Eliza Armstrong Case - The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon

The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon

On Saturday, July 4, 1885, a "frank warning" was issued in the Pall Mall Gazette: "All those who are squeamish, and all those who are prudish, and all those who would prefer to live in a fool's paradise of imaginary innocence and purity, selfishly oblivious to the horrible realities which torment those whose lives are passed in the London inferno, will do well not to read the Pall Mall Gazette of Monday and the three following days". The public's appetite whetted sufficiently in anticipation, on Monday, July 6, Stead published the first installments of The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon.

The first installment taking up six whole pages, Stead attacked vice with eye-catching subheadings that were more suggestive of pornography than of social reform: "The Violation of Virgins", "The Confessions of a Brothel-Keeper", "How Girls Were Bought and Ruined". The last section of the first installment bore special mention: under the subheading "A Child of Thirteen bought for £5" Stead related the story of Eliza, changing her name to "Lily". Although he vouched "for the absolute accuracy of every fact in the narrative", Stead changed a number of details, and omitted the fact that "Lily's" purchaser was none other than himself. The theme of "Maiden Tribute" was child prostitution, the abduction, procurement and sale of young English virgins to Continental "pleasure palaces". Stead took his readers to the labyrinthine streets of London (intentionally recalling the Greek myth) to its darker side, exposing the flesh trade while exposing the corruption of those officials who not only turned a blind eye but also condoned such abuse. In particular, he criticized those members of Parliament who were responsible for the Bill's impending "extinction in the House of Commons" and hinted that they might have personal reasons to block any changes in the law.