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that tho' they may be clear of it themselves, that therefore no Body is guilty; and as for the rest, tho' they are harden'd against Blushing at it, I don't find any of them harden'd enough to deny it.
We are come to an Age, wherein 'tis not the Mode to acknowledge and reform a Mistake, but to add a Front to the Fact, and Triumph in the Crimes, which they should be ashamed of: It seems below them to vindicate their Character, they'll rather illustrate it with the Fault they should wipe off, and count the Shame of it their Glory.
This happy Custom is the Author's Vindication in this Work; for now scorning to deny the Charge, or enter into an Enquiry in form, whether guilty or not guilty; they are for giving the Matter of Fast in Evidence, and insisting that there is no Crime in it. And thus we join Issue upon the Merit of the Cause.
If it be so; if there is no such thing as Immodesty after Matrimony, and that nothing can be indecent or unlawful between a Man and his Wife; if Matrimonial Liberties are without Bounds, and there are no Limitations to that conjugal Freedom, neither by the Laws of God or of Nature.
If the Man cannot sin against his Wife, or the Wife against her Husband; if no Excesses can be complained of, and nothing can be either out of Measure, or out of Season; if no unnatural Violences can be offered, and the Woman can have no reason to turn her Slipper the wrong Side upward against her Husband.
If the Laws of Matrimony cannot be broken, the Ends of Matrimony not defeated, the Reason of Matrimony not be mistaken, and a Marriage cannot be made a Masque to a Crime.
In
