The Levellers Part 1

The Levellers.

by Anonymous.

The Levellers: A Dialogue between two young Ladies, concerning Matrimony, proposing an Act for Enforcing Marriage, for the Equality of Matches, and Taxing single Persons. With the Danger of Celibacy to a Nation. Dedicated to a Member of Parliament.

_London,_ Printed and Sold by _J. How_, at the _Seven Stars_ in _Talbot-Court_, in _Grace-church-street_, 1703. _Quarto_, containing thirty-two Pages.

An Epistle to a Member of Parliament.

Honoured Sir,

_Our Fore-fathers, if not now in Being, have pa.s.sed an Act, prohibiting the Importation of Foreign, and for the Encouragement of the Breed of English Cattle, which, I am told, has much raised the Price of Land in_ England. _With Submission to your better Judgment, I think, An Act, for Increasing the Breed of_ Englishmen, _would be far more advantageous to the Realm. Some say, That our Ships are the Walls of our Island; but I say, Our Men are the Walls, the Bulwarks, and Fortresses of our Country. You can have no Navies, nor Armies, without Men; and, like prudent Farmers, we ought always to keep our Land well stocked._ England _never prospered by the Importation of Foreigners, nor have we any Need of them, when we can raise a Breed of our own_.

_What you have here presented, is a Discourse of two young Ladies, who, you find, are very willing to comply with such an Act, and are ready to go to Work for the Good of their Country, as soon as they shall have a legal Authority; of which, if you are the happy Instrument, you will have the Blessing of ten-thousand Damsels, and the Thanks of_

Your humble Servant,

_POLITICA._

_Politica_ and _Sophia_, two young Ladies of great Beauty and Wit, having taken Lodgings together, this Summer, in the Country, diverted themselves in the Evenings by walking to a certain Shadow, which they might justly call their own, being frequented by none but themselves and the harmonious Society of the Wood. Here they consumed the happy Minutes, not in idle Chat peculiar to the Ladies of the Court and City; they did not dispute the Manner of Dressing, the Beauties and Foil of the Commode and Top-knot, nor the Laws and Administration of the Attiring-room. They talked of n.o.bler Subjects, of the Beauty and wonderful Creation of Almighty G.o.d, and of the Nature of Man, the Lord of the Universe, and of the whole Dominions of Nature. Pity it is we cannot procure all that these Ladies have so privately, as they thought, discoursed; but we are very happy in having what follows, which came to our Knowledge by a mere Accident. A Gentleman, lodging in the Neighbourhood, one Evening, taking a Walk for his Recreation, haply laid himself down behind a Hedge, near the very Shadow frequented by these Ladies; he had not lain long, before these Angels appeared at a Distance, and he, peeping through the Boughs (which served as a Telescope to bring the divine Objects nearer his View) was extremely ravished with their Beauty; but, alas! What was the Beauty of their Faces to that of their Minds, discovered to this happy Man by the soft and charming Eloquence of their Tongues? And no Man in the World was better qualified to give an Account of this n.o.ble Dialogue, than this Person, he being an accurate Short-hand Writer, and had been Pupil to Mr. _Blainey_ in that Science, and very happily had, at that Time, Pen, Ink, and Paper about him; he heard with Amazement their Discourse on common Affairs, but, when the charming _Sophia_ had fixed on a Subject, he began to write as follows:

_Sophia._ My dear Sister, How happy are we in this blessed Retirement, free from the Hurry of the noisy Town! Here we can contemplate on the Wonders of Nature, and on the Wisdom of the great Founder of the Universe. Do you see how the Leaves of this Thicket are grown, since we first retired to its Shadow? It now affords us a sufficient Shelter from the Heat of the Sun, from Storms, and Rain; see yonder Shrub, what Abundance of Cyons sprout from its Root? See yonder Ewes, with their pretty Lambs skipping and dancing by their Sides. How careful is Nature to propagate every Part of the Handywork of the Almighty! But you and I, my _Politica_, are useless Creatures, not answering the End of our Creation in the Propagation of our Species, for which, next the Service of our Creator, we came into the World. This is our Sin, and we ought to be Transgressors no longer.

