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 Admirable being an Effect of a Devout Soul and Zealous Spirit which Flames into Poetical Raptures and is Inspired with a Divine Influence Delivering it self through Harmonious Numbers Sympathetical Rithmes Elegant Phrases and Eloquent Language all which is Presented to God from the Heart as an Offering or Sacrifice of Thanksgiving or an Imploring of Mercy or an Humble Acknowledgment of sins and Promise of Amendment which Sacred Poems are Express'd in a Tragick Vein concerning Sins and in a Comick Vein concerning Blessings and Poets in their Morning Hymns are like the Larks that Begin the Day and in their Evening Hymns like the Nightingals which Begin the Night Thus Divine Poets are Heaven's Birds that Sing to God and their Divine Poems are their Brood which are kept in the Cage of Memory and Sing their Parents Notes to After Ages But Madam perchance you will think I am very Peremptory to give my Opinion of the Poets VVork before I see it but I give my Opinion only upon the Ground of his VVork which is the Scripture saying it ought not to be Paraphrased besides I give it from my Conscience not from my Conceited Brain and perchance I may alter my Opinion upon more Rational Arguments from those that are more Learned and Knowing than my self and if your Opinion Differs from mine pray send it me in your next Letter for I would willingly be of your Opinion believing you cannot Err nor I in Expressing my self Madam Your very Faithful Friend and Devoted Servant CXXX MADAM HEre is the Lady V. R. in this City who is so Strict to Chast Wedlock and so Fearful of Dishonour or Scandal as she will have no Usual Conversation with any Man but those she is nearly Allyed to or hath an Obligation to of Duty or Gratitude Nay she is not only Chast but her Life and all her Actions are Devoted to Chast Wedlocks the truth is She lives as if she were an Incloister'd Nun although a Wife and her Husband is her only Confessor and Instructor or rather her Saint whom she Adores and Worships and Prayes to to Pardon her Sins of Omission for of Sins of Commission she is not Guilty unless to Omit be to Commit and the greatest Sin of Omission is the Neglect of her Health which he accounts as a Deadly Sin and will hardly Pardon unless she Reform but although she promises Amendment as all Penitents do yet as soon as she hath Promised she Commits the same Sin again so as the best part of her Life is as it were Spent in Promises but not in Performance And when she is Sick she doth like the man that was in a Storm who in the time of Danger promised the Blessed Virgin Mary to Offer to her Altar Candle as Big and as Long as the Mast of the Ship if ever he came on the Shore so the Lady V. R. when she is Sick promises if ever she Recover she will Take the Air and Use Exercises but being Restored to Health she Forgets her Promise or only Looks out of a Window for Once or Twice and Walks Two or Three turns in a day in her Chamber which is as little Exercise as she can do the truth is she Errs as much in living too much a Retired Life as other Ladies in too Much and Often Gadding Abroad wherein she loses as much Health as they Time if not Reputation But leaving her to her Retired Life and Promising Words I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXI MADAM YOu desired me to send you the Sixteen Books I Writ in my Childhood methinks they sound like the Twelve Labours of Hercules only that there are Four Labours more but though mine were not so Profitable to the World nor so Difficult to Atchieve nor so Dangerous in their Encounters yet you will find my Works like Infinite Nature that hath neither Beginning nor End and as Confused as the Chaos wherein is neither Method nor Order but all Mix'd together without Separation like Evening Light and Darkness so in my Sixteen Books is Sense and No Sense Knowledg and Ignorance Mingled together so that you will not know what to make of it or in a Lower Comparison you will find every Book like a Frippery or Brokers-shop wherein is nothing but Remnants Bits and Ends of Several things or like Taylors Shreds that are not fit for any Use wherefore I cannot Imagine why you should Desire them unless out of a Friendship you will See and Burn them before I Die fearing I should Neglect the Sacrificing of them my self for you are Pleased not only to send for One but all the Sixteen But I suppose you believe them to be so many several sheets of Paper folded into Quarters or Half Quarters as into little baby-Baby-books for it was in my baby-Baby-years I Writ them and it had been well they had been no Bigger than baby-Baby-Books but the least of these Books are two or the Quires of Paper Neither can you Read them when you have them unless you have the Art or Gift to Read Unknown Letters for the Letters are not only Unlegible but each Letter stands so Cowardly from th' other as all the Lines of your Sight cannot Draw or Bring them into Words nay they will sooner be Torn in pieces besides it will Weary your Eye-sight to Move from Letter to Letter it will be almost as great a Journy for your Eyes as it was for Coriat's Feet that Travelled a Foot to Mogorr I know not whether his Journy Lamed them but certainly it Tired them so will my Books do your Eyes if they do not quite Blind them I cannot say in Reading them but Endeavouring to Read Scribbles for Letters Moreover there are such huge Blots as I may Similize them to Broad Seas or Vast Mountains which in a Similizing Line will Tire your Eyes to Spread to the Circumference like as for the Feet to Walk to the Top of the Alps Also there are Long Hard Scratches which will be as Bad for your Eyes as Long Stony Lanes would be to your Feet wherefore let me perswade you as your Friend not Desperately to Venture to Read them since you can neither receive Profit nor Pleasure in the Labour were there any Probability to Increase your Knowledge or to Inrich your Understanding you had some reason to Venture but you will be so far from Increasing your Knowledge as you will enter into a vast Wilderness and Intricate Labyrinth wherein you will Lose your Patience and be so far from Inriching your Understanding as you will Impoverish your present Memory and let me tell you that my Sixteen Books will be as Tedious Troublesome and Dangerous to your Understanding as the Dry Deep Sandy Barren Deserts of Arabia to Travellers and so thick a Mist of Nonsense and Clouds of Ignorance will fly in the face of your Understanding that it will not only Blind it but be apt to Smother it not otherwise than the Clouds or Hills of
CCXI. SOCIABLE LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE Thrice Noble Illustrious and Excellent PRINCESS THE LADY MARCHIONESS OF NEWCASTLE LONDON Printed by WILLIAM WILSON Anno Dom. M. DC LXIV TO THE LADY MARCHIONESS OF NEWCASTLE On her Book of EPISTLES VVHen all Epistlers you have read and seek Who writ in Latin English French or Greek Such Woful things as they are only fit To stop Mustard-pots to this Ladie 's Wit Nay were they all Alive I Swear I think They'd Burn their Books and Throw away their Ink Make Pick-Tooths of their Pens and for their Paper Only to light Tobacco and each Taper Y'have Spoil'd Commerce Intelligencers Trade None now dares write a Letter so Afraid To be thought Fools and is the Carriers Curse To find his Empty Budget and Lank Purse Nay the Post-house's Ruin'd and will Complain From their Vast Gettings now they have no Gain All now by Word of Mouth and what is spoken Or Gilded Nutmegs or each Tavern-token Nick'd Sticks for Merchants Why would you Undo Your self at once thus and the whole World too After my Hearty Commendations This The Style of States-men still Applauded is Your Flames of Wit this Age may think a Sin A Proclamation then may call it in VV. NEVVCASTLE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE LORD MARQUESS OF NEWCASTLE MY LORD IT may be said to me as one said to a Lady VVork Lady VVork let writing Books alone For surely VViser Women ne'r writ one But your Lordship never bid me to Work nor leave Writing except when you would perswade me to spare so much time from my Study as to take the Air for my Health the truth is My Lord I cannot Work I mean such Works as Ladies use to pass their Time withall and if I could the Materials of such Works would cost more than the Work would be worth besides all the Time and Pains bestow'd upon it You may ask me what Works I mean I answer Needle-works Spinning-works Preserving-works as also Baking and Cooking-works as making Cakes Pyes Puddings and the like all which I am Ignorant of and as I am Ignorant in these Imployments so I am Ignorant in Gaming Dancing and Revelling But yet I must ask you leave to say that I am not a Dunce in all Imployments for I Understand the Keeping of Sheep and Ordering of a Grange indifferently well although I do not Busie my self much with it by reason my Scribling takes away the most part of my Time Perchance some may say that if my Understanding be most of Sheep and a Grange it is a Beastly Understanding My answer is I wish Men were as Harmless as most Beasts are then surely the World would be more Quiet and Happy than it is for then there would not be such Pride Vanity Ambition Covetousness Faction Treachery and Treason as is now Indeed one might very well say in his Prayers to God O Lord God I beseech thee of thy Infinite Mercy make Man so and order his Mind Thoughts Passions and Appetites like Beasts that they may be Temperate Sociable Laborious Patient Prudent Provident Brotherly-loving and Neighbourly-kind all which Beasts are but most Men not But leaving most Men to Beasts I return to your Lordship who is one of the Best of men whom God hath fill'd with Heroick Fortitude Noble Generosity