'In the greater part of Europe it has been proved by the most
accurate lists of mortality, that the proportion of men to women is
nearly equal, or, if any difference takes place, the males born are
more numerous, in the proportion of 105 to 100.'
The necessity of polygamy, therefore, does not appear; yet when a
man seduces a woman, it should, I think, be termed a left-handed
marriage, and the man should be legally obliged to maintain the
woman and her children, unless adultery, a natural divorcement,
abrogated the law. And this law should remain in force as long as
the weakness of women caused the word seduction to be used as an
excuse for their frailty and want of principle; nay, while they depend
on man for a subsistence, instead of earning it by the exertion of
their own hands or heads. But these women should not, in the full
meaning of the relationship, be termed wives, or the very purpose of
marriage would be subverted, and all those endearing charities that
flow from personal fidelity, and give a sanctity to the tie, when
neither love nor friendship unites the hearts, would melt into
selfishness. The woman who is faithful to the father of her children
demands respect, and should not be treated like a prostitute; though I
readily grant that if it be necessary for a man and woman to live
together in order to bring up their offspring, nature never intended
that a man should have more than one wife.
Still, highly as I respect marriage, as the foundation of almost
every social virtue, I cannot avoid feeling the most lively compassion
for those unfortunate females who are broken off from society, and
by one error torn from all those affections and relationships that
improve the heart and mind.
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