Book I,

5“*/ Tho. More’s Witty Eft- gram*
Hkeveffe can confirm no child to be the Fa¬ thers own .
'»tHi
i Cor. 7,
Why wife .
tnen fome - times be¬ get [ools.
A Simile (tom Birds ,
is a very witty Epigram written of this, by that moft ingenious Man
Sir Thomas CAP ore.
Thofe four boys , Sabine, which thy wife brought forth)
Thou think3 ft are not thine , • ■ :
Unlike thee , naught -worth.
But that Boy alone That fjje lately bore ,
Like thee , jw thine own Thou tak’fty and no more .
.Ftfz/r ds b a (l ards born Rejected are in fcorny Tet wife men fuppofe That the dfothers mind Doth the Child difpofe For likenefje irfs kind .
Four were begot when that many miles From home , thou wert not Feared , nor thy wiles.
This lajl like to thee , fW begot in fear ,
W7/2r bw not free Thou wert then too near.
This / think was it , : ■ . “ : .
That thy likeneffe hit;
- \ i I 4 j *\ , , r I v * » « y '
Hence it followes, that the argument is vain to ailign the father from the Iikenefleof the Child. For neither the Law of Nature, not the publick confentof Mankind will buffer a child to be laid to any man becaufe it is like him. But what concerns wit and manners, and propen lions of the mind, daily examples teach us, that Chil¬ dren which have all force and vital fpirits, from the faculty of the Seed, are commonly of the fame condition with their progenitors, and of the fame nature. But there is much in this, whether Venery be ufed with great or weak defire. For many are leffe venereous, and not fo hot, and do not with any greatdefire ufc copulation, but ra¬ ther decline from it ; and that they may pacific their wives, they pay their due benevolence fas Sr. Paul calls it) very faintly and drowfily 5 whence it happens, that the child falls fhort of the Pa¬ rents nature, manners, and imbred generolity ; and hence it is, that wife men fomtetimes beget flupid flothful children, and that are of a feeble mind, becaufe they are not much given to thefe delights. But when the Progenitors are hot in venereous a&ions, and do libe¬ rally and abundantly employ themfelves therein, it oft-times hap¬ pens, that the children are of the fame manners, defires, and actions of mind that their Parents are. For as Birds are of the fame Na¬ ture with thofe they are bred from, and are of the fame colour’d
Feather,
Of the likenefje of Parents and children.
nitors, and arc cflcntially the fame in nature with them. And the fame native figns that are printed on the Parents, are found alfo commonly upon the Children. For Horace , Carmn.l.q.od.q. fpeaks
thus .* C
Good and firong beget the fame. Calves and Colts their Sires * prefent , From flout Eagles never came Birds like Pigeons impotent.
And becaufc Education pcrfe&s the gifts of nature, corre&ser- tours, and lrees from vice, he added very fitly, ;
Art amends what Nature is ,
Good planners mend whafs amijj e.
Chr ernes in 7 eyence concludes from the Mothers Manners, what the fon is : for thus he brawls with Sojlrata. Heauton-timerum. Adt. 4.
Seen. 3.
x His Manners fhew him born of thee , In rhatinall he doth agree j He hath thy vices to a hair l None but thee then could him bear.
And truly it is fo by nature, and we fee it fail out mod common- m crews,
ly, that Children will imitate their Parents conditions, and tread ilL Elss upon their heels, following dicing, whoring, tipling 5 yet fome by their Parents care and benefit of education, come to good manners ; wherefore every man ought to ft rive fo to moderate his paftions,and fo order his courfe of life and dyet, chat he may not hurt himfelf, or infeft his pofterity. For from the fathcrsleed and the mothers blood many things ufe to defeend to pofterity 5 for the fame force and ver- tu C that is in. the Parents fperm is powred forth into the children, as from one vefiel' into another. So faith Catullm t
"> : \‘i ‘J
Cat will ever follow kind ,
And Children are of Parents mind.
