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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32910	The female advocate; or, A plea for the just liberty of the tender sex, and particularly of married women. Being reflections on a late rude and disingenuous discourse, delivered by Mr. John Sprint, in a sermon at a wedding, May 11th, at Sherburn in Dorsetshire, 1699. / By a Lady of Quality.	Chudleigh, Mary Lee, Lady, 1656-1710.	1700 (1700)	Wing C3984; ESTC R4679	27,821	63

THE FEMALE ADVOCATE OR A Plea for the just Liberty of the Tender Sex and particularly of Married Women BEING REFLECTIONS On a late Rude and Disingenuous DISCOURSE Delivered by Mr. JOHN SPRINT in a Sermon at a Wedding May 11th at Sherburn in Dorsetshire 1699. By a Lady of Quality Hanc etiam Moecenas aspice partem LONDON Printed for Andrew Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil near Stocksmarket 1700. To the Honourable The Lady W ley Madam ALL the World will agree with me when I tell You that 't is not because You have any occasion of a Discourse of this kind that I lay these Reflections at Your Ladyship's feet but because You are a perfect Example how little need there is of an unsociable Majesty on the one hand or a vile Submission on the other where Virtue and Goodness Noble and Generous Souls Tender and Sublime Affections are mutually contemplated and enjoy'd and do for ever banish every Thought that might begin the least uneasiness For if the Beauties of Your Mind and the perfect Agreeableness of Your Humor and the mighty Charms of Your Conversation are enough to melt the Heart of the most barbarous Man and soften him into a Generous Tenderness how great is the Happiness of You both when the noble Partner of Your Joys seems made for You and has those Great and Endearing Qualities which do sufficiently justify the exalted Passion You have for Him and the Opinion every one hath of Your Choice Madam May You thus go on Live Love and be Happy till by just degrees You pass through all the Joys of this Life to those Above Your Ladiship 's most obliged and most humble Servant Eugenia PREFACE To the Female Sex Ladies IF you inquire who I am I shall only tell you in general that I am one that never yet came within the Clutches of a Husband and therefore what I write may be the more favourably interpreted as not coming from a Party concern'd Nor really do I hope to make my Condition the easier if ever I resign my self into the Arms of one of the other Sex No I am very well satisfy'd that there are a great many Brave Men whose Generous Principles make 'em scorn the Methods that very Reason condemns Not that I can boast of any great Beauty or a vast Fortune two things especially the latter which are able to make us Conquerors thro the World But I have endeavour'd to furnish my self with something more valuable I shall not brag that I understand a little Greek and Latin Languages being only the effects of Confusion having made some attempt to look into the more solid parts of Learning and having adventur'd a little abroad into the World and endeavour'd to understand Men and Manners And having seen something of the Italian and Spanish Humors I solemnly profess I never observ'd in Italy nor Spain it self a Slavery so abject as this Author would fain persuade us to As for those of you that are already in the House of Bondage and have found all the Charms of Innocence and good Humour and the most exact Prudence ineffectual long to recommend you to the Smiles of your new Lords and Masters I think indeed 't will be very well if you can as he advises you bring down the very Desires of your Hearts to their Will and Pleasure and fancy your selves happy in the midst of all And as for those of you that are happily married your Life and Actions are a sufficient Contradiction to this Gentleman while you let the World see that you can please your Husbands without that extraordinaay way which he recommends in his Sermon that was thought so unmanly and scandalous that as I am inform'd Mr. L the Minister who is resident at Sherborn look'd on himself as oblig'd to tell the World in the public News that he was not the Author of that Discourse lest it being preach'd where he lives they who knew not his Name might impute it to him In a word Ladies I would recommend to your Thoughts something that is great and noble viz. to furnish your Minds with true Knowledg that as an Ingenious Lady tells us you may know something more than a well-chosen Petticoat or a fashionable Commode Learning becomes us as well as the Men. Several of the French Ladies and with us the late incomparable Mrs. Baynard and the Lady that is Mr. Norris's Correspondent and many more are Witnesses of this Hereby we shall be far enough from being charm'd with a great Estate or mov'd with the flowing Nonsense and Romantic Bombast of every Foppish Beau and shall learn if we choose Companions for our Lives to select the Great the Generous the Brave and Deserving Souls Men who will as much hate to see us uneasy as this Gentleman is afraid of coming under the Discipline of the Apron Yours Eugenia REFLECTIONS ON A late Rude and Disingenuous DISCOURSE c. BEing presented with the Book I am now going to consider by a Gentleman who I am sure was very far in it from the design of the Author I took the liberty to pass a few Remarks on so singular and extraordinary a Piece tho some think it beyond the bounds of Female Patience to peruse it But like a jealous Husband I was willing to know all