I am far from encouraging Vice, and think it would be an unspeakable Felicity to a State, if the Sin of Uncleannefs could be utterly Banish'd from it; but I am afraid it is impoffible: The Paffions of fome People are too violent to be curb'd by any Law or Precept; and it is Wisdom in all Governments to bear with leffer Inconveniencies to prevent greater. If Courtezans and Strumpets were to be profecuted with as much Rigour as fome filly People would have it, what Locks or Bars would be fufficient to preserve the Honour of our Wives and Daughters? For 'tis not only that the Women in general would meet with far greater Temptations, and the Attempts to enfnare the Innocence of Virgins would feem more excufable even to the fober part of Mankind than they do now: But fome Men would grow outragious, and Ravishing would become a common Crime. Where fix or feven Thousand Sailors arrive at once, as it often happens at Amfterdam, that have seen none but their own Sex for

many Months together, how is it to be fuppos'd that honeft Women fhould walk the Streets unmolested, if there were no Harlots to be had at reasonable Prices? For which Reason the Wife Rulers of that well-order'd City always tolerate an uncertain number of Houses, in which Women are hir'd as publickly as Horfes at a Livery Stable; and there being in this Toleration a great deal of

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Prudence and Oeconomy to be seen, a short Account of it will be no tirefome digreffion.

In the first place the Houses I fpeak of are allow'd to be no where but in the most flovenly and unpolish'd part of the Town, where Seamen and Strangers of no Repute chiefly Lodge and Refort. The Street in which most of them ftand is counted fcandalous, and the Infamy is extended to all the Neighbourhood round it. In the second, they are only Places to meet and bargain in, to make Appointments, in order to promote Interviews of greater Secrefy, and no manner of Lewdness is ever fuffer'd to be tranfacted in them; which Order is fo ftrictly obferv'd, that bar the ill Manners and Noife of the Company that frequent them, you'll meet with no more Indecency, and generally lefs Lafciviousness there, than with us are to be seen at a Playhouse. Thirdly, the Female Traders that come to these Evening Exchanges are always the Scum of the People, and generally fuch as in the Day time carry Fruit and other Eatables about in Wheel-Barrows. The Habits indeed they appear in at Night are very different from their ordinary ones; yet they are commonly fo ridiculously Gay, that they look more like the Roman Dresses of stroling Actreffes than Gentlewomen's Cloaths: If to this you add the aukwardness, the hard Hands, and courfe breeding of the Damfels that wear them, there is no great Reason to fear, that many of

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the better fort of People will be tempted by them.

The Mufick in thefe Temples of Venus is perform'd by Organs, not out of Refpect to the Deity that is worship'd in them, but the frugality of the Owners, whose Business it is to procure as much Sound for as little Money as they can, and the Policy of the Government, who endeavour as little as is poffible to encourage the Breed of Pipers and Scrapers. All Seafaring Men, especially the Dutch, are like the Element they belong to, much given to loudness and roaring, and the Noise of half a dozen of them, when they call themselves Merry, is fufficient to drown twice the number of Flutes or Violins; whereas with one pair of Organs they can make the whole House ring, and are at no other Charge than the keeping of one fcurvy Musician, which can coft them but little: yet notwithstanding the good Rules and ftrict Difcipline that are obferv'd in these Markets of Love, the Schout and his Officers are always vexing, mulcting, and upon the leaft Complaint removing the miferable Keepers of them: Which Policy is of two great ufes; firft it gives an opportunity to a large parcel of Officers, the Magiftrates make use of on many Occasions, and which they could not be without, to squeeze a Living out of the immoderate Gains accruing from the worst of Employments, and at the same time punish those necessary Profli

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gates,

gates the Bawds and Panders, which, tho' they abominate, they defire yet not wholly to deftroy. Secondly, as on feveral accounts it might be dangerous to let the Multitude into the Secret, that thofe Houses and the Trade that is drove in them are conniv'd at, so by this means appearing unblameable, the wary Magiftrates preferve themselves in the good Opinion of the weaker fort of People, who imagine that the Government is always endeavouring, tho' unable, to suppress what it actually tolerates: Whereas if they had a mind to rout them out, their Power in the Adminiftration of Justice is so sovereign and extenfive, and they know fo well how to have it executed, that one Week, nay one Night, might send them all a packing.

In Italy the Toleration of Strumpets is yet more barefac'd, as is evident from their publick Stews. At Venice and Naples Impurity is a kind of Merchandize and Traffick; the Courtezans at Rome, and the Cantoneras in Spain, compose a Body in the State, and are under a Legal Tax and Impost. 'Tis well known, that the Reason why so many good Politicians as these tolerate Lewd Houses, is not their Irreligion, but to prevent a worse Evil, an Impurity of a more execrable kind, and to provide for the Safety of Women of Honour. About Two Hundred and Fifty Years ago, fays Monfieur de St. Didier, Venice being in want of Courtezans, the Repub

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lick

lick was obliged to procure a great number from Foreign Parts. Doglioni, who has written the memorable Affairs of Venice, highly extols the Wisdom of the Republick in this Point, which fecured the Chastity of Women of Honour daily expofed to publick Violences, the Churches and Confecrated Places not being a fufficient Azylum for their Chastity.

Our Universities in England are much bely'd if in fome Colleges there was not a Monthly Allowance ad expurgandos Renes: and time was when the Monks and Priests in Germany were allow'd Concubines on paying a certain Yearly Duty to their Prelate. 'Tis generally believ'd, fays Monfieur Bayle, (to whom I owe the laft Paragraph) that Avarice was the Caufe of this fhameful Indulgence; but it is more probable their defign was to prevent their tempting modeft Women, and to quiet the uneafness of Husbands, whofe Refentments the Clergy do well to avoid.

From what has been faid it is manifeft, that there is a Neceffity of facrififing one part of Womankind to preserve the other, and prevent a Filthiness of a more heinous Nature. From whence I think I may justly conclude (what was the feeming Paradox I went about to prove) that Chastity may be fupported by Incontinence, and the best of Virtues want the Affistance of the worst of Vices.