Page:A Treatise concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed.djvu/184

 also. Indeed, he did not go so far as the Son did in the Example I gave you before; he did not marry them both, but he was very unhappy.

Limits of a Parent's Authority, in this Case of Matrimony, either with Son or Daughter, I think, Hands thus: The Negative, I think, is theirs, especially with a Daughter; but, I think, the Positive is the Childrens.

the Child looks Retrograde, and would throw her self away upon a Scoundrel, upon her Father's Coachman, or Book-keeper, or upon any thing unworthy of the Family and Fortune of the Lady, much more if the Person she inclines to marry is scandalous, a Man of Vice, a Man of an ill Character, a Drunkard, a Gamester, a Rake, or what else is to be called scandalous, the Father, or Mother, or next Parent or Guardian may, I believe with Justice, interpose their Authority, and may command her not to take such or such a Person, the Father may put the Negative upon her; nor is it sufficient for her to say, she loves the Man, or is in love with the Man.

when the same Father or Parent comes and directs her the said Daughter, and says positively, you shall marry such or such a Man whether you love him or not; there, I think, the Case differs extreamly; and the young Lady telling them, she does not like the Man, that she cannot love him, and won't marry him for that Reason, is a justifiable Reason, and she ought not to be forced: Or, if she says, that she is in love with another, and that other is not yet discovered, 'tis nevertheless a sufficient Reason, and she ought not to be forced; nor can the Command of a Father or Mother, bind her to