man, whether gentleman by birth, education, or pretence, and he who
scoffs at the word as usurped, yet generally makes of its idea the
standard he would be glad to reach. If we have no such aim, we do
not deserve to live; and of all the tests of such, the one always
nominally most acknowledged, has been respectful conduct towards
women, and the endeavor to protect them from harm. Courteous to
strangers, we should be still more so to our own, and so be most
truly brave in fighting down and conquering ourselves. To aid us
in such chivalrous work was one chief end of The Good Physician;
himself master of self, and, therefore, free from sin. It is surely
no slight labor to endeavor thus to evangelize, no slight gain can we
but thus be chastened, for chasteness is only to be gained by strict
self-chastening, which, fruit from a perfect blossom, is the sign of
a fuller love thus gained to us, both human and divine.
How can I better close my plea for a purer port towards woman than
by the pungent, sensible, philosophical maxims of Jeremy Taylor? Let
this good old prelate, whose whole life was in accordance with his
own unsullied precepts, be to ourselves as to those who long ago
preceded us, a Ductor Dubitantium, to lead us from the devious paths
of sensuality into the Golden Grove of an earthly paradise.[44]
“Married persons,” he says, “must keep such modesty and decency of
treating each other that they never force themselves into high and
violent lusts with arts and misbecoming devices. It is the duty of
matrimonial chastity to be restrained and temperate in the use of
their lawful pleasures. In their permissions and license, they must
be sure to observe the order of nature and the ends of God. He is
an ill husband that uses his wife as a man treats a harlot, having
no other end but pleasure. Concerning which our best rule is, that
although in this, as in eating and drinking, there is an appetite to
be satisfied, which cannot be done without satisfying that desire,
yet since that desire and satisfaction was intended by nature for
other ends, they should never be separate from those ends, but always
be joined with all or one of these ends,—with a desire of children,
or to avoid fornication, or to lighten and ease the cares and
sadnesses of household affairs, or to endear each other; but never
with a purpose, either in act or desire, to separate the sensuality
from those ends which hallow it.”[45]
There are men who live thus soberly and wisely. Let each of my
readers, before closing this book, again ask himself, “IS IT I?”
FOOTNOTES:
[40] Ware. Loc. cit., p. 60.
[41] Mrs. Caroline H. Dall, of Boston.
[42] Loc. cit., p. 137.
[43] Ibid., p. 134.
[44] To some of the oldest among us, the expressions noted above will
recall the titles of two of Jeremy Taylor’s best known works.
[45] Rule and Exercise of Holy Living, p. 70.
APPENDIX.
[From the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for November 1, 1866.]
“WHY NOT? A BOOK FOR EVERY WOMAN.”
A WOMAN’S VIEW.[46]
The light in which a subject presents itself depends very much upon
the standpoint from which we view it. Dr. Storer’s arguments and
statements are earnest, conscientious and powerful; but women, the
chief players in this tragedy of life, feel that while the facts are
in possession of medical men, their motives are not so well known
and appreciated. Often they are of such a character as may not be
repeated, even to the long-tried and trusted physician; for there are
certain things of too painfully delicate a nature for woman’s lips to
utter to a masculine ear, while to a sister sympathizer, perhaps, the
whole story is freely poured out.
Abortion is fearfully frequent, even more so than Dr. Storer has
assumed, and is rapidly increasing. One great reason of the aversion
to child-bearing is the thousand disagreeable and painful experiences
which attend the long months of patient waiting, and the certain
agony at the end—agony which is akin to nothing else on earth—agony
which the tenderest susceptibilities and sympathies of the noblest
physician can but faintly imagine—agony which, in not one case in
a hundred, is mitigated by anæsthesia. If the blessed, benevolent
suggestion of the general use of chloroform could be adopted, the
world would hear less of abortions. The thousand times reiterated
fact, that “it is a woman’s _duty_ to suffer this,” and that it is
“the end to which she was created,” is but sorry comfort in the hour
of her anguish, and such injunctions will, of themselves, never work
reformation.
It is a suggestive fact that it is not young wives, but mothers,
who most frequently procure abortion; women of mature years, who
know what they are doing, and the danger before them. That they are
guilty of taking life is not generally understood (that there is life
actually existing at the time the bud is blighted), but that the
essential principle, which, under favoring circumstances, might at
some distant day produce life, is removed.
