The Complete Mother, Chapter 1
CHAP. I. Wherein the Caſe is briefly ſtated, and all thoſe Texts of Scripture alledged which relate to it: Together with the Arguments and Inferences which reſult from them.
§ 1. IT will not be neceſſary to ſpend much time in any elaborate ſtating of the Caſe, which I have undertaken. For it is agreed on all hands, that where there is a natural Inability or any bodily Infirmities in the Mother (real and not meerly pretended) that might have a pernicious Influence on her Nurſery, God who by his Providence hath cauſed thoſe Impediments, doth in ſuch caſes diſpenſe with this Duty.
§ 2. So that this is the Caſe, Whether all Mothers, be their Quality what it will, who are neither diſenabled by any natural Defect, nor contracted Infirmity, are bound in Duty to give Suck themſelves to their own Children.
This I affirm, and ſhall endeavour to evince both from the Holy Scriptures recommending it as a Duty, the miſchievous Conſequences of neglecting it, and the Inſufficiency of all the uſual Plea's, which are made for ſuch neglect. Which three general Heads ſhall limit my enſuing Diſcourſe.
§ 3. I begin with the Holy Scriptures. And becauſe I intend all poſſible plainneſs, without the Affectation of any artificial Method, I ſhall offer ſome Paſſages to Conſideration in the ſame order as they lye in our Bibles, and make ſome obvious Remarks upon them, and ſuch Inferences as they will fairly bear, as I proceed.
§ 4. And to begin with the Old Teſtament, the firſt paſſage we meet with to this purpoſe is in Gen. 21.7. where Sarah ſaith,Gen. 21.7. Who would have ſaid unto Abraham, that Sarah ſhould have given Children Suck? For I have borne him a Son in his Old Age. We have Sarah a Nurſe as well as a Mother, though ſhe were the Wiſe not of a mean Peaſant, but of a mighty Prince; a Prince ſo Potent, that the neighbouring Kings courted his Alliance. A Prince abounding in Wealth and Power, the Maſter of a numerous Family, out of which he could number 318 Men fit to bear Arms, and all born in his Houſe. Now the Wiſe of ſuch an one could not want Conveniencies among ſo many Child-bearing Women that were in her Family, for the Nurſing of her Son by another; ſhe might have pleaded either State or Buſineſs to have excuſed her ſelf from the Employment; eſpecially being grown into years, which made her leſs able to undergo the Fatigue of ſuch an Office; and having Beauty beyond what was ordinary at her Years, the decay of which, by the Toil and Watchings incident to a Nurſe, ſhe might have fairly pleaded. But waving all theſe Plea's, ſhe includes it her Duty to Nurſe the Fruit of her own Womb. For her words imply ſo much, Who would have ſaid to Abraham, that Sarah ſhould have given Suck? For I have borne him a Son, q. d. It is, I doubt nor, the Mothers Office, who bears the Child, to give it Suck; ſince then I have borne Abraham a Son, I muſt give it Suck and Nurſe it for him. Had it been uſual in thoſe times for vertuous Mothers to decline this Office, ſhe would not have inferred her Nurſing a Son for Abraham from her bearing of one; whereas the one implying the other intimates a neceſſary Conſequence of the one from the other. And I do with the greater Confidence urge this Argument, becauſe it is St. Ambroſe's Note on this Verſe,De Abrah. l. 1. c. 7. The Moral uſe of this is, that Women are provoked to remember their Dignity, and to give Suck to their Children. This is the proper Grace, the Honour of a Mother, whereby ſhe may recommend her ſelf to her own Husband. However this is certain, that this Pious Mother whom the Apoſtle propoſes as a Pattern to her Sex, and exhorts all Wives to imitate, that will do well, 1 Pet. 3.6.and diſcharge Faithfully the Duties of their Relations, ſhe not only Nurſes her Son her ſelf, but plainly intimates, that ſhe thought it her Duty to do ſo; though ſhe might have pleaded as many Excuſes as moſt of them can who decline this Office. They then that neglect the Duty, and have no better Pretences for ſuch their neglect, than thoſe which ſhe waved as inſufficient, are faulty at leaſt on this account, that they refuſe to imitate Sarah, whom the Apoſtle tells Wives they muſt follow, if they will do well.
