imply any thing _farther_; than, that _This_ is the indubitable _Mark_
of _VIRGINITY_ when it appears, without drawing any _suspicious
Consequences_ from its accidental _Non-appearance_: especially
considering, that their _VIRGINS_ married always very _young_, and
commonly about the 12th or 13th Year of their _Age_; when they could
scarce possibly be without some evident _Effusion_.
OTHERS will have the _Astriction_ of the VAGINA, to be a certain _Sign_
of _VIRGINITY_; which, (tho’ I confess, is more astrict in _VIRGINS_,
than in such as have _copulated_) I deny, to be any _certain Sign_:
Since all know, That _Part_ to differ (in this Point) according to
_Age_, _Habit_, and other _Circumstances_ of Body and Health: But
besides, some _astringent Medicines_ would also easily answer this
_End_.
OTHERS again have disputed the _Possibility_ of a _VIRGIN_’s generating
_Milk_; affirming _Milk_ in the _Breasts_, to be a certain _Sign_ of
lost _VIRGINITY_: And (I think) there is some Reason for this Opinion;
for my part, I would inform myself better, before I should credit _Her_,
who would give herself out for a _VIRGIN_, having this _Symptom_;
notwithstanding the contrary Opinion of _others_, founded upon the
Authority of _Hippocrates_[27]: Since, according to the Judgment of the
most learned _Mauritius Cordæus_[28], it very seldom happens. But if
after All, a _VIRGIN_ chances to have _Milk_ in her _Breasts_, it
differs in _Quantity_ as well as _Quality_, from _That_ of a Woman who
has conceiv’d: For which Reason, he distinguishes and describes _Two
Sorts_ of MILK: _viz._
THE _One_, which belongs to _this Case_, he says, is generated of
_Blood_ flowing to the _Breasts_, when deny’d an _Exit_ by the WOMB; and
is nothing but the _superfluous Aliment_ of the _Breasts_, by their
_peculiar Faculty_, turn’d into MILK: Which may happen to _VIRGINS_
irregular in their _Menstrua_; and according to this Interpretation,
_Hippocrates_ is to be rightly understood. The _other_ MILK, he calls
_Puerperial_; which does not generate without a _Big-Belly_, and _That_
pretty far _Gone_: Which MILK is communicated from the WOMB directly to
the _Breasts_.
HE teaches us also, that this _Difference_ of MILK, proceeds from the
Diversity of _Blood_, of which _both Sorts_ are generated; and likewise
from the Variety of the _Veins_ and _Passages_, by which they are
convey’d and carry’d to the _Breasts_.
WHICH _Veins_ are _Two-fold_; namely, _Common_ and _Proper_. The
_Common_ are called _External_, and these are such as only carry the
_Blood_ from the _Vena Cava_, for the Nutrition of the BREASTS; which,
if _superfluous_, or more than is _sufficient_ for that _Use_, is
converted (by the _Glands_ of the BREASTS) into a kind of MILK: Which,
altho’ _white_, is of a _thinner Substance_, not so _sweet_, nor so
_plentiful_, as true MILK. Whereas the proper _Mammary Veins_ carry that
very _Blood_, of which MILK is generated for the Nourishment of the
_Infant_, from the WOMB directly[29]; which happens, by what the
_Greeks_ call an _Anastomosis_, or Conjunction of the _Mammary_ and
_Epigastrick Veins_.
FROM hence we have the Difference of these _two sorts_ of BLOOD and
MILK: Wherefore it is to be concluded, that altho’ the _One_ be found in
the _Breasts_ of _VIRGINS_, they are not therefore to be rashly
suspected of _Pollution_; since, according to _Aristotle_[30], the
_same_ may happen sometimes also to MEN.
BUT, besides what is mention’d, there are many different external
_Methods_ propos’d by _Authors_[31], to distinguish a _Real_, from a
_Supposititious_ _VIRGIN_: Which however I shall not enter upon, lest
what I have intended for the _Benefit_ of All in _general_, might tend
to the _Detriment_ of some in _particular_. And thus having briefly
described the _MAIDEN_ and _MAIDEN-HEAD_, I come now to treat of such
_Indispositions_, as are either _Peculiar_, or more _Familiar_ to her
_STATE_. And, _First_, in order
[Illustration]
CHAP. III.
