# Library Illustrative of Social Progress/Exhibition of Female Flagellants

Given publication date of 1777, in later republication
MERE fiction says Clarissa, closing the Fashionable Leisures, which she had been just reading, ridiculous nonsense! What, my dear? said Flirtilla, turning round from her toilet. Is it possible, my dear, said the first lady, that men delight in being whipped by a woman? Very true, indeed, said Flirtilla; and what you may think as extraordinary, many of your own sex take as great delight in whipping children! and when they are not in the way they make each other feel the tingling pleasures of a birch rod.
If you doubt my assertion, I will bring you proof positive and the very lady will be of our tea-party this evening. if you should not credit her testimony, my assertion shall be strengthened by that of two ladies old practitioners in this mode of pleasure. This passion, or whim, in woman, is of older birth than you can imagine! and as the fair hand and arm of a lady is a principal object in the scene, I shall turn to Mrs. Behn's glowing description of one of her favourite ladies: "The beautiful colour and proportion of your arm is inimitable, and your hand is dazzling, fine, small, and plump! long-pointed fingers delicately turned! dimpled on the snowy outside, but adorned within with rose, all over the soft palm. O, Iris! nothing equals your fair hand that hand, of which Love so often makes such use to draw his bow, when he would send the arrow home with more success! and which irresistibly wounds those, who possibly have not yet seen your eyes: and when you have been veiled, that lovely hand has gained you a thousand adorers! and I have heard Damon say, without the aid of more beauties, that alone had been sufficient to have made an absolute conquest o'er his soul. And he has often vowed it never touched him but it made his blood run with little irregular motions in his veins, his breath beat short and double, his blushes rise, and his very soul dance! "
There, my dear! there's a charming description for you! What magic in every sentence! What genius -could soar beyond it? Is there a heart existing but would bound with rapture on seeing such a hand exercise a rod? Bless me, said Clarissa, you talk as is you were as fond of the sport as the most enthusiastic of them. I confess it freely, said Flirtilla, I am fond of it to excess, when the object inflames my blood and administers it with irresistible grace! Grace! grace! said Clarissa! I protest I cannot comprehend your meaning. Know, then, thou silly girl, there is a manner in handling this sceptre of felicity that few ladies are happy in: it is not the impassioned and awkward brandish of a vulgar female that can charm, but the deliberate and elegant manner of a woman of rank and fashion, who displays all that dignity in every action, even to the flirting of her fan, that leaves an indelible wound. What a difference between high and low life in this particular! To see a vulgar woman, when provoked by her children, seize them as a tyger would a lamb, rudely expose their posteriors, and correct them with an open hand, or a rod more like a broom than a neat collection of twigs elegantly tied together! while a well-bred lady coolly and deliberately brings her child or pupil to task! and when in error, so as to deserve punishment, commands the incorrigible Miss to bring her the rod, go on her knees, and beg, with uplifted hands, an excellent whipping; which ceremony gone through, she commands her to lye across her lap, or to mount on her maid's moulders! and then, with the loveliest hands imaginable, removes every impediment from the whimpering lady's b----e! who, all the time, with tears and entreaties of the sweetest kind, implores her dear mother or governess to pardon her! all which the lovely disciplinarian listens to with the utmost delight running over with rapture, at the same time, those white angelic orbs, that in a few minutes the crimsons as deep as the finest rose, with a well-exercised and elegantly-handled rod!
Miss B ge n, a corpulent but handsome woman, with whom I passed many pleasant hours at Bristol Hot Wells, was passionately fond of this exercise.. Her story has somewhat very singular in it.
She had been addressed, under the age of five-and-twenty, by an officer of Cavalry, who, when he had brought matters to a closure, boasted of favours she had granted him, of such a complexion, that she renounced him and all his sex for ever. No woman can hold the monster, man, in greater abhorrence, and she has the most singular mode of retaliating upon the sex you have ever heard of. It made me stare with astonishment
Sitting with her one evening, a smart youth, her nephew, between twelve and fourteen years old, and too big, as I imagined, for chastisement from a woman, entered the room crying, with a complaint against his sister, who was a great favourite with the lady: she brought them face to face, and it clearly appeared he was the aggressor. Miss B. dismissed the young lady, and rising from her chair, she brought a rod from a drawer, and, with the utmost coolness, commanded him to strip. The boy, well acquainted, we may suppose, with her temper, used no entreaties for pardon, and though I imagined he could, from his size, get the better of her in a struggle, yet he never used any, but with seeming pleasure unbuttoned his breeches! and, walking undaunted up to her, she pulled them down to his heels, and instantly stretched him along the sofa, where she whipped him with a severity I had never seen before! and what amazed me was, the boy would not acknowledge himself in error to the last! and arose with more pleasure in his countenance than anguish.
As soon as he had gone out of the room, I told her my surprise at his intrepidity! and she assured me she could never get a tear from him, though he had been severely whipped once or twice by his schoolmaster, and cried even on his return home. Depend upon it, said I, this boy is fond of being whipped by a woman. She said she could not think so, for she had whipped him with such severity at all times, that it must have given him more pain than pleasure. Why, yes, replied I, from your manner of exercising the rod, I am convinced you whip with severity; and I think, at the same time, you take a very particular pleasure in this business.
I have been now used to it for some years, said she! and what will surprise you, my dear girl, I got such applause from a lady not long ago, who had been present at a similar scene, that as soon as the boy left the room, she embraced me, and pressing my hand with transport, begged I would suffer her to represent my niece.
I could not conceive what she was at till she dropped on her knees, implored, with dreaming eyes (for she absolutely cried), forgiveness from her dear aunt for insulting her, and declaring she would never offend me again. All the time she was on her knees she was kissing my hand with greater ecstasy than it had ever been kissed before. Still I thought she imitated the child, and was in jest, till she finding me tardy, or rather, ignorant of her meaning bounced away to the table where I had placed the rod, and, putting it into my hand, begged forgiveness in the same lunatic manner.
She had gone too far now for me to be ignorant any longer of her meaning! so I instantly got up, put on an air of austerity and passion! raised her clothes above her waist! and, having stretched her along the sofa, I made her caper under the rod for full ten minutes, with short intermissions, which arose from her frequently seizing hold of the rod, kissing my hand, looking up to me with tears, begging earnestly forgiveness, and every other extravagance that children use in the same situation.
As soon as she was done, and when I thought she had recovered her senses, I importuned her to tell me the first rise of such an extraordinary whim.
