letters To married WOMEN, £ Price 33* 6d, bound, ] LETTERS re MARRIED WOMEN. The FOURTH EDITION, Rev!fed, and confiderably enlarged. HUGH SMITH, M. XX LONDON. Printed for the Author j And fold by G, Kearsley, No. 46, fleet Street. MDCCL^XXV, advertisement. JTT would be ungrateful not to acknpw- lcd wad children. LETTER I. OF MAIKS LETTER I. Of Marhs the imaginary confequences cf frights and longings, A candid enquiry int§ the merits of this doflrine. Prejudices which have been imbibed in our early days, received from thofe we efteem and reverence, and fupported by the authority of pad ages, muft needs make impreflions upon the moft candid and ingenuous minds j particularly when almoft every day produces drange and wonderful dories to corroborate the fup- pofed fa many—many infiances have I known of weakly and delicate women, who, at my particular requefi, have fuckled their children, and thereby obtained a much better ftate of health ; nay, they have been more pleafing in their perfons, after thus becoming happy mothers, and their huf- bands have, with pleafure, acknowledged their improved charms. There may be fome cafes in which it is not prudent for a mother to give fuck, but LETTER V. thefe inftances very rarely happen ; and there may be feme women, who, although they are ever fo defirous, cannot Rickie 5 this however is but feldom to be urged. I fincerely fyrapathife with thofe unfortu- nate ladies who are thus deprived of ahap- pinefs, only known to thofe who enjoy it. What fhall we fay under thefe neceflitous circumftanccs ? Shall we advife fuch mo- thers to employ a wet-nurfe ; or to bring their children up under their own manage- ment, according to proper rules which fhall be laid down in a following letter They are both, in my opinion, wretched neceflities. Yet, was an infant of my own thus unhappily fituated, without hentation I would prefer the latter ; for much is to be apprehended from a child’s fucking a ftrange woman : nothing lefs than abfo- lute neceffity would make me comply with it. Tod often difeafes, and thofe of the worft kind, are imbibed from the breaft. It is a LETTER V. fhocking truth, but vicious inconftancy is become fo univerfal, even amongft thelower rank of people, that many women offer themfelves and are daily employed as wet- nurfes, who are labouring under dreadful and infectious difeafes. Yet, fuppofmg you can arrive at a fatisfa&ory aflurance in this point, there is a certain cleaning qua- lity in the milk of a woman immediately after child-bearing, exceedingly neceflary for the new-born babe, in order to prepare its ftomach and bowels for future food— this you very rarely can obtain from a wet- nurfe. 79 There is yet a further evil to be dreaded; as it is through neceffity alone that a wo- man will defert her own infant, and take another to her breaft, (he may be induced, by the advantage fhe gains, to conceal her being again with child, and continue to fuckle the infant till it pines away, and dies for want of proper nouriftiment. Thou- fands have been facrificed by thefe means. L E T T E R V. Should they however efcape, in either cafe they are, too generally, miferable be- ings: for, in confequence of the firft, dif- eafes of the glands, known by the vulgar name of the king’s evil, and other terrible complaints, fucceed; and in the latter, the the rickets, watry gripes, and many other maladies, proceeding from a weakly and relaxed habit of body, moft commonly enfue. On the other hand, difeafe and death are the ufual confequences of the prefent erro- neous method of bringing children up by hand. Scarcely one in four of thefe little innocents live to get over the cutting of their teeth ; and the vitiated blood of thofe that efcape, occafioned hy improper nou- rifhment, generally renders them infirm, or Ihort-lived. Almoft every complaint to which children are fubjedf, appears to me to proceed originally from an improper ma- nagement of them; for the young of all other animals are full of health and vigour. LETTER V. And moreover, independently of thefe misfortunes, the future happinefs of the parent herfeif is greatly interefted in this maternal concern, as it generally falls out that thofe children who are neglected by their mothers during their infant years, for- get all duty and affe&ion towards them, when fuch mothers are in the decline of life; and this contempt from a child is no- thing lefs than plunging a dagger into the breaft of its parent; and befxdes the cruel pangs which fhe muft unavoidably experi- ence from this want of