_Politica._ Every Creature desires to propagate its Species, and Nature dictates to every Part of the Creation the Manner of doing it. The brute Beasts are subservient to this Law, and wholly answer the End of their Creation: Now there is the same Desire in Mankind; but we, who are endowed with n.o.ble Faculties, and who have Countenances erected to behold the Wonders of G.o.d in the Firmament of Heaven, look so far into the Earth, that we sink beneath the Dignity of Beasts. In being averse to Generation, we offer Violence to the Laws of G.o.d and Nature imprinted on our Minds. What _she_ can say, that Nature does not prompt her to the Propagation of her Species? Which, indeed, is one Argument of the Immortality of the Soul; for the rational Faculties concur with the Dictates of Nature in this Point. We are, as it were, immortal upon Earth, in our surviving Children. It is a Sort of Hyperbole, but it is as near Truth as possibly can be. We are all of us desirous of Life; and, since, being mortal, we cannot for ever inhabit this glorious World, we are willing to leave our Children in Possession.

I cannot agree with you, Madam, that it is our Fault we do not propagate our Species, at least, I am sure, it is none of mine; I am young, and healthy, and beautiful enough, and Nature daily tells me what Work I ought to do; the Laws of G.o.d circ.u.mscribe the Doing of it; and yet, notwithstanding my Conformity to both, you know, my Circ.u.mstances will not admit of Marriage.

_Sophia._ The Impulse of Nature in me, in that Respect, is as great as it can be in you, but still under the Regulations of the strictest Rules of Virtue. The End of our Creation might be better answered, were not the matrimonial Knot to be tied only by the Purse-string. I can say, I am young and beautiful, and that without any Vanity. This Mr. _H----_ knows well enough; he loves me intirely, and, I am sure, had rather live all his Life-time with me in a Garret, on the Scrag-end of a Neck of Mutton, than with the Lady his Father proposes; but the old Curmudgeon will not let his Son have the least Thoughts of me, because the Muck, my Father has left me, will not fill so many Dung-carts, as he can fill for his Son: It is even true, what the Parson said, 'Matrimony is become a Matter of Money.' This is the Reason, that you and I stick on Hand so long, as the Tradesmen at _London_ say, when they cannot put off their Daughters.

_Politica._ Matrimony is, indeed, become a mere Trade; they carry their Daughters to _Smithfield_, as they do Horses, and sell to the highest Bidder. Formerly, I have heard, nothing went current in the Matrimonial Territories, but Birth and Blood; but, alas! this was in the antiquated Times, when Virtue and Honour were a Commodity in _England_, and when the n.o.bility and Gentry were in Possession of large Estates, and were content to live upon them, and keep Courts of their own in the Country; but, since they abandoned the State and Grandeur of their Fore-fathers, and became Courtiers, and extravagantly wasted their Substance in polluted Amours in the City, they have no Way to repair the Cracks in the Estates, but by Marrying of Fortunes; and, if the Woman be a Fortune, it is no Matter how she is descended; Gold is the Quarry they fly at. I remember some old Verses to this Purpose:

'Gold Marriages makes, 'tis the Center of Love; 'It sets up the Man, and it helps up the Woman: 'By the Golden Rule all Mortals do move, 'For Gold makes Lords bow to the Brat of a Broom-man.'

These Verses are older than either you, or I, and yet they are true in our Time.

