Plain Facts for Old and Young

Quacks.—The victims of self-abuse fall an easy prey to the hordes of harpies, fiends in human shape, who are ready at every turn to make capital out of their misfortunes. From no other class of persons do quacks and charlatans derive so rich a harvest as from these erring ones. It is not uncommon to find a man suffering from seminal weakness who has paid to sundry parties hundreds of dollars for "specifics" which they advertised as "sure cures." We have seen and treated scores of these patients, but never yet met a single case that had received benefit from patent medicines.

The newspapers are full of the advertisements of these heartless villains. They advertise under the guise of "clergymen," charitable institutions, "cured invalids," and similar pretenses. Usually they offer for sale some pill or mixture which will be a sure cure, in proof of which they cite the testimonials of numerous individuals who never lived, or, at least, never saw either them or their filthy compounds; or, they promise to send free a recipe which will be a certain cure. Here is a specimen recipe which was sent by a "reverend" gentleman who claims to be a returned missionary from South America so intent on doing good that he charges nothing for his invaluable information:—

Along with the recipe comes the suggestion that the druggist may not be able to furnish all the ingredients in a perfectly pure state, and so, for the accommodation of suffering humanity, this noble philanthropist has taken infinite pains to secure them direct from South America, and has them put up in neat little packages which he will send, post-paid, for the trifle of $3.50, just one cent less than actual cost. Then he tells what purports to be the history of his own nastiness, with a generous spicing of pious cant, and closes with a benediction on all who have fallen into the same slough, and especially those who will send for his fabulous foreign weeds to help them out.

Another trap set is called an "Anatomical Museum." The anatomical part of the exhibition consists chiefly of models and figures calculated to excite the passions to the highest pitch. At stated intervals the proprietor, who is always a "doctor," and by preference a German, delivers lectures on the effects of masturbation, in which he resorts to every device to excite the fears and exaggerate the symptoms of his hearers, who are mostly young men and boys. Thus he prepares his victim, and when he once gets him within his clutches, he does not let him go until he has robbed him of his last dollar.

Closing Advice.—We cannot finish this chapter without a few closing words of advice to those who are suffering in any way from the results of sexual transgression. We are especially anxious to call attention to a few points of practical and vital interest to all who are suffering in the manner indicated.

1. Give the matter prompt attention. Do not delay to adopt curative measures under the delusive idea that the difficulty will disappear of itself. Thousands have procrastinated in this way until their constitutions have been so hopelessly undermined as to make treatment of little value. The intrinsic tendency of this disease is to continue to increase. It progresses only in one direction. It never "gets well of itself," as some have imagined that it may do. Something must be done to effect a cure; and the longer treatment is delayed, the more difficult the case will become.

3. Avoid watching for symptoms. Ills are greatly exaggerated by dwelling upon them. One can easily imagine himself getting worse when he is really getting better. Indeed, one can make himself sick by dwelling upon insignificant symptoms. Fix upon a course to pursue for recovery, firmly resolve to comply with every requirement necessary to insure success, and then let the mind be entirely at rest respecting the result.

4. Never consult a quack. The newspapers abound with lying advertisements of remedies for diseases of this character. Do not waste time and money in corresponding with the ignorant, unprincipled charlatans who make such false pretensions. Do not consult traveling doctors. Physicians of real merit have plenty of business at home. They are not obliged to go abroad in order to secure practice. Persons who resort to this course are, without exception, pretentious quacks. Consult only some well-known and reliable physician in whom you have confidence. If your physician treats the matter lightly, and advises marriage as a means of cure, you will not judge him harshly if you decide that although he may be thoroughly competent to treat other diseases, he is ignorant of the nature and proper treatment of this. It is an unfortunate fact that there are many physicians who are not thoroughly acquainted with the nature of spermatorrhoea and the proper mode of treating the disease; hence the importance of making a judicious selection in choosing a medical adviser. If possible, employ one whom you know to have treated successfully numerous similar cases, and give him your entire confidence. It is far better to consult your family physician than to trust yourself in the hands of some one whom you do not know, and especially one who makes great pretensions to knowledge.

Boys, this chapter is for you. It is written and printed purposely for you. If you do not read another word in the book, read these few pages if you are old enough to do so. Read each line carefully and thoughtfully. You may not find anything to make you laugh—possibly you may: but you will be certain to find something of almost inestimable value to you in every line.

