A DEFENCE OF THE FAIR SEX.
To EUGENIA.

IT is a dangerous thing, MADAM, it muſt be confeſſed, this Con⯑verſing with fair Ladies; and it draws us into Inconveniencies, of which we do not at firſt ſee the Conſequences. I little thought, when I talked with your Ladyſhip, of the Vir⯑tues of your Sex, that you would have commanded me to have given my Senti⯑ments upon that Subject in Writing. I grant you, Madam, you might have ſpo⯑ken [126] to ſeveral of your Acquaintance, who would have undertaken the Buſineſs at firſt Word, with all the Courage imaginable; but to me, who never durſt take Pen in Hand to write any thing beyond a Billet, the Enterprize ſeems very terrible. I con⯑feſs, when you ſpoke to me of it firſt, I was well enough pleaſed with the Deſign; for I thought a Defence of the Sex, would be a Means of obliging all of the Sex, who were worth defending; and therefore look'd upon it as the writing a Circular Love-Letter to all the fair Ladies in the King⯑dom. But as Men generally mix Intereſt with Honour, ſo, upon ſecond Thoughts, I conſidered what I ſhould get by it, be⯑ſides Fame, if it ſhould ſucceed; and I found, if I perſuaded all Men to be as paſ⯑ſionate Servants to the Ladies as myſelf, I ſhould make but a very indifferent hand of it: Thus, Madam, you would engage me in a Controverſy, where it would be a Scandal to be vanquiſhed, and a Diſadvan⯑tage to overcome: For I, who could never ſucceed in an Amour where there was any Fool pretended beſides myſelf, ſhould have great Hopes indeed, when I had perſuaded all Mankind to be my Rivals. After all, Madam, there were your Commands to encourge me to it; and the Commands of a fair Lady are to me beyond all the Ar⯑guments [127] in Nature; I therefore reſolved upon the Undertaking. But as it is no new thing to ſee People undertake a Buſineſs that they are altogether unable to perform, ſo I muſt own, I found a thing of this Nature quite beyond my Strength: You may believe, Madam, I was very melan⯑choly at it, and it was then that a Friend coming into my Chamber, asked me the Occaſion. As I never love to conceal any thing that afflicts me from a Friend, ſo I preſently told him the Buſineſs, That a Lady had commanded me to write her a Treatiſe in Defence of Women. If that be all (ſays he briskly) I am come to your Deliverance; for this very Morning have I been at a Converſation, where the Que⯑ſtion concerning the Virtues and Vices of that Sex, has been handled as fully as can be deſired. Thou appeareſt to me, my dear Friend, (ſaid I, embracing him) like my better Genius, and therefore, without any farther Ceremony, ſit down, and give me an Account of the Conference.

Taking a Walk (ſays he) this Morning in St. James's Park, with ſeveral of my Acquaintance, there was one among the reſt who was all the while, either gazing upon the Ladies as they came by, or ſpeak⯑ing with that Indifference to us, that made [128] us very plainly ſee, he did not mind the Subject of our Diſcourſe, tho' we talked of all the moſt conſiderable Things that offer themſelves in ſuch Converſations. (A very ſtrange Man this, Madam, who was think⯑ing upon ſome Miſtreſs, I warrant, when they were raiſing Taxes, and beating the French.) Another, who was a Perſon of excellent Senſe, and had a particular Friend⯑ſhip for this, tho' they would often diſpute about their ſeveral Thoughts of Women, in which Point they could never agree; (I wonder they ſhould diſpute about that, Madam, for the greateſt Diſputes in thoſe Caſes are, when they do agree) began to rally him upon this Subject; which he did ſo handſomely, that he pleaſed the reſt of the Company very well, without diſpleaſing his Friend in the leaſt. PHILOGYNES (which was the Name of the firſt, as MISOGYNES was of the other) (Here, Madam, I muſt confeſs, I fancied my Friend put falſe Names upon me; for beſides, that I re⯑member neither of theſe Families in Eng⯑land, the one, you muſt know, ſignifies a Woman-hater, and the other, a Woman-lover) cried to MISOGYNES, Tho' I allow you to rally me as much as you pleaſe, and am glad of any Occaſion I can give you, to exerciſe a Talent you poſſeſs in ſo eminent a Degree, yet I hope you do not in earneſt [129] think the Converſation of Women ſo ridi⯑culous as you would make us believe. Ten times worſe, ſaid MISOGYNES, than I can repreſent it; and ſince we have often had ſlight Skirmiſhes upon that Occaſion, and we have now Time enough to fight it out, if you have the Courage to loſe one Morn⯑ing's gazing at them, I challenge you to the private Walk by the Canal-ſide, to de⯑fend their Cauſe; and theſe Gentlemen, if they pleaſe, ſhall be our Judges. Tho' I am very unwilling, anſwered PHILOGYNES, to loſe a Morning that has called out all the beſt Company of the Town, yet ſince it is in Defence of the Ladies, and you ſo boldly challenge me, I take you at your Word, upon Condition, that if I get the better in the Judgment of theſe Gentlemen, you ſhall engage to be in Love by To-mor⯑row Morning. Upon Condition, that if I overcome, ſaid MISOGYNES, you will en⯑gage to be out of Love by the ſame Time, I agree. That is no equal Stake, replied PHILOGYNES, for it is to lay Happineſs againſt Unhappineſs; however, I am ſo well ſatisfied of my Cauſe, that I will undertake you, even upon thoſe Odds.

Upon this Agreement we walked all to the other ſide of the Park, full of Expecta⯑tion of the Event of the Debate; when we were come thither, we found we had [130] the whole Walk to ourſelves, and ſo MISO⯑GYNES who gave the Challenge, began in this manner:

The Propagation of Mankind being the only Way to preſerve it from Extinction; and the Copulation with Women being the only Means that Nature has ordained to that End; there is no doubt but all Common⯑wealths ought to give any reaſonable En⯑couragements to it; I have therefore al⯑ways admir'd the Wiſdom of thoſe Go⯑vernments that incited, or compelled their Subjects to marry, as a Thing ſo much more neceſſary to Mankind in general, than pleaſing to any one in particular; but that a Man ſhould, out of a mere Act of Judg⯑ment, run after Women; that he ſhould find Delight in their Company, is ſo very extraordinary, that the wiſe Men of old thought it hardly poſſible, otherwiſe they had had no need of making ſuch ſevere Laws to force them to it, as they did.

Your Ladyſhip, who is ſo well verſed in Greek and Roman Authors, knows, that amongſt the ^* Spartans, they who lived long Batchelors were condemned to igno⯑minious Puniſhments, and debarred the Privileges of other Citizens. That the ^† Cretans had a Law to compel all the [131] handſomeſt young Men to marry; as the ^* Thurians had to invite them to it, both by Honours and Rewards. That ^† Plato ordains, that whoever lived a Batchelor to the five and thirtieth Year of his Age, ſhould be capable of no Honour in his Commonwealth: And that the^‡ Romans did not only take all Care imaginable, to encourage People to Marriage, but fright⯑ned them into it by Puniſhments, if they refuſed.

Notwithſtanding this, had you a Deſign of marrying them, I ſhould not altogether ſo much condemn you; nay, had you but a Deſign of enjoying them without it, there might be ſomewhat ſtill alledged in your Excuſe. How unjuſtifiable ſoever ſuch a Deſign may be, as to the moral Part, the Action itſelf is very agreeable to the natu⯑ral. But to pick them out only for the Benefit of their Converſation, to fall in Love with their Underſtandings, and to leave the Company of wiſe Men for hand⯑ſome Women, is juſt the ſame Thing, as if you ſhould chuſe rather to eat Jays and Parrots, than Woodcocks and Partridges, becauſe the Feathers of the former make the finer Shew.

[132] It is a very good, as well as a very ge⯑neral Way, to gueſs at People by the Com⯑pany they keep; and thus we may give a great Judgment of the Female Sex, by a View of thoſe with whom they are the moſt pleaſed of our own. Well, let them appear then; what do you find? Fine Coats, large Cravat-ſtrings, and good Per⯑riwigs, I muſt own, but for any Thing elſe, they, and their Perriwig Blocks are Critics alike. It is true, to do them Juſtice, they talk moſt learnedly of Points and Ribbons; have moſt mathematical Heads for the erecting of Ladies Top-knots, make as con⯑ſiderable Figures, talk as loud, and laugh more than any in Drawing-rooms and Play⯑houſes; and thoſe who know nothing of their Language, would take them, by their Geſtures, to be the wittieſt Perſons in Chriſtendom; but if unluckily you under⯑ſtand them, you will find it only falſe Fire, and that all this violent Laughter is pro⯑duced by no Jeſt. Then take them out of their own Element, begin a Diſcourſe of any Thing that is worth knowing, they are dumb; out of Modeſty? No; but they hate to talk of Things that are groſſier; and the Pedantry of Scholars, and Gravity of Men of Buſineſs, is utterly unfit for a Gentleman.

[133] Were it nothing but the Company of ſuch ſort of Creatures as theſe, it would be enough, I ſhould think, to frighten a Man of Senſe from them. Can you ſee theſe Fops, as much as you are uſed to them, without laughing? except it rather makes you bluſh to think you ſhould bring yourſelf into Competition with ſuch Tools as they are: I am far from blaming them for fol⯑lowing the Ladies: They avoid the Com⯑pany of Men who deſpiſe them, for that of Women who admire them: Nor do I find fault with the Ladies, for being pleaſed with them; for ſince Likeneſs, they ſay, breeds Love, what Wonder is it they are fond of thoſe Men whoſe Follies make them moſt like themſelves? but for a Man who has ſome Pretences to Wit and Learning; for one who might be acceptable to Men of Senſe, to run after them; nay, for a Man who ſpends all the Morning in the Study of Homer and Ariſtotle, to ſpend the Afternoon among the Impertinencies of Women, puts me in mind of the Moun⯑tebank Stages in Naples, where the Jeſuits and Jackpuddings entertain the Spectators by Turns.

It is poſſible, you will ſay, that all this makes for you; that the Faults of your Rivals render your Virtues the more re⯑markable, and that there is no doubt, but [134] a Man of Merit may ſucceed in any Place where a Man of no Merit may pretend; but, alas! Sir, you deceive yourſelf very much, if you encourage that Opinion. Had you fit Judges, there is no doubt but you were in the right: But if the faireſt Lady in Chriſtendom were amongſt the Indians, where they paint the Devil of her Colour, do you expect they ſhould do her Beauty Juſtice? Or if a ſlender Man were among the Muſcovites, do you think they would admire him for being well ſhaped, where they thought none but big-belly'd Men to be ſo? Credit me, Sir, a Man who leaves his Parts to the Judgment of Women, is very near the ſame Circumſtances: Will you not believe me in that Caſe, becauſe I profeſs an Enmity to them? You do well: but will you believe themſelves? View all the Town, take good Notice: Among all the young Heireſſes who run away from their Guardians, is there any one who does it with a Man of Senſe? Among all thoſe Widows who ruin themſelves by ſecond Marriages, is there any one who does it with a Man of Senſe? Among all thoſe Ladies who cuckold their Husbands, is there any one who does it with a Man of Senſe? We ſee them do theſe Things every Day, with Chaplains, Dancing-maſters, Butlers, and Footmen. Who are the Men that ſhew [135] the tender Billets received? What are they who boaſt of the Favours of all the fineſt Women in Town? Are they not the moſt deſpicable of Mankind? Are they not ſuch whoſe Converſation is the Jeſt of Men of Senſe? And have they above one Thing about them, that diſtinguiſhes them from the other Sex?

After all, Sir, are not the Women in the right in this Point? Or do they ever ſhew more Judgment, than when they pitch upon ſuch Men? What do they look for in a Husband, but one who will admire them, who will be governed by them, and upon whom all their little Tricks will paſs? And who but Fools are fit for that? What do they propoſe in a Gallant, but giving them Pleaſure without Scandal? And to the for⯑mer Part they have a received Notion of the Ability of Fools: Then for the Scan⯑dal, who ſo likely to give none as thoſe Men, whom the World will hardly believe were favoured by them, tho' they took their Oaths upon it? For notwithſtanding Experience teaches us the contrary, yet People are apt to fancy, a Man of Senſe muſt ſucceed before a Coxcomb; and will rather believe the former are favoured, tho' they ſwear they are not; than the latter, tho' they ſwear they are.

