more Industriously Carefully and Prudently to Temper their Passions and Govern their Appetites than Men because there comes more Dishonour from their unruly Passions and Appetites than from Mens but for the most part VVomen are not Educated as they should be I mean those of Quality for their Education is onely to Dance Sing and Fiddle to write Complemental Letters to read Romances to speak some Language that is not their Native which Education is an Education of the Body and not of the Mind and shews that their Parents take more care of their Feet than their Head more of their VVords than their Reason more of their Musick than their Virtue more of their Beauty than their Honesty which methinks is strange as that their Friends and Parents should take more Care and be at greater Charge to Adorn their Bodies than to Indue their Minds to teach their Bodies Arts and not to Instruct their Minds with Understanding for this Education is more for outward Shew than inward Worth it makes the Body a Courtier and the Mind a Clown and oftentimes it makes their Body a Baud and their Mind a Courtesan for though the Body procures Lovers yet it is the Mind that is the Adulteress for if the Mind were Honest and Pure they would never be guilty of that Crime wherefore those Women are best bred whose Minds are civilest as being well Taught and Govern'd for the Mind will be Wild and Barbarous unless it be Inclosed with Study Instructed by Learning and Governed by Knowledg and Understanding for then the Inhabitants of the Mind will live Peaceably Happily Honestly and Honourably by which they will Rule and Govern their associate Appetites with Ease and Regularity and their Words as their Houshold Servants will be imployed Profitably But leaving the Lady C. R. and her Husband to Passion and Patience I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXVII MADAM YEsterday I employed my time in reading History and I find in my self an Envy or rather an Emulation towards Men for their Courage Prudence VVit and Eloquence as not to Fear Death to Rule Commonwealths and to Speak in a Friend's behalf or to Pacifie a Friend's Grief to Plead for his own Right or to Defend his own Cause by the Eloquence of Speech yet this is not in all Men for some men have Courage and no VVit and some have VVit and no Conduct and some have neither VVit Courage nor Conduct but mistake me not for I do not Envy or Emulate a Stubborn Obstinacy nor a Desperate Rashness nor an Inslaving Policy nor Fine VVords and Choice Phrases but to Fight Valiantly to Suffer Patiently to Govern Justly and to Speak Rationally Movingly Timely and Properly as to the purpose all which I fear Women are not Capable of and the Despair thereof makes me Envy or Emulate Men. But though I love Justice Best and trust to Valour Most yet I Admire Eloquence and would choose VVit for my Pastime Indeed Natural Orators that can speak on a Sudden and Extempore upon any Subject are Nature's Musicians moving the Passions to Harmony making Concords out of Discords Playing on the Soul with Delight And of all the Men I read of I Emulate Iulius Caesar most because he was a man that had all these Excellencies as Courage Prudence Wit and Eloquence in great Perfection insomuch as when I read of Iulius Caesar I cannot but wish that Nature and Fate had made me such a one as he was and sometimes I have that Courage as to think I should not be afraid of his Destiny so I might have as great a Fame But these wishes discover my Aspiring Desires and all those Desires are but Vain that cannot be Attained to yet although I cannot attain to Iulius Caesar's Fame it suffices me to have attained to your Favour and to the Honour to subscribe my self Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXVIII MADAM IN your last Letter you were pleased to Condemn me for Admiring Words so much as to prefer Eloquence before all other Musick but pray Madam mistake me not for I do not Admire the Words but the Sense Reason and Wit that is Exprest and made Known by Words neither do I Admire Formal Orators that speak Premeditated Orations but Natural Orators that can speak on a Sudden upon any Subject whose Words are as Sweet and Melting as Manna from Heaven and their Wit as Spreading and Refreshing as the Serene Air whose Understanding is as Clear as the Sun giving Light of Truth to all their Hearers who in case of Perswasion speak Sweetly in case of Reproof Seasonably and in all cases Effectually And Madam if you do Consider well you cannot chuse but Admire and Wonder at the Power of Eloquence for there is a strange hidden Mystery in Eloquence it hath a Magical Power over mankind for it Charms the Senses and Inchants the Mind and is of such a Commanding Power as it Forces the Will to Command the Actions of the Body and Soul to Do or to Suffer beyond their Natural Abilities and makes the Souls of men the Tongue 's Slaves for such is the power of an Eloquent Speech as it Binds the Judgement