A39351	----	An exclamation to all those that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity against an apology written by an ingenious person, for Mr. Cowley's lascivious and prophane verses / by a dutiful son of the Church of England. Elys, Edmund, ca. 1634-ca. 1707. 1670 Approx. 23 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 10 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A39351 Wing E675 ESTC R36225 15619554 ocm 15619554 104196 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. A39351) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 104196) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1591:67) An exclamation to all those that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity against an apology written by an ingenious person, for Mr. Cowley's lascivious and prophane verses / by a dutiful son of the Church of England. Elys, Edmund, ca. 1634-ca. 1707. 19 p. Printed for Robert Clavel, London : 1670. Signed at end: Edmund Elys. Reproduction of original in the British Library. 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. EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO. EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor. The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines. 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 Cowley, Abraham, 1618-1667. -- Mistress. Sex in literature -- Early works to 1800. 2005-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-03 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-05 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2006-05 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN EXCLAMATION TO All those that Love the LORD JESUS in SINCERITY , Against an APOLOGY Written by an Ingenious Person . For Mr. COWLEY'S Lascivious and Prophane VERSES . By a Dutiful Son of the CHURCH of ENGLAND . Heic , neque more probo videas , neque voce serenâ Ingentes trepidare Titos , cum Carmina lumbum Intrant , & tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima Versu . Persius Sat. 1. London , Printed for Robert Clavel , 1670. AN EXCLAMATION TO All those that Love the LORD JESUS in SINCERITY . SUch a Cloud of Dust has risen up amongst us by the Tumultuous Courses of Ignorant men , Running from the Orders of Our Church concerning things Indifferent ( which themselves are sometimes pleas'd to call shadows , and Circumstances ) that we can hardly discern the great Danger we are fallen into of becomming Guilty of a base Connivence to some Publick , and most Contagious Impieties , which are as it were established by a Law ; I mean , are Obtruded upon us with such Confidence , as if there were nothing in the Laws of Our Church , or State to Oppugn and Suppress them : I shall Instance only in the Reprinting of several Verses of Mr. COWLEY'S ( since his Death ) some of them so Notoriously Lascivious , others so Profane , that it cannot be easily imagin'd how the DEVIL could be more Gratify'd in any thing , then in the Plausible recommendation of them to the Sprightly Youths , and Pregnant Wits of this Nation . In Opposition to the Black Attempt of the Publisher of them , I shall here first Recite my Thoughts of them , which I Publisht in a certain Epistle about eleven years since : And then I shall make some Animadversions on what has been Written of late in the Defence of these Artifices of Baseness , and Impurity , for which I trust Mr. COWLEY was truly Penitent . For when He Dy'd He Enjoin'd the Person , whom Before GOD , and His Holy Angels I now Charge with the Guilt of this Impurity , to revise his Works , and to blot out whatsoever might seem the least offence to Religion , or good Manners . The words in the Epistle above mention'd are these : And now Reader , if thou beest a CHRISTIAN indeed , I shall intreat thee by all the Love that thou owest to Him that was CRUCIFIED for thy sake , that thou wouldest Oppose with all thy Might , that Vain Spirit of Foolish Talking , and Writing , which is gone abroad into the World to the great Dishonour of HIS Name , who has told us that we shall give an Account of Every Idle Word . And here I cannot but Exclaim aloud against some of Mr. COWLEY'S Verses ; particularly that part of his Book , which he entitles The Mistress , in which there are several Expressions so provoking to Speculative Lust , and Uncleanness , that I can't conceive how a CHRISTIAN that casts his Eye on them , can think otherwise , then that the Author did either Forget that There is a GOD , or that 't is Sinful to be Lascivious . What Prophaneness also is this Author guilty of , who uses these Sacred Words , HEAVEN , DEITY , DIVINE PRESENCE , FAITH , &c. to set forth his Dissolute Amorous Conceptions ! ( I should rather have said Wanton , or Lascivious , Amorous being too gentle a term ) Let any man of Common Reason judge whether the Minds of any Readers Vitiously Inclin'd ( and such surely are all those that Delight in those POEMS ) be not as apt to be wholly Debauch't and Corrupted by a Work of this Nature , as those mens Bodies are to take Infection , when they are amongst Sick Folk , who are already dispos'd to the Disease . Alas ! Alas ! Are not men apt enough of themselves to be Vain in their Imaginations ! Must the Froth , and Vanity of Wanton Minds be wrought up , and increased by the Wit , and Studies of such Learned Persons , and those owning the Name of CHRISTIANS ! O Tempora ! O Mores ! I desire the Reader would take Notice , that This was Publisht in the Phanatick Times , after Mr. COWLEY'S Book ( as I was credibly inform'd ) had been Publickly Commended without Exception by an Eminent Person then in Oxford . And now let us see what the Apologist can say for the things I so much Abhor . If there needed any excuse to be made that his Love-Verses should take up so great a share in his Works , it may be alledg'd that they were compos'd , when he was very young . But it is a vain thing to make any kind of Apology for that sort of Writings . If Devout , or Virtuous Men will superciliously forbid the minds of the young , to adorn those subjects about which they are most conversant : They would put them out of all capacity of performing graver matters , when they come to them . For the Exercises of all Mens Wits , must be always proper for their Age , and never too much above it : And by practice , and use in lighter Arguments , they grow up at last to excel in the most weighty . I am not therefore asham'd to commend Mr. Cowley's Mistress . I only except one or two Expressions , which I wish I could have prevail'd with those that had the right of the other Edition to have left out . But of all the rest I dare boldly pronounce that never yet so much was written on a Subject so Delicate , that can less offend the severest rules of Morality . The whole Passion of Love is intimately describ'd , with all its mighty Train of Hopes , and Joys , and Disquiets . Besides this amorous tenderness , I know not how in every Copy there is something of more useful Knowledge very naturally , and gracefully insinuated , and every where there may be something found , to inform the minds of wise Men , as well as to move the hearts of young Men or Women . The Author of this Empty Rhetorick must not be Over-Angry if I tell him that it puts me in mind of a far greater piece of Wit ( and that Accompanied with Honesty ) deliver'd by an Heathen Poet : Fur es , ait , Pedio . Pedius quid ? Crimine rasis , Librat in antithetis — A Fine Colour for a Lascivious Poem , this , An Intimate Description of the whole Passion of Love ! But what does the man Intend ? Is he in good earnest of this Opinion , that 't is Requisite that those Ingenious Young men , that are much addicted to Venery , should Exercise their Phansies in Composing the most Accurate Expressions of the Pleasures they take in the Imagination only or in the Grossest Acts of Carnality ; And that for this reason , that their Phansies so Exercis'd in their Youth will make them the better Poets , or Rhetoricians , when they come to a Riper Age ? It may be alledg'd , saies He , that they were compos'd when he was very young . But by Publishing them so many years after , He gave the World a sad Instance of that Saying , Quo semel est imbuta recens , &c. If He had Observ'd the Instruction of the Wise Man , Remember thy Creator in the daies of thy youth , He would certainly even in those Daies have Apply'd his Mind to things Pleasing in His Sight , VVho tells us that we shall give Account in the Day of Judgment of every Idle Word . It is a vain thing , &c. It is a vain thing indeed to make any kind of Apology for that sort of VVritings in any Part of the world , not altogether Heathenish , or Apostate from the Practice of the CHRISTIAN Religion ; for such an Apology will certainly redound to the Shame , at least to the Infamy of the ( Unrelenting ) Author . If Devout , or Virtuous Men will superciliously forbid , &c. Since no Devout or Virtuous Men , as Such , can do any thing Superciliously , whether this passage be not most notoriously Foolish and Impertinent , let any one judg , who is himself a Person of True Honour and Virtue . I am not asham'd , saies He , to commend Mr. COWLEY'S MISTRESS : And I trust I shall never be asham'd to Confess the Faith of CHRIST Crucifi'd , and manfully to fight under his Banner against Sin , the World , and the Devil : And with this Resolution I Bid Defyance to him as an Enemy of the Cross of CHRIST ; and Charge him with the Guilt of Violating the Obligation lay'd on him by Mr. COWLEY , ( when he recommended to his Care the revising of all his works ) That he should be sure to let nothing pass , that might seem the least offence to Religion , or Good Manners . To destroy all plausible Pretences of the Innocency of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( expresly forbidden by the Holy Apostle , Coloss . 3.8 . ) I doubt not but by GODS Assistance I shall in a few words clearly Demonstrate that such a Tenent , viz. that It is Inoffensive to good Manners , is wholly Destructive to the CHRISTIAN Religion , whose main Scope , and Drift is this , to make Man Partaker of the Divine Nature through a sense of His Interest in GOD Assuming the Humane Nature to Sanctifie Him wholly in SPIRIT , SOUL , and BODY . Now I boldly averr to All the world ( Despising the Shame of being never so much Reproacht by men Puft up by their Fleshly Mind ) that GOD INCARNATE is the Principal Object even of Our Passionate or Sensitive Love : And that the Habit of Exercising this PASSION Directly upon CHRIST , and All Our other PASSIONS , or Sensitive Affections ( upon their various Objects ) in a way of Subserviency thereunto , is the thing Chiefly imply'd in the Sanctification of the SOUL and BODY , viz. as the SOUL is taken in Contradistinction to the SPIRIT : But I conceive that the Sensible Heats resulting from this Divine PASSION are in the Abhorrency of whatever is Inconsistent therewith , and Apt to Extinguish it , then in the Direct Embraces of its Object . If any Learned man shall find upon his thoughts any Objections or Scruples to be propos'd against what I have now written on this Mystical Subject , I should be Glad to undertake the Solution of them , if he would propose them in Latine , but I am very Averse from speaking of These Things at large , Directly , and in the most Accurate Terms in the Hearing of the Vulgar , being well Assur'd that the Power , and Vertue of this Truth may be Convey'd into any Pious , and VVell-Dispos'd Soul in other Terms , then what will Convince Gain-Sayers , &c. Now whether if so Great a WIT as Mr. COWLEY had Employ'd his Youthful FIRE in the Exercise of such a PASSION , as would have made him to Cry out unto GOD with the Spouse in the Canticles , Draw me , we will run after thee ; And to say with that Glorious Martyr St. Ignatius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , My Love was Crucified ; and with that Mirrour of VVit , Learning and Virtue , Prudentius ( speaking of the Name of CHRIST ) O nomen praedulce mihi , Lux & Decus & Spes , Praesidiumque meum , requies ô certa laborum , Blandus in ore Sapor , fragrans Odor , irriguus Fons , Castus amor , Pulchra Species , Syncera Voluptas . Whether , I say , if he had so Employ'd his Youthful FIRE , or Amorous Constitution , it would not have been more to the Advantage of himself , and others , then the Pleasing himself with the Writing of those wanton Imaginations , I leave to the Consideration of those to whom this Paper is chiefly Directed , viz. those that LOVE the LORD JESUS in Sincerity . But to evince this great and important Truth to the meanest Capacity , viz. that this cursed Tenent , that the Writing , or Reading of such Verses , as I here pronounce so Odious , and Detestable ( unless with an Holy Scorn and Indignation ) is not Offensive to Religion , or Good Manners ; is wholly Destructive to the CHRISTIAN Religion , I shall produce this plain Text of Scripture : Whatsoever ye do in word or deed , do all in the Name of the LORD JESUS , giving thanks to GOD , and the FATHER by him . Coloss . 3.17 . Now if any man shall say that the making of such Verses , &c. may be judg'd to be a work done in the Name of the LORD JESUS , I shall only bid him to consider that our GOD is a Consuming Fire ! Iamblicus witnesses that Pythagoras and his Followers did hold that all our Actions should tend to the sincere Acknowledgment , and service of the DEITY : His very words are these ( De Vitâ Pythag. c. 28 ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . A blush would well become the youthful cheeks of those whom this Apologist encourages in their witty impieties , at the reading of this . Here I cannot but use the words of the truly Learned Dr. CASAUBON ( in a late Treatise of Credulity , and Incredulity , p. 140. ) O that Christians , or rather men professing Christianity , had as much conscience , and sense of goodness , and piety as some Heathens have had ! I shall take the Confidence to tell this Gentleman ( who contrary to the Request of his dying Friend ) has disturb'd the CHRISTIAN world with the publication of these filthy Lines ( which certainly may be rightly term'd Simulachra & pabula amoris ) that even the Epicurean Lucretius would have scorn'd this Action of his . Sed fugitare decet ( saies he , Lib. 4. ) Simulachra & pabula Amoris , Absterrere sibi , atque aliò convertere mentem . Perhaps those who flight my words will be somewhat affected with what I shall here collect out of Mr. Henry Vaughans Preface to his Book entitled Silex Scintillans : SACRED POEMS , and private EJACULATIONS . A large Encomium of this excellent Gentleman I find amongst the Poems of the incomparable Mrs. Katherine Philips , ( who I presume ) by her acquaintance with Mr. COWLEY was the instrument of the great and good GOD to excite him to that sense of Piety , which he discover'd in that desire above mentioned , that his works should be revis'd , &c. O that he had liv'd to have blotted out those naughty things ( particularly his wicked Encomium of that disgrace of Our Nation , that detestable Apostate , that LEVIATHAN Infidel ) and to have testifi'd his Repentance with his own Pen ! But the Judgments of GOD are unsearchable , and his ways past finding out . Mr. Vaughans Repentance for the like Follies is by himself largely declar'd in these following words : Well it were for them , ( the Authors of idle Poems ▪ ) if those willingly studied , and wilfully published vanities could defile no spirits but their own ; but the case is far worse . These Vipers survive their Parents , and for many ages after ( like Epidemic Diseases ) infect whole Generations , corrupting alwaies and unhallowing the best-gifted souls , and the most capable Vessels : for whose Sanctification , and well-fare the glorious Son of GOD laid down his life , and suffer'd the pretious blood of his blessed , and innocent heart to be poured out . A good wit in a bad subject is ( as Solomon said of the fair and foolish woman ) like a Jewel of gold in a swines snout , Prov. 11.22 . Nay the more acute the Author is , there is so much the more danger , and death in the work . Where the Sun is busie upon a Dunghil , the issue is alwaies some unclean Vermine . And here because I would prevent a just censure by my free confession , I must remember that I my self have for many years together languished of this very sickness ; and it is no long time since I have recover'd . But blessed be GOD for it ! I have by his saving assistance suppressed my greatest follies , and those which escaped from me are ( I think ) as innoxious , as most of that vein use to be ; besides they are interlin'd with many virtuous , and some pious mixtures . What I speak of them is truth , but let no man mistake it for an extenuation of faults , as if I intended an Apology for them , or my self , who am conscious of so much guilt in both , as can never be expiated without special sorrows , and that cleansing , and pretious effusion of my Almighty Redeemer : and if the world will be so charitable as to grant my request , I do here most humbly , and earnestly beg that none would read them . But an idle or sensual subject is not all the poyson in these Pamphlets . Certain Authors have been so irreverently bold , as to dash Scriptures , and the sacred Relatives of God with their impious conceits ; And ( which I cannot speak without grief of heart ) some of those desperate adventurers may ( I think ) be reckon'd amongst the principal , or most learned writers of English Verse . The suppression of this pleasing and prevailing evil , lies not altogether in the power of the Magistrate ; for it will fly abroad in Manuscripts , when it fails of entertainment at the Press . The remedy lies wholly in their bosomes , who are the gifted persons , by a wise exchange of vain and vitious subjects for divine Themes , and Celestial Praise . The performance is easie , and were it the most difficult in the World , the reward is so glorious , that it infinitely transcends it : for they that turn many to righteousness shall shine like the stars for ever , and ever : whence follows this undeniable inference , That the corrupting of many , being a contrary work , the recompence must be so too ; and then I know nothing reserved for them but the blackness of darkness for ever ; from which , O GOD , Deliver all penitent , and reformed Spirits . The Divine PASSION I have been speaking of is exprest rarely well in several of his Poems , particularly in one which he entitles Mount of Olives , which begins thus . When first I saw true BEAUTY , and thy Joys Active , as light , and calm without all noise , Shin'd on my soul , I felt through all my powers Such a rich air of sweets , as Evening showrs Fan'd by a gentle gale convey and breath On some parcht bank , crown'd with a flowry wreath ; Odors , and Myrrh , and Balm in one rich floud O're-ran my heart , and spirited my bloud ; My thoughts did swim in Comforts , and mine eye Confest , The World did only paint , and lye . That the World is indeed such a Lyar , they shall find by woful experience , who give Ear to the Songs of the SYRENS of this age , the charming Rhetorick of seditious or lascivious Phansies . If any Person of Learning , and Gravity find himself inclin'd to judg me Guilty of Imprudence in publishing this Paper , I shall beseech him by the Mercies of GOD to consider the advice I shall here give him in the Speech of that Noble Martyr ROMANUS , as it is Recorded by Prudentius ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hymn . 10 ) Contemne praesens Vtile , ô Prudens Homo , Quod terminandum , quod relinquendum est tibi . Omitte Corpus rem sepulchri &c funeris , Tende ad futuram Gloriam , perge ad DEUM : Agnosce qui sis , Vince mundum , & saeculum . For satisfaction to any man who shall think himself concern'd in the controversie I have here undertaken , I shall hereunto subscribe my Name : And I do solemnly Promise , that if any Learned Person whatsoever shall undertake to oppose me ( either in publick or in private ) in this design to render such Writings most odious and detestable to all those that have named the Name of CHRIST ; I shall give him an answer upon this condition , that he shall not oblige me to conceal any Letters to be written upon this occasion ( either his or mine ) if I shall conceive that the publication of them may any way conduce to the Glory of GOD and the good of Men. I shall conclude with that exhortation of the Blessed Apostle , Be not deceived : Evil Communications corrupt good Manners . By those words of an Heathen Poet : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . He plainly upbraids those foolish men , who professing Christianity , make excuses for that kind of wickedness which I here oppose , as if ( forsooth ) much excess were to be allow'd in Love , and even more in Poetry . DIXI , & nulla meam vertet sententia mentem . EDMUND ELYS Rector of East-Allington in Devon. FINIS . 
A38586	----	Erōtopolis, the present state of Betty-land Cotton, Charles, 1630-1687. 1684 Approx. 160 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 97 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A38586 Wing E3242 ESTC R31441 11981843 ocm 11981843 51868 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. A38586) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 51868) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1008:9) Erōtopolis, the present state of Betty-land Cotton, Charles, 1630-1687. 181 p. Printed for Tho. Fox ..., London : 1684. Attributed to Cotton by NUC pre-1956 imprints. Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library. 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. EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO. EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor. The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines. 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 Sex -- Anecdotes 2002-09 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2002-11 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-12 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2002-12 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion ΕΡΩΤΟΠΟΛΙΣ . THE Present State OF BETTY-LAND . LONDON , Printed for Tho. Fox , at the White-Hart , over against St. Dunstans-Church in Fleet-Street ; and at the Angel in Westminster-Hall , 1684. THE Present State of BETTY-LAND . THE Country of Betty-Land is a Continent adjoyning to the Isle of Man , having the Island of Man wholly under its Jurisdiction , it is of so large an Ext●nt , that it spreads its self through all degrees whatsoever , but the chiefest degrees whi●● are known to those that travel are from 16 to 45 both of Southern and Northern Latitude , they that st●er by the Rules of Compass shall never know the Dominions of it . The Planet which rules it is Venus , tho some aver that it lies all within the Tropick of Capricorn , but for that Constellation which is called Virgo , there are very few of the Inhabitants of this Country can endure to hear it named : they wonder what that lusty Planet the Sun can have to do with it . In this vast Empire of Betty-land there are several very large Provinces , as the Province of Rutland , wherein stands the Metropolis of the whole Empire called Pego , the great Province of Bedford , the wide Province of Will-shire , the Province of Guelderland very little inhabited , the Province of Slavonia , the Province of Curland , the Province of Maldavia , famous for the great City of Lipsick , the vast Territory of Croatia , with the Province of Holland , a migh●ty Tract of land under the Command of Count Horne , with many others too long , to repeat . There was formerly a certain Promontory or neck of land lying in this Country , called the Cape of Good Hope , but time has so utterly defac't it that there is hardly any sign thereof now remaining : The Temperature of the Soyl is as various as you may imagine any Climate to be that lies under so many far distant Meridians , sometimes so cold ( especially when it feels the refreshing influences of Wealth and Youth decay , that Winter is more kind , nay the very hearts of the people will be frozen , and a Cart loaden with whole Canon may go over the streams of their former affection , nothing but Ice of Disdain , hailstones of Malice , and most bitter storms of Reproach : sometimes so hot again , that a man had better be let down in a basket in at the great hole of Mount Aetna , than travel in some parts of the Country , but touch it sometimes and you shall lose a Member ; it is worse than the Church-yard in Paris , which consumes dead Carcases in four and twenty hours , for if a man make a hole in some part of the mould , and put but an inch of his flesh in , it will raise such a flame in his body , as would make him think Hell to be upon Earth : to say truth , the nature of the Soyl is very strange , so that if a man do but take a piece of it in his hand , 't will cause ( as it were ) an immediate Delirium , and make a man fall flat upon his face upon the ground , where if he have not a care , he may chance to lose a limb , swallowed up in a whirl-pit , not without the Effusion of the choycest part of the blood : But for Tillage the Soyl is so proper , and so delightful it is to manure , that be it fruitful , or be it barren , men take the greatest pleasure in the world to plow it and sow it , nay there are some men that take it for so great a pastime , that they will give some a ●housand some two thousand pound a year for a little spot in that Country , not so big as the palm of your hand : Herein it is of a different nature from all other Soyls , for tho it be fertile enough , yet after you have sufficiently plowed it and sown it , it requires neither showres nor the dew of Heaven , nor puts the husbandman to the troublesome Prayers for the alteration of weather ; yet if the husbandman be not very careful to tend it and water it himself every night , once or twice a ●ight , as they do Marjoram after Sun-set , he will find a great deal of trouble all the year long , tho there be a sort of Philosophers that understand the nature of the Soyl very well , who say that that kind of Husbandry is very unnatural and very inconvenient for the Soyl , and that it were far better for a provident Husbandman to have 3 or 4 or half a dozen farms one under another than to spend so much time , toyl and labour altogether in vain , for thereby many times the Crop comes to nothing , and tho it may be very well got off the ground and seem fair for the time , yet when you think to have the benefit of it , you shall see it afterwards come to nothing , and moulder away like a rotting Orange : If the Soyl be barren , all the dung in the world will never do it any good , yet the more barren it is , the more will the Soyl cleave and gape for moisture , the sands of Arabia are not so thirsty , and yet as if there were a kind of witchcraft in the Soyl , there are thousands of Husbandmen so strangely besotted , that when they have hap'ned upon such a barren spot as this , yet they will not stick to lay out their whole stock upon it , tho they know it to be all to no purpose , whereby many Husbandmen come to ruine , not being able to pay their Landlords ; if the Soyl prove ●fruitful , then they are as mad again on the other side , then they so overstock it with variety of Flowers and Colours , so tyre out Art with Inventions to beautifie nature , that when winter comes there is hardly a leaf left to cover the ground ; as to the colour of the Soyl you shall have it very much vary , for in some places you shall meet with a sandy mould which is generally very rank and very hot in its temperature , so that it requires the greatest labour of all to manure it , sometimes you shall light upon a kind of a white Chalk or ma●ly kind of a Soyl not so difficult to manure , and besides the heart of the ground will be soon eaten out ; sometimes you meet with a brown mould which is of two sorts , either light brown , or dark brown . Husbandmen generally take great delight in manuring either of these , for the Air is there generally wholsome , and not so much annoyed with morning and evening Fogs and Vapours as the former , besides that , the husbandman shall be sure to have his penny-worth out of them , for they will seldom lye fallow ; take which you will , but if you meet with a black Soyl , be sure you take short Leases , and sit at an easie Rent , lest your back pay for the Tillage , for you must labour there night and day and all little enough : To tell you the truth , choose which of them you will , 't is a cursed expensive thing to manure any of them all according as the Soyl requires , especially in the Northern parts of the Country , where the generality of the Husbandmen seem to have forfeited their discretion in this particular , as if the very Air of the Soyl in those parts had a kind of bewitching Charm to deprive 'em of their sences . These Soyls if they prove very fruitful indeed , shall sometimes bring you 3 Crops at a time , sometimes 2 , but generally 1 , a strange sort of Harvest , for it consists chiefly in Mandrakes , they bring forth both Male and Female , which are very tender when they appear first above ground , and must be tended more diligently than Musk-Melons in cold weather , but if they overcome their first tenderness , they grow as hardy as Bur Docks , and will over-run a Country like Ierusalem-Artichoaks . These Mandrakes are very much esteemed by the generality of husbandmen , who do very much lament the loss of their Crop , which many times miscarries after it is come out of the Earth , for it is very often blasted and sometimes ( through the carelesness of idle huswifes their maid Servants ) swept out of doors , and thrown into houses of Office , where ( though Man's dung be counted the best of all dungs ) these Plants will never thrive afterwards ; these Husbandmen that delight in Gardens , find many Flowers there growing very agreeable to the nature of every one of the foregoing Soyls ; among the rest , they bear Batchelors Buttons very familiarly , there is also great store of Love lies a bleeding , but above all sweet Williams , and Tickle me quickly are to be found there in great abundance , sometimes ( tho very rarely here and there ) you may find some few slips of Patience , flower Gentle , and Harts-ease , but Rue grows up and down as thick as Grass in Ireland ; there are also great quantities of Time , but the people of the Country slightly esteem it and make very little use of it . Fowl th●y have in great plenty , but above all , the most infinite flights of Wagtailes that ever were seen in any Country in the world . Beasts they have none but what are horned , except the Hare and Coney , but these are enough to stock the Country as large as it is , were it as large again . There is but one great River to water the whole land , besides two standing Pools which they can upon any occasion , let out and drown all the Country , which is the reason they have very little Fish , only some few Maids , but infinite numbers of Crabs , as for their Carps they are grown so common , they are hardly worth taking notice of , and indeed there is little need of ●ish , for the husbandmen being given to labour , have good stomachs and are altogether for Flesh. the great River is over-look't by a great Mountain which ( strange to tell at some seasons of the year ) will swell at such a rate that it is admirable to behold it , the swelling continues near ¾ of a year , and then upon a sudden it falls as strangely again ; the Husbandmen accompt the swelling of this Mountain very ominous , for it generally portends a very dear year : they that have not taken a Lease of their Farms , when they see this Mountain begin to swell , will run quite away for fear the law should make them stand to their Bargain● : the whole Country of Betty-land shews you a very fair prospect , which is yet the more delightful the more naked it lies ; it makes the finest Landskips in the world , if they be taken at the full Extent ; and many of your rich husbandmen will never be without them hanging at their bed sides , especially they that have no Farms of their own , meerly that they may seem to enjoy what they have not : some there are that so really believe they possess the substance by the sight of the shadow , that they fall to till and manure the very Picture with that strength of Imagination , that it is a hundred pounds to a penny they do not spoil it with their Instruments of Agriculture : others never so lazy or never so tyr'd before , upon the sight of one of these Landskips , shall revive again and go as fresh and lusty to their labour as if they never had been weary : I could wish these Customs were left off of hanging , these Landskips by the husbandmen's bed sides , for the consequences thereof are very mischivous , seeing that it causes them to desire and covet one anothers Farms with that eagerness , as if they were in open Hostility with the Tenth Commandment , so that where they cannot get the prospect it self , they will have a Land skip and occupy one anothers Estate in conceit : In a word , the prospect of Betty-land is so grateful , so pleasing to the Eye , that the Country would be over-run with Inhabitants , had not wise Nature put a stop to that extravagancy which she foresaw in Man by the badness of the Air , which is universally not so dilicious in any Region of Betty-land , as it is in Arabia Faelix ; for neither in spring-time , which is the time whereof we now discourse , nor in summer time can the Air be very much commended , especially if the wind be any thing high , which has made many Men admire why the Poets should be such Lyers and Sycophants to talk as they do ; for some have not stuck to affirm that the Persumes of Betty-land are beyond all the Odors of the East , which how true it is , I will appeal to the very Noses of the Poets themselves , who I know are as well skilled in the Country of Betty-land as any Husbandmen in the world ; nor can any body have the confidence to contradict what I say , that shall stay but a quarter of an hour in any place where the Thrashers have been lately at work . This was the reason that the Poets would never let the Gods ( who were as great Farmers as ever liv'd in Betty-land ) lie upon any other beds than beds of Roses , and always persum'd the Air as they went with the richest Odors they could think of , but in the Winter and Autumn seasons there is no enduring the Country : The Prospect is not worth one farthing , the ways grow deep and rugged , the land grows barren ; there is little or no pleasure in tilling the ground , and the unwholsomness of the Air encreases , which is very bad for those that hold their Farms by long leases , yet so severely are some Husbandmen tyed by their Leases , especially in the Northern parts of this Country , that there is no avoiding them , yet some there are that will for all that , privately hire a new Farm , perhaps such a one where neither Spade or Dibble entered before , and then they let the old only lye fallow , wherein if they act cautiously , they may do well enough ; but if the Landlord of the old Farm come to know of it , and sue upon the Covenant of the old Lease , Heavens bless us ! you would think Heaven an● Earth were going together , you would swear all the Lapland Witches were excercising their Sorce●ies in Betty-land , such Storms , such Tempests , such Thunder , such Lightning , such Apparitions , enough to scare the poor plow-jogger out of his wits : by and by the Landlady enters upon the new Farm in the Devils name , tears down all before her , makes such a disfigurement of the Prospect , and digs up the very surface of the Soyl it self with so much indignation , havock and destruction , that you would think her to be quite raving mad , yet there shall be no impeachment of wast against her , so strictly is the husbandman bound by the Covenants of his Lease and nonsensical Custom of the Country , at which time if ye chance to tell any of these Landladies of the Civil Law , they 'l presently spit in your face . Having thi● fair occasion it will not be amiss to take notice by what Tenures the husbandmen hold their Farms most usually in this Country , some therefore you must know hold in Tail special ; true it is , that there are v●ry few that hold by this Tenure , yet thos● few that do , a●e soon weary of it , for it puts them to very hard duty , and however they have taken a Lease hand over head or for covetousness of a good Bargain , yet it many times falls out that they meet with many Incumbrances which they never thought of , several concealed common sewers , and filthy nusances which they never expected , so that the Landlords ( as they do many times allow the husbandmen considerable summs of mony to enter upon the Premises and to begin the world withal ) had better have given the sam● mony for a meaner Soyl ; and 〈◊〉 for all this , the conditions of the Lease are so hard , that the husbandman is obliged to hold it during life , which makes many of them turn ill husbands : and tho they cannot throw up their Leases , yet they neglect their Calling and let their Farms lie fallow : whereby all possibility of Issue or the hopes of any Fruit of his labour becomes Extinct . Thus a Tail special is not always the most special Tail , and to cut it off would hazard the destruction of the whole Title , besides that there lies such an Impeachment of wast against the Husbandman that should do it , that it would undo him for ever ; and therefore it is the Opinion of many , that a Tail General may be as good as a Tail Special , which tho it be the first Tenure in order in Betty-land , yet some there are that p●efer a Tail General before it . All men must confess that a strict property in a Tail Special is a very good thing , but considering the Inconveniences that do attend it , a general Tail may be esteemed the better Tenure , as being accompanied with greater Advantages , for it requires not half the fealty and homage which the other does , neither if the Husbandman will have a private Farm to himself for his divertisement i● there half so much notice taken of it , and therefore they that can brook the freedom of a Tail General live very happily , and many times acquire large fortunes . Others there are that holds by Knights Service in the Courtesy of Betty-land , these are notable Farmers indeed , jolly , brisk fellows that will spend with ever a Gentleman in the Country of a thousand pound a year , and make them pawn their Credit and their Substance to boot to bear up with them : these men as they have the greatest pleasure in the world to manure their Grounds , so they reap a world of profit by their labour ; nay tho the Soyl be never so long worn and out of heart , yet they will make something on 't , for they seldom lose their pains . There are a fort of nice people that would fain disallow these Tenures , but seeing that they plead the common practice and plead prescription time out of mind , I know no reason why they may not pass for currant : others there are ●hat hold in Fee simple , a miserable sort of Swains , that are always weeping to their neighbors , and ●elling sto●ies o● their hard Barga●ns ▪ 〈…〉 , they are ty'd to 〈…〉 , besides that , 〈…〉 which they enjoy have not●●ng of prospect , nor are kind for ●illage , the mould being gene●●●ly 〈◊〉 and rough , and 〈…〉 there is no pleasure in the Tillage : but such hu●bandmen as those a●e no ways to be pitied , because they submit to their Calamity : others there are which are always dealing in Reversions and Remainders , a very necessary sort of husbandmen indeed , for they support the Reputation of many a Farm prejudiced by being over-occupied , which else would lie upon the Landlords hands ; true it is , they run a very great hazard , but they are generally very poor men , and therefore seeing there is mony to be got e'n let them get it : they are no way to be discouraged ▪ for they help many a labo●ious husbandman at a dead lift , and quit them of a great deal of trouble which might otherwise befal them . Reversions and Remainders are very frequent in this Country , especially where the husbandmen being Yeomen of the best rank hold either in Capite or in Frank-Marriage or else are Tenants at Will : These are the bravest f●llows in the wo●ld , but if the Marke●s run low , then th● Crop lies upon 〈◊〉 hands , which makes them willi●g to part with their Rever●●ons upon any rate : They make no more of the Lord of the Manner than of a Jack-a-Lent , and if they be summoned to Court , they bid the Bayliff kiss their back-sides , yet are they as industrious as any when they meet with a Farm to their liking ; but the truth on 't is , they are great spenders , even as fast as they get it ; happy are those Farms which they manure , for they 'l spare for no cost to increase their own content : The mischief on 't is , they must have great stocks or else they can never go through with what they undertake , nor must they have only good Magazines to spend high , but good store of discretion to boot , or else they may chance to bring an old house over their heads for all their great substance , for the world is full of Eyes and Ears , full of prying busie-bodies and observers in every Corner ; so that a husbandman let him hold by what Tenure he pleases , cannot be too wary or too cautious . Two Philosophers meeting upon the Road fell into a Discourse about these three last sorts of Tenures , says one of them who was a perfect Cynick , I approve none of the three last sort of Tenures ; You are a fool , reply'd the other , and understand the nature of Betty-land no more then a horse , the people in that Country are naturally given to love freedom and liberty , naturally prone to change and variety , and therefore as long as you may find these Tenures in Littleton , as I am sure you may , they cannot be bad ; can you change the nature of the Soyl ? no more can you change the nature of the Husbandmen , for tho you thrust Nature back with a fork she will push forwards again : if they manure their Farms well , and you see the fields full and fair and swelling with Grain , if they make them bear their Crops in season , what is it to you how many Farms they have , how long or how little they hold them , especially when there are so many gaping after Reversions ; were it in a Country where there are more Farmers then Farms , I grant you there were some reason for what you say , but every man of reading knows that Betty-land is a Country where there are ten Farms for one Farmer and it is great pity that any Farm should lye fallow for want of manu●ing . Now when one Farmer takes one Farm for pleasure , another for profit , that Farmer takes two ; when another Farmer takes one farm for profit , another for pleasure , and another upon good liking , he takes three , and so all the Farms come to be occupied : As for being Tenants at Will , and so leaving their Farms when they will , 't is not a farthing matter , for let one husbandman have a Fa●m to day , another will take it tomorrow ; on the other side , you must consider , that tho a husbandman have one , two or three Farms to himself , yet there is no Farmer in Betty-land can enclose his own ground all the year long by the custom of the Country , but that from Lammas to St. Pauls-tide , it must lie common for the benefit of his neighbors , which is allowed in Law , and is called common because of neighborhood : nay more then that , there is hardly a Farm in Betty-land , where there is not some ground that lies common all the year long ; so that if the poor husbandman had not some private Enclosures to relie to , his case were the worst case of all the cases in the world : to say truth , there is such a world of Common in Bettyland , that a husbandman is not to be blamed to get as much Enclosure as he can : and more than this , when the ground begins once to lie common , it receives all the Beasts in nature , not excepting Swine , Geese and Goats , which all other Commons admit not of . The whole Country of Betty-land lies very low , which is the r●●son th●t there is ha●dly a Farm in 〈…〉 of it without a Decoy , nor 〈…〉 cunning of the Decoyd●●ks l●ss notorious , for they 〈◊〉 all other Decoy-ducks that are in the world in wi●es and subtilty . There is not a Widgeon in in all the Country , but has a Decoy-duck to wait upon him , and they lay their Trains so cunningly , that it is impossible to escape them , and as they are very cunning , so they are very cruel , for they never get a Gull into their Decoy , but they shall pull off all his feathers : these D●coys are some Natural , some Artificial ; there is not a pin to choose betwixt them , for they are both plaguy devouring things , and clear all the Country before them , of whatever game they seek after . Orpheus in his Argonautiques , speaking of a great Decoy-duck in his time ( which the people of Betty-land called by the name of Circe ) says that she was so curiously set out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . That all men admir'd her that beheld her , and were so stupisied with the sight of her g●iety that they could make no resistance against her , sor saith the same Author , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , her golden feathers shone like the Sun-beams , nor do they cry like other Ducks : for they have most delicate voices , and can sing far beyond any Nightingales . There is no Country in the world that has Decoy-ducks like Betty-land , being a rarity no where else to be ●ound , were there not so many of them , you would verily take them to be Phenixes : for they are many times burnt in their own Nests . This Decoy-duck called Circe , had like to have spoiled us two of the best Stories we have extant : Homers Vlysses , and Virgils Aeneids , for this very Duck had like to have drawn the two great Hero's of the world , Vlysses and Aeneas into the Decoys of Betty-land , to the ruine of all the projects of the very Gods themselves . There was another Decoy-duck no less famous than the former , which was called Medea , a damn'd mischievous Bird , tho for the beaury of her wings said to be the Suns . Grand-child : for what ever game she gets into her Decoy , she utterly ruines , and therefore Nicander a great Farmer in Betty-land and the high-Constables fellow for knowledge of the Country , gives his fellow-husbandmen very good caution , for saith he — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — If a poor husbandman come to be decoy'd into one of her Decoys . