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diff --git a/old/68756-h/68756-h.htm b/old/68756-h/68756-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 7179099..0000000 --- a/old/68756-h/68756-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2524 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta charset="UTF-8" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The danger and immodesty of the present too general custom of unnecessarily employing men-midwives, by Anonymous. - </title> - - <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> - - <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ - -a { - text-decoration: none; -} - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -h2.nobreak { - page-break-before: avoid; -} - -hr.chap { - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - clear: both; - width: 65%; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -div.chapter { - page-break-before: always; -} - -p { - margin-top: 0.5em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -table { - margin: 1em auto 1em auto; - max-width: 40em; - border-collapse: collapse; -} - -td { - padding-left: 2.25em; - padding-right: 0.25em; - vertical-align: top; - text-indent: -2em; -} - -.row td { - padding-top: 0.75em; -} - -td.valign { - vertical-align: middle; -} - -.center { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.footnotes { - margin-top: 1em; - border: dashed 1px; -} - -.footnote { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - font-size: 0.9em; -} - -.footnote .label { - position: absolute; - right: 84%; - text-align: right; -} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: none; -} - -.gesperrt { - letter-spacing: 0.2em; - margin-right: -0.2em; -} - -.larger { - font-size: 150%; -} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 4%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; -} - -.right { - text-align: right; -} - -.smaller { - font-size: 80%; -} - -.smcap { - font-variant: small-caps; - font-style: normal; -} - -.titlepage { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 1em; - text-indent: 0em; - line-height: 1.8em; -} - -.x-ebookmaker .gesperrt { - margin-right: 0; - letter-spacing: 0; -} - /* ]]> */ </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The danger and immodesty of the present too general custom of unnecessarily employing men-midwives., by Anonymous</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The danger and immodesty of the present too general custom of unnecessarily employing men-midwives.</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Anonymous</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 15, 2022 [eBook #68756]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: deaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DANGER AND IMMODESTY OF THE PRESENT TOO GENERAL CUSTOM OF UNNECESSARILY EMPLOYING MEN-MIDWIVES. ***</div> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller gesperrt">THE</span><br /> -<span class="smcap larger">DANGER and IMMODESTY</span><br /> -<span class="smaller gesperrt">OF</span><br /> -<i>The Present too general Custom of</i><br /> -<span class="larger">UNNECESSARILY EMPLOYING<br /> -<span class="gesperrt">MEN-MIDWIVES</span>.</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller gesperrt">BEING</span><br /> -The Letters which lately appeared under<br /> -the Signature of<br /> -<span class="gesperrt">A MAN-MIDWIFE</span>.</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller gesperrt">WITH AN</span><br /> -<span class="gesperrt larger">INTRODUCTION</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">A TREATISE on the MILK</span>,<br /> -<span class="smaller">AND AN</span><br /> -<span class="gesperrt larger">APPENDIX</span>.</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="gesperrt">WITH CORRECTIONS</span><br /> -By the <span class="gesperrt">AUTHOR</span>.</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="gesperrt">LONDON</span>:<br /> -<span class="smaller">Printed for <span class="smcap">J. Wilkie</span>, No. 71, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard;<br /> -and <span class="smcap">F. Blyth</span>, John’s Coffee-House, Cornhill.<br /> -MDCCLXXII.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak"><span class="smaller">AN</span><br /> -<span class="gesperrt">INTRODUCTION</span><br /> -<span class="smaller"><span class="smaller">AND</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">ADVICE to the LADIES</span>,<br /> -<span class="gesperrt">POINTING OUT</span><br /> -<span class="smaller"><i>The <span class="smcap">dangers</span> attending <span class="smcap">backening</span> their<br /> -<span class="smcap">milk</span> the first four or five Weeks after<br /> -Delivery.</i></span></span></h2> - -</div> - -<p class="center larger">To the <span class="gesperrt">PUBLIC</span>.</p> - -<p>I have very long been convinced of -the many dangerous Consequences -which attend the depraved Custom of employing -Men-midwives unnecessarily—and -have been for some Years intending -from Month to Month to write my Ideas -on that Subject, in order to combat the -very destructive Practice, and endeavour -to awaken the slumbering good Sense of the -Nation. But when I reflected on the great -Difficulty of conquering Prejudice—considered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span> -how generally the Opinion had been -adopted that “Men were the most proper -Attendants on the Labours of Women,” -I confess the Task appeared too -arduous—and I was discouraged.</p> - -<p>I knew, that <i>no</i> Arguments, <i>even if an -Angel was to descend from Heaven to utter -them</i>, could persuade the Ladies <i>to be satisfied</i> -with Midwives of <i>their own</i> Sex, -<i>after the fine Polish</i> had been <i>once</i> -RUB’D OFF which <i>modesty ought</i> -to have <i>work’d up</i> to such a <i>bright</i> Pitch of -<i>high finish’d</i> Excellence, as <i>not</i> to have been -capable of admitting the impure stain -within the glossy smoothness of its beautiful -enamel!—I knew, that, assisted by -the greatest Part of the Faculty (whose <i><span class="smcap">interest</span>, -as well as <span class="smcap">pleasure</span></i> would be -at <span class="smcap">stake</span>) they would leave <i>no means</i> untried—they -would call in <i>every fallacious</i> -art to their aid, <i>to continue <span class="smcap">the deception</span></i>, -by <i>ridiculing</i> Arguments which they -<i>could not confute</i>—and that <i>un</i>married Ladies, -through <i>an Opinion</i> of the <i>Virtue of -their Friends</i>, and swayed, and <i>kept in -Countenance</i>, by <i>the prevalent</i> Custom of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span> -the Times, would naturally <i>fall into the -Stream</i>, and <i>not</i> be undeceived until <i>too -far hurried by the Current</i> to be <i>afterwards</i> -able to recede.—On the other Hand, I -likewise knew that our young Men <i>of Fashion</i> -had <i>long ago</i> resolved <i>to bid Adieu <span class="smcap">to -thinking</span></i>. Leaving <i>that troublesome</i> Employment -<i>to others</i>, they were intent on -pursuing the far nobler Gratifications <i>of -Sense</i>—endeavouring to bury in a round -of <i>trifling</i> Dissipations, <i>every</i> Sentiment -meriting the Attention of <i>reasonable</i> Beings -that an Attempt to work on <i>such</i> Minds -would be Absurdity in the extreme,—for, -that, even <i>if they were convinced</i> of the two -uncontrovertable Truths I wish to establish, -by being satisfied that Men were -<i>not</i> so safe as Women, and that Men-midwives -polluted the Minds of their Wives, -and rendered them easy Preys to Seduction, -yet these Sentiments would have had <i>no</i> -Weight <i>with them</i>, because they married -without Love, Religion, Principle—<i>the -only</i> Ingredients capable of forming <i>national</i> -Happiness. <i>Impure</i> in their <i>Souls, debauch’d</i> -in their <i>Persons</i>, Libertinism opened<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> -<i>the only Avenue</i> which could present -them with a Prospect of Enjoyments <i>adapted -to their</i> Sensations—<i>their</i> Joys were -independent of their Wive’s Society—their -Healths consequently were only <i>politely</i> -wish’d for—and they would of course -readily <i>risk</i> their Wive’s Purity being contaminated, -rather than <i>be disappointed</i> in -the Pleasure of seducing the Wives <i>of their -acquaintance</i>, through the <i>preparatory</i> Assistance -of the <i>Men</i>-midwives. The Happiness -of our gay young Men <i>not</i> being -centered within the narrow Circle of -Home, <i>the Virtue</i> of their Wives is not -in the least essential, has no Weight, <i>when -ballanced</i> with <i>the Advantages</i> they derive -from the too <i>general</i> Prostitution of the -Sex. They <i>extract Balm</i> from <i>the Vices</i> of -<i>Other</i> Women, which has sovereign Efficacy -<i>in healing</i> any Wounds—<i>alleviating</i> any -smarts, which they may receive, or feel, -from the infidelity of <i>their own</i> Wives—whom -they never treated as their <i>rational -Companions</i>, whose Affections they were -desirous of fixing irremoveably,—but as -<i>necessary</i> Beings to do the Honours of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span> -their Tables—furnish Heirs—and save -their Estates from being encumbered with -the Payment of the Fortunes of their -younger Brothers and Sisters. The only -View on <i>one</i> side, is <i>Money</i>—on the <i>other</i>, -<i>Quality</i>—<i>each</i> having attain’d the <i>only</i> Object -<i>they aim’d at in Marriage</i>,—each, without -any fundamental Principle of Goodness, -to restrain their Pursuits within the -Bounds of Virtue, they throw off the -Mask of Decency—and riot in Vice!—Our -young Men think the Scriptures fit -only to impose on Weakness. The Injunctions -of the Gospel interfere with their -Enjoyments—and having never believed -it’s sacred Truths—or endeavoured to follow -it’s amiable Precepts, they never experienced -the serene Tranquillity arising -from the delightful Possession of an approving -Conscience. At the best, <i>forgetful</i> -even of the Existence of a God—and -laughing at the idle supposition of a -future state, they give the Reins without -Controul to all their Appetites and Passions—check’d -by nothing but what <i>they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> -term <span class="smcap">honour</span></i>. But <i><span class="smcap">their</span> Honour</i> is comprised, -in—<i>punishing the Man with <span class="smcap">murder</span> -who dares to doubt</i> their veracity, or -fail in Respect to their Dignity—and in -paying their Debts <i>to <span class="smcap">sharpers</span></i>, instead -of rewarding the Industry of their Tradesmen, -by giving them—<i>their own Property</i>. -<i><span class="smcap">Their</span> Honour</i> does not restrain -them from defiling the Beds <i>of their -Friends</i>—<i><span class="smcap">breaking</span> Promises</i> to <i><span class="smcap">worthy</span> -Dependants</i>—or <i>betraying</i> the Interests and -Honour of their Country for <i>base Wages of -Iniquity</i>, though committed with Confidence -to their Charge, <i>yet sacrificed</i> without -Remorse, for their <i>private</i> Emolument. -<i><span class="smcap">Their</span> Honour</i> enforces <i>no single -Virtue</i>!