hard and dryed So as her fabrick shewes rather as a new building and his like a thing decayed by the weather And this for the generall beauty of the frame but for the particular Symmetry of every severall part I will not meddle any further then only to speake of those parts briefly and modestly which they themselves lay open namely of the face hands and breasts First the very front or Face of this building that first meets with the eye confounds it and will scarce suffer it to looke any further Certainly God not only made her body an epitome of the Earth for proportion but her face also an epitome of Heaven for beauty which like some cleare glasse or mirror being turned upwards towards heaven presents it selfe wholly full of heavenly figures The round forehead resembling the bowing orbes the eye browes the rainebowes the eyes the starres and planâ—ts the red and white of the cheekes resemble the faire discoloured clouds the frownes resemble stormes and the smiles faire weather If heaven therefore be beautifull that face which in so small a compasse containes it must needs be faire indeed And this proves beauty to be heavenly and the daughter of the highest For as saith Anacharsis the greatest gift that God gave man was beauty For it delighteth the eye contenteth the minde and winneth good will and favour of all men So that if there were no more but this A beautifull countenance is a silent and sufficient commendation of it selfe Beauty saith Plato is a Privilege and prerogative of nature which hapneth but to a few It is therefore worth the having seeing it is a privilege and but a few have it Amongst whom of all creatures women seeme to bee the true owners of it For though there be a certaine generall beauty in all creatures as they are made by God and serve to adorne the whole universe Yet the chiefest and most delightfull to the heart of man is that of Woman which hath in it two qualities For it not only delights and warmes like the Sunne but sometimes to the resisters and violent contemners it burnes and consumes like lightning according to that of Guevarra An honest woman beautifull killeth with her countenance And justly are they so punished seeing hee which is a foe to beauty is an enemie to nature Beauty corporall is generally a good and proportionable agreeing coherence and compacture of all the severall parts of the body in one fairenesse as it doth especially in woman But in particular it shineth no where so ample as in the face and countenance wherein as Laurentius saies the beams of the divine Majesty so shine that all other creatures tremble at it especially in Women for in them all men admire and love it and all creatures else feare and tremble at it like as at fire from Heaven nay the Lyon the most fierce amongst others feares it and rages more against men then Women as giving more honour and reverence unto their countenance For the glory is so great that as the Sunne when it ariseth upon the high places of the Lord so is the beauty of a good Wife the ornament of her house And as the cleere light is upon the holy candlesticke so is the beautie of her face in a ripe age The Symmetrie and powerfull splendor whereof hath not only a property by opening the hearts of the beholders to make them discover their owne secrets as we have examples enow in Scripture by Sampson c. but it is the discoverer of it selfe and the most secret affections dispositions and passions of it owne heart Vultus est animi Imago the countenance is the Image of the mind saith Cicero And in another place Frons est animi Ianua the brow is the gate of the mind so that the gate lets forth the Image that you may soone see what the mind is If therefore the Image of the mind and the gate it stands in be so faire surely the mind it selfe in Women which is the Spirituall beauty must needs be faire and heavenly yea though they should deny it to be so with their owne tongues or any detractor for them Vultus loquitur quodcunque negas the very beauty of the countenance it selfe would convince them and declare it lowder But as in the Heaven the Sunne and Moone the greatest lightes beare greatest sway and make greatest show so in the countenance the Eyes sparkle forth greatest beauty and declare most the effects of our mind Oculos natura nobis dedit c. Nature saith Tully hath given us eyes as she hath given eares to Horses Lions c. that they may declare the motion of our mind Oculus Luâ—erna corporis the eye is the light of the Body and indeed not only the light wherby we see what is in others but the light whereby others see what is in us For as Salomon saieth a wise mans eyes are in his head but the eyes of a foole are in the foure corners of the World and rowling every way So that it seemes Wisdome folly anger pleasure griefe envy mirth sadnesse chastity or whoredome appear not fromus in any one part so apparantly as in the eye nay in Women in whom indeed they are fairest and most powerfull they do shew certaine signes of Barrennesse and Fruitfulnesse which in that Sex is greatly to be respected as Aristotle testifieth But as they discover much in themselves so have they a very great power in ruling the affections of others For from their beames saith Iohannes de Baptista porta proceeds health or sicknesse love or hate life or death to the object that they view according as they earnestly behold it either in love or hate Nescio quisteneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos saith Virgill And the same is confirmed by Plutarch for as he saith The eyes of faire and beautifull Women kindle fire like the Sun in the very hearts and soules of their lovers though they looke not on them but a farre off From whence grew no doubt the opinion of Strato the Philosopher who held that the commanding part of the Soule remained betweene the Eyes seeing that he saw so great power in them and their affection But if I should write of all the particular beauties in Womens faces I should draw this part which even already growes too long much farther then it ought Wherefore to conclude this point take the generall commendation of the face out of Laurentius thus In the face onely is the particular seat of all the five Senses because it is called the Image of the mind For in the â—rowes loftines in the Cheekes grace in the Chin majesty in the Forehead wisedome in the Visage beautie and in the Cheekes and Chin honesty dwelleth in it is the difference of Age and Sex and the signes of life and death to be perceived and it is this alone that allures
