I knew, that _no_ Arguments, _even if an Angel was to descend from Heaven to utter them_, could persuade the Ladies _to be satisfied_ with Midwives of _their own_ Sex, _after the fine Polish_ had been _once_ RUB’D OFF which _modesty ought_ to have _work’d up_ to such a _bright_ Pitch of _high finish’d_ Excellence, as _not_ to have been capable of admitting the impure stain within the glossy smoothness of its beautiful enamel!—I knew, that, assisted by the greatest Part of the Faculty (whose _INTEREST, as well as PLEASURE_ would be at STAKE) they would leave _no means_ untried—they would call in _every fallacious_ art to their aid, _to continue THE DECEPTION_, by _ridiculing_ Arguments which they _could not confute_—and that _un_married Ladies, through _an Opinion_ of the _Virtue of their Friends_, and swayed, and _kept in Countenance_, by _the prevalent_ Custom of the Times, would naturally _fall into the Stream_, and _not_ be undeceived until _too far hurried by the Current_ to be _afterwards_ able to recede.—On the other Hand, I likewise knew that our young Men _of Fashion_ had _long ago_ resolved _to bid Adieu TO THINKING_. Leaving _that troublesome_ Employment _to others_, they were intent on pursuing the far nobler Gratifications _of Sense_—endeavouring to bury in a round of _trifling_ Dissipations, _every_ Sentiment meriting the Attention of _reasonable_ Beings that an Attempt to work on _such_ Minds would be Absurdity in the extreme,—for, that, even _if they were convinced_ of the two uncontrovertable Truths I wish to establish, by being satisfied that Men were _not_ so safe as Women, and that Men-midwives polluted the Minds of their Wives, and rendered them easy Preys to Seduction, yet these Sentiments would have had _no_ Weight _with them_, because they married without Love, Religion, Principle—_the only_ Ingredients capable of forming _national_ Happiness. _Impure_ in their _Souls, debauch’d_ in their _Persons_, Libertinism opened _the only Avenue_ which could present them with a Prospect of Enjoyments _adapted to their_ Sensations—_their_ Joys were independent of their Wive’s Society—their Healths consequently were only _politely_ wish’d for—and they would of course readily _risk_ their Wive’s Purity being contaminated, rather than _be disappointed_ in the Pleasure of seducing the Wives _of their acquaintance_, through the _preparatory_ Assistance of the _Men_-midwives. The Happiness of our gay young Men _not_ being centered within the narrow Circle of Home, _the Virtue_ of their Wives is not in the least essential, has no Weight, _when ballanced_ with _the Advantages_ they derive from the too _general_ Prostitution of the Sex. They _extract Balm_ from _the Vices_ of _Other_ Women, which has sovereign Efficacy _in healing_ any Wounds—_alleviating_ any smarts, which they may receive, or feel, from the infidelity of _their own_ Wives—whom they never treated as their _rational Companions_, whose