to enquire that seeing the Phancy is meerly a cognocivity of Faculties and the Women usually fix their thoughts on several and various Objects during the time of Conception and Gravidation how it comes to pass that we find not the Infant subject to more numerous Mutations according to the variety of the Impressions made by sundry Species in the Immagination to which the answer The reply to this will be easie if we well consider that if the matter were more seriously pondered we should not find the Immagination so seldome Active as is generally supposed for it is very probable that the resemblance of every Child whether with the Father Mother or any other person hath some near dependance upon some operation or other of the Mothers Phancy according as her Mind was with more or less intenseness fixed upon such or such an Object Yet again it is not every Act of the Phancy that is able to affect the formative power reciding in the Womb but only that which is strong and attended with the powerful Commotions of the Spirits and Humours in the Body so that there being not many Acts of the Phancy concomitated with the Enegrie of such commotions 'T is no wonder that Infants signally affected with the Mothers Phantasie are so few Womens Phancies in child-bearing further considered Women Indulging these kind of Phantasies only induce such Agitations of the Humours and Spirits as are requisite to affect the Foetus which are followed by violent Passions of a surprizing Fear or an earnest and longing desire for these are the most turbulent and impetuous Passions that the Mind is subject to which exciteing the tenuous Humours and Spirits in all parts of the Body cause both in the Infant and Mother remarkable Alterations of which we have sundry Instances Baptista Porta in his Natural Magick gives us an Account of a Woman who Amarously affecting a Marble Statue by frequent looking on it and frequently keeping it in her Mind brought forth a Son Plump Pale and of a glittering hue in every thing representing the Features of the Statue Fiâ—chus tells us and avers it for a Truth that a Woman brought forth a Daughter that had a well proportioned Body but for a Head only two Scallop-â—hells joyned to the Shoulders which the open'd at pleasure to receive her Sustenance 〈◊〉 lived in that condition Eleven I â—s and that which he says produced this Monster was the Mothers longing for Scallops during her being with Child not being able to procure any to satisfy her impatient Desires Women subject to these unaccountable longings as some call them though we have given you some reason for it afford as many strange Examples Delzio in his magical Disquisitions informs us of a Noble Lady was Nurse to a very Beautiful Prince then Dolphin of France whom she loved so above measure that she caused his Effigies to be drawn and carried it about with her scarce enduring it to be out of her sight whereupon it happened that she became Mother to a Child so like the Young Prince that the generality of the People could not distinguish them but by the difference of their Cloaths And as for the Passions of Fear Lâ—mnius tells us That a man surprizing a great Bellied Woman by suddenly placing before her a Picture of a Boy with a great Head she brought forth thereupon a Child of the same mis-shapen magnitude Many more of the like Nature we might mention but we suppose these Instances are sufficient to demonstrate that the Phancy when attended with an Attractive joy or sudden Fear hath power to alter the Confirmation and Complexion of the yielding Foetus and that there is little else required to have Handsom and Beautiful Children than being cautious in avoiding monstrous Objects and Stories which may distract the Phancy and in their stead the proposing of some Amiable Objects from which the Phantasie affecting it with a passionate tenderness may coppy out an Idea of perfect Beauty to communicate to the plastick Faculty whose chiefeâ—t care is to erect a stately Structure out of the rude Mass that lyes confused within the Womb. And these are the Learned Opinions of several Antient and excellent Physicians as Hypocrates Galâ—â— Laurentius Wierus Codroncâ—us and others whose Credit has been held unquestionable in most Ages Women Virtuous a great Happiness and Blessing to Men. Women that are truly Virtuous there cannot be too much said in their praise therefore whatsoever may have been already nearly touched on this is not improper A Virtuous Woman then is rightly termed the true Solace of a Mans Liâ—e this Sex even from their Infancy are aimiable and to be delighted in they Chear the Hearts of their Parents with their Innocent Smiles and as they grow up in Virtue are more Charming and Sweet in their Complacency Modesty Sobriety and a wining Behaviour add to their Beauties Her Carriage towards all is decent and Comly is her Behaviour In Marriage her Love is beyond Expression and her tenderness such that she values him on whom her Heart is fixed above all the valuable things on Earth unless it be her own Soul The loss of her Life she values not in Comparison of her Honour and Good Name and that her Husband may be kept in good Humour she makes it her business and study to please him using her utmost diligence and Enforcing all her Charms to render her self more pleasing in his Eyes Equally sharing in his Joys and in his Afflictions bears the most Sensible part Her Smiles are not to be bought with Silver nor her Love to be Purchased with Gold but are freely and entirely placed upon him she makes Choice for a Companion of her Happiness in a Marriage State and then they are aâ— fixed as the Center or like the Needle touched with the Load-stone will turn or stand still to no point but their beloved North She Sympatizes with him in all things and is even tender of his Honour nothing she thinks too good for him nor nothing that she reasonable can do too much in health she is very carefull to provide him necessaries that are convenient and commendable and if he falls upon his Bed of Languishing pressed down by some weighâ—y Sickness what greater comfort can he have in such a Condition than to find his Virtuous Wife double diligent and tractable in forwarding his Affairs she is more studious for his Health than her own Interest and puts up her Prayers and Vows to Heaven for his recovery In all her Actions Expressing a careful tenderness and Love and a venerable esteem in all her Words and Expressions Woman has found Nature Prodigal and Lavish in forming her so delicate a Creature that she confessed her Master-Piece and Nâ— plus ultra A Creature so soft and tempting to allay and Moderate with Mildness the rough and Rocky temper of Man that she make him happy therein whether he will or no great cunning did she use in proportioning every part forgetting
