Of course, some drift into hopeless sensualists.

About those I have my own gospel, though I do not preach it; it is a scarcely formulated hope.

But of those that recover, or are recovered, all depends upon the kind of repentance.
The morbid repentance that sometimes ensues is very disabling.

All dwelling on such falls is very fatal: all thoughts of what might have been, all reflections about the profaned temple and the desecrated shrine, though they can not be escaped, yet must not be indulged.
I always advise people resolutely to try and forget them in _any_ possible way--banish them, drown them, beat them down.
"But a manly repentance may temper and brace the character in a way that no other repented fall can.

It is the brooding natures which make me tremble; in healthier natures it is the refiner's fire which stings and consecrates: '_Sanat dum ferit_.' "But the subject is very repugnant to me.