It is not strange that women of delicate organization shrink from
suffering, and perhaps grow cowardly in the face of duty. Many is
the intelligent woman, noble in all else, who says, consciously
and deliberately, “I would rather die than pass through that agony
again;” and, in such a frame of mind, how long would the prospect
of feeble health at some distant day, weigh with the prospect of
immediate suffering, almost, or quite to death? I do not say she is
right. I only say she needs something else than censure.
The true and _greatest_ cause of abortion is one hidden from the
world, viz., unhappiness and want of consideration towards wives
in the marriage relation, the more refined education of girls,
and their subsequent revolting from the degradation of being a
mere thing—an appendage. All the world knows that in this “age of
progress” marriage is too often corrupted from a sanctuary of love
and purity, to a convenience for revelling and grossness. Many is
the intellectual, spiritual woman bound to such a condition, which
she will not, for pride’s sake, or honor’s sake, report. Stung by
disappointment, she rebels, and is perhaps told that marital rights
are ordained of society and Heaven, and that she, knowing it,
should not have come within their power. A very common argument,
true within limits; but power does not necessarily imply right of
abuse. She is, perhaps, on the way to motherhood, and with her
feeble strength, depressed spirits, and waning ambition and courage,
she needs sympathy, comfort, and encouragement. Surely her burden
is heavy enough. But if she grieves or complains, she is perhaps
confronted with the assertion that it is what she is made for; and
with bitterness of heart and sorrow of soul, looking down through
long weeks of heart-sickness and physical pain and unrest, to the
dreaded, unknown crisis, to the after years of care, labor, and
anxiety, and all to bear without hearty sympathy, what wonder that
she is in despair, and little cares whether she live or die? Yet
she must smile, and be cheerful to the world, and it never guesses
all is not right at home. This is not fancy (would it were!), but
veritable, everyday life. If she learns a way of escape, what
wonder that she count herself happy to be rid of, not so much
the pledge of a husband’s love, as of his selfishness, that has
haunted her life! What wonder if she for a time forget her moral
obligations in her extremity, and is indifferent to the life which
is no longer a blessing! Remonstrance is met at home, perhaps with
inattention, perhaps with blame. Remonstrance abroad is forbidden.
Whither shall she turn? What is left but to bury her grief in her
own heart, and live on as best she may? Deal tenderly with these
stricken ones. Condemn them not utterly, for though they sin, they
are sinned against. Don’t load them with all the guilt, for they are
already overborne. Not that sin in one excuses sin in another, but
it is harder to walk with a mountain in our way, than in a smooth,
well-beaten path.
Dr. Storer says, if women would avoid consequences, they must make
choice of time; but in the goodness and generosity of his heart, he
fails to see that no choice is allowed them in many cases. They are
not independent, but subject; and all teaching tends to keep them
so. Here is just where the trouble begins. This is why they rebel.
Save themselves from the _cause_ they cannot. The consequence is
mainly within their power, and the temptation is strong to throw off
the bond which confines them to the fireside. Domestic and maternal
duties and joys, in moderate degree, make women nobler and better;
but do not for a moment imagine that an almost absolute imprisonment
at home, for ten years or more, as is common, with finances ranging
as they ordinarily do, can tend to make wives more intelligent, more
companionable, more Christian, _or more happy_. It may be duty, but
of the stamp unmingled with joy.
It is noticeable that happy wives, strong in the affectionate regard
of considerate husbands, rarely attempt this violence. There is but
one stronger element known to society than that of a true woman’s
love for a worthy husband; one who is careful for her comfort and her
preferences. It is generally admitted that women are not more selfish
than men; that they are as ready to sacrifice comfort, to yield to
inconvenience, as quick to appreciate consideration and to requite
it, as men. Let such a woman, be she ever so slight and fragile,
ever so much averse to motherhood, let her but be convinced that her
husband would be happier with little voices singing in his home,
and let him sustain her, and _pity her_, and she will bear it all,
even to the end, cheerfully. No complaints will be heard, and the
influence of that household will be pure.
