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I 
*Jt&-
LETTERS
*   T0
MARRlfeD WOMEN,
•   NURSING
AND THE
Management of Children,
     BY THE LATE
HUGH SMITH, M. D.
SECOND AMERICAN EDITION.
.'-■"	
< ■ i'LoS/. i4	
PHIL AD&£T?ltlA	•
PRINTED FOR MATHEW	CAREY,
By Lang and Uicickj	4
i:.rcf.xcv:.	i
	
 
 
CONTENTS.
                 LETTER  I.
Of Marks—the imaginary confequences of frights and
  longings.  A candid enquiry into the merits of this
  doctrine                               page i r
                 LETTER  II.
Of Marks—fhowing that fuch blemiihes may happen in-
      dependently of the mother's imagination     26

                 LETTER  III.
                 Of Mifcarriages               34

                 LETTER  IV.
Mother's  milk—the  natural   and  bed  food  for  in-
                        fants                   43
                 LETTER  V.
Arguments in favour of fuckling—as well for the mo-
  ther's fake,  as the child's—and the evils to be appre-
  hended in delivering children  to the  care of fofter
   nurfes                                       5*
                 LETTER  VI.
The mana^ment of  infants from the b:rth—with direc-
         tions for putting them to the bread       5 7

                 LETTER  VII.
A natural and eafy method of fuckling children.—This
   duty proved  to  be  a  pleafure rather than a  fa-
   tigue                                         "2
                LETTER   VIII.
      The proper method of  weaning Children    69 
iv              CONTENTS.

                 LETTER  IX.
The fafeft fhethod of bringing children up by hand  76

                 LETTER  X.
A general management of children,  from the time of
  weaning, till they are about two years old—with ob-
  fervations upon the cutting of teeth              88

                 LETTER  XL
A general management of children, from two years old,
             till they leave the nurfery          100

                LETTER   XII.
Theneceffity  of cultivating the difpo(itions of children,
        to render them amiable and virtuous      106

                LETTER   XIII.
Of milk—Its  properties examined—the different kinds
  of milk compared  with each other—and their parti-
  cular virtues explained                        117

                LETTER   XIV.
The fick chamber, with directions alfo for invalids 125

                 LETTER  XV.
Old age—by  virtue  rendered truly honourable.   The
 . Heps by which we mounted into life, fhown  to be the
  e.fielt and bell paths to defcend into the grave   144. 
INTRODUCTION.
      iN considering my intended fubjects, the familiar
ftyle of letter-writing appeared the moft eligible ;  and
particularly,  when I  reile&ed  upon the  abfurdity of
ufing terms of art,  in  an addrefs  to the ladies.  The
three flrft letters will qot, I hope, be efteemed  foreign
to my purpofc, as they feem to me altogether introduc-
tory to the defign.   I was induced to add the latVlet :r,
upon old age, in  order to make the feries cf letters com-
plete ;  having now, in this collection,  tdien  up  man
from the firft period of his exiftence, and carried him
through the various ftages of life.
  It being much to our prefent purpofe, and intimately
connected with the following letters,  I  (hall tranfcribe a
part of the introduction to the eighth edition of the Fa-
mily Phyfician,  publifhed about  twelve .months i.^o.
  " Experience in phyfic is  the wifeft path to tread ;
and confidering  what pooi crazy constitutions too many
of the  human  race unhappily fuiLin,  and the various
diforders which  even the moft robuft are liable to, no
one can  be too  particular in  remarking fuch innocent'
remedies as may relieve flight indifpofitions, and  con-
fequently prevent terrible and fatal d'feafcs.
                        B 
,ti              INTRODUCTION.            %
    " Good nurfing is a point which has either been too
 r-v.ch neglected, or miftaken ;  neverthelefs it is of the
 firlc confequence towards the cure of difeafes, and the
 preferving of delicate and  feeble conftitutions.  It is
 equally fo to render advanced age eafy and comfortable,
 and to preferve helplefs infants.   To fpeculative minds
 it muft be matter of aftoriihment to obferve the fatality
 amongft  children,  which the following table  of births
 and infant-burials,  collected from the bills of mortality,
 prefents for their ferious confideratieo.
Jn
^.-. -	Total number	Burials under	Burials under
1	of births.	5 years of age.	a years of age.
yfiz	I5S5*.	10659	8372 ^,
1763	1513*3	III63	8200
1764	16801	9699	7673
1765	16374	9948	8073
1766	16297	1©I97	803?
1767	15980	9449	7668
1768	16042	10670	8229
1769	16714	10061	80/ 6
7770	17109	10121	7994
JJ7*	17072	9447	7617
,10)162833  10)101454   10)79877
                 16283       IOI45        79^7
               The average upon the lafl: ten years.

  " *Rius we fee that almoft two-thirds of the children
rem in this metropolis and its environs are entirely loft
to fociety : 16283 au,  upon the average, the  annual
bi/ihs;  10145, the infant burial; j and, what deferves 
                   INTRODUCTION.             rii
  particular attention, 7987  are  cut off befcre  they are
  two years old, which is more than three fourths of thofe
  children who  die under five years of age.  Kow  ar-
  dently, therefore, is it to be wifhed that fuch a fatality
  could be prevented !—It may be prevented. ■
     " Is it not affecting, that fo many beings,  juft en-
  uring into life, fhoul'. be fo untimely  cut off,  to the
  detriment of fociety, and the affliction of their weeping
  mothers ?  It is, truly, a  fubjedt  of commiferation, a
  fcene  which  draws a filSht tear from the eye of humanity,
  and pierces the wounded bofoms of afflicted parents.—*
  Above three-fourthf of thcfe  little innocents fa.Ii a facri-
  'flee under two years old. ^ Ikis well known,  #iat the
j Thrufh and  Watery Gripes  generally terminate their
  exigence in  the early months; and if they furvive thefe
  .maladies, the time of Teething too frequently brings on
  the fatal cataftrophe.
     " Could we but conquer the  prejudices of the times,
  and abolifn  unaatural and abfurd  practices—could  we
  butreftcre that natural and  fim'ple method of rearing
  children,' which  the Ail Y/ife Giver of life has fufT.ci-
  ently pointed out—did yre. but confine them to that nu-
  triment, which he  has prepyed for  their firft (late of
  exiftence—a.nd confult that reafon which  he has be-
  ftowed upon us,  to  conduct them  forwards—a^would
  be  well.  But alas! indolence  and luxury forbid J.e
  talk"!   Neve|j!htrefs, to the rational  few the Jubwinj
  remarks 4rc Jubmitted. 
 ?m            INTRODUCTION.
   " The Thrufh and Watery Gripes are, in the author's
 opinion,  artfiicial difeafes,  and both of  them totally
 occafionedby improper food; fuch as, all kinds  of pap,
 whether made  from flour, bread, or bifcuit: they all
 caufe too much  fermentation in an infants ftomach, and
 irritate its tender bowels beyond what nature can fupport.
 This  appears to  him  to  be the evident caufe of the
 before-mentioned complaints.
   " When infants are paft this period, the danger in cut-
 ting their teeth is juftly to be feared.   Tiiis difficulty
 proceeds  altogether  from a  weaknefs of conftitution,
 aiifing from the fame  firft mifmanagement in point of
 diet: and here a train ofdreadful fymptoms prefent theta-
 felves; the head,  the Ttomach,  the  bowels, are all at
 times terribly affected; a  general wafting  of  the  body
 frequently enfues; and unconquerable  fevers prevail,
 which generally terminate in convulfions  and death.
   " To prevent all thefe unhappy confequences, let us
but for a moment reflect that every mother is defigned by
nature to fofter her own child.   If the breaft is not  to be
 obtained,  cow's milk is in  general to be preferred to any
kind of food  that can be invented, becaufe it is  nearly
 fimilar to that which nature intended."
   I fincerely wifh the hints thrown out in the following
 letters may be attended to;  as  the fuccefs of  rearing
 chtdren,  and the  preferving infirm and aged conftitu-
 tions, greatly depends upon good nurfingj; much  more
 inde.d than it  does  l;c:i  the amplication of mediciqes. 
               INTRODUCTION.             ix
For although, by the medical art, many violent and dan-
gerous difeafes may oftentimes be prevented from pro-
ving fatal;  yet, even when the doctor has taken his leave
the good nurfe muft ftill be watchful,  "  to reftore again
the invalid  to a healthy and vigorous conftitution."
   I was apprehenfive,  that many objections would  bs
ftarted both againft my opinions and  maxims;  which,
indeed, was a leading motive for concealing my name
in the firft  edition:  but as I hope I have fpoken with
candour, and as I mean to perfuade, rather than to find
fault, it  is  to be wiflied, that the younger part  of the
female fex  at Jeaft,  whom it more nearly concerns, will
not receive this little prefent with fuch  unconquerable:
prejudices,  as would probably have been  experienced
from their grand-dames.   If, by addrefling their under-
Handing, I (hould be happy  enough to  convince their
judgment, of the propriety of the following obfervation?,
I truft they may prove in fome meafure  beneficial both
to themfelves and their future daughters, in the exalted
characters of wives  and mothers..
   There is a certain refpect due to our  anceftors and
their cuftoms; and,  for my  own part, I would never
embrace  new maxims or opinions, but  upon  full convic-
tion of  their claiming preference to old  ones.  Still it
fliould be remembered, the mind was never defgned for
a ftate of flavery;  therefore, when once our reafon  is
truly convinced of former errors, let  the  fantfion for
fuch miftakes be never fo redoubtable,  there is a gloria :s
                         £ 2 
x               INTRODUCTION.
freedom inherent in human nature, that prompts a gene-
rous mind to  revoke  erroneous opinions,  and  adopt
thofe fyftems,  which,  upon  mature deliberation, (hall
appear more rational.   And whenever the contrary dif-
pofition is difcovcred, it altogether (hows a want of can-
dour-, and points out an  obftinacy, not only culpable
with refpect to our private characters, but deferving of
cenfure,  as it regards fociety;  for fuch a temper tends
to prohibit every kind of difcovery, that may either im-
prove our own  knowledge, or benefit  our iellow-crea-
iurcs.
   All our knowledge with refpect  to infants,  muft  be
obtained from obfervation   alone; as  no one ever pre-
tended to remember thofe fenfations  and wants which
he himfclf experienced in  the carlieil: part of childhood;
therefore a careful attendance is required in the nurfery.
When infants are properly managed, there is butfeldom
an occafion for the  help of medicine;  and fhould it be
neccffary to  call in  affiftance of  this kind,  as  they are
totally incapable of relating their diftrefs, it requires an
accurate  obfervation, together with a circumftantial ac-
count from the nurfes who attend upon them,  to enable
a medical practitioner to form a right judgment of their
difsafts. 
( »  )
                  LETTER   I.
Of Marks—the  imaginary  confequences of frights and
   longings.   A candid enquiry into the merits of this
   doctrine.

      JT REJUDICES, which have been imbibed in
our early days, received from thofe we efteem and reve-
 rence, and fupported by the authority of paft ages, muft
 needs make'impreflions upon the moft candid and inge-
 nuous minds; particularly  when almoft every  day pro-
 duces ftrange and wonderful ftories to* corroborate the
 fuppofed fact.
   The various  blemifhes  frequtntly  difcovered upca
 children at  the birth, have been generally confidered  as
 the effect of a fright, or a difappointmdiitbf the mother's
 longings: and indeed this  opinion has fo far prevailed,
 that it has been, for a long time paft, looked upon as ia-
 conteftibb.   Should any one, therefore, prefumptuoufly
 dare to deny this amazing peculiarity in pregnant wo-
 men,  and  the confequent effect upon the embryo,  he
 muft expect nothing lefs than the general  cenfures of the
 female world.  Eefides, the many pofitive afferiiors upon
 this head, from the moft fenfible perfons of undoubted
 veracity, will naturally lead a prudent  man  to fpeak
 with caution againft the doarine.  Neverthelefs, it furs-
 }y cannot be improper to make  a candid  enquiry into f«
 wonderful a phenomenon. 
 52                LETTER   I.
   It is a fubjea by far the moft interefting to the ladies:
 it comes, indeed, particularly under  their cognizance ;
 for the dreaded evil affects the fair fex much more effen-
 tially  than it does  ours.    With my female friends,
 therefore, I beg leave to difcufs this important point.
   It is by every one allowed, to the honour of this na-
 tion, (and let particular  commendation be  given to the
 daughters of  Great-Britain thcmfelves), that in the edu-
 cation of young women, letters, and the polite improve-
 ments, are much more attended to in this  age than for-
 merly;  accomplifhments which not  only  render their
 manners more  engaging,  but qualify them likewife for
 the happy domeftic  life; and contribute much to adorn
 thefe amiable  and fweetly-endearing companions of the
 focial hour*   How effentially neceflary is fuch a friend, ,
to make life comfortable  and happy.
   What a luftre does every good and accomplifhed wo-
man aei.lto the  matrimonial ft ate !—She muft by every
reafonable man  be confidered not only as the partner of
his bed, but of his very foul.
   I  can at this  time readily call to mind many fuch ex-
alted chara&ers, to whom in  a moft-particular manner  I
now addrefs  myfelf:—women, whofe enlarged minds
are capable of a much greater depth of reafoning than
thefe fpeculations will afford ; and in  whofe company  I
 have oftentimes enjoyed  the  happinefs of friendly con-
version—with whem, upon different occafions, I have, .
 in part, entered into the  bljcet of this, and the fellow- ■ 
                  LETTER   I.                15
ing letters.   It is,  indeed, at the requeft of feveral of
thefe my worthy female friends, that I have beer, indu-
ced to collect my thoughts, in order to deliv :r them to
the public.
   Ignorance, my fair readers, is the parent of credulity
and  fuperftition.   Knowledge  is  the conqueror  that
triumphs over fuch terrible foes.   How much is the un-
derftanding enlightened and improved by  the ufe of let-
ters? When therefore we confider that the art of print-
ing was not difcovered until the fifteenth century, and it
was a long time after that before  it became univerfal in
Europe, we (hall not greatly wonder at the bigotry and
rudenefs of manners in our anceftors; and we fhall ceafe
to reflect upon thofe credulous times.
   To  the fcore of ignorance we  are to place the many
and hideous ftories which have been formerly related of
apparitions, goblins, and witches, that have at times in-
fefted  different parts of Europe;  and even in England
have  claimed the attention of  civil  and ecclefiaftical
power: inftances of which are to be found in our hiftory.
   At  this period  I  believe there are but few who give
credit to fuch romances. The Spe&ator and his coterft-
poraries pretty well cleared the  country of witches.  As
to ghofts, the laft that made its appearance was the noto-
rious Fanny of Cock-lane;  and this arch fpirit was effec-
tually laid,  as it is called, in a court of juftice;  where
the gentbmen  of the law carefully collected her afh.es, 
 i4                LETTER"  I.
 and, like alchemifts, turned them  into  gold;  fo that
 there is no fear of any more fpirits rifing from her urn.
   We are now,  my intelligent fair, fully convinced of
 the  ridiculous fallacy of fuch bugbears;  and at this time
 there is  fcarcely a  female but can enjoy, without one
 dreadful apprehenfion, a cool and filcnt walk by moon-
 light : a pleafure their mothers could hardly  be  perfua-
 ded to partake of; for, not  longer than  half a century
 ago, if a dauntlefs virgin had thus prefumptuoully ventur-
 ed, the affrighted parents would have been apprehenfive
 for their daughter, left (he mould, fome. time or another,.
 be punifhed for fuch impious audacity.
   Thus we fee prodigies and wonders daily vanifhing,
 in proportion as literary knowledge, and the general im-
provement of the underftanding, are cultivated.
   To fome future feafon, perhaps, we muft poftpone the
•elucidation of marks, the fuppofed confequences of frights
and longings: yet, if this matter fliould be a  fabjeft of
 difpute with the ladies for the prefent, I doubt not that
 a, little time and candid obfervation will commit the  ve-
ry idea of fuch  romantic opinions, together with  that of
frights, and every  other  fuperftitious error,  to  eternal
 oblivion.
   A fright is generally believed to have the fame unluc-
ky effect upon  pregnant women, as a dtfappcintment of
 their wiflies will produce.   Hence they are perpetually
racked between hope and fear, to the torment of :hen:-
felves, and every body about them; and  are  fometimec 
                   LETTER  I.                15
■ fo extravagant  with regard to a wifh or longing, as not
■to be fatisfied but at an  immenfe expence :  for we have
 heard that thefe ftrange cravings are not altogether con-
 fined to the palate;  they fometimes extend themfelves
 to equipage, jewels,  drefs,  baubles,  &c.  As a proof
 that  fuch chimerical notions even  at  this time prevail,
 ike reader is defired to attend to the following relation.
    Since the firft edition of this work went to the prefs,
 the author happened to dine,  in company with a pregnant
 lady totally free from prejudice, at the houfe of an inti-
 mate female friend, who has a heart truly good and fym-
 patheiic.   Her teeming vifitor took notice of a toy; it
 was a pigcon-houfe made of Staffordfhire ware, and in a
 baby-houfe would  appear  a  proper ornament:  yet the
 forebodings of this good matron, left her friend (hould
 have  entertained a longing for it, operated fo  ftrongly,
 that fhe kindly ordered it to be put  into her vifkor's car-
 riage.  The  pregnant lady ftrongly  objected to it in-
 deed, but  to no purpofe; infomuch that fhe was obliged
: to take the pigeon-houfe home.
    But not to dwell upon  fuch like particulars, which,
 neverthelefs, have been frequently introduced in fupport
 of whimfical defircs, and which are continually magni-
 fied in the relation, we (hall confine our remarks to the
 general manner in which this magic operates.
   As I have univerfally been thought an infidel in mat-
 ters of this kind, the ladies have treated me accordingly;
 nay, frequently, when I have begged quarter, it has been 
j6               LETTER   I.
cruelly  denied; 'which cautions  me  at this  time to bs
modeftly humble and diffident.   I Avail afiert nothing ;
but by fair and impartial enquiry  endeavour to  fearch
o„t the truth.
   In confequence of my fuppofed want of faith in thefe
affairs, there is fcarcely a female I am acquainted with,
who does not treafure up every furprifing ftory of this
kind that fhe hears, to tell it me with  all the advantages
that a perfuafive tongue can give, in order to bring about
my converlion.
   I verily believe,  that, by the affiftance of thefe my
good friends,  I could furnifh a  large folio  volume of
fuch  hiftories.   It  is a fpacious  field for the  fancy to
rove in.   A variety of preternatural marks in  living per-
fons may be produced everv day:  nor can the exiftence
of thefe extraordinary appearances be denied ;  for that
i6 inconteftible, as every one can vouch.  The true caufe
of fuch  wonders, therefore, is the fubject of our pui f hit.
   In the firft place, I fhall make bold to  declare, that I
never met with one of thofe blemifhes which  altogether
ftruck my fancy with refpect even to the imaginary lile-
nefs; or which, as to the fuppofed caufe, engaged my ra-
tieral confidence.
   I have been fhowed a marJt that was compared to the
rhind of bacon, and told a ftrange ftory of the  mother's
longing Tor a gammon.  I fancied it to be like the tinge
of a mulatto, and congratulated the parents  that it was
not altogether fwarthy. 
                  LETTER  I.                17
  A lady of my acquaintance has oftentimes declared
that flie is marked with a perfed pig; but I never could
obtain the fight of this rarity, it  not being conveniently
fituated for public infpeaion.   A little while ago, I was
in company with her  mother, an elderly woman, and
quite a ftout champion,  as  I  found, for marks and ble-
mifhes, in confequence of frights and longings.   Upon a
particular enquiry, it appeared that flie was unacquainted
with the accident, until fome confiderabie time after the
birth;  and  then, from the appearance of the mark,  fhe
very well remembered the occafion of  it—which  was
this.   When (he was very near her time, her hufband
and felf were invited to the houfe of a relation, living at
fome diftance, who, fhe knew, had fome very fine fuck-
irg pigs.  They both  thought  the ride would be too
much for her; but flie recolkas her having faid, that (lie
would  go at all events, if flie was fure they would drefs
one of the pigs for dinner.   However, the hufband went
alone, and returned in  the evening with a quarter of a
pig that had been  dreffed on purpofe for their dinner,
her relation knowing fhe was fond of it.  But alas!  as
her evil  genius would have it, when flie fat down  to
fupper,  fhe  could eat but very little;  and at that time
unluckily rubbed the part  with her hand, where her
daughter is marked, which flie is very certain, occafioned
the form of a pig.   I afked her how the child could be
marked, fince  flie had her defire?  No  matter for that,
a.ifwered fhe:  though I had the pig, the  child to be fure
                        C 
 iS               LETTER   I.
muft be marked;  becaufe I longed for it nice and hot,
v. ith good plum fauce and gravy, but was obliged  to eat
it  cold.   We all laughed  heartily  at the conclafion,
though, as the reader may judge, from different motives ;
but the oil lady thought flie had  obtained a complete
victory.
   I have given this little hiftory,  to fhow the abfurd
narmcr in which thefe things are ufually accounted for.
It will be alfo proper in this place to remark the noto-
riors diflimilarity  between fuch blemifhes and their fup-
pofed originals.  We are to  take* notice, likewife, of -
the eafe  with which the fancy is impofed upon, cr im-
jiofcs on itfelf in fuch cafes,  even to infatuation; lvayii-
f>ing the moft trifling  conjeaures  into  tht ftrongeft
 confirmations.   How  often  do women   rack  their
minds,  to find out  the origin of thefe marks! which
evidently proceeds from their avcrfion to  be thought
capable of producing an offspring with any imperfeaions;
snd their fervants and nurfes,  confidering it actually as
their bufinefs, are always ready to  help them out upon
 thefe occafiens.
   Frai:, wine, boiled lobfters, frefh falmon, and fuch
 like things of a red colour, are the moft common marks;
 and there is fcarcely a family,in the  kingdom, but fome
 one or more of them can produce inftances of this fort.
   Thefe ftrange effefts, we are told,  not  only happen
 to the  humar race, but alfo, how wonderful to relate !
 <—to brutes.   There is a worthy family, v.hefe veracity 
                  LETTER   L                 19
is not to be doubted, that are firmly perfuaded of the
following  fad; of which  they were all fpeaators.   I
fliall deliver the  account,  as nearly as poflible, in the
lady's words, who favoured me with the relation'.
   Her  father's favourite cat happened to produce a k;t-
ten, which, to the furprife of all the family, was mark-
ed  on the back with a rat.   As the kitten grew, the rat
increafed likewife;  till, at the end  of fome months, it
dropped off the kitten, quite perfea in its form;—and
 the lady had it in her own hand.  I  was  queftionecl,
 very particularly, whether I could any longer doubt the
 confequences of  longing and frights, fince it even ex-
 tended to brutes—for, continued  fne, what could be
 the caufe of this, but the  creature being difappointed of
 fome rat fhe was purfuing ?
    Thus clofely prefled, I begged her yet to pardon r.^y
 want of belief.   As to the caufe, I was filent about it;
 that there was a fubftance  upon the kitten, which fell ov,
 as related, I had no doubt.—What then could I doubt?
 __That their own imaginations deceived them.—How
 was that poflible?—Much more fo than they were aware
 0f.__Where is the rat, madam?—Thrown  away long
 ago.—That is unlucky;  for, had  I feen  it,  ; r.Lably it
 might  have (truck me  as refembling an  owl, or feme
' other  thing  altogeher as  extravagant.   It was down-
 right obftinacy in me ;  for I would  not  believe  any
 thing.   I further faid, had it been a rat, I thought flic
 wo.ld have wanted courage to touch it—even fuppofing 
   2°               LETTER  I.
   it to be dead ; and had it been alive, it would certainly
   have  run  away, and prevented her.   This pleafantry
  abated fomewhat of the earneftnefs of  our  argument;
  and a laugh made us very good friends—but  I was an
  incredulous man.
     I  have heard of a woman furprifed in the ftreet,
  when  fhe was very near  her time,  by a perfon with a
  withered arm: upon her return home, the fright threw
  her into labour, and fhe was delivered  of a child with
  a withered arm.   How can we poflibly believe fuch an
  immediate effea as this to be produced ?—Is it to be
  credited,  that the  mother's terror (hould inflantly blaft
  the arm  of  the child, thus rendering it fimilar to the
  objea of horror ?
    And if this be  rejeaed, how can we allow the total
  Jofs of a  limb from a fimilar caufe ?—Could it be anni-
  hilated ?   This no one will affert.   Tf  not, fuppofing
  the effea to take place, and the arm or the leg fhould
  be feparated from the body, what becomes of it ?  Such
  divided part is  never to be found upon thefe occafions.
  On the contrary, where there is an addition to the form,
 proceeding alfo, as we are told, from fright; fuch, for
 inftance, as a toe or finger extraordinary, an arm or a
 a leg ;  in  the name of wonder, from what  fource  can
thofe exuberances be fo immediately produced?  Is it not
aftonifhing,  that fuch credulous infatuations fliould thus
beguile our reafon ? 
                  LETTER   I.                21
  Not to trouble my fair readers with any more of thefe
relations, which, by prejudiced perfons, are accounted
undeniable,  I flull juft mention  a few faas for the con-
fideration of the candid.
  A lady of my particular acquaintance, during the time
of her pregnancy, was unfortunately  overturned in  a
coach;  by  which accident,  as  fhe endeavoured to get
out, the firft joint of her fecond finger was entirely bro-
ken off.   This was  an alarming circumftance to all her
friends,  and the dreadful apprehenfions of the child's
being born  a cripple  difturbed every one;  but, to the
great aftonifhment of her acquaintance,  flie was deliver-
ed  of a fine and perfea boy.
   An eminent praaitioncr relates a ftory to this effea,
which is equally to be credited,  as happening under his
own obfervation,
   A lady of quality being in  convulfions,  the family
fentfor  the doaor in great hafte.  Ho found her upon
the bud, extremely  ill indeed.  When  her  ladyfliip
came a  little to  herfelf, fhe  cried out,  The black cat!
the black cat !—her well-known particular averfion to ■
 this domeftic animal fecmed to point out the caufe of the
difalter, of which till now they were entirely ignorant;
and the fcrvants diligently fearched for the objea; when
in a tub, placed to receive the rain-water near her lady>
fliip's dreiiing-room  window,  poor pufs was difcovered. -
   This  fight fo terribly affected the lady, that her fears
were ever uppermoft, and fhe  wasrf miferable until the 
22                LETTER  I.
time of her delivery.   Neither could her friends pacify
her, nor the arguments of fo able a man bring her to rea-
fon.  Notwithttanding all they could fay,  flie was fully
perfuaded her child's face would be like this black cat's.
At length Lucina fmiled propitious on its birth; and her
ladyfhip's  apprehenfions  vanifhed,  upon  her  being
brought to bed of a lovely boy,  without either mark or
 blemifli.
    Tuft about the fame time, it  happened  that  the fame
 gentleman delivered another perfon of a boy alfo.  The
 child had a fmall darkifh fpot upon the forehead.  He
 was curious enough to  interrogate the mother  about  it,
 and fhe moft ingenioufly declared, that ih. was neither
 fenfible of any fright or longing during  the  whole time
 of her breeding.
    Had this blemifli happened to the child of the noble
 parent, the  doctor truly obferves, the black cat  would
 undoubtedly  have occalioned a remarkable  anecdote in
 the hiftory of her ladyffiip's houfe;—for by all her family
  and friends it would have been looked upon as an mc.u-
  leftible proof of thefe prodigies;  and,  give me leave to
  add,  with much more feeming plaufibility,  too, than
  the generality of thefe ftories can boaft; becaufe the lady
  had declared her apprehenfions-at the time of the by po-
  fed injury.
     I {hall here add another inftance of an apprchenfion
  altogether as fi uitlefs, as that of the noble lady.   It  was
  jnade kcown to me, iu confequence of reading 'be above 
                  LETTER  I.                23
to a particular friend,  who immediately replied, that he
was  under great  anxiety  for his wife,  upon account of
her being  terrified at the fight of a perfon who had a
very unhappy blemifli on her face.  The wife of this gen-
tleman,  by chance going to St. Paul's  church, was pla-
ced  in a flail exaaly oppofite to the unfortunate objea,
which affeaed  her fo much, that her devotion was en-
tirely loft; and fhe talked  of this poor woman continually
 after flie left the church.
   In  a  few weeks this lady went again to St.  Paul's,-
 and  was  unluckily  placed oppofite  the fame  perfon;
 which fo diflreffed her, that fhe dared not venture there
 any more.  Surely this, is as ftriking  an inftance as we
 can fuppofe.   I told my friend I was glad he acquainted
 me of it before his wife was brought to bed, and that I
 fliould pay  great attention to the confequence; but at
 the fame time defired he  would endeavour to make both
 himfelf and wife very eafy, afluring him,  on the obferva-
 tion of myfelf and others,  how little room there was to
 be  under  any difmal apprchenfion on this account.   To
 finifli the ftory,  his wife was foon delivered of a fine and
  perfect child.   Since which, this lady has declared her
  apprehenfions fo terrified her, that fhe dared  not to look
  at the child,  till flie colleaed from  the converfation of
  her attendants,  that the boy's face was free from blemifli.
  What  a  cruel fufpenfe and  painful funerance rnuh1 this
  have been to a mother J
£        .»' 
 24               LETTER  I.
   Not long ago I was in the chamber of a lady newly
 delivered: her  mother being prefent, took  me to the
 window,  and in  great diftrefs acquainted me the child
 had a large mark upon the right  fide of its face;  that
 (he was terrified  at the thoughts of breaking it to her
 daughter, and begged me to acquaint her of it.   Ac-
 cordingly, after  congratulating  the  good  lady in the
 ftraw, upon her  cvvn  health  and a fine  baby, in the
 courfe of converfation,  I jocofely told her that we were
 at at a lofs to account for a pretty fpot upon the child's
 face, and muft defire her to  inform us of the occafion of
 it.   After a very minute recolbaion, flie frankly confef-
 fed flie did not remember any one thing that  fhe longed
 for during her pregnancy, neither could ihe any how ac-
 count for  the accident.
   A variety of other circumftances might-be enumera-
 ted, to difcredit, though many ftories are related to con-
 firm, this wonderful affair.   I ffiall not, however, intro-
 duce further particulars, though divers  have ha-mened
 within my notice; but conclude this letter with  remain-
 ing, that in every inflar.ee before related, where the mif-
 fortane of a blemifli was apprehended, it did not happen ;
 r.-.d  in the  other cafes, where  marks  appeared,  they
 were entirely unexpected, and the caufe of them totally
 unknown to the mothers; which,  I may venture to'fay,
 has always been the cafe.  If,  therefore,  women would
wi.1i to be credited in thefe  ftorks of frights and long-
 ings,  let them declare, before they i.r-2 delivered, like 
                  LETTER   I.                25
the two ladies mentioned in this letter, that they have
marked the child, and make known the caufe of it. No-
thing lefs dan prove this faa; and,  till then, even the
poffibility of it may very reafonably be doubted; for
furely we may conclude that fo remarkable an effea of
fympathy can never take place, without the immediate
and moft ce*(fain knowledge  of the mother. 
(26)
                   LETTER  II.