Who are Boys?—Boys are scarce now-a-days. In the days of Methuselah, male human beings were still boys when nearly a century old; twenty-five years ago boys were still such until well out of their "teens"; now the interval between infancy and the age at which the boy becomes a young man is so brief that boyhood is almost a thing of the past. The happy period of care-free, joyous innocence which formerly intervened between childhood and early manhood is now almost unobservable. Boys grow old too fast. They learn to imitate the vices and the manners of their seniors before they reach their teens, and are impatient to be counted as men, no matter how great may be their deficiencies, their unfitness for the important duties and responsibilities of life. The consequence of this inordinate haste and impatience to be old, is premature decay. Unfortunately the general tendency of the young members of the rising generation is to copy the vices of their elders, rather than the virtues of true manliness. A strong evidence of this fact, if there were no other, is the unnaturally old-looking faces which so many of our boys present. At the present time the average boy of twelve knows more of vice and sin than the youth of twenty of the past generation.

What are Boys for?—This question was answered with exact truthfulness by a little boy, who, when contemptuously accosted by a man with the remark, "What are you good for?" replied, "Men are made of such as we." Boys are the beginnings of men. They sustain the same relation to men that the buds do to full-blown flowers. They are still more like the small green apples which first appear when the blossoms drop from the branches, compared with the ripe, luscious fruit which in autumn bends the heavy-laden boughs almost to breaking. Often, like the young apples, boys are green; but this is only natural, and should be considered no disgrace to the boys. If they grow up naturally they will ripen with age, like the fruit, developing at each successive stage of life additional attractions and excellent qualities.

Boys the Hope of the World.—A nation's most valuable property is its boys. A nation which has poor, weakly, vicious boys will have still weaker, more vicious and untrustworthy men. A country with noble, virtuous, vigorous boys, is equally sure of having noble, pious, brave, and energetic men. Whatever debases, contaminates, or in any way injures the boys of a country, saps and undermines the very foundation of the nation's strength and greatness. Save the boys from vice and crime, give them good training, physically, mentally, and morally, and the prosperity of the nation is assured.

Man the Masterpiece.—When a skillful artist perfects a work of art, a painting, a drawing, a statue, or some other work requiring great talent and exceeding all his other efforts, it is called his masterpiece. So man is the noblest work of God, the masterpiece of the Almighty. Numerous anecdotes are told of the sagacity of dogs, horses, elephants and other animals, of their intelligence and ingenious devices in overcoming obstacles, avoiding difficulties, etc. Our admiration and wonder are often excited by the scarcely less than human wisdom shown by these lowly brothers of the human race. We call them noble animals; but they are only noble brutes, at best. Compared with man, even in his most humble form, as seen in the wild savage that hunts and devours his prey like a wild beast, a lion or a tiger, they are immeasurably inferior. And in his highest development, man civilized, cultivated, Christianized, learned, generous, pious, certainly stands at the head of all created things.

How a Noble Character is Ruined.—A noble character is formed by the development of the good qualities of an individual. A bad character is formed by the development of bad traits, or evil propensities. In other words, sin is the cause of the demoralization of character, the debasing of the mind, the loss of nobility of which we see so much around us in the world. Sin is the transgression of some law. There are two kinds of sins: those which are transgressions of the moral law, and those which are transgressions of physical laws. Both classes of sins are followed by penalties. If a person violates the laws of health, he is just as certain to suffer as though he tells a falsehood, steals, murders, or commits any other crime. Perfect obedience to all of nature's laws, including of course all moral laws, is necessary to perfect health and perfect nobleness of character. The nature of these laws and the results of transgression will be understood after we have taken a hasty glance at

The Marvelous Human Machine which we call the body. All the inventions and devices ever constructed by the human hand or conceived by the human mind, no matter how delicate, how intricate and complicated, are simple, childish toys compared with that most marvelously wrought mechanism, the human body. Let us proceed to take this wonderful machine in pieces and study its various parts and the manner in which they are put together.

The Two Objects of Human Existence.—The objects of this wonderfully formed mechanism are two: 1. The maintenance of an individual life; 2. The production of similar individuals which shall also have the power of maintaining individual lives. The same may be said of every plant that grows, and every animal. Each tree, plant, and shrub has some useful service to perform while it lives, in addition to the production of seed from which other plants may grow. For example, the object of the majestic oak which towers high and broadly spreads its leafy branches is not to produce acorns merely, but to give place for birds to build their nests, to present an inviting shade for cattle, and to afford protection in a variety of ways to numerous living creatures which need such aid. The same may be said of all vegetable growths, each particular plant having its peculiar purposes to fulfill, and all together acting as purifiers of the air for the benefit of man and lower animals.

