I.

You were pleas’d to desire, that, since
we cannot converse Personally,
we should converse by Letters, so as
if we were speaking to each other,
discoursing our Opinions, discovering
our Designs, asking and giving each other
Advice, also telling the several Accidents, and
several Imployments of our home-affairs, and
what visits we receive, or entertainments we
make, and whom we visit, and how we
are entertaind, what discourses we have in
our gossiping-meetings, and what reports we
hear of publick affairs, and of particular Persons,
and the like; so that our Letters may
present our personal meetings and associatings.
Truly, Madam, I take so much delight
in your wise, witty, and virtuous Conversation,
as I could not pass my life more pleasingA sing A1v 2
and delightfully; wherefore I am never
better pleased, than when I am reading your
Letters, and when I am writing Letters to you;
for my mind and thoughts are all that while in
your Company: the truth is, my mind and
thoughts live alwayes with you, although my
person is at distance from you; insomuch, as, if
Souls die not as Bodies do, my Soul will attend
you when my Body lies in the grave; and when
we are both dead, we may hope to have a Conversation
of Souls, where yours and mine will
be doubly united, first in Life, and then in
Death, in which I shall eternally be,

II.

The Lady C.E. ought not to be reproved
for grieving for the loss of her Beauty, for
Beauty is the Light of our Sex, which is Eclips’d
in Middle age, and Benighted in Old age, wherein
our Sex sits in Melancholy Darkness, and the
remembrance of Beauty past, is as a displeasing
Dream. The truth is, a young beautiful face is
a Friend, when as an old withered face is an Enemy,
the one causes Love, the other Aversion:
yet I am not of Mrs. U.R’s. humour, which had rather A2r 3
rather dye before her Beauty, than that her
Beauty should die before her: for I had rather
live with wrinkles, than die with youth; and
had rather my face cloth’d with Time’s sad
mourning, than with Death’s white hue; and
surely it were better to follow the shadow of
Beauty, than that Beauty should go with the
Corps to the Grave; and I believe that Mrs.
U.R. would do, as the tale is of a woman,
that did wish, and pray she might die before her
Husband, but when death came, she intreated
him to spare her, and take her Husband; so that
she would rather live without him, than die for
him. But leaving this sad discourse of Age,
Wrinkles, Ruin and Death, I rest,

III.

I do not wonder, there are great factions between
the three families C.Y.O. by reason
they have no business, or imployment to busie
their heads about, and their servants & followers
have as little to do, which makes them censure,
backbite, and envy each other; for Idleness and
Poverty are the creators of Faction, and Pride A2 and A2v 4
and Ambition the disturbers of Peace. Wherefore
Idleness should be banish’d out of every family,
which will also be a means to be rid of
Poverty, for Industry is the way to thrive: Besides,
when men have something to do, they will
have the less time to talk; for many words from
discontented persons increase hate, and make
dissentions: the truth is, words for the most
part make more discord than union, and more
enemies than friends; wherefore Silence is more
commendable than much Speaking, for the liberty
of the tongue doth rather express men’s
follies, than make known their wit; neither do
many words argue much Judgement; but as the
old Saying is, “The greatest talkers are the least
actors, they being more apt to speak spitefully,
than to act mischeviously”; another Saying is,
“That musing men rather study to do evil, than
contemplate on good”; But I am not of that opinion,
for if men would think more, and speak
less, the world of mankind would be more honest
and wiser than they are, for Thoughts beget
Consideration, Consideration begets Judgement,
Judgement begets Discretion, Discretion
begets Temperance, and Temperance begets
Peace in the Mind, and Health in the Body, for
when men want Temperance, they are subject
to Insatiable Appetites, unruly Passions, and wandring
Desires, which causes Covetousness and
Ambition, and these cause Envy and Hate,
which makes Faction and Strife, which Strife A3r 5
Strife I leave to Busie Natures, Restless
Minds, Vain Humours, and Idle Fools, and
rest,

IV.

The other day was here the Lady J.O. to
see me, and her three Daughters, which
are call’d the three Graces, the one is Black, the
other Brown, the third White, all three different
coloured beauties; also they are of different
features, statures and shapes, yet all three so
equally handsom, that neither Judgment nor
Reason can prefer one before another: Also
their behaviours are different; the one is Majestical,
the other Gay and Aery, the third
Meek and Bashful; yet all three graceful,
sweet and becoming: Also their Wits are different;
the one Propounds well, the other Argues
well, the third Resolves well; all which
make a harmony in discourse. These three
Ladies are resolv’d never to marry, which
makes many sad Lovers; but whilst they were
here, in comes the Lord S.C. and discoursing
with them, at last he asks them, whether they
were seriously resolv’d never to marry? they answered,
they were resolv’d never to marry: A3 But, A3v 6
“But, Ladies”, said he, “Consider, Time wears out
Youth, and fades Beauty, and then you will not
be the three young fair Graces”; “You say true,
my Lord”, answer’d one of them, “but when we
leave to be the young fair Graces, we shall then
be the old wise Sibyls. By this answer you may
perceive, that when our Sex cannot pretend to
be Fair, they will pretend to be Wise; but it
matters not what we pretend to, if we be really
Virtuous, which I wish all our Sex may be,
and rest,”

V.

In my opinion the marriage between Sir A.
G. and Mrs. J.S. is no wayes agreeable,
wherefore not probable to be bless’d with a happy
union, though she is likelyer to be the happier
of the two; for ’tis better to have an old
doting fool, than a wanton young filly; but he
will be very unhappy through Jealousie, what
with his Dotage, and her Freedom, which will
be like fire and oyl, to set his mind on a flame,
and burn out the lamp of his life: Truly, I did
wonder, when I heard they were married, knowing
her nature and his humour, for she loves
young masculine Company, and he loves onely a young A4r 7
a young female Companion; so that he cannot
enjoy her to himself, unless she barr her self
from all other men for his sake, which I believe
she will not do, for she will not bury her Beauty,
nor put her Wit to silence for the sake of her
Husband; for, if I be not mistaken, she will
love a young Servant better than an old Husband;
nay, if her Husband were young, she
would prefer variety of Servants, before a single
Husband, insomuch, that if she had been made,
when there was but One man, as Adam, she
would have done like her Grand mother Eve,
as to have been courted by the Devil, and would
betray her Husband for the Devil’s sake, rather
than want a Lover. But leaving the discourse
of Jealousie, Age, Courtship, and Devils, I rest,

VI.

In your last Letter you sent me word, that
Sir F.O. was retir’d to write his own Life,
for he saies, he knows no reason, but he may
write his own life as well as Guzman; and since
you desire my opinion of his intended work, I
can onely say, that his Life for any thing I know
to the contrary, hath been as evil as Guzman’s, I
know not, yet I doubt the worst, and to write an A4v 8
an Evil life without Wit, will be but a dull
and tedious Story, indeed so tedious and dull,
as I believe none will take the pains to read it,
unless he himself read of himself: but it is to
be hoped, that he will be tir’d of himself, and so
desist from his self Story. And if he do write
his own Life, it will be as a masking Dolphin
or such a thing, where the outside is painted
past-board or canvas, and the inside stuff’d with
shreds of paper, or dirty raggs, scrap’d from
dunghils: and if he set his Picture before, as a
Frontispiece to his Book, it will be like an ill-
favour’d masking Vizzard. But if he have any
Friends, surely they will perswade him to imploy
his time about something else; but some
are so unhappy, as they have nothing to imploy
Time with; they can waste Time, but not imploy
Time; and as they waste Time, so Time
wasts them. There’s a saying, That men are
born to live, and live to dye; but I think some
are onely born to dye, and not to live; for they
make small use of life, and life makes small use
of them; so that in effect they were ready for
the Grave, as soon as they came forth from the
Womb. Wherefore if Sir F.O. go forward
with his work, he will dig his Grave through
the story of his Life, and his Soul-less Wit
will be buried therein. But leaving his dead
Wit to his paper Coffin, and his unprofitable
Labours to his black mourning Ink, I rest,

VII.

I am sorry to hear, Wit is so little known and
understood, that Sir W.T. should be thought
Mad, because he hath more Wit than other
men; indeed Wit should alwayes converse
with Wit, and Fools with Fools; for Wit and
Fools can never agree, they understand not one
another; Wit flies beyond a Fools conceit or
understanding, for Wit is like an Eagle, it hath
a strong wing, and flies high and far, and when it
doth descend, it knocks a Fool on the head, as
an Eagle doth a Dotril, or a Woodcock, or such
like Birds; and surely the world was never
so fill’d with Fools, as it is in this age, nor hath
there been greater Errours, or grosser Follies
committed than there hath been in this age: It is
not an age like Augustus Cæsar’s, when Wisdom
reign’d, and Wit flourished, which was the
cause of Plenty & Peace throughout the whole
world: but in this age Debauchery is taken for
Wit, and Faction for Wisdom, Treachery for
Policy, and drunken Quarrels for Valour: Indeed
the world is so foolishly Wicked, & basely
Foolish, that they are happiest who can withdraw
themselves most from it: But when I say
the world, I mean the world of Men, or rather
the Bodies of Men, for there doth not seem
to be many Rational Souls amongst them, they B are B1v 10
are Soul-less men, Bodies of men that have only
Senses and Appetites, or Sensual Appetites.
But you say, every Particular complains of the
world, as I do in this Letter, yet None helps to
mend it. Let me tell you, Madam, it is not in
the power of every Particular, nor in a number,
But the Chiefest persons must mend the world;
viz. they that govern the world, or else the
world will be out at the heels. But in some
ages the world is more tatter’d and torn, than in
other ages; and in some ages the world is
patch’d and piec’d, but seldom new and suitable;
and it is oftener in a Fools-coat than in a Grave
Cassock. Wherefore leaving the motley, I
rest,

VIII.