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — the poor Widgon had better a thousand times have fallen into the Poulterers hands . From these two famous Decoy-ducks , have all the Decoy-ducks in Betty-land learnt all their wiles and cunning Tricks , and if any thing of nature be wanting , they hav● all their kinck-knacks , all their postures , gestures , trickings and tri●●ings imaginable to help nature ; for they know as well as can be , how weakly those Avenues to the understanding ( the Eyes and Ears ) are gua●●●●d , and th●r●fore they chiefly lay their Trains there : if they see a Widgeon or a Gull pass by , they will spread their Tailes like so many Peacocks , and set the poor silly birds a staring like so many Country Bumpkins at a Coronation . By and by comes a slight of Dotte●●ls , and then they set up their throats and sing , and sing and ●ly , and ●ly and sing ; so that the foolish Fowl bewitcht with their Quail-pipes , follow their birdcalls to whatever inconveniences they are minded to carry them into . Some are of that opinion , that it is an easie thing to avoid these Decoys : but how can that be , when we find that both Vlysses and Aeneas were forced to have some God or other always tyed to their tails to keep them out of harms way ? Some there are indeed , that by dint of main Prudence escape the danger , but for one of those there are a thousand others that have nothing but their dear-bought Experience to preserve them : And for one of those ten thousand more that will suffer themselves to be decoy'd six or seven and twenty times over , till they have not one feather to cover their tails : for the nature of these Decoys is such , that tho they feed a simple husbandman ( that all the while neglects the manuring of his own Farm ) with such pleasure and co●tent , yet they consume and wast both body and purse most desperately and insensibly : desperately , because inj●rably ; insensibly , because the s●lly husbandman wallowing in present delight , neither consults or minds approaching misfortune , yet if a Gull or a Dotterel or a Widgeon have a mind to be reveng'd upon a Decoy-duck that has been too cunning for him , there is a way to do it , by setting another Decoy-duck upon her . Thus when the Decoy-duck Medea would have decoy'd the greatest Farmer in all Betty-land ( even Iupiter himself ) Iuno who was Iupiters Decoy-duck took her and wrung off her neck , and surely Iuno serv'd her well enough for a proud Quinstrel as she was , that spent all the morning in laying her Nets , if we may believe Apollonius Rhodius , another great Farmer in Betty-land who describes her . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Trimming and pruning her Feathers by the Sea-side , that is to say , sitting before a great looking-Glass in her Smock-sleeves , with her Hair dishevell'd , and her Neck and Breasts bare , expecting the coming of the great Farmer Iupiter , but Iuno prevented them both , as you have heard : and so much for the Decoys in Betty-land . For the Antiquity of the Country we need not go far to search it out : no sooner was there any light delivered to the world by Letters , but the first discovery that was made , was the discovery of Betty-land : what it was before may be easily conjectured , but in the time of the Greek and Roman Poets , it was a flourishing Kingdom even in Heav'n it self : containing all that large Tract which was in Greek called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : nay , ev●n Caelum it self f●om whom Heaven was called Caelum , was a Farmer in that Country , and so great a husband man , so great and so industrious a Manurer of his Farms , that Orpheus calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : And by the Latine Poet he is said , — Faecundis Imbribus Conjugis in Gremium laetae discendere . And how he stockt the world with Mandrakes , you may easily read in Hesiod , who in his Theogony wrote of the Celestial Agriculture , as Markham among us wrote of Terrestrial Husbandry . Saturn also was a great Husbandman in the Celestial part of Betty-land , and because he liv'd upon his Means , was therefore said to eat his own Children : But for Iupiter , he was certainly the greatest Husband-man that ●ver was in the whole World , for he had Farms in both Betty-lands , and was so industrious and so infatigable in manuring and tilling them , that he left no stone unturn'd of which he could make any Advantage : And therefore Aratus who was a kind of an Almanack-maker to the Celestial Farmers says of him with a great deal of slattery , — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so that there was not a publique high-way , not a market-place in all the Country which he left unplow'd : nay the very Sea , the very Rivers and Lakes were full of his Husbandry ; by that you may guess that he l●ft a great stock behind him . The same Poet seems also to intimate t●●t he was the first Foun●●● ( as 〈◊〉 as we say Iupiter was the 〈…〉 in the world ) of 〈◊〉 - land , as Nimrod was the first founder of the Babilonish Empire ; for saith he in the beginning of his Poem , a Ioveprincipium , Apollonius Rhodius gives us a notable Character of him . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . He was so great a husbandman that there was never a Farm either in the Terrestrial or Celestial Betty-land , but he would be thrusting his Spade into it ; to tell the truth , all the Poets Fables concur to show you the Original , Encrease and vast Extent of the Country of Bettyland ; such as are the Stories of Caelum , Iupiter , Saturn , Venus , Priapus , Adonis , Bacchus , Aristius , ( and the rest too long to repeat ) all great Husbandmen that kept their plows going day and night . As t● the Terrestrial Bettyland , what think you of that most applanded Farmer Hercules ? that so many Ages ago plow'd and sow'd 50 large Farms in one night : what havock , what killing and slaying of the poor Grecians , what a destruction of unhappy Troy , and all for one unhappy Farm belonging to that City which Menelaus laid claim to : what think ye of Demosthenes that so many years since gave for the possession of a small Farm lying ab●ut Athens only for one night 312 l. ? for so Gellius records . In what a flourishing condition was the Country of Betty-land in the time of Menander , Aristophanes , Anaereon , Plautus , Terence , Tribullus , Ovid , Martial and Petronius , who all wrote of the Husbandry and Tillage of their times ? In the Infancy of the world , Priapus had so engross'd all the Farms in the Country Lampsacus , a fair Territory of Betty-land , by reason of the unusual Activity , largeness and strength of his Plow , that the Countrymen conspired against him for monopolizing their Livings : I might insist longer upon the Antiquity of Betty-land , but that I am apt to believe there is no man so simple to question it . They may as well deny the Sun , who was no sooner made , but he fell to tilling and cultivating the vast and most immense Fields of nature , for the whole Region of Betty-land holds of nature as her chief Sovereign and Empress , and the Sun as her sole Steward to gather her Quit-Rents , provide Tenants and let Livings ; aud therefore if you come to any Farmer in Betty-land , and ask him how he came to take such affection to the husbandry of that Country , he will make answer pr●s●ntly , 't is natural to him : And for any Soyl to bear that S●●d which is proper for it , that all the world knows to be natural . Now 〈…〉 the force of natures Impulse , I shall say more when I come to the Religion of the Country ; seeing then it is the Impulse of Nature that moves the Husbandmen of Betty-land to take upon them that Toyl and Labor which they undergo night and day : should they be blam'd for what they cannot avoid ? for who can blame a Jack for turning the spit when the weight is on , or a wheel for turning round when a Dog walks in it ? rather there ought a way to be found out for the Incouragement of these Moylers and Toylers ; for tho all men are prone to be drudges in Betty-land , yet the husbandry of the Country is quite out of order ; there is no method at all observed amongst them , a most wonderful thing that in so vast a Country and so long continuance , there never yet was found any Region wherein the Husbandry of Betty-land was so exactly ordered , as in that small part of it as was once called 〈◊〉 , for it is observed in that part of Bettyland , the Price of Farms ran always very low ; the only way to restore the decay of Betty-land husbandry ; therefore we ●ead of one very ●ich Farmer there , who bought a very fair Farm in that Count●y for thi●ty change of Rayments , and of another g●eat Fa●mer that bought a Royal Farm in the same place , for one hundred fore●●●●● : a very inconsiderable price , considering what poor Farmers are forc't to give now a-days . The Druids in the Island of Britannia a very large part of Betty-land , aim'd at this very thing when they Entail'd their Lands upon their Male-Mandrakes , had they Entayl'd their Substance in Mony as well as in Land , they had hit the Mark : It is to be wondred that in a Country of so much freedom as Betty-land is , and Govern'd by constitutions so far different from other Countries , Landlords should be so egregiously led astray to give such vast Summs of Mony to put off their Farms , tho never so f●uitful , never so flourishing : For the Muck of Po●tions tho it be spread never so thick upon a Betty-land Farm , avails nothing to the fertility thereof , rather it is the greatest Inconvenience in the world to a Betty-land Farmer , for he understanding that there lies a Silver or a Gold Mine in such a Farm , or such an Hesperian Orchard is laden ▪ with golden Apples , will have at them by hook or by 〈…〉 way to lay those She● Arguses asleep , and when all comes to all , n●ither Orchard nor Farm are agreeable to his mind , or sit for Tillage : nay many times the ground proves barre● , marshy , unwholsom , ran● , and mou●tainous ; so that there is no profit nor 〈◊〉 in manu●i●g or dressing it : wh●r●as if th●se Alluremen●s lay not before the Eyes of the Husbandman , he would choose the most delightful Prospects , the most f●uitful Soyls : and the sub●stance of the Country being contracted into the hands of the husbandmen only , would make the Farmers more able to maintain their husbandry : then you should hear none of those common complaints of Landlords , by ●eason of their Farms lying upon their hands ; nay you should not see an indifferent Farm in all the Country of Betty-land lye wast and ruinous for want of Tillage : whereas now how many fair delicate fruitful Soyls lie fallow ? how many beautiful Orchards lie undrest ? because they either want Silver Mines , or are not laden with golden Apples : Another great discouragement to the Husbandry of Betty-land is this , that the extreme folly of the husbandmen themselves is not some way restrain'd ; for they having obtain'd a rich Farm , doat upon it with so much vanity , that they spend more labour and cost upon one Farm , then would serve to maintain forty good Farms in full heart , so that divide a Farmers whole substance in six pa●ts , he shall wast and consume five parts and an half upon one singl● Farm , which is a great cause of the general Impoverishment of th● Betty-land Husbandmen . Then comes a third , and as grievous a discouragement as any ; for these Rich Soyls by reason of their Richness grow ●ank and proud , and the● the poor husbandman is so plagued with Weeds , N●ttles , and wild-Ar●ichoaks , that none can imagine it , but they that feel the trouble : you shall see nothing but the gay Poppies that kill and burn up his profitable Harvest , and which is worst of all , the poor Farmer is left without Remedy . For in the Northern parts of Betty-land there is no help : pull them by the roots he cannot , they are got so deep in the Earth ; let him take a wee●ing-hook in his hand , and the whole Country cries out upon him , and besides all this , Petronius — Lex armata sedes circum fera li — mina Nuptae . The Stream ●of the Law runs quite against the Farmers for the Law is so careful to prevent wast and destruction that it will not admit of gentle pruning , for fear some o● the more impatient so●t should thence take an occasion not only to injure , but confound their Farms . Having thus given you a description of the 〈◊〉 , it m●y not be amiss to shew you som●thing of the nature of the Inhabitants . They are generally very Amorous , or rather universally given to Love ; which according to the interpretation of some of the Sages , is as much as to say Libidinous : for the Temper of Mandrakes both Male and Female is for the most part both hot and moist , which are the Principles of Generation ; which is the Principal foundation of all Love , that is to say , of that which is generally reputed to be Love , which by another name is call'd Desire , according to that of the Poet. Nil amor est aliud Veneris quam parca voluptas , Quae simul expleta est infinita ora Rubor . For you must know there is no true and real Love in the whole Country of Betty-land , and therefore there was never any Shepherd in Betty-land that lov'd a Shepherdess with that height and true Affection as Shepherds have lov'd Shepherds ; never had husbandman so much kindness for the richest Farm , the most beautiful Prospect , the most fruitful and most agreeable Soyl in Betty-land , as Damon had for Pythias , Theseus never had that Affection for Ariadne , as he had for Pirithous : nor shall the Story of Orpheus stand in my way , tho he sued Pluto for a Farm that Persephon● had taken from him . For if Euridice was his Soul , I cannot blame him that he followed the croud of his brother Harpers to Hell when that was departed : but take him how you please , one Swallow makes no Summer , and the Reason is plain . For the Inhabitants of Betty-land love one another , not out of any true Affection , but for the hopes of Reward and self-Satisfaction : which Reward or Satisfaction decaying through Age or Infirmities , the great Love that was just now , cools in a moment like the 〈◊〉 of Venison : And therefore Betty-land . Love is but a hot degree and eager pursuit after pleasure , which encreases sometimes to that height , that both Shepherds and Shepherdesses seem to be mad ; which was the reason that when Iupiter took away the fair Shepherdess , call'd Europa , out of Terrestrial Betty-land , the Poets ●eign'd him to be turn'd into a Bull , a beast most ●as●ivious and impetuous in the 〈◊〉 of his Amours . No less did this fury appear formerly in the female Inhabitants of Betty-land , while Semiramis rages for the Embraces of her Son , and 〈◊〉 roars for the Pizzle of a Bull ; and no question but the Temper of that little spot of Ground belonging to the Shepherdess Massalina , still continues ●●aried tho not ●●tiated tho it ( quinto & vig●simo Concubitu ) had been plowed and harrowed twenty five times in a day and a night : Could the numberless number of consum'd and wasted● C●lves of the poor husbandmen speak ? Could you ●ut hea● the Bannings and Cur●ings in Quevedo's Hell of untimely 〈◊〉 , exhausted and drain'd with continual Labor ; Could you but behold the many Sacrifices of Lust , the many Martyrdoms of female pastime ? would but your reserv'd Nurses , Chamber-maids , and Apothecaries but vouchsafe to open the Cabinets of their Breasts ▪ how many regal Pasts , incarnating Electuaries , restoring Potions they give in a year ; you would 〈◊〉 soon be acquainted with the Nature of Betty-land-Love , which is so far from being true Love , that it is only a continual practice of Surprize . The flames of Desire like a Candle discovering the ●●cret Paths and Labyrinths which the Shepherds and shepherdesses of all Sexes , Ages , Degrees , and Humors choose in pursuit of their Amorous Designs . Thus we find the Love of the Shepherds in Betty-land , to be more fierce , of the Shepherde●●●● to be more constant ; how Youth loves wantonly , old Age 〈◊〉 : They that are poor strive 〈◊〉 please by Officiousness & continual Duty , the Rich oblige by Gifts , the middle sort puts their Confidence in Invitations , Fish-Dinners , and S●ring-Garden-Collations ; the Nobler sort of Arcadians in Masques and Enterludes . In some parts o● Betty-land you shall find the ingenious Lover as full of dissimulation as an Egg full of meat , using a kind of elaborate Courtship ; praising the Object of his Affection in high streins of Madrigals and Eclogues , and preferring her for the fairest in the World , when he thinks nothing less : if he grow jealous , he observes her as a Cat watcheth a Mouse , if he miss her , then he curses her to the pit of Hell : others impatient , mad , and restless in their Desires ; bewail their Flames at the fe●t of their Goddess , and invoak her Pity ; if he enjoys her , he either grows jealous of her , and kills her , or being thoroughly s●tiated , prostitutes her : but if he despair of Enjoyment , then no man more crucifies himself , no man seemingly desires to die with more willingness ; as if his Peace were absolutely made in Heav'n . The wanton Lover is all for obs●quious Admiration , for Songs , Jests , and Tales ; Jealousie makes him as melancholy as an old Cat , Despair hurries him to Revenge , to Scandal and Reproach , and many times to attempt Violence : Enjoyment makes him despise her easie fondness , and as much desire another . Others are a long time before they grow warm , but being once enflam'd , they spare for no Cost : Jealousie makes him clutch his Fists , where he misses his Aim he returns Contempt : Enjoyment causes him to grow cold . Some pretend a world of Kindness , others dissemble and conceal their Flames to be more belov'd then they are : and some can love without being jealous : some are for a jo●und Humor , not regarding Beauty ; others love a mild , others a Confident Behaviour . Some by spending their time altogether in the sport of Love ; others tho late , and when they have spent their whole Estates , come to their Senses again . With such variety of Passions does Bettyland-Love transport the Minds of her Inhabitants . The Shepherds and Shepherdesses are also very great Lyers generally throughout the whole Territory of Betty-land , for they make no more of an Oath , a Vow , or a Protestation , than a Sussex ●umpkin does of a pudding-Cake in a morning for his Breakfast . They are used in the Sieges of Betty-land Love to blow up the fortresses of Chastity , like barrels of Powder in Mines : if the Female have the handling of them , you shall ●ee a foolish Husbandmans Guinneys fly in the Air like Opdam and his ships-Company . As for Matrimony , the true Natives of Betty-land neither Male nor Female do admire it ; for the old Sages of the Country say , Vxorem — Rosa Cinamomum veretur , Quicquid quaeritur optimum videtur . And indeed the Fetters of Ceremony are utterly disagreeable to the frank humor of the Inhabitants of this Country , for they being a less sort of People , reject all Laws of Convenience , when they are repugnant to their own Appetites ; and falsly mistaking the instinct of Nature , for the Law of Nature , as idly cry out , that the Law of Convenience must submit to the Law of Nature : taking the instinct or impulse of Nature , which is effrene and ranging , for the Law of Nature , which is curbing and restraining ; which makes use of Laws of Convenience , to put a Nil ultra to Exorbitance ; but like Phleggus in Virgil preaching in Hell with his dis●● Iusti●iam moniti , — what does this grave Cosmographer do here talking to a company of hair-brain'd Mad-caps ? Epicures , with Gadb●●s in their Tails ? who following the Examples of the greatest Husbandmen and Huswi●es in the world , as of Hannibal at Capua , Achilles and Briseis , Caesar and Cleopatra , Hercules & Iole , Ladislaus of Poland , Charles the VIII . & thousands more , will be never induc'd to believe that so famous and so many Husbandmen could err , nor ever be perswaded to swerve from manifold Examples , epecially Magnis cum subeant animos autoribus . And therefore a great Author speaking of the chiefest Husbandmen in Betty-land , casts a Sardonish Smile upon all those that should endeavour to work a Reformation in that Country , accompting it as ridiculous a Labor , as for Quakers to attempt to Convert the Pope , for saith he — Tam levia habentur a Pudeos matrimonii jura , ut prae libito veras uxores repudiant , mutent atque permutent , filias filiasque tot Nuptiis copulant & recopulant , ut nescire rogamur ubi verum cohaereat illorum Matrimonium . However they want not a good Excuse , and say that where Nature is lac'd too strait with the Bodise of Convenience , she ought not to be put into ●its , for want of a little Liberty . And that many times occasion requires that the Law should be cut , rather than leisurely undone . That the strictness of the Law of Convenience begets a haughty Usurpation of the meaner Sex over their Superiors , which is more repugnant than any Convenience can be agreeable to the Law of Nature : That there is no better way for the husbandmen of Betty-land to curb that Usurpation , then to show their Usurpers how far they can expand their Favors . As for that thing call'd Equality , the Husbandmen of Betty land spurn it under their feet , and call him Boc●a de porco , that first made mention of it : for say they , if you weigh in a just Ballance ▪ the Majesty of Masculine Form , the Latitude of his Understanding , the Preheminence of his Original , the Power of his Actual Protection , with the Chiefest Perfections of the Female Sex ; what will become of that hen-peckt En●omium of Equality ? They add farther , That Agrippa for his Treatise de praecellentia foeminei sexus ought to have made as publick a Recantation , as he does for his Books of Occult Philosophy . If their Admirers object the incomparable Fabricature of that particular part where human Off-spring is concern'd , 't is no more then if you should ●dmire that most curious piece of Natures workmanship , the head of a Fly , which is all the while but the head of a Fly. Thus you see Opinions were always at war one with another , and it is only the Clue of understanding , that must lead you through the vast Labyrinths of national Customs . The native Shepherdesses of Betty-land desire vehemently , Love but indifferently and very unconstantly : yet whether they Love , or whether they hate , they will dissemble with the most politick Shepherd that ever was known in all Arcadia . But where they do Love out of Affection ( which is very seldome ) they will venture through fire and water : I have known , said Eumolphus , when a Shepherd has been cast into Prison for a Crime that deserved Death ; his Partner Shepherdess has workt his Escape , and been condemn'd in his stead , as the Law in some part of Betty-land requires . Their Tongues are the most certain Evidence of perpetual motion , if a thing may be said to move that never lies still : and the subjects of their Discourse , the highest Secrets in nature . Such are the Mysteries of combing and shading Hair , of Washes for their Faces , large Comments upon new Gowns ; Censures upon one anothers Dressing and Behaviour : Punctilio's of Ceremonies when to give the Lip , when the Cheek , descants upon the warmth or coldness of their Shepherds Affections : when they grow old , then they 'l spend their time in telling how handsome they were when they were young . How many Amintases courted them , and how many poor Shepherds broke their Hearts for them : but if a Shepherd displease them , they will sing him such Cromatique descant , will make his Ears tingle ; they will ring him such peals that he had better sit in a Steeple with the noise of six Bells about his Ears : but on the other side , they are very good natur'd , for if you do but now and then , that is , once in a month ▪ or so give them a fine Gown , a rich Petticoat , a rich Looking-Glass , a rich set of Chairs , or any such Bauble ▪ you shall win their very Hearts : give them but a Neck-Lace of Pearl , and look how many Pearls there be upon the string , they shall give you so many kisses for them ; which is a great sign of a tender Disposition . They have an excellent Art of making of Horns , at which they are very industrious , so that many of them get very good Livings by it ; And as for Astrology , there 's none of your Bookers , or Lillies could ever come near them ; for they 'l tell a Shepherd his fortune to ● hairs breadth : to which purpose they will lye an hour together sometimes upon their backs , considering the motions of the Stars . Many of your Betty-land Shepherdesses are deeply Learn'd , for having nothing else to do as they sit upon the Plains , they are always reading Cassandra , Ibrahim Bassa , Grand Cyrus , Amadis de Gaule , Hero and Leander , the School of Venu● , and the rest of these classick Authors ; by which they are mightily improv'd both in Practice and Discourse . Put them to their shifts and they are the be●t in the world at an Intreague or stratagem . Ah! says the poor Soldier in Petronius that had neglected his Duty , to comfort a poor Shepherdess that had been bewailing the death of her dear Melibeus for three weeks together : Here while I have been spending my time to comfort thee the most distressed Shepherdess in the world , they have stole the Criminal from the Cross whom I was set to watch , and now must I be Crucified for him : But she reliev'd him presently . Rather than so , quoth she with tears in her Eyes , here take my poor beloved Shepherd and hang him up in the others place , death makes no distinction of faces . No less witty was the Shepherdess in Boccace , who loving a Shepherd , yet knowing not how to let him understand it , went to one of the Priests of Pan , telling him it was his Duty to rebuke such Shepherds as should attempt the Chastity of any Shepherdesses in Arcadia , Look here , quoth she , such a Shepherd sent me this Purse of Gold , but I defie him and his Gold ; call him Father and school him severely . The poor Priest did so , the cunning Shepherd smeling the Rat smiled to himself , but outwardly promis'd to d●sist , when the Shepherdess next day comes again and tells the Paiest , She wondred he would be so neglectful in his Duty : Why , quoth the Priest , I call'd him , chid him , and he promised never more to Molest your quiet . Alas , quoth she , but the last night , he got in o're the Garden , climbes a Fig Tree that grows under my Window , and had got into my Chamber had I not happily espy'd him and shut the Casement . The Shepherd was call'd again , rebuk't and chid , but you may easily guess at the end of his sorrow : but you must not think I have a Lords Estate to buy paper enough to set down all the Stratagems , Devices and Wiles of the S●epherdesses in Betty-land : And therefore you must apply your self to the Learning of that Country , and when you have read nothing else for 5 years together , then if demanded you may perhaps be able to give an Account thereof . The young Shepherdesses of Betty-land are very studious in Net-work , Vulcan's Net was a piece of Bot●hery to their Art ▪ They are made of Glances , Smiles , and the curling Hair of their own Locks so delicately twisted together , that all the Skill of Ar●ch●e cannot compare with them : Of these Net-makers the Farmer Homer makes mention in his Book of Betty-land Agriculture call'd the Iliads . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Then from her Breast her Mantle she unloos'd , And from her Bosom Charming Arts diffus'd : Alluring Glances , Mirth deluding Smiles , And flattering Speech that Wisdom oft beguiles . The first Net-makers in the world were Venus among the Gods , and Pandora upon Earth , who tho they were no Nuns ▪ yet their workmanship for Curiosity and Fineness was far beyond any thi●g that ever was made in any Nunnery through the whole Empire of Betty-land . That Box of hers had such a confounded company of Trinkets in it , that the wo●ld had better have wanted fire , and never tasted Rostmeat , then to be so punisht as it has been , for Prometheus stealing only a few lighted Charcoal out of Iove's Kitchin ( shame for his weak stomach that could not eat raw Victuals . ) For the poor Farmers in Betty-land have rued the price of hot Ca●dles ever since . But there are a sort of elderly Shepherdess●s in this Country , which in the Spanish part of Bettyland are called Maquerela's , that with a force irresistible carry all before them . Their proceedings are Militant , for they Besiege , Assault , Batter , Mine , and Countermine , and as if Victory were Entail'd upon them , they never fail of Success : Insomuch that their continual Conquests gave occasion to the Husbandmen of Greek Bettyland to ●ffirm that Cupid had rob'd all the Gods of their Arms. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Behold poor Gods how they unarmed stand ! Spoil'd of their Arms by Love of Betty-land : Phaebus his Quiver , Jove his Thunder misses ; His Corslet Mars and Helmet pawns for Kisses ; Jove's Son lays down his Club for Nanny-Cock , And Neptunes Trident yields to Holland Smock : Bacchus will give his Thyrsis for a Slut , And Hermes Heels a Wench his wings shall Cut ; The Chast Diana will not go a Hunting At th' hour appointed when to meet her Bunting : If thus the Gods to Cupid yield their Arms , How can weak Mortals think ye scape his Charms ? The most Renowned of these Elderly Shepherdesses was Y●leped Hecate , who after the Mode of later times ( for Fashions like the Spheres have their Circular Motions ) had always a kennel of lap-Dogs at her Tail — — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . — And a● her Table fed , A Cry of yelping Shocks eat poor folks bread . Such is the Efficacy of their Charms , so much Courage in one of their Pos●e●s , so much warmth in one of their Jellies ; such the force of their Perswasion , that had Vlysses met with one of these Betty-land Shepherdesses of the right stamp , his poor Shepherdess Penelope might have spun more sheets in Expectation of him , than ever she was like to make use of . Thus therefore that subtle Man Ovid describes them , Nec mora miseri tosti jubet hordea Grani , Mellaque vinique meri cum lacte coagulo passo ; Quique sub hac lateant furtim dulcedine succos Adjicit , accipimus sacra data Pocula dextra . Without delay so many Grains of Pearl , With Rubies mixt she strait presents the Girl ; She showrs sweet Hony and the strongest Wine , Words may prevail , but if she drinks she's thine . Lady's must drink no Wine , no Wine cry they ; Yet Lady's sure may drink a draught of Whey . Has Whey such force ? no , something she steals in , For soon as drank it tickles all the Skin . They appear in all Colours like Cameleons , in all shapes like she - Proteus's ; not that you are to think that these are of that sort of Shepherdesses , which the Hu●bandman Homer calls Syrens , but of a far more queint and curious Ingenuity : for those Syrens seem 〈◊〉 be a poor kind of Shepherdesses , like those that were wont to haunt the Plains of Lutiners-Lane and Cole - Yard , by their ordinary language and impudent beckning to Vlysses as he passed by their doors , who can otherwise expound the place ? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. Here , Chuck Vlysses , here come in and see ; What Pots of jet , what nut-brown Ale have we : For never Mariner return'd on shore , But he came here to look him out a Whore. Come in then Ioy , and spend thy Pot with us , We 'l sometimes sing a Song , and sometimes buss . As these words were translated , in comes Eumolpus , views them , and swears there could be no other Interpretation of the words . To make it out , I will give you a description of these Syre●s and their Habitations , which exceed the number of all others in Betty-land , by the progress and experience of my own Travels : when I was ve●y young , quoth Eumolpus , I fell into the acquaintance of Eucolpius , and Trimaley , Husbandmen of la●ge Experience , and who had been great Travellers in the Country of Betty-land , g●owing familiar as one that had received — Istum telis Veneris . It was not long e're I discovered to them the great desire I had to know the Country of Betty-land , of which I had heard and read so much . They asked me what substance my friends had left me to bear Expences , for the Journey would be tedious and chargeable . I bid them take no care for that , for I had Lands to ●ell , and as long as that lasted there would be no want ; telling them withal , that Knowledge is better than fine Gold. Then , replyed Eucolpius , the place where we now are , is one of the most remarkable Cities in all Betty-land , and therefore dear Eumolpus , rest thy self assured of the best Assistance I can befriend thee with : so in the depth of the Winter-quarter within an hour after day-light shut in we set forward . To remember the several by-ways and turnings through which we went , it is as impossible as for a man to remember thing● done before he was born , at length we came to a good large Habitation , which seemed like an enchanted Castle : for tho we understood that there were many of the Inhabitants of Betty-land in the house , yet there was as a deep silence as in a Temple . We were no sooner entred ( for the doors of these houses are seldom shut , as being haunted with a continual sort of Strangers ) but there appeared to us a young Syren , which put us in mind of that Verse in Ovid , Monstra maris Syrenes erant . The Syrens were strange Monsters bred out of the froth of the Sea , or rather Monste●s of the Sea , Seeing that there are none of all That walk on Land which they can Father call . She was as black as a Lobster before 't is boil'd , and instead of hands had much such kind of Claws , and her head lookt like a Gorgons Per●iwig with Snakes , she lookt as if she had been eaten and spew'd up again , or as if she had been one of those upon whom the Venifices of Betty-land were wont to try their Potions ; and yet she had the confidence to invite us to drink of her Cups . Eumolpus did not much mind her Courtesie , but askt Eucolpius whether that were not the Cumaean Witch that accompanied Aeneas through Hell : How , reply'd Eucolpius , does she look old enough to be a Sybil ? yet there are some of the poor labouring Mechanick Inhabitants of Betty-land , will be glad of ● worse than that Syren . With that calling her by her name , Quartilla , said he , where is Thelxinoe ? for so was the old Syren called . She knew his Voice , and streit appears the Great — Bellua Leinae — Horrendum stridens . A ruinous piece of Antiquity with a Voice as hoarse as if her throat had been lin'd with Seal Skins : she had as much flesh below her Chin , as would have serv'd to have made another Face : she was pufft up like a shoulder of Veal blown up with a Tobacco-Pipe , yet was her Language as soft as Lambs-Wool to Eucolpius , who enquir'd of her , where such and such Syrens were , and how they did : shall I send for such a one , quoth she ? do , cries Eucolpius , Fly , then cry'd Thelxinoe , to the deform'd Syren that first admitted us , and bid Sylvagia appear , hast her hither . All this while , said Eumolpus , we were in the common-Room , which put him in mind of that description of the Syrens habitation in Virgil , Iamque adeo scopulos Syrenum advecta subibat , Difficiles quondam multorumque o●ssibus albos . Most dangerous Rocks which mortals never baulk , Till all the walls grow white with score and Chalk . But when the little Syren , said he ( continuing his relation ) was gone forth , Thelxinoe carried us into her own Apartment , a place not very illustriously accoutred , nor yet over meanly set forth . There hung against the wall a good fair Looking-Glass , and in the window were to be seen two dirty Combs ▪ the most peculiar Utensils belonging to a Syren . The Bed ( which was the best thing in the Room , as being a piece of Furniture of which they make the greatest use in Betty-land , ) lay as if it had b●●n but lately tumbled , which Eucolpius perceiving , quoth he , smiling upon Thelxinoe , who was here last ? There , quoth she , who dost think , but my Vlysses and I ? your Vlysses quoth he , who 's that ? for Eucolpius knew that she had had no Husbandman to manure her ground for many years together , only day-Labourers that wrought at so much an hour . But she to stop Eucolpius's mouth , in a great rage demanded of him what sort of Liquor he would have , and immediately fetcht in half a dozen Bottles of Stepony , a most bewitching Juice , which as soon as the Bottles were loose , flew up with so much violence against the Ceeling , as if they had bid defiance to the Clouds , such a shower of spirited water rain'd upward against the course of nature : so that a whole Bottle scarce yielded enough to wet the bottom of a Glass , yet would the Syren not ba●e a farthing of her price , which was a round shilling for every Bottle . After that she brought in six more Bottles , which behav'd themselves after the same rude manner ▪ Eucolpius who well knew the Effects of the Syrens Charms , call'd for the tamer Juice of Barley , over which , said Eucolpius , after we had continued till it was very late , enchanted with the pleasant Discourses of the Syrens , on a sudden we heard a great noise in the room over head as if the Sky had been falling . Two Shepherds of Betty-land belike had been there for several hours together , with each two Syrens in the●● Company , where they had drank so long of the Syrens bewitching Liquor , that they were ev'n almost 〈◊〉 into swine . Then , said Eumolpius , I began to call to mind those other Lines of Virgil. Hinc exaudiri Gemitus iraque leonum , Vinola recusantum , at sera sub nocte rudentum , Setegerique sues atque in presepibus ursi Se vice — Then shrieks of Bum-kickt Iades were loudly heard , And late at night the damning Hectors roar , To see the Constables with Chains prepar'd , Now worse than Swine that were but Beasts before . For like to this , cry'd Eucolpius , was the noise which we heard above stairs : the Syrens squeak'd and cry'd out murder , and help , and help , and murder . The Shepherds ranted and tore , seeing that they had lost their Mony , and that the Syrens had bewitched it out of their Pockets . In this hurly burly ●p runs Thelxinoe with all her Spells , when we , said Eumolpus , seeing so fair an opportunity , and considering the charge of our stay , took an occasion to march out of doors , and quit our selves of our extravagant Expence : but Eumolpus whose blood was up , not being willing to give over the Chase of what he 〈◊〉 out with so much eagerness to hunt for , desir'd Eucolpius to bear him Company , in the search of some other Adventure . It was now late , cold and a hard Frost , but these hardships were easily over come by the brightness of Cynthia's Beams , that made the night almost as clear as day . Being thus therefore got safe from Thelxinoe's Habitation , Eucolpius thought it convenient to steer his Course a quite contrary way : nor had we gone far , when in the midst of the street cry'd Eucolpius , look yo●der , where that Silvadgia whom we sent for so long since comes now to m●et us : have at her by guess , quoth Eumolpus , and so accosting her , Whither so fast , quoth he , fair Nymph ? there needed not many Complements , Eumolpus takes her by one Hand , and Eucolpius by the other , and so said Eumolpus , we march'd hand in hand in a full rank for a while uninterrupted . But Oh the fickle state of fortune sbeing come to the corner of one street , who should pop upon us undiscover'd from the corner of the next turning , but one of the Princes of that night with all his Bilboe's ? It was time to let go the hold of prohibited goods , so near a strict Examination . Silvadgia that like a Mouse knew every hole and cranny thereabouts , so suddenly got out of sight , that she seem'd rather to vanish than fly , but said Eumolpus , Eucolpius and I were forc'd to stand the brunt . The Nocturnal Prince had he been Pluto himself , could not have pretended more Majesty — Plurima mento Canities inculta jacent , stant lumina flamma , Sordidus ex humeris nodo dependet Amiclus . Like Bristles of a Hog his grisled Beard , O're-ran his face with roapy-Ale besmear'd : Full grim he lookt and for a farther note , About his shoulders an old rusty Coat . We finding our selves in the clutches of such a Cerberus , who was still threatning ●o shew us the full Extent of his Power ▪ and to send us to the house of Radamanthus , of which houses there are many in Betty-land , or else there would be no living . Gnosius hic Radamanthus habet durissima regna , Castigatque , audetque , dolet , subigitque fateri , Quae quis apud superos furta letatus inani , Distulit in seram commissa pericula mortem . Here City Marshal shows his cruel Power On piteous Vagabands and wanting Whore , For bellies-Crime , and what the pocket lacks , His bloody whip-cord claws their Crimson backs : He scourges first , examins next , for Law They none deserve whom Law could never awe : And hearing various Crimes at last confest , Becomes himself the subtler Knave at last . Upon these Considerations it was thought fit to use gentle means and Sugar-Sops , for Eumolpus had learnt that there was nothing so frequently us'd as sweet Wine in the Sacrifices accustomed to the Furies , according to that of Callimachus . