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redered a most ridiculous education, Their mothers, in order to console them, teach them to look for liberty in marriage. Scarcely have they lived a year with their husbands when they become impatient to ascertain the force of their attractions. A young wife neither sits, nor eats, nor walks, Bor goes to the play, but in company with women who have each their regular intrigue, If she has not her lover like the rest, she is to be unpaired; and ashamed of being so, she is afraid to show herseif.

The Orientals proceed quite in another way. Girls are brought to them and warranted virgins on the word of a Circassian. They marry them, and shut them up as a measure of precaution, as we shut up our maids. No jokes there upon ladies and ther husbands! no songs!-nothing resembling our quodlibets about horns and cuckoldom! We pity the great ladies of Turkey, Persia, and India; but they are a thousand times happier in their seraglios than our young women in their con

vents.

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even fears to contract an illicit intimacy
with a maid or a widow. In this state
of sorrow and perplexity, he addresses the
following complaints to the Church, of
which he is a member :-

"My wife is criminal; and I suffer
the punishment. A female is necessary
to the comfort of my life-nay, even to
the preservation of my virtue; yet she is
refused me by the Church, which forbids
me to marry an honest woman. The
civil law of the present day, which is, un-
happily, founded on the canon law, de-
prives me of the rights of humanity.
The Church compels me to seek either
pleasures which she reprobates, or shame-
ful consolations which she condemns;
she forces me to be criminal.

"If I look round among the nations of the earth, I see no religion, except the Roman Catholic, which does not recognise divorce and second marriage as a natural right. What inversion of order, then, has made it a virtue in Catholics to suffer adultery, and a duty to live without wives when their wives have thus shamefully injured them? Why is a cankered tie indissoluble, notwithstanding the great maxim adopted by the Code, Quicquid ligatur dissolubile est? A secon-paration of person and property is granted me, but not a divorce! The law takes from me my wife, and leaves me the word sacrament! I no longer enjoy matrimony, but still I am married! What contradiction! What slavery!

It sometimes happens amongst us, that a dissatisfied husband, not choosing to Institute a criminal process against his wife for adultery, which would subject him to the imputation of barbarity, tents himself with obtaining a separation of person and property.

And here we must insert an abstract of a memorial, drawn up by a good man who finds himself in this situation. These are his complaints; are they just

or not?-

A Memorial, written by a Magistrate, about the year 1764.

A principal magistrate of a town in France is so unfortunate as to have a wife; who was debauched by a priest before her marriage, and has since brought herself to public shame; he has, however, contented himself with a private separation. This man, who is forty years old, healthy, and of a pleasing figure, has need of female society. He is too scrupulous to seek to seduce the wife of another; he

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"Nor is it less strange that this law of the Church is directly contrary to the I words which she believes to have been pronounced by Jesus Christ: Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery.'

"I have no wish here to inquire whether the pontiffs of Rome have a right to violate at pleasure the law of him whom they regard as their master: whether when a kingdom wants an heir, it is allowable to repudiate the woman who is incapable of giving one; nor whether a turbulent wife, one attacked by lunacy, or

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one guilty of murder, should not be Joseph was married; and I wish to be divorced as well as an adultress: I con- married. If I, an Alsatian, am depenfine myself to what concerns my own saddent on a priest who lives at Rome, and situation. God permits me to marry has the barbarous power to deprive me of again; but the Bishop of Rome forbids a wife, he may as well make me an me! eunuch to sing Miserere in his chapel.

A Plea for Wives.