[136] But, alas! Sir, Men of Senſe they think know them, and that they take, as well as I do, to be a ſure Means to hinder their being in Love. It was upon this Account that ¹ Solomon gives ſuch ſevere Cha⯑racters of them in his Proverbs; that ² Eu⯑ripides repreſented them ſo faithfully, as to get the Name of the Woman-hater; that ² Simonides has diſtinguiſhed them into ſo many ſorts of evil Things; that ³ Lu⯑cian has ſo naturally deſcribed their Tricks; that ⁴St. Chryſoſtom has made ſuch a ſe⯑vere Invective againſt them; that ⁵ Ju⯑venal has given his Friend ſuch Counſel againſt having any Thing to do with them; and, in fine, it is upon the ſame Account that all the Epigrammatiſts, Comic Poets, and Satiriſts are ſo continually expoſing them to the World, making their Follies ridiculous, and their Vices odious. It is upon the ſame Account likewiſe, that to call a Man Effeminate, has always been reckoned ſuch a Reproach; and that to ſay a Man is governed by a Woman, has been one of the worſt Characters you could give of his Underſtanding.

[137] See here a dreadful Army, Madam, againſt us. I aſked my Friend what theſe Gentlemen had ſaid upon this Occa⯑ſion? He told me, Juvenal had written a very ſevere Satire (the XIth) againſt Women, which I ſhould ſee very much to its Ad⯑vantage, if I would conſult Mr. Dryden's Tranſlation of it. For Simonides, he told me, he had written Iambics againſt them, in which he divides them into ten Sorts. The firſt he ſaid was deſcended from a Sow, (you will find very noble Families among them, Madam) and ſhe was ſluttiſh: The ſecond from a Fox, and ſhe underſtands every thing, and has a great deal of Good in her, and a great deal of Ill too: The third from a Dog, and ſhe is prying about, and ſnarl⯑ing at every Body: The fourth is made of the Earth, and ſhe underſtands nothing but how to fill her Belly, and ſit by the Fire-ſide: The fifth of the Sea, and ſhe is changeable and inconſtant; ſometimes in a Calm, and then on a ſudden in a Storm: The ſixth is made of Aſhes, and a Labour⯑ing Aſs, (an odd Compoſition you will ſay) and ſhe is ſcarce driven to her Buſineſs with Threatnings or Force, but crams herſelf Night and Day, and lies with every one that comes; (now whether ſhe takes this Quality of lying with all who come, from the Father's-ſide, or the Mother's-ſide, I [138] cannot abſolutely determine.) The ſeventh was deſcended from a Pole Cat, and ſhe is nauſeous and ſtinking: The eighth from a Mare, and ſhe never cares to do any Work, and minds nothing but appearing neat and fine: The ninth from a Monkey, and her Ug⯑lineſs is a Jeſt to every body: The tenth from a Bee, and ſhe makes an excellent Wife. ¹ There is a Story alſo of this Simonides, that being aſked about a Wife, he ſaid, ſhe was the Shipwreck of Man, the Tempeſt of a Houſe, the Diſturber of Reſt, the Priſon of Life, a daily Puniſhment, a ſumptuous Conflict, a Beaſt in Company, a neceſſary Evil. And ² St. Chryſoſtom, beſides the Homily upon the beheading St. John Baptiſt, which is almoſt all an In⯑vective againſt Women, ſays in another Place, What is a Wife? The Enemy of Love, the inevitable Pain, the neceſſary Evil, the natural Temptation, a deſirable Calamity, a domeſtical Peril, a pleaſing Da⯑mage. Thus you ſee theſe Ancients, Ma⯑dam, had a very commendable Faculty of calling Names: What think you, might not the Matrons of Billinſgate improve in their Converſation? But it is natural, [139] when People cannot convince our Reaſon, to endeavour to move our Paſſions.

I know you will object againſt theſe, Ana⯑creon, Theocritus, Catullus, Tibullus, Ovid, Horace, Propertius, and all thoſe Poets and Wits, ancient and modern, who pleas'd themſelves, whilſt they lived, in the Purſuit of Women, and have render'd themſelves immortal after their Death, by the Tro⯑phies they raiſed to them. It is confeſſed, that ſpending their Time upon the Sex, they ought to know them beſt: But on the other ſide, to excuſe their own ſpending their Time, ought to repreſent them as fa⯑vourably as poſſible; and yet, pray what is the Account they give us of them? Do they not all with one Conſent complain, either of the Cruelty, or Falſhood of their Miſ⯑treſſes? Are not their Books full of Quar⯑rels, Picques and Jealouſies? and do they not ſhew the Levity, Perjury, and Lewd⯑neſs of the Sex? Does not ¹ Anacreon, and a hundred more, tell you, they mind nothing but Wealth? (This Com⯑plaint of the Love of Wealth, and In⯑vectives againſt it, has been very ancient, and very general amongſt the Poets; [140] beſides this Greek, ¹ Horace, ² Ovid, ³ Tibullus, and ⁴ Propertius, make them, amongſt the Romans; ⁵ Marino, [141] ¹ Guarini among the Italians; ² Conde de Villa Mediana, and ³ Que⯑vedo amongſt the Spaniards; ⁴ Ronſard among the French; and ⁵ Cowley a⯑mongſt us: For you muſt know, Ma⯑dam, theſe Poets were a ſort of People, who were never very remarkable for their making large Jointures; their Eſtates ge⯑nerally lye upon Parnaſſus, where Land lets worſe than it does in Ireland: Nor do I remember to have read in any Hiſtory, of Poets who deferr'd the Enjoyment of their Miſtreſſes for the drawing of Writ⯑ings.) Does not ⁶ Theocritus make con⯑tinual Complaints of the Cruelty of his [142] Miſtreſs? Does not ¹ Catullus tell you, that his Leſbia lay with all the Town? and ² that what any Woman ſays to her Lover, ought to be writ in Wind, or run⯑ning Streams? Does not ³ Tibullus com⯑plain, that he had taught his Miſtreſs to deceive her Guards ſo long, that ſhe learnt to deceive him too? Does not ⁴ Ovid lye at his Miſtreſs's Door all Night, whilſt an inconſiderable Fellow has got into her Arms? Does not Horace complain of the ⁵Cruelty of two Miſtreſſes, and the ⁶Perjury and Inconſtancy of three or four more? And does not ⁷ Propertius, beſides his own Cynthia's Falſhood, cry out [143] of the Incontinence of the Sex in general? I know not what your Succeſs in Love may have been; but till you tell me the con⯑trary, I can hardly believe it better than theſe Mens. For what Qualification can there be to make a Woman kind and con⯑ſtant, that they had not? Anacreon ap⯑pears to be one of the gayeſt humour'd Men that ever was born; Theocritus the moſt tender and natural in his Poems; Catullus was without a Rival the greateſt Wit of his Age; Tibullus was not only the ſmootheſt and delicateſt of the Roman Poets, but alſo the moſt beautiful Perſon of his Time; Ovid and Propertius, as nei⯑ther of them wanted Love, ſo never had any a more ſoft and tender Way of ex⯑preſſing it; and Horace, beſides the Talent of crying up his Miſtreſſes, and pleaſing their Vanity that Way, had the pleaſanteſt Manner of expoſing the Follies of this Ri⯑vals, and the ſevereſt of revenging the ¹Falſhood or Unkindneſs of his Miſ⯑treſſes, of any Man in the World. And yet none of all theſe could, by their own Confeſſion, keep a Woman to themſelves, or even teach them Cunning enough to jilt them ſo, that they ſhould never find it [144] out; which ¹ Ovid tells us frankly, was all he deſir'd from them.

From this, Madam, you may pleaſe to obſerve, that Jilting is no ſuch new Thing as ſome People would make us believe, tho' methinks theſe Poets are dangerous Per⯑ſons to jilt, ſince it is remember'd againſt their Miſtreſſes; near two thouſand Years after.

And in Effect, what but Ruin and De⯑ſolation proceeds from them? Who was the Betrayer of ² Samſon, but Dalilah? Who was the Cauſe of the Deſtruction of ³ Troy, but Helen? Of ⁴ Agamemnon's Death, but Glytemneſtra? Of ⁵ Hercules's, but Deianira? Who adviſed the burning of ⁶ Perſepolis, but Thais? Who ruin'd ⁷ Hannibal's Army, but the Capuan Wo⯑men? Who loſt ⁸ Mark Antony the World, but Cleopatra? Why ſhould I bur⯑den [145] you with Inſtances, when every Coun⯑try can furniſh Examples enow of their own? What made ſuch Confuſion in ¹ Juſtinian's Court, but Theodora? What cauſed the Revolt in the Low Countries, but the Government of the ²Princeſs of Parma? Who made ſuch dreadful Diſtur⯑bances in ³ Scotland, as their Queen Mary? And who raiſed the greateſt Perſecution for Religion, that ever England ſaw, but our own Queen of the ſame Name?

But certainly they muſt have ſome very great Perfections to make Amends for all theſe Faults: Well then, let us ſee what they are! Let us view theſe pleaſant Com⯑fits that are to make the Poiſon go down: Let us enjoy a little of that Converſation, that is diverſitive enough to make People neglect all their Danger. Sit in one of their Drawing-Rooms all Day; obſerve the Diſcourſe which paſſes; is it not a tedious Repetition of the ſame Impertinencies over and over again, to every new Viſitant? And is not one Half of that ſpent in cenſuring all the Town, and the other Half in rail⯑ing at thoſe who cenſure? Do they not in⯑veigh againſt the Lampooners, and at the ſame time talk as ſcandalouſly as they can [146] write? The horrid Affectation, the ridi⯑culous Vanity, the groſs Diſſimulation, and the inveterate Malice that appears in all their Diſcourſes, are Things for which I ſhould think all the Paint on their Faces could not make Amends. For my own part, I confeſs, I have been Fool enough to be in Love too, and have follow'd Wo⯑men upon that Account, but to another ſort of End, than you ſay you do: But when that End was once ſatisfied, to talk with them afterwards, was as great a Pe⯑nance to me, as it would be to ſit in a greaſy Cook's Shop, when my Belly was full.

This MISOGYNES is a very rude Fellow, and I am ſure your Ladyſhip will be of my Opinion, that his laſt Simile was very ful⯑ſome. It is a Sign he hates Women; for had he converſed with them, they would have taught him better Manners.

But there are doubtleſs, you will ſay, Women of Underſtanding: Pray where are they? Is it your prudent Woman, your good Houſewife, who is plaguing all the World with her Management, and in⯑ſtructing every body how to feed Geeſe and Capons? Or is it your Politician, who is always full of Buſineſs, who carries a Se⯑cretary of State's Office in her Head, and is making her deep Obſervations upon every [147] Day's News? Or is it your learned Woman' who runs mad for the Love of hard Words' who talks a mixt Jargon, or Lingua Franca' and has ſpent a great deal of Time to make her capable of talking Nonſenſe in four or five ſeveral Languages? What think you, Sir, do you not wiſh for your Viſitant again, as the more tolerable Folly of the two? Do not you think Learning and Po⯑litics become a Woman as ill as riding aſtride? And had not the Duke of ¹ Brit⯑tany Reaſon, who thought a Woman knowing enough, when ſhe could diſtin⯑guiſh between her Huſband's Shirt and his Breeches?

Do not you, in Anſwer to theſe, fetch me a Sapho out of Greece; a Cornelia, the Mother of the Gracchi, out of Rome; an Anna Maria Schurman out of Holland; and think that in ſhewing me Three learned Women in Three thouſand Years, you have gained your Point; and from ſome few particular Inſtances, proved a general Con⯑cluſion: If I ſhould bring you half a Do⯑zen Magpies that could talk, and as many Horſes that could dance, you would not, I ſuppoſe for all that, chuſe out the one to converſe with, or the other to walk a Corant.

[148] But would you ſee them to their beſt Advantage? Would you have their Wit, Courage, and Conduct diſplay'd? Take them upon the Buſineſs of Luſt; that can make Sapho witty, Aloiſia eloquent, a Country-wife politic; that can humble ¹ Meſſalina's Pride to walk the Streets; can make tender ¹ Hippia endure the In⯑commodities of a Sea-Voyage; can ſupport the Queen of ² Sheba in a Journey to So⯑lomon, and make ³ Thaleſtris ſearch out Alexander the Great: In this Particular, I muſt confeſs, we ought to ſubmit to them, and with Shame allow them the Prefe⯑rence. I cannot reflect upon the Stories of ⁴ Sewiramis's lying with all the hand⯑ſomeſt Men in her Army, and putting them to Death afterwards; of her offering her Son the laſt Favour; of ⁵ Meſſalina the Empreſs's proſtituting herſelf in the public Stews; and of Queen ⁶ Joan of Naples providing a Bath under her Win⯑dow, where ſhe might ſee all the luſtieſt young men naked, and take her Choice out [149] of them, without ſuch an Admiration as their heroic Actions deſerve. ¹ Sapho, as ſhe was one of the wittieſt Women that ever the World bred, ſo ſhe thought with Reaſon it would be expected ſhe ſhould make ſome Additions to a Science in which all Womankind had been ſo ſucceſsful: What does ſhe do then? Not content with our Sex, ſhe begins Amours with her own, and teaches us a new Sort of Sin, that was follow'd not only in ² Lucian's Time, but is practiſed frequently in ³ Turkey at this Day. You cannot but be ſenſible, Sir, that there is no Neceſſity of going ſo far for Inſtances of their Lewdneſs, and were it civil to quote the Lampoons, or write the Amours of our own Time, we might be furniſhed with Examples enough nearer Home.

