Nero, the most infamous of the emperors, committed rapes on the stage of the public theaters of Rome, disguised as a wild beast.
If this degraded voluptuousness had been confined to royalty, some respect might yet be entertained for the virtue of the ancients; but the foul infection was not restrained within such narrow bounds. It invaded whole empires until they fell in pieces from very rottenness.
What must have been the condition of a nation that could tolerate such a spectacle as its monarch riding through the streets of its metropolis in a state of nudity, drawn by women in the same condition? Such a deed did Heliogabalus in Rome.
In the thirteenth century, virtue was almost as scarce in France as in ancient Greece. n.o.bles held as mistresses all the young girls of their domains. About every fifth person was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Just before the Revolution, chast.i.ty was such a rarity that a woman was actually obliged to apologize for being virtuous!
In these disgusting facts we find one of the most potent agents in effecting the downfall of the nations. Licentiousness sapped their vitality and weakened their prowess. The men who conquered the world were led captive by their own beastly pa.s.sions. Thus the a.s.syrians, the Medes, the Grecians, the Romans, successively fell victims to their l.u.s.ts, and gave way to more virtuous successors. Even the Jews, the most enlightened people of their age, fell more than once through this same sin, which was coupled with idolatry, of which their seduction by the Midianites is an example.
Surely, modern times present no worse spectacles of carnality than these; and will it be claimed that anything so vile is seen among civilized nations at the present day? But though there may be less grossness in the sensuality of to-day, the moral turpitude of men may be even greater than that of ancient times. Enlightened Christianity has raised the standard of morality. Christ"s commentary upon the seventh commandment requires a more rigorous chast.i.ty than ancient standards demanded, even among the Jews; for had not David, Solomon, and even the pious Jacob more wives than one? Consequently, a slight breach of chast.i.ty now requires as great a fall from virtue as a greater lapse in ages past, and must be attended with as severe a moral penalty.
We have seen how universal is the "social evil," that it is a vice almost as old as man himself, which shows how deeply rooted in his perverted nature it has become. The inquiry arises, What are the causes of so monstrous a vice? so gross an outrage upon nature"s laws? so withering a blight upon the race?
Causes of the "Social Evil."--A vice that has become so great an evil, even in these enlightened times, as to defy the most skillful legislation, which openly displays its gaudy filthiness and mocks at virtue with a lecherous stare, must have its origin in causes too powerful to be ignored.
Libidinous Blood.--In no other direction are the effects of heredity to be more distinctly traced than in the transmission of sensual propensities. The children of libertines are almost certain to be rakes and prost.i.tutes. History affords numerous examples in ill.u.s.tration of this fact. The daughter of Augustus was as unchaste as her father, and her daughter was as immoral as herself. The sons of David showed evident traces of their father"s failing. Witness the incest of Amnon, and the voluptuousness of Solomon, who had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Solomon"s son was, likewise, a noted polygamist, of whom the record says, "He desired many wives." His son"s son manifested the same propensity in taking as many wives as the debilitated state of his kingdom enabled him to support. But perhaps we may be allowed to trace the origin of this libidinous propensity still further back. A glance at the genealogy of David will show that he was descended from Judah through Pharez, who was the result of an incestuous union between Judah and his daughter-in-law.
Is it unreasonable to suppose that the abnormal pa.s.sion which led David to commit the most heinous sin of his life in his adultery with Bath-sheba and subsequently procuring the death of her husband, was really an hereditary propensity which had come down to him through his ancestors, and which, under more favorable circ.u.mstances, was more fully developed in his sons? The trait may have been kept dormant by the active and simple habits of his early years, but a.s.serted itself in full force under the fostering influence of royal idleness and luxury.
In accordance with the known laws of heredity, such a tendency would be the legitimate result of such a combination of circ.u.mstances.
The influence of marital excesses, and especially s.e.xual indulgence during pregnancy, in producing vicious tendencies in offspring, has been fully dwelt upon elsewhere in this work, and will not be reconsidered here, it being only necessary to call attention to the subject. Physiology shows conclusively that thousands of parents whose sons have become libertines and their daughters courtesans, have themselves implanted in their characters the propensity which led to their unchast.i.ty.
Gluttony.--As a predisposing cause, the influence of dietetic habits should rank next to heredity. It is an observed fact that "all libertines are great eaters or famous gastronomists." The exciting influence upon the genital organs of such articles as pepper, mustard, ginger, spices, truffles, wine, and all alcoholic drinks, is well known.
Tea and coffee directly excite the animal pa.s.sions through their influence upon the nerve centers controlling the s.e.xual organs. When children are raised upon such articles, or upon food with which they are thoroughly mingled, what wonder that they occasionally "turn out bad"? How many mothers, while teaching their children the principles of virtue in the nursery, unwittingly stimulate their pa.s.sions at the dinner table until vice becomes almost a physical necessity!
