make Reflections upon their Unsteadiness they would confess that when the Poets invented their Chimera they had a design to draw their Picture since to speak the truth there is as prodigious a variety in their Sentiments as in the feigned Body of this Monster In truth it is just matter of wonder that the same Mind should be capable in so little time of so different Thoughts even to contrariety sometimes If many of these Women had a Painter hired to take every day a Draught of them according to their different Resolutions I assure my self that there would appear every night under their Hands a meer Landskip of a Wilderness We may see some of them that will on this day appear mighty Chast and on the next they are Lewd now they show themselves Covetous and anon Liberal It would be well for them that they could forget this shameful variety and that they were without Memory as well as without Steadiness For the little Memory they have however little it is will make them ashamed of their Judgment I could wish to them that which Epictetus requires in a Wise Man that is That they knew the Art of Regulating their Opinions and of Subjecting them to Reason They would herein have conquer'd many of their Enemies and appeased those Winds which ordinarily cause all the Tempests of their Life But when is it that these Women are more subject to this Ridiculous inequality than when they are elevated with a High Fortune since from that time every one worships their Opinions even the most Extravagant of them and their Imperfections are praised and their very Vices term'd Vertues since also they have then all things so much at their Wish and are sometimes so weary even of Delight that their own Disgust which arises from their being cloy'd causes their Inconstancy Having tired themselves with true Pastimes their sickle Minds busie them with Imaginary ones It is for this Reason that Prosperity and Levity are very often lodged together Let none deceive themselves in this Matter nor think that to render any Steady in their Minds I have a Mind to make them Obstinate It is not always blameable to change there are Seasons wherein this is not contrary to Prudence It is as great a fault altogether to adhere to an Opinion when it is an ill one as to change from that which is good Obstinacy and Inconstancy both are equally contrary to Election because the one is Immoveable when it ought to change and the other changeable when it ought to be fixed That we may be Steady or Constant there is nothing more required than that we persevere in Truth and Equity Besides I know very well that the Minds of the wisest Persons may be moved at the first in some Re-encounters Aulus Gellius says That the Stoicks themselves do not deny but their Wise Man is capable of some change because say they the Emotion is not in our Power but the Consent to it is And to speak in the Terms of their Sect the Visions do not depend upon us but only the Approbations I blame then the Unsteadiness which proceeds from our selves and not at all that which is join'd to the weakness of our Sence and is not in our own Power I HAVE a Mind to discover yet other Causes of the Unevenness of the Mind I suppose then that even knowing Persons may have sometimes their Mind uneven and as it were irresolute because the greatness of their Light does as it were dazle them and make their Election waver and while they look upon the same Object under various Appearances they cannot easily determine themselves but do find some probability as it seems to them even on all sides Nevertheless it must be own'd that this Uncertainty is yet more common to the Ignorant for that while they know not the true Nature of Good or Evil there is more of Hazard than Assurance in their Choice and by so much the more as their Spirit is weak they are unconstant SEE AGAIN a Cause of this of another Kind There are some who have truly some Wit and Knowledge but they have nevertheless also I know not what natural Easiness of Temper that renders them susceptible of all sorts of Opinions Their Spirit has some Light but it has nothing of Force it knows how to propose but has need of Assistance towards the making a good Conclusion There are but too many of this Sort who see the Truth but are not able to follow it Who set sail towards the right Port but every the least Tempest casts them upon another Coast and who suffer themselves to be carried away with a Perswasion as Ships are by the Winds and Stream of the Tides As they are Credulous they are Unsteady AND IN TRUTH may we not see some that have a certain Distrust of their own Sentiments though they are not bad and that cannot go without a Guide though they are not blind Paschalius says that Women ordinarily believe very lightly when they are in great prosperity and that it is from hence that they appear so uneven He brings the Example of Procris in Ovid to show that they very easily believe what they fear or what they desire since she her self was so credulous to the Reports of Slanderers and yielded so readily to the Offers of Cephalus her Husband when he was disguised that she became as lightly Jealous as she was Amorous And in truth those that are in a great Fortune let themselves easily be catch'd with Flattery or moved to Revenge And as there is no injury so small for which they will not insist upon a Satisfaction so there is no praise or Commendation of them so excessive as that they will not receive it It is their constant Misfortune to give Credit to Flatterers and Slanderers LASTLY to find out the more ordinary and dangerous Source of Unevenness we may observe that we shall find none more capable of this than those Women who have no Design or those that have bad ones There are some careless Wretches that do not propose to themselves any end at all who live in I know not what sort of Indifference like those Archers that let fly their Arrows into the Air without aiming at any Mark or as Mariners that should let themselves wander upon the Ocean without steering towards any Port. It cannot be but such must be very unconstant But those that have any ill Design must