| 1. Single women convicted | 43 |
| a) Fine or stripes | 22 |
| £15 or 20 stripes | 1 |
| £5 or {20 stripes | 1 |
| {15 stripes | 4 |
| £3 or {20 stripes | 1 |
| {15 stripes | 3 |
| 50s. or {15 stripes | 3 |
| {10 stripes | 2 |
| 40s. or {15 stripes | 2 |
| {10 stripes | 4 |
| b) Stripes alone | 21 |
| 40 (20 each in two places) | 2 |
| 30 | 2 |
| 20 | 11 |
| 15 | 4 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 2. Single men, confession | 13 |
| a) Fine or stripes | 5 |
| £5 or 20 stripes | 4 |
| 40s. or 15 stripes | 1 |
| b) Stripes alone | 8 |
| 30 | 3 |
| 20 | 5 |
| c) Putative fathers | 17 |
while in no case is a single man or woman merely fined. On the other hand, out of twenty married couples punished for ante-nuptial misconduct, fifteen are given the choice of fines or stripes, three are merely fined; and in no instance is whipping alone the penalty decreed. Furthermore, the fines are on the average smaller in these cases than in others, although as regards both fines and stripes the sentences are sadly lacking in uniformity. The conclusion seems irresistible that, in harmony with popular sentiment, the courts, exercising the discretion granted by the statute, were inclined to deal more leniently with the faults of the betrothed than with those of less favored bachelors and spinsters.
Similar evidence is afforded by the incomplete records of the county court of Middlesex for the period 1629-86, supplemented by the Files. These contain in all thirty cases of transgression before marriage, eight of which fall within the ten years covered by the Suffolk records already considered. Most of the severe sentences (Table III) occur in this period and the six years immediately following, although the heaviest fine, twenty pounds for the couple, is imposed in 1663.[581] Seemingly, from the few cases known, single persons were treated more harshly than those who were betrothed.[582]
On presentment by the grand jury[583] or voluntarily confessions were made by wives and husbands before the court; and these documents contain evidence of the close relation
TABLE III
Cases of Fornication before Marriage in the County Court of Middlesex County, Mass., 1649-86 [Except 1663-71]
During the same period these records contain five cases of fornication by single persons.
| 1. Fine only | 15 | married | couples |
| £20 (together) | 1 | " | " |
| £5 " | 3 | " | " |
| £4 " | 6 | " | " |
| £3 " | 2 | " | " |
| 40s. " | 3 | " | " |
| 2. Fine or stripes | |||
| a) Fine | 10 | " | " |
| £1 (together) | 5 | " | " |
| £6 " | 1 | " | " |
| £4 " | 3 | " | " |
| £3 " | 1 | " | " |
| 50s. (wife) | 1 | ||
| b) Stripes | 10 | " | |
| 20 | 6 husbands | 0 wives | |
| 15 | 1 husband | 0 " | |
| 10 | 3 husband | 10 " | |
| 3. Stripes only | |||
| 15 | 1 husband (the wife 50s. or whipped) | ||
| 4. Confessions and petitions | 3 married couples | ||
| 5. Convicted and respited | 1 married couple |