with those Phrases as their Cloaths with several Coloured Ribbands or Hats with Feathers or Bodyes with Affected motions and whosoever doth Discourse out of the Mode is as much Despised as if their Cloaths or Behaviours were out of Fashion they are accounted Fools or Ill-bred Persons indeed most Men and VVomen in this Age in most Nations in Europe are nothing but Mode as mode-Minds mode-Bodyes mode-Appetites mode-Behaviours mode-Cloaths mode-Pastimes or Vices mode-Speeches and Conversations which is strange to have Minds according to the Mode as to have a mode-Judgment for all will give their Judgments and Opinions according to the Mode and they Love and Hate according to the Mode they are Couragious or Cowardly according to the Mode Approve or Dislike according to the Mode nay their VVits are according to the Mode as to Rallery Clinch Buffonly Jest and the like for Better VVit is not usually the Mode as being alwayes out of Fashion amongst mode-Gallants but True and Good VVit lives with the Seniors of the Time such as Regard not the Mode but Chuse or Prefer what is Best and not what is Most in Fashion unless that which is Best be in Fashion which is very seldom if ever Known for that which is Best or Good is not General especially Wit for the Right True and Best VVit keeps to Particulars as being Understood by Particulars Some Moders have oftner VVit in their Mouths than in their Brains that is they Speak the VVit of Others but have none of their Own But Grave Experienced and VVise men give their Judgment or Opinion not according to the Mode or Fashion but according to Probability Sense and Reason neither do they say such or such a Thing VVill or Shall be or Is so VVhy because it is the General Opinion but they say such or such a Thing May be or 't is Likely Will be or Is so VVhy because there is a Probability or Reason for it Neither do the Just and Wise Hate or Love Approve or Dislike because it is the Mode as to Hate what is not Generally Loved or Love what is not Generally Hated or to Despise what is Generally Disliked or Admire what is Generally Commended but they Hate what is Really Bad Wicked or Base and not what is Thought so and Love what is really Good Vertuous and Worthy not for the general Opinion but for the Truth and they Admire and Commend Despise or Scorn Dislike or Disapprove that which is Despisable or Discomnendable or Scornable and so the like neither are they Couragious or Cowardly according to the Mode but they are Valiant or Cautious according to the Cause or Quarrel they do not Fight out of or in a Bravado but for Honour or in Honour's Quarrel nor do they Pass by Injury or Cover an Anger or Affront with a Rallery or Jest but because the Person that did the Injury or gave the Affront was either Drunk Mad or a Base Inferiour Person fitter for his Man's Quarrel than for his Own and for Wise men they Speak not with Mode-Phrases but such Words as are most Plain to be Understood and the Best to Deliver or Declare Sense and Reason and their Behaviours are those which are Most Manly and Least Apish Fantastical or Constrain'd and their Clothes are such as are most Useful Easie and Becoming neither do their Appetites Relish Mode-Meats or Sauces because they have the Mode Haut Goust but they Relish Best what is most Pleasing or Savoury to their Taste and so for Drinks Compounded as Chocolata Limmonada and the like they will not Drink them because of the Mode neither do they Affect Mode-Songs or Sounds because they are in Fashion to be Sung or Play'd but because they are Well-Set Tunes or Well-Compos'd Musick or Witty Songs and Well Sung by Good Voices or Well Plaid on Instruments neither do they follow Mode-Vices or Vanities for Fashion but for Pleasure or their own Humour or Fancy nor do they use those Exercises that are in Mode but those they like Best Thus a Wise Man Follows not the Mode but his own Humour for if it be the Mode to Play at Tennis or Paille-maille or the like if he like better to Ride or Fence he will let alone the mode-Exercises and Use his Own if it be the mode-Pastime to Play at Cards or Dice if he like better to Write or Read he will leave the mode-Pastime and Follow his Own and if it be the mode-Custom to Dine and Sup and Meet at Ordinaries or Taverns if he like better to Sup and Dine at Home alone he will not go to Ordinaries or Taverns if it be the Mode to make General Courtships if he Like or is better pleased with a Particular Mistress he will not follow the Mode neither will he Ride Post because it is the Mode but because his Affairs Require it neither will he Journey from Place to Place to no Purpose because it is the Mode but will VVisely Sit still or Rest at his own Home because it is Easie Peaceable Quiet and Prudent as not so Chargeable But leaving the Modists to their mode-Clothes Oaths Phrases Courtships Behaviours Garbs and Motions to their mode-Meats Drinks Pastimes Exercises Pleasures Vanities and Vices to their mode-Songs Tunes Dances Fiddles and Voices to their mode-Judgements Opinions and Wits to their mode-Quarrels and Friendships to their Mode-Lying and Dissembling I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXIV MADAM 'T Is usual for Men to Brag onely some Brag more Obscurely or Neatly and some more Grosly than others and it is Natural for Women to Brag but all Bragging proceeds from Self-Love to Covet the World's good Opinion Esteem and Respect for through fear of Obscurity Men Divulge their own Worth Wealth Birth Qualities Abilities Favours and Graces and those Actions they believe are Worthy of Praise but for the most part all Brags are heightened by the help of Self-partiality or Self-opinion beyond the Truth so that Brags are like Romances the Ground is True but the Elevation False indeed a Brag is nearer a Lie than a Truth for to speak pure Truth is not so much a Brag as a Vain-glory at least a Vanity which most of Mankind Delight in although the Speaker is more Delighted than the Hearer for few or none Delight to Hear a Self-praiser unless it be those that have near Relations as Parents Children Brothers Sisters Husbands and Wives whose Affections are Delighted with their Friends Perfections and Good Fortunes but Strangers and Visiting Acquaintance Dislike that Vain Truth and are soon Tyred with such a Relation nay have an Aversion to the Sound of a Bragging Tongue not their Own Tongues for no Discourse Pleases them Better than to Discourse of Themselves but the Tongues of Others which beget rather Envy and Malice in the Hearers than Love and Admiration But leaving this Natural Defect and Vain Effect I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXV MADAM I Do not wonder that the several
a Man but perchance some have Childish Constitutions all their Life-time and the truth is that Diet is much according to the Constitution for that which will Agree with some will Disagree with others and for Milk it better Agrees with VVeak Constitutions than Strong yet VVomens Milk and Asses Milk doth Agree better than any other Milk by reason those Milks are Thinner and not so full of Curds But leaving Mrs. P. C. to her Milk I rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant CLV MADAM TWo or three dayes since the Lady M. L. was to Visit me again with a Countenance as Joyful as formerly it was Sad I told her I was very glad to see such an Alteration in her Face which shew'd her Mind to be more Chearful than it was she said it was true for she hoped she would be as Happy as she thought she was Unhappy for my Husband hath Confess'd said she that his Unkindness to me was rather Seeming than Real more to Prove my Virtue than to Dislike my Person or Humour and that if he were Unmarried and Free to Choose any VVoman through the VVorld he would Choose me for his VVife and he sayes he would not Part from me were he sure to be the Master of the VVorld by being Perfid or Divorced from me and hereafter he would endeavour to be as Good a Husband as I am a VVife and with this Joyful Relation her Blood Flush'd into her Cheeks which shew'd that her Cold Dark Melancholy Thoughts were Dispersed like as the Sun breaks through Dark and Broken Clouds which Clouds when Joyned Obscured his Light and Abated his Heat the truth is her Joy was so much as I may say it was Contagious and Infectious for it Affected me with Joy to See and Observe her and if all her Neighbours were the like Affected she might do as the man that call'd his Neighbours and Friends to Rejoyce at the Finding his Lost Sheep but her Husbands Affections were not so much Lost as Hidden or Obscured from her Knowledge and truly she deserves to be Loved for her Virtue Chastity Love and Honour for there are but Few VVomen that make so good VVives as she for many Wives Dislike their Husbands not out of a Dislike to their Faults but out of Love to Variety and some Hate their Husbands through Hate to their Faults making no Distinction between the Man and the Faults nay some Dislike their Husbands Virtues and Good Qualities through a Dislike to their Persons and many Wives care not whether their Husbands Love or Hate them Live From or With them nay for the most part they love their Husbands Absence better than their Presence and will make Quarrels to Part but the Lady M. L. is not of the number of such Wives for she Loves her Husband which Love makes her Wink at her Husband's Faults she is Patient with her Husband's Anger Rejoyces at her Husband's Presence is Proud of her Husband's Favours Obedient to her Husband 's Honest Commands and had rather Die or Indure Torment than to Part or be Divorced from him All which every Good Wife ought to do But leaving the Lady M. L. to her Virtue Joy and Happiness I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLVI MADAM I Am sorry to hear you are not Well but if your Disease be only a Faint-tiredness or Weakness when you stand still any time since you can Walk an hour together and find no Weariness but rather Ease there is no Danger of Death for to be Weary when you Stand still so as to be near Fainting and to find Rest and Ease by Walking is a Natural Effect of a Natural Cause the reason is that when any one Stands still the Nerves and Sinews are Stretch'd straight out at Length but when one VValks or Moves they have Liberty as being Unbent and Unstretch'd as for Example when Mankind Stands their Legs Thighs Hams and Back are Straight as one Straight Line but when they Go their Legs Tuck up as first one Leg then th' other which Pulling or Tucking up Slackens all the Nerves and Sinews from the Back Downwards and that gives Ease for 't is not only Change that gives Ease but the Slacking of the Nerves and Sinews which are as if they were Stretch'd upon a Rack when they