The Actors Names.
Two Grave Matrons belonging to the Female Academy.
Two or three Antient Ladies.
Two or three Citizens Wives.
A Company of young Gentlemen and others.
The
Female Academy.
Act I.
Scene 1.
Enter two Antient Ladies.1 Lady
If you
would have your Daughter virtuously and
wisely
educated, you must put her into the Female Academy.
2 Lady
The Female Academy, what is that?
1 Lady
Why, a House, wherein a
company of young
Ladies are instructed by old Matrons; as to speak wittily and rationally,
and to behave themselves handsomly, and to live virtuously.
2 Lady
Do any men come amongst them?
1 Lady
O no; only there is a
large open Grate, where on the out-side
men stand, which come to hear and see them; but no men enter
into the
Academy, nor women, but those that are put in for Education;
for they
have another large open Grate at the other end of the Room they
discourse
in; where on the out-side of that Grate stand women that come
to hear
them discourse.
2 Lady
I will put my Daughter therein to be instructed.
1 Lady
If your Daughter were not
of honourable Birth, they would not
receive her; for they take in none but those of antient
Descent, as also rich;
for it is a place of charges.
2 Lady
Why
then they will not refuse my Daughter, for she is
both honourably
born, and also rich.
Scene 2.
Enter a Company of young Ladies, and with them two Grave Matrons;where through the Hanging a company of men look on them,
as through a Grate.
1 Matron
Come Lady, ’tis your turn this day to take the Chair.
sits in an adorned Chair. Cccccccc Lady Cccccccc1v 654
Lady Speaker
Deliver your Theam.
1 Matrodn
You
speak Lady like a Robber, when he sayes deliver your
Purse; but you must say propound your Theam.
Lady Speaker
Why then propound your Theam.
1 Matron
I present to your
opinion, whether women are capable to have
as much Wit or Wisdome as men.
Lady Speaker
First, I must
define what Wit and Wisdome are: as for
Wit, it is the Daughter of Nature, and Wisdome is a Son of the Gods:
this Daughter of Nature, the Lady Wit, is very
beautifull, and for the most
part her Countenance is very Amiable, and her Speech delightfull;
in her
Acoustrements she is as all other of the Female Sex are,
various; as sometimes
in plain Garments, and sometimes in glittering Garments;
and sometimes
she is attired in Garments of as many several Colours as
the Rainbow;
and she alters in their Fashions, as often as in their
Substances or Trimmings:
as for her humour, it is according to the nature of her
Sex, which is
as various and changing as her Acoustrements; for that
sometimes she is
merry and jesting, other times pleasing and delightfull;
sometimes melancholy,
sometimes fantastical, other times spightfull and
censorious, and oft
times wild and wanton, unlesse discretion rules and leads her,
who keeps
her within the bounds and pales of Modesty; also her
discourses are various,
as sometimes she will flatter grosly, other times she will
rail maliciously,
and sometimes she will speak so eloquently, and demean
her self so elegantly,
as to ravish the minds of the beholders and hearers: This
Lady Wit hath
nine Daughters, very beautifull Ladies, namely the Nine Muses;
and every
several Muse partakes of every several Humour of the Mother:
These nine
beautifull Ladies, Natures Grand-children, and Wits Daughters, have
vowed single lives, living alwayes in the Court with their Mother,
whose
Court is a very glorious Palace; for it is composed of
Cœlestial flame, and
Divine Spirits were the Architectures thereof; the Servants and
Courtiers
of the Lady Wit are
Poets, men of all Nations, Qualities, Dignities and
Humours;
these Courtiers the Poets, make love to the Lady Wits Daughters,
the nine Muses, and often receive favours from them; which
favours their
Servants the Poets braid them into Rimes, and make several works
of
Verse, then tie them into True Lovers Knots, and then as all
Lovers use to
do, with their Mistresses favours, vaingloriously shew them
to the publick
view of the world; for though the Lady Muses will not marry,
yet they receive
Courtly addresses, and take delight to be wooed annd sued
to; the
younger sort of Poets are Amorous Lovers; the Grave and more
antient
Poets are Platonick Lovers, and some are Divine Lovers, and some
are Heroick
Lovers, annd some are Satyrical Lovers, which wooe in a
crabbid
stile: but to conclude of Wit, there are
good Wits which have foolish
Judgements; for though Wit and Wisdome are Sisters and Brothers,
both
the Children of Nature, yet for the most part, the Brother is a
meer Fool,
and the Sister hath a great wit; but some have Masculine Wits, and Effeminate
Judgements, as if their beams were Hermophrica.