what Wits more pregnant or present entituled a Supplication to Candlelight discovering the abuses committed and curtained by the silent and secret Shade of Night where it might be demanded as God in Esay did sometimes ask the Devil our Wathcman Custoâ— quid de Nocte What seest thou What discoverest thou Thô Lanthorn and Candlelight hang out thô the Bellman traverse the street thô the Constable and his rugged Gownmen after a nod or two take care for discharge of their Place and punishment of Vice to put out a peremptory Question to a Night-walker From whence came you or whither go you whom do you serve or what business have you so late Yet it seems they have no Commission to examine Coacted Sin These may hurry along by their Noses and shroud a loose Gentleman-Usher with as light a Curtezan in a running Broshell from those conniving Eyes of Endymion and his Brotherhood And this light piece must be conducted to his Lord while he is to be admitted to his Lady to present both their Actions on the stage of Folly With what a commanding posture rides this Foot-cloath Sin How apt to forget his composition and how confident in the priviledge of greatness These generally have their Purveyors to furnish them with such stuff as may content their liqu'rish appatite and feed their intemperate desires with fresh fuel In every Solemn or Festival Show these Forragers take their stand eying what Beauties are of most attractive quality then enquire they of their places of habitation Occasions they take to converse with them and in short time so to win in upon them as they begin to commend their Masters Suit to their too easie attention and with long Battery according to the strength of the Fort so seize on their affection as they make way to their Lords admission Green-Sickness in Virgins and Young Widows cause symptems and Remedy Green Sickness is a Capital Enemy to Beauty it comes shadowing over it like a dark Cloud and hides it's lustre from the Eyes of Men Elcipsing that Adorable Splendor that a little before Animated the World of Love to guide Lovers to the blest Elizium of Joy and Delight displacing the Roses and Lillies that fairly flourished to a wonder and planting Beds of Leeks in their stead This happens more to Phlegmatick Constitutions than others because the Humours more abound making the face and other parts of the Body look green pale dusky yellowish c. proceeding from raw indigested Humours nor doth it only appear outwardly in the discolouring the Body but it very sensibly afilicts the Parties with difficulty of breathing pains in the head palpitation of the Heart unusual beatings and small throbbings of the Arteries in the Temples Neck and Back many times if the Humour by very vicious casting them into Feavors creates a loathing of Meat and the distentions of the Hypocondriack part by reason of the Inoridnate Efflux of the Menstruous Blood to the larger Vessels also by the abundant Humour we find sometimes that the whole Body from the Effects of these Causes is pestered with swelling at least the Thighs Legs and Anckles and a universal weariness overspreads the Microcosine or little World Galenical Physicians tell us that this Distemper chiefly proceeds from those Vessels that are about the Womb proceeding from the abundance of Crude and Viscid Humours arriving from several Inward Causes and many times from outward ones as eating raw Fruit catching wet on the Feet drinking too excessively of Water and Intemperate Diet of any kind but above all by the solly of such Virgins who covet to eat Coals Chalk Wax Nutshells whited Wall Starch Tobaccopipes and such like unaccountable Trash that certainly hurts but cannot nourish but on the contrary dry up and consume the best Nutriment drawn from wholsome Diet and cause a Suppression of the Menses and obstructions through the whole Body So that the victims Humours are turned upon the outward parts whilst others of the same kind not capable of being dilated oppress the Internals To remove this Malady enter into a wholesom Course of Diet and bleed moderately in the Arm or foot as the Age requires it take then Decoction of Gaincwâ— with Dittany of Creet made in White-wine fasting and for want of these take Aloes Senna Agrie Rhubarb boiled and well mixed with Whitewine but drink not Vinegar nor very Stale Beer or Ale for sharp things shut up the passages and retard the Humours from flowing to those places where they may be Evacuated and if the obstructions are not to be opened or removed without requiring great difficulty take prepared Steel Roots of Scorzonera Bezora stone and Oyl of Chrystial of each a dram powder the Roots and mingle the Powder with the rest and beat them well together then take a dram at a time in a Glass of small Wine and by a short using of these measures the Humours will decrease and in the end the force of Nature will recover it's power to operate In a temperate calm manner and then the Complexion will return and the Body be full of Vigour and Liveliness and by Leagueing with Temperance and Sobriety be ever after more Healthful Green Sickness has yet another Cure when it can be had to advantage and liking but it seldom can unless it be dearly bought because Beauty that should allure it is faded You may guess Ladies at our meaning for you have often we suppose heard it said 'T is pity such a one is not Marry'd she 's now very handsom but alas she 's going into the Green Sickness for want of a Husband and then Beauty As some fair Tulip by a Storm opprest Shrinks up and folds its siâ—ker Aâ—ms to rest Bends to the blest all pale and almost dead Whilst the loud Wind sings round it's drooping bead And òre it's lustre a â—ull darkness spread â—o shrouded up her 〈◊〉 disappears Who this Diseases 〈◊〉 Livery wear We must a flow that Marriage greatly contributes to the removing this Malady for by Nuptial Embraces and Caresses the Humours are stirred the Menses that were obstructed flow according to their Natural and due course The Humours by this means being wasted and no more Maver administ'red to the encreasing them they will cease however we advise neither Virâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 to be too hasty upon this account to III match themselves least the Remedy be by far worse than the Disease but rather take what we have before prescribed wait with Patience and Converse with Temperance and so you may do well in all particulars to your own Content and Satisfaction which is what we most Cordially wish to the Fair Sex yet we confess Some when this Cloud they see a coming on Too fondly grasp worse Mischiefs than they shun As Flowers peep out too soon and miss the Sun By the cold nipping Frosts are quite undone Gate or Gesture to be observed by Ladies c. Great Notice is taken of the Gate and Gesture of Young Ladies and
