in her hands it was never more universal nor extended to more uses nor to a larger compass Her Profusions did not slide away in unprofitable transitory Pomps They were not like Torrents which are onely for shew and last but a dayâ— They resembled Rivers which are fertile and durable they afforded staâ—e and solid riches and brought happiness to Nations and plenty to Ages And to say nothing of those which remained in Spain where they are still looked upon with astonishment The great Bible of 〈◊〉 which hath been so long the most ample and rich spectacle of learned men the most profitable and stately Ornament of our Libraries is no less the work of Isabella then of Cardinal Ximenes her Councellor This Eminent Princess first advanced this great enterprize and furnished of her own stock to those preparations which were requisite long before the Work was begunne But as there hath never been so bold an Undertaker who hath not had more bold Successors then himself and besides as the same Time which ruins on the one side the works of art doth perfect them on the other so the Bible of 〈◊〉 having raigned near upon threescore year and held the first 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 was deposed of its place by the Royal Bible which 〈◊〉 the second caused to be printed at Antwerp And very newly the Royall happened to be degraded by that which Monsieur Le lay after the labour of thirty years hath published with the generall Applause of all the learned It is true also that this enterprize was not the undertaking of a particular Person and of a mean Fortune It was of a Monarch nay of a sumptuous Monarch and addicted to Noble expences It was of a Soveraign and Magnificent Fortune And if this great Body of seven Languages remains 〈◊〉 to be shewn all intire to Posterity I know not whether the most credulous Posterity will ever believe that a single private Person of this Kingdom assisted onely by his Revenue and Generosity hath affected more then a King of Spain with all his Mountains of Silver and Springs of Gold with all his Mines and Indies But great Souls not great Estates are the things which perform great Actions It was requisite that the Regency of Anne of Austria should have 〈◊〉 advantage above the Raign of Isabella and Philip her Predecessor It was necessary that a moderate Fortune should give Emulation and Instruction to all the great Fortunes of Europe and that Princes and then Ministers should learn from a Private Person to be Christianly Magnificent with the Benediction of God and Men. Isabella was not onely Wise and Couragious Magnanimous Just and Magnificent But her Publick and Active Vertues were accompanied with other Domestick and Peaceable Ones which were not the less vigorous for making the less noise and had not the less merit in being less Regarded I set down her Devotion in this Last which had been remarkable in a Religious Woman her modestie and Civility which savoured nothing of the height of her quality her Patience which might have made a Heroess in a private Fortune Her Court was a School of Piety Purity and Modesty for the Maids of Honour which were Educated near her Person She was an Academy of Spirit and Honour for Cavaliers And from this Academy came that famous Gonzales of 〈◊〉 to whom Spain so liberal in Titles and Elogies gave the name of Great Captain as a reward for driving the Fortune of France out of the Kingdom of Naples Besides her Vertue was not one of those Stage Vertues which act not handsomly but before the World and in the eyes of men It was not one of those Mercenary and Interessed Vertues which serve not but upon good Terms and for great Wages and Pawn It was likewise sincere and acted as soveraignly and with as much order in Private as in the eyes of the Publick It was likewise steddy as well during a storm as in a calm and had not a different Countenance and Heart in Affliction then in Prosperity It hath been known by the report of her Attendants that in all her Child beds the pain of Delivery which is the Natural Torture of their Sex did never force a word of Complaint from her mouth Marvellous was the Moderation which made her suffer with the death of her Son the death of her Name and the Extirpation of her Race And certainly since there is no Tree which doth not bend and complain when a Branch is torn off from it by a Tempest though it be a wilde Tree though the Branch which is taken off be half rotten How much courage were necessary for a Mother not to be cast down by the blow which deprived her of such a Son which tore from her so noble a shoot and of so great hope A shoot which was to have extended it self to new Worlds and a new Nature She was so far from being dejected by this Accident that it â—earce gâ—ve her the least disquiet The gallant Woman prevailed in her minde above the good Mother And the news of this deplorable death being brought her in the Eve of her Daughter Isabella's Marriage with 〈◊〉 King of Portugal she knew so well how to seal up her heart She so handsomly fitted her Countenance to an Action for which so great Preparations were made that not a sigh escaped out of her Heart not a Tear fell from her Eyes which might cloud the Serenity of the Feast Her Constancy appeared no less by bearing with the publick Extravagancies of the Princess 〈◊〉 her Daughter who was sick of the Love of her Husband Philip. His truly was a Lawful Love and had received the Benediction of the Church Not only Bastard Loves are those which appear Monstrous but even Lawfull Ones which are Enormous and Irregular have scarce a better Aspect And the Fires which the Church hath blessed if they be not entertained with Moderation may no less offend the head and dazle with their smoak then the other The Love of Iaâ—â— was one of these Lawful disordered Loves It was one of these honest fires which heat too much and daâ—â— with their smoak And surely she must needs have been much dazled when she resolved to Imbark her self in the most bitter Season of the year and to expose her life her great belly and the hope of so many Kingdoms to the Winter and the Ocean that she might meet with her Husband who was 〈◊〉 into Handerâ— But Fonsâ—â—a Bishop of Burgos and 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Governour of 〈◊〉 having hindred her Imbarking neither Intreaties nor Reasons could prevail to bring her back to her Lodging She remained whole days and nights without Food or Sleep exposed to the Air and all the injuries thereof And assuredly she would have died on the ground if the Quâ—een her Mother had not brought her in all haste a Licence to commit her self to the penâ— of the Sea Nevertheless she escaped the Sea and Tempesluous Season But Jealousie escaped
trac'd did me attend When they were gone to guide me to my end But envious Fortune in revenge did strive By cross Designs to keep me still alive My cruel Friends amidst this hot alarm By their offensive cares my hands disarm Therein obstructing like inhumane foes My passage to sweet Death whose gates they close But Love to give my Soul desired room Came with his Shafts to open me my Tomb And I for want of weapons to expire Swallow'd the Coals his Torch had set on fire The Elogy of Porcia THis Picture is of a magnanimous Woman who dies of Grief and Love and resolutely like a Stoick It is the famous Porcia who was the Rival of a Father Defender of the Publick Liberty and of a Husband the destroyer of Tyrannie And who renewed in the Age of Riot and Pleasure the Vertue and Severity of the Primitive Republick She was the daughter of Cato and the wise of Brutus Of the one she was born constant and invincible she became wise and learned from the other and had Vertue for her inheritance and Philosophy for her Dowry Her Husband ruminating upon the death of Caesar and the Deliverance of the oppressed Republick she deservâ—d to be admitted to the communication of this fatal secret and to assist his high thougâ—ts busied in contriving the Destiny of the Empire She conspired with him in heart and spirit she promised to send at least her desires her vows and zeal to the execution And since her Husband seemed to mistrust her silence and fidelity she made by one stroke of a dagger a great and painful wound in her thigh And thereby she shewed him what she was able to do against torments and gave him some of her blood in Hostage for her Constancy and Loyaltie After the death of Caesar and the ruine of Pompey's Faction Brutus having slain himself upon the bloody Body of the Republick defeated in the Philippian Plain Porcia dâ—ed not like him blaspheming against Vertue and repenting her self for having ever served it She continued her reverence to it to the last and honoured it with her last words Seeing her self besieged by her kindred which took from her all means of cutting asunder the tyes of her soul she resolved to kindle there a fire with burning Coals which she swallowed down Thus she set at liberty what remained of her Father and Husband And by her death the blood of the one and the heart of the other once more overcame Tyrannie MORAL REFLECTION WOmen ought to learn from this example that the fault cannot be charged upon their Sex that they are not valiant That their infirmities are vices of Custom and not any defect of Nature And that a great heart is no more discomposed by a tender body then is a great Intelligence by a beautiful Planet Doves would have the boldness of Eagles and Erins the courage of Lyons if their souls were of the same Species One may gather out of the same Example another instruction for Husbands Brutus was a man honest enough and a Philosopher able enough to read them a Lecture And they should not be ashamed to learn of him that Wives are given them for Assistants and Co-adjutresses that they ought to have a place for them as well in their Closets as Beds and to share with them in affairs no less then at Table And that capacity grows from imployment and fidelity from confidence Judgement proceeds from the head which is not changeable from the variety of that which covers it Augustus proposed