A Treatise concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed/Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
HAT Matrimony was instituted for the regular Propagation of Kind, I have noted already, and need repeat no Part of it; I only add, that the present vitiated Humour of the Times has brought up our modern Wits to cavil at the Words regular Propagation. They will allow it to be proper for the Regularity; but not essential to the Propagation, and so they would have Matrimony be only taken for civil Regulation of Government, appointed meerly by humane Polity, and the Contrivance of Statesmen, to keep the People in a kind of formal Subjection to Constitutions and Government, and to make the Lawyers Work, to order Inheritances and Successions, as they think fit.
For, say they, in the Beginning it was not so; and then they bring us the Story of Abraham and his Maid Hagar, Jacob marrying two Sisters, and then lying with both their Maids, and the like. These Examples, they say, prove that Propagation, being a general Work, ought not to be brought into Bondage, and under the Subjection of these Constitution-Regularities, but that Successions and Inheritances should be wholly Patriarchal, the Father dividing his Substance among his Children, as he thinks fit; and then they add Mr. Dryden, a leud Poet, upon that Subject:
"When Man on many multiply'd his Kind,
"'Ere one to one was cursedly confin'd.
If I was upon the Subject of Poligamy in this Chapter, I should, perhaps seasonably too, answer this corrupt Way of Reasoning here; but it may come in its Place; at present my Thoughts and Applications are another Way.
The Laws of our Country, and the acknowledged Principles of the Christian Religion which we profess, have united their Force to lay us under Subjection to this Part of Constitution-Government, as those Men call it; and be it right or wrong in its own Nature, be it better or worse in it self, and in its Circumstances, we are under this Regulation, born in the reach of it, the Laws of God and of our Country bind us to it, and there is no room to make that a Pretence; the Cavil can have no force among us in this Nation.
Let me explain a little upon this Subject, and if it be too grave, I shall be the shorter, but it is absolutely necessary to be understood: It is plain, whatever Silence we may pretend the Scripture has shewn, our Laws have determined it to be fixed fast upon us; no Man may have two Wives at a time here.
1. Because the Laws of the Land forbid it, and make it criminal.
2. Because both the Man and the Woman bind themselves against it by mutual Agreement, and marry positively upon that Condition,
First, The Laws of the Land. Every Law is, as I may say, of our own making: Every Man is bound by the Laws of his Country, he is bound to the Obligation, that is, to obey and subject himself to them; and he consents in the making to submit to the Punishment in Case of a Breach of these Laws: The Parliament is a true Representative of the whole Country; every Subject is present at the making every Law that passes, though not personally, yet he is present representatively in his Representative, and actually makes every Law that passes; he consents to it, and submits, or promises to submit to it; and this makes his Punishment just and rational too, if he breaks the Law, because he first yielded to be governed by it.
Now the Laws of our Country are of two Kinds in this Case; the Common or Statute Law, and the Divine Law, which we call Conscience; the first makes what we call Constitution, and is founded upon what our Legislature supposed to be the meaning and design of the Laws of God; for the legislative Authority of our Country never are intended to contradict either the Law of Nature or the Divine Law.
As then the Laws of our Country enjoin it.
As these Laws of our Country are consonant to, or at least are supposed to be founded upon the Laws of God, and the Laws of Nature.
And as we are all bound, as Members of the Conftitution, to fubmit to, and be governed by the Laws of our Country.
And, lastly, we are bound by the Laws of God, to obey the lawful Authority of that Government and Country we live under.
So by all these Obligations we are obliged against Poligamy, and it would be a sinful Excursion for us to come into it.
Secondly, Because both the Man and the Woman bind themselves against it by mutual Agreement, and marry positively upon that Condition.
What we are mutually engaged by Contract to perform, and which it is lawful to perform, it is unlawful for us not to perform. It is a Vulgar, but well-founded Proverb or proverbial Saying, Every honest Man is as good as his Word. Certainly a mutual Compact is mutually obliging; nor can it be pretended, that there is any Force in it, for the Man knows he marries upon that Condition; if not, let him but tell his Wife he will, notwithstanding his Agreement, marry another while she is living; and let him see who will take him upon those Terms; if the Lady consents to it, that's another Case. I shall then say this only, (viz.) that he does not offend her; he commits no Breach, no Trespass upon her; as to his disobeying and breaking the Laws of God and of his Country; let him answer for that where those Things are to be answered for: But as to his Wife, he does her no Wrong, if he takes ten Wives together, because she consented to it, and took him under the express Condition.
This, I think, is a true state of the Case, and confirms this Point; that let us pretend to what Excuse we will for Poligamy, from the pretended Silence of the Scripture, yet we are effectually prohibited and fore-closed by the Laws of the Land, and, by our voluntary Consent, expressed in the solemnest of all Oath, the Marriage Contract.
Being then under the Obligation of single-handed Matrimony, let us talk of it as it lies, and go back to where we left off: This Matrimony is at least the only, lawful, established and regular Means of Propagation of the Species. All Births out of this Circle are, as it was in the old Jewish Constitution, out of God's Congregation, for a Bastard was excluded to the fourth Generation; and all our Births extra Matrimonial, or, as the Scots call it, on the wrong Side of the Blankets, are spurious, illegitimate, and given up to the Reproach of Bastardy, esteemed Corrupt in Blood, and carry the Blot or Blend in the Escutcheon to the End of Time, so that the Brand is indelible; no Time, no Merit of Persons, no Purchase of Honours or Titles, can wipe out the remembrance of it.
This then being the Case, I need not tell the Ladies that this is the only Way by which they are allowed, with Honour and Reputation, to bring forth Children; 'tis the only Protection to their Characters when they are with Child, viz. That they have a Father for it; that it was born in Wedlock; such a young Lady is big with Child, there Scandal begins to open its Mouth: Well, what then, she is married! There's an immediate Answer that stops every body's Mouth; and the Virtue of the Lady is no more struck at, nor can be; for 'tis the Road of Nature, joined with the direction and limitation of the Law, and that as well the Laws of God and Man; of which at large in its Place,
But how then comes it to pass that People marry that would have no Offspring? And from what Principles do these People act who marry, and tell us, they hope they shall have no Children? This is to me one of the most unwarrantable and preposterous Things that I can think of in all the Articles of Matrimony; nor can I make out; if I were to set up to defend it, I say, I could not for my Life make it out, that there is the least pretence in it to Honesty; or to Modesty, nay, I would not undertake to justify the Morality of it.
But let us first see if it can be reconciled to Modesty; for that is the particular Point I am upon, and whether it does not come justly under the Reproach of the Matrimonial Whoredom that I am speaking of.
