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Title: Onanism display'd
Publisher: Edmund Curll
Release date: November 7, 2022 [eBook #69311]
Language: English
Original publication: United Kingdom: E. Curll
Credits: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Printed for E. Curll, over against St. Dunstan’s Church in Fleet-street. MDCCXIX. (Price 1 s. 6 d.)
The Reader will immediately be sensible, that I have been led into the first part of this Treatise upon tracing the Impositions and Inconsistencies of the Author of a Pamphlet Entitled Onania; and for the latter part it may be easily concluded to proceed from no other Motive, but the Dictates of Nature.
It was impossible for an Author of any Spirit, after a particular description of the unnatural use of iithe Parts, that he could finish his Labours without thoroughly examining their admiral Structure: They being no less curious than delightful to a Youthful Swain, that’s fir’d with Imagination.
The infinite number of fine Vessels are pleasing in Representation, as well as otherways Ravishing, and the Nerves and Arteries are equally beautiful, as they are transporting. The great and exquisite sense of the Parts of Generation, give an Enjoyment transcending all others; and the Wisdom of our Creator, for the support of the World, cannot be too sufficiently admir’d, in that Man is propagated by an excess of Pleasure.
The following Treatise, I have by no means compos’d to give a loose to Debauchery. I have only persu’d the common Rules of Anatomy in this way of Writing, and interspers’d a great variety of curious Observations and natural Consequences as yet unobserv’d, and I was naturally iiiinduc’d to it more for the Information of Mankind in general, than for the Sons of Æsculapius in particular. The Gentleman of all Ranks not superannuated, may find some Pleasure in perusing it, and the fair Sex will meet with such ample Instructions, as not to fail in the choice of an agreeable Person, for the amorous Combat.
For my Dissertation upon the Generation of Man, I am chiefly oblig’d to Messieurs Lamy, and Dionis,[1] those two excellent Anatomists; and if, in some parts of my Performance, I seem more Ludicrous than any Author that has hitherto writ on the Subject; you’ll find on due consideration, ’tis owing to a more exact Enquiry; and Curiosity is not easily satisfied in the depth of the secrets ivof Nature. And I hope what I have mention’d from a Learned Casuist,[2] will be a sufficient Antidote against the unlawful use of those curious Parts I have so particularly described; as an Addition to which I farther recommend a small Treatise (not long since publish’d,) Entitled, Essays relating to the Conduct of Life, which contain sufficient and easy Instructions for a regular OEconomy, not only where the Passions are prevalent, but in all the Vicissitudes incident to Human Nature.
1. Dissertation sur la Generation de L’Homme. Par Monsieur Dionis, Paris 1697.
2. Traite de l’Impuritie, par Monsieur Ostervald.
In the Writing of this small Work I carelesly omitted a material scrutiny of a Paragraph in Onania; Page 16. says this Author, ‘some Women are with held from being Prostitutes by their covetousness vonly: Others for nothing else, but the fear of Diseases, or the having of Children. Lascivious Widows, who understand the World have reason to scruple second Marriages on many accounts; some love their Liberty; others their Money; and if they value their Reputation, they’ll not dare to venture on unlawful Embraces; whereas in Self-pollution, neither the Cautious, nor the Covetous imagine that they have any thing to fear.” I take it that this very plainly encourages the Sin of Self-pollution, if I may be allow’d to deduce the Consequences of the latter from the former; for he first says rightly, that unlawful Embraces are injurious to Reputations; but then insinuates that Self-pollution may be practis’d without any Apprehensions. This and many other parts of his Treatise, demonstrate his View to be the sale of his Medicines, though with a great deal of Cant he pretends the contrary, besides vithe very tacking of his Apothecary’s-shop, to his stupid Performance, without any farther considerations sufficiently shews his real Intentions. And I am so far from imitating this ignorant Empirick, that the only Remedy I prescribe, is that Infallible Specifick, in every ones power, Chastity.
The Author of a late Pamphlet entitled Onania has by a Bundle of Theological Phrases, Scripture Quotations, and an affected Simplicity, attempted to possess the World with an Opinion, that his Designs in publishing that Treatise, were meerly with spiritual Views, and out of a tender regard to the preservation of the Healths and Constitutions of the degenerate part of Mankind, without 2any the least Mercenary Expectations; and since it may possibly bear this Construction with Persons carelesly perusing his Performance, and the ignorant Multitude: I shall make it my Business to set forth the Absurdity, inconsistency, and imposture of this supercilious Scribler in every part; to prove that his Treatise tends to the encouragement of Lewdness and Debauchery; that his own Medicines promote the very Sin, he, for Interest sake, takes upon him to Discountenance; and to demonstrate, that he is really ignorant of what was the Crime of Onan. But I shall premise that my Scheme is no ways calculated to propagate any manner of Uncleanness, but on the contrary to discourage the practice of self-pollution, by illustrating the Sin more particularly; and enumerating more extraordinary Instances than hitherto any Author has done on the Subject.
3I agree with this Author in the Opinion of the Divine he has quoted, that Self-pollution is a Crime in it self, monstrous and unnatural; its Practice filthy and odious, its Guilt crying, and its Consequences ruinous: It destroys conjugal Affection, perverts natural Inclination, and tends to extinguish the hopes of Posterity; but I take leave to observe that the Author of Onania is egregiously mistaken in fixing this Crime upon Onan, as I shall incontestably prove when I have gone thro’ my Examination of his trifling Performance, which I purpose to do with all the exactness imaginable.
And first, in Page 14. After setting forth Ignorance to be the first cause of Self-pollution, this Author goes on and tells you, that the second is the secrecy with which Self-pollution may be committed: All other Actions of uncleanness (says he) must have a Witness, this needs none. Some 4lustful Women of sense, have made all the outward shew of Virtue and Morality that can be requir’d; they have had prudence enough, in the midst of strong Desires, to refuse disadvantageous Matches, and yet have abandon’d themselves to this Vice, when at the same time they would rather have died than betray’d a weakness to any Man living, as afterwards, becoming Penitents, they have confessed themselves. And again some young Men of vicious Inclinations, have either naturally, or for want of a liberal Education been shame-fac’d to excess; they have not dar’d to look upon a Woman, and their Bashfulness has secur’d them from every act of Impurity but this. From all which it is evident that the secrecy of this Sin, has betray’d many into it, whom hardly any thing else would have tempted.
In answer to this, tho’ it must be confess’d that secrecy in some measure promotes this Vice, yet Ignorance 5and the want of a liberal Education can in no respect be constru’d to have an equal Effect: An ignorant Person may be rationally presum’d to be less influenc’d by impure Imaginations, than a Person of a tolerable share of Sense; his Ignorance may be so extensive, as to cloud all manner of Enjoyments, and allow him no Thoughts of pursuing imaginary pleasures; whilst the Man of sense is perpetually devising new Diversions, and proportions his Enjoyment to the extent of his Capacity; he vigorously pursues the Tracts of Lewdness and Debauchery, and is restless and uneasy, until he has acted in all Scenes, and gone thro’ the utmost variety of brutal Enjoyments; this I take to be highly conspicuous in the Rakes of the Town, who are frequently Persons of sprightly Wit, and endu’d with no small share of substantial Sense.
And as for the want of a liberal Education, I cannot easily guess at the 6meaning of the Author, unless it be the want of being train’d up in the Hundreds of Drury, it being very certain that in a Scholastick Education, the perusal of ludicrous Authors, which all Youths of Spirit are fond of making choice of for their Studies, excites them to uncleanness infinitely beyond Ignorance; and that the want of Education should occasion such an invincible Bashfulness, as to deter a Person from looking on a Woman, is such an imposition upon the illiterate part of Mankind, which make up at least three Parts in four of the Creation, that nothing can be like it, when we consider that the Enjoyment of a Woman is so natural, that no bounds of Shame will confine it, and that Persons in all other Respects modest, have a strong propensity to copulation, and cannot conquer this passion, like others more visible to the World, by Shame or any other means.
7Shame I take to be more a defect in Nature, and want of Resolution to act in Publick, than to discourage the private Amours of Youth, which by a due management may be easily carried on with sufficient secrecy: And we oftentimes find a bashful Person more inclinable to Vice than the Man of assurance, tho’ he supports the Character with more Hipocrisy; his Intrigues are carried on with an entire secrecy, and he can enter upon his Lewdness with an air of Gravity and Innocence, when the Sinner of Resolution as frankly owns his Experience, as he commits the Crime. But to go on with this Author, in page 17. He says, it is the general Opinion, that the shameless are the worst of People, yet shame when ill plac’d, has often wrought worse Effects, than the reverse alone has been able to produce. When a Bastard Infant is found Dead, and the Mother, lately deliver’d without Witness, is not able to prove either 8that she had made Provision for it, or during her pregnancy imparted the secret to another, besides the Father, our English Law, without any other Evidence, presumes the Woman to have murder’d the Child. From whence it is evident the Legislators must have suppos’d that some Women may have cruelty enough to commit the most unnatural Murder of all, and at the same time want Courage to bear shame.
This penetrating Author does not consider, that ’tis not so much the want of Courage to bear a present shame, as to prevent a future expence in the maintaining and breeding up a Child, which most commonly occasions these unnatural Murders; and where a Crime of this Nature can be perpetrated with secrecy, so that the guilty Persons may come off with impunity, I take it that in all Cases the incumbrance is more consider’d than the shame.