High Way where the Bâ—ide and Bridegroom are to pass and Poles are provided with which the Young men run a Tilt on Horseback and he that breaks most Poles and shews most aâ—â—vity wins the Garland But 〈◊〉 in his Survey of London p. 76. says That in Ann. 1253. the Youthful Citizens for an Exercise of their activity set â—orth a Game to run at the â—â—sin and whosoever did best should have a Peacock for â— prise c. Queries of Sundry Kinds relating to the Fair Sex Questions are easily ask'd but not so soon resolv'd especially to purpose and satisfaction Many rather employ their inventions in raising and starting of Questions than their judgments in determining them The one however makes Learning fruitful of Disputes the other of Works Asking of Questions proceeds commonly from some pre notion of that which the party demands which occasion'd that Opinion of Plato to think that all Knowledge was but only Remembrance It is a great parâ— of Learning not to teach only what to assert or affirm but prudently to ask Those that are very forward in asking do often use the same liberty in telling like Vessels that want bottoms they receive most because vent most In cunning mâ—n they are dangerous for Questions in them are like beggars Gifts a Gift with an Hook in it only to draw some thing back again by way of answer to find out your abilities Sudden Questions do often procure the truest Relation of matters which on consideration they do begin to colour They must in weighty matters especially be very warily raised for as delight in humane Learning is inferiour to that which is divine so Faults committed in Divine Knowledge are more dangerous than those in humane But laying this aside we now come to the matter intended which is to answer divers Questions of sundry natures Queries have been put why the External parts of the bodys of those that are in Love are more subject to have their sudden changes of cold and heat than others To which we answer That the passions of the mind in such are more stirring and agirated than in such as are not at all or at least less concerned and when any Grief or Discontent is conceived the natural heat passes away with the blood into the Internal parts of the body which gives the cold a greater opportunity to possess the Vacancies it lest in iâ—s Retreat So that the outward parts become cold and for the same Cause paleness takes place and a cloud of sadness hangs upon the countenance But on the contrary when hopes of success inspir'd by smiles and a prospect of attaining our desires restore joy and alacrity then a Spring Tide of blood flows again into every part brings along with it the retreated heat and both of them produce colour and warmth and for this cause Love is frequently painted sometimes pale and wan sad and dejected and other times sprightly Gay and blushing And Poets seign Love to be a Firebrand and the Reason they give for it is because that the minds of Lovers are sometimes in suspence sometimes incumbered with hopes and fears the one making them soar towards the Object of their desire and being too ardently scorched with a violent passion in approaching too near the flame the wax of their Icarian Wings melted by some Repulse send them fluttering down again and startles them with â—read and amazement when they see from whence they are fallen Loves Qâ—iâ—er signifies a Loven heart fill'd with arrows which are the Glances of the Fair Ones Eyes whom he admire which like wounding Weapons or Instruments of death stick there till her condescending Goodness vouchsafes â—â— draw them thence and the assurance of Love stays the bleeding and heals the wound We might largely comment on these matters but the Question proposed being resolved we proceed to others Query Whâ— women are sâ—â— and fairer than men It is because they are of a colder and moister Constitution which gives whiteness â—â— softness when a greater degree of heat in men render their bodies firmer moâ—â— brawny and of larger 〈◊〉 implying strength and thoâ—â— Excrements which cause hâ— on the Faces Breasts c. men are in women evacuaâ—â— in their Menses the whiâ— ceasing by age we may â— serve many Old Women hâ— hair upon their Chins â—â— some have Beards of a lâ— Growth Heat is likewise â— occasion of it But above â— woman was design'd to be the delight of the Eyes of man and therefore was more curiously furnished with all the â—â— allurements of beauty set â—ot with a pomp of winning Graces and attracting charms Query Why are not women bald iâ— at least so soon or often as men It is because of the great quantity of moisture by reason of their coldness the cold binding the pores and moisture giving nutriment to the hair Qâ—ery Why are women desirous to go neat and exceed men in the care of their attire To this we answer That woman being one of the delicatest peices of the Creation and modesty compelling her to hide a great part of her beauties she nevertheless desiring that every thing should answer what is visible calls in Art to her assistance and Knowing she was made to be beloved and highly prized by men she will not omit any thing that may give them cause to turn their affections from the Center whereto it ought to tend Besides the esteems it as a comely Decency to have nothing about her but what may demonstrate her careful in the management and conduct of all her Undertakings whilst man who is taken up with the hurry of worldly affairs is less thinking or less at leisure in matters to him of so little moment Many other Reasons might be urg'd but these as to our part may sâ—ffice whilst we leave the rest to the imagination of the Reader Query Why is womans wit upon a sudden a sâ—act or turn pregnant and exceeding mens but in weightier matters upon mature deliberation not so solid or substantial The Reason we give is because being incumbered with less Cares the Womans Understanding is free less puzzl'd and disorder'd and consequently more ratified at that time and capable of recollecting its powers to form suddain conceptions which by length of Time delate and losing succinctness become less solid if not multiplied into confused notions that cannot again be recollected to solidity because the passions of the mind by one contingency or other throw in those obstructions that foil the Reason and render it uncapable of making a second Judgment so true or suitable as the former to the purpose if suddainly laid hold on nor is it allowed that Woman is endowed with such discerning Faculties as man when he enters into the deep retirement of serious Cogitations There are divers Philosophical Reasons given for it but by reason they vary we omit them Quere why do women Love men best who had their first affestions We answer as to the first part of this Quere