Equity requires that, after giving this memorial in favour of husbands, we should also lay before the public the plea on behalf of wives, presented to the junta of Portugal, by one Countess D'Arcira. It is in substance as follows:

"Divorce was customary among Catholics under all the Emperors, as well as in all the disjointed members of the Roman Empire. Almost all those kings of France who are called of the first race, repudiated their wives and took fresh ones. At length came one Gregory IX. an enemy to emperors and kings, who, by a decree, made the bonds of marriage "The Gospel has forbidden adultery indissoluble; and his decretal became to my husband as well as to me; we shall the law of Europe. Hence, when a king be damned alike; nothing is more cerwished to repudiate an adulterous wife,tain. Although he has been guilty of fifty according to the law of Jesus Christ, he infidelities-though he has given my neckcould not do so without first seeking some ridiculous pretext. Saint Louis was obliged, in order to effect his unfortunate divorce from Eleonora of Guienne, to allege a relationship which did not exist; and Henry IV., to repudiate Margaret of Valois, brought forward a still more unfounded pretence-a want of consent. Thus a lawful divorce was to be obtained only by falsehood.

lace to one of my rivals, and my ear-rings to another, I have not called upon the judges to order his head to be shaved, himself to be shut up with monks, and his property to be given to me: yet I, for having but once imitated him-for having done that with the handsomest young man in Lisbon, which he is allowed to do every day with the homeliest and most stupid creatures of the court and the city, must be placed on a stool to answer the questions of a set of licentiates, every one of whom would be at my feet were he

"What! may a sovereign abdicate his crown, and shall he not, without the Pope's permission, abdicate his faithless wife? And is it possible that men, en-alone with me in my closet; must have lightened in other things, have so long submitted to this absurd and abject slavery !

"Let our priests and our monks abstain from women, if it must be so; they have my consent. It is detrimental to the progress of population, and a misfortune for them; but they deserve that misfortune which they have contrived for themselves. They are the victims of the Popes, who in them wish to possess slaves -soldiers without family or country, living for the Church; but I, a magistrate, who serve the state the whole day long, have occasion for a woman at night; and the Church has no right to deprive me of a possession allowed me by the Deity. The Apostles were married;,

the finest hair in the world cut from my head; be confined with nuns who have not common sense; be deprived of my portion and marriage settlement, and see my property given to my fool of a husband, to assist him in seducing other women, and committing fresh adulteries. I ask if the thing is just? if it is not evident that the cuckolds are the lawmakers?

"The answer to my complaints is, that I am but too fortunate in not being stoned at the city gate by the canons and the people, as was the custom with the first nation of the earth-the cherished nation the chosen people-the only one which was right when all others were wrong. "To these barbarians 1 reply, that

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when the poor woman, taken in adultery,
was presented by her accusers to the
Master of the Old and of the New Law,
he did not order her to be stoned; on the
contrary, he reproached their injustice,
tracing on the sand, with his finger, the
aid Hebrew proverb, 'Let him who is
without sin cast the first stone.' All then
retired; the oldest being the first to de-
part, since, the greater their age, the more
adulteries they had committed.

"The doctors of the canon law tell me,
that this story of the woman taken in
adultery is related only in the Gospel of
St. John, and that there it is nothing more
than an interpolation; that Leontius and
Maldonat affirm that it is but to be found
in one ancient Greek copy; that not one
of the twenty-three first commentators
has spoken of it; that neither Origen, nor
St. Jerome, nor St. John Chrysostom, nor
Theophylact, nor Nonnus, knew anything
of it; and that it is not in the Syriac
Bible, nor in the version of Ulphilas.
“Such are the arguments advanced by
my husband's advocates, who would not
only shave my head, but stone me also.

condemned by the House of Peers, should
the little man prove unfaithful? It is
clear that, if women have not their hus-
bands punished, it is when they are not
the strongest."

CONCLUSION OF THE CHAPTER ON
ADULTERY.

In order to obtain an equitable verdict in an action for adultery, the jury should be composed of twelve men and twelve women, with an hermaphrodite to give the casting vote in the event of necessity.

But singular cases may exist wherein raillery is inapplicable, and of which it is not for us to judge. Such is the adventure related by St. Augustine in his sermon on Christ's preaching on the Mount.

