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other side of the channel; our neighbours, the French, (from whom it might ⚫have been rather supposed we had adopted the custom), whatever we may think of their effeminacy, seem to have more refined notions of delicacy and propriety. It is said, the example of our illustrious Queen gave that august countenance to a fashion which has since become so general: indeed the practice seems much better to accord with the cold and phlegmatic ideas of German sentimentality, than with the benign influence of a warmer temperament. But why it should be so universally countenanced in a country so celebrated for modesty, delicacy, and good sense, as our own, is nevertheless not easy to say.

Men, as exercising the functions of accoucheur, are no where mentioned in Scripture, but midwives are mentioned in at least six or seven places: and that with considerable honour. The first mention of the office, is, Gen. xxxv. 16. in the case of Rachel the beloved wife of the patriarch Jacob, who it is said "travailed and had hard labour," as she journeyed between. Beth-el and Ephrath," and it came to pass when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not, thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin:" (xxxv. 18.) This, it may be retorted, is a most unfortunate case; the first instance of midwifery on record, and the consequence of the midwife's interference, (unqualified no doubt!) was; a living child, but a dead mother: if this never happened under the operation of the most skilfull surgeon, it would certainly be a final argument against the employment of midwives: an allusion to a recent case which was a national loss and occasioned a public calamity, is almost too afflicting. The next case in scripture is that of Tamar, who bore twins, and is connected with circumstances highly honourable to the midwife, see Genesis xxxviii. 28. The next and most particular instance in which they are mentioned is Exod. i. Every person will recollect that this is the chapter containing the famous edict of Pharoah king of Egypt, respecting the destruction of all the male children of the Hebrew sojourners; and that the midwives were charged with this infanticidal commission; but it is said they feared God, and, to the honour of their sex, their profession, and their religion, they discarded the cruel edict of the king, and spared the male children alive: thereby obtaining that honour which shall be told for a memorial of them to the world's end. This passage is alluded to, principally, as strengthening the fact that there were no men-midwives in Egypt, or they would in all propability have been entrusted with the destruction of the infants, and perhaps might have executed the order more faithfully. We may likewise gather that the midwives were numerous; Aben-Ezra a Spanish rabbi, supposes at least five-hundred, among the Hebrews. It is likely there were not so many, as the instances of easy parturition alluded to in the text, shows that much fewer were necessary. The number however of these women must have been considerable, which sets their faithfulness in a strong light, as there is no mention of any of them having executed the murderous command enjoined on their office.

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I am aware that, in the instances mentioned above, the persons either led a pastoral life, or wrought at hard labour in the open air, circumstances which, it is said, make child-birth comparatively easy, and in some countries renders even the assistance of the midwife almost needless. I am aware, too, that sedentary females, and generally those resident in large

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towns, have often difficult and protracted labours; their habits being so remote from the active state of nature, that the pains which mark the period of their becoming mothers are greatly exacerbated.

Nevertheless in all large towns there are some midwives, and towards these the faculty manifest an avowed and unceasing dislike; and no wonder; for although they are as frequently successful (when employed), as their more scientific competitors, the surgeons, yet they are generally found illiterate and ignorant matrons, of more nerve than sensibility-of intrepid courage in those moments when most females would shrink with timidity. Now, Mr. Editor, I must beg leave to insist that the office of delivering women in childbirth, naturally and properly pertains to my own sex; the scripture instances will prove it to have been an honourable office formerly ; I ask if there is any thing to make it less honourable now? if there be not, I appeal to the common sense, the common delicacy, and the individual op nion of both sexes, especially my own, if it be not desirable that well educated and respectable females should be properly instructed in the obstetric art; and there can be no doubt, if thus initiated in theoretic knowledge connected with practice and experience, they would soon supersede the necessity of the common faculty. I would hint the pleasure I should feel to know that some female among the Quakers, influenced by these remarks, would assume the functions of a mid-wife, with a character of respectability superior to that they usually assume. I am sure, that she or any other, would be an acquisition to the community, a comfort to many of her sex who are driven to employ the surgeon through fear of the midwife's want of ability, or tempted to discard her services because rude, illiterate, and poor.

In conclusion, Mr. Editor, I have only one remark to make, it may seem from some passages in my communication, as if I intended to reflect disrespect, or cast an odium on the gentlemen of the faculty; nothing is farther from my intentions, next to the physicians of the soul, the physicians of the body ought to be esteemed-so I esteem them; and it is only because I observe a desire in them to arrogate a prescriptive right to the exercise of those functions, in the exercise of which, intuitive modesty, common sense, and inexpediency concur to prove they have no right, that I have taken the liberty of troubling you with this letter, in the hope that it may excite some superior talent to investigate the subject, and if possible to explode the necessity of such anomalous practice.

July 25, 1218.

I am, yours, &c.

HORTENSIA.