with wonder and they take her for a kind of a Terrestial Paradise furnished out with delights not common to the World Friends and Relations are forsaken for her and she is exalted upon the Soveraign Throne of Affection Life is a small hazard to protect or vindicate her Honour Says Esdras though it was death for any to touch the Persian Kings without an especial Command yet says he of Darius I saw Apame his Concubine sitting familiar with him on his right hand and she took the Crown from off his head and put it on her own and stroaked him with her left hand yet the King was well pleased Gaping and Gazing on her and when she smilled he smilled and laughed when she laughed and when she was angry he flattered to be reconciled to her When the fair Chariclea fell into the hands of Pyrates with divers others she only escaped being put to the Sword her Excelling Beauty working upon the Villains heart contrary to their bloody custom to save her Life Some Nations chuse their Kings and Queens by their Beauty and Proportion of Body without regard to their Birth As of Old the Indians Persians and Aethiopians have done Barbarians Stand in awe of a Fair Woman c. Barbarous People have many times given Adoration to Beauty And Helena though she was the cause of a Ten Years War attended with so much Ruin and Dissolation with the Armour of her Dazling Beauty stood proof against her injured Husbands Anger and Disarmed his hand that was about to take her head so that he stood as one amaz'd at her Excellent Features and letting his Weapon fall tenderly Embraced her For as the Old saying is The Edge of the Sword is dull'd by Beauties Aspect It is said of Sinalda a Queen that when she was doomed to be trampled to death by wild Horses the Beasts though before untractable were so astonished at her Beauty that they stood still gazing with wonder upon her admirable Form and would not by any force be driven over her Lucian confesses though a Person very judicious that his Mistrisses Presence has for a time so over-powered his Senses that he has been void of Understanding And others indeed have run quite distracted when they have found nothing but disdain after a long attendance They waite the sentence of her Scornful Eyes And whom she favours lives the other dyes No Medium she allows there always waits Life on her smiles her frown commands the fates To cut his Early Thread who must forego Her Beauties for the Mellancholy shades below Body the Beautifying thereof Bodies that are weak and moving Mansions of Mortality are exposed to the Treacherouâ— underminings of so many Sicknesses and Distempers that it 's own frailty seems a Petitioner for some Artificial Enamel which might be a fixation to natures Inconstancy and a help to its variating Infirmities for he that narrowly observes that Fading house of distempered Clay will soon find that it Imulates the Moon in Mutability that though to day it be Varnished o're with a Lively Rosie Blush to Morrow it is white-washed with Megar paleness as if death had took it to hire and made it a whited Sepulchre that though to day it appears smooth and gay So that Venus herself might be tempted to take her Recreation there to Morrow it may be so rough cast and Squall'd that Cupid can scarce walk there without being over Shoes Now to Sublimate Nature beyond the reach of Sickness by a lasting Aetherial Pulcritude and by Cosemetick Antidotes to fortifie it with and Incapacity of being surprized by any Features Fretting Malady would be a business that would not only puzle the whole Elaboratory of Chymists but their Atcheus too although of the Privy Council to Nature and confident to her recluded Privacies But to make Beauty the Lure of Love of a more ordinary Lustre to fix the Complexion of the Body so that it be not too frequent in it's variation or to keep the Fair and Damasked Skin from being too much sullied with deformities Is a task not transcending the Sphere of a Modest Vndertaking and such a one Ladies you will find in this work beyond perhaps what ever has been before exposed to your fair Eyes though not in a Compleat Body but reduced under their Several Alphabets as the nature and necessity of this undertaking requires But let us come a little nearer to the purpose Bodies that are very Lean and Scragged we all must own cannot be very Comely It is a contrary Extream to Corpulency and the Parties Face seems always to carry Lent in it though at Christmas looking so Megarly that when such of either Sex come to their Confessor he perceiving them meer Skelitons dares not for fear of Solecism join them Pennance to Mortifie the Flesh No part about them thrive but their Bones and they look so Jolly and Lusty as if they had eaten up the Flesh and were ready to leap up of the Skin that they may fall upon others Truly Ladies such Leanness is a very Ravenous Guest and will keep you bare to Maintain him If thefore you are Desirous to be rid of his Company observe the Following prescriptions Be sure to take care in the Summer to keep your Chamber Cool and moist with some Fragrant Flowers set or scattered about it when you are about to go to Meals chase your Body as much as you can that the blood may be stirred in the Veins and the Skin sit more loose At your Meals Eat not any thing that is very Salt Sharp Bitter or too Hot but let your Food be sweet of a quick Digestion and Nourishing as New Eggs Veal Mutton Capon c. and for three hours after Meat take your Recreation in that whereby your Body may be moving and stiring twice a Month if the weather be not extream bad make moreover an Electuary to be taken Morning and Evening in this manner viz. Take sweet Almonds Pistach-nuts Sugaâ— and white Poppy-Seed beat them according to Art into the form of an Electuary and take the Quantity of a Walnut for many Mornings and Evenings this will not only make you Fat but give you a good Complexion then for your diet take a young Capon and the Flesh of Four Calves feet with a piece of the Fillet of Veal boil them in a sufficient quantity of fair Water and white Wine then scum the Fat off and put the Broth well pressed from the Meat into a New Earthen Vessel with a pound and a half of Sugar a dozâ—â— of Cloves half an ounce of Cinnamon then boil it gently again and add the whites of 2 Eggs reboil it and pass it through a strainer before it cool mix with it a little Musk and Amber boiled in Rose-water and take of this which will be a kind of a Jelley twice or thrice a day Bodies sometimes fall away in one part and not in another if so to bring your Body to even terms take