If you should come to a Lady of the greatest Modesty and Virtue in the World, and put it close to her upon any weighty Part of the Subject, as about Settlements, inheriting Estates, and the like, she would not scruple, tho' perhaps with some little Reluctance, at that Kind of the Question, that she expects to have Children when the Gentlemen and she comes together: Modesty obliges the Lady to shun and avoid the Discourse as much as she can; but she tacitly owns she is to be understood so in the very Nature of the Thing; and if she is talked to among her own Sex, where she could be free, and they were so weak as to ask her such a Question, which I think few Women would do, as, whether she expected to have any Children? She would say, Yes, to be sure; what do you think I marry for else?
Now take a married Life, with all its Addenda of Family Cares, the trouble of looking after a Houshold, the hazard of being subject to the Humours and Passions of a churlish Man, and particularly of being disappointed, and matching with a Tyrant, and a Family-Brute; with still the more apparent hazard of being ruined in Fortune by his Disasters if a Tradesman, by his Immoralities if a Gentleman, and by his Vices if a Rake: I say, what Woman in her Senses would tie her self up in the Fetters of Matrimony, if it were not that she desires to be a Mother of Children, to multiply her Kind, and, in short, have a Family?
If she did not, she would be next to Lunatick to marry, to give up her Liberty, take a Man to call Master, and promise when she takes him to Honour and Obey him. "What! give her self away for nothing! Mortgage the Mirth, the Freedom, the Liberty, and all the Pleasures of her Virgin-state, the Honour and Authority of being her own, and at her own dispose, and all this to be a Barren Doe, a Wife without Children; a Dishonour to her Husband, and a Reproach to her self! Can any Woman in her Wits do thus? It is not indeed consistent with common Sense.
Take it then on the Man's Side, 'tis the same Thing. I have known indeed a Man pretend to profess such an Aversion to Children in the House, and to the Noise and Impertinences of them, as he called it, that he could not bear the Thoughts of them. But then this Man did not pretend to marry; and so far he was in the right; his Conduct was congruous, and consistent with it self, and he was all of a Piece.
N. B. But then pray note, by the way, this Man married afterwards, and then he was ready to hang himself that he had no Children; that he was not like other Families; that he look'd like a House that Heaven had blasted; that others had Children enough, and some more than they could keep, but he that had a plentiful Fortune, a beautiful Woman to his Wife, and both of them in Health, and Years suitable, should be barren.
After some time, that, as if to punish his unjust Aversions, his Wife was with-held Chil-bearing, she brought him two Sons at a Birth; the Man was over-joyed and thankful for them, and the fondest Father in the World: Thus he stood reproved for his former Error, and was a living Witness against himself.
The first Part of his Conduct was scandalously wrong, as I have said; the aversion to Children was unnatural; but then he acted the rational Part so far, that he did not marry. But for a Man or Woman to marry, and then say, they desire to have no Children, that is a Piece of preposterous Nonsence, next to Lunacy.
If A. G. a grave Jester at Matrimony, who tells us, 'tis the only Reason he does not marry, that boasts the Ladies are every Day dying for him, and that he would marry but that he hates Children; I say, if he will please to have one of those modern witted Ladies that desires to marry, but would have no Children, they may certainly marry, and yet resolve upon the wholesome Negative between them for a certain Space of Time, viz. to Number fifty, or thereabouts; and 'tis great odds but they may obtain the seeming Answer to their Request, and go barren to the Grave.
But if any doubt the Sincerity of the Ladies who make those Pretences, let the Gentlemen who has a mind to try them effectually, and who professes to love a pretty Lady's Conversation, but hates this foolish thing called Coition, as Religio Medici calls it; I say, let him put (Origin) upon himself, and then Court one of those chast Wou'd-be-barren Ladies, and see if any One of them will take him. My Word for them, and no venture neither, not one of them would care to be seen in his Company.
Sir Roger l'Estrange in his Æsop, in the Moral of one of his Fables, has this short Story very well to my Purpose: "Well! I am undone, says a certain grave Widow Lady, to another Lady of her Intimacy; I am undone, I say, for want of a good honest understanding sober Man, to look after my Affairs. Every Body cheats me, no Body will pay me; Mr. ——— has left me in good Circumstances, but 'tis all abroad in Debts and Accounts; and I am but a Woman, and every Body imposes upon me; What shall I do? I think verily, if I could but find such a Person as I really want, I should be almost tempted to Matrimony. But then that ugly nauseous Business of a Husband and a Bedfellow, and the rest of it. I profess my Stomach turns at the Thoughts of it; the very mention of it makes me Sick; it puts me quite off all my Thoughts again, so that, in short, I shall be ruin'd, I know not what to do.
Well! however, as she had told her Mind to the other Lady, and bid her think of it, and find out such a Man for her, if she met with any thing suitable to her Circumstances, the Lady comes to her one Day fall of Joy, and big with the Discovery.
"Oh Child, says she, I have thought of what you told me the other Day about your Circumstances, I have found a Man that will fit you every way to a tittle; so grave, so sober, so honest, you can never put your self into better Hands; he is a Master of Business, and Bred to it; he understands Accompts, making Leases, letting Farms, knows every Thing, and, in short, you can never have such an Opportunity while you live; for he will suit your other Proposal too, about that usual Affair of Matrimony; you understand me, Madam; I can assure you, he will never disturb you that Way, he has no Thoughts of that Kind, nor is he in a Condition for it."
The Lady heard her with Smiles till she comes to the very last Words, when she turns up her Nose with a snuff. Away! away! says she, I thought you had known better than that too; I love the Virtue, as I told you, but I hate the Infirmity.
Now when I shall see any one of those Ladies who are for marrying, but say, they hope they shall have no Children; I say, when I shall see them marry an Origin, or such a Man as this Lady recommended to her Friend, and, knowing him to he such, then I shall no longer doubt their Sincerity.
Or when one of those Ladies, professing an Aversion to Children, shall also maintain an Aversion to Matrimony because of it, and shall reject all the best Offers, the handsomest Gentlemen, suitable Settlements, agreeable Figures, and the like, and resolve the Celibacy of her Life, purely because she would have no Children; this indeed, however it may reflect upon her Sense, and her Wisdom, will yet reflect nothing upon her Virtue, or upon her Sincerity, because she acts according to her profess'd Sentiments; and all her Conduct is of a Piece.
But to pretend to all this Aversion for Children, to nauseate the Nursing, the Watching, the Squaling, the fatigue of bringing up Children, which, as they call it, makes a Woman a Slave and a Drudge all her Days; to be perpetually exclaiming against this, and then MARRY, what must we call this?
