IMPGRAMGNT AND sex WALTER HGATON RATIONAL SEX SERIES RATIONAL SEX ETHICS, by W. F. Robie, M.D. RATIONAL SEX ETHICS: FURTHER IN- VESTIGATIONS, by W. F. Robie, M.D. SANE SEX LIFE AND SANE SEX LIVING, by H. W. Long, M.D. SEX AND SOCIETY, by W. I. Thomas TEMPERAMENT AND SEX, by Walter Heaton RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON TEMPERAMENT AND SEX IN LIFE AND ART BY WALTER HEATON Prizeman, Victoria University (England) BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY RICHARD G. BADGER All Rights Reserved Made in the United States of America The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. CONTENTS PAGE I PROLOGUE 9 II THE AWAKENING 16 III EDUCATION AND SEX 26 IV LOVE AND SEX 47 V THE ARTS AND SEX 66 VI STUDIES 92 VII EPILOGUE 138 2054449 j TEMPERAMENT AND SEX TEMPERAMENT AND SEX PROLOGUE DURING the past few years I have written several brochures on matters similar to those mentioned in the present volume. My former writings on these intimate subjects were usually written for private circulation only, at the instigation of different societies formed for the study of psychological and sexual problems. Naturally all such writings will be severely criti- cized, and I have profited largely by such criti- cisms. The chief criticism has been that I am too frank in my statements and suggestions, that I have endeavored to remove the veil from the mys- teries of sex, and that only mischief could result from such a procedure. In our grade schools our boys and girls are taught the reason and the office of every organ in the human body, are carefully trained in the matters of proper food, proper ex- ercise, etc., but never a word is said about the most io Temperament and Sex important of all the senses of which the sexual organs are the motive power. Surely one should be candid and outspoken when the most vital por- tion of the human body is concerned. Submitting to repeated pressure on the part of earnest stu- dents of such matters, and also at the invitation of a few of my most virulent critics, I have pleasure in submitting a more complete treatise on these subjects, and I shall value, and no doubt once more profit by, the criticisms of my fellow students in these intimate topics. As an acknowledged artist employed in the making of artists, I have repeated- ly been brought to a complete standstill in my work through the pupil's total lack of knowledge or training in the emotions, passions, and general perception of human feeling. I have explained in the chapter entitled "Stud- ies" some of my methods of overcoming such dif- ficulties and the frequently happy result of my method of education and helpfulness. The "Stud- ies" mentioned in this volume form only a very small percentage of those I have been intimately associated with, and perhaps in some future work I can add many more instructive formulas that will not only be interesting to the psychologist, but helpful to the educator. I am thoroughly disap- pointed with the title I have chosen for this vol- ume, although it represents fairly well the pre- dominating thought which impelled the writing of Prologue II it, but I very seriously question whether the title in any way covers the boundless extent of the sub- ject, or conveys to the thinking professional man or woman, the extremely vital connection between the complete and proper training and control of the artistic temperament, and at the same time a proper development of the God-given natural feel- ings and normal impulses of the individual, male or female. Krafft-Ebing, Moll, Michels and many others have detailed in a comprehensive manner all the known forms of sexual aberrations and the various attendant neuroses. They have written monumen- tal works regarding the unusual forms of sexual irregularities and the behavior (sexually) of the mentally deficient, but they do not dwell on these matters as found among normal folk, and their books appeal merely to the physician, lawyer and sanitarium experts. There is little in their writ- ings that is of any assistance to normal individuals who mix with and labor among perfectly sane people whose manners and customs are distinctly conventional and remote from all perversity. I make little mention in the chapter entitled "Stud- ies" of the distinct sexual lives of the men and women, as my constant endeavor has always been to teach people to feel sex, not to exercise it. The works of Dr. W. J. Robinson, Dr. Robie, Nord- 12 Temperament and Sex strom and Northcote are more appealing and more helpful to those who (like myself) have to work with and instruct representatives of all types o humanity, and composing every grade of the so- cial scale. In every department of Art, Commerce and Science to-day, only the most fitting examples are chosen to represent the value of any achieve- ment or accomplishment, and so it is with human nature; we should only take our lessons and only conform to the ideas of those who represent the very highest type of human accomplishment. From the true educational standpoint it is not suf- ficient to be instructed in a laborious manner in the things to be avoided; there is little helpfulness in constantly being reminded of the many pitfalls in the path of life. If our young people were given a proper education in temperamental mat- ters and a fitting knowledge of the importance of Love and Sex in our journey through life, we would speedily close the brothels ; and the Divorce court would have no clients and be but a painful memory of the past. With proper sex education, not as a solitary study but in its application to life in general, we would only be satisfied and derive the desired happiness from acquaintance with the very highest forms and evidences of natural feel- ing, emotion and passion. I am not quoting, nor do I intend to extol, any particular code of mor- als, nor do I care at this time to go into detail and Prologue 13 point out the various forms of immorality in the domain of sex. As to what is exactly moral or unmoral, there is a great divergence of opinion. My work is en- tirely scholastic and the question of morality or immorality I leave to the theologians without any criticism or interference on my part, except when their dictates border on absurd conventionality and cripple and dwarf the natural God-given im- pulses and passions. I have found but a small number of articles or pamphlets which have drawn attention to the immense importance that the sex- ual sphere occupies in regard to the fullest devel- opment of individuals who live and labor to achieve the fullest exposition of what is noblest and best in Art, Music, Poetry and the Drama. It is these arts that provide the world with food for thought, and which when rightly interpreted, can bring joy, peace, and success to the greatest number of people. Iwan Bloch ("Sexual Life of Our Time") has a short chapter on the influence of sex on high art, but it only attempts to prelude what others may have to say in the future on such a comprehensive subject. It is well known that most (if not all) of the successful artists, poets and musicians have possessed fully developed sex- ual natures. This is quite apparent in their works and achievements. Normal sensuality always has, and always will have for its motive-power the 14 Temperament and Sex beautiful. Hence it can readily be understood that when one is conceiving or working out beautiful thoughts and attractive ideas on canvas, marble, in verse, or in sound, that the chaste sensuality of the producer and composer must be considerably enhanced thereby. There have been many writers and teachers, principally of the ascetic school who have striven to separate art of all kinds from the senses and the sexual impulse, but they have never denied that there is a most intimate connection between the two. Well-known writers like Hirschfield and Gustav Naumann have said with emphasis, and conclusively proved the assertion, that "the sexual impulse is the root of all that is noble and uplift- ing in the world to-day, and more especially is it the secret of success in Art." Beauty taken ab- solutely by itself and without a distinct individu- ality or personality is absolutely valueless, except as a passing fancy, and the lack of some inherent character prevents the beauty having anything more than a transient effect on the observer. Works of art of any character, and in any field, to be admired, appreciated, and to be of any value to the present or a future generation, must possess distinctive qualities and show some individuality. This volume is intended to help the instructor and advisor either by its suggestions, lessons and descriptions, or to inspire them to greater Prologue 1 5 thoughts, greater works, and added achievements along similar lines. Like Dr. Robinson, I think that "no book has a right to exist that has not for its ultimate purpose, the betterment of mankind everywhere." II THE AWAKENING IN previous works I have experienced no dif- ficulty whatever in transcribing with some suc- cess the temperamental or sexual experiences of friends and clients, but in my endeavor to faith- fully record my own initiation into the mysteries of such subjects I feel utterly unable to adequately put down on paper a proper and full account of the experience. I have, however, in this chapter given in an incomplete fashion the process of my acquiring the knowledge that, with many later additions, helped me to true manhood and brought me in close touch with the realities of human life. At the age of eighteen I was a pianist of more than local fame and had very successfully gone through two series of piano recitals in my native city; a city famous throughout the North of Eng- land for its prominence in musical affairs and for its extremely well-enlightened and critical band of genuine music lovers. I was considered a reliable accompanist, which, coupled with unusual technical ability, made my services extremely valuable to the many concert companies then much in demand for 16 The Awakening 17 the regular series of "Ballad" concerts which take place in every town and city at frequent intervals from October to May. I was retained by one of the foremost concert agencies and finally became attached to a leading concert-company to appear as solo pianist, accompanist, and general musical director for one year. The members of this com- pany were artists of the first rank and were ex- ceedingly popular wherever they appeared. The company comprised A (Soprano), B (Contral- to), C (Tenor), D (Bass) and E, a lady violinist distinctly superior to the average concert artist. This arrangement of voices, etc., was what was customary in the provinces and always proved highly popular. In the thickly populated manu- facturing centres in the North there are many towns with a large population within 20 or 30 (or less) miles of each other, so that we quite fre- quently were in four or five different communities each week. None of the artists were in any way related to each other so it usually meant that we engaged separate sleeping rooms at the hotels where we stayed the night. During the daytime we had a definite period allotted for our rehearsals and for the preparation of new numbers, and the remaining hours of each day were our own, to use as we pleased. Everything passed off very smoothly during the first few weeks of the tour, but I noticed that the singers were mixing quite 1 8 Temperament and Sex freely in their leisure hours. Ere long both of the men spent some time in the rooms of the women after the concerts were over. Sometimes suppers would be sent into the rooms and there always seemed to be an unlimited amount of liquor taken by all concerned. As our rooms were usually ad- joining each other I was frequently kept awake until an early morning hour by sounds of boister- ous festivity in one or more of the rooms. At this time I was still in an adolescent stage and knew nothing whatever of the ways of the world. Of sexual knowledge I hadn't the slightest acquaint- ance except that which I had "picked up" in a frag- mentary way at preparatory school. And this was only in the form of "smutty" jokes or stories, which somehow I abhorred, as I felt they were de- testable expressions of things which to me had al- ways been considered sacred. The many hours of daily keyboard practice, the many lesson periods, and my attendance at a University as a student of advanced theoretical music had kept me away en- tirely from all social gatherings and I had prac- tically very few personal friends and not one real chum. The contralto (Madame B) of our company was an artist of unusual attainments and was easily the star performer at all our concerts. She was some 20 years older than I, but from the first she showed an unquestionable desire for my com- The Awakening 19 pany and supported me cordially in all my direc- tions as to programs and rehearsals and the many little worries incident to our being almost constant- ly on the move from one place to another. Whenever I needed good advice or competent assistance she was the first to offer her services, and so ere long I looked up to her and felt abso- lutely confident of her sincerity. One never-to-be-forgotten night, as I sat in my room, tired, after an unusually heavy program, I got as near to the door leading to the adjoining room as I possibly could in order to get some idea as to the reason for the noisy merriment emanat- ing from my brother and sister musicians. After an unusually loud outburst I was startled to hear a tap at the door of my room and on answering it I was astonished to find my dear friend Madame B who signified her desire to come in and talk with me. She had heard for herself the noise made by our "roystering" fellow musicians next door, and she told me that it was for that reason she had felt compelled to have a good heart-to- heart talk with me about the matter. She ques- tioned me very closely as to my experience of life and what I already knew about the ways of people and the habits and customs of those who devoted most of their time to questionable pursuits. She wanted to know whether I had much experience with women, good or bad. I told her that my life, 20 so far, had been spent with very ordinary folk, in a commonplace manner, and that all the hap- penings of my career had been mediocre. My studies took up all my available time and my customs and habits had always been painfully proper, and my conduct at all times had been strictly governed by rules laid down in a most em- phatic way by my parents and tutors. I had had practically no sexual instruction and I had avoided any possible sexual situation. My studies used up all my time and strength and so far I had not ex- pressed the slightest desire to essay anything that lay outside of my chosen path. I had been told, and had always thought that I would, in time, achieve undoubted success in every department of my work if I labored hard and conquered all the technical difficulties and acquired absolute proficiency in the theoretical department. I told her that I failed to perceive how any outside in- fluence could in any way increase the effective- ness of my musical ability. Madame B, then, in a most positive way, asserted that if I had never recognized the natural feelings in my own nature, if I had never sought for and gained inspiration in the varied emotions and passions that occupied such a large portion of a musician's life, I would surely never become anything more than a mere mechanic; and the music I produced would never be anything more than automatic, and I could The Awakening 21 never possibly reach the hearts of my hearers; and however clever my performances they would speedily be forgotten. She reminded me of her own impressive work, forcible, wonderful, and at all times enthralling. How I had myself noted that at concert after concert she thrilled the hearts of her hearers, and frequently brought tears and also smiles with her beautifully modulated voice and her well-developed powers of artistic inter- pretation. She explained that if she had not been trained in the knowledge of the emotions and did not feel in her own mind and body the effects that she en- deavored to portray in the art of song, then it would be manifestly impossible to convey any appreciable effect on the hearts and minds of her auditors. She told me that she had always found my accompaniments very helpful in regard to rhythm, time, and tune, but she acknowledged that I was of no assistance whatever in giving to the singer any inspiration to achieve greater effects and more confidential acquirements, that the sing- ers felt that whilst there was a very satisfactory co-operation on my part with them in all that was purely technical, in every variety of music, there was absolutely nothing in my work that added to the effect that the vocalist was trying to obtain, and that on some occasions the coldness of my re- sponse acted as a damper to the enthusiasm and 22 Temperament and Sex fervent zeal of the singer. Her words were a painful revelation to me, and were a severe blow to my hitherto feeling of superiority in my pro- fession. It was the first time that I had been told that something more than clever manipulation of the fingers and exactness in fulfilling the printed desire of the composer was necessary to achieve the highest success in music. I was told that until I could sway my hearers in any direction I de- sired and influence them by my powers of expres- sion and the impressiveness of my interpretation could I hope to be considered a real musician in the fullest sense of the term. She told me that I must at once begin a system of self-education, to think of sex, to endeavor to appreciate all the beauty and charming qualities of the fair sex, to try to feel with intense personal feeling the many varied moods of the music, to drink in and fully understand every word and the absolute meaning of every song, to try to express with my fin- gers my own conception of the sense of the poems, and to reflect it in an added manner and bring out all the profoundness and richness of the compos- er's conception. This memorable conversation was followed in rapid succession by many others of a similar character, and in all her rehearsals with me she took special pains in pointing out to me what should be my thought and feeling when The Awakening 23 reaching important dramatic situations in the score. Up to this time the lengthy press notices of our successful concerts had never laid any special em- phasis on the work of the accompanist except to say it was satisfactory, but my attention was drawn to the fact that latterly I had received some very complimentary notices of my share in the program and I was frequently mentioned as an unusually sympathetic accompanist. I found myself in a new sphere of activity and an added domain of energy. It seemed as though my music held in- creased possibilities and I revelled in every new achievement. I found myself trying hour after hour to create a distinctive "atmosphere" in every composition that I worked upon and I began to feel, sometimes to points of exultation and also of mental exhaustion, the tragedy, sorrows, and joys of particularly dramatic compositions. My work was becoming more attractive to me and I began to realize that instead of being a task or a duty, my studies had blossomed into a continuous pleasurable possession, and each day I counted the additions to my artistic disposition. At this time I was confused and bewildered with the advent of nocturnal emissions. I had heard them spoken of occasionally, but for some unknown reason I had always thought that they were a symptom of 24 some form of venereal disease, that they were the natural result of an attack of (or hereditarily ac- quired) Gonorrhea or Syphilis. Most of the public urinals found in all the public squares of Great Britain were placarded with advertisements of cures for venereal disorders and I became some- what alarmed and suffered a little mental depres- sion in consequence. I was so ashamed of the nocturnal manifesta- tion that I had not the courage at the time to men- tion the matter to any of my more experienced male acquaintances, so on my next visit to my home town I went to the family physician who had known me from my birth, and asked him for information and advice about what I termed my severe "trouble." In his usual good-natured style he gave me true and faithful information about the matter and incidentally gave me an instructive talk about the proper care and suitable hygienic precautions in sexual matters. He told me in a very plain matter-of-fact way that my fears were groundless, that the emissions were entirely nor- mal and perfectly natural, and they were nature's method of relieving my system of an extraneous substance, that I was to ignore them entirely un- less they were altogether too frequent and I felt a loss of strength and a depression of spirit. He questioned me at length in regard to my general health and spirits, and in response to his many The Awakening 25 queries I was obliged to acknowledge that I had been much clearer headed and felt a much keener joy in my pursuits since the advent of the emis- sions. At the termination of the concert season in May I resolved to spend the ensuing year or two in more advanced study and also, at the request of my es- teemed friend and advisor Madame B, I decided to take a course of study in psychology. I went back to the University where I had been an "honor" student in advanced theoretical music, and took the course in elementary physics and psychology. I explained to the professor that my desire was to study human feelings in all their forms so that I could be better qualified to display those feelings when I desired to inculcate them in the music I essayed to perform in public. He re- quested me to join his private class in the study of sexology in addition to the University course, which I did, and at the end of the term I felt that I was living in a much more beautiful world, and enjoying to the full every occurrence of my daily life, and felt devoutfully thankful to my Maker that I had been shown the way to a proper appre- ciation of my manhood and what glories it prom- ised in the future. Ill EDUCATION AND SEX IN life we have a duty to ourselves, but a more pronounced duty to those around us. Educa- tion is the first essential to equip us to properly perform the duties allotted to us, and the sex im- pulse being the strongest element in the human body and the most powerful agent for happiness and success, it certainly should receive its full quota of scholarship and learning. Not only that we may be able to control the sex nature in a prop- er manner, but also that those elements of thought and action that are materially embellished by the influence of the sexual nature, may be properly aroused and cultivated in the highest degree. At the age of nineteen the studies of Sexology and Psychology were to me a continuous stimulant and never failing producer of elevating and beau- tiful thoughts and impulses, and I felt that day by day I lived in an atmosphere of greater refine- ment. Many things and daily happenings that I had previously altogether ignored, had become sym- bols of profit and chaste pleasure. Like all other 26 Education and Sex 27 pupils of public and private schools, I had received education in, and was taught the proper function and necessity of every organ in my body except the sexual function. In more recent years there has sprung up a very large number of public edu- cators who are strongly advocating and working for the proper teaching of sex matters in general, not confining their efforts to sex hygiene. In a few private schools and colleges this has been done, but it is too early yet to know the real value of imparting such information and what the effect will be on the next generation. That sex should be taught in a thorough manner is now almost uni- versally admitted; the chief difficulty so far seems to be to outline in a definite form the precise meth- od of imparting the information in a way that shall be chaste and yet in a form that can readily be understood and thoroughly assimilated by the student. It means the careful and complete prep- aration of fully competent instructors. The method with which correct Sex information can be safely and intelligently given seems to be surrounded with very many difficulties, but surely with so many of our prominent educators and teachers who are now fully alive to the importance of the subject, these perplexing difficulties should speedily be overcome, in order that our social life can be made more complete and fully satisfactory to all the parties concerned. 