She told me she was placed under the tuition of a beautiful French Governess a short while after her arrival from the West Indies (for she was a Creole), and this Gallic lady frequently exercised the rod on her, but in such a manner that she absolutely grew fond of it! and ere she had been her pupil one year, they administered it almost every day on both sides! and she could never see a woman of elegance, with a hand and arm she liked, without wishing and seeking the pleasure from her.
Upon my honour, Miss B., said I, you must then have been one of her first favourites, for you are not only blessed with one of the most bewitching persons, and the sweetest expression of feature, but you may challenge the female world, and come off the victor, in exhibiting your snowy hand and arm, and the plump beauties of your bosom!
Do you really think so, my dear? said she, with a magic smile, looking at her hand, and turning a beautiful brilliant ring which she then wore.
To convince you I am serious, I will esteem it a particular favour to taste the same felicity from your hands this moment.
Heavens! my dear, you jest.
No, upon my honour, I do not! and to convince you I am serious, I will go into the next room from which place you must bring me to the sofa finding me idling there, and use me as you did your nephew just now.
And were you mad enough, said Clarissa, to go through this torture?
Rapture! Rapture! my sweet girl call it by no other term. The moment I saw her enter the room, where she caught me romping by myself, and felt her soft angelic hand catch hold of my arm to bring me to the sofa, my blood mantled within me as if I had been in a sever: but there was another charm about her that enraptured me, which was her dress: for dress certainly heightens this pleasure with both sexes. This evening we were both engaged to go to a ball, and she had dressed herself in a very elegant manner. To be brief, my dear girl, I was whipped by this lovely woman, not only then, but several times since, in such a charming manner, that I shall never think of her but with the utmost delight! and there is not a lady who was afterwards of our society, or whipping academy, but was delighted with her manner! and she herself, before she had whipped me a third time, took a liking to the sport from my hands, and was as much in love with it.
She had the prettied manner of tying a rod, and selected the nicest twigs that ever you saw. And now that I recollect, I protest I can shew you one of them she gave me to remember her, the very last time I had the happiness of being in her company.
Here it is, said Flirtilla, tied, by her own magic hand, with a pink ribbon! and now, that I am in the humour, you shall exercise it on me i
You are a fine showy girl! and I think this lovely hand of yours would do honour to the rod! Come, my dear Clarissa, don't refuse me.
I am afraid I shall be a bungler, said the blushing charmer! I never whipped any one in my life.
Come, then, said Flirtilla, you shall turn up! and from the specimen you taste.from my hands, you will know how to act.
O fie! said Clarissa, upon my honour you shall not list my clothes indeed, said the fair one struggling, you shall not. For Heaven's sake, Flirtilla, let me alone! I won't be whipped, upon my honour.
Then you must prove yourself the stronger of the two, said Flirtilla, who had by this time not only carried her into her bed-chamber, but had her stretched upon the bed.
Upon my honour, said Flirtilla, I'll only tickle you as if you were a child so keep your legs still till I raise your petticoats.
You shan't raise them! laid Clarissa, plunging. I will raile them, said Flirtilla, I am resolved! and with a little more struggling, the whole prospect was as much in view as Eve's in the garden of Eden. You see, said Flirtilla, I am as good as my word, and your pretty a--e shall feel, too, what a step-mother can do to a bold girl! yes, my pretty Miss, you shall, I am determined. Flirtilla exercised the rod, with some pauses and admonitions, for a full quarter of an hour, which Clarissa bore with teeming pleasure! and rose to take it in hand perfectly well pleased.
She instantly, by desire, assumed the character of Flirtilla's Governess, and having stretched her, with some seeming reluctant struggles on the part of Flirtilla, on the bed, she uncovered to the waist the plumpest, fairest, and most beautiful posteriors that ever charmed mankind. Clarissa herself stood entranced at the lovely view, and suspended the rod, till Flirtilla, impatient for the delightful combat, cried out like a terrified child, O, my dear, lovely Governess, forgive me! Don't whip me this time, pray don't! you'll find me an excellent girl in suture! and I'll never deserve a whipping from your lovely hand! Indeed, I won't. In this manner me continued to implore forgiveness, kicking and plunging the whole time, till Clarissa was almost weary tickling her with the rod.
She then got up, embraced her, and vowed me would not rest till me introduced her to her whipping intimates, as me had proved herself an excellent disciplinarian with the rod.
That evening, said Clarissa (from whose manuscripts and conversation these anecdotes are collected), Flirtilla introduced me to Lady Caroline, who received me with every mark of high-breeding, and insisted on my supping with her. There were but sour of her tea-party remained to supper viz., Flirtilla, Lady Caroline, Mademoiselle Boc e, and myself.
We had not been half-an-hour by ourselves, when Flirtilla, with an archness peculiar to herself, introduced me to Lady Caroline as her step-daughter just arrived from a boarding-school! and, looking significantly at Mademoiselle, You are in suture, said me, my dear woman, to superintend and finish her education. I have had her under my care some time, and assure you Hie is an excellent girl, particularly after a good whipping, which I have given her sometimes. My dear Lady Caroline, I hope you will excuse me. She is now under your dominion: I have complied with your request in bringing her home, and I doubt not but the young lady will find a tender and an affectionate step-mother in you. I shall treat her according to her deserts, I assure you, said Lady Caroline. I have held it an unpardonable crime, when a girl deserves chastisement, to withhold the rod! and I assure you, upon my honour, it gives me particular pleasure to exercise it on unruly boys and girls. I am to the full as fond of whipping bold children as the lovely Mrs. E .
She has a most bewitching manner indeed, said Mademoiselle, and I know none but your ladyship that excels her.
Pardon me, my lovely woman, said Lady Caroline, you leave all our sex at a considerable distance when you have an object you admire under correction.
How have I seen my little brother, your pupil, whom you confess to be passionately fond of whipping, gaze on you with rapture, during the many struggles you have had, letting down his trousers! Who could behold unmoved the brilliancy of your eyes, the lovely cast of your features, the fall of your shoulders and the rising of your bosom, elegant as a Grecian Venus! You remember my compliment when you first charmed me with the rod in the character of a governess.
All things around with beams of beauty shine And roses spring beneath your feet divine! What awful lustre lightens from your face! Which proves thee, charmer, of celestial race very pretty indeed, said Flirtilla, and admirably well applied. But, pray, who is this Mrs. E you mentioned just now! I never heard of her before?
