and energy. A CKrnCAL PERIOD. At the period of puberty, explained in a subsequent chapter, the seminal fluid is secreted ; at the age of twenty-five virility is well and fully established, and at the age of fifty the sexual passion begins to abate, and after that peiiod it should never be stimulated, and seldom gratified. Then life retains its brightness, and a long and happy old age awaits the man who has been observant of nature's laws. Think of Gladstone bearing the weight of an empire on his shoulders at eighty-four, and then think of the thousands of men who are superannuated and with- ered at fortv, and see the difference be- tween manhood retained and manhood wrecked, 20 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND UESCUKI). Now tills period, from puberty to forty- five or fifty yeai's of age, is the critical period in tlie life of man. If boys were properly instructed by their parents or by the family physician before they attain the age of puberty ; if, in simple language, they were told what self-abuse is, and what its terrible consequences are, most of them would be saved from this first step to ruin. And if at the age of puberty a book like this one were put into their hands, they would see the sin and peril of illicit inter- course' in all its forms, and be saved from the second step to ruin, and they would come to the marriage altar pure in body and in mind, govern their married life according to the laws of health, and thus secure to themselves a heritage of happi- ness, and bequeath to their offspring a mind and body fitted to the discharge of life's high and dignified responsi- bilities. THE WRECK. 21 AN HONORABLE MISSION. I know of iio uiissioi) more honorable than that of guiding the people into paths of virtue, chastity, and purity. It is the mission of parents, teachers, and Christian ministers. As yet we have touched only its fringe. It is a subject that cannot be dealt "svith in minuteness of detail in the public press, in the pulpit, or even on the platform ; ])ut in a book written in a plain, simple style that even the unlettered may understand, we can use that plainness of speech which we could not employ in ad- dressing a promiscuous audience. An Italian mother said of her sons, " They are my jewels," and this book is sent forth to protect and save the jewels of the household and the State. I have no shadow of apology to offer for its publica- tion. My only I'egret is that I did not sooner give wings of type to the startling fF 32 MANHOOD: WliEOKFA) AND RESCUED. and iiiuiuentous trutlis herein contained. The pressure of duties insepai'able from a busy pastorate is my excuse. iiii REBUKES TO THE CLERGY. The demands upon the pulpit increase with the increasing advancement of the age, and I am in pei-fect syni2)athy with the opinion expressed by a medical writer when he says : " All ministers and teachei-s should be as well learned in the laws that govern the sexual organism, and in other departments of human physiology, as they are in the supposed legitimate pursuit of their lives." Dr. Jackson deals with this thought in a plain, outspoken fashion sufficient to paint a blush of shame on many a clerical cheek. He says : "As a class clergymen are honest men, earnest in theii* efforts to bless their fel- lows ; but I have not much respect for their sagacity. They seem to me to lack insight THE WliECK. M to liuiiiau luitiire. They fail in adaptation, and take altogether too narrow views of their sphere of activity, and of the depravi- ty which it i>< theii* object to combat. They chiefly confine their effbrts to saving of souls; whereas Christ instituted the minis- try to save men. As God created him, man has a body as well as a sonl, ai.d without which body it were a misnomer as truly to call hini a man as it would be to call an angel a man. As Christ's minister the clergy- man is to look after the redemption, not of a human soul simply, but of a human being. " The clergymen seem utterly ignoi'ant of the fact that the bodily organization can become depraved, and so force the soul to abnormal conditions. They seem, judging of them by their conduct, not to have the least information respecting the laws of hereditary descent, or the trans- mission of physical and moral traits. True, they see children looking like their I 24 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. fathers or mothers, or both, having their tones of voice, color and toA'tiire of hair, shade of eye-coloring, shape of mouth and lips, or feet and fingers, and they take it for granted that these resemblances happen according to law. But \vhen they see chihlren Avith habits, tendencies, appetites, predispositions all wrong, they are not sufficiently informed to incpiire whether these developments in children have not for long years l)een cultivated in their parents as the alpha and omega of their existence. Can tliey not l)e made to see that a mother likino; rum can conununi- cate her appetite to lier unicorn babe as easily as she can i\\Q features of her face ? that an appetite for to])acco is as easily transmissible as the color of the hair? that a strong lui'ch to\vard licentiousness can l)e given to one's firstborn as readily as the tones of the Vv.ice ? "Now, would luinisters give their atteu- THE WRECK. 