needs be yet more so because the frequent Remorses that gripe them cause their minds almost every moment to change their Opinion as they do their Faces to change Colour So that to have a steddy constant mind there is nothing more requisite than to keep it Innocent And to this purpose I have a most admirable Rule which I took from a Person very knowing and religious To preserve said he an Equality of Mind in all our Designs and in all our Sentiments without giving our Consciences any Reason ever to reproach us we ought to take care in all our Pretensions that Justice do seek Prudence find Strength revenge and Temperance do possess There ought to be Justice in the Affection Prudence in the Understanding Courage in the Effects and Temperance in the Use The Practice of this excellent Advice would confirm the most unconstant Thoughts and happily determine those that are most true For that none may flatter themselves it must be said that the true Evenness of Mind is inseparably join'd to Purity of Conscience LET US FINISH this Discourse too with that which is of Importance Whatever it is that happens to us that is strange or deadly what need is there that it should mightily trouble us Certainly there would be many more that would endure well and constantly the Evils that befall them if they could represent to themselves that 't is God who tries us and that Patience is a Vertue so lovely that in the Exercise of this Men are apt to think well of ones Actions though they are none of the best There are many more would defend themselves from Sadness if they would but consider that this Passion is no less unprofitable than dangerous If I say they would consider that in the greatest Extremities either there is a Remedy or there is none If there be one why should we not employ all possible means without admitting so great a Trouble of Mind till we see how they shall succeed If there be no Remedy we must resolve to suffer as we must to die since as the one is inevitable according to the Laws of Nature so we see the other to be so according to the Laws of Necessity After all How superfluous is Sorrow and Grief It cannot find again that which is lost nor call to life what is dead it cannot hinder but that Evils will come nor can it cause the good things that are gone away to return And nevertheless as if this fatal Passion could not do us harm enough alone we help it to persecute us There are some that do not put forth the least Endeavour towards the helping of themselves who seek Solitude for fear they should be diverted from their Grief and who fly from Comforters as if they were Murtherers What a Blindness is it to do ones self so much Mischief without any appearances of Advantage If we examine this Case well we shall find that we are not so unhappy in any thing else for the most part as we are in our Grief and Trouble of Mind Or that we are not so truly sad because we are unhappy as we are unhappy in that we are sorrowful and sad FINIS ADVERTISEMENT The ARTS of EMPIRE and Mysteries of State Dis-cabineted in Political and Polemical Aphorisms grounded on Authority and Experience and Illustrated with the Choicest Eâ—â—mples and Historical Observations By the Ever Renowned Knight Sir Walter Raleigh Published by John Milton Esq Printed for Joseph Wats at the Angel in S. Paul's Church-Yard
There is indeed some appearance of Ill in the Writings of the Ancients and there is nothing but an empty appearance of good in the Romances which are read insomuch that if we take away the Mask and pierce the Shell of the one and the other we shall find nothing but Vice in these last mentioned and nothing but Vertue in the other We ought not to abandon the Ancients for so little evil as is in them nor espouse the Romances for so little good as is in them It is sufficient to retrench and pare the one sort but the other are to be entirely thrown away IT MAY BE this my Opinion of them may be displeasing to some to whom a Lie appears more beautiful than Truth and who can take no delight but in that which is unprofitable and think the time cannot be well passed away unless it be lost Why say they is the Reading of Romances forbidden when the Use of the Poets is allow'd And what pretence can there be to believe that Fictions are more dangerous in Prose than in Verse What necessity is there that for trivial Considerations we should deprive our selves of the sweetest Pleasures of Life And what greater contentment can a man contrive for himself than to read in Romances so many different successes where we find our Passions still in motion according to the Adventures that are presented Yea and tho we know very well that the Objects which affect us never had a being in the world and never will yet we suffer our selves very often to entertain a true compassion for feigned miseries and dissolve into tears for imaginary Shepherds They add further we ought not to throw away any Books because there is something of Ill in them as it is not reasonable to resolve never to go to Sea because there are Shelves and Sands there or because the art of Navigation is not infallibly successful as appears in that there are some that yearly suffer Shipwreck either by misfortune or by ignorance It is not at all just to abandon that which is good because it is sometimes mingled with bad Prudence teaches to separate the Vice from the Vertue rather than to shun both together otherwise we must pluck out our Eyes that we may not abuse our looks and never venture to stir lest we should happen to fall Besides why is it forbidden to Romances to present us with Lives of them that never were any more than to Painters to draw Imaginary persons or to paint according to their own fancy a piece of Grotesque Why may not the one sort be permitted to divert the mind by their Writings as well as the other to refresh the Eye with their Pictures Why is the Pen in this case to be accounted more culpable than the Pencil and may we not describe in words what we may by Pictures AND TO SAY truth that we may answer to this Apology for Romances I do not at all doubt that if any one of them could be