  Of Marks—(bowing that fuch blemifhes may happen in-
        dependently of the mother's imagination.

        JT\S to longing?,  I doubt  not but every perfon
  muft  have been fenfible  of fuch  inclinations.   I can
  anfwer .'or myfdf, that when indifpofed, and my ftomach
  rather weak, I  have maRy times fuffercd not a little, in
 being difappointed of a thing that feemed particularly to
 •ftrike my fancy : furely I  may be  allowed to fay, that
 the prejudices of female education  are likely to encou-
 rage fuch inclinations  to a  much greater degree in preg-
 nant women, whofe appetites are  ufually weak and fan-
 ciful ; and,  as it is the cafe in every  paflion  when too
 extravagantly indulged, I take it for granted, ladies may
 be fometimes very much hurt by fuch a difappointment,
 independently of fuperftitious, tormenting apprehenfions.
   I would wiffi  to arm  every female breaft with the
 rcfoluticn neceflhry for  her ou n happinefs.   Yet I do
 not deny but  upon a thoufand occafions the ladies fuffer,
 unavoidably as it were, from fear;  and materially fo in
 the prefent inftance.
  Women, from the  delicacy of  their frame,  and the
particular  mode  of  education in polite countries, are,
without doubt, much more  under the dominion of Lar
than men,  who  are continually fpurred on by cufteni 
                   LETTER   II.                17
 and vigour to exert their courage.   This renders a
 variety of  objeas,  although terrible to the fair fex, fo
 familiar  to ours, that contempt alone is oftentimes a
 fecurity  againft many fuch horrible intruders.
   We confefs, then, that women are exceedingly fvbject
 to fear :  it is alfo granted, that, in tilings  they long for,
 they may be  painf ally difappointed.   It  is not denied
 but that  there are oftentimes very extraordinary appear-
 ances at  the birth,  which the fancy likens to  a.variety
 of  things; but it  does not  therefore follow,' that we
 are hound to believe fuch marks or blemifhes to be the
 effea of  fright, or the confequences of a parents difap-
 pointment.
   In the firft  letter, we gave feveral relations  on Lo,h
 fides of the queftion : I (hall now beg leave to propofe
 a  few  queries,  which, if  allowed,  in   my  opinion,
 feem in part to account for thefe cxtraordinay appear-
 ances ;  and what  cannot be illuftrated upon a  rational
 enquiry, why may we not fuppofe to proceed from hid-
 den accidental caufes  in  the  operations of  nature?
 Since excrefcences upon trees,  plants,  and indeed  ble-
 mifhes  on  almoft every  kind  of  animals, (of which
 daily experience will convince a  common  obferver),
feem ftrongly  to authorife. fuch a  conjecture ;  I fay,
why may  we not fuppofe this  to  be the  true  reafon,
without the affiftance of a wonder-working imagination ? 
28                LETTER   II.
  Will not an  inflammation upon  the eye frequently
produce an univerfal rednefs over that part which other-
wife appears beautifully white ?
  What is the caufe of this furprifing alteration ?
  Muft not there  ever have been a fluid circulating in
thefe tender veffels ?—And muft  not that fluid be ne-
cehaiily limpid ?
  Are not thofe veffels,  therefore, unlefs injured,  too
fir all to admit the  fanguinary fluid in its compaa  and
red ftate ?
  And does it not evidently appear,  that they muft be
confiderably diftended,  before  the red blood can be
admitted, which denotes this inflammation ?
  Save where the virgin blufli brings the blood into the
cheek, or  the  rofy coloured nymph rivals our courtly
beauties ;—does not the whitenefs of the flcin,  in almoft
every part  of the   body,  plainly ffiow  that  its veffels
equally deny the admiflion of this red fluid ?
  We are told, by curious enquirers, that, for fcvcral
months after conception, the embryo  receives its fup-
port from  a  limpid fluid, and  that  the form itfelf is
nearly limpid, or colourlefs.
   If fo, are not the veffels  of an unborn child,  as it
arrives nearer to the birth, gradually enlarged, fo as in
the proper parts to give admiflion to this red fanguinary
£uid? 
                  LETTER.  II.               2g
   May not, therefore,  fame accidental prefihre upon  a
pregnant woman—the violence of a fudden jolt—or the
ffiock received by a falfe ilep or a fall, with a variety
of other cafualties,  convey..fuch an injury to  the tender
embryo, as upon  fome part  of tiie flcin to occafion  a
fimilar effea to that of the eye ?
   Do wejiot oftentimes observe imfiammations in the
eye to be in. a.manner habitual ?
   Why may we  not then fuppofe thefe delicate veffels,
when thus diftended, to be fo opprefledby-.tke particles
of the fluid which ruffi into  them,  as never more to be
able to recover their natural  fize ?
   ■ Hence thefe parts, and thefe..parts, only,  giving ad-
miflion  to the red blood—is,it notprobabla that they
may aflume the .various forms, which in various infants
are imagined to refemble fo.many  different things?
   The cure ,of  the before.mentioned inflammation of
the  eye,  frequently  depends, not  upon  bleeding, but
Upon conftriaging  thcvefibls, .and reftoring  them to
their .original  ftate, fo.<ihat»lhey again only admit their
proper l^DAp^d fluids ; andperhaps,  if aftringent applica-
tions , wfire ufed at the birth, where  a ftrong preffure
could be made upon ^he. particular part, .many of thefe
blenches  might,  in agreat meafure, if not  altogether,
be removed.
   Such are our conjeaures on the. caufe of thofe marks
which are totally of, or approaching to, a red colour.
But there are other blemifhes, which, at firft fight, my
                        D 
3o               LETTER  II.
readers may take for granted cannot be accounted for
by this way of.reafoning ; fuch,  for inftance, as appear
to be of a light  and  dark brown, of a chocolate and
b'ae:.  eclour.  Neverthelefs, my fair  friends, permit us
candidly to proceed.
   A blow fomctimes ftains the flcin yellow ;  if the part
Lbe n.vch bruifed, the  tinge is deeper, and frequently
turns quite black.   A curious cbferver muft  have noti-
ced,  in tbofe perfons  who from violent blows have re-
ceived fuch contufions as are vulgarly  called black eye>,
.that  the  flcin, before it  returns to its natural  colour,
 rdhmes a great variety of different hues ;  all proceeding
 from the fame firft caufe.  Is it not then probable, that
 fome fuch accident  happening to an unborn child, may
.produce a fimilar effea ?  This perhaps will be allowed :
 bat why then fliould fuch blemifhes continue in children,
 fnce they ufually difappear in the cafe before  mention-
 ed ?  However, to proceed in the enquiry : Such effeas
 being admitted,  their permanency then  is the  difficulty
 to  be overcome.   Let us confider,  that, although in
 mature life the conftitution has  generally ftrength  fuffici-
 ent to repel  moft accidents,  not inftantly mortal, yet
 in childhood, and old age, the powers  of the body are
 overcome by very  flight injuries.   In the meridian of
 life, thofe parts of the  body, which  are  disfigured by
 accidents,, moft commonly recover themfelves ;  never-
  thelefs  many inftances are   to be  produced,  even in
  adults,  where the  fkin  continues difcolourtd.  BruiUs 
                  LETTER  IL                3r
and  other injuries upon the flcins,  particularly in feeble
conftitutions, frequently occafion marks that never dif-
appear.  The fame is likewife obferved upon the  legs
of thofe who are  accuftomed to  fit too near  fire, in
which cafe we fay they hajje burnt their fhins ;  and old
fores generally leave fuch marks.   I have feen many of
thefe lafting blemifhes.   My readers probably recollect
the faa, and alfo that fuch injured parts affume  a variety
of colours  ;  black,  red, brown,  motley, &c. mu .hi
refembling thofe which  are fuppoled to  proceed from
 the  force of imagination.
   Since, therefore, we find fuch like appearances arc
 fometimes  permanent  in  the different periods  of life,
 what can be faid to difprove their continuance in infants,
 when fuppofed  to happen either before  or at the time of
 delivery ? For  furely we  may conclude,  the more deli-
 cate the form  is, it will  prove the more fufeeptible of
 injuries, and thofe injuries will  laft  the longer ;  the
 tender veffels in fuch cafes not being fo able to recover
 themfelves.  And as we  often find it to be fo in the fee-
 blenefs of age,  and in a variety of other  inftanees—why
 may we not in  the tender embryo alfo fuppofe  thefe ble-
 mifhes fometimes to remain,  and be durable?
     But if you  think the above reafoning not fufficiently
  plaufible, let us confider the difference of complexion in
  different perfons of this country—but principally the dif-
  ferent colours  of Europeans and Africans:  and fincc we
  find appearances fo diametrically oppofite in the {kins of 
.-2               LETTER   II.
; erfons, why may not the fame contraft in fome meafure
take place in the flcin of one and the fame perfon, through
a kind of error in nature from her intended fcope?
  Nay, do not thofe blemifhes called freckles, and more
tf,eual]y nicies, which frequently make their firft ap-
pearance in advanced life, and are often covered  with
hah1:—-I fav,  do not thefe,  with the  common excref-
cences  of  warts, See.  fhow us how eafily moft of the
different cole urs and appearances may  be produced at
any age? And thovgh  the caufe of thefe is full as little
known  as the matter under  prefent  confideration,  was
the effea ever deemed miraculous ?
  Now is it to be wondered at,  if thefe fportirtgs  of na-
ture fliould Lear a refemblance to fome or other  of the
vaft  variety of objeas in the animal or vegetable  crea-
tion ?
   Or in tha, if they bear no fucli real refemblance, can-
not the imagination  readily fuppofe they do; in  lik£ rhari-
ner as,  when looking upon the clouds,  we eafily difcerri
men, horf.s, trees, forefts,  flocks of flieep, armies, and
ir.deed  every thing which' the moft  fruitful  invention'
can form ?
   Some farther rational conjeaures rrirg+lt be added ; but
they would probably in this  place be confidered as too
technical1 for the generality of my readers: I fliall,  there-
fore, wa've them at prefent;  for I think  there has been
already enough faid upon this  fubjea, tb check at l«ft$,
 it ndi Jfftrfely to fubdue, tHefe feigning infatuations. 
                  LETTER   II.                33
   Now  if the doarine of marks,  in confequence  of
frights and  longings, fliould prove to be nothing more
than prejudice, ladies will avoid  the continual  diftrefs
which in thefe circumftances they labour under;  for for-
ry I am to fay it, but at prefent  it feems as fafhionable
to cultivate fuch difpofitions in young married women,
as to recommend matrimony itfelf.
  On the other  hand, fuppofing all that has been advan-
ced fliould prove to be chimerical;  the removing of the
apprchenfion, by which I mean the foreboding fears of
the mother,  will be  to remove   the  greateft part of
the evil; and furely it  is time enough at the  birth to
defcern   an   imperfeaion.   This,  indeed,   is  a point
which the ftrongeft advocates for  the force  of imagina-
tion  muft not only allow, but likewife  approve of its
tendency ; fince fortitude is the  only preventative,  ac-
cording to their favourite fyftem,  againft the  miferable
confequences of frights, and difiippointed longings :  for
if fuch a degree of courage can be obtained, as w.11  pre-
vent fear, and fuch a degree of refutation  maintained,
as will prevent  the mind  bang hurt,  upon any  cafual
dilappointment of the.  inclination, the evil ith-if is at
once  remedied; becaufe  the  imagination  will never
painfully dwell either upon objeas of difguft or inclina-
tion  ; and confequcntiy blemifhes  can never happen frona
fiich caufes.
   I  truft that my attentive and intelligent refers  will
not be difpleafed with the difcuiion c: this  very inter-
efting fubject.              D 2 
( 34  )
                 LETTER   III.

                  Of Mifcarriages.

       W E are now, my delicate fair 5nes, entering
upon a fubjea which requires fome crrcumfpcction,  to
divide the province of the  phyfician from the advice of
a friend.
  There are  undoubtedly conflhutional  errors, which
oftentimes prevent women from  becoming  joyful mo-
ther? ;  ah'ct they rna'y be  hindered alfo by  accidental
circumftances.   Both  thefe confideratiofts, however,
belong to the phyfician.   In  a word,  therefore, thefe
dire'aibns do  not extend  'to  fuch remote caufes;  my
coun'fels at prefent being defigned  to aflift you in your
own fphere'.
  The  dtfire of children  is evidently  predominant in
nlmoft every  female difpofition:   it  muft be certainly
owing to the wife ordination of Providence, that their
education is fo admirably  calculated to encourage this
fondnefs.  How  engaging are the childiffi  amufements
cf a daughter!—Let us piaure an innocent little girl
fondly carefling a waxen image, drefling and undrefling
it with all the pomp and importance of a tender mother.
What a delightful employment!—how amiable doe's the
 child herfelf appear!—and fo endearing  is this female 
                 LETTER   III.               35
province, that it is jttftly remarked to grow up with the
fex into life.
   I have, With inexprefrrbte pleafure, feen many young
ladies, women  grown,  happily amufing  thettrfelves at
their y'dunger fifter's baby-houfe, and often difcovered a
crimfoh  bluffi,  that  genuine  mark  of female modefty,
arifing from their being fomewhat confufed in  fullering
themfelves to be thus unexpeaedly  furprifed.
   There are, indeed, fome perftms who have declared
an averfiori to'children.   I have painfully fuffered from
the enumeration  of the difficulties and  inconveniences
which they defcribe parents to labour under, who  have
the CJrre of a little family.—Selfiih and unfocial confidc-
 rations!
   God has  unrvfcrfa'fly  nnr.hefted, that the whole hir-
'ma- Ytfefe  are  depcr.derit tfpon drie another; and  thofe
 perfons, who think ar.d aathus tlarrowbvdm neither be
 accounted good characters in themfelves, nor worthy
 mcmbe.s with refpea to i--ciay.  Bat, alas! they are
 ftra; g.rs to'the feelings of parental  fondnefs.
   Cu.Jnlam,  ye amiable  wives, that,  if it be your
 good'fortune to  become hippy mothers, your children,
 thole d-ar plcd^-.s cf icre, if prudently  educated, prove
 not only 'an engaging cdrrrfort to'yo'urfelvcs, but a great
 and lading  fecuiiy fo.  the affections of your hufbands.
 Tiuft  me, there is  a time when the charms of beauty
 muft ceafe, and the paffions of youth bend to the majefty
 cf wifdom:—-'tis then good-nature  and good-fenfe, with 
 36              LETTER  III.
that effential ingredient, a cheerful difpofition, will in a
great meafure fecure yoffr conqueft; and a charming
offspring will affuredly contribute to unite parents in the
lading bonds of friendfhip.
   How defirable,  therefore,  are children!  Even po-
verty itfelf does not prevent the fanguine wifii for them.
Let us then endeavour to promote their fafe and happy
increafe.
   The difference of  conftitution in women is an impor-
tant affair: there are fome who upon every trifling occa-
fion are fubjea to mifcarriages—others, again, who,  in
fpite of the moft direa  and powerful means, are often
compelled to bear the token of unwarrantable amours ;
and there are inftances  even  of married women, who,
not fuppofing themfelves to be  breeding, have  been
treated in the moft likely  manner to  bring  about an
abortion—but all in vain.   A  remarkable  ftory of this
kind occurs to my memory,  which  I  relate from my
own knowledge.
   An honeft labouring man and his wife  lived together
many years without  having children;  and they both
were beyond the meridian of life, when the poor woman
was fuppofed to be afHiaed  with a dropfy.  From time
to time flie advifed with feveral eminent phyficians, who,
from her appearance  and the account ffie gave, treated
her as dropfical;  adminiftering the moft powerful reme-
dies againft that diforder. 
                 LETTER  III.               57
 At length fhe grew fo very hi 7, that ail hopes cf a cure
were given over, and the operation of taping was re-
commended.   The hiitba id's circumftances being nar-
row, and the expence of this illnefs putting it out of his
power to employ a fiirgeon, the poor worhai was advifed
to go into the hofpitaU t'h?., however,  he refbfedt
   A week or two after this, the hufband called,  with a
moft joyful countenance,  :o inform  me  his  wife  was;
brought to bed, and that K.h  the mother and  child
Were likely to do weii.   I was at" that-time  very young\
but my refleolioiie  upon  the  oddity  df tHe event deter-
mined me to be always  .vary in the examination of drop-
fical female patients.
   Thus we fee in this woman,  and in a variety of otfter
cafes, where impious efforts have  been ufed- to promote
a  mifcarriage, that  nature,  in fpite  of great violence,
fometimes Wilt not be interrupted.
   Let i!»' then aim; at  ifllftlrig  her in  this1 great Work,
where th<6' cdfiftitution  Sppeeers  rifofc able to gb through
with it;  and point out the moft rational  means to pre-i
vent abortion.
   Our firft letter, over arid above  the enquiry concern-
ing marks* longings, and frights, greatly  tendls  to this
material  end.  Women of  a  delicate form, and toto
great  fenfibifity,  are the  moft liable  to  rrrifca-rry: fucli
alfo are the rrfbft fifceiy to imbibe, and to be arfeaed by,
ihc prejudices  we there wiffied  to caution them againft.
The power of fear is undoubtedly fovereign over moft 
3*              LETTER   III.
perfons;  and this, as  it frequently occafions mifcarria-
ges, is truly to be  dreaded.   If, therefore,  the  prejudi-
ces were  difcountenanced, the unhappy fear itfelf would
affuredly ceafe.
   And further, there  is nothing tends more  to  render
life happy, either to men or women, than to conquer,.
as much as  poflible, the pafiion of fear.   This is the
monfter, which in fome degrees fubdues us all,  and too
frequently makes  mankind miferable.   There is no ca-
lamity but would eafily become  fuppor table, could we
diveft ourfelves of fear; and  daily experience proves
women to be  moft fubjea to its tortures.   How many
trifling infeas, that a man continually fpurns from him,
ruffle the breaft of females,  and throw them  into the
greateft agonies!
   The evil, therefore, is feated in the imagination; for
it is the dreadful apprehenfion of their own mind that
torments them;  which, by a firm andfleady refolution,
 may generally be overcome. Fortitude is an ineftimable
jewel.
   However difficult the talk  appears,  the  earlieft and
 ftrongeft prejudices  may commonly  be conquered.   I
 am fenfible, that fometimes it will require great pains,
 and never can be done but  by the ftrength of reafon.
 Would  you, my  too fufceptible fair, follow my advice on
 this fubjea:, a thoufand accidents might be avoided that
 hourly happen to you upon  this, and many other occa*
 fions. 
                    LETTER   III.               39
      Reafon was beftowed upon us, both for the preferva-
   tion of our health, and the promotion of our happinefs.
   The abufe  of it as neceffarily deftrqys the one as the
   other.
      How do we continually reflea upon ourfelves for in-
„  conveniences, mental as well as corporeal, that arife from
   inconfideratenefs and folly ? Believe me, ladies, mifcar-
   riages  are  frequently brought about by  imprudence.
   When  a wife has  the  pleafing profpea of becoming a
   mother,  it is no longer a time to be revelling in  mid-
   night  affemblies.   Such  a condua  not only deprives
   her of her natural  reft, but alfo  endangers  her health,
   and thereby oftentimes promotes this dreaded e\ il.
      In  this and every other point, I beg leave to caution
   you againft falling into  wide extremes.   Some ladies  I
   have feen madly running up and down, and jumbling ail
   the town over  in the moft jolting hackney-coach that
   could  be procured; and, although at  the fame time they
   complain of being ffiaken to pieces, yet this they fay is to
   prevent  the accident.—Others never ftep out of doors,
   nay, nor fo much as go  up and down a pair of ftairs, for
   fevcral months:  this alfo is to avoid the danger.
      Again let me warn  you of both extremes.  Be this
   your guide—whatever exercife you are capable of taking
   without fatigue, indulge—but no more.   Never, in this
    pc.int,  regard the example  of others.  Becaufe  your
   friend can do this and that, it is no reafon  you fliould; 
1.0               LETTER  III.
and if the attempt  gives  pain,  it  fliould  certainly  be
avoided.
   I need npt caution the prefent age againft the perni-
cious cuftom of lacing too tightly;  for a lafs of fifteen,
in the drefs of our times, would in the laft.agc have been   -
fuppofed  toj>e jtift at down-lying.
   I do not mean to condemn,  but to praife tfce Jadjes
forgiving themselves room in  the  waift:  neverthelefs
extremes, you know, ate not  advifed.  There  is. a cer-
tain medium  in every  part of life, which  is thzje-ne-
fais-quoi that coiutitutes the agreeable.
   It is as uncommon now to fee  a younggirl crooked,
ask formerly was to fee  one  perfe&ly ftraight.  I  he-
licvc no one denies that their  ffiapes were grcajiy injiued
,by the ltiffnefs  of their flays, and by bebg Jafifd. fo. ex-
ceedingly clofe.   This pernicious cuftom was frequently
the caufe of a bad ftate of heakh, and .threw many. yuUjOg
women into coemptions.   We .now rarely  fee ladies
fainting in  pybihc places: but wjfcen they did  not  allow
themfelves room to breathe,  it happened every  day.*
 This  prudent alteration, therefore,  .lb fervicealle  to
 maide:.?, is ftill more neceftVy for married  wonad.
   There is another caution at this time to be obferved.
 I J ..ve frequently  beheld,  with, pain, divers ladies too
 fc,.  .0 be lifting and playing with:heavy chiidiep:  there