Mrs E was bred in a convent. Her parents were Roman Catholics, and having no daughter but her, they foolishly imagined a convent education far superior to any this country could boast. There she lived till she had gained her five-and-twentieth year, at which time her father died, and she sound herself in possession of twenty-five thousand pounds. At the importunities of a ***tond mother, who went to see her once every year, she visited England, and being a girl of good fortune it is not to be wondered at that she had a crowd of admirers. In her visits. she was very much taken with that part of a widower's family that in general is found most disagreeable, at least to young ladies, hi*** duiarcn. She observed they were indulged by a weak father in everything, and were consequently very disobedient and unruly. Upon this gentleman, though verging on forty, she fixed her affections, and being a woman of ungovernable spirit, she was happy to find him an easy pusillanimous creature. The ***rnatch was scarcely mentioned when it was concluded on, and in a sew days, after, she sound herself in the seat of empire in his house. She had six little subjects to govern, three of which were then at school in Herefordshire, which were instantly ordered home, as she said she would undertake to finish their education, which, indeed, was in her power, for she was a very sensible woman! but that was not her intent altogether. It was the boys that were ordered from school, who seemed very happy in leaving a place so irksome to youth in general! but they had only escaped a male for a female flagellator.
As soon as she was married, she discharged all the servants, and hired a set of her own choosing! and among the rest, she took care to engage a French lady for her own woman, whose disposition she knew would just suit her.
Mrs. E was of the first order of beauty! had a noble person, fine turned limbs, good (kin, fine blue eyes, as brilliant as Venus', and when not ruffled by passion, was certainly very captivating. If she but stepped across the room, she discovered uncommon dignity and elegance, and every motion expressed that Je ne sais quoi an elegant French woman is so idolized for. In short, my dear, I never think of her without exclaiming with the Poet
O, with what bloom, what flower of youth she shone! How her cheeks blush'd a colour all her own
A genuine red, like roses newly blown!
With her what woman could pretend to vie
A whiter sorehead, or a lovelier eye?
Whose frame was like the world, an eloquent soul
Spoke in each part, and sparkl'd thro' the whole!
Each ***lib did wanton Loves and Graces bear:
There lodg'd their arms, their bows and arrows there.
Though this whipping passion was inextinguishable within her, yet (he was never observed to take the rod in hand without some offence to occasion it. She was convinced where there was such a number of children, and they ungovernable, many bickerings would arise, which would give her an opportunity to amuse herself with the rod. The first that gave her occasion to handle the rod was a boy of seven years old, who was so stupid at a lesson she gave him, that she was resolved to try the effects of birch on his posteriors.
Her French woman was ordered to bring an excellent rod, which she had no sooner done, than she proceeded to exercise it! but she found the boy too strong for her. The maid instantly whips off her garters, and, with the assistance of her mistress, ties his hands behind him! and then they found him manageable enough. They instantly unbuttoned his breeches, and let them down to his knees! and, having placed him across his mother's lap, and the woman holding his legs, his mother whipped him till the twigs flew about the room.
This was the first sample of her severity with the rod she gave since she was married! and it made such an impression on the rest of the children, that they trembled in her presence. A sew hours after the boy was complaining, with tears, of her treatment to his eldest sister, who advised him to burn the rod the first opportunity. This was overheard by the maid, who informed her lady of the affair. The young lady was summoned to the parlour, where she denied the fact:, was confronted by the maid, and ***horsed by her in an instant. The lady made as tree with Miss's lovely ***IDe as with her brother's! and convinced her she met with a mother fond to excess of exercising the rod.
Wherever this lady visited me was called by the children the school-mistress, and they dreaded the sight of her. In my visits, said Lady Caroline, I had heard much talk of this lady, and was so pleased with what I heard, that I soon got not only into her company, but formed a friendship that has continued to this day.
The first time I had the pleasure of beholding this lovely woman at the exercise we are so fond of was at her country-house, where I spent the happiest month of my life. A lovely girl, her step-daughter (whose beauties I firmly believe she envied), made her an impertinent answer as we three sat at work in the saloon. The mother did not say a sentence in reply, but instantly lest the room, and returning in less than a minute, with a neat rod in her hand, she commanded Miss to lie across her lap, who instantly, with disdain pictured in her countenance, complied. I sat directly opposite the young lady's posterior prospect, and protest to you, upon my honour, when her mother listed her clothes to her middle, and displayed the seat of beauty, I think I never beheld anything so lovely. She whipped her very smartly, and I affirm no eyes in the world could sparkle with more transport than the lady's during the whole of the punishment.
This observation led me to think this lovely woman one of its in the highest sense, and the instant Miss lest the room, which was in a sew minutes, I requested to know if I was right
She denied it for some time, and blushed exceedingly. I am certain, said I, my dear creature, if I was one of your daughters, you would tell me another story, and I could read in your eyes during your whole proceeding with Maria what I assert. You are afraid to trust me with the secret, I plainly perceive, but I will trust you with as great a one on my part. Know then, thou angelic woman, said I, kissing her lovely hand, it would be my highest felicity to be whipped by you this moment!
Are you really serious? said me.
Do not procrastinate this bliss, for heaven's sake, my charming friend, but assume the character of my offended governante instantly.
To be brief, my dear girls, this beautiful woman that moment confessed her passion, and I never was so enraptured as through the whole of her punishment, which me told me me would inflict pretty smartly, and every stroke of which convinced me of the truth of her assertion.
I remember she told me a remarkable story of a lady she was intimate with, who was an excellent hand at exercising a birch-rod.
The late Lord L., when very young, was so pleased with the exercise of the rod, that he courted the felicity from the hands of his mother's maid repeatedly. This giddy girl happened to mention this circumstance to a baronet's lady (her late mistress), who was of so avaricious a disposition, that she instantly conceived a notion of adding something considerable to her purse, by taking proper notice of this secret.
Flush with the idea, she managed to have an interview with him that evening at her house, by sending for him to spend the evening with her daughter.
When he arrived he was surprised to find none of the family, above those of the kitchen, at home.
The youth was about this period twelve years old, and the lady about thirty. She was by no means handsome, yet she possessed those requisites whipping gentlemen and ladies idolize so highly. She was tall, and very lusty, had a quick black eye, a neat! plump, white hand and arm, and was in her nature as well as appearance as proud as any woman the lovers of birch would desire to exercise the rod.
He had not sat ten minutes when she handed him a book to read to her: it was Milton's Paradise Lost, which at that age he could read but so so. She took the book out of his hand, and looking full in his eyes with an air of austerity, told him if he was her son she would instantly let down his breeches and whip him well
At that moment (as he expressed himself after to her) the blood boiled in his veins, and he felt himself in a blaze. She saw his situation, and taking him by the hand, asked him how he should like to be under her tuition? He replied in the negative. Come, come, said she, seating him on her lap, I know you would like it vastly, I can read it in your eyes! Confess now, you bold boy, would not you like to see me take the rod in hand, make you go upon your knees and beg a whipping, and then let me strip your breeches to your heels! Her manner of enforcing this confession was such, that she declared he instantly disclosed the secret. He frankly owned the whole, and she immediately conducted him to her dressing room.