found that were entirely honest it were not Injustice to defend the reading of it And provided one could find in them any good divertisement without danger of corrupting the mind there would be no cause to complain of them any more than of those recreations that innocently pass the time and refresh us after the fatigue of Study or Business But when I think of the very ill things which the most of Romances are fill'd with when I consider how many minds are debauched with these poisonous Books I should account my self very guilty if I did not shew the snares to those who apprehend no danger and declare open war with these corrupters of innocence And in truth to examine this matter throughly what satisfaction can any seek in Romances which may not be found in History May we not see there the sucesses the adventures and the Events that are sufficiently pleasant or sufficiently tragick as well of Love as Fortune to move or instruct or divert Can there be any thing more pleasant than to see the Birth and the ruine of Empires and Monarchies and to know in a little time that which was several long Ages in passing Is not this a very commendable way to shorten the time when it seems too long and even to bring back again that which was past When we find there refreshment against weariness and remembrance to prevent oblivion What can be said to prove that we cannot divert without corrupting our selves or that the mind cannot be pleased unless we bring the conscience in danger But if I grant that sometimes there are good Instructions to be found in Romances Yet what engagement are we under to conform our course of life to an imaginary Representation or how shall we bring our selves to imitate examples which we know to be false Do we miss of excellent Patterns in History or do we need Painted and feigned Stars to serve us in the stead of those that adorn the Sky This is a very great Errour And if Bees are not able to gather Honey from Flowers in a Picture as little is it possible to us to receive advantage from a History which we know was invented to please I may grant too that there is some pleasure in the reading of Romances But is there not often an agreeable relish in the food that is poison'd We must abandon that which pleases to avoid that which would hurt and renounce a great pleasure to avoid a little danger Otherwise to propose to our selves the separating what seems to be good in Romances from what is truly evil there or to take pleasure in the relations without being defiled with the uncleanness which they convey under a disguise and which throws out a thousand Hooks with the pleasant Lines to catch the fancy of the Reader this were to throw ones self into a conflagration that we might rescue something from the flames that is of little worth or importance It were to propose to our selves the separating of Wine from the Poison as we drink after we had mingled them together And indeed since we may find divertisement joyn'd with instruction in a History why should we separate the profitable from the pleasant which we may enjoy together To entertain the mind as well as to preserve the body there is no need that we separate the pleasure of the Palate from the usefulness of the Food since reading as well as eating ought to strengthen at the same time that it pleases It is not only superfluous and needless to read these Books but extreamly dangerous too And how much pains soever we take to defend our selves from infection yet we take it The mischief enters insensibly into our Soul with the pleasing words and under the charms of those adventures that affect us Whatever Wit a person has however innocent he is yet as our bodies do without our consent partake of the quality of the things we eat so our minds espouse even in spite of us the Spirit
are worthy of Admiration but those that have it not find pretexts for their weakness The Example serves them for a Reason and they cannot imagine that Crystal can resist those Bodies which are able to break Marbles or Diamonds IF WE MAY be permitted to give some advice after we have been commending Since the Son of God himself had a more tender affection for one of his Disciples than for any of the other There may be particular inclinations allow'd without any offence to Chastity which does not banish the Affections but only regulate and moderate them However we ought to take care that if Friendship in its own nature be a Vertue it does not become a Vice in our practice That it may not be therein abused we ought to examin the end and design of it as soon as it commences and to assure our selves it is dangerous if we pretend to any thing else but Affection And above all to preserve the more assuredly this Vertue it is good for them to betake themselves always to some commendable Exercise Evil Thoughts have no less advantage of an idle Spirit than Enemies have over a man when he is asleep And I am of the same opinion with him who call'd this languishing Repose the burying of a person alive Because that as Worms breed in the Body when 't is without the Soul so bad Desires and Passions from themselves in a Soul that is without employ And if dishonest Loves are the trade of those who do not spend their time in something that is commendable It ought to be believed that Chastity will be preserv'd by the help of employment as it is corrupted by Leisure Her whom the Ancients held for the Goddess of Love they also took for the Mother of Idleness Diana follow'd the Chace and Minerva Studied but Venus did nothing Of Courage IT SEEMS to the Men that Courage is a Quality that should be peculiarly affixed to their Sex without their producing any other Title to it than only their own presumption But he who made so much difficulty to imagine that there was one strong and couragious Woman in the World he made the Sex a very honourable amends for so great an injury And tho he was esteemed the Wisest and the Ablest of all Men he nevertheless lost this high advantage among the Women and became so shamefully feeble and was so far conquer'd by them that they obliged him to sacrifice to Idols Histories are