both in an Unfortunate Condition as being both Wives to Banished Men and to make their Condition more Unhappy their Banishment is Joyn'd with Poverty which is a Double nay to Live in Wars with Companions in the same Condition a Treble Misery Neither is it Usual for though Acquaintance Neighbours and Friends be apt to Quarrel Rail and Hate one another in times of Prosperity through Envy and Pride yet in Adversity Men are apt to Unite in Loving and Agreeable Societies But they have this Excuse that their Misfortunes make them Froward and truly great Misfortunes make us apt to Quarrel with our selves for Patience and Misery seldom Dwell together But leaving the two Ladies to Agree I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. CXXII MADAM I Cannot Blame you if you cannot Entertain those of your own Sex in Conversation as to Please them with such Discourse as is according to their Humours and Capacities for if your Discourse be according to your own Capacity and Wit you must Discourse to your self for such Discourse is beyond their Understanding but if you will Entertain them with Conversation you must Descend from your own Height and Discourse with them on Even Ground wich is you must Speak as Foolishly as they do the Question only will be whether you can do so or not Another Help there is as I have heard from one of our Sex who had a Good Wit and Loved not Gossiping when she had any Female Visitors she after a little time would fall to Brag of her self and tell what Fine things she would have or had whereat they became Inwardly Spiteful or Angry and then would soon take their Leaves and be Gone But whether you will use this Remedy or not I cannot tell for I believe it is against your Nature yet you must either use this Remedy or else you must learn to Gossip and to Entertain Gossips although I believe you will be but a Dull Untoward Scholar to Learn But the best Tutoress I know of if you will Learn is Mrs. T.W. and if you cannot Civilly Deny Visitors you must use the Lady M. Ns. Bragging Medicine or Mrs. T. Ws. Instructions to which Instruction or Medicine I leave you and rest Madam Your faithfull Friend and Servant CXXIII MADAM I Wonder how that Person you mention in your Letter could either have the Conscience or Confidence to Dispraise Shakespear's Playes as to say they were made up onely with Clowns Fools Watchmen and the like But to Answer that Person though Shakespear's Wit will Answer for himself I say that it seems by his Judging or Censuring he Understands not Playes or VVit for to Express Properly Rightly Usually and Naturally a Clown 's or Fool 's Humour Expressions Phrases Garbs Manners Actions VVords and Course of Life is as VVitty VVise Judicious Ingenious and Observing as to Write and Express the Expressions Phrases Garbs Manners Actions Words and Course of Life of Kings and Princes and to Express Naturally to the Life a Mean Country Wench as a Great Lady a Courtesan as a Chast VVoman a Mad man as a Man in his right Reason and Senses a Drunkard as a Sober man a Knave as an Honest man and so a Clown as a VVell-bred man and a Fool as a VVise man nay it Expresses and Declares a Greater Wit to Express and Deliver to Posterity the Extravagancies of Madness the Subtilty of Knaves the Ignorance of Clowns and the Simplicity of Naturals or the Craft of Feigned Fools than to Express Regularities Plain Honesty Courtly Garbs or Sensible Discourses for 't is harder to Express Nonsense than Sense and Ordinary Conversations than that which is Unusual and 't is Harder and Requires more Wit to Express a Jester than a Grave Statesman yet Shakespear did not want Wit to Express to the Life all Sorts of Persons of what Quality Profession Degree Breeding or Birth soever nor did he want VVit to Express the Divers and Different Humours or Natures or Several Passions in Mankind and so VVell he hath Express'd in his Playes all Sorts of Persons as one would think he had been Transformed into every one of those Persons he hath Described and as sometimes one would think he was Really himself the Clown or Jester he Feigns so one would think he was also the King and Privy Counsellor also as one would think he were Really the Coward he Feigns so one would think he were the most Valiant and Experienced Souldier Who would not think he had been such a man as his Sir Iohn Falstaff and who would not think he had been Harry the Fifth certainly Iulius Caesar Augustus Caesar and Antonius did never Really Act their parts Better if so Well as he hath Described them and I believe that Antonius and Brutus did not Speak Better to the People than he hath Feign'd them nay one would think that he had been Metamorphosed from a Man to a