Poetical Wit Moral Honesty Natural Love Neighbourly-kindness Great Patience Loyal Duty and Celestial Piety and I pray God as Zealously and Earnestly to Bless you with Perfect Health and Long Life as becomes Your Lordships Honest Wife and Humble Servant M. Newcastle TO ALL PROFESSORS OF Learning and Art Most Famously Learned I Wish I could Write so Wisely Wittily Eloquently and Methodically as might be VVorthy of your Perusal but if any of your Noble Profession should Humble themselves so Low as to Read my VVorks or part of them I pray Consider my Sex and Breeding and they will fully Excuse those Faults which must Unavoidably be found in my VVorks But although I have no Learning yet give me leave to Admire it and to wish I were one of your Society for certainly were I Emperess of the VVorld I would Advance those that have most Learning and VVit by which I believe the Earth would rather be an Heaven since both Men and Government would be as Celestial for I am Confident that VVisdom and for the most part Virtue is Inherent in those that are Masters of Learning and Indued with VVit And to this sort of Persons I do Offer my VVorks although to be Condemned on the Altar of their Censure and rest Satisfied with the Honour that they thought them Worthy to be Iudged Thus whether my VVorks Live or Dye I am Devoted to be Your Servant M. N. THE PREFACE Noble Readers I Hope you will not make the Mistake of a Word a Crime in my Wit as some former Readers have done for in my Poems they found Fault that the Number was not Just nor every Line Matched with a Perfect Rime But I can answer for that Book that there be but some such Errors in it and those as it were by Chance besides in some Languages as Latin and Greek which are accounted the Chief they regard not Rimes in their Poems but only an Exact number of Feet and Measures however Rimes and Numbers are only as the Garments and not as the Body of VVit but I have been more Exact in my other Book call'd Natural Descriptions wherein most Verses are Just both for Number and Rimes As for my VVork The VVorld's Olio they may say some VVords are not Exactly Placed which I confess to be very likely and not only in that but in all the rest of my VVorks there may be such Errors for I was not Bred in an University or a Free-School to Learn the Art of VVords neither do I take it for a Disparagement of my VVorks to have the Forms Terms VVords Numbers or Rymes found Fault with so they do not find Fault with the Variety of the Subjects or the Sense and Reason VVit and Fancy for I leave the Formal or VVorditive part to Fools and the Material or Sensitive part to VVise men Concerning my Philosophical Opinions some did say they were too Obscure and not Plain Enough for their Understanding I must confess I writ that Book at first at the same time when I wrote my Poems but to my Reason it was as Plain as I could write it and if some Readers could not Understand it I am not Nature to give them VVit and Understanding yet have I since not only Over-viewed and Reformed that Book but made a great Addition to it so that I believe I have now so clearly Declared my Sense and Meaning therein that those which Understand it not must not only be Irrational but Insensible Creatures As for my Book of Playes some find Fault they are not made up Exactly nor the Scenes placed Justly as also I have not in some Playes caused all the Actors to be of an Acquaintance but
all other men for his sake which I believe she will not do for she will not bury her Beauty nor put her Wit to silence for the sake of her Husband for if I be not mistaken she will love a young Servant better than an old Husband nay if her Husband were young she would prefer variety of Servants before a single Husband insomuch that if she had been made when there was but One man as Adam she would have done like her Grand mother Eve as to have been courted by the Devil and would betray her Husband for the Devil's sake rather than want a Lover But leaving the discourse of Jealousie Age Courtship and Devils I rest Madam Your very faithful Fr. S. VI. MADAM IN your last Letter you sent me word that Sir F. O. was retir'd to write his own Life for he saies he knows no reason but he may write his own life as well as Guzman and since you desire my opinion of his intended work I can onely say that his Life for any thing I know to the contrary hath been as evil as Guzman's but whether his Wit be as good as Guzman's I knovv not yet I doubt the vvorst and to vvrite an Evil life vvithout VVit vvill be but a dull and tedious Story indeed so tedious and dull as I believe none will take the pains to read it unless he himself read of himself but it is to be hoped that he will be tir'd of himself and so desist from his self Story And if he do write his own Life it will be as a masking Dolphin or such like thing where the outside is painted past-board or canvas and the inside stuff'd with shreds of paper or dirty raggs scrap'd from dunghils and if he set his Picture before as a Frontispiece to his Book it will be like an ill-favour'd masking Vizzard But if he have any Friends surely they will perswade him to imploy his time about something else but some are so unhappy as they have nothing to imploy Time with they can waste Time but not imploy Time and as they waste Time so Time wasts them There 's a saying That men are born to live and live to dye but I think some are onely born to dye and not to live for they make small use of life and life makes small use of them so that in effect they were ready for the Grave as soon as they came forth from the Womb. Wherefore if Sir F. O. go forward with his work he will dig his Grave through the story of his Life and his Soul-less Wit will be buried therein But leaving his dead Wit to his paper Coffin and his unprofitable Labours to his black mourning Ink I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. VII MADAM I Am sorry to hear Wit is so little known and understood that Sir W. T. should be thought Mad because he hath more Wit than other men indeed Wit should alwayes converse with Wit and Fools with Fools for Wit and Fools can never agree they understand not one another Wit flies beyond a Fools conceit or understanding for Wit is like an Eagle it hath a strong wing and flies high and far and when it doth descend it knocks a Fool on the head as an Eagle doth a Dotril or a Woodcock or such like Birds and surely the world was never so fill'd with Fools as it is in this age nor hath there been greater Errours or grosser Follies committed than there hath been in this age It is not an age like Augustus Caesar's when Wisdom reign'd and Wit flourished which was the cause of Plenty Peace throughout the whole world but in this age Debauchery is taken for Wit and Faction for Wisdom Treachery for Policy and drunken Quarrels for Valour Indeed the world is so foolishly Wicked basely Foolish that they are happiest who can withdraw themselves most from it But when I say the world I mean the world of Men or rather the Bodies of Men for there doth not seem to be many Rational Souls amongst them they are Soul-less men Bodies of men that have only Senses and Appetites or Sensual Appetites But you say every Particular complains of the world as I do in this Letter yet None helps to mend it Let me tell you Madam it is not in the power of every Particular nor in a number But the Chiefest persons must mend the world viz. they that govern the world or else the world will be out at the heels But in some ages the world is more tatter'd and torn than in other ages and in some ages the world is patch'd and piec'd but seldom new and suitable and it is oftener in a Fools-coat than in a Grave Cassock Wherefore leaving the motley I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant VIII MADAM YOu were pleas'd to invite me unto a Ball to divert my Melancholy Thoughts but they are not capable of your Charity for they are in too deep a Melancholy to be diverted like as bodies that are starved and almost dying for hunger so weak as they cannot feed at least that want strength to nourish or digest having not life enough to re-inkindle the vital fire which want of food hath neer put out Thus Madam I do not refuse your Charity but I am not capable to receive it Besides my very outward appearance would rather be an Obstruction to your Mirth than any Addition to your Pleasures and for me it would be very improper for a grieved heart weeping eyes sad countenance and black mourning garments will not be suitable with dancing legs In truth my leaden Spirits have soder'd up my Joynts so stiff that they will not move so agilly as is requir'd in Dancing I am fitter to sit upon a Grave than to tread measures on a Carpet and there is such an Antipathy in my mind to light Aires that they would sooner stop my Ears as Discord than enter into my Hearing as Harmony indeed my Senses are as closed or shut from the world and my Mind is benighted in Sorrow insomuch as I have not one lighted thought they are all put out with the memory of my Loss Thus Madam Memory hath made an Oblivion but though it hath buried for the present the worldly Joys of my Life yet it hath not buried my grateful Thanks for your Favours for which I am Madam Your most humble S. IX MADAM IN your last Letter I perceive that the Lady N. P. is an actor in some State-design or at least would be thought so for our Sex in this age is ambitious to be State-Ladies that they may be thought to be Wise Women but let us do what we can we shall prove our selves Fools for Wisdom is an enemy to our Sex or rather our Sex is an enemy to Wisdom 'T is true we are full of Designs and Plots and ready to side into Factions but Plotting Designing Factions belong nothing to Wisdom for Wisdom never intermeddles therein or therewith but renounces