nothing to the Senate upon which he had not deliberated with Liâ—ia who was as his Associate in the Empire and if one may say so his Domestick Colleague The Holyest of our Kings being a Prisoner to the Saracens would conclude nothing about his Freedom but with the consent of the Queen his Wife And under the Reign of Ferdinand Spain was not happy and victorious but by the prudence and courage of Isabella The ensuing Question will inform us whether Porcia were endued with generosity And whether women be capable thereof MORAL QVESTION VVhether VVomen be capable of an Eminent Generosity I Have been present at some Disputes undertaken upon this Question And sometimes it hath caused me to have innocent and pleasing quarrels with my Friends I have seen some who could not endure that a Woman should be commended for Generosity It is said they as if one should praise her for having a good seat on horse-back and for well handling her Arms It is as if one would set her forth with a Helmet or the skin of a Lion It were to confound the bounds which sever us and place disorder in Morality And a generous Woman is no less a Solecism then a Woman Doctor and a Woman Cavalier It is an incongruity almost as undecent as a bearded Woman To this I did Answer that Vertues having their seat in the Soul and needing only a good disposition of the Soul to operate belong to both Sexes That Generosity is one of those Vertues That the office of the Body and the action of its Members are not necessary to it That all its Functions are interiour and performed in the heart And that the heart of Man and Woman is of the same Matter and Form I added thereunto that the Comparison of Arms and Military Exercises concluded nothing against the Generosity of Women That all things are becoming to well-shaped persons and of a handsom aspect That Semiramâ—â— Hâ—psicrates and 〈◊〉 were as gracefully set forth with Helmets as with Crowns And that another as well known in Fables was not found unhandsom in the Lions skin which Hercules wore That besides that there have been women seen who knew how to manage a horse to throw a dart use their swords with a good grace No just comparison can be made nor a right consequence drawn from the exercises of the Body in reference to the Habits of the Soul That a Woman Doctor and a Woman Cavalier were but Errors of Grammar which do not violate Morality That Generosity not being fastened to the heart of a man as a beard is to his face it might belong without any incongruity or undecency to both Sexes To these Reasons which came to my minde and which I alledged tumultuary and without choice in like Disputes others of more weight and better prepared may be added upon meditation Generosity to define it rightly is a heighth of courage or an Elevation of minde whereby a soul raised above interest and profit is led inviolably and without deviation unto Duty which is labourious and to Gallantry which is painful and difficult in appearance And because this disposition taken in its usual foyle and in respect of matter scarce belongs to any but Great and Noble Persons the name of Generosity hath been given to it which is a name of Greatness and Nobility Whether then that we take Generosity materially and for that cream of good blood and pure Spirits which nourish
closing of the Shoulders the Stern is handled otherwise then the Oaâ— and other forces and hands are required for the Scepter then the Hatchet Women as well as Men may have these hands and forces Prudence and Magnanimity which are the two principal instruments of 〈◊〉 appertain to both sexes There is as much discourse concerning the sight and courage of the Female as of the Male Eagles The heart of a â—â—onesse is as great as the heart of a Lion And the female Palm as well as the male serves to make Crowns and support Trophies Women are accused of excesse inconstancy and weaknesse and notorious examples of them are alleadged which cannot be disavowed But surely 〈◊〉 proceed from persons and not from sexes and if we abandon reason to act by producing presidents and memorials I fear very much that the Catalogue of bad Princes will be found more ample and their actions more dark and staind with blood then those of bad Princesses Let us speak freely our Abab was little better then their Jevabâ—l not our Manasses then their Athalia our Tiberius and Caligula were not better then their Cleopatra and Messaline and three or four hours of 〈◊〉 reign proved more fatal to the Roman Empire then the whole life of his Mother Agrippina if we except the night of his conception and the day which brought him forth Women cannot only reproach us with the Monsters of our sex which dishonoured Diadems and sullyed Sceptres but may also alleadg the Vertues and Graces of their own which bore them with Dignity and managed them with addresse And not to introduce Amazons and others in the time of Fables which are the imaginary spaces of History Zenobia conserv'd the conquests of her husband Odenatus and stoutly upheld the Forces of the Empire Pulcheria governed under Theodocius and Marcian and had Vertue enough to supply the duties of two Emperours and to contribute unto the happinesse of two Reigns The Regency of Blâ—â—ch was more fortunate to France then all the lives of its slothful Kings But it is not needful to look so far back into History to finde women who have governed with wisdom and courage Some of them may be found there whose memory is very fresh and who but lately appeared upon the stage EXAMPLE Isabel Infanta of Spain Arch Dutchesse of the Low-Countreys I Hear daily that the same is said of Spaniards as of Hawks and it is a common saying That the Females are better then the Males but in my opinion the saying is biting and over sharp And it would savour much more of Civility to say with one of our Authors that great Queens and Women sit for commands are of Spain as great Kings and valiant Men are of France To alledg none but celebrious and remarkable example Blanch the Mother of S. Lewis Isabel the Wife of Ferdinand Margarite Daughter to Charles the fift and Isabel her Neece the Daughter of Philip the second are sufficiently illustrious and of credit enough to defend this truth And their bare Names without other discourse may be invincible Arguments and of soveraign Authority to such as would prove that the Princesses of Spain understand the Art of ruling powerfully and with a Majestical grace that they know how to manage the Scepter with address and that there is no Crown so weighty which is not well supported on their Heads I will reserve the two 〈◊〉 for another subject and content my self to give a touch with my Pensil upon the two last They are not as yet clean out of our sight and we have their pictures drawn to the life and their blood with their spirit in our good Queen their Neece Isabel the Intanta of Spain and Arch-Dutchesse of the Low-Countreys hath thown to what height the understanding of Women may advance in the Science of well governing And though fortune made her not a great Queen yet Vertue made her a Heroesse who gives place in nothing to those that make the greatest noise in History I shall not need to produce Testimonies thereupon or to cite Books and Authors Our whole Age is equally knowing in the life of this wise Princess her memory is publikely honoured in all the Courts of Europe nay even such as were no Friends to her House had for her the Castilian heart and the Flemish spirit They have applauded her in good earnest with handsfree from the Dominion of Spain and besides she is daily crowned at Paris and Leyden as well as at Madrid and Bruxels Her vertues were no shadowes nor parcels of vertues they were solid and perfect ones vertues for every use and of every form and Policie is acquainted with no vertues which had not in her all their force and extent Though they have all an affinity with each other yet all of them have not the same resemblance nor the same functions in the civil life There are some which are born with us and are as it were the advances and graces of Nature There are some which must be acquired and are the fruits of labour and study There are some which are strong and vigorous fit for action there are pleasing and polished ones which serve onely for shew The Infanta possessed them all and what most imports she had them all great and in a condition to practise them with splendor First she was born with this graceful Soveraignty and by natural right which hath its title and force upon the face of beautifull persons and this Soveraignty is a powerful and very useful piece when it is well managed it governs by the bare aspect the most harsh and least tractable hearts It softens the hardest commands and takes from them what is biting and vexatious it would infuse even mildenesse and grace into Tyranny Certainly it is not beauty which deliberates which judgeth which enacts Laws and Ordinances But the Common people for whom the most part of Laws and Ordinances are made is an Animal into which there enters more of the body then minde and which obeyes more by sense then reason Likewise it is true that this flower lasts not long and appears only in the Spring but saded Roses retain full a good odour And besides that the Infanta kept all her life time certain remnants beautiful enough of this first flower these very remnants were supported by so sweet and becoming a Majestie they were accompanied with so many graces and civilities and so many other flowers of the latter season were mixed with them as no body could well distinguish between them and those of Youth The Intellect is the eye of Wisdom and the guide of all vertues It is the chief Minister of Princes and their natural Counseller and Policie can effect nothing if it be not enlightned by it The Infanta's understanding was ranked amongst the most elevated and capable ones and could suffice for all the parts and duties of Government There were no affairs so vast or weighty which it did not comprehend and manage