§ 5. The next Text is in Gen. Gen 49.2549.25. where the Patriarch Jacob having foretold the numerous increaſe of the Tribe of Joſeph, that like a Fruitful Vine, Gen. 49.22whoſe Branches ſpread over the wall, it ſhould multiply into two Tribes; he aſſures him that the God who had preſerved and proſpered him, notwithſtanding his many Afflictions from his Brethren at firſt, and the Egyptians afterward,V. 25. ſhould Bleſs his Poſterity with Bleſſings of Heaven above, Bleſſings of the Deep, that lieth beneath, Bleſſings of the Breaſt and of the Womb, i.e. He would provide for him an Inheritance, fertile and well watered with Fountains and Rivers, and a numerous Poſterity to enjoy it. Where it is to be obſerved, that the Bleſſings of the Breaſt and of the Womb are conjoyned, and a Promiſe made to this Tribe, that in order to its Increaſe, the Wives ſhould be Fruitful to bear, and Careful to Nurſe their own; that God would bleſs it with ſuch Women, as both would bear a numerous Off-ſpring and nouriſh their own Off-pring with their own Breads. Whence the Inference is obvious, that as a Fruitful Wife is a Bleſſing, ſo when ſhe Nurſes her Children ſhe is a double Bleſſing to a Family. And as it is the Duty of every one to be as great a Bleſſing as ſhe can be to her Family, ſo ſuch Women muſt need be faulty, who after God hath given the Bleſſings of the Womb, refuſe to compleat the Felicity by the Bleſſings of the Breaſt. The ten thouſands of Ephraim,Deut. 33.17. and the thouſands of Manaſſeh, are the effects of theſe Bleſſings of the Breaſt and of the Womb; and intimates to us, that it is a likely way to obtain a numerous Poſterity, ſuch as Joſeph's was, for Fruitful Mothers to become themſelves Careful Nurſes.
§ 6. In Exod. 2.7, 8. when Pharaoh's Daughter ſends to ſeek out for a Nurſe for Moſes, Exod. 2.7, 8.whom ſhe found expoſed, her Maid called the Childs Mother, and to her ſhe committed the little Nurſery. Now this may be conſidered, either as the Act of the Royal Princeſs, the Contrivance of the Mother, or a Diſpenſation of Divine Providence. If we ſuppoſe that Pharaoh's Daughter ſent on purpoſe to enquire out the Mother of the expoſed Infant, we may conclude, ſhe thought her the fitteſt to Nurſe it. If it be rather thought, that the Mother laid her Daughter to watch and be ready if any ſuch occaſion ſhould happen, to call her rather than another, we have a commendable Inſtance of her Pious and Tender Concern for her Son, and carneſt deſire to Nurſe it her ſelf, rather than any other ſhould eaſe her of that Burden, and do that work for her. But if beſides either the Princeſs or the Mothers Intention God by his wiſe Providence determined the Meſſenger to apply her ſelf to the Mother rather than any other Woman; we have the plain Determination of God himſelf, that the Mother is fitteſt to Nurſe her own Child, and that it was beſt for this Infant, whom he intended for extraordinary Service, to have the advantage of the moſt ſuitable Nurſe. And it is further obſervable, that tho God would have Moſes trained up in Learning by the Egyptian Doctors, that he might be better qualified for the great Charge he was hereafter to undertake, yet he would not have him Suck Milk from an Egyptian Nurſe, which might have ſome bad Influence upon his Conſtitution and his Manners.