   * It is to be hopptl the la lies will not np.nn lace thepvfejve?
 up, to c'iipi.iy firt  Ih ue.-. uie Author,  L .wcver,  w.P. e» t<.
 warn them agctiial £b pernicious a i.iihio'... 
                 LETTER  III.               41
are certain fympathetic emotions, altogether natural and
laudable, which prompt them to it;  and far be it from
my thoughts to deprive them  of fo tender and generous
a gratification: neverthelefs, to fee a delicate little form,
very near her time, ftop a bouncing boy, and  catch him
in her arms, is really an alarming  fight; many mifcarri-
ages happen from  fuch inconfideratencfs;  and,  if  our
conjeaures are not wrong, many blemifhes alfo by thefe
means are probably occafioned.
   But there is a  praaice indifcriminately ufed even  to
this day, worfe than all the reft;  and that  is bleeding.
Whether a woman be robuft or weakly, if fhe is preg-
nant, fhe muft be bled.  Has fhe any  pains ? No mat-
ter.__Is (he in health ?  Yes.—But (he muft loofe blood.
Why ? Becaufe (he is with child.   Her mother  always
did it, and her grandmother, aye, and her great great
grandmother too, time out of mind; and therefore  can
the propriety of it be doubted?—Thefe are the  general
arguments ufed by women in favour of bleeding, when
they are in perfea health: but if any flight indifpofition
happens, be it ever fo foreign to their particular fituations,
and which perhaps at another time would  pafs unnoti-
ced, dreadful confequences are apprehended, if they arc
not bled:  nay, indeed thofe little temporary inconveni-
ences which generally  and unavoidably  attend  advan-
ced pregnancy, in their miftaken  opinions,  call aloud
for bleeding.
                          E 
42              LETTER   III.
   In our two former letters, we took notice of the diffi-
culty that attends rooting out fixed and prevailing preju-
dices; and I am apprehenfive that this is as deeply feated
in the  minds of women,  as thofe of which  we there
treated.  However let  us aflc the  affiftance of reafon
alfo in this particular, and fearch a little into the  merits
of the cuftom.
   Is not the infant fupporte.d by the mother ?
   When there are  two to be fupported, is not more nou-
riffiment required than for one of them only?
   Is this then a time,  without a real neceffity, to fport
with the blood of  a weakly and delicate woman ? No,
furely.
   Let  me therefore beg of you, my ingenuous friends,
to confider this matter in a rational light.   I have given
a plain and eafy clue to purfue the enquiry;  and the fub-
jea will not permit me  to enter more fully  into it with
my fair readers, without  afluming the charaaer of the
phyfician, and without  advancing  thofe  things, which
mav, in this colkaion of letters,  be confidered as an
affront  to delicacy.
   To  your own  thoughts then I commit it; and will
 conclude this letter with faying, that, though I  do not
 deny but there are cafes which require bleeding,  yet  I
 caution you againft doing it at random, and, indeed, with-
 out very good advice:  at the fame time, I firmly  believe
 fuch inftances rarely happen to thofe who  are not of a
 robuft  conftitution, and am fully  perfuaded  that many
  women are daily injured by this wrong praaice. 
                      (43  )


                 LETTER   IV.

 Mother's milk—the natural and beft food for infants.

      1 HAVE endeavoured  to fet forth the  ridicu-
loufnefs of women terrifying themfelves, and every body
about them during their pregnancy,  with evils that moft
probably are altogether imaginary. I would wifli my fe-
male readers to confider this fubjea in a more cxtenfive
view, and to aim at greater fortitude than  the fex can
generally boaft,  in  the common  occurrences  of life;
when the tendernefs of men is notfo much engaged, and
when the  ladies cannot reafonably  expea fuch kind
allowances as are made at this particular  time.  Think
me not fevere ;  a faithful monitor muft fpeak with free-
dom; the man who is blind to this foible, muft be infen-
fible to your charms, and unworthy of your confidence.
Your happinefs is at ftake, much more  fo than a fuperficial
obferver may imagine.   Female vivacity foftens the  rug-
ged paths of life;  and,  believe me, felf-love operates
powerfully even upon the moft generous minds.   The
woman  who indulges gloomy ideas—who is continually
brooding over  melancholy—who,  in her houis of do-
meftic retirement, is perpetually rendering herfelf mife-
rable, and her moft intimate acquaintance,  and deareft
relatives, unhappy—fuch a miftaken  she muft only ex-
ped the  cold eye of pity.   However powerful her  per-
il 
 44              LETTER   IV.
 fonal attraaions, fhe will ultimately banifli her hufband
 and her friends.   It  will be  found her greateft misfor-
 tune,  and at a time too when  it is irretrievable, to have,
 one had the merit to gain, perhaps, a valuable heart,
 when  fhe  has not  difcretion  enough to keep it.—The
 importance of the fubjea will,  I hope, apologize for this
 digreffion.
   We have alfo earneftly laboured to conquer the pre-
 judices concerning marks, in confequence of frights and
 longings; and have expofed the fabulous hiftories of thofe
 wonders.  We have likewife ffiown how the underftand-
 ing may be deceived by the forms of fancy;  and have
 no lefs earneftly endeavoured  to explode the  miftaken
 cuftom of bleeding indifcriminately, during pregnancy-
 pointing out, upon rational principles,  the abfurdity of
 all.  A talk equally arduous in  every part; a thoufand
 prejudices being imbibed againft  the whole.
    Another fubjea at this time prefents itfelf to view—
 I mean  that of women fuckling their own  children;
 againft which the prefent obftinately received opinions are
 ftill more unaccountable than the former; as nothing but
 a ftrange perverfion of human  nature could firft deprive
 children of their mother's milk. Give me leave  therefore
to obferve, that milk is the natural fupport which the great
Author of  our  being has provided for our infant ftate;
 and I am heartily forry the prefent manner of bringing up
 children  puts me, in fome meafure, under the neceflity 
                   LETTER   IV.               45
 of proving milk to be the  beft food that can be given
 them.
   Milk is a nourifhment produced from the various kinds
 of food taken in by the mother. Her ftomach breaks and
 digefts  the aliment, which,  after various operations  of
 nature, becomes fo far animalized  as to be  a kind  of
 white blood; from whence animal bodies at all times re-
 ceive their conftant fupport and recruit.   This therefore
 being admitted—until an infant's powers are fufficiently
 ftrengthened to perform fo great a bufinefs as that of di-
 geftion,the mother, by the all-wife appointment of Piovi-
 dence,  from her own breaft fupplies it with the means of
 life.  Hence no other nourifhment appears fo proper for
 a new-born child. .
   For the farther information and fatisfaaion of my fe-
 male readers, and to convince them that miik is the moft
 proper nourifhment for tender infants, I think it will not
 be improper to give a concife account of  the manner  in
 which grown perfons receive their conftant recruit and
 fupport  from their daily food.  .
   Whether it be animal or vegetable diet, or a mixture
 ofboth,  :Aen into the ftomach, the quality of the food
 is  fo far altered by the digeftive faculties, that a milky
nutriment is produced from it; and as. the aliment paffes
through  the  bowels, this milk is taken  up by a great
camber of fine veffels,  which,  from their deflined-office, .
are called the milky veffels;  and through  them it is con-
veyed into the blood for our  fupport: and, as before ol*.-
                       £2. 
 46             LETTER  IV.
 fervcd, nature  has fo admirably contrived  the animal
 fabric, that mothers are likewife enabled to fupport their
 young from this conftant fupply, which at the fame time
 alfo affords to themfelves their own proper nourifhment.
   This  is the  grand fcheme of nutriment:  for, when
 thefe particles of our food, which  afford us  fuftenance,
 are thus taken up by the milky veffels,  the groffer parts
 are, by the fame wonderful conftruaion of  the bowels
 rejeaed and evacuated, in a manner well known to every
 one.
   Whoever, therefore, gives  this argument a rational
 confideration,  will, I  truft, be  led to acknowledge
 milk to be not only the natural, but the beft and  moft
 ftrengthening nourifhment that  infants  can  poflibly re-
 ceive ; becaufe their digeftive faculties are, at this time,
 incapable of producing  a good and proper milky nutri-
 ment from any kind of food  which can be given to
 them.
   The Author of Nature has univerfally committed the
 fupport of infants,  and the early part of children's edu-
cation, to  women; if  it were  not thus  ordained,  he
would undoubtedly have furnifhed men alfo  with milk
for the nourifhment of their young; and experience con-
vinces us, that women are much better qualified both by
nature and cuftom for  this important concern.  This
fyftem of nurfing, therefore, is  peculiarly addreffed to
the fair fex, who are moft interefted in  L, ar.d who will
no.t fenfibly  feel the happy or mifcrablc efftas of the 
                  LETTER   VI.               47
manner in which they  difcharge this firft  great  truft
which is repofed in them.—Here, indeed, a mother will
affuredly  reap the happy fruits of fortitude, and thofe
likewife of a  lively,  cheerful and  obliging  difpofition.
This fubjea will  be treated at large  in the twelfth let-
ter;  neverthelefs  give  me  leave  to obferve,  in  this
place, that fuch  as  the mother is,  generally fpeaking,
fuch will be the firft,  and moft probably  the moft dura-
ble impreffions recived by the child.  It therefore natu-
rally follows, that infants, whofe minds are early accufto-
med to agreeable objeas, aad whofe expanding ideas
arc gratified with pleafing fenfations,  unabated by flavifh
fears—fuch,  and fuch only,  as they rife  into life,  will
poffefs that generous gratitude, which prompts them to
confider it as a firft great duty to contribute to the happi-
r.efs of their parents.
   1 am exceedingly  offended, whenever I obferve  a
child,  grewn tc  a man or woman's  eftate, who fhows,
upon ar.v  occa:~on, a want of refpea or  duty to its pa-
rents;  and mere particularly fo,  if  fuch flight or con-
tempt be cxerc'ied towards a good mother.   Ur.r.atu al
monfter!  to be wanting in refpea to her who bo:e  him
in her womb—who  cheriihed  and fupported him  with
her milk—and for msnv years after his birth  gave up her
own pleasures and recreations entirely for his fake—and
who had nocarcsbut for his wehare.  I would have a mat
fet upon the forehead of fuch a barbarous favage; and be
fliould be  hunted from the fociety of men. 
 48              LETTER  IV.
   Thofe mothers, who by a fooliffi indulgence fpoil their
 children's tempers and difpofitions, are undoubtedly cul-
 pable; but the example of a violent, paflionate,  yet neg-
 ligent and infenfible  father,  is equally or more to  be
 dreaded.   A mother has this plea, that fhe endeavours
 at leaft at the time to make her child happy ;  and it may
 be faid,  in excufe for her condua, that fhe is to be pitied
 in not knowing better: but there is no excufe,  either to
 God or man, that can be urged to mitigate the vice and
 folly of fuch a  father: the iniquity refteth with  himfelf
 alone; for the benevolent Author of our being is not to
 be arraigned upon this or any other occafion.
   How provident is nature in  all her works!  How won-
 derfully indulgent to man, and other  helplefs animals,
 in their firft (tate of exiftence, by thus enabling  the mo-
 ther to feed her young with nourifhment drawn from her •
 own body, until fuch time as  the offspring has obtained
 ftrength  fufricient to provide  for  itfelf! This gracious •
 bounty is abufed only by man, the moft  intelligent  of'
 earthly beings;  whofe mifufe of reafon leads  him aftray,
 whilft humble inftina direas all other parti of the crea-
 tion aright.
   If we  look around us, we (hall find every animal that '
 gives fuck, carefully foftering her young: and other en-
joyments are  no more thought of, until they are capable '
 of providing  for  themfelves.   An example by which
 mankind might profit much: but the ftrong impulfe of paf-
 fion, in this and many other inftaaets, iubdacs our rca- 
                 LETTER   IV.               59
fon.   Did we confider the benefit of our children more,
and the indulgence of our felfifh inclinations lefs,  the
race  of man would  be more healthy, ftrong, and vigo-
rous, than we can at prefent boaft.   But, alas!  fuch is
the depravity of human nature, that it would be in vain
to enlarge upon this topic of complaint; it is therefore
our prefent bufinefs to prevent, as much as poflible,  the
future growth of thefe evils.
   Let us, my friends, as you are all interefted in the en-
quiry, compare the fuccefs of mankind with that of the
other animals  in rearing their young.   A little obferva-
tion  will convince us, that greater numbers of the human
race are loft in their infancy, than of any other fpeeies ;
for near one half the deaths, within our bills of mortali-
ty, happen to children under five  years of age.  And
further, compare the opulent with the ruftic,  the fuccefs
is ftill exceedingly different.   How many children  of
the great fall viaims to prevailing cuftoms, the effeas of
riches! How many of the poor are faved by wanting
thofe luxuries !
   Again, compare the fuccefs of fuch as fuckle their own
offspring, with that of thofe  who commit them to  the
care of nurfes, or bring them up by hand ; and we  ffiall
there likewife find an  amazing difference:  but more of
this hereafter.
   From thefe confiderations,  it is evident, that Nature
is always preferable to art; whence the brute  creation
fucceed better than the human,  in preferring their own 
51©               LETTER   IV.
fpecies.   And the peafant, whom neceffity compels to
follow nature, is, in this refpea, happier than his lord.
Thofe mothers alfo, who,  in fpite of cuftom,  pride, of
indolence,  will take their little  babies to their breaft,
muft  have  more  comfort and fuccefs, than thofe who
cruelly confign them to the care of fofter nurfes ;  there-
by denying them  that food, which is not only the moft
proper, but is ordained likewife for their infant ftate.
  Let me then intreat thofe who are defirous  of rearing
their  children, not to rob them  of their natural breaft.
Would they wiffi them to be healthy and beautiful, let
fuch mothers give fuck:  for  even wet nurfes, we fhall
find, are very little to be depended upon. 
( 5i)
                  LETTER   V.

Arguments  in favour of fuckling—as well for the mo-
  ■ ther's fake, as the child's—and the evils to be appre-
   hended in delivering  children to  the care of fofter
   nurfes.

      JTaEALTH and beauty are defirable, and the
latter in particular to women.  They muft, in this  cafe*
be united;  as  it is  impoffible for a woman to be truly
beautiful who wants health.   Difeafe  blights  the rofy
bloom upon the cheek,  turns the delicate whitenefs of
the flcin into, a fallow hue, and  deftroys the enchanting
luftre of the eye.   How infufficient  is  it for  a lovely
maid to make a conqueft,  if fhe cannot keep it,  as  a
wife !
   It is not at prefent my province to enlarge upon the
accomplifhments of the mind.  How neceffary they are
tofecure the affeaions of a hufband, every prudent wo-
man knows: and fhe muft  be equally fenfible,  that the
elegance of a perfon  is alfo to be  regarded; an advan-
tage which  thofe who  are in a bad ftate of health have
fcarcely fpirits to attend to: befides,  illnefs too often
renders the fweeteft difpofitions crofs and peevifh.
   Thofe who are happy enough to have children,  run
the greater!  rifle, not only of lofing them, but of deftroy-
irg their own  health and beauty, by repelling their  milk
immediately after delivery.   It  never can be donewith- J 
52               LETTER  V.
out producing a fever.  Oftentimes tumours, and can-
cers in the breaft, owe their origin to this pernicious cuf-
tom;  afthmatical complaints, and lingering difeafes, are
frequently occafionedby it; and too commonly, the im-
mediate death of the mother follows  from fuch ill ma-
nagement.
  Confider my fair pupils, for your own  health's fake,
and for the fake of your future happinefs, how neceffary
it is to preferve fuch dear pledges of mutual love.  By
thefe  powerful ties, many a man, in fpite  of  impetuous
paflions, is compelled to continue the prudent, kind,  in-
dulgent tender hufband.   Did you but thoroughly know
the fecret impulfes of the human heart, you would not rifle
the lofs of your children, by unnaturally denying them
the means of life.
   Let not the miftaken hufband infinuate, that  you will
be lefs charming in his fight, by doing your duty to your
little  ones:  many—many inftances have I known,  of
weakly and delicate  women, who, at my particular re-
queft, have fuckled their children, and thereby  obtained
a much better ftatc of health;  nay, they have been more
pleafing in their perfons, after thus becoming happy mo-
thers ;  and their hufbands have,  with pleafure, acknow-
ledged their improved charms.
   There may be fome cafes in which it is not prudent
 for a mother to give fuck; but thefe inftances  rarely hap-
 pen:  and  there  may be fome women, who, although,
 thev are ever fo defirous, cannot fuckle;  thh, however, 
                  LETTER  V.                53
is but feldom to be urged.   I  fincerely fympathife with
thofe unfortunate ladies, who are thus depi ived of a hap-
pinefs, only known to thofe who enjoy it.   What fhall
we fay under thefe neceflkous  circumftances ?  Shall  we
advife fuch mothers to employ a wet-nurfe; or to bring
their children up under^ieir own management, accord-
ing to proper rules which fhall be laid down in a follow-
ing letter?  They are both in my opinion, wretched  ne-
ceflkies.   Yet, was an infant of my own thus  unhappily
frtuated, without hefkatron I would prefer the latter ;
for much is to be apprehended from a child's fucking a
ftrange  woman:  nothing  lefs than abfolute neceffity
would make me comply with it.
   Too often difeafes, and  thofe of the worft kind,  are
imbibed from the breaft.   It is a fhocking truth, but vi-
cious inconftancy is  become  fo univerfal, even among
the lower rank of people, that  many women offer them-
felves, and are daily employed as wct-nurfes, who are la-
bouring under dreadful and  infeaious difeafes.   Yet,
fuppofing you can arrive at a f.rtisfactory affurancc  in this
point, there is a certain cleanfing quality in the milk of
of a woman immediately after child-bearing, exceedingly
ncceffary for the new-born  babe in order to prepare its
ftomach and bowels for  future food: this you very rare-
ly can obtain from a wet-nurfe.
   There  is yet a  further evil to be dreaded: as it  is
through neceffity alone that a woman  will defert  her
even infant, and take another to her breaft, fhe may be
                          F 
 S4               LETTER   V.
 induced, by the advantage flie gains, to conceal her being
 again with child, and continue to fuckle the infant, till
 it pines away and dies, for want of proper nourifhment.
 Thoufands have been facrificed by thefe means. Should
 they, however, efcape, in either cafe they are, too gene-
 rally, miferable beings:  for, ij^confequence  of the firft,
 difeafes of the"glands, known by the vulgar name of th£
 king's evil, and other terrible complaints, fucceed ;  and
 in the latter, the rickets, watery  gripes, any  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 erroneous method of bring-
 ing 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
 by improper nourifhment, generally renders them in-
 firm, or fliort-lived.   Almoft every complaint to which
 children are fubjea, appears to me to proceed originally
 from an improper management of them; for the young
 of all other animals are full of health and vigour.
   And moreover, independently of thefe misfortunes,
 the future happinefs of the parent herfelf is greatly inte-
 refted in this maternal concern;  as it generally falls out,
 that  thofe children who are negleaed by their mothers
 during  their infant years,  forget all duty and affeaion
 towards them,  when fuch mothers are in the decline of
 Ike j and this contempt from a child is nothing lefs than 
                  LETTER   V.               55
plunging a dagger into the breaft of its parent: and be-
fides the cruel pangs which fhe muft unavoidably expe-
rience from  this want of duty, daily obfervation convin-
ces us, that  widows frequently fuffer not a little,  even
ih the common conveniences of  life, by the means of
thofe very children, wfcp,  if properly educated,  would
have probably become their fupport and comfort.
   Such are  the melancholy profpeas attending the pre-
fent unnatural  praaice of  wet  and dry nurfing; from
which a  curfe is  oftentimes entailed upon a generation,
of which parents ought to efteem themfelves the authors.
How terrible foever thefe things appear, I efteem it my
duty to  acquaint mothers in particular,  what a rifle they
run  in thus hazarding the health and lives of their chil-
dren, together  with their own prefent and future happi-
nefs; and fincercly hope I -may.imprint the f.a.ia e-h.c
tions upon them,  that daily experience in my profeffioQ
prefents to me, againft thefe pernicious  cuftoms.
   Oh!  that I could prevail on my fair  country-women,
to become ftill more lovely in the fight of men! Ikihve
it not,  when it is infmuated that your befoms arelefs
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  univerfal and generous love for the virtuous part
of your fex.   Truft me, there is no hufband could with-
ftand the fond  folicitations of an endearing wife, would
ffie be earneft  in her defire of bringing  up her own chil-
dren.   Reft affured,  when he beholds  the objea of his 
56               LETTER   V.
foul cheriffiing and fupporting in her arms the propitious
reward of wedlock, and fondly traces  his own linea-
ments in the darling boy, it recalls a thoufand delicate
fenfationsto a generous mind: perhaps he drops a fym-
pathetic tear in recolleaing the painful throes of the  mo-
ther, which flie cheerfully bojf, to make  him fuch an
incftimable prefent.   His  love,  tendernefs,  and grati-
tude, being thus engaged—with  what rapture, muft he
behold her, ftill carefully intent upon  the prefervation of
his own image!
   How ardent foever fuch an one's  affeaions might be
before matrimony, a fcene like this will more firmly rivet
the pleafing fetters  of love:—for, though a beautiful vir-
gin muft ever kindle emotions in a man of fenfibility, a
chafte and tender wife, with a little one at her breaft, is
certainly to her hufband the  moft exquifitely enchanting
objea upon earth:—and furely,  ladies, had faffiion but
eflabliffied this laudable cuftom among you,  it  would
prove fo truly amiable,  as not only to excite the emula-
tion of your maiden friends to worthy conquefts, but alfo
raife their ambition to ffiine in charaaers thus dignified.
How greatly then would you contribute to the felicity
of your own families, and of mankind in general. 
( 57  )
i
                 LETTER  VI.