Cure or at least easing this Malady Savanorola chief Observations and some more and some less And the first they prescribe is Exercise and Diet and there is an old saying That without Ceres and Baâ—â—bâ—â— Venus grows Cold a lazy Life and high feeding are great Causes of this kind of Love so their Opposites must needs decay and wast it for as the Poet says Take Idleness away and put to flight All Cupids Arts his Torches give no Light Cured by Business or harmless Recreations imploys and takes it off from the thoughts of Love puts to flight those Whimseyâ— that wander about the Heart and Brain like the Atoms in the Original Chaos for when it is imployd the old saying is The Devil has no power over him because his thoughts being wholly taken up with his Business there is no room for a Temptation to enter but the mind being unoccupied lies open to all Aâ—â—auâ—â—s which many times as easily prevail as an Army against a City when the Drawbridges are carelesly left down the Gates open and the Port-Cuillis drawn up or as a Stream getting at first a small passage by degrees throws down the Dam that opposes and overflows all before it If no Business offer Exercise your self in Walking or Running do it vigorously and not leisurely and musing keep your Eyes as much as may be off fair Objects as imagining Crafty Love lays every where a Snare to entangle you and in time as the Course of mighty Rivers with much Labour are turned you will find an Easement and the burning Flames of Love having spent in your Bosom the matter whereon they â—eed may expire or much abate of their vehemency Cured is this kind of Love by extraordinary Temperance Spareness and ordinary Diet Fasting allays the hot Desires and hinders Concupiscence for as Physitians hold that the Bodies of those feed high and live at ease are full of bad Humours and those gross Humours operate on the mind and stir up Lustful thoughts and desires which Abstinence would prevent by wasting and at length removing those Causes so that the Effects would cease St. Ambrose tells us That Temperance and Abstinence are great Friends to Virginity and Enemies to Lasciviousness when abounding Luxury overthrows Chastity and fostereth all manner of Provocations to Lust and this method the wise Philosophers observed as did the Fathers of the Christian Church and Origen because he had no due regard â—o this found the Temptation so strong when he Preached in an Assembly where there were handsome Women that he supposed there was no possible way to remove it but by gelding himself which he put in Practice to his disgrace when Abstinence might have been as Efficacious Consider that to tumble in a Bed of Down is a great Contributer Lascivious thoughts and Imaginations it gives soft â—â—pose and that Drowsiness and Sleep and therein wanton Ideas are represented one Dreams he is Courting his Mistress and she Smiles upon him another that he is Embracing her and finds an imaginary Heaven oâ— Contentment in the Charming Phantom and this makes them burn with a desire to do that waking which they only Fancied sleeping these delusive Dreams by lying hard and somewhat uneasie might be prevented the Pamperedness of the Body being brought under For this very Cause the Indian Brachmans a kind of Priests among them keep themselves Continent and will have no other Lodging but the ground covered with certain rough Skins of Beasts as the Redshank do on harder and Diet themselves very sparingly and in that spare Diet they avoid such Roots herbs and other Food as they know by any Phisical Virtue or natural Operation provoking to Lust as if they had observed the Poets Prohibition Eringo's are not good for to be taken And Lust provoking meats must be forsaken Certain it is that the Athenian women in their Solemn Feasts called Thesmopheries because they were to abstain from the Company of men for nine days they did saith Aelian lay a herb named Hanea in their beds which by a secret virtue queâ—â—â—ed the flames of desire and freed them from the Torments of any violent Passion Some hold that Melons Cucumbers Purflain water Lillies Ammi Lettice and such cold fruits and Herbs are of a Phisical vertue to allay the feavour of a violent Passion Mizaldus prefers Agnus Castus before any other Care what ever rules we have prescribed must notwithstanding be taken that by their Passion â—re much dejected and brought very low and feeble in their bodies they must not go thro' these kind of hardships but as fainting or languishing distempered Persons must have Cordials and Restoratives A Lover that has as it were lost himself through Impotency and Impatience must be called home as a Traveller by Musick feasting and good Wine Sports and Merriments and viewing of pleasant objects but not those that occasioned his Melancholy but curious prospects of Gardens Orchards Rivers Flowry Meads and the like And sometimes Hunt Hawk hear or read merry Tales pleasant Discourse and use moderate Exercise in any manual Occupâ—ation that so new spirits may succeed those that are wasted and decayed and by that means those Anger 's Fears Cares Suspicions c. may be overcome that a too violent passion had created in the former and the paâ—ty be weaned from his ill habit of Body and Mind Melancholy Symptoms are accountedtwofold affecting both in Body and Mind the first of these are plain to the Eye by the Dryness Leanness and Paleness occasions holloness of the Eyes wistful looks c. They pine away and look ill with Restlessness and Sighs there is a dulness in the sight and a cloud of sadness hangs upon the Brow and there is a feasible decay of Appetite and the reason the Learned give for this is that the disorder of the spirits obstruct the Liver from the performance of it's office by means whereof it cannot turn the Aliment into any reasonable good Blood as it ought and for that cause the Members weaken and shrink for want of their due sustenance as trees and plants wither and pine when their roots draw not sufficient Moisture from the Earth to supply them And this Ladies falls in a great measure your share in the bloom of youth because you are put upon longing and languishing many times when Modesty and Bashfulness charms your Tongues from uttering what we verily believe you wish at the same time were known so your selves were not the relators of it and it is very hard indeed that you are tied up to so nice a point that you must not ask for that which you no doubt might have for speaking but must endure because you will be too severely strict to the rules of Modesty there is reasonable allowance in all things that are not dishonest or ofâ—ensive These longing desires bring the Green-sickness often upon young Virgins and Widdows and strangely alters their Complexions as they do the Câ—â—â—xia or evil