against our selves especially that so celebrated an Author can produce And indeed when I had follow'd him to the end of the Chapter I could not but wonder to find a Sex attack'd from the Pulpit with more confident Impudence than ever they were on the Stage tho with far less Wit and Ingenuity When I had in as little Time as Patience turn'd over all those bitter Leaves tho I easily found his Design yet for my heart I could never once find the strength of the Arguments by which he endeavours to drive it so that after all I think a resolute and headstrong Yea or Nay would have done as well altogether Hereupon I laid aside the Book as a most self-confuting Piece till I found that Miracles were not ceas'd and that some People were so charm'd with it that they thought it worth their while to teeze every poor Woman they met with it Upon this I began to have some design of taking Arms and alarming the whole Power of Females against him But upon second thoughts I resolv'd to save 'em the trouble and enter into a single Combat with this great Goliah this man of mighty Fame As humble thoughts as I have of my self I began to be afraid that he would think himself honour'd by an Antagonist and conclude for certain that there must needs be some mighty Force in his Arguments if any Resistance was made But at last considering his haughty Temper and knowing 't was impossible he should have greater thoughts of his last Piece than he has already I began to lay aside that fear and only expected that he would fancy himself the Emperor of the Moon and whoever writes against

him to be one of the little snarling Animals that are angry at its Light and Glory 'T is not the first time a Woman has appear'd in Public and 't will be hard for any to accuse us for taking up Weapons since they are only defensive and we are provok'd into the Field by so great and honourable a Champion Besides the itch of being in Print which the Men have infected us with and the Glory of having but lifted up a Pen against so great a Man must needs be a sufficient Excuse beyond all Reply But you may easily imagin notwithstanding all these Thoughts and strong Resolutions how I began to tremble when I came within sight of the Enemy and perceiv'd with what a Front he appear'd Not Don Quixot was more scar'd at the first sight of the Giant Caraculiambro However the greater Danger the greater Honour So on I went with a mighty Courage till I came within reach of him and began the Battel which if it be not orderly and well pitch'd 't is owing to the motions of the Enemy whom I must follow up hill and down hill till he comes to the same place again To begin therfore with his forlorn Hope he tells the World in his Preface that we may easily see cause enough to believe 't was design'd for the Pulpit not for the Press No certainly he meant no such thing at all as to affront the Ladies in public and indeed he must be possest of very strange Thoughts and exceding vain in his Imagination that could hope to do the least good by such a Discourse from the Pulpit and yet much vainer to hope it from the Press And yet that very Reason which should have deter'd him for ever from the least thought of preaching at this rate is made an excuse why he should print it It hath he says so fallen out and that one half blind might have seen before-hand that the Doctrine therein contain'd is unhappily represented to the World by some ill-natur'd Females Now by the way this is a very pleasant Invention for any well-dispos'd Person to get into the World by 'T is but to utter some Doctrine or other that a Man may be sure before-hand will be justly spoken against and because 't is unhappily represented by some ill-natur'd People away to W. B y's of Bristol with it or any other Printer that has no other Business but Mountebanks Bills Wedding-Sermons and Ballads with such other honourable things and so immediately set up for an Author and expect that every one should complement him on the occasion Ay and this is a most clever excuse too for a second and third Edition with Additions c. So that if this Reverend Gentleman should have the Mortification to find at Christmas that some ill-natur'd Females had been so spiteful and profane as to have put his excellent Discourse at the bottom of minc'd Pies he may hereupon tell the World that they have found out a wicked way to obscure the Glory of so dread an Author and therefore for this and many other reasons him thereunto moving he resolves to reprint it and 't is no hard matter to prophesy with what Success But that it may not be thought that I suppose the Author has not purchas'd that Reputation which he deserves and which he seems to be so very apprehensive of when he talks so prophetically of purchasing the Character of a dull Blockhead I think it will without much dispute be granted that his words were ominous only this I must add that Dulness and Malice are commonly very near Companions and help out one another at a dead lift And yet he hopes he says good Gentleman that he shall avoid the imputation of Impudence yes tho it be by one of the grossest Instances of it that a Person of his Character is capable of As a proof of which in the next words he makes Proclamation Be it known unto all Men that I have not met with one Woman among all my Accusers whose Husband is able to give her the Character of a dutiful and obedient Wife And this also is a most infallible way of defending any thing in the World Just so when the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Non-resistance