The management of infants from the birth—with direc-
         tions for putting them to the breaft.
      ITAPPY,  thrice happy woman, now bocome
a joyful mother,  nurturing her young! Say, tell me, you
who know the  rapturous  delight,  how  complete is the
blifs of enfolding in  your longing  arms the  dear, dear
fruits of all your pains!—pains now no more remember-
ed.  Long may you prefeive the darling, and be doubly
bleft in its future beauty, health and virtue!
   I am not unmindful, my charming friends, of the  pre-
judices neceffary to be conquered, before fo material a
benefit to mankind, as that which I am to pieture out in
this letter, can be generally obtained.   In  my laft the
misfortunes attending the negka of this  duty were fully
explained;  and as  I have frequently fuccecded among
the private circle of my friends, by addrefling  their un-  -
derftanding,  I truft to the candour of the more ingenu-  -
ous  fex, for my fuccefs in public.  My endeavour, there-
 fore, throughout, fhall be tc 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 for-
 tunate enough to meet with  your  approbation; as your
 obfervance of the rules laid down  in this little ■manual
 muft neceffaiily follow.   Much depends upon  ycr.r ma-
ternal  care m the firft ftage of life; it is  a plcafing duty,.,
                          2F 
55                LETTER  VI.
to which you are honourably called, both by nature and
the cuftom of all nations.
   I am truly fenfible, that, according to the prefent mif-
taken manner of fuckling and rearing children, the bufi-
nefs is a fatigue,  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, and  lay down fome general rules, that will not
only prove beneficial to the child, but make  the taflc  of
fuckling  eafy and delightful  to the  mother:  even the
polite and gay may cheerfully undertake • this, at prefent
laborious, employment, without greatly interfering with
a focial life—for the gloomy ideas  of a nurfery will \ a-
niffi.   The paths  of  nature  are  eafy  and delightful.
Come then, my fair, and let us follow her, ftep by ftep.
  We have before obferved, that a child brings  its im-
mediate nourifhment into the world with its birth.  Man
is born in forrow.   The  fatigue and pain of delivery,
both to the mother and the child,  require reft;  and ge-
nerally, where no improper means are  ufed, they both
direaly fall into  a fwect refrefhing deep; during which
time the milky veffels of the breaft are  dilated.   Thus
with prudent management, in a ffiort time a fmall flow
of m'lk will be obtained.   The child, replete, with nou-
rishment at its birth, awakes equally  refrefiied with the
mother, ar.H by eagc -ly fucking th. nipple encourages its
more  plentiful iuppiy. 
                 LETTER  VI.                59
   Sometimes there may be  a little  inconvenience with
the firft child; but this is rendered ftill greater by keep-
ing it away, perhaps two or three days, fiom the mother,
and fuffering her attendants  to draw  her breafts, which
generally occafions fore nipples.  The gentle, eafy, and
frequent ffiaion of an infant, will not only prevent this-
inconvenience, but gradually invite the milk,  thereby re-
lieving .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
leflbn nature teaches;  and wife are they who obferve her
precepts.
   As  to an infant's  clothing, the. lighter  it is, and the
more unconfined, the  better; very little covering is ne-
ceffary: and the future deformities of fliape, &c. not to
mention the deplorable lofs of health, fometimes proceed
from the drefs being too heavy, and confined, at  its  firft
entrance into life.
   I am entirely againft an  infant's receiving any  nou-
rifhment until it can be put to the breaft; and much more
fo againft cramming it widi what nurfes call pap.   The
ftomach is not yet fit  for  any other food than what  Na-
ture has prepared. Art cannot 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  occafioned by
the uneafinefs it fuffers, either from its drefs, or in  corr1-
fequence of thue cramming it.   The complaints of  chif- 
Co               LETTER  VI.
dren in thefe early days, as I before obferved, and like-
wife the difficulty in cutting of teeth, which I fhall here-
after fpeak of, proceed almoft entirely from this  wrong
practice.   Watery gripes,  offertfive ftools, and moft dif-
orders in their bowels, are  altogether  occafioned by im-
proper food.
  Cuftom has rendered this ridiculous praaice fo uni-
verfal, that the good women continually complain it  is
impoffible for a child to remain without food  till the
milk comes.   Let any mother make a fair and unpreju-
diced trial, and experince will convince her of the truth
of our maxim.
   How are other animals  fupported? Nature, in  no one
part of the creation, is fo imperfea, as to be indebted  to
the wifdom of man  to reaify her works.   And fuppofe
a cafe, in which the  milk does not flow fo foon as in ge-
neral  it is expeaed, let the child, under fuch circum-
ftances, be put to the breaft again and again ;  a very lit-
tle nourifhment will at prefent fuffice, and that will moft
commonly be obtained from the nipple;  if it  is not,  a  .
little  warm milk and water, witii  a fmall quantity  of
Lifbon fugar, k  the only nouriffiment, in  my opinion,
that is proper to be given : this  advice I have  caufed
V: be ftrialy followed, and have happily  experienced the
good effeas of it in  an infant of my own,  who fcarcely
received any fupport from  the breaft  till after the third
 day from the birth.   Follow, my  dear ladies, thefe
j-ules; and where there are an hundred accidents that'- 
                 LETTER  VI.               61
now happen to mothers,  in confequence of milk fevers,
and to  children,  in  confequence of being denied the
breaft, you will rarely find one.   I am convinced of the
truth  of my affertion by  experience, and  therefore am
the more bold in recommending it to you,  andto the
public. 
( 62 )
                 LETTER   VII.

A. natural and eafymediod  of fuckling children.—-This
  duty proved to be a pleafure rather  than a fatigue.

      JN OW then, my nearly interefted friends,  let
us obferve thofe parts of the creation where inftina only
can direa, and for once learn a leffon from the  tender
brute.   Behold thofe animals which are familiar to  us,
how fuccefsful they are in bringing up their youi ^ !  ani-
mals that give milk to three, four,  five,  fix,  and fome-
times more of their offspring at a birth.   How well and
happy are their dams! What unremitting  care  do they.
take of their nurflings! They never defert them, until
time has given to  their bodies ftrength fufficient  to pro-
vide for  themfelves.   Provident  nature!—and fhall
mankind alone diftruft'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 not
ltrength to fuckle  it,  when the little creatures that fur-
round  us  can rear a whole family at once.
  O that I could convince you of the breaft alone being a
fufficient fupport for the moft robuft of children!  Confi-
der  nature well in all her works!  Let  ignorance  and
prejudice  no longer prevail! Believe this folemn truth,
almoft every woman  is capable of fuporting  her babe; 
                 LETTER  VII.              63
And great will prove the advantages, both to herfelf and
her infant.   When it is confined  altogether to the breaft
it gains ftrength every day, and defies difeafe.   The
mother, under  thefe  circumftances, would  not again
conceive fo quickly; and mifcarriages would thereby be,
in a great meafure,  prevented; unlefs hurried on by fre-
quent bleedings,  and other miftaken praaices.
   If, for the fake of your  families, you value your own
 lives, attend to this indifputable faa.   You yourfelves
know how many women  are ruined in their health by
not fuckling their children;  and what numbers are con-
tinually facrificcd by unfkilful methods of treatment,  at
the time of their delivery.   You may—you fliould fup-
port  your young; the taflc  is  eafy and delightful,  and the
thriving child rewards your pains.   It is not laborious.
I would not wiffi to fee you  flaves : the tender delicacy
of your frame forbids the very thought.   The method is
plain and eafy—only  follow nature.
    Sleep is effentially neceffary to life;  and that the fto-
mach fliould i^metimes be  at  reft, is as effentially necef-
fary  to health;  both thefe  things the mother and child
 equally require.  Thus the flavifh part of the bufinefs is
fetafide; for it is an abfurd  and erroneous cuftom, after
ftuffiing it continually in the day, to keep a child at the
  breaft all night. This counters the operations of nature,
 not only by depriving it of its reft,  but alfo, from a con-
ftant fullnefs, the powers of the infant-body are prevented
from exerting  themfelvcs  in a proper manner upon the 
    64             LETTER  VII.
  aliment received.  Hence the ftomach and bowels are
  enfeebled, and thereby rendered incapable of producing
  fuch wholefojne nourifhment as a child would otherwife
  obtain from its food;  to which grand purpofe found fleep
  and abftinence are equally conducive.
    On the other hand, the mother, being continually .
  difturbed during the night, is alfo prevented from affimi-
  lating that good and perfea milk,  which would othef-
  wife  be produced from the food of the day.  Hence fhe
  becomes ill, grows tired of her taflc, and the crude milk
  proves noxious to the weakened bowels of the infant*
  Thus difappointment  and  death frequently fucceed.   '
    I know it will be urged by fome, that it is impoffible-
  to keep children quiet and at feft, during the night, and
  that they cry for food.  Let them be managed from the
j, birth agreeably to'the'direaionsihere given, and then I
  believe few perfofis will complain of their being  trouble-
 Tome. One reafon why children do not fleep well  by night
  is, that they are indulged too much in the cradle by day,
  when they fliould have exercife.   Anothor ftill greater
  reafon, I am  inclined  to think, proceffts  from pain,
  occafioned 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 conftitu-
  Uon is oftentime, eUablifhed.                        ' 
                LETTER  VII.              65
  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 flumbers; and thefe little creatures can
then only difcover their uneafinefs  by crying.  Hence
nurfes,  partly for  their own  quiet,  and partly through
a   miftaken  notion  that  children cry only for nou-
rifhment,  cram  them  until they are quite  gorged.
Such infants eagerly devour whatever is given  them,
becaufe  the  reception  of  food  takes  off that too
great fenfibility  of the ftomach  which caufed the pain.
 A fimilar effea  to this, grown perfons, troubled with the
 complaints I have now mentioned, muft every day expe-
 rience  upon  taking  nourifhment; for it always affords a
 prefent relief.
    Four or five times in the twenty-four hours are fuffi-
 cient for a child to receive  the breaft; and let the fol-
 lowing rules be nearly obferved.  About fix or feven In
 the morning,  after which the child  may be allowed an
 hour or two's  fleep?—again,  an hour afier the  mother
 has break fafted—and a third time, if flie plcafes, before
 dinner—a fourth time,  at five or fix o'clock in the even-
 ing, being two or three hours  after  dinner—and laftly,
 between ten and eleven, juft before  (he goes to reft.
    Now, by thofe mothers who have fei vants to take off
 the laborious part of the management of children,  this
  furely cannot be deemed a fatigue: that the taflc itfelf is
                            G 
66               LETTER   VII.
a pleafure, the fondnefs of nurfes towards children at the
breaft fully proves; and that it is an indifpenfable duty,
the feelings of human nature evidently proclaim.
  In the early months, fleep may be indulged during the
day; but exercife ffiould alfo at  proper intervals be gi-
ven to  children.   As they  grow ftronger,  fleep ffiould
be lefs  encouraged, and exercife increafed.
   There are feveral points of management that I have no
fault to find  with; and, among others, think  it need-
lefs to  dwell  npon the neceffity of keeping children dry
and clean; it is fo evident,  that few nurfes are culpable
in thefe particulars.   But as to rocking children, the
cuftom is altogether abfurd.  He was-an ingenious man
who invented a moufe-trap, though none but a fool firft
thought of a  cradle;  it was  certainly.invented to fave
the attendants trouble, for which, by the bye, they fuf-
fer more in return.  I never permitted a cradle to dis-
grace my nurfery.  Infants, if well, fleep without this liil-
laby-labour ;  and  fuch forced dozings  generally render
them peeviffi and watchful  in the night; 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 ffiould be kept awake
and exercifed as  much as poffible; by which time,  if
ma .aged  properly, they will generally gain  ftrength
ei.c- gh to flioot  ibefe teeth,  and the others will in du:
coui fe be cut with eafe. 
                LETTER  VII.               &,
 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 entirely owing to the weaknefs
of their bodies, that children cut their teeth with fo much
difficulty, and that it is attended with fever, convulfions,
and death.
   This weaknefs of body is but  little underftood; for
if a child be bloated with fat, which too generally hap-
pens when  it is improperly  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 conflitution  thus feeble: for if the butcher did rot kill
lambs and calves when they become  immoderately fat,
they   likewife  would die  as frequently  as  children.
Which death may be juftly attributed to the prepofterous
method,  fo generally  in ufe, of giving them too much
 crude unfalutry nourifhment; and not managing them in
 other refpeas as nature requires,  to Ilrengthen  the body
 from the food received.
    After what has been  advanced concerning the early
 part  of  infant-management, give me leave to obferve,
 that  the arguments  enforced upon this important fub-
jea are  fubmitted to the confideration of thofe mothers
 who are defirous of preferring a rational fyftem to bigoted
 maxims and opinions.   I would wiffi them to be attend-
 ed to, and I truft that they v.ill merit their approbation.
 I do not expect the foregoing rules to be invariably adopt-
 ed from the birth.  I know ver/jwcll, and it is  olvi.us 
 6S              LETTER   VII.
 to thofe who have been attentive to children, that infants
 require fome more, and others lefs attendance,  efpeci-
 ::31y during the firft month or two; and a certain time
 is neccffary, even under the  moft prudent management,
 to  accuftom them  to  our  wifhedifor  habits.   There
 is a wide difference between knowing  what  is  right,
 and doing it;   and oftentimes,  although  we may  be
 defirous of  ftrialy  following the moft prudent max-
 ims,  difficulties will  unexpeftedly arifo  in  the firft
attempts.  Let me  therefore  defire you to aim at the
 above regulations,  which by  perfeverance will foon be-
 come  praaicable; and then, determine for yourfelves,
 how greatly  they will contribute to your own  eafe and
 comfort, as well as to the advantage of  your children* 
( 69  )
                LETTER  VIII.
      The proper method of weaning Children.

    IN  my laft letter I condemned the prefent errone-
ous method of fuckling and feeding children,  and re-
commended a plain and eafy way of rearing them to fix
or feven  months old,  upon a rational plan, pointed out
by nature, in  many different parts of the creation ; and
which moft probably was fli ictly followed by mankind
in the early ages of the world, before luxury, pride, and
indolence, crept  into fociety.    Ancient hiftory nc\er
could have boafted of fo  many ftrong and valiant  men,
had  not  mothers in  their infancy,  given ftrength and
 vigour to  their conftitutions ; and the caufe of the pre-
 fent  pufillanimous,   feeble, weakly,  and difeafed race
 of mortals,  may  in fome  meafure  be afcribed to the
 want of this earl'eft maternal care.
    Let us talk with  the plain and  fimple h-irbandman,
 who has a nurfery- of trees under his direction : he will
 tell us it  is not  fufficient  for the ftocks to be gof.d  of
 their kind; for, unlefs they be fecured from rude winds,
 and  properly cultivated,  fo that they may receive nou-
 rifhment,  they will never thrive.
    It is  literally the fame in animal  life ; there are un-
 fort  mate  motiiers who daily and wofully expericv.-e thfi
 truth of this argument.   H  v  many women  a.e bleft
 with fine children,  not  a Lk.nifli, nor the m.uk cf a
                         2 G 
70              LETTER   VIII.
difeafe about them at their birth ; and yet before many
months are  paft, for want of prudent care and proper
nourifhment, do they not wafte away and die ? I need
not fay more ; the tears of many of my gentle readers,
at the unhappy  recolleaion, will fufficiently teftify the
fit a.   May  fuch tears prove a warning  for their future
condua, and, truft me,  my honoured  matrons, your
forrow will be turned into joy—a joy of the  tendereft
nature, generous and truly laudable !
   Let not man, in the vanity of his heart, triumph in
a fuperiorky over the fair fex !  for to them alone it be-
longs to lay  the foundation, not of what he is, but what
he ffiould be—health,  ftrong,  and vigorous.   You, la-
dies,  form an hero in the cradle ; and courage is receiv-
ed from the  breaft.  Gratkude tin return, demands a
prbteaion to you from man.   With yourfelves, there-
fore,  it remains  to render him  capable  of that  protec-
tion.   Thus nature, my fair ones, ordained  your im-
portance in the creation.
   But to return to the hufbandman :  he will again teK
us,  that when  his  trees  have received their  infant
ftrength, and  their roots begin  to ffioot, it is neceflary
to tranfplant them from the nurfery to a more extenfive
foil, in order  that they may arrive at their natural  per-
feaion.  So you,  my friends having brought the child
through its kfant  ftate, by the  tender nouriffincnt of
the breaft, mufl, at the time of weaning, (which, in
t-.iv opinion, is beft poftponed until it be near  a  twelve 
                i-ETTER   VIII.              7»
month r old)  tranfplant your little nurfery likewife to a
more^Sxtenfive foil: that V»,  you muft  afford it more
copious nourifhment,  in  order io bring it to maturer
life.
   Yet, as great  flcill and caution are required on the
part of the hufbandman, in this bufinefs of tranfplanting,
fo great judgment  and care  muft be  ffiown by you,  in
this your province of weaning  children ; for cuftom has
fo far  deviated  from nature,   as to render  the greateft
circumfpeaion meceffary  to   point out die happy me-
 dium.
   A further care,  therefore,  at this time, demands our
 attention.   Man, according  to the prefent  mode, par-
 ticularly  in England, is greatly fupported by  animal
 food.  A fudden tranfition, from one extreme to ano-
 ther, is always dangerous ;   and every material altera-
 tion,  to avoid inconveniences,  ffiould be brought about
 ftep by ftep.   If nature ever  intended us  to deflroy the
 animals around us for prey, furely we may conclude
 this food never could be  defigned for oyr ufe, until fuch
 time as we had teeth to eat it-
    Many ill confequences arife from perfons devouring
 thtir meals  too eagerly ; and  if the ftomachs of men
 are oppreffed,  by not fufficiently chewing their meat,
 certainly the weak  and  tender  ftomachs of children,
 who have not as yet teeth fufficient to break it, muft be
 l'.ill Lfi ik to receive it altogether whole. 
7*            LETTER   VIIL
   Animal food, then, at this tii*e of life, is abfolutely
forbidden, from reafon and r«^exion; but as it is in fome
meafure neceffary to piepare  them for  their future me-
thod of living, broths and jellies may be now given fpa-
ringly, and, as they increafe in ftrength and age,  more
plentifully.  Hereby  the  animal juices are  received,
which contain  the only nourifhment in flefh, without any
labour to the ftomach? and let it be remembered, that
the juices of full-grown animals are to be preferred to th«
younger and fattened kind; but more of this in its pro-
per place.
   Let children at this time be fed once or twice a day
with about a quarter of a pint of broth, and a little bread
mixed In  it.   When you give a ftiff jelly, a large tea-
cup full is  fufficient;  but I  would recommend as much
warm water, or milk,  with it, and likewife a little bread.
The breaft ffiould not be allowed them now fo often as
when they were wholly confined to that nourifhment;
in ffiort, every meal that you thus introduce, ffiould fup-
ply one  of the ftated times of fuckling.   Thus  are they
gradually  and infenfibly weaned from the breaft, and
accuftomed to animal food, without any pining on thck
parts, or much trouble to the mother.
   Having ffiown the proper manner of putting a  child
to the breaft, and likewife the moft prudent method of
uking it away ;  we fhall, in  the next letter, point c.t
the fafeft  rules for  bringing children up by the  h«ud ; 
               LETTER  VIII.              7j
but another obfervation  or two will not be improper in
this  place.
   The gravy, which runs out of meat, upon cutting it
when brought to table, is exceedingly wholefome, being
nothing  more  than the pure juices of fleffi.  A  few
fpoonfuls of this beef or mutton  gravy, mixed with an
equal quantity of warm water, and a little  fait, make
very good broth.   I mention this, becaufe parents gene-
rally imagine it to be  unwholefome for children;  and
oftentimes, when  I  have recommended  it,  fome good
old lady has ftoutly oppofed  me, alledging that it  fills
a child with humours ; whereas, on the contrary, this is
the  only part  of flefh that produces  good nouriih-
ment.
   Here let me proteft againft the cuftom of not fuffer-
ing  children to  eat  fait,  for fear  of the fcurvy ; not
making a diftbaion between faked meats, and fait eat-
en with meat.   In this point alfo, ftrong prejudices are
frequently to be combated with  ; for many a time have
I  been told by perfons of reverent years, that children
were not  fuffered to eat fait in former days ;  adding,
perhaps with a fignificant ffirug, that the  prefent age
think themfelves much wifer than their forefathers.
   "  Animal food, which  has  been any confiderable
time in  fait, becomes hard, and requires more force to
break and digeft it, proper for nourifhment, than weak
ftomachs are capable of exerting;  confequently, falted 
 74              LETTER  VIII.
 beef, pork, and fuch like things, are improper for chil-
 dren."
   Neverthelefs, fait in itfelf is fo far' from producing
 the fcurvy, that it is now generally fuppofed to be  its
 greateft antidote ; otherwife, why do fo many thoufands
 yearly flock to bathe, and drink fca-water ?  There is,
 further, a certain ftimulating quality in fait; that gready
 promotes digeftion;  and whatfoever  affifts that office,
 muft of courfe rather contribute to purify the blood, than
 to render it foul; which is the fuppofed caufe of the pre-
 fent frequently  imagined,  but oftentimes only a fafhioB--
 able difeafe—called the fcurvy.
   I have been  repeatedly thanked for the  following in-
 formation.  A table  fpoonful or two of fait, put into a
 quart of fpring  water, is a moft excellent wafh to cleanfe
 the flcin,  efpecially if the face be well rubbed wkh a
 coarfe cloth fome little time after it has been waffied with
 the fait and water.  By this means the pores of the flcin
 will be kept open, and no obftruaed perfpiration will
 remain* which  is the caufe of  carbuncles and thofe  red
 pimples which are generally miftaken for the fcurvy.   It
is this ftimulating and cleanfing quality of fait that makes
 the fea-water fo ufeful to thofe  who  are  troubled with
eruptions;  therefore, by the above  proportion, the water
is rendered ftill  more efficacious, and will clear the face
and neck of heuts and pimples which  frequently diftuvb
 the ladies. 
                LETTER  VITI.               75
   I cannot bear the modern proftitution of the words
female delicacy: the duties  of a mother  artb\ ..me
thought to be indelicate; and die appellation rsr.cw rii-
ven only to difeafe and ficknefs; for a woman muft be-
come a walking  gholt, to be  ftykd truly delicate.   I
frequertlv lament, that the idea is not more  ftrialy con-
fined to mental accomplifhments; neverthelefs,  I wiffi
my fair friends to beftow  every  rational and laudable at-
tention to render their perfons neat, elegant, and engag-
ing.  I  cannot  conclude this  letter better  than by ob-
ferving, that, although beauty ftands like a cypher when
alone, every additional qualification increafes  its merits
ten-fold;  and the lefs fenfible of it the poffeflbr herfelf
appears to be, the more  it will always be  regarded by
ihe admiring world. 
( 7«>
                 LETTER  IX.

  The fafeft method of bringing children up by hand.