1
» • * . ■ , . s t ffi t *
• ; - • ;* i * . 1
x^tnrr fl AUf/ac frnm flip or inr! 3 1 ncfrfc ^ AAtifoinb
what difeafe is in any part, defeends by right of fucceffion to the Children. So the Leprofie,Epilepfie, feet-gowt, hand-gowt, and other difeafes and defers arc hereditary. And bccaufe the Mo¬ thers blood is the chief nutriment for the Child, and the fecondary beginning of procreation, it oft-tifties happens that Children take part of ^ more milchief from the Mother, whether you confider their bodies mif chief to or minds. So wicked drunken foolifh women commonly. with us ^en-’hll‘ bring forth juft fuch Children, and that are fubjeft to the fame vi¬
ces. The mothers -fault doth more wrong to Children, if the be un-
chafte,
14
The Mothers Imagination is the caufe of the production Book I.
chafte, and play the whore, than the Fathers fault doth ; fo like- wile if lhebe given to drunkennefle or any other vice. For if a man of ripe years, or when he is young and unmarried fhould get a Maid fo t with child, hedefervesalmoft to becommended for ir, and notto be
difgraced. For it is commonly faid, that one may fafely marry his daughter to fuch a man, who is not unfruitful and barren, but hath proof of his Manhood already in getting of a child. But if a woman ora maid that is marriageable fhould do the like,or fuffer any fuch matter to be done, when f he begins to fall in love, (he would fo lofe her reputation and honour, that no Cobler nor any mean fellow ,whatfoever but would Icorn ro marry her 5 and if one fhould marry her, he would quickly hit her in the teeth with her whoredome. Sb as foon as any maid is overcome, and hath loft her maidenhead,*and thole cloyllers of Virginity are entred, that fault can never be wafht
away, nor can thofe clofets be ever loekt again. For fo the Poet do feribes it.
Virginity once flain’d Can never be regain'd,
1 • $
So Plautus in Amphitruo, I do not think that to be the dowry which people call fo, but chaftity and bafhfulnefle, and a moderate defire, a fear of the Gods, love of Parents, and concord with kindred. Tcclus , Wherefore befides others, that wife Hebrew doth earneflly warn Parents, that they fhould be very careful to look to their daughters chaftity and honefty, that they may not be polluted with wicked *' company, or be ftained by them. For women-kind are naturally frailj> and more fubjt many things that hindt r manners and good life, as alio there are many things that defile the body and the decent frame thereof, care inuft be had that nothing may pollute the mind with ill manners, or difgrace the body by any monftreus deformity. And becaufe the beauty and decent form of the body is very acceptacle to all Men, we fhould obferve cxa&ly by the progrefle of natural cau- fes, what things will make one beautiful, or deformed and ugly, fince thefe things principally conlift in womens Imagination, and in iuch things as proceed from without, care muft be had, that that vkb°ehud ^ex. may nothing, that may move their mind to think abfurdly, is f iib j ft which ii framing the child may bring any . hurt. For if any mif- tofflmh chief happen from without, it any fear or trembling fall on them ' when they meet any terrible thing, prefently all this fright falls up¬ on the child, the natural fpirits ai d humours being turn’d thither, and all the faculties of the woman are bulled in framing fuch sl thing. For a vehement and fixed cogitation whileft it doth rofle 1 the vehcrtient fpecies of things, and turns them often over, it doth imprint that form and figure which it fo often thinks on, upon the , Child.. JFor the confluence of the internal fpirit and humoufs paints fames der ouc c^e IQiage of the thing thought on. It is not for nothing, and fomity of n° caufe, that fome have fuch ill ihapeh bodies, ill and uncome- body, ly cruel countenances, fvyoln blabber’d cheeks, vyry mouthes, wide • ' chaps.
Chap. 4.
many Forms in Children.
