Human Physiology. 77 



to irankly and bravely meet the dreadful necessity. The 

 question which every man should ask of his heart and con- 

 science is, Am I willing that my sister my daughter the 

 woman / love, should be one of these victims of social order, 

 and bear her part of this necessary evil? Every harlot in the 

 streets is some one's daughter, and therefore mine. I should 

 guard every child as if she were my child every woman as it 

 she were my sister. In this spirit of human brotherhood the 

 world may be redeemed. 



It may be thought that in this and the preceding chapters I 

 have drawn too dark a picture of the evils of our social state 

 that I have made it too gloomy and repulsive. There is a 

 brighter, fairer side. There are thousands of honest, pure, 

 generous, and heroic men thousands of women as virtuous 

 as they are lovely. I know it well. No country in the world 

 has more of courage, honour, and benevolence. And it is 

 for this reason that I have the courage to point out these 

 evils, and the hope that there are men and women who will 

 try to understand -them, and seek to know, and endeavour to 

 apply, the remedy. 



Let us learn the nature of man, the evils to which he is 

 aable, the causes of those evils, and their cure. When a plague 

 falls upon the cattle of a country there is alarm, inquiry; it is 

 the talk of every circle, written about in every journal; Royal 

 Commissions are appointed, learned men are consulted, the 

 experience of other countries cited; the Ministers bring forward 

 measures in Parliament, bills are passed, supplies voted. 



But when half a nation falls into the depths of poverty; when 

 half the children die in infancy; when great numbers are wil- 

 fully destroyed ; when the bone and sinews of the nation (its 

 working men and working women) are perishing of foul 

 air, crowd-poison, and other bad conditions of life; when 

 these conditions and the lack of education are driving vast 

 numbers of them to drunkenness, and filling workhouses and 