_Of the Virgin-Disease, commonly called the GREEN-SICKNESS._
THIS _Malady_ is an _Indisposition_ visibly discolorating the
Complexion, and nothing else, but a _Complication_ of divers _Diseases_
and _Symptoms_: Wherefore it is variously represented and taken,
sometimes for a _Disease_, and sometimes for a _Symptom_.
BE that as it will; it is so Familiar, or rather Peculiar to _Mature
VIRGINS_, that most _Physicians_ call it the _Virgin-Disease_, or
_Virgin-Fever_; as _others_ call it _Febris Alba_, or pale Fever: Not
that it is always join’d with a _Fever_; but because the _affected
Party_ represents (in most Respects) a _Feverish Person_, by the
Celerity and Frequency of Her PULSE, _&c._
IT is also call’d _Febris Amatoria_; I suppose, (partly) because of the
_Colour_, according to the _POET_; _Palleat omnis Amans_, _Color hic eft
aptus Amanti_: And (partly) because of the _Age_, which may be the
fittest _Time_ for LOVE; which made _Diogenes_ say, at sight of a
certain _Patient_, That _she was dead in her OWN_, _but alive in ANOTHER
Body_: As it is otherwise denominated _Icterus Albus_; because, as in an
_Icterus_ or _JAUNDICE_, the whole _Body_ is tinctur’d _yellow_: So in
this _Disorder_, it is changed _Pale_ and _Wan_; and from hence it is
commonly call’d the _GREEN-SICKNESS_, because of the _Colour_ and
_Aspect_ inclining a little that way. As it is likewise also term’d,
_Fœdus seu pallidus Virginum Color_, or the _ugly pale Colour of
languishing VIRGINS_.
HOWEVER yet I have known many _Women_, in _France_, and _Germany_, who
have been so far from thinking it an ugly _Colour_, that they have
esteem’d it most _Beautiful_; and have used very _pernicious Things_ to
gain and appropriate this _Colour_ to Themselves: Esteeming
_Fresh-looking-Women_, of a fine sanguine _Complexion_, mere _RUSTICKS_.
THIS disagreeable _Affection_ of the Body, however it is _titled_, most
certainly implies a _Complication of several different Maladies_;
annoying all the _Actions_ of the _Natural_, and _Motions_ of the
_Animal Faculty_: Or, in short, perverting the whole OECONOMY of the
_Body_. And because it is always join’d with _Most_, if not with _All_
the following SYMPTOMS, I think it may be regularly thus defin’d.
THE _VIRGIN-DISEASE, is a Change of the natural Colour of the Face into
a pallid greenish Tincture; with a Dejection of Strength, Gravity of all
the Members and Parts of the Body, Fastidy of Victuals, Malacia or Pica,
Heaviness and Palpitation of Heart, Difficulty of Breathing, a slow
Fever, Pains of the Head, Melancholy, Inflations, and Oedematous Tumours
of the Feet, Legs, Eye-lids, and the whole Face; with a frigid
Intemperature, and Cachexy of the whole Body; proceeding from a deprav’d
Nutrition, and the abundance of crude Humours, ingender’d from a
perverse Disposition of the_ LIVER, SPLEEN, _or_ VENTRICLE.
HENCE proceed the _OBSTRUCTIONS_ of the _Uterine Vessels_, and
neighbouring _Parts_, of the _Veins_ of the _LIVER_, and _SPLEEN_; but
especially, of the _MESENTERY_: So that the _natural Calidity_ of the
whole _Body_ being thus suffocated, and oppressed, by those _crude
Humours_, an Irregularity, or Suppression of the _MENSTRUA_, must needs
ensue.
BY this _Definition_, the _DISEASE_ may easily be known; tho’ in some
_Circumstances_, it may differ, according to the different _Quality_ of
the predominant _Humour_: Especially considering, that if all the
foremention’d _Signs_, or _Symptoms_, do not concur in all _PATIENTS_;
yet _Most_ of them commonly do happen in most _Persons_, and ALL in
_Some_. Whence I come _methodically_ to denote more particularly its
CAUSES.
IN order to which, I may justly premise, that the _Proximous Cause_ is a
_Collection_ of deprav’d _crude Humours_ in the Body: As the _Remote
Cause_, is a _Suppression_, or _Irregularity_ in the Course of the
_Menstruous Blood_.