Blindfolds the Understanding and Deludes the Reason also it Softens the Obdurate Hearts and causes Dry Eyes to Weep and Dryes Wet Eyes from Tears also it Refines the Drossy Humours Polishes the Rough Passions Bridles the Unruly Appetites Reforms the Rude Manners and Calms the Troubled Minds it can Civilize the Life by Virtue and Inspire the Soul with Devotion On the other side it can Enrage the Thoughts to Madness and Cause the Soul to Despair The truth is it can make Men like Gods or Devils as having a Power beyond Nature Custom and Force for many times the Tongue hath been too Strong for the Sword and often carried away the Victory also it hath been too Subtil for the Laws as to Banish Right and to Condemn Truth and too hard for the Natures of Men making their Passions its Prisoners and since Eloquence hath such Power over Arms and Laws and Men as to make Peace or War to Compose or Dissolve Common-wealths to Dispose of Souls and Bodies of Mankind wherefore those men that are indued with such Eloquence and overflowing Wit are both to be Fear'd and Lov'd to be highly Advanced or utterly Banished for those whose Eloquent Wit out-runs their Honesty are to be Punished but those that employ their Eloquent Wit and Elegant Graces to the service of the Commonwealth are to be Esteemed Respected and Relied upon as Pillars of the Commonwealth But to conclude Wit makes a Ladder of Words to climb to Fame's high Tower and the Tongue carries men further than their Feet and builds them a Statelier and more Lasting Palace than their Hands and their Wit more than their Wealth doth Adorn it But now leaving Words and Wit I rely upon Love and Friendship and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXIX MADAM I Heard by your
Beasts do lye for Prey Or such a Lane where 's Foul and Dirty VVay And so of VVaters and each Dangerous place But I write not to any mans Disgrace Then Censure not my Satyr-wit for Crime Nor putting this Epistle into Rime SOCIABLE LETTERS I. MADAM YOu were pleas'd to desire that since we cannot converse Personally we should converse by Letters so as if we were speaking to each other discoursing our Opinions discovering our Designs asking and giving each other Advice also telling the several Accidents and several Imployments of our home-affairs and what visits we receive or entertainments we make and whom we visit and how we are entertaind what discourses we have in our gossiping-meetings and what reports we hear of publick affairs and of particular Persons and the like so that our Letters may present our personal meetings and associatings Truly Madam I take so much delight in your wise witty and virtuous Conversation as I could not pass my life more pleasing and delightfully wherefore I am never better pleased than when I am reading your Letters and when I am writing Letters to you for my mind and thoughts are all that while in your Company the truth is my mind and thoughts live alwayes with you although my person is at distance from you insomuch as if Souls die not as Bodies do my Soul will attend you when my Body lies in the grave and when we are both dead we may hope to have a Conversation of Souls where yours and mine will be doubly united first in Life and then in Death in which I shall eternally be Madam Your faithful Friend and humble Servant II. MADAM THe Lady C. E. ought not to be reproved for grieving for the loss of her Beauty for Beauty is the Light of our Sex which is Eclips'd in Middle age and Benighted in Old age wherein our Sex sits in Melancholy Darkness and the remembrance of Beauty past is as a displeasing Dream The truth is a young beautiful face is a Friend when as an old withered face is an Enemy the one causes Love the other Aversion yet I am not of Mrs. U. R.'s humour which had rather dye before her Beauty than that her Beauty should die before her for I had rather live with wrinkles than die with youth and had rather my face cloth'd with Time's sad mourning than with Death's white hue and surely it were better to follow the shadow of Beauty than that Beauty should go with the Corps to the Grave and I believe that Mrs. V. R. would do as the tale is of a woman that did wish and pray she might die before her Husband but when Death came she intreated him to spare her and take her Husband so that she would rather live without him than die for him But leaving this sad discourse of Age Wrinkles Ruin and Death I rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant III. MADAM I Do not wonder there are great factions between the three families C. Y. O. by reason they have no business or imployment to busie their heads about and their servants followers have as little to do which makes them censure backbite and envy each other for Idleness and Poverty are the creators of Faction and Pride and Ambition the disturbers of Peace Wherefore Idleness should be banish'd out of every family which will also be a means to be rid of Poverty