full of their generous actions which they have perform'd to preserve their Country and out of Love to their Husbands and for the Religion of their Ancestors BUT TO SEE whether our Praises are true or false in this matter it is necessary to examin what is the opinion of the Wise and what that of the Vulgar concerning the true nature of Courage There is nothing then more true than this That as the strength of the Brain appears in walking over the highest places without fearing a fall that of Good Spirits consists in the seeing a danger without being troubled at it And nevertheless the Stupid have no advantage in this matter while they wait till occasions come without concern nor have the rash any that seek them It is only the Wise that defend themselves from misfortunes without being precipitant or insensible Since Courage ought always to be join'd with a free deliberation and that it is not a Vertue either wholly constrain'd or purely natural I cannot persuade my self to account those to be generous who have a Temper so light that it is raised without good Cause nor those that have a Nature so heavy and dull that one cannot provoke them tho by ill treatment and injury Here is either an excess or a defect of resentment which may better be term'd Levity or Stupidity than Courage If Judgment should be found in all the Discourses of an Orator Prudence ought to be met with in all the Actions of a Wise Man Without that let Polyphemus be as strong as he will he shall not fail to lose first his Eye and then his Life And tho Vlysses was much weaker than he yet the bulky Giant could not defend himself from him with all the force that he had in his Arms. AFTER WE have seen wherein the true Courage does consist those that know the temper of Women must allow that they have a great disposition to this Vertue For they are not so cold as to be unsensible nor so hot as to be rash We do not see that the most Couragious among the Men do precipitate themselves upon all sorts of occasions as if they had as many Lives as there are Hazards and Misfortunes in the World Whatever good Face they may put upon it the most understanding persons have some difficulty to resolve upon a thing that depends upon Opinion and have regret at the committing such a fault in the loss of Life as can never be repair'd This would tell us that this Vertue ought to have Eyes as well as Arms and Prudence as well as Vigour And therefore they who know Morality well will never give the name of Courage to Anger nor to Despair and I am not able to believe that the Men have Reason when they call the Women Timerous only because they are not Hasty or Imprudent But if any say that I have made an Apology for Cowardise they must not take it ill if I accuse them of recommending Brutality What glory has a man by cutting his own Throat And what advantage bating the brutish custom in making Ostentation of a Trade where the Barbarous Goths and Vandals have been the Masters and of which they gave us the cruel Rules and Examples What is there more easie than for a man to let himself be transported into Fury and to follow the Motions of his Passion Those whom the Vulgar call Courageous resemble the Glasses which we cannot touch almost without breaking them They do not know that the Minds of Men as well as their Bodies are always there most sensible where they are most weak For if this be brave and generous to be provok't or to complain every Moment then the sick are more so than the sound the Old than the Young and the Vulgar than the Wise Since Fear and boldness are both reasonable they are not contrary to each other The one opens our Eyes to discover Evils before they arrive and the other animates us to repulse them when they are present BUT LET US leave off reasoning to come to Examples and in truth we have admirable ones of this kind Has not Titus Livius left us a History much to their Advantage which he writ as himself confesses with Astonishment and Love After that Philip King of Macedon had put to Death the Principal Lords of Thessaly many to avoid his Cruelty fled and betook themselves into other Countries Poris and Theoxene took their way to Athens to find that security there which they could not have in their own
Misfortune Subtilty often times makes Snares in which its self is entangled There are evils where flight is better than resistance and the good Swimmers are the most frequently drowned because their skill tempts them to cast themselves into the stream from which they are not able to disengage themselves again THERE IS NO NEED of proofs to shew that the Women are much less and not so frequently perfidious as the Men We have but too many Examples of this and Experience alone does sufficiently discover that they have more need to defend themselves from the perfidiousness of the Men than to correct their own Do we not see among the Heathen Ladies that the Generous Paulina caused her own Veins to be cut when she saw her Husband Seneca condemned to that punishment by Nero refusing to live after the death of him that had taught her to love as a Philosopher that is constantly They clos'd and stopt her Veins against her Will but she always testifi'd from that time by the pale colour and discontent of her looks that this cure was altogether troublesom And that she remain'd in the world with regret since she could see no longer here the Man of whom she had learnt to despise both Life and Death to testifie the constancy of Love The Wife of Mithridates seeing the affairs of her Husband growing desperate she took the Garland that was about her Head and twisted it about her Neck to strangle her self therewith But when it broke with the first attempt she took the remaining piece in her Hand and fell into the most passionate complaints for that such things could only serve to be the Ornaments of a good Fortune but were not able to afford any relief in a bad one And to shew a most admirable effect of their Constancy among the Women that have embraced the Christian Religion in the most noble occasion of Courage that could ever be presented Do we not see a Penitent Woman