and Chastity being lifted or born by two Virgins thereby signifying she was going to lose her Virginity unwillingly but now we find that Custom is laid aside and the matter is mannaged with less Ceremony and more Decency the good natur'd Bride not expecting such fantastical Attendance as knowing the main end of Matrimony is to encrease and multiply and to bring up her Children in the fear of God She is or ought to be Frugal Chaste and Modest Respectful Dutiful and Obliging as far as consists with reason and the Obligation of Marriage to her Husband owning him her Head Protector and Support of her Honour and well-being 〈◊〉 to Protection against Injuries and providing what is convenient for her he in all things behaving himself towards her as he ought in Sickness as well as in Health perâ—orming in every thing as far as he is able his Nuptial Promise for tho' in Law it is not an Oath yet so solemn a Protestation before God and those present as Witnesses is as binding and ought to be as Religiously observed lest pretending to mock or trifle with the Almighty his fearful Judgments scatter Ruin and Desolation upon the Guilty and his Posterity We shall proceed yet further to speak of the Duty of Marriage in particulars from which proceeds so universal a Good to the not only Peopling the World but to the Peace and Refreshment of the Mind as well as the Body and to shew what real Comâ—orts attend it though some Liberâ—ines have laboured their Brains to create an Antipathy to so great a Felicity â—in suggesting Inconveniences that are not reasonably to be conceived and indeed are only Chimera's and Whimsies arising from Immature Thoughts and Imaginations Mind then and regard it seriously Woman was prepared as we may in some measure term it upon Mature Deliberation or Second thought as a help meet for Man who else must have continued in Solitude for the greater part even with an imperfection of his Felicity in his so glorious a Paradice seeing all other Male Creatures had their Similitude of another Sex and then again without some new found-out-way of Peopling it so fair a Fabrick as this Word built with no less Power and Wisdom than that of an All-powerful and All-wise God would heve become the Habitation of irrational Creatures and certainly the joyning of Hands and Breasts in a Matrimonial Estate is of all other temporal Conditions the Happiest especially where Reciprocal Love and inviolate Faith are concentered for there no cares Fears or Jealousies Mistrusts Hatred can enter to disturb the sweet Repose and Harmony of Minds there is a strict Union wherein a Man and a Woman so joyned are said to be one Body one Flesh and as we may term it one Soul because their Souls move joyntly in an Harmonious Consent nor was it the least Care Goodness of the wise Creator to ordain so near a Union and especially for these two Causes the first for the Increase of Posterity and the second to Bridle and bound Man's wandring Desires and Affections and in this near Conjunction God pronounced his immediate Blessing Columela tells us out of the Oâ—conoms of Zenophon That Motrimonial Conjunction appointed by Nature is not only the most pleasant but profitable Course of Life that may be entered on for the Preservation and encrease of Posterity wherefore since Marriage is the most safe sure and delightful Station of mankind who by the Dictates of Nature is prone to propagate his like he do's in no wise provide amiss for his own Tranquility who enters into it especially when he comes to Maturity of years for we must allow there are many Errors and abuses in Marriages contrary to what is ordained for the Felicity or either Sex of which we shall treat hereafter Our Blessed Saviour has pronounced dismal Woes against those that give themselves up to unlawful Lusts and the worst of all Miseries is that without timely and sincere Repentance it exludes them the Kingdom of Heaven Marriage is objected against but by a very few unless such as refuse it that they may live with more Security and less interrupted in their Lawless Courses However in those Courses of Life they find Disappointments Anxieties and Disquiets the loss of their Reputations Health and Lavishing away their Money and time beside the throwing their Souls into an eminent hazard nor do we at all see what Pleasure they can â—â—ke in the treacherous Smiles of â—n Harlot Mercenary Love câ—n never be cordial and therefore consequently breeds no true Content even in the Enjoyment but rather a Snare to overwhelm and finally destroy such as press upon it Solomon the wisest of Men who had in a great measure experienced this tells us by sad Experience of a remorseful Conscience that such fly as a Bird to the Snare of the Fowler and go as an Ox to the Slaugter till a Dart strike through the Liver If in this way they have Children the sweet pledges of chaste Love which seldom happens they rather become a reproach and scandal than a Comfort to them Harlots are fitly compared to Swallows who when the sharp Winter of Adversity or Sickness comes sing no longer to their Morning wakes but on expanded wings leave the Coast and fly to a warmer Sun when a Virtous loving Wife is a cordial Friend in all Adversities and her greatest Love is prov'd and found in the greatest Affliction and like a faithâ—â—l Companion not only shares with him pariently but assist him in all Adversities cheerfully passing thro' Difficulties and Dangers to serve and oblige him never disputing his lawful Commands but readily and with a willing mind obeying and performing them to the utmost of her Power Sickness or Poverty makes her not start aside but she takes them as occasions to manifest her entire Affections when the proud imperious Harlot will do but what pleases her even in his prosperous days and when a Cloud over-shadows him she leaves him Comfortless in Darkness and Misery she sucks him indeed whilst he has any Blood of Substance left like a Horse-leech always craving but never satisfied displeased at every thing he do's if he grants not all her Desires and they very â—nreasonable ones even her best Pretendings are only Flatteries and her Allurements only artificial Charms she regards not his growing Ruin or Miseries but rather pushes him into them and the sooner she undo's him the greater is her advantage because then she is at leisure to lay her Snares for another and so goes on till her feet take bold of Hell her Vows and Tears and Swoonings are all seigned and artificial like Beauty Gesner tells us a Story That a young Man travelling from Athens to Thebes by the way met a beautiful Lady to appearance Glittering in gaudy Attire shining with Gems and Gold as the spangled Arch of Heaven with Stars she saluted him and seem'd to be much Examoured of his Person declaring she had a long time watched the