When she got him in she locked the door: then made him bring a rod she had in readiness, which he put in her hand. She then held a long conversation with him on his knees, on his many crimes, and deliberately let down his breeches to his heels! she then laid him across her lap, and after removing his shirt above his waist, made use of all the tricks she had heard gentlemen were fond of who loved the rod, such as settling him on her knee, handling his b----e, at the same time pulling his breeches lower, tucking in his shirt, and talking of the ladies who spare the rod and spoil the child, bidding him at the same time prepare for something very delicious from her hand, for nothing was half so pleasmg to her as exercising a rod on a bold boy's b----e. She then held him full with one hand round the middle, and whipped him with the rod so severely that he was obliged to cry aloud. She gave him a dozen strokes every spell, then argued with him, and never remitted of the severity of her whipping the whole time, which was about a quarter of an hour.
It is an undoubted fact, that that woman who uses the rod with most severity, keeps her culprits down, and every way treat them as tho they were in fact bold children, not only gives the most pleasure, but makes such an impression, that they have the highest veneration for them! and ladies who have exercised the rod mod, like a severe mother, governess, stepmother, &c., have retained their lovers as long as they have possessed any charms of face or person! while those, however beautiful, who are not as deep (killed in the mystery, never keep a lover for more than two or three whippings at most. This lady was deep in the secret, and she profited by it, for his lordship was very liberal to her to the day of his death.
I am certain, ladies, you agree in what I have advanced! I am not the only person that has made this declaration.
You are very right, my dear, said Mademoiselle! it is a very general observation, believe me! and, I am sure, all my pupils will bear testimony to my conduct in this.
I will, for one, upon my honour, said Lady Caroline! and I for another, said Flirtilla.
But, now I think of it, said Lady Caroline, turning to Flirtilla, and putting on an air of authority, pray,. Mil's, do you know this letter? (pulling one from her pocket), No, indeed, Ma'am, said Flirtilla, seemingly much embarrassed. Are you certain of it? said Lady Caroline, taking her by the hand and looking full m her eyes. Yes, upon my honour, my dear Mamma, said Flirtilla.
"Well, said Mademoiselle, you are the most confident little baggage I ever knew. I sound this seal in your own room, and it corresponds with the impression on the letter. You have been striving for some time to breed a quarrel between Miss Bloomd and your Mamma! and you would have effected it if I had not been fortunate enough to secure this abusive letter this morning in your own room.
Very well, Miss, said Lady Caroline, rising from her chair with great hauteur, and leaving the room.
My dear Mademoiselle, said Flirtilla, dropping on her knees, pray get me pardoned this time, and I'll love you while I live.
No, said Mademoiselle, I will not interfere, I assure you! you deserve to be well whipped, and I hope she will not spare the rod. I wish she would deliver you over to my correction. I promise you I would make an excellent use of the rod.
At the expiration of about ten minutes, Lady Caroline entered with the instrument of pleasure in her hand. But it was not that that detained her so long. Flirtilla, who idolized Lady Caroline's hand and arm, could not bear to see it hold the rod without the ornaments of pearls, bracelets, a wedding and diamond rings. Her bosom and neck were set off in the same manner! and her legs and feet, which were elegantly formed, were as beautifully embellished with the neatest silk shoes and brilliant buckles of the first fashion. But the following is the best picture of this bewitching woman:
Her front like marble smooth, like lilies white Fair Cynthia lustred o'er with silver light; Upon her cheeks Aurora Roses spread, And dy'd 'em in the Morning's brightest red! Venus the sweetly charming smile imprest, And her soft lips with balmy pleasures bless 'd; While love, the god himself, o'er all the mass, Dancing delightful shew'd his heavenly face, Led on the laughing Joys, and every filler Grace.
Come, Miss, said Lady Caroline! come here to me this minute, till you and I settle accounts. It is some days since you tailed a rod from my hands! and, I remember, you then promised me you would not deserve a whipping as long as you'd live. Horse her this moment, Mademoiselle! and, I am sure, this good lady will take a particular pleasure in holding up the clothes of so bold a girl.
O, Mamma! O, Mademoiselle! my dear, dear Mademoiselle, don't horse me! Upon my honour, I'll be a good girl in future, said Flirtilla, repeatedly. Keep her up tight, Mademoiselle, said Lady Caroline! I have her exposed now to my wish, and she shall feel the rod pretty smartly.
By this time, said Clarissa, with my assistance, she had pinned the tail of her shift to her shoulders! and, having placed a low stool under her feet, that she might be no great burden to Mademoiselle, she took the rod in hand.
What Flirtilla felt that moment might be read in her eyes, which sparkled with ecstasy. Her entreaties were of the tendered kind! and the motion of her lovely alabaster prospect would have transported an anchoret to madness.
Lady Caroline was throughout the scene the most salacious woman I ever beheld.
Her manner of standing, and motions, were grace and dignity itself! The haughty manner of delivering her lecture, was such as I had not heard from Flirtilla! nor have not heard to this hour from any other woman.
How Flirtilla could bear the whipping amazed me, as Lady Caroline exercised the rod with such severity, that that prospect:, which a few minutes before could emulate the lily, now excelled the rose.
Though after repeated frolics in this way with Flirtilla, I must confess I was pleased with it! yet I could not be reconciled to the severity I was a witness of from the hand of Lady Caroline! but I soon understood she carried her passion to greater lengths with others particularly Mademoiselle B., who has been whipped by her till the blood has been near starting! and she would not condescend to whip any of her intimates unless they would susser her to act as she thought proper.
A few days after we were invited to the country-seat of Lady Carmine, who is in possession of a greater fund of anecdote in this way than any lady living.
Among many very regular whims, she related the following, which from her own knowledge she affirmed was authentic.
As the account would be much better in her own words than any other, I mail give every particular in as concise and perfect a manner as my memory can relate.
I had the honour, said Lady Carmine, with many ladies now in this country, to be particularly noticed in Paris, some years ago, by the Duchess of -.
This lad, then verging on forty, carried this whipping whim to very unlimited lengths.
She had a chateau a few miles from Paris, in which was a room of state, fitted up in the most splendid manner imaginable.