28 Temperament and Sex Such information must never be personal in the slightest degree, nor should it ever be merely a reflection or repetition of the instructor's own ex- perience or observations; for he may perhaps be one of those who have been very unfortunate, or whose sexual life had in no way been satisfactory. Information from such a source would hardly in- spire the pupil to obtaining a real education, indeed it might have a tendency to pave the way toward perverse sexual thoughts and a distortion of the nobility of the complete life. There must not be any obtuseness, as that would certainly be a pre- cursor of mischief. Quite recently in the State of Pennsylvania a woman of high intellect has been lecturing on sex subjects to girls in large fac- tories and to Y. W. C. A. members. There has been much adverse criticism of her method, and it is questioned whether these talks have accom- plished their object in the slightest degree; indeed many people have condemned them, because the lecturer failed to make her points clear to her hearers and preserved such an air of mystery about the subject that it is quite probable that considerable harm may be the result on account of the feeling of curiosity aroused among the younger girls. In my young days sexual matters were never mentioned among so-called decent people. If I had been living at home with my parents when I Education and Sex 29 was studying sexology, I am sure that they would have forbidden my reading the text-books at any rate they would not have allowed the books to be seen by other members of the family for fear of contamination! Absolute frankness in matters of sex is the only safe foundation for a high state of morals in any people, anywhere. All attempts at sexual en- lightenment should be made in such a manner that will prevent any possible unnatural excitement or excessive stimulation. It must never be made fanciful or extravagant. It should simply be a full and true education and training of natural feelings of sex, male and female; and it should be a reasonable and complete answer to questions likely to arise in youthful minds, instead of the usual evasions and falsehoods. As sexual educa- tion is comparatively a new thought, it must be put in such a form that will admit of no unfore- seen contingency or disaster. Medical treatment of all schools is forever changing. Ordinary ail- ments, as well as the standard diseases, are being treated in an entirely different manner than they were a few generations ago, and there has been a vast improvement in the health of the people. So we shall have to go through a similar process of evolution in the teaching of sex; and must first carefully lay the foundations and proceed in a very cautious manner. Teachers of the piano thirty or forty years ago, 30 Temperament and Sex vigorously rapped the knuckles of youthful pupils when mistakes in notes or fingering occurred. At a famous college preparatory school in the North of England which I attended for several years, every infraction of the rules of behavior was im- mediately met with corporal punishment which took place before the whole body of students as- sembled in the auditorium. In every walk of life, in every business and in every profession we have made rapid strides in obtaining greater results and in better methods of achieving our objects; then surely we should not be content to follow blindly the opinions and didactics of writers and instruc- tors of by-gone days as regards the realm of Sex. In Dr. Robie's classic little volume ("Rational Sex Ethics") he describes at considerable length, very many cases he has treated which showed in a very positive way the unfortunate results to body and mind of there having been no sex in- struction given to the patients; and he points out in a most vivid manner how most of our sanita- riums are filled with patients, male and female, whose unfortunate and distressing complaints were really caused by faulty sex knowledge; and how readily they responded to the treatment given them after the doctor had formed a correct diag- nosis and given to them the much needed infor- mation in regard to correct and proper sexual re- lationship. Robie and many more students and Education and Sex 31 writers on similar subjects have most conclusively shown that there has always been, up to the pres- ent, something radically wrong with the people when they utterly ignore the inestimable value to humanity of instilling in our youth and young married folk the correct solutions of the many sex problems they will have to face at some time. Robert Michels ("Sexual Ethics") says that the Italian people are ahead of any other nation in their frankness of discussion and educational fa- cilities on sexual topics, and there is no country on earth that has produced more of the aesthetically beautiful in all forms of art, nor which possesses higher ideas in every department of Art and Science. Wilhelm Muller, the German author, in his "Rome and the Romans" says, "it is to the in- timate and uninterrupted contact with nature that the Roman people owe their freedom and frank- ness in all their every-day doings and sayings." Their clarity and nudity in word and deed contrast so strongly with the moral and social ultra-strict conventionality of the people of the West and North, with their confirmed tendency to cover many of the natural phenomena with "decent" veils. Roman innocence continues to employ clear and precise words where the Northerner or West- erner stammers, blushes, lowers his eyes and grows mute. In Italy outspokenness is no sign of illiter- acy but rather an indication of a due sense of re 32 Temperament and Sex sponsibility. I have, myself, given away very many copies of Dr. Robinson's "Never Told Tales" to people whom I knew needed some sexual enlightenment on what to avoid, and I have been considerably astonished at the result in a few cases. I have realized that the reading of the tales has been the means of straightening out quite a few marital tangles and has secured an added measure of health and happiness for husbands, wives, sons and daughters. We must always keep in mind that the sexual needs are urgent ones and that sex in the art of love is one of the funda- mental impulses of the human race. Every organ in the human body has its own peculiar instincts and sphere of activity and therefore needs proper food and satisfactory exercise if the system is to be kept up to its normal standard, and all its facul- ties have full opportunity for development, and life be made useful and beneficial. In these days it would be ridiculous and ludicrous to offer any proof of pure sex phenomena. It has been fre- quently acknowledged, though often sedulously avoided, that it is high time we set about to undo the deplorable and disgraceful ignorance of the past. Book after book is being written and pub- lished by talented and conscientious authors who are giving to the world their innermost thoughts and investigations and who are pleading strongly for a truly rational form of sex education. Krafft- Education and Sex 33 Ebing in his well-known masterpiece "Psycopa- thia Sexualis" declares most emphatically that if man were deprived of all sexual distinction and the noble and illustrious thoughts arising there- from; poetry and art, and most probably all ele- vating moral tendency would be entirely elimin- ated from this life. The sexual sense is, without doubt, the one mighty factor in the individual and social rela- tions of all communities. Properly regulated sex- ual feeling and the rightful control of the sex element is really the root and basis of all ethics and also of all religions and aestheticism. In an- other portion of the same work Krafft-Ebing states that "Sexual influence in the individual is powerful in the awakening and the proper development of true and lasting aesthetic sentiments." From the universe of love (sensual) arises that passionate warmth of fancy and creative imagination which alone can incite and inspire the constructive mind, and the redolent glow of the carefully nurtured and mature sexual feeling kindles, preserves, and considerably increases the ardor and fervor of art. Ethical and truly moral surroundings are vitally necessary in order to elevate love to its highest and noblest form, but in any case sensations and 34 Temperament and Sex sensuality will ever remain its fundamental prin- ciple. The normal sex functions of man exercise a profound and fathomless influence upon the development and preservation of character in the individual. Manliness, courage and self-reliance are certainly not the qualities which adorn the sexual pervert. I have at different times, and under unusual cir- stances come in contact with members of both sexes who had suffered most severely in body and mind for a lengthy period through a lack of un- derstanding nature's laws and whose incessant re- pression of their natural instinct and feelings has resulted in a painful and uneasy disturbance of an otherwise perfectly healthy organization. Ellis, Moll, Robie and many others have given frequent and innumerable instances and most comprehen- sive details of such cases and have dwelt at length on the method of cure, which is easily and some- what rapidly obtained when the patient is frankly told the cause and is given to understand that the patient is master of the situation if he is willing to yield to the proper expression and exercise of his sexual demands. Most of the sexual perver- sions and inversions are created by a lack of com- petent sex knowledge although it quite frequently happens that when the perversion or inversion has become quite an established condition, it is often Education and Sex 35 quite impossible to effect a cure by allowing the subject access to normal sex relationship, thus proving once again the benefit and absolute neces- sity of clear and accurate instruction, more es- pecially during the period of adolescence. Dr. Robie has given many instances where he has sweetened and lengthened the lives of many people of both sexes by having them adjust their natural sexual needs along common sense and per- fectly natural lines, regardless of what may be termed the usual customs and conventions with which they were surrounded. Especially must we fully and completely realize the necessity of proper instruction, when we are confronted with the fact that all of our leading writers on this subject have unanimously stated with many illustrations, that the average sexual pervert, man or woman, is often a person of high intellectual ability, and in everything else but matters of sex they are ofttimes leaders in religion, morals, society, art and poli- tics. I well know that many people who essayed to study the problems of the sex question have with- drawn in cowardly fashion because they have been met at once with the bitterness of painful truth, and they retire from the field with the thought that the obstacles are too numerous and too great to be overcome by mortal minds. Edu- cation, chaste and workable ethics, and sound laws, 36 Temperament and Sex are the trinity from which all genuine wisdom is derived. Societies, such as the National Council of Public Morals in England, have been of more real benefit to every component part of the human race than all the Comstocks and anti-vice societies in the world; because, by means of the distribution of enormous numbers of tracts among all classes of people, they have instructed and advised them in matters of sex and how to meet the problems of their daily lives, and they have thus made pos- sible to countless numbers a greater enjoyment of the sexual life, without any possibility of detri- mental features clouding the horizon. If the sex feeling is strangled, kept dormant, and prohibited from its proper expression, neither man nor wo- man can play the greater part in any activity of life. The world's great scientists and moral- ists have taken up, studied, and analyzed, every sense and power in the human body except the sexual sense, and that was seemingly too shameful and far too dangerous a topic to be dwelt upon. Parents even, let their children struggle blindly through the dangerous, yet ever beautiful adoles- cent period, and teachers and instructors see their pupils wander aimlessly through the mazes and labyrinths of the awakening mind, and but rarely stretch forth a hand to guide the pupil to safety and safe-keeping. We can hardly look to the Bible for much advice or helpfulness in sexual Education and Sex 37 matters, for as John Milton wrote, "The Bible frequently relates blasphemies in most indelicate terms and fully describes the fleshly lusts of vi- cious men and women without a particle of ele- gance." Havelock Ellis devotes a large amount of space to relate the homo-sexual proclivities of men who have been acknowledged leaders in world activi- ties. I am quite sure that in the majority of cases, the sufferers from sexual inversions and perversions of all kinds, have received their ini- tiation into their topsy-turvy surroundings through suppressed sexual desires and emotions, or per- haps by the suppressing and subduing of love. The subjects being unable to properly understand or diagnose their condition and tendencies in an intelligent manner because of their failure to un- derstand their natural feelings aright, are thus driven to a life of perversion in order to ob- tain satisfactory relief. Innumerable cases, mostly of a sad and grievous character, have been re- corded and published, especially by medical writ- ers on sexual problems. Dr. J. W. Howe records a particularly distressing case in his book en- titled "Excessive Venery." In this case the sub- ject was a very wealthy young man, moving in the very highest social circle, and a member of several exclusive clubs; but who succeeded in masturbating himself into an early grave. Later 38 Temperament and Sex inquiries proved that the family nurse taught him to masturbate at the age of five. This masturbation in time became mutual and he followed the vicious instruction of his teacher for at least ten years without any diminution what- ever, and it became so strong a feature of every day of his life, that ere long the entire household became deeply horrified and mortified at his con- stantly repeated public attempts at self-pollution. In the kitchen, in the dining-room, and in the par- lor, no matter who might be present, he repeatedly resorted to his perversion, and the entire house- hold was in a constant uproar, and every member felt humbled with the oft repeated embarrassing situations. Entreaties, prayers, and threats, proved of no avail whatsoever, and at last a number of orderlies were engaged to watch the subject day and night, and for hours at a time his hands and feet were tied securely; but the moment they were released, the same revolting performances were repeated. He was placed under strict medical care and attention, and after a consultation with the family it was decided as a final resort, to secure the service of a "Nymph du Pave." A woman of remarkable figure was obtained; she was com- pletely denuded of every article of clothing and placed in bed by the side of the pervert. His hands which for several days had been securely tied, were now entirely freed. Alas I the experi- Education and Sex 39 ment was a complete failure; as soon as the pa- tient felt that his hands were free he commenced masturbating with redoubled energy, paying not the slightest attention to the attractive nude fe- male at his side. In a short space of time the young man succumbed and the family was relieved. It is quite natural that in the matter of sexual edu- cation, a true ethical standard is required at all times, and whatever the altitude of this criterion, it should never for a single moment be a stum- bling block to a person of ordinary education and who is surrounded by a proper environment. Freud's exceedingly slight ethical views and his constant verging from the purely ideal to the commonplace mechanical, has very frequently had the result that students who have carefully studied and closely followed his arguments and proce- dures, have repeatedly accused him of being well- nigh immoral in his teachings and tendencies. In all my researches and studies of the many sexual problems and varied manifestations, I have always closely adhered to what I have thought was the naturally ideal, and the personification of the beautiful; and I consider that the whole matter of sexual laws and sexual behavior can never be limited to a series of inviolable rules and defini- tions, nor can it be controlled by carefully meas- ured statements, or uniform laws of observance. This would be something of a parallax, viz.: 40 Temperament and Sex they could be shifted and diverged to any angle desired in order to suit the particular wishes or desires of the individual, without a seeming in- fraction of its edicts. Absolute asceticism has ap- peared among all races of mankind, and has found many astute followers in all ages, but it is generally acknowledged that it is an absolute separation from all that is natural in human nature and it means a most rigid cultivation of all that is un- natural with the attendant discomfort and incon- venience. As Bloch so admirably points out, in the morbid restraint of the normal sexual impulse and the constant castigation of the mind, the person who is fervently striving to live the ascetic life is really at all times thoroughly enjoying sexual im- pulses. Ascetics of all ages and of all times stud- ied sheer voluptuousness in all its many forms in order that they might become thoroughly familiar with all the feelings and natural desires that they have emphatically vowed to avoid under any cir- cumstances. Schopenhauer, Tolstoi and other notable mod- ern ascetics have most distinctly stated that they persisted at great length in the study of the most furious and debasing evidences of the sexual im- pulse, normal and abnormal, in order that they could more successfully and impressively write and properly describe the absolute beauty and transcendent holiness of the condition of total ab- stinence. Education and Sex 41 Tolstoi in one of his essays absolutely demands that men and women of all grades of society shall be so brought up and strictly educated, that both before and after the marriage ceremony, they shall always regard what they have hitherto termed Love, and the natural sexual passion that is associated with it, not as an exalted and poetic state of the persons concerned, but rather regard it as a bestial condition that is at all times abso- lutely degrading to humanity! Weininger, a re- cent writer on, and professor of asceticism, in a most frank and audacious fashion, declares that the man who everlastingly proclaims his abhor- rence and intense horror of women, is not usually the one who has had little or nothing to do with them, but rather the one who has had innumerable loves of all kinds and whose entire life has been entirely made up of affairs with women. Between sexual orgies and excesses, and absolute sexual mortification and complete abstinence, there is a delightfully happy medium, and it is in the natural enjoyment and proper exercise of the sex- ual functions that a human being can find its haven of genuine comfort and satisfaction. If the normal sexual impulse is a natural phenomenon, then man or woman has a perfectly legitimate right to the full and complete gratification of its needs and necessities. Indeed, the sexual sense is obligatory, and a refusal to admit its wants ultimately ends in some physical form of wretchedness and mental 42 poverty. Not only are all forms of asceticism directly contrary to nature's laws, but they are decidely unmoral and work in direct opposition to the prowess of the individual or nation. The dis- ciples of acute asceticism look upon all natural sex manifestations as impure and unholy, and in addition to the ascetics there are innumerable people of both sexes, but the female in particular, who accept their marital obligations and carry through the sexual act with reasonable regularity, but at each repetition of the act their minds are imbued with the obstinate belief that it is immoral and ungodly. That the exercise of the sex function is wicked and shows a depraved organization, is a dogma replete with mysticism. Its objects are at all times obscure and misleading, and the folly of such a belief reveals itself when we observe that its followers are nearly always unhappy, worth- less, and despicable creatures. Famous theologi- ans and didactic essayists of the past repeatedly expressed in a vehement manner their fervent de- sire for early sex education for both sexes, but their views were rarely promulgated or enlarged upon, and all the discussions and debates were relegated to a mere private ventilation. Within quite recent times, with the advent of Woman Suffrage and the various movements for the protection and greater respect for womanhood, Education and Sex 43 there has sprung up decided and influential cam- gaigns against the "White Slave" traffic and also against the spread and acquirement of venereal diseases; but there would be little need for such campaigns if our young people were thoroughly educated and properly advised. The generations to come will undoubtedly regard us with precisely the same sympathy and commiseration that we view our ancestry. Future thinkers and