Magdalenism : an inquiry into the extent, causes, and consequences of prostitution in Edinburgh / by William Tait.

  • Tait, William
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Magdalenism : an inquiry into the extent, causes, and consequences of prostitution in Edinburgh / by William Tait. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    33/292 (page 13)
    (PovertyMs no check to this species of crime. Indeed, it seems to increase in proportj)Dn;fo the pressure of want and starvation., AVhere onejisfknown^'.to' follow a life of prostitution in thqlcss impoverished ranks of society,]ftwo lor more will be found to do so ■ which removes every barrier oTli^Tmat»Wid.Jbi©aks'up airi)rder, in the /hiost destitute classes.j^Destitution appears to bqfan evil akslip alPorc •^v'^nd all regard for the laws of morality ai\cl religion in the class of ^ 'Society where it is most severely fclt.^ ^n some lodging-houses, j where six or eight beds are crowded into one or two small apart- ments,jiand where twenty or more wretched beings are congregated together, all exhibitnig an extreme degree of indigence, at is no I unusual thing for mamed men and women to sleep promiscuously together^ or should any(^oman)bei|)resent unaccompanied byjier : husbandj it i^^t uncommonjfo/he^'^lo/olfer to slee^witlv'any man)' who(would payjthe expense of 'lier niglit's lodging. Some have been known in these lodging cellars to rise from the side of their husbands, when they knew they were asleep, and spend the greater part of the night in an adjoining bed with a different individual. (Others^ again,(adopt another methodj)and^Dursue their calling';an the^^en streets, Wf sonie ^f the(less frequeiited lanes ^J^r walks^in the/suburbsjof tll^city.)/Some movers])afterjjuiting their chjklren to bedj^ock the door of their dirty and uncomfortable dwellings, and(stroll the streetsmom night to morning)for the(,purpose of earning~as much as willTsufficejtoi^neet the necessary ^vants^of (life) for the ( ensuing day.) ^rThis class have a ^'pajdicularly dirty ^nd wretched appearance^ and are(^amiliar to every one)who has had occasion to traverse,the_^trefi.ts.-a&eijnidnight.^j^ Many are the in- sults which these wretched creatures receive from passengers and the police ; but how few feel or know the difficulties they have to contend with, and that({iieirs is no calling of pleasure or choice^but (one of dire necessity ! However unjustifiable and immoral their conduct may at present be, the cause which has compelled them to have recourse to it, might in many be traced to circumstances over which they had no control. They(niay^have(been^>cleprived, of the'jneans of subsistcncejby thcf death of a husband) oi', what is still more common, the (liusband,yunder the pretence of leaving in search of employment,/ may have desertecl)a confiding partner