The Project Gutenberg eBook of The danger and immodesty of the present too general custom of unnecessarily employing men-midwives 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 www.gutenberg.org. 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. Title: The danger and immodesty of the present too general custom of unnecessarily employing men-midwives Author: Anonymous Release date: August 15, 2022 [eBook #68756] Language: English Original publication: United Kingdom: J. Wilkie & F. Blyth Credits: 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) *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DANGER AND IMMODESTY OF THE PRESENT TOO GENERAL CUSTOM OF UNNECESSARILY EMPLOYING MEN-MIDWIVES *** THE DANGER AND IMMODESTY OF _The Present too general Custom of_ UNNECESSARILY EMPLOYING MEN-MIDWIVES. BEING The Letters which lately appeared under the Signature of A MAN-MIDWIFE. WITH AN INTRODUCTION, A TREATISE ON THE MILK, AND AN APPENDIX. WITH CORRECTIONS By the AUTHOR. LONDON: Printed for J. WILKIE, No. 71, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard; and F. BLYTH, John’s Coffee-House, Cornhill. MDCCLXXII. AN INTRODUCTION AND ADVICE TO THE LADIES, POINTING OUT _The DANGERS attending BACKENING their MILK the first four or five Weeks after Delivery._ To the PUBLIC. 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 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. I knew, that _no_ Arguments, _even if an Angel was to descend from Heaven to utter them_, could persuade the Ladies _to be satisfied_ with Midwives of _their own_ Sex, _after the fine Polish_ had been _once_ RUB’D OFF which _modesty ought_ to have _work’d up_ to such a _bright_ Pitch of _high finish’d_ Excellence, as _not_ 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 _INTEREST, as well as PLEASURE_ would be at STAKE) they would leave _no means_ untried—they would call in _every fallacious_ art to their aid, _to continue THE DECEPTION_, by _ridiculing_ Arguments which they _could not confute_—and that _un_married Ladies, through _an Opinion_ of the _Virtue of their Friends_, and swayed, and _kept in Countenance_, by _the prevalent_ Custom of the Times, would naturally _fall into the Stream_, and _not_ be undeceived until _too far hurried by the Current_ to be _afterwards_ able to recede.—On the other Hand, I likewise knew that our young Men _of Fashion_ had _long ago_ resolved _to bid Adieu TO THINKING_. Leaving _that troublesome_ Employment _to others_, they were intent on pursuing the far nobler Gratifications _of Sense_—endeavouring to bury in a round of _trifling_ Dissipations, _every_ Sentiment meriting the Attention of _reasonable_ Beings that an Attempt to work on _such_ Minds would be Absurdity in the extreme,—for, that, even _if they were convinced_ of the two uncontrovertable Truths I wish to establish, by being satisfied that Men were _not_ 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 _no_ Weight _with them_, because they married without Love, Religion, Principle—_the only_ Ingredients capable of forming _national_ Happiness. _Impure_ in their _Souls, debauch’d_ in their _Persons_, Libertinism opened _the only Avenue_ which could present them with a Prospect of Enjoyments _adapted to their_ Sensations—_their_ Joys were independent of their Wive’s Society—their Healths consequently were only _politely_ wish’d for—and they would of course readily _risk_ their Wive’s Purity being contaminated, rather than _be disappointed_ in the Pleasure of seducing the Wives _of their acquaintance_, through the _preparatory_ Assistance of the _Men_-midwives. The Happiness of our gay young Men _not_ being centered within the narrow Circle of Home, _the Virtue_ of their Wives is not in the least essential, has no Weight, _when ballanced_ with _the Advantages_ they derive from the too _general_ Prostitution of the Sex. They _extract Balm_ from _the Vices_ of _Other_ Women, which has sovereign Efficacy _in healing_ any Wounds—_alleviating_ any smarts, which they may receive, or feel, from the infidelity of _their own_ Wives—whom they never treated as their _rational Companions_, whose Affections they were desirous of fixing irremoveably,—but as _necessary_ Beings to do the Honours of 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 _one_ side, is _Money_—on the _other_, _Quality_—_each_ having attain’d the _only_ Object _they aim’d at in Marriage_,—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, _forgetful_ 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 _they term HONOUR_. But _THEIR Honour_ is comprised, in—_punishing the Man with MURDER who dares to doubt_ their veracity, or fail in Respect to their Dignity—and in paying their Debts _to SHARPERS_, instead of rewarding the Industry of their Tradesmen, by giving them—_their own Property_. _THEIR Honour_ does not restrain them from defiling the Beds _of their Friends_—_BREAKING Promises_ to _WORTHY Dependants_—or _betraying_ the Interests and Honour of their Country for _base Wages of Iniquity_, though committed with Confidence to their Charge, _yet sacrificed_ without Remorse, for their _private_ Emolument. _THEIR Honour_ enforces _no single Virtue_!—AWAY WITH SUCH HONOUR! I next consider’d the number of _well-disposed_ Men, who _through Prejudice_ might _neglect_; 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 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. 