than to give Counsel for it is a wonder whenas young Counsellers keep Peace or young Generals be Conquerours and it makes them more Famous because not Usual especially when Fortune favours them as she doth many times their Rash Adventures or haughty and Ambitious Enterprises for good Fortune makes Youth appear more Glorious than Age but Fortune many times favours Youth as she favours Fools for a time and in the end leaves them to their own Ruin but where Fortune hath little or nothing to do as in wise Counsels there their Ignorance and Follies Passions and Partialities Factions and Emulations appear especially in the success of their Counsels wherefore Young men may better and more safely be trusted with an Army than a City for 't is more safe to leave them to Fortune than to trust them with Prudence for Young men can tell better how to make Wars than to keep Peace being easier to Lead an Army than to Rule a Kingdom to Fight a Battel than to Order a Commonwealth to Distribute Spoils than to Do Justice for Fortune hath more power in Victory than Right 'T is true sometimes there 's such a Concurrence and Conjunction in Affairs of State as also in Armies as the Wisest or Valiantest men cannot make better nor Fools nor Cowards worse which is the cause that many times Wise or Valiant men or both may be thought Fools and Cowards and Fools and Cowards Wise or Valiant men and many times Fools are too hard for Wise men by reason there be numbers of Fools for few Wise men nay numbers of Fools for One Wise man which Wise man may be buried in the Rubbish of Fools but if a Wise man be not overpower'd he treads down their Follies and Triumphs in Peace and Prosperity But Aged men most commonly are assisted and attended by Mercury and Pallas and Young men by Mars and Venus The truth is 't is against Sense and Reason that Young men can be so VVise or proper for Affairs of a Common-wealth either to Command Govern or Counsel as Aged men who have had long Experience and great Observations by Seeing Hearing and Knowing much so as there is nothing New or Unacquainted to them neither in Varieties Changes nor Chances for Nature Fortune and Time is their long Acquaintance by which they know the Appetites Passions Humours Dispositions Manners and Actions of Men with their Defects Errours and Imperfections also the Revolutions of Time the Casualties of Chance the Change of Fortune and the Natural Course Causes and Effects of several Things in the VVorld all which makes Aged men VVise and want of such Experience and Observation makes Young men Fools in comparison of Aged men for Young men can have but a Relative and not an Experienced Knowledge nor can they have very much by Relation or Reading having not time enough for Instruction Learning whereas Aged men have Read Heard Seen Convers'd and Acted in and of several Ages Societies Nations Men and Business also in several Places of several Subjects and several Matters to several Men at several Times But Young men are so Conceited and Opinionative of themselves as they think they neither want Wit Judgement Understanding nor Knowledge and that Antient men rather Dote than Know but though Young men cannot be Wise in Nature unless by Inspiration yet those are nearest to Wisdom that have been Bred up Instructed and Educated by Wise Age and so much Better and more Knowing they are than others which have been Bred Instructed and Educated by Young Pedants or Governours as the first shall be as Old men although but Young and the others shall be as Boyes when they are Young Men and Young Men when they are Old or rather Boyes all their life time although they should live long so that one may say Happy is Youth that lives with Age But leaving as well Aged as Young men to Knowledg and Ignorance Wisdom and Folly Prudence and Fortune I rest Madam Your very faithful Friend and Servant XXV MADAM THe Lady P. R. was to visit the Lady S. I. and other Ladies with her whose Conversation and Discourse was according to their Female Capacities and Understandings and when they were all gone the Lady S. Is. Husband ask'd his Wife why she did not Talk as the rest of the Ladies did especially the Lady P. R. so Loud and Impertinently She answered she had neither the Humour Breath Voice nor Wit to Speak so Long so Loud and so Much of nothing He said her Answer liked him well for he would not have his Wife so Bold so Rude and so Talking a Fool. Thus Madam we may perceive how Discourse in Conversation is Judged of and for the most part Condemned by the Hearers when perchance the Ladies imagine that they are Applauded and Commended for their Wit and Confident Behaviour for Self-love thinks all is well Said or Done that it self Speaks or Acts so that Self-love doth alwayes Approve it self and Dispraise others But leaving Self-love to Self-admiration and that Admiration to others Condemnation I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. S. XXVI MADAM VVE have no News here unless to hear that the Lady C. R. did beat her Husband and because she would have Witness enough she beat him in a Publick Assembly nay being a woman of none of the least Sizes but one of the largest and having Anger added to her Strength she did beat him Soundly and it is said that he did not resist her but endured Patiently whether he did it out of fear to shew his own VVeakness being not able to Encounter her or out of a Noble Nature not to Strike a VVoman I know not yet I believe the best and surely if he doth not or cannot tame her Spirits or bind her Hands or for Love will not leave her if she beat him Often he will have but a Sore life Indeed I was sorry when I heard of it not onely for the sake of our Sex but because she and he are persons of Dignity it belonging rather to mean-born and bred VVomen to do such unnatural Actions for certainly for a VVife to strike her Husband is as much if not more as for a Child to strike his Father besides it is a breach of Matrimonial Government not to Obey all their Husbands Commands but those Women that Strike or Cuckold their Husbands are Matrimonial Traitors for which they ought to be highly punished as for Blows they ought to be banished from their Husbands Bed House Family and for Adultery they ought to suffer Death and their Executioner ought to be their Husband 'T is true Passion will cause great Indiscretion VVomen are subject to Violent Passions which makes or causes them so often to err in VVords and Actions which when their Passion is over they are sorry for but unruly Passions are onely a cause of uncivil Words and rude Actions whereas Adultery is caused by unruly Appetites wherefore Women should be Instructed and Taught