duty, daily obfer- vation convinces us that widows frequently fuffer not a little, even in the common con- veniencies of life, by the means of thofe very children, who if properly educated would have probably become their fupport and comfort. Such are the melancholy profpedls at- tending the prefent unnatural pra&ice of wet, and dry nurfing ; from which a curfe is oftentimes entailed upon a generation, of Which parents ought to efteem themfelvcs 82 LETTER V. the authors. How terrible foever thefe things appear, I efteem It my duty to ac- quaint mothers in particular, what a rifk they run in thus hazarding the health and lives of their children, together with their own prefent and future happinefs j and fin- cerely hope I may imprint the fame objec- tions upon them, that daily experience in my profeflion prefents to me, againft thefe pernicious cuftoms. O ! that I could prevail upon my fair countrywomen to become ftill more lovely in the fight of men ! Believe it not, when It is infinuated, that your bofoms are lefs charming, for having a dear little cherub at your breaft. I fpeak from the feelings of a man, and of one too who has an uni- verfal and generous love for the virtuous part of your fex. Truft me, there is no hulband could withftand the fond felicita- tions of an endearing wife, would fire be earneft in her defire of bringing up her own children. Reft aflured, when he beholds the object of his foul cheriftiing and fup- LETTER V. porting in her arms the propitious reward of wedlock, and fondly traces his own linea- ments in the darling boy, it recalls a thou- fand delicate fenfations to a generous mind. Perhaps he drops a fympathetic tear in re- colle&ing the painful throes of the mother, which die chearfully bore to make him fuch an inedimable prefent. His love, tender- nefs, and gratitude, being thus engaged— with what raptures muft he behold her, dill carefully intent upon the prefervation of his own image ? How ardent foever fuch an one’s affec- tions might be before matrimony, a fcene like this will more firmly rivet the pleafing fetters of Jove:—for though a beautiful vir- gin mud ever kindle emotions in a man of fenfxbility j a chade and tender wife, with a little one at her bread:, is certainly, to her hufband, the mod exquifitely enchanting objedf upon earth • and furely, ladies, had fafhion but edablifhed this laudable cudom amongd you, it would prove fo truly amia- ble, as not only to excite the emulation of ,L E T T E R V. your maiden friends to worthy conquefts, but alfo raife their ambition to (hine in cha- racters thus dignified. How greatly then would you contribute to the felicity of your own families, and of mankind in general! LETTER VI. THE MANAGEMENT OF INFANTS FROM the birth. LETTER VI. The management of infants from the birth with directions for putting them to the breaji. HAPPY, thrice happy woman, now become a joyful mother, nurturing her young ! Say, tell me, you who know the rapturous delight, how complete is the bills of enfolding in your longing arms the dear dear fruits of all your pains ? —pains now no more remembered. Long may you preferve the darling, and be doubly bleft in its future beauty, health, and virtue ! I am not unmindful, my charming friends, of the prejudices neceflary to be conquered, before fo material a benefit to mankind, as that which I am to picture out in this letter, can be generally obtained. In my laft, the misfortunes attending the neg- ledt of this duty were fully explained, and 88 LETTER VL as I have frequently fucceeded amongfl the private circle of my friends, by addreffing their underftanding, I truft to the candour of the more ingenuous fex, for my fuccefs in public. My endeavour therefore through- out fhall be to convince you that I have reafon and truth on my fide. Happy then fhall I think myfelf, and amply rewarded for my trouble, if I am fortunate enough to meet with your approbation; as your ob- fervance of the rules laid down in this little manual muft neceffarily follow. Much de- pends upon your maternal care in the firft ftagc of life ; it is a pleafing duty, to which you are honourably called upon, both by Nature and the cuftom of all nations. I am truly fenfible that, according to the prefent miftaken manner of fuckling and rearing children, the bufinefs is a fa- tigue which frightens many at the firft at- tempt ; it Is a method altogether culpable and unnatural. To this letter particularly belongs the firft management of them. In my next I fhall point out the fubfequent errors* LETTER VI. 89 