unles there come some-what that after a friendly manner may joyne them together they both still remaine singular and alone and the building can never come into its desired and beautifull forme Wherefore if either man or woman being alone and built according to the singular and first person I doe desire to change for a better There is no better way to establish and make them most firmely grow into this well approved forme then by the love of their hearts to reach each other their hands in direct sinceritie thus I I And let the even and straight course of marriage fully and firmely establish them into one letter H. Which not only by uniting of two bodies makes them eâ—ven but by bringing them into the forme of this letter H makes their eaven Heaven if they continue in the love which first joyned them which is indeed Heaven upon earth We see now by this that hath bin said that the forme of this building is not bound to any one particular figure or fashion And good reason is there for if God hath given man such a wit and understanding to build his earthly habitations and houses in so divers squares rounds angles and corners no doubt but the house which hee himselfe would build for the honour of his name should containe them all and as farre surpasse them as the worke of God doth the worke of man Seeing therefore to circumscribe the forme to certaine limits were but to disgrace the worke wee will not compare it in particular to any one thing but speaking generally as of a curious building follow the Allegory of a house Which name it naturally without any crushing deriveth from the word in Scripture Aedificium a building Omnia Aedificia saith Isidore All buildings consist of three parts Dispositio id est fundamentorum descriptio the foundation Secondly Constructio laterum altitudinis the erecting of the frame with the sides and the knitting of the joynts and the top-cover for the strength and safeguard of all And lastly venustas the beauty and ornament whereby it is made not only profitable for use but pleasant and delightfull to the sight Hitherto therefore what I have said of the forme may as well be referred to the body of man as Woman so as yet she is but Mulier homo and all one with him But in these three parts last recited growes the difference which makes for her great commendation First then wee will begin like workemen at Fundamentorum descriptio the foundation and afterwards discourse of framing the sides and lastly of the ornament Fundamentum The foundation is the lowest part of any building the use being to sustaine the rest But in foundations there is much difference For they are not alwayes either of one matter or of one forme For sometimes the foundation is of stone when the building is of brick and sometimes of brick when the building is of Timber For the forme it is sometime made Pyramidically broad below and narrow upwards and sometimes of an equall breadth throughout But of all foundations that is the surest that is of the same matter and substance with the whole building bee it stone or brick for wooden foundations are not aedifices but cottages And that forme is most firme and faire both by common opinion experience and rules of art that standeth upon arches In this building therefore if wee will declare it to bee perfect we must see if it bee all of one substance from the foundation and whether the foundation stand after that forme or no. First to prove the foundation of this divine building to bee all one with the rest for substance and matter from the top to the toe were easie out of Genesis but even in nature it is sufficiently showne For if you observe by that time the foundation riseth but knee height it hath so great affinity with the head that the eyes as Bateman on Bartholomeus observes are most inclined and soonest weepe when the body is bowed and rests upon the bended knees so great a Sympathy is there betweene them which affection as he supposes growes from this that because they lay neerest together in the wombe therefore there is such love between them But I suppose it is because they are all of one matter which comes next to be examined The faithfull are compared by our Saviour to a house built upon a rock As if that foundation were surest that were built on a rocke Stone or rocke is the hardest part of the earth and is answerable to bones in Microcosmus or the little earth of the humane body as I have shewed before So that as stone is preferred before sand in the earth so bone is preferred before flâ—sh in the body as the firmest foundation Of great bones are the thighes and legges which are the foundation made Nay of the greatest bones saith Magirus which for forme like two white pillars of Ivorie covered and interlaced with flesh and blewish veines resembling the pretie rivers in purest Marble doe support and beare up the whole body with an equall distance According to that in the Canticles Thy legs are like pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold And againe As golden pillars are upon Sockets of Silver so are faire feet with a constant minde Where in the same booke she her selfe is called a pillar to rest upon These pillars I say â— with a comely proportion beare up the whole body like a curious arch whose joynts are compared to jewells the worke of the hand of a cunning workeman by Solomon in the Canticles But here is the difference that these pillars are more large and faire in women then those that support the bodies of men And not only so in humane bodies but almost generally in all brute beasts and creatures of the earth whose females for the most part are larger then the males The reason for the largenesse and firmenesse of this foundation above that of mans may be easily gathered from the observation of the Constructio the frame or fabrick of the rest of her body to to which by order we are come For as the greater the house and the weight thereof is the more firme and strong the foundation ought to bee So womans body being a more large and spacious building requires a more round and solid support to uphold and beare it For the female body hath in it not only all the roomes and divisions in the male body but diverse others besides that he hath not And it is made of purpose so large and faire not to bee a weight trouble or burden unto her but that shee might with more ease containe and cary that burden which shall after grow into so faire an aedifice as her selfe Shee is therefore so largely made with so many more roomes then the masculine building because shee must containe another house within her with an unruly ghest and all provision necessarie for him The particulars