NOW this _Blood_ flowing to the WOMB, as soon as the _VIRGIN_ is
_Mature_; if the _Passages_ are not capacious or patent enough, it
_regorges_ to the _Major Veins_, and thence to the very BOWELS;
extinguishing the _Heat_, and obstructing the _Vessels_ of the _LIVER_,
_SPLEEN_, and _MESENTERY_: From whence proceeds a vicious _Concoction_
and _Sanguification_; and consequently a _Collection of crude Humours_,
which excite various _Symptoms_ thro’ all Parts of the Body. And it
commonly happens, that an irregular or improper _Way of Living_,
especially about the Time of _Puberty_, or in the Time of the _natural
Course_, engenders a pituitous and viscid _Blood_; which, together with
the aforesaid _Humours_, totally obstructs the _Uterine Vessels_.
THIS _Distemper_ is very dangerous, if not timely _cur’d_; because if
the _Heart_ be very much affected, and the _Vital Faculty_ quite
oppressed with it, the _Patient_ often dies suddenly: Or, otherways, it
commonly turns to a _Dropsy_; and, when the _Humours_ fly into the HEAD,
it causes a _Frenzy_.
NOW as I come gradually to set forth the CURE of this _Distemper_, I
shall _First_ observe; that, as various _Diseases_ and _Symptoms_ do
concur towards its _Complication_, all _These_ are to be discreetly
remov’d by proper _Means_ and _Methods_. But that I may be better
understood, _SOME_ are more prudently (perhaps) to be remov’d _singly_;
and _OTHERS_, _jointly_: As for Instance, if any one _Symptom_ be more
troublesome and dangerous than the _Rest_, it ought to be chiefly
regarded above All _others_; and, if not _remov’d_, at least _mitigated_
in the First Place.
SECONDLY, That a proper _Regulation_ of DIET and _Regimen_ of BODY, is
to be judiciously directed, as another initial necessary _Step_ towards
the CURE; which we have hereafter more fully treated of.
THIRDLY, That this _Distemper_ is more easily and sooner _cur’d_, in
_Spring_ or _Summer_-Time, than in _Autumn_ or _Winter_; because when
the proper _Constitution_ of _WEATHER_ and _AIR_ concurs with the
_medicinal Means_, more may be done towards effecting its CURE in a
_Week_, than otherways can be expected in a _Month_. Wherefore _These_
being premised, the CURE will most rationally depend upon the four
following methodical _STEPS_; _viz._
I. THAT the vitious _Humours_ lodged in the _Body_, especially in the
_Bowels_, be duly _prepar’d_ for Expurgation, and then effectually
_evacuated_.
II. THAT the _Intemperature_ and _Obstructions_ of the _VENTRICLE_,
_LIVER_, _SPLEEN_, and _WOMB_, be All carefully and regularly removed.
III. THAT the _Menstrua_ be duly rectify’d, and physically reduc’d to a
_Natural Course_, by the best _Conduct_ of Art and Judgment.
IV. THAT the Rest of the morbifick _Humours_, whether _Crude_,
_Aqueous_, or _Serous_, lurking behind in the _Body_, be in due manner
discharg’d.
BUT more particularly; The CURE may be begun with a gentle _Evacuation
of the Belly_, and, if Strength and other Circumstances shall permit,
with repeated _VENÆSECTIONS_[32], or _Blood-letting_ in the _Foot_, not
only for removing the _Plenitude_, but also for resolving the
_Obstructions_ of the _MENSTRUA_.
AND because the HUMOURS are _Thick_ and _Frigid_, proper _warming_ and
_attenuating_, or preparing and purging _Medicines_ are to be used in
their Turns; or _rarefying_ and _inciding Matters_ may be mixed with the
_Purgatives_. As also in Case the HUMOURS lodge about the _Ventricle_
and _Mesentery_, a gentle VOMIT may be convenient.
BUT because divers _Parts_ suffer _OBSTRUCTIONS_ in this sickly
_Affection_, proper _Aperitives_ are to be made use of; and _Those_
chiefly, which have a _natural Affinity_ with every respective _affected
Part_: As for Example; _Hepaticks_, for the _LIVER_; _Spleneticks_, for
the _SPLEEN_; _Uterines_, for the _WOMB_, &c. Wherefore the _Physician_
ought to weigh and consider well, whether the _Veins_ about the
_VENTRICLE_ and _MESENTERY_, or _LIVER_ and _SPLEEN_, be most
_obstructed_; since the most special Regard must be had to the _Part
most affected_.
