rent or benefactor, than the parent or benefactor to the child or dependant; yet fo it happens, that for one cruel parent we meet with a thousand undutiful children. This is indeed wonderfully contrived (as I have formerly obferved *) for the fupport of every living fpecies; but at the fame time that it fhews the wisdom of the Creator, it difcovers the imperfection and degeneracy of the creature.

The obedience of children to their parents is the bafis of all government, and set forth as the measure of that obedience which we owe to thofe whom Providence hath placed over us.

It is father Le Compte, † if I am not mistaken, who tells us how want of duty in this particular is punished among the Chinefe, infomuch that if a fon fhould be known to kill, or fo much as to ftrike his father, not only the criminal but his whole family would be rooted, out, nay the inhabitants of the place where he lived. would be put to the fword, nay the place itself would, be razed to the ground, and its foundations fown with falt. For, fay they, there must have been an utter de-, pravation of manners in that clan or fociety of people. who could have bred up among them fo horrid an offender. To this I fhall add a paffage out of the first book of Herodotus. That hiftorian in his account of the Perfian cuftoms and religion tells us, It is their opinion that no man ever killed his father, or that it is, poffible fuch a crime fhould be in nature; but that if any thing like it should ever happen, they conclude that the reputed fon must have been illegitimate, fuppofititious, or begotten in adultery. Their opinion in this particular fhews fufficiently what a notion they muft have had of Undutifulness in general. LI

*Viz. in No. 120.

+ See Le Compte's Prefent State of China. Pt. 2. Letter to the Cardinal D'Eftrees.

By ADDISON. London.

Monday,

N° 190 Monday, October 8, 1711.

Servitus crefcit nova

Hor. 2 Od. viii. 18.

"A flavery to former times unknown."

INCE I made fome reflections upon the general

Snegligence ufed in the cafe of regard towards wo

men, or in other words, fince I talked of wenching, I have had epiftles upon that fubject, which I fhall, for the prefent entertainment, infert as they lie before me.

• Mr. SPECTATOR,

S your Speculations are not confined to any part of human life, but concern the wicked as well as the good, I must defire your favourable acceptance ⚫ of what I a poor ftrolling girl about town, have to • fay to you. I was told by a Roman catholic gentleman who picked me up last week, and who, I hope, is abfolved for what paffed between us; I fay I was told by fuch a perfon, who endeavoured to convert me to his own religion, that in countries where popery prevails, befides the advantage of licensed ftews, there are large endowments given for the Incurabili, I think he called them, fuch as are paft all remedy, and are allowed fuch maintenance and fupport as to keep them without farther care until they expire. This manner of treating poor finners has,

Far fuperior to this, because more conducive to the interests of virtue, and benefit of the community, are our two late excellent foundations of the MAGDALEN HOUSE, and the ASYLUM: The one for the reception of penitent prostitutes, the other of young deferted girls: The one to refcue wretched females from the horrid flavery of habitual vice, the other to intercept them from falling into it. The erection of these two hofpitals was an honour referved for the year MDCCLVIII. Had the Founders lived in the days of the SPECTATOR, they would doubtless have received the nobleft approbation in the body of this work; the editor therefore could not help paying them this fmall tribute of respect in the margin. P.

· me,

methinks, great humanity in it; and as you are a perfon who pretend to carry your reflections upon all fubjects whatever occur to you, with candour, and act above the fenfe of what mifinterpretation you may meet with, I beg the favour of you to lay before all the world the unhappy condition of us poor vagrants, who are really in a way of labour instead of idlenefs. There are crouds of us whofe manner of • livelihood has long ceafed to be pleafing to us; and 'who would willingly lead a new life, if the rigour of the virtuous did not for ever expel us from coming into the world again. As it now happens, to the eternal infamy of the male fex, falfhood among you is not reproachful, but credulity in women is infamous.