Septimius Acyndinus, proconsul of Syria, caused a Christian of Antioch, who was unable to pay to the treasury a pound of gold (the amount to which he was taxed), to be thrown into prison, and threatened with death. A wealthy man promised the unfortunate prisoner's wife to furnish her with the pound, if she would consent to his desires, The wife hastened

However, those who plead for me to inform her husband, who begged that say, that Ammonius, a writer of the third she would save his life at the expense of century, acknowledges the truth of this his rights, which he was willing to give story; and that St. Jerome, while he re-up. She obeyed; but the man who owed jeets it in some passages, adopts it in her the gold deceived her by giving her a others; in short, that it is now authenti- sackful of earth. The husband, being cated. Here I hold, and say to my hus- still unable to pay the tax, was about to band-If you are without sin, shave my be led to the scaffold; but this infamous head, confine me, take my property; but transaction having reached the ears of the if you have committed more sins than I proconsul, he paid the pound of gold from have, it is I who must shave you, have his own coffers, and gave to the Christian In both cases the justice is the same.' You confined, and seize your possessions. couple the estate from which the sackful "My husband replies, that he is my superior and my head; that he is taller husband, the wife, in this instance, acted than me by more than an inch; that he conformably to his will; not only obeyis as rough as a bear; and that, conse-ing him, but also saving his life. St. quently, I owe him everything, and he Augustin does not venture to decide on

owes me nothing.

of earth had been taken.

It is certain that, far from injuring her

the guilt or virtue of this action; he is

It is, in my opinion, very singular that

"But, I ask if Queen Anne of Eng-afraid to condemn it. land is not the head of her husband? if the Prince of Denmark, who is her High- Bayle should pretend to be more severe Admiral, does not owe her an entire obe- than St. Augustin. He boldly condemns dience? and if she would not have him the poor woman. This would be incon

ceivable, did we not know how much almost every writer has suffered his pen to belie his heart-with what facility his own feelings have been sacrificed to the fear of enraging some evil-disposed pedant-in a word, how inconsistent he has been with himself.

A Father's Reflection.

citizens. He who was then at their head said to him gravely-" Friend Chancellor thou oughtest to know that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ hath forbidden us to affirm otherwise than by yea or nay he hath expressly said :-I forbid thee t swear by heaven, because it is the throne o God: by the earth, because it is his foot stool; by Jerusalem, because it is the city

A word on the contradictory education { of the king of kings; or by thy head, be which we bestow upon our daughters.cause thou canst not change the colour o We inculcate an immoderate desire of { a single hair. This, friend, is positive pleasing; we dictate when nature does and we will not disobey God to please enough without us, and add to her lessons thee and thy parliament." "It is im every refinement of art. When they are possible to argue better," replied th perfectly trained, we punish them if they Chancellor; "but be it known to the put in practice the very arts which we that Jupiter one day ordered all beasts o have been so anxious to teach! What burden to get shod; horses, mules, an should we think of a dancing master who, even camels, instantly obeyed; the asse having taught a pupil for ten years, would alone resisted; they made so many repre break his leg because he had found him sentations, and brayed so long, that Ju dancing with other people? piter, who was good-natured, at last sai to them, Asses, I grant your prayer: yo shall not be shod, but the first slip yo make, you shall have a most sound cud gelling.""

Might not this paragraph be added to the chapter of contradictions?

AFFIRMATION ON OATH.

It must be allowed that, hitherto, th Quakers have made no slips.

AGAR, OR HAGAR.

WHEN a man puts away his mistresshis friend-the partner of his bed, he mus either make her condition tolerably com fortable, or be regarded, amongst us, as

WE shall not say anything of the affirmations so frequently made use of by the learned. To affirm, to decide, is allowable only in geometry. In everything else let us imitate the Doctor Metaphrastes of Moliére-it may be so; the thing is feasible; it is not impossible; we shall see. Let us adopt Rabelais' perhaps, Montaigne's what know I? the Roman nonman of a bad heart. liquet, or the doubt of the Athenian academy: but only in profane matters, be it understood, for in sacred things we are well aware that doubting is not permitted. The primitives, in England called Quakers, are allowed to give testimony in a court of justice on their simple affirmation, without taking an oath. The peers of the realm have the same privilege the lay peers affirming on their honour, and the bishops laying their hands on their hearts. The Quakers obtained it in the reign of Charles II., and are the only sect in Europe so honoured.

