m the first. In boys under
the age of puberty this feeling may overpower the temptation; in boys
above that age it is, as a rule, totally inadequate as a safeguard.

Many people imagine that a boy who is impure must betray himself, and
that if no overt acts of indecency are observed the innocence of a
boy's mind may be safely inferred. Knowledge on these subjects has,
however, been almost invariably gained under conditions of the utmost
secrecy, and the behaviour of adults has effectively fostered the idea
of concealment. Hence we might expect that the secret would be
jealously guarded and that any overt act of impurity would be avoided
in the presence of adults with even greater circumspection than the
public performance of an excretory act. The habit of self-abuse,
moreover, is practised usually under the double cover of darkness and
the bed-clothes. The temptation occurs far less by day than by night,
and a boy who yields to it in the day invariably chooses a closet or
other private place in which he feels secure from detection.

To many people it is inconceivable that a lad can harbour impure
feelings and habits without obvious deterioration; but even if a
child's lapses into these things were associated with conscious guilt,
does our knowledge of human nature justify us in supposing that evil
in the heart is certain to betray itself in a visible degradation of
the outer life? If we believe the language of the devout, we must
admit that the most spiritual of men hide in their heart thoughts of
which they are heartily ashamed. It is not into the mouth of the
reprobate but into the mouth of her devoted members as they enter upon
their sacramental service that the Church puts the significant prayer,
"Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and
from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts in our hearts by
the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit." Inconsistency in adults is far
too well recognised to need proof. In children it is even more
obvious, and for this reason that, looked at aright, it is the faculty
of maintaining the general health of the soul, spite of local morbid
conditions--a faculty which is strongest in the simpler and more
adaptable mind of the child.

Impurity as a disease has a long incubation period. When he contracts
the disease, its victim is often wholly unconscious of his danger;
and, both because the disease is an internal one and is slow in
development, it is a very l