The next I am to define is Wisdome, who as I said, is a Son of
the Gods:
this Wisdome is a person of perfect and
upright Shape, of well-composed
Features, of a manly Garb, and an assured Countenance; In his
speech he
is of a readie delivery, and he hath a well-tempered Humour: as
for the Acoustremenrts
of his Person, he changes them according to the times
and occasions:
His constant habitation is in the strong Tower of
Honestie, this
Tower
Cccccccc2r 655
Tower is built round, without ends or corners, or by places; and
it stands
upon four Pillars, as Prudence, Fortitude, Justice and
Temporance; upon every
several Pillar are Letters ingraven, wherein may be read the
proper uses,
benefits, and advantages of each Pillar: These Pillars of
Support, causes
this Tower to be inpregnable; for though there are many assaults
made against
it, as by Riches, which shoots his golden Bullets out of
his golden
Canons at it, striving to batter it down; and Power brings a
mighty Army
to assault it, and Danger of Death strives to storm it, and
Flattery and Insinuation
to undermine it, yet it holds out without any breach
therein; for
the walls of this Tower, named Honesty, are of a wonderfull
strength, for
they are as durable as an intire Diamond, not to be dissolved,
and as transparant
as a Christal, without the least spot, stain, or
blemish: In this Tower
as I said, lives Wisdom, a most magnificent Lord he is, and
is attended
numerously and nobly: his chief Favourite is Truth, his chief
Counselors
are Reason, Understanding, Observation, Experience, and
Judgement; his
chief Officers are Patience, Industry, and Opportunity; his
Domestick Servants
are the Appetites, which Servants he rules and governs with
great moderation;
his Nobility are the Passions, which he preferrs according to
their
merit; but those that are apt to be Factious, he severely
punishes, for he is
one that loves peace, and hates brulleries, or any dissention:
he is a person
of the quickest Sense, for he hath a most piercing sight to
foresee dangers, as
to avoid them, and can well distinguish the right ways from the
wrong; likewise
he hath a most cleer hearing, for nothing passes by that
concerns him,
but the sound gives him an Alarum to stand upon his guard, or a
charge to
take his advantage; but he hath a silent tongue, for he never
speaks but it is
to some purpose also he hath a marvelous quick Scent, to smel
out a Rebellion
or Treason, and he will follow it pace by pace, as Hounds do
Hares, and
never leaves till he hath hunted it out; also his Touch is very
sensible; he soon
feels a courtesie or injury, the first he receives gratefully,
and feels tenderly,
the other he receives strongly, and gripes hard, when he can take
fast hold,
otherwise he lets it passe or fall, as if his touch were
numb’d; he is a person
which is so solicited by the weak, sought to by the wronged,
flattered by the
ambitious, sued to by the distressed; and he often sits in
the Court of Errors,
to rectifie the disorder therein: sometimes he hath been
in great humane
Councels, but that is very rare; indeed he is so seldome in
great humane
Councels, as he is hardly known, for not one among a
thousand that
did ever see him, much lesse to have any acquaintance with him,
for he is
reserved, and not company for every one: But there are many that
falsly
pretend not only to be acquainted with him, but gets false
Vizards, and
pretend to be Wisdome it self, and the world for the most part
is cozened
and abused with these Cheats, in not knowing the right &
true Wisdom; and
how should they? when Wisdom it self appears so seldome, as
he is a stranger
even in Kings Courts and Princes Palaces, and so great a
stranger he is
in many Courts and Councels, that if by chance he should be
there, they
thrust him out as a troublesome Guest, and laugh at his advice
as foolish, or