for Industry is the way to thrive Besides when men have something to do they will have the less time to talk for many words from discontented persons increase hate and make dissentions the truth is words for the most part make more discord than union and more enemies than friends wherefore Silence is more commendable than much Speaking for the liberty of the tongue doth rather express men's follies than make known their wit neither do many words argue much Judgement but as the old Saying is The greatest talkers are the least actors they being more apt to speak spitefully than to act mischievously another Saying is That musing men rather study to do evil than contemplate on good But I am not of that opinion for if men would think more and speak less the world of mankind would be more honest and wiser than they are for Thoughts beget Consideration Consideration begets Judgement Judgement begets Discretion Discretion begets Temperance and Temperance begets Peace in the Mind and Health in the Body for when men want Temperance they are subject to Insatiable Appetites unruly Passions and wandring Desires which causes Covetousness and Ambition and these cause Envy and Hate which makes Faction and Strife which Strife I leave to Busie Natures Restless Minds Vain Humours and Idle Fools and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant IV. MADAM THe other day was here the Lady I. O. to see me and her three Daughters which are call'd the three Graces the one is Black the other Brown the third White all three different coloured beauties also they are of different features statures and shapes yet all three so equally handsom that neither Judgment nor Reason can prefer one before another Also their behaviours are different the one is Majestical the other Gay and Aery the third Meek and Bashful yet all three graceful sweet and becoming Also their Wits are different the one Propounds well the other Argues well the third Resolves well all which make a harmony in discourse These three Ladies are resolv'd never to marry which makes many sad Lovers but whilst they were here in comes the Lord S. C. and discoursing with them at last he asks them whether they were seriously resolv'd never to marry they answered they were resolv'd never to marry But Ladies said he Consider Time wears out Youth and fades Beauty and then you will not be the three young fair Graces You say true my Lord answer'd one of them but when we leave to be the young fair Graces we shall then be the old wise Sibyls By this answer you may perceive that when our Sex cannot pretend to be Fair they will pretend to be Wise but it matters not what we pretend to if we be really Virtuous which I wish all our Sex may be and rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant V. MADAM IN my opinion the marriage between Sir A. G. and Mrs. I. S. is no wayes agreeable wherefore not probable to be bless'd with a happy union though she is likelyer to be the happier of the two for 't is better to have an old doting fool than a wanton young filly but he will be very unhappy through Jealousie what with his Dotage and her Freedom which will be like fire and oyl to set his mind on a flame and burn out the lamp of his life Truly I did wonder when I heard they were married knowing her nature and his humour for she loves young masculine Company and he loves onely young female Companion so that he cannot enjoy her to himself unless she barr her self from
Spoken to them Neither do I wonder that Others in Great Authority and Power will Advance Some Persons when they have but a New Acquaintance or rather a Sight of them to Place and Office and before they are Setled in their Offices Displace them again without any Reason or Knowledge either of Advancing or Displacing Nor do I wonder Others will be so in Love for two or three Dayes as they almost Sigh out their Breath of Life for their Wished Desires and a Day or two after Reproach or Laugh at those they were so much in Love with as they Desired their Favour more than Heaven All this I say I do not VVonder at Observing and Perceiving the Inconstant Natures of Mankind But I wonder to Perceive or Find any one to be Constant Seven Years or One Year much more to be Constant their Whole Life time for Constancy is as Seldom or Rarely Seen as a Blazing Star Indeed Constancy in this World is somewhat like a Blazing Star it Lasts for a time and then Goes out for it is not as the Fix'd Stars but rather as the Wandring Planets though truly I am constantly Fix'd to be Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXIX MADAM I Give you many Thanks for your Counsel and Advice concerning my Health for certainly an Over-studious Mind doth Wast the Body which is the Cause for the most part that Painful Students are Lean for the Mind Feeds as much upon the Body as the Body upon Meat But truly I am sometimes in a Dispute with my self whether it be better to live a Long and Idle than a Short but