The Book of the Month. 



lOI 



hor<- ! Ami it' wc must cast maidens — not seven, 



but MMii tinifs seven — nightly into the jaws of vice, 

 let us at least see to it that thev assent to their 

 own immolation, and are not unwilling sacrifice.., 

 pro: iired hy force and fraud. That is surelv not 

 too much to ask from th<' dissolute rich. Even con- 

 sid<-r.\tions of sflf-interest might lead our rulers to 

 as.sent to sc) modest a demand. For the hour of 

 DcnKK-racy h.is struck, and fliere is no wrong which 

 a man resents like this. II it has not been resented 

 hithi-rto, it is not because it was not felt. The 

 Koman Republic was founded by the rape of 

 Lucreie. but I.ucrece was a member of one of the 

 governing families. .\ similar offence placed S])aiii 

 under th<' domination of the Moors, but there again 

 the vii'tini of royal licence was the daughter of a 

 count. 



THE VIRUS OF A SOCIAL REVOLUTIO.N. 



But the fathers and brothers who.se daughters and 

 si.sters are purchased like silaves, not for hdwur. but 

 for lu.st, are now at last enrolled among the govern- 

 ing classes-- a circumstance full of hope for the 

 nation, but by no ■means without menace lor a class. 

 Many of the French Revolutionists were dissolute 

 enough, but nothing gave sucli an edge to the guillo- 

 tine as the memory of the Pare aux Cerfs ; and even 

 in our time the horrors that attended the suppression 

 of the Commune were largely due to the despair of 

 the fcmmc vengeresse. Hence, unless the levying of 

 the maiden tribute in London is shorn of its wor.st 

 abuses— at present, as I shall show, flourishing un- 

 check.-d —resentment, which might be appeased !iv 

 reform, may hereafter be the virus of a social re- 

 \olution. It is the one explosive which is strong 

 'iiough to wreck the Throne. 



I.IBERTV FOR VICE, REPRESSION FOR CRIME. 



I'o .noid all misapprehension as to the object for 

 uhich I prof)ose to set forth the ghastly and crimi- 

 nal features of this infernal traffic, I wish to sav 

 <m[)hatically, at the outset, that, however strongly 

 I may feel as to the imperative im[)ortance of mor- 

 ality ami chastity, I do not ask for any poli<-e i?i 

 terfereii.e with the liU-rty of vice. T a.sk oiilv 

 for thi' repression of crime. Sexual immorality, 

 howev.T evil it may Ix: in it.self, or in its cxjnse- 

 <|uenee>. must In; dealt with, not by the policeman, 

 bi« \<\ the teacher, .so long as the persons conlr.ncl- 

 ifig are t>f full age, are perfectly frtv agents, and 

 in their sin are guilty of no outrage on i)ul)li<: 

 morals. So far from (U-manding any increased 

 |M)wer for iIm' |»olice, I would r.illier incline to 

 s.iy to the |K>li<v, "Hands off!" when thev in- 

 terfere arbitrarily with the ordinirx oper.iiions <>f 

 the m.irkel of vice. Hut the more freelv we permit 

 al»s<>lute legal lil>ertv of v ic<? t<i adults, the more 

 .stringent mu^l be our precautions .igainst the in- 

 numerable crimes which spring from vice, ;is vice 

 itself springs from the imi»ure imaginings of the 



iieart of man. These crimes flourish on every side, 

 unnoticed and unchecked. To extirpate vice by 

 .Vet of Parliament is impossible; but because we 

 must le.ive vice equally free, that is no reason wh\ 

 we should acquiesce helplessly in the perpetration of 

 crime. And that crime of the most ruthless and 

 aix>minable description is con.stantly and systematic- 

 ally practised in I>ondon, without let or hindrance, 

 I am in a position to prove. Those who are con- 

 stantly engaged in its practice naturally deny its 

 existence. But I speak of that which 1 do know, 

 not from hearsay or rumour, but of my own personal 

 knowledge. 



RECRUITING FOR TlIF, HOUSE OF EVIL FAME. 



People imagine that the brothel fills it.self. That 

 is a mi.S'take. The hou.se ol ill- fame is a re.servoir 

 of vice, fed by a multitude of tributary rills. Pos- 

 sibly one-half of its inmates voluntarily ele<:ted to 

 take to the streets as a means of liveliliood. .Vlmost 

 everv house of ill-fame in London is the centre of 

 a network of snares and wiles and " plants," in- 

 tended to bring in fresh girls. That is part of the 

 regular trade. But there are other methods ol pro- 

 curation much more objectionable. " Gentlemen," 

 who seduce girls under promise of marriage, and 

 then desert them, are, probably, not responsible for 

 more than 5 to 10 per cent, of our prostitutes ; but 

 so long as it is thought honourable and gentlemanly 

 to ruin a girl's life in order to enjoy half an hour's 

 excitement, it is no ti'.se saying anything about thai 

 mode of recruiting " the Black Army " of our 

 streets. .\ small proportion take to it from sheer 

 poverty and absolute despair of evading destitution. 

 Many more adopt it occasionally as a means of 

 ■.iili])lementing scanty wages. 



THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MOTHERS. 



The ignorance of these girls is almost incredible. 

 It is one of the greatest scandals of Protestant 

 training that parents are allowed to keep their 

 < liildren in total ignorance of the simplest truths 

 of physiology, without even a rudimentary concep- 

 tion of the nature of .sexual morality. Catholic 

 children are much Ijetter trained ; and whatever may 

 l>e the case in other countries, the chastity of Catho- 

 lic girls is much greater than that of Protestants in 

 the same .social .strata. 



UNWILLING RECRUITS. 



But that to which I Sf)ecially wish to direct at- 

 tention are the arts bv which the keeper secures un- 

 willing victims for her house. The simplest, and 

 by f.ir the commonest, is to engage a girl from the 

 country by advert is<'nient. or otherwise. 10 help in 

 the house-work. The <-hild-— she is .seldom more 

 iIlh) fifteen or sixteen — comes up from her country 

 village with her liox. and is installed in service. 

 .•\i first nothing is said. Kvery artifice is used to 

 make the unsuspi'Cting girl believe that she is in 

 a good place, with a kind mistress. .After a time 