then the Statues and Triumphs of many Emperours but of what esteem soever it be the Infanta deserved it by a better title then Victorius she was not only the Mother of her Armies but even the Preserver of them her charitable acts made them subsist her presence and Piety made them overcome To these imployment of the field we must joyn the inclination and dexterity she had in that innocent war and pastime which is used in Woods without effusion of human blood and without leaving Widows and Orphans She there gave a little more freedom to her modesty and suffered its bounds to be a little more enlarged we know likewise that she there performed all that a most couragious and dexterous person could have done And as if she had delighted in a danger wherein she might be humanly valiant and overcome without doing hurt she was seen to encounter chafed Wilde-boats with a javelin in her hand And to shew in this single sport aâ— serious a valour and as true courage as would have been requisite on a breach or in a set Battel There is a haughty capacity and a swelling Pride There is a savage Courage and a magnanimity which would fain strike a terrour into others This alliance of vices with vertues was not observed in the Infanta she was both modest and capable she was humble and prudent and her magnanimity though high and couragious was yet sweetned by a goodnesse victorious without Arms and conquering without violence which gained her more hearts then all the forces of Spain could overcome This goodness did onely acquire her the love of her Subjects but it gained her Subjects where she had no Jurisdiction It entertained her servants without Pensions or Wages It made her Dominion of a larger extent then her own Country It made her reign of a longer durance then her life Besides it was an universal goodnesse for all uses a goodnesse without delay or resence at all howers and in all proportions a spring of goodnesse which could not be exhausted by any effusion a goodnesse ingenious to do good and to do it seasonably and to the purpose to do it with a good grace and Majesty It is wonderfull that this awful Princess who at her pleasure gives limits to Fortune and Ambition and extinguishes the most enflamed Passions it is wonderfull I say that even death it self could not suspend the inclination she had to do good and the last breach of her life was a spirit of grace and an effusion of good deeds She had received the last Sacraments and her soul strengthned with the bread of the strong and prepared by extream unction expected only the moment of expiring when she remembred that many petitions were remaining in her Cabinet unanswered These were petitions of the afflicted and miserable who were apparently in danger of never coming out of their misery if she drew them not forth before the alteration which her death was ready to produce in affairs she gave order that these petitions should be brought her and causing her head and hand to be raised up she imployed all that remained of her sight and motion to signe them in the best manner she was able Surely she could not die more gloriously nor with a more noble and natural essusion of goodness And this makes me remember the Sun which still enlightens the Earth and doth good to it even when it is in the Eclipse Thereby she supports whole houses which are ready to sall she raiseth up some which were already fallen and this last trembling of her head supported Communities and wrought the preservation of many Families This was the right way of reigning charitably and exercising a most benigne Soveraignty to give pardons and grant favours in the very sight and even in the arms of death This was the true way of dying Royally and after an Heroick manner to rise up out of the bed of death that she might save Families from shipwrack which were readie to perish and to employ the last breath of her life to make the miserable revive to restore them hope goods repose and Fortunes at the very rendring up her soul. Surely those ancient Heroes who took a vanity to die standing and to have their bodies upright and their souls elevated never died so nobly nor in so good a posture And that Prince the delight of Mankinde who reckoned amongst his acquisitions the goods he had bestowed and counted amongst his losses all those which were remaining how thristy a manager soever he were of favours and benefits yet he never arrived to that height as to oblige by his last breath and to do good in the last motion of his Soul There are forced favours and constrained benefits which fall but by drops there are some which carry with them as it were the stings of repulses and â—ll Language and serve onely to distaste those that receive them Nothing of this Nature came from the Infanta Her favours were without delay and often prevented the asking they were all pure and without thorns and her benefits resembled gold which should grow without earth and ordure they were not only of great value and solidity but they had besides much lustre they surprized the heart and dazled the sight This Grace of doing good was the particular character and as it were the proper Beauty and Mark of the Infanta All her actions I say her most serious and vigorous actions were imbued therewith her piety it self had taken a tincture of it and though her vertue were one of the highest and â—reest from ostentation yet she never did any thing fiercely and with shagrin she acted nothing which was not gallant and civill which was not done with reflection and study which relished not of quaintnesâ—e and magnificence Nay it is said that even her seventies did not distaste and that her very rigours were obliging Whereupon it is related that when she was in Spain a certain Knight less wounded in his heart then head having entertained her with some discourses into which there entred fire and adoration the wise Princesse who knew very well that there was something of Eudimien and of the Moon in this man had more pity then anger for him And to free her self dexterously from his importunities procured the King her Father to give him an honourable employment attended with a great Revenue which carried him far enough off from Spain Thereby she satisfied Vertue without exaspirating the Graces and proved at once so rigorous and indulgent to this melancholly person that with one stroke she punished his love and made him a Fortune Above all this goodness of the Infanta appeared admirable in supporting ruined Powers in comforting great wounded Fortunes in conserving the Lustre and Dignity of eclipsed Planets put out of their Houses and Courses To perform the like acts of mercy another sort of charity is required then is practised in Hospitals and the pain of an ulcerated Prince demands other lenitives then the
glitter but they know not their weight and asperity nor see from whence they wound They assist indeed at the Sacrifices which are offered to crowned Fortunes They keep an account of all the grains of Incense which are burned to them but they assist not at their perturbation and torments They see not the Wheels nor the Nails wherewith they are pricked and lesse also do they discern the fire which is put into their wounds They have a dim sight and an Imagination filled with a Stage Felicitie which hath only a fair Maâ—k and a purple Garment made meerly for shew but they see not all the tears which trickle down under this specious disguise not do they see the Wounds which bleed under this Purple Let us learn then not easily to subject our Opinions to our Senses never to esteem things by the Exteriour to make more account of a sweet and peaceable Mediocrity of an obscure and silent repose then of a bitter and turmoiled Greatness then of a punishment magnificently attended and exposed to the view of the people And let us understand that this so common saying delivered by a gallant Person concerning the Fortune of Labourers may be spoken generally of all competent Fortunes They would be happy if the advantages of Mediocritie were known unto them As concerning the Death of Mariamne which was the Crime and Punishment of her Tyrant it teacheth us that Jealousie is a dangerous Beast that it makes no distinction of Persons nay spares not him that foments it That it is that ungrateful and cruel Serpent which leaves nothing intire in the House of its Host. And that if the fire be not extinguished with Sulphur if Wounds be not Healed by Lancing them it is a very dangerous Experiment to think to extinguish Spight with Choler and to cure the bitings of Jealousie with the Teeth and Nails of Crueltie There is another Reflection to be made upon this Picture but it will serve as matter for the ensuing Question MORAL QUESTION Why the most Perfect Women be commonly the least Fortunate I Speak not of interiour satisfaction and of that solitary and retired Felicity which appears not in publick which in wholly consummated in the Heart which proceeds from the quiet of Conscience and from the â—alm of an equal Spirit and disposed to finde every where a setled and commodious abode I speak of that superficial and specious Felicity which is all composed of exteriour and hazardous pieces and which the Vulgar attribute to Fortune I say that this Felicity was never the Companion of Victory nor the Domestick of the Graces and that to take things in the common Track Persons of greatest meâ—â—t have ever been the least Happy and the most Crossed Mariamne is not the first upon whom this observation hath been Made History entertains us only with sad adventures of unfortunate Beauties There have been heretofore no Tragical Accidents nor violent Deaths but on their Account Now adayes there are none but these who lament and are lamented upon Theaters To the end we fasten not upon Apparitions nor accuse either the Hardnesse of Destiny nor the Jealousie which Fortune hath of Vertue God hath ordained even in Nature it self which is governed by so just and regular Intelligences that the most excellent and rare things should retain some Image of unhappinesse and something I know not what resembling the Adversities of those Persons of whom I speak None but the great Planets