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . All hours they loyter safe ; and never fail , Who Watchmen twelve pence give to buy sweet Ale. By the practice of which Instruction , said Eumolpus , we that were just going to the Pound ▪ were at the intercession of those dulcified Sons of Horror ( one of whom swore to the deep pit of Darkness that he knew Eucolpius , and knew him to be a very Civil Gentleman , when tho he had never seen him in his life ) with an Extortion of much Acknowledgment for so great a favor , let at liberty . This storm was no sooner over , but the hazard was forgot , and a new Ramble concluded on ; at length under the Conduct of Eucolpius we came both into a by-Street , but there was such a general silence in the Habitations of the Syrens , as if all the lower world had been listning after news in the upper . O quoth Eucolpius ! the Inhabitants of these parts are as laborious Husbandmen as any be in Betty-land : They work day and night , and therefore no wonder they sleep so fast now they are at it . At length coming to a certain Habitation , where the staple of the door was not driven close to the wall , Eumolpus made a shift to get in his hand and put back the Lock , we were no sooner entred and began to extol the kindness of Fortune , but the very same way-Wood of the night that had prosecuted us before , follow'd us close at the heels , and seeing us lawful prize , began to give order for a second seizure : But Eucolpius knowing the danger of a second Attachment , bidding Eumolpus follow his example with his Sword in his hand , being well seconded by Eumolpus , soon forced a way through the slender Opposition of those decrepit Mirmydons , and being got without the reach of their rusty Weapons they never slackned their paces , which was a good swift Career , till they were got out of the Dominions of that nocturnal Bugbear . By and by making a halt to take both breath and advise together , now , said Eucolpius , let us return to the sam● place from whence we last came : for this Lord of Mis-rule having now gone his Rounds , ●nd made his visits of Enquiry , will be sure to come no more there . For a right bred Syren has a way of Charming these Officers of Justice and keeping them from wandering at all hours , and to say truth , there are few of these nocturnal Cerberus's that will bark at a Syrens Habitation , unless he be very hungry indeed , and have not been fed for a great while . With this Resolution , said Eumolpus , we tackt about , and ski●ting through a little spot of Betty-land called Lincolns - Inn-fields , we observed almost at every Gate of those wealthy Husbandmens Habitations , a poor labouring man , and a servant Shepherdess talking together . They were generally very serious and private in their Discourse , tho it were now near two of the Clock in the morning , but by what we over-heard , Betty-land - Love was the main thing they drove at , for sometimes we could hear the Shepherdess cry Sunday in the afternoon ; by and by the poor labourer protested the reality of his Affection : another was telling a long story of the Transactions in that habitation ; another was complaining that her Farm had been Tilled and Manured ; that Harvest was at hand , and therefore desired the poor labourer to take some care where to inn the Crop. And another was delivering to her friends Candles , cold Meat , and other bundles of stuff , which she had purloyned and made up , in as little room as might be ; bidding her friend be sure to return by such a night again : certainly , said Eumolpus to Eucolpius , these husbandmen live here in very great security , that they let their Gates stand open in such a desert place as this : O reply'd Eucolpius ! these Husbandmen tho they be rich , yet they have so many thieves within doors , that they never fear those without : for they within doors will preserve their Masters substance from those without , that it may fall into their own hands . Having observ'd these passages we jog'd on , meeting none upon the Road , but now and then one , now and then a couple of rude labouring fellows with stout Cudgels in their hands , looking as if they would eat us . These were the very dregs of all Betty-land ●hat take the greatest pains , and run through the greatest hazards in the world to maintain themselves in Idleness . Coming to the Syrens Habitation we unlockt the Gate as we had done before , and then barring it again , went directly into a Room where there was a small fire , but no other light , nor any sound of any thing living in all the Habitation : down sate Eucolpius , down sate Eumolpus , right against the door of the room expecting what would happen , when on a sudden we heard 3 or 4 Syrens laughing and toying together to make toward the back-door of the Habitation . The foremost poping into the Room , and seeing the glittering of Eumolpus's Coat ( which was richly lac't ) by the re●lection of the fire , flew back again ready to break her Neck , crying out , the Devil , the Devil , but Eumolpus compassionately following her , and gently bespeaking her soon rid her of fears , leading her by the hand into the room , whom the rest of the Syrens followed . We call'd for more fire and Lamps that we might see one another , and after that for such Liquors as the Habitation would afford : As for the Syrens themselves , they were not the most Amiable that ever were seen , which made us mind our Liquor rather than any other of their Temptations . Their Voices were none of the sweetest , yet for a forc't put they might have serv'd , had we not been kept waking by another Accident . For in the height of our mirth in comes an ordinary Betty-land Farmer , who by his Familiarity seem'd to claim a kind of propriety in the whole Habitation : we saw he would be one of the Company , and therefore we invited him . He had taken a large doze of the Syrens Charms , which made his Tongue as nimble as a new oyl'd Jack : Between Eucolpius and him past many Discourses , among the rest , there was one Question stated by the Farmer , Whether if one Farmer should rob another , it were better to bind him , or kill him to prevent discovery ? Heaven protect us ! cry'd Eumolpus to himself , if this be the Country of Betty-land , surely , quoth he , the people thereof are meer Salvages , however the Argument went on . Eucolpius who when he began to be intoxicated with the Syrens Liquor was very devout , being for Mercy , the Farmer all for Murder , this made Eumolpus stand upon his Guard and to have a vigilant Eye upon the Syrens , and to hasten the complete Charming of the Farmer , which was at length so effectually perform'd by Eucolpius and Eumolpus together , that he fell into a profound sleep : in which condition after he had lain a while , he was at length rouz'd by the Syrens and hurried to his Sty like a Swine : After his departure the Syrens vanished , and Eumolpus and Eucolpius remain'd alone , who early in the morning leaving the Gates of the Habitation open , and the Syrens fast asleep , went their ways to seek out more secure ●efreshments . Thus you see the meaner sort of the Inhabitants of Betty-land , are a very wicked sort of people , being no great admirers of Law or Government : for all Pleasure is expensive , and they wanting the support of Extravagance , will oftentimes in their necessity take it by violence from one another , sometimes in the street , sometimes in the high-way ; nay , sometimes they will enter one anothers Castles by main force , and rifle , and what they get they spend all upon their Syrens with whom they live in a kind of Community . I remember , said Eucolpius , a Husbandman in Betty-land that had his Castle entred , and much of his substance taken away ; who thereupon resolving to go in pursuit of the Labourer that had so spoiled him ●f his goods , sent for me to assist him : we for our better security took with us one of the great Rulers of the night , and with him a certain day-Labourer , who pretends to know all the habitations of the Syrens . The more to be wondred at , as being in one of the greatest Cities in all Betty-land , and thus accompanied we began our progress one night in the most dead time of all ; I dare say , said Eucolpius , we entred above a hundred several Habitations of a hundred several Syrens , taking a view of every room in every one of them , where it was not a little pleasant to see what feat kind of Enormities night conceals . We found the Husbandmen and the Syrens generally in bed and asleep together , for the hardness of their Labour made them sleep without Opiates : In some Beds 3 Syrens and one Husbandman , in another place 3 Husbandmen and one Syren ; at another Habitation one Husbandman and 2 Syrens , in another 2 Husbandmen and one Syren , in another two Husbandmen and two Syrens all together : in another 3 Syrens and two Husbandmen , in another 3 Husbandmen and two Syrens . Eucolpius that had never seen so strange a mixture of Familiarity before , began to doubt whether this were not some Art of Solon's Common-Wealth , for , said he , there was as much Athenian Liberty as ever that great Law-giver could possibly allow . The day-Labourer who was with us , whether he knew them all or no , I cannot tell , said Eucolpius , but he pretended to do so , and pulling aside the head-Geer of one , and the hair of another : quoth he , this is Dol such a one , and this is Kate such a one , and this is Nan such a one : as if he had been showing us the Tombs at Westminster with a white staff in his hand . And I believe had the night been a week lo●g , we had had variety of these O●j●cts . Eucolpius when he came home told Eumolpus of his Adventure , who lamented nothing more than his misfortune of missing Eucolpius's Company ; that night however it made him restless for new discoveries , which they resolved to prosecute the night following . The Sun had now withdrawn himself and it was within an hour of night when Eucolpius and I , said Eumolpus , entring into one of the Gaming-Houses of the Syrens , went up into a private Apartment , calling to the chief Syren to bring us a Bowl of her most charming Liquor ; she that brought it was no sooner sate down by us , but she began to talk of these Persons who were the Chiefest Husbandmen in Betty-land in their time , at so familiar rate that we wondred how she came by so great an Acquaintance among the Nobler sort of Husbandmen , being such an ordinary Syren her self : for she can divison upon their Descents and Pedigrees , as if she had been bred in the College of Heralds . While we were thus taken up with Enchantments of her Discourse , a strange lumbring noise invaded our Ears f●om the stairs which led into our Apartment : The Syren when she heard it , flew out of the Room with the swiftness of a shooting-Star , clapping the door fast after her : But we , said Eumolpus , big with Curiosity had a longing desire to know the reason of so much Clutter . By and by , peeping through the door , we perceived an old Farmer of Betty-land coming up upon four Legs two Natural and two Artificial ( a pair of wooden Crutches ) with which he did so knock and bepestle the Boards , that a Horse with 4 Iron shooes would have been thought to have walkt upon Velvet after him , so weak and so decrepit , so old , so worn out with the Labor of ●hat Country , that no greater pain could be imagined , than the pain which he seemed to endure in his Engine-like● motion : with much ado at length he got to the inside of a Table , and sate him down with his back against the Wainscot , opposite to the Chimny : Surely , said Eumolpus , were the seven Wise Men of Greece now alive , it would puzzle their Understanding to know the strange and hidden de●ire of this old Farmer . I warrant , quoth Eucolpius , this old Farmer had been an industrious workman in his time , and now to see a fertil spot of ground , to behold a pleasing Prospect , is as delightful to him as the Tillage it self was formerly . Age unfit for Action will delight it self in the Memory of what in Youth it has pe●form'd , whether we were addicted to Acts of Honesty or of Villany , Repetition sooths the Fancy , and dandles it with the remembrance of what a drooping performer has done : so setling to our peeping Crannies , we observed a young Syren come into the Room with two sable Pots of Enchanting Liquor in her hands , which she set down before him . The old Farmer drank not so lamely as he went , but freely ; and made the Syren quaff her own Liquor as freely as himself : she had a Brow as black as a new Beaver , and her Cheeks were as ruddy as the Vermilion● Edges of a new Book . In a short while betaking her self to the Chimny , she stood bolt upright , and having the Signal given , ( as they draw the Curtain up from before the Scenes of a Theater ) she drew the Curtain gently up that was before it , and showed the Prospect of a very fair Garden-plot of Maiden-hair , not green as in other Countries , but growing like a kind of black Fern , or rather a spot of Ground looking like a sieve of black Cherries , ●overed over with the tops of russet Fennel . The Fields about were imbroidered over with white Dasies and yellow Pissabeds : but the old Farmer who neither cared for Innocency , and had been sufficiently plagued with Jealousie , and consequently could endure neither of those Colours , caused her to d●ub her hands with the Soot of the Chimny , to dissigure the whole prospect of those more pleasant Colours , not permitting her to leave any thing but what was black within the Horizon of his View . Then he pleased his aged Eyes with beholding the whole , commending what he thought fit to be commended , and reading a Lecture of Betty-land Husbandry , over every part , till satiated with the Prospect and his Discourse , the Curtain again was let down , and the Syren sent away for more Enchanting Liquor to requite her kindness ▪ certainly , said Eumolpus , the Fancy of this Farmer was the most Ext●avagant that was ever known . There is some Reason for it , said Eucolpius , for Betty-land Love as it ent●ed first into the Eye , so at last goes out of the Eye . The Eye is the Charriot wherein the Fancy Rides , surveying past contents , and if that be strong and juvenile , it will imploy the Body in something of its former concerns , how impotent , how unwieldly soever : for Reason , you must know , is not at all permitted to be so much as named in Betty-land , where it is Death to make use of it : And where the Husbandmen and Huswifes are guided only by Passion , and follow only the perswasions of Appetite . Again , as there is no Reason , so there is no Wisdom in Betty-land : they seldom hear of it from one end of the Country to the other● or if they chance to hear the least sound of it , they count it as fatal as the Romans did to hear ▪ the Ravens croak upon the left hand : like the young People of Betty-land , that when the Bells ring to the Temple , run to the Syrens Habitations at Islington , believing that the Bells are hung in the City to ring them into the Country . Should this Farmer have been so impotent again , he would not have been a Rush the wiser , and therefore 't is no wonder his predominating Superiors direct and govern him as they please themselves . Eucolpius having thus said , Eumolpus and he took their way towards a small part of Betty-land , near the Temple of St. Buttolphs-Aldgate , where upon the first call , he was let into a f●ir Habitation belonging to one of those Elderly Syrens called Maquerelas . The Apartments were fair and well adorn'd , through one of which , as we passed , said Eumolpus , we saw a Table spread and furnished as if it had been for the Supper of Trimalcio in Petronius : being come into our own Retirement , we askt the Syren , what Vlysses was to be Entertain'd there that night ? she answered with a Smile , but told Eucolpius more familiarly , that we should have a sight of the pastime in due season , ●eeing there was none but himself and one whom she saw to be his peculiar Friend ; tho with a most ●olemn Proviso of Secrecy enjoyn'd . In the mean time , we call'd for a Syren or two , which were immediately call'd up , Charming enough ; we had no sooner drank a Cup or two of the Syrens Liquo●s , but one of them began to fall into the rehearsal of her Misfortunes , that she was the Daughter of one of the Priests of Pan ( for the most common Huswives of Betty-land ●eign themselves to be either the Daughters , Sisters , or Huswifes of the Priests of Pan , thereby to gain the greater pity of their Sufferings : ) that she had been driven out of doors by the Shepherd , whom of all others in the Country she lov'd most intirely . The other cursed a noble Husbandman of Betty-land , for being untrue to her ; or else — for a deep Sigh sti●led the rest , but both of them concluded in , What would you give them ? That they were no common Syrens , but seeing us Civil Shepherds , if we pleased to come to their Habitations , we should not find them to be Mercenary . But offe● offer to lay your Lips to theirs , they were presently according to the Fashion of the Country , begging either for Scarfs , or Gloves , though at the same time they bragged of Wardrobes richer than those of Lucullus : We that believ'd not a word they said , easily condol'd with them , and promised Mountains ; for there is nothing more practicable in Betty-land than lying and dissembling , Two gifts that a Husbandman of that Country can no more be without , than without his Plow . In fine , these two Syrens were ●orced to leave us , being called away by the Syren Government , for it appear'd that the Shepherd was entred , at whose Devotion the Habitation and all within it were , being at all the Expence for his peculiar Fancy ; by and by , the Alarm of an uncouth noise , called us to our peeping-holes of Observation ; from whence we discovered in the great corner Room , where we saw the Table spread as we first came along , a very fair Collation of Costly Viands , the most part Fowl. About the Table sate some half a dozen Brisk Syrens , sitting almost as they were pictured ( saving that they had other Instruments to use than Combs and Looking-Glasses ) for their lower parts were hid by the Table , as they had been under water ; but from the Wast upward , they were to be seen quite naked , as in vulgar Signs . All this while we missed the Shepherd , and wondred he should neglect the sight of such fair Prospects as these were , but by and by we discovered him by the noise he made under the Table upon all four , picking up the Bones which the Syrens threw down , yelping and snarling like an Izeland Cur , and biting at the Legs and Shins of that Syren which threw him down his desired Food . This violent humor continued all along the time of Supper , said Eumolpus , to his Astonishment , which made him think the Mysteries of Isis to be a Bauble , and the carrying Betty-land Ploughs in publick Procession upon sticks by the Female Bacchides , to be a May-Game : and yet they appear'd to be altogether , but a kind of family Betty-land - Love , ( and there are few Families without a Cur ) for there was no more harm done , but after Supper every Syren seem'd to vanish as they pleased themselves : Look ye , said Eucolpius , now you have beheld something more strange than what you saw before . Certainly , said Eumolpus , the Gods that only smil'd to see Mars and Venus so entangled as they did , would have laugh'd themselves out of their Immortality , to have seen this Extravagant Divertisement . Think you , said Eucolpius , this Shepherd can give any Reason for this ? Surely no other , reply'd Eumolpus , than that of the Poet : Quid non constricta spectatis fronte Cutanes , Damnatisque novae simplicitatis opus ? Ipse pater veri doctus Epicurus in Arte Iussit , & hanc vitam dixit habere tales . What ail ye , froward Cinicks , thus to stare , Condemning what I act , because 't is rare : Wise Epicure thus taught , lose no Delight , For time has heels and nimbly takes his Flight : Dear Life whose shooes are made of running Leather , Shall I not use thee ? wherefore came I hither ? From thence at a later hour , said Eumolpus , we passed to see the Publick Academies and Shools of the Country , where we found them altogether for Justing , and Turnaments , and Running of the Ring : but in this particular , as captious one among another , as Church-Wardens-Wives ; for it not being the Custom of the Country , for Shepherds to Just one with another , but only Shepherds with Shepherdesses , and Shepherdesses with Shepherds : the Shepherds will never Just unless the Shepherdesses will provide Rings , nor the Shepherdesses can ever be brought to run a-Tilt , unless the Shepherds provide Launces . However if the Parties stand upon it , there seldom happens any great Quarrel about that Punctilio . These Academies stand open all night long , and there are some so accustomed to these Exercises , that they will hit the Ma●k as well by night as by day . They had in these Academies other so●ts of Games , at which they play'd long , as In and In , amd All Fours , but one thing we never perceiv'd before , that when they went to play at Ruff , they put out all the Honors . The Noble sort of Syrens are of a Disposition very various f●om these , for they being better stockt with Wealth , carry on higher Designs , which they will bring about what ever it cost them , or perish in the Enterprise : They are very subtle , and not only make use of all sorts of Deceits and Stratagems already discovered , but add daily of their own . They are very much addicted to Enchantments , and very skilful in making Amorous Medicaments . They that would understand the Nature of these Shepherdesses , may read the Stories of Messaline , whom there was none that exceeded in all the Country of Betty-land ; of Lunia and Lucilla , who both Enchanted their own Shepherds to death ▪ for the desire of others whom they lov'd better : Semiramis out of a desire of Empire , and for the Love of her own Son , caus'd her Husbandman to be slain : How dear the mistake of Guc●ovir ( when her Husband tickled her in the Neck with his Riding-Rod ) cost the poor King for his accidental Discovery , is not unknown to them that have been conversant in the Saxon parts of Betty-land . The Cruelty of Ione of Naples , the cunning Stratagems of Don Olympia , and the Intreagues of Don Christiana , are still fresh in Memory . Nor had the Druyd Reynall found such copious matter to compile his Book of Celestial Revenge , had it not been for the Effects of Betty-land-Love . The Nature of which is so strange , that it shall in the view of the same Horizon on this side the Hedge shower down nothing but Malice , Hatred , and dismal Contrivances : while on the other side the Hedge , at the same time you shall perceive nothing but the Sun-shine of Sweetness and Caresses . The Country of Betty-land has had formerly good Benefactors , who did very much add to the Glory and Increase of its Fame . The first of those was Solon , the great Athenian Law-giver , and by the Oracle of Apollo accompted one of the Seven Wise-men of Greece , who was the first that made it his publick Care to provide Syrens for the Shepherds of that Country . The first that dedicated a Temple to Venus , the Universal Goddess of Betty-land out of the Games of prostituted Syrens , and so great an Esteem the Grecian part of Betty-land had for those Syrens , that when Xerxes invaded Greece , the Corinthian being the most polite of all the Country , were ordered to make publick Supplication for the safety of Greece ; so honor'd and so Rich grew the Syrens among the Ephesians , that they built several Temples in that City . The Corinthians also gave them that Respect , that when t●ey were to supplicate Venus in any m●tter of Importance , the peculiar charge of their Prayers was committed to their Syrens . Aristotle also thought them worthy of Divine Honors , when he made the same Offering , and us'd the same Ceremonies to the Cyren Hernia , as were usually observ'd to Ceres of Eleasine . Venus being the first Syren , was therefore counted a Goddess , from whose Example it grew in Custom among the Cyprians , that the young Shepherdesses did always ( before they stuck close to any Shepherd ) prostitute themselves on the Se●-shore , thereby to pick up a Dowry acceptable to their peculiar Sh●pherds . And the Babyloni●ns by the Report of Herodo●us when they had consumed their Farms , were wont to compel their Daughters to turn Syrens for the future Maintenance of them and themselves . Aspacia was a great Benefactor to Betty-land , for she filled all Greece with Syrens , and for the Love of her , and for the Injury which the Megareans did 〈◊〉 in taking some of her young Syrens from her , Pericles began that fatal and lasting Peloponnesian War. Heliogabulus was a very great Benefactor , for he had all Conveniences belonging to Betty-land-Love in his own House : He gave to all the Roman Matrons that would turn Syrens , not only Immunity , but Impunity . Caesar was so great a Benefactor , that he was called the Male for all Females : Rhodope also the great Friend and Companion of Aesop , that made the Fables , got so much Wealth by the occupation of a Syren , that she built a Pyramid accounted the third wonder of the World : And Flora left the Empire of Rome her Heir . Of later times Pope Sixtus was a very great Benefactor to Betty-land , who built a most Noble Habitation for Syrens at Rome ; nor are his Successors less kind , by whom they are still indulged , only paying a Iulio a week to the Church , and it is a good Subsistence to the Priests of Pan in that Country , to have an Allotment out of the Bordelli , to make up the defects of other Endowments . As for Example , A Curate-ship worth twenty Crowns . A Priory worth 40 Ducats , and 3 Syrens in the Bordelli at 20 Iulio's a week . Nor are the Venetians less munificent Benefactors , from whom they have all Immunity desirable , nor are the Syrens less grateful in returning considerable Incomes to the Commonwealth , for they being the Bulworks of Christendom are allowed all ways imaginable to support their urgent and unavoidable Necessities . Plato was also a great Benefactor to Betty-land , for his Laws were for a Community of Shepherdesses , among whose followers we may reckon the Nicolaitan Hereticks , who to avoid the St●ipes of that Fury , Jealousie , thought it more Convenient that the Huswifes of their Country should be prostituted . Thus we see how Betty-land-Love has bewitched and charm'd the wisest Husbandman in all Ages . There is a strange Venom in it , and it follows Success and Plenty with a strange Rage , of both which , he that is the absolute Master shall have much ado to keep out of the Tanpits of Betty-land-Love , a very great Mischief , no question , in regard tha● the Chiefest Venuses will not permit their dearest Aeneas's to fall into , if by all the Guards of Neptune & his blew Ey'd Host they can protect them both . The Vermine which most annoy the Agriculture most us'd in Betty-land , are your Sr. Rogers , or Hypocritical Devotists , and those other p●stilent Animals called Nurses , Mother Midnights , and Empericks , with Skins as smooth as Beaver , but black , as that Markham of Betty-land ( call'd Cornelius Agrippa ) notably observes , there are few Traps or Gins that can ensnare them , your Sr. Rogers are so like Civet-Cats , that the Husbandmen of Betty-land cannot distinguish one from another , so that the Husbandmen let them come upon their Land , thinking to retrieve the benefit of their Odoriferous and Precious Excrements , but these Sr. Rogers being the more subtle Animals , and great lovers of sweet Herbs , do more often come upon their Land and defile it : To say truth , where these Sr. Rogers have a design of Mischief , there are no Pales , no Fences , no Hedges , no Ditches that can keep them out , no Locks , no Bolts are strong enough to barricado a door against them . Nay the very Casements of the Shepherdesses hearts will fly open , if they do but give the least wink , they Charm the very Souls of the Betty-land Shepherdesses , pretending to have Radamanthus's Whip in their pockets , for the disobedient , and such a mess of Celestial Suckets in a Lawn Handcherchief for them that consent ; so that the poor Creatures are forc't to yield themselves up wholly to their disposul , besides the Reverence of their Exnmples , a violent Argument to batter the weak Fort of Female Reason , for most Females believe that the Priests of Pan are so Holy , that they cannot err : And therefore in the Papistical . Parts of Betty-land , how many windfalls has the Hurricane of Confession blown down ? you may sometimes s●e the whole Country almost strew'd over with them , such is the heat of a well grounded Opinion , that it melts a Betty-land Female like Wax , and then comes the Sr. Roger , and claps his Impr●ssion upon her , what Shephe●d can deny his Shepherdess when he asks her , and she replies , she is going to a Lecture ? What Shepherd can deny 40 or 50 l. at a time , when she cries 't is to pay her Sr. Roger ? This brings your Sr. Rogers to their white Caps and their Neck-Handkerchiefs , but who can avoid it ? for there is no prevailing against the force of Betty-land - Love , your Mother-Midnights are like those little Vermine called Millepedes , or Hog-lice , for they will crawl from one place to another , so unweariedly and so swiftly upon all Occasions , that you would swear they had a thousand Legs apiece . They have such an Awe on the Spirits of the poor Shepherdesses in Betty-land , that whatever they say , the others believe with more Reverence than the Legend of the Sybils . There is such a familiar and inward Commerce of Secrecy between these Mother-Midnights and Betty-land Shepherdesses , that the latter are easily drawn to give their Appetite a Diversion where they can trust with so much Confidence , not to yield were to mistrust , and to mistrust were to break off the Communion of Secrecy . And they Conjecture not amiss , that believe that many a Mother-Midnight is the more cheerfully obey'd by the Shepherdesses of Betty-land , for the supply of secret Communication , there being as much pleasure to sit privately over a Makeroon and a Taster of Sack , repeating past delights with the Accidents and Appurtenances , as in the Enjoyment it self ; for what can be nearer to Enjoyment , than to tell the very Actions , Passions , and Expressions of the Shepherd in the very Extacy of Fruition so frequently dore , that unless it be done , there is not that Love and Kindness thought to be between each other ? These Arcanums and Mysteries of Discourse , being the Seals and Testimonies of their Friendship . Your Empericks , tho they have smooth Skins like Beavers , yet they have cursed sharp Claws , if they cannot get over , they will dig under the Pales : and when once they are got in , they will Earth themselves like Foxes , so that there is no getting them out again . The Shepherdesses of Betty-land are many times forced to trust them with very great secrets , which when they come to the knowledge of , they take the boldness to do what they list : These are the Caterpillers that destroy the Verdure and Beauty of Betty-land , these are the Moss and Canker that hinder the Orchards of Betty-land from bearing . And being admitted into the society of Secresie , destroy the Fe●tili●y of Betty-land , by teaching the Shepherdesses how to shun the pains of Harvest , and yet enjoy all the full content of the Pleasure of Tillage , the Truth whereof is confirm'd by that wise Husbandman Lucretius , Idque sui causa consuerunt schorta moveri , Ne complerentur crebro gravidaeque jacerent , Et simul ipsa vires Venus & concinnior esset . How did that Noble Shepherdess Livia handle her poor Shepherd Drusus , by that villanous cunning of the Emperick Eademus ? How did Messalina lie in Common , and bring poor Claudius's Farm to Ruin , by the private help of Vestius Valentius , a most snbtle Caterpiller of an Emperick ? But as for Nurses and Chamber-Maids , they like busie Emmets or Pismires , make their Nests in all parts of the Country . They are like the Pigeons bred up in the Eastern parts of the World , to convey Intelligence to Towns besieg'd and forreign Countries , for do but give them an Amorous Pullet in Charge , and they shall convey it through all the Ambushments , Snares , Traps , Gins , and Co●trivances laid to catch them , as if they were invisible : whose t●ue Use , Nature and Property , you may better see in Don Pedro de Lopez , an Inhabitant in that part of Betty land called Portugal , having with a curious Eye observed such Persons as he judged fitting to enjoy his Person , at length plac'd his Affection upon a Shepherdess in that Country named Cleandra , who was easily perswaded by his Wealth to yield her self wholly to his disposal : Among the rest of this Shepherds Acquaintance , was one Lysarchus , whom Cleandra no sooner saw , but she judg'd him worth to bear a part in that Kindness which she shewed her own Shepherd . Lysarchus percieving how things stood , resolv'd with all Secrecy to manage his Affairs . De Lopez with jealous Eyes beheld the more than usual Familiarity between Lysarchus and Cleandra , and resolves to find out the truth : whereupon he feign'd a Journy to some other part of the Country , pretending Occasions that would stay himfor some time , but returning privately the same night , found Lysarchus and Cleandra together , in the most forbidden place by Friendship in the whole World ; such was the injur'd Shepherds Amazement then , that he would have slain them both presently , but upon the retreat of his Passion , minding to give them both some time of preparation , wished for his Boy to fetch him one of the Priests of Pan , intending after he had fitted them to Sacrifice them both to that Deity , being the only horned God which the Poets mention . But to the Application of the Story , this Shepherd had an old Nurse , who had been a notable Syren in her time : who hearing the Passion of De Lopez , and the Charge which he gave the Boy : Gets up , follows the Boy over the Plains , bids him go privately home to sleep , for she would fetch the Priest of Pan her self , which the Boy tyred with keeping his Masters Sheep , readily obey'd ; so coming to a Priest , she borrows the Habits of his Profession , returning she put them on , and coming back to the Shepherds Cottage , she found the Shepherd with the Instruments of Death in his hand , walking in a furious manner in the next Apartment where Lysarchus and Cleandra lay asleep . The Shepherd perceiving her enter , mistaking her in Disguise for the Priest , bid her go in , awake them both , and prepare them for Sacrifice . The Nurse answered him , That she would not dispute the Justice of his Revenge , only entreated him not to disturb them till her Return , so entring into the Chamber , she found the two Inhabitants of Betty-land Embracing one another after the Fashion of the Country : she awaked them , and acquainted them of the Shepherds Return , what he had seen , his Fury and Intention : which so surpriz'd them , that it almost deprived them of their Sences . But , quoth the Nurse , hear the way that I propose both to deceive and satisfie the Shepherd . Here , quoth she , to Lysarchus , take this Habit , and put it on , and then you may adventure out , for the shepherd will mistake you for the Priest , which I Counterfeit . Up gets Lysarchus , while the Nurse laid her self in the same place ; as he went forth the Shepherd met him , and only asked him if he had done what he was sent for ? who reply'd , he had perform'd his Pleasure : the Shepherd then entring into Cleandra's Apartment , False Shepherdess , quoth he , behold him here whom you have wronged , I hope you are sufficiently prepar'd for Sacrifice . To which , she faintly answer'd , Alas ! dear shepherd , first let me know my Crime , before I receive my Punishment . Can you be Innocent , quoth he , and yet admit strange Cattle into my Enclosure ? Oh dire mistake , quoth she ! and then uncovering the Nurses Face , see here the strange Heiser that Grazes in your Meadow , in your Absence I only took my Nurse a-field with me to bear me Company . At these words the Shepherd stood amaz'd with Joy and Grief ; with Grief , to have unjustly suspected her ; with Joy , to find himself mistaken : which immediately caus'd him to Embrace her , & to promise her for the future , never to harbor an ill Thought of her . So subtle are these Betty-land Nurses in promoting and concealing Bettyland - Love , and deceiving the poor Shepherds ; for as they are generally very great Thieves themselves , so they never value the robbing their Masters Fruit , the breaking of his Hedges , and what strange Cattle seed upon his Tillage : The people of Betty-land , especially the better sort , spend much of their time in the Fields and Gardens , which by some of the meaner Sheph●rds , are kept beautifi'd and trim'd , for the publick Receipt and Entertainment of all comers . There also you may have Collations of all sorts , and several Varieties of delightful Liquors , but so excessively dear , as if Betty-land - Love and Expence were both born Twins . And it is most certainly averred , that the Son of Neptune and Father of Orion , Entertained three of the greatest Gods then in being , at less Charge than a Shepherd can entertain 3 Shepherdesses in one of these Gardens . For such is the potent Virtue of Rhenish-Wine and Sugar for Commotion , that tho the Shepherdesses rose but 2 hours before from a plentiful Meal , yet you shall see them fall upon the Junkets of these places with so much fresh Fury , and devour with so much Greediness , as if they had never eaten before , or that they were not to feed again in half a year after : To ask the price of anything herein this place , or to question the Bill when it is brought up , is a Crime as inexpiable as the Gods to swear by Stix , and to be perjur'd ; for Betty-land is at a perfect Antipathy with all manner of Frugality , and the Shepherdesses ( like the Husbandmen of Aegypt that guess at the Fertility of the Year by the overflowing of Nile ) make their chief Conject●res what manner of Lives they shall lead , when marryed to their Shepherds , by the overslowing Prodigality of the Shepherds Pockets in these places , so that unless a Shepherd comes very well provided into one of these Gardens , he shall find himself so intreagu'd in a Reckoning , that instead of an Hesperian Garden , or the Thessalonian Tempe , he finds himself in one of the Labyrinths of Minos , out of which he shall not be able to find the way , till he has pawn'd to the owner his Faith and Honor to make amends to morrow . This , if it be discovered among the Shepherdesses , into what a F●yer it puts the poor Shepherd , what Shifts , what Excuses , he is forced to pump for and borrow from his wrackt Invention . But the Shepherdesses laugh and whisper , and are glad of the Occasion , for they are sure now he must make them 3 or 4 Treatments more to secure his Credit : Eumolpus coming one day into one of these Gardens , observ'd a melancholly Shepherd walking by himself , with so flow a pace , as if it had been his business to measure the ground , or that he had been studying for Sonnets : his Physiognomy shewed much of self-Conceit , and ●uch of Discontent , as a place where all others display'd a geneneral Jollity of Humor in their Faces , his Singularity made Eumolpus resolv'd to attaque him , who made several turns Cheek by Jole with him , expecting the time when he would unlock the Cabinet of his Lips : but finding him very frugal of his words , Sir , quoth he , I have seldom come into a pleasanter Garden , nor in pleasanter Weather , at which words the sad Shepherd taking his Right Elbow in his left Palm , and picking his Nose with his Thumb , Yes , quoth he , the place is pleasant enough to such young Gallants as you , that have Mony enough . Is Mony then the Cause , said Eumolpus , that the Leaves look so green ? that the Birds are so merry ? or that the Sun shines so bright ? No , quoth he , but 't is the Mony in the Shepherd's Pockets that make the Shepherdess●s look so wantonly , Pluto and Cerberus take them all for me , and the Eumenides claw their Buttocks , as some of them have claw'd my Pockets . I have been as great a haunter of these Gardens , as the best of them all , and when all was a going , I cry'd , Sera est in fundo Parsimonia , and that cursed Proverb hath left me n●ver a Groat in my Purse . But I am come here to Imprint the Disdain of my Folly the deeper into my Breast by the sight of those places where my Folly bewitcht me : Nothing vexes me , but that I have spent my Fortune upon Petticoats , and in adoring such a sort of Goddesses , that are the most peccant in the World , especially as to that abominable Sin of Ingratitude . Ask them but only to let you have a Child , as the Gods gave Hiaereus for his loving Entertainment , and they plead so many Inconveniences , as if there were no Mandrakes or Savine in the Country , for they generally reserve those Favors , for those that are less bountiful , in that only kind that they believe it too severe that a poor Shepherd should empty two Purses at one time . Eumolpus to gain a further discovery from his inward Dissatisfaction , invited the sad Shepherd to drink a Bottle of Wine in an adjoyning A●bor , where the distance of the ●eaves afforded Casements sufficient to take a view of all that passed by . Fi●st came along a brisk young Shepherd , so gay and so be-ribon'd , that he seem'd to have a Nose-Gay ( of all the Flowers then flourishing ) upon his Cod-piece , his Breeches lookt as if they had been beset with Tulips , as if what they cover'd conceal'd the same Spring and lively Vigor as the Earth that produc'd the natural Colours : he spoke in Raptures , for he disdained the very Sun that gliss'ned upon his Carnations in comparison of those Suns which were by and by to devour his Tarts . If a Nightingale chanc'd to Warble , O Madam ! quoth he , this is Incomparable , but nothing to the divine Melody of your Charming Voice ; his officious hand carryed the Shepherdesses Fan , and sometimes he cool'd himself , & sometimes her , and when he took it from her Lips , he breath'd out nothing but Sighs , that Arabia Faelix had lost all her Odors : The Shepherdesses that Grac't his Company were like so many Iris's , full as Gay , and altogether as full of Tongue , laughing and smiling they threw their heads about , as if they had been willing they should have fallen from their Shoulders , to have been taken up like their Gloves ; so merry and so wanton , as if they had never known a melancholly Thought ; so far from s●eming to have never been in Love , that they seem'd to be the Controllers of Love himself . The sad Shepherd , at their approach made them a most Reverend Obeysance , which they as mildly return'd , calling him by his name , but they were no sooner past , but he laid violent hands upon his own Hair , with such a passion , as if he would have pulled off as much as would have made a Scourge to have driven them out of the Alley . These Shepherdesses , quoth he , I know very well , and they know me , and good Reason they have ; for , quoth he — casting a grim look after them — but let that pass . These are they that are called by the names of Precious Ones , because of their Youth and Beauty , and their civil Easiness to receive the Caress of a Treatment . They go for great Fortunes , quoth he , but if the Shepherds their Fathers could put them off with those Clothes , the Devil of a Rag more would they give them . Could there be but one found among them that had but a Portion really half as large as her Swallow , I fear I should go to my old trade again , and strive to undo one Taylor more than I have done : By and by came another Shepherd with a gang of another so●t of Shepherdesses , they were as glorious as the former , but not so young as they , nor altogether so Handsom , they seem'd to move in a dancing posture , and now and then they would sing half a dozen Notes of a new Air : in their Discourse they seem'd to hold Arguments , and to talk upon Themes of Love ; whatever they said , it was not for the Shepherd to reply , but only to listen , bow , and smile , and make a nod upon me of those that said nothing . However the sad Shepherd struck to them as they pass'd along , but when they were gone , these are they , quoth he , that are called the Ravishing Ones . They are Witty , but seldom Rich , which makes them the more easie of Access : They look High , and their chief Expectation is , when a wealthy Shepherd will fall into the Trap of their Admiration , they gull , and are gull'd , for the Shepherds that obtain them , never think of marrying till they are upon their last Legs . In short , as it is their chiefest Aim , so they make more Rapes upon the Purse , than upon the Heart . By and by another Shepherd , with a little small Shepher●● his hand , no taller than the wastband of his Breeches , so that he lookt like the Fellow with his Brother growing out of his side , you would not think how she prinkt it and prankt it , and peer'd up in the Shepherd's Face , she was always for looking back upon those that passed by her taller than her self . The main of her Discourse was , no I 'le sweat , no I vow , no — Pish — The sad Sh●pherd put off his Hat to her , as well as to the rest , for which he receiv'd a Courtesie with her Chin in her Neck . There 's one of the Mi●cing Mi●i●● quoth he , she 's Rich , but her Wit and her Wast are both of a size . The next that followed , were 3 strapping Shepherdesses , Elderly in years , they sang and giggled ; and shew'd a large sto●k of Con●idence , they had no Shepherd to attend them , yet they were s●luted by many , with your humble Servant Lady's . The sad Shepherd little regarded them , for , quoth he , these are the Evaporated Ones , they are almost out of date , yet sing prick-Song without Book , and discourse upon all Subjects without fear or wit , tho they bear no ●alice to any person , if you will be so credulous as to believe what they say . Toward the Evening , and just upon Sun-set , we heard a couple of Chariots stop at the Garden-Gate , and strait in marcht a Crew of Shepherds and Shepherdesses , the Shepherds huffing and dinging , the Shepherdesses flanting and ranting ; Iuno's with Ganimedes bearing their Trains , they did so lowt and stare , that they clear'd all before them , their Talk was lowd , and presently the Husbandman that owned the Garden was called for , who came creeping and cringing to receive their Commands . These presently enquired what Rarities he had ready , who presently returned them a Banquet of hard Names , that would have puzzled the Master of Paul's School , or the Art of Memory it self . Have you any Champignions , crys one of the Shepherds ? yes and it please you , cry's the Husbandman , drest a-la-mode de France cry'd the Shepherd ? Yes , and it like your Honor , quoth the Husbandman , for I hate the damn'd English way of dressing Champignions , for the Devil Damme , Madam , quoth he , if they don't make me sick . The sad Shepherd made his Obeysance to them , as they passed along , but they little regarded him . These , quoth he , are the most ingrateful Shepherdesses of all living , for when you have spent all your Estate and all your Marrow to boot on them , they think they have received nothing but their due . The Reason why they appear in the Dark is , because they fly the Sun , as the other avoid the Rain , the Sun annoys their Faces , more than Rain the others habits . For these are they who are called Besmeared Ones , Varnish-Daubers , to whom Phaebus is a great Enemy , whilst Plaisterers and Red-Painters , with whom when a Man converses , he talks to that which is not . He believes that such a one speaks to him , when there is no such thing , no wonder no Painter can draw them right , when they draw themselves so wrong , nor is it a wonder they should so much forget thems●lves , that in a short time are not able to know their own Faces when they meet them in their Looking-Glasses . The poor Shepherds seem to be accompanied only with the beloved Statues of their own making , enlivened by the kindness of the Gods and their own importunate Prayers . Time ploughs up their Faces , but they fill up the Furrows so thick , that when they are dead , they look like meer pieces of Plaister of Paris . They retir'd to their Collation , and we stayed their return , when they were gone we thought it time to go too , ●o marching out we met the husbandman of the house coming from the Gate muttering and swearing to himself . What cause of so much wrath , quoth the sad Shepherd ; to whom the husbandmam cha●ing and fretting return'd , quoth he , These Gay Shepherdesses ye saw last , have devoured above three Pounds , and the hu●●ing Shepherd that Treated them had no Mony , but hath sent me with a Note to his Grocer to take it out in Tobacco . This is my Comfort , that if the Grocer be wise we may chance to make the Fool pay six for his three : There 's no trusting without Pro●it , Nature will have it so , we were born to get , and they to spend . They say , quoth the sad Shepherd , the Garden of Eden is no where to be found , what if it be not , were I an Antiquary , trust me , if I would wast one quarter of a sheet about in , for here is a Garden as like it as can be imagined , here is the knowledge of Good and Evil , here is the Forbidden-Fruit , here is the Tempter and the Tempted . There is only the difference that in the first Eden the Serpent was too Cunning for the Woman , here the Women are too Cunning for the Serpents . Iupiter defend me ! how these empty - skull'd Shepherds will boast to morrow at their Ordinary , of the Honor they had to keep Company with these painted Images , all the Table shall ring of the Favor she did him to let him kiss her Hand , to tell him this or t'other Story : Nor is this Career to be stopt till some Cynical Shepherd stands up and swears he had rather keep company with a Kitchen-Wench , than a painted Shepherdess : upon this they go together by the Ears , and it looks like the Contest between the Greek and Roman Church , whether Images or no Images , so long as there is no other harm done , 't is not unpleasant to see one carry his Arm in a Scarf , another with a black piece of Sarcenet upon his Knuckles . Paris had never more Right to Helena , nor Perseus to Andromeda , than they believe themselves to have right to the vindicated Shepherdess . If they prick one another upon Putney - Heath , or in Barn-Elm - Fields , 't is not half a penny matter , it does but wast the unruly Red , that would turn to unruly white , so long as no person falls a Sacrifice to the fucus'd Diety . Could Man but view from some remoter Sphere , The idle businesses of Man-kind here ; With how much Industry some Men contrive ; Scarce to keep any but themselves alive : With