Profitable Life that is to Imploy a Little time Well or to Wast a Great Deal of Time to no Purpose and I Conclude that a Little Good is better than Nothing or better than a Sum of Evil for 't is better through Industry to Leave a Little to After Age than Die so Poor as to Leave Nothing no not so much as After Ages may say there Liv'd such a one in Former Ages than to Die and be quite Forgotten and therefore should I live out the Course of Nature or could live so Long as Methusalem when the Time were Past it would seem as Nothing and perchance I should be as Unwilling to Die then as if I Died in my Youth so that a Long and a Short time of Life is as one and the same 'T is true Death is Terrible to Think of but in Death no Terrour Remains so as it is Life that is Painful both to the Body and Mind and not Death for the Mind in Life is Fearful and the Body is seldom at Ease But howsoever I will endeavour Madam so to Divide the time of my Bodily Life as to Imploy part of my Time for Health and part for Fame and all for Gods Favour and when I Die I will Bequeath my Soul to Heaven my Fame to Time and my Body to Earth there to be Dissolved and Transformed as Nature Pleases for to her it belongs I do not much Care nor Trouble my Thoughts to think where I shall be Buried when Dead or into what part of the Earth I shall be Thrown but if I could have my Wish I Would my Dust might be Inurned and mix'd with the Dust of those I Love Best although I think they would not Remain Long together for I did observe that in this last War the Urns of the Dead were Digged up their Dust Dispersed and their Bones Thrown about and I suppose that in all Civil or Home-wars such Inhuman Acts are Committed wherefore it is but a Folly to be Troubled and Concerned where they shall be Buried or for their Graves or to Bestow much Cost on their Tombes since not only Time but VVars will Ruin them But Madam lest I should make you Melancholy with Discoursing of so sad Subjects as Death and Graves Bones and Dust I leave you to Livelier and Pleasanter Thoughts and Conversation and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXX MADAM YOu were pleased to tell me in your last Letter that Many have desired your Charity which have been Ruined by these last Civil VVars and that they who before this time were able to Relieve many with their Wealth now do Want Relief themselves by which we may know that neither Riches nor Peace is Permanent and many are not only Ruin'd in their Estates and Banished their Native Country but Forsaken of their Friends which is a terrible Misery but Misery and Friends seldom keep together and it is to be observed that a Civil VVar doth not only Abolish Laws Dissolve Government and Destroy the Plenty of a Kingdom but it doth Unknit the Knot of Friendship and Dissolve Natural Affections for in Civil VVar Brothers against Brothers Fathers against Sons and Sons against Fathers become Enemies and Spill each others Blood Triumphing on their Graves for when a Kingdom is Inflamed with Civil War the Minds of all the People are in a Fever of Fury or a Furious Fever of Cruelty which by nothing but Letting Blood by the Surgeon of VVar can be Cured and that not a Little but Most must Bleed ere there will be a Perfect Cure It is the Plague of the Mind as well as the Plague of the Body for the Minds of Men are Infected with Covetous Desires Ambitious Designs Treacherous Plots and Murderous Intentions and so General it is that Few Minds escape the Infection which shews it proceeds from the Malignity of the Air or the Influence of some Raging Planet and if so it proceeds from a Natural Cause although it be an Unnatural War or else it proceeds from Unwise Government where many Errours gather into a Mass or Tumor of Evil which Rises into Blisters of Discontents and then Breaks out into Civil War or else Heaven sends it to Punish the Sins of the People Besides it is to be observed that Vices Increase in a Civil War by reason Civil Government is in Disorder Civil Magistrates Corrupted Civil Laws Abolished Civil Manners and Decent Customs Banished and in their Places is Rapine Robbing Stabbing Treachery and Falshood all the Evil Passions and Debauch'd Appetites are let Loose to take their Liberty But this is so commonly Known to those that have seen a Civil War as I should not have needed to Mention it although those that have Liv'd alwayes in Peace will not Believe it but I have Suffered so much in it as the Loss of some of my Nearest and Dearest Friends and the Ruin of those that did Remain that I may desire to Forget it Wherefore leaving this sad Discourse I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXI MADAM IN your last Letter you were pleased to tell me that the Lady E. E. and the Lady A. A. are alwayes Quarrelling with each other when they Meet and Rail on each other when they are Asunder and their Husbands in the Behalf of their Wives do the like But I Wonder they should do so whenas they are