have their Blemishes and suffer Defections and Eclipses The Rose which is the Virgin-flower nay the Soveraign of Flowers and clothed in Scarlet as a certain Person hath said is the most beset with Thorns and the most subject to be blasted Diamonds and Rubies grow in Precipices and upon Rocks and Pearls are in the Element of Tempests and Bitternesse It is no small Comfort then to thâ—se Excellent Persons that they are in the like degree and in the same condition with the prime Pieces of the World and the most pretious portions of Nature And if they be not extremely tender they will finde I assure my self that their Bitterness and I hornâ— their Eclipses and Blastings retain something more of Honour then a â—ainâ— and corrupt Mildnesâ— then an Essemâ—â—acle of ill Odour then an obscure Securitie and a regardlesse Health wherein Vulgar things do languish But besides Honour and Dignity the Benefit thereof in other Respects is great And it is principally in Regard of those Excellent Persons that this old Proverb is verified which saith that Adversity is Instructive and that Afflictions are better then Doctrines First they are preserved thereby in Christian Humility and are cured of a certain interiour and secret Pride which is the ordinary Disease of Beautifull Women They learn at least that the Divinity wherewith Men treat them is but a Poetical and Stage-Divinity That the Reverence which is rendred them is but a Mask or Play And their understanding fortified by Adversities is not easily corrupted by the Smoak of the Incense which their Adorers offer to them Moreover they are advertised thereby that God hath not made them for the Earth and that Heaven is their proper Region as it is the Region of Spirits and Light And surely if that Prince would not be accounted wise who should cause his Statue to be made of Gold and placed in a back Court or Stable can these so perfect reatures which are the Fairest and most pretious Images of God believe without Blasphemie that they have been finished with so much Care to adorn only the low Storie of the World to Beautifie the Region of Disorder and Misery the Element of Thorns and Tears God hath made them then for his Palace nay even for the Highest and most Luminous part thereof And because he will have them there most pure and spotlesse he puts them in the fire of Afflictions which purifieth them from the â—ust and stains they contract upon the Earth and prepares them to receive more purely and to reflect with greater Force the radiant light of his Face and the effusions of his Grace This is Gods Designe in the Adversities which he sends to perfect Men These Adversities are Remedies against Pride and Preservatives against Corruption they are seeds of Salvation and materials for Crownâ— But these Remedies and Preservatives must be taken with Courage These seeds remain fruitless if they be not well Husbanded and thâ—se Materials never become Crowns if Patience doth not form them The most unfortunate Women will have for their Consolation and Instruction a Model of this Patience in the Following History EXAMPLE Blanch of Bourbon Queen of Castile WHoever shall read the History of Blanch of Bourboâ— Queen of Castile will no longer believe that Vertue is a Charm against Disasters nor that the Graces are able to inchant Fortune This Princesse who had Whitenesse and Beauty even in her Name was of those Liâ—â—cs which the Holy Scripture represents unto us besieged with Thorns She was of those
and like Oblations The rest further advanced observe her action and accompany it with their respect and silence The affliction of her Minde seems to have passed even into her Garment which is black and without ornament Her sadnesse nevertheless is Majestical and becoming And upon her face still pale by the Death of her Husband there appears a kinde of pleasing languishment which demands compassion and would beget Love if it were in a subject either lesse elevated or lesse austere Two Turtle Doves which she her self newly sacrificed to the Spirit of Mausolus burn before her with her Hair upon an Altar of Porphirie And mean while the fire which seized on her Heart by degrees consumes the tyes of her Soul and prepares it to go joyn it self with the other Heart which expects it The ashes of Mausolus which she hitherto so charily preserved are moistned with her Tears in the Cup you see in her hand She takes it up to drink them And her moist and sparkling Eyes which partake something of the Sun and Rain seem to say to those that understand them that she nevertook any thing more sweet and pleasing to her tast That the richest works of Art and Nature could not worthily enough conserve so pretious a Pledge That these dear Ashes are due unto the fire of her Heart and that nothing but Artemisia alone could make a fit sepulchre for Mausolus SONNET ARTEMISIA speaks BEhold this Sepulchers proud structure where Glory and Grief do equally appear Where Asia rais'd into one Monument Tyr'd all the Arts and Natures skill outwent Love with his shafts hath wrought the Sculpture fair Love did the Cyment with his Fires prepare And makes in spite of Death my Lover have An endless life in this stupendious Grave But tell me Love what Glory do I gain By these my sumptuous Labours if I daign Marbles to be the Rivals of my Fame And share with them my Souls resplendent Flame Now if the gentle Shade with wandring Feet Among the Dead do stray it will be meet That of its Flame my Soul the Fuel be And that his Ashes live intomb'd in Me. ELOGIE OF ARTEMISIA IT is nothing strange that Artemisia speaks in this Picture She hath lived above three thousand yeers in the Memorie of Man Her Fortune and Dignity nevertheless hath not preserved it for her Whatsoever hath been said of Gold it doth not exempt those from corruption who wear it in their Crowns and the Names of Kings and Queens ought not to be more priviledged then their Persons which die upon Thrones Vertue hath made Artemisia live to this day and would have her remain to her Sex an everlasting Example of a peaceable Magnanimity and of a Widowhood Couragious without Despair and afflicted without Dejection The one Moity of her dyed with Mausolus and she burned with him that part of her Heart in which Joy resided But she reserved the other in which was Fortitude and Courage And if since the fatal Moment which had thus divided her she was never seen to delight in any thing yet no man ever observed the the least weaknesse in her Her modest and strict mourning and her well becoming and Majestical reservednesse suted with a perfect Widow But her bold and Couragious activity in War her dexterous and free Conduct in managing affairs and her constancie in rejecting all sorts of second affections was like a Woman who acted still with the Heart and Spirit of her Husband and who had even espoused his shadow But not being content to have preserved his Courage in her action and his image in her Memory she must needs have also his Ashes upon her Heart And erected his Name and Tomb into a Miracle by a structure in which all the Arts wearied themselves and Nature her self was almost exhausted MORAL REFLECTION ARTEMISIA though a Heathen and a Barbarian is to young Widows a Governesse full of Authority and of great Example She teacheth them that the most invincible and strongest Widowhood is not that which sends forth the loudest cryes and which seeks to express it self by Poisons and Precipices That it is Modesty and Fidelity which make chast Matrons and not Hairs pulld up by the root and torn Cheeks That a sober and lasting Mourning is more decent and exemplar then an unequal affliction which tears it self to day and paints it self to morrow which is furious on the day of a Husbands Buriall and will endure no Discourse but of Poison and Ropes and two Dayes after will have their Haire curled their faces painted and spotted And that a Heathen woman having in one Monument placed all the wealth of a whole Kingdom to raise unto the Name of her Husband an imaginary and fantasticall Eternity It is a very great shame that Christian women should not distribute even for the salvation of their Husbands and the Comfort of their own Souls the Remainder of what they spend upon Play Vanity and Excess And because this Truth is important and of great use I conceived that it would be very beneficial to give it a more solid foundation and to make a Discourse of it apart where it shall have all the proofs and all the light whereof it is capable MORAL QUESTION In what manner a Gallant Woman should mourn and what ought to be the duties of her Widowhood THose Women are very ill instructed in the Morality of their Sex who reduce into Shagrin and sadnesse all the Duties and Vertues of a prudent Widow A serious and constant Love doth not wholly pour it self forth into tears And all the decency of exemplar Fidelity consists not in a black cypress Veil or Gown It is not expressed by shadowed lights and weeping Tapers And it is not discovered by studied looks and by fourty hours of artificiall darkness Philosophy I say even Christian philosophy forbids not tears in like occasions It is impossible that blood should not flow from hearts which are divided and from souls which are severed by force And since man as the Scripture tells us is the head of the woman the wonder would be no lesse if a Wise should lose her Husband without weeping then if a body should not bleed when the head is cut off But she ought not also to perswade her self that her wound must run everlastingly And that it concerns her honour to have alwayes tears in her eyes and complaints in her mouth Sadness Mourning Solitude relate indeed to her duty but make not the most important and indispensable part thereof And yet by a publique Errour which time and custome have authorized this lesse important part is superstitiously observed Women are not content with a regular and discreet sadness they put on an extravagant and fantasticall kind of sorrow And Opinion beginning where Nature ends they sigh for fashions sake and weep artificially after the true mourning hath consumed the reall sighes and when tears in good earnest are exhausted A Prudent and Couragious Widow will give no way