Life or Rid me out of the World at least to my thinking although to him it is a Sport and Pleasure or else he would not do so since he is not Constrain'd thereto Wherefore as for your Letter it must either be sent back to you again or else it must lie here as a Watch to Take him for it is impossible it should Overtake him nor can any one tell where to find him except those that are in the same place he is which soon changes to Is not so as one may say he Is and Is not he is like a Juglers Ball 't is here 't is gone but he is no Jugler himself for I hear he is a very Worthy Person and his Honest and Harmless Endeavour to Prolong his Life shews him a Wise man and so leaving him and your Letter to meet though I know not when I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXXIX MADAM I May give the Lady F. L. Joy of her second Marriage for I hear she is Married again but I fear it will be applyed to her what is said of another Lady who Married first very well for Title and Wealth her Husband being in Years but she very Poor and amongst much Company it was told she seem'd to be a Crafty Witty Woman that she could get such an Husband no said one man it was not the VVit or Craft of the Lady that got her such a Husband but the Folly of the Man that Married such a VVife and after he Died and left her very Rich she married a Young man that had no Estate and then they said that it seem'd her second Husband was a VVise Man that he could get so Rich a Wife no said the former Man it was not the Wisdom of the Man but the Folly of the Woman that caus'd that Match so she was even with her first Husband in Folly for he play'd the Fool to Marry her and she play'd the Fool to Marry her second Husband Thus most of the World of mankind is mistaken for what they Attribute to some men's Wit is other men's Folly but for Marriages the truth is that Folly makes more Marriages than Prudence as for Example Mr. A. B. hath Married a Common Courtesan if she had been Particular it had been more Excusable but all men are not so foolish for I hear that Sir W. S. will rather indure the Persecution of his own Courtesan than Marry her But leaving the Lady F. L. to her new Husband and Mr. A. B. to his new Wife and Sir W. S. to his pursuing Whore I rest Madam Your most faithful Friend and Servant XL. MADAM I Have observed that in time of Peace most men study the School-men and Fathers and in times of War they study Martial-men and Poets or rather Practise what former Martial-men have Taught and Repeat what former Poets have VVritten for when they are in Garrisons or have any spare time from Fighting as Assaulting or Defending they will chuse to read Homer Virgil and Lucian rather than St. Ambrose St. Hierome St. Augustin St. Chrysostome or the like or rather than they will read Books of Controversies as Scotus Thomas Aquinas and others they will read Caesar's Commentaries the truth is though School-men and Books of Controversies do not Fight Combats yet they make Quarrels and Disputations so that there are More Oftener and Continual Wars in Schools than in the Field onely that their Weapons they use in Schools are not so deadly as those that are used in the Field for there is great difference between Tongues and Swords Words and Blows The truth is Scholars and Women quarrel much alike as after the same manner wherein is more Noise than Danger and more Spite than Mischief but yet different Opinions in Religion and Laws in a Commonwealth cause Cruel Civil Wars making Factions and Parties with Disputations and Arguments and nothing will decide the Quarrel but Blood and Death nor end the War but Destruction of the Whole or Conquering Victory of the one Party over the other whereof the late Wars in this Country are a woful Example all being brought to Confusion with Preaching and Pleading on the one side Preachers and Pleaders became Souldiers on the other side Souldiers became Preachers and Pleaders so that the Word and the Sword made great Troubles and grievous Calamities in these Nations and though there hath been much Blood Shed many Lives Lost Men Banish'd and Families Ruined yet there are Divisions still But leaving VVar and Strife and Praying for Peace and Quiet I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLI MADAM 'T Is now become a fashion for men to brag of their Fortunes or Estates to get Credit as to Borrow or run on the Score for they think if Trades-men believe they are able to Pay they will be willing to Trust and if they can get Trust they 'l spend as long as their Credit will last and when they ow Most they bear up Highest for Tradesmen for fear of Losing what they have Trusted or Lent will Trust or Lend more in hope to be paid All at last so as they fling the Handle after the Hatchet and whereas at first the Borrowers are Humble to get Credit at last the Creditors become Humble Petitioners for their Own and VVait for an Answer with their Caps in their hands and the Borrower like a proud Favorite will hardly be Seen or Spoken to nay when he vouchsafes them his Presence and Answer he gives them VVords for Pay and Promises more than he is able to Perform and sometimes they have Frowns and Checks for being so Presumptuous to Come before they were Sent for or so Bold to Ask for what was justly Owing them But certainly Creditors deserve good VVords for their good Deeds though they can get no Mony for their VVares But in these needy times Tradesmen must venture to Trust or else they will hardly put off their Commodities for where one payes ready Mony five nay twenty run on the Score the reason is there is not so much Mony in Specie not in all Europe nay in the VVorld as to pay readily for all that is Bought for there are more Commodities than Mony I may say more Paper than Mony for Paper and Parchment payes more than Mony a little Mony sprinkled amongst many Bills and Bonds keeps up Commerce and Trading throughout the VVorld more than Exchange of Commodities doth But those live most at Ease that Borrow not and those that Lend not have the most Friends for ther 's an old Saying Lend your Mony and Lose your Friend the truth is a man shall sooner lose a Friend with a Debt than get a Friend by a Gift But leaving Debts and Gifts to the Poor and the Rich I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLII MADAM I Am sorry Sir F.O. hath Undervalued himself so much below is Birth and VVealth as to Marry his Kitchin-maid but it was a sign he had an Hungry