9I am not of his Opinion in Page 18. that Women are equally immodest with Men, and that Custom and Education only prevents their shewing it. For in the Infancy of Children, before the force of Education can possibly take place, or sense prevail, as a Guide to their Actions, we frequently find an abounding Modesty in the Female, and a large share of Boldness in the Male, produc’d from the same Loins, and this I have observ’d is generally the Case, which can proceed from nothing but Nature.
And in Page 19. says this Author, if Children were strictly forbid never to touch their Eyes or Nose, but with their Handkerchiefs, and that only upon very urgent Necessities; if likewise they saw every Body comply with this Custom, and it was counted abominable to touch them with their naked Hands, I can’t see why this might not be as shocking to them when grown up, as now the 10most guilty Denudations are to well bred People. Now this curious Observation upon the efficacy of Custom being introduc’d in a Paragraph treating of Modesty and Chastity, I appeal to all Persons of any sense or discernment, whether it does not imply, that all Modesty and Virtue is establish’d only by Custom, and whether it does not entirely destroy the notion of an innate Principle. This concludes his first Chapter, and I take it to be very evident, that under a Cloak of Divinity, this Author slily propagates Doctrines fatal to Religion, and highly reflecting on the Reputations of the Virtuous.
Chap. II. Page 25. In Women, he says, Self-pollution, if frequently practis’d, relaxes and spoils the retentive Faculty, occasions the Fluor Albus, an obnoxious, as well as perplexing illness attending that Sex, which upon account of the Womb, may draw on a whole Legion of Diseases; among other disorders, it makes them 11look pale, and those who are not of a good Complexion, swarthy and hagged. It frequently is the cause of Hysterick Fits, and sometimes by draining away all the radical Moisture causes Consumptions. But what it more often produces than either, is Barrenness, a misfortune very afflictive to them, because seldom to be redress’d; He seems to make very little difference between the fatal Consequences of Self-pollution in either of the Sexes, when it must be allow’d to be great, on duly considering the situation of the parts; the Male can with abundantly more ease effect a titillation on his external Testicles, than the Female facilitate the least pleasure in her Womb; and as the difficulty is greater, it must deter a constant practice, and consequently not be attended with Symptoms, equally direful. And I doubt not, but this Author would much rather see a Legion of Gallants waiting upon a Female, than one single 12act of Self-pollution, his Interest being more nearly concern’d in the vending of his Venereal Medicines.
Agreeable to this, in Page 46. Treating of Repentance, he goes on, it is not enough for Youth to renounce their Crime, without renouncing likewise all the approaches to it. All the several species of Impurity, and the defilements of either Body or Mind, all lewd Actions, wanton Glances, impure Thoughts and Desires, together with such familiarities as expose to Temptations, all obscene Discourse or Expressions, and which are contrary to Chastity. It is true this Renunciation may appear difficult at first, and will occasion no small trouble to those that have contracted a vicious Habit, of giving themselves up to all sorts of Passions: But People must couragiously resolve to overcome themselves, it being far better to deny themselves in those Things, and to cross their own Inclinations for a time, than by pursuing 13them to perish eternally. It is profitable that one of their Members should perish, and not that their whole Body should be cast into Hell. The tacking of this Quotation from Scripture, by a dispenser of Medicines, pretending only to cure Venereal Maladies, seems very plain and demonstrable to be done with a design of increasing Whoredom and Fornication, at the same time he pretends to lash the Crime of Self-pollution; what he can otherwise mean by the perishing of one Member, is to me a mystery; and in many other parts of his Treatise he slily insinuates Notions and Comparisons no way coherent, to promote his Profession of Quackism.
In Page 54. After he has inserted a pretended Letter from a Young Gentleman in the Country, setting forth the dreadful Miseries he labour’d under thro’ a frequent practice of Self-pollution, viz. repeating it eight Times an hour; our Author 14solemnly declares, that he concluded this Letter with requesting his Advice, and informing him that he never carnally knew any Person (I suppose meaning neither Man nor Woman) or defil’d himself otherwise, than by Self-pollution. Setting aside the very great suspicion of this, and the rest of the Letters in this Treatise being forg’d, there being no Names of the Writers, to whom directed, or any Dates to them, the Author Acts very inconsistently, in not setting forth the conclusion of the Letter relating to carnal knowledge in the Letter it self, but instead thereof, he imposes upon the World, his own Affirmation, as the only Authority. If he be himself the Author of those Letters, as I suppose he may, indeed it has equal sanction from his own Mouth deliver’d at another time, but if he be not the Inventer of those Bundles of Nonsense, certainly the Genuine Letter ought to be inserted verbatim to the end. 15And why he mentions that part of the Letter at all, unless it be with a secret Design of propagating other uncleanness more detestable as it brings a double Guilt, I cannot well understand, since he no where takes notice of the calamities attending Whoredom and Fornication, tho’ the Crimes are often repeated.
Towards the Conclusion of this Treatise, in Page 74. The more easily to impose upon the publick, a solemn Declaration is made, that he neither, has, or ever design’d to have the least Interest or share in the Profits, that now are, or hereafter may accrue from the sale of the Medicines; this seems to be an Evasion equally contriv’d to any of the foregoing; is it not easy to imagine, that, (tho’ his Performance is compos’d of stupidity) he is not himself the Author, even of that? And that this is not his Declaration, but that of the Writer of his insipid Treatise; and whether this be not a natural 16Construction, I submit to the Determination of all impartial Readers. There are several other Fallacies and Impostures, which might be trac’d through his trifling Performance, but I shall content my self with the particulars I have already examin’d: And as in Page 63. He mentions the Advice of Boccalini, given as an Antidote against Whoredom, viz. that Persons that way inclin’d should carry about with them, a well drawn Picture, of the most perfect and faultless Beauty that ever appear’d in Flesh and Blood, pencil’d over again with rotten Teeth, blear Eyes, and Noseless; and that whenever Desires of the Flesh stir, they would take a sober View of it, and seriously consider what they are about to do, and the Consequences, which no doubt would damp their Inclinations. I shall insert some particulars of this nature, which will give a more lively Idea of the Folly and Madness, and more effectually deter 17a pursuit of carnal Pleasures from Sir Roger L’Estrange’s Translation of Quevedo’s Visions.
In the fifth Vision of the World, a Dialogue is begun between a Young Libertine, and a grave Old Gentleman; ‘says the Libertine, there past by a Lady of Pleasure, of so excellent a Shape, and Garb, that it was impossible to see her without a Passion for her, and no less impossible to look upon any Thing else so long as she was to be seen: They that had seen her once, were to see her no more: for she turn’d her Face still to new Comers: Her Motion was graceful and free, one while she’d stare ye full in the Eyes, under colour of opening her Hood, to set it in better order: By and by she’d steal a look at ye with one Eye, and a side Face, from the corner of her Vizor; like a Witch that’s afraid to be known when she comes from 18a Catterwal; and then out comes the delicate Hand, and discovers the more delicious Neck and Breasts, to adjust the Handkerchief or the Scarf; or to remove some other grievance that made her Ladyship uneasy. Her Hair was most artificially dispos’d into careless Rings; and the best Red and White in Nature was in her Cheeks; if that of her Lips and Teeth did not exceed it. In a word, all she look’d upon were her own; the Old Man opposing this Romance; says the Young Gentleman, he must be either Blind or Barbarous that’s proof against the Charms of so divine a Beauty; nor would any but a Sot let slip the blessed opportunity, of so fair an Encounter; that he that has her, has all that’s lovely or desirable in Nature: What lightning does she carry in her Eyes! What Charms and Chains in her Looks and Motions, for the very Souls of her Beholders! 19Was ever any Thing so clear, as her Forehead? Or so black as her Eye-brows? One would swear that her Complection had taken a Tincture of Vermillion and Milk: And that Nature had brought her into the World with Pearl and Rubies in her Mouth, to speak all in little, she’s the Master-piece of the Creation, worthy of infinite praise, and equal to our largest Desires and Imaginations.
‘Here the Old Gentleman interrupted the Young Libertine, and told him he was a Man of much Wonder and small Experience, and deliver’d over to the Spirit of Folly and Blindness. The Truth of it is, said he, that this prodigious Beauty of yours, hires all by the day; and if you did but see this Puppet taken to pieces, you would find her little else but Paint and Plaister. To begin her Anatomy at the head; you must know that the Hair she wears, is borrow’d 20of a Tire-Woman, for her own was blown off by an unlucky Wind from the coast of Naples; or if she has any left, she keeps it private, as a Memorial of her Antiquity; she is beholden to the Pencil for her Eye-brows and Complection: And upon the whole matter she’s but an old Picture refresht; all that you see of her that’s good, comes from distill’d Waters, Essences, Powders, and the like; and to see the washing of her Face would fright the Devil: She abounds in Pomanders, sweet Waters, Spanish Pockets, perfum’d Drawers; and all little enough to qualifie the poisonous Whiffs she sends from her Toes and Armpits, which would otherwise out stink Ten Thousand Pole-Cats: She cannot chuse but kiss well, for her Lips are perpetually bath’d in Oil and Grease; and he that embraces her, shall find the better half of her the Taylors, and only a stuffing of 21Cotton, and Canvas to supply the defects of her Body. What do you think of your ador’d Beauty now?’