condemn his Counsel as treacherous: but now I have declared unto
you
whom Wit and Wisdome are, now I am to give
my opinion whether women
are capable of their Society; but truly I must tell you it is
a difficult
question, by reason the several Educations, which are the
Ushers that lead
humane Creatures to several Societies, for there are Societies of
the Ignorant
and foolish, as well as of the witty and
wise, and several Ushers belongingCccccccc2
ing
Cccccccc2v 656
thereto; and indeed these latter Societies are numerous, and
of all sorts;
the other are Societies of the most choicest, for though Wit is
not an absolute
Goddesse, nor humane Wisdome an absolute God, yet they
are a degree
above other earthly mortals, but Fools are produced from the
degrees of
Mortality, and Ignorance is the Daughter of Obscurity; the Ushers
of these
are Obstinacy, Stupidity, and Illiterature, which leads mortals
to dangerous
and unexcessible ways; in this last Society, for the most part
women are of,
as being bred therein, and having such ill Tutors and Guides,
they must
needs err, for there is an old saying, “When the Blind leads the Blind,
they must
needs fall into the Ditch”, not having sight to choose their
way; so women breeding
up women, the Generations must needs be Fools: for the
first, women
had an ill Tutor, the Devil, which neither instructed her in the
knowledge
of Wisdome nor Wit, but learn’d her hurtful dissimulation, to
which she
hath bred all her Female Generations successively, as from
Female to Female;
but your question is, whether women are capable of Wit and
Wisdome:
truly in my opinion women are more capable of Wit than Wisdome,
by reason they are both of the Female Gender, which may
cause some
sympathy in their Natures; and in some things they do plainly
sympathy and
agree, for Wit is wild and various, and
so are women, and Wit is busie
and
meddles with every thing, cause, or subject, so do women; Wit
is fantastical,
and so are women, Wit is alwayes in
extremes, and so are women, Wit
doth talk much, and so do women, Wit is humoursome, and so are
women,
Wit is prodigal, and so are women, Wit loves praises, and so do
women,
Wit doth sport and play, dance and sing
the time away, and so do women,
Wit is many times wanton, and so are women;
Thus far are women capable
of the Society and Conversation of Wit; but I doubt of her
subtile
Invention, quick Apprehension, rare Conceptions, elevated Fancy,
and
smooth Eloquution.
As for Wisdome, women seem to
all outward appearance to have a
natural Antipathy abhorring his severe and strict Rules, hating
his mediciable
Admonitions, his profitable Counsels and Advice, his wary
wayes, his
prudent forecast, his serious actions, his temperate life and
sober disposition;
all which makes them uncapable of the Society of
Wisdome.
Act II.
Scene 3.
Enter two Gentlemen.1 Gentleman
I
suppose you have heard that a companny of young
Gentlemen have set up an Academy, next to the Ladies Academy.
2 Gentleman
We heard nothing of it.
1 Gentleman
Why then I will tell you, the men are
very angry that the
women Dddddddd1r 657
women should speak so much, and they so little, I think: for
they have made
that Room which they stood in to see and hear the Ladies speak
in, so a
place for themselves to speak in, that the Ladies may hear what
they can
say.
2 Gentleman
Faith if you will
have my opinion, it is, that the men do it
out of a mockery to the Ladies.
1 Gent
’Tis likely so, for they
rail extremely that so many fair young
Ladies are so strictly inclosed, as not to suffer men to
visit them in the Academy.
2 Gentleman
Faith if the men
should be admitted into their Academy,
there would be work enough for the Grave Matrons, were it but to
act the
part of Midwives.
Scene 4.
Enter the Academy Ladies, and their Grave Matrons; another ofthe young Ladies sits as Lady Speaker in an Armed Chair, the rest
on stools about her.