have not mentioned under your hand-writing that which you would have me give my Opinion Judgment or Advice of I will not give it under my hand but leave it till such time as we Meet for Friends may Talk as freely as Think fearing no Treathery and so I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. LXVIII MADAM I Am Sorry that Sir C. A. is Kill'd and as Sorry that V. A. hath Kill'd him for by Report they were both Worthy and Right Honourable Persons which causes me to wonder how such two Persons could Fall out for surely they were such men as would be as Unwilling to Give an Offence as to Take an Affront and if the Offence was Unwillingly given as by Chance they being men of Honour and Merit would not be Grieved at least not Angry at or for it but many times a Third man will make a Quarrel betwixt Two others and leave them to Fight it out You may say that sometimes Quarrels cannot be Avoided although they be betwixt two Noble Persons as for Example two Dukes about the Preheminence of Place none knowing which of them had the First Place and neither Yielding must needs Fight to Decide it but such Cases are not often put to the Trial or ought not to be for Heraulds are for that purpose Judges But these two Noble Persons which you mentioned in your last Letter whatsoever their Quarrel was the one is Kill'd the other Banished and now to speak of such Quarrels as generally cause Duels between Private Persons they are either about Words or Women or Hawks or Dogs or Whores or about Cards or Dice or such Frivolous Idle or Base Causes I do not say All Quarrels but Most for some are more Honourable but of all Sorts or Causes of Quarrels Drunken Quarrels are the most Sensless As for the Manner or Fashion of Fighting Duels in my opinion are not Proper for in this Age in most Nations they Fight Private Duels somewhat after the manner of a Publick Battel as three against three or at least two against two also they Fight with Pistols and Swords with their Doublets on which serves instead of an Armour and for the most part a Horse-back first they shoot off their Pistols at each other and then they come to the Sword if they be not shot Dead before their time comes to Fight for Shooting is not a direct Fighting because they must stand at some Distance to take Aim which in my opinion appears Cowardly to Pelt at each other as if they were Afraid to come near each other besides a Child may have so much Skill Courage as to shoot off a Pistol and may chance to Kill a Man but a Child cannot tell how to use a Sword or manage a Horse also a Peasant or such mean bred Persons can shoot off Pistols or Carbines or Muskets but they have no skill to use a Sword nor know not how to manage an Horse unless a Cart-Horse that better in a Cart than when astride 'T is true Peasants or Common Souldiers will fight with Force and Fury like as Beasts and Kill their Enemy with mere Strength but not with pure Valour for they fight as in an Uproar and will knock one another down with their Staves or But-ends of their Muskets which is more a Club or Clown-fighting and if they have Swords they fight with the Pummel not with the Point for they know not how to use it neither is it fit they should wherefore the Gentlemen are too Strong for them for the Gentleman's point of his Sword hath the Advantage of the Clown's Club and the onely Grief to Gallant Valiant Gentlemen in the day of Battel or Duel is the fear they should be Kill'd with a Bullet against which they can shew no Active Valour or Well-bred Skill The last Observation concerning fighting Duels in this Age is in choosing of Seconds and the right Use of Seconds in all Ages that I have heard of unless these Later is to be Overseers Witnesses and Judges wherefore they ought to be Upright Honest Judicious and Skilful men and Worthy and Honourable Persons for they are to Judge whether their Quarrel requires Blood and may not be pass'd over without Dishonour also they are to see that each man may be Equally Armed and that there be no Untimely Advantages taken of each other also they are to Help or Assist them when they are Wounded as to Bind up their Wounds and they are to witness to the World how they Fought But in this Age the Seconds are so far from being Judges Overseers Witnesses or Helpful Friends as they become Duellers themselves Fighting for Company not for Injury or Wrong done to each other and for Fashions sake which is an Unjust Irrational Inhuman and Wicked Fashion or Practice neither is it Manly or Noble but Base and Beastly as to Fight without Reason or Injury wherefore Pistols and Fighting Seconds ought not to be But Madam if any should read this Letter besides your self I should be found fault with it being not Fit nor Proper for a VVoman to Discourse or VVrite of Duels or VVars nor of Horses or Swords or the like but pray if you hear any say so tell him that I have a greater Privilege than other VVomen in this Discourse for my Husband hath been a General of an Army of 30000 men and hath fought Battels also he is Master of those two Arts the Use of the Sword and the Manage of the Horse as there is not any man nor hath never been so well Known Skilful and Practised as he so that he is the best Horseman and Swordman in the World also two of my three Brothers were Souldiers or Commanders in War and well Experienced in that Profession and my Father was a Sword-man who was Banished for a time for Killing a Gentleman in a Duel of Honour Thus have I been Born Bred Lived and Married all with Sword-men and to my greater Honour all Valiant men and so leaving this Discourse I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. LXIX MADAM YOu were pleased to desire my Opinion of the Lord Bs. VVorks truly it seems by his VVritings that he was Learned Eloquent VVitty and VVise fit for State-Counsel and Advice to Plead Causes Decide Controversies and the like and his VVorks or VVritings have been very Propagating and Manuring other mens Brains the truth is his VVorks have proved like as some sorts of Meats which through Time or mixture of some Flatuous or Humid Substance Corrupt and Breed Magots or Worms so his VVritings have produced several other Books The same have Homer's VVorks although they were of another Sort than his But you may say I write more of the Transmigration than of the first Formation or Principle more of the Effects than the Cause I confess my Pen hath Wandred from your Question and Asks your Pardon for my Transgression and with all Passionate Love wherefore I subscribe my self Madam Your Ladiships most