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 _the Men’s Knowledge of Anatomy_ as a Reason why _they_ should _be safer_ than Women, I wrote the second Letter to remove _that specious_, but _mistaken_ Idea—and having _known_ some, and heard of _many_ other young Men Midwives, who really _are ignorant_ of that Knowledge of Anatomy which is _their only_ Recommendation _to INFATUATED Husbands_;—and a Man Midwife, under the Signature of “Old Chiron,” having endeavoured to abuse the World with the most scandalous misrepresentations, and _gross Fallacies_, my last Letter appeared to expose the Danger of employing raw young Men—or believing such _interested Deceivers_. I am quite indifferent about the Offence which my Letters have given _the Ladies of Fashion_, and their _darling_ Doctors—_their “sweet Men.”_ They are conscious my Letters convey only _a very faint_ Sketch of their _immodest, obscene practices_. They are _too bad_ to be _exactly_ 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 _strange_ Notions of _Virtue_, who carefully keep my Letters out of the way of their Daughters, through what _they imagine to be_ “Delicacy!”—they would rather, in short, have them _polluted in future—past redemption_—than instructed by my friendly Admonitions, how to avoid the Path to Vice!—the modest, amiable, worthy, _sensible_ 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 view the Censures, and Displeasure of _the vicious_, and the _dissipated_, as the highest Eulogiums;—as Praise—which will convey _the most genial warmth_ to my Heart—and, I trust, afford me a pleasing Retrospect in my _latest_ Hours!— My Letters having succeeded beyond my most sanguine Expectation, I am now encouraged to attack _another_ prevailing Custom among the Fair—that of _not_ giving suck to their Infants, at least during the first five or six weeks. I shall wave considering _the Propriety_ of a Mother’s giving suck through a Sense of the _incumbent Duty_ she _owes_ her child.—Though the Custom of backening the Milk is _unnatural_, dangerous, and too often _fatal_, I shall lay no stress on the former, but rest it entirely on the latter—for in _such_ an Age as the present, in which our fine Ladies have few Ideas of any Religion—are not capable of receiving Pleasure from _domestick_ Employments—would infinitely rather CONVERSE with _any Men_ than their _Husbands_—leave their Children to be instructed, or _neglected_ by Servants, and fly abroad, with eager Impatience _to game away_ their Husbands Fortunes, and receive the _criminal_ Addresses of _their profligate_ Admirers, at the Assembly, the Masquerade, or more _commodious Apartments_ of _the Coterie_—laughing at the Censures of _the few_ who have still some Regard to Decorum—and despising the Belief of the perpetual Presence of a Being who is Witness to all their _secret vicious Deformities_—in _such_ 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 _not_ having afforded them the Nourishment He kindly provided for their Support?—I shall therefore only shew the Absurdity and _danger_ of this Custom, as far as it regards the Health of _the Mother_. And here I must endeavour to give my Readers some Idea of that part of the human Body which is concern’d in the formation, and absorbtion of the Milk, in order for their understanding the Force of my arguments. 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, _opposite_ 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. 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 _a contrary_ Direction from that intended 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 _our Food_) 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 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. The lymphatic Vessels prevent our Blood depending _solely_ 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 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. 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! 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 _the Example_ of the first Circle—the Milk must _therefore_ be backen’d.—It is denied Liberty to discharge itself by the Out-lett Providence _intended for it_—the Child, whose Constitution _it was calculated for_, is not suffered to have it’s Due. What becomes of the Milk? It is absorb’d by the lymphatic Vessels, _contrary_ to the _original_ 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 _not only highly over-charged_ with Blood, but that Blood is thus rendered of an improper Consistence. A Fever ensues!—This Fever comes on when the woman is _ill able to bear_ it’s Shock!—_How often_ is this Fever _fatal_! The most fortunate Circumstance that can happen, is, when the Milk finds _ANOTHER out-lett_. Probably _otherwise_ there may be a formation of Matter somewhere—there is danger _that_ Matter may fly to some capital Part. If the Woman is young, healthy, strong, it is most probable the Milk will _not_ be absorb’d _quick enough_. The Blood will _furnish_ Milk _faster_ than the lymphatick Vessels can imbibe it, and convey it back again. The Breasts are painfully distended—they inflame. _When too late_—it is then resolved they shall be suck’d. 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 _to be clear’d_, by the _old_ Milk being suck’d off, _the very day of the Delivery_, and to empty the Milk Vessels of what must otherwise clog them. Some woman ought to suck this off therefore _as soon as possible_. If the Child is put to the Breast _in Twelve, or Sixteen Hours_ after it’s Birth, it will suck _greedily_—if delay’d three or four Days, it is twenty to one the Child will not attempt it for a long time. When therefore _the Necessity_ of the Case has overcome every Resolution form’d for the Woman’s _not_ giving suck, and her Child is put to her Breast, it is in vain!—the Child will not touch the Breast!