_Sophia._ Aye, Madam, too true, I find it so; but, methinks, it is a mere Way of selling Children for Money, when, poor Creatures, they often purchase what will be a Plague to them all their Life-time, a cursed ill-natured Shrew, or a beastly, ill-conditioned Husband. Let me live a Maid to the last Minute of my Life, rather than thus to lose my Content, my Peace of Mind, and domestick Quiet, and all this for the inconsiderable Trifle of a large Bag of Money for my Portion. Let the old Curmudgeons keep the Golden c.o.xcombs, their Sons, for the best Market. Heaven send me a Spouse, that has Sense enough to despise a Bargain in Petticoats with Abundance of Money and no Brains! Methinks, a _Smithfield_ Match is so very ridiculous, that it might nauseate a half-witted Courtier. How ridiculous is it for an old Miser to shew the Portion first, and his Daughter afterwards! And, when both Parties are agreed upon the Price, then Miss goes off, coa.r.s.e or handsome, good or ill-natured, it is no Matter. I fancy, an old Miser, exposing his Daughter to Sale, looks like a Country Farmer selling his white-faced Calf in the Market, or like a Grasier enhancing the Price of a ragged, scrubby Ox, from the Consideration of Abundance of Tallow he will turn out. Even just such a Thing is a _Smithfield_ Match; and, as soon as the Miser has struck the Bargain for his Daughter, away he goes to the Parson's Toll-book, and there is an End of the Matter.

_Politica._ It is even so; but it is a cursed wicked Way of Wedding; it is perfect Kidnapping Children into the Marriage Plantations. This Practice is contrary to the Laws of Nature and G.o.d. Those pretty Birds, you now hear singing over our Heads, last _Valentine_'s Day, chose every one his Mate, without the Direction, or Approbation of their Parents.

The Scripture says (I think it is in the Sixth of _Genesis_, and the second Verse) That _the Sons of G.o.d saw the Daughters of Men, that they were fair; and they took them Wives of all which they chose_. Do but mind this Text of Scripture, it is very much to our Purpose; it is not there said, That the Sons of G.o.d saw the Daughters of Men, that they had Abundance of _Money_, but they were _fair_, _i. e._ they were such as were beautiful and lovely. This was the Attractive of Courtship. It is not here said, that the old Misers, as now, carried their Sons and Daughters to _Marriage-Fair_, and swopped one for the other, with so much Money and the Vantage; but here the Sons are left to chuse themselves Wives, and they chose such as were fair, even just such as my beautiful _Sophia_. And let me make this farther Remark, That, for Chusing such Wives, they are called _the Sons of G.o.d_: Hence it naturally follows, That whosoever do chuse Wives after any other Manner are the Sons of the Devil; and thus the young sold Couple are the Son and Daughter of the Devil, and the old Miser, that sold them, is the Devil's Brother-in-law, and so they are matched into a very fine Family.

_Sophia._ Truly, Sister, I am apt to think, G.o.d Almighty has nothing to do with such Matches, though we have a common Proverb in _England_, 'That Matches are made in Heaven;' I can truly say, as the Country Wench did, 'They are a long Time in coming down.' I have waited for one a great While to no Purpose; my Money will not grow to the Height of a Husband, though I water it with Tears, and air it with Sighs; but, prithee, Sister, let us contrive some Way or other how to remove this great Evil, this Grievance of Celibacy, under which the Nation groaneth.

I can take it to be nothing less than a National Judgment, when our Men, the Strength of our Kingdom, are daily consumed and wasted away by the Wars, and there is no Care taken of a Supply. Our Ships and Armies, in a short Time, will want Soldiers; but this is none of our Fault; you and I would endeavour at a Race of Heroes for the Service of our Country, if we could come honestly at the Instruments which make them.

_Politica._ It is very true; but the Remedy: In the first Place, Sister, let us consider the Causes of the Evil, and then the Remedy. Begin, Madam, let me hear your Opinion of the Cause of this Evil.

_Sophia._ None fitter than your judicious Self to lead the Way in this Argument: But, however, Madam, I will obey your Command; and I think it is Want of Virtue both in young Men and Women, that is the chief Cause of this destructive Evil.