§ 7. Numb. 11.12. Moſes thus expoſtulates with God, Have I conceived all this People? Have I begot them? *foreign is as properly ſpoken of the Mother as of the Father. And Conception being peculiar to the Mother, it ſeems more reaſonable to render it in Analogy thereto. Have I brought them forth?or brought them forth) That thou ſhouldeſt ſay unto me, Carry them in thy Boſom, as a Nurſing Father (or*There is no word in the Original for Father, only the Participle foreign is Maſculine; which yet the 72 render by foreign which for moſt part is Feminine, and ſignifies a Nurſe. And conſidering that Frequently in Hebrew one Gender is put for another, It may well be rendred a Nurſe here, as more ſuitable to Conception and bring forth in the clauſe foregoing. as a Nurſe) beareth the Sucking Child to the Land, which thou ſwareſt unto their Fathers. Where Moſess Argument ſtands upon this Foundation that whoſoever hath conceived and brought forth, ought to become Nurſe to the Sucking Child, and carry it in her Boſom. Unleſs this be granted; his Argument is invalid and nothing to the purpoſe, the whole force of which ſeems to depend on that Suppoſition. Judge then whether is more reaſonable to charge Moſes with an Abſurdity, or thoſe Women with an Immorality who neglect the Duty, which he takes for granted. He thought himſelf not obliged like a Nurſe to bear that froward People in his Boſom, becauſe he had not conceived them nor brought them forth. Thereby evidently implying, that the Mother who hath conceived and brought forth the Infant, ought (however froward it may be) to become its Nurſe, and Suckle it in her Boſom.
§ 8. If we turn over to 1 Sam. 1.22, 23. we find,1 Sam. 1.22, 23. that after Hannah by her Prayers had obtained a Son, ſhe reſolves to lay aſide all other buſineſs, that ſhe might attend this important one, the Nurſing of her Samuel. She was a Woman of great Piety, who conſtantly went with her Hushand to the Sanctuary at the Feaſts. Yet knowing how much God prefers Mercy before Sacrifice, ſhe reſolves to do ſo too; ſtaying at home to Nurſe her Son, as what ſhe apprehended more acceptable to God, than to appear at his Tabernacle with an Offering, and leave her Child at home to ſome Mercenary's Care. Whence we may conclude, that even the Pretences of Piety, which of all others are the moſt plauſible, are not ſufficient to excuſe Mothers from this piece of Charity; and that if their Nurſery ſhould detain them for that time from a conſtant Attendance on God's publick Worſhip, he will in ſuch a caſe diſpence with their abſence, and accept their Charity toward their Infants inſtead of Devotion to himſelf. Perſons of Quality indeed may have ſuch aſſiſtance, that there can be no neceſſity of their confinement from Gods Houſe, eſpecially ſince none of them but are much nearer to a Church than Ramah was to Shiloh, Bunting's Travel of Patriarchswhich is computed to be twelve Miles, ſo that ordinarily they cannot have that Plea to make. Yet if any be in ſuch Circumſtances, that either the publick Worſhip of God or the Nurſing her Child muſt be neglected, ſhe hath here a preſident to determine the caſe in favour of Charity againſt the ſpecious Objections of Devotion. And it is further obſervable, that Hannah's Nurſing of her firſt Son, was ſo far from hindring Fertility, that it rather procured a Divine Benediction, which multiplied her Poſterity to three Sons and two Daughters, 1 Sam. 2.21ſufficient to reſcue her from her Rivals Taunts, and rank her in the Catalogue of fruitful Mothers. So vain is that popular Pretence, that Nurſing is an Impediment to Fruitfulneſs, and to be declin'd by great Perſons for the better ſecuring of Succeſſion by a numerous Poſterity; for if thoſe bear faſter who dry up their Breaſts, they that Nurſe their Children commonly bear longer, and bring more up to an Healthful Maturity; which comes to paſs, partly through their greater Care, and partly through Gods Bleſſing on their exemplary Piety.