Nothing tends so powerfully to keep the pa.s.sions in abeyance as a simple diet, free from condiments, especially when coupled with a generous amount of exercise.
The influence of tobacco in leading to unchast.i.ty has been referred to in another connection. This is a.s.suredly a not uncommon cause. When a boy places the first cigar or quid of tobacco to his lips, he takes--if he has not previously done so--the first step in the road to infamy; and if he adds wine or beer, he takes a short cut to the degradation of his manhood by the loss of virtue.
Precocious s.e.xuality.--The causes of a too early development of s.e.xual peculiarities, as manifested in infantile flirtations and early signs of s.e.xual pa.s.sion, were dwelt upon quite fully in a previous connection, and we need not repeat them here. Certain it is that few things can be more dangerous to virtue than the premature development of those sentiments which belong only to p.u.b.erty and later years. It is a most unnatural, but not uncommon, sight to see a girl of tender age evincing all those characters which mark the wanton of older years.
Man"s Lewdness.--It cannot be denied that men are in the greatest degree responsible for the "social evil." The general principle holds true here as elsewhere that the supply is regulated by the demand. If the patrons of prost.i.tution should withdraw their support by a sudden acquisition of virtue, how soon would this vilest of traffics cease!
The inmates of brothels would themselves become continent, if not virtuous, as the result of such a spasm of chast.i.ty in men.
Again, the ranks of fallen women, which are rapidly thinned by loathsome diseases and horrid deaths, are largely recruited from that cla.s.s of unfortunates for whose fall faithless lovers or cunning, heartless libertines are chiefly responsible. The weak girl who, through too much trust, has been deceived and robbed of her dearest treasure, is disowned by relatives, shunned by her acquaintances, and turned out upon a cold world without money, without friends, without a character. What can she do? Respectable employment she cannot find, for rumor follows her.
There seems to be but one door open, the one which she herself so unintentionally opened. In despair, she enters the "open road to h.e.l.l,"
and to her first sad error adds a life of shame. Meanwhile, the villain who betrayed her still maintains his standing in society, and plies his arts to win another victim. Is there not an unfair discrimination here? Should not the seducer be blackened with an infamy at least as deep as that which society casts on the one betrayed?
Fashion.--The temptation of dress, fine clothing, costly jewelry, and all the extravagances with which rich ladies array themselves, is in many cases too powerful for the weakened virtue of poor seamstresses, operatives, and servant girls, who have seen so much of vice as to have lost that instinctive loathing for it which they may have once experienced. Thinking to gain a life of ease, with means to gratify their love of show, they barter away their peace of mind for this world, all hope for the next, and only gain a little worthless tinsel, the scorn of their fellow-creatures, and a host of loathsome diseases.
Lack of Early Training.--It is needless to demonstrate a fact so well established as that the future character of an individual depends very largely upon his early training. If purity and modesty are taught from earliest infancy, the mind is fortified against the a.s.saults of vice.
If, instead, the child is allowed to grow up untrained, if the seeds of vice which are sure to fall sooner or later in the most carefully kept ground are allowed to germinate, if the first buds of evil are allowed to grow and unfold instead of being promptly nipped, it must not be considered remarkable that in later years rank weeds of sin should flourish in the soul and bear their hideous fruit in shameless lives.
Neglect to guard the avenues by which evil may approach the young mind, and to erect barriers against vice by careful instruction and a chaste example, leaves many innocent souls open to the a.s.saults of evil, and an easy prey to l.u.s.t. If children are allowed to get their training in the street, at the corner grocery, or hovering around saloons, they will be sure to develop a vigorous growth of the animal pa.s.sions. The following extract is from the writings of one whose pen has been an inestimable blessing to American youth:--
"Among the first lessons which boys learn of their fellows are impurities of language; and these are soon followed by impurities of thought.... When this is the training of boyhood, it is not strange that the predominating ideas among young men, in relation to the other s.e.x, are too often those of impurity and sensuality.... We cannot be surprised, then, that the history of most young men is, that they yield to temptation in a greater or less degree and in different ways. With many, no doubt, the indulgence is transient, accidental, and does not become habitual. It does not get to be regarded as venial. It is never yielded to without remorse. The wish and the purpose are to resist; but the animal nature bears down the moral. Still, transgression is always followed by grief and penitence.
"With too many, however, it is to be feared, it is not so. The mind has become debauched by dwelling on licentious images, and by indulgence in licentious conversation. There is no wish to resist. They are not overtaken by temptation, for they seek it. With them the transgression becomes habitual, and the stain on the character is deep and lasting."[42]
[Footnote 42: Ware.]