Here, Madam, I could not forbear tel⯑ling my Friend, that his Diſputant grew ſcurrilous. He told me, conſidering him as a Woman-hater, he thought it was no more than his Character required; and that if I compared his Diſcourſe with what others had ſaid againſt them, I ſhould think him a very well-bred Man.

[150] After this to talk of their Levity or Bab⯑ling, what were it but trifling? All the Lovers and Poets who have had any thing to do with them, can furniſh them⯑ſelves with Inſtances enough of the firſt; and any Man who will give himſelf the Trouble of reading any one Hiſtory, ſhall find Inſtances enough of the other, if his own Wiſdom has hindered him from make⯑ing them at his own Coſt. ¹There be⯑ing a Senate called in Rome, upon ſome very extraordinary Occaſion, one of the Se⯑nators was deſired by his Wife to tell her what it was? He reply'd, He was obliged to Secrecy; ſhe ſwears it ſhall never be known to any one by her Means; upon that Promiſe he informs her, that there was a Lark ſeen flying over the Senate-Houſe with a golden Helmet on his Head, and a Spear in one of his Claws, and that they had thereupon called the Soothſayers together, to know what it portended. No ſooner was the Huſband gone, but the Wife tells it too, under a Vow of Secrecy to her Maid; ſhe to another who was her Fel⯑low-Servant, who told it to her Lover; ſo that, to be ſhort, it ran ſo faſt, that as ſoon as the Senator came into the Market-Place, one took him aſide, and told it him for a great Secret; aways goes he, and tells [151] his Wife ſhe had undone him, in divulging what he had truſted with her: She denies it, with a true feminine Impudence: How could it come to be known then? ſays he. Alas (reply'd ſhe) are there not three hundred Senators, and might it not come from any of them as well as you? No, ſays he, for I invented it on a ſudden, to ſatisfy your Cu⯑rioſity, and thus had I been ſerved, if I had truſted you with the Secret. It is ſuch another Story they tell us of young Papi⯑rius to his Mother, who aſking him what had been debated that Morning in the Se⯑nate, told her, They were making a Law for Men to have a Plurality of Wives. But it is ſomewhat a more tragical Relation Plutarch gives of Fulvius. Auguſtus com⯑plained to him, that he was diſſatisfied with what he had done, in adopting Livia's Sons, and diſinheriting his own Nephews; Fulvius goes home, and tells it his Wife, ſhe tells it to the Empreſs, who upbraids the Emperor with it. Auguſtus, when he ſaw Fulvius next, checked him for it; by which he perceived himſelf ruined, and therefore went immediately, told his Wife what ſhe had done, and that he reſolved to ſtab himſelf: But certainly the Wife's Anſwer was very ſufficient; Nor did you deſerve leſs, ſaid ſhe, who having lived ſo [152] long with me, did not know I could not keep a Secret.

But omitting theſe, whoſe Actions are recorded to their Infamy, let us ſee a little of thoſe who are quoted as the Glories of their Sex. And who more cry'd up amongſt them than ¹ Judith? What Action more celebrated than her murdering Holofernes, when he had treated her with all the Kind⯑neſs and Reſpect imaginable in his Tent? For my part, I muſt own my Virtue does not arrive to ſo high a Pitch; and ſhould rather have ſuffered my Town to have been ruin'd, than have been guilty of an Action that appears to me ſo barbarous; but I confeſs that of ² Jael is yet worſe, to invite a Man into her Tent, promiſe him Protection, and when he had truſted his Life in her Hands, to murther him whilſt he was aſleep. What ſhall we ſay to Penelope, who is inſtanced as a Pattern of Chaſtity, and conjugal Love? I will not with ³ Ovid and ⁴ Virgil (if the Priapeia [153] are his) make malicious Reflections upon her trying her Lovers Strength in a Bow; but take the Story as it lies in the Odyſſes, I am ſure ſhe would hardly paſs for ſuch a Saint in our Days; and if a Lady had her Houſe full of Lovers for twenty Years of her Husband's abſence, and if her Husband were forced to fight all theſe before he could have his Wife again, it is poſſible the Lam⯑pooners of the Town would not have re⯑preſented her Caſe ſo favourably as Homer has done. But what ſhall we ſay to ^* Ly⯑cophron even amongſt the Greeks, who ſpeaks of her as a moſt profligate ſort of Woman, or to ^† Duris Samius, who aſſerts her to have been ſo very common, as to have lain with all Comers during her Husband's Ab⯑ſence, from whoſe promiſcuous Copulations Pan was born, and therefore took the Name. (Pan, your Ladyſhip knows, in Greek, ſignifies All.) For Lucretia, I ſhall [154] not inſinuate, as a ^*great Wit ſeems to do, that ſhe ſtabbed herſelf, rather than return to the Embraces of a Husband, after hav⯑ing been ſo much better pleaſed by a Gal⯑lant; but if ſhe were one who valued her Chaſtity ſo much, and her Life ſo little, as they would make us believe, it is ſomewhat odd that ſhe ſhould rather let Tarquin en⯑joy her alive, than a Slave lie in the Bed with her when ſhe was dead; and that ſhe ſhould chuſe to commit the Sin, rather than bear the Shame.

But let us forgive them all theſe Things I have mentioned; and ſince ^† Le Chambre aſſures us, that there is no Beauty in a Woman, but what is a Sign of ſome Vice; let us attribute it to Nature's Fault, not theirs; and reckon that the more vicious they are, the nearer they come to the Per⯑fection of the Sex; and indeed, not ſpend⯑ing much Time in their Converſations, I will pardon them all their Levity, Babling, Malice, and Impertinence; and, being un⯑married, ſhall not be ſo ſevere upon their Luſts and Adulteries; provided they will ſtop there. Let Helen run away from her Husband with a handſomer Man; but let her not ſuffer all Troy to be ruined for the [155] keeping her there: Let Clytemneſtra lye with another Man, during her Husband's Abſence; but let her not murder him for it when he comes home: Let ^† Semiramis make uſe of all the handſomeſt Fellows of her Army; but let her not put them to Death for fear they ſhould tell Tales: And tho' I would forgive her, yet her own Sex would never pardon her being the firſt Maker of ^‡Eunuchs: Let Phaedra and Fauſta invite their Husbands Sons to ſupply their Fathers Defects; but let them not ac⯑cuſe them, and have them put to Death for refuſing: Let Joan of Naples make uſe of all the Men in her Kingdom; but let her not ſtrangle her Hushand for his Im⯑perfections in a Point that he could not help: That Cruelty and Barbarity, I con⯑feſs, is what provokes me ſo much againſt the Sex: I can ſee Tibullus's Miſtreſs jilt him, for a Fool who is not half ſo hand⯑ſome; I can ſee Ovid waiting all Night at his Miſtreſs's Door, whilſt another Man is in her Arms; and I can ſee half a Score impertinent Women plaguing you with nonſenſical Stories, and be very well di⯑verted all the while: But I confeſs I can⯑not hear of Medea's cutting her Brother in Pieces, and ſtrewing his Limbs in the Way [156] to ſtop her purſuing Father, without Hor⯑ror and Dread; nor of her treating her own Children after the ſame manner, to revenge herſelf upon Jaſon, without a like Emotion: I know not how other People may bear ſuch Things; but for my Part, when I ſee all the Murders and Barbarities they commit, to revenge themſelves on their inconſtant Lovers, to get rid of their Husbands for ſome one they like better, or to prevent the Diſcovery of their Lewdneſs; but my Hair ſtands on end, my Blood ſhrinks, and I am poſſeſs'd with an utter Deteſtation of the Sex. Go but one Cir⯑cuit with the Judges here in England; ob⯑ſerve how many Women are condemned for killing their Baſtard Children; and tell me if you think their Cruelties can be equalled; or whether you think thoſe who commit ſuch Actions fit for your, or for any civil Converſation. But I ſee by your Looks you are convinced, I ſee you abandon your Cauſe, and I ſhall ceaſe to expoſe any farther a Sex, of whoſe Patronage you ſeem already aſhamed.

Here MISOGYNES left off, and PHYLO⯑GYNES began to anſwer him: But I muſt beg your Pardon, Sir, ſaid my Friend, for my Time is come, and I muſt neceſſarily be gone. The Devil you ſhall, ſaid I; you would engage me in a pretty Affair; I pro⯑miſe [157] a Lady a Defence of her Sex, and you will make me ſend her a Satire againſt it. Truly, my dear Friend, ſaid he, I deſigned to have told you all, but it is later than I thought, and I have Buſineſs waits for me. No Buſineſs, ſaid I, can be ſo conſiderable to you, as the ſatisfying a fair Lady is to me, therefore ſit down, and bring me fairly off what you have told me already, or you and I ſhall be Friends no longer. After all, Madam, to tell you the Truth, tho' there is no great Matter in this Speech of MISO⯑GYNES, yet I can hardly believe he made it upon a ſudden; 'tis poſſible tho', they two having diſcourſed the Matter as they told us before, might have provided themſelves each with Arguments. But ſuppoſing that, I can ſcarce believe one Man would be ſuf⯑fered to talk ſo long without Interruption; at leaſt I am ſure, ſome who we know were none of the Company. But it is poſſible, that he who told me, might leave out all that was ſpoke by others, for Brevity ſake, being as you ſee in haſte.

If you are as apt to be miſtaken in your Judgment of Things as of Looks, replied PHILOGYNES, it is no wonder you ſhould make ſuch ſtrange Concluſions. Whatever Seriouſneſs you may ſee in my Face, does not, I'll aſſure you, proceed from any Diſ⯑truſt of my Cauſe, but an Aſtoniſhment at [158] what ſtrange Arguments the Invention of Man can ſuggeſt againſt the beſt Things that are. I ſay, the Invention of Man, for I am far from believing you in earneſt in this Point; I have too juſt an Opinion of MISOGYNES, to think he does any Thing but put on this Humour for a Trial of Skill; and I no more believe you a Hater of Wo⯑men, for the Invective you have made againſt them, than I believe Eraſmus a Lover of Folly, for the Encomium he has writ upon it. If you have therefore any thing more to urge, forbear it not upon any ſup⯑poſed Conviction you ſee in my Counte⯑nance; for, notwithſtanding that I think you have handled the Subject as fully as any one who has undertaken it, yet I will aſſure you I cannot ſubmit to your Argu⯑ments; and therefore am very ready to hear any thing you have further to urge. No, ſays MISOGYNES, I am ſenſible I have troubled the Company long enough about a Trifle, and it is very fit you ſhould have your Turn of ſpeaking now. Part of the Company was already convinced by his Arguments, the other Part thought he had ſaid as much as the Matter would bear, and therefore both agreed in deſiring PHI⯑LOGYNES to ſpeak what he had to ſay, which he did in this Manner:

[159] I confeſs, Sir (ſaid he ſmiling) when I ſaw the Aſſociates you allotted me at firſt, I began to deſpair of my Cauſe; I own I was aſhamed of my Company, and reſolved to pack up Baggage inſtantly, and quit a Trade in which none but Fops and Fools were engaged; but when I ſaw the Ana⯑creons, the Ovids, and all the Wits, antient and modern, in the ſame Circumſtances, I even took Heart again. Courage, ſaid I, the Buſineſs is not ſo bad as I thought, and it is poſſible his Heart may relent, and al⯑low us ſome better Company than he con⯑demned us to at firſt. At leaſt, thought I, if it is a Folly to converſe with Women, it is ſome Comfort that he owns it to be a Folly of which the greateſt Wits of the World have been guilty before us: And when I ſaw all Greece, and the greater Part of Aſia venturing their Lives for One Wo⯑man, I thought I had ſomewhat the Ad⯑vantage of them, whilſt I ventured nothing but my Rhetoric for them All together. And when you named Samſon, Achilles, Hannibal, and Mark Anthony, I enquired who thoſe Gentlemen were; for certainly, thought I, if they were ſuch brave Men, and great Soldiers, as I have heard them repreſented, we have no Reaſon to deſpair of the Victory when we have them to lead us on.