are Drawn Straight out at Length by Standing but it shews your Sinews and Nerves are not very Tough and Strong but rather Tender and VVeak being soon VVeary in Standing Still for the Nerves and Sinews are as Strings or Cords which Tie or Knit the several Parts of the Body together where some are Stronger and Tougher as not easily Stretch'd like as VVyer or Lute-strings or Bow-strings some are so Hard as they will sooner Break than Stretch others so Limber as to Stretch into a Hairs Smallness which makes them not so Firm nor Steady but apt to Tremble and Shake at the least Touch or Motion of the Air whenas those that are Hard and Tough require some Strength to Stir them The like is with the Nerves and Sinews those that are Weak and Tender when Stretch'd are apt to Move which is the reason that many with Standing Long will so Tremble and Shake as to be ready to fall to the Ground the Lower Parts of their Body being not able to bear them up being as it were Loose or Untied or Over-stretch'd and this is the reason that when Soft and Delicate Persons take up a great VVeight or hold a VVeight something above their Strength their Arms or Hands or Bodies will be as if they had the Shaking Palsie in them for an hour after for the Weight did Over-stretch their Sinews and Nerves But Madam I am Troubled with the same Tenderness insomuch as it is Tiresom to my Life and certainly the best Remedy will be to endeavour to Strengthen our Sinews and Nerves only the Mischief will be that what is good to Strengthen the Sinews and Nerves is Hurtful and apt to Obstruct the Liver Splene and Veins so as the Remedy may prove worse than the Disease for Gluttonous Meats are Good for the Sinews and Nerves but Nought for Obstructions But Physicians perchance can tell Remedies for I that am none may be Mistaken in the Cause and Ignorant of the Cure wherefore I will leave you to the Advice of the Learned Practicers and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLVII MADAM THose that take Exceptions at my Philosophical Opinions as for Example when I say there is no such thing as First Matter nor no such thing as First Power are either Fools in Philosophy or Malicious to Philosophy As for Infinite Power it is in God and God hath no Beginning nor his Power as being Infinite and Eternal wherefore there can be no First or Beginning either in Quantity or Quality And as for Matter or Substance let it be as is Believed that Matter or Substance were made out of Nothing that is that God was the First
saw not so Far or so Much as others not but that the Prospective Glasses were all of an Equal Goodness but some had not so Good an Eye-sight as others and after we had walked down the Hill every one took his leave of the Muses Departed but the Lyrick and the Comick Muse did so Imbrace and Kiss my Lord as they made me almost Jealous for though all the Muses made Civil and Obliging Addresses to him yet not so Pleasant and so Galliard as these two were and therefore I made the more Hast to Depart that I might Separate my Lord from them and so returning home to my House I rest Madam Your Ladiships faithful Friend and Servant CC. Dear Sister Pye DIstance of Place nor Length of Time cannot Lessen my Natural or rather Supernatural Affection to you for certainly my Love for you is more than a Sisters Love nay such a Love as when I Lived with you it could not choose but be somwhat Troublesome by reason my Love was Accompanied with such Fears as it would neither let you Rest Pray nor Eat in Quiet for though it was a Watchful Love yet it was a Fearful Love for I remember I have oftentimes Waked you out of your Sleep when you did Sleep Quietly with Soft Breathing fearing you had been Dead and oftener have I laid my Face over your Mouth to feel if you Breath'd insomuch as I have kept my Self Waking to Watch your Sleeps and as Troublesome I was to you concerning your Feeding as I was in your Sleeping for I was Afraid that that which was to Nourish you should Kill you and I remember I was so doubtful of every Meat you did eat as you were used to tell me I was Sancapancha's Doctor Neither could I let you Pray in Quiet for I have often Knock'd at your Closet door when I thought you were Longer at your Prayers than Usual or at least I did think the time Longer so as I could not forbear to ask you how you did and whether you were Well and many the like Impertinencies which my Extraordinary Love Troubled you with of which Trouble you are now Quit living so far asunder But though I am too far off to Watch yet I Pray for your Health and Long Life and though I thought it was impossible I could Love any Creature better than you yet I find by Experience I do for since I am Married I Love my Husband a Degree above you yet howsoever my several Affections are like God and Nature both Infinite and if Love Lives in the Soul and the Soul never Dies my several Affections may be Eternal But you may say if my Love was so Troublesome to you what is it to my Husband I must tell you I have some more Discretion now than I had then and though Extraordinary Love will hardly Allow or Admit Discretion yet Reason doth Perswade Love and brings many Arguments not to be Impertinently Troublesom but though I do not ask my Husband so many Impertinent Questions as I did you yet my Love to him is not less Watchful Careful and Fearful but rather more if more can be and all the Powers and Endeavours of my Life are ready to Serve him and you only he must be Served first which I am confident you will take no Exception at but Approve of for you are a Wife and know what the Love to a Husband is and so leaving you to your Beloved Husband I rest Your most Affectionate Sister CCI. Dear Sister Ann I Cannot Advise you to Marry unless Men's Souls Minds and Appetites were as Visible to your Knowledge as their Persons to your Eyes for though there may be much Deceit even in Outward Forms or Aspects yet not so much but if there be Defects there will be some Appearance but the Defects of the Mind Soul or Appetites may be so Obscured as not to be Perceived till you find you are Unhappy by them indeed there is so much Danger in Marrying as I wonder how any dare Venture yet there is less Danger for Women than Men by reason a Man may receive a Fix'd Disgrace both to himself and his Posterity by the Wifes Adultery where the Wife can receive no Dishonour if she be Honest and Chast but though she can receive no Dishonour by her Husband's Adultery yet she may be very Unhappy by his Opposite Disposition Cross Humours and Unruly Passions which Antipathy may not only be a Hindrance to the Peace of this Life and Tranquillity of the Mind but Indanger the Glory of a Future Life for Mankind is apt from the Troubles of their Minds to Curse Fortune and to Murmur against Heaven unless they have a Supernatural Patience besides Men are most apt to run into Vices in a Discontented Humor and are alwayes Wandering Abroad to Divert their Home-Disquiets not that they need to go out of Doors to Seek Vice for Vice Dwells in most Houses or Families but that by going into many Houses or Families they may take Infection from every one for Vice many times is Multiplied by Acquaintance I mean General Acquaintance not Particular Societies but I speak not this as Believing you can be Infected being Secured by the Antidote of Virtue the Spirit of Grace and the Balsam of Honour which Nature Heaven and Education gave you but though you cannot be Infected yet should you seek Diversion by much Company being of the Female Sex you might be Suspected Neither will I have you think by this Discourse as if I did not Approve of Marriage for if you do you Mistake me there being no Life I Approve so well of as a Married Life where as much Sympathy Joyns Souls and Affection Hearts as Ceremony Joyns Hands but to live with Antipathy must needs be very Unhappy and if you be so there is no way to Help your self for if you be once Tied with the Matrimonial Bond there can be no Honourable Divorce but by Death for all other Divorces are Marked with some Disgrace either more or less and the Least Disgrace is too Much wherefore if you Marry choose a Husband rather by the Ear than the Eye for the World seldom gives an Undeserved Praise but often Detracts from the Deserver for it seldom gives Merit its Due But the Safest Way is to Live a Single Life for all Wives if they be not Slaves yet they are Servants although to be a Servant to a Worthy Husband is both Pleasure and Honour for true Affection takes more Pleasure to Serve than to be Served and it is an Honour to Obey the Meritorious but where there is a Hazard in the Choice and a Security in not Choosing the Best is to be Mistress of your self which in a Single Life you are But whether Married or not Married my Wishes and Prayers are that you may be as Happy as this World can make you and in that I shall be a Sharer with you as being Your very Loving Sister CCII. Sweet Madam
they seem to have no more Faith than to believe their own Praises and their onely Hope is for pre-eminence of Beauty or Title for Place or Wealth and for Vanities and as for Charity they spend so much upon themselves as they have nothing left for the Poor and they are so far from governing their Passions and Appetites as their Passions and Appetites govern and rule the whole course of their Lives neither doth our Sex take much delight in true History for naturally our Sex is too lazy to look back into past Times neither have they the peircing foresight to see into Future times they only regard the Present neither doth our Sex take much pleasure in harmonious Musick only in Violins to tread a measure the truth is the chief study of our Sex is Romances wherein reading they fall in love with the feign'd Heroes and Carpet-Knights with whom their Thoughts secretly commit Adultery and in their Conversation and manner or forms or phrases of Speech they imitate the Romancy-Ladies And our Sexes chief Pastime is Gaming of all kinds or sorts but most Cards whereby they lose more money than get reputation indeed Carding is their Work for they make it rather a Labour with long and tiresome Sitting careful Playing and painful Vexing and Fretting than a Pleasure and Recreation and our Sexes chief Exercise is Dancing not alone amongst themselves for that they hate but in masculine Company and this they love so well as to dance themselves into a firie heat if not a Fever and their onely delight is in Love and Courtships and their only pleasure Luxury insomuch as they are for the most part Eating whether Sitting Walking or Dancing But leaving our Sex to their Banquets Courtships Dancing and Gaming I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. S. XXII MADAM YOu said