I am afraid some of these good gentlemen beat their wives sometimes; and even the gallant Sir Richard Steele says:[58] 'I cannot deny but there are perverse Jades that fall to Men's Lots, with whom it requires more than common Proficiency in Philosophy to be able to live. When these are joined to Men of warm Spirits, without Temper or Learning, they are frequently corrected with Stripes; but one of our famous Lawyers is of opinion, That this ought to be used sparingly.' On the other hand, we hear much of hen-pecked men—so that it is probable, so far as matrimonial jars were concerned, the world wagged then much as now—without the facility for separation and divorce which now exists.
CHAPTER IV.
DEATH AND BURIAL.
Longevity — Undertakers' charges — Costliness of funerals — Mourning — Burial in woollen — Burial societies — Burial by night — A cheat — Mourning rings — Funeral pomp — Monuments — Description of a funeral — A Roman Catholic funeral — Widows.
That some lived to a good old age there can be no doubt; but a patriarch died in this reign at Northampton, April 5, 1706:[59] 'This Day died John Bales of this Town, Button Maker Aged 130 and some Weeks; he liv'd in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth, King James the First, King Charles the First, Oliver, King Charles the Second, King James the Second, King William the Third, and Queen Anne.'
And this brings us—
Where the brass knocker, wrapt in flannel band,
Forbids the thunder of the footman's hand;
Th' upholder, rueful harbinger of death,
Waits with impatience for the dying breath;
As vultures o'er a camp, with hovering flight,
Snuff up the future carnage of the fight.[60]
Nay, if Steele is to be believed, they even feed heavily for early information of death.[61]
Sable. You don't consider the Charges I have been at already.
Lord Brampton. Charges? For what?
Sable. First, Twenty Guineas to my Lady's Woman for notice of your Death (a Fee I've, before now, known the Widow herself go halfs in), but no matter for that. In the next place, Ten Pounds for watching you all your long Fit of Sickness last Winter.