A dialogue concerning women, being a defence of the sex written to Eugenia. Walsh, William, 1663-1708. 1691 Approx. 127 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 72 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A67449 Wing W645 ESTC R13108 13314820 ocm 13314820 99018 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A67449) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 99018) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 442:8) A dialogue concerning women, being a defence of the sex written to Eugenia. Walsh, William, 1663-1708. Dryden, John, 1631-1700. [8], 134 p. Printed for R. Bentley ... and J. Tonson ..., London : 1691. Written by William Walsh. Cf. BM. Preface signed: John Dryden. First ed. Cf. BM. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Includes bibliographical references. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Women -- Early works to 1800. 2000-00 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2001-10 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2001-11 TCP Staff (Michigan) Sampled and proofread 2001-11 TCP Staff (Michigan) Text and markup reviewed and edited 2001-12 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A DIALOGUE Concerning WOMEN , Being a DEFENCE Of the SEX . Written to EUGENIA . LONDON , Printed for R. Bentley in Russel-street in Covent-Garden , and I. Tonson at the Iudge's - Head in Chancery-Lane . 1691. PREFACE . THE Perusal of this Dialogue , in defence of the Fair Sex , Written by a Gentleman of my acquaintance , much surpris'd me : For it was not easie for me to imagine , that one so young , cou'd have treated so nice a Subject with so much judgment . 'T is true , I was not ignorant that he was naturally Ingenious , and that he had improv'd himself by Travelling ; and from thence I might reasonably have expected that air of Gallantry , which is so visibly diffus'd through the body of the Work , and is indeed the Soul that annimates all things of this nature : But so much variety of reading , both in Ancient and Modern Authors , such digestion of that reading , so much justness of thought , that it leaves no room for affectation , or Pedantry , I may venture to say , are not overcommon amongst practis'd Writers , and very rarely to he found amongst Beginners . It puts me in mind of what was said of Mr. Waller , the Father of our English Numbers , upon the sight of his first Verses by the Wits of the last Age , that he came out into the World Forty Thousand strong , before they ●ad heard of him . ( Here in imitation of my Friends Apostrophe's , I hope the Reader need not be told , that Mr. Waller is only mention'd for Honour's sake , t●at I am desirous of laying hold on his Memory , on all occasions , and thereby acknowledging to the World , that unless ●e had Written , none of us cou'd Write . ) I know my Friend will forgive me this digression ; for it is not only a Copy of his Stil● but of his Candour . The Reader will observe , that ●e is ready for all ●ints of commending merit , and the Writers of this Age and Country are particularly oblig'd to him , for his pointing out those Passages which the French call Beaux Endroits , ●herein they have most excell'd . And though I may seem in this , to ●ave ●y own interest in my eyes , because ●e has more than once mention'd me , so much to my advantage , yet I hope the Reader will take it only for a Parenthesis , because the Piece wou'd have been very perfect without it . I may be suffer'd to please my self with the kindness of my Friend , without valuing my self upon his partiality : He had not confidence enough to send it out into the World , without my Opinion of it , that it might pass securely , at least amongst the fair Readers , for whose service it was principally design'd . I ●● not so presuming , to think my Opinion can either he his Touchstone , or his Passport : But I thought I might send him back to Ariosto , who has made it the business of almost Thirty Stanza's in the beginning of the 37th Book of his Orlando Furioso , not only to praise that Beautiful part of the Creation , but also to make a sharp Satyr on their Enemies ; to give Mankind their own , and to tell them plainly , that from their envy it proceeds that the Vertue and great Actions of Women are purposely conceal'd , and the failings of some few amongst them expos'd with all the aggravating Circumstances of Malice . For my own part , who have always been their Servant , and have never drawn my Pen against them , I had rather see some of them prais'd extraordinarily , than any of them suffer by detraction : And that in this Age , and at this time particularly , wherein I find more Heroines than Heroes . Let me therefore give them joy of their new Champion : If any will think me more partial to him than really I am , they can only say I have return'd his Bribe : And the worst I wish him , is , that he may receive Iustice from the Men ; and Favour only from the Ladies . John Dryden . A DIALOGUE Concerning WOMEN . Written to EUGENIA . 'T IS a dangerous thing , Madam , it must be confest , this Conversing with fair Ladies ; and it draws us into Inconveniencies , of which we do not at first see the Consequences . I little thought , when I talk'd with your Ladyship , of the Vertues of your Sex , that you wou'd have commanded me to have given my Sentiments upon that Subject in Writing . I grant you , Madam , you might have spoken to several of your Acquaintance , who wou'd have undertaken the business at first word , with all the Courage imaginable ; But to me , who never durst take Pen in hand to write any thing beyond a Billet , the Enterprise seems very terrible . I confess , when you spoke to me of it first , I was well enough pleas'd with the Design ; for I thought a Defence of the Sex , wou'd be a means of obliging all of the Sex , who were worth defending ; and therefore lookt upon it as the writing a Circular Love-Letter to all the fair Ladies in the Kingdom . But as Men generally mix Interest with Honour , so , upon second thoughts , I considered what I should get by it , besides Fame , if it shou'd succeed ; and I found , if I perswaded all Men to be as passionate Servants to the Ladies as my felf , I should make but a very indifferent hand of it : Thus , Madam , you wou'd engage me in a Controversie , where it wou'd be a Scandal to be vanquisht , and a disadvantage to overcome : For I , who cou'd never succeed in an Amour where there was any Fool pretended besides my self , shou'd have great hopes indeed , when I had perswaded all Mankind to be my Rivals . After all , Madam , there were your Commands to encourage me to it ; and the Commands of a fair Lady are to me beyond all the Arguments in Nature ; I therefore resolved upon the undertaking . But as 't is no new thing to see people undertake a Business that they are altogether unable to perform , so I must own , I found a thing of this nature quite beyond my strength : You may believe , Madam , I was very melancholy at it , and 't was then that a Friend coming into my Chamber , askt me the occasion . As I never love to conceal any thing that afflicts me from a Friend , so I presently told him the Business , That a Lady had commanded me to write her a Treatise in defence of Women . If that be all ( said he briskly ) I am come to your deliverance ; for this very morning have I been at a Conversation , where the Question concerning the Vertues and Vices of that Sex , has been handled as fully as can be desired . Thou appear'st to me , my dear Friend , ( said I , embracing him ) like my better Genius , and therefore , without any farther Ceremony , sit down , and give me an account of the Conference . Taking a walk ( said he ) this Morning in St. Iames's Park , with several of my Acquaintance , there was one amongst the rest who was all the while , either gazing upon the Ladies as they came by , or speaking with that indifference to us , that made us very plainly see , he did not mind the Subject of our Discourse , tho' we talkt of all the most considerable things that offer themselves in such Conversations . ( A very strange Man , this , Madam , who was thinking upon some Mistress , I warrant , when they were r●ising Taxes , and beating the French. ) A●nother , who was a pers●● of excellent Sense , and had a particular Friendship for this , tho' they wou'd o●ten dispute about their several though●s of Women , in which point they cou'd never agree ; ( I wonder they shou'd dispute about that , Madam , for the greatest disputes in those cases 〈◊〉 , when they do agree ) began to rally him upon this Subject● which he did so handsomly ; that he pleased the rest of the Company very well , without displeasing his Friend in the least . Philogynes ● ( which was the Name of the fi●st as Miso●●nes was of the other ) ( Here , Madam , I must confess , I fancied my Friend put false Names upon me ; for besides , that I remember neither of these Families in England , the one you must know , signifies a Woman-hater , and the other , a Woman-lover ) cry'd to Misogynes , Tho' I allow you to rally me as much as you please , and am glad of any occasion I ●an give you , to exercise a Talent you possess in so eminent a degree , ye● I hope you do not in earnest think the Conversation of Women so ridiculous as you wou'd make us believe . Ten times worse , said Misogynes , than I can represent it ; and since we have often had slight skirmishes upon that occasion , and we have now time enough to fight it out , if you have the Courage to lose one Morning's gazing at 'em , I challenge you to the private Walk by the Canal-side , to defend their Cause ; and these Gentlemen , if they please , shall be our Judges . Tho' I am very unwilling , answered Philogynes , to lose a Morning that has call'd out all the best Company of the Town , yet since 't is in defence of the Ladies , and you so boldly challenge me , I take you at your word , upon condition , that if I get the better in the Judgment of these Gentlemen , you shall engage to be in Love by to morrow morning . Upon condition , that if I overcome ( said Misogynes ) you will engage to be out of Love by the same time , I agree . That is no equal stake , reply'd Philogynes , for 't is to lay Happiness against Unhappiness ; however , I am so well satisfy'd of my Cause , that I will undertake you , even upon those odds . Upon this agreement we walkt all to the other side of the Park , full of expectation of the event of the Debate ; when we were come thither , we found we had the whole Walk to our selves , and so Misogynes , who gave the Challenge , began in this manner . The Propagation of Mankind being the only way to preserve it from Extinction ; and the Copulation with Women being the only means that Nature has ordain'd to that end ; there is no doubt but all Commonwealths ought to give any reasonable Encouragements to it ; I have therefore always admir'd the Wisdom of those Governments that incited , or compelled their Subjects to marry , as a thing so much more necessary to Mankind in general , than pleasing to any one in particular ; but that a man shou'd , out of a meer act of Judgment , run after Women , that he shou'd find delight in their company , is so very extraordinary , that the wise men of old thought it hardly possible , otherwise they had had no need of making such severe Laws to force 'em to it , as they did . Your Ladyship , who is so well verst in Greek and Roman Authors , knows , that amongst the 1 Spartans , they who liv'd long Batchelours were condemned to ignominious punishments , and debarr'd the priviledges of other Citizens . That the 2 Cretans had a Law to compel all the handsomest young Men to marry ; as the 3 Thurians had to invite 'em to it , both by Honours and Rewards . That 4 Plato ordains , that whoever liv'd a Batchelour to the five and thirtieth year of his Age , should be capable of no Honour in his Commonwealth : And that the 5 Romans did not only take all care imaginable , to encourage People to Marriage , but frighten'd 'em into it by punishments , if they refused . Notwithstanding this , had you a design of marrying 'em , I shou'd not altogether so much condemn you ; nay , had you but a design of enjoying 'em without it , there might be somewhat still alledg'd in your excuse . How unjustifiable soever such a design may be , as to the Moral part , the action it self is very agreeable to the Natural . But to pick'em out only for the benefit of their Conversation , to fall in love with their Understandings , and to leave the company of Wise-Men for Handsom Women , is just the same thing , as if you shou'd chuse rather to eat Jays and Par●ots , than Woodcocks and Partridges , because the Feathers of the former make the finer show . It is a very good , as well as a very general way , to guess at People by the Company they keep ; and thus we may give a great Judgment of the Female Sex , by a view of those with whom they are the most pleas'd of our own . Well , let 'em appear then ; what do you find ? Fine Coats , large Cravat-strings , and good Perriwigs I must own , but for any thing else , they , and their Perriwig Blocks are Criticks alike . 