EHOLD the woes of matrimonial life,
B
And hear with rev'rence an experienc'd wife!
To dear-bought wisdom give the credit due,
And think, for once, a woman tells you true.
In all these trials I have borne a part,
I was myself the scourge that caus'd the smart;
For, fince fifteen, in triumph have I led
Five captive Husbands from the Church to bed.
Chrift faw a wedding once, the scripture says,
And faw but one, 'tis thought, in all his days;
Whence some infer, whose conscience is too nice,
No pious Christian ought to marry twice.
But let them read, and folve me, if they can,
The words address'd to the Samaritan:
Five times in lawful wedlock she was join'd;
And fure the certain stint was ne'er defin'd.