You were pleas’d to invite me unto a Ball,
to divert my Melancholy Thoughts, but
they are not capable of your Charity, for they
are in too deep a Melancholy to be diverted;
like as bodies that are starved, and almost dying
for hunger, so weak as they cannot feed, at least,
that want strength to nourish or digest, having
not life enough to re-inkindle the vital fire,
which want of food had neer put out. Thus, Madam, B2r 11
Madam, I do not refuse your Charity, but I
am not capable to receive it; Besides, my very
outward appearance would rather be an Obstruction
to your Mirth, than any Addition to your
Pleasures, and for me, it would be very improper;
for a grieved heart, weeping eyes, sad
countenance, and black mourning garments, will
not be suitable with dancing legs; In truth, my
leaden Spirits have soder’d up my Joynts so stiff,
that they will not move so agilly, as is requir’d
in Dancing; I am fitter to sit upon a Grave, than
to tread measures on a Carpet; and there is such
an Antipathy in my mind to light Aires, that
they would sooner stop my Ears as Discord,
than enter into my Hearing as Harmony; indeed
my Senses are closed or shut from the
world, and my Mind is benighted in Sorrow,
insomuch as I have not one lighted thought,
they are all put out with the memory of my
Loss. Thus, Madam, Memory hath made an
Oblivion; but though it hath buried for the
present the worldly Joys of my Life, yet it
hath not buried my grateful Thanks for your
Favours, for which I am,

IX.

In your last Letter I perceive that the Lady
N.P. is an actor in some State-design, or
at least would be thought so, for our Sex in this
age, is ambitious to be State-Ladies, that they
may be thought to be Wise Women; but let
us do what we can, we shall prove our selves
Fools, for Wisdom is an enemy to our Sex, or
rather our Sex is an enemy to Wisdom. ’Tis
true, we are full of Designs and Plots, and ready
to side into Factions; but Plotting, Designing,
Factions, belong nothing to Wisdom, for Wisdom
never intermeddles therein or therewith,
but renounces them; it is onely cheating Craft
and Subtilty that are the managers thereof: and
for deceiving Craft, Women are well practiced
therein, and most of them may be accounted Politicians;
for no question but Women may, can,
and oftentimes do make wars, especially Civil
wars; witness our late Civil war, wherein Women
were great, although not good actors; for
though Women cannot fight with warring arms
themselves, yet they can easily inflame men’s
minds against the Governours and Governments,
unto which Men are too apt even without
the perswasion of Women, as to make innovation
through envy and emulation, in hopes of
advancement in Title, Fortune and Power, of which B3r 13
which Women are as ambitious as Men; but I
wish for the honour of our Sex, that Women
could as easily make peace as war, though it is
easier to do evil than good, for every fool can
make an uproar, and a tumultuous disorder, such
as the wisest can hardly settle into order again.
But Women in State-affairs can do as they do
with themselves, they can, and do often make
themselves sick, but when they are sick, not well
again: So they can disorder a State, as they do
their Bodies, but neither can give Peace to
th’ one, nor Health to th’ other; but their restless
Minds, and unsatiable Appetites, do many
times bring Ruin to the one, and Death to the
other; for Temperance and Quietness are strangers
to our Sex. But leaving the Lady N.P.
to her petty Designs, and weak Plots, I rest,

X.

In your last Letter you were pleased to tell
me for news, that C.V. was newly made a
Lord; truly he deserves it, and if his Title
were to be measur’d, it would be far short of his
Merit, but it is a greater honour to have more
Merit than Title, than to have more Title than B3 Me- B3v 14
Merit. Indeed Title ought to be but as a Sign;
as the King’s Arms or Picture to a Shop of rich
Merchandise; so Title should be but to have it
known there is a worthy Person, who is full of
Noble Qualities, Moral Virtues, Sweet Graces,
Divine Influences, Learned Sciences, Wise
Counsels, and the like, which ought to be commerced
and traffick’d within the world, for their
own and others good, benefit and pleasure; for
the riches of the Mind must do as other riches,
which is to disperse about, not to lie unprofitably
hid, and horded up from all use; but they ought
to be as Staple Commodities, and not as Trifles
of Vanity, which wear out, or are laid by, as
mens humours change, and are more for fashion
than benefit. But some men seem to be richer
than they are, and some to be poorer than
they are; they that seem richer than they are,
lay all in their outward Shops, and those that
seem poorer than they are, lay all in their inward
Ware-houses: Those that lay all in their outward
Shops are vain-glorious Persons, those
that lay all in their inward Ware-houses are
magnanimous Persons; But womens Minds or
Souls are like Shops of small-wares, wherein
some have pretty toyes, but nothing of any
great value. I imagine you will chide me for
this opinion, and I should deserve to be chidden,
if all Women were like to you; but you are but
one, and I speak of Women, not of One woman;
and thus I am neither injurious to You, nor partial
to our Sex; but I wish with all my heart, our whole B4r 15
whole Sex were like you, so I might hope to be
one of your Copies, and though you are an example
not to be pattern’d, yet I will endeavour
to imitate you as much as I can, by which I may
be so much the more worthy to be

XI.

I hear the Lady B.A. and the Lady C.D. are
gone to be Courtiers, but I believe they will
neither agree with the Court, nor the Court
with them; for the one hath been bred fitter
for a Nunnery than a Court, and the other bred
to good huswifry, fitter for the Countrey than
a Court; the truth is, Sparing is unnatural for a
Courtier, and Praying is not usual for a Courtier,
yet those Ladies that are Beautiful are made
Saints there, and the men are their Devouts,
which offer them Vows, Prayers, Praises, and
sometimes Thanksgiving, and many times they
are Penitents; but when the Ladies Beauties
decay, the men become Apostates. Thus you
may see many of our Sex are made Saints,
though they be Sinners, but they are Sainted
for theittheir Beauty, not for their Piety, for their
outward Form, not for their inward Grace:
Indeed they are wordly Saints, and the Court is B4v 16
is their Heaven, and Nature their Goddess,
which indues them with attractive Graces; to
which I leave them, and rest,

XII.

I hear the Lady D.C. makes Politick feasts
and entertainments, feasting the Courtiers,
and entertaining them with dancing and carding,
to whom she doth Politickly lose her mony, and
causes her husband to lend them mony out of
a Policy, and ’tis likely she will Politickly ruin
her husband; for I believe she is more Politick
with her husband than with the Courtiers,
and they more Politick with her than her husband.
But many wives will perswade their
husbands to invite company, pretending some
Designs, whenas their chief Design is, to have
Company; and they will be very free and frolick
with their guests, making their husbands
believe they are so onely to compass, or bring
their Designs to pass; so as they make their
husbands Pimps to Cuckold themselves, who
think their wives wise women, both in their
Counsels and Actions: Such, and the like inventions
and excuses wives have to be in company;
and it is to be observed, that those wives that love C1r 17
love freedom and company, will be so very
kind to their husbands when they bring home
company, or are with such company as they like,
that not onely strangers, but their husbands
think them for that time the best wives in the
world; whenas being all alone, to their husbands,
the Furies are no more turbulent, nor
worse natur’d than they; But in much company
all is as their husbands please, whether to
dance or play; upon which kind words and humble
behaviour, their husbands are so ravish’d
with joy, as then it is what their wives please;
nay, they intreat their wives to please themselves,
and approve of all they say or do. Other
wives, to get, or be in company, will insinuatingly
flatter, and perswade their husbands,
that they are the wisest, or wittiest men in the
world, and that there is none that knows how to
entertain company but they; that for their own
parts they hate much company, as nothing so
tedious and troublesome, and onely take delight
to see their husbands entertain guests, and love
to hear them discourse with strangers, their
wit and behaviour being so far above others;
and to encourage their husbands, or to flatter
them the more, they will repeat their Discourses
when they are alone together, as how well
such or such a question was resolv’d, or how
wittily such or such a one was answer’d, and the
like; whereupon the husband often invites
company, onely for his wife to hear his supreme
Wit, wise Sentences, and to see his grave Entertainments,C ter- C1v 18
whenas his wife laughs in her
mind to hear what a Fool, and to see what a formal
Coxcomb, and how self-conceited he is.
Thus most husbands are either deluded with
Politick wives, or forced to obey, or humour
their Turbulent and Peevish wives, or deceived
by their Insinuating and Flattering wives, to betray
themselves. But fearing I should divulge
too much of the nature of our Sex, I stop here,
and rest,

XIII.

