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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34208	Concubinage and poligamy disprov'd, or, The divine institution of marriage betwixt one man, and one woman only, asserted in answer to a book, writ by John Butler, B.D. for which he was presented as follows : We the grand jury, sworn to enquire for the body of the city of London, on Wednesday, the first day of December, 1697, present one John Butler, for writing and publishing a wicked pamphlet : wherein he maintains concubinage to be lawful, and which may prove very destructive to divers families, if not timely suppress'd.		1698 (1698)	Wing C5714; ESTC R1558	49,472	113

be true You must also know that the Imperial Laws condemn Poligamy Lib. 9. Tit. 9. Leg. 18. Eum qui habet duas Uxores comitatur Infamia i. e. He is counted infamous that hath two Wives Dioclesian made a Law likewise against having of two Wives Cod. Lib. 5. Tit. 5. Leg. 2 And the Christian Emperors Theodosius Arcadius and Honorius would not suffer the Jews that lived in the Roman Empire to have many Wives as may be seen by their Laws Cod. de judaei Leg. So unjustly have you appealed to the Practice of the Antient Christians either Magistrates or Ministers as Patrons of Concubinage You know likewise that St. Hierome condemns Lamech as the first Qui unam costam distraxit in duas who made two Ribs of one Nor can it be unknown to you that Clergy-men committing Adultery were for ever removed from their Ministery Distinct 81. C. 11 12. That the Ancyran Synod imposed Seven Years Pennance upon the Adulterer and that the Council of Neocaesarea Decreed that if a Minister's Wife fell into Adultery he should dismiss her or else leave his Ministry and by the Eliberine Council he was denied for ever the Communion of the Church if he did not dismiss her and that it was likewise Decreed that the Adulterer should not be suffer'd to Marry with the Adultress yet you own that you had just Cause to suspect your Wife and can prove several suspicious Tokens of h●r Vnfaithfulness p. 18. and yet never offer'd to put her away And she accuses you of committing Adultery with her Maid before she left you and yet you took your Maid into her Bed without any Application either to Church or State notwithstanding the depending Controversies betwixt you and your Wife These are suspicious Tokens of an Inordinate Love for which had you but made use of the first and second Remedies prescribed by the Heathens viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abstinence and Time you had been in no danger of the third Remedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Halter though it had been better you should have had a Mill-stone hang'd about your Neck and been thrown into the middle of the Sea than to have given such Offence as you have done to the Church of God Nor can you be ignorant neither that many satisfying Answers have been given to your Arguments from the Polygamy of the Patriarchs and Jews As 1. That if there had been any Relaxation of the Law of Monogamy instituted by God in Paradice it would have been by a written Law and Express Scripture 2. That if this had been allowed for Procreation it had been most Necessary to be granted unto Adam in the beginning of the World and to Noah in reviving and re-peopling the World And 3. That Polygamy or marrying of many Wives rendered Solomon unfit for Procreation as is evident by his small Posterity And 4. That the Law of Monogamy being revived by Christ and his Apostles and brought back to the first Institution was to take place not for the Time past but for the Time to come as all other positive Laws of Natione do So that though Polygamy might be then tolerated as an Infirmily for a time in those which were newly converted yet it cannot be so now I shall add that if the first institution of Marriage between one Man an● one Woman at a time be once broken there 's no other Limitation to be found in the Scriptures whence it follows that if more be allowed then one a Man may have as many as he pleases So that it will be hard to bring it to a Medium Some perhaps will plead for King Charles II's Number as a Standard and others it may be will be satisfied with no fewer than Solomon and so our Nobility and Gentry if your Project take place should have Kennels of Concubines as now they have of Hounds And what Inconveniences this might occasion you may know by your own Incontinence those Poor Women must loose their Youth and Teeming time without any hopes of having Nature satisfied For being another Mans Property no body else must meddle with them and so they must either burn and languish or commit Whoredom nay perhaps bestiality Their own Stallion for Husband he is not must speedily be either enfeebled or neglect some or all of them as we find in Ahasuerus who did not call for his Beautiful and Beloved Esther in Thirty Days together And the rest of his Concubines were never brought to him except he delighted in any of them and call'd her by Name yet they were shut up and kept close by the Keeper of the Women So that here was a Great