—<span class="smcap">away with such honour!</span></p> - -<p>I next consider’d the number of <i>well-disposed</i> -Men, who <i>through Prejudice</i> might -<i>neglect</i>; or through Indolence, or Weakness -of Understanding, be blind to the -Force of my Arguments, and of course -remain unconvinced by them—and these -Obstacles, united, appeared too formidable -to be surmounted by any weak Effort<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> -I could make through the Channel of a News -Paper. At last however I took Courage -and submitted my Sentiments to the Consideration -of the Public, in the Gazetteer -of the 28th of March.</p> - -<p>I had not, at that time, any Intention -of writing another Letter,—but deriving -Hopes from the favourable Impression my -first seem’d to have made on the Minds of -the Considerate—and having heard weight -laid on <i>the Men’s Knowledge of Anatomy</i> as -a Reason why <i>they</i> should <i>be safer</i> than -Women, I wrote the second Letter to remove -<i>that specious</i>, but <i>mistaken</i> Idea—and -having <i>known</i> some, and heard of <i>many</i> -other young Men Midwives, who really -<i>are ignorant</i> of that Knowledge of Anatomy -which is <i>their only</i> Recommendation <i>to <span class="smcap">infatuated</span> -Husbands</i>;—and a Man Midwife, -under the Signature of “Old Chiron,” -having endeavoured to abuse the -World with the most scandalous misrepresentations, -and <i>gross Fallacies</i>, my last -Letter appeared to expose the Danger of -employing raw young Men—or believing -such <i>interested Deceivers</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p> - -<p>I am quite indifferent about the Offence -which my Letters have given <i>the Ladies of -Fashion</i>, and their <i>darling</i> Doctors—<i>their -“sweet Men.”</i> They are conscious my -Letters convey only <i>a very faint</i> Sketch of -their <i>immodest, obscene practices</i>. They are -<i>too bad</i> to be <i>exactly</i> described without -using Language very unfit for the Inspection -of virtuous Women!—I place dreadful -Rocks in their View, to warn them -from a Course on which their Purity -would be irretrievably wreck’d: and surely -those Parents entertain <i>strange</i> Notions -of <i>Virtue</i>, who carefully keep my Letters -out of the way of their Daughters, through -what <i>they imagine to be</i> “Delicacy!”—they -would rather, in short, have them <i>polluted -in future—past redemption</i>—than instructed -by my friendly Admonitions, how -to avoid the Path to Vice!—the modest, -amiable, worthy, <i>sensible</i> Part of the Community, -I am confident, will read my -Pamphlet with Candour—approve of the -Sentiments contain’d in it—and recommend -it to the Perusal of others. I shall<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> -view the Censures, and Displeasure of <i>the -vicious</i>, and the <i>dissipated</i>, as the highest -Eulogiums;—as Praise—which will convey -<i>the most genial warmth</i> to my Heart—and, -I trust, afford me a pleasing Retrospect -in my <i>latest</i> Hours!—</p> - -<p>My Letters having succeeded beyond -my most sanguine Expectation, I am now -encouraged to attack <i>another</i> prevailing -Custom among the Fair—that of <i>not</i> giving -suck to their Infants, at least during -the first five or six weeks.</p> - -<p>I shall wave considering <i>the Propriety</i> of -a Mother’s giving suck through a Sense of -the <i>incumbent Duty</i> she <i>owes</i> her child.—Though -the Custom of backening the -Milk is <i>unnatural</i>, dangerous, and too often -<i>fatal</i>, I shall lay no stress on the former, -but rest it entirely on the latter—for -in <i>such</i> an Age as the present, in which -our fine Ladies have few Ideas of any Religion—are -not capable of receiving Pleasure -from <i>domestick</i> Employments—would -infinitely rather <span class="smcap">converse</span> with <i>any Men</i> -than their <i>Husbands</i>—leave their Children<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -to be instructed, or <i>neglected</i> by Servants, -and fly abroad, with eager Impatience <i>to -game away</i> their Husbands Fortunes, and -receive the <i>criminal</i> Addresses of <i>their profligate</i> -Admirers, at the Assembly, the -Masquerade, or more <i>commodious Apartments</i> -of <i>the Coterie</i>—laughing at the Censures -of <i>the few</i> who have still some -Regard to Decorum—and despising the -Belief of the perpetual Presence of a -Being who is Witness to all their <i>secret -vicious Deformities</i>—in <i>such</i> times it would -be Folly to mention the Dangers they expose -their Infants to, from diseased Milk, -want of a tender Mother’s Care—or dream -of asking them how they will answer to -the Almighty for <i>not</i> having afforded them -the Nourishment He kindly provided for -their Support?—I shall therefore only -shew the Absurdity and <i>danger</i> of this -Custom, as far as it regards the Health -of <i>the Mother</i>.</p> - -<p>And here I must endeavour to give my -Readers some Idea of that part of the human -Body which is concern’d in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> -formation, and absorbtion of the Milk, -in order for their understanding the -Force of my arguments.</p> - -<p>Our Bodies are constantly, when in -Health, receiving Repairs in all their -Parts, from millions of the smallest, -most minute Arteries. Every Solid, and -every Juice, is form’d out of, and secreted -from, Blood. Those noxious -Parts of the Blood which are not proper -for these different, <i>opposite</i> Uses, are thrown -off by insensible Perspiration. When, -through various Causes, that Perspiration -is obstructed, the acrid Matter which -ought to have gone off, is absorb’d by the -lymphatick Vessels, and returns into the -Blood—brings on Fevers, Gout, Rheumatism, -&c. &c.</p> - -<p>The Lymphaticks, are numberless Vessels, -which pass through spungy Glands. -These fine Tubes have a vast number of -Valves, which prevent the Lymph, (or -Liquor) which runs through them from -going <i>a contrary</i> Direction from that intended<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> -for it. These fine Vessels are dispersed -over every Part of our Bodies. The -Point of a needle could not be applied to a -Spot, under the Skin, where the Mouth of a -lymphatic Vessel did not open to imbibe -whatever is put in contact with it. These -minute Branches run into other Branches, -so form larger Vessels, till at last they all -unite in a general Reservoir, where the -Lymph which they contained, mixes with -the Chyle, (the fine Part of our Food, -which is fit to be converted into Blood) -conducted there by the Lacteals, (the -Lacteals resemble the Lymphaticks—they -open into the Stomach, and Bowels—they -imbibe nothing but from <i>our Food</i>) -the Chyle, and Lymph, thus mix’d, run -up within the trunk of a large Vessel called -the thoracic Duct, on the inside of the -back Bone, which is incessantly emptying -it’s Liquor into a Vein under the left -Collar Bone, where it mixes with the -Blood, is immediately convey’d into the -vena Cava, which conducts it, with the -returning Blood from the rest of the Body, -(Lungs excepted) into the right Auricle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> -of the Heart—it thence is drove by the -contraction of the Auricle, into the right -Ventricle of the Heart—by it’s contraction, -into the Pulmonary Artery—from -thence through the whole Lungs, where -the Blood receives a Change from being -impregnated with something received from -the Air every Inspiration. The Blood -thus changed, is collected from the -Lungs into the Pulmonary Veins, and -conducted into the left Auricle of the -Heart; which drives it into the left Ventricle; -which forces it into a great Artery, -the Aorta—which rushes it over every -other Part of the Body.</p> - -<p>The lymphatic Vessels prevent our -Blood depending <i>solely</i> on our Food for -supply, and by means of them we can -subsist some time merely on the Produce -of our own Bodies. All these lymphatic -Vessels are closely accompanied by Arteries—whose -Pulsations assist the motion of the -Lymph to it’s Reservoir:⸺Consequently -the quicker and stronger they beat, the -faster the Lymph is hurried into the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> -Blood. Hence the Reason why Fevers -occasion so speedy a wasting of the Flesh—hence -Hectics bring on Consumptions—hence -People in Fevers can subsist long -with little Food,—The lymphaticks then -supplying the Blood too abundantly from -our own Juices.</p> - -<p>The Author of Nature has ordered an -extraordinary Quantity of Blood to be prepared -for the Child’s Food. Arteries run -into the Glands of the Breasts, and in -passing through them, the Blood, by a -most wonderful Change, is converted into -Milk!⸺by a Change, which nothing -but Custom prevents our viewing as a -Miracle!</p> - -<p>The admired Toast of the Town cannot -endure the Trouble of nursing. It -would confine her too much at home—it -has too vulgar an appearance—it is not -warranted by <i>the Example</i> of the first -Circle—the Milk must <i>therefore</i> be backen’d.—It -is denied Liberty to discharge -itself by the Out-lett Providence <i>intended<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> -for it</i>—the Child, whose Constitution <i>it -was calculated for</i>, is not suffered to have -it’s Due. What becomes of the Milk?</p> - -<p>It is absorb’d by the lymphatic Vessels, -<i>contrary</i> to the <i>original</i> Intention of Nature—and -convey’d back into the Blood, -in the manner I have before described.—What -is the Consequence?—The blood -Vessels become <i>not only highly over-charged</i> -with Blood, but that Blood is thus rendered -of an improper Consistence. A Fever -ensues!—This Fever comes on when -the woman is <i>ill able to bear</i> it’s Shock!—<i>How -often</i> is this Fever <i>fatal</i>!