IN the _Beginning_, such _Medicines_ as serve best to open the
_Obstructions_ of the _MESENTERY_, _SPLEEN_, and _LIVER_, sparingly
mix’d with such as provoke the _MENSTRUA_ or _MONTHS_, are to be
discreetly used: But afterwards, in _Progress_ of the CURE, the
_Uterines_ may (by Degrees) be prudentially _augmented_.
HOWEVER, at last it often happens, that tho’ the _grosser HUMOURS_ are
evacuated: yet some _watry, serous Humours_ remain in the Circuit of the
Body, too much refrigerating and infesting it still; which are most
conveniently remov’d by _Sudorificks_.
BUT because the compleat _CURE_ of this _Disease_ requires some Length
of Time, I would advise proper _Preparatives, Purgatives_, and
_Corroboratives_, to be exhibited by Turns; as also the very _Form_ and
_Composition_ of the _MEDICINES_ to be varied in their Courses, for the
preventing of _Nauseousness_.
THE _Patient’s REGIMEN_, must likewise be well prescrib’d, and curiously
_regulated_; especially her DIET. She ought to live upon Victuals of the
best _Nutrition_, and easiest _Concoction_, carefully avoiding all
_others_ that are not so agreeable: Especially such as are of a _frigid
or humid Quality_; such as _Pot-herbs_, _Garden-Fruits_, _Milk_ _Fish_,
&c. She may drink generous _Wine_, or good _Ale_ cautiously abstaining
from all _small Drinks_, and other such like noxious _Liquids_, as much
as possible.
MOREOVER, _Motion_ and _Exercise_ are very convenient, not only in the
_Beginning_, but also in the _Declension_ of this _DISEASE_; especially
by strongly _Chafing_ and _Rubbing_, with warm _Flannels_, every Morning
in _Bed_.
BUT _Sleep_ is not to be too much indulged, especially not in the
_Mornings_; altho’ _she_ be _Then_ more propense to it, by reason of the
abundance of _VAPOURS_ ascending to the _Brain_.
LASTLY, to perfect and confirm this _CURE_, I would recommend[33]
_Hippocrates_’s sound Advice to the _Patient_; which is to the following
_Purpose_, of _marrying_ betimes for the sake of _Health_, and to
prevent all the future ill Consequences of this growing _Malady_.
“EGO, _inquit, Autor sum, ut Virgines hoc malo affectæ quàm celerrimè
viris conjungantur; iisq; cohabitent: Si enim conceperint, convalescent.
Si verò in pubertate hoc malo non corripiantur, tum paulo post eas
invadit._”
UPON which excellent _Sentence_, the two following _Observations_ may,
(I hope) appositely here follow and take place, _viz._
I. _Quod etiam Ratione & Experientiâ confirmatur[34]: Venere etenim
Uterus & partes circa Uterum incalescunt, viæq; aperiuntur & laxantur,
ut sanguis Menstruus postea faciliùs ad Uterum confluere & per eundem
effluere possit._
II. _Rectissimè etiam dictum, convalescent, si concipiant; quia Sanguis,
qui præter Naturam antea retinebatur, jam in Fœtûs Formationem
absumitur; & si quid vitiosorum humorum in Utero cumulatum sit, id post
partum evacuatur._
I have thought it proper to insist the _more_ upon this HEAD; because I
know _none_ else among all the _Indispositions_ of Life, which can
properly be accounted _peculiar_ to VIRGINS.
SOME however may think perhaps, that I had a fair Opportunity in this
_Place_, to introduce the various _Diseases_ and _Symptoms_ of the
_WOMB_, _VAGINA_, and _PUDENDUM_; the divers _Symptoms_ of the
MENSTRUOUS FLUX, together with _Those_ which are incident to all _Women_
after PUBERTY.
WHICH _Objection_ I humbly beg leave briefly to answer, that a _twofold
Reason_ dissuaded me from undertaking to treat of _Those Heads_ in this
Place.
I. BECAUSE _They_ are _common_ to all WOMEN in general, and incident to
the _Wife_, or _Widow_, as well as to the _Virgin_; wherefore, I hope,
another _Place_ in this _BOOK_ may be assigned to _Them_, more proper
and convenient than _This_, without any _Digression_.
II. BY reason the several _Branches_ of these HEADS are so very many and
different, that to discuss ’em all _Here_, as I ought to do, would too
much swell the _Bulk_ of the _Volume_, and enhance the _Price_ of this
_BOOK_; which I design for the Good of the _poorer_ Sort of _Women_, as
well as the Benefit of the _Rich_. However, what is most _Essential_ and
necessarily _Requisite_, shall not be omitted (at least _coincidently_)
in its _proper Place_. Wherefore I shall leave the VIRGIN, after a
digressive Hint in the following _Section_, upon her darling _Passion_,
[_LOVE_]: and supposing her to have _alter’d_ her _Condition_, I shall
thenceforward treat her as a WIFE.
