A modern writer of unsurpassed genius, Honoré de Balzac (whose writings are injurious because they are such wonderfully vivid representations of horrible social disease) was himself a man of singularly chaste life, and attributes his power to that fact. Brought up by his father in strict self-control, his power of Will was not destroyed; he preserved his respect for women, his belief in noble love. His intimate friend thus writes of him: ‘Above all he insisted on the necessity of absolute purity of life, such as the Church prescribes for monks. “That,” said he, “develops the powers of the mind to the highest degree, and imparts to those who practise it unknown faculties. For myself, I accepted all the monastic conditions necessary for workers. One only passion carried me out of my studious habits--it was a passion for outdoor observation of the manners and morals of the _faubourg_ where I lived.”’ Strong testimony as to the compatibility of chastity and health is furnished by the Catholic priesthood. Although it is well known that there are large numbers of men who break their vow, and men who should never have entered the priesthood, it is also well known as a positive fact that vast numbers of men are found in every age and country who honestly maintain their vow, and who, by avoidance of temptation, by direction of the mind to intellectual pursuits and devotion to great humanitarian objects, pass long lives in health and vigour. The effect on the world of enforced celibacy is, of course, disastrous; but the power that has been gained by the institution of the priesthood is indubitable, and the one object here insisted on--viz., the compatibility of physical health with the observance of chastity--is proved by it on a large scale. The Shaker communities of New Lebanon and other settlements contain a large number of middle-aged as well as elderly men, who live an absolutely celibate life and enjoy excellent health.[37] The same is true of Moravians, etc.