the first that view'd her So that she can expect nothing from them but severe Usage not without danger of her Person as being she that has been the Cause though the innocent one of the discovery of their Ignorance Therefore the Error in Fact which was the occasion of the Decree of the Capitols being now intirely removed your Sâ—ppliant having neither Parents nor fixed Habitation and labourâ—ng under Extremity of Want nor having any friend either publick or private that will concern himself to preserve her from the punishment that may be inflicted on her she has Reason to hope from yoâ—â— Majeâ—â—y's justice whose Sovâ—â—â—ign Authority is above neâ—dâ—â—â—â— Forms of proceeding that you will be pleased to grant her such a Decree as may secure her condition For these Reasons Sir considering the occasion to be so singular and remote from being drawn into Example mâ—y it please your Majesty to Cancel Revoke and Disâ—â—â—l the Decree of the Capitols of Tâ—â—louse Bearing Date the 21st of July 1691. as being grounded upon a mistake in Fact of the personal Condition of your Suppliant to the end she may resume her Name her Sex and Habit of a Virgin c. and your Petitioner shall ever pray for the health and prosperity of your Majesty This Petition was signed by M. Lauther Advocate and presented but what Effects it had as to reversing the Sentence we are as yet to learn nor matters it much to our purpose But however it might happen to this woman or whatsoever may be alledged in her behalf ' ris apparent there are those that in some degree participate of either sex though again well allow there may be mistakes made by unexperienced Midwives who have been deceived by the Evil conformation of the parts which in some male births may have chanced to have had a Protrusion not to have been discerned as appear'd by the example of a Child Christened at Paris by the name of Joana as if it had been a Girl when upon a more narrow inspection it proved a boy and on the contrary the over fâ—r exâ—enâ—ion of thâ— Clytoâ—â—s in female birth 's may have occasioned the like mistakes Gallen however allows a transmuâ—ation of sex when he says a man is nothing different from a woman but in having his Genital members without his body and that if nature having formed a man and would convert him into a woman she has no other task to perform but to Invert his members and a woman into a man by doing the contrary but this we cannot allow because it seems to us Impossible to be done unless we understand him of the Embrio in the womb which is yet as soft wax Lyable to take any impression or be moulded and alter'd as nature pleases and then by Extraordinary heat Suddainly coming into the womb and Increasing in the Geniâ—al members a female was dâ—signed and had been so had not that heat helped nature in her formation a change may be puâ— upon it and it maybecome a male yet it will upon such an Alteration retain some certain Gestâ—res unbeseeming the male sex as female Actions a shrill voice and more feeble than ordinâ—ry very fair but Little or no hair on the face when grown up and contrary wise nature having often designed a male in the womb and cold humours flâ—wn in the Genitals have been Inverted yet when brought forth as it grows up it shows more and more of a masculine temper in Gâ—re Voice and Inclination to such things as women rarely accustom themselves to and of this sort we believe many Brave Virgoes so samed in story were Natural Causes conducing to the Advantage of mankind c. Nature has many Agents if we may properly term them so that she employs in her workings and sometimes calls in our care and art to her assistance It falleth out a matter of wonder that Nature being very Ingenious of great Art Judgment and Force and mankind a work of so special regard yet she many times miscarries in the rigth froming the body and disposing the mind which defect is not so much to be atâ—ributed to Nature in her common workings who aims to make every thing perfect as it is in the Parents who apply not themselves to the means of Generation wiâ—h that order and concert which is by Nature established or know the conditions which ought to be observed to the end their children may prove beautiful in body and mind for by the same Reason for which one shall be born very witty having always regaâ—d to the self-order of causes mâ—ny hundred will in a temperatâ— or distempered Region prove of slender capacities Now if by Art we may procure a Remedy of this it may be much available especially to the Fair Sex which we will labour to do within the bounds of modesty and for the better undersâ—â—nding of it we shall place it distincly undâ—â— Four Heads or principal parts The first is to shew the natural Quality and Temperature which man aud ought to posses to the end they may use Generation The second is to consider what diligence the Parents ought to employ when they are desirous of male children Thirdly How they may become wise and discreet And Fourthly how they may be dealt withal after their birth for the preservation of their Wit And as to the first of these it is necessary that a Woman be cold and moist in the contexture of her frame that so she may be temperate and fruitful and that the fruit she produceth may be without any natural defect For all Philosophers and Physicians hold that cold and moisture moved with a little temperizing heat produce the most effectuâ—l Generation as the Earth so ordered produces the best crop of Grain The Womb is the Field of man's Generation and according to the state and condition it isâ—n so it produceth the birth therefore women intending to have fair children without deformity or blemishes should have great regard to be temperate in eating drinking and exercise from their conception to their uprising that the humours may be agreeable and the contribution kept in a moderate temperance and then Leave to nature the rest which having good materials to work on never fails to produce very curious peices set out and exactly compleated beyond the Exception of the greatest Criticks And indeed it is past all Exception that the qualities that render a woman fruitful are mainly cold and moisture that might she be capable of breeding much Phlegmatick blood to be serviceable for the forming and supporting the child in the womb and breeding store of milk for should there be much beat the blood would be made unfit for the Gendering of milk and so the babe would pine a way for want of Norishment for with that Hypocrates and Galen affirm it is nourished and Relieved all the time it remaineth in the mothers womb And now though we Consider women cold and moist in the General made so for the sake of
