White Stains

PREFACE 15 all, she shall stand more near to His right hand than the vaunted virgins who would soil no hem of vesture to save their brother from the worm that dieth not ! The Works of George Archibald Bishop will speak for themselves ; it would be both impertinent and superfluous in me to point out in detail their many and varied excellences, or their obvious faults. The raison d’être, though, of their publication, is worthy of espe- cial notice. I refer to their psychological sequence, which agrees with their chronological order. His life- history, as well as his literary remains, gives us an idea of the progression of diabolism as it really is ; not as it is painted Note also, ( I ) the increase of selfishness in pleasure, ( 2 ) the diminution of his sensibility to physical charms. Pure and sane is his early work ; then he is carried into the outer current of the great vortex of Sin, and whirls lazily through the sleepy waters of mere sensualism ; the pace quickens, he grows fierce in the mysteries of Sapphism and the cult of Venus Aversa with women ; later of the same forms of vice with men, all mingled with wild talk of religious dogma and a general exaltation of Priapism at the expense, in particular, of Christianity, in which religion, however, he is undoubtedly a believer till the