2.- }' lat ill! .'IS tiou to physiology, and, in connection Avitli their spii'itiial exhortations, press home on human beings the law of pei*soiial purity, the world would be nearer heaven." The late O. S. Fowler strikes squarely from the shoulder, and speaks like one of the old prophets, \\\\m\ he addresses him- self to clergymen. Listen to these clarion tones: " Are you not volunteer watchmen placed on the sightly watchtowers over- looking the public good, for the specific purpose of Avarning your congregations affainst sexual sins as much as acrainst false- hoods and cheatery ? Yet in this respect are not almost all dumb dogs that will not bark ao-ainst this vilest of all vices ? How can you possibly reconcile this ominous silence, either to truth, to your clerical vows, to public morality, or even to the dictates of unordained humanity, mrjh more or- dained ? Your silence is a crime against 26 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. truth, humanity, and God. Either dis- charge this your solemn duty or else resign your commission." It is hut fair to say that the charge of ignorance, on the one hand, and of timidity, on the other hand, is not by any means uni- versal in its application. The AVhite Cross movement, which has girdled the world, owes its inception to a clergyman, and in all lands Christian ministei's, with few ex- ceptions, stand in the front ranks of social and moral reform. But it can be seen at a glance that these subjects cannot be dealt with in detail in our ordinary pulpit min- istrations. Ministers can address the sexes apart and do much good, and they can use the pen as I do in these pages, and speak with all freedom, but beyond that they cannot go in a public way. In private they can do more ; and if their pulpit discourses show that they have given attention to these subjects THE WRECK. 2t if they will Lave more patients coming to them for counsel and sympathy than any doctor hiis for opinion and medicine. Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his published sermons, says : "Young men want to act upon their feelings. They are for joy. They are for outspring. And I like to see young men full of life and vigor and elasticity. And it is not their racing, or wrestling, or rid- ing, or shooting, or fishing that breaks them down. It is leaking. It is wasting the nei've substance by pleasures that draw out the very vitality of their life. I wish I could read you the letters tliat come to me with implorations and suppli- cations that I would save the writers from the evils into which they have fallen, as they say, through ignorance." Mr. Beecher does not stand alone in this particular. Eveiy pastor in large cities, whose sermons and addresses show" 28 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCITED. that he is in touch with the young, and that he knows the pei'ils which beset them, lias a like experience. Canada is a young country, and its moral atmosphere is supposed to be the purest in the world, but after a pastorate of eight years in its rural districts, and thirty years in its prin- cipal cities, the publication of lettei*s which have come pouring in upon me in response to pulpit and platform appeals for social and pei'sonal purity, and a narration of personal interviews, in which the unhappy victims of sexual perversions have im- plored me to help them, would fill a large volume and make any pure heart sick. These considerations have prompted the publication of this book. There are not a few publications on sexual science, and some of them are not devoid of merit. Some are wi'itten ioY the profession, and are comparatively useless to the ordinaiy reader; some are written by specialists THE WRECK. 