the Body to be Swell'd and Puff'd all over the Extreme Parts as well as the Inward or next Adjoyning Parts whereas the Empty Dry Veins cause only the Inward and Joyning Parts to the Mouths of the Veins to be Swell'd or Puff'd out but for Casting out from them or Resisting they are alike Thus Madam I have Obeyed your Commands in Writing to you my Opinion and Begging your Pardon for being so Tedious in Explaning and Declaring it I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXVII MADAM YOu were pleased to tell me in your Letter how much out of Countenance you were being Surprised with a Visit you Expected not Truly Madam I am very Sensible of your Pain insomuch as methinks I Feel what you Suffered for I my self have been and am still so Troubled with that Imperfection if it may be call'd one that I have been often so out of Countenance as I have not only Pitied my self but others have Pitied me which is a Condition I would not be in and the Thoughts that Bashfulness leaves in the Mind are as great an Affliction as the Mind can have for a Crimeless Defect for 't is no Crime to be Bashful nor a Disgrace neither to the Life nor Soul although it be a Disadvantage to the Person for Bashfulness Works divers Effects upon the Body and in the Mind As for the Mind it Disturbs the Thoughts so much as the Thoughts are all in a Confused Disorder and not any one Thought moves Regularly neither will they Suffer the Words to pass out of the Mouth or if they do they are Uttered without Sense nay sometimes in no Language being but Pieces of Words or Pieces of the Letters of Words and others quite contrary will speak so Much and Fast as none can Understand what they Say or would Say Indeed so Fast as they make neither Stop nor Distinction Again others will Speak so Shrill and Loud as it Deafens the Ears of the Hearers and others so Soft and Low as it cannot be Heard what they Say and some when they are out of Countenance will Laugh at every Word they Speak or is Spoken to them although the Subject be so Sad and Lamentable as it is proper to be attended with Tears And for the Body when the Mind is Bashful it hath Divers and Several Misbecoming Motions as in some their neather Lip will so Quiver as it will Draw quite Awry like as in a Convulsion and in some their Eyes will so Squint as they can see nothing Perfectly and some will Shake their Heads so much as if they had the Shaking Palsie and in some their Legs will so Tremble as they can hardly bear up the Body from falling and some their whole Body will be as if they were in a Cold Fit of an Ague and others when they are out of Countenance have such a Suppressing of Spirits as they are forced often to Humm to raise them up and others when they are out of Countenance will look so Pale as if they were Departing with Life and on the Contrary others will be so Red having a Torrent of Blushes Flow to their Face that they will appear as if they were Drunk and that it were the Spirits of Wine which made that Firy and Flaming Colour and many other Misbecoming Countenances and several Misbecoming Garbs Postures Motions and Senseless Words which are not to be Express'd But howsoever a Bashful Countenance Expresses a Sensible Mind and a Modest Nature and not a Guiltiness of Crimes for those that are so Bold as to Commit a Crime will not want Confidence to Out-face it VVherefore Madam let not your Bashful Behaviour be a Disturbance to your Harmless Thoughts and Virtuous Life to which Thoughts and Life I leave you and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXVIII MADAM YOu did once before your last Letter Desire me to give my Opinion concerning the Influence of the Stars I did so and now you Desire my Opinion again which if I do I may chance to Contradict my self But truly I believe the Planets or Stars have no more Influence upon the Bodies Minds and Natures of Men than one Creature hath upon another or several Creatures upon one or one upon more for though the Bodies Humours Constitutions and Minds of Men are subject to Alterations and Changes yet it is from their Principal Natures as from the Nature of Mankind and we see by Experience and Observation that the Planets have not Power over Laws Customs and Education which are more Firmly Setled than to be Altered by the Various Effects of the Stars and Planets which Laws Customs and Educations have Power over the Appetites Passions and Constitutions of Men. But we may observe that the Effects of the Planets Vary Perpetually for if they were Constant in their Effects there would be no Change or Alteration and if they had an Absolute Power over the rest of Nature's Works as many think or as others say onely over Mankind their Cross Effects or Influences would make such a Confusion as it would make an Utter Destruction of that they have Power of which would Cross and Hinder Natures Methodical Proceedings and certain Rules and Decrees by which she Governs unless you