There is a class of men in certain states of society who are
manly, but not masculine. There is nothing paradoxical in the
statement, nor is it a mere play upon the meanings of words. There
are men of all ages, young, middle-aged, and old, who possess many
estimable virtues, who show physical courage wherever it is
necessary, who are honourable, strong, industrious, and tenacious
of purpose, but who undeniably lack something which belongs to the
ideal man, and which, for want of a better word, we call the
masculine element. When we shall have microscopes so large and
powerful that a human being shall be as transparent under the
concentrated light of the lenses as the tiniest insect when placed
in one of our modern instruments, then, perhaps, the scientist of
the future may discover the causes of this difference. I believe,
however, that it does not depend upon the fact of one man having a
few ounces more of blood in his veins than another. The fact lies
deeper hidden than that, and may puzzle the psychologist as well
as the professor of anthropology. For us it exists, and we cannot
explain it, but must content ourselves with comparing the
phenomena which proceed from these differences of organisation. At
the present day the society of the English-speaking races seems to
favour the growth of the creature who is only manly but not
masculine, whereas outside the pale of that strange little family
which calls itself "society" the masculinity of man is more
striking than among other races.
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