in your last Letter that Sir G. A. doth so brag of his own gallant Actions as he saves his neighbour the labour to report them I am sorry to hear gallant men should brag of their own Actions for their bragging takes off the gloss of their Courage for as Time takes off Youth or fresh Colour off Beauty so Self-praise takes off the Esteem and Honour of Merit But as some will boast of their own Worth so others will boast of their own Baseness as what subtil Cheats they have practised or whom they have Betrayed or how ingenious they were in telling Lies or how many Robberies they have committed as also of their Disobedience Disloyalty and the like others will boast of their Debaucheries as how often they have had the French Disease how many Women they have Debauch'd how much they can Drink before they are Drunk and how long they can sit a Drinking what Monies they have Won or Lost at Play how Vain and Expensive they are or have been and many the like which I wonder at that men should Glory and take a Pride in that which is Base or Foolish But this argues some men to have mean Souls and foolish Brains full of idle Discourses wanting Judgement and Wit also unprofitable Lives and when they Die there is a good riddance for they were but as Rubbish in the World which Death like as an honest painful Labourer takes up like as Dunghils and throws them into the Grave and buries them in Oblivion not being worthy of a monument of Remembrance in which Grave I leave those that are Dead and those that Live I wish may be Reformed to more Purity so I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXIII MADAM IT is not strange that the Lady L. T. and the Lady A. M. should fall out so as to be Enemies although they were such fond Friends as not to be pleased in each others absence but Friendship that is made out of fond Humours seldom lasts long especially when they live and bord together for first Fondness wears away with Use and Acquaintance next being borded together Faults or Neglects are committed and Exceptions taken Self-love of the one person will be served first and Self-love of the other person will not suffer it besides many cross Humours and sometimes little Envies will appear betwixt equal Persons that live together especially Women and the sooner if either or both have Husbands or Lovers for Women will be sooner jealous of their Husbands or Lovers for their She-friends than Men will be of their Wives or Mistresses for their He-friends but Houshold Friends for the most part are Home-lovers that is the He-friend makes love to the Wife or the she-She-friend is Courted by the Husband and if they be both married 't is likely they Cuckold each other and thus for Example these Ladies are become Enemies through Jealousie for though the Lady L. T. profess'd to love her Friend the Lady A. M. dearly well yet it seems she will not have her to Share with her of her Husbands Love or Courtship although Sir T. O. the Lady L. Ts. Husband could be no less than a Servant to his Wives dear Friend Besides it is a temptation to an Husband to see two She-friends Imbrace and Kiss and Sport and Play which makes the Husband to desire to do the like not with his VVife but his VVives Friend for temptation is from that which men are not accustomed to or to do as they see others do but 't is likely when the jealous Humour of the Lady L. T. is over they will be Friends again till the jealous Humour return again Thus they may be Friends and Enemies all their Life time and perchance take a pleasure in being so for VVomen for the most part take delight to make Friendships and then to fall out and be Friends again and so to and fro which is as much Pastime and Recreation to them as going abroad and staying at home But I wish all Friends were as constant Friends as your Ladiship and I who are inseparably united for as long as I live I shall be Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. XXIV MADAM IN your last Letter I perceive the Gallants of the Time I mean Gallants for Youth and Bravery for Vice and Vanity for Expence and Prodigality for foolish Quarrels and rash Duels these Gallants it seems condemn Age as unfit for State-affairs as neither to Govern Command Direct nor Advise but certainly those States or Kingdoms that have young Governours and Counsellers shall have more Combustions and Disorders committed by their Ignorance and Follies than the most experienced Age can Rectifie indeed such Kingdomes and States are rather govern'd by Chance than Wisdom 'T is true Fools have Good Fortune sometimes but not so often as Bad which shews they neither have a Politick Vlysses nor a Counselling Nestor for though Young men may Fight as Achilles yet they can neither Counsel as Nestor nor Speak as Ulysses not but that some Old men may be Fools but it is against Nature for Young men to be Wise wherefore they are fitter to Obey than to Command and to be Advised
wherefore said I the best is to leave this Discourse and Discourse of some other Subject that is more Sociable as being more Conceivable Then they Laugh'd and said they would Discourse of VVomen I said I did believe they would find that VVomen were as Difficult to be Known and Understood as the Universe but yet I thought they would find them more Sociable at which Expression they made themselves very merry but being my near Relative Friends I took their Mirth in good part as I hope you will do this Long Letter Knowing the Length of my Letter is to Express my Obedience to your Commands in which I shall prove my self Madam Your Faithful Servant CXII MADAM YOu writ in your last Letter that I had given our Sex Courage and Confidence to Write and to Divulge what they Writ in Print but give me leave humbly to tell you that it is no Commendation to give them Courage and Confidence if I cannot give them Wit But Madam I observe our Sex is more apt to Read than to VVrite and most commonly when any of our Sex doth VVrite they Write some Devotions or Romances or Receits of Medicines for Cookery or Confectioners or Complemental Letters or a Copy or two of Verses all which seems rather as Briefs than Volumes which Express our Brief VVit in our Short Works and to Express my self according to the Wit of our Sex I will end this Letter onely give me leave to subscribe my self as truly I am Madam Your Ladiships faithful Servant CXIII MADAM IN your last Letter you were pleased to tell me you were invited to a Meeting where many Ladies and Gentlemen were and amongst their several Discourses the Lady M. L. spoke of me saying I liv'd a Dull Unprofitable Unhappy Life Imploying my time onely in Building Castles in the Air. Indeed if I were of her Ladiships Humour I should be Unhappy but as I am I would not change the Course of my Life with her Ladiship might I have the years of Methusalem to boot and as for the Minds Architecture as Castles in the Air or Airy Castles which are Poetical Conceptions and Solitary Contemplations which produce Poems Songs Playes Masks Elegies Epigrams Anagrams and the like they will be more lasting than Castles of Wood Brick or Stone and their Architecture if well Designed and Built will be more Famous and their Fame spread farther than those of Stone viz. to the View and Prospect of divers Nations if Translated into divers Languages whereas Castles of Timber Brick or Stone cannot be Removed nor Translated if Built upon the Ground neither is the Minds Architecture and Castles subject to Ruin as Castles of Stone which are subject to Time Accidents and the Rage of VVars by which they are Destroyed or Moulder to Dust and are Buried in Oblivion whenas Poetical Castles are set in Fames Palace neither doth the Building of Poetical Castles Impoverish and Ruin the Builder's Families as Corporeal Castles of Timber Brick or Stone for the most part do VVasting their VVorldly VVealth so much as they leave nothing for their Posterity but leave them to Poverty which Poverty forces them many times to Act Dishonourably so that what Fame they get by building Brave and Sumptuous Castles Houses Tombes and the like they lose by their Childrens Base Sharking Cheating Robbing and VVicked Actions and so instead of Fame get Infamy at best those Builders are accounted but Vain and Prodigal whenas the Architecture of the Mind which she names Castles in the Air give a Reputation not only to the Building but to the Builder's Temporal Posterity neither doth the Builder need any other Monument or Tomb than his Own Airy Works which if Curiously Composed and Adorned with Fancies Similitudes Metaphors and the like and Carefully Written and Printed are more Glorious Stately and Durable than Tombes or Monuments of Marble Costly Gilt and Carved nay more Lasting than the Tomb of Mausolus for Homer's Works Live and are Publick to the View whereas that Famous Monument is Consumed and onely Mentioned there was such a thing and yet is was one of the Corporeal Wonders of the World the like of the great Colossus and what is become of the Egyptian Pyramids By this we see that Poetical Castles are both Profitable and Lasting and will be Remembred when the Lady M. L. is Forgotten but as much as she Slights Poetical Castles she would be well Pleased to have an Epigram made in her Commendation and she will Crowd hard Sit so Long in a Masking Room upon a Scaffold as to be Incommoded in her Seat and Benumb'd with Sitting to see a Mask and she will be at the Charge to give Mony to See a Play and will sit two or three hours as a Spectator and Weep or Laugh as the Poet pleases to have her also she will be as Amorous as any Lover the Poet can make Indeed the Poet doth make her an Amorous Lover his Wit moves her Mind to Love and Courtships or Loving Courtships but though she Delights in the Poets Works yet she Dislikes the Poets Life and wants a Poets Wit to build Poetical Castles and so leaving her to her Little Wit and Many Words to her Gossiping-Life and her Light Heels I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXIV MADAM IN your last you Express'd that the Lord G. P. was totally Govern'd by one of his Chief men which shews the Man is the Master and the Master the Servant But there are different Governings for Subjects are Govern'd by Laws Children by Natural Love and Fear Servants by Profit and Slaves by Force but Few are Govern'd by Reason and as Few by Honour also Many are Govern'd by Flattery and Partiality and More by Luxury for the Sensual Appetites of the Body have a more Forcible Power for the most part than Reason and Temperance hath in the Soul and the Noble Passions or Virtues of the Soul are made Slaves to the Base Appetites of the Body sometimes by Force but oftener by an Insinuating Perswasion and Pleasing Temptation like as the Lord G. P. is Ruled by his Flattering and Insinuating Servant whereas the Appetites should be but as Servants to be Govern'd not Masters to Rule and although they ought to be Attended in their Sicknesses Cherish'd and Nourish'd in their Weakness Imployed in their Healthful Strength yet they must be Corrected in their Extravagancies and Punished for their Disorders But a Man of Honour a Gentleman ought to be Free from them as to have his Mind Free from the Slavery of the Bodily Senses or Sensual Appetites as also from Outward Accidents Fortunes or Objects which is to have his Judgment Understanding Opinion Justice Prudence Fortitude Temperance and the like Free from Partiality and Inticing Perswasions and to let Reason Honour and Honesty be Judges to Decide and Determine all Causes concerning the Actions of Life for though Outward Causes or Things must be made Judges or Governours of Reason Honour and