§ 9. There is a Story in 1 Kings 3.21. of two Women of an infamous Character,1. Kings 3.21. being ſtiled Harlots; nor will I take the advantage ſome Interpreters give me, to ſoften that Denomination into Victuallers; but will ſuppoſe them to have been bad Women, yet obſerving ſomething remarkably good in one of them, it is the more to be took notice of. Now it is evident that the one of theſe Harlots was a tender Mother, though ſhe had been an unchaſt Woman, and loved her Child very well, however ſhe came by it; and it is recorded of her, that ſhe her ſelf gave it Suck. Which is an Argument, that though ſhe had not Vertue ſufficient to ſecure her Chaſtity, yet ſhe was not ſo overgrown with Vice, as to have obliterated Natural Affection. The better of theſe two Harlots hath the Character of a Fond Mother, and her pleading before King Solomon, that ſhe roſe to give her Child Suck, is an Intimation that this was a Duty of good Eſteem in thoſe days, and that it would make ſomething for her that ſhe had done ſo. And how can thoſe Mothers pretend Affection to their Children, who attain not to the Tenderneſs of this good-natur'd Harlot?
ſect; 10. In the Book of Job, Job 39.16c. 39.16. there is an elegant Deſcription of the Oſtriches ſtupid neglect of her young ones, wherein this is eſpecially took notice of, That ſhe hardened her ſelf againſt her young ones, as though they were not hers. Whereby the Spirit of God intimates it to be an Aggravation of Hard-heartedneſs to deal hardly with thoſe that are young, eſpecially where natural Relation obliges to a tender Regard: And that the nearer any come to reſemble the Oſtriches Obduracy, in neglecting to take care of their Off ſpring, the more unnatural and cruel they may be juſtly deemed. And if it be a piece of Hardſhip to turn off a tender Infant to a Mercenary Nurſe (as I doubt not but in the ſequel of this Diſcourſe will be manifeſt) thoſe Mothers muſt be accounted more Ʋnnatural than the Oſtrich, becauſe they have not ſo much Stupidity.
§ 11. In Pſal. 29.9. the Pſalmiſt ſays,Pſal. 22.9 Thou didſt make me hope, when I was upon my Mothers Breaſts. Now hope is an act of Reaſon, not to be exerted by an Infant not yet arrived to the Exerciſe of Reaſon, yet here in a Poetical ſtile attributed to ſuch an one; to intimate, that the Care God takes of Infants, and the early Proviſion he hath made for them, by filling their Mothers Breaſts as ſoon as they have left her Womb, is an Argument that Mankind is under the Care of God's Providence, and of ſufficient force to engage even Infants to hope in God, if they were capable. And hence it is evident, that it is the Intention of the God of Nature, in furniſhing the Mother with full Breaſts, to oblige her to miniſter thereby to his Providence for the Preſervation of her Child. Moreover the Pſalmiſt's uſing ſuch a Phraſe as this, doth not only imply that he was nurſed by his own Mother, but alſo that it was uſual in thoſe days, for Mothers themſelves to perform that Office. The Practiſe of our Age would ſcarce allow us to expreſs the time of Infancy by hanging on the Mothers Breaſts, wherein ſo few enjoy that Priviledge. And if we grant that ſuch Idioms of Language are founded on the prevailing Cuſtoms of Nations, we may conclude from this Phraſe (and that of Solomon's, who expreſſes a Brother Periphraſtically, by one that ſucked the Breaſts of his Mother) that it was in thoſe days very common,Cant. 8.1. and accounted moſt reaſonable, that the Mother ſhould Nurſe at her Breaſts all the Children ſhe had born in her Womb.
§ 12. The Prophet Jeremiah exaggerates the Extremity of Famine in Jeruſalem by this Circumſtance, that it had made Mothers Cruel to their Infants, and uncapable of giving them Suck, Lam. 4.23. Even the Sea-monſters draw out the Breaſts, Lam. 4.23.they give Suck to their young ones; but the Daughters of my People is become Cruel, like the Oſtriches in the Wilderneſs. It's true, it ſeems to be not ſo much from the Hardneſs of their Hearts, as of the Times, that the Daughters of Jeruſalem do not that for their Off-ſpring, which the very Seamonſters do for theirs, and which no Creature on the Land is ſo much a Brute as to neglect, except the Oſtrich, whoſe ſtupidity is ſuch, that ſhe leaves her Eggs in the Sand and takes no further care of them, no nor of her young ones neither, after the heat of the Sun and of the Sand hath hatched them. And nothing certainly, but the Extremity of Famine, could make the Daughters of Jeruſalem ſo Cruel, that no Monſter at Sea, no Brute on Land, can parallel them, except the Oſtrich. How then can they excuſe themſelves, who neglect their Children as much out of Luxury, and in the midst of Plenty, as thoſe Iſraelites did through Famine? The Prophet thought this an Inſtance fit to exaggerate the great Miſery of a Famine, that it conſtrained Mothers to that which Nature moſt abhors. We may then reaſonably conclude, That he would have paſſed a very ſevere Cenſure on thoſe Mothers that become Cruel in the midſt of Plenty; and for that very reaſon too, becauſe they abound with Plenty. They are more unnatural than Sea-Monſters, that draw out their Breaſts to their young ones, whilſt theſe turn theirs off to ſome mean and Mercenary Neighbour.