to fancy or opinion and will submit all that she can reasonably and with decency to lawfull Customes and to instructed and cultivated Nature But having once satisfied these duties of tendernesse which proceed more from the superficies then the bottome of the heart she will reserve her self for more solid and serious duties of greater force and use wherein her affection and fidelity may act more profitably and be produced with more honour and reputation The weak widows who raise up a heavie and slothfull sadness to a degree of Vertue and the wilfull who glory in an incurable grief will oppose to these duties the example of the widow Palme I mean of that Palme from which the Male is taken away She is never cured as they say of her driness which is her affliction and what care soever is taken to reestablish her she dies at length languishing and of I know not what secret disease which resembles our Melancholy However it fares with the widowhood of the Palme which is but a Metaphoricall and figurative widowhood as her love is but symbolicall and allegoricall If it be lawfull to make comparisons and render figure for figure I will say that a prudent widow ought to leave unto weak souls examples of weakness which resides in the lowest story of souls and to seek out in the Region of light and pure spirits patterns of a generous mourning and of an active and well governed affliction She will performe during a widowhood of many yeers what the Moon doth during a widowhood of few hours An obscurity is seen upon the face of the Eclipsed Moon And this obscurity is to speak properly but the sadness and mourning of her widowhood occasioned by the interposition of the Earth between her and the Sunne But this sadness which deprives her of colour takes not away her force It makes her not descend from her Elevation nor diverts her course Though she appears black to us yet she forbears not to keep her Station and to move regularly and in order And her mourning doth not hinder her from following the conduct of her Intelligence The affliction of the sage Widow ought to be just and regular like that of the Moon Her mourning ought not to deject her heart nor discompose her carriage It ought not to obscure the light of her soul nor retard the activity she owes either her House or the Republique to which she is after the death of her Husband what the Moon is to the World in the absence of the Sunne Her affliction is not exempted from these duties and her Sex gives her no dispensation for them The Widow and afflicted Turtle doth not abandon the care of her neast and the feeding of her little ones And the Mother Eagle when the Male is taken from her doth not forbear to prey and make warre upon Serpents There are examples enough of this Active and Couragious Widowhood of this reasonable and well ordered sorrow of this discreet and magnanimous mourning This which I am going about to propose is Illustrious and full of Reputation and the sight of it ought to be so much the more delightfull in respect a Copy of it is now drawn which posterity will esteem no lesse then its Originall EXAMPLE Blanch of Castile Queen Regent of France SPain boasts to have produced Artemisias as well as antient Lidea And she boasts not of them without reason The chiefest point is that she hath produced them as Quarries of stone produce fair Statues Their matter was indeed of Spain but the lineaments and beauty of their Figure they owe to France Blanch the Mother of St Lewis was one of these Artemisia's born in Spain and formed in France Her Race was one of the most Illustrious and Remarkable in that Countrey The Mines of Gold and the Veins which bear the most Precious stones were not so rich nor famous And we may say that her Heroick life and great actions were to the greatness of her birth what a rare Figure is to rare Matter She was the most respected and renowned of four Crowned Widows who in their time were the honour of their Condition Sex and Age. The first was Margarite of France sister to Philip the August who had the Courage to undertake a Warre against Infidels and to go seek out in the Holy-Land honourable and renowned Dangers and Crowns Blessed by God and Men. No lesse Courage was requisite for Queen Blanch to consent to the Expedition of her Son Lewis against the Turk and his enterprizes beyond the Seas then was necessary for Margarite to begin a holy Warre and to ingage her self by an expresse Vow in dangers of the Sea and Warre And whatsoever the most Malignant interpreters of the best actions may say of it who avouch in despite of History that Blanch perswaded St. Lewis to take a Journey into Syria that she might Reigne a second time by a second Regency It is certain that this Crosiad or holy Warre was the heaviest cross of her life the punishment of her heart and the torment of her soul the death of her pleasures and joys And the Couragious Queen since the very moment her Son left her did nothing but suffer in minde and fight in imagination Nothing but dangers and objects of fear were presented before her Eyes And in the Loâ—â—er it self she was continually tossed by Tempests and thought her self in danger of suffering shipwrack with her Son every day she was a Prisoner and sick with him and every night she died by the Hand of some Arsacide or Sarazâ—n whom her apprehensions and dreams represented to her The second illustrious Widow of her time was Hedâ—â—ga Dutchess of Silecia The Church to which appertains the Crowning of Vertues rendred Honour to her long and difficult Repose to her painful and laborious Solitude And judged her worthy to be Canonized after a Widowhood of thirty years spent in a Monastery The Vertue of Blanch had need of no lesse Consâ—ancie at Court Her Widowhood was no lesse laborious her Devotion no lesse servent nor less exercised or profitable in that place and she required no lesse Courage against the pleasures of the Palace and the Pride of Authority then was necessary for 〈◊〉 amidst the Ausâ—ctities and Humiliations of a Religious Life Elizabeth of Hungary was the third Widow who honoured this Age so fruitful in Soveraign Examples and Crowned Vertues Her Charity and Works of Mercie retain still a good odour in the Church and edifie the faithful It is reported that the Emperor Frederick the second who was present at the opening of her Tomb made an offering to her of three Crowns of Gold And by this Ceremonie crowned in one single Person a holy Virgin a holy Wife and a holy Widow The Charity of Queen Blanch was practised in a higher degree then that of Elizabeth Her works of Mercie were more universal more necessary of greater use and better Example The poor were not only entertained and the
their gesture and countenance the same oath which Brutus takes Their fiery eys and their faces grown young again by a heat unknown to their age swear in the same form to extirpate the Tarquins Colâ—atin dazled with his affliction and loss doth not mind what they do but when he shall return out of this amazement he will mingle his zeal with theirs And all four consecrating themselves to liberty and revenge by touching that blood which this woman gathers up they joyntly renewed their vow to Lucrecia's Ghost And Lucrecia will be hereafter next unto liberty and vertue their Domestick Divinity and the principall Religion of their Families SONNET LUCRECIA speaks ALL Nations know my Tragedy I find That still the fact is fresh in ev'ry mind The blood still from me flows which in Rome's sight Repair'd my wrong and wash'd my honour white Nature admird my genrous Death set forth In History by Pens of greatest worth And to eternize me each hand that 's rare In Glory's Temple draws my Picture faire But all these marks of Honour and of praise What do they serve me for since now adayes They slander my disaster with the name Of Crime and wrongfully arraign my Fame But this affront my noble Ghost resents And to my Fate her thence-sprung sorrow vents Nay rather then endure so soul a slain I in this Pourtrait kill my self again The Apology and Elogy of LVCRECIA LVcrecia complains in these verses of her rigorous usage and of the charge laid against her to the dishonor of her Memory I have seen this charge and the sentence annext to it in the Books of the City of God I have been present sometimes at the declamations which one of the highest and strongest Vertues of her Sex is wont to make against her And I confess that if she be judged by the Christian Rule and the Laws of the Gospel she will be hardly able to justifie her Innocence The most favourable will be at least of S. Austins opinion and conclude with him that she neither merited the death she gave her self if she were innocent in her dishonour nor the praises she received if she were guilty of it Nevertheless were she withdrawn from this severe Tribunal where no Heathen Vertue appears which is not in danger to be condemned were she to be judged by the Law of her own Country and by the Religion of her time she will be found one of the chastest Women of her Age and one of the most couragious of her Country Noble and Vertuous Philosophy which so often accuseth her will absolve her of her disaster and be reconciled to her and every one will confess that her sin is less ascribable to her own fault then to the imperfection of the Law which had ill directed her and to the scandals of that Religion which had given her but bad presidents In effect the Law of that Country was then but specious and superficial the Moral was only applyed to plaister over the exteriour to imitate the countenance and gestures of Vertue to make fair masks and handsom delusions It touched not upon corrupted intentions it had no Rule for inordinate desires and in case depraved passions came not so far as to ill effects yet it abandoned them to their own sense and permitted their hearts to enjoy a liberty more then popular It allowed them an unpunishable and unrestrained freedom As for the