—_other_ 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 _too probably_ falls a sacrifice to a ridiculous—senseless—not to say a sinful deviation _from the Path of Nature_!—how many fine young Women have lately died—and go off every Year, from this Cause! But “_particular_ 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 _only_ for the first _four_, _five_ or _six Weeks_. If those Women _then_ really find themselves too delicate for the _longer_ continuance of such a Drain, they then _may safely_ 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 _not_ dream of suffering a single Drop of the Milk which Nature _intended for Evacuation_, 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 _demonstrably_ attend a contrary Practice. If a Woman is too delicate to bear _continuing to suckle_ her Infant, surely she is _too delicate_ to endure the flying in the Face of Nature, and _risking_ the Fever—if she is healthy and strong, the more incumbent her duty is, to nourish her Child—her danger too equal. In _every_ View, the salutary Consequences attending Mothers discharging their Duty to their Children in this point, are so obvious, so glaring, that _to me_ it is matter of doubt whether those who fail in it are most to be condemn’d and despised for _their want of natural Affection_—or pitied and ridiculed _for their Folly_. These are my Ideas on this interesting Subject. Let those Women who _obstinately_ 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! I now refer my Readers to the following Letters. I can assert, _with conscious Truth_ that my Sentiments on the _preceding_, and _following_ 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. I cannot expect _to reclaim_ any Woman who has _already used_ a _Man_, for Reasons I gave at the beginning of this Introduction, and because, by quitting him, she would _tacitly_ 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 _greatness_ enough _to confess_ they have been in an Error of _such_ a Nature. I am not without hopes however, of _opening the Eyes_ of _sensible_ Men—and unmarried Women, who are _at present_ modest, and _wish_ to _remain so_—and preventing the _former from advising_, and the _latter from falling into_ the scandalous Custom of employing _Men_-Midwifes, which _I know_ to be _ERRONEOUS as to it’s PRETENDED SAFETY_—_FATALLY dangerous_ to the VIRTUE—and _CERTAINLY destructive_ of the MODESTY[1] of my fair Countrywomen.—They may believe me when I assure them that NO PURITY can withstand the _rude_ Shock of _such_ Intrusions—_the whitest_ Ermine is _most_ liable to have it’s Beauties sullied! 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 _vicious_ Practices, the Consciousness of having done a most signal Service to the Community, will implant genuine Pleasure—substantial Satisfaction in the Breast of the Public’s most obedient humble Servant, THE AUTHOR. [1] I make a great Distinction _between Modesty_, and _Virtue_. A Woman _may_ be _virtuous_, _without_ being _Modest_—but it is _impossible_ to be _modest_, without being _virtuous_. Modesty is _the guard_ of Virtue—but it _is possible_ a _cold_ Constitution _may_ preserve _Virtue_, even _after_ every Trace of _Modesty_ has been obliterated. THE Danger and Immodesty, _&c._ LETTER I. 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 _to its source_, in order that, by pointing out _the foul spring_ which corrupts the stream, _the fountain may be cleared_, and the contagion which rages from it, lessened, if not entirely removed. Boarding schools are, beyond doubt, seminaries, where the minds of girls are 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 _the vicious_ are more importunate and solicitous _to corrupt_, than _the virtuous_ are to gain proselytes to goodness. Though I believe _the first seeds of vice_ are imbibed at a boarding school, yet I _by no means_ 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. _It is to the almost universal custom of EMPLOYING MEN-MIDWIVES, that I attribute the frequent ADULTERIES which disgrace our country._ _Ignorance_ has spread this _shameless_ custom. Ignorance leads people to suppose men _safer_ than women—Ignorance of _what_ the _Men_-midwives _do_, leads modest women _at first_ to submit to employ men; and _it is ignorance_ 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 _a mistaken_ principle—_the idea that men are safest_. The Almighty, through kindness to his creatures, has so ordered the labours of women, that even the honest part of the Men-midwife tribe confess, that, in thirty years practice, a person might probably never meet _with a single case_ 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 _but lately_ come into fashion. In praise of _Scotland_ and _Ireland_ be it spoken, _the women of those countries are still too modest to employ them_. What is the consequence? _Adulteries_ happen _very seldom in those countries_; and every farm-house swarms with strong, healthy, _well-limbed_ 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 _Hottentot women_ are too modest to employ men—they leave that abandoned custom _to our English ladies_—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 men, than for ages before that practice became so general. Women have _a tenderness of feeling for their own sex_ in labour, which _it is impossible men can ever equal them in_. By _having felt_ the pains, and the anxieties attending child-birth, they know how to sympathize in a woman’s sufferings. _Their_ feelings, therefore, are _natural_. They lead them to be patient—they prompt them _to allow nature to do her own_ peculiar work. They never dream of having recourse to force—the _barbarous, bloody crotchet_ never stained _their_ hands with _murder_. There _never really_ 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 _as unnatural_ and difficult as it is well possible to imagine—she and the children did well—if she had employed men, it is more than probable, _the children, at least_, would have expired under the crotchet—or been maimed by the forceps! And how should this be otherwise! a long _un-impassioned_ practice, _early_ commenced, and _calmly_ pursued, is absolutely requisite to give men _by art_, what women attain _by nature_.