29 with a view to secui-e patients, and those who have taken treatment from these spe- cialists know how expensive it is, and how transient the relief obtained. But nuun^ of these publications are wi'itten by un- principled charlatans, whose sole object is money. Millions of dollars are paid to these charlatans every year. Their adver- tisements are found in every paper and magazine whose columns admit them, irre- spective of cost, and their pamphlets flood the land, like the locusts of Egypt, and, like them, eat up " every green thing." MONEY THROWN AW/VY. And I now solemnly declare that every dollar spent on medicine for the cure of seminal weahness, nocturnal emissions^ errors of youth^ and loss of manhood is so much money thrown away; for not one drop or grain of medicine is needed to effect a cure. And not more confidently do I off'er the t SBva 30 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. salvatiou of God a* a panacea for the soul than I offer hope and health and happiness to every suff'erer loho conscientiously fol- lows the directions contained in this hook. ■ This is a strong and unqualified state- ment, but I know whereof I affirm, and my character and standing in the commu- nity are involved in the statement, and I do not fear the result. 1 1 ' '1' i ; niAmmmmUHoaamm AN ANCIENT WRECK. i: <'> HP' ■ i i ^I'll AN ASCIENT WRECK. 33 CHAPTER II. AN ANCIENT WRECK. Sensuality is the sin of the ages ; it is the sill wliich God htites and visits with special punishment. Let us begin at the beginning and examine a remarkable and somewhat obscure passage in the Book of Genesis : ■ . " And it came to pass, \vhen men began to multiply on the face of the eai-th, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Loi*d said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh : yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days ; and also after that, when the sons 1 1' r 1 ' 1 lilt !! I hiim i ill 84 MANHOOD: WJihJCKKD AND ItESCUED. of God came in unto the (Liughters of men, and they bare children to them, the stime became mighty men which were of ohl, men of reno^vn. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of tlie thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it I'epented the I^ord that he liad made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I ^vill destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth ; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air ; for it repenteth me that I have made them." Gen. vi, 1-7. The o])inion of some of the ancients that tliese sons of God were fallen angels who had illicit intercourse with women is now set aside as utterly without foundation. The supposition that these sons of God were the male children of Seth, and the fair women the female children of Cain, is iil: AN ANCIENT WRECK. 35 equally uiiteiuible. Adam had other chil- dren than Cain and Seth, and how would this interpretation designate /A^'^V offspring ? CRITICAL EXAMINATION. It is necessaiy, in order to understand this remarkable passage, to turn to verse 26 of chapter iv, wheie we read : "And to Seth, to him also there was Lorn a son ; and he called his name Enos : then beo-an men to call upon the name of the Lord." What do these words mean ? They cannot mean that now for the first time men be- gan to worship God and pray to him, for Adam and Abel had certainly worshiped God and called upon his name long before this. The maro-inal readincf casts some light on the passage : " Then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord ; " and this reading has suggested the opinion that at the period alluded to the descendants of Seth formed themselves ^Ik^ 86 MANUOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. into ii society, lo(>(l impurities, tliei-e are none wliicli lead to such endless xarieties of disease as those induced by the virus with which whoi'edoin is inoculating the whole human fnmily." It is said that for years pasta little pam])h- let of less than t\venty ])nges — price, one dollar — ]irofessing to give prescriptions and directions fov the cui'e of venereal diseases, has sold at the rate of t^venty thousand copies per month in the United States and Canada ah^ne. Think of it ! Two hun- dred and forty thousand copies a year. That means two hundred and forty tliou- sand new cases of these horrible diseases every year. And the victims \\'\\o pur- chase this ]>amphlet represent but a fraction of the total contaminated each yeai'. Does one need to present further jn'oof that sensuality is sapping the very founda- tions of national life ? AVhen cholera or smallpox threatens the land Congress and A MODFAiN WRECK. "ity Parliament and boards of health rush to the rescue ; but this deadly plague is going on by night and by day, and we close our eyes to its widespread desolation. IIISTOUY OF VENEREAL DISEASES. No autlientic liistory of venereal diseases exists. At one time it was the o[)inion of the medical facult}' that they were of com- paratively I'ecent origin, and that the sail- ors of Columbus contracted them from the aborigines of this continent ; l)ut this opinion does not rest on aiiy solid basis, and is now generally rejected. It is a Avell-established fact that venereal diseases existed in Europe as eai'ly as the fiftli cen- tury, and Dr. Sanger i-emarks, in his woi-k already referred to, that "the pi-esumption from an imposing mass of circumstantial evidence is that venei'eal disease has afflicted humanity from the beginning of its history." ' "SH 1 1 70 MANIIOOJ): WRKCKhJJ) AND liEHCV' '» ! 