'T is true , to do 'em justice , they talk most learnedly of Points and Ribons ; have most Mathematical Heads for the erecting of Ladies Topknots , make as considerable Figures , talk as loud , and laugh more than any in Drawing-rooms , and Play-houses ; and those who know nothing of their Language , wou'd take 'em , by their Gestures , to be the wittiest persons in Christendom ; but if unluckily you understand 'em , you will find it only false Fire , and that all this violent laughter is produc'd by no jest . Then take 'em out of their own Element , begin a Discourse of any thing that is worth knowing , they are dumb ; out of Modesty ? No ; but they hate to talk of things that are grossier ; and the Pedantry of Scholars , and Gravity of Men of Business , is utterly unfit for a Gentleman . Were it nothing but the company of such sort of Creatures as these , it wou'd be enough , I shou'd think , to frighten a Man of Sense from ' em . Can you see these Fops , as much as you are us'd to 'em , without laughing ? except it rather makes you blush to think you shou'd bring your self into competition with such Tools as they are : I am far from blaming them for following the Ladies : They avoid the company of Men who despise 'em , for that of Women who admire 'em : Nor do I find fault with the Ladies , for being pleas'd with them ; for since Likeness , they say , breeds Love , what wonder is it they are fond of those Men whose Follies make 'em most like themselves ; but for a Man who has some pretences to Wit and Learning ; for one who might be acceptable to men of Sense , to run after 'em ; nay , for a man who spends all the Morning in the study of Homer and Aristotle , to spend the Afternoon amongst the Impertinencies of Women ; puts me in mind of the Mountebanks Stages in Naples , where the Jesuites and Jackpuddings entertain the Spectators by turns 'T is possible , you will say , that all this makes for you ; that the faults of your Rivals render your Vertues the more remarkable , and that there is no doubt , but a man of Merit may succeed in any place where a man of no Merit may pretend ; but , alas , Sir , you deceive your self very much , if you encourage that Opinion . Had you fit Judges , there is no doubt but you were in the right : But if the fairest Lady in Christendom were amongst the Indians , where they paint the Devil of her Colour , do you expect they shou'd do her Beauty Justice ? Or if a slender man were amongst the Muscovites , do you think they wou'd admire him for being well shap'd , where they thought none but big-belly'd men to be so ? Credit me , Sir , a man who leaves his Parts to the Judgment of Women , is very near the same Circumstances : Will you not believe me in that case , because I profess an enmity to ' em ? You do well : but will you believe themselves ? View all the Town , take good notice : Amongst all the young Heiresses who run away from their Guardians , is there any one who does it with a man of Sense ? Amongst all those Widows who ruin themselves by second Marriages , is there any one who does it with a man of Sense ? Amongst all those Ladies who Cuckold their Husbands , is there any one who does it with a man of Sense ? We see 'em do these things every day , with Chaplains , Dancing-masters , Butlers , and Footmen . Who are the men that shew the tender Billets receiv'd ? What are they who boast of the Favours of all the finest Women in Town ? Are they not the most despicable of Mankind ? Are they not such whose Conversation is the jest of men of Sense ? And have they above one thing about 'em , that distinguishes 'em from the other Sex ? After all , Sir , are not the Women in the right in this point ? Or do they ever shew more Judgment , than when they pitch upon such men ? What do they look for in a Husband , but one who will admire 'em , who will be govern'd by 'em , and upon whom all their little tricks will pass ? And who but Fools are fit for that ? What do they propose in a Gallant , but giving 'em Pleasure without Scandal ? And to the former part they have a receiv'd notion of the Ability of Fools : Then for the Scandal , who so likely to give none as those men , whom the World will hardly believe were favour'd by 'em , tho' they took their Oaths upon it ? For notwithstanding Experience teaches us the contrary , yet People are apt to fancy , a man of Sense must succeed before a Coxcomb ; and will rather believe the former are favour'd , tho' they swear they are not ; than the latter , tho' they swear they are . But alas , Sir , men of Sense they think know 'em , and that they take , as well as I do , to be a sure means to hinder their being in Love. 'T was upon this account that 1 Solomon gives such severe Characters of 'em in his Proverbs ; that 2 Euripides represented 'em so faithfully , as to get the name of the Woman hater ; that 2 Simonides has distinguisht 'em into so many sorts of evil things ; that 3 Lucian has so naturally describ'd their tricks ; that 4 St. Chrysostom has made such a severe invective against 'em ; that 5 Iuvenal has given his Friend such Counsel against having any thing to do with 'em ; and , in fine , 't is upon the same account that all the Epigrammatists , Comick Poets , and Satyrists are so continually exposing 'em to the World , making their Follies ridiculous , and their Vices odious . 'T is upon the same account likewise , that to call a man Effeminate , has always been reckon'd such a reproach ; and that to say a man is govern'd by a Woman , has been one of the worst Characters you cou'd give of his Understanding . See here a dreadful Army , Madam , again●t us● I askt my Friend what these Gentlemen had said upon this Occasion ; he told me , Juvenal had written a very severe Sa●●● against Women , which I shou'd see very much to its advantage , if I wou'd ●wait● for a Translation of it , with which Mr. Dryden is ready to oblige the World. For Simonides , he told me , he had written lambicks against 'em , in which he divides 'em into ten sorts . The first he said was descended from a Sow , ( you will find very Noble Families amongst 'em , Madam ) and she was sluttish : The second from a Fox and she understands every thing , and has a great deal of good in her , and a great deal of ill too : The third from a Dog , and she is prying about , and snarling at every body : The fourth is made of the Earth , and she understands nothing but how to fill her Belly , and sit by the Fire-side : The fifth of the Sea , and she is changeable and inconstant ; sometimes in a calm , and then on a sudden in a storm : T●● sixth is made of Ashes and a Labouri●g Ass , ( An odd Composition you will say ) and she is scarce driven to her business with threatnings or force , but crams her self night and day , and lies with every one that comes ; ( now whether she takes this Quality of lying with all who come , from the Fathers-side , or the Mothers-side , I cannot absolutely determine . ) The seventh was descended from a Polcat , and she is nauseous an● stinking : The eighth from a Mare , and she never cares do to any work , and minds nothing but appearing neat and fine : The ninth from a Monkey , and her ugliness is a jest to every body : The tenth from a Bee , and she makes an excellent Wife . 1 There is a Story also of this Simonides , that being askt about a Wife , he said , she was the Shipwreck of Man , the Tempest of a House , the Disturber of Rest , the Prison of Life , a daily Punishm●●●● a sumptuous Conflict , a Beast in Comp●●●● a necessary Evil. And 2 St. Chrysostome , besides the Homily upon the beheading St. John Baptist , which is almost all an Invective against Women , says in another place , What is a Wife ? The Enemy of Love , the inevitable Pain , the necessary Evil , the natural Temptation , a desirable Calamity , a domestical Peril● a pleasing Damage . Thus you see these Antients , Madam , had a very commendable faculty of calling Names : What think you , might not the Matrons of Billinsgate improve in their Conversation ? But it is natural , when People cannot convince our Reason , to endeavour to move our Passions . I know you will object against these , Anacreon , Theocritus , Catullus , Tibullus , Ovid , Horace , Propertius , and all those Poets and Wits , Antient and Modern , who pleas'd themselves whilst they lived in the pursuit of Women , and have render'd themselves immortal after their Death , by the Trophies they rais'd to ' em . 'T is confest , that spending their time upon the Sex , they ought to know 'em best ; but on the other side , to excuse their own spending their Time , ought to represent 'em as favourably as possible ; and yet , pray what is the account they give us of ' em ? Do they not all with one consent complain , either of the Cruelty , or Falshood of their Mistresses ? Are not their Books full of Quarrels , Piques , and Jealousies ? And do they not shew the Levity , Perjury , and Lewdness of the Sex ? Does not 1 Anacreon , and a hundred more , tell you , they mind nothing but Wealth ? ( This Complaint of the Love of Wealth , and Invectives against it , has been very antient , and very general amongst the Poets ; besides this Greek● 2 Horace , 3 Ovid , 4 Tibullus , and 1 Propertius make 'em amongst the Romans ; 2 Marino , 3 Guarini among the Italians ; 4 Conde de Villa mediana , and 5 Quevedo amongst the Spaniards ; 6 Ronsard among the French ; and 7 Cowly amongst us : For you must know , Madam , these Poets were a sort of People who were never very remarkable for their making large Iointures ; their Estates generally lye upon Parnassus , where Land setts worse than it does in Ireland : Nor do I remember to have read in any History , of Poets who deferr'd the enjoyment of their Mistresses for the drawing of Writings . ) Does not 1 Theocritus make continual Complaints of the Cruelty of his Mistress ? Does not 2 Catullus tell you , that his Lesbia lay with all the Town ? and 3 that what any Woman says to her Lover ought to be writ in Wind , or running Streams ? Does not 1 Tibullus complain , that he had taught his Mistress to deceive her Guards so long , that she learnt to deceive him too ? Does not 2 Ovid lye at his Mistresses Door all night , whilst an inconsiderable Fellow is got into her Arms ? Does not Horace complain of the 3 Cruelty of two Mistresses , and the 4 Perjury and Inconstancy of three or four more ? And does not 5 Propertius , besides his own Cynthia's falshood , cry out of the Incontinence of the Sex in general ? I know not what your success in Love may have been ; but till you tell me the contrary , I can hardly believe it better than these mens . For what Qualification can there be to make a Woman kinde and constant , that they had not ? Anacreon appears to be one of the gayest humour'd men that ever was born ; Theocritus the most t●nder and natural in his Poems ; Catullus was without a Rival the great●st Wit of his Age ; Tibullus was not only the smoothest , and delicatest of the Roman Poets , but also the most beautiful Person of his time ; Ovid and Propertius , as neither of 'em wanted Love , so never had any a more soft and tender way of expressing it ; and Horace , besides the talent of crying up his Mistresses , and pleasing their Vanity that way , had the pleasantest manner of exposing the Follies of his Rivals , and the severest of revenging the 1 Falsehood or unkindness of his Mistresses , of any man in the World. And yet none of all these cou'd , by their own Confession , keep a Woman to themselves , or even teach 'em cunning enough to jilt 'em so , that they shou'd never find it out ; which 2 Ovid tells us frankly , was all he desir'd from ' em . From this , Madam , you may please to observe , that Iilting is no such new thing as some people would make us believe , tho' methinks these Poets are dangerous persons to jilt , since 't is remember'd against their Mistresses , near two thousand years after . And in effect , what but Ruin and Desolation proceeds from ' em ? Who was the Betrayer of 1 Samson , but Dalilah ? Who was the cause of the Destruction of 2 Troy , but Helen ? Of 3 Agamenmon's Death , but Clytemnestra ? Of 4 Hercules's , but Deianira ? Who advis'd the burning of 5 Persepolis , but Thais ? Who ruin'd 6 Hannibal's Army , but the Capuan Women ? Who lost 7 Mark Anthony the World , but Cleopatra ? Why shou'd I burden you with Instances , when every Country can furnish Examples enow of their own ? What made such Confusion in 8 Iustinian's Court , but Theodora ? What caus'd the Revolt in the Low-Countries , but the Government of the 9 Princess of Parma ? Who made such dreadful disturbances in 1 Scotland , as their Queen Mary ? And who rais'd the greatest Persecution for Religion , that ever England saw , but our own Queen of the same Name ? But certainly they must have some very great Perfections to make amends for all these Faults : Well then , let us see what they are ? Let us view these pleasant Confits that are to make the Poison go down : Let us enjoy a little of that Conversation , that is diversitive enough to make People neglect all their Danger . Sit in one of their Drawing-Rooms all day ; observe the Discourse that passes ; is it not a t●dious Repetition of the same Impertinencies over and over again , to every new Visitant ? and is not one half of that spent in censuring all the Town ? and the other half in railing at those who Censure ? Do they not inveigh against the Lampooners , and at the same time talk as scandalously as they can write ? The horrid● Affection , the ridiculous Vanity , the gross Dissimulation , and the inveterate Malice that appears in all their Discourse , are things for which I shou'd think all the paint on their Faces cou'd not make amends . For m● own part , I confess , I have been Fool enough to be in Love too , and have follow'd Women upon that account , but to another sort of End , than you say you do : But when that End was once satisfy'd , to talk with 'em afterwards , was as great a penance to me , as it wou'd be to sit in a greasie Cooks Shop , when my Belly was full . This Misog●nes is a very rude Fellow , and I am sure your Ladyship will be of my Opinion , that his last simile was very fulsome . 'T is a sign he hates Women ; for had he convers'd with them , they wou'd have taught him better manners . But there are doubtless , you will say , Women of Understanding : Pray where are they ? Is it your Prudent Woman , your good Houswife , who is plaguing all the World with her Management , and instructing every body how to feed Geese and Capons ? Or is it your Politician , who is always full of Business , who carries a Secretary of State 's Office in her Head , and is making her deep Observations upon every● days News ? Or is it your Learned Woman , who runs mad for the love of hard words , who talks a mixt Jargon , or Lingua Franca , and has spent a great deal of time to make her capable of talking Nonsense in four or five several Languages ? What think you , Sir , do you not wish for your Visitant again , as the more tolerable folly of the two ? Do not you think Learning and Politicks become a Woman as ill as riding astride ? And had not the Duke of 1 Brittaine reason , who thought a Woman knowing enough , when she cou'd distinguish between her Husband's Shirt and his Breeches ? Do not you , in answer to these , fetch me a Sappho out of Greece ; a Cornelia , the Mother of the Gracchi , out of Rome ; an Anna Maria Schurman out of Holland ; and think that in shewing me three Learned Women in three thousand years , you have gain'd your point ; and from some few particular Instances , prov'd a general Conclusion : If I shou'd bring you half a dozen Magpies that cou'd talk , and as many Horses that cou'd dance , you wou'd not , I suppose , for all that , chuse out the one to converse with , or the other to walk a Corant . But wou'd you see 'em to their best advantage ? Wou'd you have their Wit , Courage , and Conduct display'd ? Take 'em upon the business of Lust● That can make Sappho witty , Aloisia Eloquent , a Country-wife Politick ; That can humble 1 Messalina's Pride to walk the Streets ; can make tender 1 Hippia endure the Incommodities of a Sea-Voyage , can support the Queen of 2 Sheba in a Journey to Solomon , and make 3 Thalestris search out Alexander the Great : In this particular , I must confess , we ought to submit to 'em , and with shame allow 'em the preference . I cannot reflect upon the Stories of 4 Semiramis's lying with all the handsomest men in her Army , and putting 'em to Death afterwards ; of her offering her Son the last Favour ; of 1 Messalina the Empresses prostituting her self in the publick Stews ; and of Queen 2 Ioan of Naples providing a Bath under her Window , where she might see all the lustiest young men naked , and take her choice out of 'em , without such an admiration as their Heroick Actions de●erve . 