For a young, handsome and agreeable Lady, with all the Blushes and Modesty of her Virgin Years about her, and under the best of Education, to marry, go naked to Bed, and receive the Man, as it were, in her Arms, and then say, she hopes she shall have no Children, and she desires to have no Children, this is a Language I cannot understand; it will bear no modest Construction in my Thoughts, and, in a word, is neither more or less than acknowledging that she would have the Pleasure of lying with a Man, but would not have the least Interruption from her usual Company keepings the Jollitry and Mirth of her younger Years; that she would not abate her Pleasures, she would not be confined at home, or loaded with the Cares of being a Mother.
In a word, she would have the Use of the Man, but she would not act the Part of the Woman; she would have him be the Husband, but she would not be a Wife, and, if you bear the blunt Stile that some People put it into, she would only keep a St———n.
There is indeed no dissembling the Matter, 'tis neither better or worse; she would please her Appetite with the bare brutal Part, but would be freed from that which she calls the trouble of Matrimony Child-bearing; which, by the way, the most virtuous, modest, chast and valuable Ladies in the World, have, in all Ages, esteemed to be the Blessing of a married Life.
I remember there was an Example of a Lady in a certain neighbouring Country, who married a Person of Quality, but conditioned with him not to cohabit for a certain Time, I think it was for a Year or two; and the Reason she gave for it was, that she would not spoil her Shape; but then, as above, she conditioned not to cohabit, and yet when she did cohabit, her Lord did not find her so chast, or that her Virtue was of so much value to her as her Beauty; and she ventured, if Fame lies not, the spoiling her Shapes, in an extraordinary manner, when she declined the Enjoyment of her own Husband, and ran the risque of her small Waste in the ordinary way. But that Part is not to the present Case.
In all the Examples I have met with, where the Conduct of the Person has been justifiable, they have joined to their Aversions for Child-bearing the proper Remedies, namely, abstinence from the Men; if the Lady that desires to be no Breeder, keeps her self single and chast; if she preserves her Virtue, and remains unmarried, I have no more to say, let it be to her as she desires; no doubt she will not be troubled with Children if she knows not a Man; if she with-holds the Means, Nature will certainly with-hold the End, and if she dies Virtuous, I warrant her she dies Barren.
But here is a farther, and yet more fatal Mischief attending, and which, if the Wish is real, as I am to suppose it is, I see no room to forbear suggesting, that she will certainly use some Means to prevent it. The Truth is, there is not much Sense in the Discourse without it, as there is no Honesty with it: For what can a Woman say to her self that lies with a Man every Night, and yet really wishes and desires to have no Children? 'Tis most natural to say, why I must either take some Method or other with, my self, or I shall certainly be with Child.
A certain Lady, not a hundred Miles from St. Ann's ———, and who was one of the merry Club, called. The Assembly of Barren Does, had an unpleasant Dialogue with a Friend of hers, who she thought to be a Privy-Councellor of Hell, but proved not quite wicked enough for her, upon this very Subject; another Lady being present, who protested against the Proposals, though she was not averse to the Thing, for which they were proposed.
Lady. O Cousin, says the first Lady that was newly married, I am glad to see you, for I want sadly to talk with you a little.
Cousin. Well, Child, what is the Matter, are you with Child yet?
Lady. No, thank God, I an't, but I am ready to die with the Thoughts of it.
Cou. Why so frighted, Child; what's the Matter?
Lady. O! I would not be with Child for all the World.
Cou. Not with Child, and not for all the World. What do you mean?
Lady. I mean as I say; if I am with Child, I am undone.
Cou. Why, what are you afraid of? I warrant, you have a Notion that you shall die with the first Child, han't you? Why all the young married Women fancy so.
Lady. No, no, I don't trouble myelf with that, I might do as well as other Women for that; but 'tis an odious, hateful Thing, I abhor the Thoughts of it.
Cou. I never heard the like. Why, what did you marry for?
Lady. Nay, that's true; but every Woman that marries an't with Child presently.
Cou. No not presently, no more are you. Why, you have been this half Year almost?
Lady. Yes, seven Months.
Cou. And not with Child! Why, what have you been doing all this while? Why, it may be, you will never have any?
Lady. Oh! if that could but happen, I should be happy then.
Cou. What do you mean? Are you in earnest?
Lady. Yes, I am in earnest; I would give five hundred Pounds if I could be sure never to have any.
Cou. I could have given you an infallible Method to have prevented it a little while ago.
Lady. What was it, Cousin? Law! you would oblige me infinitely; It is not too late yet, is it?
Cou. My Method was this, Child, not to have been married.
Lady. Phoo, that's saying nothing; besides, you know I had a mind to marry.
Cou. Ay, Cousin, I know yon had, and to be with Child too, as well as other Women. Why not?
Lady. No, I vow and swear to you, I always had an Aversion to the very Thoughts of Children.
Cou. Nay, then you should never have married.
Lady. Well; but I could not help that: I tell you, I had a mind to have a Husband.
Cou. I don't know what to say to you, Cousin. Why, if you had a mind to lie with a Man, you might be sure you would be with Child? Prithee don't talk so simply; why you make a Child of your self, as if you understood nothing.
Lady. But, Cousin, is there no way to prevent it now?
Cou. To prevent it now! Let me see, you say you are sure you are not with Child yet.
Lady. Yes, I am sure I an't.
Cou. Why then, I'll tell you how you shall prevent it.
Lady. Oh how, Cousin! Do, tell me that valuable Secret.
Cou. Why don't let Mr. ——— come to you any more, Child.
Lady. Pshaw, that———that won't do. How can I help it?
Cou. Why can't you pretend Indisposition, and lie away from him.
Lady. Ay, that's true, but that is not the Thing, I can't abide that neither; that would be parting Beds: No, I can't think of that neither; I can't abide to lie away from him.
Cou. You are a pretty Gentlewoman indeed; you would not be with Child, and yet you would lie with a Man every Night. Is not that the Case now?
Lady. Why, truly, I can't say but it is a little of the Case. But what can I do?
Cou. Nay, I don't know; you must e'en run the Venture, as, I suppose, you do, and as other Women do.
Lady. Then I shall certainly be with Child: And what will become of me then?
Cou. Become of you. Why, you will be brought to Bed, have a fine Boy, and half a dozen more after that, and do bravely, as your Neighbours do, and as your Mother did before you, Child.
Lady. Law———! Cousin, you distress my very Soul; I cannot bear the Thoughts of it.
Cou. There's no help for it, Child.
Lady. Sure there is, Cousin; something may be done: I heard of one Mrs. Pleas. . .t that did.
Cou. Why, you little Devil, you would not take Phyfick to kill the Child, would you, as, they say, she did?
Lady. No; but there may be Things to prevent Conception; an't there?
Cou. Why, look you, let me see, I don't know[1].
Lady. Do, Cousin, if it be possible.
Cou. Nay, since you are so much in earnest.
Lady. Indeed, I am in earnest.
Cou. Why, there are Things to be taken to ———
Lady. What! to make Folks miscarry. Oh! I would not do that neither; I dare not do that.