educators will view with contempt our observancies and be- liefs just as we do those of a previous age. Slowly, year by year, we are becoming far more reasonable in our views of the sexual life, and we are gradually acknowledging its incalculable value to the happiness of the people at large. In- difference and a position of apathy to a more ad- vanced and enlightened knowledge on any import- ant subject is proof of ignorance and stupidity. Belief in any form of superstition is simply an excuse to evade the study or diligent research into the matter in hand. What we now do and the works we endeavor to accomplish, embellish and transform, will be reflected in the fullest sense in the prosperity (mental and physical) of the suc- ceeding generations. Very many people totally ignore the differences and changes in the present order of things. They disregard the fact that abundant variations are apparent in every walk of life and that we are constantly passing from 44 Temperament and Sex one form to another in order to reach the highest objective. These people insist that all moral law must be in thorough accord with the dictates and formulas of pedants of by-gone days. The velocity with which everything is accom- plished now-a-days has its due effect on the con- stitutions and nervous organisms of the race, and the laws of by-gone days in morals and everything else must be radically altered to suit present-day conditions. We are face to face with the fact of how little our progenitors thought of the rights of women, and of the extreme value to humanity everywhere of a development of the social order. We are progressive, extremely so, but so were our forefathers, and those who are to come will surely be considerably amazed that with all the monu- mental achievements of the twentieth century, we were so deficient in properly realizing the supreme importance of having taught in an adequate man- ner the subject that will for all time be the most essential feature and the greatest vital necessity in the lives of all men and women. It has been affirmed by several prominent writ- ers that in most of our co-educational institutions and academies where there is a free mixing of the sexes in all departments, that the sexual na- ture of the students (of both sexes) is kept under much better control, and there is a noticeable ab- Education and Sex 45 sence of homo-sexuality and perversions which have for a long period been so prevalent in the schools for individual sexes. Eulenberg, in his oft-quoted treatise on neurasthenia, declares "What is needed, is the appointment and proper administration of strong and effective educational influences which will tend to diminish the undue sexual excitability of youth and enable it to be kept within its proper bounds ; but more important still is that thorough enlightenment should be given in the fullest measure of the natural functions of the sexual nature." Regarding woman, she al- ways has and always will radiate sex; and yet con- siderably more than half of the women in the world to-day never really know or fully under- stand their sex natures. Mantegazza has a good deal to say regarding women and sex, and he as- serts that "the beauties and delights of all woman- kind are one and all deeply sexual." Ribbing says "Since all human life and being naturally has its origin in the sexual relations, then these relations must be regarded as the very spirit and heart of humanity." We may work year after year for the good of mankind in general, we may valiantly strive for the moral and physical uplift of the species, and we may sacrifice for the good of the human race our time, money and we may perhaps give our lives; but all will be in vain if we exclude the sexual nature which is the eternal self-renew- 46 Temperament and Sex ing school of altruism. There is a very old say- ing that sex is everything and everything is sex. Kisch in his "Sexual Life of Woman," repeats him- self several times in stating that the lack of a thorough education, (co-operating with much use- ful advice and assistance in sex matters) is de- plorable and entirely opposed to everything in nature, and contrary to the laws pertaining to health and happiness. Quite recently the Secret Service officials have raided very many houses of ill repute near to the many cantonments and training camps. These raids have brought to thousands of our citizens and a great many com- munities, the great importance of a well regulated sex life to the individual and to the nation. Fol- lowing these raids, I found, on inquiry, that the following Sunday nearly every congregation in churches of all denominations listened to stirring sermons by the Pastors and Priests regarding the necessity of proper sex education, which was the one thing necessary to prevent such occurrences in the future. So perhaps, ere very long, the day will dawn when the veil will be torn away from so important a subject, and we shall have a complete and properly authorized system of general sex education, which will, in the course of time, com- pletely eradicate licentiousness, prostitution, and the Divorce Court. IV LOVE AND SEX FOLLOWING some of my previously pub- lished articles on love and the sexual life, I have been severely criticized for my cheerful op- timism and my sanguinary premises for the future in the social and private life of our people. Per- haps such criticisms are tolerably fair in the minds of the writers, but it is because they refuse to study acutely the actual conditions of the lives of normal men and women, and they reject everything which does not smack of the orthodox and is not in ac- cordance with pre-conceived didactics. The rea- son for my confidence is, that I am daily reminded that there is an ever increasing number of both men and women who are giving their time and means to the end that the world shall be a much happier sphere to live in and that the people shall be thoroughly instructed in the method by which they can secure such happiness with the resultant prosperity. The Art of Love has been described and ex- tolled by numerous writers in all ages, and in all countries, from Ovid to the present day; and I 47 48 Temperament and Sex am optimistic enough to believe that the Art of Love will, ere long, be taught in public institu- tions and colleges; and perhaps there will soon come an end to the trite saying that a perfect love is as rare as perfect beauty. One reason why I have studied the subjects of this volume with such zeal and with such entire confidence is, that all my life I have steadily refused to follow blindly all the laws around me, natural or acquired. I want to know the full reason for their existence, and to be fully satisfied as to their profit to the people and nation, or otherwise. I have made exhaustive inquiries into all the so-called laws of sex, natural and unnatural, and also those of Di- vine origin. My undertaking is not from any selfish motive, nor do I wish to be considered as posing to be an arbiter of the actions of men and women. It is because of the unbounded amount of sexual misery rampant everywhere that has im- pelled me to study, write and endeavor to in- struct. Our compassion for the misery of others makes our own circumstances far less acute. The deaf person pities the blind and vice-versa. True happiness in love is only found and realized when one is constantly striving for the ideal, instead of simply acting according to the manner of those who preceded us and showed us their way; which may be vastly different to the dictates of our own natures. As a year without a Spring, as a flower Love and Sex 49 without its fragrance, so would youth be without love. Surely the Almighty has not grafted into the hearts of his children the power to love, and then created laws, or caused them to be promulgat- ed, which have for their object the suppression of love and the restraint of its force. It is entirely unreasonable that in order to live as the world says we ought to live, we must sacrifice all of our natural feelings and depend on superficial motives for the satisfaction of our senses and affections. We are constantly being informed that whoever disobeys the laws of nature will ultimately be punished with ill health and misery! Countless numbers of people throughout the whole of their lives have sighed and panted for true love; they have had an incessant hunger for the joys love would have brought to their otherwise colorless existence. But on account of primitive ideals or their abject subjection to puritanical conventions, they have securely locked the door of their hearts and smothered all that was best in their senses. Subjection to love would have fed both mind and body; but they have made the conditions so strin- gent that true love could never accept them and live. Present day religions could not exist and prosper under their former doctrines. Churches now have parish houses with pool tables, card rooms and a dancing floor. Most of the present day theologies and dictates as to mor- 50 Temperament and Sex ality, love and sex, are either something con- nected with, or derived from, moralists and think- ers of by-gone days or else they are Utopian ideas of an improbable future state. Happiness and love we all crave, and it is the matter of the full- est satisfaction and solid contentment in our pil- grimage through life, that concerns normal men and women the most. The amazing theories of modern alienists concerning degeneracy and kin- dred subjects are very interesting to teachers and educators, but what we most vitally need is edu- cation in love and sex in order that our senses may receive due satisfaction, and we can obtain our full measure of happiness, personal enjoyment and profit, out of the ordinary natural events of our lives. Every religion, of every nationality and of every color, is based on a God of Love, whether that God is the Infinite Being, or one com- posed of Brass, Iron, Stone or Fire. Love to be real must be a true internal impulse far removed from the automatic. The puppy loves the bitch, the kitten the cat, the foal the mare, and the child its mother. They receive no education, nor are their feelings dwarfed by restrictions; their af- fection is truly natural and its instigation is un- questioned. You cannot in anyway analyze it; you dare not question it; it is all embracing and prac- tically complete in its manifestation. Love does not come by talking or theorizing about it; it ac- Love and Sex 51 knowledges no direction; it obeys no time-clock. The seed is sown and it blossoms forth as a flower and bestows a perfume of surpassing sweetness, and vitalizes everything that it comes in contact with. Life can never be complete or truly suc- cessful when love is suppressed for any reason whatever; every heart normally craves the op- portunity to love and it will, at all times, eventu- ally do so if allowed to pursue its logical course. Many years ago I was fortunate enough to hear in London the delightful French author and lec- turer, Max O'Rell, give three lectures on the "Art of Loving and Being Loved." The first two lectures were entirely educational, sexual laws being the premier subject and temperament a close second. I was but a young man when I heard them, and they gave me the first impetus to study deeply the problems of sex, love and the natural human passions. After hearing O'Rell's masterly ex- position of human love and its requirements, I fully realized that there would be more harmony in our social life, more genuine satisfaction in the ordinary routine of daily toil, and a keener en- joyment of all life's privileges and prerogatives if our youth were given clear and concise instruc- tion in the greatest and most alluring of the pas- sions. From Ovid to the twentieth century, the treatises on love are mainly descriptive, poetical, and full of the beauteous elements of the love pas- j2 Temperament and Sex sion, but only rarely are they in the slightest de- gree instructive. Dr. Bernard Talmey's recent vol- ume on "Love, or the Science of Sex Attraction" is full of most beautiful thoughts and charming aesthetic ideas, but very many of the ideals de- voutly wished for will prove a veritable stum- bling block to ordinary folk and many willing en- thusiasts. It would be Utopian if all natures could and would willingly coincide with his strictly ethical views of love and sex. But there are no two natures alike in any respect, nor can any two or more people be satisfied or satisfactorily nour- ished with the same material. This world would be a very sorry place to live in if every thought, feeling and impulse, were expressed in exactly the same manner and their actions governed by pre- cisely the same rules, and always in exactly the same fashion, with precisely the same acme of pleasure, and with an ever similar sequel. Cus- toms, traditions and profound conventionalities have no place in the purely sexual sphere, for each decade brings very many changes in the customs of every day life and the forms of legitimate ex- pression, and changes are ever prevalent in every period of our existence from the cradle to the grave. So why do our thinkers and educational- ists insist that there can be no changes in the sex- ual code of ethics? Regulations and methods for the control of the expression of love with its sex Love and Sex 53 manifestations, will have to be very wisely adapted to the varied conditions of life and its member- ship. There will always have to be a full apprecia- tion of the many different physical and mental processes underlying all the forms and expressions of love, and due allowance will have to be made for the status of intellectual sensibility and the en- vironment of all the parties concerned. The sex- ual impulse in man and woman is never entirely absent, but its strength and its method of expres- sion varies according to the individual's ancestry and mode of life. Love has always been described as being stronger than death. It exalts the in- dividual just in the same manner and just as com- pletely as the "rut" in animals overwhelms all their natural instincts and proclivities, Schopenhauer, the modern avowed ascetic, has in a truly delightful and semi-humorous manner, proclaimed that his conclusions are (after a lengthy study of the subject) that love is really an intoxication that urges men and women (with- out their even suspecting it) to a rightful propa- gation of the species. He maintains that without love, nations would crumble and family life would very soon be extinct. It is the "surprises" of love that produces really great events out of very trifling things, and which incites the recipient and 54 Temperament and Sex the bestower to deeds at times gigantic, frequently heroic, and achievements remote from the com- monplace. Love plays on every feeling we possess in infinite variations of expression, and there can never be a heart or mind that does not possess in some degree the possibility of yielding to its in- fluence and acknowledging its potency. We should seek to cherish and encourage love, not by un- loosening and unbridling its sensuality, but by making it conform to a proper standard of perfec- tion. When love is unrestrained and unbound by fetters of unwise and unnatural conventionality, its yielding and its most pronounced desires lose all possible elements of grossness or immorality, and it rejoices to the utmost in being able to fully express itself, and also to receive from the loved one the reciprocal devotion that is life itself to the lover and loved. Each individual to be con- tent and comfortable has, at all times, to provide a satisfactory outlet for the constant recurrence of emotional impulses. It has been freely acknowl- edged that the average woman can be fairly happy without the regular exercise of the physical mani- festations of love much more easily and with less detriment to mind and body than can a man ; but if the physical attributes are not possible or are not desired, then the system must be given some other opportunity for the relief of their pent-up sexual energy, or body and mind will suffer ac- Love and Sex 55 cordingly. The pampering of poodle dogs by women of all types and of all social grades is simply their acknowledgment of the feeling of motherhood, which every woman possesses in some degree, but the vast majority of our so-called "society" matrons endeavor to ignore the exer- cise of the privileges and duties of real mother- hood on account of their having to withdraw (during pregnancy and child-birth) from the at- tractive society functions and gaieties of the social sphere. Elizabeth Steinborn in her "Sexual Position of Woman" after describing at length the many wrongs and the brutal treatment that women in the past have been subject to, states that "The Women's Rights parties of succeeding genera- tions will have nothing to say and no laws to make regarding possible rules and regulations for the proper conduct of the marriage state. A truly honorable man has as little need of stringent laws to regulate his amorous relations with his wife or mistress as he has of laws against his committing murder or theft. Love and sexual relationship between man and woman must always be a free- will act on the part of all concerned, and only when such relationships are entirely liberated from vexatious and needless regulation and restraint, will humanity seek and ultimately find the rightful 5 6 Temperament and Sex path even though there may be numerous errors of commission and omission by the way." It has fre- quently been asserted and also lamented that love for the male sex is fast disappearing from the lives of cultured American women. In the Arts, Sciences, in trade and in law, she possesses equal rights to the male. She has the right to enter Congress, the Senate, and the Legislature ; she can and does successfully follow occupations that > for- merly were forbidden her. She can be physician, lawyer, merchant and preacher. Instead of re- ceiving the former training for wifehood and sub- sequent motherhood, instead of studying domestic science and the fine art of making and preserving a home, she maintains her absolute right to choose and work out her own career in the way she de- sires, and from a purely material viewpoint she has been more than successful. It is therefore, perhaps, somewhat natural that, with her close application to study, preparation for, and final acquisition of a position of importance and material influence in the professional or business world, her purely feminine attributes and graces with their manifold charms should undergo a com- plete transmutation, and finally her power to love and to control the destiny of a loved one be com- pletely atrophied. The Great War has called woman into every trade and into every activity of the world of production, and the ultimate result Love and Sex 57 of woman's laying aside her former habits and her customary place in the homelife, will prove to be a most fascinating study in the years to come. Until recent years love and marriage have rightly been esteemed as the aim of womanhood 'in all the civilized countries, indeed the woman's ability to conduct her home aright and to raise and properly train her children, has been held as the secret of a nation's prowess, and the one thing necessary to keep a man loyal and true to his home, state and nation. Very many writers, among whom was the lamented Theodore Roosevelt, have stated that the home is the progenitor of the success of any cause. Woman has never occupied so high a position as she does to-day, and her work and views have had a most elevating effect in every department of civics and the social at- mosphere, and also a sobering, yet very inspiring effect, upon all forms of moral superiority; but as conditions are now-a-days, there is a strong in- clination upon the part of women leaders of va- rious activities to shun and avoid the expression and natural exercise of the purely sexual element in their natures; and as to the future, I can see nothing but a gradual abasement of her sex power and sex attraction which will ultimately mean a most decided decadence in social conditions every- where. Von Stein in a somewhat lengthy treatise anent woman usurping man's ideas and proclivities 58 Temperament and Sex remarks that, "A woman who spends all her days in an office, in the law courts, or in the house of assembly, may be a most cultured and honorable person and an individual who has become of some practical use to the community, but she is no longer a proper specimen of real womanhood; she will soon fail to receive the former compliments, en- dearments and privileges; and wifehood, and the ensuing maternity in her case would be a farce and a disaster." The phenomenon of actual love with its multitudinous inter-mixture and variation of its expressions brings out of the human being the highest and noblest acts, thoughts, and feelings, of everything that can possibly yield to its influence and force. The gay, the grave, the beautiful, and the sordid, are all considerably affected, aug- mented and enhanced, or diminished and curtailed, by love's charm or love's scorn. Casuistries never yet did, and never will, suc- ceed in controlling it, although we know full well that love should, at all times, for its own subse- quent preservation, exemplification, and gratifica- tion, be subject to a code of ethics, not to bind it or forbid its influence, but rather to increase its usefulness and to add to its value to the human race, and also to prevent it marring or lowering the tone of its possessor and its environment. Love is decidedly life itself; it is the very soul and Love and Sex 59 inspiring prompter in every department and ac- complishment in art. All the monuments of art, all the ideals of poetry, all the dramas of the ages, all the really great and lasting examples of the liberal arts have, for their inception and in- spiration, the divine ecstasy of love. Love has inspired otherwise insipid specimens of humanity to glories and achievements that were little short of wonderful, and were absolutely impossible without the stimulation of the little goddess. To exclude and to suppress all sexuality from the love element would take away its vitality and remove its influential and distinctive quality, similar to the removal of devotion from a true friendship. In these after-the-war days when we are reading of the wonderful achievements in the air, under the sea, and in every other department of labor, science and invention; with such important exam- ples of our prowess and overcoming of seemingly impossible natural problems, many people have been led to think that the end of things, and the millennium, cannot be far remote, that there is really little or nothing left for humanity to accom- plish. On the contrary, I think that life is really just beginning and that it is utterly foolish and con- temptible on the part of any one to dare to prog- nosticate what future years will or will not disclose. At all times we must ever keep in mind that from the foundation