—Dr. Hunter, very wisely, very justly has said, that “Labour is nature’s work.”—Nature _ought to be suffered_ nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand, _to do her own work_. All the knowledge _young_ men can possibly obtain, must be from _dead_ bodies—for is it in common sense to suppose, that a young lad can explore the secret recesses of Venus, so as to be _physically_ well acquainted with those parts in _living_ females? No—fires must quickly be raised, which unavoidably will confuse all his discerning _reasoning_ faculties—and _ART must instantly be lost in NATURE_. Dr. Hunter, indeed, and one or two men besides, _may perhaps_, by the help of _cold_ constitutions, and dint of very long practice, do their business _nearly as well_ as women—by leaving all _to nature_—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 _women are infinitely safer than men_. 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—_the dear man_ has told me that _the child lies right_—and I am perfectly easy.” Monstrous! that a lady can pretend to any degree of modesty, and yet, _not content_ with having _a strange_ man attending her _for hours_ when in labour (most of that time intimately acquainted with _every_ part) she can, without any compunction, send for a man, and admit him without reserve _to the most unbounded_ liberties, at a time too, when she is _as able_ to walk, and _do every other act_ of life, as if she was not pregnant! Pray let me ask her ladyship, _how_ did “_The dear man_,”—“_sweet Dr. ⸺_,” _find out_ how the child lay?—By means _sufficient to taint the purity_, and _fully the chastity_, of any woman breathing!—I will boldly affirm, that, whoever admits a man to those _licentious_ freedoms, cannot pretend to answer for what _may_ be the consequences. If _the last_ 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 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 _so bewilder her reason_, that she should _lose sight of every principle of virtue_—and not _be able_ 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. But supposing these advantages are not always taken (_which I dare say they are not_) it cannot be denied _with truth_ 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 _to prepare the way_ for the addresses of gay young men, who make it their business to seduce married women into the paths of infamy. If any lady, desirous of exculpating herself from my censure, pleads that “she never admits a Man-midwife _to familiarities_ but when _in actual labour_”—I answer, that, even _in actual_ labour—_a woman has many intervals of ease_, for many minutes together quite free from pain—_in those intervals_, her mind _cannot_ maintain _its spotless whiteness_—_in those_ intervals she cannot but _be conscious_, that the _DOCTOR is infringing on the HUSBAND_. 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 _MORE than man_, or LESS THAN MAN, who, _roving luxuriously_ through all the _hidden_ charms of beauty, can help being inflamed by passion?—and, _if inflamed by passion_, he may proceed ON CERTAINTIES ... he has an _UNERRING tell-tale under his inspection_, which gives him _an INFALLIBLE cue, when he may safely_ throw aside the mask, fearless of any repulse. Shew some sense of modesty, ye Duchesses, Countesses, &c. &c. and those inferior women, whom _ye have debauched_ 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, _is admitted to liberties with your persons_. No longer talk of “_dear_ Doctor Hunter,” “_angelic_ Doctor—” “_enchanting_ Doctor—.” ... For my own part, if I was a married man, I declare it would be _a matter of the utmost indifference_ to me, whether my wife had spent the night _in a bagnio_—or an hour of the forenoon locked up with a man-midwife in her dressing room.—Let this _shameless_ custom be abolished, and then virtue will fly back again to our metropolis, with all her train of _genuine self-approving pleasures_—and England be _once more_ as much famed for the chastity, as for the beauty of its women. Adieu, Mr. Printer—you have received this letter from a sincere admirer of female modesty: Without it “beauty _ceases being lovely_, 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 _English_ fair, _it ought_ to be your characteristic! _but while your fathers, husbands, and brothers are unprincipled, corrupted senators_—you think you have a right to deviate from _your point of honour_, since _they shew you the example in their’s_. To conclude—_true modesty is incompatible with the idea of employing_ A MAN MIDWIFE[2]. [2] Except when those _very rare instances_ occur, which do not happen once in two thousand labours. LETTER II. 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 _sensible_, _modest_ 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 _falsely pretend are necessary_, without throwing themselves entirely at their mercy, and, at all events, being polluted by their needless invasion. The Men-midwives and their friends, have wisely chose to be silent. They are conscious my assertions cannot be denied with any 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 _their being the proper_ 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 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. 