Cou. "What! you mean to prevent your being with Child, I suppose.
Lady. Ay, ay, I do mean that; but I wou'd not take Things to destroy the Child, that wou'd be murther. I wou'd not do that by no means, Cousin.
Cou. Why look ye, Child, I would not deceive you, 'tis the same Thing.
Lady. What do you mean?
Cou. Why, I mean as I say; I tell you, 'tis the same Thing, Child.
Lady. What! the same Thing to prevent a Conception as to destroy the Child after it is conceived: Is that the same Thing?
Cou. Yes, I say, 'tis the same Thing.
Lady. Explain your self, Cousin, for I don't understand you, indeed; it does not seem the same Thing to me.
Cou. Why, in the first place, you would prevent your having any Children, though you married according to God's holy Ordinance; which Ordinance, as the Office of Matrimony tells you, was appointed for that very End; to take Medicines therefore to prevent, or to destroy that Conception, are equally wicked in their Intention, and it is the End of every thing, that makes it Good or Evil; the rest differs only in the degree.
Lady. I cannot understand your Niceties; I would not be with Child, that's all; there's no harm in that, I hope.
Cou. That is not all the Case, Child; though I do not grant that there is no harm. Now you have, as I said, married a Man, and he, no doubt, desires and expects Children by you.
Lady. Yes, Mr. C——— is mighty desirous to have Children.
Cou. And what do ye think he would say to, or think of you, if he knew you would be taking Physick, to prevent your being with Child.
Lady. He would be very angry, I believe indeed, very angry.
Cou. Ay, and have very ill Thoughts of you, I venture to say that to you, Child; therefore be cautious, and act very warily in what you do.
Lady. Well, Cousin, and so I will, but that is not the Case, I don't fear his knowing it; but as to what you were saying before.
Cou. Why, as I said before, I say again, your taking Physick before-hand to prevent your being with Child is wilful Murther, as essentially and as effectually, as your destroying the Child after it was formed in your Womb.
Lady. How can that be? when there is nothing to destroy, I can destroy nothing.
Cou. The Difference, as I said before, lies only in the degree; for Example.
Lady. Ay, pray let me have an Example; for I do not reach it indeed.
Cou. Why thus; you was with Mr. ——— your Husband last Night; I'll suppose then, that if you do nothing to injure it, and though you were never to lie with him more, you would be with Child.
Lady. Oh! you hurt me but with supposing it.
Cou. I understand you, Child, but don't interrupt me.
Lady. Well, I won't; tho' you wound[2] me deep every Word you say; but pray go on.
Cou. I must suppose, as before then, that you conceived as lately as you can imagine; whenever such a Thing happens, it must take its Beginning some where or other.
Lady. Well, what then?
Cou. Why then, if you take a Medicine to prevent it after 'tis done, is not that destroying it?
Lady. You fright me, Cousin.
Cou. I can't help that, I had rather fright you than deceive you; the Difference is only here, that by this Medicine you destroy a younger Conception than you would do in the other Case; but it is no less a real and an effectual Child in Embrio, than the other.
Lady. And is not that a Difference?
Cou. What Difference in Murther, whether the Person killed be a Man grown, or a little Boy?
Lady. What must I do then? Cousin.
Cou. What must you do? Why, be quiet and easy, Child, and take your Lot in the World, as other Women do.
Lady. Oh! I can't bear the Thoughts of Children.
Cou. Then you should not have married, Child. Why, did ever any Woman marry, and not wish for Children?
Lady. Yes, yes; I know several that married, and resolved to have none, if they could help it.
Cou. Why then you know several Monsters of Women? why 'tis preposterous.
Lady. Well, I know two in particular, and they took Things to prevent it, as I would fain do.
Cou. Then they should have taken them before Marriage, and honestly told the Man so, and see if any honest Man would have meddled with them.
Lady. But, dear Cousin, go on with your Discourse: Why may I not take something to prevent my being with Child now, when, as I tell you, I am sure I am not with Child, except for a Night only? And why should I be with Child just now more than all this while?
Here the Discourse stopt a-while; and the Cousin, though she had said it was against her Conscience and Judgment, was prevailed with to tell her of a Medicine, and a devilish one it was, if she had set down all the Particulars. N. B. You are to note, that it was a Medicine indeed for the wicked Purpose; but the other Lady that gave it her kept out the main and most dangerous Ingredients, and gave her, as appeared afterwards, nothing but what, if she had been with Child, she might have taken with the greatest Safety in the World. However, the other having believed she had taken other Things, her Imagination made it work other Effects than it would have done.
When she had taken the Medicine it made her very sick, and, in a word, set her a Vomiting and Purging most violently, and that threw her into a high Fever.
In her Fever she was exceedingly struck in her Conscience with the Fact; and I could give a very pleasing Account from her own Mouth, of her after Reflections upon the criminal Part, which she was then convinced of, and began to be penitent for. But that Part is too serious for this Time of Day, and few of the Readers of our Times may be grave enough to relish it
But the Story turns upon another Part, being extremely afflicted at what she had done, and having no Body to give vent to her Mind about it, her Cousin, who had unhappily given her the Direction, being gone into the Country; I say, the want of her to vent her Thoughts, and ease her Mind to, joined to the Fever, made her delirious or light-headed; and in one of her Fits of Talking she knew not what, she unhappily betrayed the Secret, told what she had done to the Nurse that tended her, and she had Discretion little enough to tell it to her Husband's Mother, and she to her Son, the Lady's Husband.
It moved him with a variety of Passions, as, in particular, an Indignation at the horrid Fact, Anger at his Wife, who, though he loved to an Extreme, and had never shewn the least Unkindness to her before, yet he could not refrain, sick as she was, and even at Death's Door, to reproach her with it, and that in the bitterest Terms, which put her into a violent Agony, so that every one about her thought he had killed her; and then he was as Angry with himself at the impatience of his Temper.
However, to make out the short History in a few Words, the Lady recovered, the Fever went off, and she was restored to health, but that was not all, she was restored to her Senses in the Point in which she had trespassed, as I said, upon her Modesty. But she suffered some Affliction in that very Article, that she had been blamed for; she lived near two Years more with her Husband, and never was with Child; and all the while she was under the greatest Affliction for not being with Child, much more than she was before for fear of it, and indeed with much more Foundation.
Her Apprehensions now were, that her Husband should suppose either that she still used Art with her self to prevent her being with Child, or to destroy a Conception after it had taken place, or that she had injured her self some Way or other, by what she had formerly done in such a manner, that now it was probable she might never be with Child at all; and these Thoughts, especially the last, did really make such an Impression upon her Husband, before she could easily perceive a great alteration in his Conduct and Carriage to her, that he was colder, and, as she thought, very much changed in his Affection to her, carried it with indifference and slight, looked upon himself as greatly injured and abused by her; frequently talked as if he thought the Ends of Matrimony being really unjustly destroyed by her with design, and wilfully, their Marriage was void in Law, and ought to be dissolved in form, and once or twice, if not oftner, intimated to her, that lie thought of bringing it into Parliament, in order to obtain a dissolution of their Marriage.