Number of Females rendred useless for Propagation besides the Tentations they were exposed to of being base with Eunuchs and their own nearest Relations Now Sir pray consider whether these and the other Reasons that you will meet with in this Book be not much more solid against Concubinage than any that you have advanc'd for it And if your Conscience be convinced be not ashamed to Retract what you have so unadvisedly writ upon this Head St. Augustine who was much a Learneder Divine and better Man than you can pretend to be did not think it unbecoming him to Recant his Errors and to take shame to himself for his Youthful Lusts but Yours can scarcely pass under that denomination who went into your Maids Bed after having Lived Forty Years with a Wife Your Loose Book hath done a World of Mischief in the Nation and therefore it concerns you as you would have the pardon of God and his Church for the same to make your Confession and Recantation as publick as your Crime Which that you may do is the worst that the Author of this Book wishes you Concubinage Disproved c. HAD a Pamphlet of this Nature been writ by an avowed Debauchee or a Play-house Beau it had been no matter of Surprize But to have any thing Printed in Defence of Concubinage by a Batchelor of Divinity and a Minister of the Church of England may Justly astonish us Such a thing might be accounted Natural in a Priest of the Church of Rome the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth but for a Minister of the Reformed Church to do so gross a thing is altogether unsufferable Time was when the Reverend Mr. Johnson was degraded by those that called themselves the Church of England because he maintained the Doctrine of Self-defence against Tyrants or others which is the Instinct of pure Nature There 's much more reason for the Governours of the Church to shew themselves as zealous now in censuring Mr. Butler for writing in defence of Concubinage which is one of the Effects of depraved Nature And this I think they are the more concern'd to do because in his Title-Page he endeavours to make way for his Doctrine by the Authority of his Character It is certain this Author can find nothing either in

against them till the Matter was proved by their own Confession I come next to consider what our Author offers in defence of that he calls A Lawful Concubinage in a Case of a necessity wherein Lawful Marriage conveniently or possibly cannot be obtain'd If I had time to examine his Proposition Narrowly it were no hard matter to prove it a Rhapsody of Contradictions or downright Bulls for there can be no such thing as a Lawful Concubinage nor any case almost wherein Lawful arriage is not possible to be obtain'd but I pass that at present and come to his instance by which he endeavours to make Good this Monstrous Doctrine The first is that of himself and his first Wife Martha Perkins who p. 21. he says liv'd almost Forty Years together in Concubinage Now to Live in Concubinage with a Wife is at best but an Irish sort of English but we shall let that alone and come to his Reason which is because they were not Married directly according to the Custom of the Church of England the Minister having made some blunders and mistakes And yet p. 4. he own'd that she was his Lawful Wife so that here she 's both a Lawful Wife and a Concubine at the same time Then a little lower because he would be sure to have Company enough he says That all those Thousands of Marriages that were made from the Rupture betwixt King Charles I. and his Parliament to the time of Charles II's Restoration by Justices Quakers c. Were all of them but meer Concubinage and that those Marriages were as much illegal as those without any Ceremony at all till they were all made good by the Act of Indemnity of the 12th Car. 2. But then at the Foot of the Page he spoils all again by saying That according to the Holy Writ there 's no more Ceremony requir'd but consent on both Parts before Witness sufficient and bedding together according to Exod. 12. 26. I suppose he would have said Deut 22. 16. Without any presence necessarily requir'd of either Magistrate or Priest And so now he deals alike both with his Brethren the Priests and the Justices of Peace for there was neither t' one nor t' other present to see our Author go to Bed with his Maid after Forty Years Concubinage with his Wife So that he has spent a great deal of pains to prove that which no body ever doubted that these Marriages may be good in the sight of God that are not such according to the Laws of some Kings and Countreys But the mystery lies in the Application and Consequence Viz. That his Marriage or rather Concubinage with his Maid is Lawful in the sight of God tho not according to the Laws of the Land But now I must beg his leave to shew him the difference of the Case At that time there was a Law or at least a Power enjoining Marriages by Justices c. And forbidding Marriage according to the Book of Common Prayer on pain of Forty Shillings for each offence as he says p. 2. and Mr. Butler is so good a Minister of the True Church of England that he asserts those Marriages by Justices may be good setting aside the Statutes and Laws of this Realm But there was no Power nor Law allowing Mr. Butler or any Man to go to his Maids Bed and live with her as his Wife his other Wife being still alive without application either to Magistracy or Ministry or the Presence of any Witnesses for ought that appears And because I perceive he is much for Clandestine Marriages I must refer him to his dearly beloved Old-Testament where he will find Ruth Chap. 4. Ver. 9. That Boaz's Marriage with Ruth was solemniz'd in the Presence of the Elders who together with the People pray'd for a Blessing upon 'em and Deut. 22. 