To the Editors of the Northern Star.

ON Saturday the 13th inst. as I was standing in the garden of a friend near Rotherham, a very splendid rainbow appeared; presently afterwards ⚫ a secondary external one at the distance of about 10° from it; and a little time after, a third, whose outer edge coincided with the inner of the first; its colours were quite distinct, but very faint. It was about seven o'clock in the evening.

As I have never seen any account of such an appearance, I shall feel obliged to any of your readers who could favour me with an explanation of the same, through the medium of your Magazine.

R.S. T.

ANCIENT RECORD RELATING TO CATTERICK CHURCH, ༥༠༠�༠༠༡༠༦༢༠༥༠༠༠

CATTERICK is a pleasant village in the north riding of the county of York, through which, without doubt, most of your readers have passed during some period of their lives. I will not enter into a long dissertation upon the antiquity of the place, as a very ample account of it may be found in the third volume of Camden's Britannia, edited by Gough. Why I men tion this place now is, that an ancient contract for building the church has lately fallen into my hands; and as it is rather a matter of curiosity, and has, I believe, never been yet laid before the public, I send you a copy for insertion in your useful Miscellany. Many of the words are, perhaps, now unintelligible, and not to be found in any of our glossaries, yet from the context of the whole the meaning may be easily ascertained. Where there are omissions and half words, the manuscript is either torn or the letters obliterated by damp, Sir Harry Lawson, Bart, of Brough-Hall, is, I believe, in possession of the original, having inherited it from one of his ancestors by the female line, who were parties to the contract with the masons. Without any more preamble the following is a copy, the spelling being strictly attended to :

The Contract for the Rebuilding of Catterick Church, made between Dame Catherine Burgh, of Burgh-Hall, and Richard of Crake-Hall, mason, dated on the 18th day of April, in the 13th year of the reign of King Henry 5th. A, D. 1425.

"This endenture made atte Burgh the aghteende day of the month of Aprile, the yere of Kinge Henry fefth after the Conquest of Ingland thir. teenthe*, betwixt Dame Katerine of Burgh sometyme the wife of John Burgh, William of Burgh the sonne of the foresaid John and Dame Katerine of the ta partie, and Richard of Cracall, mason, on the tother partie, beres witness, That the foresaid Richard takes full charge for to make the Kirke of Catric newe als workmanshippe and mason crafte will, and that the foresaid Richard sall fynde alle the labeeres and services pertenand to the Kirke makying, and that the foresaide Richard sall take downe and ridde of the stane werke of the alde Kirke of Katrik after the tymber be tayne downe-And he sall care and bere alle the stane warke of the alde Kirke to the place whare the new Kirke sall be made-And also forsaide Richard sall take the grounde and ridde the grounde whare the newe Kirke sall be made-And the forsaide Richard sall gette or gasse gette atte the quarell atte his awen coste alle the stuffe of the stane that misters more for the making of the Kirke of Katrik than that stuffe that is fonne within the Kirke yerde beforsaide→ And also the foresaide Richard byndes him be this endentor that he shall mak the Kirke and the Quire of Katrik newe als werkemanshippe and mason crafte will, that is to say, the Quere sall be of lenght within with the

* Post conquestum was first used by Edward III. to distinguish the Edwards after the conquest from the Edward before it; and this addition to their title was continued by his successors as far as Elizabeth. Cowel.-There is an obvious error in the date of the reign in this instrument, which our kind correspondent has not noticed, attributable. doubtless, to the want of accuracy which distinguished the deeds of that age; King Henry V. reigned but nine years. ED.

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thicknes of bath walles fifti fote, and it sall of brede within, that is to say, within the walles twa and twenty fete-And the foresaide Richarde sall make wyndowe in the gavil fife lights accordant to the hight of the Kirke coventily made be werkmanshippe and mason crafte-And he sall make upon the corner of the south side of the same windowe a stanche botras rising unto the cabill yt.--And he sall make a windowe of twa lightes atte the awter ende covenably made be werkenianshippe and mason crafte and a botras rising unto the cabill as it is before saide-And he sall make a windowe on the same side of twa lightes and a botras accordant thereto on the same side-And the forsaid Richard sall make then a Quere dore on whider side of the botras that it will best be-And a windowe of twa lightes anense the-And on the corner of the north est ende of the forsaide Quere sall make a stanche botras accordant to the hight beforesaide-And the forsaide Richard sall putte on the