It was evening when I was conducted to this place, where I sound the Duchess dressed in the habit of a girl from head to soot. She told me I was like the Dauphiness, then just arrived, and whom she loved to distraction! that she would, now she was acquainted with my passion for exercising the rod, be highly delighted with the pleasure from my hands. Here, my dear, said she, are some written instructions, which I beg you will look over with attention, and then I will conduct you to the drafting-room.
These instructions will appear through my story.
As soon as I had folded the paper, she led me to her dressing-room, where she had the richest dresses I ever beheld. Out of these she selected what was agreeable to her passion, and helped to dress me, and in about an hour I sound myself bending under a weight of silk, jewels, and every other ornament that could add a charm to beauty. As soon as I was dressed she led me to a room, where her sitter, six other ladies, and a lady who had the appearance of a full-grown girl, were sitting, who, on my entrance, arose, and paid their respects in the same manner as though I had been a Queen. The truth is they fancied me such.
Being complete mistress of my instructions, I challenged the girl about telling lies, who denied the accusation, and was proved criminal by the ladies, one of whom instantly put a rod into my hand and begged I would make a proper use of it. She was instantly horsed by the Cometess of , a very stout woman, and I whipped her to her own satisfaction, and to that of those around me.
As soon as I had done, I inquired for her sister, who I understood, by my instructions, was a greater culprit, and who had lest the room as soon as I had done (this was no other than the Duchess). I was told she was not to be sound. I dispatched three of my attendants after her, and with the remainder I repaired to the room of state.
This was the most splendid room I ever beheld. The canopy and chairs of itate were of the most magnificent kind, and in the chandeliers and girandoles there could not be less than five hundred lights.
According to my instructions I took my seat on the throne, with my maids of honour on each side, and in a few minutes my bold step-daughter was brought in in tears.
Her entreaties were of the most extravagant kind, such as kissing my hands and feet, and embracing me, all which I was inattentive to, and instantly ordered my maids of honour to hand me the rod.
A frame was rolled before the throne, made doping like a desk, on which was a large white satin cushion, and on which, with the assistance of a little stool, me was extended and held down.
It was now, according to my directions, my business to unveil the seat of pleasure, which, with some struggles on her part, I instantly did, and I think I never beheld posteriors more beautiful! They were the largest, plumpest, and whitest, that ever felt a rod from my hand.
The burden of her supplication, looking back at me the whole time, was, " My dear Mamma, my lovely Queen Mamma, pray pardon me! Indeed you'll find me a most excellent girl in suture, and I protest to you, upon my honour, I never will provoke you to take the rod in your beautiful, angelic hand again! I'll bless the hour you married my Papa, my lovely sweet Queen, and love you the longest day I live, if you will forgive me this time! " Such was the language she made use of in reply to my lecture, which continued for full ten minutes, in concert with the rod, which (as instructed) I made excellent use of, I assure you. As soon as I sound she had enough, she was let down by my directions, and she retired crying.
I continued in the apartment, chatting with two of the ladies (for the remainder went out with her) for about an hour, when she entered in full dress, and looked divinely.
As soon as she entered, she cried out in a great passion for the rod, which, she recollected, was taken to another room.
While she was in pursuit of it, one of the ladies told me she meant to impersonate the Empress of R., and that I must drop my own character, and take up that of her daughter.
I complied with the desire, and in less than a minute she entered with great dignity, having her train supported by two ladies.
She charged me with abusive expressions I had dropped concerning her beauty! and without giving me time to reply, she took me by the arm, and led me to the seat of chastisement, where, with the assistance of her maids, I was extended.
after she had raised my clothes above the small of my back, it was full a minute before I felt the rod.
She put herself in the greatest passion imaginable stamped, and called to one of the ladies for the instrument with which she was to wreak her vengeance. I had taken notice while I whipped her, that she bawled and roared with very little intermission during the whole time, which led me to suppose it eased in some measure the smart, which she convinced roe of in a few minutes, for she whipped with great severity, throwing herself into the most wanton attitudes I ever beheld. Indeed, I was obliged to bawl in good earnest, for I had ever received anything like the punishment before. She took care not to put this into the instructions she gave me, else I would not have undergone it. I must own I like it as well as any lady present, but not with such severity! that I leave to the men, many of whom I have read lye under the lash till they bleed.
Your story, said Miss V., has much whimsicality in it, indeed more than ever I heard. The only anecdote that ever I heard that approaches it is that of Miss G.
Miss G. was a woman passionately fond of whipping boys and girls. She was the daughter of an officer, and received a very polished education: add to this, she was in possession of every requisite to make an excellent school-mistress. She was tall, well made, very fair, expressive blue eyes! she had also that haughty and severe look that men delight in who are fond of tasting the rod from the hand of a woman. Her father and mother dying when she was about twenty, and leaving her without sortune, she came to London, and went as an assistant in a distinguished young ladies' boarding-school. Here she gave a loose to her passion, for there was scarce a day she did not whip half-a-dozen young girls,<res>We believe the authoress is in error here, for it has been affirmed by many who have seen her manuscript, that there is no birch discipline used in any boarding-school. of this the ladies are best judges.</res> some of them fourteen years old.
Lord going one day to see a cousin of his who was a boarder at that school, saw this lady by chance, and was so captivated with her beauty that he offered her a carte blanche, which she closed with, and the connexion lasted during his life.
Passing one day through St. James's Park, she met Miss C, an eminent milliner (from whom I had the tale). As they had been very intimate school-fellows, Miss G. after a few turns asked her to dine with her, which she accepted.
Lord being then at Paris, they dined alone. While they were talking about the fashion, Miss C. perceiving in the corner of the room a large birch-rod hanging from a nail, asked for whom it was intended! she smiling told her if she would come the day after to drink tea with her, she would tell her the use of it.
Miss C. did not sail to come. She sound Miss G. dressed in a very splendid manner, as she intended to go to the Pantheon that evening. Her hair was dressed in the extreme of the fashion, excessively large and low behind, and ornamented with a panache of black and white feathers of the largest size. Very high on the lest side of her bosom she wore an enormous bouquet of natural flowers, which had a beautiful esse6l. After dinner she rung the bell for her maid, and desired the two young ladies might be sent down from the nursery. In ,a few minutes, two fine girls, one about thirteen and the other eleven, made their appearance.
Well, ladies, said Miss G., who passed for their stepmother, shew me your work. On finding it badly done, she boxed their ears very well. Let me see now if you can say the lesson I gave you this morning in the grammar. Finding the youngest very deficient in it, she slew into a violent passion, bounced away directly for the rod, and protested with great passion she would whip her severely.
Miss C. pretended to save the young culprit, but in vain; the disciplinarian made some apologies for whipping her before her, but the minx was so very indolent and bold, she must absolutely whip her well.