Matron
Lady, at
this time let the Theam of your discourse be of
discoursing.
Lady
As for Discourse it is
differently various, some discourses are delightfull
and pleasing, others tedious and troublesome, some
rude and uncivil,
some vain and unnecessary, some gracefull and
acceptable, some wise
and profitable; but in most discourses time is lost, having
nothing that is
worthy to be learn’d, practised, or observed: But there are two
sorts of
discourses, or manner of wayes of discoursings, as there is a
discoursing
within the mind, and a discourse with words; as for the inward
discourse
in the mind, it is to discourse to a mans self, as if they were
discoursing to
others, making Questions or Propositions, Syllogisms and
Conclusions to
himself, wherein a man may deceive himself with his own false
arguments,
for it is an old saying, That it is one thing to oppose
himself, and another
thing to be opposed by others, and it is easie to argue without
opposition;
As for discoursing with words, it is more difficult than to
discourse with
thoughts: for though words are as high and substantial as
thoughts, yet the
Mouth is not so ready in speaking, as the Brain in thinking, and
the Brain
can present more thoughts at one time, than the Mouth can deliver
words
at one time: but words, or Rhetorick is apt to deceive a man, as
his Conceptions,
cep especially Orators, which draw
themselves with the force of Rhetorick,
from the right and the truth, so as an Orator is as apt
to delude himself,
as to delude his Auditory, if he make words or eloquence
the ground
of his Questions, Perswasions, or Judgement, and not Reason,
for Reason
must find out the truth, and right, and Truth must judge the
cause; but
Rhetorick is for the most part a Vizard to right Reason, for it
seems a natural
Face, and is not so: Rhetorick seems right Reason, but
is not: Also
there are extemporal discourses, and discourses premeditated,
extemporal
sounds best to the ears of the hearers, although of lesse wit
than premeditatedDddddddd
ted
Dddddddd1v
658
discourses, because they are delivered more naturally, and
so flow more
freely and easily, which makes the noise not only to sound more
sweetly,
but the discourse to be more delightful both to the ears and
the mind of the
hearers, and more ready to the understanding; but of all
discourses the disputive
discourses are harshest: Indeed all disputive
discourses are like Chromatick
Musick, wherein is more Skill than Harmony; but all
discourses
should be fitted, measured, or chosen to the time, place,
persons, and occasions,
for that discourse which is proper for one time, place,
or person, is
improper for another time, place, or person, as a discourse of
mirth in a
time of sadnesse, a familiar discourse from an Inferior to a
Superior, a vain
discourse to a serious humour, or an Effeminate discourse to
a man, or a
Masculine discourse to a woman, and many the like examples
might be
given: Also there are discourses that are sensible
discourses, rational discourses,
and witty discourses: also there are other
discourses, that have neither
Sense, Reason, Wit, nor Fancy in them: Also there are
Clownish discourses
and Courtly discourses: Also there is a general
discoursing, and particular
discoursing, also Scholastical discourses and
Poetical discourses: but
of all the several wayes, manners, or sorts of discourses and
discoursings,
Let me commend the Poetical discourses and discoursings, which
are brief
and quick, full of variety, curiosity, and newnesse, being as
new as peep of
day, as refreshing as the Zephyrus wind, as modest as the
blushing morning,
sweet as the flowry Spring, as pleasant as a Summers Evening, as
profitable
as Autumns Harvest, as splenderous as the mid-day Sun, as
flowing
as the full Tide Sea, as dilating as the spreading Ayre, as
fruitfull as
the fertile earth, and have as great an influence upon the
Natures, Dispositions,
and Humours of men, as the Stars, & Planets in the
Heavens have, it takes
life from the Cœlestial flame, and is produced from the
Gods on high: and
this discourse makes Man resemble to a Deity.
Scene 5.
Enter two Gentlemen as meeting each other.1 Gentleman
Whither so hastily?
2 Gent
I am going to hear them speak in the Academy.
1 Gent
They have done for this time.