3 Sappho , as she was one of the wittiest Women that ever the World bred , so she thought with Reason it wou'd be expected she shou'd make some additions to a Science in which all Womankind had been so successful : What does she do then ? Not content with our Sex , she begins Amours with her own , and teaches us a new sort of Sin , that was follow'd not only in 1 Lucian's time , but is practis'd frequently in 2 Turkey at this day . You cannot but be sensible , Sir , that there is no necessity of going so far for Instances of their Lewdness , and were it civil to quote the Lampoons , or write the Amours of our own Time , we might be furnish'd with Examples enow nearer home . Here , Madam , I cou'd not forbear telling my Friend , that his Disputant grew Scurrilous . He told me , considering him as a Woman-hater , he thought 't was no more than his Character requir'd ; and that if I compar'd his Discourse with what others had said against 'em , I shou'd think him a very well-bred Man. After this to talk of their Levity or Babling , what were it but trifling ? All the Lovers and Poets who have had any thing to do with 'em , can furnish themselves with Instances enow of the first ; and any man who will give himself the trouble of reading any one History , shall find Instances enow of the other , if his own Wisdom has hinder'd him from making 'em at his own cost . 1 There being a Senate call'd in Rome , upon some very extraordinary occasion , one of the Senators was desir'd by his Wife to tell her what it was ; he reply'd , he was oblig'd to Secrecy ; she swears it shall never be known to any one by her means ; upon that promise he informs her , that there was a Lark seen flying over the Senate-House with a Golden Helmet on his Head , and a Spear in one of his Claws , and that they had thereupon call'd the Southsayers together , to know what it portended . No sooner was the Husband gone , but the Wife tells it , under a Vow of Secrecy too , to her Maid ; she to another who was her fellow Servant , who told it to her Lover ; so that , to be short , it ran so fast , that as soon as the Senator came into the Market-place , one took him aside , and told it him for a great Secret ; away goes he , and tells his Wife she had undone him , in divulging what he had trusted with her : She denies it with a true feminine Impudence : How cou'd it come to be known then ? says he . Alas ( reply'd she ) are there not three hundred Senators , and might it not come from any of 'em , as well as you ? No , says he , for I invented it on a sudden to satisfie your Curiosity , and thus had I been serv'd , if I had trusted you with the Secret . 'T is such another Story they tell us of young Papirius to his Mother , who asking him what had been debated that Morning in the Senate , told her , they were making a Law for men to have plurality of Wives . But it is somewhat a more Tragical Relation Plutarch gives of Fulvius . Augustus complain'd to him , that he was dissatisfy'd with what he had done , in adopting Livia's Sons , and disinheriting his own Nephews ; Fulvius goes home , and tells it his Wife , she tells it to the Empress , who upbraids the Emperour with it . Augustus , when he saw Fulvius next , check'd him for it ; by which he perceiv'd himself ruin'd , and therefore went immediately , told his Wife what she had done , and that he resolv'd to stab himself ; But certainly the Wives answer was very sufficient ; Nor did you deserve less , said she , who having liv'd so long with me , did not know I cou'd not keep a Secret. But omitting these , whose Actions are recorded to their Infamy , let us see a little of those who are quoted as the Glories of their Sex. And who more cry'd up amongst 'em than 1 Iudeth ? What Action more celebrated than her murdering Olofernes , when he had treated her with all the Kindness and Respect imaginable in his Tent ? For my part , I must own my Vertue does not arrive to so high a pitch ; and shou'd rather have suffer'd my Town to have been ruin'd , than have been guilty of an Action that appears to me so barbarous ; but I confess that of 2 Iael is yet worse , to invite a man into her Tent , promise him Protection , and when he had trusted his Life in her Hands , to murther him whilst he was asleep . What shall we say to Penelope , who is instanc'd as a Pattern of Chastity , and Conjugal Love ? I will not with 1 Ovid and 2 Virgil ( if the Priapeia are his ) make malicious Reflections upon her trying her Lovers strength in a Bow ; but take the Story as it lies in the Odysses , I am sure she wou'd hardly pass for such a Saint in our days ; and if a Lady had her House full of Lovers for twenty years of her Husband's absence , and if her Husband were forc'd to fight all these before he cou'd have his Wife again , 't is possible the Lampooners of the Town , wou'd not have represented her Case so favourably as Homer has done . But what shall we say to 1 Lycophron even amongst the Greeks , who speaks of her as a most profligate sort of Woman , or to 2 Duris Samius who asserts her to have been so very common as to have lain with all Comers during her Husband's absence , from whose promiscuous Copulations Pan was born , and therefore took the Name . ( Pan , your Ladyship knows in Greek signifies All. ) For Lucretia I shall not insinuate , as a 3 great Wit seems to do , that she stabb'd her self , rather than return to the Embraces of a Husband , after having been so much better pleas'd by a Gallant ; but if she were one who valu'd her Chastity so much , and her Life so little , as they wou'd make us believe , 't is somewhat odd that she shou'd rather let Tarquin enjoy her alive , than a Slave lye in the Bed with her when she was dead , and that she shou'd chuse to commit the Sin , rather than bear the Shame . But let us forgive 'em all these things I have mention'd ; and since 1 Le Chambre assures us , that there is no Beauty in a Woman , but what is a sign of some Vice ; let us attribute it to Nature's fault , not theirs ; and reckon that the more vicious they are , the nearer they come to the perfection of the Sex ; and indeed , not spending much time in their Conversations , I will pardon 'em all their Levity , Babling , Malice , and Impertinence ; and , being unmarried , shall not be so severe upon their Lusts and Adulteries ; provided they will stop there . Let Helen run away from her Husband with a handsomer man ; but let her not suffer all Troy to be ruin'd for the keeping her there : Let Clytemnestra lye with another man , during her Husband's absence ; but let her not murder him for it when he comes home : Let 1 Semiramis make use of all the handsomest Fellows of her Army ; but let her not put 'em to death for fear they should tell tales : and tho' I wou'd forgive her , yet her own Sex wou'd never pardon her being the first maker of 2 Eunuchs ; Let Phaedra and Fausta invite their Husbands Sons to supply their Fathers defects ; but let 'em not accuse 'em , and have 'em put to death for refusing : Let Ioan of Naples make use of all the men in her Kingdom ; but let her not strangle her Husband for his imperfections in a point that he cou'd not help : That Cruelty and Barbarity , I confess , is what provokes me so much against the Sex : I can see Tibullus's Mistress jilt him , for a Fool who is not half so handsome ; I can see Ovid waiting all night at his Mistress's Door , whilst another man is in her Arms ; and I can see half a score Impertinent Women plaguing you with non-sensical Stories , and be very well diverted all the while : but I confess I cannot hear of Medea's cutting her Brother in pieces , and strewing his Limbs in the way to stop her pursuing Father , without horror and dread ; nor of her treating her own Children after the same manner , to revenge her self upon Iason , without a like emotion : I know not how other People may bear such things ; but for my part , when I see all the Murders and Barbarities they commit , to revenge themselves on their unconstant Lovers , to get rid of their Husbands for some one they like better , or to prevent the discovery of their Lewdness ; but my Hair stands on end , my Blood shrinks , and I am possess'd with an utter detestation of the Sex. Go but one Circuit with the Judges here in England ; observe how many Women are condemn'd for killing their Bastard Children ; and tell me if you think their Cruelties can be equal'd ; or whether you think those who commit such Actions fit for your , or for any Civil Conversation . But I see by your looks you are convinc'd , I see you abandon your Cause , and I shall cease to expose any farther a Sex , of whose Patronage you seem already asham'd . Here Misogynes left off , and Phylogynes began to answer him ; But I must beg your pardon , Sir , said my Friend , for my time is come , and I must necessarily be gone . The Devil you shall , said I ; you wou'd engage me in a pretty Affair ; I promise a Lady a Defence of her Sex , and you will make me send her a Satyr against it . Truly , my dear Friend , said he , I design'd to have told you all , but 't is later than I thought , and I have Business waits for me . No Business , said I , can be so considerable to you , as the satisfying a fair Lady is to me , therefore sit down , and bring me fairly off what you have told me already , or you and I shall be Friends no longer . After all , Madam , to tell you the truth , tho' there is no great matter in this speech of Misogynes , yet I can hardly believe he made it upon a sudden ; 't is possible tho' they two having discours'd the matter as they told us before ; might have provided themselves each with Arguments . But supposing that , I can scarce believe , one man wou'd be suffer'd to talk so long without interruption ; at least I am sure , some who we know were none of the Company . But 't is possible , that he who told me , might leave out all that was spoke by others , for brevity sake , being as you see in haste . If you are as apt to be mistaken in your Judgment of Things as of Looks ( reply'd Philogynes ) 't is no wonder you shou'd make such strange Conclusions . Whatever seriousness you may see in my Face , does not , I 'll assure you , proceed from any distrust of my Cause , but an astonishment at what strange Arguments the Invention of man can suggest against the best things that are . I say , The Invention of man , for I am far from believing you in earnest in this point ; I have too just an opinion of Misogynes to think he does any thing but put on this humour for a tryal of skill ; and I no more believe you a hater of Women , for the Invective you have made against 'em , than I believe Erasmus a lover of Folly , for the Encomium he has writ upon it . If you have therefore any thing more to urge , forbear it not upon any suppos'd Conviction you see in my Countenance ; for , notwithstanding that I think you have handled the Subject as fully as any one who has undertaken it , yet I 'll assure you I cannot submit to your Arguments ; and therefore am very ready to hear any thing you have further to urge . No , says Misogynes , I am sensible I have troubled the Company long enough about a trifle , and 't is very fit you shou'd have your turn of speaking now . Part of the Company was already convinc'd by his Arguments , the other part thought he had said as much as the matter wou'd bear , and therefore both agreed in desiring Philogynes to speak what he had to say , which he did in this manner . I confess , Sir ( said he smiling ) when I saw the Associates you allotted me at first , I began to despair of my Cause ; I own I was asham'd of my Company , and resolv'd to pack up Baggage instantly , and quit a Trade in which none but Fops and Fools were engag'd ; but when I saw the Anacreons , the O●ids , and all the Wits , Antient and Modern , in the same circumstances , I e●en took Heart again . Courage , said I , the Business is not so bad as I thought , and 〈◊〉 possible his Heart may relent , and allow us some better Company than he condemn'd us to at first . At least , thought I , if 't is a Folly to converse with Women , 't is some comfort that he owns it to be a Folly of which the greatest Wits of the World have been guilty before us ; And when I saw all Greece , and the greater part of Asia venturing their Lives for one Woman , I thought I had somewhat the advantage of them , whilst I ventur'd nothing but my Rethorick for 'em altogether . And when you nam'd Samson , Achilles , Annibal , and Mark Anthony , I enquir'd who those Gentlemen were ; for certainly , thought I , if they were such brave men , and great Soldiers , as I have heard 'em represented , we have no reason to despair of the Victory when we have them to lead us on . You might have spoken more generally of 'em ●oo , if you had pleas'd ; you might have told us , that there never was a great Soldier who was not as famous for his Amours , as his Battles ; that a 1 Poet was scarce thought free of his Trade , who had not paid some Duties to Love ; and you might have added to these all the Wise-men and Philosophers of the World ; You might have inform'd us , that David , tho' a man after God's own Heart , was not contented without some share in the Womens . That Solomon , who knew the Vertue of every Plant , from the Cedar of Libanus ● to the Hysop that grows upon the Wall , took as much pains to have as general a knowledge of the Ladies . That 1 Socrates , who was the ugliest as well as the wisest man of his time , wou'd in spite of Nature aim at Love too , and , not terrify'd by one ill Wife , wou'd try to mend his hand in another . That 1 Plato , whom Antiquity has call'd Divine , did not spend all his time in erecting