Woman for who could Describe Cleopatra Better than he hath done and many other Females of his own Creating as Nan Page Mrs. Page Mrs. Ford the Doctors Maid Bettrice Mrs. Quickly Doll Tearsheet and others too many to Relate and in his Tragick Vein he Presents Passions so Naturally and Misfortunes so Probably as he Peirces the Souls of his Readers with such a True Sense and Feeling thereof that it Forces Tears through their Eyes and almost Perswades them they are Really Actors or at least Present at those Tragedies Who would not Swear he had been a Noble Lover that could Woo so well and there is not any person he hath Described in his Book but his Readers might think they were VVell acquainted with them indeed Shakespear had a Clear Judgment a Quick VVit a Spreading Fancy a Subtil Observation a Deep Apprehension and a most Eloquent Elocution truly he was a Natural Orator as well as a Natural Poet and he was not an Orator to Speak VVell only on some Subjects as Lawyers who can make Eloquent Orations at the Bar and Plead Subtilly and VVittily in Law-Cases or Divines that can Preach Eloquent Sermons or Dispute Subtilly and VVittily in Theology but take them from that and put them to other Subjects and they will be to seek but Shakespear's VVit and Eloquence was General for and upon all Subjects he rather wanted Subjects for his VVit and Eloquence to VVork on for which he was Forced to take some of his Plots out of History where he only took the Bare Designs the VVit and Language being all his Own and so much he had above others that those who VVrit after him were Forced to Borrow of him or rather to Steal from him I could mention Divers Places that others of our Famous Poets have Borrow'd or Stoln but lest I should Discover the Persons I will not Mention the Places or Parts but leave it to those that Read his Playes and others to find them out I should not have needed to VVrite this to you for his VVorks would have Declared the
believe I Entertained you for which I ask your Pardon which you may the Freelier give me because I am a Woman it is according to our Nature to Speak more Words than Sense and so well we Love Speaking as Men might think we had rather be Damned at least Condemned for Talking than be Praised or Saved for Silence yet give me leave to say somewhat in my own Behalf though I am full of Words when I do Talk yet I do not give my self Liberty to Speak often for were the Years of my Life Divided not Half a part of Four had been Spent in Speech but howsoever what I do Speak is too much for the truth is Women should never Speak more than to Ask Rational Questions or to give a Discreet Answer to a Question Asked them unless it be in their Huswifry and then they may take Licence to Speak as much as they will or at Child-bed Gossipings they may have the Privilege of the Tongue but other wayes or times they ought to be Sparing of Speech especially in Company of Men but the truth is our Sex doth not love to be Tongue-tied but lest I should Express too much the Nature of our Sex by Speaking too much of them although I speak now but to your Eyes not to your Ears for Letters are more a Discourse to the Eyes than Ears I will take my leave for this time only Subscribe my self Sir Your very loving Friend and Servant CCVIII Worthy Sir YOu may think it a Presumption and an Incroachment upon your Profession to give my Opinion of Mrs. Ts. Disease but it is neither Presumption nor Confidence of my Judgment that causes this Writing to you but an Affection to your Patient who deserves my Concernment concerning her Malady which Forces me to write to you my Opinion which is that I do believe her Pain and that which Accompanies it is Caused through an Inward Heat which Rarfies the Humors into a Fluent Distillation also it Rarifies the Blood making it to Flow or Overflow for Cold is not so Active but Congeals Thickens as we shall see when any Body is let Blood the Blood whilst it is Hot runs Freely forth of the Veins and remains Thin and Fluid when it is out but when it hath stood some Time and begins to be Cold it Thickens and Congeals to a Cake so when any hath used Exercise which Heats and Thins the Blood the Colour appears in the Skin Caused by the Flowing to the Outward Parts the like in Hot Weather whereas in Cold Weather or when the Blood is not Heated the Skin appears Pale and Lank wherefore my Opinion is that her Pain Proceeds from Heat for it is to be Observed that all Inflamations are Painful as all Sores or Swellings that are Inflamed whereas those Sores that are not Inflamed or those Swellings we call White Swellings are not Painful also for the Gout the Pain is caused through the Inflamation but mistake me not I mean