was cry'd up and down with a mighty Confidence 't was but to say that all that spoke against this Doctrine were disloyal and rebellious and the business was compleatly done and ended and needed no further Confirmation So because the Ladies can't bear so harsh and imperious a Doctrine as his is therfore it shall be a Justification of his Doctrine that they cannot and prov'd to be reasonable because 't is intolerable Strong Thoughts a mighty Argument especially if we consider that the Husbands he speaks of 't is likely measure the Duties of their Wives by the boundless Limits which this Gentleman has laid out for them and if so no wonder if they are not able to give them the Character of dutiful and obedient Wives Then he tells us that good Wives are not offended with his Discourse now by good Wives he certainly means such as he describes and then no wonder they say not much against him since a word against his Doctrine is enough to purchase them a very rough and unwelcome Salutation from their Lords and Masters But I believe it would be no hard task to make a Catalogue of very good Wives who have censur'd him as an Instrument of Oppression and Tyranny to others tho they themselves are not under it However he is in a good humour for once and tells us he 'll promise to say as much to the Men I 'll forgive him if he does when this Discourse of his has reform'd imperious Wives Now this is a most dexterous turn and has very much in it and supposing his Notions to be ever so just and reasonable yet hereby he 'll excuse himself from ever publishing any thing for the instruction of Mankind how to behave themselves towards us for doubtless there are and will be still some imprudent and unreasonable Creatures on both sides Now as he makes this a Reason why he will not speak to the Men so if he had begun with them he might have made it a Reason why he would never have vouchsafed to dictate to the Women In the Conclusion of his Preface he begins a Triumph tho it may not seem a very proper place for it especially considering the Foundation on which he grounds it He finds he says upon the whole that 't is Womens Guilt that puts 'em to so much Pain which they feel in their Consciences for which he knows no better an Antidote you must know he has an insight into Physic than a speedy Repentance and Reformation very well but I wonder how he came to know that the Women feel such Pain in their Consciences for I suppose very few will make him their Father-Confessor This Gentleman has a most absolute way to discipline his Consort if she ever

Inclination in us for the preservation of those things call'd Reason and the Liberty of Rational Creatures which wild and extravagant Humour this Gentleman would by all means have timely corrected as a thing that is altogether inconsistent with his most exalted Notions and pious Design Yet in the mean time I leave the World to judg whether he has not given an infinite scope to the most wild and exorbitant Inclinations of some Men tho as he says they can learn to command fast enough In his closing Periods where he addresses himself to the Married he seems a little to tack about and endeavors to roll up his bitter Pill in a few sugar'd Sentences and bids the Men remember that our Duty is hard most undoubtedly true according to his Description of it our Frailty great and therefore our Task must not be made more difficult than necessity does require c. because they are says he to the He-yoke-fellows a part of your selves This is certainly all very good But if it be so and this be a Man's Duty then hence I collect that a Man goes beyond his Bounds when he imposes things unnecessary tho they be not impossible which does not much resemble what he has told us that nothing but vitious or impossible things are excluded from the compass or the enchanted Circle of a Husband's Authority This makes me conclude that he would never have once mentioned the Mens Duty when he tells them They must bear with and pardon our Weakness And submit to many Inconveniences for our sakes And interpose between us and Dangers And endeavour to promote our spiritual Good and Welfare Indeed I have heard of a Roman Catholic who attempted to persuade a Protestant that Marriage was a Sacrament because it did administer Grace and being demanded what Grace replied the Grace of Repentance Now in this sense the obliging Husbands that follow his Directions may easily promote their Wives spiritual Good and Welfare for I 'll engage that any Women of sense enough to distinguish between Liberty and Bondage after they have been a while within the compass of such a Husbands Authority shall attain to the perfect exercise of a most true and unfeigned Repentance But these Duties of the Men he would I suppose never have mentioned if it had not been for the sake of a most surprizingly witty Jest which he designed to break and leave with us for the parting Blessing It is this That he must forbear Enlargement he means on the Duty of Mankind lest by overlading the Memories of the Women he should cause them to forget that Duty which hath been set before them He might very well have spared this Jest with which he does conclude his pious and ingenious Discourse for no doubt the Women will not forget him in hast nor the Doctrine he has delivered as he will certainly find if ever he should have any occasion once more to attempt to persuade any one of them to renew the Experiment how obliging and extraordinary a Husband he