Honestie 's sake may be Corrupted through hopes of good Fortune but where Virtue takes a thorow Possession it never leaves the Habitation yet many that have been Base Wicked and of Beastly Lives may be Reformed so as to become very Honest Worthy and Pure and such Reclamed Persons ought to be Esteem'd and Respected for I am not of Mrs. F. Rs. Humour who Hates a Reformado But some Men are of that Humour as they Hate Honest Chast Women not onely out of a Despair of their Enjoyments but that they love the Company and Conversation of Wanton and Free VVomen insomuch that a Courtesan shall have a greater and stronger Power to Cause and Perswade Men to do Actions not onely to the Ruin of their Estates and Families but to the Ruin of their Honours and Reputation nay to make them Unnatural Extravagant or Base than an Honest Chast VVife hath to Perswade her Husband to keep his Estate Honour or Honesty for many a Worthy and Honourable Person hath Degenerated from his Birth and Breeding from his Natural Courage and Generosity from his Loyalty and Duty from his Natural Affection and Sacred Vows from his Honour and Reputation through the Perswasion of VVhores nay many Men love a Whore so much more than an Honest and Chast VVoman as many make better Husbands and are more Fond and Kinder to their Wives if they be Libertines than if they were Honest and True to their Marriage-Bed But leaving such men to their own Heads and their VVives to their Neighbours Beds I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XXXVII MADAM YOu were pleas'd to tell me in your last Letter that there was a great and earnest Dispute between O. G. and C. O. in Divinity as to prove many things which are easier to be Believed than Proved for though Proof makes Knowledg yet Belief doth not make Proof for though many thousands of men Believe alike one Thing or Things a thousand years yet neither the number of Men nor of Years doth prove it to be true it only proves that so many Men did believe it for so many Years for though there be many things in Nature that may be Conceiv'd and Demonstrated to Reason at least to have a Probability in Reason but cannot be Demonstrated to the Senses yet the Conceptions do oftener deceive not onely the Reason but the Senses than the Senses do the Reason or Conception for though the Senses may and are oftentimes Mistaken and Deluded yet they are the most certain and surest Guides and Informers we have But Divinity is above all Sense and Reason as also all Demonstrations wherefore Faith is required in all Religions for what cannot be Conceived or Apprehended must be Believed and if the chief Pillar of Religion is Faith Men should Believe more and Dispute less for Disputations do argue Weakness of Faith nay they make a Strong Faith Faint for all Disputes in Divinity are Enemies to Faith and are apt through Contradictions and Different Opinions to Destroy Religion making the Thoughts and Mind Atheistical and the VVords Sophistical Men spending more time in Disputing than Praying rather striving to Express their VVit than to Increase their Knowledge for Divine Mysteries are beyond all Natural Capacity and the School-men have rather taught Men Contradictions than Truth and Church-men rather Division than Union But all Disputes and Arguments in Divinity are onely fit for Church-men whose Profession is to be Teachers and Instructors in the Divine Laws and not for Lay-men unless they intend to be Church-men for as all National Laws have Judges Serjeants Barresters Attornies and the like to Perform and Execute the Common and Civil Laws that have been Prudently Enacted for the Good and Benefit of the Bodily Life and Commonwealth so there are Bishops Deans Deacons Parish-Priests and Curats to Perform and Execute the Divine Laws which have been Spiritually Enacted for the Salvation of mens Souls and as Lawyers are Informers of the National Laws and Pleaders of Causes so Ministers are Informers of the Divine Laws and Teachers of good Life and all Spiritual Causes should be Decided by the Bishops as all National or Human Causes by the Judges otherwise there would be a Confusion both in Church and State wherefore those that are not of that Profession ought not to meddle therewith or Dispute thereof but to Submit to that which our Fore-fathers thought fit to Enact Order and Dispose for the good of their Successors and Succedent Times And so leaving O. G. and C. O. to agree if they can I rest Madam Your faithful Fr. and S. XXXVIII MADAM YOu were pleased to desire that one of my Servants should inquire for Sir N. G. and give him a Letter or to leave the Letter at his Lodgings Madam I must tell you what I hear which is that he may be Enquired for but before he can be Found or his Lodgings Known he will be gone out of the Town not that he obscures his Lodging but that he Stayes not any where for he is like a Shadow or a Ghost when you think it is so near as to speak to it it straight appears afar off or Vanishes away and he is not onely in this City but in every Town for he rides from Town to Town as Birds flie from Tree to Tree and his onely business is for Divertisement for Health so that his Life is as if it rid Post but let him ride from Death as far as he can and do what he can to Shun it yet Death will Meet him at his Journeys end and there Arrest him and Imprison his Body in a Grave for Time hath laid an Action of Battery against him and hath now threescore and fifteen years Summoned him to Appear but as yet he keeps out of Sight and will as long as he can as we may perceive by his riding and short stay in every place he comes to Indeed Nature hath been his Friend and seems to be so still and as long as she Protects him Death cannot get him nay she hath Favour'd him more than many of his Neighbours or Acquaintance for he never stayes so long in one place as to make a Neighbourhood but hath Acquaintance in every place neither doth he tronble any Acquaintance with long Visits but onely as to ask how they do and so farewel he doth not stay to examin the long Welfare of his old Acquaintance nor to make tedious Complements with new Acquaintance nor stayes to inquire for those Acquaintance he sees not but he will make new Acquaintance at first sight and this Advantage he hath by riding to several places if it be any that he hears more News than any other man for he meets News in every Town which his Memory like a Portmantua carries with him and as in every Town he takes up some News so in every Town he leaves some But such a Posting Life were I a Man would be Wearisom to me for it would soon Tire my
