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    PILLARS OF INFAMY.

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    I T scows to be one of the evils incidental , the unlimited power of complaining thereby afforded , that wo rim the race without reaching the goal , nnd often begin to doubt , which is the greatest nuisance , abuses , or the protracted abuse or them Wo beat the air till wo are exhausted , and then pjty the enemy as if we had pommelled him . Many men would rather become , like Mithkidates , insensible to poisons by their frequent ana gradual use , or trust to the reciprocal counteractions of the various forms of the unwholesome , than endure any furthor leotures on food-falsification . A benevolent despot would have done what wanted doinj ? in this direction , as far as it was possible , in about one tenth of the time that wo have been talking about it , if m no other way by hanging out of hand some of tho guilty , whom JJonn Swift * pronounces to b ' o hanging-worthy . It was at once ludicrous find-mournful to hoar one of the Mombers ^ of the Hougo , who takes an interest in this question , uttor , some weeks ago , a feoblo hope " that at last something would be done . " It is , indeed , difficult to understand why there has been no earnest measuro taken oro tins , when we have timo to legislate on oats , dustmen ' s bolls , and unrroi Tho class of oflbnooB hero referred to jb of very long standing ; it

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    of unfortunates are brought into their degraded state by the wicked :-ness of designing men . It is an almost inappreciable per-centage ' ¦ " amon" -th , em who have been thd victims of seduction at all- —and as it is almost wholly : to these that the means of rescue now proposed address themselves , it is manifest that the perihanerrt results must be small . The greater part have served from very tender years a vile apprenticeship to their miserable trade . Neglect , starvation , ignorance , vice , filth , and disease have surrounded them from their infancy . They liave been brought up with scarcely an idea of modesty and personal reserve ; the language to which they have habitually listened has been of the foulest and most blasphemous description . Intoxicating drink has formed the only , or almost the only pleasure of the class to which they belong-ed , arid with desires preteriiaturally stimulated by these causes , they have , on arriving at maturity , rather taken their place in their own social order than fallen from a virtue to which they never had any claim . The way to diminish the-evil so far as these are concerned , is to give the poor generally better habitations , to encourage baths and . washhouses , to support schools , and to establish district visitingsocieties , whose members would do something more than distribute tracts—often very ill adapted for their purpose---and clothing , whose chief value is that it may be turned first into money , and then "into gin . The wretched creatures who are thus going downward and still downward , have no sense of degradation ; they are , on the whole , better off than the so-called virtuous women of their ' acquaintance ; they are better clothed , have more money and more drink ; and they would , in nearly all cases , decline giving up a pursuit which makes exactly the difference in question . Again , these women are riot wholly supported by prostitution ; they work for tailors , shirtmakers , bootmakers—and make up by such means any deficiency ¦ which may arise in their more gainful but vicious occupation . Few of this grade are honest ; they make frequently considerable sums by robberies from the person , and our police magistrates have more trouble with them than with any other class of the community . These women could , if they desired it , obtain regular employment , but they prefer the idle irregular life which they lead . From these circumstances it will be plain that the midnight meetings \ vill dp little good for persons of this description . Another class , more frequently hronght before the eye of the public , is , if possible , still less likely to be permanently ^ benefited ; This consists of young women having a certain kind of personal attractiveness , and who are introduced linger what are considered favourable circumstances to the 2 ° f es ? i ° - This class is not very numerous , but much more so than is generally supposed . It occupies a position not altogether unlike that of the Parisian foretie—only the English species is less educated , and therefore less refined . Its members are seen with gay , foolish young men of wealth , and . often ¦ of . rank , at certain balls , at operas and theatres , at Cremorne and other places of public resort . They have often considerable allowances ; in some cases even keeping a horse and brougham , or having- one kept for them , and they live a life of idle and profligate luxury . It is not often that they possess more than the mere rudiments of education ; they are as thoughtless as their admirers , and make generally a rap id descent to the pave . In any stage of their career they are not likely to be accessible to such arguments as those of Mr . Baptist Noei , and his excellent fellowlabourers . If these gentlemen could secure them a carriage and champagne , tickets for theatres , and a life of idleness and indulgence on the condition of" living virtuously , then they might , perhaps , take the matter into consideration j but to say to a . vulgar , ignorant , insolent woman , lifted out of her proper , position to one of splendid ignominy , " . My dear but erring sister , lay aside your carriage and take to a maiigle ; change your costly silks and velvets for linscy wools / ey and plain cotton ; take , table beer instead of champagne ; and go to church instead of to Cremorne , and you will have pence of mind , " would only provoke a laugh of derision , and give an opportunity , of exercising some of that slang in which these young ladies are no contemptible proficients . Another class of street-walkers , and one far more to be pitied , consists of those who cannot by their daily labour obtain a daily mibsistenec . Is it believed that any number of midnight meetings ¦ wiU alter the condition of the labour-market , abolish the order of " middle men" and ' ^ sweaters , " and enRure a fair remuneration for evory woman who 13 inclined to live honestly by her labour ? Until this ' can be done it will bo with little effect that good men attempt to put down the social evil . They must first find labour for those who are willing to work , nnd next they must find inclination for those who aro able . Do they imagine that they can do this f Again , there nro muny women who adopt a vicious life from vicious Inclinations , and , strango to say , those aro just the persons most likely to be influenced far a while by tho speeches and tho persuasions of n midnight meeting " . Tt is comparatively easy to excite them to n sort of hystorieal penitence , but when tho fit passes away , old feelings long indulged , old associations , old habits recover their original ascendancy , nnd it has been often remarked concerning repontanfc " Mngdnlenos , " that tho more prone they are to contrition , the more sure aro ( hey to return to their old Bins . If it wore true that on tho streets might bo found many women who had fallen from arespect able nnd honourablo position in society , then tho movement might bo in an equal ratio successful , for those ore exactly tho persona for whom it ia calculated . Women who meet with persons inclined to take a benevolent interest in thorn , and who try to . remove thorn from thoir unhappy niode of lifo , often toll 8 ueh individuals that they nvo the daughters of officers , clergymen , dissenting ministers , modionl pvaclitiononv or the like , but a few questions would set such pretensions at rest by exhibiting tho