Out of Civility to the Man, I will begin first with our own s.e.x. I am ashamed, and blush to speak it, how many lewd Creatures there are of our s.e.x both in the Town and Country; were there not so many Wh.o.r.es, there would be more Wives. The vicious Sort of Men are by them kept from marrying; for it is mere Virtue must confine a Man to a married State, where he has an uninterrupted Converse with Womankind as seldom and as often as he pleases, without Confinement to any particular Person or Temper. This made a n.o.bleman say, that _Two Things could never be wanted in_ London, _a Wife and a Watch; because one may have a Wh.o.r.e, and see what it is a Clock, at the End of every Street_.

The numerous Company of Strumpets and Harlots, in _London_, makes the lewd Sort of Men out of Love with Matrimony. Nay, I have heard them say, _There is no Woman honest after the Age of Fifteen_. I know they are Lyars; but, I am sorry to say it, they have too much Reason to be out of Love with our s.e.x. Sometimes I myself am almost of their Opinion, especially when I consider how shamefully some lewd Women prost.i.tute themselves to every rascally Porter and Boy: And I think it more abominable in the Women than the Men, for Nature has given us more Modesty; and, did not the Wh.o.r.es ply in the Streets, the Leacher could never stumble over them.

The Men, they are grown full as effeminate as the Women; we are rivalled by them even in the Fooleries peculiar to our s.e.x: They dress like Anticks and Stage-Players, and are as ridiculous as Monkies: They sit in monstrous long Perukies, like so many Owls in Ivy-Bushes; and esteem themselves more upon the Reputation of being a Beau, than on the substantial Qualifications of Honour, Courage, Learning, and Judgment.

If you heard them talk, you would think yourself at a Gossipping at _Dover_, or that you heard the learned Confabulation of the Boys in the Piazza's of _Christ's-Hospital_. Did you ever see a Creature more ridiculous than that Stake of Humane Nature which dined the other Day at our House, with his great long Wig to cover his Head and Face, which was no bigger than an _Hackney-Turnep_, and much of the same Form and Shape?

Bless me how it looked! just like a great Platter of _French_ Soup with a little Bit of Flesh in the Middle. Did you mark the beau Tiff of his Wig, what a deal of Pains he took to toss it back, when the very Weight thereof was like to draw him from his Seat? Did you not take Notice how he replenished his Snout with Snuff, and what Pains he took to let us know that it was _Vigo_? Did you not wonder at his learned Discourse of the Womens Accoutrements, from the Top-knot to the Laced Shoe; and what Lectures he read on the Fan, Masque, and Gloves? He understood Ribbons and Silk as well as a Milliner and Mercer, and was a perfect Chymist in Beauty Washes and Essences: In short, Madam, did you ever see a more accomplished c.o.xcomb in all your Life?

Now, my Dear, though I must acknowledge our s.e.x to be extraordinary vicious, we will not knock under-board to the Men; we have yet more Virtue left among us than they can match: For though, to our great Shame, we are degenerated in one Respect, to our Commendation we are improved in another: We never had, in any Age, Women of better Parts, of greater Virtue, and more Knowledge. Learning and Wit seem to have forsaken the Masculine Dominions, and to have taken up their Abode in the Feminine Territories: And, indeed, the Men are so wickedly degenerated, that Learning, Virtue, Courage, and Conduct seem to be unnecessary Accomplishments; for they signify nothing as to their Preferment, but they make their Fortunes as they make their Wives, by Money. And truly, Madam, we have no great Occasion to boast that we have supplanted the Men of their Virtue, for we have got that from them which did them no Service, and which we must conceal, or else be laughed at for Shewing it. However, Madam, let us admire Virtue, which gives that inward Contentment, which all the Riches of the World cannot purchase.