1 lUliLE LIGHT. I iisk the reader to examine carefully the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus, whore he will .^Mcl the huv given by Moses for the un- clean.iess of men and women, and for their cleansing : " When any man hath a run- ning issue out of his flesh, becanse of his issue he is unclean." There can be no doubt that the issue here mentioned was gonorrhoea, or syphilis. The Sei)tnagint version renders the word gonorrhoea., instead of issue, nine times in this chapter. Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary, ^iiyii>'. "The disgraceful dis- order referred to hei'e is a foul blot which the justice of God in the course of provi- ■ «^«^^^.-IuB A MODK/iN' WRECK. 83 or with the descendants of women of loose virtue, \\ms strictly prohibited. 'J'he wom- an desiring to be licensed as a prostitute had her name registered as such, and by that rei^istration incurred a brand of re- proacli which could never be wiped out. No repentance and I'eformation could re- store lier to society. Even when she mar- ried and became tin; mother of children the brand of reproach remained. No laws conld be more detei lent, and yet Rome failed to regulate this vice by license and registration. Lust and sensuality became I'egnant over intellectual culture and na- tional aml)ition, and destroyed that might- iest empire of tlie world. STILL A FAILURE. The New York Medical Record contains the following facts and figures, which show how completely the system of license raid rcirulation fails to save from coutamination ■—— i i I I; ; t ! V \ 84 MANHOOD: WliECKED AND RESCUED. and disease. The article in question states : "1. During the last twenty-seven years that he has been practicing, Dr. Fourniei' has been consulted by 887 women afflicted with syphilis. Of this number 842 cases were of sexual origin, and in 45 cases, which is already a proportion of fiv^' per cent, the disease was contracted otherwise than by sexual connection. As regards the social position of the 842 cases, the author divides the patients into three cat- egories : First, ^vomen ])elonging to the (lemi-mondey 360 ; second, married women, 220; third, women wliose social position was unknown, 25(). In striking out from tlie tio;ures 220 a certain nund)er of the cases of married women who evidently got the disease from other sources than their hus- bands, there reuiaiu 1()4 infected by their husbands. " 2. Megnlating Prostitution, — Fournier ■tfumm-i^tf- A MODERN WRECK. 85 asked 873 male sypliilitics how they had become infected. It was found that 625 got the disease from registered, licensed, and regularly examined prostitutes, 100 from working women, 24 from domestics, 24 front married ^volnen, 46 from clandes- tine prostitutes. The incpiiry showed that the licensed prostitute was the most serious source of infection. " 3. A Protest against Licensed Prosti- tution. — A memorial has been presented to the Japanese Parliament praying for the abolition of licensed prostitution in the empire. It is contended by the peti- tioners that the system encourages immo- rality, debases women, and promotes, rather than hinders, the spread of venereal disease. There never was a measure, the memorial states, which showed more plainly the sex that devised it than this system of license, and never (Mie which showed more tlie brutal side of man's na- ill 80 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. tiire. It is a scbeme to pi'otect inaii in his baser impulses at the expense of woman, and society is corrupted in tlie effort." If men would bnt use their connnon sense they w^ould see how utterly impossi- ble it is by any system of medical inspec- tion to make contact with an inmate of a house of shame free from infection, no matter how high the house may be. These women are after money. The doctor may make his inspection at six o'clock, and at seven the woman nifiy have inter- course with an infected man, and at ten o'clock with one free from disease, but wlio now contracts it from her. Be assured that God has put his mai*k on this great sin, and as you value your life and health and happiness make a covenant with your nobler manhood that you \vill preserve your body in honor and chastity to the last day of your life. For the man wlio seeks illicit pleasui'e, whether jminJii^lliSii, A MODE UN WRECK. 