and lay down fome general rules, that will not only prove beneficial to the child, but make the talk of fuckling eafy and delightful to the mother:-even the polite and gay may chcarfully undertake this, at prefent, laborious employment, without greatly interfering with a focial life—for the gloomy ideas of a nurfery will vanifh. The paths of Nature are eafy and de- lightful. Come then, my fair, and let us follow her, ftep by ftep,. We have before obferved that a child brings its immediate nourifhment into the world with its birth. Man Is born in for- row. The fatigue and pain of delivery, both to the mother and the child, require reft; and generally, where no improper means are ufed, they both diredlly fall into a fweet refrefhing fleep; during which time the milky veftels of the breaft are dilated. Thus, with prudent management, in a Ihort time a fmall flow of milk will be obtained. The child, replete with nourilhment at its birth, awakes equally refrefhed with the LETTER VL mother, and by eagerly fucking the nipple encourages its more plentiful fupply. Sometimes there may be a little venicnce with the firft child; but this is rendered Hill greater by keeping it away, perhaps two or three days, from the mo- ther, and fuffering her attendants to draw her breafts, which generally occafions fore nipples. The gentle, eafy, and frequent fudtion of an infant, will not only prevent this inconvenience, but gradually invite the milk, thereby relieving the mother from a troublefome burthen : the nipple alfo, by this means, will be drawn out, fo that the child may fuck without further difficulty,- This is the leffion Nature teaches, and wife are thofe who obferve her precepts. As to an infant’s cloathing, the lighter it is, and the more unconhned, the better; very little covering is necefiary, and the future deformities of Hiape, &c. not to mention the deplorable lofs of health, fometimes proceed from the drefs being LETTER VI. too heavy and confined, at its firfl: entrance into life. I am entirely againfl: an infant’s receiv- ing any nourifhmcnt until it can be put to the breaft; and much more fo againfl: cram- ming it with what nurfes call pap. The flomach is not yet fit for any other food than what Nature has prepared. Art can- not produce a diet with fuch an affinity to animal blood, as to render it proper for the tender bowels of a new-born child. The cries of an infant are generally occa- froned by the uneafinefs it fuffers, either from its drefs, or in confequence of thus cramming It, The complaints of children in thefe early days, as I before obferved, and likewife the difficulty in cutting of teeth, which I (hall hereafter fpeak of, proceed almoft entirely from this wrong practice. Watery gripes, offenfive ftools, and mofl: diforders in their bowels, are altogether occafioned by improper food. LETTER VL Cuftom has rendered this ridiculous tice fo univerfal, that the good women continually complain it is impoflible for a child to remain without food till the milk comes. Let any mother make a fair and unprejudiced trial, and experience will con- vince her of the truth of our maxim. How are other animals fupported? Na- ture, in no one part of the creation, is fo imperfedl, as to be indebted to the wifdom of man to redfify her works. And fuppofe a cafe, in which the milk does not flow fo foon as in general it is expected, let the child, under fuch circumftances, be put to the breaft again and again ; a very little nou- riftiment will at prefent fuffice, and that •will moft commonly be obtained from the nipple ; if it is not, a little warm milk and water, with a fmall quantity of Lifbon fugar, is the only nourifbment, in my opi- nion, that is proper to be given ; this ad- vice I have caufed to be flri&ly followed, and have happily experienced the good ef- fects of it in an infant of my own s who LETTER VI. fcarcely received any fupport from the breaft till after the third day from the birth. Fol- low, my dear ladies, thefe rules, and where there are an hundred accidents that now happen to mothers, in confequence of milk fevers ; and to children, in confequence of being denied the breaft, you will rarely find one. lam convinced of the truth of my aflertion by experience, and therefore am the more bold in recommending it to you, and to the public. LETTER VII. A NATURAL AND EASY METHOD OF SUCKLING CHILDREN. LETTER VII. A natural and eafy method of fuelling children •—This duty proved to he a pkafure rather than a fatigue. NOW then, my nearly interefted friends, let us obferve thofe parts of tire crea- tion where inftindl only can diredf, and for once learn a lefibn from the tender brute. Behold thofe animals which are familiar to us, how fuccefsful they are in bringing up their young ! Animals that give milk to three, four, five, fix, and fometirnes more of their offspring at a birth. How Well and happy are the dams! What unremit-! ting care do they take of their nurflings! They never defert them until time has given to their bodies ftrength fufficient to provide for themfelves. Provident Nature !