perfectly resolv'd to attend her Master through all hazards even at the time when his Disciples forsook him tho they had all made too a thousand protestations that they would never abandon him Of Prudence and Discretion THE LADIES ARE but humane in their Beauty but they are as it were Divine if they are Prudent When their Beauty procures them Love Prudence renders them worthy of admiration and respect This is the Vertue that is most necessary to them and which gives them the greatest Authority Since without this all their other fine qualities are without Ornament or at least without Order like the scattered Flowers which the Wind carries confusedly about With this the most Vicious preserve a little while their Reputation if it be fit to call their Cunning by the name of Prudence and without this very often the Vertuous lose theirs For this cause it is very necessary to the Ladies to direct them in what they do and in what they let alone And as the Architects have always a pair of Compasses in their hand to measure every inch of their Works so she that will be Wise ought to have every moment the Rules of Prudence before her Eyes that she may render all her actions the more reasonable But if we should go about to speak all the good effects of Prudence we must recount all the good that there is in Morality or in Politicks As the Poets feign'd that the fire of Prometheus was divided into many parcels for the animating of several Creatures so we may say when we consider this Divine Vertue which regulates all others and which is necessary even to the least designs That whatever it is we call either an Art or a Science it is nothing else in truth but a fragment of Prudence THE SLANDERERS accuse the Ladies that they have no Address but where they have a Passion that they have no Subtlety but for very small or very evil Enterprises That like the Spiders all their Art is Impoysoned and that they spread their Nets but for the catching of Flies But this is an Imposture more worthy of a Punishment than an Answer It is also a Tyranny and a Custom that is not less unjust than it is old to reject them from the Publick Government as if their Minds were not capable of Affairs of Importance as well as those of Men. The Honour of her Sex who now deserves and possesses the Partnership of a Throne is alone a sufficient confutation of this Calumny whose admirable Conduct we have lately seen worthy not only of the Thanks but of the Imitation of a Senate And the Examples following shall further testifie that the Praises we give them are not without foundation and that we have reason to assert that they have often produced remedies for the most desperate and sinking conditions of Estates and Provinces When the Latins demanded liberty of intermarriages with the Romans with Arms in their Hands to take vengeance on the refusal The Senate found themselves mightily at a loss what Answer to give them for they saw that to refuse would bring upon them a certain War and they knew that to consent would bring their Estates in danger for as much as this Alliance was but a pretext in the Latins for the making themselves Masters of Rome Tutola a very young Maid presented her self to give them her Advice and having observ'd a great irresolution and uncertainty what to do in the Discourses of so many Old Senators she no sooner proposed her Counsel but it was approv'd by them all She shew'd them they must agree with these Strangers in what they demanded and cause the Servant maids to be drest in the Habit of Brides That so the Sabines being amused with the pleasure of those Guests might be diverted from the design they had of making a War This succeeded according to her Opinion and these Slaves when they saw their pretended Husbands fallen fast asleep they stole from them their Arms and gave notice to the Roman Souldiers by a lighted Torch that they might come and surprize their Enemies when they were unable to defend themselves We cannot sufficiently praise the Courage the Conduct and the Affection of Tutola who found means for the safety of the Common-wealth when the Wise Senators were at uncertainty what course they should take Let what will be said of the Imprudence of the Women If the Men would sometimes take their Advice as God has given them for a help in the management of their Affairs perhaps they would succeed the more happily And it would be acknowledg'd that they are mightily in the wrong who despise them in a matter where there is need of Address and Prudence When Theseus was exposed to the Minâ—taur in a Labyrinth who gave him the means to escape but Ariadne Without the Clue of Thread which he receiv'd from this Princess had he ever been disengag'd from its windings This Labyrinth is a resemblance of Occasions or Affairs that are difficult Theseus represents a man
we ought so much to forbid our selves as that which pleases us most our Inclination is no less deprav'd than their Taste it proceeds from a poison'd Spring it comes not from Nature sound and well but from that which is corrupted I approve mightily the Opinion of them who compare the Amity of Election to the Sun and the Love of Inclination to the Moon for the former is always equal and the latter is commonly unconstant full of Errour and of Spots The Moon of her self has no Brightness Inclination alone has no Conduct It has need to borrow that from Reason And above all after the same manner as the Moon appearing sometimes with the Sun does not make the Day for all that nor contribute any assistance towards the Enlightening of the World so when by good Fortune the Love of Inclination meets with that of Election it ought not to govern us or make it self our Master but on the contrary it ought to borrow all it's Light and Direction from the other But to improve this Comparison a little further I could wish to this purpose that the Ladies would imitate Her whom the Holy Spirit describes in sacred Writ as having the Moon under her Feet and being all over inviron'd and as it were cloathed with the Sun I mean that they ought not utterly to throw away Inclination but to conquer and moderate