the being who now
possesses it. That being must become your domestic slave; be governed,
in every particular, by your caprice.

Happily for you, though fully invested with this power, the degree and
mode in which it will be exercised will depend upon yourself..... You
may either totally forbear the exercise, or employ it only for the
benefit of your slave. However injurious, therefore, this authority may
be to the subject of it, it will, in some sense, only enhance the value
of the gift to you.

The attachment and obedience of this being will be chiefly evident in
one thing. Its duty will consist in conforming, in every instance,
to your will. All the powers of this being are to be devoted to your
happiness; but there is one relation between you, which enables you to
confer, while exacting, pleasure. .... This relation is _sexual_. Your
slave is a woman; and the bond, which transfers her property and person
to you, is .... _marriage_.

My knowledge of Ludloe, his principles, and reasonings, ought to have
precluded that surprise which I experienced at the conclusion of his
discourse. I knew that he regarded the present institution of marriage
as a contract of servitude, and the terms of it unequal and unjust.
When my surprise had subsided, my thoughts turned upon the nature of his
scheme. After a pause of reflection, I answered:

Both law and custom have connected obligations with marriage, which,
though heaviest on the female, are not light upon the male. Their weight
and extent are not immutable and uniform; they are modified by various
incidents, and especially by the mental and personal qualities of the
lady.

I am not sure that I should willingly accept the property and person
of a woman decrepid with age, and enslaved by perverse habits and
evil passions: whereas youth, beauty, and tenderness would be worth
accepting, even for their own sake, and disconnected with fortune.

As to altar vows, I believe they will not make me swerve from equity. I
shall exact neither service nor affection from my spouse. The value of
these, and, indeed, not only the value, but the very existence, of the
latter depends upon its spontaneity. A promise to love tends rather to
loosen than strengthen the tie.

As to myself, the age of illusion is past. I shall not wed, till I find
one whose moral and physical constitution will make personal fidelity
easy. I shall judge without mistiness or passion, and habit will come in
aid of a