[160] You might have ſpoken more generally of them too, if you had pleaſed; you might have told us, that there never was a great Soldier who was not as famous for his Amours, as his Battles; that a Poet was ſcarce thought free of his Trade, who had not paid ſome Duties to Love ^*; and you might have ad⯑ded to theſe all the Wiſe-men and Philoſo⯑phers of the World: You might have in⯑formed us, that David, tho' a Man after God's own Heart, was not contented with⯑out ſome Share in the Womens: That Solomon, who knew the Virtue of every Plant, from the Cedar of Libanus, to the Hyſop that grows upon the Wall, took as much Pains to have as general a Knowledge of the Ladies: That ^† Socrates, who was the uglieſt as well as the wiſeſt Man of his Time, would in ſpite of Nature aim at Love too, and, not terrified by one ill Wife, would try to mend his Hand in another: That ^† Plato, whom Antiquity has called Divine, did not ſpend all his Time in erect⯑ing Commonwealths, but that ſome of it was beſtowed upon the Xantippe's and Archeanaſſa's: That ^† Ariſtotle, whom Phi⯑lip made Governor to Alexander, made himſelf a Slave to his Miſtreſs; that this [161] was not an Effect of his Paſſion alone, but of his Reaſon; ^*That he ſaid, Love was not only upon the Account of Copulation but Philoſophy; and commands his Wiſe⯑man to be in Love, before he bids him meddle with the Commonwealth: And in fine, that this great Man, who fathomed all Arts and Sciences, who has given us the beſt Rules of Philoſophy, Politics, Poetry, &c. did alſo not think it unbecom⯑ing his Gravity to write one Treatiſe of Love, and four Amatory Theſes. You might have mingled Sacred Story with Pro⯑fane: You might have told us that St. Peter was married, that St. Paul defended the leading about a Siſter; that we owe one of the moſt celebrated ^†Fathers of the Church to the Endeavours and Converſion of a Woman; and that St. Jerom had ſo great an Eſteem for the Sex, as to dedicate a great Part of his Works to ſome of them. You might have added to theſe a thouſand more, which you ſee I purpoſely omit to avoid Prolixity, and mention none but whom you will allow to be the moſt celebrated of their Profeſſion, without doing your Cauſe and Injury in the leaſt; for after all, it is [162] but ſhewing us a Drawing-room of Fops, reading a Dialogue out of Lucian, ſeeing a Scene of a Play, quoting a Sentence out of Solomon's Proverbs, ſearching all Hiſtory for two or three ill Women, and the Buſi⯑neſs is done, the Cauſe is gained, let the Trumpets ſound, and Io Poean be ſung for the Victory.

I am ſorry, Sir, that I cannot be as civil to you, as you have been to me: It goes againſt my Conſcience to place you with ſo bad Company, conſidering with what you have obliged me; and of thoſe few great Men whom you have ſeduced to your Party, I am concerned that I muſt take better Part from you. I fancy, after what I have al⯑ready ſaid of Solomon, after reflecting upon his Hiſtory, you cannot think him a true Friend to your Cauſe; and therefore will not, I hope, depend too much upon him. I ſhall ſay nothing of his Wives and Con⯑cubines, I ſhall not ſo much as mention his Canticles, which ^* Grotius, as well as I, affirms to be a Love-Poem, and which [163] ^* Rapin reckons both the firſt and beſt of Paſtorals; but I ſhall attack you at your own Weapon; I ſhall oppoſe Proverb againſt Proverb; if he has been ſevere in them upon ill Women, whoſe Cauſe I do not undertake, he has ſpoken as favourably of the ^†Wiſe and the Good: for whom we appear: In like manner, if Euripides has repreſented Women ſo in his Tragedies, as to get the Name of the Woman-hater, I appeal from his Writings to his Life and Converſation, which ſhew him far other⯑wiſe. If Simonides gives you ſevere Cha⯑racters of ſeveral Women, he gives you one at laſt that makes amends for all; one in whom no Fault can be found; and if you think that is not enough to take him off from your Party, if you are ſtill ſo very fond of him, we will tell you, that Men who are deformed and ugly, as ^‡ Simonides was, naturally declare themſelves Enemies to Women, becauſe they fancy Women are Enemies to them; and upon that Account, not upon the Account of his Wit, we will allow him to you. As for St. Chryſoſtom, tho' we have all the Reſpect imaginable for a Father of Church, and upon that Account [164] ſhall not enter into the Merits of the Cauſe betwixt ^*him and the Empreſs Eudoxia; yet this we ſhall ſay, Sir, that as Fathers of the Church are ſubject to Paſſions, as well as other Men; ſo it is no Wonder that a Man, who is uſed very ill by one Wo⯑man, and converſes with few elſe, ſhould conclude them all alike. Thus after hav⯑ing taken two of your Patriots from you, and if not taken, at leaſt diſabled the other two from being very credible Witneſſes, you are reduced to Lucian and Juvenal. For the former, if I ſhould quote you what the old Fathers ſay of him, if I ſhould tell you, that he did not only abuſe the Chri⯑ſtian Religion, but even his own; that he rallied all the Philoſophers, Orators, and Hiſtorians of his Time; that not content with that, he falls foul upon thoſe his own Religion taught him to worſhip as Gods; I fancy you would not think what ſuch a Man ſays of any great Weight; but truly, Sir, there is no need of that in this Caſe: What does this Lucian do, pray? Why ^†he deſcribes the Bawds griping, covetous, and encouraging their Daughters in Lewd⯑neſs; his Courteſans falſe, jilting, and true Courteſans throughout. And what of all this, pray? what does this make for you? [165] It is not the Cauſe of Bawds, or Courteſans that we undertake; tho' even amongſt them he repreſents a great part eaſy, loving, good-natur'd Fools, and us'd accordingly by their Lovers. But does Lucian pretend that there are no good Women? Does he fall upon the Sex in general? or does not he bring in ^* Charicles in one place defending them, and does not he make the greateſt En⯑comium that can be of Panthaea in another, and ſpeak with abundance of Eſteem of ſe⯑veral other Women in the ſame? And if he does introduce Callicratides in one of his Dialogues railing at the Sex, in Oppoſition to Charicles, he does it in the Defence of a Sin, which I am ſure you will ſcarce think it civil to name. What ſhall we ſay to Ju⯑venal, but what Plato did to Xenocrates, bid him ſacrifice to the Graces. He is al⯑ways violent, always declaiming, always in a Paſſion; and what Wonder if he falls upon the Women in one of his Fits? After all, you will make no great Matter of him; for if he has writ one Satire upon the Wo⯑men, he has writ fifteen upon the Men. For the comic Poets and Satiriſts, whom you mention in general, when you name them in particular, I ſhall give them par⯑ticular Anſwers. And now truly, Sir, ſee yourſelf reduced to a miſerable Equipage; [166] ſome old Huſbands, and jilted Lovers; ſome Men with ill Faces, and worſe Miens, may poſſibly ſtick to you ſtill; but that is all: I am ſorry to ſee a Man ſo well made, of ſo much Wit, and who has been ſo ſuc⯑ceſsful amongſt the Ladies, rank himſelf with ſuch a Tribe; but you do it, I ſup⯑poſe, by way of Variety only; and ſo let Miſogynes appear, at the Head of his Regi⯑ment, that makes a worſe Figure than Sir John Falſtaffe's; let them be encouraged with ſtummed Wine and muddy Ale; let them give Fire to their Mundungus, and ſo let the Battel begin, whilſt we with all the Heroes, Wits, and Philoſophers, ſee how we can defend the Cauſe we have un⯑dertaken.

I am ſenſible, Sir, that I have broken the Order of your Diſcourſe, and I beg your Pardon for it: But I thought it was neceſſary to diſtinguiſh our Enemies from our Friends, before the Armies joined, that ſo we might know whom to attack, and whom to ſpare; and having done that, I ſhall now confine myſelf to your Method, and follow the Courſe that you pleaſe to lead me.

Though I perfectly agree with you in the Eſteem of the Laws made for the En⯑couragement of Marriage, and conſequent⯑ly cannot but regret the Want of them [167] amongſt ourſelves; yet I muſt beg your Pardon, Sir, if I wholly diſſent from you, in the Inference you would draw from it: For it is very apparent to me, and to any unbyaſſed Perſon elſe, I ſuppoſe, that thoſe Laws were never made, as you fancy, for the forcing Men to the Love of Women, to which all Countries were naturally enough enclined; but for the reſtraining them to Particulars; that whilſt they fol⯑lowed the general Pleaſures of the Sex, they might not loſe the uſeful Part, which was the Procreation of Children. Had there been ſo few Virtues amongſt them, as you pleaſe to imagine, there had been no Need of this; When we have but one Diſh of Meat that we like, we fall upon that with⯑out any Deliberation; but when the Fancy is diſtracted with Variety of Dainties, we often loſe more Time in the making our Choice, than would otherwiſe be requiſite to the ſatisfying our Appetites.

It is true, Sir, it is a very good Way to judge of People by the Company they are fond of; but it is not a certain Way to judge of People by the Company that is fond of them. There was a Taylor in Love with Queen Elizabeth, but it does not neceſſarily follow that Queen Elizabeth was in Love with a Taylor. If there are ridiculous Fellows who follow the Ladies, [168] before we run down the Ladies for it, let us ſee if they do not laugh at them as well as we our ſelves. And I cannot think their purſuing them any Reaſon at all for Men of Senſe to avoid them. You would think it very hard, that Alexander and Caeſar ſhould quit the Art of War, becauſe ſome Thraſoes and bragging Bullies pretended to it as well as they; and Virgil and Horace would take it very ill, that you ſhould damn all Sorts of Poetry, becauſe of the Bavius's and Maevius's, who ſet up for it; and whatever Reaſon you would give againſt the being a Miniſter of State, I dare ſay, Sir Politic Woudbee's aiming at it would be none. (Here Philogynes ſeems to me not to underſtand the right Uſe of that conſi⯑derable Part of Mankind call'd Fools; For it is only the Half-Wit that is intolerable, and a true Fool, is next a true Wit the beſt Company in the World; for as a no⯑ble Author has extreamly well obſerved,

[169] After this I need not tell you, Sir, that it is very ill judging of People by their Out-ſide; and as I laugh at thoſe who like a Man only for his being well dreſſed, ſo I fancy you will allow them to be as ridicu⯑lous, who run him down only for the ſame Reaſon. It was objected againſt ^* Ariſtotle and ^† Cicero, that they were too ſumptu⯑ous in their Apparel, and overcurious in their Dreſs; and without doubt there were deep ^‡Critics in thoſe Times, ſaid they minded nothing but making themſelves fine; who yet, without any Offence to their Learning, we may ſuppoſe, could not give ſo good an Account of their Studies, as theſe two great Men have done of theirs.

(Courage! there are two good Precedents for the Beaux.)

After all, Sir, I know there are a great many of theſe gay Coxcombs, of theſe eter⯑nal Pretenders to Love; and I have nothing to ſay in their Behalf; let them even ſhift for themſelves amongſt the Thraſoes, and Bavius's. But they do not only pretend (you ſay) they are ſucceſsful too. It is very poſſible, Sir; I do not know but there may [170] be Fools enough of the other Sex, to like the Fools of ours. But it is with the beſt Sort of Women too (you ſay) that they ſucceed. And who tells you ſo, pray? They themſelves. I ſwear, Sir, though I have a very great Eſteem for thoſe Gen⯑tlemen, yet I muſt beg their Pardon for my Faith in this Point; I can never think a Woman, whoſe Wit we all allow, can be fond of a Man whoſe Folly we all ſee. On the other ſide, I know how natu⯑ral it is, for every one to avoid Contempt; and when a Man is deſpiſed in one Place, what ſo reaſonable as to make you believe he is eſteemed in another. And I hope the Gentlemen themſelves will take it for a Compliment, when I tell them I do not believe a Word they ſay in this Point; ſince certainly a Man of Honour would rather of the two, tell a Lye to the Prejudice of a Woman who uſes him ill, than a Truth to the utter Ruin of one who grants him all the Favours he can aſk.

But let us judge them by their Actions, ſay you! Do not moſt of the young Heireſſes run away with the pitiful Fel⯑lows? If they do, Sir, it ſhould rather deſerve your Pity than your Anger; or if you muſt be angry, be angry with the Guardians whoſe Severity frighten them away, and yet hinders them the Sight of [171] any Men of Merit to run away with. It is no Wonder that one who has never ſeen any Town, but where he was born, ſhould think that the fineſt in the World; and you cannot blame a Woman for being in Love with a Man who does not deſerve her, if ſhe never ſaw any who did. All that we can reaſonably expect in that Point is, that ſhe ſhould make ſome Satisfaction when ſhe ſees the World better; and if ſhe ſhews her Contempt of her Choice then, it is as much (if not more) than can be re⯑quired. In like manner you cannot ſay a Widow makes an ill choice, except you prove ſhe was offered a better. If a Man, who is obliged to ride a Journey, does it upon an ill Horſe, you will be very well ſatisfy'd certainly, when he tells you, it is the beſt he could get. (I confeſs, Madam, this ſeems to me but a very indifferent Ex⯑cuſe for the Widows; for he would make us believe, it is but next Oars with them; and ſo I told my Friend; but he reply'd, I muſt conſider, it is only thoſe Widows who make an ill Choice, about which he is to ſpeak; and as he cannot ſay of them, as of the young Maids, that it was for want of ſeeing the World; ſo they muſt be con⯑tented with this Excuſe, or make a better for themſelves.) For the Wives, who you ſay cuckold their Huſbands, there may be ſome⯑what [172] more to be ſaid. Modeſty being almoſt an inſeparable Quality of Wit, there is no Wonder that a Man who is poſſeſſed of that, ſhould ſo ſeldom ſucceed in theſe Under⯑takings; whilſt Fools, by their natural Impudence puſh on the Thing; and mar⯑ried Women are a ſort of Forts that are ſooner taken by Storm than Treaty. So that this ſhews rather the great Confidence of the Man, than the little Judgment of the Woman; who it is forty to one had much rather a Man of Senſe was poſſeſſed of her, if he would take the ſame Methods to gain her as the other had done.

