Page:Edward Prime-Stevenson - The Intersexes.djvu/443

, but recovered most of the stolen ornaments, those also valued at a great sum. When in masculine dress, he was accustomed to change his clothes at least three or four times daily, in each case with appropriate jewellery to the amount of thousands of pounds. Before the latest crash in his affairs, he had paid sixty per cent usury. One of his intimacies, that had nothing if not uranian aspects, was the topic of much London and Paris gossip, awhile ago. Not long afterwards he died.

In beginning this chapter, attention was drawn to the error of supposing that the homosexual is necessarily a degenerate in body or in mind, in any such sense of the term as is so common: and the extremely important relation between homosexuality and taste, talent and genius in aesthetics has been shown. But it is not amiss to note here a curious phase that has often been pointed out as to artistic or literary homosexuals of anglo-saxon, teutonic or other northern—non-latin—races who escape timely from social and legal perils plentiful in their own countries, and so betake themselves to Italy, to Spain, and so on—especially to Italy. Their sexual liberty when there seems remarkably often to have the effect of destroying their intellectual or artistic activity and ambition. They become professional drifters and 'dawdlers', degenerate in will, in purpose, and even intersexual virility. They do nothing, accomplish nothing, while constantly talking about doing and accomplishing; and anon having lapsed gently to idleness complete, the capital of talent seems to evaporate wholly away. Their liberty really gained, its relief undoes them. The relation of these aspects to the American, the English, the German homosexuals who become émigrés to the treacherous South is particular. Latins and Gauls, born in genial airs, seem to make compatible inborn