16. he will also find that the Tryal of the Brides Virginity was to be made by producing the Tokens of it before the Elders which shews that the Old-Testament Marriages were Publick and that the Solemnization and Dissolution of them depended on the Authority of the Magistrate whereas Mr. Butler consulted them in neither Case Our Author in the next place p. 22. alledges that God did plainly allow of a Lawful Concubinage or Additional Wives for the Bed for Issues sake the Issue whereof are no where term'd Bastards either in Old or New Testament but upon all Occasions in case of Heirs Male wanting by the proper Wife the Sons of Concubinage became Heirs thus Ishmael Son of Abraham by his Maid-Servant should have been Heir if Isaac had not been born of Sarah Gen. 17. 18. And thus Rehoboam Son of Solomon by Naamah a meer Concubine was his Heir unto his Throne for that he had no Son by hi● proper Wife yea tho Daughters he had several And thus Jepthah Son of Gilead by a Stranger or a meer Concubine became the Prince of the People before any of his Brethren born of the lawful Wife because of his Abilities above any of 'em Judges 11. 2. 11. which had he been a Bastard could not have been For a Bastard might not enter into any Office in the Church to become so much as a Constable or Church warden much less a King or a Judge Deut. 23. 2. but was to remain a Slave equal to the Gibeonites a Hewer of Wood and a Drawer of Water And at this rate none were esteem'd Bastards but Children begotten in Adultery or Whoredome of another Man's Wife or of a Common Whore and such could not inherit Incest was a foul Sin and yet the Children born of Incest did inherit and were not reputed Bastards as Pharez Son of Judah by his Son's Widow and Janna Son of Joseph Arses by his Neece Both which were Heirs in the Genealogy of our Saviour and therefore no Bastards But the Pope made Bastards of such which by God's Laws are reputed well-born and from the Pope our Statute-Laws still keep up the Practise declaring all Children to be Bastards which are born out of Marriage so as Children begot out of Marriage was a Sin against the King's Laws and Statutes and yet no Sin against God's Law These are our Author 's own Words because I would give him fair Play and let his Arguments appear in their native Beauty and Strength I answer Had God allowed of Additional Wives for Issue sake we should have it somewhere mention'd in Holy Writ and let our Author produce a Text for it if he can If God allow'd Additional Wives how came it that he made but one for Adam and that one too we have God's own Word for it was a Meet-help Gen. 18. 29. which could not be true if more Wives than one were necessary for one Man The Prophet Malachi c. 2. 15. when he Expostulates with the People of Israel for dealing treacherously with the Wife of their Youth and reproves them for their Divorces argues in the same manner viz. Did he not make one yet had

that numerous Family afterward And because our Author reckons this one of the happiest Instances that can be to advance Concubinage I shall trespass upon the Reader 's Patience a little to demonstrate the contrary In the first place our Author asserts falsly that this Concubinage was advised by the Parliament whereas it is plain that if she was his Concubine at all it was when a private Man For Buchanan says he married her after Queen Eupham's Death so that then she was no Concubine In the next place he falsly belies the Family of the Stuarts in saying that this Concubinage gave Birth to them for both Cambden and Buchanan derive their Original from Bancho Thane of Loqhuaber of the Blood-Royal of Scotland who being murder'd by Mackbeth the Tyrant about the Year of our Lord 1050. his Son Fleanchus fled into North-Wales where he married the Daughter of Griffith Lewellin Prince of the Country and by her had a Son call'd Walter who being a Valiant Man and Favourite to King Malcolm III. that kill'd Mackbeth he was for defeating the Galloway Rebels and killing their General created Lord Steward of Scotland whence the Family took Sirname and Robert whom we now treat of being Son to another Walter Stuart by King Robert Bruce's Daughter was the first of 'em who enjoy'd the Crown So that Mr. Butler wrongs the Royal Family both as to the Honour of their Original which was Lawful and not Spurious and also as to their Antiquity by 320 Years for so long had they been call'd by the Name of Stuart before they came to the Crown