-for the makying of a Revestery-And he sall make a dore on the same side for a Revestery and a botras accordant to the hight beforesaide-And the foresaide Richard sall sette a windowe of thre lightes anens the Deskes the whilke stande nowe in the old Quere on the south side, the hight of the walles of the Quere beforesaide sall be above the grounde twenty fote with aabowne, that is to say, with a course of And also the foresaide Richard

windowe in the -beginning -covenably

ashelore and a course of sall make within the Quere a high Awter joinand on the gavill with thre greses accordant thareto the highest gresseatte the Revestory dore with thremade be mason crafte within the same quereAnd the forsaid Richard sall make the body of the Kirke accordant of widenes betwene the pilers to the Quire And the lenght of the body of the Kirke sall be threscore fote and tenne with the thicknes of the west walle, and on aither side foure arches with twa Eles accordant to the lenght of the body-and aither Ele sall be made of breede of elleven fote within the walle-And the forsaide Richard sall mak a windowe in the south Ele, that is to say, in the este end of thre lightes, accordant to the hight of the Ele with a stanche botras rising unto the cabill covenabely made be mason crafte -And a windowe of twa lightes atte the awter ende upon the south side with a botras by and under the cabil- -And then a windowe of twa lightes with a botras and a doreAnd also the forsaide Richard sall make a windowe of twa lightes with a stanche botras in the southe west cornere accordant to the botras before saide-And he sall make a windowe of a lighte in the west ende of the same EleAnd the Ele sall be accordant to the Quere with an awter end and a Lavatorie accordant in the este endAnd also the forsaid Richard sall take the windowe that standes now in the north side of the alde Kirke and sette it in the este side of the north Ele over the Awter with a stanche botras on the cornere by and under the cavill -And the forsaid Richard sall mak a windowe of twa lightes atte the awter ende with a stanche botras atte the midward of the celyng and a dore and a botras on the north west cornere-And also the forsaide Richard sall mak a windowe of a light in the west ende of the same Ele an awter in the same ele and a lavatory adjacent thereto thealways accordant to the tother-the hight of the walles of aither ele under the- above the ground sall be made of sextene fote hight

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And the forsaide Richard sall mak the pileres with the arches and the Clerestory of the hight of sax and twenty fote aboven erth under the cabiland also foresaid Richard sall schote out trisses in the west ende for making of a stepilAnd also forsaid Richard sall make tablying of the endes of the forsaide Kirke of Katrick with-tabill- And

also the forsaide Richard bindes him and his executors and assignes be this endentor that the Kirke of Katrick beforsaide and nemende sall be made sufficiauntly and accordant to the covenaunte beforsaide fra the Fest of Sent John of Baptist next followand after the makyng of this endentor safande the-unto the same fest of Sent John of Baptist be thre yere next -followand after that and fully fullfilled-bot if sodayne wers or pestilence make it, the whilke may be reasonabill excusation for the forsaide Richard

And forsaide Dame Katrine and William sall cari alle the stane that misters over the stuffe more than is fon in the alde Kirke and the Kirke yerde atte theire awen coste- -And also the forsaide Dame Katrine and William sall finde lyme and sande and water and scaffaleying and-to the same Kirke behovely to the same Kirke atte theire owne coste-And when the Kirke of Katrik beforesaide is fully made and ended, the forsaide Dame Katrine and William sall hafe alle the scafaleying and

-unto thaire owen use. And the forsaide Dame Katrine and William bindes thame be thes endenters their executoures and assignes for to pay unto the forsaide Richard and his assignes for the makyng of the forsaide Kirke of Katrik newe als it is rehersede and beforesaide within terme of thre yere eight score of markes -And if the Kerke be ended atte the terme before nemende, the forsaide Dame Katrine and William sal gif unto the forsaide Richard tenne markes of mone and a gowne of William wering to his reward- And also the forsaide Richard byndes him be this endentures, that the Quere of the Kirk of Katricke sall be made newe fra the Feste of Seynt John of Baptist next followand after the makyng of these endentoures unto the same Fest of Seynt John of Baptist next followand als be a yereAnd also the forsaide Richard byndes hym by these endenters, that he sall make the uldryng of the Kirke of Katrick newe be the mysomer next followand after the Feste of Seynt John of Baptist before nemend that the forsaide Kirke of Katrick sall be fully made and ended- -And that all these covenauntes before saide and nemend sall will and trewly be fulfyled and done, that forsaide Richard falles for to do be any mason crafte or any other thyng before nemend, the forsaide Richard byndes hym his heires and his executoures unto the forsaide Dame Katrine and William thaire heires and thaire executoures in fourty poundes of gude and lawfull mone of Ingland- -And that" all the covenauntes beforesaide and nemend sall well and trewly be done and fullfilde of the forsaide Dame Katrine and William behalfe, that thams falles for to do the forsaide Dame Katrine and William byndes thame thaire heires thaire executoures unto the forsaide Richard in fourty pounds of mone be thes endentouresWritten at Burgh the day and the yere beforsaide."

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On the outside of the above ancient deed is written-"Indenturs Ecclesie de Catrik-Cad'k."

On the outside of the contract above mentioned are certain memorandums of the death and burial of five of the Burghs:

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