how much Pains and Sweat some Men design , To wast their Fathers Care in Dice and Wine . Whilst others on a Nose or Eye shall spend . A whole years Thri●t before an hour can end ; They'd swear that time were now grown prodigal , Of his own hours , and Fate more lavish call : To give so long a Life to foolish Men , To spend in ore and ore the same agen . And would not Bartholin now laugh to hear , Ye say such Souls as these Immortal were ! Souls that no better seek nor better know , But are content with Pleasures only show . Immortal Souls know more , if we guess right , And Body's must be chang'd to clear the sight : But tho the Body 's chang'd there 's none that say The Soul shall e're be chang'd at any day : Then only earthly Mixtures must Compose , Such Frames where such mean Satisfaction grows . The Education of the Shepherdesses and Huswifes in Betty-land , is most preposterous and contrary to the Politick Rules of all other Governments . The better sort are generally bred up in the Imagina●y Castles and Towers of Acrisius , called Boarding-Schools , kept by a certain sort of she-Creatures that will pretend to be whatever you will have them to be : say they shall be she-Draggons , and they shall be such , if you would have them to be the Arguses , they shall perswade ye that they are such , and rather than excuse themselves for not having so many Eyes as he had , they shall allow you sixscore to the hundred . And withal to magnifie the security of their Vigilancy , that the very Sun it self shall not dare to peep through the Glass whilst they are in the Room . If you will have them to be she - Centaurs , she - Centaurs they shall be , of which there appears not a little probability , for in these places it is , that the young Shepherdesses first learn the Art of Horsemanship and Horse-play , first riding o●e another , and then in a short time after , riding quite away with some Shepherds or other , to the great Consolation of their Parents . For you must know , that Iupiter is Lord of the Ascendent in all these Houses , and his golden Showers will go through the very pores of the Tiles . There are Appurtenances belonging to those Houses of Female Instruction . Imprimis , Dancing-Masters , a certain sort of Cattle , to which the young Shepherdesses give more Adoration , than the Aegyptian to their Cow Isis. Meer Apes , and the worst of Apes , as being French Apes , herein unfortunate that there never was any foolery invented yet , so impertinent and unnecessary in the world as the foolery of Dancing , herein fortunate , that the Age is so unfortunate to be their Apes . Yet the young Shepherdesses endeavour to imitate them , and the old ones are so mad as to let them , but then they rue it , when they find the young Huswifes have been dancing so long that they can hardly go , for the weight of their Bellies . This is the Art that first witches them to kick up their heels by the powerful Charms of gesticular and obscene Motion , by the Opportunities of palming , kissing , and treading upon the Toe , and striking while the Iron is hot , which is the Reason that the good natur'd Souls cannot refuse to dance a Coranto with the Dancing-Master himself . I know said Eumolpus in one small place of Education , two Families of 3 Sisters apiece totally laid common , by the Ins●nuations of this Art , and one more of another Family , which me thought was pity , for 't was all the old Shepherd●ss had . Not unlikely , said Eucolpius , but more than that , how many Antick Dancers whose Clothes have been made streight to their Limbs , have been sent far off the Stage by great Shepherdesses to allay the strength of Imagination . They have a Musician too , of whom they learn half a dozen Lessons on Virginals , and 3 or 4 sing-Songs by Rote . A little Musick goes a great way with them , only to make a Caterwauling noise , when their Parents come to see them , and to show they do not give their Mony for nothing . Besides all this , they learn very dextrously to play the little Thieves for their Bellies , to Junket in corners , which they practise afterwards to the no small Expence of their Espousers , but for any Documents of Modesty , Chastity , good Huswifery , or well ordering of a Family , 't is not required by their Parents , that they should be much ( if any thing at all ) instructed therein , which is the reason that as soon as they come out of these places , they presently travel into Betty-land , and never more return into their own Country . The people of Betty-land are subject to several Diseases , both of Mind and Body , perticularly among the Females , there is one Disease that universally Rages , call'd Furor Vterinus , the Stories of Io and Pasiphae very plainly demonstrate the Rage of this Distemper . The first of which was in such a Condition , that she run lowing up and down like a Cow for Cure , and the latter for the remedy of her Malady , was forc't to make use of a Bull. Two odd kinds of Receipts you 'l say , but you know the Rule in Physick , a desperate Disease must have a desperate Cure. To say there is any absolute Cure for this Disease is a folly , for there is nothing cures it but death , yet the heat and present fury of the Distemper is often allay'd by the Application of proper Pessaries , of which there must be prepar'd Variety still at hand , and those hourly made use of , or else they signifie nothing , of this Di●temper Virgil thus speaks ; Hic Aredelis amor tauri suppostaque furto , Pasiphae mistumque genus prolesque deformis , Minotaurus inest Veneris monumenta nefandae . The Bull thus low'd , and for the sport full fed Into the Straw Pasiphae creeps to Bed , Thence'a mixt Off spring , strange prodigious Fools , Men , Men in all parts , else 〈◊〉 foreheads Bulls : For Minotaurs and Cuckolds are the same , Witness both the Conception and the Name . Fie , Lipsius , Fie , to read all Virgil o're , And not perceive whence Cuckolds came before . There is a Distemper among the Shepherds call'd Priapismus , which if it meet with this Furor Vterinus , will hold it pretty tack . It is a kind of Giant-like Distemper , that lifts its head most stiffly against Furor Vterinus , as having a perfect Animosity against it : If they happen to run-counter , the Combat is fierce and endures long , many times as long as either Shepherd or Shepherdess can crawl or breath , but without any satisfaction of thei● Revenge . And therefore the best way is for them to let one another alone ; this Furor Vterinus is that which make the Poet Euripides cry out , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Heavens bless us ! how are Mortals Tennis-ball'd , With this grand Mischief Amorous Fury call'd . This is that which distracts the whole Region of Betty-land , the Boule feau of domestick Discord and publick Havock . This is that which bankrupts the Gentry , and hurries the poor Merchant and Tradesmen headlong into the Sanctuary of the Fleet and King 's - Bench. The profusion of Habit , the Prodigality of Diet , the wast of Visits , the Consumption of Entertainments . Thence Hippolitus in Euripides falls into such a high Passion that he Exclaims , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. O Jupiter ! what cause of thy so cruel Hate , That thou didst Women thus for Man create ? If 't were thy Aim to propagate Mankind , The Female way ought not t' have been design'd . But men into thy Temples should have brought , Or Brass , or Steel , or Gold more purely wrought , That couldst not thou have chang'd , and then might we Have liv'd in Peace from Female Fury fr●e . Some of the Effects of this Furor Vterinus happens to be as Comical as the other is Tragical , while some poor Shepherds are found lock'd up in Trunks , others whelmed under kneading-Troughs , and there kept till their own Shepherdesses are sent for , to receive the same kindnesses over their Backs , which they had done to their Neighbours . There are also several Frenzies in Betty-land , the chiefest whereof is known by the name of being in Love , so that you shall hardly read a Romance wherein the Prime Hero of all does not wast himself to Skin and Bones for the Love of some fair Shepherdess o● other , what a deal of white Paper has been wasted , to tell you in what sad Condition Demetrius was in , how his Cheeks grew pale , his Eyes grew hollow , how he fell from his meat like a Hen troubled with the Pip , what a Fever he had , how he reviv'd at the sight of her , and all for the Love of his Mother-in-Law : Nay , and the old doting Shepherd his Father was forced to quit the pleasure of his old Age to save the young Fop his Son , O most unparallel'd Success of a Betty-land-Frenzy ! They that put Teresius upon Interrogatories whether he enjoy'd most satisfaction as a Man or a Woman , might as well have put the question to this young Shepherdess , which she lik't best , the Father or the Son. Worse luck had Phaedra , who was so mad as to hang herself for the Love of her Son-inLaw Hippolitus . Worse luck had Dido , who was so mad as to burn herself . Worse luck had Eccho , to kill her self ▪ for the Love of Narcissus , but a more conceited Fool was Narcissus to kill himself for Love of his own shadow . The same Frenzy possessed Thisbe , Hero and Parthenia , for the Loss of Pyramus , Leander and Argalus , there is scarce a Book in all Betty-land , where some or other have not been forc't to quench the heat of their Frenzies , even to the extinction of Life it self . If you ask the Cure , I can tell you none , bu● the Remedies already mentioned , that is to say , Ropes , Rivers , Fires and Precipices . Sterility and Frigidity are two great Distempers in Betty-land , but they do more pester and trouble the Country than annoy it . Sterility causes great Murmuring , and Frigidity causes great Heart-burning . And the sport is to hear them lay the fault one upon another , there being few or none that are willing to confess where the fault lies . Away goes the Shepherdess to her Neighbors for Information , you , quoth she , have all of ye such pretty little young Shepherds and Shepherdesses , and I can have none , which is the great●st Torment to me in the world ; upon this complaint , many deep questions are put , so freely answered ▪ that there is not a Secret in Nature conceal'd . Many times there is a Writ of Enquiry in the case , and all things are concluded to be safe and well : Then is the poor Shepherds Back agreed to be the weaker , and yet the whole burthen and weight of miscarriage is laid upon it . It would tire Hercules himself to undergo the labor , which he is now put upon , however the better ▪ to enable the poor Shepherd to dig and sow in his Parsly-Bed , Physitians of all Sorts , Ages and Sexes are consulted with , certainly the most gainful and delightful part of their Practise ; to sit with an allow'd Familiarity by a Fair Shepherdess half unready in a morning , passing away the time so pleasantly , at the p●etty sport of Questions and Answers , ●●moving , so tickling , that they would kindle a fire in the frozen Breast of a Hermite . They prescribe the Time , the Preparation , the Post●re , Manner and Order of Action , and must have an Account , question by question , whether every Lesson were punctually obs●rved . Then having received a large Reward , you cannot imagin with what a solemn Countenance and merry Heart they take their leave , for which they so cram ye with Electuaries of Diasatyrion and Diacorum , so benoynt ye with Oyl of Euphorb . so feast you with candied Eringoes , Pisstacho's , pickled Periwinkles , Cock-Iellies and sweet Wine , that were not the poor Shepherds forced to empty as well as fill , Heaven only knows to what a Strength and Fatness they would arrive . And truly they work strange Cures sometimes . Others there are , that from Gun-Smiths , Farryers and Coblers , having got a few idle Receipts against Barrenness and Sterility , get such a Fame in Betty-land presently , that their Halls are crowded all the morning long with Nurses coming for half Crown-Glasses , and for this they have a Poundage according to the Custom that they bring . Ask some of these great Paracelsus's why they add the Virtues of curing Sterility and Frigidity to a simple Pill which they know has no such Efficacy : O they cry ! that 's the Cummin-Loaf that takes with the Female Pidgeons , but when all is done , he gives the most pleasing Physick that whispers in a Shepherdesses Ears , Change Vostre Vit Madam , and who can dispute the Licence which a Delphian Oracle gives . But the grand Senior Disease of all that domineers and rages in every corner of Betty-land , is a Distemper that has as many Names and Titles , as the Great Turk himself , his Praenomen is morbus , his Cognomen's are like the Train of a Pleni-Potentiary Embassadors Coach , Neapolitanus , Hispanicus , Gallicus , Americanus , Mexicanus , Venereus , Lues Venerea , Gonorrhea simplex , Gonorrhea Faetida , in English the Pox. These 3 Capital Letters wast more Printers-Ink , than all the whole Alphabet besides ; a man cannot draw to make water , but they are always in his Eye bragging and vapouring what they can do if he have occasion . This Monsieur Pox , and the Devil , like your Serjeant and Yeomen , upon the least Choler and Indignation are at every turn ( by the Shepherds of Betty-land ) bid to go take and apprehend whoever they be that offend them , and they are two such nimble Pursivants , that 't is the general opinion that few or none escape one or t' other . Most faithful Shepherds , 't is not to be believ'd , that this Distemper is of so modern an Extraction , such an upstart destroyer of Mankind as it is generally taken to be , for in the first place we read of Dejanira's Shirt , which as the Fable tells ye she sent to Hercules , which being set on fire by the heat of his Body , burnt him to death . All which in verity was nothing but a most virulent Clap , which that Confounded Whore gave the greatest Hero in the World in his old Age , better had it been for Betty-land that that Strumpet had been burnt a hundred years before , for the Example of that great Hero has so bewitcht the Hectors of our Age , that they never think themselves like Hercules , till they have been calcined in Dejanira's Smock . Aged Aeson was so improvident , as to get a Clap in his old Age , but his Daughter Medea so well sweat him in her Cornelius's Tub , that she recovered him , which gave an occasion to the Poets to feign , that she boyl'd him so long till she renewed hi Age. And Valerius Maximus tells you a Story of young Clodius Pulcher , who being a dissolute young Shepherd , and wholly dedicating himself to the Embraces of a Common and Infamous Syren : Erubescendo mortis genere Consumptus fuit , dy'd a Death which was a shame to rehearse , for saith he , Abdomine avide devorato saede & sordide Intemperantiae spiritum reddidit . The lower parts of his Belly being all eaten away , he yielded his Life to the conquest of most nasty and sordid Intemperance . The fury of t●is Distemper is antiently set forth by the Greek Poet Nicander in his Alexiphar●aca , w●o lived in the time of Attalus the last King of Pergamus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . For if the vigour of Meclean Fury but once Begins to parch the Marrow of the Bones , Wo worth the Man that finds not Surgeon out And if he scapes the first , takes to'ther bout , When wasted with inexorable Pains , He moans the Anguish spread through all his Veins : Oh cruel Pleasure that we buy so dear , For one hours sport to plague a Man a year . Surely , said Eucolpius , to pass through the several Hospitals , where the Cures of this Distemper are perform'd , is a Journey more pleasant than that of Aeneas into Hell , to see a poor Shepherd with his Head and Chops mu●●led up like Bevis of Southampton in his Helmet , lay'd all along upon the side of his Couch , like the Statue of Thamesis pouring out a River from the Urn of his Mouth . To hear the strange Noises and hollow Sounds , that others make having lost the O●gans of Speech , how they curse and ban the Artist for not having made their new Noses according to Directions , for having made a new Pallat more like the Roof of an Oven than to be put into the Mouth of a Gentleman . Go a little further and you shall hear another ●uming against the cause of his Misfortune , a plague of all Religious Syrens — had she not told me , she had been one of Baxter's H●arers , she should have been damn'd ere I wou'd have medled with her . How I came by this sad Accident , cry's another , Heav'n knows ! for I have not laid with any but my own Sh●pherdess this half year , but he is soon taken up short by his fellow in Affliction — Hell take your Shepherdess for me , for I had to do with her but a week since and she gave me this . A huge mountainous Shepherd , Grave and Elderly , had been claw'd off by a little diminutive Pigmy , and he sate in his Indian-Gown , with a blew Satin-Cap , Laced and Bordered with a Rich Point , comforting himself up with Hall's Meditations , Shakespear , and Foxe's Book of Martyrs , and giving wholsom Advice to all that came to s●e him . O my dear Friends and Companions ! quoth he , have a care of Syrens , little approaching to a door fast lockt ye might discover through the Key-hole , a poor Shepherdess disconsolately creeping about the Room , lamenting and sighing to her self , and at length he●ving a Glass of Liquor to her Mouth , which went down with so many sour Faces and with so much reluctancy , that it seem'd to be neither Hippocras nor burnt-Claret . Are these the sweets of Love , quoth she ? The Pleasures of my Youth have sowr Sawce , for I am undone and never shall be my own Woman again . But the old Nurse that was with her , cry'd , Have patience and all will be well in due time , ' ●was his Ignorance , and you must pardon one another . Pardon me , quoth the other , what am I guilty of ? Alas ! I beg'd as for an Alms to tell me the truth , and he still cry'd , it was a Strein , that he got it at playing at Leap-frog , I pityed him , I nursed him , and plaistered him , till it was come to that I could almost look in at his Mouth quite through the nape of his Neck , then too late I discovered my Error and his Untruth . The Distemper is so general , that a Man cannot shrink up his Nose in any Company , for the shooting of a Corn against wet weather , but they ask ye — what h● , you have got ' em . Now as there are many Philosophers that have largely treated of Valour and Fortitude , many that have made Essays upon Patience , but none of these make any mention of those that so boldly and magnanimously Adventure Life and Limbs in the Combates of Venus . He that looses a Limb in Battle reaps Honor , and Scars beget ▪ Renown . But let a Venerial Furioso with a Colly-Flower upon his Forehead Encounter Bacchus himself never so briskly , his Nose which by this means he is for●'t to purchase of pure Gold is not so much esteemed as the others wooden Leg , no man calls them Hero's but Fools . And therefore Heroules is not brought in mad by the Poets ▪ for having the Disease , but because he was such a● Fool to get it , 't was a swinger , and he dy'd on 't . But b●cause Hercules the Hector of the World dy'd on 't , that 's no Argument that the Hectors of Bet●y-land should run such terrible R●●qu●s for the fag end of Hercules his Fame . Therefore Nessus the Centaur , who gave Dejanira her Doze , gave the better Advice , who being sl●in by Hercules for vitiating his Mistress upon his death-bed left Dejanira this Legacy . Give , quoth he , the same Clap to Hercules that I have given you , and I 'le secure you , he shall never love Syrens more . The effect of which Counsel was good , and doubtless to be followed rather than the Example of Hercules , most fit for those that accidentally commit an Error to take warning by in time . But they that try the Experiments for the Experiments sake , deserves no better end than Hercules had ; but what Remedies ? Remedies ! more than there are Atoms playing in the Summer-Sun-Beams . A Distemper that opposes the Generation of Man , to set up and advance its own generative faculty . For it has produc't and daily procreates such multitudes of Vermine and strange Monsters , that the sultry Bogs of Africa never produc'd the like . French Quacks , Italian Mountebanks , German Operators , English Empericks , Experienc't Hunters , Vniversal Pillmakers , Paracelsians , Chimists , Hermetical Astrologers , Compounders , Confounders , Projectors , Dissectors , Injectors . These made such an Alarm in the world , that the Curats , Parish-Clerks , and Sextons , nay the whole Prerogative Office was in an up-roar , and all joyning together , drew up a Remonstrance , which they presented to Death . One of the Curates in a formal set-Speech , inform'd his meagre Majesty of the danger he was in , how many new Pills , Potions , Waters , Elixirs , Spirits of Salt , Lozinges , and Chimical Extractions these Enemies of his had invented to his Destruction . To commiserate the Ruin of so many Families that liv'd by Dust to Dust , Grave-digging , Bell-tolling , Chancel-ground , middle-Isle-ground , and Belfry-ground . To pitty the decay of the Civil-Law , should they lose the Probat of Wills : On the other side , the people of Betty-land finding that they were now to be immortal , fell to all manner of Debauchery , Gluttonizing , Drinking , Whoring , to the height of all Excess , laying all care of Health aside , as altogether needless and frivolous , encountring Claps and Pox with that boldness , as if they had done it in defiance of Death , making Lampoons against that poor . Miscreant , as if he had not been worthy to wipe their Shooes . As for Old Time with his Scyth , they bid him go to Harvest-work , and labor hard in the Summer , lest he is starved in the Winter ; some ask● him why he did not make friends to get into the Charterhouse . Death and Time too were not a little troubled to hear these things , and therefore to understand the truth of their Practices , they resolved to take a turn or two about the Town . The main Obstacle was to get into Moorfields , where the chief heads of the Rebellion liv'd , for fear of the Prentices . But time being the master of Opportunity , bid him leave that to his Care : so coming into the Street , they beheld to their no small Astonishment , all the Posts , all the dead Walls , all the Posterns , all the Arches so be-plaistered , so be-smear'd with Bills and printed Papers bidding open defiance against them , as if the Bricks and Stone would sink under their several burthens with the Support and Enablement of these potent Sear-Cloths . By and by comes a Fellow with a Brush and pot of Past , and his Arms full of Quarto's , and giving Death such a shoulder , as had almost thrown him into the Kennel , claps up another brisk Challenge i' th very teeth of him ; Death let him go as he came , for he did not like his Company , and when he was gone fell to Reading . In the first place , No Cure no Mony , Cheek by Jowl by that stood , At the Gun in Moorfields liveth one that never fails . Much ado had Time to keep Death from striking his Dart into his own Breast , at the sight of th●se two confident pi●ces of Mortality . But when he lift up his Eyes , and spy'd the Three Infallible Cures . Dii and Pluto guard me , quoth Death , Three Infallible Cures , Then wo is me poor Death ! I never knew my self till now , a whole Crown for one quarter of Brandy , for these bold Mortals have almost broke my Heart . But time the subtler of the two , gave him kind words of Comfort , assuring him that he doubted not but in a short time to let these Boasters find how vainly they contested with so great a Prince as he was . But as publick as they are abroad , they pr●t●nd the greatest Secrecy imagi●able at their own Habitations . For the People of Betty-land whatever Revel-Rout they make when they get this Distemper , yet when they find themselves tainted , are the most cautious that can be to let thei● Friends , Relations , or Acquaintance know it . They sneak into the Habitations of the Syrens with their Cloaks over their No●es , pop out again when t●ey see t●e Street clear , but within doors are ashamed of no Extravagance , for pleasure is a kind of drunkenness that makes men mad , puts all the Senses and Pastions upon the stretch of duty , and when the heat is over , lays them tyr'd and ●anguid to sleep , leaving none but the usual Centinels upon the Guard , Suspicion , Fear , and Repentance . FINIS . Books Printed for and Sold by Thomas Fox at the White-Hart ●ver against St. Dunstans-Church in Fleet-Street , and at the Angel in Westminster-Hall . THe History of the Grecian War , by Th●y●dides , and Englisht by Mr. Hobbs of Malmsbury , Folio . The History of the Life , Reign and Death of Edward 2d . King of England , & Lord of Ireland with therise and fall of his great Favorits Gaveston and the Spencers , Fol. Cowels Interpreter a new Law Dictionary , fol. Daltons Office of Sheri●●s , fol. Daltons Country Justice , Folio . Boccaces Tales , folio . The Tryal and Condemnation of Stephen College at Oxford for High-Treason , with his last Speech at the place of Execution f● sti●●ht . The Papers and Speeches of the late Lord Russel , Cap. Walcot , Iohn Rowse and Will. Hone at the place of Execution , fol. stitcht . An Examination of the state of the Case of the Earl of Danby , ● . An Account of the state of his Majesties Revenue , as it was left by the Earl of Danby at Lady-day , 1679. in a Letter to a friend occasion'd by his Lordships answer to an Examination of the state of the Case of the Earl of Danby , by the Honourable Sr. Robert Howard , ●ol . stitcht . The Examination of Edward Fits-harris Esq taken before Sr. Robert Cla●ton , and Sr. Geo. Treby , publish'd by the order of the House of Commons , fol. stitcht . A true Account of the whole proceedings betwixt his Grace the Duke of Ormond and the Right Honourable Arthur Earl of Anglesey late Lord Privy-Seal , before the King and Councel , and the said Earls Letter of the 2d . of August to his Majesty on that occasion . With a Letter of the now Lord Bishop of Winchester to the said Earl of the means to keep out Popery , and the only effectual expedient to hinder the growth thereof , and to secure both the Church of England , and the Presbyterian Party , f. st . A seasonable Address to both Hous●s of Parliament concerning the Succession , the fears of Popery and Arbitrary Government , by a true Protestant and hearty lover of his Country , quar . stitcht . The Bishop of Herefords Legacy to his Diocess , being Sermons against Popery and a Treatise on the Sacrament ; quart . Mr Whitehals Answer to Mr. Hobbs's Civil Wars of England , Octavo . Cottoni Posthuma , or divers choice pieces of that Renowned Antiquary ▪ Sr. Robert Cotton Bar. Oct. Romes Tradition , the Law and Gospels Destruction , being a sober defence of the Church of England from the Faction of the Romanists : with short historical Observations on the Actions and Policies of the Popes of Rome in 2 parts , by Geo. Topham Rector of Baston and Prebendary of Lincoln , Oct. Grammatical Drollery by Captain Hicks , Octav. Hobbs's Tripos in 3 Discourses . The first , Human Nature , or the fundamental Elements of Policy . The second de Corpore politico , or the Elements of Law moral and politick : as of the Law of Nature , Oaths , Covenants , several kinds of Go-vernment with the changes and Revolu●ions of them . The third of Liberty and Necessity , wherein all Controversie concerning Predestination , Election , Free-Will , Grace , Merits , Reprobation is fully decided and clear'd the 3 Edition , by Tho. Hobbs of Malmsbury , Octavo . Mr. Hunts Argument for the Bishops Right of judging in capital Cases in Parliament , Oct. The Lord Hollis's Remains , being a second Letter to a friend concerning the Judicature of the Bishops in Parliament in Vindication of what he wrote in his first , and in answer to a Book Entituled The Rights of the Bishops to judge in Capital Cases of Parliament clear'd , and also to the Grand Question , &c. To which is added Considerations in answer to the learned Author of the Grand Question , &c. by another hand : and reflections upon some passages in Mr. Hunts Argument upon that Subject , by a third , Oct. An answer to Dolman alias Parsons upon the Succession , written by S. Iohn Hayward Knight , and Dr. of Laws , Octav. The Ramble , an Anti-Heroick Poem , together with some Terrestrial Hymns and carnal Ejaculations by Alexander Ratcliff of Grayes-Inn Esq. Octav. Europe a slave , unless England break her Chains , discovering the grand Designs of the French popish Party in England for several years . The 2d . Edition , Twelves . The Roman Historian ; or compendious History of the Lives , signal Enterprizes and Deaths of all the Roman Emperors from Iulius Caesar to Leopold the first now Reigning , together with an exact Succession of all the Popes to this present time , Illustrated with the Sculptures of the Caesars in Copper-Plates , and Englisht from the Original Italian , by a Person of Quality in Twelves . French Intreagues , or the History of their delusory Promises since the Pirenaean Treaty , written in French at Cologne , and now made English , Twelves . Sr. Walter Rawley's Remains , Twel . 
A55529	----	The woman as good as the man, or, The equallity of both sexes written originally in French and translated into English by A.L. De l'égalité des deux sexes. English. 1677 Poulain de La Barre, François, 1647-1723. 1677 Approx. 217 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 109 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A55529 Wing P3038 ESTC R35373 15265572 ocm 15265572 103324 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. A55529) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 103324) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1192:5) The woman as good as the man, or, The equallity of both sexes written originally in French and translated into English by A.L. De l'égalité des deux sexes. English. 1677 Poulain de La Barre, François, 1647-1723. A. L. [23], 185, [7] p. Printed by T.M. for N. Brooks ..., London : 1677. Translation of author's: De l'égalité des deux sexes. "Licensed, August 20th. 1676. Roger L'Estrange"--Opposite t.p. Advertisements: [7] p. at end. Errata: p. [23] Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library. 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 -- Social conditions -- Early works to 1800. Sex discrimination against women -- Early works to 1800. 2003-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Licensed , August 20th . 1676. Roger L'Estrange . THE WOMAN As GOOD as the MAN : OR , THE Equallity of Both Sexes . Written Originally in French , And Translated into English by A. L. London : Printed by T. M. for N. Brooks , at the Angel in Cornhil , 1677. THE PREFACE , Containing The Plat-form and Designe , of the Discourse . THere is nothing more nice and delicate , than to Treat on the Subject of Women . When a Man speaketh to their advantage , it is presently imagined a peece of Gallantry , or Love : And it is very probable , that the most part Judging of this discourse by the Title , will take it at first for an effect of the one or other ; and will be glad to know the truth of the motive and designe thereof . Take it thus : The most happy thought , that can enter into the minds of those who labour , to acquire a solid Science , after that they have been instructed , according to the Vulgar Method , is to doubt if they have been taught aright , and to desire to discover the truth by themselves . In the progress of their inquiry , it occurs to them necessarily , to observe that we are filled with prejudices , ( that is to say , opinions past upon things without true Examination ) ; And that we must absolutely Renounce them , to attain to clear , and distinct Knowledges . In the designe of insinuating so important a Maxime , we have believed it the best , to choose a determinate , and famous Subject , where every one takes an interest ; to the end , that having demonstrated , that a Sentiment as ancient as the World , of as great extent as the Earth , and as Universal as Mankind is a prejudice or errour , the Learned might at length , be Convinced of the necessity of Judging of things by themselves after having examined them , and not to referre themselves to the opinion or credit of other men ; if they would avoid being deceived . Of all prejudices , there is not any to be observed , more proper for this designe , than that which men commonly conceive of the inequality of the two Sexes . Indeed , if we consider them in their present condition , we may observe them more different in their civil functions , and those which depend on the mind , than in such as belong to the body . And if we search for the reason of this in ordinary discourse , we find , that all the World , those that have Learning , and those that have none , and even Women themselves agree , to say , that they have no share in Sciences nor Employments , because that they are not capable thereof ; that they have not the parts of men , and that they ought in all things to be inferiour to them as they are . After having tryed this opinion , according to the Rule of Verity , which is to admit of nothing for truth , but what is supported by clear , and distinct Notions ; On the one hand it hath appeared false , and grounded on a prejudice , and Popular tradition ; and on the other we have found that both Sexes are equal ; that is to say , that Women are as noble , as perfect , and as capable as men . This cannot be established , but by refuting two sorts of adversaries ; the vulgar , and almost all the learned . The former having no other ground for what they believe , but Custome ; and some slight appearences : the best way to confute them , seems to be , to let them see how that Women have been Subjected , and excluded from Sciences , and Employments ; and having led them through the Principal conditions , and occurrences of life , give them occasion to acknowledge , that Women have advantages which renders them equal to men ; and this is the designe of the first part of this Treatise . The second is employed to shew , that all the arguments of the learned are vain . And having established the Sentiment of equality , by positive reasons , Women are Justified from the defects of which they are ordinarily accused , by making appear that they are either imaginary , or of little importance ; that they proceed only from the education which is given them , and that they mark in them considerable advantages . This Subject might be handled two wayes , either in a flourishing , brisk ; and complementive Stile , or otherwayes after the manner of Philosophers by Principles , to the end of being instructed therein to the bottom . Such as have the true idea of eloquence , know well that these two stiles are almost inconsistent together , and that one cannot enlighten the mind , and tickle it by the same Methode . It is not but that the flourish may be joyned with reason ; but that such a mixture often hinders the end which ought to be proposed in discourse , which is to convince , and perswade , that which is pleasing , musing the mind , and not suffering it to rest on what is solid . And as men have peculiar regards for Women , if in a treatise made on their Subject , we mingle any thing that is gallant and courtly , those that read it , pursue their thoughts too far , and lose sight of that which ought chiefly to affect them . Wherefore there being nothing in the World that concerns Women more than this designe , where we are obliged to speak in their favour , matters of the greatest force , and verity , as far as the capriciousness of the World can suffer it ; we thought that it behooved us to speak seriously , and give notice thereof , lest that the conceit , that it might be a peece of airy Gallantry , should make it slightly perused , or rejected by scrupulous persons . We are not ignorant , that this discourse will render a great many male contented , and that they whose Interests and Maximes are contrary to what is proposed here , will not fail to cry out against it . To give means to answer to their complaints , we advertise persons of Spirit , and particularly the Women who are not the Spaniels of those that take authority over them , that if they give themselves the trouble to read this Treatise , with the attention at least that the variety of matters therein contained does require , they will observe that the Essential Character of truth , is clearness , and evidence , Which may serve them to know whether the objections that may be adduced against them be considerable or not . And they may remark , that the most specious shall be made to them by people whose profession seems at this day to engage them to renounce experience , common sense , and themselves , that they may blindly embrace all that agrees with their prejudices , and interests , and oppugne all kinds of Truths that seem to oppose them . And we pray consider , that the bad effects , which a panick fear may make them apprehend from this enterprise , may never perhaps happen in one single Woman , and that they are counterpoised with a great advantage , which may redound there-from ; there being perhaps no way more natural , or sure , to draw the greatest part of Women from idleness , to which they are reduced , and the inconveniences that attend it , than to perswade them to study , which is almost the sole thing in which Ladies at present can imploy themselves , by making them know that they are as proper thereto as men . And as there are none but unreasonable men , who abuse the advantages that custome hath given them , to the prejudice of Women ; neither can there be likewise any , but indiscreet Women , that should make use of this peece , to make them rise against men , who would treat them as their companions , and equals . In fine , if any one be Choaked with this discourse , for what reason soever it be , let him quarrel with Truth , and not the Author : and to free himself from peevishness , let him say to himself , that it is but an Essay of wit : it is certain , that this jurk of imagination or a like , hindering truth from gaining upon us , renders it much less uneasie to those who have pain to suffer it . THE TRANSLATOR TO THE Unprejudiced Reader . I Well fore-see , that my pains , in making this ingenious French Author speak English , will , according to the bias of prejudiced , and interested humours , undergoe various Censures ; a great many men , especially those who defie the French , with their Shop-tooles , will be at it Tooth and Nail , and cry out , that so many out-landish Trinckioms having already crept into use amongst the Women ; he that would endeavour to introduce more , is no friend to the liberty of the Subject . But such men do but hunt their own shadow ; my intent by this Translation being quite contrary . When I Considered , that of all Nations , The English did most candidly assert , and sutably entertain the worth of the lovely Sex ; and by civility , and good nature , as well as prudence , and justice , freely grant an equality to Women , in all things wherein established , and unalterable customes might not be violated ; which strangers , even the French themselves , the great complimenters of that Sex , do by the force of Philosophy , and with reasons which wrestle against prejudices , but at most discourse of . I thought I could not do less for the Satisfaction of such English Men , who do not understand my Author in his own Language , than to make him intelligible , and so give them opportunity to infer from his opinions ; that what in this matter the Virtuosi , and enquirers of that Nation , Squeeze from subtile Speculation , and Logick , is no more than what every English Man Practiseth by common sense , and Natural inclination . And herein I hope not at all to have offended that Sex. I think I have no great reason to apprehend ill will from the Vertuous Women , for my endeavours of letting them hear strangers speak in their favours ; since they may Lawfully conclude from thence , that if they enjoy more than their Neighbours of what is their acknowledged due , it must be their peculiar advantages beyond others , that makes them more considerable in the eyes of their Iudges : there being no Countrey which produceth Women , who ought more Iustly to boast of the favours , and endowments of nature , in respect of body and mind , than this ; or who more fully enjoy , or modestly use the priviledges which upon that account , are reasonably allowed them . This I conceive may be sufficient to warrant my undertakeing , especially seeing so candid a peece of Philosophy , may in a great measure vindicate the honour of the Nation , ( which much grieves to be imposed upon by the modes , and punctilio's of the French so much in fashion ) by letting the world see , that the English , Nobly complying with that Iustice which is therein so strongly pleaded for ; do in matters of importance give an Example so truly Imitable , that the more ingenious must impute it to Salick Lawes , long Custome , masculine , and harsh constitutions , that they are not Vniversally proposed as patterns . It is not my province to attempt the answering of objections , which may be made against this kind of Doctrine ; both since my Author , whose task it was , hath fully done it ; and that there is no great danger of inconveniencies , here to publish that which is already believed and put in practice . And therefore , if any corrupt minded sales-man , who may pretend to know Women better than either the Author or my self , because he hath seen more in their Bodices , shall unlace and let flie a dotument , and tell me that in this medling generation I have been a little too pragmatical to follow the steps of a stranger , and tread upon snailes when they show their hornes ; I am so innocent as not to reply , but leave him in his chafe , to be convinced by reason , and a good wife : and speak a word to the impartial reader by way of advertisement concerning the Treatise . The Author himself gives his Reason , why he hath handled this Subject in so serious a manner , and in so short , and Doctrinal a stile : So that I need say no more , but as a faithfull Translator , I have stuck to his words , and sense . I resolved indeed to have accommodated this Treatise as much as possibly I could to the manners , and present customes of this nation ; but finding therein , somethings whereon the Author does insist as material to the establishing of his opinion , which are not well known in this Kingdome , there being no order of People , nor publick houses here , which in every thing runs Parallel with NVNS , ABBESSE , and MONS ASTERIES , but especially with those whom he mentions : I thought it convenient to translaete his words Literally , and for the understanding of one passage , which may seem difficult , advertise the Reader , that there is an order of Nuns at Paris , who , because they make it their business to relieve , and supply prisoners , and other indigent persons , have the name of Charity ; and that in the great Hospital the L'Hostel dieu there , which is indeed a great Theatre of Humane infirmities ; all the sick , are attended by Religious Women . If the Reader be herewith satisfied I have my designe ; and if not , I shall not , I hope , lose the name of a friend , which is . A. L. ERRATA . PAge 43 line 20 read on Aspects for or Aspects p. 121 l. 1. r. Offices f. Officers . THE WOMAN as Good as the MAN , OR , THE Equality of the two Sexes . The First Part. Wherein is shewn , That the Vulgar Opinion is Prejudicated ; and that , comparing ( impartiality ) that which may be remarked in the Conduct of Men , and Women , we are obliged to acknowledge an intire Equality between both Sexes . MEN perswade themselves of very many things , for which they can give no Reason ; because their Assurance is founded onely upon slight Appearances , by which they suffer themselves to be hurried : and would have as strongly believed the contrary , if the Impressions of Sense or Custom had thereto determined them after the same manner . Setting aside a small number of Learned , all the world hold , as a thing unquestionable , That the Sun moves about the Earth : Though that which appears in the Revolution of Dayes , and Years , equally inclineth those ( who attentively consider ) to think , That it is the Earth that takes its course round the Sun. Men Imagine , that in Beasts , there is a certain Knowledge that guides them , by the same reason that wild Savages fancy , some little Spirits to be within Clocks , and other Engines which are shown them ; where of they understand not the Fabrick , or Movements . Had we been brought up in the midst of the Seas , without having ever come Ashore , we should not have failed , to have believed ( as Children do when they put off in Boats ) , that in our Floating-houses , the Land went from us . Every one esteems his own Countrey the best , because there he is most accustomed ; and that the Religion , wherein he hath been Nursed , is the True , which he ought to follow ; although he hath never perhaps dream'd of examining , or comparing the same with others . VVe find our selves alwayes more inclined for our Countreymen , than for Strangers , even in matters where Right is on their side . VVe are more pleased to Converse with those of our own Profession , than others ; though neither their VVit , nor Vertue , be so great . And the Disparity of Estates and Conditions , make many judge , that Men amongst themselves are altogether unequal . If we enquire into the ground of all these diverse Opinions , we shall find them bottom'd on Interest , or Custom ; and that it is incomparably more difficult , to draw Men from such Sentiments , wherein they are engaged by Prejudice , than from the Opinions which they have embraced upon the Motive of the strongest , and most convincing Arguments . Amongst these odd Opinions , we may reckon the common Judgment which Men make of the Difference of the two Sexes , and of all that depends thereon ; there is not any mistake more Antient , or Universal . For , both the Knowing and Ignorant , are so prepossessed with the Opoinion , That Women