This terrified her to the last Degree; she behaved her self to him with great submission, and indeed, more than he desired; frequently, and on all Occasions, protested to him with all possible solemnity, that she had not taken the least Step, or entertained a Thought of doing so, towards any thing of that kind, since her late Fever; assured him of her being fully satisfied that it was unlawful, and that she had committed a great Crime in what she had done before; that it was a Sin against her Husband; that she had injured him in it, dishonoured her self, and offended against the Laws both of God and Man. He could not say more to her than she did to load her self, and managed so well, so humble, upon the main Subject, and so obliging to him, that she convinced him of her Sincerity, and he became fully satisfied of that Part, as indeed he had great Reason to be upon many Accounts.
But for what was pass'd, there was no Answer to be given to it; she hardly knew what she had done, and what she had not done; she did not know what she had taken, except the Names of some of the Drugs, what Effect they might have had, she was as ill able to know as any Body else was to tell her; she might have spoiled her self for ought she knew; nor was she able to give him any Assurance that it was not so.
This left him very uneasy, and, as I said above, he did not fail to let her know it, which extremely afflicted her; for though, as above, he was a very kind Husband yet it was a Thing so very disobliging, and shewed such a Contempt of him, when he was by all possible means endearing himself to her, so that he resented it exceedingly.
Under this distressed Circumstance of her Affairs, and dreading the being exposed, as above, by her Husband's bringing it before the Parliament, though he was soon satisfied the House would not have engaged in it one Way or other, unless it had been to vote it scandalous, which would have done him no service at all; I say, in this Distress her Cousin came to Town, and she no sooner heard of it, but she flies to her; and their first Meeting produced the following Discourse:
Lady. Oh! Cousin, now I am undone indeed; I am compleatly miserable[3].
Cou. What is the Matter, Child, what is it? pray tell me. Are you with Child?
Lady. Oh! miserable to the last Degree; I can't describe it to you[4].
Cou. What is it, Cousin? I entreat you compose your self.
Lady. Oh! that cursed Dose of Physick you gave me.
Cou. Nay, Child, don't say I gave it you.
Lady. No, you did not give it me; nor I did not follow your Directions in it.
Cou. Why? Did you take it when you were with Child?
Lady. I don't know, I am afraid I did.
Cou. Nay, then you made mad Work with your self indeed; I am sure I directed you just the contrary. But to tell you the Truth, if you took nothing but my Directions, it was a very innocent thing; it would have done you neither good nor harm.
Lady. Ay, but it purged and vomited my Life away almost, and threw me into a [5] violent Fever.
Cou. Why, you were certainly with Child then, and the fright put you into that Condition.
Lady. I believe it did; for I had no sooner swallowed it down, but I was in the greatest Agony imaginable, at the Thoughts of what I had done; I was struck as if an Arrow had been shot thro' me; I was all horror and disorder, Soul and Body,
Cou. Ay, you frighted your self Sick: I am sure what I gave you Directions to take would have done you no hurt, if you had been with Child.
Lady. Are you sure of it?
Cou. Don't you remember how earnestly I persuaded you against the Thing it self.
Lady. Yes, very well.
Cou. And how I argued with you, that it was as much Murther as if the Child had been grown to its maturity in your Womb.
Lady. Yes, yes, I remember it particularly.
Cou. Well, Cousin; And do you think then I would have given you a Dose to kill the Child within you, when you know how I urged you against it so earnestly, and told you 'twas wilful Murther?
Lady. Well, but you did give me the Directions.
Cou. Ay, ay, let any Physician see it; I'll appeal to the best of them; I gave it you to put a Stop to your doing worse, and for nothing else.
Lady. And could it do me no harm?
Cou. No, I'll answer for it, if you took nothing but what I directed.
Lady. Nay, I neither added or diminished, I can assure you.
Cou. Then let any Body shew the Receipt to the Doctor, and I'll stand by it, that as I gave it you to be rid of your importunate wicked Design, so I gave it you to prevent your taking something worse of some Body else.
Lady. Oh! Cousin, if that could be made out, I wifh Mr. ——— knew it, for he is disobliged so by it, that I believe he will never be reconciled to me; I believe he will expose me for it, and we shall separate about it[6].
Cou. It is a lamentable Story indeed, Cousin, and Things have been very ill managed among you.
Lady. But, dear Cousin, what shall I do? Are you so sure of what you say, that I may depend upon it I have received no Damage?
Cou. I will go to any Physician with you, and convince you.
Lady. Nay, if you did cheat me, then it was a kind of a happy Fraud. Shall I let Mr. ——— know it, if there is any Occasion?
Cou. With all my Heart; I'll justify every Word of it, and satisfy any reasonable Man.
Lady. I don't know whether any thing will satisfy Mr. ——— now, for 'tis hard to remove a Fancy of such a Nature when once it has taken Root in the Mind: Nor do I believe all the Arguments in the World would be of any Weight with him.
Cou. Well, however, I desire one Thing of you for your own satisfaction, and mine too.
Lady. What is that?
Cou. Why, let you and I go to some eminent Physician, and show him the Recipe, and tell him the plain Matter of Fact; and let us hear his Opinion.
Lady. We will go to Dr. ——— ——— then.
Cou. With all my Heart.
According to this Agreement they went to the Doctor, and he read the Particulars: He assured her, that he who gave her the Medicine to cause Abortion, or prevent Conception, or to do a breeding Woman the least harm, deceived her; for that there was nothing in it but what a Woman with Child might freely take without the least Danger, and that nothing in the Medicine could do her the least Injury.
This gave the Lady her self full satisfaction, and made her very easy: But she did not see any room to bring this Part about with Mr. ——— her Husband, for that his Resentments were run high, and he grew warm at but the mention of the Thing; but she thought to tell him all this Story would but lay the Weight heavy upon her self, so she resolved to let it rest where it was, and wait the Issue. And thus she wore out, as I said, above two Years, tho' with many hard Struggles and frequent Reproaches from her Husband, who was extreamly soured in his Temper by it, and did not stick to use her hardly enough about it upon all Occasions.
At last, to her particular satisfaction, and his too, she proved with Child indeed, and that put an End to it all, for it removed the grand suspicion, that she had poisoned or vitiated her Womb, so that she could never conceive, and she still wished to have no Children, which indeed was the reverse of her Case now; for she earnestly desired to be with Child, to put an End to all these Dissatisfactions. And thus ended this melancholy Affair.