little Resort especially of courting Gallants for most Women love Variety of Company and much Company even married Wives as well as Maids neither do all Widows shun Company As for Maids they have an excuse to get them Husbands and Widows are at liberty to make a second third or fourth Choice when their Husbands are dead but Wives have no excuse for the Company of Courting Servants and merry Meetings but onely the Splene which nothing can cure but Company and Jollity to divert Melancholy and to remove the Splenetick Obstructions and Crude Vapours for which Dancing Feasting Gaming and the like is the best Cure Probatum est Whereas the lone Company of a Husband is so far from working any Cure as it is many times the Cause of the Disease But if her Melancholy proceed from want of Variety of Company I pitty both her Husband and Attendants for most commonly a Peevish Frowardness doth attend that Melancholy they will Quarrel with every Thing and not be Pleased with Any take Exceptions at every Word complain of being Sick but know not where their Pains are even as Weary of Themselves which makes their Husbands many times Weary of Them and to Divert the Grief of their Wives Troubles they Solace with their Wives Maids who are more Pleasant Company being not troubled with the Splene as not having a Husband nay when they do Marry their minds are so employ'd about getting a Livelihood as they have not time to think of their Splenes besides they are forced to Labour and VVork for their Living which keeps them from such Obstructions or Disease and the Splene is a Disease which is onely amongst the Noble and Rich whose VVealth makes them Idle and their Idleness begets an appetite to Variety of Diets Clothes and Company whereas Poor Laborious People know not such Disease But leaving this Theme give me leave to welcom you out of the Country and to acquaint you that I will shortly Personally wait upon you as is the duty of Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXXV MADAM SIr W. Cs. VVife you know hath a Conversable and Ingenious VVit yet not being very handsom her Husband hath got him a Mistress who is very beautiful and handsom but yet she is a Fool a Friend of his ask'd him why he chose a Fool for his Mistress he said he did not Court her for her Wit but for her Beauty for said he now I have a Mistress for Delight and a Wife for Conversation I have a Mistress to Look on and Admire and a Wife to Listen to and Discourse with and both to Embrace at my Pleasure but said his Friend if your Wife should come to know you have a Mistress you will not take much Pleasure in her Conversation unless you account mourning Complaints of or to you Exclamations and Curses against you cross Speeches opposite Actions and hideous Noise to be Conversable and Delightful for the truth is said he your Wife's words will be so Salt Sharp and Bitter as they will Corrode your Mind Leaven your Thoughts and make your Life Unpleasant My Wife said Sir W. C. shall not know I have a Mistress his Friend replied your often Absence will Betray you or else some other will tell her for Adultery is like Murder it seldom escapes finding out and since that time Sir W. Cs. Lady hath heard of her Husbands Mistress but she seems not to be Angry at it but talks of it with great Patience saying that if her Husband takes Pleasure in Variety he will be more delighted with her Wit than with his Mistress's Beauty and will sooner be tired with gazing on One Object than in hearing Divers Discourses and Diversions of Wit Sense Reason Judgement Fancy and Speech Besides said she VVit attracts the Mind more to Love than Beauty to Admiration and if my Husband Loves me Best said she I am well content he should Admire her Beauty Most as also to Imbrace her as much as he pleases for I am so Delighted and VVedded to my own VVit that I regard not my Husbands Amours nor Imbracings for VVit is Spiritual and not Corporeal it lives with the Mind and not with the Body being not subject to the gross Senses for though Wit said she may be made known by VVords and Actions yet those are but the Pictures of Wit 's VVorks not VVit it self for that cannot be Drawn it is beyond all Draughts and so much Difference said she is between my Husband's Mistress and his VVife as a Picture and an invisible Spirit which Spirit can both Help and Hurt Delight and Terrifie Damn and Glorifie But howsoever said she my VVit shall not be my Husbands Evil Spirit neither to Reproach him nor to Disgrace Reprove Delude or Anger him but it shall be alwayes ready to Defend Commend Inform Delight and if it could to Reform him but I believe said she that is past the power of my Wit for it is a hard matter to Restrain Nature from Liberty especially of the Appetites for the Passions of the Mind are more easily Govern'd than the Appetites of the Body for they are Sensual and Brutal wherefore Time is a better Reformer of the Appetites than Reason But Madam this is to let you know the Lady W. Cs. Wit Discretion and Temper which is more than most of our Sex hath and so leaving her to her Wit and her Husband to Reformation and his Mistress's Beauty to Time I rest Madam Your most faithful Friend and Servant XXXVI MADAM YOu were pleased in your last Letter to express how Mr. P. C. is persecuted by another man's Whore which is not usual for though many men are Persecuted by their own Whores both in Body Mind Course of Life and Estate Diseasing the One Vexing the Other Opposing the Third and Spending the Fourth yet not usually by any other man's but their own at least believing them to be onely theirs but I believe Mr. P. C. will not easily clear himself from her for Courtesans are often assisted by the Powerful insomuch as in any Law-sute or petitioning Request they shall be heard and their Sute granted although against all Law or Right Such Power and Favour hath Concupiscence as to corrupt Magistrates bribe Judges fee Lawyers flatter Courtiers and the truth is intice allure and perswade most of Mankind but although there be in all Ages and Nations Courtesans and Men liable to be Tempted yet men have not been frequently tempted perswaded or allured to Marry Courtesans unless in this Age wherein Courtesans are so Prevalent and Fortunate as they do not onely get themselves Husbands when Beauty and Lovers begin to leave them but marry more Richly and Honourably for Dignities than Honest Chaste Widows or Pure and Innocent Virgins which is apt to make Honest and Chast Women to doubt their Honesty and Chastity is not blest with such good Fortune as Dishonesty is insomuch as those that are not Honest merely and for no other end than for
MADAM IN your last Letter you writ how much the Lord N. O. doth Admire Mrs. B. U. and what Addresses he makes to her for he being in Years hath seen much of the World and many and Different Beauties and hath Convers'd with many and Different Wits and hath found and observed many and Different Humours and hath made many and Different Courtships to many and Different Women yet I have observ'd that men in Years would seem Lovers and Admirers but are not and Young men are Lovers and Admirers and would not seem so Men in Years Praise all the Young Women they meet withall but think not of them when they are out of their Companies but Young men Praise some Particulars and when Absent are more Fond and Deeper in Love than when they are personally Present and it is to be observed that the chiefest Imployment of the most part of Men is to make Love not that they are Really in Love but Feignedly make themselves so and Amorous Courtships are the most general Actions in the World and the most general Imployments of the Thoughts in mens Minds and the same is also amongst Women so that most of mankind are Amorous Lovers for Love is the Subject of their Thoughts Courtly Addresses the Action of their Time the Chief Business of their Lives but if it were a Noble Love it were Commendable for then their Time Industry and Actions of their Lives would be Imployed in Acts of Charity Friendship Humanity Magnificence Generosity and the like but being Amorous Lovers their Time is Idly Wasted in Adorning Fashioning Flattering Protesting and Forswearing besides Amorous Lovers are Inconstant Prodigal Fantastical and the like But leaving them to their Complemental Addresses I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LVII MADAM HEre is no News onely I read a Gazet that speaks of a Courtesan which hath been the Ruin of many Gentlemen's and Noble Men's Estates by presenting her with Rich Gifts and maintaining her in Bravery and 't is likely she hath Ruined their Bodies if not their Souls as she hath done their Estates yet it is to be hoped that all is not Truth that is Printed in a Gazet for it is to be observed that Gazets are fuller of Lies than Truths which makes some Histories that are lately Printed and Published to have so many Falshoods in them being for the most part Compiled and Form'd out of Gazets But if this part of the Gazet be true as concerning the Courtesan it shews that she hath a Superiour Art of Allurements not onely to insnare one or two but many which Art hath a Magick Power to Transform Rational Men to Beastly Adulterers Simple Asses and Prodigal Fools for certainly it cannot be merely Beauty alone that can have such Power for mere Beauty takes oftener the Eye than the Heart it hath more Admirers than Doting Lovers and the greatest Gift Beauty hath given are Praises which Praises last not Long by reason Beauty soon Decayes But when Beauty is attended with Insinuating Arts as Behaviour of Person Pleasant Speech and Harmonious Voice as also the Arts of Musick Dancing Dressing and the like it becomes Victorious and makes its Triumphs in many Hearts like as in many Nations But many times those Arts are Victorious