ONANISMDISPLAY’D.Introduction.
ONANISMDISPLAY’D.
ONANISMDISPLAY’D.
ONANISMDISPLAY’D.
ONANISM
DISPLAY’D.
Introduction.
The Author of a late Pamphlet entitledOnaniahas by a Bundle of Theological Phrases, Scripture Quotations, and an affected Simplicity, attempted to possess the World with an Opinion, that his Designs in publishing that Treatise, were meerly with spiritual Views, and out of a tender regard to the preservation of the Healths and Constitutions of the degenerate part of Mankind, withoutany the least Mercenary Expectations; and since it may possibly bear this Construction with Persons carelesly perusing his Performance, and the ignorant Multitude: I shall make it my Business to set forth the Absurdity, inconsistency, and imposture of this supercilious Scribler in every part; to prove that his Treatise tends to the encouragement of Lewdness and Debauchery; that his own Medicines promote the very Sin, he, for Interest sake, takes upon him to Discountenance; and to demonstrate, that he is really ignorant of what was the Crime ofOnan. But I shall premise that my Scheme is no ways calculated to propagate any manner of Uncleanness, but on the contrary to discourage the practice of self-pollution, by illustrating the Sin more particularly; and enumerating more extraordinary Instances than hitherto any Author has done on the Subject.
I agree with this Author in the Opinion of the Divine he has quoted, that Self-pollution is a Crime in it self, monstrous and unnatural; its Practice filthy and odious, its Guilt crying, and its Consequences ruinous: It destroys conjugal Affection, perverts natural Inclination, and tends to extinguish the hopes of Posterity; but I take leave to observe that the Author ofOnaniais egregiously mistaken in fixing this Crime uponOnan, as I shall incontestably prove when I have gone thro’ my Examination of his trifling Performance, which I purpose to do with all the exactness imaginable.
And first, in Page 14. After setting forth Ignorance to be the first cause of Self-pollution, this Author goes on and tells you, that the second is the secrecy with which Self-pollution may be committed: All other Actions of uncleanness (says he) must have a Witness, this needs none. Somelustful Women of sense, have made all the outward shew of Virtue and Morality that can be requir’d; they have had prudence enough, in the midst of strong Desires, to refuse disadvantageous Matches, and yet have abandon’d themselves to this Vice, when at the same time they would rather have died than betray’d a weakness to any Man living, as afterwards, becoming Penitents, they have confessed themselves. And again some young Men of vicious Inclinations, have either naturally, or for want of a liberal Education been shame-fac’d to excess; they have not dar’d to look upon a Woman, and their Bashfulness has secur’d them from every act of Impurity but this. From all which it is evident that the secrecy of this Sin, has betray’d many into it, whom hardly any thing else would have tempted.
In answer to this, tho’ it must be confess’d that secrecy in some measure promotes this Vice, yet Ignoranceand the want of a liberal Education can in no respect be constru’d to have an equal Effect: An ignorant Person may be rationally presum’d to be less influenc’d by impure Imaginations, than a Person of a tolerable share of Sense; his Ignorance may be so extensive, as to cloud all manner of Enjoyments, and allow him no Thoughts of pursuing imaginary pleasures; whilst the Man of sense is perpetually devising new Diversions, and proportions his Enjoyment to the extent of his Capacity; he vigorously pursues the Tracts of Lewdness and Debauchery, and is restless and uneasy, until he has acted in all Scenes, and gone thro’ the utmost variety of brutal Enjoyments; this I take to be highly conspicuous in the Rakes of the Town, who are frequently Persons of sprightly Wit, and endu’d with no small share of substantial Sense.
And as for the want of a liberal Education, I cannot easily guess at themeaning of the Author, unless it be the want of being train’d up in the Hundreds ofDrury, it being very certain that in a Scholastick Education, the perusal of ludicrous Authors, which all Youths of Spirit are fond of making choice of for their Studies, excites them to uncleanness infinitely beyond Ignorance; and that the want of Education should occasion such an invincible Bashfulness, as to deter a Person from looking on a Woman, is such an imposition upon the illiterate part of Mankind, which make up at least three Parts in four of the Creation, that nothing can be like it, when we consider that the Enjoyment of a Woman is so natural, that no bounds of Shame will confine it, and that Persons in all other Respects modest, have a strong propensity to copulation, and cannot conquer this passion, like others more visible to the World, by Shame or any other means.