In order that an individual human being may live and develop, it is necessary that he should eat, drink, digest, and assimilate, and that he should be able to move about, to perceive,—that is, to hear, see, feel, smell, taste, determine weight and distinguish temperature,—to think, and to express ideas in language. In order to keep his vital machinery in order, it is necessary that the body should also be able to repair injuries which may occur in consequence of wear or accident, and to remove out of the way wornout material which would otherwise obstruct the working of the delicate machinery of which his body is constructed. Each of these functions requires special organs and apparatuses to carry on the work; and these we will now briefly consider:—

The Nutritive Apparatus.—This consists of organs for the purpose of taking in food or nourishment, digesting it, and distributing it throughout the body wherever it is needed. These are chiefly the mouth and teeth for receiving and chewing the food, the stomach and intestines for digesting and absorbing it, and the heart and blood-vessels for distributing it to the body.

The Moving Apparatus.—For the purpose of producing motion, we have the muscles and the bones, by which the food is received, masticated, and swallowed, the blood circulated, the body moved about from place to place, and speech, expression, respiration, and many other important functions performed.

The Thinking and Feeling Apparatus.—The brain and nerves afford the means of thinking and feeling, also giving rise to all the activities of the body by the production of nerve force. To aid the brain and nerves, we have special organs provided, termed the organs of special sense; as the eye for sight, the ear for hearing, the nose for the detection of odors, the tongue for tasting, the skin and the mucous membrane for the sense of touch.

The Purifying Apparatus.—Waste matter accumulates in the body so rapidly that it is necessary to have abundant and efficient means to remove the same, and prevent death by obstruction. This work is performed by the lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, and mucous membrane.

The Reproductive Apparatus.—As there is a stomach to digest, a brain to think, a pair of lungs to breathe, etc., so there are special organs for reproducing the species or producing new individuals. These organs have been carefully described in the preceding portion of this volume, so that we do not need to repeat the description here. Unlike all the other organs of the body, they are intended for use only after full development or manhood has been attained; consequently, they are only partially developed in childhood, becoming perfected as the person becomes older, especially after about the age of fourteen to eighteen, when puberty occurs. The lungs, the stomach, the muscles, and other organs must be used constantly from the earliest period of infancy, hence they are developed sufficiently for efficient use at birth. The fact that the sexual or reproductive organs are only fully developed later on in life, is sufficient evidence that they are intended for use only when the body has become fully mature and well developed.

How a Noble Character and a Sound Body Must Be Formed.—By obeying all the laws which relate to the healthy action of the body and the mind, a noble character and a healthy body may be formed. Any deviation from right will be sure to be followed by suffering. A boy who carefully heeds the advice of good and wise parents, who avoids bad company, who never indulges in bad habits of any sort, who cultivates purity, honesty, and manliness, is certain to grow up into a noble, lovely youth, and to become an intelligent, respected, virtuous man.

The Down-Hill Road.—In every large city, and in small ones too, even in little villages, we can scarcely step upon the street without being pained at meeting little boys who have perhaps scarcely learned to speak distinctly, but whose faces show very plainly that they have already taken several steps down the steep hillside of vice. All degrees of wickedness are pictured on the faces of a large proportion of the boys we meet upon the streets, loitering about the corners, loafing in hotels, groceries, and about bar-room doors. Everywhere we meet small faces upon which sin and vice are as clearly written as though the words were actually spelled out. Lying, swearing, smoking, petty stealing, and brazen impudence are among the vices which contaminate thousands and thousands of the boys who are by-and-by to become the men of this country, to constitute its legislators, its educators, its supporters, and its protectors. Is it possible that such boys can become good, useful, noble, trustworthy men? Scarcely. If the seeds of noxious weeds can be made to produce useful plants or beautiful flowers, or if a barren, worthless shrub can be made to bear luscious fruit, then may we expect to see these vicious boys grow up into virtuous, useful men.

Self-Abuse.—Secret vice, masturbation, and self-pollution are other names applied to this same awful sin against nature and against God. We shall not explain here the exact nature of the sin, as very few boys are so ignorant or so innocent as to be unacquainted with it. To this sin and its awful consequences we now wish to call the attention of all who may read these lines.