more Female Detractors and Slanderers to ruin her Reputation than any Monarch hath Souldiers to fight an Enemy if any Woman be Ill-favoured it is mentioned as a Reproach although it be Nature's fault and not hers and if she be indifferently Handsom they speak of her as Regardless if she be in Years they will say she is fitter for the Grave than Company if Young fitter for a School than Conversation if of middle Years their Tongues are the Fore-runners of her Decay if she have Wealth and no Titles she is like Meat all Fat and no Blood and if great Title with small Wealth they say she is like a Pudding without Fat and if she hath both Wealth and Title they Shun her as the Plague they Hate to see her as Owls hate the Light and if she hath neither Wealth nor Title they Scorn her Company and will not cast an eye towards her and thus the Generality is to every Particular wherefore it is impossible for any Particular either to Please the Humours or Avoid the Slanders or Reproaches of the Generality for every One is against Another indeed every One is against All and All against every One and yet through the itch of Talk Luxury Wantonness and Vanity they will Associate into Companies or rather I may say Gather into Companies and Frequent each others Houses whereas those that endeavour to be truly Happy will not be Troubled with such Follies nor Disturbed with such Toyes But I am not so Retir'd as to bar my self from the Company of my good Friends or such as are free from Exception as not to Translate harmless and simple Words to an evil Sense or Meaning or such as are so Noble as not to Dispraise or Detract from such Persons as they are pleas'd to take the pains to Visit or from such as will not take it for a Neglect if I do not punctually return their Visit or perhaps not Visit them at any time but will Excuse or Pardon my Lazy Humour and not account it a Disrespect as truly it is none for I do Honour and Admire all Civil Worthy and Honourable Persons and would be ready at all times Honestly to Serve them But this Retired Life is so Pleasing to me as I would not change it for all the Pleasures of the Publick World nay not to be Mistress of the World for I should not desire to be Mistress of that which is too Big to be Commanded too Self-willed to be Ruled too Factious to be Govern'd too Turbulent to live in Peace and Wars would Fright at least Grieve me that mankind should be so Ill-natur'd and Cruel to Destroy each other To conclude I am more Happy in my Home-retirement than I believe the Lady S. P. is in her Publick Frequentments having a Noble and Kind Husband who is Witty and Wise Company a Peaceable and Quiet Mind and Recreative Thoughts that take harmless Liberty and all this I have declar'd to you that you may let the Lady S. P. know that my Retirement from the publick Concourse and Army of the World and Regiments of Acquaintance is neither through Constraint nor Fantastick Humour but through a Love to Peace Ease and Pleasure all which you Enjoy which is the fulfilling of your Ladiships faithful Friend and Servant's Happiness XXX MADAM YEsterday being not in the Humour of Writing I took Plutarch's Lives or as some call them Plutarch's Lies but Lives or Lies or a mixture of both I read part of the day in that Book and it was my chance to read the Life of Pericles the Athenian in which Story he is Commended for his Gravity Government and Wisdom this Pericles I did much Admire all the time I read of him until I did read where it was mentioned of his marrying Aspasia a famous Courtesan and then I did not think him so Wise a man as I did before in that he could not rule his Passion better but to marry a Whore neither doth Gravity and Wantonness suit well together for to my imagination a Grave Cuckold doth appear most Ridiculous And although she was Constant to him yet the Lewdness of her former Life could not but be a great Blemish to him as to marry the Dregs and Leavings of other men But it seem'd that she had an Attractive Power especially on such as they call Wise men as Statesmen Philosophers and Governours and all this Power lay in her Tongue which was a Bawd for the other end nay so well it is said she could Speak that not only such men as forementioned did come to hear her and to learn to speak Eloquently by her but many also brought their Wives to hear her which in my opinion was Dangerous lest they might learn her Vice with her Rhetorick but it seems the Graecians were not like the Italians concerning their Wives although they were like them concerning their Courtesans but honest Women take not so much care to Speak well as to Do that which is Virtuous And so leaving Aspasia and Pericles in Plutarch's History I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXXI MADAM I Cannot wonder if I hear that men which are Advanced to Power and Authority should be Dispraised because it 's usual but rather I should wonder if I should hear such men Praised or Applauded although their Lives and Actions were Blameless nay Wise and Honest for I have observed that if any man have more Wealth Merit Power or Wit than his Neighbour he is sure to be privately Hated and publickly Rail'd or Exclaim'd against and to shew their Hate and Dispraise is against his Merit Wealth Power VVit or the like if this man fall from those Favours either of Fortune or Nature he is not onely Pittied but dearly Beloved and highly Praised and this Ill and Inconstant Nature and Humour is so frequent in all Ages and Nations as it may very easily be believed that it was Created in the Essence of mankind insomuch that had Men been created before the Angels Fell they would have Envyed their Glory and Accused God of Partiality in making such difference between Men and Angels but whenas those Angels were cast from Heaven to Hell for their Wickedness they would Censure God for being too Severe in their Punishment Yet Madam mistake me not to believe all men are so Envious and Ill-natur'd but some for surely though many Angels fell through Spiritual Pride Envy and Ambition yet many remained in Heaven as Pure as when first Created and so likewise many Men by the Mercie of God are bred to Virtue and blest with Piety to which I leave them and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXXII MADAM SIr D. D. and his Lady had invited a great many of their Friends to a Feasting Dinner and being Set they fell to Eating and soon after to Talking for Talking accompanies Eating and Drinking especially at a Feast but amongst other Discourses they were speaking of Marriage Husbands and Wives where Sir D. D.
Life or Rid me out of the World at least to my thinking although to him it is a Sport and Pleasure or else he would not do so since he is not Constrain'd thereto Wherefore as for your Letter it must either be sent back to you again or else it must lie here as a Watch to Take him for it is impossible it should Overtake him nor can any one tell where to find him except those that are in the same place he is which soon changes to Is not so as one may say he Is and Is not he is like a Juglers Ball 't is here 't is gone but he is no Jugler himself for I hear he is a very Worthy Person and his Honest and Harmless Endeavour to Prolong his Life shews him a Wise man and so leaving him and your Letter to meet though I know not when I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXXIX MADAM I May give the Lady F. L. Joy of her second Marriage for I hear she is Married again but I fear it will be applyed to her what is said of another Lady who Married first very well for Title and Wealth her Husband being in Years but she very Poor and amongst much Company it was told she seem'd to be a Crafty Witty Woman that she could get such an Husband no said one man it was not the VVit or Craft of the Lady that got her such a Husband but the Folly of the Man that Married such a VVife and after he Died and left her very Rich she married a Young man that had no Estate and then they said that it seem'd her second Husband was a VVise Man that he could get so Rich a Wife no said the former Man it was not the Wisdom of the Man but the Folly of the Woman that caus'd that Match so she was even with her first Husband in Folly for he play'd the Fool to Marry her and she play'd the Fool to Marry her second Husband Thus most of the World of mankind is mistaken for what they Attribute to some men's Wit is other men's Folly but for Marriages the truth is that Folly makes more Marriages than Prudence as for Example Mr. A. B. hath Married a Common Courtesan if she had been Particular it had been more Excusable but all men are not so foolish for I hear that Sir W. S. will rather indure the Persecution of his own Courtesan than Marry her But leaving the Lady F. L. to her new Husband and Mr. A. B. to his new Wife and Sir W. S. to his pursuing Whore I rest Madam Your most faithful Friend and Servant XL. MADAM I Have observed that in time of Peace most men study the School-men and Fathers and in times of War they study Martial-men and Poets or rather Practise what former Martial-men have Taught and Repeat what former Poets have VVritten for when they are in Garrisons or have any spare time from Fighting as Assaulting or Defending they will chuse to read Homer Virgil and Lucian rather than St. Ambrose St. Hierome St. Augustin St. Chrysostome or the like or rather than they will read Books of Controversies as Scotus Thomas Aquinas and others they will read Caesar's Commentaries the truth is though School-men and Books of Controversies do not Fight Combats yet they make Quarrels and Disputations so that there are More Oftener and Continual Wars in Schools than in the Field onely that their Weapons they use in Schools are not so deadly as those that are used in the Field for