true that those who boast of their Ancestors who were the Founders and Raisers of a Noble Family do confess that they have in themselves a less Virtue and a less Honour and consequently are degenerated And what differences soever there are between them and their Neighbours there ought to be no Upbraidings or Contempt and if any thing is to be done it must be with an humble Courteousness For the least betraying of Pride and Haughtiness of Spirit makes them reject even good advice Let all remember what they are before they were begotten and then they will conclude they were nothing what they were in the first Region of their dwellings before they breathed and then they will find they were but Uncleanness what they were so many Years after and then they will find they were only Weakness and Imbecillity what they are in the whole course of their lives and then they will know they are but sinners what in all their Excellencies and then they will find it but lent and that they stand indebted to God for all the Benefits they have Received and Enjoy in the first place and in the next to their Parents and the Creatures that cloath and feed them But they may if the please use the method of the Platonisis who reduce all the Causes and Arguments for Humility which they can take from themselves to these seven heads First The Spirit of a man is light and troublesome Secondly His Body is bruitish and sickly Thirdly He is constant in his Folly and Errour and inconstant in his Manners and good Purposes Fourthly his Labours are Vain Intricate and Endless Fifthly His Fortune is changeable but seldom pleading never perfect Sixthly His Wisdom comes not in any Full Proportion till he has but a few paces to the Grave and it be in a manner past using Seventhly His Death is certain always ready at the door but never far off It is past all doubt that a Fair Young Gentleman who stands recorded in History was very far from Pride who being often in his Life time requested to have his Picture drawn and courted to it by the greatest Masters of the Age who covered it as a perfect Pattern of Masculine Beauty yet utterly refus'd their Solicitations telling them he intended it not to be done till a few days after his Burial and so strictly enjoyn'd it by his last Will dying in the strength and flower of his Age to shew those that are proud of beauty what a change Death makes when opening his Sepalchar in order to it they found half his face consumed by Vermin and his Midrist and Back-bone full of little Serpents supposed to be bred of the Purrelaction so short a time had reduced him to and so he stands Pictured amonst his Armed Ancestors So soon does Death change the fairest beauty into Loathing Riches have the same fare for they cannot secure the Possession to the Grave nor follow him thither to do him any kindness and how soon may we be hurried thither we know not Seneca tells us of one Senecius Cornelius a proud rich man craftly in getting and tenacious in holding a great Estate and one who was as diligent in the care of his Body as in puffing up his mind in the conceit of his accumulated Riches having been one day to visit a sick Friend from whom he expected a large Legacy returning home joyful that the party was so near his end by which his Treasury would be augmented but in the night was taken with a Sqâ—â—nzey and breathed out his last before the Sun gilded the Earth with its beams being snatch'd away from the torrent of his Fortune and the swelling tide of his Wealth This accident was then much noted in Rome because it happened in so great a fortune and in the midst of wealthy designs and presently it made Wise men consider how imprudent a person he is who hears himself up and is 〈◊〉 with Riches and Honour promising himself many years of happiness to come when he is not Lord of to morrow The Tuscan Hierogliphycks which we have from Gabriel Simeon show us this viz. That our life is very short Beauty â—â—uzenage Money false and fugitive Empire odious and hated 〈…〉 that have is not 〈…〉 to them that enjoy it Victory is always uncertain and Peace but a â—â—â—dulent bargain Old Age is miserable Death is the period and is a happy one if 〈◊〉 be not sowred by the 〈◊〉 of our Life and nothing is permanent but the effects of this Wisdom which imployes the present time in the Acts of holy Religion and a peaceable Conscience For these make us live even beyond our Funerals embalm'd in the Spices and Odours of a a good Name blessing us for a blessed Resurrection to the state of Angels and Beautified Spirits where Eternity is the measure the Lamb the Light and God the 〈◊〉 and Inheritance Alexander we find was so puffed up with his Conquest over Persia that entring India he wept when the Sea interpreted that there was no more Worlds to Conquer but he that had threst his Sword through so many Nations with vast slaughter and had so many flattering Titles bestowed upon him that he 〈◊〉 himself a God and exalted Divine Adoration had his Ambition quenched at Bobylon with a little draught of Poyson to let the World see he was but a moral man and Subject to 〈◊〉 and Misfortunes as well as the 〈◊〉 of those People he had triumphed over Seneca tells us of a rich proud Man that gave himself up so much to sensuality that he would often ask his attendants when he was placed in his Chair whether he sate or no that by his Slaves answering him the by standers might know who were his attendants So have we seen a sparkish Gallant dancing along as light as if he thought the Ground unworthy to bear him yet often looking over his Shoulder at his man in a fine new Livery who lugg'd his Laced Cloak after him that the Night-Railsin the Balconies might take more notice of his Equipage The Pope to 〈◊〉 the Pride he may conceive for being Exalred to St. Peters Chair and to let him see he is but a moral man among other Ceremonies at his Corronation his one that carries a 〈◊〉 of Flax before him on a staff and it the appointed place says Behold Holy Father so passes away yhe Glory of this World or worldly things We find Xerxâ—â— wept ehen he saw his Army of Ten Hundred Thousand men upon the shoars of 〈◊〉 ready to invade the Greeks in Purpe in consideration that in less than an Hundred years that multitude of People would be turned to dust and 〈◊〉 bridged over the 〈◊〉 Sea with his mighty 〈◊〉 he proudly scourg'd the Wives with Chains as he 〈◊〉 because their Violence 〈◊〉 broke a part of it but it is observed that in less than two years his own rashness brought most of them to their Graves that mighty 〈◊〉 being consumed by