Turn up your petticoats this moment, you little idle hussey said she, brandishing the rod)! I'll teach you this time to mind what I say! Come, come, higher still, and lye down across my knee.
Oh, mother, mother, my dear lovely mother! said the little creature (as the lady was exposing her posteriors to the rod), upon my honour I'll be a most excellent girl in future! try me but this once, and if ever I give you this trouble again I will give you leave to cut me to pieces.
No lighted with her exquisite manner of handling the rod. I own, said Miss G., I take a very particular pleasure in whipping children when bold! and some the age of sixteen, that an aunt of mine made me whip a little girl about nine years of age, who lived with us, this passion has been predominant in me. This little girl was the daughter of my nurse, and one of the most stubborn little girls I ever met with. The old lady made me whip her, she said, to teach me how to whip children when I should have some of my own.
I took so much pleasure in whipping that little girl, that there were few days I did not take the rod in hand, having many opportunities, as I taught her to read and write.
I grew so fond of it, I really would be unhappy now is I had not some children under my care on whom I could inflict this punishment: though I declare to you I would not take the least pleasure in it in cold blood! I must be provoked to it, and they must deserve it fairly.
Miss C. had several young apprentices, on some of which she inflicted the punishment of the rod. She was not sorry when they gave her an opportunity of handling this instrument of pleasure and pain. Among her apprentices was a slip of a girl, addicted to thieving, and though she had whipped her very often for it with severity, the girl did not amend in the least. One day as she was going to whip her for stealing some ribbons, one of the working women, who had been in Paris for many years, told her, if she was to dip the rod in vinegar, as she had seen it done in France, it would smart her the more. Miss C. followed her advice, dipped the end of a new birch-r^d in a vessel full of vinegar, and whipped the girl with it with the utmost exertion of her arm! and it smarted so sore that she never pilfered after.
Miss C visited Miss G. pretty often. Having observed that Miss G. wore constantly an enormous nosegay, she asked the reason of it, and if the flowers did not give her the head-ache? Not at all, said she, I am passionately fond of them their sweet perfume excites in me the most exquisite sensations. She told her Lord was as fond of them as she, and delighted in seeing her dressed with a very large one.
She knew many gentlemen who were equally as fond of them as his lordship, and delighted in seeing their favourite ladies dressed with them! that the larger and fuller they are, the greater their influence, especially when worn very high on the lest side, the luxurious mode of wearing them. Wearing them in the centre, as some ladies do, is very inelegant! but on one side, as the French do, gives not only a grand but a voluptuous air to the wearer! and it is looked on now in the fashionable world as one of the greatest incentives to the joys of Venus. Some people even look upon them as great a provocative as birch itself! and that, not only physicians on the continent, but many in this country, prescribe for sterile men and women. Indeed, a certain doctor assured the world, that in order to get beautiful children, men should enjoy women in their full dress, or any dress they liked best, or as they were when they fell in love with them! not forgetting to have them highly perfumed, and with large bouquets of the most odoriferous flowers in their bosom their secret influence being astonishing. The ladies on the continent are seldom seen without very large nosegays, which they always wear on the lest side, as high as the ear.
A young lady of my acquaintance, who was lately in Lisbon, being invited to a dance given by a lady on her name's-day, which answers to our birth-day, all the ladies came dressed with enormous nosegays! not only their lest bosom, but their faces were covered with them. However, when they were dancing it had a pretty effect. Those large nosegays, I have been told, are very useful in hot countries, where perspiration is very great.
Your observations on the flowers are very just, said Lady C. I am well acquainted with many of the same disposition.
Mr. D., a gentleman of fortune, excessively fond of seeing the rod exercised, and of feeling it too, advertised for a governess to instruct his three daughters, their French governess having returned to Paris.
Miss F., a young Irish. lady, very pretty, and very much reduced (having made a faux-pas with a young officer), applied for the place.
Mr. D., finding her a great advocate for the rod, -engaged her immediately. She was the daughter of Mrs. F., a schoolmistress in Dublin. Educated under such a mother, Miss F. was complete mistress of birch- discipline, and as passionately fond of it as any woman in England.
A few days after me had been at Mr. D/s seat, as she was going early in the morning to take a walk in the garden, Mr. D. perceived and followed her. She was in a half-mourning dress, with a large French nightcap, her hair very large and low behind. Their conversation chiefly turned on the sweet perfume of the flowers! the gentleman proposed to make a nosegay for her sweet angelic bosom, and in few minutes presented her with one as big as a broom. Miss F. was quite delighted with it, and instantly tied it very high on the lest side of her bosom, for she was very well acquainted with their influence.
Mr. D. paid her many compliments said she looked divine, and called her his angelic governess!
She thought it was now high time to introduce the favourite subject. She informed him that one of his nieces had been very bold, and that she intended to whip her. Mr D. squeezed her delicate hand, and apologized for the trouble she would be at. Don't talk of that, my dear Sir! I like to whip bold girls and bold boys too (giving him a very significant look), especially when I can get a good birch-rod. Mr. D. -conducted her to the shrubbery, where there were several birch trees. She immediately made two excellent rods, and of a large size! for she was very fond (as many ladies are) to whip with large rods, as they make a greater sound on the b - , a sound very pleasing to the votaries of whipping, and gives a woman a severe air j besides large rods don't hurt so much as small ones that cut shockingly. As soon as she came to the house, she went to the working-room, and calling the young culprit to her, a girl about thirteen, Here is, Miss, shaking her big rod, something that will make you good! Come, come! up with your frock and petticoats! I must see all! come, kiss the rod, and beg a good whipping. Then holding her upon her lap, she whipped her for full ten minutes. Mr. D., who was in an adjacent room peeping through a hole, was all the time in a kind of ecstasy! He had never seen a woman whip with so much grace! Her dress, especially her monstrous bouquet, which she was smelling all the while, made her look most charmingly! As soon as she had done, he slew to her, and spent with her a most delicious hour. This lady used to assume with him the character of a severe aunt. While she whipped him, he held himself in such a manner, that he could smell the bouquet all the time. I have been told that a great many men do the same, their pleasure being much heightened by it.