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 _the ignorance_ of mankind. Where _very rare_, _particular_ circumstances occur, undoubtedly the knowledge of anatomy becomes then absolutely necessary to direct 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, _if sensible_, so taken up with anxious thoughts, and torturing pains, that she is _not conscious_ 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 _a very large majority_ 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 _except in those very extraordinary cases_, a knowledge of anatomy leads Men-midwives frequently to do great mischief. _It makes them impatient._ They _know how_ to bring on the labour pains,—they _know how to force the birth_. From _this DESTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE_, numbers of children are demolished,—numbers of women are thrown into fevers by _lacerations_ and _inflammations_, which might have the worst consequences, and which never would have happened _if the knowledge of anatomy_ had not _tempted men_ to have recourse _to ART within the proper boundaries of NATURE’S empire_. For this reason, if I was a married man, I would not employ _even a woman_ who had been bred under a Man-midwife. Her _knowing the parts ANATOMICALLY_, and _understanding the USE of INSTRUMENTS_, and pursuing the _teizing_, _fiddling_ customs of the men who had instructed her, instead of recommending her to me, would be a sufficient cause to prevent my employing her. _THE ONLY SAFE KNOWLEDGE for a midwife to possess_, is, _that which is taught by EXPERIENCE_. Whenever it _ceases_ being possible for nature, with such assistance, to do her work, _then_, and _then only_, art ought to be called in with instruments to aid.—Yet our young women are not ashamed _premeditately to resolve_ on employing men, though there are such a multitude of chances _against_ 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. Is it not laughable to hear of a _modest_ woman sending for _a man_ to inform her _whether or not she is with child_, and _how far gone_?—Heavens! _a little patience_ would soon have cleared up that matter, and the most skilful man may be mistaken, _even allowing the supposition_ (which is _NOT probable_) THAT HE MAY BE QUITE COOL, and _experience NO FLUTTERING sensations to confuse his mind during THE SERIOUS investigation_. Why cannot the lady _allow a few months_ to elapse? Her doubts would then have been removed, without any _male_ intrusions, _without SCANDALOUS VIOLATIONS of MODESTY_—without, what I term, SHAMEFUL POLLUTIONS OF HER PERSON. What must Men-midwives think of those ladies, who send for them to be inspected on such trifling occasions? _What can they avoid thinking?_ Must they not conclude, that those ladies are restrained from adultery _NOT by any principle_ 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 _priviledged father confessor of England_) without losing their reputations, they are resolved to be _as immodest_, 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 _first_ for their sensual _ideas_, and _afterwards_ for their mirth. 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 “_very indelicate_;”—that “_it is a shame such papers should appear_.”—Let them be informed, Mr. Printer, that IF I AM “INDELICATE,” it is _because THEY ARE IMMODEST_. Where _the bone_ is _corrupted_, the flesh must be removed, and _the foul parts laid bare_, in order to be _scraped_, and _purified_—_desperate disorders require desperate remedies_. _The “shame” does not consist IN WHAT I WRITE but IN WHAT THEY DO_.—_Let them QUIT THEIR PRACTICE, I will most readily throw aside my pen._ 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, _the best Man_-midwife in the world—yet, let the advocates for the _indiscriminate_ use of men lay their hands on their hearts, and answer me ingenuously this question—Suppose any _three_ of the _best_ Midwives in London had lost _in their lives, the same number_ of women of fashion _Doctor Hunter_ has lost _within these two or three years_,[3] would they not have exclaimed loudly, and _taken advantage_ of those deaths _to prove the danger of employing women_? 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. Though the abandoned custom exculpates ladies in the estimation of a dissipated world, yet I recommend to their confederation _how their thoughts, during the visits_ of Men-midwives, will stand the test of the penetrating eye of their Creator. I hope to live to see the day, when innate modesty will be the characteristic of English women; and _of course_, when a lady will not be more publickly branded with infamy for the most barefaced prostitution, than for the effrontery which _will then_ be necessary to enable a woman wantonly to employ A MAN-MIDWIFE. [3] 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 _may happen_ 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, AGE, and INFIRMITIES, render him the ONLY man proper to be allowed _to take liberties_ with married women. Yet _any woman of experience_, in my opinion, is _infinitely safer_ than even Dr. Hunter, _except in very extraordinary cases_. LETTER III. In my two last letters, I believe I satisfied those _who are open to conviction_, that _even the best_ Men-midwives are _not so safe_ as women,—and that the custom is destructive of modesty, and affords those Men-midwives _who chuse it_, finer seraglios than are in the possession of the most luxuriant Monarchs of the East. 