all Pulsive Pains for there be many other Pains as some which are caused through Wind and those Pains are Painful Stitches and most commonly caused from Hot Humours as Bilious Choler or some Salt Flegm also Headaches are caused for the most part from Hot Vapours or Rheums the Stone in the Kidnies and Bladder is caused through Heat so that most Pains are caused through Heat unless it be Child-bearing Pains and such like and these Considerations make me believe that Mrs. Ts. Pain in her Back is Produced from Heat for although it be an Intermitting Pain and not Constant yet it may nevertheless be Produced from Heat as for Example the Gout is not a Continual Pain but it is only Painful when the Inflamed Humor falls on the Joynt yet for the most part it alwayes Falls or Resorts to one and the same Place wherefore I believe Cooling Medicines must be her Cure for I do not perceive that Purging Sweating and Dry Dieting which are all Heating do her any Good but she seems rather the Worse and Trial is the True Touchstone of Experience But you may use the Old Saying to me which is Physician Cure thy self I answer that all Preachers do not Practise what they Preach and some may give better Counsel than take Good Counsel also Solomon sayes that a Wise Saying may pass through a Fool 's Mouth and the best Physicians when they are Sick Rely not upon their own Skill for themselves but will send for other Physicians for no man can Judg well of himself either for Health Sickness or any other thing by reason Partial Self-love Fearful Doubts Flattering Hopes Bribe Corrupt or Terrifie the Judgment but setting aside my own Judgment as Weak either for my self or others and Relying on yours in Case of your Patient I rest Your very Loving Friend CCIX. Worthy Sir I Received your Letter and am Glad to see you write that you doubt not of Curing Mrs. T. of her Painful Disease as for the Numbness in her Hand Thigh Leg and Foot give me leave to tell you my Opinion which is that it Proceeds not from a Coldness but a Dryness for if it were only a Stupifying Cold her Sweating would have Rarified and Evaporated that Congeal'd Cold or her Purging would have Carried or Driven out that Gross Cold Humor or her Dry Strict Diet would have Consumed that Obstructed Cold or Cold Obstruction but she hath felt that Numb Disease since she hath used those Remedies at least it is more Apparent which shews it Proceeds not from Cold but Dryness which Inward Heat and Dryness causes a Cold outward Effect for Numbness and Deadness of Parts Proceed from Divers and Different Causes as from Cold either Outwardly taken by the Cold Weather or Climat or Clothing or the like or by Inward Cold as by Overcooling Meats or Drinks or Cold Obstructing or want of Blood or too much Watry Humors which Quench out the Natural Heat and this Numbness is easily Cured Another Numbness Proceeds from Obstructions of the Inward Parts or Veins either by Clammy Humors or by Burnt and Adust Humors Another Numbness Proceeds from a Driness of some Particular Parts which being Insipid cannot be Active or Move according to their Functions or Faculties or Proprieties and a Ceasing of Motion is Death Another Numbness Proceeds from some Cold or Thick Gross Humors that fall upon the Sinews or Muscles Another Numbness is caused through Excessive Heat which hath Burnt out the Natural Heat Another Numbness Proceeds from a Decay of some Noble Parts and this Numbness is Incurable But the Reason why I think Mrs. Ts. Numbness Proceeds from Dryness is that she hath been of a very Spare Diet three or four Years Eating and Drinking but once a Day and that not Much her Meat being for the most part Rost Mutton and when she was with Child she did Eat so Little Seldom as sometimes not in two or three Dayes as I have often wondred how she could Live and
than to give Counsel for it is a wonder whenas young Counsellers keep Peace or young Generals be Conquerours and it makes them more Famous because not Usual especially when Fortune favours them as she doth many times their Rash Adventures or haughty and Ambitious Enterprises for good Fortune makes Youth appear more Glorious than Age but Fortune many times favours Youth as she favours Fools for a time and in the end leaves them to their own Ruin but where Fortune hath little or nothing to do as in wise Counsels there their Ignorance and Follies Passions and Partialities Factions and Emulations appear especially in the success of their Counsels wherefore Young men may better and more safely be trusted with an Army than a City for 't is more safe to leave them to Fortune than to trust them with Prudence for Young men can tell better how to make Wars than to keep Peace