And in another place of the same Author, the following account is given of a Visit to ill-favour’d Women; ‘some had their Faces so pounc’d and speckled, as if they had been scarified, and newly past the cupping Glass; with a World of little Plaisters, long, round, square; and briefly cut out into such variety, that it would have posed a good Mathematician to have found out another Figure; and you would have sworn, that they had been either at Cats-play or Cuffs: Others were scraping their Faces with pieces of Glass; tearing up their Eye-brows by the Roots like mad; and some that had none to tear, were fetching out of their black Boxes, such as they could get or make: Others were powdering and curling the false Locks, or fastning 22their new Ivory Teeth in the place of their old Ebony ones: Some were chewing Limmon-peal or Cinnamon, to countenance a foul Breath; and raising themselves upon their Ciopines, that their View might be the fairer, and their fall the deeper: Others were quarrelling with their Looking-glasses, for shewing them such Hags countenances; and cursing the State of Venice, for entertaining no better Workmen; some with their Hogs-grease and Pomatum, were sleeking and polishing their Faces; and indeed, their Fore-heads were bright and shining, though there were neither Suns nor Stars in that Firmament: And others were daubing one another, to take away the Heats and Buboes; so far does a Woman’s Wit and Invention carry her, to her own Destruction.’ And in another Vision lewd Women are justly call’d, the Devil’s Factresses.
23This is a small Digression from my Subject, but as I was naturally lead into it, by the Treatise I have been examining, and it may tend to the discouragement of unlawful Pleasures, I hope it is excuseable. I now proceed to shew that the Author is mistaken in the Sin of Onan, and to demonstrate what was really his Crime.
The Text of Scripture runs thus. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy Brother’s Wife, and Marry her, and raise up Seed to thy Brother. And Onan knew that the Seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his Brother’s Wife, that he spilled it on the Ground, lest that he should 24give Seed to his Brother. 38. Chap. Genesis, Verses 8, 9, 10.
Though some Authors seem to make Onan’s chief Crime to be Self-pollution, yet the learned Bishop Patrick, in his Commentary upon the 38th Chapter of Genesis, is of a contrary Opinion, viz.
‘Verse 8. Go in unto thy Brother’s Wife. This was an ancient Custom in force by the Law of Moses, which only exacted what had been formerly practis’d, viz. that when a Man died without issue, his next Brother should Marry his Wife. Deut. 25. 5.
‘And raise up Seed to thy Brother; is meant preserve thy Brother’s Name and Family, by begetting a Child, which may be accounted his, and inherit his Estate. For so the Law was, that the first Born of such a Match, was not to be look’d upon, as a Child of him that begot him; but as his Brother’s, 25who was the Mother’s first Husband; though all the following Children were to be his own.
‘Verse 9. Onan knew that the Seed should not be accounted his in the first Born, but his Brothers. And least the Child should be born in the Name of his Brother; v. 10. The Thing which he did displeased the Lord. This made the Sin the more heinous, that he acted against the divine Promise made to Abraham, concerning the multiplying of his Seed.
‘The contract of Marriage was so understood in those Days, that if the Husband died without Issue, the Woman was oblig’d to Marry his next Brother, and as long as any of his Brethren remain’d, they were bound to Marry his Wife, and preserve their Brother’s Memory, or solemnly renounce, to their very great Infamy. This was so well known, that no new contract was enjoyn’d in such a 26Case; for the first Husband being dead, she and the next Brother were Man and Wife, without any farther Agreement or Ceremony, by Virtue of the Original Law.’
The learned Prelate in this Comment, omits mentioning the spilling of the Seed, but it may be rationally presum’d he did it not so much out of a regard to Modesty, as its being a trifling part of the Charge against Onan; since he determines Onan’s great Crime to be his not complying with the Law of Moses, in the Marriage of his Brothers Wife; tho’ he adds, that his Sin was the more heinous for his acting contrary to the promise made to Abraham, in relation to the multiplying of his Seed.
What provok’d Onan to the Breach of this Law, I take to be evident, was his not being allow’d the Reputation of begetting the first Child on his Brothers Wife, which 27in all Marriages is attended with more satisfaction, than any of the future Progeny.
There might be other probable Reasons given for Onan’s breaking this Law of Moses; as envy to the Memory of his deceas’d Brother, dislike or prejudice to his Wife, &c. But to Comment a little farther upon the 38 Chapter of Genesis, in respect to Onan’s Crime, it may not be amiss to examine some preceding Verses.
Verse. 2. And Judah saw there, a Daughter of a certain Cananite, whose Name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. And she conceiv’d, and bare a Son, and he call’d his Name Er. By this, and many other parts of the Scripture it is apparent, that the Words going in unto a Woman, were meant in those times actual Copulation, so that when Onan went in unto his Brother’s Wife, it must be constru’d, that he began 28the pleasure of Matrimony, though, he did not perfect it by reason he spilt his Seed on the Ground; that is, he withdrew from his Brothers Wife, and did not consummate the Marriage; which displeas’d the Lord, wherefore he slew him.
Agreeable to this in some measure, is the modern Custom amongst Persons of distinction in their amorous Intrigues; who after they are actually ingag’d in the pleasures of Venus, by a sudden ereption of the Privities, separate from the Female the instant they feel the Titillation in the extreme Parts, and before the Emissio Seminis; to prevent the effects of a teeming Womb, which would not only occasion a considerable expence, but expose the Female, and very much impair the Beauty of her Form. And of this nature, I take the Sin of Onan to be, in relation to his spilling his Seed on the Ground, though not committed with the same design.
29These particulars fully shew, that Onan’s Sin was not Self-pollution, as laid down by the Author of Onania, and for that he had the Assistance of his Brother’s Wife. I come now to the Sin of Self-pollution, and begin with the Causes.
I am by no means of the Author’s Opinion, that Self-pollution is entirely occasion’d by Ignorance, Secrecy, Shame, or other particular Causes mention’d in his Treatise, as I have already observ’d, with my Reasons confuting the same; to which I may add, this farther, that few, or no Persons can be ignorant, that Self-pollution is a Sin. I look upon it to be more a natural Distemper occasion’d by a vicious ferment of the Blood, than to proceed from any of the Causes set forth by the Author of Self-pollution, and that this may be agitated by lewd Company, Obscene Pictures, &c. It is impossible, that ignorance can increase this Crime, when it is esteem’d the Mother of Devotion, and in my 30Opinion, the firmest limits to Chastity. Without some experience, no considerable progress can be made, and ’tis the highest inconsistency to call an experienc’d Person ignorant.
Other Causes of Self-pollution, I take it may be justly attributed to the very great hazards Young Gentlemen are constantly expos’d to with Women of the Town (not that I allow any unlawful desires) for tho’ the Crime of Self-pollution be in its nature heinous, and the Consequences are to be fear’d by all considerate Persons, yet the Sin doth not in any respect seem so dreadful to vigorous Youth, as that of Whoredom, and the Calamities attending, are generally more remote in prospect. A Clap or a Pox will immediately ensue in the most terrible manner (the Beauty of the Front, and the most valuable parts of the Body, being particularly in danger) in the case of Copulation with an unsound Woman, when the consequences of Self-pollution only 31steal on you by degrees, and will be a considerable space before the direful Effects shall be visible. This I take to be a principal Cause of Self-pollution, especially where Persons have suffer’d in their Intrigues with lewd Women; and what encreases it in this case, is the pernicious Salt of a transmissive Nature, oftentimes remaining in the center of the Blood, upon taking unbounded quantities of Mercurial Preparations; some Young Gentlemen have confess’d to me, that after the cure of the secret Disease by Quack-physicians, their Inclinations have encreas’d, with the number of their venerial Maladies, which can proceed from no other cause than a pollution of the Blood occasion’d by the Dregs of ill prepar’d Medicines.
I have known two very remarkable Cases of this kind in the Country. One was a half witted young Fellow, being with artifice entic’d to the act of Fornication with an unclean Woman, who after a cure of the Disease he 32receiv’d by her, was so strangely addicted to Self-pollution, that at length there was far greater difficulty to preserve his impair’d Carcass, than in curing of his nauseous Distemper, notwithstanding, he had it with severity: He would sit down upon the Floor, and with Eyes lift up violate Nature in a seeming Transport, and oftentimes repeat this unnatural Sin, with an uncommon pleasure: At last he confess’d it, and on a private Examination declar’d, that he never had any inclination to Self-pollution, before he had receiv’d his venerial Injury, and largely taken of the Surgeons Preparations, tho’ this Woman was not the first that he had carnally known. The other Case within my knowledge, was, that of a rakish Young Gentleman, who having run through his Fortune in Extravagancies, particularly on the fair Sex, when he could no longer splendidly subsist, or afford the expence of unlawful Pleasures, being perpetually tormented 33with a violent inclination to Women; at last after a long continuance of Self-pollution, he couragiously Castrated himself, as the only cure of his vicious Appetite. But the next News I heard, as indeed I expected, was, that he had with equal resolution shot himself through the Head.
’Tis very certain, that Persons in mean Circumstances, are thereby in many Respects render’d unable to pursue their darling Vices; but where the Principles are vitiated, or the Passions prevalent, there is no Shield of Self-defence against ill Actions: The Person wholly void of Honesty, will commit Thefts and Robberies upon the Persons of others to enrich himself; and the lustful Person will satisfy his Brutal inclinations by Friction, or other abominable Enjoyments, for want of ability, to purchase more acceptable Crimes: And as the want of Circumstances is many times a cause of Self-pollution, 34so the Person in possession of a large Fortune, is frequently guilty of the Sin of Whoredom, accompanied with more dreadful Consequences, and Nature only, under the severest Discipline, must in all Cases regulate the lustful Appetite.