A Dreadful Sin.—The sin of self-pollution is one of the vilest, the basest, and the most degrading that a human being can commit. It is worse than beastly. Those who commit it place themselves far below the meanest brute that breathes. The most loathsome reptile, rolling in the slush and slime of its stagnant pool, would not bemean itself thus. It is true that monkeys sometimes have the habit, but only when they have been taught it by vile men or boys. A boy who is thus guilty ought to be ashamed to look into the eyes of an honest dog. Such a boy naturally shuns the company of those who are pure and innocent. He cannot look with assurance into his mother's face. It is difficult for any one to catch his eye, even for a few seconds. He feels his guilt and acts it out, thus making it known to every one. Let such a boy think how he must appear in the eyes of the Almighty. Let him only think of the angels, pure, innocent, and holy, who are eye-witnesses of his shameful practices. Is not the thought appalling? Would he dare commit such a sin in the presence of his father, his mother, or his sisters? No, indeed. How, then, will he dare to defile himself in the presence of Him from whose all-seeing eye nothing is hid?

The Bible utters the most solemn warnings against sexual sins. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone for such transgressions. Onan was struck dead in the act of committing a vileness of this sort. For similar vices the wicked inhabitants of Palestine were destroyed, and their lands given to the Hebrews. For a single violation of the seventh commandment, one of the most notable Bible characters, David, suffered to the day of his death. Those who imagine that this sin is not a transgression of the seventh commandment may be assured that this most heinous, revolting, and unnatural vice is in every respect more pernicious, more debasing, and more immoral than what is generally considered as violation of the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and is itself a most flagrant violation of the same commandment.

Self-Murderers.—Of all the vices to which human beings are addicted, no other so rapidly undermines the constitution and so certainly makes a complete wreck of an individual as this, especially when the habit is begun at an early age. It wastes the most precious part of the blood, uses up the vital forces, and finally leaves the poor victim a most utterly ruined and loathsome object. If a boy should be deprived of both hands and feet and should lose his eyesight, he would still be infinitely better off than the boy who for years gives himself up to the gratification of lust in secret vice. For such a boy to become a strong, vigorous man is just as impossible as it would be to make a mammoth tree out of a currant bush. Such a man will necessarily be short-lived. He will always suffer from the effects of his folly, even though he shall marry. If he has children—he may become incapable—they will be quite certain to be puny, weak, scrofulous, consumptive, rickety, nervous, depraved in body and mind, or otherwise deprived of the happiness which grows out of the possession of "a sound mind in a sound body."

Let us notice a little more closely the terrible effects resulting from this most unnatural and abominable vice.

What Makes Boys Dwarfs.—How many times have we seen boys who were born with good constitutions, with force and stamina sufficient to develop them into large, vigorous men, become puny dwarfs. At the time when they ought to begin to grow and develop more rapidly than ever before, their growth is checked and they cease to develop. They are, in fact, stunted, dwarfed, like a plant which has a canker-worm eating away at its roots. Indeed, there is a veritable canker-worm sapping their vitality, undermining their constitutions, and destroying their prospects for time and for eternity. Anxious friends may attribute the unhappy change to overwork, overstudy, or some similar cause; but from a somewhat extended observation we are thoroughly convinced that the very vice which we are considering is the viper which blights the prospects and poisons the existence of many of these promising boys.

Scrawny, Hollow-Eyed Boys.—Boys ought to be fresh and vigorous as little lambs. They ought to be plump, rosy, bright-eyed, and sprightly. A boy who is pale, scrawny, hollow-eyed, dull, listless, has something the matter with him. Self-abuse makes thousands of just such boys every year; and it is just such boys that make vicious, shiftless, haggard, unhappy men. This horrible vice steals away the health and vitality which are needed to develop the body and the mind; and the lad that ought to make his mark in the world, that ought to become a distinguished statesman, orator, clergyman, physician, or author, becomes little more than a living animal, a mere shadow of what he ought to have been.

Old Boys.—Often have we felt sad when we have heard fond mothers speaking in glowing terms of the old ways of their sons, and rather glorying that they looked so much older than they were. In nine cases out of ten these old-looking boys owe their appearance to this vile habit; for it is exceedingly common, and its dreadful effects in shriveling and dwarfing and destroying the human form are too plainly perceptible, when present, to be mistaken. Oh! this dreadful curse! Why will so many of our bright, innocent boys pollute themselves with it!

