ovoked no kind of
self-reproach or shame. On the contrary, the feeling has been
rather one of elation in the consciousness of a capacity of
affection which appears to be finer and more spiritual than that
which commonly subsists between persons of different sexes. These
men are all of intellectual capacity above the average; and one
is actively engaged in the world, where he is both respected for
his capacity and admired for his character. I mention this
particularly, because it appears to be the habit, in books upon
this subject, to regard the relation in question as pathological,
and to select cases where those who are concerned in it are
tormented with shame and remorse. In the cases to which I am
referring nothing of the kind subsists.

"In all these cases a physical sexual attraction is recognized as
the basis of the relation, but as a matter of feeling, and partly
also of theory, the ascetic ideal is adopted.

"These are the only cases with which I am personally and
intimately acquainted. But no one can have passed through a
public-school and college life without constantly observing
indications of the phenomenon in question. It is clear to me that
in a large number of instances there is no fixed line between
what is called distinctively 'friendship' and love; and it is
probably the influence of custom and public opinion that in most
cases finally specializes the physical passion in the direction
of the opposite sex."

The classification of the varieties of homosexuality is a matter of
difficulty, and no classification is very fundamental. The early attempts
of Krafft-Ebing and others at elaborate classification are no longer
acceptable. Even the most elementary groupings become doubtful when we
have definitely to fit our cases into them. The old distinction between
congenital and acquired homosexuality has ceased to possess significance.
When we have recognized that there is a tendency for homosexuality to
arise in persons of usually normal tendency who are placed under
conditions (as on board ship or in prison) where the exercise of normal
sexuality is impossible, there is little further classification to be
achieved along this line.[129] We have gone as far as is necessary by
admitting a general undefined homosexuality,--a relationship of
unspecified nature to persons of the same sex,--in addition to the more
spe