The design of providence, for the preservation of Mankind in a State of Innocence, is visible throughout all the works of the Creation; there is no condition of Life, but a Person may go thro’ free from Guilt and Infamy; and particularly in Uncleanness, Nocturnal-pollution proceeding meerly from Nature without force, is certainly intended to correct lustful Inclinations; but when it arises from vicious contemplations, and impure Ideas conceiv’d in the Mind, it is a sinful Act, though not equally criminal to Self-pollution.
Pollution by the hand of a Woman, is always attended with more fatal consequences to the Man than any other; the impure Thoughts 35are more strongly impress’d by the presence of the Female, than its possible in her absence, and the imaginations so heighten’d by her Touch, as to commit the greater violence on Nature. By this, the parts are more considerably strain’d, and their natural Strength and Vigour abated. This naturally leads me to the various ways of Self-pollution in wanton Females, which are so intolerable, that Modesty forbids a particular Description. I shall only mention, that a Lascivious Woman, by the use of a pleasurable Toy, and an injection of Milk, or other Moisture, may possibly continue Self-pollution for a longer space than copulation with a Man, no Spirits being drain’d or Strength exhausted by the means herein applied; and ’tis reported that some lewd Females will commence this vile practice, before their Privities are fledg’d with Maturity.
36To demonstrate the consequences of a lewd Conversation in regard to the Crime of Self-pollution, I shall here present you with an ample account of a Club of Young Gentlemen, I have been inform’d, was not many Years ago establish’d in, or near Long-Acre; the most abominable Nursery of Lewdness and Debauchery, perhaps, that ever was heard of in any Country, unless it be in the remote parts of Europe amongst the vile Sects of incestuous Adamites, whom Histories mention, when the Words increase and multiply, were repeated in their religious Service (which was very common) they immediately extinguish’d their Candles, and promiscuously mix’d in carnal Enjoyments. This Club ’tis said, was held thrice a Week at the House of a noted Victualler, who was a Stranger to the Actions of his Guests for a considerable time; they had a Supper and plenty of strong Liquors constantly 37provided to their no small Expence; they were govern’d by a President of the Night, who was commonly elected after Supper, and the whole Assembly struggled for this Honour: The method of Election was thus; every one according to his Seniority advanc’d himself in turn upon a high Joint-stool plac’d against a Wall, and with a sort of Emulation, there practis’d Self-pollution as long, as his strength would permit, and he that repeated the Sin the greatest number of times, was immediately declar’d their Chief for the next time of meeting: And to facilitate their unnatural Pleasures; their Eatings generally consisted of strong Soops, Gravies, Fish, Jellies, and other provocatives to Lust; and their whole Conversation turn’d on their Excellency and Perfection in this most detestable Crime. This Account I have had of this Club, with this Addition, that a Member of it might be known by his spindle Shanks, 38fallen Jaws, and pale wither’d Countenance, but as it is not within my own knowledge, I cannot aver it to be fact, and to me it seems so monstrous as not to be credited in the whole, what ever it may in part; however I thought fit to insert it, to render the Crime the more odious and hateful to all.
And to this I may add other pernicious Consequences proceeding from this Crime, as an irrecoverable Impotency, which renders a Man inanimate, intoxicates his reason, and debases Nature, so as to occasion the Diabetis and other fatal lingering Diseases; for the aliment of the Blood is so far vitiated and impair’d by a frequent repetition of this Sin, that it is wholly unable to perform its office of Circulation with any regularity.
Thus I have detected the several Fallacies, Inconsistencies, and Impositions of the Author of Onania; prov’d that he is mistaken in the 39Crime of Onan; that the design, of his Book was to encourage Lewdness, and thereby promote the sale of destructive Medicines, which many times occasion a conflux of Humours, and incurable Diseases; shewn that Quack Preparations promote the very Sin he with views of Interest pretends to discountenance, set forth the real Crime of Onan, and the Causes and fatal Consequences of Self-pollution: I now proceed to the heinousness of the Sin.
The Learned Ostervald treating of the several Species of Uncleanness, says it is easy to discern ‘that impure Actions are forbidden for two Reasons. First, because they are likely means of carrying Men to the grosser Crime: People don’t ordinarily arrive at the height of Wickedness all at once, but by certain Steps and Degrees. They begin with what they think 41lawful; they accustom themselves to violate the rules of Chastity in such Instances, as they perswade themselves, can have no great hurt in them: But then from these lesser Offences, they proceed to others, whose Wickedness they cannot but be sensible of; and so at length they fall into the more horrid Crime. But in the second place, though we should never come thus far, and our unchaste Actions should never push us on to the utmost Licentiousness, they however defile the Soul; they increase the inclination to Uncleanness, and withdraw from God; as a very little Observation will inform those, who allow themselves in these sort of Liberties.
‘To impure Actions, may be subjoin’d such Looks, as are contrary to Chastity, inasmuch, as a Man may be guilty also of Sin in this respect, whether in beholding such Objects, or in reading such Books, 42as may be apt to beget unlawful Desires. It is an undoubted Truth, that impure Passions are chiefly rais’d and inflam’d by the sight, and that it is impossible to continue Chast without a diligent care to govern the Eyes, and to turn them away from whatsoever might seduce the Heart. Let but any one enquire into the Objects I am speaking of, and the Impressions they are apt to make upon the Mind, and this will presently convince him of the Evil and Danger of suffering his Eyes to dwell upon them: These Objects pollute the Imagination, filling it with lustful Thoughts; and it is only through the Temptation of sensuality, that any can fix their Eyes upon them, or take any manner of pleasure in them. The holy Scriptures sufficiently caution against these undue Liberties; it was by the sight that David was entic’d to commit Iniquity: And Job, who liv’d at 43a time when moral Chastity was less known, than it has been since, had yet learn’d, that the principal Duty of Chastity was to regulate the Sight.’
There are many Things conducive to Chastity, as the pious example of Superiours, a Godly Conversation, Books of Devotion, a firm Resolution, Temperance, &c. And at all Seasons, Persons ought to use their utmost Endeavours for overcoming their inclinations to Impurity; but there are some times, and opportunities, wherein it is done far more easily than at others. In matters of Salvation, as well, as in all others, a great deal depends upon a choice of proper Seasons: No-body, but must have found, that he is not always equally well disposed: Upon some occasions a thing will appear almost insuperable, which yet will not be so at another time: Take a Man given to any particular passion, 44and in the instant, when he is seiz’d and transported with it: All you can say to the contrary, will make no Impression upon him; yet take the same Person out of his passion, when his Blood is cold, and you will see him very different. The Impure have their intervals, and these longer or shorter, and more or less frequent, according as the Habit they have contracted is stronger or weaker; there are some, over whom this passion has so great an Ascendency, that they are almost perpetually employ’d by it; yet such as these have some more favourable Moments, wherein they are capable of reflection, and wherein their Passion allows them some respite without opposition.
But there is nothing to be done without Resolution and Confidence; and we may be assur’d, that God’s enjoining of Chastity, is an incontestable proof, that People may attain it: It is by no means to be presum’d, 45that our great Creator, who is all Justice, would under pain of Damnation command the observance of such Duties, as he knows to be entirely out of our power: No, there are means of performing what he injoins, not attended with unconquerable difficulties: And as it is he, who has ordered these means; so has he engaged himself to second them with his blessing, whenever we commence a sincere obedience to his Laws.
It would be strange to find any make a Question of this; but it must be granted, that as this Duty is not to be acquir’d with equal ease at all times, so it is not alike easy to all sorts of Persons; and some find considerable trouble in it; and so it is in all the other Duties of Morality: There are some, who whether from their natural Tempers and Constitutions, or from the bad Habits they have contracted, are violently press’d on to certain Passions, and 46must encounter Self-difficulties before they can make the least conquest over them: An eagerness of Temper, and fullness of Heat, with an ill Habit too long indulg’d, will render Persons so prone to anger, that they must be very diligent and watchful, and always upon their guard, or they will not be able to avoid it; but it will very ill become these to offer this for their excuse; for by this means, there is no Person but would be able to vindicate himself: So in a temporal Sense, were Criminals allow’d to plead a strong inclination and proneness of Nature, to the committing of Crimes, there would be no such thing as Justice or Government in the World.
Tho’ many Persons are strongly press’d to Impurity, yet it cannot be concluded, from hence, that there are no methods of Preservation from this Passion: If they brought themselves into this State by their own 47fault, and for want of using the means proper in order to Chastity, this is no Evidence that these means are not sufficient for their purpose: The Case is the same here, as if a Man had fallen into a dangerous Indisposition for not using certain Preservatives or Remedies, which does not shew that he had no means of preventing his Sickness, but only that he did not make a right use of them: Those who are entangled in this dangerous Passion, and whose return to Chastity appears very difficult, may yet be assur’d, that they may recover themselves: It is true, they may find it troublesome at first, but then they ought to remember, that it is but reasonable for them to cross their own Inclinations, and bear with some inconvenience to preserve themselves from fatal ruin: The trouble will daily lessen, and what at first seem’d insuperable, will become at length pleasant in the performance. There are certainly means 48of being Chast, and whosoever makes the Trial, will quickly find the benefit of them: As for those that will not use them, who will do nothing to fortify themselves, will not keep out of the way of Temptations, nor cross their vicious Inclinations in any thing; I confess it is my Opinion, that they will never attain any degree of Chastity, but then they have none but themselves to blame for it; it is their own fault, and not any defect in Religion, that they are in this Condition: And to such the Almighty has ordain’d a proper Remedy, whereby to avoid the excesses of the Flesh, which is Marriage.