E. Rs. Wit is a Platonick Wit as loving Friendships and the conversation of Souls but take her from the Platonicks and she is gone both from Wit and Understanding or those are gone from her and so leaving her to her single-Self and her Wit to her Platonick-Lover I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLVI MADAM I Have observ'd that in all Combustions and Wars those get more Favour and Profit that enter into them Latest for those that are at the Beginning for the most part are Losers either in Lives or Estates or both and are least Favoured by those they Fight or Adventure for nay most commonly they are Disfavour'd wherefore if Honour and Honesty would give leave were I a Man I would not enter until the last course for that is Sweetest like a Banquet But because Honour and Honesty would Exclame against me for preferring Profit and Promotion before Them therefore a Man ought to do his Endeavour in a Just Cause for Honour and Honestie 's sake although he were sure to lose his Liberty Estate or Life But leaving VVar Loss Disfavour and Preferment to VVorthy Persons and Unjust States and Princes I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLVII MADAM TH' other day the Lady S. M. was to Visit me and I gave her Joy she said she should have Joy indeed if it were a Son I said I bid her Joy of her Marriage for I had not seen her since she was a Wife and had been Married which was some four VVeeks ago wherefore I did not know she was with Child but she rasping wind out of her Stomack as Childing-VVomen usually do making Sickly Faces to express a Sickly Stomack and fetching her Breath short and bearing out her Body drawing her Neck downward and standing in a weak and faint Posture as great bellied VVives do bearing a heavy Burden in them told me she had been with Child a fortnight though by her behaviour one would not have thought she had above a VVeek to go or to reckon But she is so pleased with the Belief she is with Child for I think she cannot perfectly Know her self at most it is but breeding Child as she Makes or Believes her self Bigger than she Appears and says she Longs for every Meat that is Difficult to be gotten and Eats and Drinks from Morning till Night with very little intermission and sometimes in the Night whereupon I told her if she did so I believ'd she would be bigger Bellied and greater Bodied whether she were with Child or not besides Eating so much would make her Sick if she were not with Child she answer'd that Women with Child might Eat Any thing and as Much as they would or could and it would do them no Harm But I have observ'd that generally VVomen take more Pleasure when they are with Child than when they are not with Child not onely in Eating more and Feeding more Luxuriously but taking a Pride in their great Bellies although it be a Natural Effect of a Natural Cause for like as VVomen take a greater Pride in their Beauty than Pleasure or Content in their Virtue so they take more Pride in Being with Child than in Having a Child for when they are brought to Bed and up from their Lying in they seem nothing so well Pleased nor so Proud as when they were great with Child and to prove they are Prouder and take more Pleasure in Being with Child and in Lying in than in Having a Child is their Care Pains and Cost in Getting Making and Buying Fine and Costly Childbed-Linnen Swadling-Cloths Mantles and the like as also fine Beds Cradles Baskets and other Furniture for their Chambers as Hangings Cabinets Plates Artificial Flowers Looking-glasses Skreens and many such like things of great Cost and Charge besides their Banquets of Sweet-meats and other Junkets as Cakes Wafers Biskets Jellies and the like as also such strong Drinks as methinks the very Smell should put a Childbed-Wife into a Fever as Hippocras and Burnt-Wine with Hot Spices Mulled Sack Strong and High-colour'd Ale well Spiced and Stuffd with Tosts of Cake and the like all which is more chargeable than to bring up a Child when it is Born nay they will rather want Portions for their Children when they are grown to be Men or Women or want sufficiency of Means to pay for their Learning and Education than want these Extravagancies of Luxury and Vanity at their Birth and their Children being Christ'ned are like some Brides and Bridegrooms that are so Fine on their Wedding-day as they are forc'd to go in Raggs all their lives after which methinks is very strange that for the Vanity and Shew of one day they will spend so much as to be Beggars all their lives after But as I said this Proves that Women take a greater Pride and Pleasure in Being with Child than in Having Children well Bred and well-Bestow'd or Maintain'd when grown to Years and that which makes me wonder more is that Wise Men will suffer their Foolish Wives to be so Foolishly and Imprudently Expensive wherefore such men are worthy to be Impoverished that will suffer their wives to be so Vain for it shews them to be better Husbands than Fathers Kinder to their VVives than Careful of their Children also it shews them Fonder Husbands than Loving Children because they Ruin their Fore-fathers Posterity by Impoverishing their own Succession and that onely to Please their Wives Humours and to Expend for their Wives Vanities But leaving the Lady S. M. to her Breeding Pride or Pride of Breeding to her Sick Pleasure or Pleasurable Sickness to her Luxurious Feeding and Vain Providing and wishing her a good Gossiping I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant XLVIII MADAM IT requires Experience Skill and Practice for Men Civilly yet Courtly to Entertain and Accompany Women in Visiting or the like they must sit within a Respectful Distance with their Hats off and Begin a Discourse but let the VVoman Follow it which they will do until they are out of Breath also they must not Interrupt them in their Talk but let them Speak as Much or as Long as they will or rather Can for our Will to Talk is beyond our Power but though we want not Words yet we want Understanding and Knowledge to Talk Perpetually Neither must Men Contradict Women although they should Talk Nonsense which oftentimes they do but must seem to Applaud and Approve with gentle Nods and Bows all they say also they must View their Faces with Admiring Eyes although they were Ill-favour'd but those that are Beautiful their Eyes must be Fix'd on them or else seem to be Dazled likewise they must seem to Start at their Calls and Run with an affrighted hast to Obey their Commands Such and many the like Ceremonies and Fooleries there are of this kind from Men to Women but these are rather from Strangers than Domestick Acquaintance Wherefore setting aside antick Follies yet a Civil Respect