without Beauty whereas Beauty is seldom or never Victorious without them Indeed Women Skilful in these Arts are like Juglers which Deceive Sense and Reason making an Appearance of that which is not Really so and thus most of our Sex Juggle with Men they Delude them with Artificial Shews and Insinuating Flattery and 't is their chief Study and Endeavour so to do But few Arrive to that Artificial Perfection as the Courtesan mentioned in the Gazet wherefore it would be well if Wives had more of that Art to keep their Husband's Affections or at least to keep them from seeking after Variety and for Courtesans to have less that they might not Draw and Intice Husbands from their Honest Wives nor Batchelors and Widowers from lawful Marriage But for the most part Courtesans with their Arts Usurp the Wives Rights and Maids hopes and so leaving the famous Courtesan to her Lovers and her Lovers to their Ruins I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LVIII MADAM IN your last Letter you sent me word you were not of my Opinion that all men ought to wear their Swords at all Times and in all Places and Companies for you say it is not fit that Drunkards or Mad-men or Lovers should wear Swords for Drunkards will use their Swords to the hurt of Others by reason they are Quarrelsome and Abusive and Mad-men will use their Swords to the hurt of Themselves either through a Frantick Despair or Conceit and Lovers will Affright their Mistresses with them Madam you have forgotten two or three Words added thereto for I said that all Gallant Gentlemen ought to wear Swords at all Times and in all Places and Companies but Drunkards and Mad-men though they may be Gentlemen yet they cannot be said Gallant men whilst they are Mad or Drunken because they want their Reason to Distinguish for the Gallantry of the Mind or Soul is Valour Generosity Humanity Justice Fidelity and the like all which cannot be at least not in force in Irrational Creatures which Mad-men and Drunkards are for that time And for Lovers it is very Requisite they should wear Swords to guard their Mistresses for she is but a Foolish Mistress that will be afraid of her Safety But a Gallant man wears his Sword for his Honour King and Country as for his Country it includes Piety Friendship and Natural Affection for his King it includes Fidelity and Loyalty for his Honour it includes Truth Right Love Generosity and Humanity In truth Generosity and Humanity is like the Sun and the Air for Humanity doth like the Air spread equally to all it enters every where and fills up all Vacuities and Generosity like the Sun shines every where and on every Creature although not at one Time yet in such a Compass of Time as it hath strength and motion to extend it self also his Benefits are General he Disputes not Who or What deserves his Light or Heat but knows his Light and Heat is Beneficial to all Creatures which if they Abuse to Evil Uses it is none of his Fault Thus Generosity shines in the Air of Humanity and Fortitude is like Heaven which no Enemy can Enter it Defends and Guards the Distressed and Valour is the Sword of Justice to Cut off Offenders and the Sword of Valour is a sharp metal'd Blade that Gallant Gentlemen should alwayes wear about them and have Skill to Manage it and Judgment and Discretion to know When and on Whom to Use it But Madam lest the mentioning of a Sword should Fright you I 'le leave it and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LIX MADAM AS for the Lady P. Y. who you say spends most of her Time in Prayer I
the Devils when they were Angels who perceiving they were so Glorious Creatures Rebell'd against their Creator and would be as God himself Just so are Poor Servants when their Master gives them fine Cloaths to Adorn them or Money to Inrich them or Offices to Advance them they streight would be their Masters nay they will Envy their Master if they see him have any thing Better than they This I have Known by Experience but They will not Know it untill they become to be like Devils that is in a miserable Condition which they deserve for their Ingratitude but a Good Servant is a Treasure sayes Solomon and so I think is a Good Master to a Servant if the Servant have Wit to perceive it But a Good Master is to know How to Command When to Command and What to Command also When to Bestow What to Bestow How much to Bestow on a Good Servant also to fit Servants to Imployments and Imployments to Servants also to know How and When to Restrain them and when to give them Liberty also to observe which of his Servants be fit to be Ruled with Austerity or Severity and which with Clemency and to Reward and Punish them Properly Timely and Justly Likewise when to make them Work and when to let them Play or Sport as also when to Keep them at a Distance and when to Associate Himself with them And truly I should sooner chuse to Associate my Self with the Company of my Servants had they good Breeding or were Capable to Learn and Imitate what did belong to good Behaviour than with Strangers for Good Servants are Friends as well as Servants nay Servants are a Guard to their Masters for Good Faithfull Servants will Dye for the Safeguard of their Masters Life and they will indure any Torments rather than Betray their Masters and it is the Duty of Servants so to Do for Servants ow almost as much Duty to their Masters as Children to their Parents or Subjects to their Natural Prince for Servants are not only Govern'd but Instructed Fed and Maintain'd and what greater Crime is there than to be a Traitor to their Governour Tutor and Nourisher of their Life And every Master the Meanest that is is a Father and a King in his own Family Wherefore to my Reason they are very unwise that will go out of their own Dominions and leaving their own Obedient Subjects which are their Servants Travel into other Kingdoms which are other Families wherein they have neither Power nor Obedience leaving their own Servants without Rule or Guide for when a Master is from Home his Family is like a Body without a Head like as a King should Travel into Forein Countries and leave his Subjects and Kingdom and State-Affairs at Random or to a Deputy 't is likely his Subjects would Rebell against him through Dislike to the Deputy as Scorning to be Ruled or Govern'd by a Fellow-Subject or else the Deputy will get away their Love from their Prince and then will strive to thrust the Right Owner out The same is with a Master and his Servants wherefore a Wise Loving Master will keep Home and go no oftener Abroad than Occasion requires but will Entertain himself with his own Family and his Family will Entertain him with Sports and Pastimes like as Subjects do their Princes and whenas a Servant doth Rebell although the Master hath not Power to Banish him the Country or Kingdom as Princes have yet hath he Power to turn him out of his Service and Banish him from his House if his Fault do deserve it but some may think it strange that there are as few Masters that know how to Govern their Families Wisely as there are Kings that know how to Rule their Kingdoms Wisely but that is no wonder for first where there is One King of a Kingdom there are Thousands Masters of Families and a King is the Master of all those Families insomuch as a King hath more Masters to Govern and Rule than the Richest Master of his Kingdom hath Servants but if Servants were as they should be Masters would not onely Thrive by the Trusty Labours of their Servants and Servants by the Wealth of their Master but Masters and Servants would live Easily by the Diligence of the One and the Prudence of the Other also they would live Delightfully by their Sports and Pastimes where the Master would sit as a Kingly Spectator whilst his Servants were Pleasant Actors in all which both Masters and Servants would be very Happy so as this World would seem an Earthly Paradise But Madam if I write any more I shall go near to make you a Servant to your Servant in a Laborious reading her Long Letter but it was your Command in your last Letter that I should write you Long Letters and I believe in this I have Fully Obey'd you which is my Desire to all your Commands to let you Know that there is none more Truly and Faithfully Your Ladiships Servant than I. LXII MADAM MRs. C. R. is very much troubled in her Mind with Doubts and Fears since she hath heard that the Lady S. P. did Publickly and Privately Praise her for she sayes she is afraid the Lady S. P. hath observ'd some Error in her Behaviour or hath heard her Speak Foolishly or hath found out some Decayes of Beauty in her Face or some Deformities in her Shape or some of the Masculine Sex have Dispraised her Beauty Wit Person Behaviour or the like otherwise sayes she she is Confident she would never have Praised her for sayes she it is so Unusual for one Woman to Praise another as it seems Unnatural wherefore she doth not Delight to be Prais'd by her own Sex and since that time she received your last Letter she will sit in a Silent Musing Posture Considering and Examining her self as Searching to find out what Faults she hath or what Crimes she is Guilty of that the Lady S. P. should Praise her and so Peevish and Froward she is for it as I believe she will never be Quiet or at Rest and Peace in her Mind until she hear that the Lady S. P. hath Spoken Spitefully of her or hath Dispraised her some wayes or other The Truth is she doth Confess as much for she sayes She shall never think her Self Handsome Conversable nor Vertuous but Ill-favoured Foolish Base or Wicked unless she be Disprais'd by her own Sex wherefore if you Hear as certainly you cannot chuse unless you will stop your Ears any Femal Discommendations concerning Mrs. C. R. Pray send her VVord of them by which you will Infinitely Oblige her and in the mean time I shall Endeavour to Pacifie her Thoughts and Settle her Mind in Peace and Quiet Resting Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXIII MADAM I Have observed there are amongst Mankind as often Mode Phrases in Speech as Mode Fashions in Cloaths and Behaviour and so Moded they are as their Discourse is as much Deckt