of the Christian Era at least, there 6o Temperament and Sex has been a steady and continuous sequence of start- ling and epoch-making accomplishments and regen- erative ideas in every branch of the human race. The state of so-called "Free Love" has many supporters, and Ellen Key, the Swedish writer, has considerably enlarged on the possibility of satis- factory sexual relationship outside the sphere of marriage, and later writers have argued for an4 besought social legislation that shall permit such relations. Where there is true love in the hearts of both parties concerned the only distinction is that there is official control by the authorities in case of marriage, whereas in "Free Love" the par- ties are under no obligation to any other person or persons but themselves. The question as to the advisability of permitting two persons to live together (with perfect civic rights) bound only by bonds of true affection rather than to be forever pronounced inseparable by the ties of a legal mar- riage is still far from being solved. "Free Love" has been highly praised and many admirable vol- umes published in regard to it, and it has also been most emphatically condemned and maledictions poured out on every phase of it. But whatever may be the individual's conclusions on this impor- tant branch of the sexual life, there is yet very much to be accomplished and much information to Love and Sex 61 be obtained on both sides of the question in order to be able to in any case decide as to its desirability. We know not as yet, whether it is beneficial to the human race or otherwise. The Oneida Commu- nity failed and there were no lessons learned as to its final effect upon the membership. It is quite certain, however, that in the very near future the obligations of the marriage tie will only be ob- served and respected so long as the parties to it are on truly affectionate terms with each other and find in the marriage relations their greatest joy and the noblest impetus to lives of usefulness and perfection. This happy and profitable mu- tual relationship can only be completely and ade- quately realized when each partner is fully cogni- zant of the other's most intimate sexual desires and cravings, and when each one has a practical knowl- edge of the inestimable benefit to each other (in the largest sense) of mutual satisfactory sexual relations, and all that such connection can mean to the happiness of both in the fullest sense. Charles Albert in his "Free Love" writes "we do not, at the present time, regard the province of the sexual life in the society of the future as an Eden, wherein those individuals best suited one to the other will come together with mathematical certainty, to lead a cloudless existence." Just as in our present time there will surely be 62 Temperament and Sex unrequited love, uncertain search and endeavor, errors and deceptions, misunderstandings, sor- rows, and aberrations. But when mankind is fully awake to the proper understanding and regulation of love and all its manifestations, properly appreciated, then a large proportion of existing causes of anguish and pain will disappear entirely. It is not sufficient to be skilled in the art of creating love ; that would be of little benefit to the individual if we did not also possess qualifications for preserving that love, nourishing it and developing it to the highest pos- sible point of attainment. In regard to the proper nourishment and careful unfolding of the sexual impulse in the marital state, it is a fact, that beyond question, many married couples have had their means of happiness shattered and their lives in common absolutely destroyed by lacking the knowledge of, and having practically adjusted, the laws attached to natural sexual hunger and the necessity for its lawful and agreeable satisfaction. The lack of a thorough education in these very important matters has driven from both men and women, all their former love and respect for their partner, and in a great many cases the preceding exalted love and passion has become (through sex- ual clumsiness, awkward and at times repugnant advances) a feeling of absolute hatred and dis- gust, and to the woman, what should have proved Love and Sex 63 itself to be the acme of delight and gratifying charm, has turned out to be only a hideous night- mare and a revolting marital duty. Both Robin- son and Robie have dwelt on this topic to a con- siderable extent and have recorded example after example of how, when proper conditions were re- stored, the parties resumed their lives with added enjoyment, happy sensual gratification, and com- plete contentment one with the other. A close friend of mine, a physician, whose practice is con- fined to the complaints of the female sex, and who has had much success in alleviating a goodly amount of feminine misery, told me he was con- vinced, that after a lengthy study and exhaustive inquiry into the cause of many of the numerous petty nervous disorders in woman, they were in most cases caused and promulgated by a disregard to the natural sexual function and a failure to ob- serve its laws and injunctions. Physically their bodies were tortured by uneasiness and unquiet- ness, the cause of which was unknown to them; mentally, they were disturbed and full of anxiety over matters of which they could give no accurate description. Homes were thrown into confusion, family affairs were constantly being jarred, there was occasional discord in trivial happenings, and the women acknowledge that they seemingly have lost the art of keeping their husbands by their own fireside. All this has usually been caused by ig- 64 Temperament and Sex noring the stimulating and cohesive effect of their exhibiting to the loved one the desire to be con- sidered a real helpmate, companion, and co-opera- tor in his sexual exigencies and requirements. Dr. Howe and many more medical writers on kindred subjects tell how they are repeatedly consulted "ad nauseam" by women and men, all with a simi- lar style of symptom. Many of the patients are very deeply concerned over the lack of seeming affection in their partner in late years, and they look to the future years with dire foreboding. In most cases these patients were of the well edu- cated and cultured classes, experienced in the or- dinary rules of health and also the plain matter of commonplace sex hygiene; but after most plain and direct questioning, they universally acknowl- edge that when they first entered the marriage state they were unaware of even the rudiments of the laws of proper sexual relationship; that many doubts, fears and also many ridiculous perform- ances took place, many of them extremely dis- concerting and also painful, ere the marriage was properly consummated. They never even dreamed that there could possibly be any harmful excess in the love act, that its more frequent oc- currence would mean and testify to a greater love for each other, and it was not until disordered nervous systems and aching bodies were in evi- dence, that they sought advice in such matters Love and Sex 65 from those more experienced. In that most event- ful hour when the wife loses her virginity to the man she has vowed to love and honor, she should ever remind herself that the loving hus- band is very far from being an animal brute who is forcibly demanding possession over her fair body, but rather that he is the chosen man of all, to whom she should give of her utmost, and not be satisfied until her husband has found in her all that his soul desires. Many a fair bride has re- turned from the honeymoon in a most pitiable condition, from which many of them never re- cover, and coupled with her physical and mental disorders and distress, she in time looks upon in- timate relations with her husband with deep dis- gust and ofttimes rebellion. A great number of otherwise indulgent husbands have ruined all chances of marital happiness by their total disre- gard of the fundamental laws of the sexual life. Once more I venture to assert that with proper sex instruction, obeyance of sexual laws and a fuller appreciation of the art of true love, our separation and divorce courts would be out of business or only occasionally have clients belong- ing to the distinctly lower social element. THE ARTS AND SEX IT is to be hoped that there are very few people in the world to-day who regard Art in any way as a useless and entirely undesirable factor in the progress of the nations and of humankind, and of their material, physical, and spiritual wel- fare. The stupendous business interests and achieve- ments of this age, the infatuation for vigorous out- of-door sports, the intense political and social ri- valries, and the threatened upheaval of many of the monarchies, surely require some form of corn- mensuration, or some exemplification of the beauty or graces, or something absolutely aesthetical in order that the tenor of our material lives shall be adequately balanced and a measure of equitable equipoise be enjoyed. In a large number of people, especially in the young, there comes at some period a distinct leaning towards certain arts, and the usual result is that ere long, with the continued exercise of that faculty or talent, their innermost sympathetic interests are aroused and with this incitement they finally become fully con- 66 The Arts and Sex 67 scious of their inclinations and tendencies whether it be literature, sculpture, painting or music. Under proper and rightful conditions these con- scious instincts and proclivities can be promulgat- ed, exhibited, and considerably amplified into a natural healthiness of tone and expression, and can with the proper environment and encourage- ment, ascend to unlimited and boundless degrees of refinement, execution, and accomplishment; and be productive of an exceedingly large measure of happiness, advantage, and blessedness, to those around us, and also to one's self. The various arts of painting, music, sculpture and literature are the perfectly legitimate out- come of this desire on the part of the inspired to convey impressions, stirring and forcible excite- ments, pleasures and prescribements, to the be- holders of their art; and to present in attractive, alluring and pleasing forms the ideas, meditations, and circumstantial imaginations and emotions, which have stirred to activity the natures and at- tainments of the presenter. It is the profound intensity on the part of the artist, and the ade- quate presentment of what he actually desires and feels, that calls upon him for their release to others, that they also may share in the artist's agreeable emotions, sensual gratification, and lofti- ness of purpose. These presentations must at all 68 Temperament and Sex times and under all circumstances be unmistakably intelligible to the student and admirer, and there must never be a scintilla of doubt as to their rea- son for creation, portrayal, and public manifesta- tion. No form of any art can exist, be admired, and deemed worthy of acceptance, unless it serves a definite purpose, and has a determined design and origin, and also a distinct message to convey. Vagueness in all of the arts, and at any time, is perilous in the extreme, as the impression, sensa- tion, or emotion conveyed, would very speedily pass away and soon be forgotten. In most of the fine Arts, the satisfaction, enjoyment, and gratifi- cation of the beholder, and also of the interpreter, must be of a permanent character, for it is not in the phase or aspect of the particular form of the art itself, but rather in the degree of its observ- ance and also of its necessary satisfactory inter- pretation, that we can realize to the full its possi- ble value and appraisement, and that will make the work permanent in its attributes and authority. The most talked of, and durable examples of the art of painting are not those which are merely graphic and well delineated examples of various objects, and paraphrases of natural designs and purposes, but rather those into which some elab- orately chosen and meritorious combination of The Arts and Sex 69 elevating purpose is so conceived and reproduced for the benefit of thinking admirers and students, and also revealed to the public eye or ear; and the result is that the appreciation of the beautiful is considerably enhanced and there is a universal appreciation of the portrayal by the artist of his innermost coherent thoughts and emotions. Form, design, and minute attention to detail are at all times very necessary features of anything pertaining to the artistic, but real art is never merely imitative. It must be something more than a copy or counterfeit, it must deliver its own in- dividual message and invoke its own particular ap- peal in the mind and heart of its observer or pos- sessor. We may, with some success, make a mere copy and formal reproduction of the noblest ex- amples of nature's declarations and manifesta- tions, but to be considered as a work of art the producer must seek to make of it an ideal, a dis- tinct conception, and provide for the extolment of the beautiful and the exaltation of the idyllic. A strong tendency to revert to old-fashioned and primitive ideas and conditions of Art is now frequently met with, but this is a retrograde move- ment and to be really genuine we must be con- cerned and interested in the future rather than in the past. Whatever we think worthy of being termed Art (in all its branches) will always have yo Temperament and Sex the same basic principles and fundamental ele- ments; and the proper fulfilment and attainment of a high standard is entirely dependent on explicit training and a right temperamental attitude whether the work is by pen, brush, chisel or speech. The well regulated and impressionistic temperament is the greatest asset in the artistic life. Sex pervades everything and without it there can be no vitality in the subject to be interpreted and delineated. All of the Arts are founded on the same essential principles and have the same source of origin. All of them have as a basis the feelings and desire for expression of their creator. To give to the eye ecstatic visions of the beautiful and the sublime, the fanciful, the sordid, the in- spiring and also the grievous; to bestow upon the ear strains of love and passion, joys and sor- rows, to give to both eye and ear the loves of the ages and to interpret the problems of life ; to sub- mit the classic in all its forms, all these delights and forces can only emanate from those who can feel to the utmost every motive, every form of passion and agitation and wish, that it is desired to unfold and make manifest; and who can express evidences of their conceptions and translations, and also satisfactorily reproduce them in such a way that they will give additional enjoyment and gratification to others. Considering the enormous number of art-stu- dents who crowd the many Art academies in our The Arts and Sex 71 large cities, it is really astonishing how few of them have ever made a distinct mark in their pro- fession. Substantial successes are few and far between, and this country has never yet produced or founded a distinctive "school" in any department of the fine arts. The lack of distinguished exponents and conspicuous and eminent interpreters must be laid at the doors of our institutions, for their clinging so tenaciously to old ideas and primitive formu- las, which have never yet assisted an artist to fame or fortune; it has always been when the student has become imbued with distinctive ideas of his own, and has the requisite ability to formulate and fulfil his desires, that we obtain artistic expressions that fulfil their object and satisfy the analyst. In the domain of music we are brought face to face in a vivid manner, with the intimate relation between the power of sound and its effect upon the motor faculties of the human body. Ellis describes this as "motor-imagery." One of the simpler examples of this motor relationship be- tween the rhythms of music and the human body is that of the hearer "beating time" or moving arms, head or some part of the body, to corre- spond to the rhythm of the music. It is just pre- cisely what must always occur in any and every form of Art; there must always be a mutual re- sponse on the part of the auditor or observer, to 72 Temperament and Sex the exhibited and suggested promptings of the producer. We must, of course, acknowledge that no two hearers or viewers will receive the same impression of a work or performance, on account of the difference in individuality and intelligence, but all the same some form of susceptible emotion will be conveyed and be absorbed according to the amount of impressibility and sensibility present in the beholder. There is no real mystery in true Art although it is frequently mystical; its achieve- ments are absolutely unlimited. In its infinite changes of form and color, and in its unlimited variations of expression, it is chameleon-like. If an artist has put into his work every expres- sion of the senses and the consummate embodi- ment of mind and soul, his work will live, and its radiation and illumination will be felt by all who witness, hear, or view the expressions. The artist of to-day cannot live on the glories of past achievements, he must produce vital living examples of the present state of things and pave the way for additional glory and accomplishment. The Art of the ancient Greeks and that of the Renaissance revolutionized that of previous eras, and future art will be just as different from that of to-day, as ours is from by-gone periods. At the present day there is little or no teaching or education in matters of temperament, although The Arts and Sex 73 that element is of prime importance in everything pertaining to the senses. I acknowledge it is a most difficult part of art education, but the proper development of the innate feelings and their suit- able and timely portrayal, has brought to me most of my undoubted successes in my own profession, and it is one of the most important features to be considered by any educator who is occupied in training and cultivating the artistic in both sexes. A rightly ordered and properly regulated imagi- nation is the one faculty that empowers one to feel and to appreciate the beautiful and its varying forms of expression at all times, and under any conditions. Imagination directs every feature of the ac- tivity of the senses and their mental control, and is the foundation of all the poetic and artistic in- stincts, and of supreme importance in the idyllic and visionary characteristics of the sublime in Art. Rules can never be formulated for the adequate regulation of the flights of the imagination, such an active agent with such immense energetic pos- sibilities cannot be impelled by force or subjugated at will. It is the powers of imagination and intui- tion which creates pulsating living things from the bare facts of every-day occurrences and the sim- plest variations of rudimentary happenings. The 74 Temperament and Sex artist must have the visionary faculty acutely de- veloped and he must live his creations, and appre- ciate to the full his revelations in his own being, if he desires to acquire the ability to influence others and have his innermost thoughts ultimately pursue a career of transmission to other intellects and understandings. The fragrance of a beautiful flower ends with its decay, but a true work of Art, a noble song, an ecstatic and entrancing orchestral symphony, a masterpiece of the sculptor's art; these can never be really lost to the universe, and generation after generation will find in them ever- lasting material for meditation and contemplation; their glories will be increased and reinforced, and their beauties will be ever new and filled with aug- mented refinement. The Berlin musical critics at the first perform- ance of Wagner's Operas likened the music to a cacophonous assemblage of street organs, all play- ing different tunes in different keys at the same time, but ere long, wiser musicians discovered the virtues embodied in the music, and thereafter it was a distinct sign of extreme culture when one could fully appreciate and also heartily enjoy the many varieties of Richard Wagner's compositions. Turner's water-color presentations were termed undefinable masses of blatant color, and they were received with marks of derision and disapproval The Arts and Sex 75 until John Ruskin in a most exhaustive manner pointed out their consummate beauty and their perfect harmony of color and outline, and almost immediately the name of Turner was inserted on the immortal roll of Fame. With students of any and every form of Art, it is essential for their ultimate success that they be abundantly equipped with all the customs, fashions and syllogisms of every process, accessory, and necessity, that will enable them to realize to the full the distinct mes- sage that they wish to convey in their particular branch of Art. Without a thorough and fully correct appreciation of the end that Art essays to serve to the world, we cannot adequately realize just what mental attributes and physical qualifi- cations are necessary in the make-up of the pur- veyor. The various Fine Arts are God's greatest gift to mankind for the ultimate purification, beau- tifying, and broadening of the mind, and uplifting the character of living humanity. Each Art in itself has its own method and attributes of even- tually proving its particular graces and beauty. The various Arts arouse to a sublime degree our ardor, and our devout wish for that which is the greatest and noblest; they considerably enhance the mental vision of everything they portray and come in contact with, and they have a tremendous and glowing effect on all the God-given natural feelings and sensual impulses. The Art of poetry, 7 6 Temperament and Sex by the innate force of its intent and sensual play and meaning in its words and phraseology, takes us far away from the ordinary happenings of hum- drum every-day existence, and shows us an ideal world, and the highest types of natural situations in the art of love and the domain of passion. Sculpture and painting speak to us by means of their form and beauty, by the harmony of color and outline, and their absolute power over and influence on all the senses and emotions, and a far- reaching effect on the human soul. The Art of music, which is without doubt the most subtle and truly the most evasive of all arts, pictures to us in tone and dramatic realization every feeling, every thought, and every expression that any human being is capable of perceiving, discerning, or un- derstanding. Who can read Tennyson's immortal "In Memoriam" without receiving deeper im- pressions, and feeling more acutely the intellec- tual perception of life and death, and their inti- mate affinity. Who can intelligently view a Raph- ael, a Landseer, or a Conova, without acknowl- edging an additional throb and receiving an added impetus in life. What professional musician has not witnessed the thrilling and deeply emotional effect produced by a Beethoven