       W E have hitherto, my fair philofophers, been
carefully obfervant of, and obedient to,  the laws of na-
ture.   Her paths are infinitely various.   Every ftep we
take,  affords new and engaging profpeas.   We have
traced man from the firft period of  his exiftence, and
have followed reafon and inftlna, to give him ftrength
and vigour in the earlieft part of life. So fair a dawning
promifes a  robuft and healthy conftitution; neverthelefs,
neceffity obliges us to proceed to a further {peculation.
   Let it, therefore,  be the bufinefs of  this letter to en-
quire how nearly art can  fupply the place of nature.  Let
us endeavour  to point out a method to  thofe unfortunate
mothers,  who are, through neceffity,  deprived  of the
happy enjoyment of fuckling their own  children.  It  may
not  prove unworthy  the attention  of thofe, who, by
choice, commit them to the care of others.   I propofe to
 carry my obfervations in this letter, as far as my inftruc-
 tions have been  given to the valuable and truly praifc-
 worthy matrons, whofe duty to their  fifmily over-balan-
 ces every other confideration.   By and by, when the
 fuckling is about to be weaned, and the dry-nu»fed child
 brought equally forward, the  rules of diet  will be the
 fame for both; on which account  I went no farther in
 my laft,  than the proper period for introducing broths, 
                  LETTER   IX.               77
jellies, Sec.  All other confiderations will be brought un-
der general direaions.
   Mother's  milk we have ffiown to be the natural  and
moft  proper fupport for tender  infants;   it is a digefted
fluid, already animalized,  and therefore fitteft for the
nourifhment of children.  This remark alfo  (hows  that
the infant body is, by nature,  defigned to receive only
a liquid nourifhment; a hint particularly neceffary to be
attended to at this time, as it altogether obviates the ge-
neral objeaions  againft  confining children to milk, in
 preference to thicker viauals, of  which  I  fhall fpeak
 more fully before I conclude this letter.
    We have taken notice how tender the ftomach and
 bowels of infants are, and have thence inferred, that al-
 moft every complaint they are affliaed  with,  proceeds
 from the improper quality of their food: and the too
 large quantity given them, alfo increafes the difeafe.  W e
 took notice, that the digeftive powers of a new-born child
 are  incapable of producing a kind  nutriment  even
 from bread, and  therefore exclaimed againft feeding
 them with what is called  pap.  But fuppofe it to be
 otherwife: what a poor pittance of fupport does  fuch a
 mother allow to her child, who gives it only bread and
 water!
    I have  feen many  fata! inftances of fuch ftrange  ma-
 nagement.  We ourfelves ffiould think it hard, indeed,
 apd  nothing but dire neceffity could compel us  to live
 thus  fparingly ;  befides, how would our flcffi waftc, and
                          H 
 7-8               LETTER   IX.
 our ftrength decay I If fo, furely it cannot be proper for
 an infant, whofe bones have not as yet ftrength fufficient
 to fupport  its frame.   How is  it poffible for a child to
 thrive under fuch treatment?—Perhaps fome will allow
 a little milk to be mixed with its food, but very fparing-
 ly ; becaufe they imagine it  fluffs the ftomach, and fills
 a child  full of phlegm.   Idle and ridiculous are thefe,
 and all other  arguments that  can be urged againft this
 natural and falubrious diet.
   Milk is herefpoken of in general terms; becaufe I in-
 tend, in a fubTequent-letter, to examine the feveral pro-
 perties of different milks, and to remark the  purpofe  to
 which each kind'feems beft adapted.   Cow's milk being
 moftly ufed, and in my opinion the propereft,  in general,
 to anfwer our prefent defign,  I would therefore be un-
 derftood to recommend that, if no other kind is particu-
 larly mentioned.
   I know very well that many perfons, and perhaps fome
 gentlemen in the  praaice of phyfic, will differ from me
 in opinion,  when I prefer cow's milk to  every  other
kind of  nourifhment,   in the early months, where it is
 necefiury to bring a child up by hand.  Let me  beg  of
them  only to make the experiment, as I fpeak from ex-
perience ; and  if they have reafon to cenfure me after-
wards, we  fhall meet upen equal terms;  till  then,  at
 leaft,  I fhall hope for candour from every one.
   It has frequently been fuggefted  to  me that cow's
 rrilk is too rich, abounding alfo with too much cream, 
                 LETTER  IX.                79
and that being of a fat oily natute, it will relax more than
ftrengthen.   But, however, this  fault is not much to be
apprehended  from the milk ufed in and about  London.
Suppofing it  to be the cafe in the country, which I am
far from allowing, you may let it ftand till the cream rifes
to the top, and ufe the flcimmedmilk; or by boiling de-
prive  it of the greateft part of this  oily quality, which
colkas  itfelf upon the furface, and may then be readily
taken off; or it may be  diluted with water.
   Thefe  doubts being removed,  the milk of cows ap-
 pears,  I think, to be the  propereft  fubftitute  we can
 make, for that of the breaft;  and will anfwer  belt, after
 the  firft month or two, without  boiling,  unlefs it purges
 the child; in which cafe, boiling  it will generally prevent
 the  inconvenience,  proceeding in all likelihood from its
 oily particles.   I have no objection to a fmall  quantity
 of Lifbon fugar being mixed with it, particularly if the
 child be coftive; and indeed this may frequently be  of
 ufe, to prevent its  too great tendency to  become aci.',
 from whence diforders of the bowels fometimes arife.*
   »  Let it be remembered, that, through this fyftem of nurfing,
 children are fuppofed to be free from difeafe, and that I am  u>
 be confidered no* as the phyfician, but as the frigid: when they
 are  ill, it is the bufinefs of thofe perfons who have  the care  of
 them 'to direct a proper food; and upon many occafions, milk
 may be  fo managed as to prove greatly inftrumcntal, even as a
 well-adapted  nourifhment,  to their recovery.  In  too laxative
 a habit  of body, for inftance, rice  and cinnamon may be ad-
 ded- but then care fliould be taken, that the rice be well bc.kd
 in water, before it is mixed with the  milk.  In  the watery
 .-ripes  I frequently dired the following diet, for infants : Boil
 a tJblJ fpoonful of ground rice, with a little cinnw;iy.j, >u a».i a 
 Scr               LETTER   IX.
   One remark I fhall beg leave to make, which come9
 in here with propriety.   We have taken notice in a for-
 mer letter of the cleanfing quality of mother's milk, upon
 its firft coming Into the  breaft.   Now,  where children
 are debarred from receiving it, a  fubftitute of fome gen-
 tle purgative is highly proper, to give fuch a ftimulus to
 the bowels, as nature has provided by the mother's means.
 What I have experienced to be the beft calculated for
 anfweringthis purpofe, is fomething of the following kind.
   Suppofe we fa.y,Jyrap of violets and oil of almonds, of
 each one ounce, with four orfve grains of rhubarb.  This
 compofkion being ffiaken will pretty well unite.   A tea-
 fpoonful may  be given as often  as  you find it neceflary.
   In cafe  the milk be  thrown up in  a curdled ftate, a
 fmall quantity  of fait will generally prevent it;  a circum-
 ftance I would wiffi to have  attended to; as many  chil-
 dren are fubjea to this complaint;  and it is a method I
 have feldom known to fail,  unlefs they are greatly over-
 fed.   Whenever a  child  throws up the milk,  it is to be
 confidered as  a  complaint,  and particularly fo if it ap-
 pears curdled; becaufe  it has then pafftd through the
 firft  change it undergoes in the  ftomach,  and confe-
 quently difcovers that the ftomach itfelf is too feeble to
 exceate its further office.  In  this cafe, fometimes the
pir.t of water, till the water is nearly confumed;  then add a
 pint of milk, and let the whole- gently fimmer for five minutes,
 itrain it through, a lawn fieve, and make it palatable with a
 little .ugar.  This food correfponds well, in  fuch complaint:,
 with the cur-live ir'.a.tion. 
                 LETTER   IX.               £i
 ftomach abounds with too great an acidity, but more fre-
 quently it is loaded and oppreffed by the quantity which
 has  been given to the infant.   Milk always curdles in
 the ftomach ; and it is only a vulgar error to fuppofe the
 contrary; for by this means it becomes afubftantial ali-
 ment, and affords a proper nourifhment to children and
 other animals; whereas, if it continued in a fluid flate,
 it would  contribute but little to their fupport.
   What we have next to obferve, Is the quantity of milk
 proper to be given to a new-born child,  in the twenty-
 four hours. What think you, my dear ladies, of a Win-
 chefter pint being a fufficient quantity for the day and
 night! Methinks I hear an  exclamation—O barbarous
 man!  Under a pretence of corrcaing us,  he intends to
 ftarve the little helplefs creatures.   Was there ever fuch
 a cruelty heard of before ? Allow a child  only a pint of
 milk in a  day!  Why,  it would eat two quarts  of pap,
 and ftill cry for more.—Yet, after all furprife,  an infant
 in the month will receive, from one pint of milk, more
 real and good nourifhment, than from ten quarts of pap,
 as it is called;  indeed I  might fay  more nourifhment
 than from any other kind of fupport:  for,  notwithstand-
ing  the juices which afford fuftcnance are all h'quid, it is
neceffary they fliould contain the  effence  of iubftantial
food:  and although a man who is accuftomed to daily
labour, would foon  be emaciated by living continually
 upon broths, yet  milk alone would fupport his ftrength
 andfpirits, becaufe it curdles in theftomach, and thereby
                        H  2 
*=                LETTER   IX.
becomes a more folidand nutritious aliment.   And fur-
ther, let me again  remind you, that not only the human
fpecies, but likewife all other animals, receive their con-
unua! ncariffiment from a milky juice which  is prepared
in their own bodies from the  aliment  received,  as was
before explained  in the fourth letter.
  There are, as we have mentioned, very  great errors
in the quantities as well as the qualities of infants' food.
It was before obferved, that children's ftomachs ffiould
not be always crammed.  To this it is in a great meafure
owing that they arc fo continually puking: a circumftance
looked upon by fome to be natural and wholefome, who
prepofteroufly encourage this  difpofkion by frequent vo-
mits.   But, finely, nature never intended more nourifn-
ment fc> be  received than is  neccffary for  our fupport.
Does any perfon  in a good ftate of health, after a mode-
rate and proper meal, ever find an  inclination to throw
it up again?  Are  the young offspring of other  animals
conftantly pukkg? How therefore can it be fuppofed
natural for  children todofo? A little refleaioo would
foon convince fuch f:iperficial obfervers of their error •
for you will rarely find a, child throw up its food, v/hen
properly nurfed.
  If one pint of .milk, thercfon?, m the firft week or two,
be too little, it is an error on the right fide; for it appears
to be enough to fupport the child; and much worfe con-
fequences are  to be  apprehended from giving  it  too
much.  We muft, every one  of us, have often  export- 
                 LETTER  IX.               83
enced how neceflary it is to be hungry, in order to reliffi
our food; and that to be continually indulging, palls the
appetite.  Certainly then, it  muft  be equally neceflary,
that the infant ftomach ffiould fometimes know thefenfe
of hunger.
   Would not three or four pints of milk,  in the  twenty-
four hours, fupport a grown perfon ? If fo, undoubtedly
one third part is amply fufficient to nouriffi a new-born
child.   But  I would not be underftood to cavil fcrupu-
loufly for a fpoonful or two; I only  mean to affift the
candid enquirer in this  moft effential part  of the ma-
nagement of children, who are  denied the breaft.
   We come  next to afcertain the proper quantity  to be
given for a meal.  A quarter of a pint is fully fufficient
to be taken at a  time; and  let  the hours of feeding, as
well as every otlier particular, be regulated according to
the rules laid down in the fevenffi  letter.  In ten days,
or a fortnight, you may increafe the  daily allowance  a
quarter of a pint:  and at the end of a month you may
allow a pint  and a  half in the  twenty-four hours: ano-
ther half-pint may be gradually  permitted by the time It
is three  months old; and this quantity, If the child is vo-
racious, may be ftill increafed to three pints in the day ;
which, I am perfuaded, if the milk be good,  will prove
fufficient: and this allowance will, I  hope, cancel the
feverity of every matron's cenfure.
   Having now given you my thoughts upon this part of
infant management,  there is  but one rational objeaion 
 84              LETTER  IX.
 that ftrikes me, againft the propriety of fo plain and Am-
 ple a method of bringing children  up by hand.   Their
 natural food is allowed to be milk—but it may be urged,
 that the human milk, in confequence  of the mother's
 diet, is more ftrengthening than that of cows, affes, or
 any fpecies of brutes.—Granted, but then again this ar-
 gument equally proves,  that cow's  milk partakes more
 of a  vegetable  nature than the milk  of women ; and,
 during the early months, all  that the advocates  for  the
 prefent cuftom would contend for, is—what ? pap, pa-
 nado, &c. which are of the vegetable kind ; and there-
 fore  their arguments require  no farther anfwer.   Were
 it  propofed  to  add  fome proper broths  to cow's milk,.
 after the firft four or five weeks, where there is  no cir-
 cumftancc particularly to forbid it, the defign would ap-
 pear reafonable, in fupplying the fuppofed deficiency of
 the animal property ;  and it is a point I would readily
join  in, nay, it is what I mean to  recommend towards
 the end of the third month.   I frequently  order milk
 and  broth to be mixed together, and  think it proper-
 food.  But Jet every fuch meal, however, as  before  ad-
 vrfed, fupply the place of the ufual  milk.  In whatever
 way you manage children, be careful not to feed them
 over-much.
   There is yet a circumftance of great moment to be
 attended to, and, if rightly comprehended by my fair-
 pupils, will convince them,  that the  allowance for the
 earlier months is amply fufficient: it is  the manner in
 which infants ought to be fed. 
                 LETTER  IX.               85
   Surely it is wrong to put a large boat full of pap into
their little mouths, fuffering them to fwallow the whole
of it in the fpace of a minute ; and then perhaps, from
their cries, to ply them with a fecond, which is  no fooner
down than thrown up again.
   We have  mentioned  the ill confequences of grown
perfons devouring their viauals too eagerly ; and expe-
rience muft often have convinced every one, that a much
lefs quantity than  we generally take, if eaten leifurely,
and well chewed, will fuffice for a meal ; and alfo that,
after fuch meals, we  feem more comfortable, and are in-
clined to  purfue either  bufinefs  or pleafure with far
greater eafe to ourfelves.  On the contrary, from a too
hafty  and hearty meal the ftomach will  be  diftended
over-much, which is always produaive of indolence,
and a tendency to fleep.  The fame muft certainly  hold
good with refpea to infants.
   Befides, to obtain milk from the breaft, nature wifely
obliges them to  earn their nourifhment by the labour of
drawing it.  The ftream being exceedingly fmall  upon
the milk's  firft coming into the breaft, it requires a long
time to procure a quarter of a pint; and the  very exer-
cife fatigues them, before they have received  too much.
This, in my opinion, fully proves that quantity to be fuf-
ficient for a meal.
   There is nothing,  therefore, wanting, I hope, to  com-
plete our  fyftem, but a  contrivance to fupply the  place
of a nipple, that the child may ftill labour to obtain  its 
$6               LETTER   TX.
fupport ; which alone  will greatly prevent the error In
quantity.   I have feen fome inventions of this kind, by
means of parchment or leather fewed to the pointed end
ef a horn,  which is no  bad thought, and  capable of       }
great improvement.   The Hollanders, when they tra-
vel, have a fmall pewter veffcl, fomewhat in the form of
a cone, which is filled with milk, and a piece of fponge
covered with a linen cloth is tied over the fmaller end.
This  ferves  the  children very well  as an artificial nip-
ple : for it is obferved, that  a Dutch woman  feldom or
never gives fuck to her child before ftrangers.
   We have plainly demonftrated, that  infant nourifh-
ment, particularly in the early months,  is defigned by
nature to be altogether  liquid :  againft fuch  contrivan-
ces, therefore, I cannot fee an objeaion.
   Would you, my fair friends, undertake this purfuit,
from the happy fertility  of  female imagination,  I am
certain a little  experience would point  out  to you  a
ready and convenient method to anfwer every purpofe ;
and I am thoroughly fatisfied, the happy confequences
would amply reward  your pains—by preferving many
dear little innocents, that  daily fall a facrifice to reple-
tion or over-feeding.
   P.  S.—Since this book made  its firft  appearance,  I
have contrived  a milk-pot for my own nurfery upon the
above principles ; it appears  to my family, and to many
of my patients, preferable to thofe now in ufe, and may
probably be  ftill further improved.  For the fatisfaaion 
                  LETTER  IX.               87
 of my readers, I  fhall  give  a  defcription of it.  This
 pot Is fomewhat in form like  an urn ; it contains a little
 more  than a  quarter of a pint; its  handle, and neck
 or fpout,  are  not  unlike  thofe of a coffee-pot, except
 that the neck of this arifes from the very bottom of the
 pot, and is very  fmall ; in ffiort, it  is  upen the fame
 principle as thofe gravy-pots  which feparate the  gravy
 from the oily fat.   The end of the fpout is a little raif-
 ed, and forms a roundiffi knob, fomewhat In appearance
 like a fmall heart; this is perforated by three  or four
 fmall holes :  a piece of fine rag is tied loofely over it,
 which ferves the child  to play with inftead of  the nip-
 ple,  and  through which, by the infant's fucking,  the
 milk is conftantly drained.   The child is equally fatis-
 fied as it would  be with the  breaft ; it never wets him ^
 in  the  leaft ; he is obliged to labour for every  drop he
 receives, in the farrfe manner as when at the breaft ; and,
 greatly in recommendation of this contrivance, the nurfes
 confefs it is more  convenient than a boat, and that it
 faves a great deal of trouble in the feeding of an infant;
 which is the greateft fecurity to parents, that their fer-
■vants will ufe it, when they themfelves are not prefent. 
( *8  )
                 LETTER  X.

 A  general management of children, from  the  time of
   weaning, till they are about two years old—with ob-
   fervations upon the cutting of teeth.

      1 AM juft now returned from a nurfery, where,
 with fincere pleafure, I beheld a happy mother  with a
 pretty little puppet at her breaft, which fhe had the fatis-
 faaion of faving in its earlieft days, by her amiable affec-
 tion and tendernefs;  an infant born under melancholy
 circumftances,  when  the  mother  herfelf was affliaed
 with a terrible quincy in her throat, and had been con-
 fined to a fick chamber five or fix weeks before her de-
 livery.   No one expeaed  the Ufe of the child, and the
 mother's was equally doubtful.  Nothing but the great-
■eft  care on her part could have faved the infant;  and,
 had it been committed to any other  perfon,  the difeafed
 ftate of its bowels at the birth would,  probably, very
 foon have put a period to its exlftence.
   Judge, ye confiderate fair, indulge with me the pleaf-
 ing refkaions of this good woman!   Behold her, fond-
 ling at the breaft a fmiling boy, to whom  ffie  not only
 gave a being,  but generoufly preferred his welfare,  and
 dared, even  contrary to  the  advice of her friends, to
 fuckle him, thereby  endangering her own,  to preferve
 the life  of her child.  May gratitude and duty expand 
                 LETTER   X.                8c,
within his breaft, and prompt him virtuoufly to reward
this truly maternal affeaion !  May he,  in future years,
become the pleafure and fupport of her declining life!
   This amiable mother has three other little ones, that
for health and beauty ftand almoft unrivalled; all nur-
tured under her own wing—fupported  by her breaft.
What an  encouragement is this  to follow nature!  Her
heart was never torn by the bitter refleaion of not hav-
ing done her duty to her family.  Example glorious !
worthy of praife—worthy of Imitation!
   But to return to our prefent point: the fuckling being
weaned, and  the dry-nurfed child brought equally  for-
ward; we fhall now join our different nurferies together,
and  endeavour  to make them thrive under one general
direaion.
   I muft, however, beg leave to mention,  that as I be-
fore advifed to  have the child kept to the  breaft till it
is near twelve months old, and have alfo pointed out the
prudent manner of Introducing broths and jellies,  prepa-
rative to weaning it entirely; fo  this letter is defigned to
 recommend a proper management of infants from the
 period of one to two years of age.
   The beft method likewife having been laid down for
 bringing children  up by hand, upon thofe principles that
 approach neareft to nature, which furely renders them
 unexceptionable;  and having indulged them with broths
 and jellies earlier  than the fucking child;  I fhall fuppofe
                          I 
90               LETTER   X.
thefe  alfo gradually  brought on to  the twelfth  month,
and thence proceed with both together.
   I moft earneftly recommend that they be ftrktly con-
fined  to the following  diet,  and not fed oftener than
three, or four times at moft in the twenty-four hours.
The quantity for each meal may now with propriety be
Covifiderably increafed;  it will  be longer, therefore, of
confequence, before the ftomoch becomes empty.
   Thus,  for inftance let their breakfaft, at fix or feven
in the morning, be half a pint of new milk with about
two ounces of bread in it.   The fecond meal ffiould be
half a pint of good  broth,  with the fame quantity of
bread; let this be given about ten or eleven in the morn-
ing.   The third meal, about two or three in the after-
noon, ffiould be broth in like manner:  and their fupper,
about fix in the evening, new milk and bread, the fame
as for breakfaft.  When you  fubftitute jellies,  or gra-
vies,  for broth, let them be  always plain and fimple;
and a lefs quantity will prove fufficient.*
   If children  are thirfty between   their meals, a little
bar ley-water and milk may be given them ;  but  I would
not too frequently encourage this cuftom.
   From hence, the general intention appears throughout,
to decreafe the quantity of milk, as you introduce other
   • Under  the article  falop in the-Family  Phyfician, p. 26,
 you will find proper directions  to prepare an excellent ftrength-
 ciiing food, by mixing  falop with milk, which makes  it of the
 confidence of a cuftard.  Thi  preparation of milk is highly
 proper for children, invalids, and aged perfons;  and it is with J
 a very agreeable and palatable nourifhment. 
              LETTER   X.                   at
fubftantial and proper nourifhment—though I would al-
ways allow children a pint of milk each day.
   Bifcuits,  fweet-meats, fugar  plumbs,  &c. all which
tend to fpoil the appetite, are highly improper, and ought
to be looked upon as one of the pernicious effeas of lux-
ury.   Where  is there a child, unaccuftomed to fuch in-
dulgence, that  would not be equally pleafed with a cruft
of bread? It is not my bufinefs here to enter fo philofo-
phically  into the doarine of nourifhment, as to contend
with thofe who fuppofe it altogether to proceed from the
faccharine qualities of food:  but allowing them  the ut-
moft force of their arguments, I anfwer, that nature will
always prove the beft chymift, to feparate  thefe fugar-like
particles from  the  aliment we  take in.    So  much for
the prefent, with regard to the regulation of their diet.
   As to other particulars: Litde  or no  fleep ffiould
 now be  permitted  in the day.  Air  and exercife are
 greatly to be recommended.   Let them rife as early as
 you pleafe; and the fooner they are put to bed, when
 the evening begins to fhut in, the better.    Their cloth-
 ing ffiould now,  and indeed always,  be  light and eafy.
 By no means  fuffer children to be confined in very warm
 rooms, but accuftom them by degrees to thofe variations
 of the feafons, which they will  be compelled to  ftruggle
 with in future  life.
    It is  a great misfortune for children to be brought up
 too tenderly.   Should Providence hereafter defign them
 to contend with difficulties,  how  litde capable will they 
92               LETTER  X.
be of conquering them?  The  child thus nurtured moll
commonly grows up too  delicate and feeble to encounter
hardfhips.  Should neceffity, or chance, hereafter lead
him to feek his fortune on the raging feas, or to bear his
part in the hardy fervice of his country  by land; how
pitiful will fuch a man appear! How unequal to the ne-
ceflary  toils  of fieges,  ftorms,  and  tempefts!—But,
however, this great error, to the credit of good mothers
be it confeffed, rs of late years much correaed.
   I beg leave, my fair friends, to fay fomething concern-
ing their being put upon their feet.   With refpea  to
the time, the  ftrength of the child muft determine that
period.  Of this be affured, that all children will fliow
a a inclination to walk,  as  foon as their bones have  ac-
quired a firmnefs fufficient to fupport the body.   I am
fearful many heavy children are injured by exciting their
feeble  efforts to walk too foon.  Doubtlcfs it is  a con-
venience and eafe to nurfes to fet them upon their feet,
as they do not then require exercife In the arms;  and
coiifequently are not fo  great  a trouble and fatigue to
thofe who have the care of them.   But it is a fault en-
tirely to be condemned, and what I particularly  caution
you againft;  becaufe, whoever you may have to attend
upon your children, they will certainly encourage them
to v/alk, for reafons above  mentioned.
   Therefore throw afide your leading-ftrings, and your
 back-ftrings,  and every  other crafty invention which
 teae's  to put children forwarder than nature  defigned. 
                 LETTER   X.                 93I
Our young plants are to be cultivated without art. The
induftrious gardener, it is'true, can boaft of his exotics,
and early fruits,  by forcing their growth.   Yet  fay, ye
fons of Epicurus,  are your grapes or pines thus raifed,
equal to the produce of their natural climate?  And not-
withftanding  the merit of your gardener, who is thus ca-
pable of gratifying this high  zeft of luxurious extrava-
gance;  even  in this your boafted pride, a fimple clown
would be wife enough to expofe your folly, by the honeft
preference which he would give to nature.  Such as the
fruits are, watery and infipid; fuch  alfo are  the  plants
thus forced,  weakly  and tender;  fufceptible  of the
flighted injuries, and expofed to continual dangers: fuch
likewife are the poor feeble  infants,  forced  upon their
legs before nature has defigned them;  while others, ma-
naged  widiout art, like fruitful vines, defy the inclement
feafons, and triumph in their natural ftrength and vigour.
   1 do not mean, from what has been faid upon this fub-
jea, to prevent them, when they really ffiow an inclina-
tion to walk, but to admoniffi you againft being too pre-
cipitate.   It is, in my opinion, a good method to fuffer
the  little creatures firft to  crawl  upon a carpet, or any
other convenient place; permitting them to tumble about
as  much  as  they pleafe.  By this  means an  exercife
will be given to the body and limbs, without their con-
tinuing in one pofition long enough to hazard a distor-
tion,  from too great a weight of body.   Thus let them,
by degrees,  learn to  walk upright, which their own in-
                          12 
94               LETTER  X.
clinations, in imitation of thofe about them, will prompt
them to, full as foon as nature  defigned.
   I fhall now beg leave to offer a few hints with refpea
to the teeth: a circumflance this materially to be attend-
ed to,  as woful experience daily convinces us.
   Children  are teazed with cutting of teeth  from four
or five months, till they are two years old, and upwards;
nay, fome are fo backward as not to have their complete
number till they are turned of three yeais old.   I fhall
not enter into the diftinaion of teeth, but fpeak of them
in general,  fo as to give a competent idea of the precau-
tions I mean to recommend.
   It  is alfo very uncertain  with refpea  to  the  exafl
time of their fliooting any of their teeth;  but this alfo,
I believe, chiefly depends upon the ftrength of the con-
ftitution; and if the rules  laid down  in the preceding
letters be properly obferved, you will generally find chil-
dren cut all their teeth by the  time they are  about two
years old.   You will, likewife, rarely meet with, an
inftance of their being cut  with  difficulty.  It has been
already taken notice of, that  the reafon of their being
backward in their teeth, and  fo many children loft on
this account, is entirely owing to a weaknefs of  body,
which is a faa tlut fcarcely any one will deny.
   Yet, where the conftitution is not ftrong  enough  of
itfelf, as a  great amftance may  be obtained  by lancing
of the gum?, let not a falfe tendernefs prevent fond mo-
therr, from allowing  fech r.lief to their little babes,  in 
                 LETTER   X.                95
the excrutiating tortures they fuffer by the cutting of
teeth.   The operation is not  to be  deemed pain; for
if you put any thing with a fharp edge" into their mouths,,
they will  fave you  the  trouble of doing  it, by prefling
hard againft the inftrument, and cutting the gums them-
felves.
  When  the teeth are difcarnible to  the fight or touch,
there is very little fenfe of feeling in the gum;  their tor-
tures proceed from  the fenfibility of a membrane which
envelopes the tooth.   If that  membrane is fufficiently
divided although the gum ffiould again unite, there  will
be no more trouble;  for teeth thus lanced will gradually
advance without future pain.   Never,  therefore,  I  fay,
let  a prejudice like this hinder you from relieving fuch
poor little helplefs creatures.
  There  are many perfons, who, about the age of twen-
ty,  have two, and fometimes four, additional teeth, at.
die furthermoft part of the jaws; and,  from  the time of
life, in which they appear^  they are  called the teeth of
wifdom.  Let mc defire fuch wife ones,  fenfible of the
pain upon this occafion, to refiea how infunportable it
muft be to many infants, who perhaps are  cutting the
whole of their teeth almoft at once;  at a time too, when
their  tender frames are but little  capable of bearing
pain.   Many grown perfons are obliged to have  fuch]
teeth lanced; let them declare how muchrelief they found
from this  fimple,  but ufeful operation. 
 96               LETTER  X.
   Candid reafoning,  from experience, is the fureft way
to conquer prejudices; and thofe who give themfelves
leave to think upon the point with candour, will, I doubt
not,  allow the force of this argument.                         >
   It may not  be unfeafonable,  in this place,  to  give a
caution, which thofe  who lance teeth would do well to
obferve;  as careleffnefs or ignorance  in  the operation
frequently fruftrates the intended benefit.   Let me ad-
vife you not to depend upon old women, or nurfes, who        .
undertake to do it with crooked fixpences, and fuch like
ineffeaual means.
   We took notice  a little above, that the pain  arifes,
not from the gum, but from the fenfibility of a fine mem-        (
brane which envelopes the teeth.  It is not, therefore,
fufficient to make a longitudinal incifion into the gum,        '
that being too commonly done without  dividing this
membrane;  in which cafe, inftead of good, it does hurt. -
After cutting  through the gum, the inftrument  ffiould
be drawn round the tooth ; and the perfon ffiould be fatif-        1
fied, that it grates in every part againft the tooth,  which
will effeaually divide this toofenfible membrane. Where
the gum is exceedingly tough, a tranfverfe incifion ought        i
likewife to be made, and with thefe precautions the ope-
ration will affuiedly fucceed.   Parents  cannot be too
careful in this particular; for I have  often  obfervcd ill
confequences from the careleffnefs before mentioned.
   In  my obfervations upon children that are loft between
the age of five  months and three years, I have fouod they 
                  LETTER  X.               97
are generally carried off either by fudden convulfions,
or what is called a tooth-fever, or a wafting of the body:
in the two laft cafes, the fcene likewife is commonly clo-
fed with convulfive fits.
   The original caufe of thefe  difafters having been fre-
quently taken notice of to proceed from  the wrong ma-
nagement of children, it appears equally evident to me,
that the immediate caufe of thefe fits almoft always arifes
from want of ftrength in the conftitution to cut the teeth.
It is true, the  bowels fometimes  are greatly affeaed,
which  indeed generally attends a wafting of the body;
but then the immediate caufe of fuch  complaints at this
time is moft commonly the teeth:  for if children are ca-
pable of enduring the improper aliments before mentioned
in their  moft tender ftate, during the firft four or five
months; furely withoutfomemoreaaiveprinciple, the vital
powers  would not afterwards be by them alone fubdued.
   This makes me particalarly folickous  to recommend
lancing  of the gums before it is too late to aflift children;
being firmly perfuaded that many might  be faved,  who
daily fall a facrifice to thofe complaints for want of it.
   Among many othet inftances that  I could relate,  to
ffiow the neceffity of admitting this operation before the
ftrength of the child be decayed,  and its body wafted,
I fhall conclude this  letter with  a remarkable  cafe of
this fort.
   A poor  woman in  the neighbourhood, fome  time
fince, brought her child  to  me : he was apparently a 
 98                LETTER  X.
 ftoutfine boy,  and then about  nine months old.   She
 defired my advice for an eruption the child had all over
 his body,  which fhe called the fcurvy : but I found it
 nothing more than fome pimples  proceeding from the
 improper quality of its food j and in faa, notwithftand-
 ing the chubby appearance of the boy (which in reality
 was nothing more than-bloated fat), he was aaually. of
 a very  weakly  frame, as appears by the fequel—and  I
 think it neceflary, as a farther confirmation of my  afler-
 tion, to inform you,, that his father was at this time be-
 tween fixty and feventy, his mother not lefs than four-
 or five and  thirty years of age.
  Near or quite fix months afterwards, the fame woman
 came to beg the favour of me to look at her child again,
 who, fhe faid,  was dying.   I faw an infant worn  away
 to a mere fkeleton ; and,  upon  enquiry, I found  it to
 be the fame chubby fat boy Lhad feen before.  He lay
 panting for breath, and had taken little or  no nourifh-
 ment for twenty-four hours.   Upon  examining the lit-
 tle patient,  there was not a tooth appeared.   The  caufe
 of the difeafe,  therefore, was immediately  evident to
 me ; but I  told her it was too late to be of fervice, for
 I found the child could not recover.
   However,  to fatisfy  the  mother, I advifed lancing
the gums.   To the afteniffiment of every one about the
 child,  fixteen large teeth were cut out; but the gums
being very  much hardened, for want of this operation,
it was with no fmall difficulty now performed.   The 
                  LETTER  X.               99
 immediate relief which the child received, furprifed them
 all ftill more.   From a convulfive ftate  that  he before
 lay in,  he  inftantly  recovered,  took notice of every
 body in the room,  and, during the time I ftaid, eagerly
 devoured a confiderable quantity  of nourifhment.
   The grateful parent thanked  me  a  thoufand times,
 and refleaed upon  herfelf for delaying to apply to me
 before.    But, alas ! I forefaw it  was only a temporary
•relief, his ftrength being utterly exhaufted.   I left her,
 without giving the  leaft hopes of his recovery ;  and the
 next  morning the child died.  A refleaion upon this
 cafe,  I take for granted, is entirely needlefs.   It is evi-
 dent, had the teeth been cut in due time, this fatal acci-
 dent  would not have happened.
   It  is,  indeed, a topic of ferious concern ;  but as it
 comes under the clafs of difeafes  to which infants are
 fubjea, it cannot be enlarged upon in this little volume.
 Some opinions,  and medical obfervations, are  thrown
 out in the introduaion  to thefe letters, which, if care-
 fully attended to, may affift the intelligent parent in her
 endeavours to preferve the lives of fuch little innocents.
 A table of births  and infant burials is alfo  inferted,
 which proves  the  melancholy truths I am aiming to
 eftabliffi. 
( !°° )
                 LETTER  XL

A general management of children, from two years old,
             till they leave the nurfery.