will say the Stars or Planets are the Fates and Destinies to all Mankind if so there needs no Education Laws or Justice but the Stars and Planets are too Inconstant and Changing to Decree and Destinate any thing for there is no Assurance or Certainty in the Effects or Influence of the Stars and Planets there is more Assurance in the Educations and Customs of Men and Custom and Education hath Stronger Effects for Custom and Education can Alter the Unaptness in Natural Capacities and Understandings the Dull Dispositions Froward or Evil Passions of the Mind also it oftentimes Tempers the Irregular Humours of the Body and can Restrain the Unsatiable Appetites of the Body and Senses and Long Custom Alters the Nature of Men Besides Healthful and Strong Constitutions will become Sick and Faint with Debaucheries and Irregularities and Sick and Weak Constitutions will grow Healthful and Strong with Temperance and Regularity also Education makes a Man a Thief and a Thief an Honest Man and it is Fortune that makes Kings and Beggars and not the Planets for all that are Born at one point of Time have not the same Fortune as when a King is Born or else there would be thousands of Kings so many Children being Born at the same point of Time Likewise all that were Born in such or such a point of Time would be Poets Natural Philosophers and the like whereas there are as Few of them as of Kings also all that are Born in such a point of Time would be Wise Just and Prudent men according to the Influence of the Stars but if so I believe there would be more Wise and Just men than there are whereas now for One Wise man there are Millions of Fools Besides it would
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
shew the Stars to have more Power and greater Influence to Produce Fools Knaves Slaves and Beggars than Wise Just Free and Rich Noble men and if the Planets had no Power over the Fortunes nor over the Minds of Men but over the Bodies of Men then the Influence the Soul hath on the Body would Contradict the Influence of the Planets and the Planets Influence would Contradict the Influence of the Soul so as by their Crossness the Body would be Perpetually Tortured and the Mind Disquieted and if the Planets had an Influence over the Soul and Body then we would be Good and Bad Wicked and Pious Valiant and Cowards Sick and Well Hungry and Dry or otherwise have no Appetite according as the Planets please or according to their Influences also all men would be Good and Bad Sick and Well Wise and Fools Valiant and Cowardly just at one time as the Sign or Influence is so that all men under the Domination of such Stars or Planets would be alike at one Minute and if all Men should Like or Love one Woman at one Minute and Time or all Women one Man that is as many as See her or him that Woman would have more Servants and Suters than she could Please or Answer and the Man more Mistresses than the Great Turk Also if it were according to the Dominion of the Planets thousands on a Sudden would be Inspired with Poetical Raptures and soon after be Dull and Stupid Dolts whenas that Influence Changed but I believe there is greater Influence from one Nation on another according to Interest Strength and Potency and so from one Man to another according to Interest Power and Authority than the Stars and Planets have on Several Nations and Several and Particular Men which Produces greater Effects than the Planets Effects and Influences can do not but that I believe the Planets can Work as Sudden Effects nay far Suddener and Immediate as we see by the Effects of the Heat and Light of the Sun but I believe that Beauty and Wit have a greater Influence upon the Passions of the Mind and Senses and Appetites of the Body than the Stars and why may not we think as well that the Actions especially the General Actions of men might have as great an Influence or Power over the Stars and Planets as the Stars and Planets are thought to have over Men for I see no reason to the contrary since they are Fellow Creatures and not Gods But surely every several part and particle in Nature hath an Influence on each other from which are produced several Effects and Effects have Influence upon Effects some on some and some on others or perchance they have all a Working Effect to each other as many Grains of Corn are ground for one Loaf of Bread many several Materials go to one House many several Families to one Commonwealth many several Nations to one World and many several Worlds to one Universe Thus Madam I have Obeyed your second Command concerning the Influences of the Stars and Planets as I did your first but in this Later Discourse I seem to have no Belief that the Stars have an Influence over the Bodies or Minds no more than the Bodies or Minds have over the Planets and so over Fortune Education Laws Custom and the like whereas in my Former Letter I said they had over the Body and was apt to Believe they had also over the