Commonwealths , but that some of it was bestow'd upon the Xantippe's and Archeanassa's . That 1 Aristotle , whom Philip made Governour to Alexander , made himself a Slave to his Mistress ; that this was not an effect of his Passion alone , but of his Reason ; 1 That he said Love was not only upon the account of Copulation but Philosophy ; and commands his Wise-man to be in Love , before he bids him meddle with the Commonwealth . And in fine , that this great man , who fathom'd all Arts and Sciences , who has given us the best Rules of Philosophy , Politicks , Poetry , &c. did also not think it unbecoming his Gravity to write one Treatise of Love , and four Amatory Theses . You might have mingl'd Sacred Story with Profane . You might have told us that St. Peter was married , that St. Paul defended the leading about a Sister ; that we owe one of the most celebrated 1 Fathers of the Church to the Endeavours and Conversion of a Woman ; and that St. Ierom had so great an esteem for the Sex , as to dedicate a great part of his Works to some of ' em . You might have added to these a thousand more , which you see I purposely omit to avoid Prolixity , and mention none but whom you will allow to be the most celebrated of their profession , without doing your Cause any injury in the least ; for after all , it is but shewing us a Drawing Room of Fops , reading a Dialogue out of Lucian , seeing a Scene of a Play , quoting a Sentence out of Solomon's Proverbs , searching all History for two or three ill Women , and the business is done , the Cause is gain'd , let the Trumpets sound , and Io Paean be sung for the Victory . I am sorry , Sir , that I cannot be as civil to you , as you have been to me ; It goes against my Conscience to place you with so bad Company , considering with what you have obliged me ; and of those few great men whom you have seduc'd to your Party , I am concern'd that I must take the better part from you . I fancy , after what I have already said of Solomon , after reflecting upon his History , you cannot think him a true Friend to your Cause ; and therefore will not I hope depend too much upon him . I shall say nothing of his Wives and Concubines , I shall not as much as mention his Canticles , which 1 Grotius , as well as I , affirms to be a Love-Poem , and which 1 Rapin reckons both the first and best of Pastorals ; but I shall attack you at your own Weapon ; I shall oppose Proverb against Proverb ; if he has been severe in 'em upon ill Women , whose Cause I do not undertake , he has spoken as favourably of the 2 Wise and the Good , for whom we appear ; in like manner , if Euripides has represented Women so in his Tragedies , as to get the Name of the Woman-hater , I appeal from his Writings to his Life and Conversation , which shew him far otherwise . If Simonides gives you severe Characters of several Women , he gives you one at last that makes amends for all ; one in whom no fault can be found ; and if you think that is not enough to take him off from your party , if you are still so very fond of him , we will tell you , that Men who are deform'd and ugly , as 1 Simonides was , naturally declare themselves Enemies to Women , because they fancy Women are Enemies to them ; and upon that account , not upon the account of his Wit , we will allow him to you . As for St. Chrysostom , tho' we have all the respect imaginable for a Father of the Church , and upon that account shall not enter into the Merits of the Cause betwixt 2 him and the Empress Eudoxia ; yet this we shall say , Sir , that as Fathers of the Church are Subject to Passions , as well as other men ; so it is no wonder that a man , who is us'd very ill by one Woman , and converses with few else , shou'd conclude 'em all alike . Thus after having taken two of your Patriots from you , and if not taken , at least disabled the other two from being very credible Witnesses , you are reduc'd to Lucian and Iuvenal . For the former , if I shou'd quote you what the old Fathers say of him , if I shou'd tell you , that he did not only abuse the Christian Religion , but even his own ; that he rallied all the Philosophers , Orators , and Historians of his time ; that not content with that , he falls foul upon those his own Religion taught him to worship as Gods ; I fancy you wou'd not think what such a man says of any great weight ; but truly , Sir , there is no need of that in this case ; What does this Lu●ian do , pray ? Why 1 he describes the Bawds Griping , Covetous , and encou●aging their Daughters in Lewdness ; ●is : Curtisans False , Jilting , and true Curtisans throughout . And what of all this , pray ? what does this make for you ? 'T is not the Cause of Bawds , or Curtisans that we undertake ; tho' even amongst them he represents a great part Easie , Loving , good-natur'd Fools , and us'd accordingly by their Lovers . But does Lucian pretend that there are no good Women ? Does he fall upon the Sex in general ? or does not he bring in 1 Charicles in one place defending 'em , and does not he make the greatest Encomium that can be of Panthaea in another , and speak with abundance o● esteem of several other Women in the same ? And if he does introduce Callicratides in one of his Dialogues railing at the Sex in opposition to Charicles , h● does it in the defence of a Sin , which ● am sure you will scarce think it civil to name . What shall we say to Iuvenal , but what Plato did to Xenocrates , bid him Sacrifice to the Graces . He is always Violent , always Declaiming , always in a Passion ; and what wonder if he falls upon the Women in one of his Fits ? After all , you will make no great matter of him ; for if he has writ one Satyr upon the Women , he has writ fifteen upon the Men. For the Comick Poets and Satyrists , whom you mention in general , when you name 'em in particular , I shall give 'em particular answers . And now truly , Sir , see your self reduc'd to a miserable Equipage ; some old Husbands , and jilted Lovers ; some men with ill Faces , and worse Meens , may possibly stick to you still ; but that is all ; I am sorry to see a man so well made , of so much Wit , and who has been so successful amongst the Ladies , rank himself with such a Tribe ; but you do it , I suppose , by way of variety only ; and so let Misogynes appear , at the Head of his Regiment , that makes a worse Figure than Sir Iohn Falstaffe's ; let 'em be encourag'd with stumm'd Wine and muddy Ale ; let 'em give Fire to their Mundungus , and so let the battel begin , whilst we with all the Heroes , Wits , and Philosophers , see how we can defend the Cause we have undertaken . I am sensible , Sir , that I have broken the order of your Discourse , and I beg your Pardon for it ; But I thought it was necessary to dististinguish our Enemies from our Friends , before the Armies joyn'd , that so we might know whom to attack , and whom to spare ; and having done that , I shall now confine my self to your Method , and follow the Course that you please to lead me . Though I perfectly agree with you in the esteem of the Laws made for the encouragement of Marriage , and consequently cannot but regret the want of 'em amongst our selves ; yet I must beg your Pardon , Sir , if I wholly dissent from you , in the inference you would draw from it ; For ●tis very apparent to me , and to any unbiass'd Person else , I suppose , that those Laws were never made , as you fancy , for the forcing men to the Love of Women , to which all Coun●ries were naturally enough enclined ; ●ut for the restraining 'em to particu●ars ; that whilst they follow'd the ge●eral pleasures of the Sex , they might ●ot lose the useful part , which was the ●rocreation of Children . Had there ●een so few Vertues amongst 'em , as ●ou please to imagine , there had been ●o need of this ; When we have but one Dish of Meat that we like , we fall upon that without any deliberation ; but when the fancy is distracted with variety of Dainties , we often lose more time in the making our choice , than would otherwise be requisite to the satisfying our Appetites . 'T is true , Sir , it is a very good way to judge of People by the Company they are fond of ; but 't is not a certain way to judge of People by the Company that is fond of them . There was a Taylor in love with Queen Elizabeth , but it does not necessarily follow that Queen Elizabeth was in love with a Taylor . If there are Fops , if there are ridiculous Fellows who follow the Ladies , before we run down the Ladies for it , let us see if they do not laugh at 'em , as well as we our selves . And I cannot think their pursuing 'em an● reason at all for Men of sense to avoid ' em . You would think it very hard , that Alexander and Caesar should quit the Art of War , because some Thrasoes and bragging Bullies pretended to it as well as they ; and Virgil and Horace would take it very ill , that you shou'd damn all sorts of Poetry , because of the Bavius's and Maevius's , who set up for it ; and whatever reason you wou'd give against the being a Minister of State , I dare say Sir Politick Woudbee's aiming at it , wou'd be none . ( Here Philogynes ●seems to me not to understand the right use of that considerable part of Mankind call'd Fools ; For it is only the Half Wit that is intolerable , and a true Fool , is next a true Wit the best Company in the World ; for as a Noble Author has extreamly well observ'd , Wit , like Terce Claret , when 't begins to pa●● , Neglected lies , and 's of no use at all ; But in its full perfection of Decay , Turns Vinegar , and ●omes again in Play. ) After this I need not tell you , Sir , that 't is very ill judging of People by their outside ; and as I laugh at those who like a Man only for his being well drest , so I fancy you will allow them to be as ridiculous , who run him down only for the same reason . It was objected against 1 Aristotle and 2 Cicero , that they were too sumptuous in their Apparel , and overcurious in their Dress ; and without doubt there were deep 3 Criticks in those times , said they minded nothing but making themselves fine ; who yet , without any offence to their Learning , we may suppose cou'd not give so good an account of their Studies , as these two great Men have done of theirs . ( Courage ! there are two good Precedents for the Beaux . ) After all , Sir , I know there are a great many of these gay Coxcombs , of these eternal pretenders to Love ; and I have nothing to say in their behaves ; let 'em e'●n shift for themselves amongst the Thrasoes , and Bavius's . But they do not only pretend ( you say ) they are successful too ; 'T is very possible , Sir ; I do not know but there may be Fools enow of the other Sex , to like the Fools of ours . But it is with the best sort of Women too ( you say ) that they succeed . And who tells you so , pray ? They themselves . I swear , Sir ( though I have a very great esteem for those Gentlemen ) yet I must beg their Pardon for my faith in this point ; I can never think a Woman whose Wit we all allow , can be fond of a Man whose Folly we all see : On the other side , I know how natural it is , for every one to avoid contempt ; and when a man is despis'd in one place , what so reasonable as to make you believe he is esteem'd in another . And I hope the Gentlemen themselves will take it for a Compliment , when I tell 'em I do not believe a word they say in this point ; since certainly a Man of Honour wou'd rather of the two , tell a Lye to the prejudice of a Woman who uses him ill , than a truth to the utter ruine of one who grants him all the favours he can ask . But let us judge 'em by their Actions say you ! Do not most of the young Heiresses run away with pitiful Fellows ? If they do , Sir , it should rather deserve your Pity than your Anger ; or if you must be angry , be angry with the Guardians whose severity frighten 'em away , and yet hinders 'em the sight of any Men of merit to run away with . 'T is no wonder that one who has never seen any Town , but where he was born , should think that the finest in the World ; and you cannot blame a Woman for being in Love with a Man who does not deserve her , if she never saw any who did . All that we can reasonably expect in that point is , that she shou'd make some satisfaction when she see● the World better ; and if she shews her contempt of her Choice then , 't is as much ( if not more ) than can be required . In like manner you cannot say a Widow makes an ill Choice , except you prove she was offer'd a better . If a Man , who is obliged to ride a Journey , does it upon an ill Horse , you will be very well satisfy'd certainly , when he tells you , 't is the best he cou'd get . ( I confess , Madam , this seems to me but a very indifferent excuse for the Widows ; for he wou'd make us believe , 't is but next Oars with 'em ; and so I told my ●riend ; but he reply'd , I must consider , 't is only those Widows who make an ill Choice , about which he is to speak ; and as he cannot say of them , as of the young Maids● that it was for want of seeing the World ; so they must be contented with this excuse , or make a better for themselves . ) For the Wives , who you say Cuckold their Husbands , there may be somewhat more to be said . Modesty being almost an inseparable Quality of wit , there is no wonder that a Man who is possest of that , should so seldom succeed in these Undertakings . Whilst Fools , by their natural impudence push on the thing ; and Married Women are a sort of Forts that are sooner taken by Storm than Treaty . So that this shews rather the great confi●ence of the Man , than the little judgment of the Woman ; who 't is forty to one had much rather a Man of sense was possest of her , if he wou'd take the same methods to gain her as the ●●her had done . ( After all , Madam , I think no●e of these Excuses Extraordinary ; theref●re if I were worthy to advise the Ladies , they shou'd rather make use of Men o● Wit in all these Capacities , than put their Friends to the trouble of inventing such pitful defences for ' em . ) Now , Sir , as I cannot see any reason why Women should naturally love Fools , more then Men of Wit , so I shall very hardly be brough● to believe they do . In a Husband I suppose they propose a Man whose Conversation shall be agreeable as wel as his Person ; and who shall have wit to entertain 'em , as well as wisdom to direct 'em ; and in whom can this be found , but in Men of the best Sense ? If in a Gallant , as you say , they propose Pleasure without scandal , 't is very hard the heat that warms a Man's Brain , should so entirely settle there , as