Men and Women shall Love and Marry and such not also how many Husbands such a Woman shall have and such a one shall have None and so for Men Mistresses and Wives for Advancement and Disgraces Honours and Dignities Offices and Authorities and for all manner of Fortunes or Accidents I say I believe the Planets are not the Causes of these Outward Effects but as I believe the Stars and Planets have an Influence upon the Bodies of men as their Bodies have on the Planets and Elements so they may have an Influence upon the Humours in the Body as upon Phlegm Choler Melancholy Blood and the like and they may Work Effects either for Health Sickness Pains and Sores Rheums and the like But I am in Dispute with my self whether they also have an Influence or Work several Effects upon the Minds of Men as upon their Bodies and when I Consider the various Inconstancies of Mens Minds and the Alterations and Changes which are in Mens Minds I think they are Moved and Altered according to the Motions and Influences and Effects of each Planet or Star For if we do Observe not only their Thoughts Passions and Affections Vary and Alter Minutely Hourly Daily Weekly Monthly and Yearly but also their Capacities Conceptions Judgments Understandings Opinions and VVit for most have Deeper Capacities Higher Conceptions Sounder Judgments Clearer Understandings Probabler Opinions and Quicker Wits at some than at other times as at some times they may be thought Wise men and at other times mere Fools sometimes they will speak very Wittily at other times mere Nonsense or at least Words without Wit sometimes they will be able to give as Wise Counsel as Nestor Ulysses or Achitophel at other times they are neither able to give nor to take Counsel sometimes they Conceive and Understand Readily and Clearly whatsoever is Conceivable and Understandable by Mankind at other times they are as if they had not Sense and Reason The like for the Qualities Passions Affections and Virtues of the Mind as at some times they are very Valiant at other times mere Cowards sometimes Nobly Generous other times Basely Covetous sometimes Uprightly Just other times Wrongfully Unjust sometimes very Compassionate other times very Cruel or Uncharitable sometimes so Angry as to be so Furious that none dare Speak to them at other times so Patient as to suffer any one to Pull them by the Nose sometimes they Love to Death and sometimes they Hate to Death one and the same thing and this is Usual and General amongst Mankind which makes me lean to the Opinion that the Stars and the Planets have an Influence upon the Minds of Men but I am absolutely of the Opinion that they have no Influence or Power on the Educations of Mankind no more than they have on the Fortunes or Accidents of and to Mankind for in those men that are Educated throughly Well and Wisely the Effects of Education are too Strong for the Effects of the Stars or Planets so that some men may be Constantly Prudent Just Valiant Generous Understanding Judicious VVitty and VVise. Also the Effects of Education and the Effects of the Planets may be Crossing and Opposing each other and then the Strongest Effects bear away the Victory whether to Good or Ill and this is the reason of Long Debates Doubts and Considerations ere some men come to Conclusions or Resolutions and truly I think the Senses have as great an Influence upon the Mind as the Stars and Planets have as Fair Objects Melodious Sounds Sweet Savours and Delicious Touches have as great an Influence upon the Mind and Cause as Various and Strong Effects as the Stars and Planets do or can But leaving the Stars Planets Education and the Senses to their Influences I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXVI MADAM YOu were pleased in your last Letter to Desire me to send you my Opinion of the Lady S. Ks. Sickness or Weakness but truly I should not be so Presumptuous of my own Judgment as to give my Opinion if I were not Commanded or Desired so to do by your Ladiship who hath Power to Command both my Mind and Body to their Utmost Endeavours to Serve and Obey you As for the Lady S. K. I believe her Disease comes from the Ostruction of the Meseraick and Liver Veins which being Stop'd either by Clammy Humours or Dryness or Sharpness cannot Draw or Suck a Sufficient Nourishment to Spread or Dilate to the Extreme parts for Clammy or Slimy Humours Choak the Veins by Sticking in the Mouth or Orifice of them and Sharpness or Biâ—terness Dries the Veins and so Shrinks or Surfles them up and Closes the Mouth of the Veins so as they cannot readily Open themselves to Draw or Suck in Sufficient Nourishment by which the Extreme parts Famish and the Body becomes Foul and Impure and it makes an Overflow in the Body causing it to Swell out Big for want of Passage or Vent or else it causes an Unnatural Heat which Dries the Body into a Hectick Fever Burning the Intrals and Noble Vital parts with a Smothering Heat which Dries those Parts like as Neats-Tongues Bacon and Hung Beef is Dryed in Smothering Smoak or it sets those Humours Gather'd and Heap'd up on a Flame like a Stack of Wet Hay or a Chest full of Wet Linnen wanting Vent to Breath out Vapor Thus the Lady S. Ks. Body is Fat and her Legs and Arms Neck and Face Lean for those Parts that are next to the Mouth of the Veins Nourish and grow rather too Big as having more than Nature requires for the Inward Parts are Doubly Fed having the Food not only that Belongs or is Sufficient for them but also that which Belongs to the Extreme Parts as the Legs Feet Arms Hands Neck and Face so that a Stoppage of the Veins causes the Body to Swell or Puff Outward like as when ones Lips are Closed and Ascending Vapor or Forced Wind Fills the Mouth the Cheeks and all the Face will Swell and Puff out so much as to be as Big as a Face and a Half the same is with the Body when the Mouths of the Sucking Veins are Stop'd also it causes Vomitings or Fluxes for when the Veins are too Full of Wind or Blood or are Stop'd by Humour or Dryness the Body growing too full of Humour Over-flows and so Forces out a Passage either at one or both Ends of the Body for the Veins being Over-full can no more receive any Liquor into them than when a Stomack is Over-fill'd with Meat or Drink but are Forced to Cast out whatsoever is Offer'd to them so as the Veins become as an Over-charged Stomack and when they are Stop'd they are as if the Throat were Choak'd or the Neck Strangled and can receive Nothing for not Any thing will Pass which causes them to Cast back whatsoever is Offer'd to them so that the Effect is as one both of Over-full and Empty Stop'd Veins only Over-full Veins cause