       X HE cultivation of the mind I have intention-
ally referved for the fubjea of my next letter; for which
reafon  I  fhall now finiffi  my obfervations upon nurfing,
and endeavour to point out the fafeft and moft prudent
method of introducing children into the family way  of
livirg.
   At length, after furmounting the difficulties and in-
conveniences attending the cutting of their teeth, we
have now fet them upon their legs; to the no fmall joy
of the mother, and the relief of thofe fervants whofe bu-
finefs it is to wait upon them.
   We have hitherto permitted bread, milk, and the jui-
ces only  of flefh; and before we advance any farther,  I
beg leave to make the following remarks, by which my
intelligent readers may profit.
   The food of  man, in  all its various ffiapes,  however
tortured  and difguifed, Is ftill confined to animal and ve-
getable produaions.
   Of  vegetables, bread is the moft valuable preparation,
as the experience of ages pro ves.  That made from wb eat 
                 LETTER   XL               101
 flour is ftill the moft  ftrengthening, and ever to be pre-
ferred by thofe who have the means of obtaining it.
  The milk of cows, although it may be fuppofed not to
 partake fo much of a ftrengthening nature  as the human
 milk,  thofe creatures feeding altogether upon vegetables
 is,  neverthelefs, to be confidered as a food partly animal,
and partly vegetable, prepared  alfo under an  all-wife
 direaion.
   Gravies, jellies, and broths,  we  know, are animal
juices; either fpontaneoufly flowing from flefli, upon cut-
 ting it, after it is dreffed;  or obtained by a maceration
 of  it in water.
   From thefe reflexions,  therefore, it appears, that in
 the regimen  already  permitted, the moft valuable fup-
plies of life are granted, and in a manner the beft adapt-
ed to  infant conftitutons; requiring but  little  exertion
 of the digeftive faculties,  and gradually introducing that
nutriment,  which, as the body becomes  ftronger,   it
muft prepare for itfelf from the groffer aliments.
  The intention of what has been faid is  to encourage,
as much as poffible, the contiuuation of this diet a little
 longer; and,  indeed, fome of the fineft children I ever
 faw, have  been chiefly confined to a food like  this, for
 the firft five or fix years.  But although I ftrongly recom-
 mend it, and am confcious that children, unacquainted
 with the indulgence of variety, would be perfealy fatis-
 fied without animal food; yet I am perfuaded that the
                          K 
102               LETTER  XL
culpable fondnefs of moft parents will initiate them, too
early, into the luxuries of a plentiful table.
   It is true, we made an obfervation, that nature never
intended fleffi for our food, until we had teeth to eat it;
but it by no means follows, as foon as we have our teeth,
that with an unbounded freedom we are to devour ani-
mal food.   Remember, ldcewife, ye too indulgent  pa-
rents, it has been before obferved,  that every alteration
in our manner of living ffiould be brought about ftep by
ftep, hafty tranfitions  being always dangerous:  and let
this tea ch us to be cautious in our manner of admitting
flefli  into the meals of children.
   After what has been advanced, and after having given
you my opinion that  it it is yet  time enough to  fuffer
children  to eat  flefli,  I  now  leave this  very  impor-
tant point to the difcretion of parents: however, permit
me to recommend, that when  fleffi is firft  introduced
into their food, at whatever time it maybe, this part of
their diet ffiould be allowed them but fparingly; and  a
regard alfo fliould  be paid to its quality.
   The  flcffi of barn-door fowls, beef, mutton, and full
grown animals in general, is the beft. Crammed poultry,
calves, and houfe-fed lambs, kept up to fatten, are  im-
proper,  becaufe their juices yield by fat lefs nourifhment.
   Hence, beef tea, and mutton broth, are preferable to
thofe made from lamb or veal.   The flefli alfo of fuch
young fattened animals does not pafs off weak ftomachs
fo eafily as the other. 
                LETTER   XL                103
   High-feafoned gravies, and  foups, made difhes,  and,
falted meats, are ever to be avoided;  though  fait with
their meats may be allowed, for the reafons before given.
   Although it is not meant to confine them at this age
fo ftrialy to bread, I am by no means for permitting too
free a ufe of vegetables; being  convinced, that fome
complaints of the bowels, in children more advanced iu
life, .proceed from this  error, and particularly worms:
fince, if the eggs of thefe infcas are not  taken in, toge-
ther with thefe produaions of the garden, on which they
harbour and feed, yet this food at leaft affords a confir-
derable quantity of flime, which,  flagnating in the bow-
els, ferves as an  habitation for thefe pernicious little ani-
mals.  This is my reafon for allowing a little wine, now
and then, to  be given to children, and I am perfuaded
that I have feen its good effea.   Care ffiould be taken
in the choice of vegetables;  thofe  of the mealy kind,
that approach the  neareft to bread,  are to  be preferred,
fuch  as  potatoes, rice,  &c.   Turnips are alfo  good.
Lettuces, and fome few others, may, in moderation, be
given to  them,  which your own prudence muft point
out.
   The kitchen preparations of milk, fuch as cuftards,
blamange, white-pots, &c. are  exceedingly proper;  and
in this kind of food a greater variation may be indulged
with lefs harm,  being,  for the moft part,  equally good
and innocent.   Salop mixed with milk,  as mentioned
in the lift letter, may be granted as often as yoiT pit aft ; 
 i©4               LETTER   XT.
 and let it be remembered, that it is the beft way of giving
 that nutritious vegetable to children and invalids.*  Eggs
 are good;  and if the yelks  be beaten up  with warm
 milk, without boiling,  they afford the beft nourifhment;
 yet, however they are dreffed,  never fuffer children to
 cat them, if the  yelks be hard.  Puddings in  general
 are likewife good; but the moft fimple are  beft.  Tartt
 and fruit-pies may be allowed in moderation.
   Shell fifh, and indeed moft other  kinds, may,  now
 and then be given; but  the firmed are to be preferred.
 Thefe are the moft prudent direaions that occur to my
 memory, but, after all, thofe are wifeft who do not pam-
 per young children with too great a variety.
   I fhall not trouble you with the curative  part of dif-
 eafes incident to children, that being altogether the con-
 cern of the phyfician;  though it would give me a  real
pleafure to fee fuch complaints treated of, in a mafterly
manner, by fome accurate  obferver  of  nature.   This
prefent fyftem of nurfing is intended only  to manage
 children fo as to  prevent illnefs;  and it has coft me no
fmall pains to feparate the two provinces, which, I hope,
is effeaed to the fatisfaaion of my readers.
   As to rhubarb, Gafcoign's  powder,  magnefia, &c.
every mother's obfervations in  fome meafure direa a
proper ufe of themf; but when diforders  do not give
        * See Family Phyfician, p. 26.
  f Thofe parents who are  at a  lofs upon thefe points  may
 ccr.fult the Family Phyfician.—For  Rhubarb, fee p.  aC__Gal-
 c.oign's Powder, p.  15—Magnefia, p.  ro. 
                LETTER  XL               105
 way to fuch fimple methods, there is no time to be loft.
 I beg leave therefore to caution parents, who can obtain
 the advice of an experienced praaitioner, not to depend
 upon their  own judgments fo far, as to fuffer a continu-
 ance of complaints until they exceed the power of relief.
Delays are always  dangerous, with refpea  to difeafe,
 even in grown perfons;  but they are much more fo in
 children, becaufe they have not equal ftrength, and con-
 fidently fooner fink under bodily infirmities. 
( 106 )
                 LETTER   XII.

The neceffity of cultivating the difpofitions of children,
         to render them amiable and virtuous.

      V^ONFESS, ye worthy parents who know the
height of earthly blifs, what temptations in  life could pre-
vail upon you, after two or three years of age,  to part
from the dear  dear  offsprings of your mutual  love? ?
Ye tender mothers, fpeak !  I generoufly  applaud an af-
feaion thus fondly rivetted in the female breaft, and an-
fwer for you, ladies, that nothing upon earth could prove
equivalent to fi.ch a lofs.   Ten thoufand  foft enchant-
ments bind them to your very fouls.
   This is the time in  which  their little fond endear-
ments begin to operate; their every aaion is wonder-
fully engaging, and their pretty lifping tongues are one
univerfal harmony.   How exquifite  is the  delight to
view their expanding mind: —now  catching found, that
quickly rifcs into fenfe. beaming  a happy profpea of fu-
ture underftanding!  Here the volume of  man begins—
even at this time the  fertile genius  glows.  How trans-
porting is their fwcet fenfibility !
   O  powerful  Nature, how unfpcakably ftrong are thy
ties! What  heart, unlefs ftrangely perverted, can  refill
thy impulfe?  Hence arifes the unfpeakable difference of
a laudable  and virtuous paffion,  compared with an un-
ch.ule and  vicious IT..  My God!  that men  ffiould 
                 LETTER   XII.              107
 wafte their health and fortunes in the ftews with harlots,
 rioting in obfcene and brutal pleafures, where the rational
 being is funk even below pity !
   Such condua, in the cooler hours of thought, if ever
 they reflea, muft caufe nothing but anguiffi and remorfej
 on the contrary,  by cultivating a chafte and honourable
love, fuch wretched* libertines might become  the joyful-
parents of little fmiling families.  What an  akernative
is this!  Be dumb, ye lawlefs rovers; it is an enjoyment
beyond  your comprehenfion, for virtuous minds alone
can relifh it.
   What number  of debauchees,  in  different climes and
ages, worn out by guilty intemperance,  mournfully la-
ment their cttrfed fate, in not being bleft  with an heir to
fucceed  to their half-ruined fortunes !  Confiderate Pro-
vidence !  thus to difappoint them—for what but impurity
and difeafe could they give  birth to? Happy, thrice hap-
py decree of Nature, that virtue alone can claim a fmi-
ling and a healthful progeny.
   Til •                                 **
   1 his is a theme worthy of an abler pen.  How often
has prattling innocence difarmed the rugged fiercenefs of
a brutiffi nature, and melted down the  rage of paffion
ir.tomore than female foftnefs?   How often,  I  fay, by
thefe means is a man of wrath infenfibly diffolved into
tendernefs and love! I muft tear myfelf away from the
digreflion: fhouldl indulge  my zealous inclination, a vo*
Unae of pygyric would fall fhort of the fubjea. 
io8              LETTER   XII.
  The human  mind, in its infant  opening, has beeir
jaftly compared to a blank ffieet of paper, fufceptible of
every impreffion: whence it may be fuppofed,  children
receive their prejudices and inclination s from the difpo-
fitions of thofe perfons to whofe care they are entrufted,
ia like manner as thefe letters convey the fentiments of
the author.
  That any children are born with vicious inclinations,
I would  not willingly  believe.   When I hear parents
exclaiming againft the bad difpofitions of their own chil-
dren, I cannot help oftentimes fecretly  condemning the
parents themfejvesi for introducing fuch vices into their
habits.  Inftina, even  in brutes, produces a tendernefs
for their young—a harmlefs fociety amongft their neigh-
bours—a paflive fear towards  their enemies—and vio-
lence feldom  is1  difcovered but  againft thofe animals
which nature has appointed for their fupport.   Can we
then imagme that a worfe than  brutiffi fiercenefs ffiould
be naturally difcernible in our infant  ftate?—that fpite,
malice,  anger, and  revenge,  fuch diabolical  paflions,
ffiould tyrannize before we are capable of felf-defence*'
The very fuppofition feems to me an arraignment of pro •
vidence in the nobleft part of the creation, and appears
to be inconfiftent with the juftice of a benevolent Deity.
   It therefore behoves every mother to be watchful of
her own condua, and  perfealy fatkficd of the difpofi-
tions of fuch fervants as fhe entrufts with the qpre -qf her
children, at this fufceptible ticje of life; when even die 
                LETTER   XII.               103
 more affeaionately thefe perfons  treat them,  the worfe
 confequences are to be apprehended, if their own tem-
 pers ar e not good: for as children are gratefully fond of
 thofe who ufe them kindly,  they are by far die more
 likely to imbibe the bad qualities of aq  indulgent atten-
 dant;  and, on the contrary, to profit by good examples.
   Objeas that  attraa the eyes are the  firft delighting :
 the pleafures from hearing are the next.  From fight
 and found ideas take their gradual life.   Hence, a par-
 tial fondnefs is formecT by children towards thofe whofe
 province it is to attend upon them:  and for  this reafon
 they are more fond of their nurfes, who are conftantly
 pratding to them, than of parents.negleaful of their in-
 fancy.
   The want of duty  and affeaipn in children towards
 their parents, fo much to be censured, and fb generally
 complained of, often proceeds from this ear^ mifmanage-
 raent.   The indifference alfo of too  many parents. to-
 wards their children, frequently owes its origin t% depri-
 ving themfelves of the enjoyments of the*little ones at
 this engaging feafon of life.  Even to  an uninterefted
 perfon, the expanding of an infant mind is a delightful
 entertainment;  but to good parents, the pleafure and at-
tachment muft certainly prove exceedingly more agree-
able and lafting.  We muft indeed pity thofe whom ne-
ceffity deprives of this happy folace, but utterly condemn
fufh whofe inclinations drive their little  nurflings from
them.   Unnatural and miftaken perfons, who,  if they 
 1 io             LETTER   XII.
 are puniffied with unditiful children, fuffer only in con-
 fequence of their own neglea!
    Would you, my tender and confiderate matrons, wiffi
 to fee your children truly amiable ? Be then ever careful
 of  yourfelves.  Endeavour alfo as much  as  poflible
 to prevent violent excefs ofpaffion in your  hufbands.
 This is a laudable tafk, and much more in the power of
 women than they generally  imagine.   Truft me, my
 fair-ones, truly prudent and good wives, by bending a
 Kttle to  the rugged, headftrong,  and boifterous  dlfpofi-
 tions of fome hufbands, may for  the moft part civilize
 them; and by their endearing and foothing manners, in
 fpite of early vicious habits, compel them to a behaviour
 of tendernefs and  love.   Thus,  by the example of an
 engaging deportment oa/your part, you will  foften their
 tempers,  fo as  to render them good hufbands, good fa-
 thers, goodmafters, and valuable  members of fociety.
   While, on the other hand, vindiaive and peeviffi wo-
 men not  onlyjorfeit  this female importance,  but too
 frequently eftrange their hufbands* affeaions from them:
 and need I  fay that this want of harmony and  fincere
 friendffiip,  between man and wife,  is a dangerous pat-
 tern for their children ?
   From  the ftrong force of example,  it becomes in a
 manner natural to the  children  of fuch perfons to give
an unbridled loofe to every impulfe;  nay, their emula-
 tion is foon engaged to become equally tyrannical  with
 their parents*  On the contrary,  wh«re  no fuch  prece- 
              LETTER  XII.               in
dents are before  their eyes—where impaffioned and
youthful love keeps pace with  fentimental friendfhip—
where the polite and well-bred man ffiows a virtuous in-
clination towards his wife; and they both join in a pro-
per regard for their children—how  much  reafon have
we to expea that their young  and tender minds will be
impreffed with virtue! Nay, I dare aver, that, from this
reakude of behaviour, fuch parents will generally be re-
warded with good and dutiful children.
   With refpea to the management of children, how
 fhall we draw the line between indulgence and feverity?
 Although they are diametrically oppofite to  each other,
 it is fcarcely poffible to be done; nay, it cannot be deter-
 mined, fo as to  admit of abfolute  declfion.  Children
 neceffarily require a different treatment, even from their
 natural difpofition, as it is ufually called; and a condua
 indulgent to fome, will prove the greateft ferity to
 others.  Let it therefore be remembered,  that our plan
 is to fubdue the firft irregular emotions in the bud, fo as
 to prevent them from rifing Into paffions.
    I would, then, at all events, earneftly recommend
  temper and forbearance to thofe who have the govern-
  ment  of their  infant years.    Kind treatment, good
  words, and a generous encouragement, to moft difpofr-
  tions, will pr,ove equal to every thing that you require of
  them; and if they can be conquered by fuch kduclable
  and gentle means, you not only carry the firft points in
  the moft eligible manner, but accuftom them alfo to an 
 na             LETTER  XII.
 obliging behaviour, and excite their emulation to endea-
 vour to pleafe.
   Carefully  therefore obferve  every emotion that is
 praife-worthy, and  let a reward accompany it;  for the
 encouragement of one virtuous impulfe will have a much
 happier effea than the correaion of a hundred faults.
   Such are  the impreffions  neceflary to form a virtuous
 mind,  and they will certainly grow up into their habits.
 On the contrary, where  children's difpofitions are un-
 toward ; if they be fubdued by harffi words, threats, and
 chaftifement, how are their tempers ruffled by fuch treat-
 ment!—and what is to be expeaed but that they confi-
 der feverity and violence as the only means for them to
 obtain  any  point over others,  whom they may have a
 future  occafion  to  contend with? What a  wretched
/oundatlon of perpetual difquietude!
   Where reproof is neceffary, mortification is undoubt-
 edly the beft means of correaion; and let an acknow-
 ledgement of die fault prove the means of reconciliation.

   " And next to right, pray condefcend
   " T' acknowledge doing wrong, my friend."

