Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	author_n	great_a	name_n	1,614	5	4.6579	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26086	An essay in defence of the female sex in which are inserted the characters of a pedant, a squire, a beau, a vertuoso, a poetaster, a city-critick, &c. : in a letter to a lady / written by a lady.	Astell, Mary, 1668-1731.; Drake, Judith, fl. 1696-1707.	1696 (1696)	Wing A4058; ESTC R11541	60,271	178

Essay of his Parts that it may think as highly of 'em if possible as he does himself and finding Moses hard beset of late he resolves to give him a lift and defend his Flood to which he is so much oblig'd for sparing his darling Toys only But as great Masters use he corrects him sometimes for not speaking to his Mind and gives him the lie now and then in order to support his Authority He shakes the World to Atoms with case which melts before him as readily as if it were nothing but a Ball of Salt He pumps even the Center and drains it of imaginary stores by imaginary Loopholes as if punching the Globe full of holes cou'd make his Hypothesis hold Water He is a Man of Expedition and does that in a few days which cost Moses some Months to compleat He is a Passionate Admirer of his own Works without a Rival and superciliously contemns all Answers yet the least Objection throws him into the Vapours He sets up for a grand Philosopher and palms Hypotheses upon the World which future Ages may if they please expect to hear his Arguments for at present he is in no humour to give 'em any other satisfaction than his own word that he is infallible Yet those that have a Faith complacent enough to take a Gentleman's word for his own great Abilities may perhaps be admitted to a sight of his grand Demonstration his Raree Show the particulars of which he repeats to 'em in a whining Tone e'ry whit as formal and merry though not so Musical as the Fellows that used formerly to carry theirs at their Backs His ordinary discourse is of his Travels under Ground in which he has gone farther if he may be believ'd than a whole Warren of Conies Here he began his Collection of Furniture for his Philosophical Toy Shop which he will conclude with his Fortune and then like all Flesh revert to the place from whence he came and be translated only from one Shop to another This Madam is another sort of Impertience our Sex are not liable ●o one wou'd think that none but Mad Men or highly Hypochondriacal cou'd employ themselves at this rate I appeal to you or indeed to any Man of Sense whether acts like the wiser Animal the man that with great care and pains distinguishes and divides the many Varieties of Grass and finds no other Fruit of his labour than the charging of his Memory with abundance of superfluous Names or the Ass that eats all promiscuously and without distinction to satisfy his Appetite and support Nature To what purpose is it that these Gentlemen ransack all Parts both of Earth and Sea to procure these Triffles It is only that they may give their Names to some yet unchristen'd Shell or Insect I know that the desire of knowledge and the discovery of things yet unknown is the Pretence But what Knowledge is it What Discoveries do we owe to their Labours It is only the Discovery of some few unheeded Varieties of Plants Shells or Insects unheeded only because useless and the Knowledge they boast so much of is no more than a Register of their Names and Marks of Distinction only It is enough for them to know that a Silk Worm is a sort of Caterpiller that when it is come to maturity Weaves a Web is metamorphos'd to a Moth-Flye lays Eggs and so Dies They leave all further enquiry to the Unlearned and Mechanicks whose business only they think it to prosecute matters of Gain and Profit Let him contrive if he can to make this Silk serviceable to Mankind their Speculations have another Scope which is the founding some wild uncertain conjectural Hypothesis which may be true or false yet Mankind neither Gainers nor Losers either way a little in point of Wisdom or Convenience These Men are just the reverse of a Rattle Snake and carry in their Heads what he does in his Tail and move Laughter rather than Regard What improvements of Physick or any useful Arts what noble Remedies what serviceable Instruments have these Mushrome and Cockle shell Hunters oblig'd the World with For I am ready to recant if they can shew so good a Med'cine as Stew'd Prunes or so necessary an Instrument as a Flye Flap of their own Invention and Discovery Yet these are the Men of exalted Understandings the Men of elevated Capacities and sublime Speculations that Dignisie and Distinguish themselves from the rest of the World by Specious Names and Pompous Titles and continue notwithstanding as very Reptiles in Sense as those they converse so much with I wou'd not have any Body mistake me so far as to think I wou'd in the least reflect upon any sincere and intelligent Enquirer into Nature of which I as heartily wish a better knowledge as any Vertuoso of 'em all You can be my Witness Madam that I us'd to say I thought Mr. Boyle more honourable for his learned Labours than for his Noble Birth and that the Royal Society by their great and celebrated Performances were an Illustrious Argument of the Wisdom of the August Prince their Founder of happy Memory and