there is great difference between Tongues and Swords Words and Blows The truth is Scholars and Women quarrel much alike as after the same manner wherein is more Noise than Danger and more Spite than Mischief but yet different Opinions in Religion and Laws in a Commonwealth cause Cruel Civil Wars making Factions and Parties with Disputations and Arguments and nothing will decide the Quarrel but Blood and Death nor end the War but Destruction of the Whole or Conquering Victory of the one Party over the other whereof the late Wars in this Country are a woful Example all being brought to Confusion with Preaching and Pleading on the one side Preachers and Pleaders became Souldiers on the other side Souldiers became Preachers and Pleaders so that the Word and the Sword made great Troubles and grievous Calamities in these Nations and though there hath been much Blood Shed many Lives Lost Men Banish'd and Families Ruined yet there are Divisions still But leaving VVar and Strife and Praying for Peace and Quiet I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLI MADAM 'T Is now become a fashion for men to brag of their Fortunes or Estates to get Credit as to Borrow or run on the Score for they think if Trades-men believe they are able to Pay they will be willing to Trust and if they can get Trust they 'l spend as long as their Credit will last and when they ow Most they bear up Highest for Tradesmen for fear of Losing what they have Trusted or Lent will Trust or Lend more in hope to be paid All at last so as they fling the Handle after the Hatchet and whereas at first the Borrowers are Humble to get Credit at last the Creditors become Humble Petitioners for their Own and VVait for an Answer with their Caps in their hands and the Borrower like a proud Favorite will hardly be Seen or Spoken to nay when he vouchsafes them his Presence and Answer he gives them VVords for Pay and Promises more than he is able to Perform and sometimes they have Frowns and Checks for being so Presumptuous to Come before they were Sent for or so Bold to Ask for what was justly Owing them But certainly Creditors deserve good VVords for their good Deeds though they can get no Mony for their VVares But in these needy times Tradesmen must venture to Trust or else they will hardly put off their Commodities for where one payes ready Mony five nay twenty run on the Score the reason is there is not so much Mony in Specie not in all Europe nay in the VVorld as to pay readily for all that is Bought for there are more Commodities than Mony I may say more Paper than Mony for Paper and Parchment payes more than Mony a little Mony sprinkled amongst many Bills and Bonds keeps up Commerce and Trading throughout the VVorld more than Exchange of Commodities doth But those live most at Ease that Borrow not and those that Lend not have the most Friends for ther 's an old Saying Lend your Mony and Lose your Friend the truth is a man shall sooner lose a Friend with a Debt than get a Friend by a Gift But leaving Debts and Gifts to the Poor and the Rich I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLII MADAM I Am sorry Sir F.O. hath Undervalued himself so much below is Birth and VVealth as to Marry his Kitchin-maid but it was a sign he had an Hungry
Brethren Know by the Spirit that they are not the Children of the Lord but Sathans Children they are the Children of Darkness we the Children of Light we are Glorified and Sanctified by Supernatural Grace we are a Peculiar People and the Holy Prophets of the Lord to Fore-see Fore-tell and Declare his Will and Pleasure also we are to Incourage and Comfort the Saints in Afflictions and Times of Tribulation and Consolation and to Help them to Present their Sanctified Sighs Tears and Groans unto the Lord but the Spirit moveth me to Pray and to leave off Preaching wherefore let us Pray unto the Lord. So after the Holy Brother had done his Prayer Mr. N. N. who was there pull'd off his Peruick and put on a Night-Cap wherein he appeared so like a Holy Brother as they took him for one of their Sect and he Preached this following Sermon DEarly beloved Brethren We are here met in a Congregation together some to Teach others to Learn but neither the Teaching nor Learning can be any other way but Natural and according to Human Capacitie for we cannot be Coelestial whilst we are Terrestrial neither can we be Glorified whilst we are Mortal and subject to Death nor yet can we arrive to the Purity of Saints or Angels whilst we are subject to Natural Imperfections both in Body and Mind but there are some Men that Believe they are or at least may be so Pure in Spirit by Saving Grace as to be Sanctified and to be so much fill'd with the Holy Ghost as to have Spiritual Visions and ordinarily to have Conversation with God believing God to be a Common Companion to their Idle Imaginations But this Opinion proceeds from an Extraordinary Self-Love Self-Pride and Self-Ambition as to believe they are the only fit Companions for God himself and that not any of God's Creatures are or were Worthy to be Favoured but They much less to be made of Gods Privy Counsel as they believe they are as to Know his Will and Pleasure his Decrees and Destinies which indeed are not to be Known for the Creator is too Mighty for a Creature to Comprehend him Wherefore let us Humbly Pray to What we cannot Conceive But before he had quite Ended his Sermon the Holy flock began to Bustle and at last VVent quite out of the Room so that he might have Pray'd by Himself had not I and two or three Ladies more that were of my Company Stayed and when he had done his short Prayer He told me and the other Ladyes that he had Done that which the Great Counsel of State could not Do for he had by one short Discourse Dispersed a Company of Sectaries without Noise or Disturbance but at last we dispersed our selves to our own Houses although Mr. N. N. would have given us a Ball after a Sermon but I was so tyred with the One as I was not fit for the Other for we were from Morning till Evening to hear them Preach yet as Tyred and Weary as I am I could not choose but Repeat these two of their shortest Sermons which I heard and so I subscribe my self Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXVII MADAM YOu were pleased to desire me to Read the Romance of A. as also the Romance of C. which I have obeyed in reading the Romance of A but as yet I have not read any part of C. and to give you an Account of my Perusal I think there is more Love than Reason in it and more Wit than Truth or Probability of Truth and certainly it is deplorable that so much Wit and Eloquence should be wasted on Amorous Love as also to bring all Scholastical as Theological Physical Logistical and the like Arguments Disputes and Discourses into the Theme of Amorous Love which Love is between Appetite or Desire and Fruition of Different Sexes of Men and Women but I perceive that Romance-Writers endeavour to make all their Romance-Readers believe that the Gods Nature Fates Destinies and Fortune do imploy or busie themselves only in the affairs of Amorous Lovers which is a very low Imployment or Concern Also I perceive that Romance-Lovers are very Rheumatick for if all the Tears Romances express Lovers to shed were Gathered or United it would cause a second Deluge of the World it seems Amorous Love is Composed more of Water than Fire and more of Desire than Fruition But leaving Amorous Lovers to more Folly than Discretion to Lose more Time than to Gain Love and wishing them Sound Lungs for Sighs and Moist Eyes for Tears I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXVIII MADAM IN your last Letter you expressed that you had Presented C. with a Book of Gs. VVriting I wonder you would Present that Book to C. by reason that he is a Gallant for Pleasure and not a Stoick for Study also you express'd you sent one to D. the Student let me tell you Madam I dare swear he will never read it Half out not for the Bigness of the Volume but for the Newness of the Style and Age for most Students despise all New Works and only delight in Old Worm-eaten Records the truth is few Books are read Throughout the First Age it is well if at the Fourth Age the End be arrived at especially in the same Nation where the Author is a Native for as our Saviour sayes A man is not Esteemed of in his Own Country and yet in another place he sayes A man is Known by his Works wherefore the best way for a man that would have his Writings Known and Esteemed of in his Life time is to send them to Travel into Forein Nations for at Home they will find but little Applause no not Romances which the VVorld Dotes on for Distance of Place is next to Distance of Time at least resembles it But if any will present their VVorks to Persons of their Own Nation they must present them to such as are Known to Delight in such Subjects their Books treat of and then perchance they may read a leaf or two and by that Censure all the Book But fearing you should Censure me for writing so Long a Letter I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant LXXIX MADAM I Was yesterday presented with a Book Translated out of French into English wherein I find the Author of the Book Condemns those that set their Images before their Books or that suffer their Friends to give their Opinions of their Books in Epistles or that do write many or some or few Epistles before their Books whereas himself writes so Long an Epistle in finding Fault with Others and civilly Applauding Himself in not having his Picture or his Friends Applauses as that Epistle or Preface is as Long if not More than many Short Epistles and as Vain-glorious as Many Friends Praises But I am so far from that Noble Persons Opinion or Modesty that I wish whereas I have One Friend to Praise my Works although Partially I had a Thousand or