being easier to Lead an Army than to Rule a Kingdom to Fight a Battel than to Order a Commonwealth to Distribute Spoils than to Do Justice for Fortune hath more power in Victory than Right 'T is true sometimes there 's such a Concurrence and Conjunction in Affairs of State as also in Armies as the Wisest or Valiantest men cannot make better nor Fools nor Cowards worse which is the cause that many times Wise or Valiant men or both may be thought Fools and Cowards and Fools and Cowards Wise or Valiant men and many times Fools are too hard for Wise men by reason there be numbers of Fools for few Wise men nay numbers of Fools for One Wise man which Wise man may be buried in the Rubbish of Fools but if a Wise man be not overpower'd he treads down their Follies and Triumphs in Peace and Prosperity But Aged men most commonly are assisted and attended by Mercury and Pallas and Young men by Mars and Venus The truth is 't is against Sense and Reason that Young men can be so VVise or proper for Affairs of a Common-wealth either to Command Govern or Counsel as Aged men who have had long Experience and great Observations by Seeing Hearing and Knowing much so as there is nothing New or Unacquainted to them neither in Varieties Changes nor Chances for Nature Fortune and Time is their long Acquaintance by which they know the Appetites Passions Humours Dispositions Manners and Actions of Men with their Defects Errours and Imperfections also the Revolutions of Time the Casualties of Chance the Change of Fortune and the Natural Course Causes and Effects of several Things in the VVorld all which makes Aged men VVise and want of such Experience and Observation makes Young men Fools in comparison of Aged men for Young men can have but a Relative and not an Experienced Knowledge nor can they have very much by Relation or Reading having not time enough for Instruction Learning whereas Aged men have Read Heard Seen Convers'd and Acted in and of several Ages Societies Nations Men and Business also in several Places of several Subjects and several Matters to several Men at several Times But Young men are so Conceited and Opinionative of themselves as they think they neither want Wit Judgement Understanding nor Knowledge and that Antient men rather Dote than Know but though Young men cannot be Wise in Nature unless by Inspiration yet those are nearest to Wisdom that have been Bred up Instructed and Educated by Wise Age and so much Better and more Knowing they are than others which have been Bred Instructed and Educated by Young Pedants or Governours as the first shall be as Old men although but Young and the others shall be as Boyes when they are Young Men and Young Men when they are Old or rather Boyes all their life time although they should live long so that one may say Happy is Youth that lives with Age But leaving as well Aged as Young men to Knowledg and Ignorance Wisdom and Folly Prudence and Fortune I rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant XXV MADAM THe Lady P. R. was to visit the Lady S. I. and other Ladies with her whose Conversation and Discourse was according to their Female Capacities and Understandings and when they were all gone the Lady S. Is. Husband ask'd his Wife why she did not Talk as the rest of the Ladies did especially the Lady P. R. so Loud and Impertinently She answered she had neither the Humour Breath Voice nor Wit to Speak so Long so Loud and so Much of nothing He said her Answer liked him well for he would not have his Wife so Bold so Rude and so Talking a Fool. Thus Madam we may perceive how Discourse in Conversation is Judged of and for the most part Condemned by the Hearers when perchance the Ladies imagine that they are Applauded and Commended for their Wit and Confident Behaviour for Self-love thinks all is well Said or Done that it self Speaks or Acts so that Self-love doth alwayes Approve it self and Dispraise others But leaving Self-love to Self-admiration and that Admiration to others Condemnation I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. S. XXVI MADAM VVE have no News here unless to hear that the Lady C. R. did beat her Husband and because she would have Witness enough she beat him in a Publick Assembly nay being a woman of none of the least Sizes but one of the largest and having Anger added to her Strength she did beat him Soundly and it is said that he did not resist her but endured Patiently whether he did it out of fear to shew his own VVeakness being not able to Encounter her or out of a Noble Nature not to Strike a VVoman I know not yet I believe the best and surely if he doth not or cannot tame her Spirits or bind her Hands or for Love will not leave her if she