From the whole Story, useful Observations may be made very apposite to the Case before us. The wretched Humour of desiring not to be with Child, appears here in its proper light. How direct a Crime it is in its self, is proved from the Office of Matrimony, which is God's holy Ordinance, appointed and instituted by himself for the regular Propagation of the Species.
The Argument against taking Medicines to prevent or destroy Conception, which is the same thing, is very just; since, in the Nature of the Crime, it is as much a real Murther to destroy the one as the other, as it is as much a real Murther to kill a little Boy as a full grown Man.
What then are those People doing who talk of Physick to prevent their being with Child? It is, in short, neither more or less than a stated, premeditated Murther; and let those that act so confider of it, and come off of the Charge of Murtherers, if they can.
I could illustrate this by several other Stories or Relations of Matters of Fact, bat I have not room to spare on that Head. A certain Lady of noted Fame, is, I hear, making her self more than ordinarily remarkable upon this very Principle, and assures the World, that she not only thinks it lawful to wish she should have no Children, but to use all possible Means to prevent it; nay, she declares, as I am told, that she not only thinks it no Injury to any Body; but that it is far from being a Crime to destroy the Birth or Embrio conceived within her, and that she has frequently done it.
Here she learnedly enlarges in her Discourse, (for she is open enough upon that Subject) and disputes upon the Question, Whether it is a Sin to kill any Thing which has not a Soul? And when she thinks she has conquered the Difficulty, and has proved that every Creature may be destroyed by Man, that has not in it a human Soul, she brings it down to the Case in hand: She says, that it is no Offence to God or Man, to destroy a Cat, or Dog, or any other such Creature, tho' it be not for Food, and tho' it be done arbitrarily, without any provocation given or hurt done by the Creature, but even if it were in sport.
Then, I say, bringing it down to the present Affair of a Child conceived in a Womb, she begins a new Enquiry, which the learned Anatomists, and the most skilled in the Productions and Operations of Nature, have not yet been able to determine, namely, When, and after what particular Time, and in what Manner the Embrio or Body of a Child conceived in a Woman, receives the addition of a Soul? How the Union is made? And when the Infusion of Soul is appointed.
This she determines to be at a certain Time, and descants critically upon it, in order to establish the cursed Hypothesis of her own Invention, viz. that all the while the Fœtus is forming, and the Embrio or Conception is proceeding, even to the Moment that the Soul is infused, so long it is absolutely not in her Power only, but in her Right, to kill or keep alive, save, or destroy the Thing she goes with, she won't call it Child; and that therefore till then she resolves to use all manner of Art; nay, she does not confine her self to human Art, to the help of Drugs and Physicians, whether Astringents, Diureticks, Emeticks, or of whatever kind, nay, even to Purgations, Potions, Poisons, or any thing that Apothecaries or Druggists can supply: But she goes farther, and joins with the Poet, nay, she has the Words at her Tongue's End from that famed Author, tho' in another Case,
Acheronta Movebo.
In English she tells them plainly, if Drugs and Medicine fail her, she will call to the Devil for help, and if Spells, Filtres, Charms, Witchcraft, or all the Powers of Hell would bring it about for her, she would not scruple to make use of them for her resolved Purpose; highly approving of that known Spanish Proverb, suited to the ordinary Occasions only of using dangerous Medicines from Quacks, and unpractised, unacquainted Hands; I say, the Spanish Proverb, (viz.)
Let the Cure he wrought, though the Devil be the Doctor.
Now this is an Example flagrant, and, as I said, notorious, her Practice comes up to the heighth of it, or else she is less a Devil than she pretends to be, and boasts of being much wickeder than she really is; in which Case, I must own my self to be of the Opinion of the learned and witty Dr. Fuller, viz. that he that openly professes to be wickeder than he really is in fact, is really and essentially, whether in fact or no, as wicked as he professes to be.
But, not to dispute with this She-murtherer, for it is not my Business here to decide either of her Questions, Either when the Soul is infused into the Embrio in the Womb of her that is with Child, or whether it is less criminal to destroy one than the other; I say, not to dispute with a Murtherer, I am to go on with the Relation, viz. that she professes the lawfulness, and owns she practises it, though not the last so freely as the first. Let us enter a little into the Circumstances and Character of a Woman that does thus; that the Picture being set in a fair View, those whose Blood is less inflamed with the Rage of Hell, may look a little before them, and consider, before they act the inhuman Part with themselves, what they are doing or going to do, and what they may reasonably suppose to be the Consequence.
First, These desperate Medicines which are usually taken for such Purposes, what are they, and of what Kind? Have they an effect only upon that particular Part which they are pointed at? Are they able to confine the Operation of the Physick to the very mathematical Point of Situation? And shall the Poisons extend no farther? Are they sure they shall affect no Part but the Conception? Shall the Physick, like a Messenger sent upon a particular Business, knock at no Doors in his Journey going or coming? Shall it affect no other Part? Shall the murthering Dart kill just the Part, strike a mortal Wound just there, and no where else, and innocently passing by every other Place, do no more than just the Errand 'tis sent about.
What if you should mistake, and the Application being misplaced, the Arrow should miss the Child, and kill the Mother? I have heard of a certain Quack in this Town, and knew him too, who profess'd to prescribe in this very Case; the Villain, for he must be no other, had his Preparations of the several following particular Kinds, are for the several following Operations, and accordingly, gave the Directions to his Patients, as follows:
'No. 1. If the Party or Woman be young with Child, not above three Months gone, and would miscarry without Noise, and without Danger, take the Bolus herewith sent in the Evening an Hour before she goes to Bed, and thirty drops of the Tincture in the Bottle, just when she goes to Bed, repeating the Drops in the Morning before she eats; take the Drops in Rhenish Wine, right Moselle.
'No. 2. If she is quick with Child, and desires to miscarry, take two Papers of the Powder here enclosed. Night and Morning, infused in the Draught contained in the Bottle ———; taking it twice, shall bring away the Conception.
'No. 3. If the Party be a Man, and he would have the Child the Woman goes with preserved against her Will, let her take the Decoction here directed every Morning for three Weeks, and one of the Pills every Night; but when her Travail approaches, leave off the Decoction, and let her take three of the Pills, the Child shall certainly be brought into the World alive, though it may be some danger to the Mother.
That was, in short, he would kill the Woman, and save the Child.
There were likewise Recipe's with these Directions: If the Party only fears she is with Child, but is not certain, take these Powders Night and Morning, as directed, her Fears shall be over in four times taking.
If the Party is not with Child, and would not conceive, take one Paper of the Powders in a Glass of warm Ale, every Morning after the Man has been with her, and she shall be out of danger.