Mind but since I Writ the Former Letter concerning this Subject I have thought of it more than I had then and Believe every Creature hath some Influence to each other But I leave both Letters and the Opinions and Arguments written therein to your Better Judgment and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXIX MADAM I Am sorry to hear that Sir S. K. is so full of the Dropsie as to be Dying indeed the Dropsie is a Disease that Quenches out the Fire or Flame of Life as a Torch Candle or Lamp having more Water than Radical Oyl or Vital Heat so that one may say those that are full of the Dropsie have a River or Sea in their Body they are Drown'd not with VVater VVithout but VVithin them it is an Inward Deluge and a Dropsical Body is like Noah's Flood wherein the Inward Parts are as the several Nations and the Animal Spirits as the People Drown'd therein but the Soul as Noah is Saved in the Ark of Heaven and at the Day of Judgment is to be Restored to the Bodily World again But leaving this Similizing Dropsie pro 〈…〉 m Divers Causes as sometimes through 〈…〉 ometimes through an Hot and sometimes through a Cold Cause some Dropsie through a VVasting Cause some through an Obstructive and some through a Superfluous Cause In some the Effects may be Cured by Altering or Removing the Causes in others the Cause is Essential not to be Removed but by Death and so not to be Cured in Life but whatsoever the Cause be whether Curable or Incurable the best Remedy either to Prolong the Life of the Diseased Body or to Cure those that are Curable is to make Issues which as Sluces Drain the Water out of the Body or so much as to keep it from Overflowing or they are like Taps set to Barrels full of Liquor which runs forth at the Tap-holes But there must not only be One Sluce or Tap-hole but Two or Three to Vent the Superfluity of the Water that Comes or is Bred in the Body 'T is true I have heard those that have Issues say they are somewhat Troublesome but yet they are not so Troublesom as a Swell'd Unwieldy Bulk or Sick and Indisposed Body But by your Letter I perceive that Sir S. Ks. Body is so much Overflowed as it cannot be Drained so soon as to Save his Life but it will be Drowned and Overwhelmed in the Whirlpool of Death And so leaving his Soul to God I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXL MADAM YOu writ in your last Letter that the Lady G. D. takes Cooling Julips in the Morning and Cordials when she goes to Bed to Digest Crude Humours but my Reason says she is in an Errour as for Example Dry Wood and Wet Wood or Sear Wood and Green Wood although there should be put much Fire to the Green or Wet VVood it will not hastily Burn nay such VVood doth oftener put Out the Fire than the Fire doth Inkindle the VVood for the moist Vapors that Issue or are Drawn forth by the Heat of the Fire do Destroy that Heat that Drew those Vapors out whereas on the other side Dry or Sear VVood when Kindled and all of a Firy Flame fling but a little VVater on it and it will Quench out the Flaming Fire The like are the Bodies of Mankind they are easier Cooled when Inflamed Applying Cooling Liquors as Julips Ptisan Barly Water and the like than to Heat them with Cordials when they are full of Raw Crude and Waterish Humours
for Fevers although Violent if they Proceed from no other Cause but a Supernatural Heat are Sooner and Easier Cured than Cold Palsies and other Cold Diseases wherefore it is better to take Hot things first and Coolling after than to take Hot things after Cooling for Hot thinps after Cooling do rather make a Smothering Heat than a Concocting Digesting or Expelling Heat so as it only fills the Body full of Vapors like as Wet or Green Fuel fills a Room with Smoak but a Healthful Body must neither be too Hot nor too Cold nor too Dry nor too Moist And so leaving the Lady D. G. to her Julips and Cordials I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXLI MADAM I Was sorry to hear you intended to return into E. for I know that nothing but Necessity could Force you thither although your Native Country having been so Unnaturally Bereaved of all your Maintenance by the Covetous Purloyning of your Unnatural Countrymen and left to Seek in a Wandring Condition Fortunes Favour which is as Inconstant as they are Cruel but I perceive by your staying that Journy that Fortune as Inconstant as she Usually is yet hath had more Pity and Compassion of your Sufferings than they who keep you from the Extremity of Misery they have Exposed you to yet those who have your Estate cannot be much Happier although you never have it again for they cannot Enjoy it Long the Longest Life being but Short and there is an Old Saying VVe cannot Carry our VVorldly goods to the Grave indeed Death hath no Use of them nor Life so much Pleasure as Trouble with them the truth is 't is best to have no more than for Necessity a Superfluity most commonly runs into Luxury which causes Painful Diseases in