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
the Linnen or Sweet-meats we ever had of him neither did we know they were his until a Fortnight after Now if she should have been Judged by the Letter without any Examination she might have been Condemned for a Criminal whereas her own Confession and other Witnesses set her Free but Jealousie and Suspicion for the most part are False Accusers and Cruel Judges By this we see how Unquiet and Restless some Married Persons are being alwayes Tortured with their own Thoughts and their Minds are Rack'd on the Wheels of Suspicion But my Husband sent for the Divine that formerly came from her and told him of her Letter and of my Maids Confession and that she had no Cause to be Jealous of her for she was very Virtuous neither had she any Acquaintance with her Husband So the Divine went between and between not to bring Unlawful Lovers together for he was a very Worthy and VVise man but to Pacifie a Disquiet Mind and to make Love and Unity between an Husband and his VVife And so leaving them to Agree I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXV MADAM I Cannot Blame you if you were in a Passion as in your Letter you Express you were for there is nothing so apt to Inkindle an Anger in my Mind or to Inflame my Spirits than to receive a Contumely from my Superiours or a Rude Boldness from my Inferiours unless Cold Discretion and Fluent Prudence could Quench those Flaming Spirits into an Unactive and Dead Patience VVhen I say Superiours I mean Superiours for Outward Title and not for Inward VVorth But you must Consider Madam that Bold Rudeness or Negligent Contumely proceeds from Ignorance or Envy as either Ignorant of Civil Manners being a Kin to the Brutes or Envious having no VVorth or Merit in themselves and if you call your Reason to Counsel and your Judgment to Decide the Cause those would let them pass as Inconsiderable and not to be Regarded for Reason and Judgment will never regard the Braying of an Ass the Barking of a Dog the Buzzing of a Flie an Idle Drone the Speech of a Fool the Follies of a Knave nor the Envy of the Base But Madam your Worth and Merit is so Transcendent as the Tongue of Malice nor the Eye of Envy can never Reach to no more than the Blind can See the Light of the Sun or the Dumb Teach the Truth of Knowledg and I am Happy in Knowing that I am Madam Your Humble and Devoted Servant CXXVI MADAM IN your last Letter you were Pleased to tell me that the Works of W. T. were so much Admired as many were Desirous to See the Author and Hear him Speak but after they had Seen and Heard him they did not Admire his Works so much as they did before so as it seems they did Esteem the VVorks the Less for the Author and not the Author the More for his Works which in my Opinion is Unjust and a sign they either have not Read the Scripture or not Believed what there is Written viz. That a Man is Known by his Works and we Admire the Creator Through and By his Works but the Foolish part of the World which is the Most part thinks that a Man's Learning or Wit or Ingenuity is Printed in his Face and Expects he should Speak beyond the Invention of Words and such high Raptures as they could not Understand Indeed so Foolish are Most especially Women as when they see a Famous Learned Man or Witty Poet or the like they will streight say Lord Is this the Learned Man that is so Famous that Writ such and such Books how Simply he Looks or Is this the Famous Poet that Writ such Poems Scenes and Songs how Sneakingly he Appears says another I heard no VVit from him but he Spoke as other men Ordinailry do But all such Famous Men if they would not have their VVorks the Less Esteemed for their Presence and Ordinary Conversation and would be Admired by the Most which are the Ignorant must put on a Constrain'd Garb and Speak some Gibbrigge that sounds not like a Perfect Language or some wayes they must Speak that they Understand not and then they shall be Admired both for their Conversation and Contemplation which are their VVorks or they must Incloister themselves from the View of the VVorld for the World of Mankind is apt to Despise that which they Know or have Seen and only Admire that which they Understand not But I have Spoken of this Subject in an Epistle before my Book of Playes wherefore I shall not Trouble you with any more Discourse thereon but rest Madam Your very Faithful Friend and Servant CXXVII MADAM I May not Discommend the Old Historical or Heroick Poets for if I should I should be Condemned for a Fool as not having neither Judgment nor Understanding yet I may say my Reason believes they VVrit Unreasonably not only of their Feigned Gods but of their Feigned Fights and of their Feigned Fortunes or Successes The truth is they are for the most part Romances containing more Lies than Truth more Impossibilities than Probabilities for though Feigning is the Ground of Poetry yet methinks such kind of Poetry should not have such kind of Feignings for to Reason it can neither be Pleasant nor Profitable for Reason takes Delight in Probabilities not in Impossibilities for though the Ground or Subject of an Heroical Story or Poem may be Feigning yet the several Actions should be Natural not beyond the Power of Men nor Unusual to their Practice neither can it be Profitable for what cannot be Practised cannot be Imitated the VVay of VVriting may be Imitated but not the Actions for what One man can Disorder or Rout an Army with his Single Strength or Courage nay what One man can Disorder or Rout a Brigade nay a Company of an Hundred The truth is a Hundred to One is too great Odds to Encounter and too Many for One man to Overcome neither can I believe a Hundred men should be so Afraid of One man were he as Big and as Strong as Goliah so as to Run away unless they did apprehend he had Followers but yet when I remember the Story of Sampson I Dare not say it Cannot be but I Dare say it cannot be without a Miracle wherefore most of the Heroick Poets make their chief Heroes to have the Assistance of particular Gods and Goddesses so as to Impower them above the Effects of Nature but of all the Heroick Poems I have read I like Sir W. Ds. as being Most and Nearest to the Natures Humours Actions Practice Designs Effects Faculties and Natural Powers and Abilities of Men or Human Life containing no Impossibilities or Improbabilities Indeed such an Heroick Poem it is that there cannot be found any Fault therein unless he seem'd to have too much Care or Pains taken in the Expression of his Descriptions for the Language is like so Curious and Finely Ingraven a Seal as one cannot
Sand that Fly and Blind and sometimes Choak those that pass through those Deserts But if no Perswasion will Alter you but you are Resolved to See them send me word in your nest Letter and I will send them to you although much against the will of Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXII MADAM THe Lady S.K. Presents her Service to you Truly she is not Well although not so Sick as Forced to keep her Bed I know not how to Judg of her Disease for she is both Lean and Fat like as the Idol mentioned in the Holy Scripture which was partly Clay partly Stone and partly Metal onely as I remember its Feet and Legs were made of Clay whereas her Feet and Legs are all Bone for they are so Wasted as they have no Flesh on them but her Hips Body and Breast are so Fleshy and Fat as one may think she had no Bones by reason none can be Seen or Felt and her Arms Hands Neck and Face are so Pale and Lean that they appear White as Silver and for want of Blood and Flesh they are so Dry as they are so Rough as Unpolished Stone and with her Sickness she is become so Melancholy as she appears like a Dead Image or Senseless Idol but her Real Virtue and Noble Soul and Honourable Life hath made her more Worthy of Human Worship than the Signifying fore-mentioned Idol or Image his Idolatrous Divine Worship and she is more Worthy to be set up on an Altar of Fame than such Idols on an Altar of Religion and to have Praises though not Prayers Offer'd to her Thus she may be Worshipped as a Goddess without Superstitious Idolatry and have Virtuous Devouts but yet she desires she may have the best Doctors Advice for her Health wherefore she Intreats you to send her the most Renowned Doctors of Physick that are in your City she will not spare Cost if they have Skill but Pay them for their Advice for Doctors sell their Knowledge and Patients Buy Healths and their Knowledge is a Staple-Commodity for the more Knowledg Doctors of Physick sell the more Knowledg they get for Experience of Diseases and so all things come in more by Practice than by Study and Health gains more by Temperance Exercise and Air than by Physick And so Adding my Prayers to her Temperance the Doctors Skill and Physick I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXIII MADAM YOu were pleased to tell me the Complaints of Mrs. W. A. concerning the Incivilities of Sir A. M. she is not to be Pitied since it was her own Fault to be in the Company of Uncivil Men but certainly he was Drunk or she VVanton either in her Behaviour or Discourse or both otherwise it is not Easily to be believed that a Person of his Quality should be so Uncivil to a Person of her Quality for Honourable Men are or should be a Guard to VVomens Honours to Protect them Safely and not to Betray them to their Incivilities Wherefore the Surest way for Women is not to Accompany any Man Singly and Alone but when there are more than they themselves unless it be such Men as they have a near Relation to as Husbands Brothers Fathers Sons Uncles and the like but VVomen are so far from Shunning Mens Companies as they go from place to place to Meet them and will