</p> - -<p>The most fortunate Circumstance that -can happen, is, when the Milk finds -<i><span class="smcap">another</span> out-lett</i>. Probably <i>otherwise</i> -there may be a formation of Matter -somewhere—there is danger <i>that</i> Matter -may fly to some capital Part.</p> - -<p>If the Woman is young, healthy, strong, -it is most probable the Milk will <i>not</i> be absorb’d<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> -<i>quick enough</i>. The Blood will <i>furnish</i> -Milk <i>faster</i> than the lymphatick Vessels -can imbibe it, and convey it back -again. The Breasts are painfully distended—they -inflame.</p> - -<p><i>When too late</i>—it is then resolved they -shall be suck’d.</p> - -<p>During the time of Pregnancy a small -quantity of Milk is lodged in the Milk -Vessels of the Breasts. This Milk, when -the nine Months are expired, is thick—clogs -the Vessels. If the Woman never -gave suck, the Pores through which the -Milk ought to issue to the Child, are not -open enough—they require therefore <i>to -be clear’d</i>, by the <i>old</i> Milk being suck’d -off, <i>the very day of the Delivery</i>, and to -empty the Milk Vessels of what must -otherwise clog them. Some woman ought -to suck this off therefore <i>as soon as possible</i>. -If the Child is put to the Breast <i>in -Twelve, or Sixteen Hours</i> after it’s Birth, -it will suck <i>greedily</i>—if delay’d three or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17a"></a>[17*]</span> -four Days, it is twenty to one the Child -will not attempt it for a long time.</p> - -<p>When therefore <i>the Necessity</i> of the -Case has overcome every Resolution -form’d for the Woman’s <i>not</i> giving suck, -and her Child is put to her Breast, it is -in vain!—the Child will not touch the -Breast!—<i>other</i> Children—or women attempt -to ease the poor Woman of her -Load of Milk—this Resource likewise -fails! the thick Milk has clog’d the Vessels—the -N-pp-es, owing to the hard -Distension of the Breasts, has shrunk into -them—and, besides, their Pores have -never been open’d—never been clear’d—no -endeavours avail! the distress’d Woman, -after having been sadly fatigued, -exhausted, finds herself disappointed of -Relief!—dreadful Symptoms soon appear! -she <i>too probably</i> falls a sacrifice to a -ridiculous—senseless—not to say a sinful -deviation <i>from the Path of Nature</i>!—how -many fine young Women have lately<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18a"></a>[18*]</span> -died—and go off every Year, from this -Cause!</p> - -<p>But “<i>particular</i> Women have not Constitutions -strong enough to bear giving -suck. Certainly there are some Women -whom it might hurt.” Granted. Let -such particular Women give suck <i>only</i> for -the first <i>four</i>, <i>five</i> or <i>six Weeks</i>. If those -Women <i>then</i> really find themselves too delicate -for the <i>longer</i> continuance of such a -Drain, they then <i>may safely</i> by degrees -leave off giving suck—they have sufficiently -recover’d Strength to venture -throwing the Milk gently back into the -Blood. The most delicately form’d Woman -existing should <i>not</i> dream of suffering -a single Drop of the Milk which Nature -<i>intended for Evacuation</i>, to return into -the Blood, untill the Constitution is re-established—and -enabled to bear discharging -itself of the Superfluities, without -encountering the Dangers which <i>demonstrably</i> -attend a contrary Practice. If -a Woman is too delicate to bear <i>continuing -to suckle</i> her Infant, surely she is <i>too delicate</i><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19a"></a>[19*]</span> -to endure the flying in the Face of -Nature, and <i>risking</i> the Fever—if she is -healthy and strong, the more incumbent -her duty is, to nourish her Child—her -danger too equal. In <i>every</i> View, the salutary -Consequences attending Mothers -discharging their Duty to their Children -in this point, are so obvious, so glaring, -that <i>to me</i> it is matter of doubt whether -those who fail in it are most to be condemn’d -and despised for <i>their want of natural -Affection</i>—or pitied and ridiculed <i>for -their Folly</i>.</p> - -<p>These are my Ideas on this interesting -Subject. Let those Women who <i>obstinately</i> -persevere in a Resolution to deny -their Infants their natural Food—(and in -whose Judgements my Arguments have -appear’d deficient in Weight) stand the -Trial, and risk the Consequence. I most -sincerely hope the Success may answer -their Wishes!</p> - -<p>I now refer my Readers to the following -Letters. I can assert, <i>with conscious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20a"></a>[20*]</span> -Truth</i> that my Sentiments on the <i>preceding</i>, -and <i>following</i> Subjects, have been the -offspring of an Heart warm’d by a Love -for my fellow-Creatures—ever most ardently -solicitous for their Welfare and -Happiness, here and hereafter.</p> - -<p>I cannot expect <i>to reclaim</i> any Woman -who has <i>already used</i> a <i>Man</i>, for Reasons -I gave at the beginning of this Introduction, -and because, by quitting him, she -would <i>tacitly</i> acknowledge the Truth of -my Assertions—and because none but -those possess’d of the most exalted Qualities -of the Head and Heart, can have -<i>greatness</i> enough <i>to confess</i> they have been -in an Error of <i>such</i> a Nature.</p> - -<p>I am not without hopes however, of -<i>opening the Eyes</i> of <i>sensible</i> Men—and unmarried -Women, who are <i>at present</i> modest, -and <i>wish</i> to <i>remain so</i>—and preventing -the <i>former from advising</i>, and the <i>latter -from falling into</i> the scandalous Custom -of employing <i>Men</i>-Midwifes, which <i>I -know</i> to be <i><span class="smcap">erroneous</span> as to it’s <span class="smcap">pretended<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21a"></a>[21*]</span> -safety</span></i>—<i><span class="smcap">fatally</span> dangerous</i> to the <span class="smcap">virtue</span>—and -<i><span class="smcap">certainly</span> destructive</i> of the -<span class="smcap">modesty</span><a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> of my fair Countrywomen.—They -may believe me when I assure -them that <span class="smcap">no purity</span> can withstand the -<i>rude</i> Shock of <i>such</i> Intrusions—<i>the whitest</i> -Ermine is <i>most</i> liable to have it’s Beauties -sullied!</p> - -<p>If I should be happy enough to hear -in a few Years that I have given the least -Check to this most abandon’d of <i>vicious</i> -Practices, the Consciousness of having -done a most signal Service to the Community, -will implant genuine Pleasure—substantial -Satisfaction in the Breast of</p> - -<p class="center">the Public’s<br /> -most obedient<br /> -humble Servant,</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">The Author</span>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> I make a great Distinction <i>between Modesty</i>, -and <i>Virtue</i>. A Woman <i>may</i> be <i>virtuous</i>, <i>without</i> -being <i>Modest</i>—but it is <i>impossible</i> to be <i>modest</i>, without -being <i>virtuous</i>. Modesty is <i>the guard</i> of Virtue—but -it <i>is possible</i> a <i>cold</i> Constitution <i>may</i> preserve -<i>Virtue</i>, even <i>after</i> every Trace of <i>Modesty</i> has been -obliterated.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span></p> - -<h1><span class="smaller">THE</span><br /> -Danger and Immodesty, <i>&c.</i></h1> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_I">LETTER I.</h2> - -</div> - -<p>In times, when every winter brings -scenes of prostitution from the privacy of -darkness into the public light of day; when -our ladies of quality, and women of fashion, -instead of being as remarkable for their -virtue, as for their beauty, openly cast -aside every sense of shame, and barefacedly -encourage the addresses of men, who, -avowedly, can have no intention but to -involve them in guilt; it is the duty of -every honest man to endeavour to trace the -evil <i>to its source</i>, in order that, by pointing -out <i>the foul spring</i> which corrupts the -stream, <i>the fountain may be cleared</i>, and -the contagion which rages from it, lessened, -if not entirely removed.</p> - -<p>Boarding schools are, beyond doubt, seminaries, -where the minds of girls are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> -early polluted. Let the mistress of the -school be ever so virtuous, prudent, and attentive, -the vicious girls (and some such there -always must be among a number) will find -sufficient opportunities to taint the tender -minds of unsuspecting innocence. Nothing -can be more destructive than bad example; -and, unfortunately, the human -mind is too ready to copy those which are -vicious—and <i>the vicious</i> are more importunate -and solicitous <i>to corrupt</i>, than <i>the virtuous</i> -are to gain proselytes to goodness.</p> - -<p>Though I believe <i>the first seeds of vice</i> -are imbibed at a boarding school, yet -I <i>by no means</i> look on that education as the -great cause of these frequent adulteries. If -principles of virtue have been inculcated in -infancy, they may yet, with proper care, -bud out afresh under good culture—and -flourish under the influence of good advice, -when those noxious weeds are choaked up, -which were planted by bad examples, but -which may wither on the cause being removed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p> - -<p><i>It is to the almost universal custom of <span class="smcap">employing -Men-midwives</span>, that I attribute -the frequent <span class="smcap">adulteries</span> which disgrace -our country.</i></p> - -<p><i>Ignorance</i> has spread this <i>shameless</i> custom. -Ignorance leads people to suppose -men <i>safer</i> than women—Ignorance of <i>what</i> -the <i>Men</i>-midwives <i>do</i>, leads modest women -<i>at first</i> to submit to employ men; and -<i>it is ignorance</i> which leads husbands [who -love their wives] to recommend, nay even -sometimes force them on their wives. -They know not what stripes they are -preparing for themselves—they know -not that they are removing the corner stone -on which the virtue of their wives -is founded—and all this on <i>a mistaken</i> -principle—<i>the idea that men are -safest</i>.