Meditation is an excellent means to Purity, it excites and recalls into the Mind, divers good Reflections, and abates the force of Temptations: There is no matter of Religion and Piety, which may not be revolv’d in our Minds to advantage; and there are many particular Meditations, that have a peculiar Virtue 49for dissuading from pollution; such as the presence of our Creator, Death, Resurrection, Judgment, &c. The thoughts of Death, which puts an end to all our Enjoyments here, must necessarily abate the allurements of sensual Pleasures. The thoughts of our Resurrection will force us to have a regard to Purity: And the thoughts of our Saviour’s Sufferings, are a powerful Motive, not to seek our own ease, and the satisfaction of our Senses in this World.
One of the chief means of defence against Temptations to Impurity, is a distrust of our selves. This distrust proceeds from an Opinion and Sense of our own Weakness, and thereby a fear of being surpriz’d and ensnar’d by Temptations; distrust will produce Vigilance, which is a second means of defence against impure Thoughts. Persons ought to be very exact and scrupulous, as to every thing that leads to Impurity, 50and not to take too great liberty under any vain pretences. Mortification and Exercise are very good guards against Pollution; Idleness makes People wanton and vicious, and High-feeding very much heightens unlawful Desires. Curiosity is frequently a cause of the wanderings of the Mind and Heart; and a desire of satisfying it, proceeding from a secret Passion, being a great occasion of Pollution, this also is to be guarded against: And lastly, when Persons are under any manner of Temptations, the instant they are sensible of impure Thoughts in the Soul, they should be strenuously resisted. The first reception of impure Thoughts into the Soul, shews them to be pleasing to it; and the longer they are entertain’d there, the more this Pleasure encreases; and when this Pleasure once prevails, the Man is no longer in a capacity to defend himself: And there is no surer way to prevent a Conflagration, 51than by thoroughly extinguishing the first spark of Fire, on its immediate appearance.
Thus much for the means to avoid Impurity, and to attain Chastity, I shall conclude this part of my Treatise, with what Mr. Ostervald observes of the Sin of Uncleanness in general, and with a few Reflections of my own, which may be of service to those, who make Chastity a difficulty. ‘All Uncleanness is a palpable Violation of our Baptismal Covenant, wherein we have solemnly oblig’d our selves to renounce the Flesh (that is to say, all sensuality and voluptuousness) as well as the World and the Devil. For there is no living up to this Profession and Obligation, without being continually upon our guard against all those sinful Lusts, which we have thus renounc’d. And indeed, what an affront is it to God, and what vile 52Treachery and breach of Covenant, when Persons have thus given up their Names to Christ, and promis’d to obey his holy Laws; and in particular, to abstain from all Impurity, if they shall yet draw back, and professing to know the Almighty shall in works deny him, living in wantonness and unlawful Pleasures, like the Gentiles, who knew him not, or rather in such detestable Lewdnesses, as the Wiser amongst these would have abominated? We cannot doubt, but that we are all strictly engag’d to cleanse our selves from Filthiness, both of Flesh and Spirit, and to perfect Holiness. And what a monstrous Incongruity must it be, for such to indulge themselves in any carnal and sensual Immoralities, in direct opposition to the Vow, so solemnly made against them! This must necessarily argue a great Stupidity, and regardlessness of their Duty, which 53is sufficiently blameable in any, but in Christians, who pretend to tread in their Saviour’s Steps, and to obey all his Commandments, is most exceedingly provoking.’
Though the Sin of Uncleanness be heinous in it self, as appears by what has been said, and is oftentimes attended with a train of Crimes, as Lying, Quarrelling, and others of a flagitious Nature, yet are many Persons so estrang’d to Religion, and even to rational Ethicks, as to be entirely supine and negligent in the suppressing of Impure Cogitations; and on the contrary entertain them with indulgence; so that by degrees, illimitable Passions are establish’d, and the tide of Impurity, at last grows so strong and rapid, that it is not to be repell’d; whence all manner of Evils succeed.
Having Theologically discuss’d the several particulars relating to Self-pollution, and other Uncleanness: 54I come now to my last head, treating of Generation, and the sensitive Parts effecting it; but I would by no means have my Reader think, that I examine these particulars with a design to excite Persons to Lewdness, when my Intentions are only to shew the fineness and Beauty of the Parts, whereby will appear how easily they may be violated and impair’d by an unnatural use.
I shall begin with the instruments of Generation in Men. All the parts of Generation merit the Title of noble Parts, as well as the Brain and the Heart; and some Authors give them the preference before the other Parts of the Body, upon this consideration, that they preserve the Species, and the others only keep up the Individuum.
56The Yard is call’d by Physicians the Membrum Virile, because it distinguishes a Man from a Woman: It is plac’d at the lower and external part of the Abdomen, and is fasten’d to the Os Pubis. This Situation is the more commodious, for that it does not annoy any other part in the time of enjoyment.
It has a very peculiar Substance, containing several Vessels, Muscles, Nerves, Arteries, &c. Its Skin is finer than that of any other part, to give it a more exquisite sense. It has no Fat; for if it encreas’d in Flesh in proportion with the rest of the Body; it would not only be of too large a size, but become soft, unactive, and insensible; and would cloud the Sense necessary to excite the Passion.
The Yard performs its motions by virtue of four Muscles; two for Erection, and two for Ejaculation. These last squeeze the seminal Vesicles, and convey the Seed into the Urethra, 57from whence it sallies out with great force: It is divided into its Body, and two Ends; as for its two extremities one of them is call’d the Glans, or head of the Yard; the other which is fastened to the Belly, is call’d the Root, and is surrounded with Hair, especially upon its upper part, which is call’d the Pubis.
The Glans, or head of the Membrum Virile, is the only fleshy part in the Yard; being soft and smooth, to prevent its hurting the Matrix of the Woman, and running in some measure to a point to facilitate its Entry: It is cover’d with a thin Membrane, which renders it sensible of the Titillation occasion’d by rubbing upon the Matrix; and in the time of Erection, the Spirits and Blood repair to it vigorously, when it swells and starts out of an uncommon length, assuming a lively red Colour; but upon the retreat of the Blood, it flaggs and becomes pale and shrivell’d.
58The prepuce is the loose Skin at the utmost end of the Yard, which stretches out and covers the Nut, or draws down, to uncover it, as there is occasion: In time of Erection, it will draw down the Yard a considerable way, the easier to enter in Copulation: ’Tis tied under the Nut, with a fine Ligament call’d the Bridle, which must be cut when it is to short, and draws the orifice of the Nut downwards, by reason it hinders the Ejaculation of the Seed in a straight Line. The Prepuce enlarges the pleasure in Copulation, especially of the Women.
The Yard has two Cavernous Bodies, one on each side, taking their rise from the lower part of the Os Pubis, and the Hip-bone, and these cavernous Bodies, or Nerves have two Substances, external and internal, the external one is thick, hard, and nervous, and the internal one, is spungy, thin, and fungous.
59The Erection of the Yard is owing to these cavernous Bodies, which being fill’d with Spirits, swell and extend themselves: And the arterious Blood being poured into the cavernous Bodies effects the distension of the Yard, as its lankness is occasion’d by sending of that Blood through the Hypogastrick Veins. The spungy Substance of the cavernous Bodies, stops the Blood for some time, whereby an erection is forc’d.
In all Enjoyments, the animal Spirits are rouz’d by fancy, which strikes the Idea of Pleasure, and when the Spirits are thus rais’d, they instantly repair to the Nerves of the Organs of Generation, and puff them up on mixing with the Blood, convey’d thither by the Arteries; and upon the mixture of these two, a Fermentation succeeds, whereby an Erection is effected.
The Urethra is a nervous Passage, extending from the neck of the Bladder, to the end of the Yard. 60It is a common passage for the Seed and Urine.
The Testicles are so call’d from the Latin Word Testes, as they witness the vigour of a Man. They are seated without the Abdomen, at the root of the Yard; and enclos’d in the Scrotum, which is a Purse consisting of two Membranes; these Vessels do not prepare or form the Seed; but their office is to import the Blood from which ’tis separated.
The Testicles are of an oval Figure, about the size of a Pigeons Egg, and in some larger: They are wrapt up in five Coats or fine Skins, viz. The Scrotum, Dartos, Eritroides, Elitroides, and the Albuginea; the two first are call’d common, and the three last are call’d proper. The outer Coat is shrivell’d and encompass’d with thin Hair. The Substance of the Testicle, is white, soft, and loose, compos’d of several small Seminals Vessels, and Capillaries, which are the Branches of the Arteries, 61Veins, Nerves, and Lymphatick Vessels.
There are two Muscles call’d Cremasters, which keep the Stones suspended; and if these happen to be stronger than ordinary, they’ll move the Testicles of themselves.
The most volatile part of the Blood is strain’d out from the rest by the Glandulous Pith of the Testicle, which gives passage only to the finest Particles, and obliges the rest to return to the Veins. This part of the Blood thus filtrated, is rais’d to a just degree of perfection by the length of the Pipes, through which it passes; and what adds to its refinement is the windings of these Pipes, which procure a mutual disunion, by whirling about. When the Seed is prepar’d, it is lodg’d in the expansion of the Vasa Deferentia; being first put in motion by the Heat of the Vein call’d the Spermatick Artery; and when the Imagination is enflam’d by amorous 62Thoughts, it suddenly breaks forth.