 This humbles them  in their own opinions; it neceffarily
 begets ffiame; and before a difpofition is  hardened into
 vice, ffiame will always produce amendment.
   Moreover, in this eafe  there is no object for refent-
 rr.ent,  that  great fupport of pride;  confequently  it inki- 
                 LETTER   XII.              it$
 ates them toconfider thoroughly their own crndua, and
 of courfe  to dwell upon  the caufe for  which they are
 thus humbled.   What,  therefore,  can more thoroughly
 conduce to render children amiable as they  grow up,
 than the accuftoming of them to a retrofpeaion of their
 own behaviour, and to an inward condemnation of their
 faults,  of which their  making a conceflion is fufficient
 proof?
   Even in the moft trifling promife a parent can make to
 children,  I moft earneftly recommend that it be religi-
 oufly adhered to;  otherwife you teach them a fhocking
leffon of deceit.
   For equivocation and falfity, their mortifications ought
 to be exceedingly fevere; but in every point where you
find it neceflary to correa, be fure you make them truly
fenfible of  their error: at the fame time, in every mif-
demeanor,  be thoroughly fatisfied that it proceeds from
a culpable emotion, before you reprove it; for it fome-
times falls out, that wrong aaions may  proceed  from
laudable intentions.
   How often in life  does it happen,  that exceptions
are taken againft a friend, who is at that very time aau-
ally meditating the  angry perfon's  advantage; and yet,
perhaps, appearances fo blind  him  that he thinks of no-
thing but  revenge, until  an eclaircifement takes place,
when he as paflionately reproaches himfelf for his ingra-
titude!  The  cafe  is ftill harder  with  children;  for,
when they are punifhed  wrongfully;  it is feldom that
                       L 
 U4              LETTER   XII.
 they have it  in  their power to  clear  themfelves; -and
 further, they may probably fuppofe their own good emo-
 tions to be the guilty caufe,  and thereby endeavour to
 fapprefs a rifing virtue.
   Indulgence over  much is liable  to produce effeas
 equally bad, as extreme feverky; for as the latter inures
 them to every aa of violence, fo the former encourages
 the breach of every civil duty that thwarts their felfrfh
 inclinations.
   But the greateft  mifcondua  of all arifes from thefe
 two oppofite ways of management being united together
 in the wideft extreme; when one moment the little crea-
 ture's  bones are almoft broken for a fault of which  it is
 ftarcely fenfible,  and the next moment it is fondly che-
 riffied to  reconcile it  to  the miftaken parent; and in
.return, not improbably, indulged In exercifing its  rage
 upon toys, in torturing birds, dogs, cats, and fuch-like
 domeftic animals, as infant tyranny can lord it over; and
 permitted alfo at the  window to fport with the lives of
 little  buzzing infeas, that  fall  a  facrifice to wanton
 cruelty.
   The child who is fondly and fooliffily indulged,  pro-
 mifes  only a  melancholy profpea; but  where,  on the
 other hand,  as is too generally feen, an occaGonal  feve-
 rky inures  it to cruelty,  the difpofition is inevitably ruin-
 ed.  The confequences of fuch feverky and fuch indul-
 gence  fill the mind with every difagreeable apprehenfion: 
                LETTER   XII.              it $
and indeed, what can they produce but inordinate de-
fires,  brutiffi rage,  and violence?
   Thofe parents who are happy enough to fubdue  their
own choler, and thereby fet their children proper exam-
ples,  will have very little caufe for complaint againft
them: on the contrary, fuch as are perpetually quarrel-
ling with each other, with their children, fervants, and
every body around them, cannot expea  much  peace
and comfort from their rifing families.   But if they will
take this friendly advice, to correa their own  errors
only once, for every hundreth time they chaftife others,
it will probably bring about fome amendment in them-
felves;  and the force of their example muft furely pro-
duce  the beft effea upon  their houfehold.
   We have now conduaed children through the differ-
ent ftages of helplefs infancy, and gradually introduced
them, though  as yet but junior charaaers, upon  the
grand theatre of life;  Where the happy effeas of fuch
careful regulations are generally to be diftinguifhed.  As
to literary Improvements, they properly come under ano-
ther jurifdiaion,  and therefore claim your future confi-
deration.  Neverthelefs, a  condefcending obligingnefs,
a fweet affabilitv,  an unaffuming fenfibility,  and  a  mo-
 deft deportment, ever denote the proper education  of a
 female mind.   In like manner, prudence, abftemioufnefs,
 and virtuous  difpofitions In men, moft  frequently  pro-
 ceed from the good impreflions of childhood.    Severe
  ftripes, and harffi ufage, add fuel to a turbulent and re- 
 116             LETTER  XII.
 vengeful fpirit, and too frequently render a fullen  boy
 malicious: on the other hand, the indulged andfpoikd
 child commonly turns out an abandoned libertine.
   Thus,  my fair ones, you may eafily difcover how
 much fociety is interefted in your motherly condua, at
 this early  time; " for,  as the twig is bent the tree  will
 grow;" and the  feeds of iniquity, in thofe difpofitions
 where virtue is  not planted, unavoidably,  as it were,
 take root, and fpring up without much cultivation.
   Every  notorious vice ffiows an utter contempt for the
 moral  duties of life;  and  the  man  whofe charaaer is
 infamous, feems but little to regard the opinion of others:
 therefore the good fame and chaftity  of women become
 his ridicule and fport.   Such men are  continually aflault-
 ing their  virtue,  and  aiming at  their feduaion.  Of
 confequence, the darling,  who  has  never been curbed
 in the  early  impulfes  of erroneous  inclinations,  will
 prove  to  be very little capable of fubduing the tempef-
 tuous paffions of youth; which will not only  hurry  him
 on  to his  own ruin, but alfo too generally occafion the
 difgrace,  infamy, and  deftruaion of many unfortunate
 young  women.
   Thus it appears, how greatly the happinefs and prof-
 perky of the fairfex are affeaed by the fenfual mifcon-
daa of ours;  infomuch that, in  the  prefent  inftance,
Vivien as well as men muft  fall degraded. 
( "7 )
                 LETTER  XIII.
Of milk—Its properties examined—the different kinds
   of milk compared with each other—and their parti-
   cular virtues explained.
       lVllLK  has been recommended, in feveral let-
ters, as the  proper food for infants;  and in the four-
teenth and fifteenth it is again fpoken of, as being equal-
ly neceflary for  Invalids and  aged perfons.   It fhall,
therefore, be the  bufinefs of this letter to examine fo far
into the qualities  of milk, and into the milk  of different
animals,  as may enable us to determine  what  kind of
neilk is, upon different occafions, to be preferred ; which
will take in every thing, not elfewhere  obfervcd upon
this fubjea.
   Milk was before remarked to be a kind of white blood,
prepared by the mother for the fapport of her young ;
fo far we may fpeak of it in general terms.
   In different animals, therefore, it is reafonable to fup-
pofe, and faa confirms our fuppofition, that the qualities
of milk are alfo different: hence, by firft examining hi-
to its general properties, and from thofe principles, fet-
ting forth the-peculiar variations in the milk of different
animals, we fhall  arrive at the defired conclude::.
   In milk, by ftepping into the dairy, we  may difcern
three principal component parts.   After it has remain-
ed fern:  time in  an undiflurbed ftate. the cream, floats
                        L:. 
 n8            LETTER   XIII.
upon the fur face.  It is the leaft  in  quantity,  though
moft nourifliing, of an oily balfamic fubftance,  and in-
flammable in its nature, as the butter,  which  is made
from it, plainly demonftrates.
   A lady, before whom I once made fome experiments,
afked me why the cream  floated upon the  furface; for
being,  continued fhe,  the  thickeft part,  ought it not ra-
ther to fink to the bottom ?  I told her, it was the thick-
eft part, to be fure, but at  the fame  time it  was alfo the
lighted; fpecifically fo, as oil is lighter than water, and
therefore rifes to the top.
   The cream being taken off, the remaining milk ap-
pears bluifli,  and thinner  than before; and  when  thus
robbed of its  thick, creamy part,  it confequently is not
lb fmooth to  the palate.
   On  the addition of runnet, or  indeed any acid, a fe-
paration of the two remaining parts  foon  takes place,
and we difcover the curd.  This,  being the  heavieft,
wdien feparatcd from the whey, falls to the bottom.   It
is  the leaft valuable part of the milk, glutinous  in its na-
ture, and compofed of the moft earthy  particles, being
alfo of an aftringent quality.
   The third  and only remaining part,  being the whey
of the  milk, is the largeft in quantity, of a diluting and
cleanfing property.
   Let us now by this ftandard  compare the  different
kinds of milk, moftly in ufe with us, and apply them to
the nuruofes for which theyfeem beft calculated. 
               LETTER   XIII.              119
   The human  milk, when drawn from the breaft, has
exaaly the fame bluiffi appearance as cow's milk when
the cream is taken off.  It affords very little  cream,
and but a fmall quantity of curd;  therefore the whey
conftkutes the chief part: but the more healthy the wo-
man is, and particularly if between the age of twenty and
thirty, the more her milk abounds with rich creamy bal-
fam, and the more it alfo contains of the curd or earthy
particles;  probably from her conftkution being,  at this
time, in full vigour, and the digeftive  powers therefore
more perfea.
   Thefe obfervations will point out the beft  fubfthute,
where the breaft Is denied, and will likewife direa thofe,
who prefer wet-nurfing,  in the choice  of the propereft
perfon; for there is, in my opinion, an equal objeaion
againft the milk of a very young girl, as  againft  that of
a woman almoft paft child-bearing.  The cleanfing qua-
lity, before taken notice of, in a breaft  of new milk,
will alio, together with reafon and experience, ffiow the
propriety of recommending thofe women who have not
been long delivered.
   Afs's milk is generally allowed  to be the  nearcft to
the human, and, according to the above experiments,
we find it fo, abounding moftly with whey, and  having
little of the cream or curd in it.  Hence, after a fevere
fit of illneAfiphere the  body is much  emaciated, and 3
the ftftmal^veak,  or where the blood is loaded with
fcftrp,. acrid humours, the cleanfing  quality of afs's milk 
120             LETTER  XIII.
deferves a preference to that of any  other animal which
is ufed for this purpofe.  In confumptive cafes, or where
there is a flow, habitual fever, it is juftly to be preferred,
until fuch time as the conftitution may have gained a
little ftrength, when  the more nourifhing ought to fup-
ply its place.
  Mare's milk  is efteemed to be  much the fame as
afs's ;  but this, indeed, is in very little ufe.
  Cow's milk comes next under confideration.   This
appears to be the richeft and moft nourifliing of any of
the brutes' milk  here mentioned.  It  abounds  with a
great deal of cream  ; for,  after ftanding twelve hours,
and being fkimmcd,  it appears equal to any other milk.
It contains alfo a large quantity of curd ;  and,  after all,
even the whey  is by  far  more nutritious than any
other.
  We obferved  that afs's  milk, in the  experiments,
moftly refembles the  human.   Why then not prefer that
to cow's milk, for the food of children ? I do not totally
deny the ufe  of  this milk for that purpofe ;  but in our
part of the country, it is very expenfive, and cannot be
obtained  in  any large quantity ;  for which  reafon it
would be impraaicable to bring it into general ufe.
   There is,  likewife,  another reafon which  kclines
me  to give  a preference to cow's milk;  for,  notwith-
ftanding the fimilarky of  human milk t^Aat of affes,
the firft may  well be fuppofed moft  ftreng%ening, fince
women ufually feed on animal as well  as vegetable diet,
while" the brutes we fpeak of are confined  entirely  to 
                LETTER  XIII.              izi
vegetables.   Whence, if we fubftkute afs's milk,  we
fhall fall ffiort of the nourifhment nature defigned for us;
and therefore for a young child, who requires a hearten-
ing diet, the milk of cows,  in my opinion, is preferable,
as the richnefs of it is,  in fome  meafure, adequate to
the fuppofed difference in the qualities of human  milk,
and that of other animals.
   The milk of ffieep and  goats confifts moftly of the
curd,  or  earthy particles:  hence, where the blood-
veffcls are  injured by  acrid humours,  and frequent
bleedings happen from this  caufe, or  where  children
are fubjea to the rickets,  from a weaknefs of the bones,
that milk,  which abounds moftly  with the curd,  or
cheefy part, feems  beft calculated to  anfwer the inten-
tion ;  its earthy, mucilaginous, and aftringent property
having the  greateft tendency to heal fuch ruptured vef-
fels, and to give a firmnefs to the  bones ; but as thefe
milks poffefs lefs of the cleanfing power, it will, in  moft
cafes,  particularly  in  bleedings, be proper to ufe the
more  attenuating kind firft.
   We have now examined the different milks familiar
to us,  and,  from their different properties,  pointed out
the end each  fort  feems beft  calculated  to anfwer;
whence  every  perfon  will  quickly  be  determined
which to  give  the preference  to  in  particular  com-
plaints.
   When any one firft begins to eat milk,  efpecially if a
fee liver, it may probably purge  a  little ; but fuch in- 
 122              LETTER   XIII.
 conveniences will moft commonly be removed,  by  ac-
 cuftoming the conftltution to the ufe of it;  and boiling
 the milk will in a  great meafure prevent diis effea.   I
 have always remarked,  that thofe,  who, by reafon of
 a pampered appetite,  complain of milk and vegetables
 being  windy,  and not  agreeing with  them,  are  the
 very perfons who moft require fuch  a diet;  for  it is the
 debauched ftate of the  ftomach and bowels, that occa-
 fions their  uneafinefs,  which this  regimen feems  the
 moft likely to correa.
   I have recommended a little fait to  be mixed with
milk, before  it  is given to children if they are apt to
 throw it up curdled,  and fhall mention the experiment
 which induced me to give that advice; fince it is equally
 worthy the attention  of grown  perfons,  fome of whom
 make this an objeaion to their eating milk; as  I am in-
 clined to believe fuch  precaution will render it agreeable
 to moft conftitutions.
   I put two ounces of milk,  warm  as it came  from trie
 cow, into  a tea-cup, with a little  common fait: I put
 the fame quantity, of  the like warmth,  into  another
 tea-cup,  without fait; then  dropping a very  little dif-
 tilled vinegar into each,  a hard curd prefently  appeared
 in  that milk which had no fait in  it, while the  other
 with the fait was fcarcely altered.
   I tried the fame experiment again, with a large tea-
 fpoonful  of runnet, and obferved the milk, which had 
               LETTER   XIII.              123
the fait in  it,  to  continue in its fluid ftate, while the
other grew thick and turbid,  and almoft inftandy fepa-
rated into curds and whey.   This laft experiment an-
fwered the beft, and is much more to our  purpofe than
the former.   From thefe hints,  it feems reafonable to
conclude, that fait, taken with milk,  might equally pre-
vent the too hafty curdling of it, where there is a great
acidity in the ftomach; in which cafe, the curdled milk
having too quickly affumed a  folidity,  becomes trouble-
fome;  and becaufe it is not as yet defigned  to pafs into
the bowels for the office of nourifhment, apart of this load
is generally difcharged by vomiting.   Moreover, the fti-
mulating quality of fait will greatly aflift a weak digef-
tion,  and thereby facilitate the paffage of the milk from
theftomach into the bowels ;  and from experience, in re-
commending it to  children who ufed to  throw up their
milk in a curdled  ftate,  I  am fully  convinced  of  its
utility.
   In all cafes, where infirmities or age require a prudent
regimen, I have direaed a fimilar care to that of dieting
children.   Milk therefore comprehends a very material
part of fuch food;  and I am  fully perfuaded, that, if it
were  more univerfally ufed, the world in general  would
be gready benefited.  I do  not, however, mean to be
underftood; that  I debar thofe from a reafonable quan-
tity of animal food, who are  capable of digefting it.
But fuch as are emaciated by ilinefs, or have the mis-
 
i24              LETTER   XIII.
as are confumptively inclined, or thofe who have crazy,
fortune to labour under gouty complaints;  fuch, alfo,
infirm conftitutions, and are fubjea to an habitual fever-
iffi difpofition,  will do  right to eat fleffi only once in
the day,  and, for the reft  of their nouriffiment, to live
almoft, if not altogether, upon milk. 
( "5  )
                 LETTER  XIV.
  The lick chamber—with direaions alfo for invalids-.

        VV E are now, my dear ladies,  entering  into
 the fick chamber,  in which,  as well as in the nurfery,
 many amiable charaaers  may be  drawn.   Here, the
 conjugal affeaion of a wife is  laudably  difplayed—the
 tender love of a mother fondly exerts itfelf—the gtatkude
 and duty of a daughter are confpicuous—the good fifter
 alfo endears  herfelf to  a worthy brother—and female
 friendfhip wears a thoufand additional charms !
   Let us piaure a  truly tender and good wife, in this
 exalted charaaer!  Let us fuppofe, that flie has deferved
 recompence, by reftoring to her chafte and longing arms
 the diftinguiffied choice of her youthful love, ennobled
 by a generous fympathy of virtuous inclinations?
   Let us imagine this happy  man  perfealy  recovered
 from  a dangerous and painful  illnefs;  to which reco-
 ver y  her  unwearied attendance proved greatly inftrn-
 mentah.his mind, likewife, impreffed with every thought
 a  confeioufnefs of fuch an obligation can infpire!   Be-
hold the hufband admiring her tranfeendant excellency;
while the honeft tear,  perchance,  trickling  down his
cheek,  betrays the  big  emotion  of a  grateful heart.
" She, on her part, with looks of cordial love, awhile in
filent rapture glows—then on bended knees adores her.
Maker"—returns moft fervid thanks, for that her prayer
                        M 
126               LETTER   XTV.
of fcrrow has been heard, that He has gracioufly refto-
red the hufband and the father!  How gTeat  muft be
their reciprocal felicity !
   I fhall now  proceed to thofe inftruaion6 which are
neccffary for the proper execution of this friendly office.
There is a certain impertinence frequently proceeding
from laudable  motives, which,  neverthelefs,  is totally
culpable :  I mean, the defire of our acquaintance to
vifitafick chamber.   It  is oftentir.c-, I  acknowledge,
the effeft of tendernefs, ill-placed,  and a real  concern,
imprudently expreffed.   In general, thofe  vifits ffiould
not be permitted.  I every day experience the ill effeas
of them. When, indeed, a patient is upon the recovery,
and capable of fitting up  three or four hours at a time,
the company of a friend, who knows how far to engage
with propriety in converfation, is afweetly refrefhing fo-
lace: but locks, bolts, or bars cannot be too ftrong to
keep prating goflips, at all times,  out of a fick chamber.
   During  a fever,  it is a load fufficient for any patient
to  bear the difeafe.   Quietude on his part, and filence
on the part of thofe about him, ought univerfally to be
impofed.  It is not a time for  the  mind to be engaged
either in the purfuit of bufinefs or pleafure.
   This leads me to a confideration of the utmoft impor-
tance ;  and as I am not fpeaking as  a phyfician, but as a
friend, it  comes properly within that province, and  I
hope it will be  ferioufly attended to by every reader.  If
it is now prejudicial for any one to think, even of the 
               LETTER   XIV.               iz;
 common concerns of life, how much more injurious muft
 it prove, to have the  mind engaged in  that great work
 of fetling, forever,  our worldly affairs!
   Would  you,  my  rational friends,  wiffi to be freed
 from an intolerable burden, never poftpone this impor-
 tant bufinefs until you  are upon a bed of ficknefs.  Not
 to fay how incapable the judgment at fuch a time will of-
 ten prove,  perhaps  to the detriment of  fome  deferving
 friend, or  not  unlikely to the confufion of a whole fa-
 mily, the very mention of it from any about us, or the
 confcious neceffity in ourfelves, muft exceedingly hurry
 and deprefs the fpirits, when tranquillity and fupport are
 effentially neceflary : for what can fuch an idea convey,
 but death?—A laft will and teftament is one of the moft
folemn aas of life, and ought never to be poftponed till
the agonizing moments of death.
  The chamber, proper for a patient, is of no fmall mo-
ment.  There ought to be a free circulation of air, whe-
ther it be in the fummer or winter.  I never would  have
 any perfon confined to a room without a chimney;   it is
equally neceflary in the warmer feafon  for the purpofe
of difcharging the offenfive vapours  of difeafe,  as it is in
cold weather, by means of a little fire, to bring the air
to a due temperament, which alfo contributes to remove
 the like offence.
  To you, my female friends,  this concern of nurfing
belongs.   It is an important, and oftentimes a fatiguing
Ufe.  I  would willingly  engage you in it upon princir 
128               LETTER   XIV.
pie, and therefore ffiall endeavour to ffiow that man and
woman were born for each other's fupport and comfort.
Their refpeaive dependence upon each other is, undoubt-
edly, the wife ordination of Omnifcience.
  I cannot fpeak of this mutual obligation, without being
mindful of the beautiful paflage  in oui immortal Milton's
Paradife Loft, book the fourth, where Eve gives Adam
an account of herfelf; and I ffiall introduce the defcrip-
tion at length, as a quotation  from this author  can  ne-
ver be deemed impertinent.   Let us attend  to the mo-
ther of mankind!—

  To whom thus Eve replyM.  O thou! for whom
And  from whom I was form'd;  fleffi of thy fleffi ;
And without whom am to no end;  my guide
And  head! what thou haft faid,  is juft and right.
For we to him indeed all praifes owe,
And daily thanks;  I chiefly, who enjoy
So far the happier lot, enjoying thee
Pre-eminent by fo much odds; while thou
Like  confort to thyfelf canft no where find.
That day I oft remember, when from fleep
I firft awak'd, and found myfelf repos'd
Under a ffiade, on flowers;  much wond'ring where
And  what I was, whence thkher brought, and how.
Not diftant far from thence, a  murmuring found
Of waters iffued from, a cave, and fpread
 hji liquid plain, then flood unmov'd, 
               LETTER   XIV.              129
Pure as th' expanfe of heaven :  I thither went,
With inexperienc'd thought, and laid me down
On the green bank, to look into the clear
Smooth lake, that to me feem'd another fky.
As I  bent down to look, juft oppofite
A ffiape within the wat'ry gleam appear'd,
Bending to look on me; I ftarted back,
It ftarted back; but pleas'd, I foon return'd ;
Pleas'd itreturn'd as foon, with anfwering looks
Of fympathy, and love : there I had fix'd
Mine  eyes till now, and pin'd with vain defire,
Had not a voice thus warn'd me,  " What thou feeft,
"What there thou feeft, fair creature, is thyfelf;
" With thee it came and goes:  but, follow me,
" And I will bring thee where no fliadow ftays
" Thy coming, and thy foft embraces:  he
" Whofe image thou art: him thou ffialt enjoy
" Infeparably thine, to him ffialt bear
41 Multitudes like thyfelf, and thence be call'd
" Mother of human race."  What could I do,
But follow ftrait, invifibly thus led,
Till I efpy'd thee? fair indeed, and tall,
Under a plantan ; yet, methought, lefs  fair,
Lefs winning foft, lefs amiably mild,
Than that fmooth watry image: back I turn'd;
Thou following cry'dft aloud, Return, fair Eve;
Whom fly'ft thou? whom thou fly'ft, of him thou art
His flcffi, his bone;  to give thee being, I lent 
13o             LETTER   XIV.
Out of :.v\> fide to thee, neareft my heart,
ciubftantial life, to have thee by my fide
Henceforth an individual folace dear:
Part of my  foul, Ifeek thee; and thee claim.
My other half!—With that, thy gentle hand
Seiz'd mine; I yielded;  and from that time fee
How beauty is excell'd by manly grace
And Wifdom, which alone is truly fair.

   To illuftrate mv argument of our mutual dependence,
 I muft beg leave to indulge myfelf, and hope likewife to
 entertain my reader,  with  another quotation  from the
 fame author.  Adam, defireus of  retaining the angel
 Raphael, relates to  him  what he  remembers, fince his
 own creation, and among other things, that which is to
 our purpof, hk firft meeting and  nuptials  with Eve.
 After recounting his dream,  wherein he was informed
 of her creation,  he  proceeds:—

                          I wak'd
  To find her, or forever to deplore
  Her lofs, and other pleakires all abjure.
  When out of hope, behold her! not far  off;
  Such as I faw her in my dream, adorn'd
  With what all earth or heav'n could beftow
  To make her amiable;  on fhe came,
  Led by her heav'nly Maker (though unfeen),
  And guided by his voice;  nor uninforra'd 
               LETTER  XIV.              13
Of nuptial fan aity, and marriage^rkes :
Grace was In all her fteps, heav'n in her eye,
In every gefture, dignity and love !
I over-joy'd, could not forbear aloud.—
  This turn hath made amends!  Thou  haft fulfiU'd
Thy words, Creator bounteous, and benign !
Giver of all thiags fafr !  but faireft this
Of all thy gifts ! nor envieft.  I now fee
Bone of my bone,  fleffi of my fleffi, myfelf
Before me : woman is her name;  of man
Extraaed : for this caufe he fhall forego
Father and mother, and to his wife adhere ;
And they fhall  be one fleffi, one heart,  one foul.
   She heard me thus ; and though divinely brought,
Yet innocence,  anA virgin modefty,
Her virtue, and the co;dcience of her worth,
That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won ;
Not obvious, not obtrufive,.but retir'd,
The more defirable :  or, to fay all,
Nature herfelf (though pure of finful thought)
Wrought in her fo, that feeing me, fhe  turn'd ;
I follow'd her; fhe what was honour knew,
And,  with obfequious majefty, approved
My pleaded reafon.—To the nuptial bow'r
I led her,  blufhing like the morn : all heav'n,
            4
And happy conftellations,  on that hour
 Shed their fekaeft influence  : the earth
 Gave  fign of grawlation, and each hill: 
  i3z            LETTER  XIV.
  Joyous the birds; freffi gales, and gende airs,
  Whifper'd it to the woods, and from their wings
  Flung rofe, flung odours from the fpicy ffirubs,
  Difporting !  till the amorous bird of night
  Sung fpoufal,  and bid hafte the ev'ning ftar
  On his hill top,  to light the bridal lamp.
    Thus I have told thee all my ftate,  and brought
  My ftory to the fum of earthly blifs,
  Which I enjoy: and muft confefs to find
  In all things  elfe delight indeed ; but fuch
  As, us'd or not, works in the mind no change,
  Nor vehement defire ; the delicacies
  I mean of tafte, fight, fmell, herbs, fruits, and flow'rs,
  Walks,  and  the melody of birds: but here
  Far otherwife !  tranfported I behold,
  Tranfported touch :  here paflion firft I felt,
  Commotion ftrange ! in all enjoyments elfe-
  Superior and unmov'd : here only weak,
  Againft the charm of beauty's powerful glance.
  Or Nature fail'd in me,  and left fome part
  Not proof enough fuch objea to fuftain ;
  Or from my fide fubduaing,  took perhaps
  More than  enough :  at leaft,  on her beftow'd
  Too much of ornament:  in outward ffiow,
  Elaborate ; of inward, lefs exaa.
  For well I underftand, in the prime end
[  Of Nature, her th' inferior ; in  the mind,
  And inward faculties j  which jaoft excel: 
                LETTER   XIV.             133
In outward alfo her refembling lefs
His image who made both ; and lefs expreffing
The charaaer of that dominion given
O'er other creatures.  Yet, when I approach
Her lovelinefs, fo abfolute fhe feems,
And in herfelf complete, fo well to know
Her own ; that what fhe wills  to do, or fay,
Seems wifeft,  virtuoufeft, difcreeteft, beft :
All higher knowledge in her prefence falls
Degraded ; Wifdom,  in difcourfe with her,
Lofes difcountenanc'd, and like folly ffiows ;
Authority and Reafon on her wait,
As one  intended firft, not after made
Occafionally:  and (to confummate all)
Greatnefs of mind,  and noblenefs, their feat
Build in her lovelieft, and create an awe
About her, as a guard angelic  plac'd. -
   How exquifitely  charming  are  thefe defcrlptions t
what  valuable  portraits of the firft human pair!   The
lines  elegantly ftrong ! the colourings beautifully rich !
Then again the  amazingly foft and delicate'' touches of
this great mafter of the human feelings,  wherever we
caft our eyes,  enchantingly appear !
   What can more fully ffiow our mutual dependence !—
So amiably engaging to each other,  our firft parents, in
this poem, are  defcribed,  that the labour of either,
whereby the other was beneiked,  muft prove a real plea-
fure.   What an example for the encouragement of ma- 
   *34             LETTER   XIV.
  trimony !—O that we could more generally difplay the
  charaaer of Adam !  Then you,  my fair ones, would
  ftrive more ardently, in gentlenefs and love,  to imitate
  this firft of women.
     If man would endeavour to curb unlawful inclinations,
  cheriffiing and comforting the wife of his bofom ;  if he
  would fondly regard her charms and virtues; what  emu-
  lation muft fuch a condua excite in every female breaft,
  to give honour and dignity to her hufband !  Let  men
  but begin the reformation, and  I  will be  accountable
  for the right behaviour of the generality of your  fex.
    Neverthelefs, the culpablenefs of man will not excufe
  the folly of woman ;  and this piece of advice, from a
  real friend,  the ladies will do well to  obferve.
    I know my fair pupils will tell me, that although a
 hufband may have  follies and vices, yet,  if he is but a
 fenfible man, they can  overlook them, and cheerfully
 fubmk to their lord and matter—but who,  fay they,
 can be governed by a fool ?
    When once a woman has drawn her  lot,  it is  not
 only her  duty, but the height of policy,  to  make  the
 beft of it.   Let her choice prove ever fo difagreeable, or
 fuppofing that  fhe was led into fuch  a  marriage  by  the
 cruel compulfion of her friends, ftill honour and obedi-
 ence are required on  her part.  By giving importance
to an hufband,  (even thofe hufbands we are now  fpeak*
ing of,  for others will command  it)  a wife merits, aad 
                 LETTER  XIV.             135
 generally obtains, praife and adoration, not only from
 him,  but from the whole world.
    On the contrary, the miftaken ffie,  who in company
 degrades, and  upon every occafion tauntingly reproaches
 her hufband,  thus  making  him,  poor man, the con-
 temptible butt  to level  her  triumphant  ffiafts  at;  not-
 withftanding ffie imagines her own wit and fuperior
 talents are happily difplayed, to the entertainment and
 admiration of her friends ;  believe me, ladies, by thofe
 very friends ffie  muft ever be condemned ; and let her
 merits, in other refpeas,  be ever fo great, this culpable
 part of her behaviour they moft affuredly defpife.
   But to return from our prefent wandering, which I
 intentionally followed  as  an encouragement  to virtue,
 a confiftency of character, and mutual love ; being con-
 vinced that thefe qualifications will make even a conftant
 attendance in a fick chamber not altogether unpleafing.
 Now then let us purfue  our further care, where female
 tendernefs  can affuage  the  fevereft  bodily pains, and
 render the greateft  misfortunes of  life at  leaft fup-
 portable.
   In every diforder, phyfic and good nurfing ought  to
 go hand in hand; and I am the more defirous of giving,
 my opinion with refpea to good nurfing,  as  I mean  to
 oppofe  it to poor  and bad nurfing, which has been too
 much  the unlucky and  miftaken  praaice of the fick
 chamber:  for under the v«igue idea of inflammation,
and inflammatory difeafes, even bread  and  water havej 
136             LETTER   XIV.
been fometimes accounted too great a fupport for the
patient.   But with pleafure, we now  fee phyficians aa
upon more rational principles:  and I would wifli to con-
vince  you ladies, whofe province it is, of the propriety
of fupporting patients under every difeafe.
  The  fick chamber is our fubjea; but it is alfo to be
underftood, that the precautions  here laid  down  will
prove equally neceflary, where invalids are permitted to
attend to the common affairs of life; for, without a pru-
dent regulation in our method of living, few conftkutional
or long exifting ails can be removed,  or even rendered
in any degree light,  and eafily to be  borne;  but  I  am
clearly convinced, that It is very pbffible for many infirm
perfons to pafs#comfortably through a  tolerable length of
life, and, at laft,  to pay an eafy debt to nature. *
  The  obfervations,  therefore, upon  children and aged
perfons, are equally applicable to thofe who, by ungo-
verned  paffions  and  intemperance,  have  ruined their
health; for in either of thefe cafes,  where  the  bodily
powers  are enervated,  and the digeftion  weakened,  a
proper,  light, and nourifliing diet is as neceflary to re-
ftore health,  as it is to  fupport the young,  and preferve
the aged.

