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