The Vasa Deferentia are Vessels seated partly in the Scrotum, and partly in the Abdomen; they convey the Seed by drops to the seminal Vesicles; the two extremities of the Vasa Deferentia are compar’d to a Bunch of Grapes, and Guts of Birds.
Two small Ducts of about an Inch in length, spring from these Vesicles; they are broad near the Vesicles, but dwindle as they approach to the Urethra, which they perforate. These Ducts are call’d Ejaculatory Vessels, because in the heat of Action, they throw the Seed of the Vesicles into the Urethra, and they are the chief Subjects of the pleasure attending Ejaculation.
These small Ducts have ten or twelve Orifices, opening to the Urethra, each of them being shut by a small Caruncle to prevent the continual efflux of Humour, which has the precedency of the Seed. This 63is alledg’d to be the seat of a Clap, by reason volatile Salts fastning near, occasion Ulcers that corrode the Caruncles, and thereupon the Orifices of the Ducts discharge their slimy Liquor.
The Prostatæ are two Glandulous spungy Bodies, seated at the root of the Yard, by the head of the Urethra, and furnish’d with Arteries from the Pudendæ; their use is to make a secretion of slimy oily Liquor out of the Blood, to reserve it for some time in its Vesicles, and to squeeze it out by degrees, thro’ the Pipes of the small Ducts, to the Urethra.
’Tis reported, that some Persons have three Testicles, and that others are so slenderly provided, as to have but one; tho’ either of the cases happens very rarely. And Animals which have their Testicles situated within, are always accounted more lascivious than others.
64There are four spermatick Vessels belonging to the Privy Parts of a Man, two whereof are Arteries, and the other two Veins. The two spermatick Arteries spring from the Trunk of the Aorta; and run obliquely upon the Ureters, and along the Muscle Posas, ’till they arrive at the Groin, where they are receiv’d by a production of the Peritonæum, and so conducted to the Testicles.
The two spermatick Veins branch out from the Testicles towards the Vena Cava. The Right extends it self straight to the Trunk of the Cava; but the Left terminates in the emulgent Vein. In their progress, they are join’d by small Veins from the Peritonæum, and the neighbouring Muscles, which are loaded with the superfluous Blood of those parts, in order to lodge it in the Cava.
The spermatick Vessels are larger in Men than Women; and in both Sexes the Arteries are always 65stronger than the Veins. For the use of these Vessels, the Blood runs in the two Arteries straight to the Testicles, each of them dividing into two small Branches, the better to penetrate its Substance, by entring at several places, and to procure an exact separation of the seminal Particles, that accompany the Arterious Blood. And when this is perfected, the remainder of the Blood enters the Branches of the Veins, in order to return to the Cava.
The Valves in the Cavity of the Veins are plac’d at certain Intervals, in order to prevent the Arterious Blood from falling down. They are serviceable in promoting the ascent of the Blood, and their natural Disposition conducts it to the Vena Cava.
To pursue the method I have hitherto observ’d, I shall begin my 66Description of the Privities of a Woman, with the external Parts.
The external Orifice is commonly call’d the Pudendum; ’tis compos’d of several parts, as the Pubes, the Mons Veneris, the Lips, and the great Slit.
The Pubes is seated on the forepart of the Share-bone, just above the Pudendum; and to keep off the annoyance that might arise from the hardness of the Bones in the amorous Adventure, it is rais’d and consists of Fat, which serves as a Cushion.
Mons Veneris, rises like a little Hill about the great Lips, and is cover’d, as well as the Pubes, with a pretty good quantity of rough curling Hair, which begins to spring when the Female enters her Thirteenth or Fourteenth Year: It is seated a little lower than the Pubes.
The great Labia, or great Lips, descend from the Mons Veneris, and meet in the Perinæum; they consist of doubled Skin, Fat and spungy 67Flesh; they are cover’d with Hair, but it is not so strong, as that of the Pubes and Mons Veneris. In Girls they are firm, but in those who have been enjoy’d, they are flaggy.
The great Slit is the space between the two Lips; it is call’d the great Slit, as being much larger than the entry of the Neck of the Womb.
Upon separating the Thighs, and drawing aside the two Lips, are discover’d two soft and spungy Excrescences call’d Nymphæ; they resemble the Thrills, that hang under a Cock’s Throat; and their Colour is red, like that of a Cock’s Comb; their Substance is partly fleshy, and partly membranous, consisting of the doubled, and the inner Skin of the Great Labia. The Nymphæ conduct forth the Urine; and of Virgins are so vigorous, that they discharge their Water with a Noise like hissing.
Above the Nymphæ within the great Cleft is situated the Clitoris, 68a long round and glandulous Body. This is said to be the principal seat of Pleasure, being endow’d with an exquisite Sense. In the heat of Enjoyment, it swells like unto a Mans Yard on an Erection, by virtue of the Blood and Spirits, that croud into it. For this reason it is call’d the Female Yard, and indeed, it appears like unto that of a Man in many particulars. This is the part for Friction.
There are two Cavernous Nerves coming from the Hip-bone, call’d the Legs of the Clitoris; and there are four Muscles in the Clitoris, two for Erection, and two for Ejaculation; the two first run from the Hip-bone under the Cavernous Nerves; and the two others call’d Pudendi, take their rise from the Sphincter of the Anus. These Muscles serve to straighten the Orifice of the Vagina. The Arteriæ Pudendæ furnish the Clitoris with Blood, and the Veins of that Name 69carry off the same Blood into the Cava.
Under the Clitoris is the urinary Passage, larger and shorter than that of a Man, whereby Women send forth their Urine with the greatest violence and dispatch. This Passage is surrounded with a Sphincter, which is a Muscle that serves to confine, or give passage for the Urine at pleasure.
Between the fleshy Fibres of the Urethra, and the Membrane of the Vagina, lie the Prostates, having several Channels which terminate in the lower part of the Vulva, and thereby discharge a slimy matter, which mixes with the seed of the Male, in the time of Enjoyment.
And between the two great Labia, appear the four Caruncles call’d Myrtiformes from the resemblance they bear to Mirtle-berries. They are small fleshy Eminences surrounding the small Slit, made of the fleshy Wrinkles of the Vagina, which render 70the Passage so much the straighter. Their use is to heighten the mutual pleasure of Enjoyment, by clinging round and locking up the Yard; and to facilitate the egress of the Child by extension. They are reddish firm and high in Virgins, and join’d sideways to one another by small Membranes, which tie them together, and make them resemble a Rose-bud half blown: But in other Women they are separated by the entry of the Yard.
The uniting of the Membranes of the Carunculæ Myrtiformes, straighten the Passage, and afford the true mark of Virginity, (if there be any such.) The pain of the first Adventure is owing to the forcing of the Passage through, and tearing off those small Membranes; and a Mans Inclinations being always heighten’d in the first Nights Enjoyment, the pain to the Female is encreas’d by his ardent struggles; her Virgin Sufferings augmenting with 71his affection: But in some Females the Caruncles are rang’d in such a manner, that the Yard may enter without violence, so that there is no certain Evidence of a Maiden-head.
Some Anatomists mention a Membrane call’d Hymen, seated near the Caruncles in the Vagina, which continues stretched over the Passage, ‘till the approach of a Man rends it; and that this Hymen is a mark of Virginity; but this is more imaginary than proceeding from any Demonstration.
The Vagina is the neck of the Womb, a round Passage between the outer and inner Orifice, which receives the Yard like a Sheath. In Women that never bore Children, this Neck is about four Inches long, and an Inch and a half broad, but after Child-bearing, its capacity cannot be limited. It is nervous, and somewhat spungy, consisting of two Membranes; the Wrinkles of its inner Membrane empower it to prolong, 72dilate or contract, in order to fit the Yard, of any length or size, and to afford a Passage to the Fœtus. The Body and Neck of the Womb, make the Figure of a Bottle turn’d upside down, or rather a proud Flask.
The inner Orifice of the Womb, is a perforation like the Head of a Man’s Yard; ’tis the beginning of a narrow Passage, which enlarges to afford a way for whatever enters or comes from the Womb; it opens to receive the Seed in the moment of Ejaculation; and upon Conception shuts close, and so continues till towards the last Month of the Woman’s Reckoning: It is compos’d of Membranes wrinkled and furl’d up, capable of dilating themselves to a great extent. This is the part which gives the Woman pain in Child Birth, the Orifice being small, and opening but gradually, pursuant to the Efforts of the Fœtus, which retards the Birth. After the Child is 73past; this Orifice is lost, and the whole Womb is only one large Cavity reaching from the entry of its Neck to the bottom; but this is of very short duration, for these parts very soon contract themselves like an empty Purse, and resume their natural posture. The Action of this inner Orifice is purely natural.
The Substance of the bottom of the Womb is Membranous, and about a Fingers breadth thick, so that it dilates its self very commodiously: The inner Surface is interlac’d with a great many small Pores, and little Vessels which distil the menstrual Blood in Monthly Quantities.
The Womb has Nerves, Arteries, and Veins, dispers’d. The Nerves give it a sense of Pleasure and Pain, and a sympathy with all parts of the Body: The Arteries and Veins are call’d the Spermatick and Hypogastrick, and consist of an infinite number of Branches springing from all parts of the Womb, exporting the Blood to the 74Trunk of the Vena Cava: The Womb is sprinkled on all sides with Blood imported by the Arteries. These Arteries not only furnish the Womb with a proper Nourishment, but also pour in Blood upon the Placenta, in order to be sent through the Navel String to the Fœtus. When a Woman is not with Child, this Blood slips away thro’ the several Vessels into the Cavity of the Womb, and from thence it passes the Vagina every Month. In teeming Women these Branches sometimes discharge Blood, when there is a greater quantity than is necessary for the Nourishment of the Child.