What Makes Idiots.—Reader, have you ever seen an idiot? If you have, the hideous picture will never be dissipated from your memory. The vacant stare, the drooping, drooling mouth, the unsteady gait, the sensual look, the emptiness of mind,—all these you will well remember. Did you ever stop to think how idiots are made? It is by this very vice that the ranks of these poor daft mortals are being recruited every day. Every visitor to an insane asylum sees scores of them; ruined in mind and body, only the semblance of a human being, bereft of sense, lower than a beast in many respects, a human being hopelessly lost to himself and to the world!—oh, most terrible thought!—yet once pure, intelligent, active, perhaps the hope of a fond mother, the pride of a doting father, and possibly possessed of natural ability to become greatly distinguished in some of the many noble and useful walks of life; now sunk below the brute through the degrading, destroying influence of a lustful gratification.

Young Dyspeptics.—If we leave out of the consideration the effects of bad food and worse cookery, there is in our estimation no other cause so active in occasioning the early breaking down of the digestive organs of our American boys. A boy of ten or twelve years of age ought to have a stomach capable of digesting anything not absolutely indigestible; but there are to-day thousands and thousands of boys of that age whose stomachs are so impaired as to be incapable of digesting any but the most simple food. The digestion being ruined, the teeth soon follow suit. Hardly one boy in a dozen has perfectly sound teeth. With a bad stomach and bad teeth, a foundation for disease is laid which is sure to result in early decay of the whole body.

Upon their tombstones might justly be graven, "Here lies a self-murderer." Providence is not to blame; nor is climate, weather, overwork, overstudy, or any other even seemingly plausible cause, to be blamed. Their own sins have sunk them in mental, moral, and physical perdition. Such a victim literally dies by his own hand, a veritable suicide. Appalling thought! It is a grand thing to die for one's principles, a martyr to his love of right and truth. One may die blameless who is the victim of some dire contagious malady which he could not avoid; even the poor, downcast misanthrope whose hopes are blighted and whose sorrows multiplied, may possibly be in some degree excused for wishing to end his misery with his life; but the wretched being who sheds his life-blood by the disgusting maneuvers of self-pollution—what can be said to extenuate his guilt? His is a double crime. Let him pass from the memory of his fellow-men. He will perish, overwhelmed with his own vileness. Let him die, and return to the dust from which he sprang.

The Race Ruined by Boys.—The human race is growing steadily weaker year by year. The boys of to-day would be no match in physical strength for the sturdy youths of a century ago who are now their grandparents. An immense amount of skillful training enables now and then one to accomplish some wonderful feat of walking, rowing, or swimming, but we hear very little of remarkable feats of labor accomplished by our modern boys. Even the country boys of to-day cannot endure the hard work which their fathers accomplished at the same age; and we doubt not that this growing physical weakness is one of the reasons why so large a share of the boys whose fathers are farmers, and who have been reared on farms, are unwilling to follow the occupation of their fathers for a livelihood. They are too weakly to do the work required by an agricultural life, even by the aid of the numerous labor-saving inventions of the age.

What is it that is undermining the health of the race and sapping the constitutions of our American men? No doubt much may be attributed to the unnatural refinements of civilization in several directions; but there can be no doubt that vice is the most active cause of all. Secret sin and its kindred vices yearly ruin more constitutions than hard work, severe study, hunger, cold, privation, and disease combined.

Cases Illustrating the Effects of Self-Abuse.—The land is full of poor human wrecks who have dashed in pieces their hopes for this world, and too often for the next also, against this hideous rock which lies hidden in the pathway of every young man who starts out upon life's stormy voyage. Gladly would we draw the veil and cover them with all their dreadful deformities with the mantle of charity from the gaze of their fellow-beings; but their number is so great that this could scarcely be done, and the lesson to be learned from their sad fate is such a grave one, and so needful for the good of the generation of young men who are just encountering the same dangers, that we cannot resist the promptings of duty to present a few examples of the effects of vice in men and boys that have fallen under our own observation. We have seen hundreds of cases of this sort; have treated many scores of persons for the effects of the terrible crime which we are seeking to sound a warning against, and the number of cases we might describe would fill a volume; but we will select only a very few.