symphony, Han- del's "Messiah," or a Schubert art ballad? Ordinary commercial pursuits, while vitally necessary to the advancement of an industry, and The Arts and Sex 77 to the progress of humanity in general, cannot be compared for a moment with the everlasting bene- fits derived from every form of Art. Drama, music and poetry refresh their admirers. They cheer the body after labor and toil, they soothe our sorrows, dry our tears, inspire us to braver deeds and nobler achievements, and draw us in an inti- mate manner closer to the Infinite. Impetuous living forces can be urged out of every variety of Art. As in everything else, there is a large amount of the purely mechanical to be observed before genuine works of Art can be produced, but the ultimate aim of all Art is to make whatever it touches or embraces in this life more beautiful, more ennobling, and more impressive. The store- keeper is paid the full market value for his wares, but the worth of a work of art can never be fully or properly assessed, and its beneficial effect is unfathomable. While the student of Art is affected considerably by his environment, the production of the work of art, its conception and realization, are in no way under the spell of its external surroundings. There are more real artists grinding out their productions in garrets than in elaborately ap- pointed studios. There are many times more ar- tists taking secondary parts in our symphony or- chestras than we find among the virtuosi of the concert platform. There are more gifted singers 7 8 Temperament and Sex whom the world never hears, than there are on the operatic stage, oratorio platform, or in the recital hall. It is not possible to acquiesce with the man in the street that every player, speaker, or singer, whose names appear in very large letters on im- mense advertising posters are therefore to be reck- oned with as great artists. In connection with the acquisition of and mastery of arts' technical requirements, the more thoroughly the tempera- ment and senses are developed and controlled, the more readily will the artist be able to fulfil his un- dertaking. The satisfactory emulation of the emo- tions, their deepening, and their acknowledgment, must be carefully explained and supervised by the instructor. The low-class, mawkish and "pot-boiling" senti- ment of ttimes displayed and labelled Art, depresses the onlooker rather than gladdens and inspires ; in- stead of ennobling and dignifying, it degrades. There is not a single worthy aspiration or attain- ment that the lower examples and forms of Art can invoke in the mind or soul. Perfection is never achieved, although it is the ultimate goal that all artistes aspire to. Emerson describes high Art as the evident sincere endeavor to reach the un- attainable! In my previous remarks anent the tradesman I did not mean to cast a slur on trade, but only to point out the very material difference of the effect on a community. The Arts and Sex 79 Trade supplies the ordinarily needful requisites to our well being, but Art goads us to higher things, calms and soothes, stimulates and electri- fies. A woman can clean a window, sweep a room, or cook a meal, with greater earnestness and more agreeable effect than many singers can sing their choicest songs; and a bricklayer may lay his bricks and a blacksmith shoe his horses with the feeling of an artist. If the artiste fails to recognize to the full the nobleness of his calling, he will find the cause of it in his own feelings and his lack of per- ceiving the call of the senses. The florist well knows how true it is that to induce the proper growth of beautiful plants and flowers and the rearing of choice and abundant blossoms, great attention and constant care must be given to many other things beside the plant itself. The condition of the soil, and satisfactory en- vironment, will have to be fully recognized and constant regard given to them, also a suitable supply of necessary fertilization and application of properly regulated moisture. So it is in a fuller measure in the life of the artist. The exclusive cultivation and attraction of the particular sub- ject alone will be far from sufficient to procure worthy results ; very much more is required to be fully equipped for artistic pursuits, and I have en- deavored to illustrate these points at some length in the chapter entitled "Studies." 8o Temperament and Sex Investigations and searching enquiries must be made into every branch of human knowledge, tem- peramental, mental, and physical. Only when we are possessed ourselves with a knowledge of every feeling we desire to infuse, every passion we en- deavor to enflame, and every ardor we try to give added fire, can a distinct groove be avoided, and "fads" or "leanings" escaped. As teachers of every or any form of Art we must at all times remember that when pupils of either sex are committed to our charge for in- struction and guidance, it is our prime duty to see that the mind, soul, and senses, are not in any way dwarfed with a series of unending techni- calities and mechanical rules, but that we faith- fully seek a well proportioned development along emotional lines and all forms of mental agitation. Undoubtedly the lack of soul or sensual expres- sion found in very many forms of so-called Art is the natural and unavoidable result of exceed- ingly imperfect or erroneous methods of educa- tion and superficial training. The exact science of any Art can be most satisfactorily taught and acquired by correspondence alone; may be taught in a desultory fashion by a teacher without the slightest individuality or distinctive character; but when we come to the "Art" of Art, the expressive and individualistic emotions can only be propa- The Arts and Sex 81 gated, stimulated, and unearthed, by personal com- munion with a gifted and conscientious instructor, and a proper receptive attitude on the part of the pupil until "heart with heart in concord beats." In one of Mainzer's charming diatribes he ex- claims that "The artistic advancement of any na- tion depends entirely upon their mental, moral and sensual development. The advance that a people may have made in any branch of civiliza- tion may very easily be determined by an examina- tion of the methods and means they have used to properly and thoroughly awaken to the full their natural feelings and their method of a thorough gratification. True Art is the earthly symbol of the creative power, it is truly the divinity in man ; its object is the perfectability of mankind, and the fullest embellishment of all the varying moods of human existence." Man is undoubtedly and pre- eminently a social being; he desires at all times communication with others, he seeks sympathy and approbation; and the more he is assiduously in- structed in the progress of the fine Arts of civil- ized life, the more diligent is he in the pursuit of elegance of manners, true and lasting kindness to others, and the proper courtesy in every phase of his life. All knowledge is extremely valuable to any and every human being, and there is nothing on this earth that it is not advisable to know if we 82 Temperament and Sex desire lasting and beneficial results of our labors. Sound healthy and progressive instructors will at all times endeavor to cultivate to the uttermost de- gree all the mental faculties; emotional, sexual, and physical. Well cultivated mental, moral, and psychical powers will always add tremendously to the value of truly elevating and lasting artistic achievements. Ferrero, Mobius and many others have claimed that "artistic" inclinations and aptitudes for its exemplification must be reckoned with as secon* dary sexual characteristics, and the art of the nude is one of the stumbling blocks that has never satisfactorily been fully accounted for. Celine Renooz discusses the nude at a very great length in her extremely laudable endeavor to instruct young people in matters of true modesty. She says "In the actual life of every young woman to-day there is a most supreme moment, when, by a secret atavism, she feels to the utmost the pride of her sex, the full intuition of her moral superiority over the male of the species, and she, for the time being cannot understand at all why she must hide its cause. At this moment, wavering between the laws of Nature and the merely social conventions, she cannot for the time being, scarcely decide for herself whether nakedness should, or should not, affright her." Where the exposition of the nude is simply an exhibition or evidence of extreme The Arts and Sex 83 beauty or graceful outline, without any other pos- sible motive for its exhibition and portrayal, it is bound to cause in the mind of the mature observer very strong influences for a much higher apprecia- tion of what is a delightful symbol of sincere vir- tue and natural endowment. There is no man or woman alive in this world to-day, who at all times and throughout their entire lives is totally unaware of the passionate elements in their nature. We can learn to successfully control our passions, and we undoubtedly should do so, and we can be ade- quately trained in using them aright at all times and under all conditions, and also cultivating their proper exposure. Holler has a wonderful para- graph which no thinking man or woman can re- fuse to accept. "He who has once learnt to en- joy the absolute purity of the nude in Art, will be able to look upon all forms of nakedness in na- ture as on a work of infinite beauty and the very highest form of Art imaginable." The old trite saying that to the pure, everything is pure, would seem to have been specially conceived for its pos- sible availment in the domain of Art. To the person possessing the highest of ideals, every par- ticular form of Art (the nude in particular) is the embodiment of all that is illustrious and truly ele- vating whilst to the person of low taste, and pos- sessed of perverted and distorted ideas, the nude may represent merely a pornographic form of ex- 84 Temperament and Sex hibitionism. The fault is not with the art itself but with the attitude of the individual who wit- nesses it; and exhibitionism is at all times a per- version, not an Art. Another very important fac- tor in connection with the rightful and proper ap- preciation of the nude in Art is that the ordinary every-day person and transient viewer of Art ex- pects to receive at one glance the fullest impres- sion of the intimate beauty or usefulness of the work exhibited. With classic prose, or every form of real poetry, it takes very many readings and much diligent study and also some little thought, to derive benefit and pleasure from them, and to fully appreciate and enjoy their meaning and characteristic graphic allusions; so it would seem to be utterly ridiculous to expect that all the in- nate beauty and glory of the human form Divine can be fully realized and appreciated after a mere glance. There can never really be anything that is really ugly in any form of nature. The Hottentot or the South Sea Islander has his own characteristic vir- tues and undoubted points of charm and outline. A vast amount of sexual immodesty and sexual license is found upon the stage at the present time. Play after play built upon sex-problems and varia- tions of sex-phenomena have been produced and introduced in recent years; they have appealed to crowded houses and achieved extravagant pros- The Arts and Sex 85 perity, not on account of any possible educational value or the solution of difficult problems; their success has been achieved entirely by their flagrant innuendoes and the "double entente." Outside the meritorious and fully appreciated productions of Grand Opera there is not much seen or heard on our stage to-day that can come under the defini- tion of true art. The highest form of dramatic art ever exhibited in this country was in the performances of English strolling players a few years ago. They toured this country, and gave outdoor performances of Shakespeare on the lawns of well-known Country Clubs and also on the campus of many of our Universities. Dancing also is a most prolific cause of unnat- ural and undue sexual excitement. Apart from the frequently debasing surroundings of the modern public dance hall, the very act of the satisfactory performance of the evolutions of the present fash- ions in the dance world is little more than an arrangement of steps and bodily deportment that at all times is highly conducive to the mutual sen- sual excitement of the dancers. The real Art of the dance is a relic of by-gone days, and while many examples of the modern dance are undoubtedly clever, they are in a most flagrant manner mere sexual inciters, and they 86 Temperament and Sex utterly fail to measure up to the requirements of any particular form of the former artistic char- acter of the dance. The evident vulgarity of most of the modern dance forms makes a strong appeal to the sexual natures of both sexes, and evokes a strong demand on the senses, yet it nullifies in the beholder a true appreciation and a full discrimination of the inherent beauty of natural pleasing and satisfac- tory bodily movements, such as is delineated in the Folk and Morris dances which form a large part of the social life in English villages and small towns, and also in many of the schools of the lower grades. Hundreds of thousands of the musical arrangements of historic Folk Songs have been sold and their rustic cheerfulness has been at all times a source of much comfort; but after all it is the Dance, not the music, that has accomplished so much along artistic lines; and the observance of (and co-operation in) these dances has proved to be a fine system of educating the young in laudable sensual enjoyment. All forms of artificial and mere animal excitement will eventually lead to ex- cess, and all that is directly inspiring and really beautiful in the divine atmosphere of true Art suf- fers to a great extent in consequence. The sense of true discernment and rightful discrimination is lost entirely, and the beholder only witnesses sheer vulgar sensuality in everything. The aim of Art The Arts and Sex 87 at all times, and in any shape whatever, is to make more beautiful the every-day occurrences and hap- penings in our lives, and to continue to unfold and uphold the beautiful in nature in such a decisive manner that loftier ideals and nobler efforts will be the result. Charles Wagner in his book devoted to an exposition of the proper education of youth in regard to its pleasures, regrets that the old style of free and natural forms of dancing is now re- garded as entirely out of date and is no longer a fit accompaniment to our present needs; but he in- sists that the only true joys which can enter into the life of our youth must be pure and wholesome and composed of entirely natural forms and means of expression. Stanley Hall in one of his remarkable sexual text books refers to the occasions, fre- quently occurring, when "Virtuous young men and even young women, glory in occasions when they can display the natural beauty of their forms with- out reserve, not only to themselves and their loved ones, but even to others when the psychological moment is at hand." What must Stanley Hall think of a woman of my acquaintance who would not think of entering her bath tub (in solitude) without a pair of swimmers! The Song of Solo- mon, which the ages have declared to be the most perfect specimen of ideal prose ever conceived, would probably be excluded from the mails if it had been written and published in this generation, 88 and it would have received a very warm reception at the hands of our Comstocksl Because the Greeks and the Romans of long ago finally debauched the expression of the nude in Art, it does not justify us in the 2Oth Century classing all evidences of the nude as distinctly im- moral. On visiting the Paris Salon, where the nude is by far the greater portion of the exhibition, one would have to have a distorted imagination and a total lack of artistic discernment, to proclaim any one example as being simply erotic. It is the art- ist's choice as to what phase of human life and its emotions and passions he shall portray (moral or immoral) but the lessons and benefits derived from the work are without question. Our daily news- papers do not veil the happenings, crimes, and dis- turbances of the world ; they give us cold facts and describe events just as they occur, so that we can grasp properly the information given. In all branches of Science societies are formed for the avowed purpose of making all the discoveries pos- sible and getting down to things as they actually are. So it seems ridiculous to drape any portion of nature's handiwork, if we are to know her at her best, and learn of her ways. I remember read- ing many years ago a book entitled "Christian Devotion," in which the author concludes with an The Arts and Sex 89 unique prayer, which as far as I can remember was as follows: O God, who in science and speech and art, has given us the means of drawing near to the really true, and of expressing the beau- tiful; give to the workers in science, litera- ture, and art, a true sensibility of the intimate relationship between the True, the Beautiful, and the Good. Make them fully sensible whereby the True and the Beautiful are noth- ing else but the avenues of approach to what is really Good. Hugh Northcote, in his "Christianity and Sex," writes in a masterly vein when he states "The true view is that God is surely in our sex lives." Purity realizes itself, not by holding distinctly aloof from what is directly the opposite, but by coming in contact with the impurities and trans- forming them. The absolute concealment at all times of every form of nakedness promotes mor- bid curiosity and also serves to destroy true aestheticism. The ever-varying colors, outlines and symmetrical variations found in properly de- veloped human beings are at all times exquisite, and their study and observance tends to increase very perceptibly our appreciation of the real glo- go Temperament and Sex ries to be found in natural things. The coarse love, the immoral love, sees nothing in the figure of a woman, and no possible form of beauty other than what may be considered a source of sensual grati- fication; but the mind of a sincerely normal man can absorb her graceful outline and fully realize her lines of beauty and be distinctly pleased at her physical charm and yet never for a moment allow the wish of possession to enter his mind. A true ecstatic love will always control and properly di- rect the physical desire. Zorri's well-known nude etchings are master- pieces of the highest type of highest art imagi- nable. With exceedingly simple lines he astonishes the world by his suggestion of softness, firmness, delicacy and passion. After all, the difficulty most prevalent in teaching and training artists is to dis- cover some distinct method by which the true na- ture of every emotion can be detailed and studied. We can sway our emotions to any pitch of excite- ment by steadily urging the thought we wish to be present with us, and this spiritual realization, when acquired, will achieve results that will produce last- ing monuments of our progress in our particular form of study. The true artist knows full well that his chief source of inspiration lies deeper than the surface ; he knows that he must appeal in an intimate way The Arts and Sex 91 to the forces of nature for the realization of his desires, and the solution of his sensual problems. If a teacher has carefully educated his pupils to rely entirely on the promptings of nature, to trust the natural instinct, to view art in a thoroughly spiritual manner and to acknowledge that, after all, it is nature's forces that are accomplishing it, the result cannot fail to be appealing and to pro- duce some emotional effect. Art is life itself, it must spring from within, and it must be the true expression of well regulated emotions felt by the artist himself and ripened by the systematic study of proper avenues of dis- closure. Only when the senses and the tempera- ment have ripened, developed and blossomed into maturity, and the sensual system is educated and brought into absolute subjection, can we expect to give to the world any kind of an artist who shall be convincing and whose works shall be worthy of emulation, and whose message shall be con- clusive. VI STUDIES DISTINCT individualism is a vital necessity in practical sociology. One may read all the books and hear innumerable lectures and ad- dresses on social science, and yet not have ab- sorbed its principles, or become in any way fitted to work out for themselves the various sociolog- ical problems that one meets daily. Worthy folk, who endeavor to be useful in problems of tempera- ment must have very well understood and prop- erly tested principles to work upon ; and the stand- ards aimed for, besides being high, must be work- able in every little detail, regardless of possible complications. In the many psycho-analytical cases that I have been associated with, in the "studies" here sub- mitted, and in my efforts to instil and develop the thoroughly natural and God-given feelings found in my clients and associates, I have always held aloft the torch of truth as it is displayed in well ordered human impulses, regardless of so-called conventions or pre-conceived notions of what the patient or pupil thought to be the seemingly proper 92 Studies 93 course of action. I have watched the development of the person, I have noted that ordinary material things have become things of warmth and beauty. I have witnessed a gradual increase and success in artistic achievements which has raised them from a condition of mediocrity to a position of worth and far-reaching influence. There are many seem- ingly insuperable difficulties to be met with on the part of teacher and pupil, awkward points to ex- plain, and perplexing subjects to be mastered; but the experience one gains in the domain of human temperament serves as a guide and helper in the more complex situations when we are confronted with them. The subjects of all of the studies in this chapter are (or were) perfectly sane people, very well edu- cated, and well versed in the affairs of the world. They all desired certain ends, and it was to assist them in achieving the desired goal that I labored with them and endeavored to show them the lack of direct personality in their chosen field of opera- tion, and to prove to them that their auditors would never be uplifted, entertained, or deeply moved, unless the performer could fully realize in his or her own feelings the particular form of ex- pression, meaning, and import of their presenta- tions. While Rhythm is everything to a piece of music, it is generally studied in quite a perfunctory man- 94 Temperament and Sex ner, most artists striving for correctness, and sometimes endeavoring to obtain results by pe- culiarity of rhythmic interpretations. But it is possible to put into rhythmical effect the strongest human impulses and to