rather Ten thousand Millions nay that their number were Infinite that the Issue of my Brain Fame and Name might live to Eternity if it were possible neither do I think or believe it a Sin to Wish it by reason it proceeds from Pure Self-love which is the Root or Foundation of the Love of God and all Moral Virtues I do not mean Corrupted Self-love but as I said Pure Self-love by which God and Nature did Make and doth Order the whole World or Infinite Matter But Madam give me leave to say that this Age doth Corrupt all Wit and Wisdom with Sophistry and because they cannot write Beyond the Antients they will endeavour to Disgrace them although most Writers Steal from them But for this French Author setting aside his Epistle his Book is full of Wit and Reason as it is rendred by the Translator and wishing all Writers could fill their Books with Wit and Reason I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXX MADAM BY Relation Reading and Observation I find that every Age is not alike for Humour Judgement and Wit although alike for Kind Life and Death for some Ages are so Heroick as all their Thoughts are of War and all their Actions Fighting in other Ages all their Thoughts are Considering and their Actions Experiments in other Ages all their Thoughts are Superstitious and their Actions Sermons in other Ages all their Thoughts are Amorous and their Actions Adulteries and so in many other things as Humors Passions Appetites Customs as also in Diets Accoustrements Behaviour Discourse and the like all which I have seriously Consider'd what should be the Cause that men being of One and the same Kind viz. Mankind should Differ so much in several Ages in the Course of their Life But I cannot find any more Reason for it than for several Diseases in several Ages as for Example a Disease namely the Sweating Disease that was Predominant in England and after in Germany and many other Diseases which are Predominant in One Age and not in Another which certainly is produced from an Influence from the Planets But this is to be observed that Evils may proceed from the Planets but what is Good both for Body and Mind proceeds from a Higher Celestial Power And as for this Age we live in now 't is Prodigal to their Enemies and Ungrateful to their Friends but Madam though this Age be so Infected in the Generality yet some Particulars escape this Infection for You and I are as Constant in Friendship as the Light to the Sun which is the Happiness of Madam Your Humble Servant LXXXI MADAM IN your last Letter you desired me to write some Letters of Complement as also some Panegyricks but I must intreat you to Excuse me for my Style in Writing is too Plain and Simple for such Courtly Works besides give me leave to inform you that I am a Servant to Truth and not to Flattery although I confess I rather Lose than Gain in my Mistress's Service for she is Poor and Naked and hath not those means to Advance her Servants as Flattery hath who gives Plenty of Words and is Prodigal of Praise and is Clothed in a Flourishing Style Imbroydered with Oratory but my Mistress Truth hath no need of such Adornings neither doth she give many Words and seldom any Praise so as her Servants have not any thing to live on or by but mere Honesty which rather Starves than Feeds any Creature yet howsoever I being bred in her Service from my Youth will never Quit her till Death takes me away and if I can Serve you by Serving her Command me and I shall Honestly Obey you and so rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. LXXXII MADAM IN your last Letter you Condemn me for living a Country Life saying I Bury my self whilst I Live and you wonder that knowing I love Glory I should live so Solitary a Life as I do I confess Madam both the Manner of my Life and my Ambitious Nature If a Solitary Life be not to Live in a Metrapolitan City spred broad with Vanity and almost smother'd with Crowds of Creditors for Debts and as I Confess my Solitude so I Confess my Glory which is to Despise such Vanities as will be rather a Reproach to my Life than a Fame to after Ages and I should Weep my self into Water if I could have no other Fame than Rich Coaches Lackies and what State and Ceremony could produce for my Ambition flies higher as to Worth and Merit not State and Vanity I would be Known to the World by my VVit not by my Folly and I would have my Actions so VVise and Just as I might neither be Asham'd nor Afrai'd to Hear of my self But Madam as you Condemn My Life so I Condemn Yours for the Nobles that live in a Metrapolitan City live but as Citizens and Citizens that live in the Country live like Noble men with less Expences and more Liberty having large Extension of Lands and not Imprisoned in One House and their Recreations are more Various and Noble neither do they spend their Time in Idle Visiting but Prudent Overseeing In short Madam there is so much Difference in either sort of Life as the One is like Heaven full of Peace and Blessedness the Other full of Trouble and Vice and so living in the sweet Air of Content I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXXIII MADAM IN your last Letter you Chid me for Loving too Earnestly saying Extreme Love did Consume my Body and Torment my Mind and that whosoever Love to a High Degree are Fools If so I Confess Madam I am as much a Fool as ever Nature made for where I set my Love it is Fix'd like Eternity and is as Full as Infinite My Love is not Fix'd Suddenly for it takes Experience and Consideration to help to Place it both which have been my Guides and Directors to Love you which makes me Love you Much and shall make me Love you Long if Souls Die not and so I shall alwayes and in all occasions be Madam Your Constant Friend and Humble Servant LXXXIV MADAM NOw we be both Return'd into our Native Country let us Meet to Rejoyce together for though our Husbands have Lost much yet the Broken parts of their Estates they have Recover'd by the Just Laws of this Kingdom will afford us some Recreation Pastime and Harmless Sports As for the Place of our Meeting If I may Advise it shall be N. whose Owner is M. N. a Person that hath Lost the Most of any Subject yet he is the Best Contented and so the Happiest for he never Troubles himself for any Worldly Wealth especially when he cannot tell Honestly which way to Repair his Estate And though he be Wisely Prudent yet he is not Basely Miserable as to be Miserably Sparing but will Entertain us Civilly Friendly Generously Pleasantly Delightfully So expecting when you will appoint the Time I rest Madam Your faithful Fr.
and S. LXXXVI MADAM IN your last Letter you did friendly Chide me for my Passionate Anger and for some Words I did speak in that Angry Passion I Confess my Error but yet you must Know that my Passion proceeded from Extreme Natural and Honest Love as to be Angry in Mind and Bitter and Sharp in Words to and of those I know by Experience and Practice to be Envious Spitefull Malicious and Ungratefull to those I do and ought dearly to Love and this made me Speak that which Discretion perchance did not Allow or Approve of although Honesty could not Forbid it but had it been in my Own particular Cause or Person I should neither have been Angry nor Bitter neither in Thoughts nor Words for I can easily pass over all Hate or Anger either in Words or Actions to my Self so they be neither Contumelious nor Impairably Dishonourable the First can proceed from none but my Superiors the Other from none but Bestial Ruffians As for my Superiours I count none my Superiours but those that Surpass me in Virue Grace Wisdome and Excellency of Mind except my Natural Parents and as for Rude Ruffians I am of such Quality as not to Keep such Company nor to be Unattended by Servants that Wait upon me or near my Call But I Confess my Indiscretion for Violent Passion doth neither gain Justice Right nor Truth of Malice VVrong and Falshood Yet I am obliged to you for your Love for you have shew'd more True Friendship in your Reproof than Feigned Friends do in their Flattery for which I am Madam Your Faithfull and most Humble Servant LXXXVI MADAM I Have Read Rs. Book which you were pleased to send me and it is written Learnedly Eloquently Wittily and Christianly for all which the Author is to be Applauded and Admired concerning the Truth Method and Ingenuity of the VVork and had he been a Divine by Order and Profession the Subject of his Book which is concerning the Scripture had been most Applaudable but being a Lay-man and not a Consecrated Church-man the Scripture was not a fit Theme for his Pen to work upon at least not in my Opinion for although I Keep strictly to the Church of England yet I think it not fit for a Lay-man to busie his Pen concerning the Scripture for it belongs only to Church-men to Study Interpret Expound Teach and Preach the Scripture and its an Usurpation for Lay-men to meddle in Church-mens Profession unless it be granted that a Lay-man have more VVit Reason Learning and Inspiration than all the Church-men have But truly Madam the Book is an Excellent Book in that Kind Only give me leave to tell you that to Defend Scripture is partly to express Faults in Scripture and to Dispute upon the Obscurities in Scripture is to Puzzle the Truth in Scripture But leaving Scripture to the Church-men and the Author to Fame I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXXVII MADAM I Am Sorry Mrs. D. is so Despairingly Melancholy as not to be Comforted and I am the more Sorry that the Ground of her Despair is the Bible and Ignorant Interpreters such as rather Confound the Cleer Expressions therein than Clear the Dark and Mystical But many Pious persons have fall'n into the same Distemper through want of Deep Capacities Cleer Understandings and Sound Judgments to Interprete the Scripture or to Conceive the Spiritual Inspections and Elevations of the Purity of Christian Religion and all the several Opinions therein The Church of England is the Purest but yet it hath suffer'd the Scripture to be Read too Commonly which hath caused much Disturbance not only to Particular Persons but in the Church it self and hath lost much of the Dignity belonging to Church-men nay it hath so Discomposed the Church-Government as it is a wonder it should settle in its Centre again But the Church-men say they give Lay-men Leave for to Read the Scripture but not to Interprete it but the Leave of the First gives Leave to the Latter But Madam these Causes are not for our Sex to Discourse of wherefore we will rather Pray for our Afflicted Friend Mrs. D. and so taking my leave of you I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXXVIII MADAM I Do not Wonder that the War in E. against O. hath no Better Success since there are such Petty Commanders and Mean Governors and I Fear the Warring designs of G. will have no Better fortune because the Generals which are to Command in Chief are not much Better than those that are to be Commanded neither for Skill Conduct Fame Title Friends Wealth nor Power in all which a General ought to Surpass those he Commands for they may be Good Souldiers for a Troop Regiment or Brigade which are not Skilfull or Fit for a General for to be a Good General doth not only require Skill and Courage but VVise Conduct and VVisdome is not found in every Souldiers brain