Do not accuse me of justifying abortion, or of seeking to lay blame
upon innocent shoulders. Abortion is a crime, and women are guilty of
it, but they sin not alone. While attention is being called to the
fact, why not also to the cause? Wives’ burdens are too heavy, as
blanched cheeks and early graves continually testify,—and the more
intelligent they are, the more they recoil in disgust from the life
they are led; for, mark it, it is not the ignorant class who are
guilty of procuring abortion.
But what shall we say for the unhappy, unfortunate women, by no means
few or inferior, who are victims of selfish and gross husbands, who
are allowed no choice of time or convenience, whose hearts ache with
disappointment and degradation, who find the heaviest burdens of life
heaped upon them without feeling, who go almost into the shadow of
death, and yet return to make the pilgrimage again and again—what
shall we say for them, if they do, in their desperation, find an
escape from the consequences of what was unwillingly forced upon
them? Will the Father of the sorrowful have no mercy on them? Surely
they are in evil case, and their numbers are manifold. Thank God,
there are yet some royal souls true to principle.
If Dr. Storer will perform as noble service for our brothers and
husbands as for ourselves, and send the two books out hand in hand,
they will bring him back a rich harvest of gratitude, and amendment
in morals. Let women feel that they are honored and appreciated,
_really_, for their worth, not for their convenience, and the mass
will not attempt to defeat the purposes of their being. For those to
whom fashion is god, I have not a word to offer. Let them plead for
themselves.
FOOTNOTES:
[46] This communication, a proper supplement to Dr. Storer’s prize
essay published under the above title, has been sent to us by a lady,
“the wife of a Christian physician,” who has certainly expressed with
exceeding delicacy and truthfulness the universal feeling of her sex
upon a subject which deserves more attention from our profession
than it has hitherto received. We publish it with pleasure, and wish
that it might find its way, in some more popular form than our pages
afford, to the eyes of every husband in the land.—_Editors Medical
and Surgical Journal._
WHY NOT?
A BOOK FOR EVERY WOMAN
BY
_PROF. H. R. STORER, M. D._
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
The American Medical Association have done a good work in authorizing
the issue of this essay for general circulation. To the majority
of medical men, of any large experience, of course the subject
is sufficiently familiar, and the evils of forced abortions,
independently of the moral obliquity of the act, are well known.
But those most directly interested—the women of the country—are, as
a rule, ignorant of their evil effects, and all the influence of
their medical advisers has hitherto proved ineffectual to put a stop
to the lamentable and criminal sacrifice of fœtal life. Curiously
enough, any moral considerations of the question have little or no
weight with those determined to prevent any further increase of their
families,—for it is among the married that the practice obtains to
the largest degree,—and it is only by direct appeals to the common
sense of females, and by convincing proofs of the long train of
diseases that are so sure to follow this unnatural crime, that any
good results can be hoped for. This point Dr. Storer has forcibly
considered, and placed the matter in its true light so far as relates
to the subjects themselves.
The opinion has somehow gained credence that induced abortions
are not unfrequently effected by the better class of physicians.
Dr. Storer, while repudiating this gross misrepresentation, and
claiming that physicians are unanimous as to the sanctity of fœtal
life, admits that they have, to a certain extent, innocently and
unintentionally given grounds for the prevalent ignorance on this
subject, and lays down as a fundamental principle that abortion, no
matter how indicated, should never be induced by a physician upon his
own uncorroborated opinion. The law should provide this safeguard
against the destruction of fœtal life. As in insanity, where, in some
of our States, the certificate of at least two physicians is required
before a legal commitment to the asylum can be obtained, so here the
law should provide at once the safeguard against the destruction of
fœtal life, and extend to the physician its protection against the
claims of pity, or personal sympathy, or importunate entreaty, to say
nothing of direct offer of comparatively enormous compensation.
