Page:Edward Prime-Stevenson - The Intersexes.djvu/47

 our terminology by calling such masculine friendships "homosexual" friendships. I use the word "friendship" in this connection subject to general ideas on the matter; only, in fact, till I can make clearer to the reader the true nature of its tie, in numerous examples about us.

In the deep, often unaccountable, friendships between men, whether historic or commonplace, whether observed in the instances of others or in our own personal experience, has the reader never questioned if there be not some warmer, often more obscure and irresistible impulse promoting the sentiment? Certainly the need of referring-back many intensely intimate, passionate and "reasonless" homosexual friendships, so-called, to some sexual mystery often impresses itself on the psychologist. Various traits in such relationships quicken our suspicion. Constantly, disconcertingly occurs a new version of the old school-boy rhyme about Dr. Fell: we do not know, after all, why we like Jack or Harry, we only know that we do like them. Much opposes our sentiment often. But nothing conquers it.

One frequent characteristic is that the two men are not obviously harmonious psychically: not in their classes, their temperaments, their educations, intelligences, tastes, prejudices, practical interests and speech. Another curious objection is met when the two men-friends are not spiritual enough to be influenced by recondite intellectual currents, and are peculiarly averse from giving way to finer sorts of sentimentalities; concealing from the world any lapse toward such "weakness," as it seems to them. Again one understands less the basis of certain "friendships" when the time has been too short to allow so strong a mutual attraction to be developed by a gradual knowledge and study of one another. For, often in homosexual friendship, as in alterosexual love,