286 PLAIN FACTS FOE OLD AND YOUNG 



He is conscious of his ill manners, but is powerless to 

 control himself. This sign is one which could hardly 

 be of use to any except a very close observer, however, 

 as few can read upon the countenance the operations 

 of the mind. 



14. Mock piety— OY perhaps we should more prop- 

 erly designate it as mistaken piety— is another peculiar 

 manifestation of the effects of this vicious practice. 

 The victim is observed to become transformed, by de- 

 grees, from a romping, laughing child, full of hilarity 



and frolic, to a sober and very sedate little 



Christian, the friends think, and they are highly grati- 

 fied with the piety of the child. Little do they suspect 

 the real cause of the solemn face ; not the slightest sus- 

 picion have they of the foul orgies practiced by the 

 little sinner. By the aid of friends, he may soon add 

 hypocrisy to his other crimes, and find in assumed devo- 

 tion a ready pretense for seeking solitude. Parents will 

 do well to investigate the origin of this kind of religion 

 in their children. 



15. Easily frightened children are abundant among 

 young masturbators, though all easily frightened per- 

 sons are not vicious. It is certain, however, that the 

 vice greatly exaggerates natural fear, and creates an 

 unnatural apprehensiveness. The victim's mind is con- 

 stantly filled with vague forebodings of evil. He often 

 looks behind him, looks into all the closets, peeps under 

 the bed, and is constantly expressing fears of impend- 

 ing evil. Such movements are the result of a diseased 

 imagination, and they may justly give rise to suspicion. 



16. Confusion of ideas is another characteristic of 

 the devotee of this artful vice. If he attempts to argue, 

 his points are not clearly made. He may be super- 

 ficially quick and acute, but is incapable of deep 