    almost entire absence of education . There are some prostitutes who have been governesses , but their number is very small , probably not more than a dozen at the most , aind of these nearly all are known to the police as being connected with gangs . of begging-letter writers , Or extortioners of a still viler description . It is believed that more than one of these makes an easy living by privately asking assistance from men of distinction , generally clergymen and dissenting ministers , and subsequently accusing them of improper overtures , and it is somewhat singular that these are long past the middle period of life . It need not be said that to persons of this character the promoters of midnight meetings can d <> no good . % ¦ ¦ But can nothing be done to ¦ diminish the social evil P We think much can be accomplished , but indirectly rather than directly . It ouo-ht to be distinctly understood , that it is to the working classes we must look for this result ; working men are the great supporters of the degrading vice of great cities . Guilty as the middle classes undoubtedly are , they are far less so than the order immediately below them . Among them marriage is rarely contracted / and practically disregarded when it exists . That there are thousands of well-conducted men , fathers of well-conducted families , amoii" - our workmen it would be wickedness as well as folly to deny , but they form by 110 means the rule ; and we have no . hesitation in statin" - , that for one among the middle classes who deserves to be branded as an encourager of prostitution , there are at least one hundred among that of artisans . - . , It has been suggested that the evil should be recognised and placed under regulations here as in France , and were this practicable there would undoubtedly be some , perhaps much benefit derived ; but after all , the benefit even in France is greatly overrated . .. It does not much affect the statistics of health , and a 3 j to publjc decency we could preserve that quite as well as they do in Pans were we inclined to put into exercise the powers we possess . There is besides a great disinclination in England to recognise vice , and in that disinclination we-fully share we hold it better to ^ tolerate a larger amount of evil and at the same time to ignore it , than to recognisea smaller . amount , and at the same time to protect it . The former Course is an acknowledgment of our inability to make men other than what we find them ; the latter is a sanctioning that of which we cannot approve . These objections would be valid , even it it were practicable to adopt here the plan pursued m * ranee ., but we more than question whether we could adopt it . In Paris a visit to a woman of light character is hardly regarded as disreputable ; here it could take place only by stealth ,, and thus the very first condition on which the French practice proceeds is wanting on this side of the water . Besides this , we doubt whether it would be consistent with the British constitution to subject the , members of any organised class to such a system of periodical visitations , and the time has coin * when it is needful , to defend the constitutional rights of all classes , however disreputable they may be , Lord Campbell ' s Bill , which allows a right of search for immoral publications , is in itself an unconstitutional measure , and could not have been carried had the persons whose rights , were invaded been less odious We are not to measure out the claims winch a Jintish subject has for freedom and non-interference by the standard of his personal respectability ; this is the first step to such a reyime as that which prevails in Vienna , Naples , and St . Petersburg , and we must oppose every application of it in Our own land . But we would act energetically in helping the working classes to dwellings in which decency should be practicable , and virtue something more than a name . We would extend education , and try a little severity with our street Arabs . We would aid such societies as those which' protect women and children . Wo would equalize poor rates , and wo would leave tho midnight meetings to do all the good in their power , and not be harsh with them when they found that it was but little .

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    398 Theheader and Saturday Analyst . [ April 28 , 1 S 60 .

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    * " Tho vintner , who by mixing jjoiaons in hie wines , destroys nioro lives than ai » y one disease in tho bill of mortality ; tho lawyer who poi > euiulos you to tv rmrolmsu which ho knows ia mortgaged for more tlutn its worth , to tho ruin of you and your family 5 tho goldamith ( now banker ) , or aorivoner , who tnkos nil your fortuno to dispose of , whon "ho husbctorolmndreHolvpa to break the followiiip ; day , do surely dcB « rvo tlio w \ Uow ^ muqh better thun tho wretoli who is curried thither for stealing tv horso . — -Swipt .

    Pillars Of Infamy.

    PILLARS OF INFAMY .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1860, page 398, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2345/page/10/