Most of Mrs. L.A’s. discourse is of her self,
indeed every one is apt to speak of himself,
as being full of self-love, which makes most
tongues discourse of a self-theme; but her
theme is, to tell how good a Wife she will
make when she is married, although the proof
will be after she is married, if she can get a Husband;
for I believe she wants one, and desires
one, because she talks so much of a Husband,
and promises so well for a Husband. Truly, it
is to be observed, that all Maids love to talk of
Husbands, all Widows of Suters, and all
Wives of Lovers: for men may marry, nay do
often marry, yet not for Love, but for Interest, as C2r 19
as for Posterity, or the like; and Suters may
woo, yet not for Love, but Interest, as for
Wealth, or the like; But when Amorous Lovers
plead, it is for no other design, but to lie
with the Woman they make their address to;
and married Wives are more apt to yield than
Maids or Widows, having a cloak to cover
their shame or reproach, and a husband to father
their children; and they are more fond of amorous
Courtships than Maids or Widows, because
they are more barr’d, as being bound in
Wedlock’s-bonds: besides, it requires more
secrecy and difficulty, both which Women
love. But when Maids, Widows, and Wives,
talk of Husbands, Suters and Lovers, they are
so delighted with the Discourse, as you may
perceive, not only by their Speech, being then
quicker, and their Wit sharper, and Words
fluenter, but also by their Looks, their Eyes
being livelier, their Countenances pleasanter,
and their Behaviour gayer or wantoner, than in
any other Discourse, especially if it be upon
particular Persons, such as they fancy, or think
they fancy them. But as for Mrs. L.A. who
discourses so much of a Husband, I do verily believe,
she will make a very good Wife, not
that she sayes so, but that she hath been bred
strictly and retiredly, and is of a sober, and
stay’d Nature, not apt to run into Extravagancies,
nor to desire variety of Company, but is
Huswifly and Thrifty, and of an humble and
obedient Behaviour, and not onely Attentive C2 to C2v 20
to good Advices, but Tractable and practive to
them; all which makes her deserve a good
Husband, and I wish her one with all my heart;
but she must take her fortune, whether none or
any, bad or good; but many a good Batchelour
makes an ill Husband, and many a wild deboyst
Batchelour makes a good Husband; and as for
Widowers, many men that were good Husbands
to their first Wives, are ill Husbands to
their second, or third, or fourth, or to some good,
and to some bad; and some that have been ill
and unkind Husbands to their first Wives, are
very good, & fond Husbands to their second: the
like for Maids, Wives and Widows; so as none
can make a wise choice in hap-hazard; for haphazard,
as chance, barrs out Wisdom’s prudence,
it blindfolds Wisdom, having no insight
into Chance; so as a Fool blinded with Ignorance,
may choose in the Lottery of Husbands
and Wives, as well as the Wisest, being blinded
with the inconstancy of Mankind. But leaving
Mrs. L.A. to the Lottery, and her Matrimonial
Contemplations and Discourses, I
rest,

XIV.

I am of your opinion, that Philosophers & Poets
certainly should be the wisest men, for they
having so deep an insight, as to peirce even into
the Secrets of Nature, it should be easie for them
to have an insight into the Designs, Counsels,
and Actions of Men, & to foresee the Effects of
Things; for they that can Judge of Hidden and
Invisible Causes, and find out their Effects, may
easily Judge of Visible Actions or Businesses amongst
Mankind; and there is no man that
can be Wise, that hath not a deep peircing insight,
and a clear fore-sight to conceive and foresee,
what is, and what may probably be; for ’tis
not History that makes men Wise, nor Law, nor
Logick, nor to be Learn’d in all the Sciences, but
to have a Natural Ingenuity, as to conceive Rationally,
to judge Solidly, to understand Perfectly,
to compare Rightly, to search Narrowly, to
examine Strictly, to observe Generally, to consider
Seriously, or all that hath been, is, or is not,
or what may be, or cannot be; In all which, Natural
Philosophers and Poets are the most Ingenious
men; But of this sort of men the world
hath not many, indeed so few, as the rest of
mankind doth not understand them, for they
think them rather Fools than Wise men; for C3 though C3v 22
though Wise men know Fools, yet Fools know
not Wise men, nay Fools do not know Fools
but Wise men know Wise men; for how
should a Fool know a Fool, when he knows not
Himself? But if any fault be in Natural Poets
and Philosophers, ’tis that they are so delighted
with Transcendency, as they will not Descend
to consider, or regard the Actions and Designs of
Men, no, not the outward and ordinary works
of Nature; they are of Nature’s privy Counsel,
wherefore they scorn to be in Temporal
or Human Counsels of Men; they are Natural
States-men, and will not be Temporal Statesmen,
neither will they attend Temporal Princes,
being Nature’s Chief Courtiers; and
when they chance to observe the Actions and
Courses of other men, they view them with a
despising smile, to see their gross Errours, ridiculous
Follies, painful Pleasures, foolish Vices
and unprofitable Labours: also Natural
Philosophers and Poets are not only the Wisest,
but the Happiest men; not only in pleasing
themselves with their vast Knowledge, supreme
Wits, subtil Conceptions, delightful Imaginations,
and curious Fancies, having all the Delights
of the Mind, and Pleasures of Thoughts,
but in that they can Conquer their Unruly Passions,
Unsatiable Appetites, and order their
Minds according to their Fortunes; they are
Happy in any Condition, having their Happiness
always with them, and in them, & not without
them, when other men’s Happiness lies alwayeswayes C4r 23
without, and their Unhappiness within
them, their Minds are alwayes like troubled
Waters, and every cross Accident is
apt to make a Storm, when Poets and Philosopher’s
Minds are like the fixt Stars, having
onely a twinkling motion; or rather like the
Sun, which keeps a constant Course, and never
alters, but yet moves swiftly about the
world, and views every corner, and peirces into
the very bowels of the Earth, and their
Sun-like Mind is the Light of their Thoughts;
like as the rest of the Planets receive light
from the Sun, so the Thoughts from the Mind;
and as the Sun hath Heat and Light, so hath
the Mind Reason and Knowledge; and as the
Sun inlivens several Creatures, so their Mind
conceives several Causes and Effects, and
creates several Fancies; and as the Sun shews
the World, and the World of Creatures,
so the Mind finds and shews the Truth of
Things. But leaving them to true Knowledge,
Wisdom, Wit and Happiness, I rest,

XV.

Yesterday was the Lord N.W. to visit me,
where amongst other Discourses we talk’d
of the Lady T.M. not sooner was her name men- C4v 24
mentioned, but he seem’d to be rapt up into the
third Heaven, and from thence to descend to
declare her Praises; and to repeat his Expressions,
they were so extraordinary, as they will
not easily go out of my Memory, so as you shall
have them word for word. “First”, he said, “She
was a Lady fit to be the Empress of the whole
world, for though Fortune had not given her a
Temporal Imperial Crown, Dignity and Title,
as neither by Inheritance, Victory, nor Choice,
nor had not advanced her to a Temporal Imperial
Power, nor placed her on a Temporal Imperial
Throne, nor held she a Temporal Imperial
Scepter, yet she was Crown’d at her Birth
the Empress of her Sex; for though Fortune
had not Crown’d her Body, yet Nature had
Crown’d her Soul with a Celestial Crown, made
of Poetical Flame, instead of Earthly Gold that
Crown’s the Body; and instead of Diamonds,
Pearls, and other pretious Stones set in Golden
Crowns, her Celestial Crown was set with Understanding,
Judgement and Wit, also with clear
Distinguishings, oriental Similizings, and sparkling
Fancies, a Crown more glorious than Ariadne’s
Crown of Stars; and though she was not
advanced on a Temporal Imperial Throne, yet
she was set higher, as on a Throne of Applause;
and though she possess’d not a Temporal Imperial
Power, nor held a Temporal Imperial Scepter,
yet she had a powerful Perswasion and the
tongue of Eloquence; and though she was not
adorn’d with Imperial Robes, yet she was adorn’ddorn’d D1r 25
with Natural Beauty; and though she
had not a Temporal and Imperial Guard, yet
she was guarded with Virtue; and though she
was not attended, waited and served with and by
Temporal and Imperial Courtiers, yet she was
attended, waited on, and served by and with the
sweet Graces, and her Maids of Honour were
the Muses, and Fame’s house was her Magnificent
Palace. Thus was she Royally Born, and
Divinely Anointed or Indued, and Celestially
Crown’d, and may Reign in the memory of every
Age and Nation to the world’s end; and
not onely Reign, but Reign Happily, Gloriously,
and Famously.” But when he had said
what I have related, I could not chuse but smile,
to hear such Poetical commendations of a Woman,
doubting none of our Sex was worthy
of such high, and far-fetch’d Praises; he ask’d
me why I smil’d? I told him, “I smil’d to observe
how the Passion of Love had bribed his
Tongue”; he said, he was not guilty of partial
Bribes, but Justice had commanded his Tongue
to speak the Truth: I told him, “I was glad to
find, at least to hear, that there was Justice in
Men, and Merit in Women, as the one to
Praise, the other to be Praise-worthy”; but I
pray’d him to give me leave, or to pardon me, if
I told him, that his Speech shew’d, or express’d
him not a Temporal and Imperial Courtier, as
to praise one Lady to another, and to give so many
Praises to an absent Lady, as to leave no Praises
for the present Lady: He pray’d me to pardonD don D1v 26
him that Errour, and that hereafter he
would alwayes Praise that Lady he was present
with. But, Madam, those Praises given the
Lady T.M. had I been apt to Envy, it had
turn’d me all into Vinegar, or dissolv’d me into
Vitriol; but being unspotted, and free from that
speckled Vice, I am heighten’d with joy to hear
any of our Sex so Celestial, as to deserve a Celestial
Praise: And leaving you to the same
Joy, I rest,

XVI.