87 in the low brothel or in the fashionable house of shame, there is no permanent escape. God's pursuivant is on his track, and will run him down and run him in ; and, with a bcjdy reeking with putrefac- tion, there Avill come home to the soul the sad retribution indicated in the divine warn- ing, " And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed." HIGHER MOTIVES. I plead for purity not only on national and patriotic grounds, not only on the ground of self-preservation, but on higher grounds as well. You are somebody's child ; I am somebody's child. Somebody to-day at the old home, it may be, or in the spirit world, used to call you " darling," and you called her " mother." She In'ought you into the world through the pangs of labor; from her breast you drew the nourishment of your infant life, and she 11! a u i 88 MANHOOD: WltKGKED AND liESCUED. c.ired for you in cliiklhood as none otlier could. Peril jips, too, you know what the ^vord 6-is-t€)' means, and what the woi'd wife means. Tell me, then, what is the feeling which thrills your whole being like a shock of electricity, and sends the blood galloping through your veins, as you think of the bare possibility of some man violating the honor of your mother or sister or wife. I know what your thought i:^. You say, " I would shoot him down like a doic." But you are the man who deserves to be shot down like a dog when }ou violate the honor of another man's mother or sister or wife. This is not all. Every poor fallen woman, ready to sell he)" soul for money and jewelry and gay attire, is somebody's child. Some mother pressed her to her heart, and dandled her on her knee, and, perchance, some man of God sprinkled baj^tismal water on her brow. A MODE UN WRECK. 8!) Tell me, if you will, that she has ostra- cised hei'sell: tVoiii decent society, and put herself into the market, and it is her own lookout and not yours. All ! my brother, you do not know the history of that sad life. You do not know with what flat- tery, and protestation of love and promise of marriage, some devil dressed like a gen- tleman seduced and I'uined her, '* Then flung her off with taunt and scoff, And bade her work or die." You do not know how, with wido^ved motlieror sick sister to care foi", or stand- ing behind the counter all day ^vith weary limb, and tired brain, and small pay, the seducer of souls whispered into her ear that the world is cruel, and the church is cold, and life is short, and beauty commands money, and others do it, and why not she ? You do not stay to think of the anguish of that poor soul v,dien the short career of 90 MANHOOD : WliKCKICD AND ItESCUKD. ( [■■• 1,1,, ^i| 1 ' '. ' 1 • 1 1 lAi. shame is ended, and the past haunts tlie memory like a dismal gliost, and the fiituie I'ises up witli its fire of retribution, and the broken heart sobs out its pitiful wailings: " Once I was pure as the snow, but I fell, Fell like a snowflake from heaven to hell ; Fell to be trampled as filth in the street, Fell to be scoffed, to be spit on and beat ; Pleading, cursing, dreading to die ; Selling my soul to whoever would buy ; Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread; Hating the living and fearing the dead. Merciful God ! have I fallen so low ? Aud yet I was once like the beautiful snow." You do not think of all these things, else you would say : Let who ^vill contril)- ute to a ruin so apj^alling, no hot passion shall make me accessory to jui end like that. But I turn from tlie outcast to our homes, our offices, aud our stores ; for out of all these tair young girls are taken every year by the arts of the accom- A MODEliN WUECK. 1)1 plished seducer. And I say before high heaven that wlien a man deliberately sets himself to seduce a wonian there are no words in our vocabulary which can ade- quately express the depths of depravity to which he has descended. The libertine, niai'ried or single, who plans and perpe- trates the ruin of a woman, married or sin- gle — does he think of the extent of that ruin. It touches many hearts. Dark are the shadows that have fallen on that home, and heavy is the blow that crushes to the earth the aged parents. Their gray hairs gr{)^v grayer, and the sobs of their aching hearts grow louder, as tliey weep over the fact that now they are worse than child- less. Men may be thoughtless and snaj* their fingers and say : " She tempted me more than I tempted lier, and what does it signi- fy ? " T answer that question partly in the language of another : IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V / O // % ^ if' Me .