_Politica._ I think, my dear _Sophia_, the Parents are as much the Cause of Celibacy as the Children, by breeding them above their Quality and Estates. I give myself for an Example. You know my Father was a Tradesman, and lived very well by his Traffick; and, I being beautiful, he thought Nature had already given me Part of my Portion, and therefore he would add a liberal Education, that I might be a compleat Gentlewoman; away he sent me to the Boarding-School, there I learned to dance and sing, to play on the Ba.s.s-Viol, Virginals, Spinnet and Guitair. I learned to make Wax-work, j.a.pan, paint upon Gla.s.s, to raise Paste, make Sweet-meats, Sauces, and every thing that was genteel and fashionable. My Father died, and left me accomplished, as you find me, with three-hundred Pounds Portion; and, with all this, I am not able to buy an Husband. A Man, that has an Estate answerable to my Breeding, wants a Portion answerable to his Estate; an honest Tradesman, that wants a Portion of three-hundred Pounds, has more Occasion of a Wife that understands Cookery and Housewifery, than one that understands Dancing, and Singing, and Making of Sweet-meats. The Portion, which Nature gave me, proves now my Detriment; my Beauty is an Obstacle to my Marriage; an honest Shop-keeper cannot keep a Wife to look upon.

'Beauty,' say they, is like a Tavern Bush, 'it is hung out in the Face to shew what Commodity is to be sold;' it is but like an Honey-pot, which will fill a House with Bees and Wasps; and the poor Tradesman, that has such a Wife, will dream of nothing but Horns, as long as he has her; so that, Madam, I conclude, our Parents are great Causes of this Evil, in educating their Children beyond their Estates.

_Sophia._ But how would you order the Matter with one in my Circ.u.mstances? My Father, when I was born, was a Gentleman of a plentiful Estate, and gave me Education according to the Portion he designed me; but he, being a true _Englishman_, joined with the Duke of _Monmouth_ in the Recovery of our Rights, which, he then thought, were in Danger; and, in that Enterprise, he lost his Life and Estate, and so I lost my Portion, and have nothing to subsist on, but the Charity of my good Aunt. I can marry nothing but a Gentleman, and very few, if any of them, are inclined to marry the poor Remains of an honourable and virtuous Family: What can I do?

_Politica._ Truly, my Dear, our Cases are both desperate; we cannot _come up_ to good Estates, and Gentlemen of good Estates will not _come down_ to us. I have often wondered, that there are no compulsive Laws inforcing Matrimony, but that, instead thereof, there are Laws discouraging of Marriage, as is the Act for Births and Burials, especially to the poorer Sort of People, who are generally the greatest Breeders; for, by this Act, when there is a certain Charge to a Family, there is a certain Duty to the Queen. Now, if there was a Law inforcing of Matrimony, it would more effectually answer the End of her Majesty's pious Proclamations for the Encouragement of Virtue, and for the Suppressing of all Manner of Immorality and Profaneness. For such a Law would put a Stop to Abundance of Whoring; it would make the Women virtuous, on Purpose to get good Husbands, and the Men thrifty and diligent in their Callings, in order to maintain their Families. The Ruin both of Body, Soul, and Estate proceeds from this Omission in our Laws. I am sure, a Law of this Nature would not only be acceptable in the Sight of G.o.d, but it would be very advantageous to the Kingdom.

_Sophia._ I am very well satisfied in the Truth of what you say, but, at the same Time, I do not think a Law compulsive of Marriage reasonable in all Respects; there are a Sort of Monsters of Men, called _Women-haters_; these Brutes would be destroyed by this Act. Nature also has excluded, by its Deficiencies, some Men from the State of Matrimony; others are of such monstrous ill Humours, that they can match no where, but in the Nunnery of _Billingsgate_; therefore, Madam, if you get this Act pa.s.sed, it must contain many Provisos and Exceptions.

_Politica._ Not in the least; I would have it a genial compulsive Act, after this Manner: Every Batchelor, at the Age of twenty-four Years, should pay such a Tax to the Queen; suppose it twenty Shillings _per Annum_ for the meanest Rank of Men, and what the Parliament thinks fit for those of higher Degree. Every Widower, which has been so upwards of one Year, and is under the Age of fifty Years, to pay the same Sum: Now, according to Computation, we have seven Millions of Men in _England_, and, suppose two Millions of the seven be Batchelors and Widowers, qualified as before, according to their several Ranks and Qualities taxed by Act of Parliament, they will pay into the Queen's _Exchequer_, yearly, the Sum of two Millions five-hundred thousand Pounds Sterling, which will be almost enough to defray the Charge of the War by Land and Sea.