the Body to be Swell'd and Puff'd all over the Extreme Parts as well as the Inward or next Adjoyning Parts whereas the Empty Dry Veins cause only the Inward and Joyning Parts to the Mouths of the Veins to be Swell'd or Puff'd out but for Casting out from them or Resisting they are alike Thus Madam I have Obeyed your Commands in Writing to you my Opinion and Begging your Pardon for being so Tedious in Explaning and Declaring it I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXVII MADAM YOu were pleased to tell me in your Letter how much out of Countenance you were being Surprised with a Visit you Expected not Truly Madam I am very Sensible of your Pain insomuch as methinks I Feel what you Suffered for I my self have been and am still so Troubled with that Imperfection if it may be call'd one that I have been often so out of Countenance as I have not only Pitied my self but others have Pitied me which is a Condition I would not be in and the Thoughts that Bashfulness leaves in the Mind are as great an Affliction as the Mind can have for a Crimeless Defect for 't is no Crime to be Bashful nor a Disgrace neither to the Life nor Soul although it be a Disadvantage to the Person for Bashfulness Works divers Effects upon the Body and in the Mind As for the Mind it Disturbs the Thoughts so much as the Thoughts are all in a Confused Disorder and not any one Thought moves Regularly neither will they Suffer the Words to pass out of the Mouth or if they do they are Uttered without Sense nay sometimes in no Language being but Pieces of Words or Pieces of the Letters of Words and others quite contrary will speak so Much and Fast as none can Understand what they Say or would Say Indeed so Fast as they make neither Stop nor Distinction Again others will Speak so Shrill and Loud as it Deafens the Ears of the Hearers and others so Soft and Low as it cannot be Heard what they Say and some when they are out of Countenance will Laugh at every Word they Speak or is Spoken to them although the Subject be so Sad and Lamentable as it is proper to be attended with Tears And for the Body when the Mind is Bashful it hath Divers and Several Misbecoming Motions as in some their neather Lip will so Quiver as it will Draw quite Awry like as in a Convulsion and in some their Eyes will so Squint as they can see nothing Perfectly and some will Shake their Heads so much as if they had the Shaking Palsie and in some their Legs will so Tremble as they can hardly bear up the Body from falling and some their whole Body will be as if they were in a Cold Fit of an Ague and others when they are out of Countenance have such a Suppressing of Spirits as they are forced often to Humm to raise them up and others when they are out of Countenance will look so Pale as if they were Departing with Life and on the Contrary others will be so Red having a Torrent of Blushes Flow to their Face that they will appear as if they were Drunk and that it were the Spirits of Wine which made that Firy and Flaming Colour and many other Misbecoming Countenances and several Misbecoming Garbs Postures Motions and Senseless Words which are not to be Express'd But howsoever a Bashful Countenance Expresses a Sensible Mind and a Modest Nature and not a Guiltiness of Crimes for those that are so Bold as to Commit a Crime will not want Confidence to Out-face it VVherefore Madam let not your Bashful Behaviour be a Disturbance to your Harmless Thoughts and Virtuous Life to which Thoughts and Life I leave you and rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CXXXVIII MADAM YOu did once before your last Letter Desire me to give my Opinion concerning the Influence of the Stars I did so and now you Desire my Opinion again which if I do I may chance to Contradict my self But truly I believe the Planets or Stars have no more Influence upon the Bodies Minds and Natures of Men than one Creature hath upon another or several Creatures upon one or one upon more for though the Bodies Humours Constitutions and Minds of Men are subject to Alterations and Changes yet it is from their Principal Natures as from the Nature of Mankind and we see by Experience and Observation that the Planets have not Power over Laws Customs and Education which are more Firmly Setled than to be Altered by the Various Effects of the Stars and Planets which Laws Customs and Educations have Power over the Appetites Passions and Constitutions of Men. But we may observe that the Effects of the Planets Vary Perpetually for if they were Constant in their Effects there would be no Change or Alteration and if they had an Absolute Power over the rest of Nature's Works as many think or as others say onely over Mankind their Cross Effects or Influences would make such a Confusion as it would make an Utter Destruction of that they have Power of which would Cross and Hinder Natures Methodical Proceedings and certain Rules and Decrees by which she Governs unless you will say the Stars or Planets are the Fates and Destinies to all Mankind if so there needs no Education Laws or Justice but the Stars and Planets are too Inconstant and Changing to Decree and Destinate any thing for there is no Assurance or Certainty in the Effects or Influence of the Stars and Planets there is more Assurance in the Educations and Customs of Men and Custom and Education hath Stronger Effects for Custom and Education can Alter the Unaptness in Natural Capacities and Understandings the Dull Dispositions Froward or Evil Passions of the Mind also it oftentimes Tempers the Irregular Humours of the Body and can Restrain the Unsatiable Appetites of the Body and Senses and Long Custom Alters the Nature of Men Besides Healthful and Strong Constitutions will become Sick and Faint with Debaucheries and Irregularities and Sick and Weak Constitutions will grow Healthful and Strong with Temperance and Regularity also Education makes a Man a Thief and a Thief an Honest Man and it is Fortune that makes Kings and Beggars and not the Planets for all that are Born at one point of Time have not the same Fortune as when a King is Born or else there would be thousands of Kings so many Children being Born at the same point of Time Likewise all that were Born in such or such a point of Time would be Poets Natural Philosophers and the like whereas there are as Few of them as of Kings also all that are Born in such a point of Time would be Wise Just and Prudent men according to the Influence of the Stars but if so I believe there would be more Wise and Just men than there are whereas now for One Wise man there are Millions of Fools Besides it would