^ <»- :/ <; % w. v. 1.0 I.I 1.25 541 IM IIIII2.5 IIM m ;40 12.2 2.0 1.8 \A. Illli 1.6 VQ ■'^ m ^ . ^ o > 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 I <" M? * Cp^ '€ 93 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. man, it shall signify. As sure as there is a God in heaven thou shalt meet again that lost one to whom thou didst o})en the door of shame, of infamy, and of ruin. Her own lips shall tell thee liow thou didst help to put out in her all that was pure, and send her into the streets an out- cast. It shall signify. That child of neg- lect shall claim thee as its father. Before God and holy angels it will tell thee of its bare infant feet on snowy sidewalks ; of the ignorance and wretchedness and foul examples through which its struggling life was passed, and which left it no chance of virtue. From thee it will demand account of those parental duties thou didst incur but didst not discharge. It shall signify. A TiniEEFOLD APPEAL. 1 make, thou, this threefold appeal for purity. After having traced the windings of the river of sensuality in primitive his- Hi m n A MODERN WRECK. 93 tory ; after having seen that this sin pro- voked (tO(1 to drown the antediluvian world and to burn the cities of the plain ; after having traced this dark river from Noali to the Advent, and on to the present day, noting how sensuality has sapped the nations, and how it threatens our modern civilization, I appeal on the ground of patriotism that you set your face as a flint against this vice of all vices. I ap- peal on the gi'ound of self-preservation that you vow to God that you will shun every form of illicit indulgence and pi'e- serve your body in honor and i)urity. I appeal on the ground of the reverence with which you oherish the name of mothei', sister, and wife that you scoin to soil the white feather of female virtue. And if these poor words of mine abide in your heart, and come like uiinistering angels in moments of temj^tation, I am repaid. A YOUTHFUL WRECK. , i 1 m v I 1 ^^^M ■ tt-^'.- . ^IH Itl A YOUTHFUL WRECK. 97 CHAPTER IV. A YOUTHFUL WRECK. That form of sexual perveision which now invites attention is known as the solitary vice, masturbation, or self-abuse, and is generally included in the familiar term, seminal weakness. The habit is frequently acquired at an early period in life, and in utter ignorance of its sinfulness and its serious consequences. PUBERTY. The word puberty means the period in life at which persons are capable of beget- ting or bearing children. In civil law the age is usually fixed at twelve years in females and at fourteen in males, but the period varies in different individuals and in different climates. % h B ■ I I 98 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. u The passage of the boy into manhood is distinctly marked and easily discerned. The muscles become larger and firmer, the skin becomes coai'ser, the hair begins to grow on the face, tlie voice changes into deeper tones, a corresponding change takes place in the mental faculties, and the lad reaches one of the most critical periods of his lite. If he has already learned the solitary vice God pity him in the absence of some wise friend to counsel and in- struct him, and if he has not learned it he is almost certjdn to learn it now in the absence of a knowledge of its ruinous results. Alas ! how many boys come to this crit- ical period ignorant of the marvelous pow- ers which now come into operation ! No book like this one is put into their hands, no instruction is imparted by their parents, and they are left to grapple with the new desires and passions as best they can ; and A YOUTHFUL WRECK. 99 thousands of briglit young lads go down in the struggle, as soldieis fall on the open plain exposed to the fire of the enemy. SAD BUT TRUE. It is sad to think that the majority of boys learn the solitary vice even before the age of pubei'ty, and when this change takes place and passion grows stronger the habit is indulged in day after day, and be- fore the age of strong manhood is reached they are physical and mental wrecks. Our cemeteries and graveyards are peopled with the remains of boys and young men who died victims of the solitary vice ; yes, and men in middle life too — mari'ied as well as single. In all our lunatic asylums its victims are found, while hundreds of the brightest boys in schools and colleges, in stores and offices, in factories and work- shops, in great cities and throughout the rural districts, are suffering from a vital 11 i 'I \U m I 100 MANHOOD: WliECKED AND li?:sCUED. weakness which in nuuiy cases will follow them to the grave. AN ANCIENT IIAIUT. Just how ancient the habit of self-pol- lution is we cannot determine with abso- lute certainty, but it is clear that seminal weakness, which, although sometimes trace- able to other causes, iuv^ariably follows the indulgence of this practice, existed in the days of Moses and called forth divine leg- islation. In Lev. XV, 16, 17, we i*ead : "And if any man's seed of copulation g(^ out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh hi watei', and be unclean until the even. And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even." Also in Deut. xxiii, 10, 11, we read: "If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that A YOUTHFUL WRECK. 