it that there should be in Love a little of Humour and a great deal of Prudence That Amity has no need of Inclination but in its Birth but has need of Consideration as long as it endures If it be necessary that the one be the Mother of it it is so too that the other be the Nurse and Mistress And in truth Inclination is like an imprudent Mother who loves her Children too well They must be wrested from her Bosom as soon as they are brought forth for fear that in Caressing and Embracing she should stifle them After all this Inclination is nothing else for the most part but a Phantasm the most learned find it difficult to express the Cause or the Nature of it It is so occult and hidden that many not being able to comprehend the Love that it gives Birth to they say it is they know not what which forms it self they know not how and which conquers by they know not what sort of Charms There are some that teach upon the Foundations of Plato's Philosophy That Inclination comes from Remembrance and that our Souls having view'd each other in another World before it seems that this is not the beginning of a Love but the continuance of 〈◊〉 That this is not properly the Birth of an Affection but the awakening of it Insomuch that according to their Opinion our Souls call to mind their former Alliance no otherwise than as two persons that have mutually lov'd heretofore when they see each other again after a long Separation they are surprized at first sight while the Imagination and Memory are at labour to discover and recollect those that touch them There are some others that attribute an Inclination to the Stars and who will have it that the same Cause which produces Flowers in the Bosom of the Earth produces also the Sympathy that is in our Souls Some again ascribe it to the four Qualities that they fansie are mingled in us namely Heat and Cold Dryness and Moisture And others make short Work of it and ascribe it to Destiny But that I may not trouble my self or the Reader with the Opinions of all those that deceive themselves and who seek the Original of the Inclination there where it is not it seems to me that we may philosophize rightly to proceed only from the Love of our selves We love all that which resembles us even to our Pictures we cherish our Image in all things where we see it We love all that which comes from us Fathers for these reasons love their Children Painters their Draughts Artificers their Work It is from hence that we may learn the great danger there is where the Love of Inclination engages us for since we very often love our selves on that side where we are most Imperfect and we embrace even our very shadow like Narcissus It follows from thence that we are in danger to love the Imperfections of others if it happens that they resemble our own If the love of our selves be blind that of Inclination is so likewise this is an Effect that must carry the resemblance of its Cause But if this Love of Inclination were not so dangerous and so full of darkness what need is there of this Sympathy or natural Conformity And why may not Love place it there where it was not Love as well as Death equals all things and makes a likeness where it does not find it In loving as well as dying both Kings and Shepherds find themselves at the same point Herein they are both Men equal in respect of Affection and of Weakness Love is like a Fire which can kindle another any where It does not only transmit it self into the subject it burns but also has power to dispose that to receive it It removes the qualities contrary to its own to put in others It drives the Enemy from the place it lays Siege to before it does render it self Master of it And to say the truth as there are hidden Forms in the Bosom of Matter which natural Agents are able to excite and produce so there are hidden Inclinations in our Souls which Conversation and Familiarity may give birth to There needs no more but to seek well after them and if we find them not at first yet a little time usually produces them How often do we see some Persons that distast us at the first and who nevertheless after a little Conversation do highly please us And others again who ravish us at the first sight and afterwards displease us as much Love may succeed to Aversion as well as Aversion to Love Experience sufficiently shows this and as those Trees that are of different kinds being well grafted do not fail to bring forth Fruit so the Amity that is formed between two Persons of different Humours may not fail to succeed well Plato had some reason to say That Love is a Teacher of Musick for as much as an Affection may breed as well in an inequality of Humours as a harmony may be made up of unequal Voices And indeed what sort of Conformity can we find between the young and the old who yet nevertheless do often mutually Love and Caress each other What proportion or likeness is there between the Loadstone and the Iron If the one drew the other out of Sympathy and Resemblance would not Iron be rather attracted by Iron than by the Stone to which it has a great deal less likeness But to the end that we may the better see how shameful and unjust this Love of Inclination is it is enough to consider that they who love us
