rewards are falling; for, if the cross of honour is given to a man who has deserved well of his country, it will lose its value if a man who has done nothing remarkable obtains it also; it will fall into contempt if a despicable man can get it. Hence result the indifference and disdain which, in depraved societies, certain men profess for official honours, whose symbols which might serve as a safeguard against infamy, they sometimes refuse to wear. The study of our present subject has shown us a thorough absence of discretionary measures and of penal laws against prostitution in men—a fact unheard of, I think, in the history of civilizations _based on the principle of the family_. Is this culpable toleration the effect of a general relaxation of morals? Is it possible to reform our laws? This is what every serious mind must ask itself in view of such a rapid downward course. This consideration is so much the more important that, in its economical aspect, it is connected with the European balance of power. The relative strength of the powers especially consists, it will not be denied, in the manner, more or less effectual, which they adopt in order to maintain, together with the dignity of the man and the woman, the vigour of the child and the honour of the family. We see, in fact, that those nations only which sanction the principle of moral responsibility, have been able to preserve themselves from the decay which prostitution brings in its train. England,[29] Sweden, Switzerland, Prussia, Saxony, the United States, &c., permit, as France in former times did, the private initiative in the closing of the places for debauchery; they refuse to allow the accomplices of prostitutes to bring any action for debt, and impose penalties for the immoralities which we both condone and surround with outward signs of splendour.[30] On the contrary, we see the greatest slavery—that of the passions—among peoples which, having the likeness of liberty, are governed according to the French code. Thus Belgium, suffering from the like social wounds with ourselves, gives the title _conversational drawing-room_ (salons de conversation), to places where young girls are to be bought, and where important personages go to be supplied. Without pausing here upon all the economic consequences of debauchery, I shall draw attention to the fact that it enervates, enfeebles, and diminishes population, accumulating and scattering, besides, riches got without labour; and devoting to orgies food obtained by pinching the poor, it creates a pauperised community in the midst of one of sybarites.[31] The European nation which shall most imperfectly put down this vice will therefore be the weakest, the most unstable, and, consequently, the ripest for downfall. Experience teaches that this truth applies alike to ancient and modern civilizations.