</p> - -<p>The Almighty, through kindness to his -creatures, has so ordered the labours of -women, that even the honest part of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -Men-midwife tribe confess, that, in thirty -years practice, a person might probably -never meet <i>with a single case</i> where a good -woman might not have done the business. -This confession was made to me by an eminent -man-midwife, after a practice of -thirty-six years. How else would the -world have been peopled? The men have -<i>but lately</i> come into fashion. In praise of -<i>Scotland</i> and <i>Ireland</i> be it spoken, <i>the women -of those countries are still too modest to -employ them</i>. What is the consequence? -<i>Adulteries</i> happen <i>very seldom in those countries</i>; -and every farm-house swarms with -strong, healthy, <i>well-limbed</i> children. If -Men-midwives were requisite to bring children -into the world, what would become -of the wilds of America—the plains of -Africa? Even the <i>Hottentot women</i> are too -modest to employ men—they leave that -abandoned custom <i>to our English ladies</i>—yet -they are so fruitful they furnish slaves -to the globe. It is a notorious fact, that -more children have been lost since women -were so scandalously indecent as to employ<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> -men, than for ages before that practice became -so general. Women have <i>a tenderness -of feeling for their own sex</i> in labour, -which <i>it is impossible men can ever equal -them in</i>. By <i>having felt</i> the pains, and -the anxieties attending child-birth, they -know how to sympathize in a woman’s -sufferings. <i>Their</i> feelings, therefore, are -<i>natural</i>. They lead them to be patient—they -prompt them <i>to allow nature to do her -own</i> peculiar work. They never dream of -having recourse to force—the <i>barbarous, -bloody crotchet</i> never stained <i>their</i> hands -with <i>murder</i>. There <i>never really</i> can be -occasion for a male operator, but when a -deed must be done which my soul shudders -at the idea of, and which I shall not -mention—but thanks to God, such instances -do not occur in a century!—To my -knowledge, a lady was twice delivered in -different parts of the country of England, -by common women-midwives, and both -those cases were <i>as unnatural</i> and difficult -as it is well possible to imagine—she and -the children did well—if she had employed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -men, it is more than probable, <i>the children, -at least</i>, would have expired under -the crotchet—or been maimed by the forceps!</p> - -<p>And how should this be otherwise! a -long <i>un-impassioned</i> practice, <i>early</i> commenced, -and <i>calmly</i> pursued, is absolutely -requisite to give men <i>by art</i>, what women -attain <i>by nature</i>.—Dr. Hunter, very wisely, -very justly has said, that “Labour is nature’s -work.”—Nature <i>ought to be suffered</i> -nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of -a thousand, <i>to do her own work</i>. All the -knowledge <i>young</i> men can possibly obtain, -must be from <i>dead</i> bodies—for is it in common -sense to suppose, that a young lad -can explore the secret recesses of Venus, so -as to be <i>physically</i> well acquainted with -those parts in <i>living</i> females? No—fires -must quickly be raised, which unavoidably -will confuse all his discerning <i>reasoning</i> -faculties—and <i><span class="smcap">art</span> must instantly be lost in -<span class="smcap">nature</span></i>. Dr. Hunter, indeed, and one -or two men besides, <i>may perhaps</i>, by the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> -help of <i>cold</i> constitutions, and dint of very -long practice, do their business <i>nearly as -well</i> as women—by leaving all <i>to nature</i>—but, -if my life and fortune here, and salvation -hereafter, depended on the life -of any pregnant woman, and that of her -infant, I would stake all I held valuable on -her being attended by any old woman -midwife in England, in preference to any -man in the world. Whoever reads Nihel’s -Midwifery, will be satisfied of this truth, -that <i>women are infinitely safer than men</i>.</p> - -<p>Who can wonder at the profligacy of -the times, when it is known that even -women of character soon become so callous -to the bashfulness which ought to -characterize their sex (from being habituated -to the familiarities of their Men-midwives) -that they will not scruple informing -a male visitor, without even blushing, -“I was not very well for some days in the -country—so I came to town on purpose to -be satisfied by Dr. ⸺ that I was in -a good way—<i>the dear man</i> has told me that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> -<i>the child lies right</i>—and I am perfectly easy.” -Monstrous! that a lady can pretend to any -degree of modesty, and yet, <i>not content</i> -with having <i>a strange</i> man attending her -<i>for hours</i> when in labour (most of that time -intimately acquainted with <i>every</i> part) she -can, without any compunction, send for -a man, and admit him without reserve -<i>to the most unbounded</i> liberties, at a -time too, when she is <i>as able</i> to walk, and -<i>do every other act</i> of life, as if she was not -pregnant! Pray let me ask her ladyship, -<i>how</i> did “<i>The dear man</i>,”—“<i>sweet Dr. -⸺</i>,” <i>find out</i> how the child lay?—By -means <i>sufficient to taint the purity</i>, and <i>fully -the chastity</i>, of any woman breathing!—I -will boldly affirm, that, whoever admits -a man to those <i>licentious</i> freedoms, cannot -pretend to answer for what <i>may</i> be the consequences. -If <i>the last</i> circumstance does -not take place, it must be owing, either to -an extraordinary insensibility in the man, -or to the woman’s not suiting his taste, -having such choice of beauties to visit. Suppose, -for argument’s sake, that the fictitious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> -Goddess of Chastity, Diana herself, was -on earth, and employed me to satisfy -her doubts, during the months of pregnancy -prior to labour—and her mind -of course, at first, free from the smallest -tincture of guilty ideas—yet, if I chose it, -I could <i>so bewilder her reason</i>, that she -should <i>lose sight of every principle of virtue</i>—and -not <i>be able</i> to refuse me whatever I -chose to desire.—When a man is in free -possession of the Citadel, and all the out-works -surrendered at discretion, it is then -too late to attempt guarding the town from -plunder.</p> - -<p>But supposing these advantages are not -always taken (<i>which I dare say they are -not</i>) it cannot be denied <i>with truth</i> these -visitations from Men-midwives, remove in -a great measure, the horror of those intrusions -on the advanced posts of virtue, -which are its greatest safeguards—and serve -<i>to prepare the way</i> for the addresses of gay -young men, who make it their business<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> -to seduce married women into the paths of -infamy.</p> - -<p>If any lady, desirous of exculpating herself -from my censure, pleads that “she -never admits a Man-midwife <i>to familiarities</i> -but when <i>in actual labour</i>”—I answer, -that, even <i>in actual</i> labour—<i>a woman has -many intervals of ease</i>, for many minutes -together quite free from pain—<i>in those intervals</i>, -her mind <i>cannot</i> maintain <i>its spotless -whiteness</i>—<i>in those</i> intervals she cannot -but <i>be conscious</i>, that the <i><span class="smcap">doctor</span> is infringing -on the <span class="smcap">husband</span></i>.</p> - -<p>But I believe there are very few women -who confine the Doctor’s familiarities to -the times of real labour. Lady ⸺, Mrs. -⸺, acquiesce in whatever he thinks -right during all the months of pregnancy—and -must he not be <i><span class="smcap">more</span> than man</i>, or -<span class="smcap">less than man</span>, who, <i>roving luxuriously</i> -through all the <i>hidden</i> charms of beauty, -can help being inflamed by passion?—and,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> -<i>if inflamed by passion</i>, he may proceed <span class="smcap">on -certainties</span> ... he has an <i><span class="smcap">unerring</span> -tell-tale under his inspection</i>, which gives -him <i>an <span class="smcap">infallible</span> cue, when he may -safely</i> throw aside the mask, fearless of any -repulse.</p> - -<p>Shew some sense of modesty, ye -Duchesses, Countesses, &c. &c. and those -inferior women, whom <i>ye have debauched</i> -by your bad examples, will again imitate -ye, in forsaking these Scandalous practices. -Blush, ye women of fashion, to own that -any man, besides your husbands, <i>is admitted -to liberties with your persons</i>. No longer -talk of “<i>dear</i> Doctor Hunter,” “<i>angelic</i> -Doctor—” “<i>enchanting</i> Doctor—.” ... -For my own part, if I was a married man, -I declare it would be <i>a matter of the utmost -indifference</i> to me, whether my wife -had spent the night <i>in a bagnio</i>—or an -hour of the forenoon locked up with a -man-midwife in her dressing room.—Let<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> -this <i>shameless</i> custom be abolished, and -then virtue will fly back again to our metropolis, -with all her train of <i>genuine self-approving -pleasures</i>—and England be <i>once -more</i> as much famed for the chastity, as -for the beauty of its women.</p> - -<p>Adieu, Mr. Printer—you have received -this letter from a sincere admirer of female -modesty: Without it “beauty -<i>ceases being lovely</i>, or wit being engaging.” -Whoever possesses it cannot be enough -esteemed and regarded—whoever is deficient -in it cannot be sufficiently despised -and slighted. Ye <i>English</i> fair, <i>it ought</i> to -be your characteristic! <i>but while your fathers, -husbands, and brothers are unprincipled, -corrupted senators</i>—you think you -have a right to deviate from <i>your point of -honour</i>, since <i>they shew you the example in -their’s</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p> - -<p>To conclude—<i>true modesty is incompatible -with the idea of employing</i></p> - -<p class="right">A MAN MIDWIFE<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Except when those <i>very rare instances</i> occur, -which do not happen once in two thousand labours.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_II">LETTER II.</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The favourable reception my last letter -met with from the public, leads -me to hope our married men will seriously -reflect on the dangers which attend the -employing Men-midwives to attend their -wives, except in cases where there is the -most urgent necessity for the interference -of art. I flatter myself it will not be difficult -to convince <i>sensible</i>, <i>modest</i> women -of two undeniable truths, which nothing -but prejudice, or vice, can render them -blind to the force of:—First, that Men-midwives -are not so safe as women;—and -secondly, that it is absolutely impossible to -permit men to take the unbounded freedoms -which Men-midwives <i>falsely pretend are -necessary</i>, without throwing themselves entirely -at their mercy, and, at all events, -being polluted by their needless invasion.