Two Young Wrecks.—Charles and Oscar B—— were the sons of a farmer in a Western State, aged respectively ten and twelve years. They possessed well-formed heads, and once had beautiful faces, and were as bright and sprightly as any little boys of their age to be found anywhere. Their father was proud of them, and their fond mother took great pleasure in building bright prospects for her darling sons when they should attain maturity and become competent to fill useful and honorable positions in the world. Living in a rapidly-growing Western community, they had every prospect of growing up to honorable usefulness, a comfort to their parents, a blessing to the world, and capable of enjoying life in the highest degree.

But suddenly certain manifestations appeared which gave rise to grave apprehensions on the part of the parents. It was observed that the elder of the little boys no longer played about with that nimbleness which he had formerly shown, but seemed slow and stiff in his movements. Sometimes, indeed, he would stagger a little when he walked. Soon, also, his speech became affected in some degree; he mumbled his words and could not speak distinctly. In spite of all that could be done, the disease continued, increasing slowly in all its symptoms from week to week. Soon the hands, also, became affected, so that the little boy could not feed himself. The mind now began to fail. The bright eyes became vacant and expressionless. Instead of the merry light which used to shine in them, there was a blank, idiotic stare.

But there was still greater grief in store for her. Within a year or two the younger son began to show symptoms of the same character, and in spite of all that was done, rapidly sank into the same helpless state as his brother. As a last resort, the mother took her boys and came a long journey to place her sons under our care. At that time they were both nearly helpless. Neither could walk but a few steps. They reeled and staggered about like drunken men, falling down upon each other and going through the most agonizing contortions in their attempts to work their way from one chair to another and thus about the room. Their heads were no longer erect, but drooped like wilted flowers. On their faces was a blank, imbecile expression, with a few traces of former intelligence still left. The mouth was open, from the drooping of the lower jaw, and the saliva constantly dribbled upon the clothing. Altogether, it was a spectacle which one does not care to meet every day; the impression made was too harrowing to be pleasant even from its interest from a scientific point of view.

Every possible remedy was used to check the terrible disease which was preying upon the unfortunate boys, but in vain. At times the symptoms would be somewhat mitigated, and the most sanguine hopes of the fond, watching mother would be excited, but in vain. The improvement always proved to be but temporary, and the poor sufferers would speedily relapse into the same dreadful condition again, and gradually grew worse. At last, the poor mother was obliged to give up all hope, in utter despair watching the daily advances of the awful malady which inch by inch destroyed the life, the humanity, the very mind and soul of her once promising sons. Sadly she took them back to her Western home, there to see them suffer, perhaps for years before death should kindly release them, the terrible penalty of sin committed almost before they had arrived at years of responsibility.

Boys, are you guilty? Think of the fearful fate of these boys, once as joyous and healthy as you. When you are tempted to sin, think of the fearful picture of the effects of sin which they present. Have you ever once dared to commit this awful sin? Stop, never dare to do the thing again. Take a solemn vow before God to be pure. Your fate may be as sad, your punishment as terrible. No one can tell what the results may be. Absolute purity is the only safe course.

A Prodigal Youth.—A. M., son of a gentleman of wealth in Ohio, early acquired the evil practice which has ruined so many bright lads. He was naturally an intelligent and prepossessing lad, and his father gave him as good an education as he could be induced to acquire, affording him most excellent opportunities for study and improvement. But the vile habit which had been acquired at an early age speedily began its blighting influence. It destroyed his taste for study and culture. His mind dwelt upon low and vile subjects. He grew restless of home restraint and surroundings, and finally left the parental roof. Wandering from city to city he grew rapidly worse, sinking into deeper depths of vice, until finally he became a base, besotted, wretched creature. Broken down in health by his sins, he could no longer enjoy even the worst sensual pleasures, and with no taste for or capability of appreciating anything higher he was most wretched indeed. The poor fellow now fell into the hands of quacks. His kind father sent him money in answer to his pitiful appeals for help, and he went anxiously from one to another of the wretched villains who promise relief to such sufferers but only rob them of their money and leave them worse than before.