I need give no Vouchers for this Account; there are People still living, who sent several poor Servants to him, pretending this or that Part to be their Case, and craving his learned Advice, and so have had his hellish Preparations, and given him his Fee or Rate for them, and so brought them away, in order to have him prosecuted and punished.
But I leave the Mountebank, my Business is with the unhappy Ladies, who venture upon these dark Doings, in pursuit of the wicked Design against Child-bearing; the run great risques in taking such Medicines; and 'tis great odds but that, first or last, they Ruin themselves by it. This Wretch of a Quack could, it seems, kill the Child or the Mother, which he pleased; and you may, by a wrong Application, do both, kill the Child and the Mother both at once, and so be a Self-murther, and a murtherer of your own Offspring both together; at least, 'tis an Article worth a little of the Lady's Thought when she goes about such a doubtful Piece of Work as this is; and if she should come to a Mischance, she would perhaps support the Reproach of it but very hardly; I mean, if she has any reserves of Conscience and Reflexion about her.
Again: If it does not reach her Life, it goes another length without Remedy; she poisons her Body, she locks up Nature, she damns her self to a certain and eternal Barrenness for the Time to come; and as boldly, as she says, she desires it to be so, does not value it, and the like. She might consider, that it may so happen that she may alter her Mind; nay, she may come to the Extream the other Way, and I have more than once, nay, very often, known it to be so.
Nor is it improbable but that her Mind may be the most likely to alter, when she knows she is brought to an impossibility of altering it. Nothing is more frequent than for a Woman to reject what she may have, when she may have it, and long and wish for it when it can be no more obtained; the desires (of that Kind especially) are generally very impetuous; the Stream runs rapid and furious; and if she should come to be as desirous of Children as she may be now to destroy them, 'tis odds but the violence of that Desire turns a Distemper, and that to such a degree, as may be very troublesome as well as dangerous, and often proves mortal.
Solomon says of the Grave and the Barren Womb, that they are never satisfied; they never say, it is enough: And what an Object will such a Woman be, and, under such Reflections, either by her self, or by others, that torments her self, and perhaps some Body else, to be with Child, after she has already dried up the Juices, stagnated the Blood, and fettered Nature, so as that no such Powers are left by which the Operation can be performed.
The Lady I mention indeed, laughs at all these Things, and bids defiance even to God and Nature, contemns Consequences, and scorns the supposition of a change of Mind, and a return of Desires; from whence I infer only this, viz. That she knows little what Nature means; what the various Extreams are Nature is subject to; and in that abundant Ignorance she must go on till she comes to be her own Punishment, her own Tormentor, and to expose her self as much in one Extream as she does now in another; and if that should never happen, it will be only said of her as it has been of many a Criminal of a worse kind, viz. that she died impenitent.
But to go back from the Person to the Thing, for Examples import nothing, but as they confirm the subject, the Story may please, but 'tis the improvement of the Story, that fixes the Truth of the Argument, which it is brought to support: This horrid Practice, I mean, of applying to extraordinary Means to destroy the Conception, has yet many Things to be said to it.
As it poisons the Body, and, as I have said, locks up Nature; so let me remind the Ladies whose Vanity prompts them to the Practice, especially too if they have any such thing as Religion about them, that 'tis a kind of cursing their own Bodies, 'tis Blasting themselves; and as they take upon them to do it themselves, how just would it be, if Heaven, taking them at their Words, lays it home farther than they would wish or intend it? And that feeing they desire to bear no Fruit, Heaven should say, in the Words of our Saviour to the Fig-Tree, No Fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.
It must be a Temper unusually hardened, that could bear such a Blast from above without some Horror: Let any Lady, I mean Christian Lady, for I direct my Speech now to such, though they may be ignorantly or rashly pushed on by the Folly of their Circumstances; I say, let any Christian Lady tell me, if she should hear those Words really and audibly pronounced from Heaven to her, could she look up with satisfaction, take it for a Blessing, and say, Amen? I cannot but hope we have very few of the most audacious Atheists among us, could go the length.
And now I have accidentally named that Word look up, that is to say, look up to Heaver, for so I understand it, however, that Language is pretty much unknown among us, I could almost venture to put in a grave Word to the Ladies that marry, and would have no Children; those preposterous, not unthinking but ill-thinking Ladies, I say, that will marry but would have no Children; as 'tis most certain that they expose their Modesty in it, so they likewise expose their Christianity; and let me ask them but this short Question; Pray, Madam, what Religion are you of?
By asking after the Lady's Religion, I do not mean whether Protestant or Papist, Church of England, or Presbyterian, but whether Christian or Pagan, a worshipper of God, or of the Devil; of one God or a thousand Gods, nominal Gods; in a word, have you, Madam, any such Thing as Religion about you? It is indeed a Question, which, in a Christian Nation, should pass for an Affront; but when People act counter to Principle, and counter to Profession, they open the Door to the Question, nay, they make it rational and necessary.
But I will suppose the Lady shall answer, I am a Christian, and a Protestant.
Well, Madam, then you will allow me to say, that sometimes you pray to God, or, to give it you in the Language of the Moderns, you say your Prayers.
Yes I do, says the Lady; and what then?
Why then, Madam, you suppose, or grant, that God can hear you, when you say your Prayers?
Yes, I know he can, says she; what then?
Why then, Madam, you believe he will answer your Prayers too, and grant your Requests also, because he has promised he will, if what we ask be agreeable to his Will, 1 John v. 14.
Well ———! And what do you gather from all this? says the Lady.
Gather, Madam; why, I gather this, that as you are a married Woman, and would fain be Barren, and have no Children, never give your self any trouble about Physick, and taking Drugs to prevent Conception; but kneel down, and very humbly and sincerely pray to God to curse you with Barrenness: Tell him, that you are one of his Creatures who He, at His first Blessing Mankind, had allowed to encrease and multiply, but that you desire no share in that Blessing; and so beg, that he would be graciously pleased to blast the Child you go with, if you are with Child, and shut up your Womb, if you are not; for that you desire none of his Blessings of that Kind.
If the Lady I have been speaking to above, is, as she says, a Christian, and prays to God at any time: if she knows and believes that God knows her Thoughts, can hear her Prayers, and will grant her Request, if it be accordhig to his Will; let her, I say, if she can do thus without trembling at the Thoughts of it, go to her Knees, and pray devoutly that she may have no more Children, or no Children.
If God is so merciful to her, as to deny the vile, wicked Request, she ought to be very thankful that her Prayers are not heard; but if it should be granted, she must and ought, with the same humility, to acknowledge 'tis righteous and just, and that the Judgment, for such it must be, is of her own procuring.
This would be putting the Matter to a short Issue; and we should see whether the Ladies are serious enough to carry their Folly to such a highth, or no.