The Reasonabless of the Act is plain, for that unmarried People are, as it were, useless to the State; they are, like Drones in a Hive, reaping the Advantage of other People's Labours; they have their Liberties and Freedoms secured by the Loss of other Men's Lives, and do not, from their own Loins, repair the native Strength of the Kingdom; they are not so good as the Spider, which hangs in the Loom drawn from her own Bowels: On the other Hand, it is reasonable to ease such in Taxes, as have numerous Families to the Advantage of the Commonwealth; for these are at daily Charge in Breeding up their Issue for the Defence and Safety of the Kingdom.

_Sophia._ Your Notions are very good and proper; but how will you be able to put them into Practice? I hope you will not solicit this Bill yourself at the House of Commons; you ought to have some Way or other to communicate it to some particular Member, that he may bring it in, as his own, and get a good Reward for his Pains from the Court. Do not you remember, Mrs. _Murray_ told us, the other Day, how her Husband was served about his Project of _Exchequer_ Bills? They got it to themselves, and did not give the honest Gentleman one Groat for his Invention. Now, Madam, if you could make yourself a Portion by their Making an Act, you would do very well, you would serve yourself and your Country; but, if this Act pa.s.seth, I do not find, that you and I shall be the better for it, for the Men are still left to the Liberty of Chusing, and they will chuse for the best Portions; we are no nearer the Marriage-bed than before. Pray think of some compulsive Act, that may inforce them to marry me and you.

_Politica._ It will be very difficult to get a particular Clause in our Favour, it will cost us, at least, our Maidenheads; and then, you know, we need not much trouble our Heads about Matrimony, we need not shut the Stable-door when the Steed is stolen. Pray, Madam, let me hear how you would have it for your own Advantage? It is now your Turn to propose.

_Sophia._ Nature has made all Things on a Level: Our first Father made no Jointure in Marriage, nor had our first Mother any Portion. _Adam_ was Lord, and _Eve_ was Mistress of the Universe; and we ought to tread in the Steps of our Lady Mother, and bring our Husband no more than what Nature hath given us. Settlements and Portions never came into Custom, till such Time as Murder and Rapine had entered the World, and Dowries were first brought into Fashion by the Posterity of _Cain_. The h.e.l.lish Miser, which the other Day made so many Scruples about my Portion, Did you not observe the Mark of _Cain_ in his Forehead? The Match-brokers look just like the wandering _Jews_ in _England_, followed by the Curse of G.o.d into all Countries where they come.

Now, it is an easy Matter for the Parliament of _England_ to bring Marriages on the same Level, as was designed at first by Nature. I will propose how: Suppose every Gentleman of one-thousand Pounds _per Annum_, was obliged to marry Gentlewomen of such Quality and Portion with ourselves, and, if he would not marry at all, his Estate should become forfeited to the Use of the Publick.

_Politica._ That would be hard, to take away all a Man has in the World, because he will not marry.

_Sophia._ We will then find a Medium: Suppose we build and endow them an Alms-house with their own Money, where every one of them shall have a convenient Apartment, with a Bed, and two Pair of Sheets, one Chair, one Candlestick, a Chamber-pot, and Fire-Place, and some other cheap Necessaries. We will allow them one Coat a Year, with a yellow Badge on the Arm, as the Mark of a Batchelor; and every Ten of them shall have one old Woman to wait upon them: They shall be chiefly fed with Water-gruel, and Barley-broth; and, instead of Meat, they shall eat Potatoes, _Jerusalem_ Artichokes, Turneps, Carrots, and Parsnips; for you know they come into that Hospital, because they do not love Flesh.

_Politica._ Oh! fye Madam, fye upon you! that would use brisk young Gentlemen at such a cruel Rate: This is downright Tyranny.