</p> - -<p>The Men-midwives and their friends, have -wisely chose to be silent. They are conscious -my assertions cannot be denied with any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> -shadow of truth, they therefore prudently -have declined the combat. If they had attempted -controverting my arguments, they -must have discovered the sandy foundations -on which they have established the idea of -<i>their being the proper</i> attendants on the labours -of women. Objections which they -cannot remove,—dangers which they cannot -dissipate,—and impurities which no -varnish can conceal, they wish to avoid -mentioning; fearful lest an attempt to answer -my letter, should display to the world -the weakness and insufficiency of their defence, -and stimulate abler pens than mine -to continue the subject too long for their -interest. They vainly imagine my letter -will soon be forgotten, and be consigned -to oblivion amongst waste paper. But -they are mistaken,—this letter shall accompany -it annually to the press, to remind -my fair countrywomen of the inestimable -value of chastity,—and to warn -them from those practices which pave the -way to the most flagrant breach of it;—and -I am not without hope that I shall be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> -joined by the friends of virtue, and assisted -in the arduous talk I have undertaken. -What undertaking can be more difficult to -succeed in, than an endeavour to reform -the manners of a vicious age? Yet, encouraged -by the consciousness of the rectitude -of my intentions, and of the sincerity -of my wishes to repair the foundations -of matrimonial happiness, I freely offer -my sentiments to the world,—let the candid -weigh them in the scale of common-sense,—and -either adopt, or disregard them, -as they appear to tend to the benefit, or -prejudice of mankind. The consequence -of their decision will principally affect -themselves,—it will not reach to me.</p> - -<p>The Men-midwives are sensible, that, -when they urge their knowledge in anatomy -as a reason for their being safer than -women, they mean to take advantage of -<i>the ignorance</i> of mankind. Where <i>very -rare</i>, <i>particular</i> circumstances occur, undoubtedly -the knowledge of anatomy becomes -then absolutely necessary to direct<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> -the operator in the means requisite to save -the woman’s life. In that distressed, unhappy, -deplorable situation, no modesty -can possibly be violated. The poor afflicted -woman, is, <i>if sensible</i>, so taken up -with anxious thoughts, and torturing -pains, that she is <i>not conscious</i> of the transaction—and -the Royal Exchange, when -crouded, might be spectators, without attracting -her attention, or interrupting her -fears. It is quite different in <i>a very large -majority</i> of labours. The woman has -many intervals of ease,—she does not apprehend -there is any peculiar danger in -her case:—her mind, while free from -pain, is at liberty calmly to attend to -whatever is done. There is not above one -labour in a thousand where there is any -occasion for the knowledge of anatomy. -I insist that <i>except in those very extraordinary -cases</i>, a knowledge of anatomy leads Men-midwives -frequently to do great mischief. -<i>It makes them impatient.</i> They <i>know how</i> -to bring on the labour pains,—they <i>know -how to force the birth</i>. From <i>this <span class="smcap">destructive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> -knowledge</span></i>, numbers of children -are demolished,—numbers of women -are thrown into fevers by <i>lacerations</i> and -<i>inflammations</i>, which might have the worst -consequences, and which never would -have happened <i>if the knowledge of anatomy</i> -had not <i>tempted men</i> to have recourse <i>to -<span class="smcap">art</span> within the proper boundaries of <span class="smcap">nature’s</span> -empire</i>. For this reason, if I was -a married man, I would not employ <i>even -a woman</i> who had been bred under a Man-midwife. -Her <i>knowing the parts <span class="smcap">anatomically</span></i>, -and <i>understanding the <span class="smcap">use</span> of -<span class="smcap">instruments</span></i>, and pursuing the <i>teizing</i>, -<i>fiddling</i> customs of the men who had instructed -her, instead of recommending her -to me, would be a sufficient cause to prevent -my employing her.</p> - -<p><i><span class="smcap">The only safe knowledge</span> for a midwife -to possess</i>, is, <i>that which is taught by -<span class="smcap">experience</span></i>. Whenever it <i>ceases</i> being -possible for nature, with such assistance, -to do her work, <i>then</i>, and <i>then only</i>, art -ought to be called in with instruments to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -aid.—Yet our young women are not ashamed -<i>premeditately to resolve</i> on employing -men, though there are such a multitude -of chances <i>against</i> the supposition of a dead -child—or that there will be occasion for -the destruction of her infant to save her -own life. It is for this wanton use of men, -that I wish I had abilities to expose their -want of modesty in colours striking enough -to hold out our women to the universal ridicule -of the world, and draw down on -them the contempt and indignation of the -virtuous.</p> - -<p>Is it not laughable to hear of a <i>modest</i> -woman sending for <i>a man</i> to inform her -<i>whether or not she is with child</i>, and <i>how -far gone</i>?—Heavens! <i>a little patience</i> -would soon have cleared up that matter, -and the most skilful man may be mistaken, -<i>even allowing the supposition</i> (which is <i><span class="smcap">not</span> -probable</i>) <span class="smcap">that he may be quite cool</span>, -and <i>experience <span class="smcap">no fluttering</span> sensations -to confuse his mind during <span class="smcap">the serious</span> investigation</i>. -Why cannot the lady <i>allow a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> -few months</i> to elapse? Her doubts would -then have been removed, without any <i>male</i> -intrusions, <i>without <span class="smcap">scandalous violations</span> -of <span class="smcap">modesty</span></i>—without, what I -term, <span class="smcap">shameful pollutions of her -person</span>.</p> - -<p>What must Men-midwives think of those -ladies, who send for them to be inspected -on such trifling occasions? <i>What can they -avoid thinking?</i> Must they not conclude, -that those ladies are restrained from adultery -<i><span class="smcap">not</span> by any principle</i> of virtue, but by -a dread of the consequences; and, since -they can admit no man to familiarities but -their Man-midwife (who is the <i>priviledged -father confessor of England</i>) without losing -their reputations, they are resolved to be -<i>as immodest</i>, without losing their characters, -as the depraved, profligate custom of the -world can authorize them? Men-midwives -entertain each other with curious recitals -of their adventures among the fair:—Surely -those women cannot justly be pitied, who -thus by their folly, or vice, furnish subjects<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> -<i>first</i> for their sensual <i>ideas</i>, and <i>afterwards</i> -for their mirth.</p> - -<p>I have been a good deal amused by hearing -my letter commented on in different -companies, where the author was far from -being suspected to be present. The Men-midwives, -and the ladies who receive -pleasure from employing them, never can -forgive me for having exposed their conduct. -All they can however say against -me, is, that I am “<i>very indelicate</i>;”—that -“<i>it is a shame such papers should appear</i>.”—Let -them be informed, Mr. Printer, -that <span class="smcap">if I am “indelicate,”</span> it is -<i>because <span class="smcap">they are immodest</span></i>. Where -<i>the bone</i> is <i>corrupted</i>, the flesh must be removed, -and <i>the foul parts laid bare</i>, in order -to be <i>scraped</i>, and <i>purified</i>—<i>desperate -disorders require desperate remedies</i>. <i>The -“shame” does not consist <span class="smcap">in what I write</span> -but <span class="smcap">in what they do</span></i>.—<i>Let them <span class="smcap">quit -their practice</span>, I will most readily throw -aside my pen.</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> - -<p>I should be sorry to entertain so bad an -opinion of the generality of my fair countrywomen, -as to suppose them hardened -by the depraved custom of the times, beyond -a possibility of being roused to a sense -of danger for themselves and infants, and -to a sense of virtue. Doctor Hunter is, -beyond dispute, <i>the best Man</i>-midwife in -the world—yet, let the advocates for the -<i>indiscriminate</i> use of men lay their hands on -their hearts, and answer me ingenuously -this question—Suppose any <i>three</i> of the -<i>best</i> Midwives in London had lost <i>in their -lives, the same number</i> of women of fashion -<i>Doctor Hunter</i> has lost <i>within these two or -three years</i>,<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> would they not have exclaimed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> -loudly, and <i>taken advantage</i> of those -deaths <i>to prove the danger of employing women</i>? -All England would have rung of -their mismanagement—and the women -would have been ruined!—There are women -in London who have laid several thousands, -and yet never lost either a mother -or an infant.</p> - -<p>Though the abandoned custom exculpates -ladies in the estimation of a dissipated -world, yet I recommend to their confederation -<i>how their thoughts, during the visits</i> -of Men-midwives, will stand the test of the -penetrating eye of their Creator.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p> - -<p>I hope to live to see the day, when innate -modesty will be the characteristic of -English women; and <i>of course</i>, when a lady -will not be more publickly branded with -infamy for the most barefaced prostitution, -than for the effrontery which <i>will then</i> be -necessary to enable a woman wantonly to -employ</p> - -<p class="right">A MAN-MIDWIFE.