[Illustration]
CHAP. IV.
_Of LOVE._
_LOVE_ is the _first Impression_ that affects the APPETITE; proceeding
from the _Pleasure_ conceiv’d in a _Real_ or _Imaginary GOOD_.
IT is the _CEMENT_ of _Affections_, and the _Effect_ of a certain
_Congruity of Minds_; sympathetically arising from the _DIASTOLE_ and
_SYSTOLE_ of _affected Hearts_.
IT is (as a certain _Author_ defines it) a sacred _Frenzy_ of the
_Soul_, and a _Divine Madness_, elevating _Men_ to the Pitch of
_Saints_, and rendring them the Care of Benigner DÆMONS: so far that
they are every where _safe_, being under the Protection of _GODS_ and
_Men_; as the _Poet_ familiarly expresses it, _Quisquis Amore tenetur,
eat tutúsq; sacèrq_;——
IT is a kind of a wonderful satisfactory _Death_, and a voluntary
_Separation_ of SOUL and BODY. The LOVER’S _Mind_ is in _one Place_; his
_Body_, in _Another_; and _He_ himself is _No Where_, if he be not with
the _Object_ of his _LOVE_: So that (in a manner) it transforms the
_LOVER_ into the _Object beloved_; and all this without any _evident
Trouble_, or if there be any _Trouble_, still the _Trouble_ is _lov’d_,
with apparent Satisfaction and Delight. As it is ingeniously said, _Ubi
Amatur, non laboratur; & si laboratur, labor Amatur_.
_LOVE_ always springs and blooms with fresh _Desires_, with young and
vigorous _Inclinations_. It is so riveted in our _Natures_, that our
_Blood_ must first grow cold and be congeal’d by _Death_, before this
_FLAME_ can be extinguish’d: Nay, sometimes it is more _fervent_, tho’
of shorter Duration, in our _latest Hours_, than in our _Prime_. For
like as the _OIL_ which feeds a _Lamp_, when almost spent, the _startled
Flame_ begins to rouze itself, and _burn afresh_, as if it would fain
subsist a _little longer_; tho’ on the very DREGS of its accustomed
Fuel, it crackles and flashes with greater _Noise_ and _Lustre_ than
before, but presently _expires_: So does the _Amorous Fire_, when we are
nearest our _Dissolution_, begin to trouble us most, and makes our SOUL
to blaze with greater FEVERS of _Desire_ and _Grief_, knowing its
_Period_ to be near at hand.
_LOVE_ is like the _Palm-Tree_, the more oppressed with _Weights_, the
_Higher_ it grows. It always desires to encrease, dilate, and stretch
itself farther still, leading to an _Harmonious Union_ of HEARTS.
_Riches_ cannot purchase _Love_. Neither _Threats_ nor _Violence_ can
either force or restrain it; which being free by _Nature_, as proceeding
from the _Freedom of the Will_, disdains all COMPULSION; _subduing_ all,
and _unsubdued_ by any Opposition. In short, it is so generous, that
whereas all other _Affections_ and _Actions_ aim at different _Rewards_;
_LOVE_ only is contented with _Love_, holding nothing else as a
_sufficient Recompence_.
_LOVE_ made _Ulysses_, rather than forsake his dear _Penelope_, refuse
_IMMORTALITY_ itself at _Calipso_’s hands.
_LOVE_ is the oldest of our _Passions_, in that it came into the World
with us; and from thence it becomes _habitual_ to a _good NATURE_, and a
_brave SOUL_.
_LOVE_ is the most noble and generous of our _Passions_, it soon removes
all puny Obstacles in its way. It is ready, prompt, and dexterous to
find _Excuses_ or _Forgiveness_ for the greatest _FAULTS_, and much more
to palliate the _Peccadillo_’s of the BELOVED. It does by a peculiar
Force and Virtue extirpate all _Revenge_, and blot out the _MEMOIRS_ of
_past Unkindnesses_.