I hope I have given the Lady D.A. no cause
to believe I am not her Friend; for though
she hath been of Ps. and I of Ks. side, yet I
know no reason why that should make a difference
betwixt us, as to make us Enemies, no
more than cases of Conscience in Religion, for
one may be my very good Friend, and yet not
of my opinion, every one’s Conscience in Religion
is betwixt God and themselves, and it belongs
to none other. ’Tis true, I should be glad
my Friend were of my opinion, or if I thought
my Friend’s opinion were better than mine, I
would be of the same; but it should be no breach of D2r 27
of Friendship, if our opinions were different,
since God is onely to be the Judg: And as for
the matter of Governments, we Women understand
them not, yet if we did, we are excluded
from intermedling therewith, and almost
from being subject thereto; we are not tied, nor
bound to State or Crown; we are free, not
Sworn to Allegiance, nor do we take the Oath
of Supremacy; we are not made Citizens of
the Commonwealth, we hold no Offices, nor
bear we any Authority therein; we are accounted
neither Useful in Peace, nor Serviceable in
War; and if we be not Citizens in the Commonwealth,
I know no reason we should be
Subjects to the Commonwealth: And the truth
is, we are no Subjects, unless it be to our Husbands,
and not alwayes to them, for sometimes
we usurp their Authority, or else by flattery we
get their good wills to govern; but if Nature
had not befriended us with Beauty, and other
good Graces, to help us insinuate our selves
into men’s Affections, we should have been
more inslaved than any other of Natur’s Creatures
she hath mademade; but Nature be thank’d,
she hath been so bountiful to us, as we oftener
inslave men, than men inslave us; they seem to
govern the world, but we really govern the
world, in that we govern men: for what man
is he, that is not govern’d by a woman more or
less? None, unless some dull Stoick, or an old
miserable Usurer, or a cold, old, withered
Batchelor, or a half-starved Hermit, and such D2 like D2v 28
like persons, which are but here and there
one; And not only Wives and Mistresses have
prevalent power with Men, but Mothers,
Daughters, Sisters, Aunts, Cousins, nay, Maid-
Servants have many times a perswasive power
with their Masters, and a Land-lady with
her Lodger, or a she-Hostess with her he-
Guest; yet men will not believe this, and ’tis
the better for us, for by that we govern
as it were by an insensible power, so as
men perceive not how they are Led, Guided,
and Rul’d by the Feminine Sex. But howsoever,
Madam, the disturbance in this Countrey
hath made no breach of Friendship betwixt
us, for though there hath been a Civil
War in the Kingdom, and a general War
amongst the Men, yet there hath been none
amongst the Women, they have not fought
pitch’d battels; and if they had, there hath
been no particular quarrel betwixt her and me,
for her Ladiship is the same in my affection,
as if the Kingdom had been in a calm Peace;
in which Friendship I shall alwayes remain
hers, as also,

XVII.

The pure Lady, or Lady Puritan, is so godly,
as to follow all those Ministers she
thinks are call’d and chosen by the Holy Spirit,
to preach the Word of God, whereas those
Ministers preach more their own words, than
God’s, for they interpret the Scripture to their
own Sense, or rather to their Factious Humours
and Designs, and after their Sermons, their female
Flocks gossip Scripture, visiting each other
to confer Notes, and make repetitions of the
Sermons, as also to explain and expound them;
for first the Minister expounds the Scripture;
and then the Women-hearers expound the Sermon;
so that there are expoundings upon expoundings,
and preaching upon preaching, insomuch
as they make such a medly or hash of
the Scripture, as certainly the right and Truth
is so hidden and obscur’d, that none can find it;
and surely the Holy Spirit, whom they talk so
much of, knows not what they mean or preach,
being so much and such Non-sense in their Sermons
as God himself cannot turn to Sense; but
howsoever, it works on some to a good effect,
and causes as much Devotion amongst many, as if
they preach’d Learnedly, Eloquently, and interpreted
Rightly, and to the true sense & meaning;
for many sorrowful & penitent tears are shed, but D3 whe- D3v 30
whether they be bottled up in Heaven, I know
not: certainly Mary Magdalen could not Weep
faster for the time, or fetch deeper Sighs, or stronger
Groans for her Sins, than they do, which
shews that they have been grievous Sinners;
but whether their Sins were of the same kind as
hers were, I cannot tell, and I think they would
not confess, for Confession they account Popish.
But truly, and verily, the Lady Puritan who
hath been to visit me this afternoon, hath so tired
me with her preaching Discourse, as I think I
shall not recover my weary Spirits and deafned
Ears, this two dayes, unless a quiet sleep cure
me; nay, she hath so fill’d my head with words,
as I doubt it will hinder my silent Repose;
howsoever I’le try: and so taking my leave as
going to bed, I rest,

XVIII.

I observe there is an emulation between the
Lord V.A. and the Lord G.V. for Worth
and Merit, striving which shall excell each other
in Virtue, Noble Qualities, Practicable
Arts, Learn’d Sciences, Witty Poetry, and the
like; as for Justice, Temperance, Valour, Fortitude,
Generosity, Gratitude, Fidelity and Loy- D4r 31
Loyalty, as also, for Courtesie, Civility, and
Obligements; for wise Forecasts, prudent
Managements, industrious Ingenuities, noble
Commands, and honest and conformable Obedience;
likewise for graceful Behaviours, and
handsom Demeanours; also, for Fencing, Riding,
Vaulting, Wrestling, and the like; for
proper and fit Sciences for Noble Persons to
be learn’d and known, as Fortification, Navigation,
Astronomy, Cosmography, Architecture,
Musick, and History; and for Wit, as Scenes,
Songs, Poems, and the like: and this Emulation
makes them Admire, Love, Respect, and
Praise each other, and watch all opportunities to
Oblige each other, thinking and esteeming it a
Happiness so to do; for the effects of Emulation
are quite different from the effects of Envy,
for Envy is full of Dispraise and Detraction,
either covertly or openly, and watches all opportunities
to do Mischief, and to obscure the
Beauty of Virtue, and the grace and becoming
demeanours of Virtuosoes; whereas Emulation
rejoyces when Virtue is visibly Seen, and
justly Praised, and Virtuosoes highly Commended:
indeed, Emulation dwells with the Worthiest
Persons, Envy with the Basest. But, Madam,
’tis a wonder in an age so basely Bad, there
should be two persons so nobly Good; when
most men spend their time so idely Vain, that
they should spend their time so ingeniously Prudent;
when Vice is advanced, and Virtue disgraced,
that they {Handwritten deletion: should} end of handwritten deletion should Shun that advancement,vancement, D4v 32
and imbrace Virtue; when Treason
is Rewarded and Loyalty Punished, that
they should loyally Suffer, and not basely Betray;
when Flattery is heard, and Truth rejected,
that they should choose to be Silent, or
Speak what they think. They covet not Office,
Authority and Wealth, nor do they ambitiously
strive to Command, but when they are
employed, they do not grow proud with their
Authority and Place, nor richer by taking
Bribes; nor do they partially Favour their
Friends, nor are they Unjust to their Foes;
they use no Malice nor Favour, but are Upright
and Just; and in their Commands in War, or
Governments in Peace, although they are carefully
Strict, they are not Imperious nor Cruel;
but, in short, they endeavour to serve their King
Loyally, their Country Faithfully, and every
particular Man Generously, if it lie in their power.
But leaving these two Nobles to their Glorious
Emulatings, I rest,

XIX.

As the Emulation between the Lord V.A.
and the Lord G.V. was Commendable,
and worthy of great Praise, so the Envy betweentween E1r 33
the Lord P.R. and the Lord M.A.
is Discommendable, and worthy to be Condemn’d;
for they strive not to imitate equally,
or surpass each other for Worth and Merit, for
Courtesie and Civility, for Valour and Generosity,
for Learning and Poetry; but strive to
imitate equally, or surpass each other in Expences
and Bravery, for Shew and Vain glory, for
Offices and Honour, for Vice and Vanity, as
which shall make more luxurious Feasts, delicious
Banquets, masking Scenes, dancing Balls,
gay Shews, as brave Cloaths, gilded Coaches,
laced Liveries, many Pages, Lackies, hackny
Horses, and handsom Mistresses; also they
strive for Court Preferments, each would have
All Offices and Honours, although, perchance,
neither could well discharge any One Place or
Office Wisely, if Honestly, nor be worthy the
Least Title they are ambitious of; also they
strive to be out-Flattered, which Flatterers they
maintain at great charge, and to compass their
each out-stripping, or out-reaching Designs,
they will crouch Basely, flatter Grosly, bribe
Liberally, wait Diligently, watch Carefully, and
attend Patiently; But I foresee their Fate, which
is, they will die despised Beggars, for if they
get their Designs, they will be Losers, for the
Bribes they give for them, and their Presents
and Entertainments, are more than their Designs
are worth, and more than they shall gain by
them, if gotten; but if their Designs fail them,
they will be double losers, besides the expence E of E1v 34
of their gay Vanities; so what with out-braving,
out-bribing, and out-spending each other,
they will both be soon out of their Estates; for
if they spend upon their Stocks, or Credits, or
both, they will have nothing left to spend, and
when they are both Poor, Envy may chance
to make them Friends, as it doth now, being
Rich, Enemies; for though Envy is a following
Enemy to Wealth and Prosperity, yet ’tis a
Friend to Poverty, and for the most dwells
with Poverty; to which I’le leave these two
Envious Persons, and rest,

XX.