101 chanceth hiiu by uiglit, tlieu shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come ^vithin the camp : but it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again." These passages teach us that seminal emissions Were regarded as an impurity, and the treatment prescribed was exercise in the open air and ablutions of water. IMPOSSIBLE TO EXAGGERATE. I do not forget that the natural tendency of one who addresses himself to the expo- sure of a particular vice is to exaggerate, unconsciously, both its extent and its con- sequences. It is my purpose to avoid this error, and yet when I submit testimony to the prevalence and to the destructive char- acter of the solitary vice I think you will conclude that exaggeration is impossil^le. My first witness is the late Dr. Work- 102 MANHOOD: WltECKEB AND RESCUED. mau, for mauy yeiira the efficient superin- tendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum at Toronto. In one of his annual reports he dwells at length on the causes of insan- ity. I quote his words in full touching the practice now under consideration. He says : " There is one cause, of a physical form, which I fear is very widely extended, but Avhicli I almost dread to mention, which all over this continent appears to be peopling our asylums with a loathesome, abject, and hopeless multitude of inmates. Its victims are not intemperate — nay, in- deed, not unfrequently very temperate — as to indulgence in alcoholic beverages. They are very modest, very shy, very (dare I say it ?) pious — as such, at least, they very often are sent here with sufficient creden- tials ; very studi()U3, very nervous, very everything save what they really are. "I have recently made a careful A YOUTHFUL WRECK. 108 scrutiny of the character of the cases of in- sane men on behalf of whom applications have been nitide, and from \\'hu8e friends and physicians details, in our circular form, have been received. The result has been frightful. I hesitate to state the propoi'tion in which, I feel fully assured or morally certain, secret vice is present. " In liardly any instance is it found that parents have any suspicion of its existence when they place the victims in the asylum ; indeed, very many of them appear to be totally ignorant of the veiy existence of such a habit, and nothing can be more painful and embarrassing to an asylum physician than correspondence by letter with such persons, when the conviction is established in our minds that the insanity of their beloved one is associated with the destructive habit, and in all probability it has been induced by it. "The very frequent, indeed, almost in- ^O' 104 MANHOOD: WRECKED AND RESCUED. variable, observaiK'^ that the habit of secret indulgence is encouraged, not in persons of rougli manners and wliat are called coarse morals, but in those of an opposite character; not in the grossly 'gnorant; not even in the profane, but in the better informed and passingly religious; not in the lover of manly sports and invigo- rating e?ijoyments, but in the ostensible economizers of constitutional 2>o\ver and the shunners of youthful fi'ivolitie-^ ; not in those who, in lano-uasfe or in acts, are re- garded as ovei'stepping the limits of mod- esty or chastity, but among those who evince no wish to mini):le with the other sex, or sometimes, indeed, evince an utter aversion to it — the observance of these, and many othei* I'elated facts, lias con- strained me to v^he ])elief that modern so- ciety, modern training, and modern exac- tion are all too severe upon youth. *' The skillful physician, who measures A YOUTHFUL WRECK. lOS tlie feeble, paltry, accelerated y^t lazy pulse — who notes the pallid coiuiteuance, the waxy features, and fi-equently foul breath — who tries to gain one steady, con- fiding, open look from his patient, and whose cpiestions in a certain suspected direction are met with liesitation, equivo cation, or affected moi'tification, well knows how much ti'utli there is in tlie charge against love ; and he will, in similar cases, acquit religion. " I have in stronij remembrance a case apparently chargeable to I'eligion. The patient, before entering hei'e, did hardly anything but attend prayer meetings and preachings; lie was away from one church and off to another as fast as open