Miss L., another votary to birch-discipline, was the daughter of a clergyman, who kept a school at -----. Her mother dying when she was about thirteen, her father, as she was very clever, and very tall for her age, gave her the care of her sitters! as they were very giddy, she got leave from her father to whip them. She grew so fond of the birch, that she sound means to get other young girls to instruct:, and on whom she administered, very often, the rod. Her father dying when she was about two-and-twenty, she came to town, opened a young ladies' boarding-school, and in a few years got a very large school. She then gave a loose to her favourite passion, whipping sometimes a dozen girls a-day. As she was an experienced hand at whipping, she seldom dismissed them till their posteriors and thighs were as red as scarlet. Her pleasure was to cut them, and generally whipped till the blood would come. She continued that practice till they were at least sixteen. Many mothers approved of her conduct very much. She had a closet full of birch-rods of different sizes, curiously bound with ribbons of different colours.
She took a singular pleasure in choosing the long slender twigs of the birch with buds on them, and binding them up in rods; she i.ever used the rod twice, nor any birch but what was cut lately. The smell of new birch railed in her the most pleasing sensation. after she had whipped a girl, she always made her wear the rod in her bosom as a nosegay for two or three hours.
The Hon. Mr. S., at the age of seventeen, had a beautiful sister a year younger than him. She married Lord . Their father and mother being dead,
they lived with an old aunt. Mr. S. was then at Oxford, but came to town very often. He had taken notice of his sitter whipping very often a pretty cousin, a girl about ten years old, who was under her care. One day as he was reading in his sitter's room a French book about women being fond of whipping, which he had sound on her toilet, he heard her coming with her cousin, who was then crying! suspecting she was going to whip her, he hid himself behind the curtain of the bed: he was not mistaken! his sister immediately entering with a good birch-rod in her hand. Petticoats, &c., were all soon removed. after whip- ping her very severely, and lecturing her all the time, as an experienced school-mistress, she sent her down stairs, and soon went herself as if nothing had happened.
Mr. D. declared to a friend of his that he never saw anything so pretty, his sister being dressed that day all in white, with a large pink sash round her waist! her hair, which was not yet turned up, wantonly slowing on her snowy bosom, which was heaving all the time! a pretty hat on one side of the head, full of large white ostrich feathers, and a beautiful bouquet of a most enormous size, made of moss-roses, carnations, pinks intermixed with large bunches of myrtle, jessamy, and minionet, which she wore on the left-side, up to the ear. The exquisite perfume of it excited in him such agreeable sensations that after that he would never bear his sister or any young lady of his acquaintance without a monstrous one. The waving of the feathers, the making of the flowers of the nosegay, the sound of the birch, and especially the exquisite perfume which the bouquet exhaled, had such an effect on him that he remained for an hour in a sort of ecstasy. He had a garden entirely laid out with the most beautiful sweet flowers imaginable. He used to send out of it to his female acquaintance large bouquets that he might have the pleasure to see them dress well at the public places where he knew he would meet with them! to tie himself a nosegay for the bosom of a lady was a delight to him. His seeing one day a lady at the Pantheon, the beautiful Miss W., with a most enormous side-bouquet, whose pretty face could scarce be seen among the flowers, he fell in love with her, and married her about a month after! she was but fourteen then, and just out of school.
On the continent, where whipping is so fashionable,. it is one of the chief amusements of the Nuns, for they not only whip one another for their pleasure, but will whip with shocking birch-rods their boarders, with so much severity, that sometimes some of them are obliged to keep their beds for two or three days;, this is a fact, and many young ladies who have been educated there would assert it. I was always surprised not to meet with any book which would lay open the incontinency of the Nuns! for some Nuns take as much pleasure in whipping a pretty girl, with the help of a certain curious instrument, as they would almost to deep with a man, and have almost the same pleasure.
Your anecdote, said Mrs, , brings to my recollection a particular whim of Lady Dowager .
This woman, who had been considered one of the rarest beauties of her time, fell desperately in love with a lady's-maid, where she had been on a visit, at a time when the fire of youth might be supposed to be in a great measure extinguished, for me had passed her sixtieth year. She had tailed the felicity we have been speaking of from numbers of her confidential friends, and took as great pleasure in administering it as any lady existing.
This Abigail inflamed her the instant she beheld her, and she lost no time to secure her to herself, which she did at a great salary.
I have heard her ladyship declare no school-mistress. upon earth could exercise the rod with more bewitching severity than this woman. It was her ladyship's whim to be whipped by her in the neat habiliments of an upper servant.
Sometimes she would desire her to enter her apartment with a neat straw hat, set off with a vast quantity of pink or green ribbon, a pretty flowered gown, and her legs and feet as neatly attired. She used to act at such a time as her mother's-maid, and whip her ladyship for telling tales of her while she had been abroad.
Her ladyship being a very sat woman, it was next to an impossibility for her to lie across her lap (though that is what she delighted in), but she commonly rested her hands on a sofa or chair, but oftener would have herself whipped in bed for not getting up early, which I take of all others to be the pleasantest way, as we can then bounce and plunge about, struggle and caper under the rod, and prolong the felicity for a considerable time.
No youth, though ever so enraptured with his charmer, could idolize her more than her ladyship did this woman. I have heard her dwell upon the beauty of her hands, and the heaving of her plump snowy bosom, till she Las been lost in excess of bliss. She died in her ladyship's service, and she often declared a great part of her happiness died with her.
A Duchess in Paris, who has tasted of this felicity from the hands of a vast number of ladies of her own complexion, took an uncommon liking to a beautiful West-India negro woman, who had been brought to Paris by a naval officer, from whom she was purchased at an high price by her for this purpose. As soon as she was in possession of her she spared no expense in educating her, and clothed her in the most elegant manner. When she fancied she was polished at all points for her purpose she broke the matter to her, and, with the assistance of a number of books and prints on the subject, instructed her perfectly. She often declared to a female confidante, nothing could equal the pleasure she felt when this lovely negro stripped her or took her out of bed! to feel her velvet hands run over her thighs and posteriors when she was settling her on her knees, and immediately after the rod smartly exercised by her, was to her the height of human pleasure. This woman, strange as it may appear, had such an ascendancy over this illustrious lady, that stie was in a short while mistress of her assertion and fortune. I have been well assured a gentleman now in London has a pretty negro maid-servant, and his greatest delight is to see her whip his children.
The spirit of flagellation, said Mrs. W., was never carried to such an high degree as it is in a particular school this day in London. I never heard of this school before, said Miss T., pray where is it? It is kept by Mademoiselle G who lives in street, By Square. This lady about twelve years ago made her appearance in this kingdom, and was recommended to the Countess of , who inilantly patronized her.