Agrippa he that hath no Wife hath no house One property more of a house I will adde she is alwayes at home and as seldom from out the compasse of the foundation as the whole frame is or if necessity like some violent wind force or drive her forth she goes like the snaile with her house on her head the care of that is still in her brain continually urging and oppressing her till she return to guide it again But this word Aedificatio from whence she is aedificium signifies not onely a privat house but a Temple Vltoris primâ Martis in aede sedet saith Martial Also Socrates calls a faire and beautifull Woman by the name of a Temple And Templum saith Festus signifies aedificium Deo sacratum a house consecrate to God And such indeed is a Woman to whom GOD hath not onely given his image but hath made her his house No Man saith Iohn hath seen God at any time But if we love one another God dwelleth in us And that affection of love is principally commended in Women And therefore they may bee called the Temples of God It is true indeed which Salomon saies the Heaven and the Heavens of Heavens is unable to containe him much lesse the house which I have built Which Saint Stephen confirmes in the Actes The most high dwelleth not in Temples made with hands But yet neither of them saith that hee dwelleth not in Temples made with his owne hands For it is so plaine in Divinity that Saint Paul wonders the Corinthians could make a question of it know yee not saith he that your bodie is the temple of the holy Ghost As if hee should say If you know not this you know nothing Nay it is not only the Temple which is the house of Praier in which the spirit makes petition for us with sighes and grones that cannot be expressed but it is his private dwelling house and supping roome wherein Christ both eates and is eaten As he himselfe acknowledges in the Revelation Behold I stand at the doore and knocke If any will open I will come in and sup with him and he with me Moreover the materiall Temple the place for Gods worship and honour to which the Woman is compared was at the first but a house of Stone and builded with hands to which she may bee compared for forme and outward beautie but the spirituall Temple of which the former was but a figure is a lively habitation compacted and knit together with living stones of which the principall and head stone of the corner is our Saviour himself who was cut from the Mountain in Daniel without hands Which living Temple and Church of GOD is also throughout the Canticles and many other places of Divine Scripture and fathers compared to a woman whom Christ cherisheth commendeth and espouseth So that she is his Temple both Typically and corporally And not onely a house of repose for Man but a conclave of rest for GOD. Who though he account men his living Temples because he dwelieth in them spiritually as well as in women according to that of Salomon his delight is to be with the children of men yet did he never dwell with any of them corporally and in the flesh so miraculously as he did in the body of a woman the blessed Virgin Mary whose womb was his place of repose and whose armes were his cradle of rest during his infancy Then is she certainly not onely aedificium but Templum Domini Nay more sapiens mulier aedificat domum suam a wise Woman saith Salomon the wise man buildeth her house So that she is both a building and a builder too You see now the manner of her making to be admirable and rather miraculous then his after the order and disposition of a building being therefore made a house for Man and a Temple for GOD. But besides all this seeing she is made auxilium a helpe for man She must not resemble a fixed house for man to repaire unto only and repose in but seeing his vocations are divers and call him everie where to the end that shee may ubique auxiliari aid him wheresoever she is yet compared to another moveable building none of the least nor meanest for art and workmanship which is like her own And that most fitly by one of her sex a Queen and Salomons Mother I care not much if I give you a touch of it though others have much more learnedly descanted on it before but I will bee the briefer Similis est navibus Negotiatoriis or Mercatoris She is like saith she a Merchants ship where in the same chapter from the Tenth verse to the end of the chapter nay as if it were the best matter to end withall she goes on through all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet after the manner of Ieremiah in the praise of Women even untill the end of the whole book But like indeed she is unto a Shippe not onely in body but in use For somewhat to fit her body to it there is an opinion of some that the first Woman being made of a ribbe was like it in shape and crookednes wherein she aptly resembled the compassing part of a Shippe But this old wifes fable is to be rejected and instead of that is to be observed out of the old Anatomists that the Spina or backbone of her body from which the ribbes like rafters arise in a bending manner was called Carina from the likenes it hath to the keâ—le and sides of the ribbes of a Shippe the armes and legges elevated resembling the sterne and foreshippe And indeed much more resemblance is there to a Merchants shippe in a woman then in a man For as a Merchants ship is of greater burden and larger of receipt then another because of her traffique and cariage So the body of woman is of larger capacity in the sides and hath more roomes of stowrage then that of Man Moreover a Merchants ship although it be not so strong as others yet in respect of the use and benefit it brings to the commonwealth it is more honourable So is the body of a woman in respect of others To whom men are commanded to give honour by Saint Peter in which place also she is called a vessell or Shippe She is like also in use and ornament For the Shippe is the storehouse of the Merchant and the wife keepes the store of her husband According to the speech of Zorobabel in Esdras do you not labour and travell and gâ—ve and bring all to women The Merchant trusts his credit to the safety of his Shippe And the husband his credit to the chastity of his Wife A Merchants shippe is a bark of traffique not of warre So a Woman is a vessell of peace and not of violence A Merchants shippe brings her food from fâ—rre And a woman her portion the substance of her husbands food