Invite them to Cards Dancing or other Meetings and they seem Dull Melancholy and Indisposed whenas they are not in the Company of Men and for the most part the Wilder the Men are the better Pleased the Women are at least they seem so But perchance Mrs. W. A. is Jealous of some other Women for Jealousie is full of Complaints and their Tongues are apt to speak Sharply of those they Love best and that which makes me think so is that Mrs. W. A. hath been often in Sir A. Ms. Company and never Complain'd but seem'd best Pleased when he was with her wherefore when the Jealous Humour is Abated she will perchance Repent of her Complaints fearing he may Hear of them and so be Angry and come not near to Visit her and then 't is likely she will Praise him more than she hath Complain'd or Spoken against him to Invite his Company again for some Praises are rather to Intrap or to Allure as Insinuating Praises than Just Praises to Reward Merit But leaving Mrs. W. A. to her Complaints or her Complaints to Sir A. M. I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXIV MADAM YOu were pleased in your last Letter to tell me that you had Heard of the Seven Wonders of the World but you had onely Seen that which might be accounted the Eighth which are those Books I sent you But Madam it is a greater VVonder to me that you would take the Pains to Peruse them than it was that I should VVrite or Vvast so much Paper for Girls are alwayes Busie to no Purpose they will take delight to scratch a Coal upon a VVhite VVall or Ink with a Pen upon Paper whenas they account it a Torment to be Taught a Fair Hand-writing or the Art of Limning and in my Opinion there is no better Argument for Free VVill than to Observe how Opposite Constraint and Inforcement is to the Nature of Mankind But when I Consider that Mankind for the most part Will what is VVorst and most Hurtful for themselves or their Kind I then am apt to think Mankind are Predestinated so to do otherwise it were strange that Mankind should VVilfully Hurt themselves when they have that which is call'd Reason which Informs them that that which they VVill is Hurtful for them or to them But as for my Books you might think I have been bound to the Profession of a Scrivener not to VVrite an Intelligible Hand but to make VVast Paper for they being paid for the most part by the Sheets and not by the Letters put as few Letters in a Sheet of Paper as subtilly they can leaving a Large Space betwixt every Line and they make their Letters as Big and Broad as they may as not to Mis-shape them also with Large and Long Flourishing Scratches but my Paper Book is an Advantage to you who pay nothing for the VVriting but your Sight although Sight indeed is more worth than Pluto's Riches for it is the most Curious Glorious and Pretious Jewel in Nature's Treasury But Madam lest I should Doubly or Trebly Tire your Sight as with my Books and then with this Tedious Letter I take my leave and rest Madam Your Ladiships most faithful Friend and Servant CXXXV MADAM I Am not of the Opinion that the Planets have an Influence or Power on the Fortunes or any Outward Accidents of Men as that such shall be Slaves and such Kings such be Rich and such Poor such be Kill'd in the Wars and such Drown'd or Killd with a Stone falling on their Heads such be Burnt such Hang'd and such Escape those and the like Dangers such
Well as those who make it their Trade neither can you make them so Cheap as they will Sell them out of their Shops wherefore you had better Buy those Toyes if you Desire them for it will be an Unprofitable Employment to Wast Time with a Double Expence of Mony Then I told her I would Preserve for it was Summer time and the Fruit Fresh and Ripe upon the Trees she ask'd me for whom I would Preserve for I seldom did Eat Sweet-meats my self nor made Banquets for Strangers unless I meant to Feed my Houshold Servants with them besides said she you may keep half a score Servants with the Mony that is laid out in Sugar and Coals which go to the Preserving only of a Few Sweet-meats that are good for nothing but to Breed Obstructions and Rot the Teeth All which when I heard I conceived she spoke Reason at last I considered that I and my Maids had better be Idle than to Employ Time Unprofitably and to spend Mony Idely and after I had Mused some time I told her how I heard my Neighbours Condemn'd me for letting my Servants be Idle without Employment and that my Maids said it was my Fault for they were willing to be Employed in Huswifry she said my Neighbours would find Fault where no Fault was and my Maids would Complain more if they were kept to Work than when they had liberty to Play besides said she none can want Employment as long as there are Books to be Read and they will never Inrich your Fortunes by their Working nor their Own unless they made a Trade of Working then perchance they might get a poor Living but not grow Rich by what they can do whereas by Reading they will Inrich their Understandings and Increase their Knowledges and Quicken their Wit all which may make their Life Happy in being Content with any Fortune that not in their Power to Better or in that as to Manage a Plentiful Fortune Wisely or to Indure a Low Fortune Patiently and therefore they cannot Employ their Time better than to Read nor your Ladiship better than to Write for any other Course of Life would be as Unpleasing and Unnatural to you as Writing is Delightful to you besides you are Naturally Addicted to Busie your time with Pen Ink and Paper but said I not with Wit for if Nature had given me as much Wit to Write as Fortune hath given me Leisure my Writing might have been for some Use but now my Time and Paper is Unprofitably VVasted in VVriting as my Time and Flax would be in Spinning but since I am fit for no other Employment but to Scratch Paper leave me to that Employment and let my Attending Maids have Books to read Thus Madam for a time did I Trouble my Mind and Busie my Thoughts to no Purpose but was Forced to Return to my VVriting-VVork again not knowing what else to do and if I had been as Long Absent from my Lord as Penelope was from her Husband Vlysses I could have never Employed my Time as she did for her work only Employed her Hands and Eyes her Ears were left open to Loves Pleadings and her Tongue was at liberty to give her Suters Answers whereas my VVork Employes all the Faculties and Powers of my Soul Mind and Spirits as well as my Eyes and Hands and my Thoughts are so Busie in my Brain as they neither Regard nor take Notice what Enters through the Ears indeed those Passages are as Stop'd up or Barr'd close whereas had Penelope's Ears been so Barr'd her Lovers Petitions Sutes and Pleadings would have been kept without doors like a Company of Beggars they might have Knock'd but not Entred nor any of the Mind's Family would have ask'd them what they Desired neither would the Tongue the Mind's Almner have given them one word of Answer and then it was likely her Amorous Lovers would have gone away and not stay'd to Feed upon her Cost and Charge as they did But Madam give me leave to beg your Pardon for VVriting so Long a Letter though it is your Desire I should I will Tire you no Longer but Subscribe my self Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLI MADAM YOu were pleased in your last Letter to tell me that you did see the Lady C. C. and that her Face seems Young although she be Old in Years but Madam Youthful Appearance is like Green Moss on Aged Trees and not as the Green of Springing Buds or Flourishing Leaves the truth is some Bodies are Happy in being so Healthful and of so Lasting a Constitution for like as the Holly Ivy Bay or Lawrel last Green all their Time not only in Summer but also in VVinter so some Men and VVomen will appear Young in the VVinter of their Age with a Fresh and Lively Colour and so Smooth and Free from VVrinkles as if Time had no Power on them But there are not many Bodies or Faces that can Boast they are too Strong for Time and although they should be Victorious over Time for a Time yet Time Ruins them all at Last And so leaving the Lady C. C. to her Old Years and Young Face I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLII. MADAM THe Messenger you sent is returning to you again and with him I have sent some Babies and other Toyes this City Affords as a Token to your Daughter I do not send them for Bribes to Corrupt her from Edifying Learning and VVise Instructions for I would not have her Bred to Delight in Toyes and Childish Pleasures but I send them as Gifts to Allure her to that which is most Profitable and Happiest for her Life for Children are sooner Perswaded by the Means of Tinsell-Toyes and Flattering Words to Listen to Wise Instruction to Study Profitable Arts or Sciences to Practise Good Graceful Behaviours and Civil Demeanours than they can be Forced thereto by Terrifying Threats and Cruel Blows 't is true they may be Forced to the Outward Forms or Actions of Learning but not to the Understanding Profit Grace or Becoming for Force Breaks the Understanding Destroyes all Ingenuity for the Fear of Punishment Confuses the Brain and Disquiets the Mind so much as it makes them Incapable of Right Impressions whereas the Hope of Rewards Delights the Mind and Regulates the Motions in the Brain and makes them so Smooth as the least Impression of Learning Prints Fairly therein and so Plainly as to be Remembred in their Elder Years also it makes their Thoughts and Actions Industrious to Merit those Rewards and their Endeavours will be the more Active through a Covetous Desire to Increase those Rewards so that those Toyes which are given to Children in their Childish Years may be a Means to Teach them when Grown to Elder Years to Know and Acknowledge that all Toyes are Vanities and that nothing is to be Prized or Esteemed but what is Useful and Best either for their Present or Future Life as the Life of their