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> I would by no means be understood to insinuate -the most distant reflection on Dr. Hunter’s management. -I have not the smallest idea that any of those -deaths were in consequence of the least fault in his execution -of his business. I only mentioned them to shew -that misfortunes <i>may happen</i> with the most able Man-midwife; -and therefore that it is cruel to name one or two -accidents as proof of a woman’s being unsafe, since they -will happen to the first man in the whole world. I look -on Dr. Hunter as a most skilful anatomist; able physician; -experienced, tender, patient Man-midwife. If -it was left to me to call any man to the labour of a woman -in imminent danger, and whose life was linked in -mine, Dr. Hunter is the man I would send for without -a moment’s hesitation, his skill, but, above all, his -experience, <span class="smcap">age</span>, and <span class="smcap">infirmities</span>, render him the -<span class="smcap">only</span> man proper to be allowed <i>to take liberties</i> with -married women. Yet <i>any woman of experience</i>, in my -opinion, is <i>infinitely safer</i> than even Dr. Hunter, <i>except -in very extraordinary cases</i>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="LETTER_III">LETTER III.</h2> - -</div> - -<p>In my two last letters, I believe I satisfied -those <i>who are open to conviction</i>, that -<i>even the best</i> Men-midwives are <i>not so safe</i> -as women,—and that the custom is destructive -of modesty, and affords those -Men-midwives <i>who chuse it</i>, finer seraglios -than are in the possession of the most luxuriant -Monarchs of the East.</p> - -<p>There are bad consequences attending -the practice which I have not mentioned. -It is productive of danger, and of many -evils, even when followed by the most eminent -men in London;—who can fix limits -then to its pernicious consequences, when -a set of <i>raw, unskillful young</i> men are turned -loose through this town—round its -skirts—and over the whole kingdom, and -are received by the credulous multitude -with no other recommendation than the -words over the door of “⸺, <i>Surgeon and -Man-midwife</i>?” Boys think themselves -qualified for Men-midwives, by having attended<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> -one or two courses of lectures under -Doctor Hunter,—or, perhaps, without -having heard any lectures at all, or ever -having seen a subject anatomized, start -from behind an apothecary’s counter—and -begin their career, murdering of infants -without mercy; and with impunity laying -the foundation for cancers, and the most -dreadful diseases in women;—not to mention -the chance of their ruining the peace -of families, by introducing vice and discord, -where health and harmony might -otherwise have gladdened their serene dwellings.—They -know enough of the ways -requisite to use force;⸺they have heard -female Midwives blamed for allowing tedious -labours;⸺they think they will be -deemed expert, in proportion <i>to the quickness</i> -with which they bring the child into -the world,—and the mischiefs they of course -give rise to are innumerable! It is not in -the nature of things possible that <i>a young -man</i>, ever so well qualified <i>by study</i>, can be -<i>a safe</i> Midwife—how dreadful then must -the situations be of those poor women who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> -are in the hands of the numberless men -who practice that business throughout England!⸺The -people ignorantly take for -granted <i><span class="smcap">that the sex</span> constitutes knowledge—insures -safety</i>! The truth is, <i><span class="smcap">the -sex</span> alone is sufficient</i> to render <span class="smcap">any knowledge</span> -destructive in <i>general</i> practice. If -the men <i>must be introduced</i> into <i>the privacies</i> -of women, I would earnestly recommend -it as <i><span class="smcap">the most essential</span> qualification</i> -requisite <span class="smcap">to prepare</span> them for the -study, that they submit to having their -<i><span class="smcap">voices</span> made delicate</i>.</p> - -<p>And here I should have finished my letter, -and the subject, if I had not seen an -Essay in the Gazetteer of the 17th, signed -“Old Chiron,” which I cannot avoid making -some remarks on, before I conclude.</p> - -<p>The author of it uses tolerable language, -and probably could write pretty well on -any other subject. He has done as much -as could have been attempted in order <i>to -continue</i> the delusive error which blinds<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> -mankind. He knew he had <i>not Truth</i> on -his side—he has therefore <i>put words together, -without argument</i>⸺he has boldly denied, -what it is impossible to disprove⸺he has -<i>as</i> boldly <i>asserted <span class="smcap">what never happened</span></i>—and -then <i>laughed-off</i> facts, trusting -<i>by ridicule</i> to conceal their existence. -The pen of <i>Junius</i> could not defend the -women who use men.</p> - -<p>I believe <i>the thinking</i> part of the world -will join with me in opinion, that he would -have shewn more wisdom if he had remained -silent. A bad defence does harm -to any cause—and <i>the more able</i> the defender -appears in his stile and language, the -worse it is for his cause when he convinces -his readers, that even <i>his abilities</i> cannot do -it service. The more this subject is investigated, -the more prejudicial it will be -to his profession.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> A practice, <i>adopted</i>, and -<i>continued through a jumblement</i> of <span class="smcap">ignorance</span> -and <span class="smcap">vice</span>, can only be favoured by -suffering <i>an impenetrable</i> shade <i>to veil</i> actions -<i>fit only for darkness</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> - -<p>Old Chiron has been drove so hard as -to have been forced to assert that the female -Midwives always “<i>cram</i> their patients -with cordials⸺<i>keeping them intoxicated -during the time they are in labour</i>”—and -that they act like infernal fiends, “<i>driving</i> -poor women <i>up and down stairs, notwithstanding -their <span class="smcap">shrieks</span></i>, and <i>shaking them -so violently</i> as often to bring on convulsion -fits, on pretence of hastening their -labours⸺laughing at their cries⸺and -breaking wretched jests upon the -contortions of the women, whose torments -would make a feeling man shudder -at the sight.”⸺I believe that -it is not possible any one can be <i>so sillily credulous</i> -as to have faith in these most <i>shocking, -unnatural, improbable, horrid</i> recitals! -Is it possible even <i>if such a brute</i> in an human -shame found an entry into an house, -that the poor lying-in woman could <i>be able</i> -to be forced “<i>up and down stairs</i>?”⸺and -<i>allow herself</i> to be <i>shook</i>? If <i>she</i> was ignorant -enough, and foolish enough to consent, -<i>would her relations</i>⸺<i>her friends</i>⸺anxiously<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> -attending her, <i>likewise be so ignorant</i> -as not to know <i>such</i> treatment was highly -improper, as well as <i>cruel beyond cannibal -brutality</i>? And this too <i>in England</i>! -where bearing of children is not so very <i>uncommon</i>, -so very <i>extraordinary</i> a circumstance, -as that a Midwife could find means -to persuade people into such dreadful absurdities!—The -idea <i>is too ridiculous</i>! I have -seen among my near relations, many women -in labour, as long as it was decent for -a man to be present; and declare I have -always seen their Midwives treat them with -the utmost tenderness. I have enquired -of several ladies of my acquaintance, each -of whom has bore many children, and always -employed women, and they have all -declared they never even <i>heard</i> of any thing -in the <i>most distant</i> manner resembling such -treatment, as this <i>interested</i> author has abused -his talents by relating. To vouch -falsehoods, and for <i>the most malignant</i> purposes, -needs no comment. Perhaps some -diabolical wretch may have behaved in this -manner⸺but is that ground enough to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> -erect defamations on, against the whole -sex? If <i>such</i> proof was to be admitted decisive, -I could severely retaliate on him -<i>such</i> proceedings of men, as would melt -an heart of adamant! and I could bring -demonstrable evidence to confirm the authenticity -of my relations—but I have already -been called “<i>indelicate</i>”—and if I -was to write the horrors my pen could unfold—delineate -facts, painting <i>the indecencies</i>, -and <i>barbarities</i> of men <i>whom I could -name</i>, I should <i>indeed be indelicate</i>. What -must then the <i><span class="smcap">acts</span> have been, which <span class="smcap">no -language</span> can convey a description of, -without offending the virtuous</i>, and <i>shocking</i> -the <i>humane</i>! yet I should look on myself -as very culpable if I had instanced these -men <i>as standards</i> for the whole profession -to be judged by. I gave the preference <i>to -women, <span class="smcap">not</span> because all men <span class="smcap">were brutes</span></i>, -but because <i>the greatest Saint</i> on earth, <i><span class="smcap">if</span> a -<span class="smcap">man</span> in health</i>, could not answer for his -principles being proof against the <i>irresistible -temptations arising</i> from being <i>freely indulged</i> -in <i>the most luxurious</i> liberties with all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> -<i>the feminine</i> beauties of lovely women,—and -because their knowledge of anatomy, -and their <i><span class="smcap">instruments</span> being ready at -hand</i>, too often <i>tempt</i> them to use <i>force</i>, -and do mischief in parts of the most <i>exquisite</i> -sensibility, which <i>no</i> art, <i>no</i> care, <i>no</i> -remedy, can <i>ever</i> after repair; where, if -<i>nature</i> had been allowed to do her office, -she would have been <i>a safe</i> operator, and -all would have ended happily; and let any -impartial person decide <i>whether a man</i>, who -knows every method of forcing the birth, -<i>or a woman</i>, who is conscious of being <i>unacquainted</i> -with <span class="smcap">that dangerous knowledge</span>, -<i>are <span class="smcap">most likely</span> to alter the -<span class="smcap">course of nature</span>, by interfering</i>, where -she ought to be <span class="smcap">the sole</span> actor?