chaps, lor thefe things come co pafl'c becaufc their mothers being great with them, thought on iuch deformed fbapes, and reprefenta- tions, or faftned their eyes too much upon them. So I difhkc no¬ thing more than lalcivious women, that ufc to delight themfelvcs beyond meafure with Whelps and Apes, and to carry them in their bol'oms, to fofter them, to kifTeand hug them. For by the company and light of thefe creatures, the imperudt Nature of women may take fomc If range impreiFions, and they may frame in their minds fueh forms, as may make their children deformed. So the great Malta women of the Low-Countreys love Malta dogs, they are commonly Do~' called Camufii from their crooked nolfrils, their bodies arc but fmall, they are white as fnow, their nofes are flat in the middle, and prd- fcd down, they have a crcft turning upward, their tail doth not turn under their beily, as we fee it doth in mungrcls, but it Hands up¬ right and bends like a licklc, be hath very great eyes, and that ftick forth, and they are both blear eyes, weak legs, and that are crooked about the joynts, but the hinder part of his body is fmooth, without any hair, and their tail is feen very uncomely by thole that are prefcnc, and they will turn their tails on purpofe for people to look on. This fmall creaiure becaufe it is ridiculous for its parts, and manners, and hath many things that may hurt a woman when flie is with child, and caule the child within her to be ill formed,
I think not fit to keep, lealt Women with child fhould be wronged thereby. But this monllrous form and limbs fo crooked are not 11a- ~mmn turall,buc artificiall. For men lliut them up in fmall Cages, and love dog taking their food away, they make them grow fmall 5 as in Terence 100 ^ they took away meat iron) maids to make them grow fmall as bul- rufhes, lealf lfany of them fhould grow corpulent, flic fhould feem to be a Champion. See your Juglcrs that pafle the Countries, ufc to wreli the limbs of young boyes, that they may leap and dance the better. Lately, there was a notable Knave who carried a child to A Ih^vr be Fen from Town to Town which hada very great head, all the ocher limos bore no proportion with it. (This deformity when it is nacurall,and not by art, Phyfitians call Hydroeephalon , by reafon hccdwiu of the head iwoln vyith a watry humour.) When a woman great difeafe. with child had looked on this pidlure, (he was lo frighted with this unufual light, mac when her time came to be delivered, (he brought forth a chiid with a lpongy vaft head, and it had like to have cofl her her life. And this milchief followed it, that it grew greater in the Nurfes arms, till it became monftrous great. The woman came 10 me, and made this complaint, bringing the child with her, and when I p relied the head of it with my fingers, it would fink down like to a cuihion, and come forth again. Thefe fpe&acles are not onely co be avoided by Women with child, but alfo by all thole that may be troubled and frighted in their deep by fuch frights, as it commonly happens to children, lick, weak, old melancholique people, yet monttrous fights will hurt them lcfTe than they will wo- whence men with child ; For they by the fight of fuch things will frame
the like in their Children.
wariit*
For
1 6
Of the ft range longing of women with Child . Book I.
A Vroverb from ima¬ gination.
when a Woman doth re¬ move marly from the Face to the Thifks or hinder parts *
For lincc aii their forces and natuiai faculties are wholly employ¬ ed to form the child, it happens that when the woman is any way Of¬ fended, all the humours and fpirits run downwards to the womb. And when the imagination ot a thing that flicks faff in the mind joyns with thefe, it frames the like fafhion on the child that the mind conceives. For it is not faid in vain. Imagination makes fafhion. For by the fame reafon, if a Moufe, a Cat,a Wealel, Jcapfuddcnly on a Woman, or Strawberries, Cornel-berries, Cherries, Grape- flones, fall on any part ofthe body, they prefcntly leave their mark, and the print of this thing will be printed on that limb ; unit fle the woman at the fame time that thefe things happen to her body, do prefently wipe the parr, and put i er hand behind her back, cr on fome remoter part of her body. For fo the mifehief is fuddenly cu¬ red, or the mark is made on that part fhe touched, all her Imagi¬ nation and natural faculty being turn’d thither.
Longing a Difeafa,
'Ji loyfi Wo¬ men long for fir one things.
'A Hijlory .
CHAP. V.
Of the f range longing of women with child , and their infat idle dejire of things $ And if they cannot get them they are tn danger of life .