to render him incapable of pleasing'em otherways ; though 't is possible , by reason of his having variety of thoughts to divert him , he may not give himself so entirely up to those pleasures , as People less capable of thinking do : and for the scandal , who so proper to hinder that , as those who have prudence to mannage things so as not to be found out , and wit enough to turn it off if they are ? Whilst a Fool by his want of Sense shall quickly make the thing publick , if there be an Intrigue , or by his vanity brag of one , though there be none . Add to this , that when a Woman seems pleas'd with a Man of wit , every body is apt to attribute it to the pleasure of his Conversation ; whereas , when she is fond of a Man , in whom we can see nothing to be lik'd , we naturally suppose she likes him for something that we do not see : and though 't is possible it may be only want of Judgment in the Lady , yet the world is apt to Compliment her Understanding in that Case , to the prejudice of her Reputation . And to conclude , Sir , though I do not believe all those Men successful who say they are not , yet I am very much inclined to believe all those Men not to be successful , who say they are . For your Examples of Women Haters , I have sufficiently I think reply'd to them already ; and for your other Arguments , if it be an affront to call a Man effeminate , I hope you do not think it any great Compliment to tell a Woman she is Masculine ; and had that Argument been urg'd against you , I dare answer for you , you wou'd have said , that that only proved the Perfections of the Sexes diff●rent ; and as Man was made for the ruder Labours , it was requisite he should be strong and course ; and the Women , being made for the easier things , ought to be soft , tender , and delicate : And as for Mens being govern'd by their Wives , tho' the being hector'd by 'em is not so commendable ; yet it 1 was observ'd by 2 Cato of the Romans , that they govern'd all the World , and that their Wives govern'd them : Amongst the 3 Assyrians it was a Custom introduc'd by Semiramis , ( who had Ruled that Kingdom with so much Glory ) that the Wives shou'd have Dominion over the Husbands ; The same Custom prevail'd likewise among the 4 Sauromatae ; and the 5 AEgyptians had an Express Law to that purpose . We know how much the 6 Spartans ( the bravest Men of the world ) were Commanded by their Wives , and that all the care and management of Domestick Affairs was committed to them . So that I can not imagine how a thing shou'd be so very scandalous , that was practised by most of the bravest People under the Sun. Here are very good Precedents for Married Women , which it is to be hoped they will lay up in their hearts , and practice in their Lives and Conversations . I have as great a veneration for those Poets you mention , as any Man can ; and upon that account I shall not believe all the ill they say of their Mistresses , because I suppose they would not have me : As I have been a Lover my self , so I know very well that People are apt in those Cases to take suspicions for realities , and surmises for matter of fact . Does not 7 Aureng-zebe call Indamora Faithless , and Ingrate ? and yet I believe he wou'd be very angry that you shou'd call her so too ; and wou'd not any one who came in when he was in one of his rants , conclude , a Man who loved so well , would not be enrag'd against a Mistress at that rate , unless her falsehood was very apparent ? And yet when we come to examine the Cause of this disorder , what is it , but Morats giving him his Life at her request , or his leaning upon her Lap when he dyed . I rather mention this than any of the Poets you spoke of , not only because all the motions and Passions of a Lover are described with as much Art and Delicacy , as in any of those Ancients , but also , that seeing the whole business before you , you may judge of every little cause of his disorder , as well as he himself , which in Odes and Elegies you cannot do ; You see the Lover there in a fury , but what cause he has to be so , there is no body to tell you , but he who is in it . Add to this , that a Man often feigns jealousie of his Mistress , to hinder her from being so of him , and will upbraid her falshood to defend his own . ( That is a thing now I confess , Madam , which I can hardly believe . ) And it is evident , they had not really any such bad Opinion of Women , since with all this they did not cease to run after ' em . However , if you think these general Answers not sufficient ; let us see what we can say to particulars . For the Complaints of Cruelty and Scorn ; I look upon 'em as things of course , and therefore shall say nothing to ' em . If Anacreon's Mistress did ask him nothing but money ; why did he chuse one whose necessities drove her upon it . And if other Men have made complaints of the Womens minding wealth more than Love ; I desire to know whether Women have not as much reason to make the same Complaints of the Men. And for those who talk of their Mistresses inconstancy , let us see first whether they were Constant to them . For Ovid , he does not pretend to put it upon you , but complains in 1 one place of his being in Love with two at once , and tells you frankly in 2 another , that he was in Love with all the Town . For Horace , Suetonius , ( or who ever it was that writ his Life ) informs you that he was intemperately given to Women ; and what wonder then , that a Man who try'd so many , shou'd find one or two false . Tibullus had two 3 Mistresses whom he Celebrates by name , and there are some more Elegies that it does not appear whether they are writ to them or others ; and tho' he tells , us the 4 Report was that his Mistress was kind to other men ; yet the Report gave him so much torment , that he desired it should be stifled ; if therefore you have any friendship for him , endeavour to fulfil his desire in that point . For Propertius , besides his 3 intemperate Love of all Women , he tells you his 4 Mistress caught him with two Wenches at the same time ; and confesses that he rails at the incontinence of Women , only because she upbraided him with his . Thus whatever qualifications those Great Men had , Constancy you see was none ; and tho' we allow you , each of 'em had merit enough for any one Woman , yet one Man can hardly have enough for half a score . Now if Ruine and Desolation has come to Great Men , and States , from Women , it shew'd they had a good Opinion of the Sex in general , that they wou'd suffer for 'em ; and had they not been sensible the greatest part were good , they cou'd never have been impos'd upon by the bad . Then as for those Ill Women whom you have mention'd , as I suppose you will not undertake to defend all the Actions of Tyrants , and Murderers ; so I do not think my self at all obliged to defend all the Women who have been guilty of some of their Crimes . The Dispute is not whether there have been any Ill Women in the world , but whether there are not more Good. And when I have told you that the same Book that condemns Dalilah , cries up Deborah , and Iael ; That if Homer has represented Helen guilty of some faults ( for you will see that Homer does not represent her Cause so violently bad ) he tells us of Hecuba , and Andromache , and a thousand others who were very good ones ; That if Clytemnestra was false to Agamemnon , Penelope was as Famous for her Truth to Vlysses ; and so put you Example against Example , which I forbear to do , only because it is so very easie ; should I , I say , do but this , you cou'd not complain that your Arguments were unanswer'd . But truly , Sir , we might carry the thing much farther ; we might defend some of those Women you mention'd , and excuse the rest . For Dalilah I shall say nothing , out of respect to the Scripture , that represents her as an Ill Woman ; 't is possible , were she alive , she might tell you in her own defence , that what account you have of her , is from her profest Enemies : That however taking the thing as they tell it ; if she did commit a piece of treachery , it was against an Enemy of her Country ; and that it was very hard she should be so much run down for the same thing they have so much admired in Iael and Iudeth , as well as every body else did in Marcus Brutus ; she wou'd perhaps push her defence further , and tell you , that thô she deliver'd Samson to the Philistins to be kept Prisoner , yet she neither drove a Nail through his head , nor cut it off . But for Helen , give me leave to tell you , 't is a great dispute amongst the Historians , whether she was forc'd away by Paris , or went by her own consent ; several are of the former Opinion ; and 1 Hoelztzim says plainly , he wonders Homer will put such a ridiculous Story upon the world , as to make her the occasion of the Trojan War. ( Menelaus , it must be confest , Madam , if the Story be true , was a very easie good natur'd Husband , who would be at so much pains and charge to fetch back a Wife who run away with another man. I do not remember , in my own memory , to have known above Five or Six Examples like it ) And 2 Plato speaks as if the belying her were the cause of Homer's blindness , as well as of Stesichorus's ; but that the latter understood the way of expiating his fault better , and made his recantation , to this effect : That there was not a word of truth in the Story of her going to Troy. If Clytemnestra was consenting to her Husband's death , yet it was Egisthus , a man , who gave the blow : And if Tha●s did advi●e the burning Persepolis , yet it was not less a Person than Alexander the Great who put it in Execution . And as for Deianira and Cleopatra , whatever fatality arrived to their Lovers from 'em , may certainly be very well excused upon the innocence of their Intentions , and their punishment of themselves afterwards , the one Hanging , the other Poisoning her sel● . I● the Capuan Women destroy'd Annibal's Army , they destroy'd a Body of Enemies that all the men in Italy could not . In like manner , for your other Instances we might tell you that Procopius , who tells those terrible Stories of 1 Theodora , is so very passionate all along , and mixes such ridiculous Fables with what he tells , that there is no great credit to be given to him . ( This Procopius was a Souldier under Justinian , and has writ amongst other things a Secret History of those Times ; In this he repre●ents the Empress Theodora more like a Devil than a Woman ; he makes her and the Emperour converse frequently with Spirits , and makes her put 'em to an Employment , that savours more of the Flesh than the Spirit ) Tho' granting she was as lew'd as he represents her ; what wonder is it , that one who had been a stroling Play-wench , and common Strumpet before the Emperour married her , shou'd not turn Saint after ? If the 1 Princess of Parma embroil'd Flanders , she did it by the command of Philip , for whom she govern'd . And as for your two Queen Maries , 2 Caussin you know makes a Saint of the one , and Parsons of the other , with whom I leave you to fight it out , not thinking our dispute very much concern'd in it . Then , Sir , if there are impertinents , if there are ridiculous Persons of the other Sex , I hope you do not think they are all Plato's , nor all Aristotles of our own ; And I will undertake , for every Woman who plagues you with her business , for every Woudbee Politician , and for every Pedant amongst them , to bring you double the number of the Men. If Olivia is impertinent in the Plain-Dealer , I hope there are Novels and Plausibles who keep her Company ; And if I shou'd carry you to a City Coffee-House , and there shew you a parcel of People talking of things that they understand nothing at all of ; and settling the Governments of Countries , which they never saw as much as in a Map : From thence to a Play-House , and shew you the pert and insipid raillery of the Sparks upon the Vizard Masks : From thence to a New-Market Course , and enter you at a Table , where you shou'd hear nothing talkt of but Dogs and Horses : From thence to a Tavern ; and shew you a set of men in their Drunken Frolicks : I fancy you wou'd wish your self in your Drawing-Room again , as a more agreeable ●olly than any of those I have mention'd . And I appeal to you whether Lucian in his Timon , Boileau in his Eighth Satyr , and my Lord Rochester in his upon the like Subject , say not as much against Mankind , and make 'em as ridiculous as you can do the Women . And I 'll assure you , Sir , I am far from being of the Duke of Britanie's mind , that Learning is unfit for a Woman ; and shall , without any offence either to him or you , continue of the same Opinion● 'till you have answer'd Anna Maria Schurman's Arguments in their behalf , and 'till you have taken away her ●elf , who is one of the best Arguments . This Anna Maria Schurman was ● Dutch Lady of Utrecht , of whom yo● will hear more anon . There was a long Dispute between her and Rivetus , whether Learning was fit for Women ? 