of this policy; it was dictated by a Pope and carried out seven hundred years ago.  Yet in England we carry out exactly the same policy to-day by means of our separation orders, which are scattered broadcast among the population.  None of the couples thus separated—­and never disciplined to celibacy as are the Catholic clergy of to-day—­may marry again; we, in effect, bid the more scrupulous among them to become celibates, and to the less scrupulous we grant permission to do as they like.  This process is carried on by virtue of the collective inertia of the community, and when it is supported by arguments, if that ever happens, they are of an antiquarian character which can only call forth a pitying smile.

It may be added that there is a further reason why the custom of branding sexual variations from the norm as “immoral” is not so harmless as some affect to believe:  such variations appear to be not uncommon among men and women of superlative ability whose powers are needed unimpeded in the service of mankind.  To attempt to fit such persons into the narrow moulds which suit the majority is not only an injustice to them as individuals, but it is an offence against society, which may fairly claim that its best members shall not be hampered in its service.  The notion that the person whose sexual needs differ from those of the average is necessarily a socially bad person, is a notion unsupported by facts.  Every case must be judged on its own merits.

Undoubtedly the most common variation from normal monogamy has in all stages of human culture been polygyny or the sexual union of one man with more than one woman.  It has sometimes been socially and legally recognized, and sometimes unrecognized, but in either case it has not failed to occur.  Polyandry, or the union of a woman with more than one man, has been comparatively rare and for intelligible reasons:  men have most usually been in a better position, economically and legally, to organize a household with themselves as the centre; a woman is, unlike a man, by nature and often by custom unfitted for intercourse for considerable periods at a time; a woman, moreover, has her thoughts and affections more concentrated on her children.  Apart from this the biological masculine traditions point to polygyny much more than the feminine traditions point to polyandry.  Although it is true that a woman can undergo a much greater amount of sexual intercourse than a man, it also remains true that the phenomena of courtship in nature have made it the duty of the male to be alert in offering his sexual attention to the female, whose part it has been to suspend her choice coyly until she is sure of her preference.  Polygynic conditions have also proved advantageous, as they have permitted the most vigorous and successful members of a community to have the largest number of mates and so to transmit their own superior qualities.