Producer of the Matter that made the VVorld yet the Power that God Had and Hath to make the Matter was Infinite and Eternal and the Matter being in the Infinite and Eternal Power is also Infinite and Eternal without Beginning or Ending so as the Produced hath no more Beginning than the Producer the like for the Form Figure and Motion but to answer every Idle Objection or to Instruct every Shallow Understanding were Infinitely Troublesome and Tedious if not Impossible and there are not many that Read and Argue with a Deep Consideration or Clear Understanding for when they Argue they Argue in a Misty Understanding which makes many Objections which Reason Stumbles at and make so many Words as they Confound Reason and Sense and when they Read or Hear any other Argue or Discourse of Nature they Read or Hearken Superficially rather Listening to the Sound than Marking Observing or Considering the Sense and Reason or the Ground and Composition like as those that Barely View a Picture but Understand nothing of the Art yet will Censure the Painters Skill and many times out of a Presumptuous Opinion of their own Understanding do give a Midas Judgment Preferring not only in their Opinion but in their Commendation Sign-Posts or Sign-Pictures before the Rarest and most Curious Pieces Drawn to the Life But leaving them to their Dull Understanding and Foolish Judgments I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLVIII MADAM YOu were pleased to tell me in your last Letter that the Lady D. M. and you were Fall'n out about some Speeches she should Speak in your Dispraise and those when you were not by to Answer for your self Truly Madam I cannot Imagine what Fault she could perceive in your Ladiship to Dispraise you unless Envy have power to make Virtue Vice Beauty Deformity and to turn the Graces into Furies But Madam I have often Observed that Women with Women seldom Agree for our Sex is so Self-loving as we cannot Indure a Competitor much less a Superiour especially for Beauty Wit and Worth Birth Title and Wealth are somewhat Easier to Indure yet neither so well but that we are apt to look a Squint upon them that Surpass us therein and therefore the less Acquaintance we have with each other the better unless they be Chosen by an Immaculate and Pure Sympathy and Honour Knit the Knot of Friendship otherwise the more Acquaintance we have the more Enemies we have wherefore to Live Quietly Peaceably and Easily is to be Strangers to our own Sex and to Live Honourably is to be Strangers to the Masculine Sex for Masculine Acquaintance most commonly Causes Suspicion and a Masculine Friendship never fails of an Aspersion wherefore a Retired Life is most Happy as being most Free from Censure Scandals Disputes and Effeminate Quarrels I mean not Retired from those we have Relation to as by Nature Birth Marriage Breeding Obligation and the like for that were to be Buried Quick but to be Retired from those we call Strangers such as we have no Relation to or Obligation from but our Sex is so far from Retirement as they seek all Occasions and let no Opportuty slip by which they can go to Publick Meetings or Private Visitings or Home-Entertainments they will Ruin their Friends Fortunes or Fame rather than Miss or Want Company But if this Letter were not written to you but to another Lady it were Probable that Lady would become my Enemy upon this Subject as speaking so much against our Sex wherefore there is Male-Gossipping and Male-Brabling as well as Female and there are more Effeminate Men than Masculine Women that is there are few Women so Wise as Men should be and many Men as Foolish as Women can be But now you may think me like a Priest of a Parish that Exclames against his Parishioners Faults but never Mentions his own or perhaps hath the the same Faults but thinks to Obscure them by speaking against them in other Persons And therefore being already sensible of my Fault in writing so Long a Letter to you I do Beg your Pardon only Subscribing my self Madam Your Ladiships faithful Friend and humble Servant CLIX. MADAM YOu desire me to Explane that Chapter of Atomes which is before my Book of Philosophical Opinions but truly I cannot Explane it more Clearly than I have done which is that I thought this World could not be made out of Atomes but if it was made by Atomes they must be both the Architects and Materials neither could they do that Work unless every Atome was Animated with Life and Knowledg for an Animated Substance is a Living Knowing Substance which Life and Knowledg is Sense and Reason and thus every Atome must have a Body which is a Substance and that Substance Sense and Reason and so Probably Passions and Appetites as well as Wit and Ingenuity to make Worlds and Worlds of Creatures as also Passions and Appetites that Sympathize and Antipathize as not only to Create but to Dissolve the Self-creating Figures which Sympathy and Antipathy might cause the Continuation of the World for if they did alwayes Agree there would be no Change and if they did alwayes Disagree there would be a Confusion But I have written so much of Atomes in my Book of Poems as I cannot well write more of that Small though Infinite Substance wherefore leaving them to Better Judgments Learning and Rational Arguments than mine I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLX MADAM YOu desire me to give my reason why much Cream is apt to make a Cake Heavy I say the same reason that much Butter makes Pye-crust Heavy for it is much Moisture that causes such things to be Heavy like as Dough is much Heavier than when it is throughly Baked for the Fire Drying up the Moisture causes it to be Light also when the Sun Drinks up the Moisture of the Earth it causes it to be Dusty and Dust is Lighter than Water and much Lighter than Dirt which is Earth and Water mix'd together for although Rarified VVater is so Light as to Ascend yet when VVater is an United Body it is Heavy even so Heavy as to Descend Weightily Indeed Vapor one may say is the Dusty Part of Water but leaving Dust and VVater I return to Cake and Pye-crust Cream and Butter the more Cakes and Pies are Baked the Lighter they will be and much Lighter if the Flower be Dried before it is Mix'd and by reason Cream and Butter are of a very Moist Nature when there is much of them in Cakes and such like Meats it is not easily Dried up which makes them require so much the more Baking and VVorking but many Good Huswifes put the Fault in the Cream and Butter when it is the Fault of the Oven and many Impatient Huswives will have their Cake before it is Baked they will not stay the time their Appetites being Hotter than their Ovens but there is an Old Saying Too much Cost Spoils a
Pudding and in my Opinion it is too much Hast that Spoils it for Good Ingredients VVell ordered cannot be Amiss But Madam having had no Practice I cannot have much Skill in these Meats and 't is Probable my Cook can give better Reasons than I can yet howsoever to Obey your Commands I have given you my Opinion and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLXI MADAM YOu desire my Opinion whether there be a Vacuum or not I have written of it in my Former Books as in my Poems Olio and Philosophical Opinions and cannot write More nor Better of it than I have done there unless I had more Learning or Judgment or VVit or Conceptions or Understanding but yet to Satisfie you I 'le send you the same Opinion or but little different which is that if there were no Vacuum but that all the Universe were full only the Gross Bodies Moved in the Thin Bodies as is held by many they do then the Places of each Solid or Bulky Body must be fitted just to their Measures and their Places must be Supplied so as when they Move the Liquid or Rare Bodies must Contract and Dilate according to the Motion of those Bulky Bodies to fill up their former Places or following Places and to Contract to make Room and Place for those Solid and Grosser Bodies otherwise there would be a Vacuum or a Stoppage of all Natural Motions But I cannot conceive how the Thin or Rare Matter can Contract or Dilate if there be no Vacuum for to my Reason there must be a Space to Dilate and Contract into so as the Rare Parts must be Porous to Contract and there must be Empty Places or Space to Dilate and if they say the Space or Place is the Place or Space where the Solid Bodies were in which they fill up as soon as they Moved out yet the Space or Place must be Empty before the Rare Bodies Enter for two Bodies cannot be in one Place at one Time and if the Great or Solid Bodies leave no Places or Spaces but alwayes Move in Full Matter I cannot Imagine how they should Move if all Places be Full although they should move in Rare or Thin Matter for as I said the Thin Matter must be Porous to Contract and Dilate to make VVay or Fill up for if there were not Pores or Spongy or Hollow Spaces and Places that which is Liquid and Rare would be as Firm as Brass or Glass nay more for those no doubt are Porous for if there were no Vacuum every part would be Press'd and Joyn'd into a Firm Body or Substance nay surely there would be great Confusion amongst all the Works of Nature But why may not Dilatation and Contraction cause Vacuum to be sometimes more and sometimes less But one would think there were no Vacuum in Nature because Nature is Forced or seems to be so as to make VVay for Life by Death as if she had no Room or Space for Life but what was caused by Death But leaving these Empty and Filling Opinions I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLXII MADAM REmember when we were very young Maids one day we were Discoursing about