Usefulness in it Whatever some may say of this it may be as far distant from Flattery as Prudence is from Craft and Courage from Rashness And if it should be said that at least it is very difficult not to run out of one into the other this were to deceive ones self as much as if we should think that a Person cannot be Liberal unless he be Prodigal or that we cannot possibly separate a Mediocrity from an Excess I readily own there is often a Compliance that is base as when Cynethus commended Demetrius Phalereus for that he kept time in spitting when he was troubled with a Cough I own that the Flatterers may abuse this excellent Vertue but what one is there that they do not abuse What is there so Beautiful or Divine as that the Ignorant or the Wicked cannot prophane it May they not even do ill with truth Those that boast themselves of a good Action they have done are not they guilty of Vanity though they tell no lye in the case We ought not therefore to condemn Complaisance for that there are many that do not know the right use of it It is extreamly good in its nature though commonly it is very bad in mens practice and use of it And that this may the better appear is it not true that this great freedom which many praise does very often proceed not from an Integrity of Manners in the Man 's own self but from Conceitedness rather and from Vanity and Imprudence We take pleasure to contradict sometimes because the fear of being overcome makes us loth to confess even the truth it self Nevertheless though I should grant that this sharp reprehending humour does not come from a bad Principle yet at least it must be said of it That 't is a bad effect of a good Cause Those that are so rude and uncomplaisant are Objects of Compassion though they be Learned and Vertuous One may say of them what Plato said of Xenocrates That notwithstanding his Knowledge and his Honesty he had need to sacrifice to the Graces If this rudeness be unbecoming a Philosopher how shall it be commendable in a Lady As gentle sweetness is natural to their Sex so Complaisance ought to be inseparable from their Actions and Discourse 'T is true I do not approve of that which appears affected and constrained when it endeavours to Please but also I cannot excuse those Women that put on so much Gravity as to become Morose Sweetness and Severity are not contrary but only different things and Prudence may put them into so perfect a Temperament that the one may give Lustre to the other Also I do not mean that to render themselves Complaisant they should universally approve all things these are two extreams equally blamable to take upon one to complement or contradict indifferently in all sorts of Rencounters Those Spirits that contradict every thing are sowre or presumptuous those that approve of all are ignorant or cowardly Those Women that make Profession of Contradicting all things do this either out of Inclination or with Artifice if this be from Inclination it shows the ruggedness of their Humour if from Artifice they are vainly proud of a little Wit Certainly let it proceed from what it will it cannot always succeed it is always joyn'd with a vicious Temperament or an imprudent Design and is in Persons ill born or ill instructed How troublesome are these Women in Conversation If they did but regard the publick Good so much as they do their own private Satisfaction they would vow an eternal Solitude and Retirement and would never show themselves but when People wanted Mortification Let us do what we will or forbear to do 't is impossible to content them If the Company do not agree to their Sentiment they are vexed if they follow their Opinion then they themselves begin to have another quite contrary on purpose that they may contradict without end If any others commend a Vertue they will detract and condemn it If any condemn a Vice it is presently their Part in the Scene to excuse or defend it They value and mind not what their Opinion is of any thing provided it be contrary to that of others If you praise them they will accuse you of Flattery if you do not commend them they will condemn you for ungrateful if one speaks before them one is a Babler if one does not speak he is disdainful They will find something to blame both in our Discourse or in Silence they will condemn both Conversation and Solitude To speak rightly of this Matter we must say that the Women of this Humour are almost always proud there where the Complaisant are commonly humble For to describe a true Complaisance rightly we must say 't is nothing but a patient Civility or a civil Charity As the Love which Christianity teaches endures all things so the Complaisance of Morality after a sort does as much although the Motives of these are different in that the one proceeds from a Desire to please God the other from a Desire to please Men. After all we should find it no difficult thing to be complaisant and to bear with the Infirmities and Imperfections of others if we would but consider that we do no more herein than what we often have need of for our selves But this is the Unhappiness of some that they can neither show Mercy to others nor suffer that any others should do Justice to them or use them as they herein do deserve Those Women that have not so much Complaisance as to bear with the least Faults have neither the Humility to endure that any one should reprove their greatest Crimes They believe others will always abuse Reproof as themselves do and that it will not be used to instruct but to injure They despise the Opinion of all the World and would have all Men adore theirs They are as well Impatient as Insolent and have as much Vanity as Rudeness And if at last either their Ignorance or the Evidence of Truth obliges them to consent or hold their Peace yet their Mien and Looks contradict still and after that their Mouth has made a Peace their silence still continues the War What can there be more troublesome in Conversation than this Humour Certainly this Quarrelsome Temper were much better in the Schools than in Conversation I do not at all deny but we may some times reason and argue together the better to find out truth and that we may render Discourse the more agreeable by the diversity of the Subjects that are spoken upon But yet there should be some fear and caution lest we be disordered or fall out At least it should be always remembred that Dispute in Conversation is a War where we ought not to combate with Obstinacy nor to overcome with Insolence Provided Complaisance be mingled with the Debates there is nothing so agreeable and there will no more injury be done by a Disputation of that