beat him Often he will have but a Sore life Indeed I was sorry when I heard of it not onely for the sake of our Sex but because she and he are persons of Dignity it belonging rather to mean-born and bred VVomen to do such unnatural Actions for certainly for a VVife to strike her Husband is as much if not more as for a Child to strike his Father besides it is a breach of Matrimonial Government not to Obey all their Husbands Commands but those Women that Strike or Cuckold their Husbands are Matrimonial Traitors for which they ought to be highly punished as for Blows they ought to be banished from their Husbands Bed House Family and for Adultery they ought to suffer Death and their Executioner ought to be their Husband 'T is true Passion will cause great Indiscretion VVomen are subject to Violent Passions which makes or causes them so often to err in VVords and Actions which when their Passion is over they are sorry for but unruly Passions are onely a cause of uncivil Words and rude Actions whereas Adultery is caused by unruly Appetites wherefore Women should be Instructed and Taught
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
Bow to Man since Man cannot Fully or Knowingly Rise to Him for 't is Ridiculous to think that God's Great Omnipotency or Incomprehensibility can either Bow Submit or Humble it self for God cannot Lessen himself no more than Heighten himself for he cannot be More nor Less there are no Degrees in God nor Contractions nor Dilatations for he is all Fulfilling Indeed he is that which no Creature can tell but something that is too Great and Mighty to be Declared his Works are only a Glimpse of his Might yet Proud Men call themselves God's Friends O Foolish and Conceited Men O Great and Incomprehensible God! Thus Madam I write the Several Discourses which these three Ladies had by which Relation I and my three Visitors have as it were Visited you but lest our too long Stay should be Troublesome I take my leave for this time and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLXXI. MADAM MY Life is so Solitary my Mind so Peaceable my Thoughts so Quiet and my Senses so Lazy as I have nothing to write to you but to tell you I am Well and I hope you are so too according to the Old fashion'd Style of Letters 'T is true if my Life were Active my Mind Busie or Factious my Thoughts Wandring my Senses Inquisitive I might find out some Subject or make some Business to write but since I am neither Factious Busie Inquisitive nor Active my Letters will be like a Bladder fill'd with Wind and not like a Bag fill'd with Gold or Silver or they will be like Paper that is only fill'd with Cifres without any Figures But although my Letters may be as Cifres yet you to whom I write are the Chief Figure in my Thoughts which Expresses Thousands indeed you are as Infinite it self for your Merits are Numberless and there is no End of your Goodness for which Eternal Happiness will be your Reward in Heaven But Madam I love my self so well as I would not have you there yet for I would have you in this World as long as I Live which without you would seem to me as the Description of the Infernals whereas now your Life is as an Heaven to my Life which is the Joy and Happiness Madam Of your Faithful Servant CLXXII MADAM I Am so full of Fear as I write this Letter with great Difficulty for all this City hath been in an Uproar and all through a Factious Division betwixt the Common Council and those they call the Lords which are the Higher Magistrates the Common People gather together in Multitudes Pretending for the Right of their Privileges but it is thought the Design is to Plunder the Merchants Houses and the Churches by the last they seem to Regard and Covet more the Goods of the World than Heaven indeed the World makes men apt to Forget Heaven as loving Mammon more than God the truth is they have Plunder'd one of the Chief Magistrates and were hardly kept from Plundering the Bishop which Act Expresses their Covetousness and Divulges their Designs and this Disorder causes the Trumpets to Sound the Drums to Beat the Souldiers to Arm and the Women to Weep and to make it the more Fearful the Great Bell which is only Rung in time of Danger either in cases of Fire or War or Mutinies or the like sounds Dolefully all which makes me Tremble Fearfully and that which increases my Fear the more is that my Maids being possess'd with the like Fear come often to me with Masker'd Faces and tell me Divers and Different Reports some that the Army is coming to Destroy the City and others that the Souldiers have liberty to Abuse all the Women others that all in the City shall be put to the Sword the Best Report is that all shall be