'T is Printed in her Works in Latin. Here , Madam , there follows a tedious Chapter , of Women who have been famous for Wit and Learning ; which though it may be convenient for those who question their Abilities that way , yet I do not see of what use it can be to your Ladyship , or to any who have the honour of being acquainted with you ; therefore if you please , Madam , we will cast off here , and take hands again at the bottom . Nor need you fear that I shou'd search three several Countries , and three several Ages , to furnish me with a Learned Woman apiece . No , Sir , even Greece it self , to go no further , had Nine Muses , Nine Sibyls , and Nine Lyrick Po●tesses , if you are delighted with the number Nine , which is three times three . And if you have more mind to particulars , we will shew you there 1 Megalostrate the Mistress of Alcman , who had a gift of Poetry as well as he ; the Daughters of 2 Stesichorus who were as good Poets as their Father . We have also an Eretrian Sappho , as well as she who was in Love with Phaon ; Erinna , and Demophila , the first the Mistress of Sappho , the other equal to her , who flourish'd all four in the same time . After these we have Theano , the Wife of Pythagoras , who undertook his School when he was dead , with two others of the same name ( if you will believe Su●das ) whereof one was a Lyrick Poetess , the other a Thurian , who writ of Pythagoras . We have also about the same time Cleobulina ( the Daughter of Cleobulus one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece ) a Poetess , and Corinna who had the Sir-name given her of the Lyrick Muse. We have presently after Telesilla an Argive Poetess , not only Famous for her Wit , but for her Inspiring her Country Women with so much Courage , as to make 'em put to Flight the Spartiates , who came upon 'em in the absence of their Husbands . At the same time lived Praxilla one of the nine Lyricks , and of whom we have a Copy of Verses to Calais yet extant ; What will you say to Aspatia Milesia , who is Celebrated as a Sophistress , ( you know the word 1 Sophister was not then abus'd ) a Teacher of Rethorick , and a Poetess ? There was also Hesti●ea , mention'd by Strabo , Anyte by Tatian , and Nyssis by Antipater Thessalus , of the two last of which there are some things yet extant ; if you have a mind to see what they did after they turn'd Christians , we will produce Eudocia the Wife of Theodosius , instructed in all sort of Learning , and who writ several Treatises , very much cry'd up by Photius . I have not said a word here of Lasthemia the Mantinaean , nor Axiothea the Phliasian , tho' they are mention'd amongst the Disciples of Plato by Diogenes Laertius ; and I own I forgot Hipparchia , whose Life he writes , and commends bo●h as a Philosopher and a Writer of Tragedies , and Hedyle the Poetess , whom Athenaeus quotes , and 1 Vossius it seems has forgot 'em as well as I. I question not but there are several others , whose Names we want , and I question not but that there are several nam'd whom I remember not : However this is enough to let you see we are not so hard put to it as you imagine , since one little Country can furnish us with all these . What say you , Sir , are you yet satisfied there are Women of Wit and Learning ? or shall we fetch you the 1 Cornelia you mention'd , 2 Sempronia , 3 Cornificia , Polla Argentaria the Wife of Lucan , and who assisted him in his Poem ; Sulpitia , Proba Falconia , Helpine the Wife of Boetius from amongst the Latins ? Or if these are not enow , shall we bring up our Reserves of I●alian , Spanish , French , German , and English ? And if you are not yet contented , because I fancy every body else is , I shall refer you to Iacobus a Sancto Carolo 's Library of Women , Illustrious for their Writings ; or to Anna Maria Schurman , who was indeed a Library her self , since you mention her . Pardon me , Sir , if I detain you a little longer than ordinary with this Woman ; and though you may think it lost time , because you knew it before , yet 't is possible every body does not know , that she was very well skill'd in the Hebrew , Chaldee , Syriack , Arabick , Turkish , Greek , Latin , French , English , Italian , Spanish , German , Dutch , and Flemish Languages ; that she had a very good ●aculty at Poetry and Painting , that she was a perfect Mistress of all the Philosophies , that the greatest Divines of her time were proud of her judgment in their own profession , and that when we had this Character of her she was not above Thirty years of Age. What think you , Sir , is not this Woman sufficient of her self ? Or shall we refer you to Mademoiselle 1 Gournay among the French , or 2 Lucretia Marinella among the Italians , who have both writ in defence of their Sex , and who are both Arguments themselves of the Excellency of it ? I shall not as much as mention any of those Ladies whose Wit Balzac and Voiture so much admire ; I shall say nothing of the Mesdemoselles Scuderie and Le Fevre , to the first of which we do not only owe several excellent Treatises publish'd under her own name , but who is said also to have had a great share in those that appear under her Brother 's ; and to the latter of which we are oblig'd for so many admirable Versions , and judicious Observations upon most of the Greek and Latin Poets . I shall not as much as trouble you with our own Country Women . I shall say nothing of Sir Thomas More 's Daughters , about whose Education 1 Erasmus has written ; I shall pass by Sir Nicolas Bacon's , who were as learned as they ; shall say nothing of Sir Philip Sidney's Lady Pembroke , nor as much as mention Mrs. Philips , or any of the rest of our English Poetesses ; but I can hardly forbear saying something of the Lady Iane Gray , of whom all Nations else speak , and whose Fame is more celebrated in Italy , both for her Learning and Piety , by the account that Michael Angelo has given 'em of her , than it is here at home . Should I reckon up all those Ladies whose Wit and Learning has been Celebrated by our own Poets ; should I but enter upon the praises of Queen Elizabeth of England , or Mary of Scotland , in that particular● I should never have done . But I can hardly omit two Ladies who are strangers , and however I am straitned for room , yet methinks I ought to be just to those who were civil to me , since therefore I received particular favours from the Procurator Cornara , during my stay at Venice , let me not pass over in silence his Daughter , for whom most of the greatest Princes , and Learned Men of Europe have testified such an esteem . This Lady , besides her Skill in Rhetorick , Logick , Musick , and Astronomy , writ and spoke perfectly well Seven several Languages ; and made the course of all the Speculative Sciences with so much success , that She might very well profess her self a Mistress of 'em ; and all this before she was thirty Years of Age. Her Sister , whom I had the honour to see ( she her self being dead some time before ) is likewise a Person of very singular Endowments ; and all this whilst they are one of the best Families of a Town , where the Nobility seem almost as proud of their Ignorance , as their Liberty . The other I shall mention , is Christina Queen of Sueden , a Princess whose Accomplishments are so generally known , that it is enough to have named her ; a Lady of that true Judgment , that she knew how to esteem Wit and Learning at the same time that she despis'd Crowns ; and seem'd to be Born as a sufficient recompence to the Common-wealth of Letters , for all the mischiefs her Predecessors the Goths and Vandals had done it before ; I am satisfy'd it is impossible for me to add any thing to a Glory so establisht as that of this Princess is ; yet as I never past any time either with greater benefit , or greater satisfaction , than what I past in her Conversation ; so I am very well pleas'd methinks with any thing that gives me occasion to call it to my remembrance . There might be as advantageous Characters perhaps given of some Ladies of our own Country now living , did not their Modesty , that inseparable Quality of Wit and Women , deter me from it . We might tell you further , Sir , that this Modesty too often hinders 'em from making their Vertues known ; That they are not of those eternal Scrib●ers who are continually plagueing the World with their Works ; and that it ●s not the Vanity of getting a Name , which several of the greatest men of the World have own'd to be the Cause of their writing , that is the Cause of the Womens . Had not Sappho been so much in Love , 't is possible we had never heard any mention of one of the greatest Wits that ever was born ; had not Cicero and Quintilian given us accounts of Cornelia , and the Daughters of L●lius , and Hortensius , they had never done it themselves ; had not Iane Gray been put to Death , her Vertues had never been so much taken notice of ; Had not the Portugueze Nun been deserted by her Gallant , we had mist some of the most passionate Letters that these latter Ag●s have produc'd ; and had not Anna Maria Schurman's Works been publish'd by a Friend , without her consent , we had lost the benefit of ' em . We may tell you too , that ' t●● no● only in respect of their own Sex that they are admir'd , but even of ours . That of those two Odes we have yet of Sappho , we owe one to Dionys●us Halicarnassaeus , the other to Longin , the two best Criticks of Greece , who cho●● 'em out for Examples to their Rules , before any of the Mens ; That the Epistle of Sappho to Phaon , which is esteem'd the most delicate of Ovid , 's is supposed to be taken out of her Writings . That Corinna was five times victorious over Pindar the best Ly●ick Po●● of our Sex. And were we here in England as forward in Printing Lette●s , as they are in France and Italy , we might furnish Volumes of 'em written by ou● own Ladies , that wou'd make all the Women-haters blush , or make all Men else blush for ' em . Here , Madam , I must own to you I grew je●lous , for I cou'd no● imagine that Philogynes wou'd have said this , withou● having seen some of your Ladys●ips Letters . We may tell you too , that granting the equal Capacities of both Sexes , 't is a greater wonder to find one Learned Woman , than a hundred Learned Men , considering the difference of their Educations . If you shou'd go into Greece , and , seeing the ignorance is amongst 'em at present , tell 'em their Country men were incapable of Learning , wou'd you not be very well satisfied , when they told you of the Plato's and Aristotle's of Antiquity ? And that if they had not as Famous Men now , it was because they have not the same Advantages they had then ? And pray why may not the Women be allow'd the same excuse ? Will you by all your Laws and Customs endeavour to keep 'em ignorant , and then blame 'em for being so ? And forbid all Men of Sense keeping 'em Company , as you do , and yet be angry with them for keeping Company with Fools ? Consider what Time and Charge is spent to make Men fit for somewhat ; Eight or Nine Years at School ; Six or Seven Years at the University ; Four or Five Years in Travel ; and after all this , are they not almost all Fops , Clowns , Dunces , o● Pedants ? I know not what you think of the Women ; but if they are Fools , they are Fools I am sure with less pains● and less expence than we are . Upon second thoughts I hope , Sir , you will allow , that Women may have Wit and Learning ; for their Courage and Conduct we may possibly say more anon . But for Heaven's sake , do not aggravate their faults always at that rate ; for whatever Sappho's Life and Conversation were , there is nothing in her Writings , but what represents the most tender , and delicate passion in the World : And as for Aloisia Sigaea ( I give you thanks for putting me in mind of 1 Aloisi● Sigaea , who was as remarkable for her Wit and Learning as any of the other ) I am very well assur'd you do not believe that infamous Book which goes under her Name , to have been written by her ; 2 all who speak of it assure us the contrary ; and that she was so far from writing it , that she 3 never publish'd any thing ; On the other side , all Historians represent her as remarkable for her Vertue , as her Learning . For the Queen of Sheba , there is no mention in Scripture of her Travelling for any thing but to be satisfied with the wisdom of Solomon ; however , if you will believe she went to him , for the same reason that 5 Thalestris did to Alexander the Great ; it was no such great matter , in Countreys where it was thought no Sin , if the one had a mind to have a Child by the wisest man in the world , and the other by the bravest . After all , we must own if there are l●wd Women , they endeavour to conceal their lewdness they do not brag of it , nor flye openly in the face of Religion ; and if they once come to be publickly discover'd , they are render'd infamous to all the World , and their nearest Friends and Relations avoid their company : Whilst there are several Men who boast of their iniquities , value themselves upon their being thought lewd , and what is worse , find others to value 'em upon it too ; nay by their incitements and encouragements to wickedness , often bring themselves to that pass , that the least part of the Sins they are to answer for , are what they have commit●ed● themselves● But not a word more I beseech you of Sappho , nor her new Crime , le● Lucian be forgotten for putting us in mind of it , and let it be Cloister'd up within the walls of a Turkish Seraglio ; I speak not this in behalf of the Female Sex , but of our own ; for if they shou'd once hear of this Argument , and fall upon us with 1 Socrates , 2 Plato , and all those Heroes of Antiquity , whom Plutarch and Lucian produce in defence of a like Sin in our Sex ; shou'd they mention Anacreon , Tibullus , Martial , and all those Poets who have eterniz'd their Infamy in their writings ; and after that shew you what progresses this Crime has made , not only in the Turk's Dominion , but even in Spain and Italy , I am sure , Sir , you wou'd wish you had said nothing of a point , that may be so severely made use of against our selves . Now tho' you are pleas'd to quote the Lampoons , yet you think as well as I that such things are not worth any bodies taking notice of ; we both know there are a sort of people about this Town , who please themselves with Defamations ; One of these , if they see a Man speak to a Woman , make their little signs , their politick winks , and possibly when they meet him , in their insipid way of Rallery , tax him with it : If he is angry at 'em , then he is pique'd , and afraid the Intrigue shou'd be found out ; If he says nothing ( as it deserves nothing ) then he is out of Countenance● and cannot say a word ; and if he laughs at 'em ( which is all the answer a man wou'd make to such stuff ) then he is pleas'd with the thing ; so that every way the poor Ladies Reputation suffers ; and these Sparks shall no● fail to blow it about Town , that there is an Amour ; not that they think so of you , but that you may return the Complement , and say so of them , when they speak to any Lady themselves . For their Garrulity , if you wou'd see things which are against you , in that Treatise of 1 Plutarch , from whence you bring two of your Instances , you might have been furnish'd with enow of the mens . But tho' 't is lawful to forget Stories that are not for you , yet methinks you ought to tell out those you do mention ; and when we have heard that the Wife of Fulvius , seeing what she had done , shew'd her Husband the way to avoid the Consequences of it , by stabing her self first ; we must certainly own , that such a Woman had Vertue enough to make amends for all her faults . And if in answer to the instances you bring , I shou'd mention the 2 Melitish , or the Saxon Women , who tho' they were all engag'd in Plots with their Husbands , yet not one discover'd it ; If I shou'd shew you 1 Leaena at Athens , or 2 Epi●haris at Rome , who being both engag'd in Plots , one against the Tyrant Pisistra●us , the other against Nero , yet cou'd not by all their Tortures , be brought to discover 'em ; and that the former for fear her Torments shou'd make her reveal it , bit off her Tongue , certainly , Sir , you wou'd have a better Opinion of their Taciturnity . But we need not go so far for Instances ; our own Country , and our own Time , will furnish us with ●now . In all the Plots we have had continually on foot , tho' we have had Women engag'd and accus'd ; tho' there was One Pilloried in the first ; Three Executed in another ; and Sixteen or Seventeen excepted in a Generall Pardon ; though there have been several seiz'd upon like accounts since , yet you see there has not been one of 'em who ever made a Discovery . Give me leave , Sir , to commend 'em for their Vertues at the same time that I am far from defending their faults , and though I have a very good Opinion of those Men who discover a Conspiracy upon remorse of Conscience , yet I must take leave to believe that there are some at least , who do it upon another account ; and without any sorrow at all for their design , except that it did not succeed , think to save their own Lives , by the Sacrifice of other Peoples ; and make amends for their Treason against the Government , by their Treachery to their Friends . But no wonder you are so severe upon the faults of Modern Women , when you fall upon those whom all Antiquity has reverenc'd . 