Sentimental Literature.--In another connection, we have referred particularly to the bawdy, obscene books and pictures which are secretly circulated among the youth of both s.e.xes, and to their corrupting influence. The hope is not entirely a vain one that this evil may be controlled; but there seems no possible practicable remedy for another evil which ultimately leads to the same result, though by less gross and obscene methods. We refer to the sentimental literature which floods the land. City and school libraries, circulating libraries, and even Sunday-school libraries, are full of books which, though they may contain good moral teaching, contain, as well, an element as incompatible with purity of morals as is light with midnight darkness.
Writers for children and youth seem to think a tale of "courtship, love, and matrimony" entirely indispensable as a medium for conveying their moral instruction. Some of these "religious novels" are actually more pernicious than the fictions of well-known novelists who make no pretense to having religious instruction a particular object in view.
Sunday-school libraries are not often wholly composed of this cla.s.s of works, but any one who takes the trouble to examine the books of such a library will be able to select the most pernicious ones by the external appearance. The covers will be well worn and the edges begrimed with dirt from much handling. Children soon tire of the shallow sameness which characterizes the "moral" parts of most of these books, and skim lightly over them, selecting and devouring with eagerness those portions which relate the silly narrative of some love adventure. This kind of literature arouses in children premature fancies and queries, and fosters a sentimentalism which too often occasions most unhappy results. Through their influence, young girls are often led to begin a life of shame long before their parents are aware that a thought of evil has ever entered their minds.
The following words from the pen of a forcible writer[43] present this matter in none too strong a light:--
"You may tear your coat or break a vase, and repair them again; but the point where the rip or fracture took place will always be evident.
It takes less than an hour to do your heart a damage which no time can entirely repair. Look carefully over your child"s library; see what book it is that he reads after he has gone to bed, with the gas turned upon the pillow. Do not always take it for granted that a book is good because it is a Sunday-school book. As far as possible, know _who_ wrote it, who ill.u.s.trated it, who published it, who sold it.
"It seems that in the literature of the day the ten plagues of Egypt have returned, and the frogs and lice have hopped and skipped over our parlor tables.
"Parents are delighted to have their children read, but they should be sure as to what they read. You do not have to walk a day or two in an infested district to get the cholera or typhoid fever; and one wave of moral unhealth will fever and blast the soul forever. Perhaps, knowing not what you did, you read a bad book. Do you not remember it altogether? Yes! and perhaps you will never get over it. However strong and exalted your character, never read a bad book. By the time you get through the first chapter you will see the drift. If you find the marks of the hoofs of the devil in the pictures, or in the style, or in the plot, away with it.
"But there is more danger, I think, from many of the family papers, published once a week, in those stories of vice and shame, full of infamous suggestions, going as far as they can without exposing themselves to the clutch of the law. I name none of them; but say that on some fashionable tables there lie "family newspapers" that are the very vomit of the pit.
"The way to ruin is cheap. It costs three dollars to go to Philadelphia; six dollars to Boston; thirty-three dollars to Savannah; but, by the purchase of a bad paper for ten cents you may get a through ticket to h.e.l.l, by express, with few stopping places, and the final halting like the tumbling of the lightning train down the draw-bridge at Norwalk--sudden, terrific, deathful, never to rise."
[Footnote 43: T. De Witt Talmage.]
Poverty.--The pressing influence of poverty has been urged as one cause of prost.i.tution. It cannot be denied that in many cases, in large cities, this may be the immediate occasion of the entrance of a young girl upon a life of shame; but it may still be insisted that there must have been, in such cases, a deficiency in previous training; for a young woman, educated with a proper regard for purity, would sooner sacrifice life itself than virtue. Again, poverty can be no excuse, for in every city there are made provisions for the relief of the needy poor, and none who are really worthy need suffer.
Ignorance.--Perhaps nothing fosters vice more than ignorance.
Prost.i.tutes come almost entirely from the more ignorant cla.s.ses, though there are, of course, many exceptions. Among the lowest cla.s.ses, vice is seen in its grossest forms, and is carried to the greatest lengths.
Intellectual culture is antagonistic to sensuality. As a general rule, in proportion as the intellect is developed, the animal pa.s.sions are brought into subjection. It is true that very intellectual men have been great libertines, and that the licentious Borgias and Medicis of Italy encouraged art and literature; but these are only apparent exceptions, for who knows to what greater depths of vice these individuals might have sunk had it not been for the restraining influence of mental culture?
Says Deslandes, "In proportion as the intellect becomes enfeebled, the generative sensibility is augmented." The animal pa.s.sions seem to survive when all higher intelligence is lost. We once saw an ill.u.s.tration of this fact in an idiot who was brought before a medical cla.s.s in a clinic at Bellevue Hospital, New York. The patient had been an idiot from birth, and presented the most revolting appearance, seemingly possessing scarcely the intelligence of the average dog; but his animal propensities were so great as to be almost uncontrollable.