sway large bodies of people in an almost super-human way. As Havelock Ellis points out "Rhythm is not only a necessity in music, it is the soul of everything in art. In the human body also, with its respiration, circulation, heart action, etc., there is a distinct rhythmic grouping, and when this rhythm is lost there is at once evidence of distress. Rhythm is of great importance to soldiers on the march and also to manual laborers with their 'one-two-three, Pull!' ' Ellis has recorded authentic accounts of many discoveries in regard to the effect of music on the heart and respiration, and also its multiple effect on the sensual nervous system of mankind. If this is the case (and Ellis proves it) then surely the person who performs music or sings before the public at large ought to be schooled thoroughly in the resultant effect of their own presentations and find out what is lacking, and also what is necessary, in order to get out of the music the highest and best results. It has always been acknowledged that not only the voice in song, but the voice in speech, can be made to give a distinct appeal to the sexual nature. Moll says that "the sense of hear- ing plays a considerable part in normal sex mani- Studies 95 festations and that the stimulation to the senses received thru hearing is much larger than is usually believed by scientists." At this point it is well to point out that this stimulation is felt by women to a much larger de- gree than in men. Dr. W. F. Hutchinson, an American physician, has proved that absolute an- esthesia can be produced in a human being by the use of accurately adjusted tuning-forks at certain definite degrees of vibration. The value of music to invalids and in asylums is now an accomplished fact. It is for reasons such as these that I have always proclaimed that the public soloists are in a particu- larly lofty position as regards their possibility for the advancement and encouragement of the deeper impulses in humankind, and therefore special edu- cation along temperamental and psychological lines should be part of the curriculum of artists who desire to obtain positions of influence in their particular field of art. Tolstoi, in the "Kreutzer Sonata," speaks of "the connecting link between music and the soul," and George Eliot, in the "Mill on the Floss" mentions the thrilling effect of Stephen Guest's singing on Maggie Tulliver, "All her good intentions were lost in the vague sense of deep emotion produced by the inspiring music. She looked really beautiful when her soul was be- ing played on in this way by the inexorable power 96 Temperament and Sex of sound." Vaschide of Paris describes the effect of pleasant music, expressively rendered, on one of his patients. "The expression changes, the eyes become bright, the features are accentuated, a smile forms, an expression of extreme pleasure appears and the body becomes more erect." Of course if the music had been of a passionate or dramatic character we should naturally expect a different effect, but it proves that artists of all kinds can, if they are properly schooled, impart to their hearers every emotional effect possible in a human being. It has been implied in several psy- chological sex treatises that a man or woman sings or plays with much deeper effect when imbued with sexual emotion. By this I do not mean sexual ex- citement, but rather a distinct feeling of "sex" in the mind of the performer. Ellis remarks that "a woman may fancy herself the heroine of a wanton romance and 'let herself go' in her interpretation of her song with vastly improved results," and in the Journal of Psychological Medicine (1851) a physician mentions that a well-known professional singer was fond of remarking that "I never sing half so well and get so much applause as when I've had a love-fit!" In the ensuing studies I have endeavored to make clear my very simple course of treatment. Of course I have not given in detail the many con- versations that were necessary, they were fre- Studies 97 quently of a psycho-analytical character, but those who can read intelligently will be able to perceive what such conversations were. These form only a very small proportion of those I have been con- cerned with, others must be held back until the use- fulness of this volume has been recognized or con- demned. Study No. i. Female, 23 years of age, had been a successful teacher of drawing in the lower grades of the local High School. On receiving a substan- tial legacy from a distant relative she decided, af- ter talking the matter over with her guardian, to enter upon a life devoted to art; and to this end she immediately enrolled as a student in a well- known and successful Metropolitan academy. She was eminently successful in the elementary classes and in the many courses of preparatory work, but when finally assigned to the "life" class her work was extremely disappointing to her teachers, and they expressed their dissatisfaction explicitly. The outlines of her work were correct, but the finished product lacked life and character, and was in no way impressive either to the art lover or prospective purchaser. All her completed canvases were colorless in their effect, and totally devoid of vitality. It was my privilege to meet her during the vacation pe- riod, and in the course of our conversation I nat- 98 Temperament and Sex urally enquired as to her success, and as to whether she was thoroughly enjoying the work. She broke down completely and our meeting had to end abruptly, not until, however, she had prom- ised to see me again at a later date. At our next meeting, prompted by my pseudo-psycho-analytic method of questioning, she confessed that the "life" class had filled her with disgust from the very outset. That the models who posed for the class (especially the nude male) gave her an ex- tremely nauseating feeling, and thoroughly marred and obliterated all artistic thought in her. She acknowledged that the male model that posed for her class during the term was said by both students and teachers to be a glorious speci- men of manhood. To her, he was ugliness itself, the pubic hair especially disgusting her. In an- swer to further leading questions she acknowl- edged that she had always avoided the male sex, and had never been loved to her knowledge, neither had she ever loved. In addition she had an aversion to the nude female also, she could only think of such a person as being of the prosti- tute kind. Nakedness to her was vileness, it was ungodly, and her training had always taught her that nak- edness at all times was sinful. I talked to her at length in much the same way that Havelock Ellis talks of nakedness in the last volume of his "Psy- Studies 99 chology of Sex." I argued at length that there must be real beauty in the nude or else the world's most famous artists would not have devoted so much time and energy in portraying it on canvas and in bronze. As she was premeditating an European trip the following month, I advocated her visiting as many of the famous European Art Museums as possible, especially the Paris Salon and the famous institution in Venice. I told her that she would undoubtedly find that the most sought after examples of art would be those of the nude. I named the publisher of the Ellis work and told her the subjects I wanted her to study in the last volume. I did not see her again until the Christmas vacation, but when she came into my studio one morning I was astonished at her youth- ful appearance, and her vivacious manner of greeting me. There was a brightness in the eye that was en- tirely new to me, and her general manner breathed of the woman who was truly alive. Bubbling over with high spirits she described in a general way the things she had seen and the lessons she had learned. She said she had followed my advice to the letter, that after reading Ellis's last volume she purchased the four or five preceding ones, and she had digested them so well that I was somewhat astonished to hear her quote passage after passage from them. In her own words, "Life, to her, had ioo Temperament and Sex only just begun, she had formerly smothered all her natural impulses and all that was real in her nature, and now she felt that a newer, better world was hers, and that she could now fully appreciate not only the beautiful, but she could feel to the full the tragedy and passions, the joys and the sor- rows that were around her, and find in her work and in her pleasures a joy that she had hitherto never thought was possible." At the end of the Academic term in June she was awarded the high- est prize in the "life" class and also obtained a val- uable scholarship for her proficiency in nature studies. She received quite goodly sums for several magazine covers, from all of the publications hav- ing the sex characteristics as the leading motive of their reading matter. I wrote to her, to congratu- late her on her achievements, and incidentally en- quired whether she thought any of her success was in any way the result of my advice and instructions. Her reply was an emphatic "Yes." She was re- pulsed at first when she read the chapter on naked- ness, and did not finish the reading of it, but turned to some other portions of the same work, and when she realized how ignorant of nature she had been, she purchased the remaining volumes and speedily found that her outlook on many things in life was becoming brighter, and she had come to the conclusion that with a deeper knowl- Studies 101 edge of normal human feelings she had found the key to her future success and happiness. No. 2. Male, 26 years of age, had been em- ployed as cashier in a National bank in a small town in Eastern Pennsylvania. A graduate of Temple College, Philadelphia; he had a decided taste for literature and as a hobby he studied (by correspondence) the art of short story and novelette writing. Having ac- cumulated a number of stories that he thought were above the average, he submitted several of them to seven or eight magazines that seemed to have become recently popular. Only one was ac- cepted and no cash offer was made, the editor stat- ing that the writer must consider it an honor to have his name among well-known writers, and that payment would be made for future MS. if they proved acceptable. He wrote to the different editors and implored them for a definite reason why the stories were not available. The replies were somewhat obtuse, but the lack of "punch" and the ignorance of life were the principal reasons given. Meeting him in a well-known Philadelphia hotel one afternoon, I asked him if he was still dabbling in literary mat- ters and immediately he poured out his troubles and seeming quite concerned with what he re- IO2 Temperament and Sex garded as his Waterloo. I explained that our most successful authors always had a hard road to travel, as a rule, ere they could finally reach the public; and that he must try again and again be- fore he changed his methods or acknowledged his failure. Meeting him a few months later, he remarked that every MS. he had submitted was returned and that one magazine in particular had asked him to refrain from sending anything further unless he could improve the action and atmosphere of his stories. He confessed to me that he had a much greater interest in story writing than in banking, and he seemed very anxious to know just what he ought to do to enable him to get the life and pas- sion in his writings that the editors stated both they and the public required. He acknowledged that he had avoided the so- ciety of girls and women, and during the past few years had only on a very few occasions spent more than a few minutes at a time in the company of the fair sex. All his knowledge of the impulses, loves, and passions, had been obtained from books that he had read and usually they had been books of the ultra-respectable type. He had read nothing by such writers as O. Henry, Zola or Maupassant. I asked him if it would be possible to get leave of absence from his bank for a few weeks, and his reply was that his vacation time was near at hand Studies 103 and that as he had foregone his vacation the previ- ous year he was quite sure that he could have his usual four weeks extended to six or seven. He stated that he had never smoked and only on rare occasions did he drink any intoxicating liquor. He had two or three thousand dollars saved, and in addition he had an interest in a business controlled by one of his brothers. My instructions were that he should go to New York City, take a room below 8th Street (Wash- ington Square if possible) and get right into the at- mosphere of that Bohemian quarter and make friends in any way possible with the habitues of the studios and those who haunt daily the many cellar cafes. I was successful in obtaining his elec- tion to membership in a well-known club com- posed of socialists, artists, artists' models, maga- zine writers, etc., and then I awaited the result. In about three weeks, I got a rather lengthy letter from him, on somewhat cheap paper, and written with a pencil, the letter being unsealed. He wrote that the first week or two he spent night and day with two writers and an artist's model, all of them having adjoining rooms at their so-called "stu- dio." He had become very much interested in Social- ism, and quite frequently took part in some of the discussions which take place daily in the cafes of the "Polly" type. He was now spending several IO4 Temperament and Sex hours daily in sketching plots for future stories, these plots all being materialized from his observ- ances of scenes that he was daily confronted with; and the daring and bizarre costume balls or "riots" at Webster Hall had given him ideas that he had never previously entertained. He felt he had im- bibed a wealth of novel thoughts that (properly worked out) should interest the average magazine reader. Instead of replying to his note I thought it best to visit him in his new surroundings. I did not advise him of my intention, thinking it best to surprise him. On reaching New York I went direct to the studio on East 4th Street and had to knock on the door several times before there was a response. When he appeared I was dumf ounded ; he was unshaved, wore a black shirt with a long flowing bow-tie under a collar that was a part of the shirt. He had a peculiar shape of a cap on his head and I noted that his fingers were stained with nico- tine. I expressed my astonishment at his appear- ance, but my remarks were cut short by his grasp- ing my hand and shaking it vehemently and then, after kissing my cheek (?) he replied that he was now very much alive. He spoke enthusiastically of the young men and women whom he styled "Comrades," and told me that the day before my visit he had signed a con- tract with a well-known publishing house that Studies 105 meant comparative affluence to him. The fact that life among the Greenwich Villagers is exceedingly stimulating to the nervous temperament and that the sexual nature, tho seemingly hidden, is bub- bling out at all times, and in all places, seemed to have wrought a wondrous change, and given to my friend the very necessary atmosphere for success in his work. No. 3. Female, 32 years of age, for several years a teacher of English and Mathematics in a private school for girls. This school was run by the Moravian Sect, and was noted for its care of its pupils from the worldly standpoint, and for its shielding them from all contact with the out- side world. No dancing was allowed, the habits of the pupils were controlled as "strictly as that of the "rookies" in a military cantonment. A Music- ale was given once a week to which the townspeo- ple were invited. Other than this the girl students were not allowed to mix with or speak to any other person except visiting friends and relatives. The girls took walks en masse every morning and after- noon, but they proceeded in single file with a teacher at the head of the procession and one in the rear. My client had a glorious college record and graduated with the highest honors. This was the only position she had held and although highly thought of by the administrators of the Seminary, 106 Temperament and Sex she herself felt that she was an utter failure. She was positive that in her work she never reached the hearts of her pupils, that her teaching was tire- somely mechanical. She really loved her work and was deeply anxious to make a distinct impression on the scholastic lives of the students, but some- how she felt certain that she accomplished nothing more than what might be styled routine work. I asked her if the particular "convent like" charac- ter of the school had affected her in any way. This she denied, in fact she declared that it suited her temperament in every way for she hated the world at large, and esteemed most males as brutes and libertines. However, she told me she had much higher aspirations and would like to obtain a po- sition in a school that was more fashionable and more cosmopolitan. As she was provided with means, I finally per- suaded her to take a special course in a well-known Western "Co-ed" College and besought her to mix freely with both sexes; to join some of the stu- dent's clubs and in general mix well. This she did and the result was extremely successful in every way. She is now the Principal of an exclusive school for young ladies, and I understand that she insists on, and herself teaches, sex hygiene in its fullest manner. Instead of appearing like the typical "old-maid school ma'am" she has a decided ma- Studies 107 tronly aspect which is an extremely valuable asset to her in the position she holds. The next few "histories" have happened in the course of my own professional labors, and while all were students of music, their experiences can be applied to any of the Arts or Sciences. No. 4. Female, 25, student of the organ and teacher in a local primary school. Was a very ambitious student and she earnestly desired to be- come sufficiently proficient, that she could occupy a responsible position as an organist and music di- rector in a church of some standing. During her first year with me, she made fair progress in the technique of the instrument; in- deed, from a purely mechanical standpoint she was above the average. Her troubles (and mine) be- gan when she was nearing the point when it might be said she was ready to take a position in a small way, at some church where the music and liturgy were not of a very elevated character. Try as I would, I could not get her to put any real life into her music, it was always severely cold and unim- pressionable, notwithstanding the fact that the or- gan contained very many beautiful stops, elegantly voiced, and providing every facility to the player, for contrasts and climaxes. Her treatment of the beautiful themes were characterless, and did not make any direct appeal one way or the other to io8 Temperament and Sex the auditor. Finally, after a particularly difficult lesson, during which I taunted her a little about her absence of musical feeling, she told me she played not as she felt, but as she thought most proper. Her mother's constant advice and re- peated admonition about her avoiding any display of feeling was ever present with her, and she was emphatically told every day that no one calling herself a lady would ever display her own personal feelings, except in absolute privacy. She was told that wickedness and wantonness thus had their birth. To a number of my questions, of a Freudian na- ture, she confessed that during her every-day life she was constantly fighting her natural feelings and impulses. She always felt that through the re- strictions imposed upon her she was depriving her- self of all that was real in life, that life to her was colorless, and that the big things, the vital things, the essential things to true happiness, were not for her to feel and enjoy. Her parents had repeatedly told her that she must not expect to enjoy life in its highest form until she was married, and in the event of her never reaching that state she must be content to live the humdrum life of the average spinster if she wanted to be considered a lady and be respected by her friends and relatives. I had to proceed in a very cautious manner, for I perceived that the parental influence was deeply Studies 109 ingrained in the girl and that, whilst chafing un- der the restraint, she really thought her parents were acting for the best. I sat down at the organ and put all my artistry in a Meditation from a Suite by Borowski and when I had finished I asked her if my playing had impressed her in any way whatever. I was surprised to note tears in her eyes, and in a stammering voice she said that the music had made her tremble and had completely undone her. She said the tears came not from sadness exactly, but because the music had stirred up some of the emotions that she had been taught to stifle. I told her that I had put my deepest feelings into my playing; for soul must be put into the music if we expect to reach the souls of our hearers. I ex- plained that if I had not experienced and enjoyed all the deepest feelings that I could prompt and had endeavored to feel for myself all the finer thoughts and strong emotions, I could never be in a position to conjure up similar feelings in the minds of my hearers. She implored me to guide her aright, so that she could enjoy for herself and transmit to others, true depth of feeling and passion. I told her to take every opportunity of hearing the many tem- peramental Russian violinists and also every form of drama and Grand Opera. I asked her to read Ruskin, Byron and Shakespeare. After a few no Temperament and Sex weeks she told me she was thoroughly enjoying her reading and was trying to feel the inner thoughts of all the music she heard, but she told me that there must be something lacking in her make-up for she never realized the depth of emo- tions properly and so the many climaxes of poems, operas, etc., did not move her as she noticed they moved others. I asked her if she had ever made a study of sex, and in reply she said such matters were strictly for- bidden in her home. I procured a copy of Hugh Northcote's "Christianity and Sex" and asked her to read it at her leisure in my music library, any time she cared to do so, and that she must feel per- fectly free to ask me for a solution of any problem that might arise. I had, later, many talks with her about many of the subjects dwelt upon in North- cote's remarkable work and I rejoiced to note that her previous extreme narrow-mindedness was gradually disappearing, and she spoke enthusiasti- cally of some new "realistic" effects she was trying to procure to illustrate particular climaxes in some of the compositions she had studied with me. About this time her family removed to the western part of the State and I had no further opportunity of knowing her progress in the study of tempera- mental artistry, except that I later heard that she was successfully filling a most responsible musical position in the city in which she was