But there is another Length that some of these Ladies go, and this indeed carries Things beyond all the suggestions of my Title; instead of Matrimonial Whoredom it should be called Matrimonial Witchcraft; the Truth is, I dare not enter into Examples here, no not where I may have some Reason to suspect, nay, to believe; nay, where I have been informed it has been so, because I would not point out any One as Criminal to such a degree, unless the Fact was as plain, as admitted a Conviction in the way of Justice.
Nay, when my Friend M——— R——— assured me, that his next Neighbour Mrs. G——— W——— boasted in Publick, that she intended to do so and so, nay, though I heard her own she had done it; yet, as the Witches in New England went so far in acknowledging their own Guilt, and their familiarity with the Devil, that at last they could not obtain to be Hanged, no not upon their own Evidence, or be believed upon their own Confession; so I cannot persuade my self to tell you, that I believe Madam W——— really guilty of so much Wickedness as she pretends to, or that she deserves the Gallows so eminently as she boasts she does.
To go to the Devil to prevent God's Blessing! I must confess 'tis very audacious; and if Providence takes no particular Notice of such, and gives no publick Testimony of Resentment, it would seem very strange to me; I should only say, there is the more behind, the Wretches have the more to expect; let 'em think of it.
Some will tell us, there is nothing in it; that really the Devil has no Power to do any thing in it, one way or other, and that all the Notions of Charm, Spell, Filtres, Magick Knots, &c. are Jugglers Tricks, and have nothing in them; they reach the Fancy indeed, and affect the Imaginations of weak, vapourish People; but that really these Things are out of the Devil's way, and that he knows nothing of the Matter, and can do nothing to help or hinder; that the Devil has no skill in Midwifry, and can neither tell a Woman when she is with Child, or when she is not; he can no more make her Miscarry, unless it is by frighting her, than he can make her Conceive; that 'tis all a Cheat, contrived by a Gang of artful Knaves to get Money, pick Pockets, and deceive the ignorant Women.
How far this may be true or not, I leave to those that are well enough acquainted with the Devil, to know how, and to what Degree, he can or does act in these Cases. But the Crime of those People that go to him for his help, is the same, whether he can assist them or not; with the addition of Fool, if he cannot.
I might ask here, whether this Practice is consistent with Honesty? As for Religion, Modesty and Reputation, that I think I have mentioned to satisfaction; but as to the Honesty of it, there is something more to be said: First, as I said above; to a Husband it cannot be honest by any means: We'll suppose the Man to be an honest, sober and religious Husband; he married, no doubt, as Men of honest Principles, and of the utmost Modesty, do, that is, in view of raising up a Family as well to inherit his Estate, supposing that Part to be sufficient, as to preserve a Name and a Posterity, as other Gentlemen do.
Finding his Wife barren, at first he prays heartily, as he may do lawfully, that he may be fruitful, and have Children. Mark the Harmony! he prays for having Children, and she prays against any; he looks up to Heaven to entreat he may be bless'd and encreas'd; she goes to the Devil for help, that his Prayers may be frustrated; he marries in expectation of Children; she marries him, but endeavours by all the hellish, diabolick Arts and Tricks she can to prevent it, and disappoint him. And where is the Honesty of all this, pray? At least, how is she just to her Husband?
If she had told him of it before Marriage, it had altered the Case; or if she had acquainted him with it when she did thus, and he had consented, it had been another Thing; at least, as it regarded him, there had been no Injustice in it, because of his voluntary assent to it: But then it is foolish to suggest, for no Man in his Senses would ever agree to such a ridiculous Proposal, and therefore 'tis highly dishonest and unjust to her Husband.
It is likewise an immoral Action in it self, as it is inconsistent with the Reason and Nature of Things, and clashes with several stated Rules of Life, which are of divine Institution. But that is not, as I said before, the proper View of this Discourse.
As it is not honest or moral, so, on the other hand, it seems not to consist with the Character of a modest and virtuous Woman: If a Whore acted thus, I should not wonder at all; for her Business is to conceal her immodest, criminal Conversation, and, if possible, to hide her Shame; for her to apply to Physicians and Apothecaries, take Drops and Draughts, and Physick her self from Day to Day, I should make no Wonder at it; 'tis what her Circumstances make not rational only but necessary.
But for an honest Woman! openly and lawfully married! whose Husband is publickly known; who lives with, and acknowledges her to be his Wife, and Beds with her, as we call it, every Night; for this Woman to desire to be Barren, much more to endeavour to prevent, or, which is the same Thing, to destroy the Conception, blast the Fruit of her own Body, poison her Blood, and ruin her Constitution, that she may have no Children! This can have nothing in it but Witchcraft and the Devil; 'tis scandalous to the last Degree; 'tis seeking the Man meerly as such, meerly for the frailer Part, as my Lord Rochester calls it, and that brings it down to my Subject, (viz.) the Lewdness of it, which entitles it, in my Opinion, to that I call Matrimonial Whoredom.
They may gild it over with what Pretences they will; they may use their Female Rhetorick to set it off, and to cover it; such as fear of the Dangers and Pains of a hard Travail, weakness of Constitution, hereditary Miscarriages, and such like. But those Things are all answered with a Question, Why then. Madam, did you marry? Seeing all this was known before, they were as solid Reasons for not marrying, as they can be now for not breeding. But the Lady, as above, would venture all to have the use of the Man; and as for her Reasons why she would have no Children, she must account for them another Way.
Had the Lady been with Child, and had a dangerous Travail, had she been frequently with Child, but always subject to Abortions, or constant and dangerous Miscarriages; had she received any hurt in the Delivery of her former Children, which threatned Dangers if she came again; or had several other Circumstances attended her, less proper to mention than those; had she been abused by Midwives, or weakened by Distempers or Disasters, this would alter the Case.
But the Circumstance I insist upon is, when the Woman marries, takes a Man to Bed to her, with all the Circumstances that are to be understood, without obliging us to express them; lives with him, and lies with him every Night, and yet professes to desire she may have no Children: These are the Circumstances I insist upon, the Aggravations of which admit no abatement, and for which I do not know one modest Word of Excuse can be said. This is what I call Conjugal Lewdness, nor can I see any thing else in it; 'twas the plain End of her marrying; 'tis in vain to call it by other Names, and cover it with other Excuses; 'tis nothing but Whoring under the shelter or cover of the Law, we may paint it out, and dress it up as we will.
- ↑ Here she muses, as if to consider of it, and that she knew of some Measures that might be taken to answer.
- ↑ Here she cries, fearing she is with Child, and dreading to hear that it is not lawful to destroy it.
- ↑ She could say no more for Crying, nor could she speak a good while.
- ↑ Cries again vehemently.
- ↑ Here she tells her the whole Story as it happened, and as related above.
- ↑ Here she tells the whole Story of her Deliriums, and of her Husband's being told of it, as before.