may declare That Weeping and Complaint do not always testifie Impatience but only they show that we are not utterly insensible Let us declare That if God himself was pleased to show that he was indeed Man too by sadness and tears we ought not to be ashamed to confess our selves such likewise by the same signs and appearances However it be a sign of weakness to do thus yet is this so universal in this World that there is no more blame due to a Man for being liable to Grief than for being subject to Die We are no more unsensible in this Life than we are Immortal After all what advantage is it to be sullen in our Griefs Were it not better to diminish our displeasure by weeping than to be hardened into a Pillar of Salt instead of letting this bitterness drop out by the Eyes or of breathing it off with a few Complaints A great Poet had reason to say That the Tears as well as Waters have a right to a passage and we ought to moderate only not forbid the use of them Grief is sometimes like a Stream it swells if it be resisted it slides away and is spent in the less time if we give it way Provided we can overcome this Enemy what matter is it whether we do this by flying or fighting him But certainly I fear I may be accused for want of Judgment for my insisting upon this matter in as much as it seems no way necessary to allow Women the liberty to complain of their Grievances and the most part of them seem to understand the trade of that but too well They mightily extol the Constancy and Strength of Mind that was in Isabella Queen of Spain because she did not so much as complain under Sickness and the extreamest Pains And nevertheless they find at times enough of their Sex who have a Vice quite contrary to her Vertue such who do not only complain with Reason but with Artifice too and who would seldom be long ill if Complaining were enough to cure them However that be we may learn from what has been said that to have an equal Mind it is not necessary that we always abstain both from laughing or weeping It were a Philosophy too Stoical that would not permit any but the same resentment to events that are favourable or deadly I judge that according to the occasions that present whether they be Good or Evil a Wise Man may be joyful or griev'd yea I believe that he may complain when he has cause without being guilty of Cowardliness in so doing and that he need not be too much a Philosopher as Possidonius who would needs appear well when he was really Sick Let us proceed further and having seen wherein the equality of Mind does not consist let us observe wherein it does and having overthrown the Opinion of the Vulgar let us examine that of the Wise in this Matter I grant then that as there are many sorts of Winds upon the Sea that can toss the Ships so there are also many sorts of Passions within us to trouble and shake our Minds But it must be own'd that among all these Movements there are but two principally which cause the most remarkable changes in us I mean when the presence of Good gives us too much joy or that of Evil too much Grief There are some Passions that make the Blood fly out too much to the extreams of the Body there are others that cause it to retire and throng too much about the Heart and then that dilates or contracts it self too much As it may be seen that fair Weather envites us to walk and a Storm drives us into the House In like manner the Occasions of joy make us go too much out of our selves those of sadness make us retire too much within our selves The Excess of the one and the other hinders the due equality of the Mind It remains then only at present that we show which of these two Passions gives us the greater trouble and disorder and to see whether there be more danger of being too joyful in a Good Fortune or of being too sad in a Bad one CERTAINLY there are more die of Grief than of Joy and there are more Shipwracks in Tempests than in Calms Prosperity destroys less than Adversity And it is not to be imagin'd that Good should do as much Evil as Evil it self Though all the Passions are able to cause some inequality in us yet there is none more capable to destroy us than Grief This appears sufficiently even in the Colour of the Face in those that are afflicted and in the disorder that it brings into the Thoughts of the Wisest Persons I do not wonder at all that those Women who are possest with Grief are also pale and dejected as if they had no Life remaining in them since to speak the truth Grief is no other than a long Death and Death is no more than a short sadness And indeed Grief keeps us too long under Punishment It would seem a very favourable blow that should put an end to our sufferings though together with our Lives We never see any that kill themselves because they are too joyful but there are many do that fatal Office for themselves because they think themselves too much afflicted and who take Death for a Remedy to their Grief How much mischief does this Passion do both to Body and Soul It dispirits the Blood it infects the whole Constitution it gives Diseases to the Body and Inequality to the Mind It weakens the Instruments first and then the Reason It has sometimes need of Physick as well as Philosophy to heal it I own that there are seasons sometimes wherein Afflictions quicken us and open our Eyes but if we examine them throughly we shall find that they dull the Spirit more frequently than they awaken and excite it And that we may not dissemble the truth how many women may we see who in their Adversities become like the Niobe of the Poets who lost all sense in her misery and was turn'd into a Marble Statue How many are there that grow stupid and Immovable as she was who testifie neither Wit nor Courage who abandon themselves to their Grief and are to such a degree disabled that they cannot make one Effort either towards the comforting or defending of themselves It ought not therefore to be thought strange if sadness does so much destroy the Wit since as this is ordinarily accompanied with dispair it makes no resistance it stands with the Arms across it gives up its self a prey to the Enemy One may judge from hence how much more dangerous this is than Joy for that Moderation depends more upon us than Patience It is much more difficult says Aristotle to support ones self under Grief than to abstain from pleasure Temperance has its dependance on our Liberty but Toleration depends upon the Malice of our Enemy If Joy perswades sadness constrains us