located. Studies in No. 5. Male, 26 years of age. Had been con- sidered a somewhat skilful player on the organ for several years and had filled a few important ap- pointments. He had been attracted with the idea of playing in motion-picture theatres, as the sal- aries are large, and the opportunities for advance- ment are ever present. He had noticed that a large number of prom- inent church organists had entered the "movies," had achieved a large measure of success, and their names were being constantly mentioned. Church organists are seen but once or twice a week and practically play for the same people week after week and year after year, and there are very few opportunities to keep their work before the public at large. In the "movies" a thousand or more people hear the player daily, and there are golden opportunities for impressing large num- bers of human beings at each performance, and when the player is really successful he becomes somewhat of a hero among the "movie" fans and his name frequently becomes a household word in the community. He heard one of my successful players in a prominent theatre, and he was deeply impressed with the clever and impressive manner in which the player interpreted in music the vari- ous climaxes in the drama portrayed on the screen, and he besought me to drill him thoroughly for similar work. I had little trouble with the pre- H2 Temperament and Sex liminary technical work, but I pointed out to him that playing for the silent drama meant that he must at all times be prepared to put himself in the mood of the picture if his playing was to corre- spond artistically to the film. Hate, love, jealousy, tragedy and humor must be "on tap" at all times, and he must understand that he could not be suc- cessful in stirring up passion and emotion in others unless he was able to feel for himself the mood to be expressed. If he could not do this the music would simply be a mechanical accessory and the picture would practically be unadorned. He told me that, outside one lamentable occasion, he had little experience of the world, and practically no knowledge of the passions and impulses of the average human being, man or woman. His life had been carefully sheltered by his parents and they knew how he spent every spare moment. Books he never read, and there had been no hap- pening in his life that was in any way unusual. On his expressing a decided hatred for the fair sex I told him there surely was some reason for it, and he proceeded to tell me of the one disastrous epi- sode of his career. On the occasion of the annual football match of his college with its deadly rival, his own team had won in such a glorious manner that he and a party of friends decided to immediately celebrate the event. Clubs and saloons were visited in rapid Studies n ^ succession, and they decided that the proper way to wind up their orgy would be to resort to a house of ill-fame. They had no trouble in getting a taxi- driver to take them to such a place, and on arriving there each member of the party took to himself one of the inmates for the remainder of the night. This was the very first occasion that he had ever been alone with a girl, except to occasionally take one home from church or some other social function. He had usually avoided them, in order to give all of his time to his professional studies. He confessed that he knew nothing at all about sex matters in general, and that he had had no in- struction whatever along sex lines by his parents. The little he knew was from conversations that he had accidentally overheard. The result of the night in the bawdy house was a most pronounced Gonorrhea. He was alarmed at the symptoms, but as he had not the slightest knowledge of venereal diseases he knew not just what to do. A visit to the family doctor seemed to be quite impossible as the doctor was a very close personal friend of the young man's father. He made a few enquiries, and se- cured the name of a reputable physician in a nearby city, whose treatment of such complaints was pro- nounced eminently successful. After a rather lengthy and strenuous treatment he was considered cured, and he immediately vowed that he would H4 Temperament and Sex have nothing whatever to do with womankind in the future. I explained to him the utter folly of such a resolve, and told him that he should make the acquaintance of the young women in his set, and endeavor to enjoy in them their many beauti- ful qualities and attributes. The evil in women he had experienced (with many regrets) but he had never known the love of, and for, a woman of some attainments and of an attractive personality. At my request he made ap- plication for and was elected 'to membership in the local Country Club which had a very large num- ber of young women taking an active part in its varied diversions. He strenuously attended all the important social events, golf matches, card parties, weekly dances and monthly suppers. I also put him on a course of reading matter that would help him to appre- ciate fully the many good points of true feminine environment. In his case I thought Talmey's "Love" (outside the anatomical portions) would attract him and I knew that as he was a scholar of high ability the large number of Latin quotations would not hinder his following every argument. He told me that the matter of sexual inversions, fellatio, homo-sexuality and kindred subjects, while it filled him with revulsion, the seemingly unhappy condition of the victims of these aberra- tions gripped him to such an extent that he felt Studies 115 that his feelings toward his fellow men, as well as women, had been thoroughly roused and that his mind, instead of being cold and distant toward others, had been considerably broadened, and he felt able to take a decidedly vital interest in all things pertaining to the science of sociology. This was exactly the attitude I had desired, and I gave him Carpenter's "Love's Coming of Age" and asked him to study carefully every chapter. He did, and the result was extremely gratifying. He said that when playing music of an emotional character, and in climaxes of high dramatic power, every atom of feeling in his system seemed to be spent in his interpretations, and he knew that his hearers received the full extent of his renditions. During this period I noted that in all his work with me (after the technical requirements of the piece had been fulfilled) he was filled with the thought of "how much can I put into it, and how much can I get out of it !" Through the favorable introduction of his theatrical employer he pro- cured a most desirable position in a very high class and high priced motion picture theatre in the Mid- dle West and his success has been such that he has repeatedly received very flattering offers from managers of rival theatres. No. 6. Female, 23 years of age. Studying the organ, piano, and theoretical music. Born and n6 Temperament and Sex reared in a small Moravian town in Eastern Pennsylvania. She was of the extremely slow, plodding kind, pursuing all her studies in a some- what laborious manner. Nothing ever seemed to disturb her, and her demeanour, expressions, and attitude were exactly alike from one year to an- other. Sullen, and exceedingly morose at times, she was frequently a very difficult subject to explain important theories to, and my efforts seemed to be- come more and more irksome and finally I had to inform her that my lessons would have to cease as they had no attraction for me whatever, and I could more happily employ my time with some other of the many students on my "waiting" list. The poor girl broke down completely, and asked my for- bearance whilst she told me of her home life and what it meant for her. Her father, now a very prosperous manufacturer of hosiery, owning sev- eral large mills and employing thousands of oper- atives, could, if he would, give her access to all the rightful pleasures that a girl should be allowed to enjoy in the Spring of her life, but she was not al- lowed to go out at all, unless some other member of her own family accompanied her. Concerts, the theatre, social gatherings of all kinds (where both sexes were present) were absolutely forbidden. Young men were allowed to escort her home from church, but on no account were they allowed to enter the home, and the time taken to reach the Studies 117 house from the church was very carefully noted by the mother. No male callers, whatever their social promi- nence, were allowed to come to the house; and con- sequently the girl found that she was usually avoided by her female acquaintances. She told me that when her parents were first married they were comparatively poor (both of them being operators in the local hosiery factory) the first child, a boy, being born a few weeks after the wedding cere- mony. Her father, who was of very steady hab- its, persevered in his efforts to please his employer, and in a few years was appointed Superintendent of the entire plant; and when the owner died, he bought the concern and was now considered the wealthiest man in the community. The first child, born so soon after the wedding ceremony, gave evi- dence of sexual relationship outside the marriage sphere, and their strict treatment of the daughter was evidently meant to try to prevent the possi- bility of the girl encountering a similar temptation. Fortunately the parents had supreme confidence in me, and she was allowed to accompany me to sev- eral interesting concerts and dramatic events. Things got very much worse, however, and the girl developed a typical case of acute melancholia. At my suggestion, the parents consented to her leaving home and entering a well-known Conserv- atory of Music. Both sexes at this institution mix n8 Temperament and Sex freely, especially in the historical lectures and in the choral and orchestral classes, and I fervently hoped for a cheerful outcome. She wrote to me at least once a month and as her first term reached its close I noted a decided improvement in the tone of her letters. She re- lated many humorous events and also some rather risky happenings; and seemingly she was an en- tirely different personage. She spent the Christmas vacation with her parents and was the life and soul of the locality. I had a long talk with her and she explained how some of her fellow students and roommates had stirred her up by talks of temper- ament, character, and sex. They lent her many precious books that explained to her the proper expression of one's natural feelings, and she looked forward to each succeeding day as a fac- tor in acquiring more delightful thoughts and feel- ings. She was looking forward to still greater knowledge of the beautiful in art and nature, and to her, life was now wondrously sweet, and she fairly revelled in her anticipations of what the future held for her with its loves, its passions, and its possibilities for the highest achievements in her art. No. 7. Female, 19 years of age. Elocutionist and monologue artist with a concert company of which I was the musical director. A more temper- Studies 119 amental young woman I have never met, and seem- ingly this very largely accounted for the unusual amount of pathos, and also good humor, which she invariably infused into her concert numbers. She was easily the leading attraction at our "Musi- cales" and she was so wondrously good-natured and congenial, that none of the other artists ever showed the slightest symptom of jealousy over her repeated recalls and successes. Always bubbling over with good humor, she was ever passing witty remarks and playing harmless jokes with whoever she came into contact with. She was the life and soul of the concert company, and she was a God- send to all of us in the frequent tiresome railroad journeys, and the ofttimes long and tedious waits at points of connection. About half way through our schedule I noticed that she had acquired the habit of cigarette smok- ing, and I also noted that she was not averse to drinking alcoholic liquors after the evening con- certs. I might not have given these habits any at- tention at all had she simply done them with the members of our company, or with the person who shared the hotel room with her, but she preferred to find out some "risque" cabaret, and the type of men I frequently saw her with were of the dis- tinctly "sporty" character. For some undefinable reason I felt averse to saying anything to her about her habits, although I certainly had a perfect right I2O Temperament and Sex to do so if I chose, as befitted my position as direc- tor of the company; so I persuaded one of the lady vocalists of our troupe to talk the matter over with her at the first available opportunity. This presented itself the very next day and I was astonished at the result. The singer was told to mind her own business in a very polite but most emphatic way. Towards the end of our tour I was completely prostrated one day to hear from the singer (previously mentioned) that she was quite sure that our fair elocutionist was "en- ciente!" Somehow I had, at times, half thought of such an ending to her habits, but when I was met with it, in fact, I was at a loss to know just what to do. I kept away from her as much as pos- sible during the closing concerts and centered my thoughts on how to approach her about the alarm- ing sequel of events, on our return trip. We re- sided near to one another, in the same city, and I knew that we would be fellow-travellers after the other members of the company had left us at the "transfer" junction. Seated in the Pullman I no- ticed that she was a vastly different girl, now somewhat sullen, and evidently feeling very keenly her impending disgrace. With precaution I brought our conversation around to the girl's con- dition, and I offered my assistance if she thought she would require it. She pretended complete ignorance of what I was talking about and she left Studies 1 2 1 me considerably puzzled at her attitude in the mat- ter. I persisted in my questioning and was re- lieved to note that the girl fully understood my motives, and seemed somewhat cheered by my optimistic remarks. She began, at once, to tell me of her home life previous to her adopting the con- cert stage. Her father was a very heavy drinker but was a jolly good-natured man, and successful in his profession. Their home life jogged along in a peaceful man- ner and the girl had no remembrance of any fam- ily disturbance whatever. Her mother was the president of the local Woman's Temperance Union and also a promi- nent suffragette. She had several outside engage- ments daily that prevented her taking her proper position as director of her home life, and some- times the girl did not see her mother (except at the breakfast period) for days in succession. She had never, at any time, received a word of advice or assistance from either parent. Each seemed to go their own way, irrespective of the other. Menstruation terrified her, and she was deathly afraid of mentioning the matter to her mother. Her mother left all household matters to the care of a maid and the old family nurse, so she naturally failed to observe the usual menstrual stains on the under apparel of the daughter. About this time the girl noticed that her natural feelings 122 Temperament and Sex seemed to be developing and she was able to in- terpret her elocutionary lessons in a manner that frequently brought words of admiration from her tutor. The old nurse, one day, perceived that the girl had reached the stage of puberty, had a long talk with her, appeasing her fright, and tell- ing her that it was a condition every girl had to go through, that there was no danger at all, but rather the girl must have a feeling of pride that she had successfully passed the childhood stage, and must now recognize in herself the full true feelings of womanhood. The nurse's language was some- what crude, but it had the right effect on the girl, and she received further and more satisfactory in- formation from older acquaintances in the months that followed. As regards the sexual life and its characteristics she never at any time received a single word of in- formation from any one. She had her own con- ception as to the manner of child-birth, and in an indirect way she learned that child-bearing was an extremely painful experience for the mother. As to the manner of conception she hadn't the faintest knowledge whatever. Then she told me how she had enjoyed her experience on the concert stage and how it had appealed to her in every way. She said every monologue and recitation was a joy to her and that every word she spoke in public Studies 123 was just a reflection of her own personal feelings, and to that she attributed her success. Then she told me that after the concerts she al- ways felt as though she must "let go" in some man- ner in order to relieve the pent-up emotion that she had portrayed in her delineations, and on her first visit to a noisy "cabaret" she seemed to feel that here was her opportunity for relief, and she fairly revelled in the "sporty" character of the surroundings just as a child does in its strenuous games. Then came one momentous night which finished the "sporty" evenings for all time. On this occasion she had supper (with wine) with one of her male acquaintances, and as the midnight air was exceedingly warm, the man proposed a ride in his car out into the country. The girl eagerly ac- cepted the invitation and she certainly enjoyed the ride, and felt invigorated by the speed of the car with its consequent cooling effect. When some dis- tance out, her escort pulled up at a well-known road-house and explained to the girl that something had gone wrong with the engine, and it would be impossible to go back unless he could find a man at the Inn who could adjust the trouble. The girl, through utter ignorance, had no suspicion what- ever, and willingly agreed to spend the night at the hotel. A room was easily secured, more wine ordered, and that was the last that the girl remem- 124 Temperament and Sex bered. On waking at a late hour the next morning she was considerably astonished to find her friend in the same bed with her, but as she had no re- membrance whatever of the latter portion of the previous evening she presumed that it was all right and felt no compunction whatever. When the man awoke he seemed somewhat nervous and agitated, and immediately asked her if she was happy and she readily answered that she was. She noticed that he seemed to be considerably astonished at her answer, but they breakfasted together with feelings of seemingly good companionship. They reached town in plenty of time for her to catch the train on which the rest of the company were trav- elling, and she was most enthusiastic in her expres- sions to him of her thanks for his entertainment. She thought nothing further of this episode until it dawned upon her that her menstrual periods were no longer in evidence. As she had only slight knowledge of such matters it gave her no concern whatever until she had passed four or five periods without any evidence whatever. She mentioned the matter one day to the lady violinist of our troupe, and the latter, who was evi- dently a lady of experience, immediately ques- tioned the girl closely in regard to her habits, and finally obtained a full account of the events of the night at the road-house. The violinist told the girl in most emphatic terms that her conduct had been Studies 125 most disgraceful in the eyes of the world, and that in a few months she would undoubtedly bear a child, and would therefore be barred from respect- able society. The girl pleaded for the fullest in- formation possible about the matter and was ab- solutely crushed when she fully realized what had happened to her through her indiscretion, and the interview closed with the girl's severe denunciation of her parents not only for their not giving her an opportunity for obtaining true knowledge of sex- ual matters, but also for their neglect to instruct her in a proper control of her ecstatic tempera- ment. I heard some months later that her child was still-born, and that she had taken the veil and entered a Canadian Convent. The following studies are somewhat different, but they teach the same lesson, and are just as use- ful as are the studies of temperament. W. Male, 30 years of age, married five years to a most beautiful (and wealthy) New England woman. W, himself, is quite well-to-do and one of the leaders in the club and social life of New York. Late one Sunday evening while having a quiet sup- per in one of the upper Broadway Cabarets, I was astonished to see him enter in the company of a good looking and attractive young woman. I couldn't place her, and did not remember having 126 Temperament and Sex seen her previously. Although she was dressed in an attractive manner, and her conduct was above reproach, she bore the indelible appearance of the "Kept" woman. I nodded to him, and on my way out I paused at his table, and told him that I wanted him to lunch with me at the Knickerbocker the following noon. He heartily accepted the invitation, and, after a formal introduction to the young lady (whose name I failed to catch) I left the place. The following day, at lunch time, I got to my point without any hesitation and very frankly told him that I had been disagreeably surprised to see him with the girl in question, when he possessed such a queen among women for a wife. He abruptly stopped my remarks and asked me to listen pa- tiently to his tale of woe. Every word he uttered impressed itself upon my memory and I prefer to record his exact phraseology. "My married life has been a veritable Hades for me from the out- set. I had counted so much on it, and had waited a few years before making a final choice. My po- sition in Society gave me a very large field from which I could select a life companion, and when, after much thought, my choice ultimately fell on the woman who is now my wife, I gloried in what the future had in store for me, and felt that my cup of happiness was truly filled to overflowing. Alas I I was utterly mistaken in my happy sur- Studies 127 mises. From the first day of our honeymoon my wife proved to be the most frigid of women, and I was being continually taken to task for my seem- ingly ardent desire for a truly intimate relation- ship. I will tell you of just a few of the daily oc- currences that seemed to incite my wife to out- bursts of anger and indignation. On one occasion, when we were dressing for an evening engagement to dinner at the house of a business friend, I had occasion to go into her boudoir for a moment, and as she seemed so attractive, I placed my hand on her bare shoulder for a moment and whispered to her a few words of endearment, when I was stag- gered to hear her say "Take your hands off my person, do you take me for a fast woman!" On another occasion when we went to the theatre to witness a performance of the famous Russian Bal- let, on arriving home afterwards I felt particularly proud when I remarked to her that whilst the crit- ics had vied with