⸺It -is an indisputable fact, that women have -such a peculiar sympathy for females big -with young, that ninety-nine out of an -hundred carry it to such an excess as to be -anxious about <i>brutes</i> in that situation. I -have often heard ladies uneasy about mares -they have seen with foal, and bitches with -whelp. It is <i>an instinct</i> implanted, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> -interwoven with their natures <i>by the Great -Source</i> of all things, for the wisest purposes. -Those <i>who have felt</i> the agonies of -child birth, surely must be able to sympathize -<i>more feelingly</i> than men who can only -form an idea of them by theory. Women -must be allowed to have more tenderness -in their natures than men⸺so that <i>in -every view</i> we cannot contest the point of -sensibility with them. Yet this author asserts -women are improper for Midwives -because they are <i>most</i> inhuman—because -they drive their fellow-creatures up and -down stairs—and shake them into convulsion -fits! did old Chiron write ironically? -or did he mean to betray the cause of -the male-practitioners, by asserting fictitious -nonsense, which carries falsehood on -it’s face?⸺Let any one <i>view the forceps</i>, -and then judge <i>whether</i> it is <i>a <span class="smcap">gentle instrument</span>? -it speaks it’s office!</i>—Let any -one <i>view the crotchet</i>, crooked scissars, &c. -sharp knives to be sure are instruments fit -to be trusted in every hand! they pursue<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> -<i>healing</i> measures! they never commit <i>murder</i>!</p> - -<p>The writer was pleased to confine himself -to what I said of the Hottentot women, -because the heat of their climate was -adapted to his purpose. I mentioned likewise -“the wilds of America,” and the -kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland. I -fancy those countries are cold enough in -winter.</p> - -<p>He has quoted the practice of the Athenians -as an example for our women. -Though <i>Heathen virtues</i> are great reproaches -<i>on Christian vices</i> (I should have -said, on the vices of people who are only -<i>Christians in name</i>, by outwardly professing -what their lives are daily contradicting) yet -I should imagine <i>no Heathen impurities</i> ought -to be admitted patterns against Christian -virtues.—Our surgeons are better anatomists -than the Athenians were; but I am -afraid the Athenian men were better Christians, -though they lived before the birth -of our Saviour.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p> - -<p>“But the women of quality <i>do so fall in -love</i> with their Doctors.”—I beg he will -excuse me,—I <i>never</i> supposed they <span class="smcap">fell -in love</span> with <span class="smcap">their male inspector</span>. -<i>The sensations</i> which <i>Men-midwives</i> give rise -to, <i>deserve not</i> the name which distinguishes -<i>that <span class="smcap">noble</span> passion <span class="smcap">of the soul</span></i>.—<i><span class="smcap">Love</span>, -allies us to our Divine Original, elevates -our ideas to Heaven, and makes us emulous of -worthy actions</i>! It’s signification is <i>scandalously -perverted</i>, when used to describe <i>the -impure</i> gratifications of sense, which degrade -us <i>below the brutes</i>!—<i>Love</i>, and <i>Virtue</i>, -are <i>inseparable</i>. Love never inspires -the human heart, but when <i>that heart is -in pursuit of virtue</i>; when <i>vicious</i> purposes -<i>pollute</i> the mind, <i>it’s end</i> is <i>lust</i>.</p> - -<p>“Has there ever been related an instance -of so unnatural a connexion?” <i>Many</i> -where <i>it has been attempted</i>—<i>several</i> where -it has <i>succeeded</i>. Any person may buy the -trial of Doctor Morley, where they will -see that he was <i>convicted</i>, and <i>fined a thousand -pounds</i>, for seducing Mrs. Biker. The -poor woman accused the Doctor on her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> -death-bed, and told the whole transaction. -The Doctor pleaded to his friends “<i>the -strength of the temptation, the frailty of -nature</i>; and the impossibility of any man’s -<i>resisting such powerful charms</i>.” He quitted -his business; <i>the ladies</i>, however, <i>approved -his conduct</i>,—it <i><span class="smcap">recommended</span> him <span class="smcap">to -their favour</span></i>, and <i>he was more employed -than ever</i>! Doctor ⸺ was forced to -feign madness to escape the rage of an injured -husband, for having frightened his -wife to death! She happened to be <i>a virtuous</i>, -though <i><span class="smcap">not</span> a <span class="smcap">modest</span></i>, woman!—Count -<span class="smcap">Struenzy</span> too was a Man-midwife.—Would -he ever have dared to lift -his eye, or breathe his infamous passion -to a ⸺, if he had not been encouraged -and <i>familiarized</i> by the freedoms admitted -by the profession of a Man-midwife? -Certainly no. Whoever reads the news-papers -of three years back, will find many -paragraphs informing us of prosecutions -of Men-midwives for crim. con.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span></p> - -<p>“A man <i>never</i> seen by them <i>but in -their distress</i>, is sure most unlikely to -become an object <i>of their desire</i>; nor -can the ladies, however lovely in the -bloom of health, be supposed <i>capable of -retaining</i> their attractions <i>in the hour of -agony</i>.”—The writer knows that neither -of these assertions are matters of fact. In -regard to the first, <i>many women</i> see their -Men-midwives <i>in perfect health, to be informed -if they are with child? How far -gone?</i> “Whether the child lies right?” -and on many other <span class="smcap">pretences</span>.—Men and -women, on <i>such trying</i> occasions, <i>must -give way to <span class="smcap">nature</span>—there is no possibility -of withstanding it</i>.—As to women’s <i>not</i> -being “<i>attractingly lovely</i> when in labour,”—there -he likewise must have been sensible -that he erred from truth. Those -pains <i>rather add</i> to beauty; and though, -<i>during the continuance of racking tortures, -neither</i> party can attend to any thing but -the pains felt on one side, and the compassion -which a good man must sympathize -in on the other; yet <i>in the intervals</i><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> -(many there <i>always</i> are, and <i>generally</i> they -are <i>long intervals</i>) <i>no uneasiness on either -side</i> leaves the minds <i>of both</i> at liberty to -entertain <i>other <span class="smcap">ideas</span></i>.</p> - -<p>“And if he” (the Man-midwife) “is at -all to answer for their conduct, is, I -think, only to be reckoned with <i><span class="smcap">for -recovering them</span> so early</i>, and <i><span class="smcap">so -putting it in their power to</span> go -abroad</i> and <i><span class="smcap">coquet it</span> the sooner</i>.”—The -author is pleased to be <i>facetious with -the ladies</i>! I do not at all wonder that -<i>those men</i> who have <i>such foundation</i> for -censuring their conduct, <i>presume thus</i> to -ridicule them for their eagerness to visit, -in order to <i>receive the homage</i> of their <i>criminal -admirers</i>! I should have thought, -however, that the subject was not of a -nature which could authorize such indecent -raillery. It verifies the old proverb, -“<i>too much familiarity breeds contempt</i>.”</p> - -<p>As to the assertion, that “the faculty -employ men to their own wives”—I know<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> -very many instances to the contrary—and -even <i>if this was otherwise</i>, it would be by -no means conclusive. Men who have -<i>such choice</i> of fine women <i>to take the most -licentious liberties</i> with, most probably -cannot remain long faithful to their own -wives—they may therefore easily be supposed -soon to become so indifferent about -them, as to be very ready to suffer their -own brethren to lay them, <i>by way of -<span class="smcap">keeping up the farce</span></i>, and <i>blinding the -world</i>. I take for granted however they -permit <i>no private examinations</i>. They are -too much in the secret.</p> - -<p>The gentleman concludes with telling -us a story of Dr. Ford’s having attended -a poor woman for three days and nights, -who had been ill used by a woman.⸺What -then?—It only proves that Dr. -Ford <i>is not destitute of humanity</i>, and <i>that -there is <span class="smcap">one</span></i> woman <i>who interfered with -nature</i>, and <i>of course did mischief</i>.—I know -he “is a favourite with many women of -distinction”—but <i>those ladies <span class="smcap">best</span> know<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> -<span class="smcap">how</span> he has recommended himself to their -favour</i>. Neither Dr. Ford, nor Dr. -Hunter, can presume to affirm, that they -never take the most intimate freedoms with -ladies, when there is no chance for labour.⸺Indeed, -the ladies make no secret -of it—they now can submit to those -examinations on the morning of an assembly, -tell their company of it at dinner, -and go to a tavern to supper!</p> - -<p>And now, Mr. Printer, allow me <i>to -take my leave of you, and the public on -this theme</i>.—The unprejudiced will be -convinced—at least it was this flattering, -this most pleasing hope, that stimulated -me to write on this subject.—I can have no -sinister views—the conduct of the world -will not interfere with my happiness—for -I never will marry any woman, unless I -know her sentiments correspond with mine. -The public are now in possession of all -I can think on the subject—The good -sense of the people of England will decide -how far my hints may conduce to their domestic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> -happiness.—I leave <i>to other pens</i> to -proceed on it, <i>in answer to any writer who -may enter the lists against me</i>. Whoever -wishes to know my sentiments may review -these three letters. I should be an -hypocrite, if I attempted to conceal, that, -as I took up my pen <i>for the benefit of the -community</i>, so I shall be <i>most highly gratified</i>, -if I hereafter find my time has been -employed to purpose, in <i>opening the -eyes of the thoughtless</i>, <i>informing the ignorant</i>, -and <i>warning the virtuous</i>. I despair -of shaming the immodest!</p> - -<p>While I live, I shall think <span class="smcap">no woman -modest</span> who employs</p> - -<p class="right">A MAN-MIDWIFE.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> I take for granted, Old Chiron is a Man-midwife.