Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 6.djvu/214

 198 HENRY RUTGERS MARSHALL : bring him into, and keep him in, the frame of mind in which the voice of conscience could most easily be attended to. But above all we must remember that the sacrifice in all religious ceremonial led up to prayer ; and the value of prayer in bringing about the advantageous subordination of individualism we have already spoken of at length in the preceding section. Celibacy, or the voluntary renunciation of the pleasures of sexual and family life, is a form of self-sacrifice which is wide- spread as a custom connected with religious devotion. It is without doubt true that not a small number of professed celibates do not altogether refrain from the gratification of their sexual passions ; and yet if we eliminate this class of pretenders it must be acknowledged that an important proportion of men and women in all historic ages have voluntarily quenched their sexual appetites in assuming the celibate's vow. That this voluntary assumption carries with it individual distress of marked type will not be disputed, and it is not possible to believe that it has been or is undertaken because of the intrinsic attractions connected with it. That it is also on its face distinctly disadvantageous to the individual and acts in opposition to the persistence of the species is also clear. That it cannot directly conduce to the persistence of the race is evident when we consider that if it were carried beyond narrow limits it would lead to tribal extinction. That it is disastrous to many an individual life is also certain ; for all who have knowledge of the sub- ject will agree that the life of the celibate is beset with many dangers, in that it tends, as alienists tell us, to bring into existence extremely morbid mental conditions. On the other hand we cannot but realise that these morbid mental conditions are just the ones that are liable to lead to the production of hallucinations, and that in adopting the celibate's life therefore one takes a step which is not unlikely to bring to him hallucinatory messages, which themselves might be thought to be desirable as guides from another world ; and this might lead individuals to voluntary assumption of this form of self-sacrifice. But in a previous section we have seen reason to agree that no such individualistic desire can account for the per- sistence of habits inducing these hallucinatory states ; for to the mass of men hallucinations are far from attractive ; moreover, we do not forget that to the mass of celibates no such hallucinatory messages are given. Here again, how-