ought not to be necessary to say that no Christian man can possibly
tolerate a proposal to give deliberate public sanction to the
prostitution of a certain proportion of the nation's womanhood to the
lusts of men, or acquiesce in the complacent sex-selfishness which is
concerned only for the physical health of sinners of the male sex.
The point of view of the Christian Church is determined by that of our
Lord, who on the one hand numbered a reclaimed prostitute among His
intimate friends, and on the other taught that whoso looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already in his heart.
The Church, therefore, differs from the world, first in holding that
what is wrong for women is equally wrong for men, that there is one
and the same standard in these matters for both sexes, namely,
absolute sexual purity; and secondly, in extending equally to the
fallen of both sexes the promise of Divine forgiveness upon identical
terms, namely, genuine repentance, unreserved confession, desire and
purpose of amendment, and faith in GOD. The world, which condones the
iniquity of the man who falls, is apt to be uncommonly hard upon the
fallen woman, forgetting that she also is a sister for whom Christ
died, and that the woman who to-day plays the part of a temptress of
men was originally, in the majority of cases, more sinned against than
sinning. Very few of those who ply the trade of shame will be found to
have adopted such a mode of life, in the first instance, of their own
unfettered choice. We are members one of another, and society as a
whole, which both creates the demand and provides the supply, must
share the guilt of their downfall.
This book is written primarily for men: and there are therefore other
aspects of the life of sex upon which it is necessary to touch, though
they are difficult matters to handle. It is well known that large
numbers of men in boyhood, either through untutored ignorance of the
physiology of their own bodies, or as a result of the corrupt example
and teaching of others, become addicted to habits of solitary vice, in
which the seed of life within them is deliberately excited, stirred up
and wasted, to the sapping of their physical well-being and the
defilement of their minds. Habits of self-abuse, when once they are
established, are apt to be extremely difficult to break. The minds of
their victims are liable to be morbidly obsessed by the physical facts
of sex, and their thoughts continually directed into turbid channels.
But it is possible by the grace of GOD to conquer, though there may be
relapses before the final victory is won. It is important neither on
the one hand to belittle the gravity of the evil, nor on the other to
grow hopeless and despondent, but to have faith in GOD. It is also a
counsel of common sense to distract the mind, so far as possible, in
other directions, and to avoid deliberately whatever is likely to
prove an occasion or stimulus to this particular form of sin. The
battle of purity can only be successfully fought in the region of
outward act if the victory is at the same time won in the region of
thought and desire. Books and pictures, or trains of thought and
imagination, which are either unclean in themselves, or are discovered
by experience to be sexually exciting to particular individuals, ought
obviously to be avoided by those concerned, and the mind directed
towards the contemplation of whatsoever things are true and honest and
just and pure and lovely and of good report. In the hour of strong
temptation it is often best, instead of trying to meet the assault
directly, to change the immediate environment, or in some other way to
concentrate the mind: for example, to sit down and read a clean novel
until the stress of the obsession is past. Physical cleanliness,
plenty of healthy exercise in the open air (it is unfortunate that the