Why, even Bentham refused to put what you call a 'vice' in his penal code, and you yourself admitted that it should not be punished as a crime; for it carries no temptation with it.

It may be a malady; but, if so, it appears only to attack the highest natures.

It is disgraceful to punish it.

The wit of man can find no argument which justifies its punishment." "Don't be too sure of that," I retorted.
"I have never heard a convincing argument which condemns it, Frank; I do not believe such a reason exists." "Don't forget," I said, "that this practice which you defend is condemned by a hundred generations of the most civilised races of mankind." "Mere prejudice of the unlettered, Frank." "And what is such a prejudice ?" I asked.

"It is the reason of a thousand generations of men, a reason so sanctified by secular experience that it has passed into flesh and blood and become an emotion and is no longer merely an argument.