I remember you told me, that formerly you
thought Time troublesome, and every Place
wearisome; as in the Spring, you would wish
for Summer, when Summer came, you would
wish for Autumn, and in the Autumn you would
wish for Winter, a cold wish; nay every Day,
every Hour, every Minute, you thought Tedious
and Long. Indeed Time runs so fast upon
Youth, as it doth oppress Youth, which makes
Youth desire to cast it by; and though the Motion
of Time is swift, yet the Desire of Youth is
swifter, and the Motions of Thoughts are as far be- E2r 35
beyond the Motions of Time, as the Motion
of Time is beyond the Motion of Nature’s Architecture;
so as Youth through it’s Sharp,
Greedy, Hungry Appetite, devours Time, like
as a Cormorant doth Fish; for as he never stayes
to chew, but swallows down whole Fishes, so
Youth swallows, as it were, whole Dayes,
Weeks, Months, Years, untill they surfeit with
Practice, or are fully satisfied with Experience:
The same reason makes Youth weary of every
Place or Company, for they are not satisfied,
because they have not had enough variety of
Knowledge, they know not the right use of
Time, the unprofitable use of Vanity, the restless
motions of Variety, nor know they the Deceits,
Abuses, and Treacheries of their own Kind, as
Mankind, neither do they know their own Natures
and Dispositions, they know not what to
Choose, nor what to Leave, what to Seek, nor
what to Shun; neither have they felt the heavy
burdens of Cares, nor oppressions of Sorrows
for Losses and Crosses; they have not been
pinched with Necessity, nor pained with long
Sicknesses, nor stung with Remorse; they have
not been terrified with bloody Wars, nor forsaken
of Natural Friends, nor betrayed by feigned
Friendships; they have not been robbed of
all their Maintenance, nor been banished their
Countrey. Thus being tenderly Young, they
are Opprest with the quick repetitions of Time,
and their Senses being Sharp, and their Appetites
Hungry, they greedily Devour Time, E2 though E2v 36
though in the end Time devours them, the
Meat, the Eater; also the desire of Knowledge
makes every Place and Company
wearisom, for Youth takes delight in that
which is New, they being New themselves, for
Youth is like Garments new made, and being
new themselves, they Sympathetically delight
and love new things, as new Clothes, new Houses,
new Vanities, new Sports, new Countries,
new Companies, new Lovers, new Friends, and
any thing that is new to them, insomuch as
they would rather have a new Enemy, than an
old Friend; and thus will Youth do, until Time
turns its back, whereupon are written all the
Follies of Youth, which Follies they could not
see to read whilst Time was before them, for
while Times face is towards them, they onely
see their childish desires, which are all written
upon Times breast. But, Madam, I believe, that
Time, as troublesom as it hath seem’d to you,
you would be glad now of its stay; but Time
doth as all Courting Amorosoes do, they run to
imbrace Youth, though they tire Youth with
their troublesom kindness, but when the gloss
of Youth is past, they leave off their Amours,
nay, they hate those they made love to, and
strive to get away from them as fast as they can,
and as far off: Just so doth Time, it makes love
to all, and then forsakes all it hath made love to.
But, Madam, it hath but newly turn’d its head
from you, but it will turn its whole body;
at first it will seem to pace slowly from you, but it E3r 37
it will mend its pace, and at last run from you,
yet let it {Handwritten deletion: not} end of handwritten deletion run without your repining,
or grieving for its neglects, for no perswasion
will make it stay. But, Madam, you will be
happier in Times neglects, than in its imbracements,
and will make more advantage from
Times heels than from its head, for Times
head is fill’d with Vanity, and on Times heels
is Experience; yet although Time runs from
you, Wisdom will stay with you, for Wisdom
is the Son of Time, and became Wise by
his Fathers Follies, which are written upon his
Fathers back; for Wisdom waits alwayes behind
his Father, and neither Wisdom the
Son, nor Time the Father, do meet face to face;
and you will find more happiness in Wisdom’s
Company than in Times Courtships, for Wisdom’s
Conversation is Comfortable and Pleasing,
it speaks with the Tongue of an Oratour,
the Wit of a Poet, and the Advice of a Friend;
then who would be troubled with the fantastical
Humours, apish Actions, flattering Speeches,
and subtil Deceits of Time? But lest this Letter
should be as tedious to you as formerly
Time was, I’le stop here, and rest,

XXI.

I am sorry that Mrs. P.L. hath had so great
a loss at cards, as the grief of the loss caused
her to weep; But Gamesters are like Merchant-
adventurers, and for the most part have the same
fate, as to die Bankrupts, for more are impoverish’d
by their losses, than inriched by their gettings;
but gaming was never so much practiced
by our Feminine Sex, as it is in this age, and by
their losses, (I know not for their skill) they
seem Masculine gamesters, and I believe they
quarrel as much in their play, onely they fight
not Duels, unless with their Tongues. But I
observe that cards is one of the chief pastimes of
our Sex, and their greatest delight, for few or
none of our Sex loves or delights in Poetry, unless
a Copy of Verses made in their praise,
wherein for the most part is more Flattery than
Wit; neither doth our Sex delight or understand
Philosophy, for as for Natural Philosophy
they study no more of Nature’s works than their
Faces, and their greatest ingenuity is, to make
them Fairer than Nature did; and for Moral
Philosophy, they think that too tedious to
learn, and too rigid to practice; yet I make no
question but they have heard of Temperance,
though few are acquainted with it, and Prudence
they scorn to accompany, they despise her E4r 39
her as a mean, plain Huswife, and Fortitude can
get no entrance, for strong Fears keep her out;
as for Justice, I think our Sex doth onely resemble
the Emblem of Moral, as Justice is blinded
with a band to keep out Partiality, so our Sex is
blinded with Ignorance, which keeps out Knowledge;
and though our Sex holds no Sword in
their hands to cut off Offences, yet they hold
as sharp a Weapon in their mouths, to cut off
good Fame, and will make more Offences, than
the Sword of Justice is able to cut off; and as for
the Balance of Justice, which is Judgement, they
never use it, for they seldom Weigh any thing;
and for Faith, Hope, and Charity, they seem to
have no more Faith than to believe their own
Praises, and their onely Hope is for pre-eminence
of Beauty or Title, for Place or Wealth,
and for Vanities; and as for Charity, they spend
so much upon themselves, as they have nothing
left for the Poor; and they are so far from governing
their Passions and Appetites, as their
Passions and Appetites govern and rule the
whole course of their Lives; neither doth our
Sex take much delight in true History, for naturally
our Sex is too lazy to look back into past
Times, neither have they the peircing foresight
to see into Future times, they only regard the
Present; neither doth our Sex take much pleasure
in harmonious Musick, only in Violins to
tread a measure; the truth is, the chief study
of our Sex is Romances, wherein reading, they
fall in love with the feign’d Heroes and Carpet- Knights, E4v 40
Knights, with whom their Thoughts secretly
commit Adultery, and in their Conversation
and manner, or forms or phrases of Speech,
they imitate the Romancy-Ladies: And our
Sexes chief Pastime is Gaming of all kinds or
sorts, but most Cards, whereby they lose more
money than get reputation; indeed Carding is
their Work, for they make it rather a Labour
with long and tiresome Sitting, careful Playing,
and painful Vexing and Fretting, than a Pleasure
and Recreation; and our Sexes chief Exercise
is Dancing, not alone, amongst themselves,
for that they hate, but in masculine Company,
and this they love so well, as to dance themselves
into a firie heat, if not a Fever; and their
onely delight is in Love and Courtships, and
their only pleasure Luxury, insomuch as they
are for the most part Eating, whether Sitting,
Walking, or Dancing. But leaving our Sex to
their Banquets, Courtships, Dancing and Gaming,
I rest,

XXII.

You said in your last Letter, that Sir G.A.
doth so brag of his own gallant Actions, as he
saves his neighbour the labour to report them; I F1r 41
I am sorry to hear gallant men should brag of
their own Actions, for their bragging takes
off the gloss of their Courage; for as Time
takes off Youth or fresh Colour off Beauty, so
Self-praise takes off the Esteem and Honour of
Merit: But as some will boast of their own
Worth, so others will boast of their own
Baseness, as what subtil Cheats they have practised,
or whom they have Betrayed, or
how ingenious they were in telling Lies,
or how many Robberies they have committed;
as also of their Disobedience, Disloyalty,
and the like; others will boast of their
Debaucheries, as how often they have had
the French Disease, how many Women they
have Debauch’d, how much they can Drink
before they are Drunk, and how long they
can sit a Drinking, what Monies they have
Won or Lost at Play, how Vain and Expensive
they are, or have been, and many the
like, which I wonder at, that men should
Glory and take a Pride in that which is
Base or Foolish: But this argues some men
to have mean Souls and foolish Brains, full
of idle Discourses, wanting Judgement and
Wit; also unprofitable Lives, and when
they Die there is a good riddance, for they
were but as Rubbish in the World, which
Death, like as an honest painful Labourer,
takes up like as Dunghils, and throws them
into the Grave, and buries them on Oblivion,
not being worthy of a monument of Remembrance,F mem- F1v 42
in which Grave I leave those that
are Dead, and those that Live I wish may be
Reformed to more Purity; so I rest,

XXIII.