(After all, Madam, I think none of theſe Excuſes extraordinary; therefore if I were worthy to adviſe the Ladies, they ſhould rather make Uſe of Men of Wit in all theſe Capacities, than put their Friends to the Trouble of inventing ſuch pitiful Defences for them.)

Now, Sir, as I cannot ſee any Reaſon why Women ſhould naturally love Fools more than Men of Wit, ſo I ſhall very hardly be brought to believe they do. In a Huſband I ſuppoſe they propoſe a Man whoſe Converſation ſhall be agreeable as well as his Perſon; and who ſhall have Wit to entertain them, as well as Wiſdom to direct them; and in whom can this be found, but in Men of the beſt Senſe? If in [173] a Gallant, as you ſay, they propoſe Plea⯑ſure without Scandal, tis very hard the Heat that warms a Man's Brain, ſhould ſo en⯑tirely ſettle there, as to render him inca⯑pable of pleaſing them otherwiſe; though it is poſſible, by reaſon of his having Varie⯑ty of Thoughts to divert him, he may not give himſelf ſo entirely up to thoſe Plea⯑ſures, as People leſs capable of thinking do: And for the Scandal, who ſo proper to hinder that, as thoſe who have Prudence to manage Things ſo as not to be found out, and Wit enough to turn it off if they are? Whilſt a Fool by his Want of Senſe ſhall quickly make the Thing public, if there be an Intrigue, or by his Vanity brag of one, though there be none. Add to this, that when a Woman ſeems pleaſed with a Man of Wit, every body is apt to attribute it to the Pleaſure of his Converſa⯑tion; whereas, when ſhe is fond of a Man, in whom we can ſee nothing to be liked, we naturally ſuppoſe ſhe likes him for ſomething that we do not ſee: And though it is poſſible it may be only Want of Judg⯑ment in the Lady, yet the World is apt to compliment her Underſtanding in that Caſe, to the Prejudice of her Reputation. And to conclude, Sir, though I do not believe all thoſe Men ſucceſsful who ſay they are not, yet I am very much inclined to believe [174] all thoſe Men not to be ſucceſsful, who ſay they are.

For your Examples of Women-haters, I have ſufficiently I think reply'd to them already; and for your other Arguments, if it be an Affront to call a Man effeminate, I hope you do not think it any great Com⯑pliment to tell a Woman ſhe is maſculine; and had that Argument been urged againſt you, I dare anſwer for you, you would have ſaid, that that only proved the Perfections of the Sexes different; and as Man was made for the ruder Labours, it was requi⯑ſite he ſhould be ſtrong and coarſe; and the Women, being made for the eaſier Things, ought to be ſoft, tender, and de⯑licate: And as for Mens being governed by their Wives, though the being hector'd by them is not ſo commendable; yet it ^* was obſerved by ^† Cato of the Romans, that they governed all the World, and that their Wives governed them: Amongſt the ^‡ Aſſyrians it was a Cuſtom introduced by Semiramis, (who had ruled that Kingdom with ſo much Glory) that the Wives ſhould have Dominion over the Huſbands: The ſame Cuſtom prevailed likewiſe among [175] the ^* Sauromatae; and the ^† Aegyptians had an expreſs Law to that Purpoſe. We know how much the ^‡ Spartans (the braveſt Men of the World) were com⯑manded by their Wives, and that all the Care and Management of domeſtic Affairs was committed to them. So that I can⯑not imagine how a Thing ſhould be ſo very ſcandalous, that was practiſed by moſt of the braveſt People under the Sun.

Here are very good Precedents for mar⯑ried Women, which it is to be hoped they will lay up in their Hearts, and practiſe in their Lives and Converſations.

I have as great a Veneration for thoſe Poets you mention, as any Man can; and upon that Account I ſhall not believe all the Ill they ſay of their Miſtreſſes, becauſe I ſuppoſe they would not have me: As I have been a Lover myſelf, ſo I know very well that People are apt in thoſe Caſes to take Suſpicions for Realities, and Surmiſes for Matter of Fact. Does not ^‖ Aurengzebe call Indamora faithleſs, and ingrate? And yet I believe he would be very angry that you ſhould call her ſo too; [176] and would not any one who came in when he was in one of his Rants, conclude, a Man who loved ſo well, would not be en⯑raged againſt a Miſtreſs at that rate, unleſs her Falſhood was very apparent? And yet when we come to examine the Cauſe of this Diſorder, what is it, but Morats giv⯑ing him his Life at her Requeſt, or his leaning upon her Lap when he died. I rather mention this than any of the Poets you ſpoke of, not only becauſe all the Mo⯑tions and Paſſions of a Lover are deſcribed with as much Art and Delicacy, as in any of thoſe Antients, but alſo, that ſeeing the whole Buſineſs before you, you may judge of every little Cauſe of his Diſorder, as well as he himſelf, which in Odes and Elegies you cannot do. You ſee the Lover there in a Fury, but what Cauſe he has to be ſo, there is no body to tell you, but he who is in it. Add to this, that a Man often feigns Jealouſy of his Miſtreſs, to binder her from being ſo of him, and will upbraid her Falſhood to defend his own. (That is a Thing, now I confeſs, Madam, which I can hardly believe.) And it is evident, they had not really any ſuch bad Opinion of Women, ſince with all this they did not ceaſe to run after them. However, if you think theſe general Anſwers not ſufficient, let us ſee what we can ſay to Particulars. [177] For the Complaints of Cruelty and Scorn. I look upon them as Things of Courſe; and therefore, ſhall ſay nothing to them. If Anacreon's Miſtreſs did aſk him nothing but Money, why did he chuſe one whoſe Neceſſities drove her upon it. And if other Men have made Complaints of the Wo⯑mens minding Wealth more than Love; I deſire to know whether Women have not as much Reaſon to make the ſame Com⯑plaints of the Men. And for thoſe who talk of their Miſtreſſes Inconſtancy, let us ſee firſt whether they were conſtant to them. For Ovid, he does not pretend to put it upon you, but complains in ^*one Place of his being in Love with two at once, and tells you frankly in ^†another, that he was in Love with all the Town. For Horace, Suetonius, (or whoever it was that writ his Life) informs you that he was intemperately given to Women; and what Wonder then, that a Man who try'd ſo ma⯑ny, ſhould find one or two falſe. Tibul⯑lus had two ^‡Miſtreſſes whom he cele⯑brates by Name, and there are ſome more Elegies that it does not appear whether they are writ to them or others; and though [178] he tells us the ^* Report was, that his Miſtreſs was kind to other Men; yet the Report gave him ſo much Torment, that he deſired it ſhould be ſtifled; if therefore you have any Friendſhip for him, endea⯑vour to fulfil his Deſire in that Point. For Propertius, beſides his ^† intemperate Love of all Women, he tells you his ^‡ Miſtreſs caught him with two Wenches at the ſame Time; and confeſſes that he rails at the Incontinence of Women, only becauſe ſhe upbraided him with his. Thus whatever Qualifications thoſe great Men had, Con⯑ſtancy, you, ſee was none; and though we allow you, each of them had Merit enough for any one Woman, yet one Man can hardly have enough for half a Score.

Now if Ruin and Deſolation has come to great Men, and States, from Women, it ſhewed they had a good Opinion of the Sex in general, that they would ſuffer for them; and had they not been ſenſible the greateſt Part were good, they could never have been impoſed upon by the Bad. Then as for thoſe ill Women whom you have [179] mentioned, as I ſuppoſe you will not un⯑dertake to defend all the Actions of Ty⯑rants and Murderers; ſo I do not think my⯑ſelf at all obliged to defend all the Women who have been guilty of ſome of their Crimes. The Diſpute is not whether there have been any ill Women in the World, but whether there are not more Good. And when I have told you that the Book that condemns Dalilah, cries up De⯑borah and Jael: That if Homer has repre⯑ſented Helen guilty of ſome Faults (for you will ſee that Homer does not repreſent her Cauſe ſo violently bad) he tells us of Hecuba and Andromache, and a Thouſand others who were very good ones; That if Clytemneſtra was falſe to Agamemnon, Penelope was as famous for her Truth to Ulyſſes; and ſo put you Example againſt Example, which I forbear to do, only becauſe it is ſo very ea⯑ſy; ſhould I, I ſay, do but this, you could not complain that your Arguments were unanſwered. But truly, Sir, we might carry the Thing much farther; we might defend ſome of thoſe Women you mention⯑ed, and excuſe the reſt. For Dalilah I ſhall ſay ſay nothing, out of Reſpect to the Scripture, that repreſents her as an ill Woman; it is poſſible, were ſhe alive, ſhe might tell you in her own Defence, that what Account you have of her, is from [80] her profeſſed Enemies: That however taking the Thing as they tell it; if ſhe did commit a Piece of Treachery, it was againſt an Enemy of her Country; and that it was very hard ſhe ſhould be ſo much run down for the ſame Thing they have ſo much admired in Jael and Judith, as well as every body elſe did in Marcus Bru⯑tus; ſhe would perhaps puſh her Defence further, and tell you, that though ſhe de⯑liver'd Samſon to the Philiſtines to be kept Priſoner, yet ſhe neither drove a Nail through his Head, nor cut it off. But for Helen, give me Leave to tell you, it is a great Diſpute amongſt the Hiſtorians, whether ſhe was forced away by Paris, or went by her own Conſent; ſeveral are of the former Opinion; and ^* Hoelztzim ſays plainly, he wonders Homer will put ſuch a ridiculous Story upon the World, as to make her the Occaſion of the Trojan War. (Menelaus, it muſt be confeſſed, Madam, if the Story be true, was a very eaſy good⯑natur'd Huſband, who would be at ſo much Pains and Charge to fetch back a Wife who run away with another Man. I do not remember in my own Memory, to have known above five or ſix Examples like it). And Plato in Phaed. ſpeaks as if [181] the belying her were the Cauſe of Homer's Blindneſs, as well as of Steſichorus's; but that the latter underſtood the Way of ex⯑piating his Fault better, and made his Re⯑cantation to this Effect, That there was not a Word of Truth in the Story of her going to Troy. If Clytemneſtra was conſenting to her Huſband's Death, yet it was Egiſt⯑hus, a Man, who gave the Blow: And if Thais did adviſe the burning Perſepolis, yet it was no leſs a Perſon than Alexander the Great who put it in Execution. And as for Deianira and Cleopatra, whatever Fata⯑lity arrived to their Lovers from them, may certainly be very well excuſed upon the Innocence of their Intentions, and their Pu⯑niſhment of themſelves afterwards, the one hanging, the other poiſoning herſelf. If the Capuan Women deſtroyed Hannibal's Army, they deſtroyed a Body of Enemies that all the Men in Italy could not. In like manner, for your other Inſtances we might tell you, that Procopius, who tells thoſe terrible Stories of Theodora, Anecdota, is ſo very paſſionate all along, and mixes ſuch ridiculous Fables with what he tells, that there is no great Credit to be given to him. (This Procopius was a Soldier un⯑der Juſtinian, and has writ, amongſt other Things, a ſecret Hiſtory of thoſe Times: In this he repreſents the Empreſs Theodora [182] more like a Devil than a Woman; he makes her and the Emperor converſe frequently with Spirits, and makes her put them to an Employment, that ſavours more of the Fleſh than the Spirit.) Though granting ſhe was as lewd as he repreſents her, what Wonder is it, that one who had been a ſtro⯑ling Play-wench, and common Strumpet before the Emperor married her, ſhould not turn Saint after? If the ^*Princeſs of Parma embroiled Flanders, ſhe did it by the Command of Philip, for whom ſhe go⯑verned. And as for your two Queen Mary's, Cauſſin, in his Holy Court you know, makes a Saint of the One, and Parſons, of the Other, with whom I leave you to fight it out, not thinking our Diſpute very much concerned in it.