Shame I take to be more a defect in Nature, and want of Resolution to act in Publick, than to discourage the private Amours of Youth, which by a due management may be easily carried on with sufficient secrecy: And we oftentimes find a bashful Person more inclinable to Vice than the Man of assurance, tho’ he supports the Character with more Hipocrisy; his Intrigues are carried on with an entire secrecy, and he can enter upon his Lewdness with an air of Gravity and Innocence, when the Sinner of Resolution as frankly owns his Experience, as he commits the Crime. But to go on with this Author, in page 17. He says, it is the general Opinion, that the shameless are the worst of People, yet shame when ill plac’d, has often wrought worse Effects, than the reverse alone has been able to produce. When a Bastard Infant is found Dead, and the Mother, lately deliver’d without Witness, is not able to prove eitherthat she had made Provision for it, or during her pregnancy imparted the secret to another, besides the Father, ourEnglishLaw, without any other Evidence, presumes the Woman to have murder’d the Child. From whence it is evident the Legislators must have suppos’d that some Women may have cruelty enough to commit the most unnatural Murder of all, and at the same time want Courage to bear shame.
This penetrating Author does not consider, that ’tis not so much the want of Courage to bear a present shame, as to prevent a future expence in the maintaining and breeding up a Child, which most commonly occasions these unnatural Murders; and where a Crime of this Nature can be perpetrated with secrecy, so that the guilty Persons may come off with impunity, I take it that in all Cases the incumbrance is more consider’d than the shame.
I am not of his Opinion in Page 18. that Women are equally immodest with Men, and that Custom and Education only prevents their shewing it. For in the Infancy of Children, before the force of Education can possibly take place, or sense prevail, as a Guide to their Actions, we frequently find an abounding Modesty in the Female, and a large share of Boldness in the Male, produc’d from the same Loins, and this I have observ’d is generally the Case, which can proceed from nothing but Nature.
And in Page 19. says this Author, if Children were strictly forbid never to touch their Eyes or Nose, but with their Handkerchiefs, and that only upon very urgent Necessities; if likewise they saw every Body comply with this Custom, and it was counted abominable to touch them with their naked Hands, I can’t see why this might not be as shocking to them when grown up, as now themost guilty Denudations are to well bred People. Now this curious Observation upon the efficacy of Custom being introduc’d in a Paragraph treating of Modesty and Chastity, I appeal to all Persons of any sense or discernment, whether it does not imply, that all Modesty and Virtue is establish’d only by Custom, and whether it does not entirely destroy the notion of an innate Principle. This concludes his first Chapter, and I take it to be very evident, that under a Cloak of Divinity, this Author slily propagates Doctrines fatal to Religion, and highly reflecting on the Reputations of the Virtuous.
Chap. II. Page 25. In Women, he says, Self-pollution, if frequently practis’d, relaxes and spoils the retentive Faculty, occasions theFluor Albus, an obnoxious, as well as perplexing illness attending that Sex, which upon account of the Womb, may draw on a whole Legion of Diseases; among other disorders, it makes themlook pale, and those who are not of a good Complexion, swarthy and hagged. It frequently is the cause of Hysterick Fits, and sometimes by draining away all the radical Moisture causes Consumptions. But what it more often produces than either, is Barrenness, a misfortune very afflictive to them, because seldom to be redress’d; He seems to make very little difference between the fatal Consequences of Self-pollution in either of the Sexes, when it must be allow’d to be great, on duly considering the situation of the parts; the Male can with abundantly more ease effect a titillation on his external Testicles, than the Female facilitate the least pleasure in her Womb; and as the difficulty is greater, it must deter a constant practice, and consequently not be attended with Symptoms, equally direful. And I doubt not, but this Author would much rather see a Legion of Gallants waiting upon a Female, than one singleact of Self-pollution, his Interest being more nearly concern’d in the vending of his Venereal Medicines.
