Are We a Declining Race ? 



position, and make up our minds to live up to 

 our light. Other nations have sunk under simi- 

 lar circumstances, and for many centuries have 

 been unable to lift their heads. Let us prove 

 equal to the occasion. We have the advantage 

 of those that have gone before, for we are able 

 to recognise where they failed, and are in a 

 position to benefit by their experience. 



There is really no mystery in the whole 

 problem. The great mistake which has been 

 made in all civilised communities is, that the 

 importance of the sexual act has been ignored 

 by the great majority. It has been surrounded 

 with a halo of mystery, and free discussion of 

 its properties has been discouraged, or counted 

 as indecent. And to make matters worse 

 young people are married without understanding 

 the nature of it, and in their ignorance they have 

 indulged in a lamentable dissipation of vitality- 

 This injudicious behaviour would have been 

 sufficient in itself, through long ages, to cause a 

 certain amount of deterioration, but when we 

 come to add the degrading vice of " cheiro- 

 manie," disaster is inevitable. 



No person is so strong that he can afford to 

 squander his nature, for it is the most important 

 thing in life, " c'est la fleur du sang le plus pur." 



We recognise this in the breeding of lower 

 animals. These, although restricted by nature, 

 require still further restraint by man, to bring 

 them to perfection. For instance. The owner 

 of an entire horse would never think of turning 

 it loose into a field, in company with mares, 

 during the rutting season. Count de Buffon 



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