would prove Thus I have hastily considered this extraordinary Piece in which I suppose the Author takes abundance of Pleasure and Satisfaction But what could move him to vent such high-flown ranting stuff as we find here I cannot imagin If the Parliamert were all of his mind we should have the Salique Law establisht on this side the Water tho he scarcely hoped so great an effect of his first Endeavors But I suppose he was resolved since what he had hitherto published had not made him so famous as he deserved he would now do something that should for ever mark him to posterity and get him a Name let it be what it will as he that burnt the Temple of Diana at Ephesus purely that the memory of the Fact might eternize his Name Or perhaps he so dearly loves his present Consort that he was resolv'd should he lose her never once to think of another and to that end and purpose hath done something to make it impossible for him to hope any other would ever smile upon him or that he should read Come love me in any of them But I know not what he will say to justify the Reverence of the Pulpit after he has preached a Sermon calculated to spoil the Gravity and debauch the Devotion of a Saint Those persons that could refrain from a loud Laughter at many of his Periods must have a greater degree of command over themselves than the Author has Had he resolved to have talkt thus the only time had been while he was slabbering the Sack-posset or untying the Bride-woman's Garters And it looks the more awkward because he has here and there mingled Gravity even to Terror and ever now and then all the Levity and Buffoonery of one that harangues the People from a large wooden High-place at Bartholomew Fair which in the Pulpit is not I think in its proper place Such a Discourse might have passed well enough in Spain or Muscovy where the Discipline of the Crab-tree is patiently suffer'd by the Women and he lost a mighty opportunity in not transporting himself with the Czar But the mischief on 't is that here in England tho he has done his endeavor to make it no more the Paradise of Women yet there are many of the Men so generous that they were ashamed of his Design and as 't is reported earnestly persuaded him to let it die and be buried in deserved Oblivion but certainly one possest of such Notions is utterly beyond all advice Notwithstanding all the good he may think he has done by the preaching and publishing this learned Sermon I suppose it will not be very hard to prove that he has done some mischief by it As suppose he hath caused hereby several poor patient Creatures to be made Muscovites and to be cudgel'd two or three times a week more than usually Suppose he has inflam'd the domineering Temper and heighten'd the insulting Carriage of many a barbarous Husband Why all this is nothing They must thank their Mother Eve for it tho in truth if such Principles as his had never come abroad in the World they might have scap'd tolerably well for all Mother Eve But however the poor distressed Lady for whom this was preach'd is doubtless very much edified by it To come from Your humble Servant and Yours to Command tho it be my Life c. to the Persian Shoo and the new-fashion'd Motto was a vast change From the melting Accents of a desperate Lover to the harsh Cadence of such rugged Sentences and such threatning Pronouncements From such Prayers to such Preaching was a mighty Leap and no doubt gave the poor tender Heart a most abominable Jolt 'T is very natural also from this Discourse to observe the vast alteration there is in some men after they are sure of their Game Beforehand they 'l do all the mean things in the World and afterwards all the ungrateful and disingenuous ones I am sure whatever a Woman is antecedently obliged to that when the Men shall promise and vow when they shall protest by the most sacred things that such shall be their Indulgence and Tenderness as shall never give the least cause of Repentance when they shall declare and swear to be for ever their Servants they hereby oblige themselves before-hand to consider the Complaints that shall be made to them if they are severe So that in this sort of Tyranny a Man not only violates common Justice but his own Vows and Obligations This Gentleman knows the vast difference between Bright and Transcendental Madam and the Persian Shoo between Yours to the Center of the Earth and your Servant to the Antipodes and know your Lord and Master Now those that are of this absolute and unlimited Gentleman's mind if they 'l be generous and honest ought to tell the Ladies they address what sort of Life they are like to lead what sort of Bonds they are to come under what vast Authority must be exercised and that the very Desires of their Hearts must be under Government Masculine and if after all this they 'l come under Male-Administration and then complain they are certainly the persons most concerned in the Author's Discourse and ought to consider it and reap the benefit of it accordingly Thus I have cast away a few leisure hours on these Reflections which I have ventured to make and done this Author an honour he could not expect And being engaged in defence of the Sex if he shall preach such another Sermon I hope some generous Gentleman or other will save me the trouble and let the World see that even among his own Sex there are some who are not Partakers with him but hate the mean and dishonourable Design with which he was certainly big when he uttered so ungenteel and unmanly a Discourse FINIS