Agreeable to this, in Page 46. Treating of Repentance, he goes on, it is not enough for Youth to renounce their Crime, without renouncing likewise all the approaches to it. All the several species of Impurity, and the defilements of either Body or Mind, all lewd Actions, wanton Glances, impure Thoughts and Desires, together with such familiarities as expose to Temptations, all obscene Discourse or Expressions, and which are contrary to Chastity. It is true this Renunciation may appear difficult at first, and will occasion no small trouble to those that have contracted a vicious Habit, of giving themselves up to all sorts of Passions: But People must couragiously resolve to overcome themselves, it being far better to deny themselves in those Things, and to cross their own Inclinations for a time, than by pursuingthem to perish eternally.It is profitable that one oftheirMembers should perish, and not thattheirwhole Body should be cast into Hell.The tacking of this Quotation from Scripture, by a dispenser of Medicines, pretending only to cure Venereal Maladies, seems very plain and demonstrable to be done with a design of increasing Whoredom and Fornication, at the same time he pretends to lash the Crime of Self-pollution; what he can otherwise mean by the perishing of oneMember, is to me a mystery; and in many other parts of his Treatise he slily insinuates Notions and Comparisons no way coherent, to promote his Profession of Quackism.
In Page 54. After he has inserted a pretended Letter from a Young Gentleman in the Country, setting forth the dreadful Miseries he labour’d under thro’ a frequent practice of Self-pollution,viz.repeating it eight Times an hour; our Authorsolemnly declares, that he concluded this Letter with requesting his Advice, and informing him that he never carnally knew any Person (I suppose meaning neither Man nor Woman) or defil’d himself otherwise, than by Self-pollution. Setting aside the very great suspicion of this, and the rest of the Letters in this Treatise being forg’d, there being no Names of the Writers, to whom directed, or any Dates to them, the Author Acts very inconsistently, in not setting forth the conclusion of the Letter relating to carnal knowledge in the Letter it self, but instead thereof, he imposes upon the World, his own Affirmation, as the only Authority. If he be himself the Author of those Letters, as I suppose he may, indeed it has equal sanction from his own Mouth deliver’d at another time, but if he be not the Inventer of those Bundles of Nonsense, certainly the Genuine Letter ought to be inserted verbatim to the end.And why he mentions that part of the Letter at all, unless it be with a secret Design of propagating other uncleanness more detestable as it brings a double Guilt, I cannot well understand, since he no where takes notice of the calamities attending Whoredom and Fornication, tho’ the Crimes are often repeated.
Towards the Conclusion of this Treatise, in Page 74. The more easily to impose upon the publick, a solemn Declaration is made, that he neither, has, or ever design’d to have the least Interest or share in the Profits, that now are, or hereafter may accrue from the sale of the Medicines; this seems to be an Evasion equally contriv’d to any of the foregoing; is it not easy to imagine, that, (tho’ his Performance is compos’d of stupidity) he is not himself the Author, even of that? And that this is not his Declaration, but that of the Writer of his insipid Treatise; and whether this be not a naturalConstruction, I submit to the Determination of all impartial Readers. There are several other Fallacies and Impostures, which might be trac’d through his trifling Performance, but I shall content my self with the particulars I have already examin’d: And as in Page 63. He mentions the Advice ofBoccalini, given as an Antidote against Whoredom,viz.that Persons that way inclin’d should carry about with them, a well drawn Picture, of the most perfect and faultless Beauty that ever appear’d in Flesh and Blood, pencil’d over again with rotten Teeth, blear Eyes, and Noseless; and that whenever Desires of the Flesh stir, they would take a sober View of it, and seriously consider what they are about to do, and the Consequences, which no doubt would damp their Inclinations. I shall insert some particulars of this nature, which will give a more lively Idea of the Folly and Madness, and more effectually detera pursuit of carnal Pleasures from SirRoger L’Estrange’s Translation ofQuevedo’s Visions.