are inferiour to Men in Capacity and Worth , and that they ought to be placed in that dependance wherein we see them ; that the contrary Sentence will not miss to be eyed , as a Paradox , and piece of Singularity . However , for the Establishing of it , it would not at all be necessary , to use any positive Reason ; if Men were more just , and less interested in their Judgements , it might suffice to advertise them , That hitherto the difference of the Sexes ( to the disadvantage of the Female ) , hath been but very lightly discoursed off ; and that to judge soundly , whether our Sex have obtained any Natural Pre-eminence beyond theirs : we ought to think thereon seriously , and without Partiality , rejecting all which hath been hitherto believed upon the simple Report of other Men , without Tryal , or Examination . It is certain , that if a Man would set himself in this State of Indifferency , and Neutrality , he must acknowledge ( on the one hand ) that it is Weakness and Precipitancy that make us reckon Women less Noble and Excellent , than our selves : and that certain Natural Indispositions render them obnoxious to the Failings , and Imperfections that are attributed to them ; and thereby contemptible to many . And , on the other hand , he must see , That these very Colours which cheat People concerning their own Subjects , when they slightly pass them over , would serve to undeceive them , if they sounded them a little deeper . In short , if that Man were a Philosopher , he would find that there are Natural Reasons , which invincibly prove , that both Sexes are a like , both as to Body , and Soul. But as there are not many Persons , in a condition of themselves , to put in Practice this Advice ; so it must remain useless , without some pains be taken to labour with Men , and to put them in the way of making use of it . And seeing the Opinion of those who have less studied is the most general , with it we shall begin our Enquiry . Let every Man ( in particular ) be asked his Thoughts of Women ( in general ) and that he would surely confess his Mind ; he will tell you without doubt , That they were not made but for Man ; That they are fit for nothing , but to Nurse , and Breed little Children in their Low Age ; and to mind the House . It may be the more Ingenious will add , That there are many Women that have indeed Parts , and Conduct ; but that even they who seem to have most , when they are nearly examined , discover still some-what that speaks their Sex : That they have neither Solidity , nor Constancy ; nor that depth of Judgement which they think to find in themselves : And that it hath been an Effect of Divine Providence , and Wisdom of Men , to have barred them from Sciences , Government , and Offices : That it would be a pleasant thing indeed , to see a Lady in the Chair ( in quality of a Professor ) teaching Rhethorick , or Medicine ; marching along the Streets , followed by Officers , and Sergeants ; putting in Execution Laws : Playing the part of a Counsellour ; pleading before Judges : Seated on a Bench , to Administer Justice in Supream Courts : Leading of an Army ; giving Battel ; and Speaking before States , and Princes , as the Head of an Embassy . I do confess , such Practices would surprize us ; but for no other reason , but that of Novelty . For , if in modelling of States , and establishing the different Offices that compose them , Women had been like-wise called to Functions ; we should have been as much accustomed to have seen them in Dignity , as they are to see us . And should have found it no more strange to have seen a Lady on a Throne , than a Woman in a Shop . If these Blades be pressed a little further , we shall find their mightiest Arguments reduced to this , That , as to Women , matters have alwayes past as now they go ; which is a mark , that they are really such , as they are esteemed : And that , if they had been capable of Sciencies , and Offices , Men would not have denyed them their shares . These kind of Reasonings proceed from the Conceit that we have of the Equity of our Sex ; and a false Notion which Men forge to themselves of Custom : It is enough with them to find that a thing is established , to make them believe it well grounded . And as they judge , that men ought to do nothing without Reason ; so the most part of People cannot imagine , but that Reason hath been consulted for the introducing of such Practises , as they see universally received ; and fancy to themselves , that Prudence , and right Reason , have established the Customes , to which they both oblige us to conforme ; since , without breach of Order , we cannot therein dispence with our Obedience . Every one sees ( in his own Countrey ) the Women in such Subjection , that , in all things , they depend on Men , without being admitted to Learning ; or any of those Conditions , that afford opportunity to become remarkable by the advantage Parts : No Body affirms , that he hath ever seen them treated other-wise . And all know , That matters go so with them every where , that there is no place in the World , where they are not used after the same manner , as we find at Home . In some Countries their Usage is worse , where they are regarded as Slaves . In China they keep their Feet little from their Child-hood , to hinder them from rambling out of Doors ; where they never see any thing but their Husbands , and Children . In Turkey the Ladies are strictly enough confined ; And in Italy they are not much better . Almost all the People of Asia , Affrica , and America , use their Wives , as we do our Serving-Maids . They are no where imployed in any thing , but that which is esteemed low , and base : And because they only discharge the lesser care of Hus-wivery and Nurses , Men commonly perswade themselves , that , for that end alone they are in the World ; and that they are uncapable of any thing else : They cannot easily represent to themselves how matters could be other-wayes ; it appearing impossible to alter them , what endeavour soever be used . The wisest Law-givers in founding their Common-Wealths have established nothing on this Account , in favour of Women . All their Laws seem only to have been made to confirm Men in the Possession they have got . Most part of Men , who have passed for Learned , have not said any thing to the advantage of Women : And the Conduct of Men , in all Ages , and Places of the World , appears so uniform in this case , that it seems they have conspired ; or other-wayes ( as many imagine ) have been led thereunto by a secret Instinct ; that is to say , Letters-Patent from the Author of Nature . Men are still the more perswaded in this , when they consider in what manner the Women ( themselves ) support this their Condition . They look upon it as a thing natural to them ; whether it be that they reflect not upon what they are ; or that being born , and bred in dependence , they make the same Judgment thereon , as Men do . Now , upon all these views , the one , and the other , let themselves believe , both , That their Spirits are as different as their Bodies ; and that there ought to be as great distinction betwixt the two Sexes , in all the Functions of Life , as there is in those which are peculiar to either : Whil'st , in the mean-time , that perswasion ( like the most part of those which we draw from Use , and Custom , ) is nothing but Prejudice , formed in us by the appearances of things , for want of closer Examination ; and of which we might easily undeceive our selves , if we would but take the pains to return back to the Fountain-head , and judge in many Occurrencies of that which hath been done in former times , by what is practised at this day ; and of the Custom of the Antients , by what we see in Vogue in our own times : Had Men followed this Rule in many of their Sentiments , they had not so easily fallen into mistakes . And as to what concerns the present state of Women , they would have acknowledged , that they have not been subjected by any other Law , than that of the stronger ; and that it hath not been for want of Natural Capacity , or Merit , that they have not shared with us in that which raises our Sex above theirs . Indeed , when we consider seriously the Affairs of this World , both past , and present , we find that all agree in this , That Reason hath alwayes been the weakest : And it seems , that Histories have only been composed , to Demonstrate that which every one sees in his own time , That ever since there hath been Men in the World , force hath alwayes prevailed . The greatest Empires of Asia , in their beginnings , have been the work of Usurpers , and Thieves . And the scattered Wracks of the Grecian , and Roman Monarchies , have not been gathered , but by those who thought themselves strong enough to resist their Masters , and domineer over their Equals . This Conduct is no less visible in all other Societies . And if Men behave themselves so towards their Fellows , there is great likely-hood from stronger Reason , That , in the beginning , they have done so , every one towards his Wife . And this is almost the manner how it hath happened . Men observing , that they were : the stronger , and that in relation of Sex , they had some advantage of Body , fancyed that they had the same in all ; the Consequence was not great for Women in the beginning of the World , Affairs being in a Condition far different from what now they are : when neither Government , Science , Office , nor Religion , were established , the Notion of Dependence had in it nothing at all of Irksome . I Imagine that Men lived then like little Children , and all the Advantage that was , was like that of Play. Men and Women ( who then were simple , and innocent ) were equally employed in labouring of the Land , or Hunting , ( as the Wild Indians do at this day ) : The Man took his Course and the Woman her's ; And they that brought Home most Profit , were commonly most esteemed . The Inconveniencies that attend and follow the big-Belly , weakening the Strength of the Female for some Intervenal of time , and hindering them to labour as formerly , required ( necessarily ) the Assistance of their Husbands ; and the more still , whil'st they were taken up with the care of their young Children . This produced some Regards of Esteem , and Preferrence in Families , which then were only composed of Father , Mother , and some little Babes : But when Families began to be enlarged ; and that in the same House , lived not only the Father , but the Father's Mother , the Children's Children ; with Brothers , and Sisters , Elder and younger : Then did Dependence dilate it self , and become more sensible : Then was to be seen , the Mistriss submitting to her Husband , the Son honouring his Father , and he commanding his Children . And as it is most difficult for Brothers , alwayes , perfectly to agree ; we may easily conceive , that they lived not long together , before that some Difference hapned amongst them : The Elder , stronger than the rest , would condescend to them in nothing : So , Force obliged the Lesser to bow under the Greater , and the Daughters to follow the Example of their Mother . It is easie to be imagined , that in such Families , there were then several different Functions ; That the Women , being bound to stay at Home to bring up their Children , took the Care within Doors : The Men ( more free and strong ) charged themselves with the Affairs abroad ; and that after the Death of the Father and Mother , the First-Born took upon him the Government . The Daughters , accustomed to the House , had no thoughts of going abroad ; but some Younger Brothers , discontented , and more fierce than they , refusing to submit to the Yoak , were obliged to withdraw , and set up for themselves : And so , several of the same Humour meeting together , made a shift to live on their Fortunes , and easily contracted Friendship : VVho , finding themselves without Estate , sought out means to purchase what they wanted : and seeing there was no other way but to take from their Neighbours , they fell upon that which came next to hand : And , to confirm themselves in the Possession of their New Conquests , at the same time made themselves Masters of the owners . The voluntary Dependence , which was before in Families , ceased by this Invasion ; Fathers and Mothers , with their Children , being constrained to obey an unjust Usurper : So that , the Condition of VVomen became harder than before . For , as till then , they had never been marryed but to Men of their own House , and Family ; they were afterward forced to take Strangers , and unknown Husbands , who only considered them as the loveliest part of their Booty . It is ordinary with Conquerours , to despise those amongst the Subdued , whom they judge the weakest : And the Women appearing to be such , by reason of their Employments ( which required not much Strength ) , were looked upon as inferiour to Men. Some there were who contented themselves with this first Usurpation ; but others , more ambitious , ( encouraged by the success of their Victory ) resolved to proceed in their Conquests . The VVomen being more humane , than to serve such unjust Designes , were left at Home ; and the Men chosen as the most proper for such Enterprizes , where there is need of Force . In this state of Life matters being no other-wayes esteemed , but as Men thought them useful to the ends which they proposed ; and the desire of Dominion being now become the strongest of Passions , which could not be satisfied but by Violence , and Injustice ; of which , men were the only Instruments : It is no wonder that they were preferred to Women . Men like-wise , serving to maintain the Conquests which they had made : Their Counsels were only taken for to establish their Tyranny , because none so fit to put them in Execution . And so , the Mildness , and Humanity of Women , was the sole cause which excluded them from having any share in the Administration of Publick Government . The Example of Princes was quickly imitated by their Subjects , every one would carry it over his Companion ; and private men began to rule more absolutely in their Families . So soon as a Lord found himself Master of a People , and considerable Countrey , he shaped it into a Kingdom , made Laws for Government , chose his Officers from amongst the Men ; and raised to Places those who had best served him in his Enterprizes . So notable a Preferrence of one Sex above the other , lessened still more the Esteem for the VVomen ; and their Humour and Course of Life , being far from Butchery , and VVarr ; Men believed them no other-wayes capable to contribute to the Safety and Preservation of Kingdomes , but only by helping to people them . States and Common-VVealths could not be established , without the placing of some Distinction amongst those that did compose them : So Marks of Honour were introduced for distinguishing of Orders , and Signes of Respect invented to testifie the Difference , which was acknowledged to be amongst Men. And to the Notion of Power , was added the External Submission , which is commonly rendred to those who have the Authority in their Hands . It is not at all necessary to tell you , how God hath been known of Men ; but it is certain , that since the beginning of the VVorld , he hath been adored by them ; though the VVorship which Men have rendred to a Deity was never Regular , but since they were assembled in Bodies to make up Publick Societies . Now , as Men were accustomed to Reverence the Powers , by External Marks of Respect ; they thought it like-wise their Duty , to Reverence God by some Ceremonies , which might serve to manifest the Sentiments which they entertained of his Greatness . Temples were built , Sacrifices appointed , and Men ( who were already the Heads of Government ) failed not also , to take to themselves , the care of that which concerned Religion . And Custom having now prepossessed the VVomen with an Opinion that all belonged to Men , they contentented themselves without aspiring to any part of the Publick Miniry . But the Idea which Men conceived of a God-Head , being extreamly corrupted by the Fables and Fictions of Poets , they forged to themselves Divinities , both Male and Female ; and appointed , Shee - Priests for the Service of those of their Sex ; but still with Subordination to the Conduct , and Pleasure of their Priests . Women have been likewise known to have Governed great States ; but we must not imagine , that it was because they have been called thereto out of a purpose of Restitution of their right ; but because they had the Dexterity so to dispose of Affairs , that Men could not snatch the Authority out of their Hands . It is true , there are at this day Hereditary States , where the Females succeed to Males , as Queens , or Princesses ; But we have no Reason to believe , but that if Men have suffered the Scepter to fall into the place of the Distaffe , it was only that they might prevent the People from falling together by the Ears ; And that , if they have permitted Female Regencies , it was in consideration , that the Mothers ( who alwayes extreamly love their Children ) would take a more particular Care of their States during their Minority . So that , now the Women being no other-wayes imployed , but in their Huswivery , and finding therin business enough ; let us not think it strange , that they have not invented any of these Sciences ; whereof the greatest part ( at first ) have been but the work , and task of some idle Loyterers . The Aegyptian Priests ( who had not much to do ) busied themselves in chatting together , concerning the Effects of Nature , which seemed most to touch them : And after much talking and reasoning , began to make Observations ; the noise of which , stirred up the Curiosity of some Men to come in search of them : But Sciences being but then in the Cradle , did not allure the Women out of Doors . Besides , that the Jealousie which already imbroyled the Husbands would have filled them with Suspition , that their Wives had gone to visit the Priests ra-rather for Love to their Persons , than Learning which they had obtained . After that several Men had received some tincture of this new Learning , they began to assemble themselves in certain Places , to discourse thereof more at leisure ; where every one speaking his Thoughts , Knowledge ripened , and Colledges and Accademies were appointed , where the Women were not admitted ; but in the same manner were excluded from Learning , as they had been from all the rest . Notwithstanding , the Restraint wherein they were kept , hindred not , but that some of them procured the Conversation and Writings of the Learned ; whereby ( in a short time ) they equalled the progress of the most Ingenious : But Custome having already enjoyned an impertinent Decorum , that Men durst not come to their Houses , nor other Women visit them for fear of giving some umbrage , they made no Disciples , nor founded Sects ; but all the Light which they had attained , uselesly , dyed with themselves . If we observe how Modes and Fashions creep into use , and how they are dayly imbelished , we may judge , That ( in the beginning of the World ) People took no great care of their Dress : All was then simple and plain , nothing minded but necessity . Men flea'd Beasts ; and fastening their Skins together , framed to themselves Habits . But afterwards , Commodiousness began to be devised ; and every one accowtering themselves according to their fancy , the Fashions that were most decent , were presently followed ; and they that were under the same Prince , strove to conform themselves to his Mode . It happened not so with Modes and Fashions , as with Governments and Sciences ; the Women here had their Share with Men : who perceiving them by their dress more lovely , took no care to rob them thereof . And both the one , and the other , finding that some sort of Apparel set off more gracefully , and rendred more amiable the Person , both strove to find out the Knack : But the Employments of Men being greater , and more important , hindered them from the more eager Pursuit . The Women herein shewed their Prudence , and Skill ; For , observing that new Ornaments made them more agreeable , and dear to Men , and thereby their Condition more supportable ; they neglected nothing which they thought might serve to render themselves Charming , and Lovely . To that end , they employed Gold , Silver , and Precious Stones , as soon as they grew in Vogue : And seeing that Men had deprived them of Means , to make themselves Conspicuous by their Parts , they applyed themselves solely to find out that which might render them amiable , and pleasing . In this they have very well succeeded : For , their Beauty , and Attire , have advanced them to greater Esteem in the Eyes of Men , than all the Books and Learning of the World could ever have done . This Custom hath been too well Established , to admit of any future Change ; the Practice thereof , hath continued to our times ; and it seems to be a Tradition too antient to be now contradicted , or opposed . It appears clearly ( from this Historical Conjecture ) , That , according to the manner of dealing familiar to all Men , it is only by Force and Empire that they have reserved to themselves these Extrinseral Advantages ; from which , the Female Sex is debarred . For , to warrant them to say , That it hath been grounded on Reason , they must never have communicated them amongst themselves , but to those who have been most capable ; Alwayes made the Choice of such with exact Scrutiny , and Discretion : Never have admitted to study , but such as they knew disposed for Letters : Never raised to Charges , but those that were fittest for Employment ; and excluded all others . And , in short , Never have set any Man , on any thing , but what was suitable to his Inclinations . We see the contrary daily put in Practice ; For , there is nothing but Chance , Necessity , or Interest , which engageth Men in the different Conditions and States of Civil Society . The Children learn their Father's Trade , because that it hath alwayes been mentioned to them . One is forced to the Gown , who would have been better pleased with the Sword , had it been at his own choice : and the ablest Man in the World shall never enter into Employment , if he want Money to buy his Place . How many are there groveling in the dust , who would have made themselves famous , had they been but in the way ? and how many Clowns are there , that might have become great Doctors had they been sent to School ? We have but little ground to pretend that the present Virtuosi are only such of the times , who have had the best Genius for the things wherein they excell ; and that , amongst so many Persons buryed in Ignorance , there are none who , with the same means which they have had , could have rendered themselves more capable . Why is it then , that we assure our selves , that Women are less fit for such things than our selves ? sure it is not Chance , but Unavoidable necessity that hinders them from playing their parts . I urge not , that all Women are capable of all Sciences and Employments ; that any one is capable of all : No Man pretends to so much ; but I only desire , that , considering the Sex in general , we may acknowledge an aptitude in the one as well as the other . Let us but glance a little upon that , which we see dayly in the play and smaller divertisements of Children . The Girles show therein a more gentile air , more of Wit , and greater dexterity : And when fear or shame does not stifle their Humours , their Discourse , is more ingenious , and pleasant ; and their conversation more lively , brisk , and free : They Learn sooner what they are taught , if they be equally plyed : They are more industrious , more painfull , more submiss , more modest , and more reserved ; In a word , we may remarke in them in a more eminent degree , all those excellent qualities , which being found in young Men , make them esteemed fitter for high matters , than those who are otherwise their equalls . Notwithstanding that , that which appeares , in the two Sexes , whilst they are as yet in the cradle , is sufficient to make us conclude , that the more lovely gives also the fairest hopes ; yet men take no notice thereof ; Masters and Teaching are onely for the Men : Particular care is taken to instruct them in all which is thought proper , to form and improve the mind ; whilst in the mean time , the Women are let languish in Idleness , Softness , and Ignorance : Or , otherwise grovel in low , and base imployments . But for all this , we need but two eyes to perceive , that the case of the two Sexes is just like that of two Brothers , in the same family ; Where the younger , notwithstanding of the neglect of his breeding , makes often appear , that the elder has no advantage over him , but the start in coming into the World. For what end serves commony the Education which is given to Men ? It is useless to a great many for the proposed end : Nor does it hinder , but that many fall into vice , and dissolution : And that others remain still ignorant , and even many times become greater Fops than they were before . If they had before any thing of breeding , of briskness or civility , they lose it by their study . All goes against them , and they against all things ; So that one would say , that they had spent their youth in traveling in Forraign Countreys where they had only frequented the Society of Salvages ; so much Clownishness , and rudeness of manners they bring home with them . All that they have Learned is like goods of Coutreband , which they either cannot or dare not vend : And if they have a mind to venture into the World again , and therein appear as they ought , they are obliged to go to School to the Ladyes , there to learn garb and complaisance ; and all that out-side which now adayes compleats a Gentleman . If we come nearer , and consider this : Instead of undervaluing the Women , because they have no great Stock of Learning , we should the rather esteem them happy : Since that if on the one hand they are thereby destitute of the means to set off the parts , and advantages which are the peculiar on the other hand , they have not the occasion to spoile or lose them : Who , notwithstanding that defect , advance in Vertue , VVit , and good Grace as fast as they grow in Years . So that , should we without prejudice , or a byassed Judgement , compare young men when they come new off of the press , with the VVomen of their own 〈◊〉 and not know how either the one or the other had been bred , we could not but believe , their education to have been quite contrary . The out-side alone , the air of the face , the looks , the gate , the countenance , and the gestures , in VVomen , speak somewhat ' posed , grave , and discreet , which sufficiently distinguisheth them from men ; none can be more reserved than they , words of double meaning never escape their lips , the smallest equivocation wounds their ears , nor can they endure the sight of any thing that choaks modesty . The Conduct of most men is of a quite different stamp . Their March is often rash , and precipitant ; their gestures odd and Antick , their eyes Rambling and un-settled : And are never more pleased than when they are entertained and fed with things which ought either be kept silent or hid . Let us but converse a little with VVomen , and that which the world call the Learned , either in company together , or a part by themselves , and we shall see the difference that is between the one and other . One would say that the men had stuffed their heads with study , that they might Clogg , and confound their VVits . Nothing comes clearly from them , and the pain that they put themselves to , to pump for the words , quite spoils the rellish of that which they might have said to purpose ; So that unless the natural Wit be good , or they in company with men of their one Gang , hardly can they entertain an houres-Discourse . Women on the contrary , express neatly , and in order , what they conceive : Their words cost them nothing ; they begin , and go on at their pleasure , and when they have their liberty , their fancy supplies them alwayes with inexhautible liberality . They have the gift of proposing their thoughts , with a sweetness , and complacency that insinuates as strongly as Reason : When men on the other hand , do it in a manner rough and dry . Let any Questions be started in presence of Women of clearer Wit , they have presently the point that is drove at ; They consider it under more appearances : What is said to purpose , finds sooner acceptance in their minds ; And when that we are a little known to them , and that they have no suspition of us , we find their prejudices not so strong as those of men ; nor they thereby so armed against the truth proposed . They are altogether averse from contradiction , and dispute , to which the learned are so addicted : they nibble not vainly at words , nor make use of those Scientifick , and Mysterious terms which are so proper to cover Ignorance ; but all what they say is sense and intelligible . I have taken delight to entertain my self with Women , of all the different conditions that I could meet-with , both in the Town , and Countrey ; to the end , that I might discover the best , and worst ; and I have found amongst those of them whom necessity , and labour , had not rendred stupid , more sound judgement than in the most part of the workes , which pass with great credit among the vulgarly learned of the age . In speaking concerning God , it never entered into one of their heads to tell me , that she conceived Him , under the shape of a venerable old man : On the contrary , they said , that they would not imagine , ( that is ) represent him to themselves , under any appearance like to men : That they conceived there was a God , because they could not comprehend that they themselves , or that all other things which did environ them , could be the work of chance , or of any creature : and that the conduct of their affairs being no effect of their prudence , because that the success thereof rarely answered the wayes , and methods , which they had taken ; it must needs be the effect of Divine Providence . When I asked them , What they thought of their Souls ; they never made me answer : That it is a very subtile , and thin flame , or a disposition of the Organs of their Bodyes ; nor that it was capable of extension , or contraction . On the contrary , they answered , that they perceived very well , that it was distinct from their bodyes ; And that the greatest certainty that they could say thereof , was that they believed it altogether unlike any of those things , which they perceived by Sense ; but that if they had been Book-learned , they should have known to a Hair what it was . It never entereth into the Head of a Nurse , to say as Physitians do , that their Sick began to be better , because the Concoctive Faculty performs ( laudably ) its Functions : And when they see a great Quantity of Blood stream from a Vein , they laugh at those who deny a Communication of the others there-with by Circulation . When I would know of them , Why it was that they believed , that the Stones exposed to the Sun , and Southern-Showers , did sooner wear , than those that lay to the North ? There was none simple enough to Answer me , That it comes to pass by reason that the Moon gnawes them with sharp Teeth , as some Philosophers pleasantly fancy ; but that ( they being dryed by the Heat of the Sun ) the following Showers made them the more easily moulder . I have demanded ( at least ) of twenty for the nonce , If they believed not that God ( by an Obediential , or Extraordinary Power ) could elevate a Stone to the Beatifick Vision ? But could never draw from them any other Answer , but that they thought , I jested with them by such a kind of Question . The greatest Fruit that we can expect from Learning , is a just Discerning , and exactitude in Distinguishing of that which is true and evident , from what is false and obscure ; thereby to avoid falling into Errour , or Mistake . People are easily inclined to believe , that Men ( at least such as pass for Knowing ) have in this the better of the Women . Nevertheless , if we have but a little of that Discerning and Exactitude of which I spake , we shall find that it is one of the Qualities they want most ; For , they are not only obscure , and confused in their Discourses , ( by which good Quality they often sway , and attract the Belief of simple and credulous Persons ) ; but they even reject that which is evident , and scoff at those who speak in a manner clear and intelligible , as too easie and common : They fall first upon any Obscurity proposed to them , as being the most Mysterious of the rest . To Convince them of this , we need do no more but hear them with a little Patience ; and afterward , oblige them to explain themselves . The Women are of an Humour very far from this . VVe may observe , that such as have a little seen the World , cannot endure that even their own Children should speak Latin in their Presence ; they mistrust others that do so ; and often say , That they are afraid lest some Impertinency be hid under such strange Attires . We never hear them meddle with the sacred Terms of Arts , as Men call them ; Nay , they cannot be made so much as get them by ●eart , though their Memories be very good , and that they have heard them often repeated . And when we speak to them in obscure and hard Words , they frankly confess , that they want Wit and Understanding to reach our Meaning ; or other-wise , they well perceive , that such as Cant after that manner , want Knowledge and Learning to speak other-wise . In fine , if we consider the several wayes and methods , whereby the Men , and the Women , bring forth what they know ; we must judge , that the one are like to Labourers that work in Quarries , who ( with great Pain ) win from thence rude and shapeless Stones ; And that the Women ( like skillful Architects , and Masons ) polish , and fitly place in Work , what they have put into their Hands . VVe find an infinite number of Women , who not only Judge of things with as much Exactness , as if they had had the most exquisite Education ; without either Prejudices , or confused Notions ( the ordinary stumbling-Block of the Learned ) ; but also , see many , that ( with a Judgement cleer and just ) can Discourse of the Objects of the most Refined Sciences , as if they had alwayes studied them . They express their Minds with a Grace ; and have the Knack by hitting on the best Terms in use , to speak more with one word than Men can do with many . If we Discourse with them of Languages in general , they have that pitch of Thoughts which is not to be found but in the ablest Grammarians : And , in short , They are observed to draw more from Custom alone , for the embellishing of their Language , than the most part of Men from Study and Practice both together . Eloquence is a Talent so natural , and peculiar to them , that no Body can dispute it : They perswade what they please ; and can Indite and Defend without the help of Laws : So that , there are but few Judges , who have not proved them the most prevalent Proctors . Can there be any thing more weighty , or Elegant , than the Letters of several Ladies upon all the Subjects that fall under ordinary Conversation , and principally upon the Passions ? The Movements of which , make up all the beauty and secret of Rhetorick . They handle them with so delicate a Touch , and express them so Naturally , that we are obliged to confess , that we feel them to be such as they speak them ; and that all the Oratory of the World is not able to give to Men , that which costs nothing to Women . The Flights of Eloquence , Poesie , Harangues , Sermons , and Discourses , soar not at all above their reach ; And nothing is wanting to their Criticks , but the Rules , and a few Terms of Art. I am not ignorant , that this Treatise it self , will not escape their Censure ; and that there are many who will find fault with it : Some will condemn it , as not at all proportionate to the Grandeur , and Dignity of the Subject : That the Strain of it is not so Gallant , the Stile so Noble , nor the Expressions so Lofty and Elevated as was fit : That there are several Passages slightly handled , where many Important Remarks might have been imployed : But I hope my Good-will , and the Designe which I proposed , to speak nothing but Truth , and to avoid the forced Expressions which savour of Romance , will plead Excuse for me at their Hands . They have ( moreover ) this Advantage , That the Eloquence of Action is in them much more lively than in Men : There , Men alone lets us see , that they intend so to speak , as to gain the Point . Their Air is noble and great , their Port free and Majestuous , their Carriage decent , their Gestures naturall , their Stile engaging , their Words easie , and their Voice sweet and melting . The Beauty and Grace of their Discourse ( when it enters once the Mind ) , opens to them the Door of the Heart . If they reason of Good and Evil , on their Countenance appears that Character of Integrity , which renders the Perswasion more prevalent : And when they would excite Love for Vertue , their Heart is seen on their Lips ; and the Image which they give thereof ( decked with the Ornaments of Discourse and Graces , which are so peculiar to them ) appears a hundred times more Lovely . It is pretty to hear a Woman , that sets herself to plead ; how clearly she explains , and unties all the Knots and Labyrinths of Affairs ; precisely states her own , and Parties Pretensions : Discovers what hath given ground to the Suit , and the manner how she has managed it ; what Engines she hath set a work in all her Proceedings ; and how ( in all things ) she shewes a certain Capacity in Business , which is wanting to the most part of Men. It is this which makes me think , that if they made it their business to study Law , they would succeed in it ( at least ) as well as we ; But we see , that Peace and Justice is their study ; With Grief they hear of Differences , and with Joy endeavour to take them up friendly : Their Care in that , makes them find out Turns , and singular Expedients , for the Reconciling of Minds ; And , upon the Conduct of their own , or their Neighbours Families , they naturally make these Reflections of Equity ; upon which , all the knowledge of Law and Justice is founded . In the Rehearsals of those who are Witty , there is alwayes some pleasingness with order , which is not to be found in ours : They discern what is proper , or impertinent to the Subject ; decide the interests ; describe the persons , with their true and natural Characters ; unfold the intrigues , and trace the greatest as well as the least , when they set thereon . This is evidently to be seen in the Histories , and Romances of ingenious Ladyes who are still alive . How many are there that Learn as much at Sermons , in Discourse , and some little books of Piety , as many Doctors with Thomas Aquinas in their studyes , or upon their deskes ? and speak with that solidity , and depth about the highest Mysteries of all the Christian Morality ; that they might often pass for great Divines , if they did but wear a liar , or could Lugg into play Latin sentences . VVomen seem born to practise Physick , and to restore the sick to health ; for the neatness and complying humour easeth one half of the distemper ; and they are not only proper to apply remedyes , but likewise to invent : They find out an infinite number , which are commonly called Small , because they cost less than those of Galen or Hippocrates , and are not prescribed by Receit , but which are by so much the more easy , and secure , as they are simple and natural . In fine , they make their observations in their practises , with so much exactness , and discourse thereof with so good reason ; That they often render useless all the Places of the Schools . Amongst the countrey Women , those that labour in the fields , are wonderfully skilfull in the odd , and unconstant Freaks of Seasons ; and their Almanacks are a great deal more certain than those , which are printed from the hands of Astrologers . They explain naturally the fertility and barrenness of years , from the Winds , Rains , and what else is produced by the change of VVeather ; so that no body can hear them discourse thereof , without pity and compassion of the Learned , who charge all these Effects or Aspects , Conjunctions , Ascendencies of Planets and the like ; which makes me think , that if Women had been taught , that , the alterations to which the body of man is subject , might come upon him by reason of his particular constitution , his exercise , the climate wherein he lives , his food , education , and different occurrences of Life ; they had never let it enter in their Heads , to have referred these Various Inclinations and Changes to the Influencies of Starrs ; Bodies at so many Thousand Miles distant from us . I confess , there are some Sciences , of which Women are not at all heard speak ; because they are not the Sciences of ordinary Vent , nor Society . Alegebra , Geometry , and the Opticks , never ( or rarely ) leave Studies , and Learned Academies , to come into the Croud . And , as their greatest use is , to give just Measures to our Thoughts , they ought not to appear in ordinary Converse ; but secretly , like hidden Springs that move , and make great Machins Play : my Meaning is , that we should make such Application of them in the Subjects of Converse and Entertainment , as to think and speak truly , and Geometrically , without making great shew of our Art. All these Observations on the Qualities of the Mind , may be easily gathered amongst VVomen of a middle Condition ; But if we advance as far as the Court , and be admitted into the Entertainments of Ladies , there is quite another thing to be Remarked . It seems that their Genius is Naturally suited to their Quality ; their Quaintness , and polite Discerning , speaks a frame of Spirit , delicate , fine , and easie ; and some-what Great and Noble , which is their own . We may say , that Objects ( like Men ) approach them with Respect ; they alwayes see them in their best Dresse , and speak of them with an Air beyond the Common . In a word , show a Man that has a taste , two Letters of Ladies of a different Rank , and he shall easily know which of them is Highest in Quality . How many Ladies have there been , and how many are there still , who ought to be placed amongst the number of the Learned , if we assigne them not a Higher Sphear ? The Age wherein we live hath produced more of these , than all the past . And as they have in all things run parallel with Men , upon some Particular Reasons , they ought more to be esteemed than they : For , it behoved them to surmount the Softness wherein their Sex is bred , renounce the Pleasures and ness , to which Custom had condemned them , overcome certain publick Impediments that removed them from study , and to get above those disadvantagious Notions , which the Vulgar conceive of the Learned ; besides , those of their own Sex in general : All this they have performed . And whether it be , that these Difficulties have rendred their Wit more quick and penetrating , or that these Qualities are the peculiar of their Nature , they have ( proportionably ) made Progress and Advancements beyond Men. It may be said nevertheless ( without diminishing the Sentiments which are due to such famous Ladies ) , that it is occasion , and External means , which hath advanced them to this State , as well as the more Learned amongst us ; and that there are infinite numbers of Women , which could have done no less , had their Advantages been Equal . And , seeing it is great Injustice to believe , that all Women are Indiscreet , because we know five or six to be so ; we ought also to be so equitable , as to judge their Sex capable of Sciences , since we see many that have raised themselves to a perfection therein . It is commonly believed amongst us , that Turks , Barbarians , and wild Savages , are not so proper for learning as the people of Europe ; though it be certain , that if we found five or six of them here , that had the capacity or title of Doctor ( which is not at all impossible ) they would correct our opinion ; and confess , that these being men like to our selves , they are capable of the same things ; and that if they had been taught , they would not have yeilded to us in the least . The Women , with whom we live , deserve surely as much as Barbarians , and Savages , to oblige us to entertain thoughts no less reasonable or advantagious for them . But if the head-strong vulgar ( notwithstanding these observations ) will still stand upon it , that the VVomen are not so fit for Arts , and Sciences as we are ; they ought at least to acknowledge , that they have less need of them . For it is for two ends that we apply our selves to Learning ; The one , that we may attain to a true knowledge of the objects of our Sciences ; and the other , that by such knowledge , we may rise to virtue : So that in this our short life , Knowledge being but the hand-Maid to Vertue ; and the Women in possession of this : we may conclude , that by a particular happiness , they have gained the principal advantages of Sciences , without having ever taken the pains to study them . What we see daily , is sufficient to convince us , that they are no less Christians than men ; They receive the Gospell with Simplicity and Humility ; and in following the Rules and Maxims thereof , are exemplary : Their reverence towards Religion , hath alwayes appeared so great , that they are esteemed without contradiction more devout and pious than we : or , though it be true , that their worship sometimes goes too far ; yet therein I cannot find them so culpable ; since the ignorance wherein they have been bred , is the necessary cause of that excess . If their Zeale be undiscreet , their Perswasion is at least true ; And we may affirm , that if they had a clearer sight of Vertue , they would embrace it after another manner ; since they cleave to it so fast , even