It is not strange that the Lady L.T. and the
Lady A.M. should fall out, so, as to be Enemies,
although they were such fond Friends,
as not to be pleased in each others absence, but
Friendship that is made out of fond Humours,
seldom lasts long, especially when they live and
bord together; for first, Fondness wears away
with Use and Acquaintance, next, being borded
together, Faults or Neglects are committed, and
Exceptions taken; Self-love of the one person
will be served first, and Self-love of the other
person will not suffer it; besides, many cross
Humours, and sometimes little Envies, will appear
betwixt equal Persons that live together,
especially Women, and the sooner, if either
or both have Husbands or Lovers; for Women
will be sooner jealous of their Husbands or Lovers
for their She-friends, than Men will be of
their Wives or Mistresses for their He-friends:
but Houshold Friends for the most part are Home- F2r 43
Home-lovers, that is, the He-friend makes love
to the Wife, or the She-friend is Courted by
the Husband; and if they be both married, ’tis
likely they Cuckold each other; and thus, for
Example, these Ladies are become Enemies
through Jealousie, for though the Lady L.T.
profess’d to love her Friend the Lady A.M.
dearly well, yet it seems, she will not have her
to Share with her of her Husbands Love or
Courtship, although Sir T.O. the Lady L.Ts.
Husband, could be no less than a Servant to his
Wives dear Friend; Besides, it is a temptation
to an Husband, to see two She-friends Imbrace,
and Kiss, and Sport, and Play, which makes the
Husband to desire to do the like, not with his
Wife, but his Wives Friend, for temptation
is from that which men are not accustomed to, or
to do as they see others do; but ’tis likely, when
the jealous Humour of the Lady L.T. is over,
they will be Friends again, till the jealous Humour
return again. Thus they may be Friends
and Enemies all their Life time, and perchance
take a pleasure in being so, for Women for the
most part take delight to make Friendships, and
then to fall out, and be Friends again, and so to
and fro, which is as much Pastime and Recreation
to them, as going abroad and staying at home.
But I wish all Friends were as constant Friends
as your Ladiship and I, who are inseparably united,
for as long as I live I shall be,

XXIV.

In your last Letter I perceive the Gallants of
the Time, I mean Gallants for Youth and
Bravery, for Vice and Vanity, for Expence and
Prodigality, for foolish Quarrels, and rash Duels,
these Gallants, it seems, condemn Age as
unfit for State-affairs, as neither to Govern,
Command, Direct, nor Advise; but certainly
those States or Kingdoms that have young Governours
and Counsellers, shall have more
Combustions and Disorders committed by their
Ignorance and Follies, than the most experienced
Age can Rectifie: indeed such Kingdomes
and States are rather govern’d by Chance than
Wisdom. ’Tis true, Fools have Good Fortune
sometimes, but not so often as Bad, which shews
they neither have a Politick Ulysses; nor a
Counselling Nestor, for though Young men
may Fight as Achilles, yet they can neither
Counsel as Nestor, nor Speak as Ulysses; but not
that some Old men may be Fools, but it is against
Nature for Young men to be Wise, wherefore
they are fitter to Obey than to Command, and
to be Advised, than to give Counsel, for it is a
wonder whenas young Counsellers keep Peace,
or young Generals be Conquerours; and it
makes them more Famous, because not Usual,
especially when Fortune favours them, as she doth F3r 45
doth many times their Rash Adventures, or
haughty and Ambitious Enterprises; for good
Fortune makes Youth appear more Glorious
than Age; but Fortune many times favours
Youth, as she favours Fools, for a time, and in
the end leaves them to their own Ruin; but
where Fortune hath little or nothing to do, as
in wise Counsels, there their Ignorance and Follies,
Passions and Partialities, Factions and Emulations
appear, especially in the success of their
Counsels; wherefore Young men may better
and more safely be trusted with an Army than
a City, for ’tis more safe to leave them to Fortune,
than to trust them with Prudence; for
Young men can tell better how to make Wars,
than to keep Peace, being easier to Lead an Army,
than to Rule a Kingdom, to Fight a Battel,
than to Order a Commonwealth, to Distribute
Spoils, than to Do Justice, for Fortune hath
more power in Victory than Right. ’Tis true,
sometimes there’s such a Concurrence and Conjunction
in Affairs of State, as also in Armies, as
the Wisest or Valiantest men cannot make better,
nor Fools nor Cowards worse, which is the
cause that many times Wise or Valiant men, or
both, may be thought Fools and Cowards, and
Fools and Cowards Wise or Valiant men; and
many times Fools are too hard for Wise men,
by reason there be numbers of Fools for few
Wise men, nay, numbers of Fools for One
Wise man, which Wise man may be buried in
the Rubbish of Fools; but if a Wise man be not F3 over- F3v 46
overpower’d, he treads down their Follies
and Triumphs in Peace and Prosperity: But
Aged men most commonly are assisted and attended
by Mercury and Pallas, and Young men
by Mars and Venus. The truth is, ’tis against
Sense and Reason, that Young men can be so
Wise, or proper for Affairs of a Commonwealth,
either to Command, Govern, or Counsel,
as Aged men, who have had long Experience,
and great Observations, by Seeing, Hearing,
and Knowing much, so as there is nothing
New, or Unacquainted to them, neither in Varieties,
Changes, nor Chances; for Nature,
Fortune, and Time, is their long Acquaintance,
by which they know the Appetites, Passions,
Humours, Dispositions, Manners, and Actions
of Men, with their Defects, Errours and Imperfections;
also the Revolutions of Time, the
Casualties of Chance, the Change of Fortune,
and the Natural Course, Causes, and Effects of
several Things in the World, all which makes
Aged men Wise, and want of such Experience
and Observation, makes Young men Fools
in comparison of Aged men; for Young men
can have but a Relative, and not an Experienced
Knowledge, nor can they have very much by
Relation or Reading, having not time enough
for Instruction & Learning; whereas Aged men
have Read, Heard, Seen, Convers’d and Acted in
and of several Ages, Societies, Nations, Men,
and Business; also in several Places of several
Subjects, and several Matters, to several Men, at F4r 47
at several Times: But Young men are so Conceited,
and Opinionative of themselves, as they
think, they neither want Wit, Judgement, Understanding,
nor Knowledge, and that Antient
men rather Dote than Know; but though
Young men cannot be Wise in Nature, unless
by Inspiration, yet those are nearest to Wisdom
that have been Bred up, Instructed, and
Educated by Wise Age, and so much Better
and more Knowing they are than others which
have been Bred, Instructed, and Educated by
Young Pedants or Governours, as the first
shall be as Old men, although but Young, and
the others shall be as Boyes when they are
Young Men, and Young Men when they are
Old, or rather Boyes all their life time, although
they should live long; so that one may say,
Happy is Youth that lives with Age: But leaving
as well Aged as Young men, to Knowledg
and Ignorance, Wisdom and Folly, Prudence
and Fortune, I rest,

XXV.

The Lady P.R. was to visit the Lady
S.I. and other Ladies with her, whose
Conversation and Discourse was according to their F4v 48
their Female Capacities and Understandings, and
when they were all gone, the Lady S.Is. Husband
ask’d his Wife, why she did not Talk as
the rest of the Ladies did, especially the Lady
P.R. so Loud and Impertinently? She answered,
she had neither the Humour, Breath,
Voice, nor With, to Speak so Long, so Loud,
and so Much of nothing: He said, her Answer
liked him well, for he would not have his Wife
so Bold, so Rude, and so Talking a Fool. Thus,
Madam, we may perceive how Discourse in
Conversation is Judged of, and for the most
part Condemned by the Hearers, when perchance
the Ladies imagine that they are Applauded
and Commended for their Wit and
Confident Behaviour; for Self-love thinks all
is well Said or Done, that it self Speaks or Acts,
so that Self-love doth alwayes Approve it self,
and Dispraise others. But leaving Self-love to
Self-admiration, and that Admiration to others
Condemnation, I rest,

XXVI.

We have no News here, unless to hear
that the Lady C.R. did beat her Husband,
and because she would have Witness enough,nough, G1r 49
she beat him in a Publick Assembly,
nay, being a woman of none of the least Sizes,
but one of the largest, and having Anger added
to her Strength, she did beat him Soundly, and
it is said, that he did not resist her, but endured
Patiently; whether he did it out of fear to
shew his own Weakness, being not able to
Encounter her, or out of a Noble Nature,
not to Strike a Woman, I know not; yet I
believe the best: and surely, if he doth not, or
cannot tame her Spirits, or bind her Hands, or
for Love will not leave her, if she beat him
Often, he will have but a Sore life. Indeed I
was sorry when I heard of it, not onely for
the sake of our Sex, but because she and he are
persons of Dignity, it belonging rather to meanborn
and bred Women to do such unnatural Actions;
for certainly, for a Wife to strike her
Husband, is as much, if not more, as for a Child
to strike his Father; besides, it is a breach of Matrimonial
Government, not to Obey all their
Husbands Commands; but those Women that
Strike or Cuckold their Husbands, are Matrimonial
Traitors, for which they ought to be highly
punished; as for Blows, they ought to be banished
from their Husbands Bed, House, Family, and
for Adultery, they ought to suffer Death, and
their Executioner ought to be their Husband.
’Tis true, Passion will cause great Indiscretion, &
Women are subject to Violent Passions, which
makes or causes them so often to err in Words
and Actions, which, when their Passion is over, G they G1v 50
they are sorry for; but unruly Passions are onely
a cause of uncivil Words and rude Actions,
whereas Adultery is caused by unruly Appetites;
wherefore Women should be Instructed
and Taught more Industriously, Carefully, and
Prudently, to Temper their Passions, and Govern
their Appetites, than Men, because there
comes more Dishonour from their unruly Passions
and Appetites, than from Mens; but for
the most part Women are not Educated as they
should be, I mean those of Quality, for their
Education is onely to Dance, Sing, and Fiddle,
to write Complemental Letters, to read Romances,
to speak some Language that is not
their Native, which Education, is an Education
of the Body, and not of the Mind,
and shews that their Parents take more care
of their Feet than their Head, more of their
Words than their Reason, more of their
Musick than their Virtue, more of their Beauty
than their Honesty, which methinks is
strange, as that their Friends and Parents
should take more Care, and be at greater
Charge to Adorn their Bodies, than to Indue
their Minds, to teach their Bodies Arts, and not
to Instruct their Minds with Understanding; for
this Education is more for outward Shew, than
inward Worth, it makes the Body a Courtier,
and the Mind a Clown, and oftentimes it makes
their Body a Baud, and their Mind a Courtesan,
for though the Body procures Lovers, yet
it is the Mind that is the Adulteress, for if G2r 51
if the Mind were Honest and Pure, they would
never be guilty of that Crime; wherefore those
Women are best bred, whose Minds are civilest,
as being well Taught and Govern’d, for the
Mind will be Wild and Barbarous, unless it be
Inclosed with Study, Instructed by Learning,
and Governed by Knowledg and Understanding,
for then the Inhabitants of the Mind will
live Peaceably, Happily, Honestly and Honourably,
by which they will Rule and Govern
their associate Appetites with Ease and Regularity,
and their Words, as their Houshold Servants,
will be imployed Profitably. But leaving
the Lady C.R. and her Husband to Passion and
Patience, I rest,

XXVII.