2 Gent
And did they spaeeak well.
1 Gent
As they use to do.
2 Gent
Why they never spake before there?
1 Gent
Where?
2 Gent
Why in the Academy.
1 Gent
Why
I am sure I heard one Lady speak yesterday, and
another to
day.
2 Gent
Ladies, I mean the Academy of men.
1 Gent
Why do the men intend to speak?
2 Gent
Yes presently, if they have not done speaking already.
Scene 6.
Enter a Company of young men, as in the Room next to the Ladies;one takes the Chair.
Gentleman Speaker
Gentlemen, we need no Learned
Scholars, nor
Grave Sages to propound the Theam of our discourse in this
place,
and at this time; for our minds are so full of thoughts of the
Female Sex,
as we have no room for any other Subject or Object; wherefore let
the
Theam be what it will, our discourses will soon run on them:
but if we
could bring women as easily into our arms, as into our brains;
and had we
as many Mistresses in our possessions, as we have in our
imaginations, we
should be much more happy than we are; Nay, had we been blind, deaf,
and insensible to the Sex, we had been happy, unlesse that Sex
had been more
kinder than they are; but they are cruel, which makes men
miserable; but Nature
had made Beauty in vain, if not for the use of the
Masculine Sex, wherfore
Nature forbids restraint, and ’tis a sin against Nature for
women to be Incloystred,
Retired, or restrained: Nay, it is not only a sin
against Nature, but a grievous
sin against the Gods, for women to live single lives, or
to vow Virginity:
for if women live Virgins, there will be no Saints for
Heaven, nor worship
nor Adoration offred to the Gods from Earth; for if all
women live Viringgins,
the Race of Mankind will be utterly
extinguished; and if it be a general
sin to live Virgins, no particular can be exempted; and if it be
lawfull for one
to live a Virgin, it is lawfull for all; so if it be unlawfull
for one, it is unlawfull
for all; but surely the Gods would not make any thing lawful
that were
against themselves: But to conclude, those women which
restrain themselves
from the company and use of men, are damned, being
accused by
Men, judged by Nature, and condemned by the Gods.
Scene. 7.
Enter two Gentlewomen.1 Gentlewoman
What say you, will you go into the Academy?
2 Gent
No faith, I mean not to be damned.
1 Gent
I am of your mind, I will run unto the men to save me.
2 Gent
So will I, since the
wayes of Salvation are so easie and so pleasant.
Scene 8.
Enter the Academy of Ladies, and the Grave Matronesse: TheLady that is to speak takes a Chair.
Matron
Lady, let
the Theam of your discourse be at this time on the
behaviour of our Sex.
Lady Speaker
It is a greater
difficulty for a woman to behave her self discreetly
in private Visitations, than for a man to speak wisely
in privy Councels:
and it is a greater difficulty for a woman to behave her
self wel in a publick
Assembly, than for a man to speak eloquently in a publick
Auditory:
and it is a greater difficulty for a woman to behave her self
well to several
Persons, and in several Assemblies, than for a man to behave
himself gallantly
in several Battels, and as much dishonour comes in the
misbehaviour of
the one, as the cowardlinesse of the other: Wherefore there requires as
much skill, care, and conduct in a womans behaviour, in visiting,
entertaining,
placing, applying, and discoursing, as to a Commander in
Mustering,
Training, Intrenching, Besieging, Inbattelling, Fighting, and
Retreating;
for it is not enough for a woman to behave her self according to
her Degree,
Quality, Dignity, Birth, and Breeding, Age, Beauty, Wit, and
Fortune;
But according to Time, Place, and Occasion, Businesse,
and Affairs,
as also to the Humours, Capacities, Professions, Dignities,
Qualities, Births,
Breedings, Fortunes, Ages, and Sexes of those persons she is in
Company
and Conversation withall: Also in mixt Companies she must have
a mixt
behaviour, and mixt discourses, as sometimes to one, then to
another, according