Then, Sir, if there are Impertinents, if there are ridiculous Perſons of the other Sex, I hope you do not think they are all Platos, nor all Ariſtotles of our own; And I will undertake, for every Woman who plagues you with her Buſineſs, for every woud-bee Politician, and for every Pedant amongſt them, to bring you double the Number of the Men. If Olivia is imper⯑tinent in the Plain-Dealer, I hope there are Novels and Plauſibles who keep her [183] Company; And if I ſhould carry you to a City Coffee-Houſe, and there ſhew you a Parcel of People talking of Things that they underſtand nothing at all of; and ſettling the Governments of Countries, which they never ſaw as much as in a Map: From thence to a Play-Houſe, and ſhew you the pert and inſipid Railery of the Sparks upon the Vizard-Maſks: From thence to a New-Market Courſe, and enter you at a Table, where you ſhould hear nothing talked of but Dogs and Horſes: From thence to a Tavern, and ſhew you a Set of Men in their drunken Frolics: I fancy you would wiſh yourſelf in your Drawing-Room again, as a more agreeable Folly than any of thoſe I have mentioned. And I appeal to you, whether Lucian in his Ti⯑mon, Boileau in his eighth Satire, and my Lord Rocheſter in his upon the like Sub⯑ject, ſay not as much againſt Mankind, and make them as ridiculous as you can do the Women. And I will aſſure you, Sir, I am far from being of the Duke of Bri⯑tanny's Mind, that Learning is unfit for a Woman; and ſhall, without any Offence, either to him or you, continue of the ſame Opinion, till you have anſwer'd Anna Ma⯑ria Schurman's Arguments in their Be⯑half, and till you have taken away her⯑ſelf, who is one of the beſt Arguments.

[184] (This Anna Maria Schurman was a Dutch Lady of Utrecht, of whom you will hear more anon. There was a long Diſpute between her and Rivetus, Whether Learning was fit for Women? 'Tis printed in her Works in Latin. Here, Madam, there follows a tedious Chapter, of Women who have been famous for Wit and Learning; which though it may be convenient for thoſe who queſtion their Abilities that Way, yet I do not ſee of what Uſe it can be to your Ladyſhip, or to any who have the Honour of being acquainted with you; therefore if you pleaſe, Madam, we will caſt off here, and take Hands again at the Bottom.)

Nor indeed you fear that I ſhould ſearch three ſeveral Countries, and three ſeveral Ages, to furniſh me with a learned Wo⯑man apiece. No, Sir, even Greece itſelf, to go no further, had nine Muſes, nine Siblys, and nine Lyric Poeteſſes, if you are delighted with the Number Nine, which is three times three. And if you have more Mind to Particulars, we will ſhew you there ^* Megaloſtrate the Miſtreſs of Alcman, who had a Gift of Poetry as well as he; the Daughters of ^† Steſichorus, who [185] were as good Poets as their Father. We have alſo an Eretrian Sapho, as well as ſhe who was in Love with Phaon; Erinna, and Demophila, the firſt the Miſtreſs of Sapho, the other equal to her, who flou⯑riſhed all four in the ſame Time. After theſe we have Theano, the Wife of Pytha⯑goras, who undertook his School when he was dead, with two others of the ſame Name (if you will believe Suidas) whereof one was a Lyric Poeteſs, the other a Thurian, who writ of Pythagoras. We have alſo about the ſame time Cleobulina (the Daugh⯑ter of Cleobulus, one of the ſeven Wiſe Men of Greece) a Poeteſs, and Corinna who had the Surname given her of The Lyric Muſe. We have preſently after Teleſilla, an Argive Poeteſs, not only famous for her Wit, but for her inſpiring her Country-women with ſo much Courage, as to make them put to Flight the Spartiates, who came upon them in the Abſence of their Husbands. At the ſame time lived Praxilla, one of the nine Lyrics, and of whom we have a Copy of Verſes to Calais yet extant; What will you ſay to Aſpatia Mileſia, who is celebrated as a Sophiſtreſs, (you know the Word ^* So⯑phiſter was not then abuſed) a Teacher of Rhetoric, and a Poeteſs? There was alſo Heſtiaea, mentioned by Strabo; Antyte, by [186] Tatian; and Nyſſis, by Antipater Theſſalus; of the two laſt of which there are ſome Things yet extant. If you have a Mind to ſee what they did after they turned Chri⯑ſtians, we will produce Eudocia, the Wife of Theodoſius, inſtructed in all ſort of Learn⯑ing, and who writ ſeveral Treatiſes, very much cried up by Photius. I have not ſaid a Word here of Laſthemia the Mantinaean, nor Axiothea the Phliaſian, tho' they are mentioned amongſt the Diſciples of Plato, by Diogenes Laertius; and I own I forgot Hipparchia, whoſe Life he writes, and commends both as a Philoſopher and a Wri⯑ter of Tragedies, and Hedyle the Poeteſs, whom Athenaeus quotes, and ^* Voſſius it ſeems has forgot them as well as I. I queſtion not but there are ſeveral others whoſe Names we want, and I queſtion not but there are ſeveral named whom I remember not: However this is enough to let you ſee we are not ſo hard put to it as you ima⯑gine, ſince one little Country can furniſh us with all theſe. What ſay you, Sir, are you yet ſatisfied there are Women of Wit and Learning? or ſhall we fetch you the ^† Cornelia you mentioned, ^‡ Sempronia, [187] ^* Corniſicia, Polla Argentaria the Wife of Lucan, and who aſſiſted him in his Poem; Sulpitia, Proba Falconia, Helpine the Wife of Boetius, from among the Latins? Or if theſe are not enow, ſhall we bring up our Reſerves of Italian, Spaniſh, French, Ger⯑man, and Engliſh? And if you are not yet contented, becauſe I fancy every Body elſe is, I ſhall refer you to Jacobus a Sancto Carolo's Library of Women, illuſtrious for their Writings; or to Anna Maria Schurman, who was indeed a Library herſelf, ſince you mention her. Pardon me, Sir, if I detain you a little longer than ordinary with this Woman; and though you may think it loſt Time, becauſe you knew it before, yet it is poſſible every Body does not know, that ſhe was very well skilled in the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Turkiſh, Greek, Latin, French, Engliſh, Italian, Spaniſh, German, Dutch, and Flemiſh Languages; that ſhe had a very good Faculty at Poetry and Painting; that ſhe was a perfect Mi⯑ſtreſs of all the Philoſophies; that the greateſt Divines of her Time were proud of her Judgment in their own Profeſſion; and that when we had this Character of her, ſhe was not above thirty Years of Age. What think you, Sir, is not this Woman ſufficient of herſelf? Or ſhall we refer you to Ma⯑demoiſelle [188] ^* Gournay among the French, or ^† Lucretia Marinella among the Italians, who have both writ in Defence of their Sex, and who are both Arguments them⯑ſelves of the Excellency of it? I ſhall not as much as mention any of thoſe Ladies whoſe Wit Balzac and Voiture ſo much ad⯑mire; I ſhall ſay nothing of the Meſde⯑moſelles Scuderie and Le Fevre, to the firſt of which we do not only owe ſeveral ex⯑cellent Treatiſes publiſhed under her own Name, but who is ſaid alſo to have had a great Share in thoſe that appear under her Brother's; and to the latter of which we are obliged for ſo many admirable Verſions, and judicious Obſervations upon moſt of the Greek and Latin Poets. I ſhall not as much as trouble you with our own Country-Women. I ſhall ſay nothing of Sir Thomas More's Daughters, about whoſe Education ^‡ Eraſ⯑mus has written; I ſhall paſs by Sir Nicholas Bacon's, who were as learned as they; ſhall ſay nothing of Sir Philip Sidney's Lady Pem⯑broke; nor as much as mention Mrs. Phi⯑lips, or any of the reſt of our Engliſh Poeteſſes; but I can hardly forbear ſaying ſomething of the Lady Jane Gray, of whom all Nations elſe ſpeak, and whoſe Fame is [189] more celebrated in Italy, both for her Learning and Piety, by the Account that Michael Angelo has given them of her, than it is here at home. Should I reckon up all thoſe Ladies whoſe Wit and Learning has been celebrated by our own Poets; ſhould I but enter upon the Praiſes of Queen Eliza⯑beth of England, or Mary of Scotland, in that Particular, I ſhould never have done. But I can hardly omit two Ladies who are Strangers, and however I am ſtraitned for Room, yet methinks I ought to be juſt to thoſe who were civil to me; ſince there⯑fore I received particular Favours from the Procurator Cornara, during my Stay at Venice, let me not paſs over in ſilence his Daughter, for whom moſt of the greateſt Princes, and Learned Men of Europe have teſtified ſuch an Eſteem. This Lady, be⯑ſides her Skill in Rhetoric, Logic, Muſic, and Aſtronomy, writ and ſpoke perfectly well ſeven ſeveral Languages; and made the Courſe of all the ſpeculative Sciences with ſo much Succeſs, that ſhe might very well profeſs herſelf a Miſtreſs of them; and all this before ſhe was thirty Years of Age. Her Siſter, whom I had the Honour to ſee (ſhe herſelf being dead ſome Time before) is likewiſe a Perſon of very ſingular Endowments; and all this whilſt they are one of the beſt Families of a Town, where [190] the Nobility ſeem almoſt as proud of their Ignorance, as their Liberty. The other I ſhall mention, is Chriſtina Queen of Sweden, a Princeſs whoſe Accompliſhments are ſo generally known, that it is enough to have named her; a Lady of that true Judgment, that ſhe knew how to eſteem Wit and Learning at the ſame Time that ſhe de⯑ſpiſed Crowns; and ſeemed to be born as a ſufficient Recompence to the Common⯑wealth of Letters, for all the Miſchiefs her Predeceſſors the Goths and Vandals had done it before; I am ſatisfied it is impoſſible for me to add any Thing to a Glory ſo eſta⯑bliſhed as that of this Princeſs is; yet as I never paſſed any Time either with greater Benefit, or greater Satisfaction, than what I paſſed in her Converſation, ſo I am very well pleaſed, methinks, with any thing that gives me Occaſion to call it to my Remem⯑brance. There might be as advantageous Characters, perhaps, given of ſome Ladies of our own Country now living, did not their Modeſty, that inſeparable Quality of Wit and Women, deter me from it.

We might tell you farther, Sir, that this Modeſty too often hinders them from make⯑ing their Virtues known: That they are not of thoſe eternal Scriblers who are con⯑tinually plagueing the World with their Works; and that it is not the Vanity of [191] getting a Name, which ſeveral of the greateſt Men of the World have owned to be the Cauſe of their writing, that is the Cauſe of the Womens. Had not Sapho been ſo much in Love, it is poſſible we had never heard any Mention of one of the greateſt Wits that ever was born; had not Cicero and Quintilian given us Accounts of Cor⯑nelia, and the Daughters of Laelius, and Hortenſius, they had never done it them⯑ſelves; had not Jane Gray been put to Death, her Virtues had never been ſo much taken notice of; had not the Portugueze Nun been deſerted by her Gallant, we had miſſed ſome of the moſt paſſionate Letters that theſe latter Ages have pro⯑duced; and had not Anna Maria Schur⯑man's Works been publiſhed by a Friend, without her Conſent, we had loſt the Be⯑nefit of them. We may tell you too, that it is not only in reſpect of their own Sex that they are admired, but even of ours. That of thoſe two Odes we have yet of Sapho, we owe one to Dionyſius Halicar⯑naſſaeus, the other to Longin, the two beſt Critics of Greece, who choſe them out for Examples to their Rules, before any of the Mens: That the Epiſtle of Sapho to Phaon, which is eſteemed the moſt delicate of Ovid's, is ſuppoſed to be taken out of her Writings: That Corinna was five Times [192] victorious over Pindar, the beſt Lyric Poet of our Sex. And were we here in England as forward in printing Letters, as they are in France and Italy, we might furniſh Vo⯑lumes of them written by our own Ladies, that would make all the Women-haters bluſh, or make all Men elſe bluſh for them.

(Here, Madam, I muſt own to you I grew jealous, for I could not imagine that PHILOGYNES would have ſaid this, without having ſeen ſome of your Ladyſhip's Let⯑ters.)

We may tell you too, that granting the equal Capacities of both Sexes, it is a greater Wonder to find one Learned Woman, than a hundred Learned Men, conſidering the Difference of their Educations. If you ſhould go into Greece, and, ſeeing the Ig⯑norance is among them at preſent, tell them their Countrymen were incapable of learn⯑ing, would you not be very well ſatisfied, when they told you of the Platos and Ari⯑ſtotles of Antiquity? And that if they had not as famous Men now, it was becauſe they have not the ſame Advantages they had then? And pray why may not the Women be allowed the ſame Excuſe? Will you by your Laws and Cuſtoms en⯑deavour to keep them ignorant, and then blame them for being ſo? And forbid all [193] Men of Senſe keeping them Company, as you do, and yet be angry with them for keeping Company with Fools? Conſider what Time and Charge is ſpent to make Men fit for ſomewhat; Eight or Nine Years at School; Six or Seven Years at the Uni⯑verſity; Four or Five Years in Travel; and after all this, are they not almoſt all Fops, Clowns, Dunces, or Pedants? I know not what you think of the Women; but if they are Fools, they are Fools, I am ſure, with leſs Pains, and leſs Expence than we are.