Plunder'd but for this last my Husband and I am safe for we are Plunder-Free having had all our Goods and Estate taken from us in our own Country so that now we have no such Goods or Wealth as is worth the Taking the truth is we are rather in a Condition to Plunder than to be Plunder'd so that if they will but spare our Persons and Lives I fear not our Goods the only Misery is that we cannot well go out of this City by reason we have here some Credit to take up Monies or Provisions in time of Necessity for my Husband hath Lived here so Long as he can Challenge the Privilege of a Burger and therefore we may rise up with the Tumult and cry out Mutinously for our Rights and Privileges But for all this I am Extremely Afraid insomuch that at every Noise I hear if I be not with my Husband I run to find him out so that I write this Letter but by Starts yet my Husband endeavours to Allay my Fears telling me that the Beating of Drums and Blowing of Trumpets and Arming of Souldiers is the Way and Means to Quiet this Mutiny and to keep us in Peace and Safety but for all that I hear my Husband say that it is a Scurvy Business and a Dangerous Example Howsoever I leave all to his Prudence and Care for I believe if he did perceive any great Danger he would Remove me out of the City but then he must Go with me for I will not Part from him regarding not my Safety when he is in Danger and I had rather Die with him than Live after him But Madam hoping the next Letter to you will be more Comfortable and that all will be as Quiet and Peaceable as it was I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLXXIII MADAM YOu were pleased in your last Letter to Express how the Lady C. D. did read some of M. Ns. Playes and that she read the Passionate Sad Parts so Whiningly that where it should have moved Compassion it caused an Aversion Truly Madam Women for the most part Spoil all Good Writing with Ill Reading and not only Women but most Men for I heard a Man who was a Great Scholar and a Learned Man having Read much and one that Pretended to be a Good Poet and Eloquent Orator Read Mr. W. Ns. Excellent Works quite out of Tune and Time neither Humouring the Sense nor Words but alwayes persisting in the same Tune which was Dull and Flat and made my Sense of Hearing as Dull as his Reading but yet it was better than if he had made a greater Noise in his Reading for that would have put me beyond all Patience Grating or VVounding my Ears which would have Discomposed my Thoughts extremely for my Thoughts live so Peaceably and Silently and take such Delight therein as they Hate a Noise but in truth I never heard any man Read VVell but my Husband and have heard him say he never heard any man Read VVell but B. I. and yet he hath heard many in his Time but I know my Husband Reads so VVell that he is like Skilful Masters of Musick which can Sing and Play their Parts at the first Sight
of as Durable a Nature as the Sun or Stars neither can I readily believe Gold can Increase or Multiply it self no more than the Sun or Stars for any thing we can perceive neither can I readily believe that Gold can be Increased by the Art of Man as by Chimistry by reason Artificial Limbicks are not like the Natural Limbick of the Earth nor the Fire that Chymists use is not like the Fire of the Sun or the Constant Fire in the Centre of the Earth wherefore it is not Probable that Art should Increase Gold by a Small Artificial Limbick and a Wasting Uncertain Fire which must be alwayes Renewed and Blown and if it be Improbable that Art can Increase or Multiply Gold it is less Probable that Art can Create Gold or any other Creature though Chymists Pretend they can they may Imitate Nature by Art but not Create as Nature doth as for Natural Poets who are far beyond Artificial Chymists their Creation of Fancies is by a Natural way not an Artificial and if Gold could be Created as Fancies Chymists would be Rich and not so Poor as Poets are but surely it is impossible for Art to do as Nature doth for Art neither Knows nor can Comprehend at least not put in Practice the Subtil and Intricate Motions Divers Temperaments and Substances put together neither doth Art know the Timing of Motions and Mixtures to Create so as Nature doth for some Creatures in Nature require more Curiosity than others and some more Several and Subtil Mixtures than others and some require Longer Time and Pains than others so as Man may as well believe he can Create a World as Create Gold or any other Creature as Animals and Vegetables as Chymists believe they can do by their Art Men like Painters may Draw to the Life the Figures of Creatures but not Create Living Figures or Real Creatures 't is true Art may