—and fhall mankind alone difirufi: thy goodnefs ? Let us learn and be wife. Never more fuffer it to pafs for an argument, that a woman who is capable of bearing a child has nor ftrength to fuckie it, when the little crsS- 98 LETTER VII. tures that furround us can rear a whole fa- mily at once. O that I could convince you of the breaft alone being a fufficient fupport for the robuft of children ! Confider Nature well in all her works ! Let ignorance and pre- judice no longer prevail ! Believe this fo- lemn truth, almofl every woman is capable oi fupporting her babe ; and great will prove the advantages, both to herfelf and her in- fant. When it is confined altogether to the breail, it gains {Length every day, and de- fies difeafe. The mother, under thefe cir- cumftances, would not again conceive fo quickly, and mifearriages would thereby be, in a great meafure, prevented; unlefs hur- ried on by frequent bleedings, and other miftaken practices. If, for the fake of your families, you value your own Jives, attend to this indif- putable fadf. You yourfelves know how many women are ruined in their health by not fuckling their children ; and what LETTER VII. numbers are continually facrificed by un- fkilful methods of treatment, at the time of their delivery. You may—you fhould fup- port your young; the talk is eafy and de- lightful, and the thriving child rewards- your pains. It is not laborious. I would not wifh to lee you Haves. The tender delicacy of your frame forbids the very thought. The method is plain and eafy— only follow Nature. Sleep is eflentlally neceflary to life, and' that the flomach fhould fometimes be at reft, is as eflentially neceflary to health ; both thefe things the mother and child equally require. Thus the flavifli part of the bufmefs is fet afidej for it is an abfurd and erroneous cuftom, after fluffing it con- tinually in the day, to keep a child at the breaft all night. This counter-adfs the operations of Nature, not only by depriving it of its reft, but alfo, from a conftant full- ncfs, the powers of the infant-body are pre- vented from exerting themfelves in a proper 100 LETTER VII. manner upon the aliment received. Hence the ftomach and bowels are enfeebled, and thereby rendered incapable of producing fuch wholefome nourifhment as a child would otherwife obtain from its food : to which grand purpofe, found deep and ab- ftinence are equally conducive. On the other hand, the mother, being continually difturbed during the night, is alfo prevented from affimilating that good and perfedl milk, which would otherwife be produced from the food of the day. Hence fhe becomes ill, grows tired of her talk, and the crude milk proves noxious to the weakened bowels of the in- fant. Thus difappointment and death fre- quently fucceed. I know it will be urged by fome that it is impoftible to keep children quiet and at reft during the night, and that they cry for food. Let them be managed from the birth agreeably to the diredlions here given, and then I believe few perfons will complain of LETTER VII. their being troublefome. One reafon why children do not fleep well by night is, that they are indulged too much in the cradle by day, when they fhould have exercife. Another ft ill greater reafon, I am inclined to think, proceeds from pain, occafioncd by improper food,, in the firft paflages ; for I will venture to affirm that almoft every child’s bowels,, from the prefent wrong- management, are in a ftate of difeafe, which too frequently grows up with it into life $ and thus in infancy the lurking caufe of a bad conftituiion is oftentimes- eft abli filed,. When their little ftomachs, irritated by too large a quantity, and the bad quality of food, become fomewhat empty ; a pain, probably like what we call the heart-burn, and acidities at the ftomach, awakens them from their difturbed {lumbers ; and thefe little creatures can then only difcover their uneaftnefs by crying. Hence nurfes, partly for their own quiet, and partly through a LETTER VIL miftaken