through obscurity and darkness it self . It seems , that mercy and compassion which is the Vertue of the Gospel is in love with their Sex ▪ The calamity of their Neighbour no sooner touches their mind , but it pierces their heart , and brings teares in their eyes . Is it not their hands that in publick afflictions distribute the largest Charity ? And is it not at this day the Ladys that take the particular care of the poor and sick in the parishes , visit them in prisons , and serve them in the Hospitals ? Is it not these Religious Nuns , dispersed in every quarter , who have the charge at certain hours of the day , to carry to such their food , and necessary remedies ; and have thereby deserved the name of that Charity , which they have so worthily practised . In fine ; If there were no other Women in the world that discharged this Vertue towards their Neighbours but those who attend the sick in that great Hospital , the L'Hotel-Di●u of Paris ; I cannot think that with Justice men could pretend to the advantage above their Sex therein . These are properly the Virgins , with whom the Galleries of the Illustrious , and Noble Women , ought to be enriched : Of their life it is that we should sing the highest Elogies , and honour their death , with the most excellent Panegyricks : Since here it is that we may see the Christian Religion , that is to say , truly Heroicke Vertue , practised up to the rigour , both in it's precepts , and counsels ; by young Virgins , who Renouncing the World and themselves , embrace a perpetual Chastity , and Poverty , take their Cross , and that the most heavy Cross of the world , and render themselves for the rest of their dayes , under the Yoak of Jesus Christ : VVho Consecrate themselves to an Hospital , where the inffirm of all sorts , of all countreys and Religions are indifferently received , there to serve all without distinction , and to change themselves ( according to the example of their Lord and Husband ) with all the infirmities of mankind : without being discouraged by having their eyes Continually smitten with the most horrid of Spectacles , their eares with the reproaches and cries of the sick , and their smelling with all the infectious scents of Humane putrifaction : and who , for a marke of that Spirit which does guid them , carry in their armes from bed to bed , and comfort the poor wretches , not in vain words ; but by the effectual , and personal Example of patience , and invincible Charity . Is there any thing amongst Christians to be conceived greater than this ? And yet , Other Women are no less inclined to assist , and comfort their neighbours ; they want nothing but opportunity , when other business does not divert them there-from . And I think it no less unworthy to imagine from thence , ( as the vulgar commonly do ) that Women are naturally servants to men ; than to pretend that they , who have received talents , and particular endowments from God , are servants , and slaves to those , for whose good they employ them . The conduct of Women , in what kind of life soever they embrace , hath alwayes somewhat remarkable . It seems that such who live single , and yet keep their freedome in the world , remain only there to be a pattern , and give example to others . Christian modesty appears in their countenance and attire , and Vertue makes their chiefest Ornament . They wholly separate themselves from worldly Conversation and pastimes ; and their application the works of Piety , and Religion , gives clear proof , that they have only refused the cares , and trouble of Marriage , that they might enjoy a greater liberty of mind , and be obliged to nothing else but to please God. There are as many Monasteries under the government of Women as of Men , and their lives therein no less exemplary . There , the recourse is greater , the discipline no less Austere ; and the Abbesses of no less worth than the Abbots . They setle Rules with so admirable Wisdome , and Govern their Nuns with such prudence , that seldome amongst them happens any disorder : and , in short , the fame of Religious houses , and the great Rents which they possess , are the fruits of the good order of their Superiours . Marriage is a state of life , the most natural , and ordinary to men ; when once they are ingaged therein , it is Death that must discharge them , and there they spend these periods of age , where reason ought to be the chief guid , over the different accicidents of Nature and Fortune ( to which this Condition of Life is liable ) exercising them who live therein more than others , & gives them occasion thereby to give greater tryal of their Parts . A little Experience is sufficient to inform us , That the VVomen here are more fit and useful than we ; For , young Maids are capable to order a House , at that Age , when Men stand still in need of a Master . And the most proper Expedient to reclaim a young Man , and restore him to the Right Way , is , to give him a VVife ; who may reclaim him by her Example , moderate his Extravagancies , and win him from his Debauches . What Complyance does not Wives use , that they may live peaceably with their Husbands ? They submit to their Humours , do nothing without their Advice , lay constraint upon themselves in many things for fear to displease them , and even deprive themselves of honest and lawful Recreations , to free them from Suspition . It is well enough known , which of the two Sexes is the most faithful to the other , beares more patiently the Misfortunes that happen in Marriage ; and thereby make appear greater Wisdom , and Discretion . All the Families ( for the most part ) are Ruled by the Wives , to whom their Husbands resigne the Government : And the Care that therein they take of the Education of their Children , is more considerable to Families , and more important to the Common-Wealth , than that which they take of the Estate ; they bequeath themselves wholly to their Good , and Wellfare : The Fear which they are in , left any hurt should befall them , is often so great , that ( many times ) it robs them of their Rest : They deprive themselves often of their most necessary Enjoyments , to the end that they may want nothing : They cannot see them suffer in the least , without suffering themselves to the bottom of their Souls . And we may say , That it is their greatest pain , that they cannot ease them , by charging themselves with their Troubles . Who can be ignorant , how earnestly they labour to instruct them in the ways of Vertue , as much as their tender Age is capable of ? They endeavour to make them know and fear God , and teach them to Worship him in a manner suitable , and proportionate , to their Years : They take care to place them in the hands of Masters , as soon as they are fit ; and choose such ( with all imaginable Caution ) who may improve them in their Breeding : And , which is most to be esteemed , they alwayes joyne good Example to their Instruction . If we should descend into an intire Catalogue , and Retail of all the Occurrencies of Life , and of all the Vertues which Women practise therein , and thereof examine the most Important Circumstances ; we might have Subject enough to enlarge into a most ample Panegyrick . We might represent how far their Sobriety in Eating , and Drinking , does go ; their Patience in Trouble ; their Courage , and Fortitude , in supporting Affliction . Fatigues , Watchings , and Fastings ; their Moderation in Pleasures , and Passions ; their Inclination to do good ; their Prudence in Affairs ; their Integrity in all their Actions . And , in a word , we might make appear , that there is no kind of Vertue , which is not common to them with us ; But , on the other hand , that there are a great many considerable Faults , which are peculiar to Men. These are the general and ordinary Observations , upon what concernes Women in reference to the Qualities of the Mind ; the Use and Practice of which , is the onely thing that ought to put a Distinction amongst Men. Now , since there is not any Rancounter , where Men may not discover the Inclination , the Genius , the Vice , the Vertue , and the Capacity of Persons ; those ( who would undeceive themselves concerning this Subject of VVomen ) have alwayes occasion to do so in Publick , or in Private ; at the Court , and at the Convent ; in Recreations , and Exercises ; with the Poor , as well as the Rich ; in whatsoever Condition , or Quality they be . And , if we consider sincerely , and without Interest , what may be observed on their behalf , we shall find , that if there be some Appearances which seem less favourable to VVomen , there are also more which are most advantagious for them ; that it is not for want of Merit ( but of good Luck , and Strength ) that their Condition is not Equal to ours : And , in fine , that the common Opinion is but a popular , and ill-grounded Prejudice . THE WOMAN as Good as the MAN , OR , THE Equality of the two Sexes . The Second Part Wherein is made appear , That the Reasons which may be adduced against the Opinion of The Equality of the two Sexes , from Poets , Oratours , Historians , Lawyers , and Philosophers ; are all Idle , and Fruitless . THat which confirms the Vulgar in the thought which they have of VVomen , is , That they find it propt , and supported , by the Sentiment of the Learned : So that , the Publick Voice of those who Rule by Credit , agreeing in certain general Appearances , to the Disadvantage of VVomen ; it is not to be wondered at , to see them so ill entertained in the Minds of the Ignorant , and Simple . And , it happens in this as in a great many other things , that Men confirm themselves in one Mistake , by another , Prejudice . The Notion of Truth being Naturally pinn'd to that of Knowledge , Men fail not to take that for true , which is proposed to them by those who have the Reputation of being Learned : And , as the number of those which are such only by name , is far greater than of these who are so indeed ; the generality of Men ( who only count Heads ) do rank themselves amongst the former ; and do so much the more willingly embrace their Opinions , as they find them conformable to such as they have already entertained . Wherefore , seeing that Poets , Orators , Historians and Philosophers , proclaim ( likewise ) VVomen to be Inferiour , less Noble , and Perfect , than Men , they perswade themselves thereof the more , because they are ignorant , that their Knowledg is the same Prejudice with their own ( though of some-what greater extent , and more specious ) ; and that they do no more , but joyne , to the Impression of Custom the Sentiments of the Antients ; upon the Authority of whom , all their Certainty is grounded . And I find , that ( in respect of their Sex ) they that have studied , and they that have no Reading , fall commonly into the same Mistake ; which is , To judge , that whatsoever they ( whom they esteem ) do say , is true ; because , they are already perswaded , that they say well ; instead of forbearing to think that they say well , till that they are assured , that they speak nothing but what is true . Poets and Orators , having no other Designe but to please and perswade ; Probability , and appearance of Truth , serves them to deal with the most part of Men : So that , Exaggerations and Hyperbolies , being most proper to that purpose , in Magnifying and Raising their Notions , according as they have need , they render Good or Evil , Small or Great , at their Pleasure : And , by a very ordinary fetch , they attribute to all VVomen in general , that which they find but in some of them in particular . It is enough to them , to have known some VVomen Hypocrites , to make them say , That the whole Sex is Guilty of that Failing . The Ornaments with which they set off their Discourse , do wonderfully contribute to gain them the Credit of such , as are not upon their Guard. They speak smoothly , and with Grace ; and imploy some certain , pretty , taking ( and not common ) Formes of Speech ; whereby they dazle the Mind , and hinder the discerning of Truth . Men see a great many peeces ( in appearance ) very strong against Women , and yeild thereunto ; because they know not what it is , that makes up the Force and Verity thereof ; that it is only the Figures of Eloquence , Metaphors , Proverbs , Descriptions , Similitudes , Emblems , and other Flowers of Rhetorick : And , because that there is ordinarily a good deal of Wit and Art in such kind of Works , they imagine ( likewise ) that there is as much of Truth . One perswades himself , that VVomen love to hear Tales told them ; because he hath ( perhaps ) read the Sonnet of Sarrazin , upon the Fall of the first Woman ; whom he feignes only to have slipt , for lending her Ear to the Flourishes of the Devil . It is true , the Fancy is pleasing , the Cast pretty , the Application proper enough to his Designe , and the Fall most Ingenious : But , if we examine the Piece to the bottom , and turn it into Prose , we shall find , that there can be nothing more false or faint . There are some People silly enough to imagine , that VVomen are more inclined to Fury than Men ; because they have read , that the Poets have represented the Furies under the shape of VVomen ; without considering , that this is only a Poetical Fancy : And that Painters , who paint the Harpyes with the face of a VVoman , paint likewise the Devil under the Appearance of a Man. I have known , some undertake to prove Women Inconstant , from this , That a famous Latin Poet hath said , That they are subject to a continual Change ; and that another French Poet hath pleasantly compared them to a Weather-Cock , which turns with the Wind ; Not minding , that all these manners of speaking are onely fit to tickle , but not instruct , the Mind . Vulgar Eloquence is a speaking Optick , which represents Objects under what shape and colour Men please ; and there is not any Vertue , which may not be made appear Vice , by the Means which Eloquence affords . There is nothing more ordinary , than to find among the Authors , that VVomen are not so noble or perfect as Men ; but , for Reasons , we see none : So that , there is great likely-hood , that they have taken their Perswasions as the Vulgar do . Women have no share with us in External Advantages , as Sciences and Authority , wherein Men commonly place Perfection ; and therefore , they are not so perfect as we . But , to be seriously convinced of this , it ought to be proved , That they are not thereto admitted , because they are not at all proper ; but that is not so easie as Men conceive : Nor shall it be difficult ( in the Sequel ) to make the contrary appear ; and that the Errour ariseth from this , That Men have but a confused Notion of Perfection and Nobility . All the Arguments of those who maintain , That the lovely Sex is neither so Noble , nor Excellent as ours , are founded on this , That Men being the Masters , they believe that all is their own : And I am assured , that they would more strongly believe the contrary , ( I mean , that the Men are only cut out for the vvomen ) if they had all the Authority in their Hands , as in the Empire of the Amazons . It is true , that here amongst us they discharge no Offices , but what are esteemed the Lowest : And , it is also true , that ( upon that account ) neither Religion , nor Reason , values them the less . There is nothing base and low but Vice , nor great but Vertue : And , VVomen shewing greater Vertue than Men ( in their lesser Imployments ) , deserve likewise to be more esteemed . And yet , I know not , whether ( in regard of their ordinary Charge , which is to Nurse and Bring-up their Children ) they are not worthy of the first Place in Civil Society . Were we free , and without Common-Wealth , we would not assemble our selves together ; but for the better Preservation of Life , in the peaceable Enjoyment of those things which are necessary thereto ; and would have greater Esteem for those who should hereunto contribute in greatest measure . It is by reason of this , that we are accustomed to look on our Prince , as the chief Person of the State ; because his Care and Fore-sight is the most general , and of greatest Extent ; and , by Proportion , we Respect those that are under him . Most part of Men preferr Souldiers to Judges , because they directly oppose themselves to those who ( in most terrible manner ) attack our Lives ; and every one sets a Value upon Persons , as they judge them more or less useful . So that , Women seem to be the most Estimable , since their Service ( which they render to the Publick ) is incomparably greater than that of all others whosoever . Men might absolutely dispense with Princes , Souldiers , and Merchants , as they did in the beginning of the World ; and as Savages do still , even to this Day : But , in our Infancy , we cannot be without Women . In States that are well pacified , the most part of those who have Authority , are as Men dead and useless ; but Women never cease to be necessary to us . The Ministers of Justice are only proper to preserve Goods and Estates , to those who possess them ; but Women , to preserve Life . Souldiers are employed for Men , grown up , and capable to defend themselves ; but Women labour for Men , when as yet they know not what they are , if they have Enemies , or Friends ; and at that time , when they have no other Arms but Tears , against such as attack them . Masters , Magistrates , and Princes , do not often-times bestir themselves , but for Glory , and particular Interest ; when Women do nothing but for the good of the Children , whom they breed . In short The Pains , the Cares , the Troubles , and Assiduities , to which they expose themselves , can in no wise be matched in any other state ( of Civil Society ) whatsoever . There is nothing ( then ) but Fancy , which renders them less Valuable . Men would largely Reward him who had tamed a Tyger : Such who have the Skill to train Horses , Apes , and Elephants , are well considered of ; and we speak , with Elogy , of a Man that hath composed a small Work , which hath cost him but little time and pains ; And shall we neglect Women , that spend many Years in breeding and forming of Children ? If we enquire into the Reason thereof , we shall find , it is , Because the one is ( onely ) more ordinary than the other . What Historians say to the Prejudice of Women , makes deeper Impression on the Minds of Men , than the Discourses of Orators ; For , as they seem to put forth nothing of their own Heads , so is their Testimony less suspected : Besides , that it is suitable to that whereof Men are already perswaded , when they report Women to have been in former times , the same which they are believed to be at present . But all the Authority which they have upon the spirits of Men , is nothing but a very common Prejudice , in regard of Antiquity ; which Men represent to themselves , under the Image of a Venerable Old Man , who ( having much Wisdom and Experience ) is uncapable of being deceived , or of speaking any thing but Truth . Whil'st , in the mean time , the Antients are no less Men than we are , and as much subject to Errour ; and we ought no more at present to assent to their Opinions , than we would have done in their own times . Men heretofore considered Women as now they do , and with as little Reason : So , whatsoever Men say concerning that , ought to be suspected ; seeing they are both Judge and Party . And when any one brings against them the Sentiments of a thousand Authors , that History is only to be considered , as a Tradition of Prejudices and Mistakes . There is , also , as little Fidelity and Exactitude in Antient Histories , as there is in Familiar Rehearsals ; wherein we sufficiently know , that there is ( almost ) none at all . They that have wrote Them , have there-with mingled their Passions and Interest ; and the most part ( having but had confused Notions of Vice and Vertue ) have often mistaken the one for the other . And those , who likewise Read Them ( with the ordinary Pre-occupation ) fail not to run into the same Fault . In the Prejudice wherein they have been engaged , they have made it their business , to exaggerate and raise the Vertues , and Advantages , of their own Sex ; and to debase and weaken the Merit of VVomen , by a contrary Interest : This is so easie to be discovered , that I need not adduce Instances . Notwithstanding if we can but a little rip-up what is past , we may find enough to prove , that Women have not in any thing yielded to men ; and that the Vertue which they have made appear , hath been more excellent : if we sincerely consider all the Circumstances thereof , we may observe , that they have giv'n as great markes of Wit , and Capacity , upon all occasions ; That there have been some who have governed great States and Empires with Wisdom , and moderation , that cannot be parallel'd : others who have rendred Justice with an integrity equall to that of the Athenian Areopagites ; Many , who by their prudence , and counsells , have restablished peace , and tranquillity to Kingdomes , and a throne to their Husbands . Some have been seen at the head of Armies , or with a courage more than Heroical defending themselves upon the walls of Townes . How many have there been , whose Chastity could receive no blemish , neither by the terrible threats , nor splendid promises which men made to them , and who with a Generous , and astonishing Gallantry , have endured the most horrible torments , for the cause of Religion ! How many have there been , who have rendered themselves as compleat as men in all sorts of Sciences ! who have dived into the most Curious Secrets of Nature , the most quaint of Policy , the most solid of Morality , and who have Elevated themselves to the highest Pitch of Christian Divinity ! So that History , which the prejudiced abuse against that Sex to abase it , may serve to those who look thereon with the eyes of equity , to prove that it is in all respects as noble as our own . The Authority of Laws has a great Weight upon many men , as to that which concerns the Women , because they make particular profession of rendering to every one their right . They place the Wives under the Juridiction of their Husbands , as children under the power of their fathers ; and alledge , that it is Nature that hath assigned them the smaller functions of Society , and placed them at distance from publick Authority . Men think themselves sufficiently grounded to say the same after them : but I hope it is lawfull without wounding the Respect which is their due , to differ from them in Judgment . We should strangely puzzle them , If we obliged them to explain themselves intelligibly about that which they call Nature in this case , and make us understand in what manner she hath distinguished the two Sexes , as they pretend . We must consider that they who have made or compiled the Law , be-being men , have favoured their own Sex , as VVomen possibly might have done had they been in their place : And Laws being made since the Constitution of Societies in the same manner in respect of Women as they are at present ; the Lawyers who had likewise their prejudice , have attributed to Nature a distinction , which is only drawen from Custome , besides that it was not at all necessary to change the order which they found setl●d , for obtaining the end that they proposed , which was the good government of a State by the administration of justice . To be short , if they should be head-strong , to hold , that Women are naturally in a condition of dependance upon men , we might fight them with their own weapons , since they themselves acknowledge dependance , and servitude , to be contrary to the order of Nature , which renders all mankind equal . Dependence being a meer Corporal , and Civil Relation , ought not to be considered but as an effect of chance , force , or custome ; except in the case of Children to those who have given them life . And yet neither does that pass a certain age , wherein men being supposed to have reason , and experience enough to guide themselves , are freed by the Lawes , from the authority of an other . Amongst persons of an equal or not much different age , there ought only to be a reasonable subordination , according to which those who have less understanding , willingly submit themselves to such as have more . And if we remove the Civil Priviledges , which the Laws have bestowed on men , and which establish them heads of the family ; we cannot find betwixt them , and their wives , any other submission but that of Experience , and Knowledge : both one , and other freely engage themselves at the same time , when the VVives have asmuch , and often more Judgment than the Husbands . Their Promises and Covenants of Marriage are reciprocal ; and the power equal upon one and others Body ; And if the Lawes give the Husband more Authority over the estate , Nature allowes the Wife more power , and right , over the Children . And as the will of the one is not the Rule of the other ; if the wife be obliged to do what the Husband minds her of , he is no less bound to follow the advertisements of the Wife , when she tells him his duty : And , except it be in matters just , and reasonable , the Wife is not to be constrained to submit her self to the pleasure of her Husband , unless you ll say that he is stronger ; which is the dealing of a Turk with a Moore , and not of Men of reason . We shall not need much trouble to rid our selves of the opinion of the Learned , of whom I have spoken : because we may easily be satisfied that their profession does not engage them to so exact an enquiry into the nature of things ; Appearances , and probabilities , are sufficient for Poets and Orators ; The Testimony of Antiquity to Historians ; And Custome and Practice to Lawyers , to bring them to their intended end : But as to the Sentiment of Philosophers , we must not so easily pass it ; seeing that they seem to be above all the preceding considerations , as indeed they ought to be ; and that they are thought to try matters more strictly ; which gaines them the common credit , and makes it believed unquestionable what they assert , especially when they contradict not the received opinions . So the common People confirm themselves in the opinion , that there is inequality betwixt the two Sexes , because they see those whose Judgements they regard as the measures of their own , and the same opinion ; not knowing that the most part of Philosophers walk by no other Rule than that of the Vulgar , and that it is not by Vertue of Science or Knowledge , that they often dictate especially concerning the matter in hand . They have carryed their prejudices even to the Schools , where they have learned nothing that might serve to disengage them there-from : On the contrary , all their Science is sounded upon the Judgements that they have made from their Cradle ; And with them it is a crime or Errour to call in question that which they believed before the years of discretion . They are not taught to know Man by the body , nor by the soul : And that which they teach , commonly may very well serve to prove , that betwixt us , and beasts , there is no other difference , but that of Lesser and Greater in the Same kind . They hear not a word of Sexes : They are supposed to know them sufficiently already ; Very far from Examining the Capacity , and real and natural difference , betwixt them ; which is one of the most curious , and probably also the most important Question of all natural or Moral Philosophy . They spend whole years and some all their lives , at Trifles , and Entia Rationis , being no where to be sound without their own Brains ; and to plod and find-out , whether or not , there be beyond the world imaginary Spaces ; and whether the atoms or small dust which appeares in the Beams of the Sun , may be sliced out into infinite parts . What solid ground can we lay upon , what the learned of this kind say , when we are to treat of serious , and important matters ? Men may think , nevertheless , that ( though they be so ill taught themselves , yet ) their Principles ( probably ) are sufficient to discover , which of the two Sexes have ( naturally ) the advantage of the other ; But none can think so , but such who either know them not , or are pre-possessed thereby . The Knowledge of our selves , is absolutely necessary to enable us , for the handling of that Question aright ; and especially , the knowledge of our Body , which is the Organ of Sciences ; after the same manner , as for to know how Telescopes , and Glasses of Approach , magnifie the Objects : we must know the Fashion of them . They touch not this but in passing , no more than they do Truth , and Science ; I mean , the Method of acquiring true and certain Knowledges ; without which , it is impossible to examine , Whether or not VVomen be as capable thereof , as our selves ? And , without amusing my self to repeat the Notions that they give us thereon , I shall declare ( in general ) what my Thoughts are thereof . All Man-kind being made alike , have the same Sentiments , and Notions , of Natural things ; for example , of Light , Heat , and Hardness ; And all the Knowledge which we labour to gain there-from , is reduced to this , That we may truly find out what is the Disposition ( internal and external ) of every Object , which produceth in us the thoughts , and conceits , which we have of them . All that Masters can do , to guide us to this Knowledge , is but , So to apply our Minds to what we remark , that we may examine the Appearances and Effects thereof , without Precipitation or Prejudice ; and to shew us the Order , which we are to observe in the ranking of our Thoughts , for to find what we look for . For instance , If an Illiterate Person should desire me to explain to him , Wherein consists the Liquidity of Water ; I would not assert any thing , but only ask him , What he had observed thereof ? How , that if Water be not contained in a Vessel , it sheds ? that is to say , that all the Parts thereof separate and dis-unite of themselves ▪ without the Intermixtion of any other Body ; that we may thrust there-into our Fingers without trouble , and without finding Resistance as from harder Bodies ? And that , in putting therein , Sugar or Salt , we perceive , that these two Bodies dissolve piece and piece ; and that all the Parcels thereof are dispersed through the several parts of the Liquor . Hitherto , I should teach him no new thing ; And if ( after the same manner ) I had told him , What it is to be in Repose , or in Motion ; I should have brought him to acknowledge , that the Nature of Liquors consist in this . That their insensible Particles are in perpetual Motion ; which requires them to be enclosed in a Vessel , and disposes them to give easie Entry to hard Bodies : And that the Particles of Water , which are little , glib , and pointed , ( insinuating themselves into the Pores of the Sugar ) shake and divide the Parts thereof , by their Justling ; and , moving themselves every way , transport with them into all the Quarters of the Vessel , that which they have separated . This Notion of Liquors ( which is a Part , taken from the Body of Natural Philosophy ) would appear a great deal more clear , if we saw it in its proper Place and Order : and it hath nothing , which the meanest sort of VVomen are not able to understand . The rest of all our Knowledges ( being proposed in Order and Method ) have no greater Difficulty : And if we consider attentively , we shall find , that every Science of Reasoning , requires but less wit and time , than is necessary to learn to make Point or Tapistry . In effect , the Notions of Natural things are necessary , and we form them alwayes after the same manner : Adam had them as we have ; Children have them as Old Men , and VVomen as Men : And these Idea's are renewed , confirmed , and entertained , by the continual use of Sense . The Mind is alwayes in Action ; and he that knows well how it proceeds in one thing , discovers ( without trouble ) how it works in all others . There is nothing ( but More and Less ) betwixt the Impression made by the Sun , and that of a Spark of Fire : And , to think well thereon , there is neither need of great Skill , nor Exercise of Body . It is not so , in the Works of which I have spoken . There is need of greater Application of Spirit ; the Idea's thereof being Arbitrary , are harder to be learned , and retained ; which is the cause , that so much time is necessary for to Learn ( well ) a Trade , because it depends on long Exercise . There is Skill required , rightly to observe the Proportions on a Canvas ; to Distribute equally the Silk or the Wool ; to mingle with Exactness the Colours ; neither to joyne too close , nor keep too open , the Points ; to place no more in one Rank , than in another ; to make the little Knots imperceptible . In a word , One must know to make and vary , in a thousand different Wayes the Works of Art , to be skillful therein ; when , as in Sciences , there is no more required , but an orderly viewing of Works already made , and alwayes Uniform : and , all the difficulty of Success therein , proceeds more from the Incapacity of Masters , than from the Objects , or Disposition of the Body . We must not then ( any more ) wonder to see Men , and VVomen , ( without Study ) entertain themselves , about things which concern Sciences ; since the Method of Teaching of them , serves only to certifie our Judgements , which are confounded by Precipitation , Custom , and Use. The Notion which we have given of Knowledge ( in general ) might suffice to perswade unprejudiced Persons , That Men and VVomen are equally capable thereof ; But , because the contrary Opinion is most deeply rooted , we must ( for the intire plucking of it up ) Fight it by Principles ; to the end , that ( joyning the Appearances , agreeing to the Beautiful Sex , which have been presented in the First Part , with the Natural Reasons which we shall here-after adduce ) Men may fully be convinced , in favour of it . That Women ( considered according to the Principles of Sound Philosophy ) are as capable as Men , of all Sorts of Sciences . IT is easie to be Remarked , That the Difference of Sexes , regards only the Body : there being no other , but that Part ( properly ) which serves for the Production of Men : And , the Spirit concurring no other way but by its Consent ( which it lends to all after the same manner ) we may conclude , That in it there is no Sex at all . If we consider it in our selves , we find it equal , and of the same Nature in all Men , and capable of all sorts of Thoughts ; The smallest busie it as well as the greatest ; and there is no less required to the right knowing of a Gnat , than of an Elephant : Whosoever knows wherein consists the Light ( and Fire ) of a Sparkle , knows also , the Light of the Sun. When we are accustomed to reflect on things which only concern the Spirit , we perceive therein all ( at least ) as clearly , as in the most material things which are discerned by the senses . I can discover no greater difference between the Spirit of a dull , and ignorant man , and of that one who is delicate , and ingenious , than betwixt the Spirit of the same man considered at the age of ten years , and at the age of Fourty : And since there appeareth no more betwixt that of the two Sexes , we may affirm , that their difference is not on that side , the constitution of the body ; But particularly the Education , Exercise , and the impressions that come from all that does surround us , being every where the Natural , and Sensible causes of so many diversities as are observed therein . It is God who unites the Soul to the body of a Woman , as to that of a Man , and who joynes them by the same Lawes . The sentiments , the passions , and inclinations , make and entertain that Union ; And the Spirit operating after the same manner in the one as well as the other , is there equally capable of the same things . This is yet more clear , when we consider onely the Head , the sole organe of Sciences , and where the soul exerciseth all its functions ; the most exact Anatomy remarks to us no difference in this part between Men , and Women , their brain is altogether like to ours : The impressions of sense are received , and muster themselves there in the same fashion , and are no otherwise preserved for Imagination , and Memory . Women hear , as we do , by the ears ; they see by the eyes ; and they tast with the Tongue ; And there is nothing peculiar in the disposition of these Organs , but that the Women have them ordinarily more delicate , which is an advantage . So that the outward objects affects them after the the same manner , Light by the eyes , and Sound by the eares . Who can hinder them then to apply themselves to the consideration of themselves ? To Examine in what consists the nature of the soul ; how many kinds of thoughts there are , and how they are excited by occasion of certain corporeal Motions ; to consult afterwards the natural Notions , which they have of God ; and to begin with things Spiritual to dispose in order their thoughts , and to frame to themselves that Science 〈◊〉 we call , the Metaphysicks ? 〈…〉 Since they have also eyes , and hands , may they not make themselves , or see others perform , the dissection of an humane body ? consider the Symmetry , and structure thereof ; observe the diversity , difference , and relation of its parts : their figures , their motion , and functions ; the Alterations to which they are Subject ? and to conclude , on the means to preserve them in good disposition , and to restore it to them , when it is changed . They need no more for this , but to know the nature of Extrinsical bodies , which have any reference to their own , discover their Properties , and all that renders them capable of making any impression good or bad thereon ; this is known by the aid of the Senses , and by the various Experiments that are made upon them : And Women being equally capable of the one as well as the other , might learn as well as we , Physick and Medicine . Is there need of so much understanding , to know , that Breathing is absolutely necessary for the preservation of life ; and that it is performed by the means of the Air , which entering by the pipe of the nose and mouth , is insinuated into the lungs , for the cooling of the blood which passeth that way in Circulation , and there causeth different Alterations , according as it is more or less Gross by the Mixture of Vapours , and Exhortations , with which we see it sometimes blended . Is it a matter so difficult to discover , that the tast of Food consists on the part of the body ( in the different manner how it is allayed on the tongue ) by the Spitle ? There is no Person , but finds after meals , that the Victuals which then are put into the mouth , being divided quite other ways than those with which we are Nourished , cause there a Sensation less pleasing . That which remains to be known of the Functions of Mans body , being considered in order , have nothing more of difficulty . The Passions are certainly that which is most Curious in this matter : We may therein observe two things , the Motions of the body , with the thoughts and stirrings of the Soul , which concurr in them . Women may know this , as easily as we do And as to the causes which excite Passions , we know how they do it . When we have once by the study of Natural Philosophy comprehended their manner , how Circumambient things affect and touch us ; And by experience , and use , how we thereto apply , or separate , our wills and inclinations . In making regular Meditations upon the objects of the three Sciences lastly spoken of , a Woman may observe , that the order of her thoughts ought to follow that of Nature ; that then they are exact when they are conform thereto ; that there is nothing but hast , and precipitation in our Judgements , which hinders that exactitude . And marking consequentially the Oeconomy which she hath observed to attain thereto , she may make Reflections , which may serve her as a Rule for the future , and form to her-self there-from a Logick . If it be objected notwithstanding of this , That Women by themselves could never acquire these knowledges , ( which is but said ) ; at least we cannot deny , but that with the help of Masters , and Books , they might ; As the ablest men in all ages have done . It is enough to alledge the acknowledged property of the Sex , to prove it capable of understanding the proportions of the Mathematicks : And we should contradict our selves to doubt , that if it applyed it self to the making of Engines , it would succeed as well therein as our own ; since we our selves allow it more invention and artifice . There is need but of eyes , and a little attention , in observing the Appearances of nature , To make us remark that the Sun , and all the Luminous bodyes of the Heavens , are real Fires , since they heat , and light us , in the same manner as the Fires here below ; that they appear'd successively to answer to several parts of the earth , and so be able to judge of their Motion and Course : And whosoever can roul in his head great designs , and set to work the Movements thereof , may there likewise with exactness turn the whole Machin of the World , if he have but once well observed the diverse Appearances of the same . We have already found in Women , all the Dispositions which render Men proper for the Sciences , which concern them ( separately ) in themselves : And , if we continue to consider them within distance , we shall also fir'd in them those which are necessary for the Sciences , which regard them , as tyed altogether with their like in Civil Society . It is a Fault in Vulgar Philosophy , to place amongst Sciences so great a Distinction ; that , following that peculiar Method of it , we cannot acknowledge any Tye or Coherence amongst them : which is the cause , that we restrain so much the Extent of Humane Understanding ; imagining to our selves , that the same Man is never ( almost ) capable of many Sciences ; that , to be fit for Natural Phylosophy or Medicine , one is not thereby proper for Rhetorick or Divinity : and that there ought to be as many different Capacities , as there are Sciences , in the World. This Thought proceeds on the one hand , from this , That Men confound ( ordinarily ) Nature with Custome ; in taking the Disposition of certain Persons to one Science , rather than another , for an Effect of their Natural Constitution ; when indeed , it is often but a Casual Inclination , coming from Necessity Education , or Habit : And , on the other hand , for want of having Remarked , that there is ( properly ) but one Science in the World , which is the Knowledge of our selves ; and , that all others are onely particular Applications thereof . In effect , the Difficulty which we find at this day to learn the Tongues , Moral Philosophy , and the rest ; consists only in this , That we know not how to referr them to this general Science : From whence , it may have arrived , That all those who have believed Women capable of Natural Philosophy and Medicine , may not have therefore judged them capable of the Sciences that we are to speak of . However , the Difficulty is the same on both sides : It is the business in All , to think aright : And this we do , by applying seriously our Minds , to the Objects which represent themselves to us ; that we may raise from them clear and distinct Notions ; that we may eye them in all their different Faces and Relations , and that we may pass no Judgement thereon , but upon what appears manifestly true . With this we need no more , but to dispose our Thoughts in a Natural Order , for the obtaining of a perfect Science : And here , there is nothing too High for Women ; For , such of them who may be ( by this way ) instructed in Natural Philosophy and Medicine , may likewise ( by the same ) become capable of all others . Wherefore , might they not perceive , that the necessity of living in Society , obliging us to Communicate our Thoughts by some External Signes ; the most expedient of all others , is Speech ; which consists in the use of Words , agreed on amongst Men , That we ought to have as many of them , as we have Notions of things ? That they ought to have some Relation of Sound and Signification one with another , to make us learn and retain them with more ease , and that we should not be forced to multiply them infinitely ? That they must be Marshalled in the Order most natural , and suitable , to our Thoughts ; and that we should not employ more in Discourse , than what may be enough to make us be understood ? These Reflexions might put a Woman in Condition , to labour ( like a Virtuosi ) for the perfecting of her Mother-Tongue ; by reforming , and cutting off the bad Words , introducing of New , Regulating Custom by Reason , and the true Notions which we have of Languages : And the Method , by which she might have Learned the Language of her Country , would wonderfully help her to the attaining of that of Strangers , to discover the Delicacies thereof , to read Authors , and to become most exact in Grammar , and that which is called Humanity . Women ( as well as Men ) Discourse of things , to make them be understood , in the same manner , as they know them ; and to dispose others to do as they would have them , which is called Perswading : In this they Naturally succeed better than we . And yet , to perform it still with Art , they have no more to do , but to study to represent things , as they present themselves to them ; or as they would represent them to themselves , if they were in the Place of those whom they would affect . All Men ( being made after the same manner ) are ( almost ) alwayes moved in like manner by Objects ; And , if there be any Difference , it proceeds from their Inclinations , their Habits , or their Quality ; which a VVoman might know with a little Reflexion , and Custom : And , being able to dispose her Thoughts in the manner most convenient , express them neatly , and with Grace ; adding thereto , the Gestures , the Air of the Countenance , and the Voice , she might become Mistress of the most perfect Eloquence . It is not credible , that VVomen can