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 _raw, unskillful young_ 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 “⸺, _Surgeon and Man-midwife_?” Boys think themselves qualified for Men-midwives, by having attended 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 _to the quickness_ 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 _a young man_, ever so well qualified _by study_, can be _a safe_ Midwife—how dreadful then must the situations be of those poor women who are in the hands of the numberless men who practice that business throughout England!⸺The people ignorantly take for granted _THAT THE SEX constitutes knowledge—insures safety_! The truth is, _THE SEX alone is sufficient_ to render ANY KNOWLEDGE destructive in _general_ practice. If the men _must be introduced_ into _the privacies_ of women, I would earnestly recommend it as _THE MOST ESSENTIAL qualification_ requisite TO PREPARE them for the study, that they submit to having their _VOICES made delicate_. 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. 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 _to continue_ the delusive error which blinds mankind. He knew he had _not Truth_ on his side—he has therefore _put words together, without argument_⸺he has boldly denied, what it is impossible to disprove⸺he has _as_ boldly _asserted WHAT NEVER HAPPENED_—and then _laughed-off_ facts, trusting _by ridicule_ to conceal their existence. The pen of _Junius_ could not defend the women who use men. I believe _the thinking_ 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 _the more able_ the defender appears in his stile and language, the worse it is for his cause when he convinces his readers, that even _his abilities_ cannot do it service. The more this subject is investigated, the more prejudicial it will be to his profession.[4] A practice, _adopted_, and _continued through a jumblement_ of IGNORANCE and VICE, can only be favoured by suffering _an impenetrable_ shade _to veil_ actions _fit only for darkness_. Old Chiron has been drove so hard as to have been forced to assert that the female Midwives always “_cram_ their patients with cordials⸺_keeping them intoxicated during the time they are in labour_”—and that they act like infernal fiends, “_driving_ poor women _up and down stairs, notwithstanding their SHRIEKS_, and _shaking them so violently_ 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 _so sillily credulous_ as to have faith in these most _shocking, unnatural, improbable, horrid_ recitals! Is it possible even _if such a brute_ in an human shame found an entry into an house, that the poor lying-in woman could _be able_ to be forced “_up and down stairs_?”⸺and _allow herself_ to be _shook_? If _she_ was ignorant enough, and foolish enough to consent, _would her relations_⸺_her friends_⸺anxiously attending her, _likewise be so ignorant_ as not to know _such_ treatment was highly improper, as well as _cruel beyond cannibal brutality_? And this too _in England_! where bearing of children is not so very _uncommon_, so very _extraordinary_ a circumstance, as that a Midwife could find means to persuade people into such dreadful absurdities!—The idea _is too ridiculous_! 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 _heard_ of any thing in the _most distant_ manner resembling such treatment, as this _interested_ author has abused his talents by relating. To vouch falsehoods, and for _the most malignant_ purposes, needs no comment. Perhaps some diabolical wretch may have behaved in this manner⸺but is that ground enough to erect defamations on, against the whole sex? If _such_ proof was to be admitted decisive, I could severely retaliate on him _such_ 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 “_indelicate_”—and if I was to write the horrors my pen could unfold—delineate facts, painting _the indecencies_, and _barbarities_ of men _whom I could name_, I should _indeed be indelicate_. What must then the _ACTS have been, which NO LANGUAGE can convey a description of, without offending the virtuous_, and _shocking_ the _humane_! yet I should look on myself as very culpable if I had instanced these men _as standards_ for the whole profession to be judged by. I gave the preference _to women, NOT because all men WERE BRUTES_, but because _the greatest Saint_ on earth, _IF a MAN in health_, could not answer for his principles being proof against the _irresistible temptations arising_ from being _freely indulged_ in _the most luxurious_ liberties with all _the feminine_ beauties of lovely women,—and because their knowledge of anatomy, and their _INSTRUMENTS being ready at hand_, too often _tempt_ them to use _force_, and do mischief in parts of the most _exquisite_ sensibility, which _no_ art, _no_ care, _no_ remedy, can _ever_ after repair; where, if _nature_ had been allowed to do her office, she would have been _a safe_ operator, and all would have ended happily; and let any impartial person decide _whether a man_, who knows every method of forcing the birth, _or a woman_, who is conscious of being _unacquainted_ with THAT DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE, _are MOST LIKELY to alter the COURSE OF NATURE, by interfering_, where she ought to be THE SOLE 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 _brutes_ in that situation. I have often heard ladies uneasy about mares they have seen with foal, and bitches with whelp. It is _an instinct_ implanted, and interwoven with their natures _by the Great Source_ of all things, for the wisest purposes. Those _who have felt_ the agonies of child birth, surely must be able to sympathize _more feelingly_ 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 _in every view_ we cannot contest the point of sensibility with them. Yet this author asserts women are improper for Midwives because they are _most_ 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 _view the forceps_, and then judge _whether_ it is _a GENTLE INSTRUMENT? it speaks it’s office!