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</h2> - -</div> - -<p>As I do not wish to bewilder the -Judgments of my Readers, but to -convince their Understandings,—and as -I have, throughout my Letters, laid so -much Weight on the Dangers which attend -hurrying the Labours of Women, I -cannot dismiss this Pamphlet into the -World without endeavouring <i>clearly to demonstrate</i> -the Utility of allowing Nature -<i>to adhere strictly</i> to <i>her own</i> Period for accomplishing -the Birth.</p> - -<p>Men, who have <i>not</i> been <i>accustomed to -thinking</i>;—but whose Lives have been -spent in the various Occupations, or dissipated -Pleasures of the World, by having -been habituated daily to view the common -round which Providence takes in the -natural Events of Life, never felt their -Wonder and Admiration excited by considering -them in the Manner which is incumbent -on reasonable, intelligent Beings.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> -Those, on the other Hand, whose only -<i>real</i> Enjoyments proceed from a delightful -Indulgement of the Soul in Contemplations -on the astonishing Works of God, -<i>divest</i> themselves of <i>that Familiarity to -them</i> which the hourly Evidence of their -Senses would otherwise have obscured—and -render’d Matter for no rational Reflection.</p> - -<p>Thus we are blind to the surprizing -<i>progressive</i> Change, which enlarges a new -born Infant, to the size of Manhood! or -a small Seed, to a large Tree!—If an Infant, -<i>the day after its Birth</i>, was to walk -round the Town, in compleat symmetry -of Person, and six Feet high, would not -the Miracle forcibly strike the Minds of -the most thoughtless of our Species?—The -difference is made only <i>by Custom</i>. -Twenty Hours, and Twenty Years, are -exactly the same in the Sight of God!—<i>My</i> -Amazement is excited by seeing the -Change wrought <i>in twenty Years</i>, to the -full in <i>as high a degree</i>, as the <i>same Sight</i>, -in twenty <i>Hours</i>, would raise the Astonishment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> -of an embroidered Maccaroni at -Carlisle House, or, of an infinitely <i>more</i> -rational, esteemable Being; a poor, ignorant -Labourer in the Fields!</p> - -<p>The Work of Nature, <i>in Labour</i>, is one -of it’s most extraordinary Acts!—Untill -the Parts are <i>in some degree prepared</i> by the -miraculous Change effected in them <i>by the -Labour Pains</i>, the Child could no more -enter the World than it could fly into the -Clouds!—Untill the Parts are <i>properly</i> -prepared, the Child cannot appear without -<i>the most obvious</i> Danger.</p> - -<p>Every Pain has it’s Office,—it lubricates—it -dilates. Where these Pains are -<i>not</i> violent—are <i>not</i> quick in their Return—but -are lingering, and tedious, they -<i>plainly</i> indicate that <i>the Woman requires -great Preparation</i>—Nature is <i>gradually</i>, and -by <i>the most gentle</i> Means, forwarding <i>the -Distension</i>—and if left <i>to herself</i>, will <i>not</i> -bring on the Birth till every thing <i>is accommodated -to her Purpose</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span></p> - -<p>Men Midwives, seldom wait for Nature’s -Moment. Women are objected to, because -they are tedious—Men are extolled -for their quickness. If Doctor ⸺ has -two or three pregnant Ladies waiting, -from whom he expects handsome Payments, -he will <i>take Merit</i> from hastening -the Birth—and if any Accident happens -from his Impatience, his Reputation is -too well establish’d to suffer in the Eyes of -Mankind—and the Misfortune is attributed -to some of the common Casualties attending -Labour, when it derived it’s -Source <i>solely</i> from the Doctor’s having -brought the Child forward, <i>unnaturally</i>, -before the Parts were pre-disposed, by a -proper distension, for it’s Reception, and -Passage. I fear two Ladies died lately -owing to this very Practice. The Parts -inflamed—the Inflammation spread by -Sympathy—the Bowels mortified. If -these Ladies had lain-in in the Country, -and had employ’d common, plain Women, -who pretended to no Knowledge -but what they derived from Experience, -it is a Million to one that the Ladies would -now have been alive and well.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span></p> - -<p>The Men-midwives not only give rise -to Inflammations by bringing the Child -before the Woman has felt <i>half the number -of Pains</i> which Nature intended <i>to predispose</i> -the Parts—but likewise by <i>their -abominable Dilatations</i>. Can any Practice -be more repugnant to common Sense, than -that of irritating the exquisitely sensitive -nervous Fibres of those Parts, by way of -preparing them for Distension? The Men -absolutely <i>counteract</i> the very end they pretend -to have in view, by Dilatation!—Friction -must irritate—irritation must inflame—Inflammation -must <i>contract</i>. It -is no Wonder if Parts so nicely constructed—highly -irritated for (perhaps) Hours, -should inflame after the Birth, and be productive -of the most dreadful Consequences!—Yet -their <i>Officiousness</i> recommends -them to the Ladies!—I really cannot -find Words to inform my Readers -of every Circumstance I wish to relate. I -start Hints—and leave them to pursue -the Subject by an exertion of their own -Reason.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span></p> - -<p>I have now entirely done with all which -relates to the Danger Women and Children -run through <i>officious</i>, shameful <i>Impatience</i>. -I have only to recommend one -serious Reflection to those Husbands who -think their Happiness would be interrupted -by detecting any Infidelity in their -Wives. I beg they will consider <i>the Advantages</i> -they give Men-midwives, in allowing -them so many <i>favourable</i> Opportunities -of <i>extolling the personal</i> Charms of -the Ladies, <i>whose Beauties</i> lie open to their -<i>most curious</i> Researches. No Men can -possibly have <i>such critical</i> Opportunities for -engratiating themselves with the Fair. -<i>Flattery, <span class="smcap">critically</span> applied</i> to Women, -has strange Effects. They can <i>accompany</i> -their Flattery with <i>irresistible</i> Persuasives. -The sacred Names of Religion and Honour -<i>may</i> be made <i>Subservient</i> to their Purposes. -The more they are pretended to be -prized in their Estimation, the more <i>they -may be urged in proof</i> of the <i>bewitching</i> Allurements, -and <i>forcible</i> Power of those -hidden Beauties, which have obliterated -every Remonstrance of Virtue, and stifled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> -every Check of Conscience. The poor -Woman’s <i>Pity</i> is excited, when she views -the strongest Principles of her “dear -Man” overcome by <i>her</i> Charms—she can -only blame <i>herself</i> for possessing <i>such provoking -Temptations</i>—she is blinded by the -Assistance of Nature—<i>her own Vanity</i> turns -Advocate for the Doctor, and acquits him -of Villainy <i>during the Empire of Passion</i>; -though the <i>return</i> of Reason, <i>when too -late</i>! discovers the Artifices which have -accomplish’d her Ruin!</p> - -<p class="right">THE AUTHOR.</p> - -<p>I hope Doctor Hunter will pardon <i>the -latter</i> part of the Reference, at the bottom -of my second Letter. I fear I misrepresented -him in attributing Infirmities to -his share which I am inform’d he never -yet has experienced. His <i>Abilities</i> are -great—and if a Man <i>must</i> be employ’d, -I think he may be called in with as much -safety as any Man of his Profession.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p>☞ <i>As this Pamphlet recommends the -employing of Women, the Publishers have -taken some Pains to procure a List of those -who are eminent in their Profession—and on -the best information recommend the following -Midwives to those Ladies who have too -much Modesty to employ Men—and who are -convinced by the preceding Pages that the -Men are not so safe as Women.</i></p> - -<table> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Nihell</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Hay Market</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Brooke</td> - <td>}</td> - <td rowspan="3" class="valign"><i>Cross Key Court, Little Britain</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mrs. Stephens</td> - <td>}</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mrs. Lee</td> - <td>}</td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Harris</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Mould Makers Row, St. Martin’s Le Grand</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Reynard</td> - <td>}</td> - <td rowspan="2" class="valign"><i>Bartholomew Close</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mrs. Forrest</td> - <td>}</td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Smith</td> - <td>}</td> - <td rowspan="2" class="valign"><i>Cow Lane, Snow-Hill</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mrs. Page</td> - <td>}</td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Phillips</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Garlick Hill</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Andrews</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Bush Lane, Cannon Street</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Longbottom</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Near Guy’s Hospital</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Richardson</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Westminster</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Souden</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Ratcliff Row, Old Street</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Hall</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Bunhill Row, Ditto</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Barnet</td> - <td>}</td> - <td rowspan="2" class="valign"><i>Somerset Street, White-Chapel</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mrs. Larkin</td> - <td>}</td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Blunt</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Swallow Str. Golden Sq.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr class="row"> - <td>Mrs. Lyttelton,</td> - <td></td> - <td><i>Amen-Corner, Paternoster Row</i></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="center"><span class="gesperrt">FINIS</span>.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DANGER AND IMMODESTY OF THE PRESENT TOO GENERAL CUSTOM OF UNNECESSARILY EMPLOYING MEN-MIDWIVES. ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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