Religion of the Romans which erected Courtisans into Goddesses and sacrificed to Adulterers it was not to be expected that it should produce Virgins and chaste Women Therein Lucrecia even ravished Lucrecia was better then the Gods of Rome It was not the love of pleasure nor the fear of death which induced her to sin but the love of Honour and the excessive fear she had to lose it and if she were not endowed with the resolution of Susaâ—â—s who sunk neither under death nor infamy it suffices to say in her excuse that she knew not the God of Susanna And the miracle would have been too great it a Heathen Woman had equalled one of the highest Vertues amongst the Faithful without the Law and the Graces which made them so Let us not forbear then to commend Lucrecia she is worthy of our praises Ancient Rome which hath been the Nurse of sublime natural vertues of great Pagan Heroes hath brought forth nothing more high and great nothing more gallant and couragious then Lucrecia This great City was the Exterminatrix of insolent Kings and the Mother of the Common-wealth And to bring into the World this famous Maid who ought to have commanded so many Nations she opened her own bosom and procured to her self a remarkable and violent death Therein she was more glorious and worthy of esteem then the Mother of the first Caesar whose belly was 〈◊〉 up to make way for the Usurper whom she bore in her womb The outragious Villain who offered violence to her Honour did not dishonor her Honour stuck close to Vertue and Vertue cannot be torn out of the heart it must fall of it self Being unable with her single hands to resist armed Force she repelled it with her minde and her soul raised it self as much as it could not to be stained with the impurity which defiled her body Besides she was willing to cleanse it with her blood and the zeal of her Modesty was so great as she punished upon her self the uncleanness which another had committed MORAL REFLECTION YOU who see Lucrecia dying in this Picture take heed lest her blood fall upon you and put you to the blush if you be a less chaste Christian then she was a chaste Idolatress And if you be pure in that point and possess the prime Vertues of your Sex remember that a chaste Woman is but an initiated Christian and that it is no great praise to you to be under the Law of a Virgin born and a Virgin-God what so many other have been under lascivious Gods and adulterous Goddesses But if your Honour be humble and modest if your Chastity be sweet charitable and religious if you be numbred amongst the industrious and prudent Virgins if you listen to the Bridegroom with patience and with a Lamp lighted in your hand if you be strong in the strength of Christianity all Ancient Rome whether of your Sex or ours was endued with less Fortitude then your selves And you do not only take away the honour from Lucrecia but you take it also from the Cornelia's the Panthea's and the 〈◊〉 you take it from all the Vertues of the Republick and Empire MORAL QVESTION Whether Chastity belongs to the Honour of Heroesses and great Ladies I Have seen the discourse of Tassus concerning the vertue of Ladies and I understand very well the difference that he places betweeen the honour of Women and that of Heroesses But I very well discern to what his discourse doth tend And I am not ignorant of his sickness caused by the Princess 〈◊〉 of Esâ—e
Surely if he were upon his oath where he could not be heard by the Princess 〈◊〉 he would give the lie to his own book and stand for the received truth and if by preoccupation or interest one single licentious and scandalous word happen to escape him his 〈◊〉 Glorindâ— and Gâ—ldâ—ppâ— would depart out of his Ierusalem to declare against him and would by force of Arms constrain him to retract this word of scandal and to condemn his 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 But whether he hath been the Author of this novelty which gives so ill example whether he had learnt it by tradition or whether the Philosophers of his Country have made a mysterie of it certainly it ought not to prevail against common Morality And Ladies would be ill advised to renounce the belief of their Sex and relinquish the Doctrine which Nature her self hath taught them to follow the opinion of an interested Innovator of an amarous and pretending Poet who sought to accommodate Philosophy to his passion and draw advantage from the novelty of his erroneous Doctrine They must then keep themselves to that Morality which all Nations and Ages have received and believe generally and without exception that chastity is an essential part appertaining to the honor of their whole Sex Why should Heroesses be exempt from it why should impurity be permitted those that art born in Pallaces and under Crowns Is it that they are of a third Sex and of another Species Is it that deformity and deâ—â—sts aâ—ter nature under cloth of God And is it that great Fortunes are so efficacious and luminous as they purifie vice and give lustre and grace to sin surely it would be very strange if out of the ordures and infection of petty Bourgers houses gold and perfumes should be made in Pallaces if tattered garments which would discredit the wife of a mean shopkeeper should adorn a Princess If the dirt of the hands and feet should become a Paint and Ornament of the head if spots which appear unseemly in a little Star should not be so in a great Planet This would be to relapse into the error of the Ancient Idolaters who sung Hymns to their adulterous Gods and punished their servants for the same crimes who adored in publike debauched and pratling Goddesses and at home preached chastity to their wives and daughters I add hereunto that by the right of Nature and by the Order established in the world Greatness and Nobility have a particular obligation to purity The noblest spirits and the most elevated Intelligences are if I may say so the purest Virgins and the freest from the staines of matter The Planers who are the Peâ—â—s and Nobles of the corporeal world have the advantage in point of purity as well as in that of Greatness and Nobility And not only fire which is the superior Element is purer then the rest but it is also more purifying and a more declared enemy to whatever defileth By the same reason gold and silver which are the Soveraign Mettals are esteemed for their purity And the same purity gives a value to Pearls and precious Stones which are as a gallant person said the Majesty of abbreviated Nature Regulation observed with so hansome order and so just a disposition of things is to Princesses and great Ladies a Law of purity which they have found in their birth It cannot be more lawful for them to dispence with it by the moral Doctrine of Tassus then it can be permitted by the Philosophy of Chymicks that either Gold should be mixt with Brass or Diamonds be blemisht with Flaws Moreover if Chastity be a natural Ornament and an easie attire without art which is proper and peculiar to the second Sex I see not why it should less appertain to the condition of Heroesses then those fancied Ornaments and such cumbersome rich Dresses in which they are so curious It would be very strange that they who might not decently apparel themselves in course cloth might yet appear decently without the robe of chastity and that nature had made for them the whiteness of Pearls and the fire of Diamonds and for others the whiteness of chastity and the fire of modesty And assuredly Nature hath not given them so many Beauties nor imprinted in them so lively lights which we ordinarily observe in them to the end these Beauties should be prophaned and these lights obscured and that by their prophanation and staines they should scandalize such as behold them She is too jealous of so excellent things The exact curiosities wherewith she hath ranked them the care she hath had to preserve them for the purest part of the world are marks visible enough of what she expects from great Ladies to whom she uses to be so liberal of such treasures And if modesty be an Ornament proper to their quality as well as to their Sex it cannot be denyed but the contrary vice is by the same reason a stain to them both nay a stain so much the baser as the subject upon which it fals is of a higher birth or of a more elevated fortune And therein not to displease the Muses whom I respect and Pcâ—sie which â— honor their Tassus seems to me ridiculous for permitting that to illustrious Ladies which he permits not to ordinary Dames He might have maintained with as much reason that scabs are noisome on the feet and on the face that due which spoils linnen or course Cloth gives lustre to Silk or Scarlet and that defects which would disgrace a figure of clay would not do the like to one of Ivory Was he so possessed with his Love or so troubled with Melancholy as he had forgotten that great Persons may not have small imperfections and that the least defects disfigure the fairest works Hath he never observed that all the defections of the Moon are numbred That there happens no Ecclypse to her which causeth not all Historians to speak of it That the spots and defections of the Sun though they be only such in appearance are yet ill interpreted by the world And if he had observed all this in what sense to what end and with what colour could he write that those Heroick persons of whom he speaks might lose their fairest flower and receive no dishonor by it Nay more publike honesty here joyn it self with the honor of particular persons against this fair Morality of Tassus Impurity is not only more fordid and of a worse odour in these eminent persons but more contagious and of more dangerous consequence Ill example and an infectious air is alwayes to be feared from what part soever it comes and what wind soever moves it But it hath a more subtile poyson and a more penetrating malignity when it issues from great Houses when it is breathed forth by a mouth of Authority when it is carried in garments of silk and gold And 〈◊〉 in these times Princesses and such as approach neer to their degree had declared themselves for the ill Doctrine