_Sophia._ I am sorry to see you so tender of those, who are so cruel to our s.e.x: But here is no Cruelty at all in the Case; consider the Thing rightly, Madam, and you will find it otherwise: We esteem it the highest Charity to provide Alms-houses for the antient superannuated Poor, who are past their Labour; now a Man that is not come to his Labour of Generation, at twenty-five Years of Age, is certainly past it, and we ought to reckon him as superannuated, and grown an old Boy, and not fit to be trusted with what he has, as not knowing the Use and Benefit of Riches.

What I say, in this Respect, is the common Practice of Mankind in Things of another Nature: The Husbandman, if he has got a Tree in his Orchard, that has grown a long Time, and has bore no Fruit, he cuts him down for Fuel, and plants another in his Room: Why may we not do the same by the human Batchelor Trees; especially, since they are grafted on so good Stocks, and are so well watered and pruned? That is a very ill Sort of Seed that will fructify in no Soil. It is the same Thing in Government; a Batchelor is a useless Thing in the State, does but c.u.mber the Ground, and takes up the Room of a generous Plant, which would be of great Advantage to the Commonwealth. I tell you, Madam, according to the Laws of Nature and Reason, a Batchelor is a Minor, and ought to be under the Government of the Parish in which he lives; for, though he be a Housekeeper and for himself, as they call it, yet, having no Family, he cannot be reckoned a good Commonwealth's-Man; and, if he is not a good one, he is a bad one, which ought not to be suffered; nay, he is not a perfect Man till such Time as he is married, for it is the Woman is the Perfection of the Man.

_Politica._ Madam, I know you are endowed with true _English_ Principles, pray consider, whether the Law you mention be not destructive of _Magna Charta_, since, without Cause or Offence, it deprives a Man of his Property, and takes from him the Estate which legally descended to him from his Ancestors.

_Sophia._ Madam, I find you hold me to hard Meat, I must give Reasons for the Pa.s.sing of my Bill: I argue thus, A Person who has broken, and forfeited his Right to the _Magna Charta_ of Nature, ought to have no Protection by the _Magna Charta_ of _Englishmen_: I prove my Proportion thus, A Batchelor of Age, as such, has broken the Laws of Nature: Increase and Multiply is the Command of Nature, and of the G.o.d thereof; now, having broken the Laws of Nature, he ought not to have any Protection from the Laws of _England_, because such, as have Protection by those Laws, do contribute to the Support of those Laws, which an adult Batchelor does not do according to the Const.i.tution of _Magna Charta_: Our Fore-fathers purchased the Liberties of _Magna Charta_, with the Hazard of Life and Limb; they sealed that Writing with the Blood of themselves and their Children, and, after the same Manner those Privileges were procured, must they be supported and maintained; now a Batchelor contributes little or nothing to the Support of our Freedoms; the Money he pays in Taxes is inconsiderable to the Supplies given by others in Children, which are an Addition to the native Strength of the Kingdom: Money is like the soft and easy Showers, which only cool and moisten the Surface of the Earth; Children are like the soaking Rain which goes to the Root, and makes Trees and Vegetables fructify for the Use of Man: Indeed, my Dear, a Batchelor can, in no Sense, be esteemed a good _Englishman_.

From the Reasons aforesaid, I cannot think the Batchelors are injured by my Bill. Acts of Parliament ought not to respect private Interests; they are made for the Good of the Community, for the Advantage of the whole People of _England_, and you shall seldom find any Act pa.s.sed, but what is to the Detriment of some particular Persons: We thought it no Injustice to prohibit the Importation of _East-India_ Silks, notwithstanding the Detriment thereby accrued to that Company; and perhaps put all the Ladies in Court and City into the Murligrubs. These Things the good Parliament never considered, but pa.s.sed the Bill in Favour of the Mult.i.tude of Weavers in this Kingdom, who get Abundance of Children for the Support of the Nation, and which must have starved, if foreign Commodities had been imported to the Destruction of the Weaving Trade. The Batchelors, that would come under this Statute, are but an inconsiderable Number, compared with the aggregate Sum of the whole Kingdom.