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Murther; it is a wilful Violence upon the Mind, and that, I think, equal or superior to a Violence upon the Body; it is a formal Ravishment upon Virtue, and that in so much the worse a manner, as it is done under the Form of Justice and Law, and is still made worse, in that it is without a Remedy.
If Violence is offered to the Chastity of a Woman, she has her recourse to the Law, and she will be redress'd as far as redress can be obtained. Where the Fact is irretrievable, the Man should be punished, and the Woman is protected by the Law from any farther Force upon her for the future. But here the Woman is put to Bed to the Man by a kind of forced Authority of Friends; 'tis a Rape upon the Mind, her Soul, her brightest Faculties, her Will, her Affections are ravished, and she is left without redress, she is left in the Possession of the Ravisher, or of him, who, by their Order, she was delivered up to, and she is bound in the Chains of the same Violence for her whole life.
Horrid abuse! Here is a sacred Institution violated, and, as I may say, prophaned an unjust Violence offered to Chastity and Modesty on one hand, and to Honesty on the other; who marries by the importuning Authority of the Parent, contrary to solemn and secret Engagements pass'd to another, contrary to Inclination, and contrary to pre-ingaged Affections, and, at last, contrary to Law.
Is not here a Matrimonial Whoredom? I think, if it allows any alteration in the Word, it is for the worse, and it should rather be called a Matrimonial Adultery. Nor is it very unusual for these Sorts of Matches to be pleaded asExcuses