'T is hard that Iael and Iudeth , whose Actions have been so long admir'd , should be call'd to account for them so many Thousand years after . It would be an injury to their Cause , to say any thing in their Defence ; and a presumption in me to justifie Actions , that the Scripture has Celebrated so much . But must poor Penelope fall under your displeasure too ? I am sensible how much she is like to suffer , who is defended by so dull a Fellow as Homer , against those most ingenious Gentlemen , who are the Lampooners of our Age : However as their Ability in scandal needs no foreign aid ; and as I am satisfied they would think it a disparagement to 'em to be reckon'd with Virgil and Ovid , let us free 'em , pray , from such unworthy Companions . For the former I believe you are fully satisfied the Priapeia are none of his ; and as fully satisfy'd that the authority of such ●ort of Verses is not extreamly much to be depended upon ; And for Ovid , if in the person of a Bawd , who he tells you was a Lyar , he gives you a reflection upon Penelope , yet he makes her very sufficient amends , when 1 he speaks in his own person . And taking the Story as it lies , that her House was always full of Lovers whom she could by no means get away ; Laertes being too Old , Telemachus too Young to encounter 'em ; it certainly shews her Vertue so much the more : For as there is no great Courage required to keep a Fortress in the time of Peace , so a very little Vertue is sufficient to preserve that Chastity which no body ever thought it worth his while to attempt . Now if Lycophron and Duris Samius represent her as a lewd Woman , as I understand not how they shou'd come to know it , all the Writers who liv'd before 'em giving so very different an account ; so for Lycopron , 't is no great wonder a Greek and a Poet should lye ; or that Duris Samius , seeing the Etymologie of the word Pan come so pat , shou'd feed us with a story upon it , of his own invention . ( Pan you remember , Madam , in Greek signifies All , and who wou'd no● tell a Lye for so pretty a Conceit ? ) You may observe also , that this Author was not of so establish'd a Reputation as Cicero wou'd make us believe , since 1 Plutarch who quotes him once , does it only to contradict him in a point of History , that he ought to have known better that this . For Lucretia , observe of Sir Charles Sedley , as of Ovid before , that he only makes the Bawd say it , and if you consider the fear in which she was , you will find that that passion often makes People run into a greater danger to avoid a less , of which you have instances enow in our own Plantations , of the 1 Slaves who hang themselves , to avoid their being beat . After all this , Sir , if you still think with Le Chambre that Men have a greater natural inclination to Vertue than Women , yet I hope you will grant they have taken a very becoming care to overcome that Inclination ; and if Nature has not given so large a Talent to the other Sex , yet they have improved that Talent much better than we have done ours . Then for your Instances of some few Ill Women , I tell you , as I did before , that the Cause in general is not at all concern'd in 'em ; and when I shew you an Atreus cutting his Brother's Children in pieces , and giving 'em to him to eat ; a Phalaris roasting people alive in a Brazen Bull ; a Busyris murdering all his Guests ; a Nero ripping open the Womb of his Mother , to see the place where he had lain● and so for every Crime of that Sex , shew you how far they have been outdone by some of our own , as that 1 Italian Lady I mention'd does in her Treat●fe upon a like occasion , I am sure you will find a very great disadvantage of your side . But I take you at your word , let us go a Circuit with the Judges , and if you find not six Men condemn'd for one Woman , I 'll pay the charges of the Journey ; 'T is true , indeed , as most of the Women who are condemn'd , are so , for a Crime which they commit to prevent their Shame ; so the care of that , and Hypocrisie , are two faults of which our Sex is not so generally guilty . Now tho' I do not think my self oblig'd to say one word for any of those Women you have condemn'd ; and shall therefore leave Phaedra and Fausta to your Mercy , tho' neither of 'em expected the Cruelty of their Husbands shou'd have carried things so far ; and shall not argue much for Semiramis , tho' certainly her having all the Bravery , Wisdom , and Vertues of our Sex in the greatest perfection , might move you to forgive her the having some of our faults ; and for her putting men to death , I am contented that every one who boast of Ladies Favours shou'd be serv'd in the same manner ; ( Here , Madam , I cannot at all agree with Philogynes , because it might be severe upon some honest Gentlemen , whom all the Laws against Adultery and Fornication wou'd never reach . ) Yet methinks I have an Inclination to say somewhat for Queen Ioan of Naples , because she is generally represented so very ill . The common 1 Story is , that having married Andreossa an Hungarian , and her Kinsman ; and not finding him so capable of satisfying her , as his Youth and Beauty promis'd , she caus'd him to be strangl'd in a Silk Cord of her own making . The first and chief Author of this Story is Villani a Florentine ( for 2 Collenuccio takes it from him , tho' , as such things use , it has lost nothing in his Hands ) who tells you that he had it from a 3 Relation made to his Brother by a certain Hungarian who had been a Servant of Andreossa's ; and in his return to Hungary past through Florence . Now the Author of this Story being an Hungarian , one of those of whom Petrarch writes so much ill , and also a Servant of the dead King , he ought to speak passionately against the Queen , of whom they were profess'd Enemies ; You may observe also , that the 1 Letter which Lewis the Brother of Andreossa writes to her at the time that he came with a Potent Army to revenge his Brother's Death , speaks of her being privy to it , as a thing that was suspected , rather than a thing that did plainly appear . On the other side , 2 Boccace , who liv'd a great while in that Court , throws all the blame of the Action upon the Conspirators , and none at all upon the Queen . After all , believe as you please , and do as you please with all these Women who have offended you ; If Helen runs away from Menelaus , let all Greece arm , and fetch her back again ; If Clytemnestra consents to the killing Agamemnon , let Orestes kill her for it ; If Semiramis puts the men she has made use of to Death , let her own Son serve her in the same manner ; If Ioan of Naples causes Andreossa to be strangled , let Durazzo cause her to be strangled in the same place ; Let not your Severity stop there● but let their Infamy live when they themselves are dead● and let the Euripides's , the Iuvenals , and the Misogynes's , set out their Actions in their true Colours . But let the business go no farther , I beseech you . Let not Hecuba nor Andromache suffer , because Helen is a Wanton Woman ; nor Penelope be run down , because Clytemnestra is an ill Wife ; and if Ioan of Naples strangles her Husband , let not all those who have dy'd for theirs , fall under the same condemnation . 'T is one of the chiefest Ends of Punishments to distinguish the Good from the Bad , do not you therefore by Punishments confound ' em . If Tibullus and Ovid's Mistress's jilt their Lovers , let it be remember'd against 'em two thousand years after ; and if Misogynes's serve him so , let him shew his Resentment in as severe a manner as he pleases . Let him disdain the mean revenge of malicious Whispers , and nameless Lampoons , and the much meaner way of railing at all , because one has injur'd him ; but let him boldly hunt her out from the Herd ; let him publish her Infamy in lasting Characters ; tho' she is free from Conscience , let her be plagu'd with the Stings of Shame ; and let all Women be terrify'd by her Example from being false to men of Wit , or kind to Fools . But let him have very full satisfaction of the Matter of Fact first ; let him not go upon dubious Grounds , nor jealous Surmis●s ; let him not believe the Vanity of some , nor the Malice of others ; let him consider the Stories of● 1 Bradamante in Ariosto , of Aurestilla in Consalo de Cepedes , of Othello in Shakespear , and let him see how far Jealousie may seem reasonable , whilst nevertheless the person of whom they are Jealous may be innocent . After all , I give you even in that greater power than I shou'd care to take my self ; I wou'd rather by other peoples Faults correct my own , and shou'd think the noblest Revenge a Man cou'd take upon a Woman who injur'd him , wou'd be the doing some Action ●●at wou'd make all the World admire him ; I wou'd have every body upbraid her with my Wrongs whilst I my self was silent : 'T is true , if by the Injuries she did me , there were any Aspersions cast upon my Reputation ; there Justice to my self wou'd oblige me to make the Story publick : But I wou'd certainly endeavour to reclaim her by Mildness , before I made use even of that Severity ; and as I shou'd scorn any Favour that was the effect of Fear , so if I once broke into an open War , all the Submission she cou'd make shou'd never bring me to an Amity again , thô perhaps my own good Nature might in time prevail upon me for a Forgiveness . This , Sir , is what I thought necessary to reply to what you said ; in which I see we have quite exceeded the bounds of a Dialogue , and turn'd that into Declamation , which was intended only for Conversation . I have troubled the Company so much already , that I dare trefpass no farther upon their Patience , and shall therefore omit some other things , which I intended to have said upon this Occasion . You are like those people , cry'd Misogynes , who when they have provided all the Dainties they cou'd get , make an Apologie at the end of the Treat , for their having got no more ; If I am not altogether convinc'd of the goodness of your Cause , yet I am very well convinc'd that you have said all that the Cause will bear . Thô perhaps I shou'd have no great Mercy upon you , reply'd Philogynes , yet I have too much for these Gentlemen , to detain 'em so long , as to hear all that I cou'd say upon so glorious an Occasion . Shou'd I make a Collection of what is written by the best Authors of Antiquity in their praises ; should I but refer you to what Stobae●s has Collected for 'em , since you mention what he has done against 'em ; shou'd I but transcribe what 1 Plutarch , 2 Lodovicus Vives , 3 Speron Sperone the most Learned of his Country-men , 4 Ribera , 5 Hilarion de Costè , 6 Scuderie , and a thousand others have said of 'em in Treatises written expresly in their Praises ; shou'd I but search all the Bibliotheques for a Catalogue of those who were famous for their Writings ; Shou'd I afterwards tell you of those who were remarkable for their Piety , Conjugal Affection , Penitence , and Contempt of Worldly Vanities ; shou'd I but repeat the Names of those who have dy'd for the preservation of their Chastity ; shou'd I shew you a 1 Country even at this day , where they cannot by any severity hinder Women from burning themselves with the Bodies of their deceased Husbands : Shou'd I mention the Women of 2 Cios , among●t whom for Seven Hundred years there never was the least mention of any Adultery , or Fornication ; shou'd I tell you that the first of those Sins was so little known amongst the Spartans , that they did not think it worth their while to make any Law against it ; ( Now , said my Friend , whether this were not as good an Argument of the Men's Chastity as the Women's , I leave you to judge ; but really I think not , Madam ; for besides Intrigues with their own Sex , which were common enough amongst the Men in those Eastern Countries ; I do not doubt but the Men being Men of Honour wou'd ask , though the Women being Women of Honour wou'd deny . ) Shou'd I but give you a List of the Martyrs of that Sex , from those who suffer'd under Tiberius , to those who suffer'd under our own Queen Mary ; I fancy I shou'd make you ashamed of your Simonides , your Iuvenal , and all your Satyrists put together . Shou'd I after this defend 'em in the Vertue to which they are thought to have least pretences , which is Courage ; shou'd I but name those who have been famous for their Warlike Atchievements ; shou'd I tell you of Deborah , Penthesilaea , Thalestris , Camilla ; shou'd I shew you a Country 1 of Amazons , even in our own Time : Shou'd I carry you into France , and shew you a Warlike Virgin ( at least an Unmarried Woman ) whose Memory is still annually Celebrated by one of their Chiefest 1 Towns , and who , besides her Fame in their Chronicles , has given a Subject to one of the most Famous 2 Heroick Poems which that Nation has produc'd ; Wou'd you not after all confess they might very easily be defended , even in this point too ? But I shall wave that ; I am satisfy'd with the Care Universal Custom has taken of 'em ; and as Seamen in a Storm , to preserve their things of greatest value , throw away those of less ; so I am very well pleas'd that Mankind shou'd be expos'd to the hazards of War , whilst the Fair Sex is preserv'd in safety at home , whose Smiles are the Noblest Reward a Brave Man can desire for all the hazards , and fatigues he has endur'd in a Campagne . But it is generally agreed that all Vertues are requisite for those who Govern well ; and since there are some Countries where Women are Excluded from the Throne , and no Countrey where they are not postponed , it wou'd be convenient methinks to see what they do , when by accident they are plac'd upon it . I shall not trouble you here with Deborah , nor Esther , nor as much as mention Semiramis , though you have mention'd her upon another occasion ; and yet certainly the bravery of most of her Actions ought to make us forget the faults of some few ; but I shall confine my self within the bounds of our own Countrey . 