so highly practise Vertue , without being able to penetrate into the Fundamental Maxims thereof : In effect , a VVoman already so instructed as we above represented her , might discover of her self the Measures of her Conduct , by discovering the three kinds of Duties which comprehend all Morality ; of which , the first regards God , the second our Selves , and the third our Neighbour . The clear and distinct Notions , which she may have formed of her Spirit , and the Union thereof with the Body , must ( infallibly ) lead her to acknowledge , That there is another Spirit Infinite , the Author of all Nature ; and to entertain of Him the Sentiments , upon which Religion is founded . And after , having ( by Natural Phil●sophy ) learned wherein it is , that Sensual Pleasure does consist , and in what manner External Things contribute to the Perfection of the Mind , and the Preservation of the Body ; she cannot fail to conclude , That we must be great Enemies to our selves , if we use them not with great Moderation . And , if she come , in Sequel , to consider her Self , as engaged in Civil Society , with others of the same Nature , subject to the same Passions , and to the necessities which can not be satisfied without mutual assistance ) ; she must without trouble fall upon this thought upon which depends all our Justice , That we ought to do to others as we would be done to ; and , that we ought to bridle those desires , whereof the exorbitancy which is called Lusting or Covetousness , occasions all the trouble , and all the unhappiness of life . She might the more still confirm her self in the perswasion of the last of these duties , if she advanced , and carried on her thoughts , to the point of discovering the ground of Policy , and of Law and Justice . And , as both the one and other , only regard the duties of men amongst themselves , she would judge , that , Fully to comprehend to what it is that they are obliged in civil Society , we must understand what it is that hath inclined men to establish it . She would then consider them as out of any such Society , and find them all intirely free , and equal , with the desire only to preserve themselves , and a right alike to all upon every thing that might be necessary thereto . But she finding that this equality engageth men in warr , or continual mistrust ( a thing contrary to their end ) the light of nature would dictate , that they could not live in peace , without that every one yeelded some what of his right , and came to covenants , and contracts : And that to render these Actions valid , and stop all Jealousiy , it would be necessary to have recourse to a third person , who taking upon him Authority , might force every one to perform what they had promised to others ; That he being chosen only for the good of his subjects , ought to have no other designe ; And that to obtain the end of this institution , it is necessary he should be the Master of Lives , and Estates ; of Peace and of Warr. In Examining this matter , and the depth , what would hinder a Woman that she should not discover , What natural equity is ; What are Contract , Authority , and Obedience ; what is the nature of Law , the use of Penalties ; wherein consist the civil Law , and that of Nations ; what are the duties of Princes , and of Subjects : And in a word , by her proper Reflexions , and by Books , she might learn all that is necessary to make a Lawyer and a States-man . After that , she may have obtained a perfect knowledge of her self , and be solidly instructed in the general rules of the conduct of Men , Probably she would become curious to inform her self also how it is that men live in strange Countreys . And as she had observed , that the changes of weather , of seasons , of place , of age , of dyet , company , and exercises , had occasioned in her , alterations and different passions , she needed not much trouble to find that these diversities produce the same effect in regard of whole nations : That they have Inclinations , Customs , Manners , and Laws different according as they are more near , or distant from Seas , the South or North , according as their countrey is plain or mountainous , watered with Rivers , and Woody , the soil more or less fruitfull , the particular kind of Food which it bringeth forth ; And according to Commerce , and the affairs which they have with other Neighbouring or remote people : shee might study all these things , and so learn what are the Manners , the Riches , the Religon , the Government , and the Interests of twenty or thirty different Nations , as easily as of so many private families For what concernes the Situation of Kingdomes , how Seas to Lands , Isles to the Continent do answer ; there is no more difficulty to learn it in a Mapp ▪ than to know the several quarters and streets of a Town ; or the high-wayes of the countrey , where one liveth . The Knowledge of the present , might breed in her desire also to know what is past : And that which she may have retained of Geography , would afford her great assistance in this Designe , enabling her better to understand affairs , as Warrs , Voyages , and Negoations , marking to her the places where they have hapned ; the Passages , Roads , and the boundings of States . But the skill which she may have obtained of the Transactions of men in general , by the reflections which she may have made upon her self , would bring her into the Mystery of Policy , Interest and Passions ; and help her to discover the moving wheele , and spring , of enterprizes , the fountain and source of revolutions , and to supply in great Undertakings the lesser things which have made them prosper , and which have escaped Histories : And following their true Notions , which she hath of Vice , and Vertue ; she may observe the flattery , passion , and ignorance of Authors ; and to guard her self from the Corruption , which infect men in reading of Histories , where these faults are commonly mingled . As the ancient policy , was not so refined as the modern , and the interest of Princes less conjoyned in former times than at present , and commerce of less extent ; there is more Judgement required to understand , and disentangle our Gazettes , than Lives of Quintus Curtius . There are a great many persons that find the Ecclesiastick History more pleasing and solid , than civil or prophane : because , there they find the effects of Reason , and Vertue , farther pursued , and that passions , and prejudices covered with a pretext of Religion , sets the mind upon a method , altogether particular in its conduct . A Woman would apply her self thereto with so much more affection , as she judged it more important . She might convince her self , that the books of Scripture , are as authentick , as all the others which we have ; that they containe the true Religion , and all the Maxims whereon it is founded ; that the New Testament where the History of Christianity properly begins , is no more difficult to be understood , than Greek and Latin Authors ; that they that read it with the simplicity of Children , seeking only the Kingdome of God , discover the truth , and meaning thereof with more ease and pleasure , than that of ridles , emblems , and fables ; And after having regulated her mind by the Morality of Jesus Christ , she may find her self in condition to direct others ; remove their scruples , and to resolve Cases of conscience , with more solidity than if she had filled her head with all the Casuists in the world . I see nothing that could hinder , but that in the progress of her studies , she might observe as well as a man , How it is that the Gospel hath passed from hand to hand , from Kingdom to Kingdom , from age to age , even to her own times , but that she might gain , by reading of the Fathers , the Notion of true Theology , and find out that it only consists in the Knowledge of the History of Christians ; and the Particular Sentiment of those that have written thereon . So , she might render her self able to compose Works of Religion , Preach the Truth , and batter down Novelties , by shewing what hath been alwayes Believed through the whole Church , about the Matters in Controversie . If a Woman be capable to inform her self from History , of the Nature of all Publick Societies , how they have been formed , and how they are preserved by virtue of a fixed and constant Authority ▪ exercised by Magistrates and Officers , subordinate to one another ; she is no less , to Learn the Application of that Authority , by Laws , Ordinations , and Constitutions , for the Conduct of those who are submitted thereunto , as well to the Relation of Persons ( according to their several Conditions ) as for the Possession and Enjoyment of Goods . Is it a thing so difficult , to know the Relation between a Husband and his Wife , between a Father and his Children , the Master and his Servants , the Land-Lord and his Tennants , betwixt those who are Allied in Affinity , betwixt a Guardian and his Pupil ? Is it so great a Mystery , to understand what it is to possess by Purchase , Exchange , Donation , Legacy , Testament , Prescription , and Usufruit ? and what are the necessary Conditions to render Use and Possession valid ? There appears to be no more Understanding requisite to know ( aright ) the spirit of Christian Society , than that of the Civil ; to frame a right Notion of the Authority which is peculiar thereto , and upon which is founded all its Conduct ; and to distinguish ( precisely ) betwixt that which Jesus Christ hath left to His Church , and the Dominion which onely belongs to Temporal Powers . After having made that Distinction absolutely necessary to the right Understanding of the Canon Law , a Woman might study , and observe how the Church is Governed in the State ; and how the Spiritual Jurisdiction is mingled with the Secular ; wherein the Hierarchy consists ; what are the Offices of Prelates , the Power of Councels , Popes , Bishops , and Pastors ; what is the meaning of Discipline , what are the Rules and Changes thereof ; what mean Canons , Priviledges , and Exemptions ; how Benefices are Established , and what is the Right and Possession thereof . In a word , What are the Customs and Ordinances of the Church , and the Duties of all those that Compose it . There is ( therein ) nothing at all , whereof a Woman is not most capable ; and so , she might become most Skilful in the Canon-Law . These are some general Notions of the Highest Knowledges , where-with Men serve themselves , to signalize their Parts , and raise their Fortune ; and of which , to the Prejudice of Women , they have been so long in Posse●●●on : And , although they have as great right thereto as themselves , 〈◊〉 ( notwithstanding ) entertain such Thoughts , and carry with a 〈◊〉 towards them , by so much the more unjust , that nothing like is to be seen in the use of the Goods of the Body . It hath been judged expedient ; that , for the Peace and security of Families , Prescription should take place : my Meaning is , That a Man , who ( with a good Conscience , and without trouble or molestation ) might have enjoyed the Goods of another for a certain space of time , should remain Possessour thereof , without the After-claims and Pretensions of any whosoever . But , it hath never entered into the minds of Men , to believe , That such who had fallen from their Possessions by Neglect or otherwise , should be incapable by some manner or other , to retrive them ; and their Incapacity hath never been considered as Natural , but onely Civill . On the contrary , Men have not onely contented themselves not to call Women to a share in Sciences , and Offices , after a long Prescription against them ; but have proceeded farther , to fancy , that their Exclusion therefrom , is founded on a natural Indisposition on their Part. In the mean-while , there is nothing in the World more Fantastical than that Imagination : For , whether that we consider the Sciences in themselves , or that we regard the Organs , which serves to acquire them ; we shall find , that both Sexes are thereto equally disposed . There is but one only way to insinuate Truth into the Mind ( whereof it is the Food ) , as there is but one to convey Nourishment into all sorts of Stomacks , for the Subsistance of the Body : And , as to what concerns the different Dispositions of that Organ , which renders us more or less fit for Sciences ; if we would fairly and honestly acknowledge , Who have the better , we must confess it to be the Women . We cannot disagree ; but , amongst Men , such as are gross and material , are commonly stupid ; and , on the other hand , the more Delicate , alwayes most Sprightly . I find the Experience of this too universal and constant , to stand in need ( in this place ) of the Support of Reasons : So , the lovely Sex , being of a Temperature more Fine and Delicate than ours , would not fail ( at least ) to match ours , if it applyed it self to Study . I well fore-see , that this Opinion will not be relished by many ; who will find it a little strange : I cannot help that . Men think that it concernes the Honour of our Sex to take the Place in All ; And I believe it to be Justice , to render to every one that which is their right . In effect , we All ( both Men and Women ) have the same Right to Truth , since the Mind in all of us is alike capable to know it ; and that we are ( All ) affected in the same manner , by the Objects that make Impression upon the Body . This Title to Knowledges ( which Nature bestows on All ) springs from this , That we have All need of them , the one as well as the other . There is no Person that seeks not to be happy ; It is to that , that all our Actions tend ; and no Body can be solidly so , but by clear and distinct Knowledges : For , it is in that , that Jesus Christ himself , and St. Paul , make us believe , will consist the Happiness of the other Life . A Covetous Man never esteems himself happy , but when he knows that he possesses great Riches : An Ambitious Person , when he perceives that he is above others . In a word , All the Happiness of Men ( Real or Imaginary ) is only placed in Knowledge ; that is to say , In the Thought which they have , that they possess the Good which they desire . It is this which makes me believe , that there is nothing but the Notions of Truth ( which we procure by Study , and which are fixt and independant from the Possession or Want of things ) , that can make up the true Happiness of this Life . For , that which makes that a Covetous Man cannot be happy in the simple Knowledge of Riches , is ; Because that , that Knowledge which renders him happy , ought to be joyned with the Enjoyment , or the Imagination of poss●ssing of them for the present : And , when his Imagination presents them to him as distant from him , and out of his Power , he cannot reflect thereon without being afflicted . It is altogether otherwise with the Knowledge which we have of our Selves , and of all those which depend thereon ; but , particularly , of those which enter into the Society of Life . Since then , that both Sexes are capable of the same Felicity , they have Equall Right to all that which conduceth to the obtaining thereof . When we say , That Happiness consists ( chiefly ) in the Knowledge of Truth , we exclude not Vertue ; On the contrary , we think that it maketh up the most Essential Part thereof : Yet , a Man is not happy by Vertue , but in so much as he knoweth that he enjoyes it , or that he endeavours so to do ; that is to say , That although it be sufficient to make a Man esteemed happy , that we see him practise Vertue ( though he know it not perfectly ) ; and also , that such a Practice ( with a confused and imperfect Knowledge ) may contribute to purchase the Happiness of the other Life ) : yet , it is certain , that he cannot esteem himself solidly happy , without he be Conscious to himself that he does good ; as he would not at all believe himself Rich , without he possessed Wealth . The Reason why there are so few that have a Relish of , or Love for , true Vertue , is , Because they know it not ; and , not at all minding when they practise it , they feel not that Satisfaction which it produceth , and which makes up that Felicity of which we speak . That ariseth from this , That Vertue is not a simple Speculation of Good , to which we are obliged ; but an Effective Desire , which springs from the Perswasion that we have thereof : And we cannot practise it with Delight , without the Resentment of some Emotion ; because it happens with it , as with the most Excellent Liquors , that seem some-time bitter , or without Sweetness ; if , when they are upon the Tongue , the Mind be other-wise taken up , and does not apply it self to the Alterations which there they cause . The two Sexes have not only need of Light , to find their Happiness in the Practise of Vertue ; but likewise , need thereof to practise aright . It is sion that sets us at work ; and we are so much the more perswaded of our Duty , as the more perfectly we know it . That little which we have said here concerning Morality , sufficeth to insinuate , that the Knowledge of our selves , is most important to strengthen the Perswasion of the Duties , to which we are obliged . And it would not be difficult to shew , how all others contribute thereto ; nor to make appear , that the Reason why so many Persons practise Vertue so ill , or fall into Looseness , is only the Ignorance of themselves , and what they are . The Reason why People commonly believe , That Men need not be knowing for to become Vertuous , is , Because we see many vitious Persons , that otherwise pass for Intelligent ; from whence , they imagine that Knowledge is not only unprofitable for Vertue , but even that it is many times destructive thereto . And , this Errour renders the most part of those who have the Reputation of being more Witty than others , suspect to weak ●udgments ; and , at the same time , makes them flight , and be averse , from the Highest Knowledges . Men take no notice , that there is nothing but false Lights , which cast and leave Men in Disorder ; because that the confused Notions ( which false Philosophy gives us of our Selves , and of that which makes up the Body of our Actions ) , so bemists the Mind , that not knowing it self , nor the Nature of the things which surround it , nor the Relation which they have to its self ; and not being able to bear the weight of Difficulties which present themselves in that obscurity : it must necessarily succumb , and abandon it self to its Passions ; Reason being too weak to stop it . It is ( then ) but a Panick Fear , which hath given occasion to the Capricious Imagination of the Vulgar , That Study and Learning would render Women more Wicked and Proud : There is nothing but false Knowledge , capable to produce so bad an Effect . A Woman cannot Learn true Knowledge , without becoming thereby more Humble and Vertuous : And there is nothing more proper to depress the Vapours , and to convince her of her Weakness , than to consider all the Movements of her Engine , the Delicateness of her Organs , the ( almost ) infinite number of Alterations , and painful Failings , to which she is subject . There is not any Meditation more capable to inspire Humility , Moderation , and Mildness , into a Man ( whatever he may be ) , than seriously to mind ( by the Study of Natural Philosophy ) the Union and Tye of his Soul with the Body ; and to observe , that he is obnoxious to so many ●eeds , that the Dependance in which he is ( on the most ticklish and delicate Parts of the Body , in his Functions ) , keep him constantly exposed to a thousand sorts of Troubles , and irksome Agitations ; that , what Knowledge soever he may have entertained , the least thing in the World is enough ( entirely ) to confound it ; that a little Choler , or Blood , more Hot or Cold than ordinary , may cast himself into Extravagance , Folly , and Madness ; and make him suffer fearful Convulsions . When such Reflexions should find Acceptance in the Mind of a Woman , as well as of a Man , they would chase thence Pride , far from letting of it in . And , if after having filled her Mind with the best of Knowledges , she should call again to her Memory all her by-past Conduct , to see how she had arrived to the happy state , wherein she might find her self very far from elevating of her self above others ; she would see enough to humble her the more ; since that , she would necessarily observe by that review , that ( hereto-fore ) she had had an infinite number of Prejudices , which she could not Conquer ( but by Strength ) against the Impressions of Custom , Example , and Passions ; which , in spight of her , engaged her to them : That all the Effects which she had made to discover Truth , had been almost unprofitable : That it hath been , as by Chance , that it hath presented it self to her ; and at that time , when she the least dreamt thereof ; and in such Occurrencies , which happen but once in ones Life , and but to very few Persons : From whence , she would infallibly conclude , That it is unjust , and ridiculous , to slight and despise those who have less Knowledge than our selves , or who embrace contrary Opinions ; and that we ought the rather to have Complacency and Compassion for them ; because , if they discerne not Truth as we do , it is not their Fault ; but because that it hath not presented it self to them , when they have been in search thereof : and that there is still some Veil on their Part or ours , that hinders it to appear to their mind , in its full Light. And , considering that she might have held for true , that which she had believed false before , she would judge without doubt . That it might still happen in the Sequel , that she might make new Discoveries ; by the which , she might believe false or erroneous , that which had appeared to her most true , and certain . If there have been some VVomen , who ( affected with their Knowledge ) have become disdainfull ; there are likewise a great many Men that dayly fall into the same vice ; And that ought not to be considered as an effect of the Sciences , which they have possessed , but because men have looked , on them as a Mystery to the Sex : And as , on the one hand , such knowledges are ordinarily very confused ; and on the other , they that have them , propose to themselves thereby a particular advantage ; it is not to be thought strange that they take occasion from thence to swell , and it is almost unavoidably necessary that in this condition , it should not be with them , as with those who from a low birth , and fortune , have with difficulty raised themselves to honour , and same : who seeing themselves advanced to a pitch , to which , few of their quality have been accustomed to mount , are seized with a giddiness , which presents to them , objects quite other-wayes than in themselves they are . At least , it is most probable , that seeing the pretended vanity of the learned VVomen , is nothing in comparison of that of the learned men , who arrogate to themselves , the title of Masters and Sages : VVomen would be less Subject thereunto , if their Sex were admitted into equal share w th ours , of the advantages which occasion it . It is then a vulgar Errour to fancy , that Learning is useless to VVomen , because sayes one , they have no share in Offices , for the which , men apply themselves thereto . It is as necessary to them as Felicity , and Vertue ; because without that , we cannot perfectly possess either the one or other . It is so for the purchasing , of Exactness in our thoughts , and Justice in our actions : it is so , for the right Knowledge of our Selves , and what is about us , that we may make the right and lawfull use thereof ; and that we may regulate our passions by Moderating of our desires . To become capable of places and dignities , is one of the uses of Learning ; and to be fit to be a Judge or Bishop , we should strive to acquire as much as is possible , because without it the functions of such Offices cannot be well discharged , but not precisely for that end , and for to become more happy by the possession of the honours , and advantages which they afford : That would be to abuse learning by a sordid and base end . So that there is nothing but weakness , or a secret and blind interest which can make men say , that VVomen ought to remain shut out from Learning , for this reason , that they have never been publickly admitted to any share therein . It fareth not with the goods of the mind , as with the goods of the body ; against them there is no prescription : and how long soever , we have been deprived thereof , we have alwayes the right of Reversion . But it being impossible that the same goods of the body , could at the same time , be possessed by several persons , without domination on each side ; men have had reason for the safety of families , to maintain the possessours , with good conscience , in prejudice of the ancient proprietaries . But , as concerning the advantages of the mind , it goes quite otherwayes . Every one hath a right to all that is intelligible , and good sense . The Spring of reason is not limited ; it hath in all men an equal Jurisdiction ; we are all born Judges of what touches and affects us ; And if we cannot dispose of the same with equal power , we may at least , all know them with a like right . And as all men employ the use of the light and air , without prejudice to any person , by that communication , all may likewise possess the Knowledge of truth without hurting one another . For the more that it is known , the more it appears splendid , and lovely : The greater are the number of those that search after it , and the sooner they find it : And if both Sexes , had equally busied themselves therein , it had still the sooner been discovered . In so much then , that Truth and Knowledge are goods which admit of no prescription ; And such that have been deprived thereof , may make a Re-entry , without doing injury to those who are already Masters of the same ; There can be none , but such as would rule mens minds by belief , and credit , that have reason to apprehend this Reversion , for fear , that if Sciences should become so common , glory might also ; and that the Fame to which they aspire , should be lessened by partnership . VVomen are as Capable of Officers and Employments in civil Society as Men are . THere is therefore no inconvenience , if Women apply themselves to Study and Learning as well as we . They are able to make a very good use of them , and to draw from thence the two Advantages which we expect therefrom ; the one , to have clear and distinct Knowledges , which we naturally desire , and whereof the desire is often stifled , and annihilated by the confusion of thoughts , and the cares , and agitations of life : And the other , To employ these Knowledges , for the particular conduct of themselves , and for that of others in the different conditions of Society , of which they make a part . This agrees not atall with the common Opinion . There are indeed many that will believe , that Women may learn what is to be attained by the Physicks or Natural Sciences ; but will not admit , that they are as fit as Men for those which may be called Civil , as Ethicks , Laws , and Politicks ; and that if they should be able by the Maximes of these Last , to conduct themselves , they could not therefore be capable of guiding of others . Men entertain this thought , because , they consider not , that the mind in all it's actions , hath need of no more but Discerning , and Exactitude , and whosoever hath once these two qualities in one thing , may as easily , and by the same means have them in all the rest . The being Moral or Civil , changeth not the nature of our actions : They continue to be still Natural : Because that Morality is nothing else , but to know the manner , how men regard the actions of others , with Relation to the Notions which they have of good or evil , of vice and vertue , of justice and injustice ; And as that , when we have once rightly conceived the Rules of Motion , in Natural Philosophy , we may apply them to all the changes , and varieties which are remarked in Nature : So likewise knowing once the true principles of civil Sciences , there remains no more difficulty to make application thereof to the new , and incident Emergents which occurr . They that are in places have not alwayes more wit , though they have better Luck than others : And indeed it is not necessary , that they should have more , than the common ; though it be to be wished , that none were admitted to employments but the most worthy . We act still after the same manner , and by the same Rules , in what estate soever , we find our selves ; unless it be that the more our conditions are raised , the more our cares and views are extended , because we have the more to do . And all the change which happens to men who are placed above others , is like to that of a person who being mounted to the top of a Tower , caryes his prospect farther , and discovers more different objects , than they who stay on the ground below : It is their favours , if VVomen be as capable as we are to guid themselves , they are likewise to conduct others , and to have place in charges and dignities of Civil Society . The most Simple , and natural use that we can make of Sciences which we have well learned , is to teach them to others : And if VVomen had studyed in the Universities with men , or in others appointed for them in particular , they might have entred into Degrees , and taken the title of Master of Arts , Doctor of Divinity , Medicine , Civil , and Cannon Law : And their genius so advantagiously fitting them to learn , would dispose them likewise to teach with success . They would find methods , and insinuating biassess , to instill their Doctrine ; they would discover the strength and weakness of their Schollars , to proportion themselves to their reach , and the facility which they have to express themselves ; and , which is one of the most excellent talents of a good Master , would compleat and render them admirable Mistresses . The employment which approacheth most to a School-Master , is that of Pastour or Minister in the Church , and there can be nothing else but custome shewn , which remove VVomen there-from . They have a Spirit as well as we , capable of the Knowledge and love of God , and thereby able to incline others to know , and love him . Faith is common to them with us : And the Gospel with the Promises thereof , are likewise addressed to them , Charity also comprehends them in its duties ; and , if they know how to put in practice the actions thereof , may not they likewise publickly teach its Maxims ? Whosoever can preach by Example , from stronger reason can do so by Words : And a VVoman that should joyn her Natural Eloquence with the Morality of Jesus Christ , should be as capable as another , to Exhort , Direct Correct , admit into Christian Society those who deserved . And cut off such who after having submitted themselves thereto , should refuse to observe the Rules thereof . And if men were accustomed to see VVomen in a Pulpit , they would be no more startled thereat , than the VVoman are at the sight of men . We are not assembled into Society , but that we may live in peace , and find , in a Mutual assistance , all that is necessary for the Body , and Soul. This we could not enjoy without trouble , if there were no authority ; that is to say , that for that end , there ought to be some persons who have power to make Laws , and to inflict punishment upon the breakers of them . And to make the right use of that authority , we must know to what it obligeth , and be perswaded that those who possess it , ought to have no other design in the discharge thereof , but to procure the welfare and advantage of their inferiours . Women being no less susceptible of this perswasion than men , may not we then submit our selves to them , and consent not only not to resist their Orders , but even contribute as much as we can to oblige to obedience such as make any difficulty therein ? So that nothing needed to hinder , but that a Woman might sit upon a Throne , and that for the government of her people , She might study their humour , the interests , their Lawes , their customes , and their practices : That she might place in Offices of the Gown and Sword , only able and deserving persons ; and , in the Dignities of the Church , men of understanding , and Example . Is it a thing so difficult , that a Woman could not perform it , to instruct her-self of the strength , and weakness of a State , and of those that lay round it ; to entertain amongst strangers secret Intelligences for to discover their designes , and disappoint their measures , and to have faithfull Spies , and Emissaries in all Suspected places ; to be exactly informed of all that passeth there wherein she might have interest ? Is there needfull for the conduct of a Kingdome more vigilance , and application than Women have for their families , or the Religious for their Convents ? They would prove no less refined in publick Negotiations , than they are in private affairs . And as piety and mildness is natural to their Sex , their government would prove less Rigorous than that of many Princes , and we should wish for under their Reign , that which is often feared under that of many others , that Subjects would regulate themselves according to the Example of their Governours . We may easily conclude , that if Woman are capable to possesse severally all publick authority , they are still more to be subordinate Officers and Ministers : As Vice-Queens , Governants , Secretaries , Counsellors of State , and Treasurers . For my part , I should be no more surprized to see a VVoman with a helmet on her head , than to see her with a Crown ; preside in a Council of warr , as well as in a Council of State : To see her train , and exercise her Souldiers , drawing them up in Battell-array , and divide them in several Bodyes , and Squadrons , with as much ease as she would please her self to see it done . The military Art hath nothing beyond others , whereof VVomen are not capable , unless it be that it is somewhat more rude , causeth greater noise , and does more mischief . The Eyes are sufficient to learn from a Mapp , that is somewhat exact , all the High-wayes of a countrey , the good and bade passages , and the places that are most propper for surprizes , and encampings . There is hardly a Souldier that is not ready to know that a General ought first to gain all the Passes before he venture there his forces , regulate all his enterprizes according to the advice of good Scouts ; And even deceive his Army by Wiles , and counter-marches the better to cover his design . A VVoman can do all this , and can invent Stratagems to surprise the enemy , put the wind and dust in his teeth , and the Sun in his face : And Charging him on one side , Flank him on the other ; Give him false allarms , draw him into an ambush by a feigned flight ; give battel , and be the first that mounts a breach to encourage the Souldiers ; Perswasion , and passion does all : And Women testifie no less heat , and resolution when their honour is concerned , than is requisite to attack or defend a Place . What can be reasonably objected , why a VVoman of sound Judgement and Understanding , might not take the chaire in a court of Justice , and pre side in all other companies . There are a great many able men who would learn the Lawes and Customes of a state with less trouble , than some Games at Cards , which VVomen understand so well : And it is as easy to remember them , as an intire Romance ; is it not as easiy to see into the heart of an affair , as to trace an intrigue upon the Stage , and make as faithfull report of a Law suite , as of a Comedy ? All these things are alike ea●●y , to those who equally apply themselves thereto . Now seeing there is neither office , nor imployment in society which is not comprehended in these whereof we have spoken , nor where there is greater need of knowledge or parts : it must be confest , that Women are proper for all . Besides , the Natural dispositions of the body , and the Notions which men have of the function and duties of their places , there is still somewhat necessary that renders them more or less capable to acquit themselves worthy thereof . The true perswasion of what a man is obliged to do , the consideration of Religion , and interest , emulation betwixt equals , desire of winning glory , and Honour , and of making , preserving , or increasing ones fortitude . According as a man is more or less touched with these things , his management is altogether different : And Women being no less sensible thereof than men , in regard of employments , they want nothing to render them their equals . We may ( then ) with Assurance , exhort Ladies to apply themselves to Study ; without having Respect to the little Reasons of those who would undertake to divert them there from . Since they have a Mind ( as well as we ) capable of knowing of Truth ( which is the only Subject , on which they can employ their Pains worthily ) , they ought to put themselves in condition of avoyding the R●proach , of having stifled a Talent , which they might put to use ; and of having detained Truth in Idleness and Pleasure . There is no other way for them to Guard themselves against Errour , and the Surprize to which they are exposed ( who Learn nothing but by the manner of Gazets ; that is to say , upon the bare word of another ) , nor to render themselves happy in this Life , by practising Vertue with Discretion . What Advantage soever they propose to themselves besides this , they would meet with it in Study . If their Parlours were turned into Academies , their Entertainments would be Greater , more Solid , and more Pleasing . And every one may judge , of the Satisfaction she should have to Discourse of Lofty Matters , by the Content that she hath to hear others speak thereof . How slight soever might be the Subjects of their Conversation , they would have the Pleasure to treat them more wittily than the Vulgar : And the delicate Manners , which are so peculiar to their Sex ( being fortified by solid Reasons and Arguments ) would far more sensibly affect the Hearers . They who only desire to please , would there ( to Admiration ) find their Designe ; For , the Splendour of the Beauty of Body , being heighthened by that of the Mind , would thereby become a hundred times more Brisk and Lively . And , as VVomen ( but of ordinary Beauty ) are alwayes well regarded when they are Witty , the Advantages of the Mind , Cultivated by Study , would give them Means abundantly to supply what Nature or Fortune might have denyed them . They would be admitted into the Entertainments of the Learned , and reigne amongst them upon a double Respect . They would enter into the Management of Affairs : Their Husbands would not refuse to abandon to them the Conduct of their Families , and to take their Advice in all things . And , seeing that Matters are in such a state , that they cannot ( now ) be admitted into Charges , ( at least ) they might be able to know the Nature of Functions , and judge if they be deservingly bestowed . The Difficulty of arriving to this Pitch , ought not to scare them : It is not so great as Men have made it . That which is the cause , why Men think there is need of so much Trouble , for to gain a few Knowledges , is , Because they teach ( for that end ) a great many things , which are most unprofitable for those that aspire thereto . All Knowledge ( even to this present ) consisting only in possessing of a History of the Sentiments of those that are gone before us ; and Men , having too much reposed on Custom , and the Credit of their Masters , very few have had the good Luck to find the Natural Method . Herein we might labour , and make appear , That Men may render themselves qualified , in far less time , and with a great deal more Pleasure , than is ordinarily imagined . That Women have an Advantagious Disposition for Sciences ; and that the true Notions of Perfection , Nobility , and Honesty , suit with them as well as Men. HItherto , we have considered nothing in Women , but the Head ; and , it hath appeared , that that Part ( taken in general ) hath in them as much Proportion for all the Sciences ( whereof it is the Organ ) , as in Men. Nevertheless , because that this Organ is not altogether alike , even amongst all Men themselves ; and that there are a great many , in whom it is more proper for some things than for others : we must descend a little lower into the Particular , to see if there be nothing in Women , that renders them less fit for Learning , than our selves . We may observe , that they have a Countenance more stately and happy than we : They have the Fore-Head high , lofty , and large ; which is the usual Mark of Witty and Imaginative Persons . And , we find in effect , that Women have much Vivacity , Fancy , and Memory ; which denotes a Brain so disposed , that it easily receives the Impressions of Objects , even of the most Slight and Inconsiderable , which escape such , as are of another Disposition ; and that it retains them without trouble , and presents them to the Mind in the instant that it stands in need thereof . When this Disposition is accompanied with Heat , it renders the Mind more ready and quick to be affected by the Objects ; to fasten on , and penetrate , into them the more ; and to extend the Images , and Impressions thereof , at pleasure : From whence , it happens , that they who have good Imaginations ( considering things on more sides , and in less time ) , are very Ingenious , and Inventive ; and discover more with one only Glance , than many others after much Attention . They are fit to represent things , with an insinuating and pleasing strain , and to find , on the Spot , Turns and proper Expedients : They express themselves with Facility and Grace ; and set off their Thoughts with the greatest Aadvantage . All this is Remarkable in Women ; and , I can see nothing in this Disposition , which is inconsistent with a good Wit. Judgment , and Exactness , make the Natural Character thereof ; to acquire which two good Qualities , we must become a little Sedentary , and dwell on Objects ▪ to the end , that we may avoid the Errour and Mistake , wherein Men fall by skipping . It is true , that the multitude of Thoughts , in brisk Persons , hurries ( many times ) the Imagination ; But , it is likewise true , That , by Exercise , it may be fixed . We have the Experience of this , in the greatest Men of this Age ; who , for the most part , are all very imaginative . It may be affirmed , That this Temper is the fittest for Society ; and that Men , not being made to remain alwayes alone , and shut up in a Closet ; we ought ( in some measure ) the more to esteem those who have the best Disposition , pleasingly and profitably to Communicate their Thoughts . And Women , who have naturally Wit , ( because they have Fancy , Memory , and a sparkling Liveliness , ) may with a little Application , acquire the Qualities of a good Judgment . This is sufficient to prove , That , in Respect of the Head alone , the Two Sexes are Equal . There are Observations upon the rest of the Body , which are most Curious ; but of which , we must only speak in passing . Men have alwayes had this common ill-Luck , to spill and shead ( if we may so say ) their Passions on all the Works of Nature : There is not any Notion , which they have not blended with some touch of Love or Hatred , of Esteem or Contempt : And these which concern the Distinction of the Two Sexes , are so material , and so befogg'd with the Sentiments of Imperfection , Baseness , Undecency , and other Trifles ; that , seeing they cannot be touched without moving of some Passion , and stirring up the Flesh against the Spirit , it is often Prudence to let them alone . And yet , it is upon that odd Medley , of alwayes confused Notions , that the Opinions disadvantagious to Women , are founded ; and which the small Wits ( ridiculously ) use to mortifie them . The justest Mean and Temper , that can be betwixt the necessity of explaining ones Self , and the Difficulty of doing it Innocently , is , To observe what we ought ( Rationally ) to understand by Perfection and Imperfection , by Nobility and Baseness , and by Decency and Undecency . When I conceive that there is a God , I easily conceive , that all things depend on Him : And if , after having considered the Natural and Intrinsical State of Creatures , which consists ( if they be Bodies ) in the Disposition of their Parts , with a Reference to one another ; and the Extrinsical , which is the Relation that they stand in , to act or suffer with other Beings that environ them : If ( I say ) I enquire into the Reason of these two Conditions , I can find , none other but the Will and Pleasure of Him who is the Author of them . I observe further , that Bodies have ( ordinarily ) a certain Disposition , which renders them capable to produce and receive certain Effects ; For example , that Man can understand by the help of his Ears , the Thoughts of others , and by the Instruments of Voice , express to them his own . And I Remark , that Bodies are uncapable of such Effects , when they are otherwise disposed : From whence , I inform my self of two Notions ; whereof the one Represents to me , the First State of Things , with all their necessary Consequences ; and that I call the State of Perfection : And the other , the Condition contrary ; which I name Imperfection . So , a Man ( in my Esteem ) is Perfect , when he hath all that he needeth ( according to Divine Institution ) , for the producing and receiving the Effects to which he is appointed : And , he is imperfect , when he hath more or fewer Parts , than aré necessary ; or any Indisposition that removes him from this end . Wherefore , he being formed in such manner , that he hath need of Aliment for Subsistence , I look not upon that Necessity , as an Imperfection ; no more , than the Need which is coupled with the use of Food ; that , what is Superfluous , must be avoided out of the Body . I find also , that all Creatures are equally