430 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



ensuing debility is in direct proportion to the forced 

 stimulation which has preceded it. 



''Reduced to the pleasures of recollection, at once 

 passionate and impotent, their sensuality may 5:ill, but 

 cannot satiate. There are such old libertines i vho are 

 constantly seeking after the means of revivifyi] ig their 

 withered, used-up organism, as if that were ] )ossible 

 without imminent danger. The law of nature is ^v^ithout 

 appeal. To submit to it is the result of good, sound 

 judgment, and the reward is speedy. But sul mission 

 is no invariable rule, and persons of prudence and 

 chastity have but a faint conception of the devices to 

 evade it, of the folly, caprice, luxury, immodesty, the 

 monstrous lewdness and indescribable saturnalia of the 

 senses which are the result. The surgeon pione knows 

 from the confession of his patients, or srrmises from 

 his experience, to what a depth corruptir^i will descend, 

 and the evils which will follow, particularly in large 

 capitals. One of the mot-t common, means of excitement 

 employed by these senile Lovelaces is change, variety 

 in the persons they pursue. "V^Hiat is more fatal to the 

 organism? Extreme youth is sacrificed to these shame- 

 less old men. The full-blown charms of fine women no 

 longer suffice; they address themselves to mere chil- 

 dren, to the great scandal of our manners, and of all 

 that these victims of debauchery hold dear and sacred. 

 Nevertheless, let it be remarked, it is seldom, very sel- 

 dom, that punishment comes pede claudo; old age, 

 which disease changes every day into decrepitude— 

 often sudden death, and death that lasts for years, a 

 consequence of cruel infirmities— proves the justice of 

 nature. ' ' 



A distinguished physician speaks upon this same 

 subject as follows: 