_—Let any one _view the crotchet_, crooked scissars, &c. sharp knives to be sure are instruments fit to be trusted in every hand! they pursue _healing_ measures! they never commit _murder_! 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. He has quoted the practice of the Athenians as an example for our women. Though _Heathen virtues_ are great reproaches _on Christian vices_ (I should have said, on the vices of people who are only _Christians in name_, by outwardly professing what their lives are daily contradicting) yet I should imagine _no Heathen impurities_ 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. “But the women of quality _do so fall in love_ with their Doctors.”—I beg he will excuse me,—I _never_ supposed they FELL IN LOVE with THEIR MALE INSPECTOR. _The sensations_ which _Men-midwives_ give rise to, _deserve not_ the name which distinguishes _that NOBLE passion OF THE SOUL_.—_LOVE, allies us to our Divine Original, elevates our ideas to Heaven, and makes us emulous of worthy actions_! It’s signification is _scandalously perverted_, when used to describe _the impure_ gratifications of sense, which degrade us _below the brutes_!—_Love_, and _Virtue_, are _inseparable_. Love never inspires the human heart, but when _that heart is in pursuit of virtue_; when _vicious_ purposes _pollute_ the mind, _it’s end_ is _lust_. “Has there ever been related an instance of so unnatural a connexion?” _Many_ where _it has been attempted_—_several_ where it has _succeeded_. Any person may buy the trial of Doctor Morley, where they will see that he was _convicted_, and _fined a thousand pounds_, for seducing Mrs. Biker. The poor woman accused the Doctor on her death-bed, and told the whole transaction. The Doctor pleaded to his friends “_the strength of the temptation, the frailty of nature_; and the impossibility of any man’s _resisting such powerful charms_.” He quitted his business; _the ladies_, however, _approved his conduct_,—it _RECOMMENDED him TO THEIR FAVOUR_, and _he was more employed than ever_! 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 _a virtuous_, though _NOT a MODEST_, woman!—Count STRUENZY 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 _familiarized_ 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. “A man _never_ seen by them _but in their distress_, is sure most unlikely to become an object _of their desire_; nor can the ladies, however lovely in the bloom of health, be supposed _capable of retaining_ their attractions _in the hour of agony_.”—The writer knows that neither of these assertions are matters of fact. In regard to the first, _many women_ see their Men-midwives _in perfect health, to be informed if they are with child? How far gone?_ “Whether the child lies right?” and on many other PRETENCES.—Men and women, on _such trying_ occasions, _must give way to NATURE—there is no possibility of withstanding it_.—As to women’s _not_ being “_attractingly lovely_ when in labour,”—there he likewise must have been sensible that he erred from truth. Those pains _rather add_ to beauty; and though, _during the continuance of racking tortures, neither_ 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 _in the intervals_ (many there _always_ are, and _generally_ they are _long intervals_) _no uneasiness on either side_ leaves the minds _of both_ at liberty to entertain _other IDEAS_. “And if he” (the Man-midwife) “is at all to answer for their conduct, is, I think, only to be reckoned with _FOR RECOVERING THEM so early_, and _SO PUTTING IT IN THEIR POWER TO go abroad_ and _COQUET IT the sooner_.”—The author is pleased to be _facetious with the ladies_! I do not at all wonder that _those men_ who have _such foundation_ for censuring their conduct, _presume thus_ to ridicule them for their eagerness to visit, in order to _receive the homage_ of their _criminal admirers_! I should have thought, however, that the subject was not of a nature which could authorize such indecent raillery. It verifies the old proverb, “_too much familiarity breeds contempt_.” As to the assertion, that “the faculty employ men to their own wives”—I know very many instances to the contrary—and even _if this was otherwise_, it would be by no means conclusive. Men who have _such choice_ of fine women _to take the most licentious liberties_ 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, _by way of KEEPING UP THE FARCE_, and _blinding the world_. I take for granted however they permit _no private examinations_. They are too much in the secret. 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 _is not destitute of humanity_, and _that there is ONE_ woman _who interfered with nature_, and _of course did mischief_.—I know he “is a favourite with many women of distinction”—but _those ladies BEST know HOW he has recommended himself to their favour_. 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! And now, Mr. Printer, allow me _to take my leave of you, and the public on this theme_.—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 happiness.—I leave _to other pens_ to proceed on it, _in answer to any writer who may enter the lists against me_. 