Earnestly we labored for this young man, for months, employing every means in our power to lift him from the slough of sin and vice upon the solid pathway of virtue and purity again. Gradually the hard lines on his face seemed to lessen in intensity. The traces of vice and crime seemed to be fading out by degrees. We began to entertain hopes of his ultimate recovery. But alas! in an evil moment, through the influence of bad companions, he fell, and for some time we lost sight of him. A long time afterward we caught a glimpse of his bloated, sin-stained face, just as he was turning to skulk away to avoid recognition. Where this poor human wreck is now leading his miserable existence we cannot say, but have no doubt he is haunting the dens of iniquity and sin in the cities, seeking to find a little momentary pleasure in the gratification of his appetites and passions. A hopeless wreck, with the lines of vice and crime drawn all over his tell-tale countenance, he dares not go home, for he fears to meet the reproachful glance of his doting mother, and the scornful looks of his brothers and sisters. We never saw a more thoroughly unhappy creature. He is fully conscious of his condition; he sees himself to be a wreck, in mind, in body, and knows that he is doomed to suffer still more in consequence of his vices. He has no hope for this world or the next. His mother gave him earnest, pious instructions, which he has never forgotten, though he has long tried to smother them. He now looks forward with terror to the fate which he well knows awaits all evil-doers, and shudders at the thought, but seems powerless to enter the only avenue which affords a chance of escape. He is so tormented with the pains and diseased conditions which he has brought upon himself by vice that he often looks to self-destruction as a grateful means of escape; but then comes the awful foreboding of future punishment, and his hand is stayed. Ashamed to meet his friends, afraid to meet his Maker, he wanders about, an exile, an outcast, a hopeless wreck.

Barely Escaped.—L. R. of H——, a young man of about twenty-five years of age, presented himself for treatment, a few years ago, for the consequence of self-abuse. Having been taught the habit by evil companions when just emerging into manhood, he had indulged his passions without restraint for several years, not knowing the evil consequences until he began to suffer the effects of sin. Then, being warned by his own experience and by the fortunate thoughtfulness of an intelligent friend who surmised his condition and told him faithfully of the terrible results of the vile habit, he made a manly effort to reform and claimed to have wholly broken the habit. To his great grief he found, however, that the years in which he had devoted himself to sin had wrought sad havoc in his system. In many ways his health was greatly deranged and his once powerful constitution was broken down. The sexual organs themselves were greatly diseased, so much so that a serious and painful surgical operation was necessary. With shame and mortification he looked upon his past life and saw what a hideous work of evil he had wrought. His vileness stood out before him in a vivid light, and he felt ashamed to meet the gaze of his fellows.

After performing the necessary surgical operation upon this poor unfortunate, we dealt faithfully with him, pointing out to him the way by which he might with proper effort in some degree redeem himself by a life-long struggle against every form of impurity. He felt, and rightly, that the task was a most severe one. He well knew that the stamp of sin was on his countenance, and in his mind. Thoughts long allowed to run upon vile subjects, forming filthy pictures in the imagination, are not easily brought back to the channel of purity and virtue. The mind that has learned to love to riot in impure dreams, does not readily acquire a love for the opposite. But he determined to make a brave and earnest effort, and we have every reason to believe that he has, in a measure at least, succeeded. But, if so, he has made a narrow escape. A few more years of sin, and his rescue would have been impossible; both mind and body would have been sunk so deep in the mire of concupiscence that none but Almighty power could have saved him from utter destruction. Thousands of boys and young men are to-day standing on the slippery brink of that awful precipice from which but very few are snatched away. Soon they will plunge headlong over into the abyss of debasement and corruption from whence they will never escape. Oh that we had the power to reach each one of these unfortunate youth before it is too late, and to utter in their ears such warnings, to portray before them such pictures of the sure results of a course of sin, that they might be turned back to the paths of chastity and virtue before they have become such mental, moral, and physical wrecks as we every day encounter in the walks of life. But not one in a thousand can be reached when they have gone so far in sin. When they have ventured once, they can rarely be checked in their downward course until great harm has been wrought which it will require the work of years to undo. The young man we have referred to made indeed a narrow escape, but no one can safely run such a risk. Even he must suffer all his life the consequences of a few years of sin.

A Lost Soul.—M. M., of ——, was the son of a mechanic in humble circumstances. He was an only child, and his parents spared no pains to do all in their power to insure his becoming a good and useful man. Good school advantages were given him, and at a proper age he was put to learn a trade. He succeeded fairly, and their hopes of his becoming all that they could desire were great, when he suddenly began to manifest peculiar symptoms. He had attended a religious revival and seemed much affected, professing religion and becoming a member of a church. To the exercises of his mind on the subject of religion his friends attributed his peculiar actions, which soon became so strange as to excite grave fears that his mind was seriously affected. At times he was wild, showing such unmistakable evidences of insanity that even his poor mother, who was loth to believe the sad truth, was forced to admit that he was deranged.