of the Popes, who in them have wished to possess slaves-soldiers without family or country, living only for the Church; but I, a magistrate, who serve the state the whole day long, have occasion for a woman at night; and the Church has no right to deprive me of a possession allowed me by the Deity. The Apostles were married; Joseph was married; and I wish to be married. If I, an Alsatian, am dependent on a priest who lives at Rome, and has the barbarous power to deprive me of a wife, he may as well make me an eunuch to sing Miserere in his chapel."

A Plea for Wives.

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

"The Gospel has forbidden adultery to my husband as well as to me; we shall be damned alike; nothing is more certain. Although he has been guilty of fifty infidelities, though he has given my necklace to one of my rivals, and my ear-rings to another, I have not called upon the judges to order his head to be shaved, himself to be shut up with monks, and his property to be given to me: yet I, for having but once imitated him, for having done that with the handsomest young man in Lisbon, which he is allowed to do every day with the homeliest and most stupid creatures of the court and the city, must be placed on a stool to answer the questions of a set of licentiates, every one of whom would be at my feet were he alone with me in my closet; must have the finest hair in the world cut from my head; be confined with nuns who have not common sense; be deprived of my portion and marriage settlement, and see my property given to my fool of a husband, to assist him in seducing other women, and committing fresh adulteries. I ask if the thing is just?-if it is not evident that the cuckolds are the law-makers?

"The answer to my complaints is, that I am but too

fortunate in not being stoned at the city gate by the canons and the people, as was the custom with the first nation of the earth-the cherished nation-the chosen people-the only one which was right when all others were wrong.

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

"Let

"The doctors of the canon law tell me, that this story of the woman taken in adultery is related only in the Gospel of St. John, and that there it is nothing more than an interpolation; that Leontius and Maldonat affirm that it is but to be found in one ancient Greek copy; that not one of the twenty-three first commentators has spoken of it; that neither Origen, nor St. Jerome, nor St. John Chrysostom, nor Theophylact, nor Nonnus, knew any thing of it; and that it is not in the Syriac Bible, nor in the version of Ulphilas.

"Such are the arguments advanced by my husband's advocates, who would not only shave my head, but stone me also.

"However, those who plead for me say, that Ammonius, a writer of the third century, acknowledges the truth of this story; and that St. Jerome, while he rejects it in some passages, adopts it in others; in short, that it is now authenticated. Here I hold, and say to my husband, If you are without sin, shave my head, confine me, take my property; but if you have committed more sins than I have, it is I who must shave you, have you confined, and seize your possessions. In both cases the justice is the same.'

"My husband replies, that he is my superior and my head; that he is taller than me by more than an

inch; that he is as rough as a bear; and that, consequently, I owe him everything, and he owes me nothing.

"But, I ask if Queen Anne of England is not the head of her husband? if the Prince of Denmark, who is her High-Admiral, does not owe her an entire obedience? and if she would not have him condemned by the House of Peers, should the little man prove unfaithful? It is clear that if women have not their husbands punished, it is when they are not the strongest."

CONCLUSION OF THE CHAPTER ON ADULTERY.

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

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

Septimius Acyndinus, proconsul of Syria, caused a Christian of Antioch, who was unable to pay to the treasury a pound of gold (the amount to which he was taxed), to be thrown into prison, and threatened with death. A wealthy man promised the unfortunate prisoner's wife to furnish her with the pound if she would consent to his desires. The wife hastened to inform her husband, who begged that she would save his life at the expense of his rights, which he was willing to give up. She obeyed; but the man who owed her the gold deceived her by giving her a sackful of earth. The husband, being still unable to pay the tax, was about to be led to the scaffold; but this infamous transaction having reached the ears of the proconsul, he paid the pound of gold from his own

*These lively statements advert rather to French than to English law and custom; but in that given to the female, in particular, there is so much which is generally applicable, it has been thought fit to retain them.-T.

coffers, and gave to the Christian couple the estate from which the sackful of earth had been taken.

It is certain, that far from injuring her husband, the wife, in this instance, acted conformably to his will, not only obeying him, but also saving his life. St. Augustin does not venture to decide on the guilt or virtue of this action; he is afraid to condemn it.

He

It is, in my opinion, very singular that Bayle should pretend to be more severe than St. Augustin.* boldly condemns the poor woman. This would be inconceivable, did we not know how much almost every writer has suffered his pen to belie his heart, -with what facility his own feelings have been sacrificed to the fear of enraging some evil-disposed pedant,-in a word, how inconsistent he has been with himself.

A Father's Reflection.

A word on the contradictory education which we bestow upon our daughters. We inculcate an immoderate desire of pleasing; we dictate when nature does enough without us, and add to her lessons every refinement of art. When they are perfectly trained, we punish them if they put in practice the very arts which we have been so anxious to teach! What should we think of a dancing-master, who, having taught a pupil for ten years, would break his leg because he had found him dancing with other people?

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

AFFIRMATION ON OATH.

WE shall not say anything of the affirmations so frequently made use of by the learned. To affirm, to decide, is allowable only in geometry. In everything else let us imitate the Doctor Metaphrastes of Molièreit may be so; the thing is feasible; it is not impossible; we shall see. Let us adopt Rabelais' perhaps, Montaigne's what know 1? the Roman non liquet, or the

* Bayle's Dictionary-Article Acyndinus.

doubt of the Athenian academy:-but only in profane matters be it understood, for in sacred things we are well aware that doubting is not permitted.

The primitives, in England called Quakers, are allowed to give testimony in a court of justice on their simple affirmation, without taking an oath. The peers of the realm have the same privilege-the lay peers affirming on their honour, and the bishops laying their hands on their hearts. The Quakers obtained it in the reign of Charles II. and are the only sect in Europe so honoured.

The Lord Chancellor Cowper wished to compel the Quakers to swear like other citizens. He who was then at their head said to him gravely-"Friend Chancellor, thou oughtest to know that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ hath forbidden us to affirm otherwise than by yea or nay: he hath expressly said, I forbid thee to swear by heaven, because it is the throne of God; by the earth, because it is his footstool; by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the king of kings; or by thy head, because thou canst not change the colour of a single hair. This, friend, is positive; and we will not disobey God to please thee and thy parliament."—"It is impossible to argue better," replied the Chancellor; "but be it known to thee, that Jupiter one day ordered all beasts of burden to get shod: horses, mules, and even camels, instantly obeyed; the asses alone resisted; they made so many representations, and brayed so long, that Jupiter, who was good-natured, at last said to them, "Asses, I grant your prayer: you shall not be shod, but the first slip you make, you shall have a most sound cudgelling.

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

AGAR, OR HAGAR.

WHEN a man puts away his mistress-his friendthe partner of his bed, he must either make her condition tolerably comfortable, or be regarded, amongst us, as a man of a bad heart.

We are told that Abraham was very rich in the de