besides a General must be a man of Note for an Inferiour Person will hardly be Obeyed for if he be not a man of Fame Title Worth and Merit every Under Commander will think himself as Good and fit to be a General as he and will scorn to be Commanded by his Equal Wherefore Superiors are only fit to be Commanders and Governours Besides a General or Governour must be full of Generosity free from Covetousness which Generosity seldom Cohabit's with Poverty or Inferiour Persons also they must be Just both to Punish and Reward Resolute to execute the one and Forward to perform the other But Officers Governours and Commanders are for the most part chosen by the means of Bribes Faction or Favour and not for Fitness VVorth and Merit which Causes so many Disorders Complaints and Rebellions for few Nations live long in Peace and most part of the World at least all Europe is at this time fill'd with bloody War and most Nations are forced to War with each other to Keep their Natives from Civil Dissentions But War is not a Subject proper for our Sex to discourse of although in the Ruines of War we suffer Equally with Men Wherefore leaving this Discourse of War I Conclude with Peace for I am Madam Your faithful Friend and humble Servant LXXXIX MADAM I Am Sorry to hear Mrs. C. L. is married to one She Dislikes so much as to profess she cannot Love her Husband and to Complain of her Parents for forcing her with Threats of Curses to that Match but it is to be hoped that Love will both begin and increase by Acquaintance and Society and his Kindness to her for he is reported to be a very Honest Good-natured man and then she will give her Parents Thanks for it is to be observed that Hot Amorous Lovers when they are Married their Affections grow Cooler and at last so Cold as to Dye Insensible so as the Marriage-bed proves the Grave of Love I mean of fond Amorous Love for certainly Amorous Lovers have Poetical
Strengthen the Brain against Vaporous Noise and Stop their Ears with a little Wool of Deafness to keep out the Wind of Idle Discourse also they must Wash their Eyes with the Water of Obscurity lest the glaring light of Vanity should Weaken them and they must take some Electuary of Contemplation which is very Soverain to Comfort the Spirits and they must drink Cooling Julips of Discretion which are good against the Fever of Company and if they take some Jelly of Restraint they will find it to be an Excellent Remedy against this Malignity onely they must take great care lest they be too Relax to Perswasion but rather so Restringent as to be Obstinate from entring into a Concourse for there is nothing more Dangerous in all Malignant Diseases than Throngs or Crowds of People and this is the best Preparative against the Plague of Gossiping But for fear with writing too Long a Letter I should fall into that Disease I take my leave and rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant XCII MADAM IN your last Letter you were pleased to tell me that Sir A. M. was to Visit you and hearing that the Lady B. V. was come to See you he started from the Place he sate and went away as in Hast in my Opinion it was Strange he should do so since he professes to Love her so much as the Extremity makes him Unhappy for though some may Run away through Fear yet not for Love for whatsoever is Loved or Beloved is Sought after what men are Afraid of they Fly from and what they Love they Fly to so that Love Pursues and Hate or Fear is as it were Pursued but perchance he is a Despairing Lover and Despair is beyond all other Passions besides Despair proceeds from Fear for Fear is the Father that begets Despair or perchance he was afraid that his Presence in her Company might Injure her Reputation being Known to be her Lover or he might fear his Presence might Displease her and Lovers had rather Grieve Themselves than Injure or Anger their Beloved or else he was afraid that the Sight of her would Increase his Torments or Tormenting Love But howsoever certainly Fear was the cause of his sudden Departure and 't is to be feared that his Love is mixt with an Unlawful Desire that he was afraid to See her whom he had no Hopes to Injoy But leaving Sr. A. M. to Despair and her to her Chast Virtue I rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant XCIII MADAM YOu were pleased in your last Letter to express to me the Reason of the Lady D. S s. and the Lady E. Ks. Melancholy which was for Want of Children I can not Blame the Lady D. S. by reason her Husband is the Last of his Family unless he have Children but the Lady E. Ks. Husband being a Widdower when he Married her and having Sons to Inherit his Estate and to Keep up his Family I Know no Reason why she should be troubled for having no Children for though it be the part of every Good Wife to desire Children to Keep alive the Memory of their Husbands Name and Family by Posterity yet a Woman hath no such Reason to desire Children for her Own Sake for first her Name is Lost as to her Particular in her Marrying for she quits her Own and is Named as her Husband also her Family for neither Name nor Estate goes to her Family according to the Laws and Customes of this Countrey Also she Hazards her Life by Bringing them into the World and hath the greatest share of Trouble in Bringing them up neither can VVomen assure themselves of Comfort or Happiness by them when they are grown to be Men for their Name only lives in Sons who Continue the Line of Succession whereas Daughters are but Branches which by Marriage are Broken off from the Root from whence they Sprang Ingrafted into the Stock of an other Family so that Daughters are to be accounted but as Moveable Goods or Furnitures that wear out and though sometimes they carry the Lands with them for want of Heir-males yet the Name is not Kept nor the Line Continued with them for these are buried in the Grave of the Males for the Line Name and Life of a Family ends with the Male issue But many times Married Women desire Children as Maids do Husbands more for Honour than for Comfort or Happiness thinking it a Disgrace to live Old Maids and so likewise to be Barren for in the Jews time it was some Disgrace to be Barren so that for the most part Maids and Wives desire Husbands and Children upon any Condition rather than to live Maids or Barren But I am not of their minds for I think a Bad Husband is far worse than No Husband and to have Unnatural Children is more Unhappy than to have No Children and where One Husband proves Good as Loving and Prudent a Thousand prove Bad as Cross and Spendthrifts and where One Child proves Good as Dutifull and Wise a Thousand prove Disobedient and Fools as to do Actions both to the Dishonour and Ruine of their Familyes Besides I have observed that Breeding VVomen especially those that have been married some time and have had No Children are in their Behaviour like New-married VVives whose Actions of Behaviour and Speech are so Formal and Constrain'd and so Different from their Natural way as it is Ridiculous for New Married Wives will so Bridle their Behaviour with Constraint or Hang down their Heads so Simply not so much out of True modesty as a Forced Shamefulness and to their Husbands they are so Coyly Amorous or so Amorously Fond and so Troublesome Kind as it would make the Spectators Sick like Fulsome Meat to the Stomach and if New-married Men were Wise men it might make them Ill Husbands at least to Dislike a Married Life because they cannot Leave their Fond or Amorous VVives so Readily or Easily as a Mistress but in Truth that Humour doth not last Long for after a month or two they are like Surfeited Bodyes that like any Meat Better than what they were so Fond of so that in time they think their Husbands Worse Company than any other men Also Women at the Breeding of their First Children make so many Sick Faces although oftentimes the Sickness is only in their Faces not but that some are Really Sick but not every Breeding Women Likewise they have such Feigned Coughs and fetch their Breath Short with such Feigning Laziness and so many Unnecessary Complaints as it would VVeary the most Patient Husband to hear or see them besides they are so Expensive in their Longings and Perpetual Eating of several Costly Meats as it would Undo a man that hath but an Indifferent Estate but to add to their Charge if they have not what they Please for Child-bed Linnen Mantels and a Lying-in Bed with Suitable Furniture for their Lying-Chamber they will be so Fretfull and Discontented as it
a Covetous Face than a Friendly Heart for though the Intention may be Honest without Self-ends yet the Appearance is not so for it Appears as if he had a Desire or did Hope that the Sick man might make him his Executor or Administrator at least to leave him a Legacy for his Care Acquaintance and Friendship but the World is so Covetous and Greedy after Dead-men's Shoos as the Saying is that if any man have an Estate to leave behind him when he is Sick or Dying all his Friends and Acquaintance flock about him like a Company of Carrion-Crows to a Dead Body and all to Devour that Wealth he leaves when as a Poor man may be Sick and Dye and none Come neer to Help him Thus we may perceive by the Course of the World that it is not Charity to the Sick nor Love to the Man that brings Visitors or hath profered Service but Love to the Wealth But if all were of my Humour the Rich should have the Fewest Visitors for I for fear any should Imagine me one of these Human or rather Inhuman Vultures should never Visit the Sick unless they were so Poor as they wanted Relief Wherefore good Madam have a Care of your Health if you desire my Company lest when you are Sick I should not Visit you yet if I should I would not bring Lawyers or Notaries to Trouble you but I would bring you the most Experienced and Famous Physician I could get to Cure you for as long as Life lasts no Indeavour ought to be Wanting it being the part of a Friend to Regard the Life not to Search into the Estate and when a Friend is Dead to Execute to the utmost of their Power their Friends Desires and to Obey Punctually all their Commands they laid upon them whilst they Lived and not to let them be Buried untill they were sure they are past Reviving nor to be laid upon the Cold Ground untill their Bodies are Colder than the Earth they are laid on but Madam you are likelier to Live to do this Friendly Office for me than I for you by reason you are Healthfull and I am Sickly and Sickness is Death's Serjeant to Arrest Life and the Grave is the Prison Yet whilst I Live I shall alwayes prove my self to be Madam Your Ladiships faithful Friend and Servant CVIII MADAM YOu were pleased to tell me in your last Letter that the Lady