1 At a time when the Britains groan'd under the Servitude of the Romans ; when the King , by thinking to Oblige the Emperour , gave him an Opportunity of pillaging his Countrey ; and that their patience under their Sufferings , was only a means of makeing them more ; When their Houses were robb'd , their Wives and Daughters Ravish'd , and their Sons taken away from 'em ; then Boadicia aro●e , and by her Courage , as well as Eloquence , inspired her dispirited Countrey-Men with a Resolution of throwing off that Yoke which was grown intolerable to be born : 'T is true , indeed , the End was not answerable to the Successes of the Beginning ; nor to the Glory so Heroick an Undertaking deserved ; however as it was neither want of Courage nor Conduct in her , so we ought to render her that veneration which is due to so resolute an Enterprize . But as one of the greatest attempts the Britains made for their Liberty was whilst they were led by a Woman ; so we must own the greatest Glory our Nation cou'd ever boast , was under the Government of one of the same Sex. It was in the time of Queen Elizabeth that this Island arrived at that pitch of greatness , to which it had been ascending for several Ages , and from which it has been declining 'till very lately ever since ; 'T is the Name of this Princess that is dearer to all Englishmen , than the Names of all the Monarchs since the Conquest besides , and the only one whose Birth-D●y has been Celebrated after her Death , by the voluntary gratitude of the People . But however we may forget things that are past , let us not oversee that which lies before our eyes ; and since the occasion is so very fair , I know not how we can omit the shewing our Sense of those Vertues , of which the whole Nation has demonstrated so grateful an acknowledgment by the Body of their Representatives ; and never were they more truly their Repre●entatives before . Yes , Sir , without going to foreign Countries , without ●earching the Histories of our own ; we have even in our own Time , and our own Countrey , a Princess who has Govern'd to their general satisfaction , a People the most curious to pry into the faults of their Governours , of any People under the Sun. A Princess , who though she never shew'd any fondness of Vain-Glory , or Authority , yet when the necessity of the Kingdom called her to the Helm , Managed Affairs with that dexterity which is very rarely found in those who are the most ambitious of Command . Every thing during that little time of her Government , was order'd with that Courage , Conduct , and Prudence , that her greatest Friends cannot find Eloquence enough to commend , nor her greatest Enemies the least pretences to condemn . Though she had a Husband venturing his Life in another Countrey , with a Bravery equal to what has made us suspect the Stories of Antiquity ; Tho' our Fleet , the Bulwarks of the Nation , was managed in a manner the Courage of the English Seamen was utterly unacquainted with ; Tho' a Monarch , who thinks himself able to contend with all Europe together , seem'd to make his utmost Efforts against a Princess , who had nothing but the Universal Hearts of her Subjects to defend her ; Tho' all Christendom was in suspence to see the Event of the Undertaking ; and every little Prince had forgot his own danger , to contemplate hers ; Even at this time did we see her look with all the unconcern imaginable , and whilst every body else was alarum'd for her Safety , she only seem'd to have known nothing of the Danger . Not that this unconcern proceeded from any ignorance of her Condition , or unreasonable Contempt of her Adversary ; No , she provided against their Attempts with all the prudence cou'd be wisht for , at the same time that she lookt upon the Danger with all the Courage in Nature . But however great these Vertues may appear , when they are set off by the Lustre of a Publick Command , yet they are in effect much greater , when they teach People to despise all such dazling Trifles . Here it is , Sir , that we have a fresh Field for Eloquence , when we see a Lady dissatisfi'd at that Glory which she had to every bodies satisfaction beside , and grudge her self that Authority , which she ow'd to the absence of a Husband whom she loved so much better than that . What think you , Sir , of that alacrity , of that joy with which she resign'd up the Government ? Does it not put you in mind of the Old Roman Generals , who quitted their Plow to Command an Army , and when the Victory was gain'd , retur●●d with greater content to their Plow again ? This is that Wisdom which we shou●d admire ; this is that Vertue which we shou'd adore ; and we ought to despise all those little Pretenders to Business , who thrust themselves into the Management of Affairs against every bodies will but their own ; and h●ving neither Vertue , nor Prudence enough to retire from it at the Universal Murm●rs of the People , are generally made Sacrifices at last to the just Resentment of an Enraged Nation . These are those Blazing Comets , whose fatal Glories portend Destruction to a Government , whilst the Vertues of the others , like those of the Sun , give it Life and Heat , by their benign influence . Much more , Sir , might be said in defence of the Sex , which I shall purposely omit , because I am satisfi'd I can never conclude with a more Illustrious Example . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A67449-e260 1 Plutarch in V. Licur . 2 Strabo Lib. 10. 3 Diod. Sicul. L. 1. 4 Lib. 4. and again L. 6. 5 Aul. Gell. l. ● . c. 6. Sueton. in vit . August . Dion . in vita e●usd . Lucius Florus . Livy L. 59. 1 Chap. 7. and in several other places . 2 V. Stobaei Senten . cap. de Vituperio Mulierum . 2 V. Stobaei Senten . cap. de Vituperio Mulierum . 3 See the Dialogues of the Curtisans , and that of Love. 4 Homille upon the beheading St. Iohn Baptist. 5 Sixth Satyr . 1 Camerar . Hist. Med. L. 3. C. 1● . 2 Upon the 19 th . Chapter of St. Matthew . 1 Od. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 — fore enim tutum iter & patens Converso in pretium deo . Lib. 3. O. 16. speaking of Iupiter and Danae . 3 L. 3. El 8. Ingenium quondam fuerat pretiosius auro ; At n●nc barbaria e●t grandis , habere nihil . Ecce recens dives , parto per vulnera censu , Praefertur nobis , sanguine factus , eques . Curia pauperibus clausa est . Dat census ●onores . V. Amor. &c. 4 L. 2. El. 4. Ad dominam faciles aditus per carmina quaero ; At mihi per caedem , & facinus sunt dona paranda . Sed precium si grande feras , custodia victa est , Nec prohibent claves , & canis ipse tacet . 1 L 3 El. 11. Nulla est poscendi , nulla est reverentia ●an●i , Aut si qua est precio , ●●llitur ipsa mora . Aurea nunc verè sunt saecula , plurimus auro● Venit honos , auro conciliatur amor . 2 Da te chi se defende ? Quâ pensier fermi , e casti Non atterri , e non guasti ? Chi teco unqua contende ? Chi vinto non se rend●● Qual non cade , o non cede Forte cor , salda voglia , intera fedé ? Anch ' egli amor lo str●l● Già d'oro , e d'or lo cocca Onde qual honor lo scocca , E beila Donna assale , Stamp● piaga ●ortal● Là doue ogni altra punt● D'impiombate quadrel fi spe●za , e spu●ta . Mar. Rim. par secunda Canzon . ●● . L'oro . 3 Le Richezze , li Tesori Son insensati Amori Past. Fido. Chor. del● Atto 2 do . 4 De tus flechas por ser d'oro Ninguna lei se deffiende . 5 El Rico està en t●da parte , Siempre a proposito viene , No ay cosa que se le esconda , No ay puerta que se le ●●●erra . Quev . Thal. Rom. 37. 6 Celuy devroit mourir del'Eclat du Tonnerre Qui premier descouvrit les Mines de la Terre . Ronsard . El. 8. 7 'T is all against the love of Money . 1 Idyll . 3. 10 , 11 , 14 , 20. 2 Illa Lesbia quam Catullus unam Plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes , Nunc in quadriviis , & angiportis Glubit magnanimos Remi nepotes . Catul. 59. 3 — mulier cupido quod dicit amanti , In vento , & rapidâ scribere oportet aquâ . 1 Lib. 1. El. 7. Ipse miser docui quo posset ludere pacto Custodes , eheu nunc premor arte m●● . 2 Lib. 3. L. 11. Ergo ego nescio cui quem tu complexa tenebas Excubui clausam servus ut ante domum . 3 Lib. 1. Od. 23. L. 3. Od. 10. 26. 4 Lib. 1. Od. 13. Lydia Lib. 2. Od. 8. Barine . Lib. 3. Od. 9. Lydia again Epod. 15. Neaera . 5 Lib. 2. El. 18. upon Cynthia's falshood . Lib. 3. El. 17. De incontinentiâ muli●rum . 1 See Lib. 1. Od. 25. Lib. 3. Od. 15. Lib. 4. Od. 13. Epod. 8. 12. 2 Non ego ne pecces cum sis formosa , recuso ; Sed ne sit misero scire necesse mihi . Lib. 3. El. 14. 1 Iudges Ch. 16. 2 V. Homer . 3 Velleius Lib. 1. Euseb. Chron. Soph. in Electra . Euripid. in Oreste . 4 Ovid. Metam . L. 8. 5 Quint. Cur. Lib. 5. 6 Livie Lib. 3. Dec. 3. 7 Plutarch in Vit. Anton. 8 Procop. Ar●c . 9 Strada . Bentivoglio . Garnier , &c. 1 Buchan . Knox. 1 Essays de Montagne L. 1. C. 24. Mad. Gournay L'Egalitè des deux sexes . 1 V. Iuvenal . 6. Sat. 1 V. Iuvenal . 6. Sat. 2 1 King. 10. 2 Chron. 9. 3 Quint● Cur. L. 6. 4 Diod● Sicul. C. 2. 1 Iuven. 6. Sat. 2 This Bath is now shewn in the ruins of her Palace , a little way out of the Town of Naples . 3 Lilius Giraldus Dial. 9. de Po●tis . 1 See his Dialogue between Cleonarium and Leo●na . 2 See Tavernier's Travels . 1 Plutarch de Garrul . 1 Iud. C. 13. 2 Iudges C. 4. v. 17. 1 Penelope vires juvenum , tentabat in arcu , Qui latus argueret , corneus arcus erat . Ovid Amor. L. 1. El. 8. 2 Ad vetulam tamen ille suam ( speaking of Vlysses ) properabat , & omnis Mens erat in cunno , Penelopea tuo . Quae sic casta manes , ut jam convivia visas , Vtque fututorum sit tua plena domus . E ●uibas ut scires quicunque valentior esset , Haec es ad arrectos verba locuta procos : Nemo meo melius nervum tendebat Vlysse , Sive illî laterum , seu fuit artis opus . Qui quoniam periit , modò vos intendite : qualem Esse virum sciero , vir sit ut ille meus . Priapeia . 1 V. Domin . in Ovid. El. 8. L. 1. See also Seneca's Epistles . 2 Lilius Giral . Hist. Deorum Gent. Pan. 3 Sir Charles Sidley in the Translation of the 8 th . Elegy of the 1 st Book of Ovid. 1 L'Art . de connoistre les Hommes . Ch. 1. 1 Diodor. Sicul. L. 2. 2 Ammian . Marcellin . Lib. 14. 1 Cowley's Preface . 1 For these three Philos. see Diog. L●●●tius in their Lives . 1 For these three Philos. see Diog. L●●●tius in their Lives . 1 For these three Philos. see Diog. L●●●tius in their Lives . 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : Diog. Laert. in Vit. Arist●t . 1 St. Austin converted by his Mother . 1 Est autem — It is a Dialogue between Solomon and the King of Egypt's Daughter ; two Chorus's , one of young Men , the other of Virgins , who lay near the Bed-chamber , speaking between . The Nuptial Secrets lye hid here under modest words , which was the Cause the ancient Hebrews wou'd not suffer this Book to be read , but by those who were near Marriage . Grotius upon the Canticles 1 Rapin de Carmine Pastorali . 2 The last Chapter of Proverbs , and in several other places . 1 Girald . in vit . Simonidis . Plutarch in vit . Themistoclis . 2 V. Socrat. Schol. Sozomen . Evagr. 1 See the Dialogues of the Curtisans . 1 In the Dialogue of Love. 1 Diogenes Laertius in vit . Aristot. 2 Plutarch in vit . Ciceronis . 3 See Verres's Iest's upon Cicero for his Effeminacy . Plut. 1 V. Alex. ab Alex. L. 4. C. 8. 2 Plutarch in vit . Cato . 3 V. Leges Connubiales . 4 Nicholaus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and from him Stobaeus . Serm. 42. 5 Diodor . Si●ul . L. 1. 6 Aristot. Politic. L. 2. Cap. 7. 7 See the Tragedy by Mr. Dryden . 1 Eleg. 1 L. 10. 1. 2 Eleg. 4. L. 1. 3 Delia. Nemesis 4 Rumor ait crebro nostram peecasse putam , Quid miserum torques Rumor acerbe ●ace . 3 Aspice uti caelo modo Sol , modo Luna ministrat , Sic etiam nobis una puella parum . 2 Lib. El. 18. 4 Lib. 4. El. 9. 1 Prologom . ad Apollon . 2 In Phaedr . 1 Anecdota . 1 See Bentivoglio , Strada , Garnier . 2 In the Holy Court. 1 Vossius de Poet. Grecis . 2 Lilius Gira●d . in Vit. Stesich . 1 Plutarch in Vit. Themistocl . 1 Vossius mentions neither of these two in his Book de Poetis Grecis . 1 Quintil. l. 4. 2 Salust . Bell. Catil . 3 Vossius de Poetis Latin. for the rest . 1 L'Egalite des Deux Sexes . 2 Nobiltá delle Donne . 1 Epist. ad Bude●m . 1 Vasaeus Chron. Hisp. Thuanus . 2 V. Eloges ●es homnes Illustres de Monsieur de Thou . 3 V. Biblioth . Hispan . 5 V. Quint● Curtius , L. 6. 1 Socrates was in Love with Alcibiades . 2 Plato writes Verses to A●ter a Boy , with whom he was in Love. 1 De Garrulitate . 2 Plutarch de Clar. Mulierib . 1 P●in . L. 3. Plutarch de Garrul . 2 Tacitus Annal. Lib. 15. 1 Penelope mansit , quam vis custode remoto , Inter tam multos intemerata procos . Ovid. Amor. Lib. 3. El. 4 1 In Vitâ Alci●iades . 1 Ligon's History of the Barbadoes . p. 50. 1 Lucretia Marinella . La Nobiltà e Peccellenza delle Donne , con deffetti e mancamenti degli Huomini . 1 Essais de Montagne . L. 3. C. 5. 2 Istoria di Napoli . L. 5. 3 V. Annotazione e Supplimente al Istoria di Collenuccio per Costo . 1 Inordinata vit a praecedens , retentio potestatis in regno , neglecta vindicta , vir alter susceptus , & excusatio subsequens , necis viri tui ●e probant fuisse participem & consortem . 2 Casi degli Huomini Illustri . 1 Orlan . Furioso . ●ant●● 32. 1 De claris Mulier . 2 De Faminâ Christian. 3 Dial●ghi delle Donne . 4 De la Gloire Imm●rtelle d●s Dam●s Illustres . 5 Eloges des Dames Illustres . 6 Femme Heroique . 1 See Bernier's History of Indosthan . Tavernier's and Mandelso's Travels . 2 Plutarch de Clar. Mulieribus . 1 See Acosta's History of the W●●●-Indies . 1 Orleans . 2 La Pucelle de Monsieur Chapelaine . 1 Tacitus in Vita Agr. and from him Sammes in his Brittania . Illustratâ .