that they highly merited the Esteem Respect and Honour paid 'em by the Lovers of Learning all Europe over But tho' I have a very great Veneration for the Society in general I can't but put a vast difference between the particular Members that compose it Were Supererogation a Doctrine in Fashion 't is probable some of 'em might borrow of their Fellows merit enough to justifie their Arrogance but alas they are come an Age too late for that trick They are fallen into a Faithless Incredulous Generation of Men that will give credit no farther than the visible Stock will extend And tho' a Vertuoso should swell a Title-Page even till it burst with large Promises and sonorous Titles the World is so ill natur'd as not to think a whit the better of a Book for it 'T is an ill time to trade with implicite Faith when so many have so lately been broken by an overstock of that Commodity no sooner now a days can a Man write or steal an Hypothesis and promise Demonstration for it hereafter in this or the next World but out comes some malicious Answer or other with Reasons in hand against it overthrows the credit of it and puts the poor Author into Fits For though a great Philosopher that has written a Book of three Shillings may reasonably insult and despise a six penny Answer yet the Indignity of so low pric'd a Refutation wou'd make a Stoick fret and Frisk like a Cow with a Breeze in her Tail or a Man bitten by a Tarantula Men measure themselves by their Vanity and are greater or less in their own Opinions according to the proportion they have of it if they be well stock'd with it it may be easie to confute but impossible to convince ' em He therefore that wou'd set up for a great Man ought first to be plentifully

Character p. 62. Beau's Character p. 68. Boasters of Intrigues base Fellows p. 115 C Conversation its End p. 7. its requisite Conditions p. 9. Country Squire 's Character p. 20. Coffee-house Politician's Character p. 87. City Militia p 92. City Critick's Character p. 119. Complacence how acquir'd p. 136. D Dissidence of themselves a great discouragement to Women p. 55. Dissimulation necessary p. 110. why most us'd by Men p. 112. when Criminal p. 113. How differing from deceit p. 114. E Education Mens greatest advantage p. 6. Of the Female Sex not so deficient as commonly suppos'd p. 36. English Books very improving p. 41. best helps to Conversation p. 47. Envy most injurious to Virtue p. 116. F Friendship its requisite Conditions p. 9. Failings falsly charg'd on Women p. 60. Fools no fit Companions for Women p. 145. G Gentlemen best Writers of Morality Humanity c. p. 52. Gallantry how acquir'd p. 140. How distinguisht from Complacence p. 142. I Invention improvable by the Society of Women p. 143. Ignorance of Latin no disadvantage p. 57. Imitation ridiculous p. 66. Impertinence what p. 84. commonly mistaken p. 85. Epidemical p. 89. Officious p. 94. To be measur'd by its Artifice p. 109. L Learning unjustly restrain'd to Latin and Greek only p. 45. Love frequently false p. 115. Levity what p. 124. Less among Women than Men p. 125. Love why so soon cold p. 128. P Pedant's Character p. 27. Points of deep Learning and Politicks improper for mixt Conversation p. 40 Poetaster's Character p. 79. Q The Question stated p. 6. R Religion c. no proper subjects for mixt Conversation p. 38. S Sexes not distinguish'd in Souls p. 11. Salique Law it s Original p. 22. Scowrer's Character p. 64. U Vulgar of both Sexes of equal Capacicity p. 15. Vanity the Vice of Men p. 60. Fools Blessing p. 76. Universal p. 82. Vertuoso's Character p. 96. W Women bred to too much Ignorance of Business p. 16. Industriously kept in ignorance p. 20. Why constanter Lovers than men p. 129. Truer Friends than Men and why p. 132. Not generally so vicious as Men p. 134. FINIS Some advantages to be allow'd to the disparity of Education No distinction of Sexes in Souls No advantage in the Organization of their Bodies Confirm'd from Experience of Brutes Experience of Mankind 〈…〉 Original of the Salique Law Amazons why they rejected the Society of Men. Character of a Pedant Character of a Country Squire The Education of the F●m the Sex not so deficient as commonly thought 〈…〉 Great Improvements to be made by the help of English Books only The name of Learning unjustly restrained to the knowledge of Latin and Greek only English Books the best helps to Conversation Ignorance of Latine c. no disadvantage Vanity Character of a Bully Character of a Scow●er Imitation ridiculous Character of a Beau. Vanity a Blessing to Fools Character of a Poetaster Vanity Universal Impertinence Commonly mistaken Character of a Coffee-House Politician City Militia Off●ious Impertin●nces Character of a Vertuoso Dissimulation become necessary Dissimulation when criminal False Love commonly practic'd Enviousness Character of a City Critick 7th Satyre of Boileau Eng. Levity Less Levity among Women then Men. Inconstancy Love why so soon cold Women constanter Lovers Friendship Women truer Friends than Men. More ill Men than Women Many Advantages from Womens Company Complacence to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it Gallantry acquir'd by our Company Difference betwixt Complacence and Gallantry Invention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Society Fools no fit Companions for Women