·

Give me leave, Sir, to give you my hiftory. You are to know that I am a daughter of a man of a good reputation, tenant to a man of quality. The heir of 'this great house took it in his head to caft a favourable eye upon me, and fucceeded. I do not pretend to fay 'he promised me marriage: I was not a creature filly enough to be taken by fo foolish a story: but he ran " away with me up to this town, and introduced me to a grave matron, with whom I boarded for a day or two with great gravity, and was not a little pleafed with the change of my condition, from that of a country life to the fineft company, as I believed, in the ⚫ whole world. My humble fervant made me understand ⚫ that I should always be kept in the plentiful condition ? I then enjoyed; when after a very great fondnefs towards me, he one day took his leave of me for four or five days. In the evening of the fame day my good landlady came to me, and obferving me very penfive, began to comfort me, and with a mile told 'me I muft fee the world. When I was deaf to all the ⚫ could fay to divert me, fhe began to tell me with a very frank air that I must be treated as Lought, and not take thefe fqueamish humours upon me, for my ⚫ friend had left me to the town; and as their phrafe is, the expected I would fee company, or I must be treated like what I had brought myself to. This put me into a fit of crying: and I immediately, in a true ⚫ sense of my condition, threw myself on the floor, de

༤

⚫ploring

ploring my fate, calling upon all that was good and facred to fuccour me. While I was in all this agony, I obferved a decrepid old fellow come into the room ⚫ and looking with a fenfe of pleasure in his face at all my vehemence and transport. In a pause of my dif trefs. I heard him fay to the fhameless old woman who ⚫ftood by me, She is certainly a new face, or else the acts it rarely. With that the gentlewoman, who was making her market of me, in all the turn of my perfon, the heaves of my paffion, and the suitable change of my posture, took occafion to commend my neck, my shape, my eyes, my limbs. All this was accompanied with fuch fpeeches as you may have heard • horfe-courfers make in the fale of nags, when they are warranted for their foundness. You understand by this time I was left in a brothel, and expofed to the next bidder who could purchafe me of my patronefs. This is fo much the work of hell; the pleasure in the * poffeffion of us wenches, abates in proportion to the degrees we go beyond the bounds of innocence; and no man is gratified, if there is nothing left for him to debauch. Well, Sir, my firft man, when I came upon the town, was Sir Jeoffry Foible, who was extremely lavish to me of his money, and took fuch a fancy to me that he would have carried me off, if my patronefs would have taken any reasonable terms for me: but as he was old, his covetoufnefs was his ftrongest paffion, and poor I was foon left expofed to be the common refufe of all the rakes and debauchees in town. I cannot tell whether you will do me justice ♦ or no, till I fee whether you print this or not; otherwife, as I now live with SAL,* I could give you a very jul account of who and who is together in this town. You perhaps won't believe it; but I know of one who ⚫ pretends to be a very good Proteftant who lies with a Roman-Catholic: But more of this hereafter, as you pleafe me. There do come to our houfe the greatest politicians of the aget; and SAL is more threwd than • any

6

* A celebrated courtefan and procurefs of thofe times. This is doubtlefs a fling at Mr. Secretary St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, who was in his youth a noted rake, especially with

regard

6

any body thinks: No body can believe that fuch wise men could go to baudy-houfes out of idle purposes. I have heard them often talk of Auguftus Cæfar, who had intrigues with the wives of fenators, not out of ⚫ wantonnefs but ftratagem.

• It is a thousand pities you should be fo feverely vir'tuous as I fear you are; otherwise after one vifit or two, "you would foon understand that we women of the town are not fuch ufelefs correfpondents as you may imagine: You have undoubtedly heard that it was a courtesan who difcovered Catiline's confpiracy. If you print this I'll tell you more; and am in the mean time, SIR,

I livelihood, but that I am kept in fuch a manner

A M an idle young woman that would work for my

" as I cannot stir out. My tyrant is an old jealous fel'low, who allows me nothing to appear in. I have 'but one shoe and one flipper; no head-drefs, and no ' upper petticoat. As you fet up for a reformer, I defire you would take me out of this wicked way, and keep 'me yourself.

I

Mr. SPECTATOR,

EVE AFTER DAY,

I

A M to complain to you of a set of impertinent coxcombs, who vifit the apartments of us women ' of the town, only, as they call it, to fee the world. I 'muft confefs to you, this to men of delicacy might 'have an effect to cure them; but as they are ftupid, noify and drunken fellows, it tends only to make vice in themselves, as they think, pleafant and humorous," ' and at the fame time näufeous to us. I fhall, Sir, 'hereafter from time to time give you the names of 'these wretches who pretend to enter our houfes merely

regard to women; and who during his miniftry was known to divide his hours between the cares of his office and the diffipation of a brothel.

P.

as