   * It would be fwelling  this letter to a very great bulk, were
I to enter into a particular account of the diet proper for inva-
lids. The reader  who is under the n.-cefiity of o'jferving fuch a
prudent  reftfaint, is therefore rL:':rred to my obfervations upon
diet, in the Family lJhyfic.;.ui: fome hints of this kind are there
thrown out, which he mny probably louik!or ..s not altogether
unworthy of his attention. 
               LETTER  XIV.               137
    Every difeafe is to be confidered as a deviation from
 health;  and a fever is the means made ufe of by Nature
 to free the body from fomething that is noxious.   Ought
 we, therefore, to counteraa her in this her own great
 work?  Ought we not  rather cautioufly and prudently,
 like a valuable handmaid, to tend upon her movements,
 and generoufly fupport her in the  defign ffie aims at?
 Surely this  appears to every one reafonable.
   However,where there is a fever,  or great weaknefs of
 the body, or where the body Itfelf is emaciated,  an alter-
 ation from  the common manner of living is certainly
 neceflary. To thefe pftints, therefore,  I fhall confine my
 advice,  as other  confiderations  come under a medical
 direaion.
   Few perfons are conftrained to keep their chambers,
 who are not troubled with great lofs  of  ftrength, or
 fevenffi complaints;  either as the firft caufe, or as  fymp-
 toms accompanying other difeafes.   Suppofing then thefe
 circumftances, the conftitution being  thus reduced, or
 Nature  labouring to  throw  off a difeafe, the body cer-
 tainly requires a nourifhment of the moft fimple kind; by
 fimple, I mean eafy  of digeftion, but  let it at the fame
 time be comfortable.   The  ftomach and bowels muft,
of neceffity,  be equally affeaed with the other parts of
the body,  and confequently unable  to perform their offi-
ces upon the common fupports of life.
   Animal food, therefore,  is particularly to be forbid-
 den : and I  am forry to be obliged to blame the  fond-
                       N 
138            LETTER  XIV.
nefs of parents,  and thofe who affift in fick chambers,
for too frequently indulging patients thus unwarrantably.
Give  me leave to  obferve, if fleffi be permitted during
the exlftence of a fever, or when the body, by illnefs,
is  exceedingly weakened and emaciated, from the inca-
pacity of the digeftive  faculties,  the nourifhment  pro-
duced muft be imperfea,  crude,  offenfive;  and confe-
quently,  inftead  of a fupport, muft  add an additional
weight to the difeafe.
   But, at the fame time, let it be  remembered, that, as
a fupport is neceflary, good broths,  wine whey, jellies,
panado,  a  beverage of wine and water,  &c. are to be
difcretionally permitted; and indeed the inclination of
the fick perfon will generally determine the propriety of
thefe  things; for where they are hurtful, an univcrfal
Joathing of them commonly takes place.
   Thefe and fuch like fippings, being eafy of digeftion,
are not cnly the  propereft for a difeafed ftate of the fto-
mach  and bowels, but they alfo fupply the  body with a
neceflary nouriffiment to  uphold its ftrength under the
diforder.   It is  a point at prefent acknowledged by all
good phyficians.   It is, in my opinion, a circumftance
minutely to be dwelt upon; for  woful  experience  has
often  convinced  me, that  the raffinefs of an obftinate
nurfe,  in one unlucky hour, has countered the opera-
tions of a well regulated, and otherwife fuccefsful, regi-
men. 
                LETTER   XIV.             1^9
   Although I would debar patients from animal food,
where there is a feveriffi complaint, neverthelefs I  doJ
moft earneftly recommend a generous, but difcretlonary,
fupport of eafily digefted and comfortable liquid nourifh-
ment,  in every fever.   I mean, that barley-water, mint
and balm tea, with fuch like drinks,  will not fufficiently
fupport the ftrength of a patient under any kind of fever,
even for a few days,  and much lefs  for as many weeks.
As to the  diftinaions  of inflammatory, nervSus,  and
putrid, it is not my bufinefs to enter upon them here;
but fuppofing the fever to be inflammatory, the patient is,
or ought  to be, confined to bed, and a breathing fweat
encouraged.   Will not then an already almoft digefted
and innocent liquid nouriffiment anfwer the phyfician's
aim, at the fame time that it fupports the patient? Expe-,
rience has convinced me of its utility.   I cannot help,
therefore ftrongly recommending it;  for I am too appre-
henfive that many lives are daily loft for want of this
neceflary fupport.
   I am labouring to prevent that miftaken care, which is
commonly called ftarving a difeafe, and to fet afide the
dreadful  apprehenfion that a little innocent  nourifhment
given to a perfon in a fever, is ftill adding fuel to the fire.
By thefe errors the ableft affiftance is oftentimes baffled,
tothecoft of the patient, and, not unlikely, to the difgrace
of a worthy praaitioner. Be affured, that it is more eli-
gible to endeavour to fupport,  and build up  again, afha-
ken,  difeafed  and  tottering  frame,  than to attempt to 
140              LETTER  XIV.
pull it down.   Never let this be done but by the exprefs
command of wifdom and experience ;  for it is a ferious
affair at all times to deprive a tenement of its foundation
and ftrength.   It is much to be wlflied, as it furely muft
prove a general advantage,, that phyficians  would more
particularly direa the regimen  of diet in fick chambers.
  The punauality  of nurfes, and thofe who attend upon
the fick, in the adminiftering of medicines, is of no fmall
import.  -It is a cruel reflexion upon the  honeft part of
the profeffion, that praaitioners confult  the number of
their fees, or the length of their  bills,  more  than  the
health of their patients.   Such iniquity is but  veryfel-
dom,  I hope,  if ever, praaifed; and as few perfons em-
ploy any but thofe  of whom they entertain  a good  opi-
nion, let me warn you, as a friend,  not to indulge a fuf.
nicion which  betrays a mean foul, and  moft  probably
will, at fome  time  or other, produce fatal confequences
to yourfelves.  Great relief, nay,  oftentimes, perfect
health, is affuredly to be  obtained by the help  of medi-
cine.   Great evil,  nay,  too frequently, certain death,
enfaes from a jealous contempt, or wanton neglea of this
falutary aid.
   I muft  fpeak of another miftake, with regard to  the
management  of linen.   A patient  cannot be hurt by
changing  wet, filthy, and offenfive linen, for that which
is dry, clean, and comfortable; provided this be done
with proper care,  not. to  give cold  during the time of
fluking the clothes.  -Uhun which  is perfealy dry and 
               LETTER  XIV.              [141
 clean is, at all times, to be preferred to that which has
 been ufed; for the latter may have abforbed offenfive va-
 pours, of which the former muft be  entirely free.   A-
 gainft this  obfervation, I am convinced,  there are great
 prejudices; neverthelefs thofe who employ their reafon
 but for a moment, will fee the propriety of the prefent
 caution.
   A free  fucceffion of air is effentially neceflary not
 only to carry off the offenfive vapours of difeafe,  but alio
 to the recovery of the patient; nay, even to the prefer-
 vation of thofe who attend upon the fick.  It is  true
 that a fire is proper in  cold weather,  for reafons before
 given; but at the fame time the chamber ought to be no
 more than  comfortably warm; for where this degree of
 heat is exceeded, faint fweats are likely to exhauft the
patient's ftrength,  whereby he finks, perhaps, under a
 difeafe through which,  probably,  he might  otherwife
 have been fupported.
   Having  now cautioned you againft the moft material
 errors, which, at  prefent occur to my memory, I will
 beg leave  to obferve what poor creatures  men in gene-
 ral are,  when neceffity confines them to a fick chamber!
 If 'we reftea upon this  fcene  ought we to complain
 of the fpirits of women ? I fcarcely ever find a man, in
 ficknefs,  fupport  himfelf  fo well as  a woman does-
 Men are,  for the moft part, depreffed in their fpirits, to
 the  greateft degree, when they are  ill.  Be it then
                        N z 
1+2             LETTER   XIV.
with gratitude remembered, that in a fick chamber, the
pleafing vivacity, and, let me add, the true philofophy»
of a  kind female friend, prove effentially neceflary.   A
good nurfe will, in a great meafure, alkylate our bodily
infirmities, by  fupporting our fpirits  in  time of fick-
nefs.
   A man, by flriking and fupetior  abilities, induftry*
and  good fortune,  is  fometimes lucky enough  to raife
himfelf, aggrandife  his  family,  and  bring to his wife
conveniences far beyond  her  expeaations.  But what
are all thefe things, compared to the comfort, and ten-
der fupport,  which ffie  in return can  largely  bcftow
upon him ; at a time too when the infirmities of nature
will  not fuffer fuch  an exalted favourite of fortune  to
relifh any one enjoyment of life ? Aflc this very darling,
when he is ftretched on the bed of  ficknefs, and ren-
dered helplefs by difeafe ;—let us fancy him too almoft
expiring under excruciating agonies—and now put the
queftion  to him, Which is more eligible,  fortune  or
health ? He  will afluredly anfwer, that one moment's
eafe  is more  defirable than all the fplendid advantages
he may have obtained.
   In like manner,  the truly affeaionate and fympathi-
fing  concern,  the  delicate deportment,  and   careful
attendance of  a good wife, in  thefe fcenes  of painful
fufferance,  more than over-balance every thing  that is
in the power of the moft fuccefsful hufband to bcftow 
                 LETTER  XIV.            143
upon her ; and it is a truth which truly generous minds
will ever gratefully acknowledge.
   A man under thefe circumftances, with fome regard
to his accuftomed manner of living, and the particular
difeafe,  is to  be confidered as  a child;  and confe-
quently  ought  to be fubmitted  to female  management.
Your care, therefore, will of courfe direa you to feek
the affiftance of able and experienced phyficians.  May
their fkill conquer the difeafe,  while  you generoufly
fupport  his ftrength and fpirits ;  and  thereby greatly
contribute to reftore again the invalid to a healthy and
vigorous conftitution ! 
( '44 )
                 LETTER   XV.

Old age—by virtue rendered  truly honourable.  The
   fteps by which we mounted into life, fhown to be the
   eafieft  and beft paths to defcend into the grave.
       SPRING, fummer, and autumn, have their va<
rious engaging charms; and there is fomething peculiarly
pleafing in each tranfition; but ftern winter can boaft of
nothing befides the fruits of the preceding feafons.
   The life of man is often, with propriety, compared to
the progreffive year;  and  the only happinefs that can
be expeaed in old age, muft arife from the refleaions of
a well-fpent  life; at  which time,  being likewife  the
winter of our days, every perfon may generally reap the
fruits of  a paft virtuous condua:—for although the be-
numbed limbs deny the body their ufual fupport, and the
hoary head trembles on its withered fhoulders, there are
valuable comforts  yet  in ftore for thofe, who, like the
induftrious  ant, have been  wife enough to treafure them
at the proper feafon.
   Such a good man or  woman,  one would hope, has
wherewithal to procure the indulgences their years re-
quire, and a fufficiency to  requite the attendance  of a
faithful fervant.  Join to thefe a further bleffing, that,
perchance,  kind Heaven has bellowed,  a dutiful  and
good daughter to fupport their infirmities, and,  by  her
affeaionate tendernefs fully to repay them for the pains 
                 LETTER   XV.              145
of her education, and that parental anxiety, which muft
neceffarily have been fuftained during her youth.  Here,
I fay, the wifdom and tender indulgence of a kind pa-
rent is amply rewarded, by the foftering care of a truly
virtuous  and affbaionate child.  Thefe are ineftimable
comforts; and fuch is the eafy decline that Providence
intended to old age—thus to clofe life with a not unhap-
py  period.
   Let  us, my  amiable friends, piaure a  worthy and
aged man in  his fecond infant ftate.   Let us with com-
pofure attend him to the gates of death, there to deliver
him up into the bofom of his Creator!  Let us indulge a
rational forrow, but at the fame  time fupport that calm-
nefs and ferenity  whkh denote a  religioufly-informed
mind.   Let us confidei this as a debt we muft affuredly
pay, and that it puts an everlafting period to the calami-
ties of this life I Whence may be drawn this comforta-
ble conclufion; that, if to the uttermoft of our power
we have contributed to the great end for which we were
Created, our future ftate of  exiftence muft be happier
than the prefent.
   Come then, ye tender  and fympathifing fair,  let us
approach the chamber of death! Let  us advance  to the
bed of this good parent, and behold his calm and refigned
countenance!  Although we ffiall find  itafolemn fcene,
yet there is nothing fo terrible in this fight as the world
generally imagine.  But  draw  the contrary charaaer, 
 146               LETTER   XV.
 that of a wicked man in his laft  moments; and it muff
 be ffiocking indeed.
   As ripened and mellow fruit drops, untouched, from
 the tree to its mother earth;  fo the good old man falls
 peaceably  into the grave,  and mingles  again with the
 common duft from which he originally fprang.
   It is the vicious alone that have reafon  to be terrified
 at the thoughts of death;  but we are defcribing the up-
 right man,  not unlikely taking a  laft  and affeaionate
 farewell of his  lovely and dutiful daughters;  exhorting
 them to the praaice of virtue, and recounting the rewards
 attendant upon it.  The "fcldeft, perhaps, in her willing
 arms  fupports the expiring fire, while the youngeft ad-
 minifters fome refreffiing cordial to detain, for a moment,
 the fleering fpirit.  Meanwhile the tranquil parent, per-
 adventure,  gently rebukes the falling tear, prophetically
 foretelling that their laft moments fhall be peaceable like
 his—amd bleffes them with his dying lips.
   For fuch charaaers, delineated  more at  large, and
 which are worthy of our  admiration and reverence,  I
 muft refer my gentle readers, for the female one, to that
 great mafter of human feelings, Mr. Richardfon, in his
 hiftory of Sir Charles Grandifon.   How beautifully is
 honourable age exemplified in the charaaer  of M/s.
 Shirley!  The  account there given of the latter part  of
her life  will affuredly delight and inftrua every one.
The  death of lady Grandifon, how inexpreffibly intereft-
ing!  Although her temples were covered with untimely 
                LETTER  XV.              «47
 tnow, yet, in the charaaer of wife,  parent, and chris-
 tian, her exalted virtue has ffione unrivalled;  and when
 the awful period approached, behold her departure, like
 the fetting  fun,—leaving hufband, children, and a world
 of friends,  to mourn the eternal abfence of her cheering
 xays!
   The whole work contains a noble fyftem of morality,
 and  is highly to be recommended to all young perfons.
 Thefe ufeful leffons will be  ftill  more inftruaive, when
 read in the company of thofe who are capable of making
 proper remarks.  This being premifed, virtuous  emula-
 tion  will ever be moft excitecr in young minds from cha-
 raaers which appear real, becaufe example always proves
 ftronger  than  precept.  Thus  entertainment and im-
 provement  will go hand in hand.
   For the other charaaer, I mean that  of the good old
 man, no  one has excelled the ingenious and learned Dr.
 Armftrong, in  his Effay upon health.  The whole poem,
 indeed, is written in a mafterly ftyle, and conveys many
 ufeful inftruaions, truly worthy of perufal;  but his de-
 fcription  of honourable age is inimitable; and although
very concife, neverthelefs it contains a volume of pane-
gyric.   I ffiall beg that gentleman's leave to tranfcribe
it.—

   How to live happieft;  how avoid the pains,
The difappointments, and difgufts of thofe
Who would in pleafure all their hours employ, 
H8              LETTER   XV.
The precepts here of a divine old man
I could recite.  Though old, he ftill retain'd
His manly fenfe, and energy of mind.
Virtuous and wife he was, but not fevere;
He ftill remember'd that he once was young;
His eafy prefence check'd no decent joy.
Him ev'n the diffolute admir'd ;  for he
A graceful loofenefs when he pleas'd put on,
And laughing could inftrua.  Much had he read,
Much more had feen;  he ftudied from the life,
And in th' original perus'd mankind.

   Such charaaers render old age defirable, lovely, and
truly honourable.   The odium  of peeviffi and morofe
vaniflies, while our reverence and admiration ftand alone
engaged. Who would  not wiffi to be that old man, whofe
calm tranquillity far futpaffes the tranfient and paffionate
enjoyments of youth ? Happy children  bleft  with fuch
happy parents !
   From this defcriptlon I hope to intereft the tender
paffions of my fair readers, fo as to make  them cheer-
fully contribute to the comforts of their aged parents,
while  they yet  live.  A  dutiful daughter  muft ever
 make a good wife and tender mother ; and to a prudent
 difcerningman, it is certainly one of the greateft recom-
 mendations in the choice of a companion for life.
    On the other hand,  a cruel and undutiful child is the
 moft odious and unnatural monfter upon earth; iofomuch 
                 LETTER   XV.             149
that  the  Chinefe are faid to punlffi fuch crimes with the
greateft feverity.   It is recorded in their hiftory, that if
a fon ffiould be known to kill, or fo  much as  ftrike his
father, not only the criminal, but his whole family would
be rooted out, their dwelling razed to the ground, and
its foundation fown with fait; nay,  Le  Compte adds,
that  the inhabitants of the place where he lived would be
put to the fword;  as they  conclude  there  muft have
been a total depravation of manners  in that clan, or fo-
ciety of people, who could have bred up among them fo
horrid an offender.
   How  beautifully  has  our  inimitable  Shakefpeare
drawn the two  contrafted charaaers,  in his defcription
of Lear and his three daughters;  where  the two elder
appear like Satan's evil angels, while Cordelia, the poor
Cordelia, is an exalted example of filial tendernefs and
affeaion!
  To  your  peculiar province, ye amiable fair,  in this
laft great duty configned:  to inftrua you, therefore, in
the proper execution  of it,  a  few ufeful obfervations may
not be unfeafonably introduced.
   In a  former letter we  likened infancy to  a  tender
plant;  where we taught the beft method of rearing it, fo
as to make it flourifh in the garden of the world.  The
fummer having produced you, the fair fruit of this goodly
tree  ; and the autumn of your parent-flock having ripen-
ed your underftanding; it is but meet that fuch know-
                         O 
150            LETTER   XV.
ledge ffiould direa you, at this frozen feafon, to cherifh
the decaying root from whence you fprang.
   We have taken notice of the helplefs ftate of child-
hood, before the body has acquired ftrength fufficient to
prepare its own nouriffiment:  we  have ffiown the time
when inftina and reafon direa us to  provide  for our-
felves ; and particularly obferved,  that animal food was
never defigned for our ufe until we had teeth given  us
to eat it.
   Let us continue thefe fpecuiations, and regard the na-
tural growth of our bodies, together with the incrcafing
ftrength of our conftitutions.   Behold the child,  whom
you lately fondled in your arms, now contending with
his play-fellows In boyifh (ports: again, obferve him who
lately returned from fchool with hisfatchel in his hand,
now panting foremoft in the chace: and now fee  man-
hood ftamped upon the downy cheek.   Let us likewife
remember the equally gradual declenfion.   At  length
the fturdy fon fupports his feeble fire; for he  who, in
his youth, was fwifteft in the  race, is now fcarcely able
to uphold his tottering limbs.   The man of war, whofe
fturdy arm wielded the blood-thirfting fword of battle,
is now bending under  the weight of his own body.  Be-
hold, his  fmews are dried up, and the purple  current
that bounded  in his  veins, now  heavily ard  fcarcely
creeps along.  In every  part alike the powers of this
wonderful machine decay.  The teeth, defigned both
for ufe and ornament, robbed of their beautiful enamel, 
                LETTER   XV.              15*
become unfightly, and drop out of their fockets: the pe-
netrating  eye,  that fearched into the very  abyfs  of
thought, is altogether ufelefs,  or but dimly difcerns the
rays of light.   Manly  fortitude  is now no more;  and
wifdom itfelf retires from the decayed manfion.  Such
i6 the almoft univerfal  condition of old  age,  properly
called our fecond childhood; and plain are the inferen-
ces to be drawn from hence.
  If a light and eafily digefted  nouriffiment was necef-
fary before our bodies had obtained their proper ftrength,
furely a fimilar method of living is the moft proper when
they have  loft it;  and therefore—the fteps by which we
mounted into life, are the eafieft and beft paths  to de-
fcend into the grave.
  The  digeftive powers of age  are equally enfeebled
with the members of the body;  and, undoubtedly,  the
fame reafon that forbad the ufe of fleffi, before we  had
teeth, points out the neceffity of gradually declining it as
they decay.  There are,  indeed, fome  few perfons
toothlefs who are not far advanced in life; but fuch con-
ftitutions are generally feeble, and therefore the precau-
tions are not unapplicable to them.
  Thefe arguments being rightly underftcod,  there will
be little occafion to enlarge upon this fubjea;   as the di-
reaions for the management of  children,  from the time
of weaning them, until they may be entrufted  to the care
of  themfelves,  comprehend  every neceffary inftruaioa 
 152             LETTER   XV.
for the regimen of old age;  and thofe perfons aa wifely
who confider it as a fecond childhood.
   I need not be more particular on this head, as few, I
urn perfuaded, will fuppofe this period to commence with
themfelves, before it is neceflary for them to conform to
Uiefe rules.
   Age, undoubtedly,  requires indulgence;  but  at  the
fame time indolence creeps  on it imperceptibly.   Thofe
perfons fuffer leaft from pain, who roufe themfelves to a
iLite of activity; and there are  exercifes well  adapted
even to advanced life :  an additional warmth of cover-
ing is at this time  neccffary; yet thofe. aa moft pru-
dently who do  not accuftorrf themfelves* to very  warm
clothes, and very warm rooms, while they are capable of
enduring the variations of their natural climate.
   Neverthelefs, one remark muft not, efcape our obfer-
vation; I mean, the happy effea of temperance  through
life: it not only  prevents difeafe  as we are  upon  our
journey, but  enables us to receive the  intended  benefit,
and cordial fupport, of wine, and other comfortable fip-
'>ings,  in this time of need.  Nature,  in  a temperate
perfon, obtains freffi vigour  and fpirits from fuch exhila-
rating juices; bat where the conftitution has been accuf-
tomed to  excefs, no  advantage,  in the decline of life,
 cv.n be derived from their ufe.
   I have now fulfilled my  prefent defign;  and  through
 every letter  have  aimed at conveying my obfervations in
 a rational and amafing manner; calculated,  I hope, to 
                 LETTER  XV.               1-53:
 pleafe, at the fame time that I wiffi to inftrua.   It is a
 topic, which, in different parts  of it,  has  been handled
 by  very able men;  and yet has  generally,  I believe,
 been efteemed a  dry fubjea, particularly  by  the ladies,
 to whom  it effentially belongs.  This  diflike feems,
 probably, to have  arifen from the ftyle not being fuffici-
 ently void of terms of art; for the tafte,  as well as the
 judgment, muft be pleafed, when we mean to encoutent
 prejudices, and to correa long eftablifhed errors.
   It will give me  a  particular fatisfaaion, if I have fo
 far fucceeded  in my undertaking, as that the prefent
 colkaion of letters may deferve a place  in  the  ladies
 library; and perhaps this "little volume may  fometimes
 prove the companion  of the  nurfery and  fick chamber,
 or even afford an hour's amufement in a carriage.
   It  is  intended, my  fair, to  render your charaaers
truly amiable; and I truft will be received as a prefent
from a fincere friend to the  fex.  Where tendernefs,
good-nature, fenfe,  and virtue,  are beautifully blended
in  a female form, our admiration  and love are equally
engaged; and where this  proves  to be the cafe, every
man is, furely, defirous of contributing to the fervice of
perfeaions fo irrefiftibly engaging—fuch,  at leaft, is the
 refolution of
              Ladies,
                  Your devoted,
                       Humble fervant,
                           HUGH  SMITH. 
 
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