each other in their superlative remarks anent the classic figures of the dancers, I was sure that my own wife possessed a figure su- perior to any of the Ballet. She flamed up im- mediately, and asked me to try to conquer the beastly activities of my nature, and to endeavor to overcome my vulgar tendencies and remarks. Up to this time I had seen no more of my wife's per- son than had any other of her acquaintances. She had insisted from the first day of our marriage 128 Temperament and Sex that intimate relations should be entertained only when she expressed her desire therefor, and that reference to a woman's person in any manner whatever, even though she be your own wife, was to her obscene, and smacked of the Tenderloin! For business reasons I am obliged to be in New York City two or three days each week and through a business friend I met the girl you saw me with at the Cabaret. For some unknown reason the girl attracted me, and I asked for an appointment to meet her again. She readily agreed to my desire and I met her the following evening and took her to Shanley's for dinner. Her sweetness of disposition and her evi- dent wish to please me, led to an evening of such pure enjoyment as I had not known for many years. Finally, after many such meetings, she agreed to become my mistress, and I took special pains in procuring a decidedly quiet and well fur- nished apartment in which (with her) I spend at least 10 days each month. When I get there after a hard day in Wall Street, she has everything ready to make me comfortable and her every word, her every movement and action, is evidently for my happiness and comfort. I cannot say that I am deeply in love with her, but she takes special pains to provide me with all the comforts and priv- ileges that the average man desires above every- thing else. I am filled with happiness and a de- Studies 129 cided feeling of comfort when I am with her, and I am keenly aware that her every thought is for my happiness and satisfaction, mentally, physically and sexually. If my own wife had ever studied my comfort, my happiness, physically and sexually, in the slightest degree whatever, nothing on earth could ever have taken me from her side, and I would have considered myself the happiest man alive 1" I asked my friend where his wife had re- ceived her education and I was told that she had (from the age of puberty) been an inmate of a Convent School in the suburbs of Paris until she was about 20 years of age. Since coming back to this country, rigid laws were strictly enforced to keep her uncontaminated from the world at large. Her acquaintances and friends were chosen for her, and her every movement was known and noted. He knew very well that the attitude of his wife was the result of directions carefully given by the mother and father, who were members of austere New England families. He had tried persuasion, he had even threatened legal separation, but he found that nothing whatever could be done so long as the influence of the father and mother was to be reckoned with. He invited me to his home one evening and I was really charmed with my hostess. Her powers of conversation, and her intimate knowledge of the important happenings of the Temperament and Sex day, were far above what one meets with in the average Society woman. The evening was a memorable one, and she cer- tainly made every possible effort to make me feel at home. After dinner when she joined us in the smoking room I remarked to her that the unusual bric-a-brac and peculiar ornaments on the mantel and on various shelves, provided a thoroughly Bohemian atmosphere to the place, and that even the few pictures in the room were of such an in- tense character that they surely must be the work of an artist of distinct individuality. She said the arrangement of the room was entirely her own idea, and that she was the artist whose work I had admired. She went on to say that she wanted at least one room in the house where she could read, sew, or think, during her husband's many long ab- sences, and which would effectively remind her of the very happiest period of her life. My friend (the husband) seemed considerably astonished at the latter remark, and I beseeched my hostess for further particulars which she will- ingly gave. It seems she had quit the convent some two years previous to informing her parents. She knew the strict Puritanical life she would have to lead on her return to America, so, along with a friendly school mate, she opened a studio right in the heart of the so-called Latin Quarter in Paris, and in addition to applying herself to painting un- Studies der a fully qualified teacher, they also entered the inner circle of the students, and tasted all the joys of student life with its masked balls and other mad delights, and she was only too sorry when she was obliged to return home. During these two years the parents were under the impression that she was still at the Convent, and the mail sent to her there was cleverly interpolated and delivered to the studio by one of the teachers at the Convent whom she had assisted quite frequently in a financial way. After spending a very pleasant evening I bid my hostess "good-night" and asked the husband to look me up at my studio the next afternoon as I had some very interesting matters to lay before him. When he came the following day I told him that the cure for his present unhappy marital con- dition was in his own hands. His wife had said that the two years free living in Paris were the happiest years of her life. I told him to rent (or buy) and furnish in a fitting manner a studio in (or near) Washington Square, and spend a few evenings each week there with his wife. This was done within the next few days, the woman entering into the spirit of the new venture with all the joy of a child with a new toy. Her parents were not in- formed of the departure and there was very little chance of their hearing of it. I introduced the couple to a club and also joined them in several dinner parties at some of the basement restaurants. 132 Temperament and Sex They both became very popular and hardly a week passed that they did not have at least one "party," and the wife was as noisy as any of the Ultra-Bohemians who attended. The studio be- came a veritable haven for writers, artists, etc., and the hostess proved to be a friend indeed to many unsuccessful and needy scribes. I haven't seen or heard of them for some time but I know they still have the studio, and in addition are the parents of two adorable children. V. 28 years of age. Had an unusual record at Princeton University, and later took a lengthy course in Theology. It was his intention to enter the Presbyterian ministry, and all his studies were undertaken with that object. A bad attack of bronchitis occurred shortly after his graduation from the school of Theology, and there were symptoms of tubercular trouble. He had already received a call to a fashionable Pittsburgh church and had planned to accept the invitation. There was a family consultation attended by the physicians, and it was ultimately decided that the young man should spend a year on a ranch in Cali- fornia, which was owned and managed by a near relative. Every one seemed perfectly satisfied that it was the proper thing to do, except the young man's fiancee. She was a girl of the "torn-boy" order, full of Studies '33 animal spirits, excelling in out door sports and was the life of her social circle. It had previously been arranged that when the young man accepted his first call, the wedding would immediately follow, so it was natural that she should be chagrined and disappointed at the possible lengthy postponement of her wedding day. However, he left immedi- ately for the West and recuperated rapidly. The small town near the ranch was a typical old-fash- ioned Moravian settlement. The population clung to the old style doctrines and tenets of the United Brethren church. There were no saloons, no dance halls, no theatres (not even a "movie") and every day life was exceedingly commonplace and possessed no attraction for visitors. The young man became absorbed in the study of the sect, and found in its teachings and attitude to the world the deepest satisfaction. He entered one of the theological seminaries and graduated with all the diplomas and necessary passports to the Moravian pulpit. On account of his high standing in all his scholastic experiences he had no trouble in obtaining a pastorate in one of the most influen- tial churches in California. His parents were ad- vised of his step, and he wrote to his sweetheart telling her to make preparations for her marriage. The wedding took place, and he immediately be- came very active with his ministerial duties and proved to be a very influential man in matters of 134 Temperament and Sex citizenship also. I did not hear anything further of him for more than a year, when on meeting his mother one day and naturally enquiring as to his health and progress, I was staggered when she told me that he was distracted and slightly de- ranged mentally on account of his wife having left him without any word whatever, and although he had hired private detectives, and had informed the police of all the nearby towns and hamlets, not a trace of her was apparent, and he had come to the conclusion that she must have been murdered and the body thrown in the river, or else wandered into the nearby forests and become lost. A country- wide search was made without any result. The sequel to this story is one of the most painful epi- sodes I have ever known and I really find it ex- ceedingly difficult to describe it. Whilst on a visit to New York City one July, he was standing near the entrance of the Knickerbocker Hotel late one night, oppressed with the intense humidity, and striving to cool off a little before retiring to his room. As is usual at a late hour, many painted "street-walkers" were in evidence, and he was shocked when one deliberately winked at him and gave a sign of encouragement, and on looking at her more closely, he was startled at the woman's resemblance to his wife. Shorn of her powder and paint and alluring costume she was the exact personification of the wife he had been seeking. Studies 135 At once he followed, and speedily caught up with her. He proceeded cautiously and finally made an engagement with her for the following evening. On returning to the Hotel he enquired of the desk clerk if he knew anything about the house and was shocked to hear that it was one of the best patronized "sporting" houses in the vicinity, and the clerk told him that the most popu- lar of the prostitutes was a girl from the Westl The young man's physical condition on the follow- ing day was pitiful, several times he was tempted to go to the bar and have a good drink of brandy or whiskey to help him bear up under what he knew was going to be a painful ordeal. Precisely at the time appointed he rang the bell at the ad- dress given him and was shown by a colored at- tendant into a room where a number of women were assembled, evidently waiting for "trade." All of them were practically undressed save for an elaborate kimono. The girl he took for his wife was on the floor playing solitaire. He addressed her by name and she at once acknowledged that she was the person who formerly had been his wife. Stirred to the depths he furiously exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" She was exceedingly cool to him and asked him to be seated whilst she related to him her reasons for leaving him. "When I married you I loved you as deeply 136 Temperament and Sex and as truly as any man has ever been loved by a woman. I felt prepared to go through anything and endure anything for love of you. Alas ! from the day I entered the home you had prepared for me, I realized that my life with you would prac- tically amount to imprisonment. You knew my high spirits, my desire for the good and proper things in life, my love of outdoor sports, and my joy in following the daily events in my town, state, and country. I was told that it was ungodly to participate in golf, gymnastic exercises, skating, dancing, etc. I was forbidden to read anything at all except religious weeklies, tracts and the Bible. The friends I chose were forbidden the house be- cause they were not of your sect. "I had to rise at a very early hour, and also to retire before 9 o'clock. There were family prayers morning, noon and night. When I asked why you had not sought sexual relationship with me, you said such things were immoral ( !) among the pious; it was only the lower order of people who desired such things, except where children were desired which was not the case with you. Do you wonder that I left you and your despicable mode of life? I came to New York and looked up one of my school chums, found that she was living a life of luxury and ease in a most handsome apart- ment as the mistress of a prominent Wall Street broker. I floundered about for a time and at last Studies 137 yielded to a man I had become acquainted with through my friend. "The happiest days of my life were spent with him, and I am eagerly awaiting his release from prison, where he was sent for violation of the Mann act. The day he is free I shall return to him, and I am reasonably sure that I shall once more enjoy his comradeship. Now as for you, you can go to Hell! and I wish the rest of your church there also. If you came on business, my price is $5.00, and I am ready to go upstairs if you so desire." The result of the girl's statement was a fainting fit on the part of the man, three days later apoplexy, and the remainder of his life will be spent in a sanitarium. VII EPILOGUE MY present task is ended. I wish I could have talked of my subjects in a more fa- miliar fashion; I'm sure if I was allowed that privilege that I could secure more converts to my life's work. There are a great many episodes in sex education still to be properly unearthed and placed in a proper light, and I have myself so much to say about these problems that might not be allowed in such a volume as this. Perhaps at a later date I may feel the incentive to go deeper into the problems of the matter of sex education, but I must await the opportune time and until then be content with this and my few previous volumes. Day after day I am confrpnted with the fact that the every-day father and mother, teacher and ped- agogue, minister and priest, in their teaching of the young, endeavor to take away, and forbid ab- solutely any and every expression of natural God- given feelings, and insist that the pupil shall strictly observe the symbolic laws and the dictates of conventionality. In this manner it follows that the youth of either sex must absolutely sever his 138 Epilogue 139 connection with real life and living things, and must fashion his or her ways after the manner of the feelings and impulses of others. And so, when we are placed in a position to receive and enjoy attractive impulses and charming conceptions; when we are brought face to face with fanciful idylls and lustrous highly-wrought poetical ideals, we are obliged to lose them, and in consequence we at length fail to perceive them because we have had our natural senses and perceptions stifled, and we finally fail to notice the positive existence of all that is most beautiful and enthralling. The properly allowed exercise of the senses is at all times nourishing and promotes definite growth in every individuality. Everybody, at some time, with some people, will discuss matters of sex, but nothing ever comes of it, and very rarely is any one in any way benefited thereby because the mother will withhold it from the daughter, the father from the son, and the teacher from the pupil. It is something which is evident at all times, everywhere ; and yet to the open world is still held as a secret. In society circles it is whispered, and in some educational gatherings it is occasionally mentioned, but to speak of it openly is considered at all times a vile procedure, and it is classed by church and state as immoral. We lock our doors and then discuss it, husband with the wife, girls 140 Temperament and Sex and boys in secret corners, but it is considered far from decorous for an adult man or woman to talk over its problems with a friend. What is con- sidered chaste and perhaps necessitous to speak about to a near one, is flouted as decidedly disso- lute when addressed to a student or pupil. I have talked with and known several ascetical people who have vehemently exclaimed that the universe will never be holy nor will existence ever be spirit- ually perfect until the inhabitants thereof are sex- less! If there is anything at all in the world that requires sedulous cultivation and much more en- lightenment it is the domain of sex. The entire universe has always been and always will be sex, from the time of the Phallic worshippers to the present day. It is the holiest and most complete of the emotions, and the one most competent to ennoble and exalt the mind. It is the life of Art on canvas, it is the divine inspiration to music, and it is the soul and leading motive in all poetry. There can be no greatness in any form of art which ignores sex. Sex is the protoplasm which guides the sailor, incites the soldier, and accompanies the laborer through his daily toil ; it is the motive power which guides the world and influences for good every- thing with which it comes in contact. Through the sexual manifestations the Divine Being himself proves his exaltedness and grandeur. The man- Epilogue 141 ner of dress of the modern woman bespeaks sex, and on very numerous occasions over-accentuates it, and it becomes in a most emphatic manner a clear showing of immorality. There is real Art in the satisfactory costuming of a woman, and the real "Modiste" must be artistic in a very high degree; but there is a greater Art in knowing just how to wear the costume. A vast number of our leaders in fashion know no restraint whatever in the matter of suitable and equitable wearing apparel. Many of them are leaders in beneficial movements, society, and even of the church; but they copy and display the latest outlandish Parisian suggestions, usually molded by the exclusive demi-mondaine, and they refuse to acknowledge that they are in the slightest degree inciting wrongful sexual passions and invitations. I do not entirely agree with Froude when he re- peatedly states most emphatically that "sexual equivalents can be readily observed at all times in every form of human action and in every manifes- tation of human energy." This idea is altogether too fanciful; but I certainly would say that where Art is real, where there are effective interpreta- tions in speech or song which visibly affect the viewers or auditors, where multitudes are im- pressed by speech, song, or gesture, there must undoubtedly be some form of the sexual element present not only in the speaker, singer or artist, 142 Temperament and Sex but also in the heart and mind of the person re- ceiving the impression. I like the last statement of Dr. Robie in the in- troduction to his "Rational Sex Ethics" ; he says : "The only course which can lead to the greatest personal happiness and the greatest public good, is for all educated people to first fully inform themselves in matters of sex and then so advise and fully instruct the young people of both sexes." Bishop Agardh in a famous statement said "It is tempting God, if we, as the Pharisees and the Apostles, make the way to Heaven so hard to travel that the obstacles cannot be removed by the strength we have received from Him; but allow despair and despondency to force us to succumb. Belief in the truth of religion must be weakened in this case, as it stands in evident opposition to human nature with its noble, yet innocent tenden- cies. When man chooses between the truth in nature, which speaks to us in (and through) everything; and that of religion with its mysteries and multitude of doctrines one must finally be- lieve in the former and ultimately deny the latter if we are to receive any measure of happiness in this world and believe in a future beatific state." Many writers with theological tendencies speak in high terms of praise of the created world and nature in general, and yet they speak of the method Epilogue 1 43 of procreation (with its natural sexual gratifica- tion) as a curse to mankind and womankind; they are heartily ashamed of its necessity, and strenuously avoid any reference to it in any manner whatsoever, except when they have choice phrases of condemnation. Many so-called classic volumes have appeared along these pseudo-dogmatic outlines. Infidelity, perversions, etc., have been stigmatized and branded as the curse of the nations, and that any people giving way to sexual orgies and fast living are doomed, and decay is inevitable. And yet these very learned men have never at- tempted to teach us the rightful and proper use of our God-given sexual impulses and desires; their only course has been to utterly condemn all forms of sexual manifestations anywhere and at any time, and to proclaim the life of asceticism and absti- nence as the only one that will ultimately be fa- vorably received by the Almighty. It is not neces- sary to be an ascetic in order to live a life of no- bility and be considered a useful member of so- ciety. If we can be thoroughly happy in utilizing in a proper matter the natural functions of our bodies, we would be very foolish to refuse that happiness under the impression that we would be jeopardizing our chances of a place in the life everlasting. The man who works, who sings, who enjoys every moment of his daily existence, who 144 Temperament and Sex radiates good will to every one he comes in con- tact with, is the man who fully appreciates what is really and truly beautiful and beneficial, and who is devoutly thankful for being the possessor of the greatest natural impulses in human life, and who unhesitatingly enjoys in the fullest measure every opportunity of fulfilling the proper exercise of every natural sense and human feeling, that his Creator has blessed him with. Each returning spring and summer is the tri- umphal song of sex. The oak from the acorn, the flower from the bulb, and the grain from the seed form a mighty Pasan of birth, and birth is merely sex, and there can be no manifestation more su- perbly Divine. When men and women cease to barter sex, when it is truly honored and all its ob- servances fittingly acknowledged and gloriously exulted in, then will each sex have a respectful re- gard and high esteem for each other in all races and in all climes, and under every possible condi- tion. There are seemingly insurmountable diffi- culties to be overcome by the way, and if this little volume has helped in any manner to the solution of one or more of them, my task will not have been in vain. Criticism there will, and must be; we must all suffer adverse and at times unjust criti- cism whilst we are alive, if we are to be considered right after we have passed away. Ill A 000 033 934