§ 13. I ſhall conclude my Obſervations out of the Old Teſtament, Hoſ. 9.14.with that paſſage of the Prophet Hoſ. 9.14. Give them, O Lord, What wilt thou give them? Give them a miſcarrying Womb and dry Breaſts. For whether he pray for this as a Bleſſing for Iſrael, that they may not be more miſerable (in the common Slaughter of their Country) for their Fertility, as our Lord Chriſt pronounces ſuch comparatively Happy in the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem, that were barren and had never born, Luke 23.29.and whoſe Paps had never given, Suck. Or whether he denounce it as a Curſe, that their Women ſhould be Barren and puniſhed with a miſcarrying Womb and dry Breaſts; which way ſoever we underſtand it, it affords us this Concluſion, that the Spirit of God in the Scriptures makes dry Breaſts as well as a miſcarrying Womb, the Periphraſis of Barrenneſs; thereby declaring it equally unnatural for a Mother by artificial Applications to dry her Breaſts, as to force Abortion; and that where God gives a fruitful Womb, he expects ordinarily that the Breaſts ſhould give Suck. God gives dry Breaſts aſ a Curſe to ſome, as an Affliction to others; but they that invite that, whether Curſe or Affliction, to themſelves by voluntary Applications, love not Bleſſing, therefore it ſhall be far from them.
Thus have I lead you through the Old Teſtament, and ſhewed you the laudable. Examples it gives Mothers for Nurſing their Children, and the plain Intimations (at leaſt) of the Divine Pleaſure, that they ſhould do likewiſe.
§ 14. I proceed to ſet before you ſuch paſſages of the New Teſtament as are of the ſame Importance, and furniſh us with ſome Proofs of the caſe propoſed.
In the Goſpel we read of a Woman, who in a Rapture of Admiration at Chriſt's Diſcourſes, cries out,Luke 11.27. Bleſſed is the Womb that bare thee, and the Paps which thou haſt Sucked. Which ſhews that ſhe took it for granted, that the Mother of our Lord gave him Suck. And upon this evidence, and becauſe we find that Joſeph in his Flight with his Holy Infant into Egypt, took none other with him but the Bleſſed Virgin, it hath been unanimouſly agreed, that ſhe was the Nurſe as well as the Mother of Chriſt. And ſince this Virgin, not only for the Nobility of her Extraction (tho now ſunk into a meaner Fortune) but eſpecially for the Purity of her Manners, hath juſtly been reputed the Glory of her Sex, none can have an Example more worthy of her Imitation. God choſe not (ſaith one of the Ancients) any ordinary Woman to be the Mother of Chriſt, Apud Juſt. Mart quaeſt. & reſp. ad Orthod. q. 136. p. 375but one that excelled all other Women in Vertue; whom he therefore pronounces Bleſſed for her Vertues, for which he vouchſafed her to be his Mother. And ſuch eminent Vertues in this Royal Virgin recommend her as a fit Example for the beſt and the greateſt of her Sex to imitate.