Hinder or Oppose or Hasten Nature's Works to a more Sudden Maturity but not in an Unnatural way and as for Opposing or Hindring Nature Man may Set a Slip or Kernel or Seed and when it is Fix'd or hath taken Root Man can Pull it up and Dissolve it so as not to be capable to Grow and Increase nay man can Dissolve it from its Nature and Turn it into some other Nature yet it is Natural for such Dissolvable Creatures to be Transformed into other things so as it is but a Natural way but Man cannot Create by Art for that were an Unnatural way Man may Increase and Multiply not only his own Kind but all Increasable things but they must be done after their Natural way or else Man cannot Increase and Multiply Some as Chymists Conceive or Imagine for it is but Imaginable that there are Seeds or Slips or Branches of Gold which may be Producible as Plants are but I know not where they should find them nor do I believe if they should Search for them they would find them first as not knowing where they lie for what Man can Search all the Earth or Fathom the Earth or Dig to the Centre of the Earth next they do not Know those Branches Slips or Seeds to be such thirdly if they did Know them and Had them yet they Know not how or when or where to Set or Ingraft those Slips or Branches or to Sow those Seeds or to Order them in their Limbicks but I perceive they would make their Limbicks their Increasable Grounds and every Limbick should be as an Acre of Ground or a Field indeed every Still would be worth a Lordship nay a Kingdom fourthly Man knows not the Time those Slips Branches or Seeds require to be brought to Maturity for all Creatures are not brought to Maturity in the same distance of Time as for Example Animal Creatures some are Produced in a Month some in no less time than a Year so for Plants some are at Maturity in a Few Hours at least Dayes and others not under an Hundred Years as Oaks so for any thing we know Gold could not be brought to Maturity under an Hundred Years nay a Thousand Hasten Nature what they can and nothing can be Hastened in an Unnatural way nay in some Creatures Art cannot Hasten Nature as Animals cannot be Hastened to Perfection sooner than their Natural Time Art may cause Abortion as to make the Womb cast forth the Burden before the Natural Time of Birth but not to bring it to Perfection and if Man which is Decayable and Increasable yet is Ten Months or say Seven e're he comes to Maturity well may Gold which seems of an Unalterable or Undecayable Nature be Seven Ages and though the Elements seem to be both Decayable and Increasable as Mankind is yet not the Fix'd or Celestial Elements for though Fire Begets Fire when Fuel is put to it and goes out for want of Fuel or may be Quenched out for if it did Increase and not Decrease it would Burn all the World and though Water be Increasable although not so Increasing as Fire as also Decayable as to Evaporate from its Nature for else it would Drown the World yet I do not perceive the Sun or the Earth to be Increasable or Decayable for if the Sea and Earth did Multiply the Terrestrial Globe would grow so Big as the Sun could not Compass it in a Year and it might grow so Big as not to be Compassed in Many Years but we observe by the Motion of the Sun that it is neither Decayable nor Increasable for if it were Decayable the Compass of the Sun would be in a Less Circle as to Compass the Terrestrial Globe in Less than a Year but whatsoever is not Decayable is not Increasable and whatsoever is Increasable is Decayable and since we find by Experience that Gold is not Decayable as not to be Changed from its Principal Nature viz. from being Gold it may be faithfully believed it is not Increasable otherwise there would be a Word nay Worlds of Gold Thus Madam Eleonora I cannot perceive in my Reason that Gold can be either Created or Multiplied by Art wherefore in my Opinion Chymists may Break their Limbicks and Quench out their Fire and Endeavour to get Natural Gold a Provident way and not to Impoverish themselves with Art But leaving them to their Brittle Limbicks and Quenchable or Decayable Fire their Great Expences and Little Profit I rest Your very Loving Fr. and S. CCVII. Reverend Sir I Give you thanks for your Visit although I made little Profit thereby for whereas I should have sat and Listened to your Discourse out of which I should have Learned much Good both for my Understanding and Course of Life I was so full of Discourse my self as I neither gave you time to Speak nor my self to Hear indeed it was not so much a Discourse as Words for in a Discourse there is some Coherence whenas a Number of Words may be Spoken without any Coherence therein after that rate I