Indeed, he showed evidences of having been a gross debauchee, having contracted venereal disease of the worst form. The general prevalence of extravagant s.e.xual excitement among the insane is a well-known fact.
Disease.--Various diseases which cause local irritation and congestion of the reproductive organs are the causes of unchast.i.ty in both s.e.xes, as previously explained. It not unfrequently happens that by constantly dwelling upon unchaste subjects until a condition of habitual congestion of the s.e.xual organs is produced, young women become seized with a furor for libidinous commerce which nothing but the desired object will appease, unless active remedial measures are adopted under the direction of a skillful physician. This disease, known as _nymphomania_, has been the occasion of the fall of many young women of the better cla.s.ses who have been bred in luxury and idleness, but were never taught even the first lessons of purity or self-control.
Constipation, piles, worms, pruritis of the genitals, and some other less common diseases of the urinary and genital systems, have been causes of s.e.xual excitement which has resulted in moral degradation.
Results of Licentiousness.--Apparently as a safeguard to virtue, nature has appended to the sin of illicit s.e.xual indulgence, as penalties, the most loathsome, deadly, and incurable diseases known to man. Some of these, as _gonorrhea_ and _chancroid_, are purely local diseases; and though they occasion the transgressor a vast amount of suffering, they may be cured and leave no trace of their presence except in the conscience of the individual. Such a result, however, is by no means the usual one. Most frequently, the injury done is more or less permanent; sometimes it amounts to loss of life or serious mutilation, as in cases we have seen. And one attack secures no immunity from subsequent ones, as a new disease may be contracted upon every exposure.
By far the worst form of venereal disease is _syphilis_, a malady which was formerly confounded with the two forms of disease mentioned, but from which it is essentially different. At first, a very slight local lesion, of no more consequence--except from its significance--than a small boil, it rapidly infects the general system, poisoning the whole body, and liable forever after to develop itself in any one or more of its protean forms. The most loathsome sight upon which a human eye can rest is a victim of this disease who presents it well developed in its later stages. In the large Charity Hospital upon Blackwell"s Island, near New York City, we have seen scores of these unfortunates of both s.e.xes, exhibiting the horrid disease in all its phases. To describe them would be to place before our readers a picture too revolting for these pages. No pen can portray the woebegone faces, the hopeless air, of these degraded sufferers whose repentance has come, alas! too late. No words can convey an adequate idea of their sufferings.
What remorse and useless regrets add to the misery of their wretched existence as they daily watch the progress of a malignant ulceration which is destroying their organs of speech, or burrowing deep into the recesses of the skull, penetrating even to the brain itself! Even the bones become rottenness; foul running sores appear on different portions of the body, and may even cover it entirely. Perhaps the nose, or the tongue, or the lips, or an eye, or some other prominent organ, is lost. Still the miserable sufferer lingers on, life serving only to prolong the torture. To many of them, death would be a grateful release, even with the fires of retributive justice before their eyes; for h.e.l.l itself could scarcely be more awful punishment than that which they daily endure.
Thousands of Victims.--The venturesome youth need not attempt to calm his fears by thinking that these are only exceptional cases, for this is not the truth. In any city, one who has an experienced eye can scarcely walk a dozen blocks on busy streets without encountering the woeful effects of s.e.xual transgression. Neither do these results come only from long-continued violations of the laws of chast.i.ty. The very first departure from virtue may occasion all the worst effects possible.
Effects of Vice Ineradicable.--Another fearful feature of this terrible disease is that when once it invades the system its eradication is impossible. No drug, no chemical, can antidote its virulent poison or drive it from the system. Various means may smother it, possibly for a life-time; but yet it is not cured, and the patient is never safe from a new outbreak. Prof. b.u.mstead, an acknowledged authority on this subject, after observing the disease for many years, says that "he never after treatment, however prolonged, promises immunity for the future."[44] Dr. Van Buren, professor of surgery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, bears the same testimony.
[Footnote 44: Venereal Disease.]
Prof. Van Buren also says that he has often seen the disease occur upon the lips of young ladies who were entirely virtuous, but who were engaged to men who had contracted the disease and had communicated it to them by the act of kissing. Virtuous wives have not infrequently had their const.i.tutions hopelessly ruined by contracting the disease from husbands who had themselves been inoculated either before or after marriage, by illicit intercourse. Several such unfortunate cases have fallen under our observation, and there is reason to believe that they are not infrequent.
The Only Hope.--The only hope for one who has contracted this disease is to lead a life of perfect continence ever after, and by a most careful life, by conforming strictly to the laws of health, by bathing and dieting, he may possibly avoid the horrid consequences of the later stages of the malady. Mercury will not cure, nor will any other poison, as before remarked.
The following strong testimony on this subject we quote from an admirable pamphlet by Prof. Fred. H. Gerrish, M.D.:--