out the fmalleft danger. 
Evils of Modern Matriooty. 
many and great alterations within thefe 
two hundred years. It was formerly ob- 
ferved, that women were better treated 
in this country than in Spain and: Italy, 
where they were kept under the ftricteft 
confinement, and guarded in every poffi- 
ble way from the opportunities of finning. 
It was alio obierved, that in confequence 
of the greater liberty which the Englifh 
and German women enjoyed, they proved 
to be the moit virtuous of their fex. 
Now, fir, if this had continued to be 
the cafe, the bufinefs of Doétor’s Com- 
mons would not have been fo great as at 
prefent, and I thould have been {pared 
the trouble of addrefiing this letter te you. 
I, therefore, beg leave to aifign that 
very liberty as the caufe of the prefent 
complaints. I prefume I need fcarce tell 
you, that there is nothing fo liable to be 
abuled as liberty. We have feen fo much 
of this abufe of late years, that many 
very worthy and wife men become fick at 
the very mention of liberty ; while others 
have written elaborate treatifes; to prove 
that the world enjoys much more liberty 
than it ought; and that thefe times, - 
which fome people call times of arbitrary 
power, were, in fact, very good times, 
compared to the prefent. Now, if the 
abufe of liberty be fo general, as to have 
pervaded all ranks, it is not uncharitable: 
to fuppofe that the weaker fex may have 
allen into the error, if it were only from 
the influence of bad example. 
One evil confequence of the hberty 
allowed them is, that matrimony is now: 
attended with no manner of difhculty. 
In novels, indeed, and other works: of 
imagination, we read of the. cruelty of 
parents, batchelor uncles, and maiden 
aunts; but fo very fcarce’ are thofe 
things in real life, that the writers of 
novels, having nothing before their eyes 
to paint and defcribe, are obliged to go 
on copying from one another, the man- 
ners of halt a century old. It has never 
been well with matrimony, fince a lover 
could vilit his miftrefs by the houfe door. 
When there were windows and garden-' 
walls, and rope-ladders, and when it. was 
an even chance whether a man faluted his 
miftrefs or the hard ground, a man learned 
to fet a juft value on what had been at-- 
chieved at fo much rifk. And young 
Jadies, too, permit me to fay, would na- 
turally be much more attached to a man, 
who had ventured his neck only for a 
five minutes conyerfation, than to one 
who came quietly in at the door, in the 
prefence ot the whole family, and with- 
Ab! - thefe 
323 
were happy days, when every ftep to gain 
a meeting was attended with the moft 
delightful palpitations; and when the 
terrors. of the blunderbufs prefcribed a ~ 
tip-toifh, caution, that is not known in 
our time. Then, fir, a courtfhip was a 
regular fiege, and the lovers were ac- 
quainted with all the ftratagems of war. 
‘To-be known to be in love, was to be. 
known to be in danger; and when a pa- | 
rent difcovered his fon’s paffion, he lock- 
ed up all fire-arms and other hurtful 
weapons; and when uneafy at his ab- 
fence, inftead of the prefent vulear mode 
of fending 2 fervant, would have ordered 
the ponds to be dragged. Thefe were 
happy days. 
Marriage, fir, i$ greatly too eafy, and 
what is the confequeice? We have loft the 
noble paflion of jealoufy, that great pre- 
fervative of a man’s honour; that watch- 
ful {py, and informer, who was always 
ready to give notice of a plot before it 
was hatched, and could cook up a mo 
formidable con{piracy without the help 
of confpirators. No man can tell what 
are the comforts of jealoufy, and what 
the fecurity it affords, but the happy 
few who poffefs it in its original and un- 
corrupted form. But this leads me to 
what I confider as the cure of the evil. 
Since matrimonial infidelity arifes from 
miftaken notions of liberty, and fince we 
have wandered far from the fecure and 
fafe times, when women were virtuous 
«and confined, what can be fo eafy as to 
retrace our fteps, and return to thofe fuc- 
cefsful practices, which will always pre- 
vent the abufe of liberty, and prevent it 
from running into licentioufnefs? Let us 
confalt the fpirit of the times, and I 
think we fhall find very little oppofition 
to our plan. » So very abfurd are we at 
prefent, that when a couple are married, 
inftead of confidering the ceremony as any 
tue, they confider it as a taking up of 
‘their freedom. When invited to celebrate 
a wedding-day, I have fometimes been 
furprized how it could be confidered as a 
feftival, but experience has taught me 
better; and a friend, whio lately fent me 
an invitation of this kind, dated his card, 
Second yetir of our liberty. 
Initead of this, fir, let the hufband, 
or intended hufband. begin, as before, 
with furnifhing a houfe fit to.receive the 
bride; but Jet him firft coniult fome,emi- 
nent’ architeét, who has been employed 
on the numeréus jails for. /olitary confine- 
ment, that have lately been built for the 
prefervation of foccal order. In fecuring 
the doors and windows firmly, and plac- 
ine 