exhibite them in this Place my Designe not being to Write for Strangers or blinde men As for what concerns these two Soveraign and predominant Passions which are the Noblest matter Heroick Vertue can employ the Constancy and Force of Conjugal Love even the Transport and last Perfection thereof will never be brought in Dispute against Women by any man that hath entertained himself but for one quarter of an hour in History They are not less capable of making good use of anger of purifying its fire by a more spiritual fire of guiding it to the supream degree of Honour by an Heroick transport And to conclude this point by a single Example but a remarkable and crowned one you will finde nothing but Blood Sallies and a hasty and precipitate Impetuosity in all that is related of those Heroesses whom we know if compared to what Semiramis did in this kinde A Province which she had newly conquered having chased away her Lieutenants and shaken off its yoke by a publick Revolt The news of it being brought to her at the instant her head was dressing She did not presently Proclaim that Ropes and Gibbets should be prepared as some Princes have done in like occasions But without the least raising of her voice or uttering one tart Word without making shew of my alteration or surprisal she took an oath that they should never finish the dressing of her head till she had chastised these Rebels This Oath taken with a tone of Rallery and with a Majestical and graceful sternness she commanded her Women to lock up her perfumes and jewels sent for her Arms and gave out Orders for the marching of her Troops Took horse with her hair half pin'd up and half discheveld And the not only began but finished the War in this posture And if my memory fail me not it was after the end of the War she caused that vast and stupendious Statue to be erected which I formerly mentioned Let us acknowledge that there was much of Magnaminity and Gallantry in this Transport Let us confess that this half dress'd head was upheld by a great heart That there was not a stronger nor a more capable One And that a Crown could not be found too great or too glorious for it Hitherto I have taken Heroick Vertue by lights purely humane and have scarce spoken of any other then That which hath been known to Philosophers But if the Question be concerning an Heroick Vertue which is Christian and sanctified by Grace which hath been illuminated by the Rayes of Iesus Christ which hath been imbrâ—â— by his blood and penetrated by the Spirits thereof upon Mount Calvery which is called to that Divine and Soveraign Good which is of a degree infinitely raised above all the goods of Nature there can be no doubt but that Women may pretend to it as well as we and that their Pretentions are as Lawful and grounded upon as good Right as ours Iesus Christ hath given his Blood and Spirit in common He cals us in common to the participation of his Croâ—â— and to Mount Calvery And it is particularly noted that when he was there in Person many women but one single man ascended thither after him I am unwilling to say that there was some Presage in this and that it prefigured what was to come I will only say that ever since they have been seen to ascend thither in greater numbers and with greater ardour then we and to throng more about the Cross which is the 〈◊〉 Throne of Heroick Vertue There have been Heroesses then according to all forms and in all the degrees of Heroick Vertue in the degree of Patience in the degree of Magnificence in the degree of Magnanimity in the degree of Courage and Valour And without further inlarging our Reasons the Example I am going to produce will be an universal and abbâ—â—â—â—ated proof thereof EXAMPLE Isabella Queen of Castile THe Design of the Monarchy of Spain is not of Plates time nor according to the Model of his Republick It is Modern and even within the Memory of our Fathers Nevertheless the Author thereof is not known so generally And even at this day men Dispute it as they would do about a half defaced piece of Antiquity Some attribute this â—nterprise to Ferdinand who was a Politick yet Timerous and Sedentary Prince who managed not Affairs but with his Minde and Counsel and acted all by the hands of his Captains and Lieutenants Others on the contrary will have it to be set a foot by Charlâ— the Fift that Fortunate and bold Workman who was as good for the Field as for Councel who put his own hand to the Work together with his Fortune who was both the Conâ—â—â— and Undertaker of his Designes But whatever may be alledged on either side This so vast and enormous Designe to speak the truth 〈◊〉 neither of a Timerous Person nor of a Conquerour It is neither of the Head of Ferdinand nor of the Arm of Charls it springs from the War and Courage of Isabella of Castile This single word serves her for a great abbreviated Elogy It is the abridgement of a long History and the subject of many Volumes And the Heroick Vertue of this great Queen cannot have a more magnificent and ample proof then a Structure which hath the extent of two Hemisphears and comprehends as well Nature already discovered as that which is to be discovered This so great an Enterprise was of a far greater Soul and assisted by all the enâ—â—oent Vertues Such as ingeniously Project such as consult with Prudence such as execute with address and such as act with force laboured therein conjoyntly with her Nothing but Great and Heroick was observed in all the parts of her life All her days were days of labour or preparatives to it And before she arrived to the Age of overcoming by Action she learnt to overcome by Sufferance Divine Providence having made choice of Her to manifest to these last Ages how far a great Vertue assisted by efficacious Grace may Advance deprived her early both of Father and Mother and placed her single and without support in the way of Vertue as soon as she could support her self It was no â—mall advantage to her to have been severed so soon from softning Tendernesses and corrupting Pleasures At least she resembled thereby the Ancient Heroes and to use the terms of that Age There was less of the Milk then Marrow of the â—â—on in her nourishment Her Childhood also was Disciplined and became the sooner Active thereby She was Serious and Discreet Temperate and Severe from the Age of Childish Toyes and Pastimes And when other Maids play with Babbies or are flattered by their Nurses Adversity made her Warlike and taught her to vanquish Fortune This Severe and Disciplined Childhood was followed by a Youth full of Storms and Troubles And God who would not suffer her to have other then grave Satisfactions and solid Contentments permitted that the first
us to be purified before we present our selves to this Feast And those Souls doubtless are the most happy which arrive there perfectly cleansed Besides that they are not made to wait at the Gate they have Purity here at a cheaper rate then in that Country The fire of Adversity what hand soever inkindles it what winde soever blows it is not by much so ardent as the Fire of Purgatory And we are better Treated by Tribulation nay by the most severe and harsh can be imagined then by these purifying Devils which as a Holy Father saith Act the same thing upon Souls as Fullers do upon Stuffs which are put out to be Dyed This so entire and perfect Purity ought to be accompanied with all the Features of an exact and compleat Beauty And this Beauty also ought to be Royallie endowed and to have a large stock of Riches Now the Beauty of a Soul which is beloved of God and his Holy Angels is not formed with Paint and Plaister with Silk and Flowers She is framed by Maladies and Wounds and her most delicate Painting ought to be composed both of Blood Tears and Ashes The Beauty of St. Teâ—la was formed by Fire and the Claws of Lions That of St. Apolloâ—â—â— by Flines with which her teeth were broken That of St. Cicilâ—â— by the boiling water of a Furnace That of St Cathâ—rine by a Sword and a Wheel And generally there is no Beauty in Heaven which Adversity hath not made and Patience adorned As for those Riches which should make up the Dowry of this Beauty they are not the Fruit of a sweet Life nor the Revenue of Pleasure and Pastime The very Riches of the Earth even those gross and Material Riches which belong to the lowest Story of the World are Fruits of Adversity and arrive to us from the Tribulations and Afflictions of Nature Pearls and Coral are found in the Element of Tempests and Bitterness Precious Stones are taken out of Precipices and Rocks Gold and Silver are born Prisoners and in Dungeons And if they be drawn out of their dark holes it is to make them pass through Iron and Fire it is to make them suffer all the Punishments of Criminals Certainly if Terrestrial and meer Imaginary Riches are the Fruits of Labour and the Daughters of Adversity it would not be Just that the Riches of the Minde which form the Great Saints of the Kingdom of God and the quiet Possessors of Eternity should be the reward of Idleness and the Heritage of Delights These Spiritual Riches then are the Inheritance and Revenue of Adversity And consequently this harsh and Laborious Adversity is more Beneficial to great Ladies then Prosperity which stain's and infect's them which sometimes even impoyson's and strangles them Surely they would be very nice if they did bear their good Fortune impatiently and with complaints if they were wounded by their Ornaments if they groaned under the Matter of their Crowns Since Adversity is sent them by the Bridegroom to prepare them for his Wedding It is very just that at least so good an Office should make them rellish the rudeness of its Hands and the severity of its Countenance Surely they would weep with a very ill Grace if they lamented that pressure which adornes them Because it loads them with Gold and Jewels because it pricks them by fastening on them Garlands and Crowns They suffer indeed the Fortune on their Heads and the Rack on their Bodies they expose themselves to Iron