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