Perfect , as long as they continue in their natural and ordinary State. We must not confound Perfection with Nobility : These are two things very different . Two Creatures may be Equal in Perfection , and in Nobility Unequal . When I make Reflexion upon my Self , it seems to me , that my Spirit ( being only capable of Knowledge ) ought : to be preferred to my Body , and be considered as the most Noble : And , when I consider Bodies , without any Respect to my Self ; that is to say , without reflecting , that they may be profitable or hurtful to me , pleasing or displeasing ; I cannot perswade my self , that one is more Noble than another , being All but made of matter diversly Figured . Yet , when I medle with Bodies ( considering the Good or Hurt that they do to me ) , I come to esteem them differently . Although that my Head ( regarded without Interest ) affects me no more , than the other Parts ; nevertheless , I prefer it to all the rest , when I come to think , that it is of greater importance to me , in the Union of the Spirit with the Body . For the same Reason it is , that , although all the Places of the Body be equally perfect , we have ( nevertheless ) different Esteems for them : The very Parts themselves ( whereof the Use is most necessary ) being many times considered with some sort of Contempt and Aversion ; because that the Use is less pleasing , or otherwise . It is so with all that surround and affects us ; For , that which makes that one thing pleaseth one Man , and displeaseth another , is , that it hath made impression upon them differently . It is the Engagement of Men in Society , that produceth in them the Notion of Decency : So that , although it be neither Imperfection nor Baseness , to ease and comfort the Body ; and that it is even a Necessity , and Indispensable Consequence of its Natural Disposition ; and that all the wayes of doing thereof , are Equal ; there are some notwithstanding , that are considered less Decent ; because they are more offensive to the Persons , in whose Presence they are performed . As all Creatures , and all their Actions , being considered in themselves , and without any reference to Custom or Esteem that is made thereof , are as Perfect , and as Noble , the one as the other ; they are likewise equally Decent , being considered in the same manner . Wherefore , we may say , that the Regards of Decency and Undecency are almost all , in their Original , nothing else but the Effects of Imagination , and the Capriciousness of Men. This appears by that , That one thing which is Decent in one Countrey , is not all so in another ; and that , in the same Kingdome , but in divers places , or ( in the same time ) but amongst Persons of different Condition , Quality , and Humour ; the same Action is sometime conforme , sometime contrary to Decency . So that , Decency is nothing but the manner of using of Natural Things , according to the Esteem which Men pass upon them ; and to which , it is Prudence to Conform . We are all possessed with this Notion ; although we make no Reflexion thereon , That all Persons ( whether they be our Beloved , or the Witty and Judicious ; who in Publick , and according to the ordinary Custom , subject themselves to the Rites of Decency ) discharge themselves thereof in Private , as of Burdens troublesome and foolish . The Case is the same with Nobility . In some Countries of the Indies , the Labourers have the same Rank , as the Nobles with us : In some Countries , Sword-Men are prefered to the Gown-Men ; And in others , the quite contrary is Practised : Every one , according as his Inclinations leads him to favour such States , or that he esteems them most Important . Comparing these Notions , with the Opinions that the Vulgar have of VVomen ; we shall ( without trouble ) discover wherein consisteth the Errour . From whence is derived , the Distinction of Sexes ; How far it extends it self : And that it places no Difference betwixt Men and Women , with Relation to Vice and Vertue : And that the Temperament , and Constitution in general , in it self , is neither good nor bad . GOD willing to produce Men in Dependence , one upon another , by the Concourse of two Persons ; for that end , framed two Bodies , which were different : Each was perfect in its kind ; and they ought both to be disposed , as they are at present : And all that depends on their particular Constitution , ought to be considered , as making a part of their Perfection . It is then without Reason , that some imagine , That Women are not so perfect as Men ; and that they look upon that ( in them ) as a Defect , which is an Essential Portion of their Sex ; without the which , it would be useless for the end , for which it hath been formed ; which begins and ceases with Fecundity , and which is destin'd for the most excellent use of the World ; that is , to frame and nourish us in their Bellies . The Two Sexes ( together ) are necessary to beget the like : And if we knew , how it is that ours contribute thereto , we should find enough to be said against our selves . It is hard to be understood , upon what they ground themselves , who maintain , That Men are more Noble than Women , in regard of Children ; since it is properly the Women who Conceive us , Form us , and give us Life , Birth , and Breeding . It is true , they pay dearer for it than we : But their Pain and Trouble ought not to be Prejudicial to them , and draw upon them Contempt , in place of Esteem , which they thereby deserve . Who would say , That Fathers and Mothers ( who labour to bring up their Children , good Princes to Govern their Subjects , and Magistrates to render them Justice , ) are less Estimable than they whose Aid and Assistance they use , for to discharge themselves of their Duties ? There are some Physitians , who have mightily enlarged themselves upon the Temperament of Sexes , to the Disadvantage of Women ; and have pursued their Discourses out of sight ; to shew , That their Sex ought to have a Constitution altogether different from ours , which renders it inferiour in all things . But their Reasons are only light Conjectures ; which come into the Heads of such , as judge of things only by Prejudice , and upon simple Appearances . When they perceive the Two Sexes more distinguished , by that which regards the civil , than particular , Functions ; they fancy to themselves , that so they ought to be ; And , not discerning exactly enough , betwixt that which proceeds from Custom and Education , and that which comes from Nature ; they have attributed to one and the same Cause , all which they see in Society ; imagining , that when God Created Man and Woman , he disposed them in such a manner , as ought to produce all the Distinction which we observe betwixt them . This is to carry too far the Difference of Sexes : It ought to be bounded by the Designe , which God hath had to form Men , by the Concourse of two Persons ; and no more to be admitted , but what is necessary for that Effect . We see , that Men and Women are alike ( almost ) in all , as to the inward and outward Constitution of the Body ; and that the Natural Functions ( on which depends our Conservation ) are performed in both , after the same manner . It is then enough to the end , that they may give Birth to a Third ; that there be some Organs in the one , which are not in the other : And yet , it is not necessary in respect of that , ( as Men imagine ) that Women have less Strength and Vigour than Men. And , as there is nothing but Experience , that can enable us to judge aright of that Distinction ; do not we find , that Women are mixed , as we are ? There are some both Strong and Weak in both Sexes . Men brought up in Softness and Ease , are worse than Women ; and sink at first under Labour : But when ( by Necessity , or otherwise ) they are hardened , they become Equal , and sometimes Superiour to others . It is just so with Women : They that are taken up and employed in painful Exercises , are stronger than Ladies , who only handle the Needle . And this may encline us to think , that if both Sexes were equally Exercised , the one might acquire as much Vigour as the other ; which , in former times , have been seen in a Common-Wealth ; where Wrestling , and other Exercises , were common to both : The same is Reported of the Amazones , in the South Part of America . We ought not ( then ) to lay any ground on certain ordinary Expressions , drawn from the present State of the Two Sexes . When we would ( mockingly ) blame a Man , as having little Courage , Resolution , and Constancy , we call him Effeminate ; as if we would say , That he is as Low , and Cow-hearted , as a Woman . On the other hand , to praise a Woman that is above the Ordinary , because of her Courage , Strength , or Wit ; we say , ●he is a Man. These Expressions ( so advantagious to Men ) do not a little Contribute , to entertain the high Notion that we have of them ; Because we consider not , that they are but Likely-hoods ; and that their Verity indifferently supposes Nature , or Custom ; and so , are purely Contingent , and Arbitrary . Vertue , Mildness , and Integrity , being so peculiar to Women ( if their Sex had not been so little esteemed ) ; when we would have signified , with Elogy , that a Man had all these Qualities in an Eminent Degree ; we would have said , He is a VVoman , if it had so pleased Men , to Establish this form of Speech . What-ever the Matter be , it is not the Strength of Body , that ought to distinguish Man-kind ; otherwise , Beasts would have the advantage of them ; and , amongst our Selves , the Strongest . Notwithstanding , we know by Experience , that such who have so great Strength , are proper for nothing but Matterial Works : And that these , on the other hand , who have less , have commonly more Brains . The ablest Philosophers , and the greatest Princes , have been Delicate enough ; and the greatest Generals , would not have ( perhaps ) been willing to Wrestle with the meanest of their Souldiers . Go but to a Court of Justice , and you shall see , whether the greatest Judge match alwayes ( in Strength ) the lowest of their Officers . It is then useless , to lean so much upon the Constitution of the Body , for to render Reason of the Difference which is seen betwixt the Two Sexes , in Relation to the Spirit . The Temperament does not consist in an indivisible Point : For , as we cannot find two Persons in whom it is altogether alike ; neither can we any more determine , precisely , wherein it is that they differ . There are many sorts of Cholericks , Sanguines , and Melancholicks ; and all these Diversities hinder not , but that they may be often as capable the one , as the other ; and that there may be excellent Men , of all sorts of Constitutions : And even supposing , that that of the Two Sexes be as different , as it is pretended to be ; there is still found greater Difference amongst many Men , who are ( notwithstanding ) believed capable of the same things . The More , and the Less , being so little considerable , there is nothing , but a spirit of Wrangling , that can make it be regarded . It is propable , that that which engrosseth so much ( into Notion ) the Distinction whereof we speak , is , That Men examine not precisely enough , all that which is Remarkable in Women : And that Defect makes us fall into the Errour of those , who ( having the Mind confused ) distinguish not aright , what ( severally ) belongs to things ; and attribute to one , that which only pertains to another ; because they find them together in the same Subject . Wherefore , finding so great Difference in Women , as to the manner of Actions , and Functions ; Men have transferred it to the Temperament , for want of Knowledge of the true Cause . However it be , if we would examine , which is the most Excellent of the Two Sexes , by the comparing of Bodies ; Women might pretend to the Advantage , and without insisting on the Internal Fabrick of their Bodies ; and that it is in them , that the thing in the World ( the most Curious to be known ) passeth ; to wit , How that Man ( the most Beautiful and Wonderful of all Creatures ) is produced : Who can hinder them to say , That that which appeareth in the out-side , ought to give them the better ? That Comeliness , and Beauty , are natural and peculiar to them ; and that it is this , that produceth Effects as sensible , as ordinary : And that , if what they can performe by the inside of the Head , renders them ( at least ) Mens Equals ; the Out-side seldome ever failes , to render them absolutely their Mistresses . Beauty being as real an Advantage , as Strength and Health , Reason forbiddeth not to plead Pre-eminence therefrom , rather than from the others : and if we should judge of its Value ( by the Sentiments and Passions , which it excites ) , as we judge ( for the most part ) of all things ; we would find ; that there is nothing more estimable , there being nothing so effective ; that is to say , which moves and stirs more Passions , and does mingle and fortifie them more diversly , as the Impressions of Beauty . It would not at all be necessary , to speak any more concerning the Temperament of VVomen ; if an Author ( no less Famous than Polite ) had not thought fit to consider it , as the force of the Defects which Men commonly charge them with ; which helps much to confirm People in the Opinion , That they are less to be valued than we . Without relating his Opinion , I say , that for the right examining of the Temperament of the Two Sexes ( with a Reference to Vice and Vertue ) , it must be considered in a State indifferent ; when , as yet , neither Vice nor Vertue were in Nature : And then we shall find , that that which in one time is called Vertue , may in another , pass for Vice ( according to the use that Men make thereof ) ; So that , in that case , all Temperaments are alike . For the better Understanding of this Opinion , we must observe , that there is nothing but our Soul capable of Vertue ; which , in general , consists in a firm and constant Resolution , of doing that which we judge , the best ; according to the divers Occurrencies that we meet with . The Body ( properly ) is nothing but the Organ , and Instrument of that Resolution ( as a Sword in ones hand ) , both for Offence and Defence : And all the different Dispositions ( which renders it more or less fit for that use ) , ought not to be called good or bad ; but as their Effects are more ordinary , and important , for Good and Evil : For example , The Disposition to Flight , for avoyding the Evils which threaten us , is Indifferent ; because there are some , which cannot otherwise be shunned ; and then , it is Wisdom to flye : When , on the other hand , it is culpable Cowardise , for one to betake himself to his Heels , when the Danger is superable , by a generous Resistance ; which produceth more Good than Hurt . But the Mind is no less capable in VVomen , than in Men , of that firm Resolution , which makes up Vertue ; nor of knowing the Ran-counters , when it is to be put in Practice . They can Regulate their Passions , as well as we ; and are not more enclined to Vice , than to Vertue . We might even make the Ballance turn to their Favour on this side ; since that the Affection towards Children ( without comparison , stronger in VVomen , than in Men ) , is naturally linked to Compassion ; which we may call , the Vertue and Bond of Civil Society . It being impossible to conceive , That Society is rationally Established for other end , than to supply the common Wants and Necessities of one another . And if we nearly observe , How Passions are formed in us ; we shall find , that after the manner that VVomen contribute to the Production and Education of Men , it is a Natural Consequence , that they should treat them in their Afflictions , in some sort as their Children . The Difference which is observed , between Men and Women , in regard of Manners , proceeds from the Education which is given Them. IT is so much the more important to Remark , That the Dispositions , which we bring with us into the World , are neither ( in their Nature ) good or bad ; that otherwise , we cannot avoyd an Errour very ordinary ; whereby Men often refer to Nature , that which ( onely ) springs from Custom . Men torture their Minds , to search for a Reason , Why we are subject to certain Faults , and have particular Customs ; for want of having observed , that which may be produced in us , by Habit , Exercise , Education , and outward Condition ; that is to say , The Relation of Sex , Age , Fortune , and Employment , wherein we are placed in Society : It being certain , that all these different Views diversifying , in an infinite number of wayes , the thoughts , and passions , answerably dispose the minds quite other-wayes , to look on the truths presented to them . It is for that Reason , that the same Maxime , proposed at the same time to Citizens , Souldiers , to Judges , and Princes , affects them , and makes them Act so differently : Because , that Men caring for nothing but the out-side ; Look on it as the Rule , and measure of their Sentiments : Whence happens , that the one le ts pass as useless , that which very much takes up others ; That Sword-men are Choaked with that which flatters Gown-men : And that Persons of the same Constitution take sometimes certain things in a contrary Sense ; Which enter by one and the same biass into the minds of Persons of different temperament ; but who have same the fortune , or education . It is not that we pretend , that all men bring into the World the same bodily constitution . That would be indeed , an ill-grounded pretence : There are some that are quick , and some flow : but it appeareth not , that that diversity any way hinders the minds to receive the same instruction : all that , it does , is , that some receive it more readily and happily than others . So that what temperament soever Woman have , they are no less capable than we , of truth and studies . And if we find at present , in some of them some defect , or impediment ; or even that all of them , do not look into solid matters , as men do ; to which notwithstanding experience is contrary , that ought solely to be rejected upon the outward condition of their Sex , and on the education , which is given them , which comprehends the ignorance wherein they are left , the Prejudices or Errours , which are instilled in them , the Example which they have of others their like . And all the wayes to which Decorum , restraint , reserve , subjection , and fears , reduceth them . In effect , nothing is omitted , on their account which may serve to perswade them , that this great difference , which they see betwixt their Sex , and ours , is a work of Reason , or divine institution . The apparel , education , and exercises , cannot be more different . A Maid is not in security but under the wings of her Mother ; or under the eyes of a Governant that never leaves her : They Frighten her with every thing : Threaten her with Spirits , and Hobgoblines , in all the corners of the house , where she may be alone : Even in the streets , and Churches , there is something to be feared , if she have not her guards . The great care which is taken to dress her , takes up all her mind : So many lookes as are glanced at her , and so many discourses , which she heares of beauty , imployes all her thoughts ; And the complements , which she receives on this Subject , makes her therein place all her happiness . As they never speak to her of any thing else , with that she limits all her designs , and carryes no higher her prospects . Dancing , writing , and reading , are the greatest exercises of Women ; all their library consists in a few little Bookes of Devotion , with that which is in the little cabinet . All their Science is reduced to work with a Needle . The Looking Glass is the great Master and Oracle which they consult . Balls , Playes , and the Modes , make the subject of their Entertainments : They consider their meetings as , famous Accademies , whether they go to inform themselves of all the news of their Sex. And if it happen , that some one or other distinguish themselves from the common , by the reading of certain Bookes , which they had trouble enough to catch , thereby to unlock their minds , they are often obliged to hide themselves : The greatest part of their companions , out of Jealousie or other respects , never failing to accuse them of intending to play the rare things . As to Maids of meaner condition , forced to gain their lively-hood by their labour ; their parts are still more useless . Care is taken to make them learn a trade convenient to their Sex , as soon as they are fit thereto , and their necessity of imploying themselves continually therein , hinders them from thinking of any thing else : And when both one , and others of them , bred in this manner have attained to the age of marriage , they are engaged therein , or otherwayes confin'd to a Cloyster , where they go on to live as they have begun . In all that which is taught to Women , do we see any thing that tends to solid instruction ? It seems on the contrary , that men have agreed on this sort of education , of purpose to abase their courage , darken their mind , and to fill it only with vanity , and fopperies ; there to stifle all the seeds of Vertue , and Knowledge , to render useless all the dispositions which they might have to great things , and to take from them the desire of perfecting themselves , as well as we by depriving them of the means . When I seriously think on the manner , how men look upon that which they think to see faulty , in VVomen , I find that such a carriage hath in it somewhat beneath persons endowed with reason . If there be equal occasion of finding of fault in both Sexes , that which accuseth the other , offends against Natural equity ; if there be more evill in ours , and that we see it not , we are rash to speak of the faults of others ; if we see it , and conceal it , we are unjust to blame the other who hath less . If there be more good in Women , than in Men ; Men ought to be accused of ignorance , or envy , not to acknowledge it , when in a Woman there is more Vertue than Vice , the one should serve to excuse the other ; and when the defects that she hath are insurpassable , or that the means to rid her self thereof , or guard therefrom , are wanting , as to Woman they are , such a one deserves compassion , not contempt . In fine , if these defects be but slight , or onely apparent , it is imprudence or Malice to insist on them ; And it is not hard to prove , that men commonly carry so in respect of Women . It is commonly said , that they are timerous , and uncapable of defence ; that they are afraid of their shadow , that the cry a child allarmes them , and the whistling of the Wind makes them tremble . That is not Universal . There are a great many VVomen as bold as men , and it is known that the most fearfull make often of necessity a Vertue ; timerousness , is almost inseparable from vertue , and all vertuous persons have it : As they would not do hurt to any , and that they are not ignorant how much wickedness is amongst men ; a small matter is enough to fill them with fear . It is a Natural passion , from which no body is exempt : all men fear death , and the troubles of life ; the most powerfull Princes apprehend the Rebellion of their Subjects , and the invasion of enemies , and the most valiant Generals to be surprized unawares . Fear is great , proportionably , to the force which men think they have to resist ; and it is not blameable , but in such in who are strong enough to repell the evil which threatens them : And we should be as unreasonable to accuse a Judge , or a man that had never minded any thing but his Book , of baseness , for refusing to fight a duel ; as to blame a Souldier who had alwayes carryed arms , for not daring to enter into dispute against a learned Philosopher . VVomen are bred in a manner that gives them ground to apprehend , and fear every thing ; they have not light enough to avoid surprizes in matters of Understanding . They have no share in the exercises which give strength and dexterity for attacking , and defending ; They see themselves exposed helplesly to suffer the outragiousness of a Sex ; so subject to Transports , which regards them with contempt , and that often treats its like with more rage , and cruelty , than Wolves do one another . Wherefore timerousness in VVomen ought not to pass for a defect , but rather for a Rational passion , to which they owe modesty , which is so peculiar to them ; and the two great advantages of life , which are the inclination to Vertue ; and the aversion from Vice , which the greatest part of men with all the education and light which are given them , can hardly acquire . Fear of want is the ordinary cause of Avarice , Men are no less subject thereunto than VVomen ; And if we came to an account , I know not if the number of the first should not be found greater , and their covetousness more blame worthy ; Since the midle Vertue is not far distant from the two Vices , the Extreams , men often mistake the one for the other , and confound avarice with laudable frugality . As the same action may be good in one , and bad another , it often happens that that which is evill in us , is not at all so in VVomen : They are destitute of all means to make their fortune by their parts , the door of Sciences , and Employments , being shut against them ; And so being in worse condition to guard themselves against the misfortunes , and inconveniences of life , they ought more to be concerned . It is no wonder then , that herewith they seeing what a great trouble it is to purchase a small estate , they take care to keep it . If they receive so easily that which is told them , it is an effect of their candour , and ingenuity , that will not suffer them to think , that these who have authority over them , are ignorant , or interested ; and we offend Justice , to accuse them of credulity , since there is yet more amongst us . The ablest men suffer themselves to be too much allured by a false appearance ; And all their Knowledge is often times , but a mean credulity , but of somewhat greater extent than that of Women : I mean , that they are not more knowing than others ; but because they have more Lightly given their consent , to a greater number of things , of which they have retained the Notions , right or wrong , by having so often run them over . That which causeth timerousness in Women , produceth likewise superstition , which the learned themselves impute to them : But in this , the learned appear like those , who being most in the wrong , perswade themselves that they are in the right , because they make a Lowder Noise than others . They fancy that they themselves , are clear from superstition , because they find it in some ignorant Women , whil'st in the mean time , themselves are therein miserably plunged up to the eares . Though all men were the true worshipers of God , in Spirit , and in Truth , and that Women rendered him only Superstitious adoration , in this they would be excusable . They are not at all taught to know God by themselves : they know nothing of him , but what is told them : And , as the most part of Men speak of him in a manner , so unworthy of what he is , and distinguish him not from his Creatures , but only by the attribute of Creator ; it is no wonder , that Women only knowing him upon their report , Worship him by Religion , with the same Sentiments that they have for men , whom they fear and reverence . There are some men , that think they can sufficiently Mortifie the VVomen , by telling of them , that they are nothing else all of them but tatlers . They have reason to be vexed , at so impertinent a calumny . Their body is so happily disposed by the temperament which is propper to them , that they distinctly retain the impressions of Objects , which once they have received : They represent them to themselves without Trouble , and express them with wonderful Facility : That is the Reason , that the Notions which they have , awakening on the least occasion , they begin and continue their Conversation at their Pleasure : And the Quickness of their Spirit ( giving them Means to perceive , easily , the Relation of things among themselves , they ) pass without trouble from one Subject to another ; and , by that means , can speak a long time , without letting the Discourse flag or dye . The Benefit of Speech , is naturally accompanied with a great desire of using of it , when occasion offers : It is the only Bond of Men in Society ; and many find , that there is no greater Pleasure in the World , nor more becoming the Mind , than to Communicate their Thoughts to others . Wherefore , Women being able to speak with Ease , and being bred and brought up with others ; they were to be blamed , if they failed to entertain themselves . They ought not , then , to pass for Tatlers , but when they speak out of purpose ; and of things , which they understand not , without desire of Instruction . We must not imagine , that People never tatle , but when they talk of Cloths and Fashions . The Tatle of News-Mongers , is often more ridiculous : And that , store of Words , heaped one upon another ( and which signifie nothing at all , in the most part of Works ) , make a Chat far more simple , than that of the silliest of Women . At least , we may say , That the Discourses of these , are real and intelligible ; and that , they are not vain enough , to imagine ( as the greatest part of the Learned do ) , That they are Wiser than their Neighbours ; because they utter more Words , and less Sense . If Men had a Tongue as free , it would be impossible to make them hold their Peace . Every one entertains himself with what he knows ; Merchants about their Business , Philosophers with their Studies , and Women about that which they have been able to Learn ; And they may say , That they would have entertained themselves better , and with greater Solidity , if there had been as great Care for Instruction taken with them . It choaks a great many , that Women , in their Conversation , testifie a great desire to know every thing . I know not what can be the Palat of these Men , that cannot relish , that VVomen should be so Curious : For my part , I am well pleased , that People should be curious ; and I only advise them , to manage it so , that they be not troublesome there-with . I look upon the Conversations of VVomen , as upon those of Philosophers ; where it is equally permitted to all , to entertain themselves about things , of which they have no Knowledge ; and there are cross Times in the one , as well as the other . It is ordinary with many Men , to treat the Curious , like Beggars . When they are in an Humour of bestowing , they take it not ill to be asked ; and when they have a mind to discover what they know , they are glad to be entreated ; If not , they fail not to say , Ye are a little too Curious . Because Men have forged to themselves , that Women ought not to Study ; they stand upon their Points , when Women demand to be informed of that which is Learned by Books . I esteem them Curious things ; and regret , they have not the means to satisfie themselves therein ; being often ( only ) hindered by a just Fear , to address themselves for that end , to touchy and foolish Heads ; by whom they would find themselves jeer'd , instead of receiving Instruction . It seems to me , that Curiousity is one of the most certain Signes of a good Wit ; that is , more capable of Learning . It is a Knowledge begun , - which sets us forward , and makes us proceed farther in the way of Truth . When two Persons are touched by the same thing , and that the one looks upon it with Indifferency , and the other draws nearer , with designe to see it better ; it is a mark , that this hath the Eyes more open . The Mind in both Sexes , is Equally sit for Sciences ; and the Desire , which it may have of them , is no more to be blamed in the one , than in the other . When the Mind finds it self affected with a thing , which it sees but obscurely , it seems to be by a Natural Right , that it would be cleared therein : Ignorance being the most irksome Slavery ( wherein it can be ) , it is as unreasonable to condemn a Person , who strives to get out of it ; as a Wretch , who should endeavour to escape out of a Prison , where he were shut up . Amongst all the Faults that Women are charged with , the Inconstant and Fickle Humour , is that which makes the maniest discontented . In the mean-time , they themselves are not less subject thereto ; But because , they see themselves Masters , they think that every thing is lawful to them : And that Women , being once engaged to them , the knot ought to be indissoluble ( onely ) on their part ; although that they be both Equal , and that every one is obliged for their own share . They would not so often ( Mutually ) accuse one another of Levity , if they observed , that it is Natural to Men ; and that , he that sayes Mortal , sayes Inconstant ; and that , it is an Indispensible necessity of being , in the manner which we are made . We judge not of Objects , we love , or hate them not ; but upon Appearances , which depend not on us . The same things appear to us diversly ; sometime , because they have suffered some Alteration ; some time , because we our selves are changed . The same Meat , more or less Seasoned , ( Hot or Cold ) causeth in us quite different Sensations : And , remaining still the same , we are otherwise affected therewith in Sickness , than in Health . In our Infancy , we are indifferent , as to Things ; which , ten Years after , we look upon with Passion , because the Body is Changed . If a VVoman loves us , it is , Because she thinks us Lovely ; and , if another hate us , it is , Because we appear to her Hateful . In one time we esteem those , whom we have slighted before ; because they have not alwayes appeared to us the same ; whether it be They , or We , who are Changed . And such an Object , being presented to the Heart , hath found the Door open ; which , a Quarter of an Hour sooner or later , had been barr'd against it . The Hovering , wherein we many times find our Selves betwixt two different Inclinations , which one and the same Object causeth in us , convinceth us in spight of our Teeth , that the Passions are not free ; and that we are unjust to complain , That we are otherwise considered of , than we would . As a small Matter is enough to kindle Love ; so , a little thing can extinguish it : and that Passion depends no more upon us in its Progress , than in its Birth . Of ten Women , that aspire to be Loved , it falls out ordinarily , That she who hath least Merit , least of Birth and Beauty , shall carry it over the rest ; because that she may have had a Brisker Air , or some-what more in Mode , or suitable to our Gusto , in the Humour that then we find our selves in . It is so far from doing wrong to Women , to accuse them of being more Cunning and Artificious than Men , that Men speak for them , if they know what they say ; since ; by so saying , they acknowledge them to be more Witty and Prudent . Artifice is a secret way of attaining an End proposed , without being diverted : There is need of Wit , to find out that way ; and Dexterity , to manage it : And we cannot find fault , that a Woman imployes Artifice , to avoyd being deceived . Craft is far more Pernicious , and more ordinary amongst Men : That hath alwayes been the common Road , to enter into the Places and Employments , where they may do greatest Mischief . And , instead of that , That Men ( who have a mind to Cheat ) , employ their Goods , their Understanding , and their Power , from which we are rarely secure : VVomen have nothing to use , but Caresses and Eloquence , which are natural Means ; against which , we may more easily guard our Selves , when there is any reason of Mistrust . For the Summary of Accusation and Defect , it is said , That VVomen are more malitious and wicked than Men : And all the Evil , with which Men can charge them , is shut up in this Opinion . I do not believe , that those who entertain this Thought , do pretend , That there are more VVomen than Men , who do Mischief : That would be a manifest Falshood ; For , they have no part in Employments , and Charges ; the abuse of which , is the cause of all publick Calamities ; and their Vertue is too Exemplary ; and the Disorders of Men too well known to call them in question . When Men ( then ) say , That Women have more Malice ; it signifies no more , but that , when they set themselves to do Evil , they do it more dextrously , and drive it farther than Men. Let it be so . This marks in them a most solid Advantage : For , one cannot be capable of doing much Mischief , without having good Judgment ; and without being also ( by Consequence ) capable of doing much Good. So that , VVomen ought not to look upon this Reproach , more Injurious , than that which might be made to Rich and Powerful Men ; that they are more wicked than the Poor , because they have more Opportunies of hurting : And VVomen might answer , as they ; That , if they can do Hurt , they can also do Good ; and that , if the Ignorance wherein they are left be the cause , Why they are worse than we ; Knowledge , on the contrary , would render them much better . This short Discussion , of the most signal Defects ( which Men conceive peculiar , and natural , to the lovely Sex ) proves two things ; the one ▪ That they are not so considerable , as the Vulgar Imagine ; and the other That they may be Rejected , upon the little Education which VVomen have ; and what-ever they are , they may be amended by Instruction ; of which , VVomen are no less capable than our Selves . If the Philosophers had followed this Rule , in judging of all that concerns VVomen , they would have spoken more soundly ; and had not ( in Respect of them ) fallen into Ridiculous Absurdities . But the most part , both of Antient and Modern , having only built their Philosophy upon popular Prejudices ; and , having been in great Igno-rance of themselves , it is no wonder , that they have so far mistaken others . Without giving our selves any trouble to medle with the Antients ; we may say of the Modern , That the manner how they are Taught ( making them believe , though falsly , That they cannot become more knowing , than those that have gone before them ) , renders them Slaves to Antiquity , and enclines them , to embrace ( blindly ) all that they find therein , as Constant and Universal Truths . And because , that all that they say against VVomen , is principally founded upon what they have Read in the Antients ; it will not here be unprofitable , to relate some of the most curious Conceits on this Subject ; which have been left to us , by these Illustrious Dead , whose very Ashes , and Rottenness , are at this Day , held in so great Veneration . Plato ( the Father of Antient Philosophy ) thanked the Gods for three Favours , which they had bestowed on him ; but chiefly , for that he was Born a Man , and not a VVoman . If he had in his Eye their present Condition , I should easily be of his Mind : But that which makes me think , that he had some-what else in his Thoughts , is , The Doubt which he is said to have been often in , If Women ought to be placed in the Category of Beasts . That may be sufficient to Rational Men , to make him Condemn himself of Ignorance , or Brutishness ; and totally to degrade him from the Title of Divine , which he enjoyes no more , but among Pedants . His Scholar Aristotle ( to whom the Schools still continue the Name of the Glorious Genious of Nature ; upon a Mistake , that he hath known her , better than any other Philosopher ) pretends , that VVomen are but Monsters . Who would not believe it , upon the Authority of so Renowned a Personage ? To say , It is an Impertinence ; would be , to choak his Supposition too openly . If a VVoman ( how Learned soever she might be ) , had wrote as much of Men , she would have lost all her Credit ; and Men would have imagined it sufficient , to have refuted such a Foppery ; by answering , That it must be a VVoman , or a Fool , that had said so . In the mean-while , she would have had no less Reason , than this Philosopher . VVomen are as Antient as Men ; We see them in as great Number ; and no Man is surprized to meet them in his Way . To be a Monster ( according to the Opinion , it self , of that Man ) there must be something Extraordinary , and Surprizing . VVomen have nothing of all that : They have been alwayes made after the same Fashion ; alwayes Pretty and Witty. And , if they be not made like Aristotle , they may say , That Aristotle was not made like them . The Disciples of this Author ( who lived in the time of Philo ) , fell into a Conceit , no less old Fashioned , in regard of VVomen ; fancying to themselves ( according to the Relation of that Historian ) , That they were Half-Men , or Imperfect Males . It is , without doubt , because they have not the Chin hung with a long beard ; unless it be that , I can apprehend nothing . The Two Sexes ( to be Perfect ) ought to be , as we see them . If the one were altogether like the other , it would be neither of the Two. If Men be the Fathers of Women , Women are the Mothers of Men ; which , at least , renders them Equal : And we might have as much Reason , as these Philosophers , to say , That Men are Imperfect VVomen . Socrates ( who was the Morality and Oracle of Antiquity ) speaking of the Beauty of that Sex ; was accustomed to compare it to a Temple of a Fair Show , but built upon a Jakes . If this Conceit do not turn our Stomacks , we must only Laugh at it . It is propable , that he judged of the Bodies of others , by his own , or by his Wives ; who was a She-Devil , which made him detest her ; and , that he spake of her Sex , to bring her down : And , that he himself was mad to the very soul , because he was ugly as a Maggot . Diogenes , Sir-named The Dog , because he was good at nothing but Biteing ; seeing one day ( in passing ) two VVomen , who Discoursed together ; told the Company , That there was two Serpents , an Aspe and a Viper , who Communicated to one another their Poison . That Saying is worthy of an Honest Man ; and I wonder not , that it is Ranked among the goodly Philosophical Sentences . If the Wise Men of Gottam had lived in his time , it is certain , we should have found their Ran-counters more sprightly . The good Man was a little wounded ; and they that knew him a little , judged , that ( at that time ) he had nothing else to say . For the admirable and pleasant Democritus ; as he loved to be merry and laugh a little , we must not take every thing litterally which came from his Mouth . He was a very tall Man ; and his Wife , one of the least : Being one day asked , Why he had so ill matched himself ? He answered ( according to his ordinary Rallery ) , That when we are obliged to choose , and when there is nothing that is good to be taken , the Least is alwayes the Best . If the same Question had been put to his Wife , she might have repartied with as much Reason ; That a little and a big Husband , being both alike , the one as bad as the other , she had taken her's hap Hazzard ; for fear , that if she had chosen , she might have done worse . Cato ( the Sage and Severe Critick ) prayed often , That the Gods would pardon him , if he had been so Imprudent , as to trust the least Secret to a VVoman . There stuck in the good Mans Mind , a Famous Passage in the Roman History ; which Antiquaries use as a great Argument , to prove the little Secresie of VVomen : A Child of twelve Years of Age , being pressed by his Mother , to tell her the Resolution of he Senate ( where he had been Assistant ) , invented to baffle her ; that it had been decreed , That every Husband should have several Wives . Immediately , she went and told her Neighbours , to consult about her Measures with them ; So that , in the space of half an Hour , it was all the Town over . I would gladly know , what a poor Husband would do , if in a State , where VVomen were the Mistresses ( as in that of the Amazones ) ; one should come and tell him , that it had been resolved in Counsel , That every Husband must have an Helper : without doubt , he would not open his Mouth . These are some of the great and sublime Conceits , which they ( whom the Learned study as Oracles ) have entertained , concerning the Beautiful SEX : And that which is pleasant , and odd , both together , is , That Grave Men seriously make use of that , which these Famous Antients have often but said in Drollery : So true it is , that Prejudices , and Pre-Occupation , do make Men themselves mistake the Mark , who pass for the most Rational , Judicious , and Wife . FINIS . An Advertisement . THE strongest Objections that can be made against us , are drawn from the Authority of great Men , and Holy Scripture : As to the former , VVe think to have sufficiently satisfied Them ; by telling them , That we acknowledge no other Authority here , but that of Reason , and good Sense . As to the Scripture ; it is not at all contrary to the Intent of this Treatise , if me understand ( well ) both the one and the other . Here we pretend , That there is an intire Equallity betwixt the Two Sexes , being considered Independent of of Custom ; which placeth often those of most Merit and Parts , in a Dependence on others . The Scripture speaketh not a word of Inequality : And , as the end of it is only to serve Men for a Rule in their Conduct , ( according to the Notions which it gives of Iustice ) ; So , it leaves to every one the Liberty , to judge as well as he can of the natural ( and true ) state of Things . And , if we mind it , all the Objections which are drawn there-from , are but Sophisms of Prejudice ; whereby sometimes , Men understand ( of all Women ) Passages , which only agree to some few in Particular : Sometime they refer to Nature , that which only flowes from Education or Custom , and that which sacred Authors have spoken with Relation to their own Times . Books Printed for Nathanael Brooks at the Angel in Cornhil , near the Royal-Exchange . Folio . 1. 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