At one of their nocturnal meetings, when her ladyship's whipping party were all present, and were all running out in raptures on the graces and lovely manoeuvres of Mademoiselle while whipping each, the Countess proposed a singular affair which every lady instantly subscribed to. It was no other than Mademoiselle's setting up a day-school to teach genteel children French. They opened a subscription instantly for the Parisian lady, enabled her to take a house, and furnished it for her in an elegant style. Not one of the party were seen in this business! their only patronage was a heavy purse, for a very substantial reason that will appear in its proper place. The lady had not opened school three months when she sound herself at the head of a pretty set of children, many of whom were full grown. A short while after she 'Opened this seminary one of the whipping party appeared as a sub-governess, in which capacity she indulged herself to her wish, exercising the rod as she thought proper. The other ladies were engaged by Mademoiselle- to sill the same character alternately.
What a treat in this seminary for the idolaters of the posterior shrine! To see in the course of a day a number of b----s blushing under the rod, exercised by a woman of super-eminent charms!
It must be the sublime of felicity indeed, said Miss T., and almost equal to what I tasted from the hand of Lady a few days ago.
I know, said Mrs. W., her ladyship is charming in the extreme with a rod in hand. Pray let us hear how she captivated you?
I happened to pay her a visit in my military habit, which so pleased her that she proposed to take the rod in hand and whip me for endeavouring to rival her, my step-mother, by dressing in such alluring habiliments.
Her sitter, Louisa, happened to be present, who seconded the motion, and I instantly ran up stairs to the room where I knew she kept her horse. They both followed. Louisa, at the head of the machine, held my hands, while her ladyship, with her usual manoeuvres, exposed what she idolized so much to the rod, and indeed I felt the full force of her jealousy (by ray endeavouring to outdo her in dress) while she exercised the bewitching twigs. In brief, my dear ladies, I think no woman in the whole circle of beauty has it in her power to captivate like this lovely creature! everything that has been said by the poets in praise of female charms, falls far short of what I see in her t Her admirers may well exclaim
What thought can paint that fair perfection?
Not sea-born Venus, in the courts beneath,
When the green nymphs first kissed her coral lips,
All polished fair, and washed with orient beauty,
Could in their dazzling fancy match her brightness.
Her legs, her arms, her hands, her neck, her breasts,
So nicely shaped, so matchless in their lustre,
Such all perfection!
She is the child of love, and she was born in smiles!
To hear the music of her voice while correcting me was something more than human. I shall never forget her "Well, upon my honour, it is to me surprising how some mothers will suffer their forward daughters to eclipse them, while there is such a rod as I hold to be sound. I have heard, Miss, you put on this dress to captivate Colonel G; but I'll teach you to consult me in suture about what you shall wear! Your pretty b----e shall feel my resentment before I have done with the rod, I promise you! You may caper as much as you please, but you'll find me exercise it well! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! you forward minx!"
Stop, my dear, for heaven's sake, said Mrs. W., else you will so transport us that we may run like lunatics to her ladyship for a sample of what you tailed.
I called to see our lovely brunette, Mrs. C., a few mornings ago, and sound her busily employed with the rod. Her nephew and niece were sound wrangling together by her, and me settled their difference with giving each an excellent whipping. I have heard this charming Creole protest me would be very unhappy if me had not some children to divert herself with in this way. She has declared to me when me was in Jamaica, me used to amuse herself almost every day with whipping pretty young negroes of both sexes. She has ever given the preference to whipping boys under eight years old. I remember an anecdote of this lady that made me laugh heartily at the time, One day, while she was at her brother's country house, a beggar woman came into the yard with two children, who solicited her charity. She ordered them into the house, and relieved them. They had scarcely lest the house when a spoon was missed, which was sound on a girl of twelve years old. She was brought back, and by her order was brought on the shoulders of a stout maid-servant into the parlour. Her brother was present, who applauded her highly for her spirit. In less than a minute she removed the poor girl's rags, and exposed to his view as fair and as plump a bumfiddle as Venus herself could exhibit, which in a few minutes the lady lest in weals, with a rod exercised with the utmost severity. But think how great this lady's surprise must be to have pointed out to her in Covent Garden Theatre, within these three months, this very girl, who has been in keeping with her brother from the day of her being whipped to this.
As to mankind being fond of this pleasure from the hands of a woman, it is too well confirmed to be contradicted. I have read the fashionable Lectures, and a number of French anecdotes relating to this passion, and I think I can communicate from my own knowledge a more striking one than any I have ever read or heard.
Come, disclose, disclose, my dear, said half-a-dozen ladies at once.
To be brief, ladies, said Miss T., that libidinous gentleman, Mr. K., who is known to many in this room, is so passionately fond of birch from a lady, that his Wards, who live with him, exercise it whenever they want money, elegant clothes, or see pleasure. He has a room remote from the noise and interruption of his domestics. Here, whenever he refused what they request, he is led by these spirited and whimsical girls! and here they strip and whip him, turn about, till he promises to comply with their request. When the eldest of these pretty girls disclosed the affair to me, I would not give it credit, nor would I to this hour, if I had not ocular demonstration, about three months ago, when they concealed me in a closet, in the room, from a peep-hole in which I beheld the whole discipline.
Here ends the anecdotes of this lady, which many will think written with spirit and elegance: this, with their originality, will secure them a distinguished reception among those who idolize, with a degree of religious enthusiasm, the beautiful back settlements of Venus.

## Original footnotes

* ↑ We hope the authoress will excuse us, but we cannot mention real titles or names throughout this work.
* ↑ Now Queen of F .
* ↑ The following anecdote, to illustrate this passage, is a fact: A country gentleman, of large fortune, had been married for many years to a very beautiful, and seemingly fruitful, woman. The want of children was the only thing that made them unhappy. When the lady arrived in London a few winters ago, me patronized a very sensible and beautiful opera-dancer, to whom, in a private conversation, me expressed her uneasiness about her fertility, or her husband's incapacity. The Italian lady told her nothing was so efficacious as whipping the posteriors of her husband (if the fault lay in him) during the amorous engagement with her! and to prove her assertion true, she repeated the physician's anecdote from the Philosophical Theresa, and strengthened it with assuring her she herself assisted in a similar scene. The lady pondered on it, related it to her husband, and prevailed on him to go through the operation. The lady was engaged at a high price to administer the rod, which she did in that opera-dress that pleased him most! and, in less than a month, and by the time she had whipped him a dozen times (each space of which he was in an amorous engagement with his wise), the lady, to her great joy, sound herself pregnant.
* ↑ One of the party, lately deceased, observing extraordinary signs of manhood in a boy, as he lay across her lap capering under the rod, was so smitten with the prospect, that she had it in view as often as she could, and ere the youth had gained his fifteenth year she made him ample amends for the whipping he received from her hands, by an offering of the most sublime nature in the chapel of Venus.