Upon ſecond Thoughts I hope, Sir, you will allow, that Women may have Wit and Learning; for their Courage and Con⯑duct we may poſſibly ſay more anon. But for Heaven's ſake, do not aggravate their Faults always at that Rate; for whatever Sapho's Life and Converſation were, there is nothing in her Writings, but what re⯑preſents the moſt tender, and delicate Paſ⯑ſion in the World: And as for Aloiſia Sigaea, (I give you Thanks for putting me in mind of ^* Aloiſia Sigaea,) who was as remarkable for her Wit and Learning as any of the other, I am very well aſſured you do not believe that infamous Book which goes un⯑der her Name, to have been written by her; ^† all who ſpeak of it aſſure us the [194] contrary; and that ſhe was ſo far from writing it, that ſhe ^† never publiſhed any Thing: On the other ſide, all Hiſtorians repreſent her as remarkable for her Virtue as her Learning. For the Queen of Sheba, there is no mention in Scripture of her Travelling for any Thing but to be ſatiſ⯑fied with the Wiſdom of Solomon; however, if you will believe ſhe went to him, for the ſame Reaſon that ^‡ Thaleſtris did to Alexander the Great; it was no ſuch great Matter, in Countries where is was thought no Sin, if the one had a Mind to have a Child by the wiſeſt Man in the World, and the other by the braveſt. After all, we muſt own if there are lewd Women, they endeavour to conceal their Lewdneſs, they do not brag of it, nor fly openly in the Face of Religion; and if they once come to be publicly diſcovered, they are rendered infamous to all the World, and their neareſt Friends and Relations avoid their Company: Whilſt there are ſeveral Men who boaſt of their Iniquities, value themſelves upon their being thought lewd, and what is worſe, find others to value them upon it too; nay, by their Incitements and Encouragements to Wickedneſs, often bring themſelves to that Paſs, that the leaſt [195] Part of the Sins they are to anſwer for, are what they have committed themſelves. But not a Word more, I beſeech you, of Sapho, nor her new Crime, let Lucian be forgot⯑ten for putting us in mind of it, and let it be cloiſtered up within the Walls of a Turkiſh Seraglio; I ſpeak not this in Behalf of the Female Sex, but of our own; for if they ſhould once hear of this Argument, and fall upon us with ^* Socrates, ^† Plato, and all thoſe Heroes of Antiquity whom Plutarch and Lucian produce in Defence of a like Sin in our Sex; ſhould they mention Anacreon, Tibullus, Martial, and all thoſe Poets who have eternized their Infamy in their Writings; and after that ſhew you what Progreſſes this Crime has made, not only in the Turk's Dominion, but even in Spain and Italy, I am ſure, Sir, you would wiſh you had ſaid nothing of a Point, that may be ſo ſeverely made uſe of againſt our ſelves.

Now tho' you are pleaſed to quote the Lampoons, yet you think, as well as I, that ſuch Things are not worth any bodies take⯑ing notice of; we both know there are a ſort of People about this Town, who pleaſe themſelves with Defamations: One of theſe, [196] if they ſee a Man ſpeak to a Woman, make their little Signs, their politic Winks, and poſſibly when they meet him, in their in⯑ſipid Way of Railery, tax him with it: If he is angry at them, then he is piqued, and afraid the Intrigue ſhould be found out; If he ſays nothing (as it deſerves nothing) then he is out of Countenance, and cannot ſay a Word; and if he laughs at them (which is all the Anſwer a Man would make to ſuch Stuff) then he is pleaſed with the Thing; ſo that every Way the poor Lady's Reputation ſuffers; and theſe Sparks ſhall not fail to blow it about Town, that there is an Amour; not that they think ſo of you, but that you may return the Com⯑pliment, and ſay ſo of them, when they ſpeak to any Lady themſelves.

For their Garrulity, if you would ſee Things which are againſt you, in that Treatiſe of ^* Plutarch, from whence you bring two of your Inſtances, you might have been furniſhed with enow of the Mens. But tho' it is lawful to forget Stories that are not for you, yet methinks you ought to tell out thoſe you do mention; and when we have heard that the Wife of Fulvius, ſeeing what ſhe had done, ſhewed her Huſ⯑band the Way to avoid the Conſequences of it, by ſtabing herſelf firſt; we muſt cer⯑tainly [197] own, that ſuch a Woman had Vir⯑tue enough to make Amends for all her Faults. And if in Anſwer to the Inſtances you bring, I ſhould mention the ^* Melitiſh, or the Saxon Women, who tho' they were all engaged in Plots with their Husbands, yet not one diſcovered it; If I ſhould ſhew you ^† Leaena at Athens, or ^‡ Epicharis at Rome, who being both engaged in Plots, one againſt the Tyrant Piſiſtratus, the other againſt Nero, yet could not by all their Tortures, be brought to diſcover them; and that the former, for fear her Torments ſhould make her reveal it, bit off her Tongue; certainly, Sir, you would have a better Opinion of their Taciturnity. But we need not go ſo far for Inſtances; our own Country, and our own Time, will furniſh us with enow. In all the Plots we have had continually on foot, tho' we have had Women engaged and accuſed; tho' there was one pilloried in the firſt, three executed in another, and ſixteen or ſeven⯑teen excepted in a General Pardon; though there have been ſeveral ſeized upon like Accounts ſince, yet, you ſee, there has not been one of them who ever made a Diſ⯑covery. [198] Give me leave, Sir, to commend them for their Virtues at the ſame Time that I am far from defending their Faults; and though I have a very good Opinion of thoſe Men who diſcover a Conſpiracy upon Remorſe of Conſcience, yet I muſt take leave to believe that there are ſome, at leaſt, who do it upon another Account; and without any Sorrow at all for their Deſign, except that it did not ſucceed, think to ſave their own Lives, by the Sacrifice of other Peoples; and make Amends for their Treaſon againſt the Government, by their Treachery to their Friends.

But no Wonder you are ſo ſevere upon the Faults of modern Women, when you fall upon thoſe whom all Antiquity has reverenced. It is hard that Jael and Ju⯑dith, whoſe Actions have been ſo long ad⯑mired, ſhould be called to Account for them ſo many thouſand Years after. It would be an Injury to their Cauſe, to ſay any Thing in their Defence; and a Pre⯑ſumption in me to juſtify Actions, that the Scripture has celebrated ſo much. But muſt poor Penelope fall under your Diſplea⯑ſure too? I am ſenſible how much ſhe is like to ſuffer, who is defended by ſo dull a Fellow as Homer, againſt thoſe moſt inge⯑nious Gentlemen, who are the Lampooners of our Age: However, as their Ability in [199] Scandal needs no foreign Aid; and as I am ſatisfied they would think it a Diſparage⯑ment to them to be reckoned with Virgil and Ovid, let us free them, pray, from ſuch unworthy Companions. For the for⯑mer, I believe you are fully ſatisfied the Priapeia are none of his; and as fully ſa⯑tisfied that the Authority of ſuch ſort of Verſes is not extreamly much to be depend⯑ed upon: And for Ovid, if in the Perſon of a Bawd, who he tells you was a Liar, he gives you a Reflection upon Penelope; yet he makes her very ſufficient Amends, when ^* he ſpeaks in his own Perſon. And taking the Story as it lies, that her Houſe was always full of Lovers whom ſhe could by no Means get away; Laertes being too old, Telemachus too young to encounter them; it certainly ſhews her Virtue ſo much the more: For as there is no great Cou⯑rage required to keep a Fortreſs in the Time of Peace, ſo a very little Virtue is ſufficient to preſerve that Chaſtity which no Body ever thought it worth his While to attempt. Now if Lycophron and Duris Samius repre⯑ſent her as a lewd Woman, as I underſtand not how they ſhould come to know it, all [200] the Writers who lived before them giving ſo very different an Account; ſo for Ly⯑cophron, it is no great Wonder a Greek and a Poet ſhould lye; or that Duris Samius, ſeeing the Etymology of the Word Pan come ſo pat, ſhould feed us with a Story upon it, of his own Invention. (Pan you remember, Madam, in Greek ſignifies All, and who would not tell a Lye for ſo pretty a Conceit?) You may obſerve alſo, that this Author was not of ſo eſtabliſhed a Re⯑putation as Cicero would make us believe, ſince ^* Plutarch, who quotes him once, does it only to contradict him in a Point of Hiſtory, that he ought to have known better than this. For Lucretia, obſerve of Sir Charles Sidley, as of Ovid before, that he only makes the Bawd ſay it; and if you conſider the Fear in which ſhe was, you will find that that Paſſion often makes Peo⯑ple run into a greater Danger to avoid a leſs, of which you have Inſtances enow in our own Plantations, of the ^† Slaves who hang themſelves, to avoid their being beat.

After all this, Sir, if you ſtill think with Le Chambre that Men have a greater natu⯑ral Inclination to Virtue than Women, yet I hope you will grant they have taken a very becoming Care to overcome that Inclina⯑tion; [201] and if Nature has not given ſo large a Talent to the other Sex, yet they have improved that Talent much better than we have done ours. Then for your In⯑ſtances of ſome few ill Women, I tell you, as I did before, that the Cauſe in general is not at all concerned in them; and when I ſhew you an Atreus cutting his Brother's Children in Pieces, and giving them to him to eat; a Phalaris roaſting People alive in a brazen Bull; a Buſyris murdering all his Gueſts; a Nero ripping open the Womb of his Mother, to ſee the Place where he had lain; and ſo for every Crime of that Sex, ſhew you how far they have been outdone by ſome of our own, as that ^* Italian Lady I mentioned does in her Treatiſe upon a like Occaſion, I am ſure you will find a very great Diſadvan⯑tage of your Side. But I take you at your Word, let us go a Circuit with the Judges, and if you find not ſix Men condemn'd for one Women, I will pay the Charges of the Journey. It is true, indeed, as moſt of the Women who are condemn'd, are ſo, for a Crime which they commit to pre⯑vent their Shame; ſo the Care of that, and Hypocriſy, are two Faults of which out Sex is not ſo generally guilty. Now though [202] I do not think myſelf obliged to ſay one Word for any one of thoſe Women you have condemned; and ſhall therefore leave Phoedra and Fauſta to your Mercy, though neither of them expected the Cruelty of their Husbands ſhould have carried Things ſo far; and ſhall not argue much for Se⯑miramis, though certainly her having all the Bravery, Wiſdom, and Virtues of our Sex in the greateſt Perfection, might move you to forgive her the having ſome of our Faults; and for her putting Men to Death, I am contented that every one who boaſt of Ladies Favours ſhould be ſerved in the ſame Manner; (Here, Madam, I cannot at all agree with Philogynes, becauſe it might be ſevere upon ſome honeſt Gentlemen, whom all the Laws againſt Adultery and Fornication would never reach.) Yet me⯑thinks I have an Inclination to ſay ſome⯑what for Queen Joan of Naples, becauſe ſhe is generally repreſented ſo very ill. The common ^* Story is, that having married Andreoſſa an Hungarian, and her Kinſman; and not finding him ſo capable of ſatisfying her, as his Youth and Beauty promiſed, ſhe cauſed him to be ſtrangled in a Silk Cord of her own making. The firſt and chief Author of this Story is Villani, a Flo⯑rentine, [203] (for ^* Collenuccio takes it from him, though, as ſuch Things uſe, it has loſt no⯑thing in his Hands) who tells you that he had it from a ^†Relation made to his Bro⯑ther by a certain Hungarian, who had been a Servant of Andreoſſa's; and in his Return to Hungary, paſſed through Florence. Now the Author of this Story being an Hunga⯑rian, one of thoſe of whom Petrarch writes ſo much ill, and alſo a Servant of the dead King, he ought to ſpeak paſſionately againſt the Queen, of whom they were profeſſed Enemies: You may obſerve alſo, that the ^‡Letter which Lewis the Brother of Andreoſſa writes to her at the Time that he came with a potent Army to revenge his Brother's Death, ſpeaks of her being privy to it, as a Thing that was ſuſpected, rather than a Thing that did plainly ap⯑pear. On the other ſide, ^‖ Boccace, who lived a great while in that Court, throws all the Blame of the Action upon the Con⯑ſpirators, and none at all upon the Queen. After all, believe as you pleaſe, and do as you pleaſe with all theſe Women who have [204] offended you: If Helen runs away from Menelaus, let all Greece arm, and fetch her back again; If Clytemneſtra conſents to the killing Agamemnon, let Oreſtes kill her for it; If Semiramis puts the Men ſhe has made Uſe of to Death, let her own Son ſerve her in the ſame Manner; If Joan of Naples cauſes Andreoſſa to be ſtrangled, let Durazzo cauſe her to be ſtrangled in the ſame Place; Let not your Severity ſtop there, but let their Infamy live when they themſelves are dead; and let the Euripides's, the Juvenals, and the Miſogynes's, ſet out their Actions in their true Colours. But let the Buſineſs go no farther, I beſeech you. Let not Hecuba, nor Andromache ſuffer, becauſe Helen is a wanton Woman; nor Penelope be run down, becauſe Clytemneſtra is an ill Wife; and if Joan of Naples ſtrangles her Husband, let not all thoſe who have died for theirs, fall under the ſame Condemnation. It is one of the chiefeſt Ends of Puniſhments to diſtinguiſh the Good from the Bad, do not you there⯑fore by Puniſhments confound them. If Tibullus and Ovid's Miſtreſſes jilt their Lovers, let it be remembered againſt them two thouſand Years after; and if Miſogy⯑nes's ſerve him ſo, let him ſhew his Re⯑ſentment in as ſevere a Manner as he pleaſes. Let him diſdain the mean Revenge of ma⯑licious [205] Whiſpers, and nameleſs Lampoons, and the much meaner Way of railing at all, becauſe one has injured him; but let him boldly hunt her out from the Herd; let him publiſh her Infamy in laſting Charac⯑ters; though ſhe is free from Conſcience, let her be plagued with the Stings of Shame; and let all Women be terrified by her Ex⯑ample from being falſe to Men of Wit, or kind to Fools. But let him have very full Sa⯑tisfaction of the Matter of Fact firſt; let him not go upon dubious Grounds, nor jealous Surmiſes; let him not believe the Vanity of ſome, nor the Malice of others; let him conſider the Stories of ^* Bradamante in Arioſto, of Aureſtilla in Conſalo de Cepedes, of Othello in Shakeſpeare, and let him ſee how far Jealouſy may ſeem reaſonable, whilſt nevertheleſs the Perſon of whom they are jealous may be innocent. After all, I give you even in that greater Power than I ſhould care to take myſelf; I would rather by other Peoples Faults correct my own, and ſhould think the nobleſt Re⯑venge a Man could take upon a Woman who injured him, would be the doing ſome Action that would make all the World ad⯑mire him; I would have every body up⯑braid her with my Wrongs, whilſt I myſelf was ſilent: It is true, if by the Injuries ſhe [206] did me, there were any Aſperſions caſt upon my Reputation; there Juſtice to myſelf would oblige me to make the Story public: But I would certainly endeavour to reclaim her by Mildneſs, before I made Uſe even of that Severity; and as I ſhould ſcorn any Favour that was the Effect of Fear, ſo if I once broke into an open War, all the Sub⯑miſſion ſhe could make ſhould never bring me to an Amity again, though perhaps my own Good-nature might in Time prevail upon me for a Forgiveneſs.