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 _for the benefit of the community_, so I shall be _most highly gratified_, if I hereafter find my time has been employed to purpose, in _opening the eyes of the thoughtless_, _informing the ignorant_, and _warning the virtuous_. I despair of shaming the immodest! While I live, I shall think NO WOMAN MODEST who employs A MAN-MIDWIFE. [4] I take for granted, Old Chiron is a Man-midwife. APPENDIX. 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 _clearly to demonstrate_ the Utility of allowing Nature _to adhere strictly_ to _her own_ Period for accomplishing the Birth. Men, who have _not_ been _accustomed to thinking_;—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. Those, on the other Hand, whose only _real_ Enjoyments proceed from a delightful Indulgement of the Soul in Contemplations on the astonishing Works of God, _divest_ themselves of _that Familiarity to them_ which the hourly Evidence of their Senses would otherwise have obscured—and render’d Matter for no rational Reflection. Thus we are blind to the surprizing _progressive_ Change, which enlarges a new born Infant, to the size of Manhood! or a small Seed, to a large Tree!—If an Infant, _the day after its Birth_, 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 _by Custom_. Twenty Hours, and Twenty Years, are exactly the same in the Sight of God!—_My_ Amazement is excited by seeing the Change wrought _in twenty Years_, to the full in _as high a degree_, as the _same Sight_, in twenty _Hours_, would raise the Astonishment of an embroidered Maccaroni at Carlisle House, or, of an infinitely _more_ rational, esteemable Being; a poor, ignorant Labourer in the Fields! The Work of Nature, _in Labour_, is one of it’s most extraordinary Acts!—Untill the Parts are _in some degree prepared_ by the miraculous Change effected in them _by the Labour Pains_, the Child could no more enter the World than it could fly into the Clouds!—Untill the Parts are _properly_ prepared, the Child cannot appear without _the most obvious_ Danger. Every Pain has it’s Office,—it lubricates—it dilates. Where these Pains are _not_ violent—are _not_ quick in their Return—but are lingering, and tedious, they _plainly_ indicate that _the Woman requires great Preparation_—Nature is _gradually_, and by _the most gentle_ Means, forwarding _the Distension_—and if left _to herself_, will _not_ bring on the Birth till every thing _is accommodated to her Purpose_. 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 _take Merit_ 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 _solely_ from the Doctor’s having brought the Child forward, _unnaturally_, 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. The Men-midwives not only give rise to Inflammations by bringing the Child before the Woman has felt _half the number of Pains_ which Nature intended _to predispose_ the Parts—but likewise by _their abominable Dilatations_. 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 _counteract_ the very end they pretend to have in view, by Dilatation!—Friction must irritate—irritation must inflame—Inflammation must _contract_. 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 _Officiousness_ 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. I have now entirely done with all which relates to the Danger Women and Children run through _officious_, shameful _Impatience_. 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 _the Advantages_ they give Men-midwives, in allowing them so many _favourable_ Opportunities of _extolling the personal_ Charms of the Ladies, _whose Beauties_ lie open to their _most curious_ Researches. No Men can possibly have _such critical_ Opportunities for engratiating themselves with the Fair. _Flattery, CRITICALLY applied_ to Women, has strange Effects. They can _accompany_ their Flattery with _irresistible_ Persuasives. The sacred Names of Religion and Honour _may_ be made _Subservient_ to their Purposes. The more they are pretended to be prized in their Estimation, the more _they may be urged in proof_ of the _bewitching_ Allurements, and _forcible_ Power of those hidden Beauties, which have obliterated every Remonstrance of Virtue, and stifled every Check of Conscience. The poor Woman’s _Pity_ is excited, when she views the strongest Principles of her “dear Man” overcome by _her_ Charms—she can only blame _herself_ for possessing _such provoking Temptations_—she is blinded by the Assistance of Nature—_her own Vanity_ turns Advocate for the Doctor, and acquits him of Villainy _during the Empire of Passion_; though the _return_ of Reason, _when too late_! discovers the Artifices which have accomplish’d her Ruin! THE AUTHOR. I hope Doctor Hunter will pardon _the latter_ 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 _Abilities_ are great—and if a Man _must_ be employ’d, I think he may be called in with as much safety as any Man of his Profession. ☞ _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._ Mrs. Nihell _Hay Market_ Mrs. Brooke } _Cross Key Court, Little Britain_ Mrs. Stephens } Mrs. Lee } Mrs. Harris _Mould Makers Row, St. Martin’s Le Grand_ Mrs. Reynard } _Bartholomew Close_ Mrs. Forrest } Mrs. Smith } _Cow Lane, Snow-Hill_ Mrs. Page } Mrs. Phillips _Garlick Hill_ Mrs. Andrews _Bush Lane, Cannon Street_ Mrs. Longbottom _Near Guy’s Hospital_ Mrs. Richardson _Westminster_ Mrs. Souden _Ratcliff Row, Old Street_ Mrs. Hall _Bunhill Row, Ditto_ Mrs. Barnet } _Somerset Street, White-Chapel_ Mrs. Larkin } Mrs. Blunt _Swallow Str. Golden Sq._ Mrs. Lyttelton, _Amen-Corner, Paternoster Row_ FINIS. *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DANGER AND IMMODESTY OF THE PRESENT TOO GENERAL CUSTOM OF UNNECESSARILY EMPLOYING MEN-MIDWIVES *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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