The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-11-17
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
GLE Eainaatn. Series I'd.
No. III.
ON CELIBACY
o K,
THz CONDITION OF OLD MAIDS AND
BATcHELoRS.
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
BATCHELoRS
ON CELIBACY {;

enants of the earth, he is difpofed to herd with
his fpecies. This difpoftion has made a part
of his character wherever he has been found. In
complete folitude man is the mott powerefs and
wretched Of animals. Without enquiring, there
fore, whether in fomc priineval fate of favage
brutality, beyond the reach of the records of
time, he has followed fuch mode of exitence,
the /oeiaI trait {hou'd be no more omitted in the
defcription of his character, than the erect pof-
ton of his body, or the reafoning faculties of
his mind.
But very curious inference has been drawn
from this trait la the character of man. 1t has
been Inferred, that, becaufe like fome brute ami
mails, he herds with his fpecies, like them too,
inftind and appetite alone, ihould regulate the
fexual connexion. Becaufe man is a eregarious
animal, they fay, that from the analogy of ma
ture, promifcuous intercourse of the fexes, has
been pointed out as a mode of peopling the
earth, mott congenial to the temper and charac-
ter of man. This reafoning may be aptly called
brutal, and worthy of the fource from which it
is drawn it is properly illuftrated by fmilies
taken from the brute creation, and not from the
character of a rational being.
But it feems to have been forgotten that man
is alto pairing animal. If he has been always
found in focieties, or herdng with his fpecies,
he has alto always been found, when arrived at
the age of puberty, to have feletted from among
the herd, fome one individual female, with whom
he has been united by the tenderrit and mott
eldsaring ties. Marriage then is natural to man |;
from his rudett to his mott civilized fate. BY
marriage do not particularly mean, the union
OF man and woman, according to the canons
ofthe church, the laws of the country, or the
cufoms of the times but that union of a pair,
which nature dictates. 1t does not feem necef-
fairy to enquire, whether, according to the ana
logies Of animated nature, this pairing would be
for a ieafon, or, for life. And whatever Mould
be the refult of fuch An enquiry, it would fill
follow, that to the legiilator mutt be configned
ali permanent civil regulations upon the fub-
jef. Leaving therefore to the difcufion of
Others. the laws which nature and propriety
woaid feem to prefcribc, as to the manner and
dyration of the union, whether it fhould be con-
fidered in an eccleliaitical or civil point of view
or, whether focety fhould not place this con-
.ra9 upon the fame footing that it has done eve
ry other of a private and perfonal nature
ihall take it for granted, that marriage, as uted
above, in its broadet contribution, is natural to
man.
Next to the appetites of hunger and Thrift,
and the fentiment of felf love, the PATTON be-
tween the fexes is the ftrongeft and mott uncon-
trolable, that marks the character of man. With
the favage or the mere fenfualif, in partaking 70
much of the grofsnefs of appetite, it lofes half
the itrength of the PATTON. With the refined
ientimentalit, by lofing all its grofsnefs, it
quires the mott unruly predominance. Jealou-
-, which is but fufpeSfed love, has been en-
phatical!y called &c the hottef hell in which the
heart can burn" Such being the nature of this
union, and the ftrength of the PATTON which pro-
duces if, it is natural enough that superficial
thinker llould neglect, or fcorn the perfon,
Whole fingleneis of condition apparently an
nounces that he has never felt, or refufed to in
dulge the delicious feutiment OF vrtuous love-
Accordingly, precedence is given by the man
ners AID cuftoms of all civilized nations,
throughout every focal ceremony, to the marri-
ed above the Jingle Al the feaive board, the
frivolous chit of6xteen, beeauf ne is married,
is placed at the right hand of honor and refpeGt,
and elevated above the venerable lady, upon the
liIeaments of Whole fine countenance, amidR
the traces of penetration, intelligence and beau
ty, may fill appear the intercnlng peniivcnefs
offormer disappointment, or the chearfll reiig-
nation of early prudence. Philosophers too,
men Whole opinions, upon mott other fubjects
are entitled to every confederation, have given
into the opinion that the married are more ref
peftable than the Jingle. The fentence has been
paf'ed by the wary fpeculator, as well as the
light-headed coxcomb.
Three caufes have produced and fohered this
refpeet for the marriage fate.
FIrR, The elegance and refinement of virtu-
OILS love.
Second, The affecting and tender relations
produced by the marriage fate.
7bird, The generally received opinion, that
the trenGth of a country coniias in the number
Gifts inhabitants.
The two irf canfes may be conidered as
moral the third purely political.
rs love, and the relations ari6ng out of the
marriage fate, feem to be 70 intimately connect
ed, ihall, perhaps, be more perfpicuous, at
leaf more concife, by conidering them toge-
tner.
There can be few men lefs iifpofed than my
teif, to impair, by any common place ridicule,
or oPhftical reafoning, the pleafure ariing from
yirtuous intercourse between the fexes. "Vir-
tuous love" fays the elegant and profound NAL
thus, .' exalted by fricndlhip, feems to be that
Tort of enfual and intellectual enjoyment, pecu-
liariY fuited to the nature of man, and NOT
powerfully calculated % awaken the fyrnpathies
OF the foul, and produce the mot exquifte graz
uhcatlons. Perhaps there is fcarcely a man
who has once experienced the genuine delight
OF sIrtuous love, however great his intellectual
pleanres may have been, that does not look
back IT, Eiat period, as the funny fpot, in his |
Whole life, where his imagination loves NOT to |
bai&, which he recoeGts and coniempIates with !
The fondeit regret, and which he would mott |
wifi to live over again"
There is, indeed, perhaps, jeareely man who |
does not cheriih TIE uenory ofjoys fbaf are ran,
and occaGona!ly regalc his imagination with the |
fond recollection Of departed plcafure. Such is !
the beauty and refinement OF virtuous love.
e