proved with child. 3 — If he can prove her guilty of adultery.
It is believed that the reason why a divorce can be obtained on account of barrenness in a woman is, that the intent of marriage is not fulfilled, it being to increase and multiply.
The rabbins will not allow it lawful for man and wife to act together by day light, or candle light, but order that it must be done in darkness, with the curtains drawn. They add, that any man making water with his nakedness towards the bed, will be reduced to poverty.
THE LOVERS DESIRE
You hate me, dear girl; say no more you love, If I must only know what is above;
To kiss your lips and hands, these are but toys, They're torments unto lovers, and not joys.
I hate the wanton folly of a kiss,
If not a passage to a further bliss.
Men seek treasures in women, and if so,
You must give leave to let them dig below The barren face of earth; since Nature's art, Hath hid such pleasures in her secret part.
Why then so coy? Perhaps you would be wed, Before you'd lose your precious maidenhead;
Then I may claim it as my right and due, The law then gives it me! It is not you;
If you would have me think't a kindness shown, Then give it freely whilst it is your own.
THE LADY AND PHYSICIAN
Fair Urfly, in a merry mood,
Consulted her physician,
What time was best to stir the blood,
And spirits, by coition.
Quoth Woodward, if my judgment's right,
An answer worth returning;
You'll find it pleasantest o'er night,
Most wholesome in the morning.
Quoth Urfly, then, for pleasure's sake,
Each evening will I take it;
And ev'ry morning when I wake,
My constant physic make it.
THE FIG LEAF
Did ladies now (as we are told
Our great grandmother did of old)
Wake to a sense of blasted fame,
The fig-tree spoil to hide their shame,
So num'rous are those modern Eves,
A forest scarce could find them leaves.
VOLUPTUOUS CONFESSIONS OF A FRENCH LADY OF FASHION
[Translated from the French}
PART I
— Continued from page
Everything was in the same state as I have described, but a ladder was necessary, and I knew that there was one to be found in a passage near a linen cupboard. The pair of steps was very heavy, but the burning fire of curiosity that animated my movements doubled my strength. I dragged it into the alcove, found the hole and the canvas that was stretched in front of it, and with a pair of scissors I cut a small piece out of the picture. To my satisfaction, I found I could thus have a good view of the entire room, and above all — of the bed.
I came downstairs quickly, shut the door, took the key, and returned to the garden. Everything had been executed so quickly that no one had noticed the strange fact of my absence. The whole of the day and the evening seemed to me to be mortally long.
At last, about half-past ten, my grandmother retired to rest, and we all followed suit. Monsieur B. wished us good night, and went off to his room; my aunt remained with me for an instant and saw me safely into my bed chamber. I kissed her and said 'good evening.'
I undressed without delay, and dismissed the maid. Then I drew on my stockings again, put on a pair of velvet slippers and a dressing-gown of dark colour, and waited.
At about a quarter after eleven, I slid like a shadow into the corridor; reached the little door without interruption, opened it, and locked myself in, noiselessly and without difficulty, and then I mounted my ladder, settled myself down as comfortably as possible, and looked through my peep hole.
My success was complete, as I could see distinctly. The clean white bed seemed like an altar decked out for a sacrifice; a lamp placed on the night-table inundated the brilliant linen with an intense flood of light. Bertha was in the adjoining room, where I heard her performing her ablutions. They took some time, and were apparently of varied kinds, if I judge by the sound of a certain instrument that made a noise as if of clockwork being wound up.
She came back into the room at last, with nothing on but her dressing-gown, and going to the bed turned it down, arranged the pillows, and placed the lamp so as to throw a still greater light upon it. Then she took a delicate cambric chemise, trimmed with lace, and advancing towards the fulllength mirror of the wardrobe, looked in the glass for a minute or two, and by a graceful movement of her shoulders let slip the chemise she had on, which arrested in its downward course for a second by the swelling of her hips, soon fell twisted at her feet. She had already put off her gown, and now appeared completely naked before my startled eyes.
No one could dream of anything finer! Her breasts, firm and high, stuck out boldly, and were surmounted by two strawberry nipples of a bright rose-pink; the fall of her back and her backside were both admirable.
At the bottom of her white and polished belly, her luxurious ebony fleece, the length and thickness of which constituted a true rarity, could be plainly seen. The contrast of this enormous black spot upon a body so white gave to Bertha a peculiar appearance of strange voluptuousness.
She drew her lace shift over her head, put on her dressinggown again, loosely tying her girdle, and then walked into her parlour, holding the door ajar. A moment afterwards, I heard cautious footsteps, the door was shut to and double locked, and Bertha and Monsieur B. appeared in the bedroom.
He had slippers on his naked feet, and was dressed in a summer smoking jacket, under which was only his shirt. Bertha made him sit upon a sofa, and she took her place on his left knee. Their mouths met in a lingering kiss, and then they spoke of their marriage, retarded by some obstacle that Monsieur B. could soon overcome.