and Fire to appear Beautiful in the eyes of men And it would be truly a great shame that they should please God with less Trouble and more at their Ease But here is enough to justifie the Providence of God and to shew to Vertuous and Afflicted Ladies how highly they ought to esteem the Grace and Riches of Tribulation It remains to confirm them by a second Example which hath the same Features and almost the same Colours as the first and I hope it will have no less Force nor prove less perswasive though it be less fresh and more remote from our sight EXAMPLE Margaret of Anjou Queen of England IT is true that Crowns are great Ornaments to Beautiful Heads Nevertheless they are Ornaments which Pain more then they Adorn. And I very much doubt that no Person would burthen himself with them if their Thorns were visible However their Thorns are not so well hid but that some of their Points still appear And besides the secret Rack and Interiour Crosses which great Fortunes endure there are likewise Exteriour and Publick Ones upon which by a particular Order of Divine Providence they are Tormented in the sight of the World for the Instruction of the People who are present at their Sufferings And in this Point the People ought to be advertised that these Punishments of Great Persons are not always Ordained for great Crimes Riches are seen without Vice as Gold without Brass There are Great Persons who like Great Planets have much Light and very few Blemishes And yet very often the Crosses of these Grandees are more harsh and heavy then those of Violent and Impious Rich Men then those of Bloody and Tyrannical Great Ones God Ordains it in this manner as I said before to prepare them for Crowns by Patience and to leave unto Great Men under Persecution and to Great Ladies under Affliction Examples of their Rank and Models of their Condition And because there is an unmoveable Patience which suffers quietly and without Action and a stirring and laborâ—ous Patience which adds Action to Sufferance it is just that after the having given a Queen of Scotland for a President of the first I should give a Queen of England for the second Margaret of 〈◊〉 Daughter to Reâ—â— King of Sicily was one of the most Raâ—e and Perfect Princesâ—es of her Age And her Perfections most Rare as they were received not respected from adverse Fortune She was descended from the most eminent Race of the World Reeds are not beaten down by Tempests but the Branches of great Trees She was one of the Fairest and most Spiritual But the Planets which are so Beautiful and Governed by pure Spirits have their Defections and Eclipses they are persecuted by Mists and dark Clouds by Imprecations and Calumnies She was Liberal and Beneficent Is there any Bounty more lasting then that of Springs more delated then that of Rivers Is there a greater Inclination to do good then that of the â—arth And yet we see that stones are cast into publike Springâ— and that all sorts of Ordures are thrown into Rivers We see that the â—arth is beaten with Storms trodden upon by Animals torn up by men impoverish'd and denuded once every year There was nothing then strange and against the course of the World in the Afflictions of â—o Noble so Beautiful so Able and Magnificent a Princess and Fortune did nothing against Her whereof she had not Publike Examples in Nature She was Married to Henry
the Sixt King of England and by this Marriage the Truce was continued between two Neighbors the greatest Enemies in the whole World the most jealous of each other The poor Princess did not long enjoy the Repose she give to the Publike and it hapned to her as to Victims which bear the Sorrows of the People for whom they are Sacrificed The Nuptials were Celebrated at Nancy with great Preparations of Carâ—ousels and Tournaments according to the Mode of the 〈◊〉 of that time who were only acquainted with Valiant and Manly Delights with Pastimes which equalled Battels and produced 〈◊〉 Victories Wherein surely to speak this by the way they were more Cavaliers and Men at Arms then those of our days who know no other 〈◊〉 then Racing nor other Tournaments then Dancing who have â—ffeminated Magnificence and taken away from Sports and Divertiâ—ements all that they had of Noble and Military Margaret being passed into England found not there the same Sweetness and Tranquility she had left in France Not that she was one of those ill lodgâ—d Persons who have always either Rain or Smoak in their Houses And Her Marriage was none of those Tyrannical Yoaks and Torturing Chains which a certain Person wished to his Enemy instead of a Gibbet and â—alter She enjoyed at Home a most pure Calm and without Confusion and her Marriage felt nothing Heavy or Incommodious The King her Husband had all the Qualities of a good Man and a good Prince But being born under a very Contagious Constellation and of a very Malâ—volent Influence the Queen his Wife failed not to he involved therein and to have her share of the Poison and bad Fortune She patiently received all that fell upon her Besides she joyned Grace with Patience And being induâ—d with a pleasing Humour and a Gallant Spirit she made Answer to such as lamented her Condition That having taken upon her Marriage Day the Rose of England she ought to bear it intire and with all it s I horns Moreover King Henry had a great inclination to Repose and no Aversion to Pleasure The Mildness and Indifferency of his Spirit did not Correspond with the Functions of Regality which required Courage and Resolution Noise and Stirs made him wâ—y his Head and when things were in his own choice he contented himself to have Ease and Repose for his part and left to his Favourites and Ministers of State the Authority with the Trouble and Affairs with the Tumult This Soft and Slothful Life afflicted the Queen who had a High and Active Spirit Noble and Manly Thoughts and a Head as Capable to fill a Crown as any Prince of Her Time Not that she did not affect the Repose of her Husband and wished him his Hearts Content But her Love being Magnanimous and of the Complection of her Heart she would have rather liked in him a Glorious Activeness and accompanied with Dignity then this stupid Repose and these mis-becoming Eases which Dishonoured him Truly this Prince though otherwise good was not beloved by his Subjects And his Reputation bore the brunt of all the Faults of his Favourites and Ministers of State The Revolt of the Grandees the Seditions of the People the Mutinâ—es of the Mayor of London who was then a Popular Soveraign and a King of the third Estate and generally all the Disorders of his Kingdom were cloaked with this Pretence All these Commotions grieved the Queen But they did not affright her She hastned still with the first to the most wavering Places and where Power and Authority might stop any Disorder Her principal Effort was upon the Kings Spirit She continually represented to him and with Pressing and Efficacious Terms that the Repose of Kings consisted not in the softness of their Bed but in the stability of their Thrones That the Throne could not be secure if Esteem and Authority do not Support it And that Esteem which ariseth from Action and Authority which grows from Courage are lost by Sloth and Softness that Affairs are truly very ponderous but that this Weight procures the Stability of Affairs And that there could be nothing more Fickle and Tottering then a King who discharges himself of all that lies heavy upon him That it were to Act a very bad part to play the Titulâ—r King and to Reign by Agents and Deputies That Authority Substituted and out of its Place is weak and without vigour And the Scepter which hath Force and begets respect in the Hand of a Prince is easily broken in the hands of a Subject and Resembles a Scepter in a Play These and other like Remonstrances accompanied with the Eloquence of Beauty and the Perswasion of Love Fortified the Kings Spirit and made him take a firm Resolution to Reign for the Future without a Substitute and to Act of himself He Resumed that Authority which he had conâ—erred on his Uncle Hâ—â—pâ—â—y Duke of Glocester And he called back all Affairs to his own Conduct And thereby it appeared how Imployments Protect those whom they burthen And how Authority Supports and Settles those whom it Loads The poor Duke of Glocester was no sooner put out of Office and Authority but his Enemies which before did not so much as shake him did now overthrow him And within a short time after his â—all he was strangled in Prison by a Sudden and Illegâ—l â—â—â—cution The Faction of the White Rose which could not endure the Odour of the â—lower de â—uâ—e and beheld with regret a French Woman so absolute in England â—ailed not to charge her with the Contrivance of this Death Andâ—while after the Danger of Richard Earl of Warwick who was Assaulted neer London by the Kings Guards and thrust into the Tâ—ames gave Occasion and Authority to this Calumny The â—arl of Salisbury his Father and Richard Duke of York Head of the White Rose made thereupon several Manifests by Word of Mouth and Published in the Country and Cities that this piece was devised by the Queen who had undertaken to cut off the Arms of England and to deprive it with its best â—lood both of Strength and Spirit to the end she might deliver it up to France That she began not her Work amiss And that if the end of the Enterprise should Correspond with the beginning if the Great Ones did not look better to themselves then the Duke of Glocester and the Earl of Warwick had done in a short time not one drop of good Blood not one single Noble part would be left in the Body of the State The good Queen was very far from entring into these Tragical Thoughts And though she truly wished Authority and Power to the King her Husband yet she did not wish him such an Authority as might be hated and lamented not sâ—ch a Power as might cause Desolation and Ruines Besides less was it in her Thoughts to procure the Destruction of that â—ree upon which she her self was Grafted And if she bore much Affection to the Stem of