_LOVE_ triumphantly _overcomes all Things_. All things yield to its
Power; and the more we oppose it, the stronger _Resistance_ it makes. It
conquers the greatest _Hearts_, and victoriously subdues the most
magnanimous _Souls_. _Alexander_ the Great, was not exempted from this
insuperable _Passion_, at the sight of _Darius_’s fair _Daughters_. No,
_LOVE_ made _Hercules_, the Son of _JUPITER_ himself, stoop and truckle
to the _Female Conqueror_; according to the following known _Distich_,
_“Lenam non potuit, potuit superare Leænant,
“Quem Fera non potuit vincere, vicit Hera._
IN fine, I think it is also ingeniously well defin’d in this ensuing
_Hexastick_, by Mr. _Howel_[35],
_“Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata Catena est,
“Me quibus astringit, lædit & urit Amor;
“Sed Flammam extingui, sanari Vulnera, sulvi
“Vinc’la, etiam ut possem non ego posse velim:
“Mirum equidem Genus hoc Morbi est, Incendia & Ictus
“Vinc’laq; vinctus adhuc, læsus & ustus Amo._
Grateful’s to me the _Fire_, the _Wound_, the _Chain_,
By which LOVE _burns_, LOVE _binds_, and giveth _Pain_:
But for to quench this _Fire_, these _Bonds_ to loose,
These _Wounds_ to heal, I would not, could I, choose:
Strange _Sickness_, where the _Wounds_, the _Bonds_, the _Fire_
That _burns_, that _bind_, that _hurt_, I must desire.
THE Omniscient CREATOR, at the Beginning, implanted in the Nature of
_Both Sexes_ this Faculty of LOVE, accompanied with a fervent Desire of
_Procreation_; furnishing them (for this Purpose) with proper adapted
ORGANS, and other suitable MEANS of _Generation_: which, in themselves,
are no less _wise_ and _wonderful_, than the great DESIGN of propagating
the World by successive _Generations_, is _profound_ and _miraculous_;
as will more manifestly appear, by explaining their _Order_,
_Propriety_, and _Disposition_, in _Sect_. 4. _Chap. 5, 6, &c_.
AND to compensate many subsequent _Griefs_ thereupon, NATURE added to
_Man_ and _Woman_ an ardent Desire of mutual _Embraces_, concomitated
with certain alluring _Enticements_ to _Multiplication_; to the end that
in _Congression_ they might be so delightfully charme’d, as to forget,
or at least vilipend and slight all other trifling _Annoyances_.
THUS, in short, _Nature_ hath cared and provided for _Propagation_ and
_Posterity_; not only in the _Human Race_, but also in all other
_Species_ of Creatures, according to the excellent _Poet_[36];
_“Omne adeo genus in terris hominúmq; Ferarúmq;
“Et genus Æquoreum, pecudes, pictæq; Volucres,
“In furias ignemq; ruunt_: AMOR _omnibus idem.——
“Quid Juvenis_, &c.——
Thus ev’ry _Creature_, and of ev’ry _Kind_,
The secret Joys of sweet COITION find:
Not only _Man_’s imperial Race; but they
That wing the liquid _Air_, or swim the _Sea_,
Or haunt the _Desart_, rush into the _Flame_:
For LOVE is Lord of all; and is in all the _same_.
’Tis with this Rage, the _Mother-Lion_ stung,
Scours o’er the Plain; regardless of her Young:
Demanding _Rites of Love_, she sternly stalks;
And hunts her LOVER, in his lonely Walks.
’Tis then the shapeless _Bear_ his Den forsakes;
In Woods and Fields a vast Destruction makes.
_Boars_ whet their Tusks, to battle _Tygers_ move,
Enrag’d with Hunger, more enrag’d with LOVE.
BUT all ludicrous Diversions apart! I proceed hence to a necessary
_Consequence_ of this Noble Natural _PASSION_; _viz._
[Illustration]
CHAP. V.
_Of COPULATION._
THIS _Conjunction_ of both SEXES, is the _Consummation_ of LOVE, and the
_Pinnacle_ of the _Lover_’s natural Felicity. It is the Sum and
superlative Degree of their _terrene Happiness_; above which the
_Lovers_ cannot aspire, naturally speaking, in _Human Society_.
THIS is also the utmost _Height_ of their eager Desires, and the
greatest _Extent_ of their languishing Wishes. It is the _Abatement_, as
well as the _Completion_ of their unbounded _Passions_, and the
_Tranquillity_ of their restless _Minds_. However yet——
THIS ACT is _Two-fold_; _Fæcund_ and successful, or _Sterile_ and
unsuccessful in the Event.