"I am, therefore, inclinable, since very much of my Practice will lie among the Ladies, to call myself a Mind-Midwife: Insinuating, by that Hint, That I can see 'em as safely brought to Bed of their Affectation, and other spiritual Conceptions, as they can be assisted, in their Matrimonal Pregnancies, by the bodily Brothers of my Profession."
— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
Monday, June 8. 1724.
Metaphor
"I am, therefore, inclinable, since very much of my Practice will lie among the Ladies, to call myself a Mind-Midwife: Insinuating, by that Hint, That I can see 'em as safely brought to Bed of their Affectation, and other spiritual Conceptions, as they can be assisted, in their Matrimonal Pregnancies, by the bodily Brothers of my Profession."
Metaphor in Context
I am, you must know, then, a kind of immaterial Anatomist: I can dissect an Imagination; or disembowel a Quality: I am about to make publick Profession of my Art: And having my Chariot as good as ready, the rest of my Apparatus will be, comparatively, of no Consequence. I shall drive fast into Practice. But the chief Scruple I labour under, is, by what Title to distinguish myself: I wou'd make use of the Word Doctor, but that the College of Physicians, who place much Learning in Privilege, wou'd have me ascend, by Degrees, to that Dignity: Which is too phlegmatic a Prescription to agree with my Temper. I am, therefore, inclinable, since very much of my Practice will lie among the Ladies, to call myself a Mind-Midwife: Insinuating, by that Hint, That I can see 'em as safely brought to Bed of their Affectation, and other spiritual Conceptions, as they can be assisted, in their Matrimonal Pregnancies, by the bodily Brothers of my Profession.
(p. 178)
(p. 178)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
Text from The Plain Dealer: Being Select Essays on Several Curious Subjects: Relating to Friendship, ... Poetry, and Other Branches of Polite Literature. Publish'd originally in the year 1724. And Now First Collected into Two Volumes (London: Printed for S. Richardson, and A. Wilde, 1730.) <Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/17/2013