Yesterday I employed my time in reading
History, and I find in my self an Envy, or
rather an Emulation towards Men, for their
Courage, Prudence, Wit, and Eloquence, as
not to Fear Death, to Rule Commonwealths,
and to Speak in a Friend’s behalf, or to Pacifie
a Friend’s Grief, to Plead for his own Right, or G2 to G2v 52
to Defend his own Cause by the Eloquence of
Speech; yet this is not in all Men, for some
men have Courage and no Wit, and some have
Wit and no Conduct, and some have neither
Wit, Courage, nor Conduct; but mistake me
not, for I do not Envy or Emulate a Stubborn
Obstinacy, nor a Desperate Rashness, nor an Inslaving
Policy, nor Fine Words and Choice
Phrases; but to Fight Valiantly, to Suffer Patiently,
to Govern Justly, and to Speak Rationally,
Movingly, Timely and Properly, as to
the purpose, all which I fear Women are not
Capable of, and the Despair thereof makes me
Envy or Emulate Men. But though I love Justice
Best, and trust to Valour Most, yet I Admire
Eloquence, and would choose Wit for my Pastime.
Indeed Natural Orators that can speak
on a Sudden and Extempore upon any Subject,
are Nature’s Musicians, moving the Passions to
Harmony, making Concords out of Discords,
Playing on the Soul with Delight. And of all
the Men I read of, I Emulate Julius Cæsar
most, because he was a man that had all these
Excellencies, as Courage, Prudence, Wit and
Eloquence, in great Perfection, insomuch as
when I read of Julius Cæsar, I cannot but
wish that Nature and Fate had made me such a
one as he was; and sometimes I have that Courage,
as to think I should not be afraid of his
Destiny, so I might have as great a Fame. But
these wishes discover my Aspiring Desires, and
all those Desires are but Vain that cannot be Attainedtained G3r 53
to; yet although I cannot attain to Julius
Cæsar’s Fame, it suffices me, to have attained
to your Favour, and to the Honour to subscribe
my self,

XXVIII.

In your last Letter you were pleased to Condemn
me for Admiring Words, so much, as
to prefer Eloquence before all other Musick;
but pray, Madam, mistake me not, for I do not
Admire the Words, but the Sense, Reason, and
Wit, that is Exprest, and made Known by
Words; neither do I Admire Formal Orators,
that speak Premeditated Orations, but Natural
Orators, that can speak on a Sudden upon any
Subject, whose Words are as Sweet and Melting
as Manna from Heaven, and their Wit as
Spreading and Refreshing as the Serene Air,
whose Understanding is as Clear as the Sun, giving
the Light of Truth to all their Hearers, who
in case of Perswasion, speak Sweetly, in case of
Reproof, Seasonably, and in all cases, Effectually.
And, Madam, if you do Consider well, you
cannot chuse but Admire, and Wonder at the G3 Power G3v 54
Power of Eloquence, for there is a strange hidden
Mystery in Eloquence, it hath a Magical
Power over mankind, for it Charms the Senses,
and Inchants the Mind, and is of such a
Commanding Power, as it Forces the Will to
Command the Actions of the Body and Soul, to
Do, or to Suffer, beyond their Natural Abilities,
and makes the Souls of men the Tongue’s
Slaves; for such is the power of an Eloquent
Speech, as it Binds the Judgement, Blindfolds
the Understanding, and Deludes the Reason;
also it Softens the Obdurate Hearts, and causes
Dry Eyes to Weep, and Dryes Wet Eyes from
Tears; also it Refines the Drossy Humours,
Polishes the Rough Passions, Bridles the Unruly
Appetites, Reforms the Rude Manners, and
Calms the Troubled Minds; it can Civilize the
Life by Virtue, and Inspire the Soul with Devotion.
On the other side, it can Enrage the
Thoughts to Madness, and Cause the Soul to
Despair. The truth is, it can make Men like
Gods or Devils, as having a Power beyond
Nature, Custom and Force, for many times the
Tongue hath been too Strong for the Sword, and
often carried away the Victory; also it hath been
too Subtil for the Laws, as to Banish Right, and
to Condemn Truth; and too hard for the Natures
of Men, making their Passions its Prisoners:
and since Eloquence hath such Power over
Arms, and Laws, and men, as to make Peace
or War, to Compose or Dissolve Commonwealths,
to Dispose of Souls and Bodies of Mankind;kind, G4r 55
wherefore those men that are indued with
such Eloquence, and overflowing Wit, are both
to be Fear’d and Lov’d, to be highly Advanced
or utterly Banished; for those whose Eloquent
Wit out-runs their Honesty, are to be Punished,
but those that employ their Eloquent Wit,
and Elegant Graces, to the service of the Commonwealth,
are to be Esteemed, Respected, and
Relied upon, as Pillars of the Commonwealth.
But to conclude, Wit makes a Ladder of
Words, to climb to Fame’s high Tower, and the
Tongue carries men further than their Feet,
and builds them a Statelier, and more Lasting
Palace than their Hands, and their Wit, more
than their Wealth, doth Adorn it. But now,
leaving Words and Wit, I rely upon Love and
Friendship, and rest,

XXVIX.

