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"Must a Man be forc'd to humble himself with a paltry Servility, even to Adoration, to be subject to Multiplicity of Cares, to weary his Mind in the Government of his Passions, and turmoil his Body with amorous Fatigues, and instead of a Reward for all this, shall he forc'd to purchase his Refreshments?"

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Author

Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Work Title

The Post-boy rob'd of his Mail: or, the Pacquet Broke Open

Place of Publication

London

Publisher

The Post-boy rob'd of his Mail: or, the Pacquet Broke Open

Date

1692

Metaphor

"Must a Man be forc'd to humble himself with a paltry Servility, even to Adoration, to be subject to Multiplicity of Cares, to weary his Mind in the Government of his Passions, and turmoil his Body with amorous Fatigues, and instead of a Reward for all this, shall he forc'd to purchase his Refreshments?"

Metaphor in Context

I cannot but enlarge upon a Custom which is chiefly observ'd among the great Men of this World. This is the Custom, I know not by whom introduc'd, of paying Harlots, so much to the prejudice of Man, and the Superiority of the Masculine Sex, constrain'd to pay for that, which Woman as his Inferior is oblig'd to give him freely as a Debt due to his Contentments. For to what end was Woman made, if not to be subservient to our Pleasures? Shall he then suffer a Monster to live in the World under his own shape, that shall render Manhood contemptible, and his chiefest Glories despicable, by acting contrary to Reason and Judgment? Shall he endure the Insolencies of his Slave, to the forming of whom while he gave a Rib, he bound her with a Chain of Bondage, as being bought with his own Flesh? Shall he bend under so great a Misfortune as to have enliven'd Infelicity, a living Tyranny, and Hell in Epitom, all combin'd together in a walking Frame? And when he thinks to enjoy those Pleasures in the use of her for which alone she was born, must he be forc'd to pay through the Nose for 'em? Must a Man be forc'd to humble himself with a paltry Servility, even to Adoration, to be subject to Multiplicity of Cares, to weary his Mind in the Government of his Passions, and turmoil his Body with amorous Fatigues, and instead of a Reward for all this, shall he forc'd to purchase his Refreshments? Good God ! how blind is this World, and how bewitch'd are unhappy Mortals, who are fain to buy their own Miseries, and the worst of Curses which they incur in common by conversing with Harlots, wasting the choicest of their Substance, and consuming their Wealth! This was certainly an Artifice of the Devil, the deadly Enemy of the Contentments of our Sex, among which those of our Lasciviousness being the most desirable, he would embitter 'em with the Expence of that which is to us more necessary and grateful. Can Men in reason envy the Condition of Brutes, and desire that Authority which advances the Masculine Sex above the Female in every individual Creature, that whenever his Appetite excites him, has the Gratification of it without bargaining to pay for his Pleasures. A poor Lover shall be worst us'd than a Dog, and if he have no Money shall be depriv'd of those Pleasures that are not refus'd to a Beast. Accursed Custom, in Conformity to which the amorous Dance is regulated and govern'd by the Chinking of the more precious Mettals, while there is a Tribute laid upon those Pleasures that Nature so freely and abundantly affords us! And what afflictions does not a Lover suffer, yet not able to satisfie his Desires through the Covetousness of his Goddess, whose common Exercise it is, to tear his very Skin from his Flesh ? There is a Decree of one of the Popes, which prefixes for the Payment of a Harlot no more then will suffice her for one days Victuals.
(pp. 377-9)