THE SICK MAN^S COMPANION. CT 



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labour, and sliould we be so fortunate as to sat- 

 isfy our fair readers on this diificult subject, we 

 will be highly gratifte<Vand amply paid by their 

 sanction to our feeble eflForts* in aidios; them to 

 undergo that painful and arduous task so often 

 incumbent upon them, but we are well aware that 

 we will, at many times be at a great loss forlan- 

 guage to explain what can only be^ected by 

 the presence of a skilful and experienfc^d mid- 

 wife. In this place we may remark, that it 

 would appear from the text which we have quo- 

 ted above, that this business in days long past. 



was generally and very properly too, conducted 

 and carefully attended toby the aid anil assis- 

 tence of women who (as they should beat the 

 present time,) were well skilled in the art^^and 

 performed their duty with but little trouble; so 

 much so, that in the days of the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, and at the time the Hebrews were captives 

 under Pharaoh the king, who ordered the tw^ 

 midwives of that country to destroy all the male' 

 children of the Hebrew women a't the time of their 

 birth, they in reply to the King's interrogatory, 

 made use of ihe above expression, and saved 

 themselves from the conscientious condemnaton 

 of infantile murder, on the grounds that the He- 

 brew women were lively, and able to deliver 

 themselves, before they could render assistance. 

 Altho this was not truly the case, that the wo- 



men did deliver themselves ^ve still find that at 