§ 15. In the next place it may be obſerved, That the Chriſtian Religion hath adopted into Law and Duty, all thoſe things which generally approve themſelves to the unprejudiced Reaſon of Mankind,Phil. 4.8. to be things Honeſt, Lovely, and of good Report. Things honest (foreign) Grave, 1 Tim. 3.11.or becoming Chaſt and Vertuous Matrons. Things Lovely (foreign) which are generally Grateful to all wiſe and vertuous Perſons, and apt to procure Love. Things of good Report, which are apt to procure to the Perſons that do them, and to the Religion which they profeſs, good Eſteem and Commendation. Now I dare appeal to all the World, whether thoſe few Perſons of Quality and Honour are not generally looked upon with a Veneration and Eſteem, who having broke through an unreaſonable Cuſtom, and preferred the good of their Children before a Fantaſtick Privilege of Greatneſs, become Nurſes to their own Off-ſpring. Who doth not approve of this as an Action becoming the Gravity of a Chaſt Lady? In whoſe Eyes is it not a Spectacle moſt Lovely? What vertuous and ſober Perſons but think it very Praiſe-worthy? From this general Precept of Chriſtianity therefore we muſt conclude this generally to be the Duty of Chriſtian Matrons.
§ 16. That of the Apoſtles 1 Theſſ. 2.7. is not here to be omitted.1 Theſſ. 2.7. We were gentle among you, even as a Nurſe cheriſheth her Children. foreign.Where two things are obſervable: Firſt, That the Mother is here ſtiled a Nurſe; for it is her own Children, not anothers, whom the Nurſe is ſaid to Cheriſh. Whence it ſeems, that the Apoſtle taking it for granted, that the Mother is her ſelf the Nurſe, implies it the Duty of all Mothers to undertake that Office. Secondly, That St. Paul chooſes to expreſs his own mild and gentle Behaviour toward the Church, by a Mother Nurſing her own. Which implies, that the Mothers Care is the greateſt, and her Carriage the moſt Tender toward her Nurſery, who is influenced by Natural Affection, and not meerly by hopes of Reward. It would have been a Diſparagement to the Apoſtles mild and tender Behaviour towards them, to have compared him with a Mercenary Nurſe, that looks to anothers Child for hire, and is rarely ſo careful of it as its own Mother, to whom Nature dictates the moſt compaſſionate Concern for its welfare.
§ 17. Hitherto in the next place belongs the Character which the Apoſtle gives of a Widow indeed, 1 Tim. 5.10.who is to be maintained by the Churches Charity. He requires, among other Virtues, that ſhe be well reported for good Works, and that ſhe have brought up Children. foreign.The Greek word denotes Nurſing Children. Our Lexicons cite Ariſtotle for the uſe of it, and it is obſerable, that he uſes the Verb, from which this is compounded to denote this peculiar Office of the Mother in his Oeconomicks, which becauſe it gives us the Judgment of that great Philoſopher,Ariſt. Oeco. l. 1. c. 3. foreign. And foreign, Acts 13.18. is in the Margent of our Bibles rendred, Suffered them, as a Nurſe beareth the Child. And by Dr. Hammond, Carried them as a Nurſe; who concludes the right reading to be foreign from foreign, to do the Office of a Nurſe; who not only bears the Child in her Arms, but feeds and ſuſtains it too, as God did the Iſraelites in the Wilderneſs. foreign is alſo rendred a Nurſe in the Text aforecited, 1 Theſſ. 2.7. I will here tranſcribe. As to their Children, ſaith he, both Parents equally contribute to their Generation; but their Offices are peculiar as to their future Improvement. The Mothers Office is to Nurſe, and the Fathers to Educate or Correct. In the Judgment then of St. Paul, thoſe Widows who had nurſed their own Children, were reputed to have done a good Work; and they that had not done ſo, were judged for that very reaſon unworthy of the Churches Charity. And as we may very well preſume, the Apoſtle would not have exempted any indigent Widow from that Privilege for no Fault; but that it was a thing Scandalous and of very ill report, for any Chriſtian Matron not to have nurſed her own Children.