The spermatick Artery divides it self into two Branches, one repairing to the Testicle, and the other to the Womb. It carries Blood in one of its Branches to the Testicle, in order to the secretion of Seed, and by the other Branch it furnishes the Womb with Blood for its Nourishment, and the superfluous 75Blood is carried back by two Branches of Veins, one from the Testicle, and the others from the Womb.
The Testicles of a Woman are call’d Ovaria; and they differ in Situation, Figure and Substance from those of Men. They are seated within the Abdomen upon the sides of the bottom of the Womb. Some Writers are of opinion, that Nature plac’d the Testicles of Women within to heat the Seed and work it up to a degree of perfection: Others tell us, that the design of this Situation was to excite Women to Generation. The use of the Testicles is to filtrate the Seed and reserve it; and to perform at once the office of a Man’s Testicles.
Their Figure is broad and flat, (seldom exceeding the Substance of a small Pigeons Egg) they are tied and held fast by some part of the Flag of the Trumpet; and they are knit to the spermatick Vessels, which 76grow larger after the Egg has taken Root in the Womb. For their Substance, they are a collection of Vesicles, commonly took for Eggs. In the Ovarium of a Woman are a Million of fine small Blood Vessels dispers’d upon the Tunicles; and small imperceivable Glandules, that strain out a white milky Liquor, which attains perfection in the cavity of these Vesicles, and then composes the matter of the Egg, which includes the Sperm that contains the Fœtus.
The more volatile part of the Seed of a Man passes through the Tubæ to the Ovarium, in order to fecundate the Eggs. The Tubæ are of the form of a Trumpet, which gives them their Name: They take rise from the bottom of the Womb, and their Orifice, which is continually open, is lac’d round with small Membranes like a Fringe, and is call’d the Devil’s-bit, or the Flag of the Trumpet. The office of the Tubæ, 77is to facilitate the descent of the Egg into the Womb. The seminal Spirit puts the Tubæ in motion, whereby the jagged part embraces the Ovarium, and the Egg fermented by the Spirits of the Seed, insensibly, disengages it self from the Ovarium, and breaking its Membrane, enters the Tubæ, in order to descend into the Cavity of the Womb: And in case of Twins, or where two or three Children are Born; they always spring from the like number of Eggs, disengag’d from the Ovarium at the same time. The extremities of the Tubæ inserted into the bottom of the Womb are call’d the Horns.
The Womb is cover’d with the Peritonæum; and a peculiar Membrane which lines the whole inside; and the bottom is generally smooth and even, but the Neck is always furl’d. The Ligaments are nothing else but Productions of the Peritonæum, which come from the Loins, and are inserted in the bottom of the 78Womb to prevent its falling down upon the Neck: They likewise keep the Womb from mounting too high: When these Ligaments are unbent, they resemble Bats Wings.
There are several Lymphatick Vessels belonging to the Womb, which creep along its outer part, and after a reuniting into large parts, empty themselves into the Cistern of the Chyle.
The Womb has a short Neck, distinguish’d by that Name from the Vagina; it is the Passage which reaches from the inner Orifice to the principal Cavity of the Womb: It is about an Inch long.
In the Cavity of the Womb, the two Horns dilate themselves, and form particular Bags, each of which contains a Fœtus. This Cavity enlarges itself more or less in proportion to the bigness of the Fœtus, or the number of Children, as in case of Twins.
79The Womb is seated in the lower part of the Hypogastrium, between the straight Gut and the Bladder. The Cavity where ’tis lodg’d, is call’d the Pelvis or Basin, and is larger in Women than in Men, so as to give the Womb liberty to distend it self upon Impregnation; it is tied fast at the bottom, and at the Neck. The Neck is knit before to the Bladder, and the Share-bone, and behind to the straight Gut and the Os Sacrum. The bottom is not tied so fast as the Neck, it requiring more liberty to move and dilate it self; but to prevent the shifting of its Seat, the Ligaments are equipp’d, being four in Number, two above, and two below.
Having describ’d the Privities of Man and Woman: I come now to my dissertation upon the Generation of Man, and the more particular use and dimensions of the Parts employ’d therein.
An Animal cannot be produc’d without a Couple, viz. a Male and a Female, each of which performs its part in the work of Generation.
Their entring on this work is call’d Copulation, which is the joining of the Male to the Female: And both of them are equally transported with a furious and restless Passion, occasion’d by a mix’d motion of pleasure and pain in the Genitals, which strongly excites a desire for each other.
As this Enjoyment is natural, there needs no Instruction; Instinct in all Animals directs the way of acting, that is most convenient for propagating their Species: And a Man, though brought up in never so great Ignorance, at his Age of Maturity naturally enclines to it, and needs no other Guide but the dictates of 81Nature to find out the center of Enjoyment.
But if Nature had not planted in the Genitals a sense of extraordinary pleasure in the amorous Engagement, Man would seldom give himself the trouble of Copulation: The cause of this pleasure some impute to the mixing of Spirits with the Seed, which give a pleasing tickling; and that this is encreas’d by the fineness and bending of the Nervous Fibres of the parts: Others are of opinion, that the Salt in the Seed, and the Spirits accompanying, prick the parts through which they pass and occasion such an agreeable Titillation: And some give this reason for the pleasure, that as in Eating we have an Enjoyment, which no part but the Tongue and Palate partake of; so in Copulation a peculiar pleasure arises, of which the Generation Organs are only sensible; and that Animals are 82mov’d to the Act of Generation, as they are to Eating.
The tickling Pleasure which affects Women, proceeds from the Emotion, that is excited when the Seed disengages it self from the Testicle, and passes through the Cavities of the ejaculatory Vessels, in order to be darted into the Womb. When a Woman is not with Child, the Seed is thrown into the Womb by the shortest Vessel, and when she is pregnant, the Seed is thrown into the Neck of the Womb by the longest Branch: And for this reason, big-belly’d Women are more passionately fond of Embraces than others; for the Seed spending more time in its intricate Passage, raises a more transporting and lasting Titillation.
In respect to the Parts of a Man employ’d in the work of Generation, the Yard when lank cannot go about it; and it may be so stiff, as not to be proper: And sometimes the erection of the Yard is so strong, 83that it is always bent: A large Yard does not stand so readily, as a small one; and when it does it cannot subsist so long, by reason it requires more Blood to fill it; and when full, it is heavier, and consequently apt to fall in a very little time: And the business of Generation suffers no alteration from the shortness or length of the Yard within the Neck of the Womb; for the office of the two round Ligaments, is to enforce the bottom of the Womb to approach the head of the Yard, in order to receive the Seed in time of Ejaculation: But ’tis as difficult a matter to perswade some Lascivious Females, that a Yard of small Dimensions is equally useful and pleasurable to one of a considerable Longitude and Circumference, as it is to perswade a Club of Ravenous Stomachs, that a thin shrivell’d Shoulder of Mutton is of equal Goodness with a Haunch of well-fed Venison.
84The parts of Women frequently differ in their Extent and Furniture; a great many Husbands are such Fools, as to covet difficulty in their first Approaches; and to measure the Virtue of their Wives, by the labour of their consummating Attack; not considering Nature has so order’d, that the Privy Parts are in the same Condition with the Mouth and the Eyes; some are little, and others are large; so that those who have naturally the larger size, may be unjustly charg’d with Lewdness; and on the other hand, those, who by the natural disposition of the Parts are straighter, may after Copulation be reputed Virgins. A Little Woman may have a large Mouth, &c. and a large Woman a little one, whereby the lesser Person may have the more capacious Privities: And the same rule may be observ’d in Men, in respect to the Nose, which seems to have equal Authority in determining the Dimensions nature has provided in 85the Male, as the Mouth or Eyes in the Female.
Nature does not always observe an exact rule of Symmetry, the visible Limbs and Parts are oftentimes disproportion’d; we frequently see a large personable Man, supported with slender Legs, and a Dwarf equip’d with large nervous Calves; and the same want of proportion is certainly to be found in the Privities.
I have known a wanton Female marry a Person of an extraordinary Stature, in expectation of a large Pleasure, with Sorrow confess she was greatly mistaken. And as a strong Soil does not constantly afford the most plentiful Crop of productive Grain; so the Privy Parts of a robust Person, are not always stock’d with the greatest quantity of surrounding Ornaments.
But to return to the Privy Parts of Women; in some extraordinary cases, the Lips of the Matrix, may 86be so closely join’d, that a Yard of the smallest Size, cannot possibly enter (when they are to be artfully separated by a Surgeon:) And in other Females the Passage is so wide, that the largest Member will make its way without the least difficulty: And I at this time know a Gentleman very well provided in the parts of Generation (beyond what is common) that has had three Wives, all of them of unspotted Reputations, and the oldest not above Nineteen; who affirms that the Nights of consummation with each of his Spouses; he was in quite to the Testicles in his first penetrating attempt.
The same Gentleman has declar’d, that in his Youth, when his Curiosity led him to the utmost variety; he has sometimes met with a Lady of Pleasure, whose Parts must be suppos’d to be extended to the utmost latitude of Nature, and to which upon Examination, no binding 87Preparations had been applied; that he could not possibly enter in the most encountering Embrace, which sufficiently shews the incertainty of Nature, and the difficulty attending the proof of Virginity. And this Gentleman is of the same Opinion with many others, that a narrow entrance to the Privy Parts of a Female, very much impedes a mutual Enjoyment.