THe order of the former narration feems to require me to fpeak fomething concerning the longing of Women. For they arc both allmoil from ti c fame a.ufe. About three Moneths after con¬ ception^ d ilia fe troubles Women which the Greeks call the Larines Ptca^ when by reafon of cold vitious humours, and fnarp fiegm that lyes in their flomachs, they earncflly defire, coles, pa- rings, chalk, fhcb, and other things unfit to eatj this mifehief pre¬ vails moft, when the childs hair hrfl begins to grow, and they are with child of a Girle. For by reafon of want of heat, flegmatiquc humours are lcfieconcc&ed. Hence it is that winds and often bel- chings frequently trouble Women. Of km to this is the daintinefle of Women, wherewith men and Feavcurifh people are oft troubled. But child-bearing W emen that are tempted with this difeafe, are fo infatiable in their cel, re, that if they cannot obtain what they lorg for, they bring both thcmfelvt s and their Child in danger of death. This difeafe for the mcfl part troubles the Low Country W omen, becaufe they areol meyft cold conflitutici s, and feed on illNourifhment. Ti. ere have been fome in cur dayes that when they law a corpulent well fed man, ihcydefired to bite a this fhoul- ders, and there was a man w ho that he might fatisfie a womans longing, granted her leave to bite, lea 11 lie might take any hurt: whereupon fhe bit out a part with her teeth, ardebewdita little, and then fhcfwallowed it raw. When fhe was not yet fatisfied, fhe defired to bite again, but the man w ould rot endure her. But fhe prefently began tolanguifh, and to be delivered. She Ircught
forth Twins, the one living, and the other dead for want ofa fcccnd
• - — ■ _ . . - — * — - - • - -- - ► •- — . .
bite
Chap. 5.
Of the f range longing of Women with f'hild.
I
17
bite.* lean fee no ocher realon for it, than that the woman grieving in her mind, the vicall fpirits are lefsned, and the humours appoin- A ted to nouriththe child, turn another way, and are not carried to the fujftUf* womb; fo the child wanting the food which the mother longed for, her longing grows feeble and dies. For when the paflages and receptacles whereby food ufeth to be derived to the Matrix, are (topped, it muft JC needs follow that the child will want nutriment and die. But if the teeming woman be drong of nature, and knows how to moderate her palfions, the child doth not die, but grows fickly. By thefe you may fee abundantly what a womans Imagination can do, and what outward objects conceived in the mind can print upon the child that is then to be formed. Wherefore I fuppofe they do not much whtn roe tranfgrcffe the bounds of Art that are not fo rigid, but do fometimes mujipicafe indulge to Tick people fuch meat as they long for, though they are not fo proper for them, in cafe they are fuch as will bring no great hurt to their bodies, for fometimes by fuch manner of diet we di- fpell Chronical and long difeafes : So when lick people are vexed with lading difeafes, I do not ufe to be very obftinatc or refracto¬ ry againd them, in granting to them fuch meats as they greedily defire and earnedly intreat for, when they earnedly ask for them^ and eat them with a great Appetite. For by this means it comes to pafle that natural heat is dirred up, and the imbred faculties are moved, humours that dick in the body are concoCted, and dilfipa- ted, the paflages being opened. And by Hippocrates example fome- -times, I dudy to gratify my Patients, and to be filent and wink at them, if they take what may not greatly hurt their bodies. For as he faith ; Something worfe meat and drink, fo it pleafe,is better than that 1. i. Aph. which is better and pleafeth not fo well . For all thofe things that relifh *8- bed in the Palate, and are mod pleafing to the tade, are more ea- fily concoCted, and nourifh more, becaufc the domach takes them in greedily, and likes them bed. So I know fome that have cured Defre Quartans, and wandring Agues, by eating raw Herrings new taken pwcL* out of the Sea : So in defperate difeafes that are come to the height of their danger, I do not much fear that greedy appetite, nor do I contend with or deny to them that defire fuch things, what they would have; but ufing choice, and preferring them the way and inanner how to dreffc them, I let them ufe their own defire fo (ar as I am confident it will not hurt them, and I conjecture the difeafC may be batter’d by it. For by this acrimony and greedinefle of eat¬ ing them, the force of nature is fharpned and fee forward, that was before adeep, and fo regaining drength, it lets upon the difeafe a- frefh. So we drive forth one difeafe with another, as one nail with ^ipeajes another, and for an ill knot we apply an ill wedge, which no man are driven may think to beabfurd, finceinfome difeafes, we willingly raife °“t wltbf a Feaver, for other wife there were no cure for them. So I know fome feme mats. that by the fudden coming on of the enemy, and by a great fright have been cured of a quartan Ague. So there was an Epidemicall difeafe arnongd us that had dedroyed fome thoufands that by a fud- dain inundation of thcSeaprefently ceafed ; for by fome outwarej
F trouble