But then as to the Effects of this Concubinage they were the most direful that almost any History gives an Account of For John the Eldest Son by Elizabeth Moor who when he came to the Crown was call'd Robert the III. because of the Hatred the Scots had to the Name of John on the Account of John Baliol who betray'd their Liberty to our Edward I. and the ill Fate of King John of France and King John of England This Robert I say had nothing of the Spirit of Government so that he was tyranniz'd over by his Brother Robert the second Son of Elizabeth Moor who starved his eldest ●on Prince David to Death in the Castle of Falkland and forc'd the younger call'd James afterwards James the I. of Scotland to flee the Kingdom and he was taken by the English as bound to France Alexander the youngest of Elizabeth Moor's Sons was a bloody cruel Man and besides other Inhumane Acts burnt the famous Cathedral of Elgin the finest in all Scotland because he could not find the Bishop of Murray whom he design'd to have murder'd And his Son Alexander was as barbarous as the Father and Plunder'd and Murder'd his Neighbours The Misfortune of Prince James afflicted his Father King Robert so sensibly that he refused to be comforted and starv'd himself to Death After which his Brother the Inhumane Robert Reign'd under the Title of Governour and not only kept his Nephew James from the Crown during his Life but left the Government to his own Son Murdo who also kept it in his own Hands till being disoblig'd by the Rebellious Temper of his own Sons he summoned a Parliament and by their Advice call'd home King James I. from England who after his Return made a terrible Havock among the other Princes of the Blood cut off Murdo Stuart Duke of Albany and his two Sons and banished others of the Name Upon which James Duke Murdo's youngest Son surpriz'd and kill'd the King's Uncle and fled into Ireland The Historian observes that all this Disorder and Discord in the Royal Family was fomented by Walter Earl of Athol eldest Son to King Robert Stuart by Queen Euphaim his Lawful Wife his Design being to have all the Posterity of Elizabeth Moor the Concubine extinguish'd that so the Crown might devolve upon himself which he thought might be easily effected if he could but have got King James the I. taken off which he likewise compassed having procured him to be murther'd in his Bed Chamber as he lodg'd in the Dominicans Cloyster near Perth on a Journey Upon which the Nobility assembling from all parts of the Kingdom they pursued the Murderers with so much Vigor that all the Conspirators were put to Death in 40 Days And Walter Earl of Athol who was the Author of the Conspiracy and Robert Graham who actually murder'd the King were put to death in such a cruel manner that the Reader will not think his time lost to peruse the Account of it as follows Walter 's Execution took up three Days on the first he was put into a Cart to which there was an Engine fastned that hoisted him up by Ropes and Pullies and let him down again to the Ground which rack'd and loosened all his Joints and put him to incredible Pain then he was set on a Pillory with a Red-hot Iron Crown on his Head and this Motto The King of all Traytors which was reckon'd the Accomplishment of what had been foretold him by Witches whom he had Consulted to know whether he should come to the Crown or not viz. That he should be crown'd in a great Concourse of People The second Day he was bound upon a Hurdle and dragg'd at a Horses Tail through Edinburgh On the third he was bound to a Plank ript up alive and had his Bowels first and afterwards his Heart thrown into the Fire his Head was fixed on a Pole and his Quarters distributed into the chief Towns of the Kingdom Robert Graham his Kinsman was carried through the City in a Cart with his Hand nail'd to a Gallows the Executioner in the mean time running burning Irons into all the fleshy Parts of his Body and then he was quarter'd as the former says Buchanan All this was the effect of that Concubinage which Mr. Butler tells us was so happy so that instead of Concubinages preventing the Ruine of Royal Families I have his own Instance upon him to prove that it well nigh endanger'd the Ruin of our own Royal Family which is the most antient in the Western World or perhaps for what 's known in the whole Universe And so far is our Author's Assertion from being true that all Histories Sacred and Prophane abound with Instances of Families and Nations being ruin'd by Concubinage and other sorts of Whoredom For the Proof of which I must again refer the Reader to that Book call'd God's Judgments upon Whoring where the Instances are none of 'em taken from Romances as those in the Book call'd God's Revenge against Adultery and Murder but from approved Histories and may be of very good use to be read by the Youth of this Debauch'd Age. His Proposal of Concubinage as a Remedy against Whoredome and Adultery is wholly ridiculous and contrary to the Experience of all Eyes The Jews were as guilty of those Crimes as any People in the World notwithstanding their Use of Concubines Nay David