We cannot follow Dr. Storer in his arguments. They are so concisely
stated that to give even a fair exposition of them would necessitate
the quotation of a large part of the work.—_New York Medical Journal,
Sept., 1866._
* * * * *
Such a production from a physician of character and eminence has long
been needed, for the extent to which the crime to which it relates is
practised, even by women holding respectable positions in society, is
fearfully great; and we rejoice that Dr. Storer, with such manifest
intrepidity, learning and thoroughness, has done his full duty to
humanity in the preparation of this paper. “Why not” should the
subject be discussed?—for nothing is so intimately connected with the
health and happiness of women, the welfare of the community, and
the greatness of the nation, as the birth of vigorous children. The
present edition is a neat and convenient volume, and just the thing
for a present to every young wife.—_Boston Commonwealth._
* * * * *
“Why Not? a Book for every Woman,” cannot be too universally read. It
is a prize essay on criminal abortion, which has become so alarmingly
common, and is brief, concise, plain, free from technicalities,
earnestly written, and calculated to do much good. It is high time
that physicians “spoke out” in regard to this crime, and Dr. Storer,
from his great experience, and the large attention he has given
to this subject, seems to be the one above all others from whom a
recitation of the evils of abortion, and an appeal to the women in
behalf of themselves and their offspring, would have the most weight.
No false modesty or squeamishness should prevent the advocates of a
reform of this evil from assisting to give this little book a wide
circulation.—_Springfield (Mass.) Republican._
* * * * *
Dr. Storer evinces high moral courage in addressing the public upon
a subject which it would be more agreeable to most men to pass
without observation. But having become familiar, in his medical
studies and practice, with causes which he believes are not without
a baneful influence upon the constitution of many of the female
sex, he ventures to present for their consideration this chapter
of medical science and ethics. He is plain, direct, and earnest in
the presentation of his views upon a subject which, we believe, he
is the first to make the theme for public disquisition.—_Worcester
Palladium._
* * * * *
The subject of this essay is one, we believe, which is largely
engaging the attention of the medical fraternity, as well as that of
many others at the present time. Few have cared to investigate the
full extent of the evil. Those who have done so, find this system
of abortion, especially on the part of married women, a great and
growing danger. Already in many parts of our country the number of
foreign births is largely in excess of native ones, and the large
families of our ancestors find no counterpart in our day. Without
passing judgment upon all of Dr. Storer’s conclusions, or claiming
that his argument is altogether sound, as that of few enthusiasts is,
we yet recommend to every woman a perusal of the work.—_Northampton
Free Press._
* * * * *
Dr. Storer has given more attention to this subject than any other
professional man in the country; and he is so deeply impressed by
his knowledge of the frequency, criminality, immorality, and dangers
of the practice in question, that his appeal to “every woman” is
most direct, forcible, earnest, and eloquent. Many readers will be
astonished at the evidence adduced by Dr. Storer to show the increase
and frequency of this crime in our country. But few will wonder
at the earnestness and even intense feeling with which the author
presses this subject home upon the feelings, the consciences, and the
fears of his readers, after they have read his startling exposition
of the evils, dangers, and fatal results which are produced by this
great offence against the laws of God and man.—_Salem Observer._
* * * * *
We commend this essay to every wife, and to all women about to be
married. The subject is treated with commendable fidelity to the
good of humanity, and a genuine zeal for truth, and at the same
time with all due delicacy, and no false modesty should prevent any
pure-hearted woman from seeking to know its contents. _Honi soit
qui mal y pense_, as the French say; or, as the highest authority
saith, “To the pure all things are pure.” So let no one object to
this notice, but forthwith read and circulate the book, that erring,
mistaken, guilty ones may know “Why Not?”—_Ladies’ Repository._
* * * * *
This elegantly written little book, unexceptionable in tone and
singularly free from pedantry, discusses the subject of criminal
abortion in all its bearings. The moralist and politico-economist
will find much that will awaken thought, if not arouse to action,
while the very large class to whom it is addressed cannot fail to be
convinced—and may we not hope _converted_?—by the stern logic of its
well put scientific truths.—_American Homœopathic Review, Detroit,
Michigan._
* * * * *
The evidence adduced by Dr. Storer is unanswerable. Every married
man and woman in the land knows its truth. He does not exaggerate,
but rather under-estimates the evil; and were it possible to make
extracts from a work of this kind in a newspaper, any page out of
the hundred would blanch many very respectable married people’s
cheeks with righteous shame. It is the best antidote to quack
pills and vile “French inventions” that has been issued within the
century.—_Waukegan Gazette._
“A PLEA FOR JUSTICE TO WOMEN.”
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