notion that children cry only for nourifhment, cram them until they are quite gorged. Such infants eagerly devoufr whatever is given them, becaufe the recep- tion of food takes off that too great fenfibi- lity of the ftomach which caufed the pain. A fimilar effedl to this, grown perfons, troubled with the complaints I have now mentioned, muft every day experience upon taking nourifhment ; for it always affords a prefent relief. Four or five times in the twenty-four hours are fufficient for a child to receive the breaft, and let the following rules be nearly obferved. About fix or feven in the morn- ing, after which the child may be allowed an hour or two’s deep ;—again, an hour after the mother has breakfafted— and a third time, if (he pleafes, before dinner a fourth time at five or fix o’clock in the evening, being two or three hours after dinner—and laftly, between ten and eleven, juft before ftie goes to reft. LETTER VII. Now, by thofe mothers who have fer- vants to take off the laborious part of the management of children, this furely cannot be deemed a fatigue; that the talk itfelf is a pleafure, the fondnefs of nurfes towards children at the breaft fully proves3 and that it is an indifpenfible duty, the feelings of human nature evidently proclaim. In the early months fleep may be indulged during the day, but exercife fhould alfo at proper intervals be given to children. As they grow flronger, fleep fhould be lefs en- couraged, and exercife encreafed. There are feveral points of management that I have no fault to find with, and, amongft others, think it needlefs to dwell upon the neceflity of keeping children dry and clean : It is fo evident, that few nurfes are culpable in thefe particulars. But as to rocking children, the cuflom is altoge- ther abfurd. He was an ingenious man who invented a moufe-trap, though none but a fool firft thought of a cradle 3 it was 104 LETTER VII. certainly invented to lave the attendants trouble, for which, by the bye, they fuftcr more in return ; I never permitted a cradle to difgrace my nurfery. Infants, if well, fleep without this lullaby-labour, and fuch forced dofmgs generally render them peevifh and watchful in the night j which is the moft proper time both for them and their nurfes to enjoy their reft. At the end of fix or feven months, when the four firft teeth ought to appear, children fliould be kept awake, and exercifed as much as poflible j by which time, if ma> naged properly, they will generally gain drength enough to (hoot thefe teeth, and the others will in, due courfe be cut with eafe. Thus you will avoid an evil that fweeps away great numbers, of which, however, I fhall fpeak more fully in another letter; for, it is intirely owing to the weaknefs of their bodies that children cut their teeth with Co LETTER VII. much difficulty, and that It is attended with fever, convulfions, and death. This weaknefs of body is but little un- derlined ; for if a child be bloated with fat, which too generally happens when it is im- properly fed, the parents and their friends call it a fine child, and admire how it thrives. When, alas! that very fat is the difeafe which renders its conftitution thus feeble; for if the butcher did not kill lambs and calves when they become immode- rately fat, they likewife would die as fre- quently as children. Which death may be juftly attributed to the prepofterous method, fo generally in ufe, of giving them too much crude unfalutary nourifhment; and not managing them in other refpe&s as Nature requires, to ftrengthen the body from the food received. After what has been advanced concern- ing the early part of infant-management, give me leave to obferve that the argu- LETTER VII. ments enforced upon this important fubjeii are fubmitted to the consideration of thofe mothers, who are defirous of preferring a rational fyftem to bigoted maxims and opinions. I would wifh them to be at- tended to, and I truft that they will merit their approbation. Ido not expert the foregoing rules to be invariably adopted from the birth, I know very well, and it is obvious to thofe who have been atten- tive to children, that infants require fome more, and others lefs attendance, efpeci- ally during the firft month or two j and a certain time is neceffary, even under the moft prudent management, to ac- cuftom them to our wiftied-for habits. There is a wide difference between know- ing what is right and doing it j and oftentimes although we may be defirous of ftri&ly following tire moft prudent maxims, difficulties will unexpe