I. L. is so Jealous of her Husband as the Humour of Jealousie drives her sometimes into a Passionate Fury or Furious Passion insomuch as not only to Exclame and Rail on those Ladies he doth Visit but on her Husband which is neither Seemly nor Decent for Wives should Submit to their Husbands Follies and VVink at their Crimes if they cannot Reform them neither is the way of Reformation by Railing and Exclamations but by Gentle Perswasions Meek Submissions and Subtil Insinuations but say these will not Reform them therefore shall a VVife Double her Injuries as first to be Injured by her Husbands Inconstancy and then by her Own Grief Rage and Fury This were to make his Crimes her Tormentors which would neither let the Mind Thoughts or Body live in Rest or Peace and why should a VVife Grieve for her Husbands Inconstancy since she receives no Dishonour from it nay if it be for the Loss of her Husbands Affection she is but a Simple VVoman that will Trouble her self for him that Loves her not or for him that Prefers another VVoman in his Affection before her neither ought she to Wrong her self by doing Indiscreet Dishonest or Dishonourable Actions to Revenge her VVrongs but rather to Strive and Endeavour to make her self appear more Virtuous but for the most part Women are more Jealous through Envy to their own Sex than Love to their Husbands for every VVoman would be the Chief for VVit Beauty and such like Attractives and for my part I wonder Men should desire Variety since all VVomen are alike for a Man can have but a VVoman as for Beauty it is onely to Look on and VVit to Listen to but not Amorously to Enjoy But if all VVives were as some Husbands might freely take their Liberties and their VVives would never Frown for it and for the most part Careless VVives have the Chastest Husbands I mean Careless as Free from Jealousie But leaving the Lady I. L. to Time Custom and Discretion to Abate her Jealousie I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CIX MADAM IN your last Letter you were pleased to tell me that you shew'd the Admirable VVorks of A. B. to L. C. and he did not Admire them which was a sign he did not Understand them Certainly so little Understanding is in the World that if the World of Mankind were Divided into Four Parts Three Parts and a Half of the Four are Ignorant Dolts which is the Reason that Rare Qualities Learned Sciences Curious Arts and Divine Fancies are no more Esteemed or Admired for if Understanding were General Men would Run Seek and Sue to see any One Person that had the Ingenuity to Invent Arts or Find out New Sciences or that had the Gift of Poetry or the Deep Conceptions of Philosophy but for the most these enter not into their Capacity and being not to their Capacity it cannot be to their Pleasure or Delight and so not to their Esteem as for Proof let the most Rare Poems or some Deep Philosophy be Read to Several men and tell them of some New Science or shew them some Curious or Profitable Arts and you shall find they will Express they are VVeary of them by their Yawning Humming Hauking and Spitting or sit as if they were Statues without Life or Sense as not being Sensible of them but read to them something that they Understand by their Brutish Nature as Ribbaldry a VVanton Song or Scene or the like although there be neither Wit nor Sense in it and you shall hear them Loud with Laughter or Commendations Swear all the Oaths they never heard Better and Cry up the Author for a mighty VVit or shew them any Vain or Useless Art and they will Admire it if it be but a Glass-ring and will Wonder how it came to be Invented and Admire the Inventor for a Person of an Ingenious Brain but if it be an Art that is Rare or Profitable they will Slight it and cast their heads Aside not out of Envy but Ignorance wherefore Madam those that are well Qualified and VVitty are Admired but by by a Few which is by the VVise and Knowing and those Few are Worth all the rest for the VVise and Knowing indeed are all the VVorld of Mankind the rest are but Mongrels as Sensual Persons viz. half Men and half Beasts or Dull Ignorant Persons as half Men and half Stones or Blocks nay for the most part they are Three parts Beasts or Stones and One part Men. Thus amongst all Nature's Works True Men are the Scarcest being the
Eleonora Duarti THe last VVeek your Sister Kath'rine and your Sister Frances were to Visit me and so well Pleased I was with their Neighbourly and Friendly Visit as their Good Company put me into a Frolick Humour and for a Pastime I Sung to them some Pieces of Old Ballads whereupon they desired me to Sing one of the Songs my Lord made your Brother Set and you were pleased to Sing I told them first I could not Sing any of those Songs but if I could I prayed them to Pardon me for neither my Voice nor my Skill was not Proper nor Fit for them and neither having Skill nor Voice if I should offer to Sing any of them I should so much Disadvantage my Lord 's Poetical Wit and your Brother 's Musical Composition as the Fancy would be Obscured in the one and the Art in the other nay instead of Musick I should make Discord and instead of Wit Sing Nonsense knowing not how to Humour the VVords nor Relish the Notes whereas your Harmonious Voice gives their VVorks both Grace and Pleasure and Invites and Draws the Soul from all other Parts of the Body with all the Loving and Amorous Passions to sit in the Hollow Cavern of the Ear as in a Vaulted Room wherein it Listens with Delight and is Ravished with Admiration wherefore their VVorks and your Voice are only fit for the Notice of Souls and not to be Sung to Dull Unlistning Ears whereas my Voice and those Songs would be as Disagreeing as your Voice and Old Ballads for the Vulgar and Plainer a Voice is the Better it is for an Old Ballad for a Sweet Voice with Quavers and Trilloes and the like would be as Improper for an Old Ballad as Golden Laces on a Thrum Suit of Cloth Diamond Buckles on Clouted or Cobled Shoes or a Feather on a Monks Hood neither should Old Ballads be Sung so much in a Tune as in a Tone which Tone is betwixt Speaking and Singing for the Sound is more than Plain Speaking and less than Clear Singing and the Rumming or Humming of a VVheel should be the Musick to that Tone for the Humming is the Noise the Wheel makes in the Turning round which is not like the Musick of the Spheres and Ballads are only Proper to be Sung by Spinsters and that only in Cold Winter Nights when a Company of Good Huswifes are Drawing a Thread of Flax but as these Draw Threads of Flax so Time Draws their Thread of Life as their VVeb makes them Smocks so Times Web makes them Deaths Shirts to which as to Death afterwards those Good Huswifes are Married and lie in the Bed of Earth their House being the Grave and their Dwelling in the Region of Oblivion and this is the Fate of Poor Spinsters and Ballad-Singers whenas such a Singer as you such a Composer as your Brother such a Poet as my Lord are Cloth'd with Renown Marry Fame and Live in Eternity wherein Death hath no Power Time no Limit and Destinies Shears are Useless but though I am willing to Sing an Old Ballad yet not to Dwell in Oblivion for I love your Company so well as I would Live in Eternity with you and would be Clothed as you with Renown for no Fashion'd Garments Please me so well and though the Stuff or Substance is not the same with yours the Substances being as Different as the Several Qualities Faculties Proprieties Virtues or Sweet Graces and the like yet I will have as Good as I can get I will Search Nature's Ware-house or Shop and though I cannot have a Piece or Measure of Silver Sound or Broccaded Art yet certainly I hope to get a Piece or Measure of Three-poil'd Philosophy or Flower'd Fancy for though my Lord hath taken many several Pieces or Packs out of Nature's Shop and hath Inhaunced the Prices yet he must not Ingross this last Commodity to himself 'T is true he hath Ingross'd two Commodities as Weapons and Riding out of Art's Shop the Hand-maid of Nature yet sure he will be never able to Ingross all the several Kinds and divers Sorts of Wares that Nature and Art yet have in their Store-houses But I perceive that you three as my Lord You and your Brother do Traffick so much with Nature and Art as I shall be but as a Pedlar Howbeit it is better to have some Dealings than none at all and I will rather Trade with Toyes than Starve for want of a Living and in order to make my self Capable I have bound my self Prentice to my Lord and am willing to Serve out my Time but my Lord is so Generous as to give me my Freedom and I must also desire you to give me at present so much Freedom as to Subscribe my self Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant CCIII MADAM YOu ought not to take it Ill if I do not Obey your Commands in Speaking to A. F. to Grant your Requests by reason I think those Requests would Prejudice you should they be Granted so that if I Speak as you Desire I must Plead against your Good and my own Conscience which I will never do although I were sure to have your Hate for I had rather you should Hate me for the Love and Esteem I have for you than you should Love me for doing an Unfriendly Part or Act for I Prefer your Good before your Love neither must you take it Ill that I send your Present back to you again for it did appear to me like a Bribe besides I desire to keep my self free from such Obligations your Love being all that I desire and more worth than all the Service of my Life should I Live Long and Act Much But if you think I have Omitted your Commands out of an Evil Design or Malice Splene or Spite you do me wrong for you should find me if I were able to Serve you neither Cross Negligent nor Unwilling but most Industrious Ready and Joyful to your Service nay were it to Ingage my Life wherefore whatsoever you Conceive of me yet I have this Satisfaction in my Conscience that I am was and will be as long as I Live Madam Your Ladiships faithful Friend and Servant CCIV. Sweet Madam C. H. I Am sorry to hear that you are Parted from your Parents through a Discontent which is in the way to Disobedience and let me tell you that Unnatural Unkindness is many times the Death of Natural Affection our Parents are our Makers and will you Rebell against your Maker your Father is your Earthly God and your Mother your Earthly Goddess to whom you ought to Kneel down Pray Worship and Obey and not to Murmur Cross or Neglect them all the Endeavours of your Life are due to them untill you have a Husband nay a Husband must not hinder you to Assist them to the utmost of your Power which Power 't is likely will be according to your Husbands VVill but a Good VVife most commonly hath the Power of her Husband's