Lovers and we did injoyn each other to Confess who Profess'd to Love us and whom we Loved and I Confess'd I only was in Love with three Dead men which were Dead long before my time the one was Caesar for his Valour the second Ovid for his Wit and the third was our Countryman Shakespear for his Comical and Tragical Humour but soon after we both Married two VVorthy men and I will leave you to your own Husband for you best know what he is As for my Husband I know him to have the Valour of Caesar the Fancy and VVit of Ovid and the Tragical especially Comical Art of Shakespear in truth he is as far beyond Shakespear for Comical Humour as Shakespear beyond an Ordinary Poet in that way also he is the Best Heroick Poet in this Age nay in my Judgment in any for I have seen him make Twenty Songs upon one Theme or Subject as Musick and not one Song like another and for Comedies he Hits or Meets or Imitates the Humours of Men so Justly as he seems to go even with Nature Indeed he is such a Person that I Glory more to be his Wife than Livia to be Augustus's Wife or had I been Titus's Wife who was call'd the Delight of Mankind although I never heard he had any for in my Opinion he is as Wise a man as Augustus and of as Sweet a Nature as Titus all which is my Happiness in any Condition of Worldly Fortune in which Happiness I know you Rejoyce and this Rejoyce proves us Inseparable Friends CLXIII MADAM YOu were pleased to desire me to let my Steward receive five hundred Pounds for you here in this Town but you must have a little Patience for they will pay no Mony although it be Due until these Christmass Holy-dayes be past I know not whether they are so Strict as to Receive none methinks they should be apt to Take for they are all busie in Entertainments Eating Drinking and Feasting but I observe some things which I wonder at viz. that Mony should pass or move so Slowly in Matters or Affairs of Right and Due as Debts Rewards and Gratitudes or concerning Honour as Generosity or for Heaven's sake as Charity whenas in Causes of Injustice and Wrong as in Bribes or Wars or for Vice and Vanity as for Unlawful Love Gaming Drinking Gluttonous Feasting Vain shews and Superfluous Bravery it runs about with that Swift Speed that there is no Catching hold of as to Stay it but it seems to be the Minds of Men that hold it from going forth to Good and Noble Uses and the Appetites of Men that make it run to Base Wicked Vain and Foolish Imployments so that we may perceive that the Appetites have more Power to do Evil than the Mind hath Will to do Good But Madam my Will hath a Mind to Serve you although I have not Means nor Power to do it yet in what I can your Ladiship shall alwayes find me Your most faithful Friend and Servant CLXIV MADAM IN your last Letter you writ that your Imployment was to read the History of King Charles the First written by S. A. give me leave to tell you Madam you lose your time in reading that History for it is only a number of Weekly Gazets Compiled into a History wherein are more Falshoods than Truth for he being Mean and Poor had not Wealth nor Power to Inform himself Truly of every Particular Action much less of their Designs but you tell me he mentions an Entertainment my Lord made the King where he sayes it cost 5000 l. or thereabout Condemning another Writer of the same Subject for saying it cost more let me tell you Madam that neither of them was my Lords Steward nor Treasurer to know the Expences but only what they
so my Husband at the first Reading will so Humor the Sense and VVords of the VVork as if he himself had Made and VVrit it nay I have heard him Read some Works that have been but Mean and Plain Pieces so Well as to give a Grace to the Author and to make his Work Sound Harmoniously like as an Ill Instrument Well Played on whereas others put Rare Instruments out of Tune wherefore knowing the Difference as what Harmony or Discord Reading makes I am so Affected with fear of Unskilful Readers for my Poor Works as when I Look upon them I cannot choose but Mourn for their Danger of Disreputation yet to Pacifie my Grief I imagine that every several Person likes his own way of Reading Best and so will not Dislike my Writing for want of Well Reading But for Fear I should Anger your Patience to Read so Long a Letter I take my leave and rest Madam Your Faithful Friend and Servant CLXXIV MADAM THe Lady F. N. and her Pretty Young Daughter had th' other day a Quarrel insomuch as her Mother intended to Whip her but she Disputed so well for her self as her Mother Forgave her Fault and the chief Cause of the Forgiveness was that she told her Mother she had rather be Racked as a Traitor than be Whip'd as a Slave although said she I have neither Committed Treason nor Deserved Thraldome or Slavery besides said she I am Ten years of Age too Old to be Whip'd almost Old enough for an Husband but whilst the Daughter and Mother were Disputing in came the Father and Sir W. S. who found her Weeping but they Comforted her saying they came Purposely to Save her she told them that as long as she was in her Mothers Power she was subject to be Whipped Sir W. S. asked her if she would Live with him since she was Displeased with her Mother she said yes if he pleased to take her but her Father said he would not Agree to that unless he would make her his Wife Sir W. S. said she was too Young for a VVife the Father told him that Three or Four years would make her Old enough he said not for him for he would neither be a Nurse nor a Tutor for he knew VVomen were not Capable to be Instructed until they were Thirteen or Fourteen years of Age and then they must have some time to Learn Seven years at least neither can they Keep themselves as they ought but when I Marry said he I will Marry a VVife of such an Age as hath been Instructed both to know Good and Evil to know Evil by Relation and Good by Practice such a one as can be a Companion and is not a Nursling such a one as can Converse Rationally and not one that can speak a VVitty VVord or two by Chance as Children do such a one as may bring me Strong Healthful Children not Children that will be Children all the time of their Lives if they Live as being Infirm VVeak and Sickly or else do Die as soon as they are Born and from the VVomb go into the Grave and to have a VVife that is fit for Breed and Conversation she must be Two or Three and Twenty at least the truth is said he I had rather Marry a VVife of Four-score than of Fourteen for I could take more Content to Admire Antiquity or to Listen to an Aged Sybil or Read in an Old Chronicle than to Play with a Baby to Listen to a Parrat or to Read the Horn-book there being so much Difference between Youth and Age but when I Marry said he I will Marry a VVife that 's near to my own Age for if I Marry a VVife much Younger than my self I shall be Jealous of her and if I Marry one much Older than my self my VVife will be Jealous of me so as we shall be Unhappy either wayes besides in Unequal Ages Men and their VVives are apt to Upbraid one anothers Age but when their Age is Equal neither hath Cause to Dislike each others and for the most part in Equal Ages are Equal Loves and Fearless Lives as neither of them is Jealous and if we have Equal Strength and Constitutions we shall not Out-live one another Long nor Wish one anothers Death nor grow Weary of one anothers Life but I will if you will Consent Keep your Daughter as a Baby or a Toy for a Closet but not take her for a Wife to Govern my House and Family by my Faith said her Father she shall be no Toy if I can help it but if you will take her for a VVife I will give her ten Thousand Pound and if I have no more Children I will Double or Treble it said Sir W. S. I am Content for though she be too Young to Govern my Family I am Old enough to Dispose of her Wealth and for Society and Conversation I know no better Companion no better Governour nor no better Friend than Mony it is Beloved of every one but Loves no man so as I shall not Fear Mony will Cuckold me it will rather Bawd for me and so for Love to Mony I will take your Daughter to VVife VVhereat her Father said he should have her and so much Mony too And so leaving them to Conclude the Match I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. CLXXV MADAM IN your last Letter you Advised me to VVrite a Book of Orations but how should I VVrite Orations who know no Rules in Rhetorick nor never went to School but only Learn'd to Read and Write at Home Taught by an Antient Decayed Gentlewoman whom my Mother kept for that Purpose which my Ill hand as the Phrase is may sufficiently Witness yet howsoever to follow your Advice I did try to Write Orations but I find I want Wit Eloquence and Learning for such a Work and though I had Wit Eloquence and Learning I should not find so many Subjects to VVrite so many Orations as will Fill a Book for Orations for the most part are concerning VVar Peace and Matters of State and Business in the Common-wealth all which I am not Capable of as being a VVoman who hath neither Knowledg Ability nor Capacity in State Affairs and to Speak in VVriting of that I Understand not will not be Acceptable to my Reading Auditors Nevertheless to let you see how Powerful your Perswasions are with me I will send you those two or three Orations I have Written for a Trial if you Approve of them I will Write as many as I can find Subjects to make Orations of and if I can get so many as will make a Book I will set them forth in Print although I have no Hopes nor Confidence in that Work for I fear it will be Lost Labour and Wast Time but I am in all Times Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLXXVI MADAM SOme Ladies th' other day did Visit me and in their Discourse they spoke of the Duke of D. the Marquess of C.