the Body Restless Desires in the Mind and Hinders the Life from that Sweet Repose it would have in a Satisfactory Temperance and in a Moderate Fortune and surely it is the Best and Happiest Life to be neither Oppress'd with Riches nor Distress'd with Poverty and if Heaven Bless us from the Misery of the one we shall not have cause to Repine at the Loss of the other thus it is likely those may Suffer more that have Robbed you of your great Estate by their Griping and Accusing Consciences and Uncertain Possessions than you that are Robbed of all but what they could not get as your Virtuous Nature your Honourable Mind your Peaceable Thoughts and Heavens Protection to which I leave you and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXLII MADAM IT is to be Observed that most Men and VVomen are so Busie to find out other Mens or VVomens Faults as they Forget their own and when they Perceive any Faults in others they are so Joy'd as their Tongues are like Trumpets to Sound out their Reproach also they are Busie in the Inquiry of others Misfortunes but never Consider the Same or some other Misfortunes may Light upon them also they are Busie to Inquire of every Particular Persons Private Affairs as their VVealth Ordering their Families their Pleasures or their Discontents nay of every Person or Thing that Concerns them not but these Busie Natures or Humours Dwell with Idle Persons as the most part of the Gentry and not with Laborious nay with the most Foolish of the Gentry not with the VVisest of them for VVise men never Inquire into other mens Affairs that Concern them not nor Meddle with other mens Faults if they Touch them not they VVish VVell to All but Regard Nothing but their own Affairs they let other men Suffer for their own Crimes and will have a care that they may not be guilty of Crimes to Suffer for they will Inquire how Provision is Sold when they are to Buy not what their Neighbours Spend they go not to Sessions or Assizes to hear the Accusations or Condemnations unless they be Commanded or Call'd nor do they Inquire what Thieves are Hang'd or how many but are careful that no Thief may Rob them and if they be Country-Gentlemen and not Courtiers they Inquire not what Masks Balls and Playes are at the Court but what Hawks and Hounds are in the Country for their own Sports and Exercises and if they be Wise Courtiers although not Wise Men they do not Inquire what Wakes and Fairs there are in the Country but what Offices or Places they may Beg neither do Wise Citizens Inquire after Hawks and Hounds in the Contry nor what Mode-Congies are at the Court nor of the Courtiers Amours but they Inquire after their Merchandizes and how they may Sell off their Wares and what Fairs to send them to indeed they will Inquire after a Courtier if he Ow them Mony Neither do Wise Farmers Inquire after the Price of Sattin but how the Market goes for Corn nor do their VVives Inquire how Paint is Sold but what Cheesemongers will Buy their Cheeses and Pots of Butter wherefore in my Opinion Societies should be apart by themselves like several Commonwealths Courtiers should only Converse with Courtiers or Courtly Persons and Country Gentlemen with Country Gentlemen Citizens with Citizens Farmers with Farmers and I think they do so at least are most pleased with the Conversation of their own likeness Also Statesmen should only Converse with Statesmen Learned men with Learned men Wits with Wits or else their Wit will be Lost indeed Societies should be Chosen and not Mix'd and every Society should Move in its own Sphere for the truth is in Mix'd Societies is Confusion of Tongues of Wits of Capacities and the like But lest I should make a Confusion of VVords in this Letter I take my leave of you and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXLIII MADAM I Heard the Ship was Drown'd wherein the man was that had the Charge and Care of my Playes to carry them into E. to be Printed I being then in A. which when I heard I was extremely Troubled and if I had not had the Original of them by me truly I should have been much Afflicted and accounted the Loss of my Twenty Playes as the Loss of Twenty Lives for in my Mind I should have Died Twenty Deaths which would have been a great Torment or I should have been near the Fate of those Playes and almost Drown'd in Salt Tears as they in the Salt Sea but they are Destinated to Live and I hope I in them when my Body is Dead and Turned to Dust But I am so Prudent and Careful of my Poor Labours which are my Writing Works as I alwayes keep the Copies of them safely with me until they are Printed and then I Commit the Originals to the Fire like Parents which are willing to Die whenas they are sure of their Childrens Lives knowing when they are Old and past Breeding they are but Useless in this World But howsoever their Paper Bodies are Consumed like as the Roman Emperours in Funeral Flames I cannot say an Eagle Flies out of them or that they