Thus much for the Dimensions of the Privities: I now proceed to Generation. When the Fancy warm’d with an Idea of Pleasure, occasions a diffusion of the Animal Juice, of Consequence ensues Erection: An Erection being effected, and the Yard lodg’d in the Neck of the Womb; the Seed taking leave of the seminal Vesicles, passes through the Ejaculatory Vessels, and enters the Urethra; from whence ’tis squirted out with a Jirk, by vertue of the Convulsions that then seize the Yard: And as Ejaculation the last point of the 88Man’s Action, is the critical moment of pleasure, so ’tis the principal aim, he has in View, and all the Circumstances that usher it in, have an eye upon that Instant: The sanguine Person is the most amorous, and produces the greatest quantity of laudable Seed.
The Seed of a Man being syring’d into the Privy Parts of a Woman by the Yard, it repairs to the bottom of the Womb, and its inner Orifice shuts it self close: ‘After which the Seed being embrac’d and press’d by the Womb, all its Particles begin to take their respective Posts; the subtilest continue in the Center, and consequently the grosser and superfluous Parts are thrust towards the Surface, where they produce the After-birth, the Navel-string, and the Membranes, in which the Fœtus is wrapt. In the mean time all the Particles calculated for forming the 89different parts of the Body, disengage themselves by the force of their motion, and either part or join according to their mutual Disparity or Conformity; so that those design’d for the head Assemble in the place where they ought to be; and those for the rest of the Body do the like: And at the same time among those calculated for the Head, the Particles qualify’d for forming the Eyes, Ears, &c. rendezvous in their proper places: The same may be said of the Particles of which the Breast, Belly, and Limbs are compos’d. The Form, Structure, Order and Connection of all these parts, depends chiefly upon the Spirit enclos’d within the Seed; which by the meer necessity of its Motions, and without any Knowledge or Understanding, unravels the Chaos where the Particles lay confus’d, and ranks them in the same Order, that they had when lodg’d in the Body of the Animals, 90from which they sprung. The parts of the Fœtus being thus form’d, the subtilest part of the Spirit continues in the Center of the new-form’d Body, i. e. the Heart; and there makes a sort of Fire without Light (being the natural Heat that gives Life) which is fed by the circular motion of the Blood that passes there incessantly.’ This is the most probable Idea of forming the Fœtus, and what passes in the Womb, that is given by any Ancient or Modern Writers.
Some are of Opinion, that the Fœtus is form’d of a mixture of the Male and Female Seed; and that these two Seeds impregnated with the Spirit of Life, are the agent and matter of Generation. Some alledge that the Male Seed is sufficient of it self to form a Fœtus; and that the Woman only gives it a lodging, and furnishes the necessary Blood for its nourishment in the Womb: The Male being in this sense, look’d upon 91as an accomplish’d and perfect piece of Work, and the Female only a fertile Ground, which produces good Seed where the Labourer sows it well: And others are of opinion, that the Woman’s Seed contains the first, and the true Model of the Fœtus; there being small seminal Vesicles in the Testicles of a Woman, call’d the Eggs; which contain within themselves, all that is necessary to give the Fœtus a Being.
But the most common and rational Opinion is, that of the Fœtus being form’d by the mixing of the two Seeds in the Womb; that Man and Woman are equally perfect; and that both of them being furnish’d with Testicles, which make a secretion of Seed, both of them must supply; and a Woman cannot be got with Child, unless she and the Man ejaculate their Seed at the same time.
Those enclining to believe, that the Male Seed is sufficient of it self to form a Fœtus, plead that the Seed 92of a Man differs vastly from that of a Woman: That the former is white, and of a thick consistence, compos’d of all the parts that are capable to form a Body; and that the latter is only a sharp and yellowish serosity, which cannot contribute any thing towards the form of the Fœtus. But this is esteem’d by other Persons a groundless fancy; for the Structure of a Woman’s Testicle is more admirable than that of a Man, which shews that the Seed separated by it, is of considerable use: And several Children have their Mothers Features and Humour, which demonstrates that the Father, to whom they oftentimes bear no resemblance, does not furnish all himself.
Those Persons who pretend that the Woman’s Seed contains the first, and the true Model of the Fœtus, compare the Female Testicles to a bunch of Grapes, or a Bee-hive; consisting of Vesicles, each of which contains a little Animal, almost compleated 93in all its Parts, after the same manner as the Egg of a Fowl: And that Man’s Seed contributes to Generation, no otherwise than as it animates the Egg: But the Opinion which is generally receiv’d, is that both the Male and the Female Seed contain such Particles, as are qualify’d to form a Body and a Spirit capable of all the Motions perform’d by the Animal, from which they have Being; and that Generation depends upon an exact mixture of the two Seeds.
The Opinions relating to the matter whereof the Seed is compos’d, are no less various than those of the forming of the Fœtus; some Anatomists say, ’tis prepar’d by the concoction and conversion of Blood, effected in this manner. The Blood imported to the Testicles by four spermatick Vessels, two Arteries and two Veins: The Vein and Artery of the same side, having a mutual Communication, blend the arterious and venous 94Blood together; and this mixture of arterious and venous Blood boyl and convert into Seed by the peculiar faculty and virtue of the Organs of the Testicles: This was the Opinion of the Antients.
Others say, that the Seed is a Juice imported by the Nerves to the Organs of Generation; and that it distills from the Brain to the Privities; that in the time of Ejaculation one may feel it trickling along the Spina of the Back; that when the Adventure is over, the Animal is feeble and dejected through the great Dissipation of the Spirits that are hurry’d along with the Seed; and that the Seed is of the same colour with the animal juice of the Nerves.
Other Anatomists tell ye the Seed is compos’d of an infinity of little Animals, which they call seminary; that these swim and flutter about in the Liquor, and may be easily discover’d with a Microscope; that these seminal Animals are so many 95Seeds of Men, which being convey’d to the Ovarium, strike at the first Egg they meet with; upon which one of them perforates the Membrane, or gets into the Egg by a suppos’d Orifice, and presently shuts it self up, leaving the rest to perish without Doors, unless some of them have the good Fortune to slip into another Egg. The Animal that enters the Egg, serves for Sperm, which by swelling it up, prompts it to disengage it self from the Ovarium, and tumble into the Tuba, which conducts it to the Womb.
But the most substantial reasons given for the composure of the Seed are grounded upon Circulation, that the seminal Particles are separated and filtrated from the Blood by the Testicles; and Anatomists acquainted with the Structure of the Testicles, say, that the Seed is produc’d by a continual Filtration of several Particles, which being gather’d into a 96Body, make a Liquor that is qualify’d for the forming of a Man.
Mr. Lamy in his Anatomical Discourses, says, that the same necessity which obliges Plants after a set period of time to put forth the Seeds which give being to others, does likewise influence Animals at a certain Age to produce prolifick Seed, which he explains thus: The moisture of Infancy being consum’d by the overpowering Heat, the Blood is crouded with a greater number of Corpusculums qualified to nourish the Parts and repair their Losses, than there is occasion for; so that a great number of these nutritious Particles meeting with no reception in the respective Parts, return along with the Blood. The Head sends back such Particles as are proper for recomposing all the different Parts it is made of; and so do the other parts. Now all these various sorts of Particles being mix’d with the Blood, are strain’d through the Testicles; after which they rally 97and compose a Humour which is the sensible and corporeal part of the Seed of Man.
Seed is a very sweet Liquor when ’tis in a regular State, but when ’tis long under confinement, it turns perfectly sower, and causes very pernicious effects in both Male and Female. Men are harsher in their Tempers, and frequently attack’d with Vapours to a degree; and Women are thrown into a deplorable Condition, which will find no absolute Cure, till the stagnating Seed is evacuated by Marriage: The Seed mixing with the Blood breaks its Texture and changes its Consistence; so that by rendring it more serous, liquid and cold, and by flattening the Redness of the Blood, it makes the colour of the Skin less lively; and at length occasions the Virgins Distemper.
Monsieur Dionis is of opinion, that most of the Nuns and other Girls that are taken to be possess’d with Devils, were subject to Vapours 98only when they acted the awkward extravagancies that History is full of. And I have been inform’d by the learned Dr. C——n, and other eminent Physicians, that Vapours will so powerfully prevail in some Young Females, by a stagnation of the Seed, that they are oblig’d to prescribe extraordinary Remedies, and sometimes Friction to procure relief; and to prevent Convulsions, irregular Imaginations, &c. which would otherwise ensue, if not a perfect Lunacy for a time.
An early Marriage is the most effectual Preservative against the numerous Disorders proceeding from quantities of Seed unnaturally confin’d; and will render a perfect Health and Tranquility; unless it be in the case of Impotency; or in some Countries where a Man by tying a Knot upon his Codpiece, when the Priest pronounces such and such Words on the day of Marriage; lays claim to a right of preventing 99its Consummation: But if a Man cannot consummate his Marriage, you’ll always find it proceed from a natural Cause; and that the Devil has no hand in it.
To conclude my Subject of Generation, and the Parts employ’d therein: I shall here insert an Observation of St. Augustin. The Instruments of Generation (says he) are a call’d Pudenda, because they speak our Shame in this, that he who commands all the other Parts, cannot reduce these to Obedience.