Muffs are not so Seemly for Men as for Women for how can a Man Guide his Horse or Use his Sword when his Hands are in a Muff yet it was all the Fashion the last Winter for Men to wear Muffs tied to a long String about their Necks the Muffs hanging at the lower end of the String and when they had an Occasion to lay by their Muffs they flung them behind their Backs which seems like as Poor Beggarly Souldiers Knapsacks or as Tinkers Budgets and the String about their Neck seems like as if they were going to be Hang'd for Stealing some Bread and Cheese or for Robbing an Apple-Orchard or for Stealing Ragged Linnen off the Hedges or some such Petty or VVorthless things But Men are as Inconstant in their Fashions as VVomen if not more so as it is to be hoped they will Change to a more Manly Fashion than Muffs and a more Handsome Fashion than Boot-hose tied up to their short Breeches which Boot-hose about the Knees appear like Wens and Swell'd Sores ready to be Lanced to let out the Corruption that is Gathered therein truly to me it would appear more seemly for VVomen to wear Swords than Men to wear Muffs for Women though Weak and Unskilful to Handle and Use a Sword yet had they Courage they might make a shift to Assist an Assaulted Friend or to Protect their Honour against Violation whenas a Muff doth as it were Tie up a Mans Hands and is a Hinderance either to Assault or Defend But Women have no Occasion to wear Swords for they are Protected by the Civil Laws of all Nations besides all Noble Gentlemen are Guards to the Female Sex and for the Assistance of Friends there be few that are Assaulted in their own Houses and Women are not suffered to Fight in the VVar neither are they Chosen for Seconds nor is it fit they should be in Drunken Quarrels and as for Thieves it is an Old Saying Thieves are too Strong for True men for Thieves will seldom Assault One under Two or Three not but that Women ought to do their Endeavour to Assist a Friend in Distress though they were sure to do them no Good but their striving to Help must do them no Hurt by hindering them to Help themselves as for Example some Women that see an Enemy Assault their Husbands Sons Father or Brother or are by when they Quarrel with any other Man will in a Fright take hold of their Friends thinking to Pull them from Hurt whenas that holding may be the Cause of their being Kill'd as not being suffered to Defend themselves Thus may their Loving Fear be the Cause of their Death but I have wandered too far from Feathers and VVomen to Swords and Death wherefore leaving all to Fates and Fashions I rest Madam Your faithful Friend and Servant CLXXIX MADAM I Hear by your last Letter that the Lady H. W. doth Entertain a Maid-servant that hath lately Served in my House and therefore desires you to write to me to send her word whether she was a Good Servant when she Served me and whether she was Trusty and Chast first she must Excuse me for I will not Dispraise a Servant out of my Service unless it were as a Punishment to some Notorious Faults for Servants may be Better and Worse in Several Services according to the Several Imployments or Places or Labours they are Imployed in for some Servants may be very Proper and Fit Industrious and Prudent in some sorts of Places or Labours as to be Excellent Servants and in others be very Ill Servants so as it may be the Fault of the Master or Mistress not to Imploy them Properly or that perhaps such Places which are Proper for such a Servant are Supplied and perchance a Servant may See his own Errours and Repent the Faults Committed in one Service as not to do the like in another so as it may be Injustice for a Master or Mistress to Dispraise a Servant which may prove to his Ruin as to hinder him from a Good Service Neither ought a Master or Mistress to give a Servant an Undeserved Praise for that were to speak Untruth besides it would be a Cheat to Prefer a Servant with a False Report or to Cozen a Master with a Servants Undeserved Praise like as Tradesmen do put off Ill Commodities upon their Word that they are Good and the Buyer relying upon the Sellers Word as believing him to be a True Speaker is Cozened nay if the Wares be Good Praise is their Due but yet Sellers must Speak their Praise but of that which they have found Good and Serviceable in them wherefore the best way is to let every Master or Mistress prove their Servants by their Services The next is the Lady H. W. would know whether she be Trusty and Chast As for Trust I Intrust my Servants as Little as I can but just what of Necessity I must for there is an Old Saying that in Trust lies Treason and I will not Tempt or Inable them to be Traitors if I can Avoid it As for the Chastity of my Servants I do not Inquire what Constitution they are of but what Service they are fit for in my Houshold Affairs neither am I Porter or Spy of my Maids Lower Parts it is too Foul an Office or Imployment for any Mistress but if I hear they do not Demean themselves as Good and Honest Servants ought in an Honourable Govern'd House they have Warning to be Gone paying them such Wages as their Bargain was But the truth is though my Husband is pleased to make me Mistress of his House Houshold-servants yet I seldom take any Servants or turn them away for I have an Under-Officer as my Lieutenant-General which is the Governess of my House she receives my General Orders and Executes the Particular Housholds Affairs which belongs to the Government of a Mistress that hath a Master which is a Husband This Madam I have Related to you although I think you well Know it your self and may Relate it to the Lady H. W. and so taking my leave of you for this time I rest Madam Your Ladiships faithful Friend and Servant CLXXX MADAM HEre is a Lady in this City who is the only Child of her Parents and so Handsom that when we came first hither she was Gazed on as much as if she had been a Blazing Star and those Churches she did Frequent were alwayes the Fullest of People which seems they went to Church rather to See than to Pray more for the Admiration of a Creature than for Devotion to the Creator and it shews she was the only Saint that was Regarded for thus she was Admired and Followed but as Blazing Stars soon Vanish so Beauty soon Fades although her Beauty was likely to Last being more in Favour than Colour for indeed she had Extraordinary Well-favour'd and Pleasing Features in her Face but now they are Alter'd that in Few Years which shews