The Lord Chancellor Cowper wished to compel the Quakers to swear like other

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We are told that Abraham was very ric in the desert of Gerar, although he di not possess an inch of land. Howeve we know with the greatest certainty, the he defeated the armies of four great king with three hundred and eighteen shep herds.

He should then, at least, have given small flock to his mistress Agar, when h sent her away in the desert. I spea here according to worldly notions, alway reverencing those incomprehensible way which are not our ways.

I would have given my old companio Agar a few sheep, a few goats, a few sui of clothes for herself and our son Isma

good she-ass for the mother and a pretty foal for the child, a camel to carry their luggage, and at least two men to attend them and prevent them from being devoured by wolves. But when the Father of the Faithful exposed his poor mistress and her child in the desert, he gave them only a loaf and a pitcher of water.

Some impious persons have asserted that Abraham was not a very tender father-that he wished to make his bastard son die of hunger, and to cut his legitimate son's throat! But again let it be remembered, that these ways were not our

ways.

It is said that poor Agar went away into

the desert of Beer-sheba. There was no desert of Beer-shebu; this name was not known until long after: but this is a mere true; the foundation of the story is not the less authentic.

have been known to ruin themselves in this pursuit.

The number of those who have believed in transmutations is prodigious, and the number of cheats has been in proportion to that of the credulous. At Paris we have seen Signor Dammi, marquis of Conventiglio, obtain some hundred louis from several of the nobility that he might make them gold to the amount of two or three crowns.

The best trick that has ever been performed in alchymy was that of a Rosicrucian who, in 1620, went to Henry, duke of Bouillon, of the house of Turenne, sovereign prince of Sedan, and ad

dressed him as follows:

"You have not a sovereignty proportioned to your great courage, but I will make you richer than the Emperor. I cannot remain for more than two days in your states, having to go to Venice to hold

It is true that the posterity of Agar's Ismael took ample revenge on the posterity of Sarah's son Isaac, in favour of whom he had been cast out. The Saracens, descending in a right line from Ismael, made themselves masters of Jerusalem, which belonged by right of conquest to the posterity of Isaac. I would have made the Saracens descend from Sarah; and repeated it three times, in presence The prince performed the operation, the etymology would then have been of the virtuoso. This man had preIt has been asserted that the word Sara- the apothecaries of Sedan, and got it reviously bought up all the litharge from cen comes from sarac, a robber. I do sold after mixing with it a few ounces of not believe that any people bave ever gold. The adept, on taking leave, made called themselves robbers; nearly all have the Duke of Bouillon a present of all his been robbers, but it is not usual for them transmuting powder.

the grand assembly of the brethren; I only charge you to keep the secret. Send to the first apothecary of your town for some litharge; throw into it one grain of the red powder which I will give you; put the whole into a crucible; and in a quarter of an hour you will have gold.”

menter.

The prince, having made three ounces

to take the title. Saracen descending from Surah, appears to me to sound of gold with three grains, doubted not

better.

ALCHYMY.

that with three hundred thousand grains he should make three hundred thousand ounces, and that he should in a week

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THE emphatic al places the alchymist possess eighteen thousand seven hundred the gold which he obtains is superior to should afterwards make. It took at least the quid above the ordinary chymist, as and fifty pounds of gold, besides what he other metals, Germany still swarms three months to make this powder. The stone, as the water of immortality has without anything, having given all to the with people who seek the philosopher's philosopher was in haste to depart; he was been sought Europe. In France, some order to hold the states-general of her

of youth m

5

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