In the fifth Vision of the World, a Dialogue is begun between a Young Libertine, and a grave Old Gentleman; ‘says the Libertine, there past by a Lady of Pleasure, of so excellent a Shape, and Garb, that it was impossible to see her without a Passion for her, and no less impossible to look upon any Thing else so long as she was to be seen: They that had seen her once, were to see her no more: for she turn’d her Face still to new Comers: Her Motion was graceful and free, one while she’d stare ye full in the Eyes, under colour of opening her Hood, to set it in better order: By and by she’d steal a look at ye with one Eye, and a side Face, from the corner of her Vizor; like a Witch that’s afraid to be known when she comes froma Catterwal; and then out comes the delicate Hand, and discovers the more delicious Neck and Breasts, to adjust the Handkerchief or the Scarf; or to remove some other grievance that made her Ladyship uneasy. Her Hair was most artificially dispos’d into careless Rings; and the best Red and White in Nature was in her Cheeks; if that of her Lips and Teeth did not exceed it. In a word, all she look’d upon were her own; the Old Man opposing this Romance; says the Young Gentleman, he must be either Blind or Barbarous that’s proof against the Charms of so divine a Beauty; nor would any but a Sot let slip the blessed opportunity, of so fair an Encounter; that he that has her, has all that’s lovely or desirable in Nature: What lightning does she carry in her Eyes! What Charms and Chains in her Looks and Motions, for the very Souls of her Beholders!Was ever any Thing so clear, as her Forehead? Or so black as her Eye-brows? One would swear that her Complection had taken a Tincture of Vermillion and Milk: And that Nature had brought her into the World with Pearl and Rubies in her Mouth, to speak all in little, she’s the Master-piece of the Creation, worthy of infinite praise, and equal to our largest Desires and Imaginations.
‘Here the Old Gentleman interrupted the Young Libertine, and told him he was a Man of much Wonder and small Experience, and deliver’d over to the Spirit of Folly and Blindness. The Truth of it is, said he, that this prodigious Beauty of yours, hires all by the day; and if you did but see this Puppet taken to pieces, you would find her little else but Paint and Plaister. To begin her Anatomy at the head; you must know that the Hair she wears, is borrow’dof a Tire-Woman, for her own was blown off by an unlucky Wind from the coast ofNaples; or if she has any left, she keeps it private, as a Memorial of her Antiquity; she is beholden to the Pencil for her Eye-brows and Complection: And upon the whole matter she’s but an old Picture refresht; all that you see of her that’s good, comes from distill’d Waters, Essences, Powders, and the like; and to see the washing of her Face would fright the Devil: She abounds in Pomanders, sweet Waters, Spanish Pockets, perfum’d Drawers; and all little enough to qualifie the poisonous Whiffs she sends from her Toes and Armpits, which would otherwise out stink Ten Thousand Pole-Cats: She cannot chuse but kiss well, for her Lips are perpetually bath’d in Oil and Grease; and he that embraces her, shall find the better half of her the Taylors, and only a stuffing ofCotton, and Canvas to supply the defects of her Body. What do you think of your ador’d Beauty now?’
And in another place of the same Author, the following account is given of a Visit to ill-favour’d Women; ‘some had their Faces so pounc’d and speckled, as if they had been scarified, and newly past the cupping Glass; with a World of little Plaisters, long, round, square; and briefly cut out into such variety, that it would have posed a good Mathematician to have found out another Figure; and you would have sworn, that they had been either at Cats-play or Cuffs: Others were scraping their Faces with pieces of Glass; tearing up their Eye-brows by the Roots like mad; and some that had none to tear, were fetching out of their black Boxes, such as they could get or make: Others were powdering and curling the false Locks, or fastningtheir new Ivory Teeth in the place of their old Ebony ones: Some were chewing Limmon-peal or Cinnamon, to countenance a foul Breath; and raising themselves upon their Ciopines, that their View might be the fairer, and their fall the deeper: Others were quarrelling with their Looking-glasses, for shewing them such Hags countenances; and cursing theStateofVenice, for entertaining no better Workmen; some with their Hogs-grease and Pomatum, were sleeking and polishing their Faces; and indeed, their Fore-heads were bright and shining, though there were neither Suns nor Stars in that Firmament: And others were daubing one another, to take away the Heats and Buboes; so far does a Woman’s Wit and Invention carry her, to her own Destruction.’ And in another Vision lewd Women are justly call’d,the Devil’s Factresses.
This is a small Digression from my Subject, but as I was naturally lead into it, by the Treatise I have been examining, and it may tend to the discouragement of unlawful Pleasures, I hope it is excuseable. I now proceed to shew that the Author is mistaken in the Sin ofOnan, and to demonstrate what was really his Crime.