This, Sir, is what I thought neceſſary to reply to what you ſaid; in which I ſee we have quite exceeded the Bounds of a Dia⯑logue, and turn'd that into Declamation, which was intended only for Converſation. I have troubled the Company ſo much al⯑ready, that I dare treſpaſs no farther upon their Patience, and ſhall therefore omit ſome other Things, which I intended to have ſaid upon this Occaſion.

You are like thoſe People, cry'd Miſogy⯑nes, who when they have provided all the Dainties they could get, make an Apolo⯑gy at the End of the Treat, for their hav⯑ing got no more: If I am not altogether convinced of the Goodneſs of your Cauſe, yet I am very well convinced that you have ſaid all the Cauſe will bear.

[207] Tho' perhaps I ſhould have no great Mercy upon you, replied Philogynes, yet I have too much for theſe Gentlemen, to detain them ſo long, as to hear all that I could ſay upon ſo glorious an Occaſion. Should I make a Collection of what is writ⯑ten by the beſt Authors of Antiquity in their Praiſes; ſhould I but refer you to what Stobaeus has collected for them, ſince you mention what he has done againſt them; ſhould I but tranſcribe what ¹ Plu⯑tarch, ² Lodovicus Vives, ³ Speron Spe⯑rone, the moſt Learned of his Countrymen, ⁴ Ribera, ⁵ Hilarion de Coſtè, ⁶ Scu⯑derie, and a thouſand others have ſaid of them in Treatiſes written expreſly in their Praiſes: ſhould I but ſearch all the Biblio⯑theques for a Catalogue of thoſe who were famous for their Writings; Should I after⯑wards tell you of thoſe who were remark⯑able for their Piety, conjugal Affection, Penitence, and Contempt of worldly Va⯑nities; ſhould I but repeat the Names of [208] thoſe who have died for the Preſervation of their Chaſtity; ſhould I ſhew you a ^*Country even at this Day, where they cannot by any Severity hinder Women from burning themſelves with the Bodies of their deceaſed Husbands: Should I mention the Women of ^† Cios, amongſt whom for ſeven hundred Years there never was the leaſt Mention of any Adultery, or Fornication; ſhould I tell you that the firſt of thoſe Sins was ſo little known amongſt the Spartans, that they did not think it worth their while to make any Law againſt it: (Now, ſaid my Friend, whether this were not as good an Argument of the Mens Chaſtity as the Womens, I leave you to judge; but really I think not, Madam; for beſides Intrigues with their own Sex, which were common enough amongſt the Men in thoſe Eaſtern Countries; I do not doubt but the Men, being Men of Honour, would ask; though the Women, being Women of Honour, would deny.) Should I but give you a Liſt of the Martyrs of that Sex, from thoſe who ſuffered under Tiberius, to thoſe who ſuf⯑fered under our own Queen Mary, I fancy I ſhould make you aſhamed of your Simo⯑nides, your Juvenal, and all your Satiriſts [209] put together. Should I after this defend them in the Virtue to which they are thought to have leaſt Pretences, which is, Courage; ſhould I but name thoſe who have been famous for their warlike Atchieve⯑ments; ſhould I tell you of Deborah, Pen⯑theſilaea, Thaleſtris, Camilla; ſhould I ſhew you a Country ^* of Amazons, even in our own Time: Should I carry you into France, and ſhew you a warlike Virgin (at leaſt an unmarried Woman) whoſe Memory is ſtill annually celebrated by one of their chiefeſt ^† Towns, and who, beſides her Fame in their Chronicles, has given a Subject to one of the moſt famous ^‡ Heroic Poems which that Nation has produced; would you not, after all, confeſs they might very eaſily be defended, even in this Point too? But I ſhall wave that; I am ſatisfied with the Care univerſal Cuſtom has taken of them; and as Seamen in a Storm, to preſerve their Things of greateſt Value, throw away thoſe of leſs; ſo I am very well pleaſed that Mankind ſhould be expoſed to the Hazards of War, whilſt the Fair Sex is preſerved in Safety at Home, whoſe Smiles are the nobleſt Reward a brave Man can [210] deſire for all the Hazards and Fatigues he has endured in a Campagne.

But it is generally agreed that all Virtues are requiſite for thoſe who govern well; and ſince there are ſome Countries where Women are excluded from the Throne, and no Country where they are not poſt⯑poned, it would be convenient, methinks, to ſee what they do, when by Accident they are placed upon it. I ſhall not trouble you here with Deborah, nor Eſther, nor as much as mention Semiramis, though you have mentioned her upon another Occa⯑ſion; and yet certainly the Bravery of moſt of her Actions ought to make us forget the Faults of ſome few; but I ſhall confine myſelf within the Bounds of our own Country.

^*At a Time when the Britons groaned under the Servitude of the Romans; when the King, by thinking to oblige the Em⯑peror, gave him an Opportunity of pillag⯑ing his Country; and that their Patience under their Sufferings, was only a Means of making them more; When their Houſes were robbed, their Wives and Daughters raviſhed, and their Sons taken away from them; then Boadicea aroſe, and by her Courage, as well as Eloquence, inſpired [211] her diſpirited Countrymen with a Reſolu⯑tion of throwing off that Yoke which was grown intolerable to be born. It is true, indeed, the End was not anſwerable to the Succeſſes of the Beginning; nor to the Glory ſo heroic an Undertaking deſerved; however as it was neither Want of Courage nor Conduct in her, ſo we ought to render her that Veneration which is due to ſo reſolute an Enterprize.

But as one of the greateſt Attempts the Britons made for their Liberty was whilſt they were led by a Woman, ſo we muſt own the greateſt Glory our Nation could ever boaſt, was under the Government of one of the ſame Sex. It was in the Time of Queen Elizabeth that this Iſland arrived at that Pitch of Greatneſs, to which it had been aſcending for ſeveral Ages, and from which it has been declining, till very lately, ever ſince: It is the Name of this Princeſs that is dearer to all Engliſhmen, than the Names of all the Monarchs ſince the Con⯑queſt beſides, and the only one whoſe Birth⯑day has been celebrated after her Death, by the voluntary Gratitude of the People.

But however we may forget Things that are paſt, let us not overſee that which lies before our Eyes; and ſince the Occaſion is ſo very fair, I know not how we can omit the ſhewing our Senſe of thoſe Virtues, of [212] which the whole Nation has demonſtrated ſo grateful an Acknowledgment by the Body of their Repreſentatives; and never were they more truly their Repreſentatives before. Yes, Sir, without going to foreign Countries, without ſearching the Hiſtories of our own, we have even in our own Time, and our own Country, a Princeſs who has governed to their general Satiſ⯑faction, a People the moſt curious to pry into the Faults of their Governors, of any People under the Sun. A Princeſs, who though ſhe never ſhewed any Fondneſs of Vain-glory, or Authority, yet when the Neceſſity of the Kingdom called her to the Helm, managed Affairs with that Dexte⯑rity, which is very rarely found in thoſe who are the moſt ambitious of Command. Every Thing during that little Time of her Government, was ordered with that Cou⯑rage, Conduct, and Prudence, that her greateſt Friends cannot find Eloquence enough to commend, nor her greateſt Enemies the leaſt Pretences to condemn. Though ſhe had a Husband venturing his Life in another Country, with a Bravery equal to what has made us ſuſpect the Sto⯑ries of Antiquity; tho' our Fleet, the Bul⯑warks of the Nation, was managed in a Manner the Courage of the Engliſh Seamen was utterly unacquainted with; tho' a [213] Monarch, who thinks himſelf able to con⯑tend with all Europe together, ſeemed to make his utmoſt Efforts againſt a Princeſs, who had nothing but the univerſal Hearts of her Subjects to defend her; tho' all Chriſtendom was in Suſpence to ſee the Event of the Undertaking, and every little Prince had forgot his own Danger to con⯑template hers; even at this Time did we ſee her look with all the Unconcern ima⯑ginable, and whilſt every Body elſe was alarmed for her Safety, ſhe only ſeemed to have known nothing of the Danger. Not that this Unconcern proceeded from any Ignorance of her Condition, or unreaſon⯑able Contempt of her Adverſary; no, ſhe provided againſt their Attempts with all the Prudence could be wiſhed for, at the ſame Time that ſhe looked upon the Danger with all the Courage in Nature.

But however great theſe Virtues may appear, when they are ſet off by the Luſtre of a public Command, yet they are in Effect much greater, when they teach Peo⯑ple to deſpiſe all ſuch dazling Trifles. Here it is, Sir, that we have a freſh Field for Eloquence, when we ſee a Lady diſſatisfied at that Glory which ſhe had to every Bodies Satisfaction beſide, and grudge herſelf that Authority, which ſhe owed to the Abſence of a Husband whom ſhe loved ſo much [214] better than that. What think you, Sir, of that Alacrity, of that Joy with which ſhe reſigned up the Government? Does it not put you in mind of the old Roman Gene⯑rals, who quitted their Plough to command an Army, and when the Victory was gain'd, returned with greater Content to their Plough again? This is that Wiſdom which we ſhould admire; this is that Virtue which we ſhould adore; and we ought to deſpiſe all thoſe little Pretenders to Buſineſs, who thruſt themſelves into the Management of Affairs againſt every Bodies Will but their own; and having neither Virtue nor Pru⯑dence enough to retire from it at the uni⯑verſal Murmurs of the People, are gene⯑rally made Sacrifices at laſt to the juſt Re⯑ſentment of an enraged Nation.

Theſe are thoſe blazing Comets, whoſe fatal Glories portend Deſtruction to a Go⯑vernment, whilſt the Virtues of the others, like thoſe of the Sun, give it Life and Heat, by their benign Influence. Much more, Sir, might be ſaid in Defence of the Sex, which I ſhall purpoſely omit, becauſe I am ſatisfied I can never conclude with a more illuſtrious Example.