I heard by your last, that the Lady S.P. was to
visit you, where, amongst her other Discourses,
she spoke of me, and was pleased to Censure
and Condemn, as to Censure the Cause,
and Condemn the Manner of my Life, saying,
that I did either Retire out of a Fantastick Humour,mour, G4v 56
or otherwise I was Constraind, in not having
the Liberty, that usually other Wives
have, to go Abroad, and receive what Visitors
they please: But if she did but know the sweet
Pleasures, and harmless Delights I have by this
Retirement, she would not have said what she
did; and to answer to what she said, This
course of Life is by my own voluntary Choice,
for what I have liberty to do any Thing, or to go
any Where, or to keep any Company
that Discretion doth Allow, and Honour
Approve of, and though I may err in my Discretion,
yet not in cases of Honour, for had I
not onely Liberty, but were Perswaded or Inticed
by all the World’s Allurements, or were
Threatened with Death, to Do, or Act any thing
against Honour, or to do any Thing or Act, Honour
did not Approve of, I would not Do it,
nay, I would Die first: But in that which is called
Honour, are many Ingrediencies, as Justice,
Chastity, Truth, Trust, Gratitude, Constancy,
and many the like. Next I answer, That it is
not out of a Fantastick Humour, that I live so
much Retired, which is to keep my House more
than go Abroad, but out of Self-love, and not out
of Self-opinion, and it is Just and Natural for any
one to Love himself: Wherefore, for my
Pleasure and Delight, my Ease and Peace, I live
a Retired Life, a Home Life, free from the Intanglements,
confused Clamours, and rumbling
Noise of the World, for I by this Retirement
live in a calm Silence, wherein I have my Contemplationstem- H1r 57
free from Disturbance, and my
Mind lives in Peace, and my Thoughts in
Pleasure, they Sport and Play, they are not
Vext with Cares nor worldly Desires, they
are not Covetous of worldy Wealth, nor
Ambitious of empty Titles; they are not to be
catch’d with the Baits of Sensual Follies, for they Draw
my Senses to them, and run not out to the Senses;
they have no quarrelling Disputes amongst
them; they live Friendly and Sociably together;
their onely Delight is in their own Pastimes and
harmless Recreations; and though I do not go
Personally to Masks, Balls, and Playes, yet my
Thoughts entertain my Mind with such Pleasures,
for some of my Thoughts make Playes,
and others Act those Playes on the Stage of Imagination,
where my Mind sits as a Spectator.
Thus my Mind is entertain’d both with Poets
and Players, and takes as much Delight as Augustus
Cæsar did to have his Mecænas, the Patron
of Poets, sit and hear Virgil and Horace read their
Works unto them; so my Mind takes Delight
in its dear Mecænas, which is Contemplation,
and to have its Poetical Thoughts, although not
like Virgil or Horace, yet such as they are, it is
pleased to have them Repeat their Poems, and
other Works which they make; and those my
Mind likes best, it sends them forth to the Senses
to write them down, and then to send them
out to the publick view of the World; and many
times the Senses send in Objects to the Mind, H who H1v 58
who straight commands his Poetical Thoughts
to take them for Plots of Playes, or causes
the Grave Philosophical Thoughts to Discourse
of them, or his Oratorical Thoughts
to practice their Eloquence on them, or
his Critical Thoughts to Dispute and Argue
with them, which done, all their several
Discourses, Disputes, Arguments, Poems,
Playes, and the like, made on those
Objects, are sent back to the Senses to write
them down, so that the Mind and the Thoughts
imploy the Senses, and the Senses imploy the
Mind and Thoughts, and thus I take as much
Pleasure within my self, if not more, as the
Lady S.P. doth without her self; indeed none
enjoyes truly himself, but those that live to
themselves, as I do, and it is better to be a Selflover
in a Retired Life, than a Self-seeker in a
Wandring Humour, like a Vagabond, for they
go from Place to Place, from one Company to
another, and never are at rest in their Minds nor
Bodies; and how should it be otherwise? for
they lose themselves in Company, and keeping
much Company, they know not where to find
themselves, for as for their Dwelling-place, they
are sure to miss of themselves there; but indeed
they have no constant Dwelling, for going much
Abroad, they dwell Every where, and yet to
speak Metaphorically, No where. But every ones
Delights are different, for the Lady S.P.
delights her self with Others, and I delight my
self with my Self; Some delight in Troubles, I H2r 59
I delight in Ease, and certainly much Company
and Conversation cannot chuse but be Troublesome;
for in much Company are many Exceptions,
much Envy, much Suspicion, much Detraction,
much Faction, much Noise, and much
Non-sense, and it is impossible, at least improbable,
for any particular Person to please all the
several Companies they come into, or are visited
by, if the Resort be many, by reason every
one hath as different Humours as Faces, wherein
some will be Displeased, if others should be
Pleased, and most commonly they are so far
from pleasing All, as None is Pleased; for if any
particular Person should Praise Every one, it
would be thought Flattery, if he should Praise
None, it would be conceived to be Envy, if he
should Praise but Some, it would be judged to
be Partiality; the like for Discourse; if one
should Address his Discourse to any One, or to
Some more than to Others, it would be taken
as a Disrespect, if Generally, to the whole
Company, it would be accounted Pride, as taking
ones self to be the onely Singular Person
that must have a General Audience; neither
can any one Person fit his Discourse to every
one’s Humour, Fancy, Capacity, Understanding,
Knowledge or Delight, nay, most commonly,
whatsoever is Spoken, is Interpreted to
the worst Sense, at least, Contradicted, and when
they are parted, their Words or Discourse is
Repeated to their Disadvantage, and Commented
on, and Interpreted to an evil Sense; H2 and H2v 60
and if they say Nothing, or but Little, they are
accounted Ill-natured, or thought Fools, and yet
they love not to hear any one speak but themselves,
every one desires to be heard, yet takes
it ill not to be spoken to; also if particular Persons
make an Entertainment, if they invite not
those they have no acquaintance with, as well as
those of their Acquaintance, if they are within
the distance of coming to the Entertainment,
they take it for an Affront, but if they should
leave out any Acquaintance, it is a Breach for ever,
and they become their Enemies; also if
particular Persons be accoustredaccoutred Bravely, they
are Envied, if they be attired in plain, mean
Garments, they are Despised; and if any Woman
be more Beautiful than commonly the rest
are, if she appears to the World, she shall be sure
to have more Female Detractors and Slanderers,
to ruin her Reputation, than any Monarch hath
Souldiers to fight an Enemy, & if any Woman
be Ill-favoured, it is mentioned as a Reproach,
although it be Nature’s fault, and not hers, and
if she be indifferently Handsom, they speak of
her as Regardless; if she be in Years, they will
say, she is fitter for the Grave than Company,
if Young, fitter for a School than Conversation,
if of middle Years, their Tongues are the
Fore-runners of her Decay; if she have Wealth,
and no Titles, she is like Meat, all Fat and no
Blood, and if great Title with small Wealth,
they say, she is like a Pudding without Fat, and
if she hath both Wealth and Title, they Shun her H3r 61
her as the Plague, they Hate to see her, as Owls
hate the Light, and if she hate neither Wealth
nor Title, they Scorn her Company, and will
not cast an eye towards her; and thus the Generality
is to every Particular: wherefore it is
impossible for any Particular either to Please the
Humours, or Avoid the Slanders or Reproaches
of the Generality, for every One is against
Another; indeed, every One is against All, and
All against every One, and yet through the
itch of Talk, Luxury, Wantonness and Vanity,
they will Associate into Companies, or rather
I may say, Gather into Companies, and
Frequent each others Houses, whereas those
that endeavour to be truly Happy, will not be
Troubled with such Follies, nor Disturbed with
such Toyes: But I am not so Retir’d, as to bar
my self from the Company of my good
Friends, or such as are free from Exception, as
not to Translate harmless and simple Words, to
an evil Sense or Meaning, or such as are so
Noble, as not to Dispraise, or Detract from such
Persons as they are pleas’d to take the pains to
Visit, or from such as will not take it for a Neglect,
if I do not punctually return their Visit, or
perhaps not Visit them at any time, but will
Excuse or Pardon my Lazy Humour, and not
account it a Disrespect, as truly it is none, for I
do Honour and Admire all Civil, Worthy, and
Honourable Persons, and would be ready at
all times Honestly to Serve them. But this Retired
Life is so Pleasing to me, as I would not H3 change H3v 62
change it for all the Pleasures of the Publick
World, nay, not to be Mistress of the
World, for I should not desire to be Mistress
of that which is too Big to be Commanded, too
Self-willed to be Ruled, too Factious to be Govern’d,
too Turbulent to live in Peace, and
Wars would Fright, at least Grieve me, that
mankind should be so Ill-natur’d and Cruel to
Destroy each other. To conclude, I am more
Happy in my Home-retirement, than I believe
the Lady S.P. is in her Publick Frequentments,
having a Noble and Kind Husband,
who is Witty and Wise Company, a Peaceable
and Quiet Mind, and Recreative
Thoughts, that take harmless Liberty; and
all this I have declar’d to you, that you may let
the Lady S.P. know that my Retirement
from the publick Concourse and Army of the
World, and Regiments of Acquaintance, is
neither through Constraint, nor Fantastick Humour,
but through a Love to Peace, Ease, and
Pleasure, all which you Enjoy; which is the
fulfilling of your Ladiships faithful Friend
and Servant’s Happiness.

XXX.

Yesterday, being not in the Humour of Writing,
I took Plutarch’s Lives, or as some
call them, “Plutarch’s Lies”, but Lives or Lies, H4r 63
or a mixture of both, I read part of the day in
that Book and it was my chance to read the
Life of Pericles the Athenian, in which Story
he is Commended for his Gravity, Government,
and Wisdom; this Pericles I did
much Admire all the time I read of him, until
I did read where it was mentioned of his
marrying Aspasia, a famous Courtesan, and
then I did not think him so Wise a man
as I did before, in that he could not rule
his Passion better, but to marry a Whore;
neither doth Gravity and Wantonness suit
well together, for to my imagination a Grave
Cuckold doth appear most Ridiculous: And
although she was Constant to him, yet the
Lewdness of her former Life could not but
be a great Blemish to him, as to marry the
Dregs and Leavings of other men; But it
seem’d that she had an Attractive Power, especially
on such as they call Wise men, as Statesmen,
Philosophers, and Governours, and all
this Power lay in her Tongue, which was a
Bawd for the other end; nay, so well (it is said)
she could Speak, that not only such men as forementioned
did come to hear her, and to learn
to speak Eloquently by her, but many also
brought their Wives to hear her, which in my
opinion was Dangerous, lest they might learn
her Vice with her Rhetorick; but it seems
the Græcians were not like the Italians concerning
their Wives, although they were like
them concerning their Courtesans; but honest Women H4v 64
Women take not so much care to Speak well,
as to Do that which is Virtuous. And so leaving
Aspasia and Pericles in Plutarch’s History,
I rest,

XXXI.

I cannot wonder if I hear that men which are
Advanced to Power and Authority should be
Dispraised, because it’s usual; but rather I
should wonder, if I should hear such men Praised
or Applauded, although their Lives and Actions
were Blameless, nay Wise and Honest;
for I have observed, that if any man have more
Wealth, Merit, Power, or Wit, than his
Neighbour, he is sure to be privately Hated, and
publickly Rail’d or Exclaim’d against, and to
shew their Hate and Dispraise is against his Merit,
Wealth, Power, Wit, or the like, if this
man fall from those Favours either of Fortune
or Nature, he is not onely Pittied, but dearly
Beloved, and highly Praised; and this Ill and
Inconstant Nature and Humour is so frequent
in all Ages and Nations, as it may very easily be
believed, that it was Created in the Essence of man- I1r 65
mankind, insomuch, that had Men been created
before the Angels Fell, they would have Envyed
their Glory, and Accused God of Partiality,
in making such difference between Men
and Angels, but whenas those Angels were cast
from Heaven to Hell for their Wickedness, they
would Censure God for being too Severe in
their Punishment; Yet, Madam, mistake me
not, to believe all men are so Envious an Ill-
natur’d, but some; for surely though many
Angels fell through Spiritual Pride, Envy, and
Ambition, yet many remained in Heaven, as
Pure as when first Created; and so likewise many
Men by the Mercie of God are bred to
Virtue, and blest with Piety, to which I leave
them, and rest,