§ 18. I ſhall only add, That among the Duties of the younger Women, ſuch as are not yet paſt Child bearing, they are to be taught, That they love their Children, Tit. 2.4. For if it be conſidered, that Nurſing their own Children is a very proper and natural Teſtimony to maternal Love, and the moſt likely means not only to expreſs but increaſe their natural Affection toward them; I ſee not how they can evade the Obligation of this Precept. For the Law of Love obliges a Mother to all proper Means and Ways of teſtifying and maintaining her Love, and conſequently to this. The greateſt Ladies are bound to love their Children as well as the meaneſt Beggar, and conſequently to neglect no proper means of ſhewing and cheriſhing it: So that unleſs they deny Nurſing of them to be ſuch, they muſt hence conclude it to be their Duty.
§ 19. But before I put an end to this Chapter, it is requiſite that I take notice of ſome paſſages which ſeem to diſcountenance the Cauſe I have been pleading for; leaſt my pretermitting of them ſhould make any to fancy it was not for the Weakneſs but Cogency and Weight of the Objection that is raiſed from them. I mean thoſe Texts which mention ſome Nurſes who were not the Mothers of the Children whom they Nurſed. Such was Deborah, Gen. 35.8. Ruth 4.10.Rebecca's Nurſe; Naomi, who became Nurſe to her Grandſon by Ruth; Mephiboſheth's Nurſe,2 Sam. 4.4. 2 Kings 11.2. who let him fall as ſhe ſled; and Joaſh's Nurſe that was hid with him.
§ 20. Now in anſwer to theſe Inſtances, I ſhall only offer theſe things. 1. That in ſome caſes it is ſo far from being a neceſſary Duty, that it is not poſſible for the Child to be nurſed by its own Mother: As if ſhe die in Childbed, or lye under ſome natural Inability from the want of Nipples or Suck. And in ſuch caſes recourſe muſt be had to ſome other means for the Infants Preſervation. And for what appears to the contrary, this may be the occaſion of the Subſtitution of ſome of the Nurſes abovenamed. Joaſh's Nurſe it's probable ſupplied the Office of his deceaſed Mother; for his Aunts Care about his Preſervation makes it likely, that his Mother was either dead before, or was Murdered in the univerſal Butchery of the Royal Family by Athaliah. 2. Some of thoſe before named were dry Nurſes, Aſſiſtants only not Subſtitutes to the Mother: Such doubtleſs was Naomi, whoſe Age and long Widowhood makes it very unlikely, that ſhe ſhould be able to give her Grandchild Suck. And Pareus from Jacob's ſolemn Mourning at the Death of Deborah, concludes her to have been called Rebecca's Nurſe, becauſe ſhe had aſſiſted her in the Nurſing of her Children, and not as if ſhe had given her Suck; and that for this reaſon Jacob after his Mothers Death, had taken her into his own Family. 3. If it be granted moſt probable (as to me it ſeems to be) that Mephiboſheth's Nurſe gave him Suck, and was ſubſtituted in the room of his Mother; this will be no diſadvantage to our Cauſe. For as it was his great Unhappineſs to loſe his Mother betimes, ſo it was a greater, to be committed to ſuch a Nurſe, as by her Careleſneſs (perhaps) made him a Cripple to his Death. Laſtly, I cannot upon the whole, remember one Inſtance out of the Holy Scriptures, of any either good or bad Mother, who did her ſelf deliver her Child to another to Nurſe, nor is it probable that any of the Nurſes inſtanced above, were made ſuch by the Mothers of the Children themſelves whilſt they were living, and therefore they reach not to Patronize their Caſe, who ordinarily do ſo.
§ 21. Thus I have given a juſt and impartial account of the Teſtimonies of the Holy Scripture both of the Old and New Teſtament, which reſpect our preſent ſubject; and if they have been impartially conſidered, they muſt needs have ſatisfied you, that thoſe Mothers are moſt conformable to the Dictates of God's Spirit in his Word, who themſelves Nurſe their own Children. And all the Favour I deſire of any Mother upon the Survey of the forementioned particulars, is to allow her own Conſcience to determine, whether God hath not in his Word plainly enough declared this to be her Duty. And then, I hope, none will be ſo Vain or Impious, as to oppoſe Cuſtom or the Privilege of her Rank, to ſuch indiſputable Authority and plain Convictions of her Duty.