as she can handsomely and civilly apply or addresse
her self; and to
those that apply and addresse themselves to her: for a woman
must not behave
her self, or discourse unto a great Lord or Prince, as to a
Peasant, or to a
Peasant as to a great Lord or Prince, nor to
a Souldier as to a Divine, nor
to a Divine as to a Souldier, nor to a States-man as to a
Tradesman, nor to
a Tradesman as to a States-man, nor to a Flattering Gallant, as
to a Grave
Senior, nor to a Grave Senior as to a Flattering Gallant, nor to a
young
man as to an antient man, nor to a Boy as to a man, nor to a woman as
to a
man, nor to a Poet as to a woman, or as to those men that
understand not
Poetry, nor to learned men, as to ignorant men. Also an antient
Grave Matron
must not behave her self like a wanton young Girl, nor a
Wife
like a Maid, nor a Widow like a Wife, nor a
Mother
like her Daughter, nor a Mistriss like her Servant, nor a
Servant like a Mistriss,
nor a great Lady like a Country wife, nor a Country wife
like a great
Lady, for that would be ridiculous; Indeed it is easier for a
middle Rank or
Degree, at least it is oftner seen, to behave themselves better
than those of
high Titles and great Estates, or those of a very mean
Condition, and of low
Birth, for the one is apt to err with excessive pride, the other
with an excessive
rudenesse, both being bold and ignorantly bred,
knowing not how to
be civil, nor what belongs to civil Persons; for the pride of the
one scorns to
be instructed, and the poverty of the other hath not means to
keep and pay
Instructers; for the excesse of Plenty nussles the one in
Ignorance, and
excesse of Poverty blindfolds the other from knowledge: but to
conclude
of the behaviour of women, first as to the generality, they must
behave themselvesselves
Eeeeeeee1r
661
civily and circumspectly, to particulars, modestly and
friendly; for the
chief Principals of behaviour are twelve, six good, and six bad;
the six good
are, Ceremony, Civility, Modesty, Humility, Friendship, and
Obedience: The
first is Majestical and Magnificent, the second Noble, the
third Virtuous, the
fourth Humane, the fift Generous, the sixt Pious; The first is
Gracefull, the
second Sociable, the third Delightfull, the fourth Natural, the
fift Helpfull,
the sixt Necessary; The first belongs to Dignity, the second
to Breeding, the
third to Youth, the fourth to Age, the fift to Wealth, the sixt
to Peace.
As for the six bad Principals,
is, to be Proud, Bold, Rude, Wanton, Disobedient,
and Cruel; The first is, Insolent, the second
Impudent, the third
Ignorant, the fourth Brutish, the fift Unnatural, the sixt
Wicked: The first lives
with mean Births, joined with good Fortune, the second lives with
ignorant
; doltish Spirits, the third with base Breeding, the fourth
with Beasts, the fift
with uncivil Nations, the sixt with Atheists: The first is to
be Slighted, the
second to be Pityed, the third to be Shunned, the fourth to be
Hated, the
fift to be Governed, the sixt to be Punished.
Scene 9.
Enter two Gentlemen.1. Gent
What say you to these young Ladies?
2. Gent
I say, that though they
be but young Ladies,
they discourse like old Women.
Scene 10.
Enter a Company of young Gentlemen: The Gentlemen Speakertakes the Chair.
Gentleman
Speaker
The beauty of the Female Sex
hath as great an influence upon
the eyes of men, as the stars of the Heavens have upon
their nature and disposition: but as a cloud of ill Education,
covers, changes,
or buries the good influence of the Stars; so a cloud of
Time covers,
changes, and buries the beauties of the fairest Ladies faces,
which alters the
affections of men, and buries all the delight that was received
there-from, in
the ruines of age, and the graves of wrinckles: But beauty,
whilst it is fresh
and flourishing, it is the most powerfull Conqueresse and
Triumphs in the
Chariot of Youth; and though her Masculine Subjects forsake her,
when
time hath displaced her, and weakened her power; yet she were
unwise,
not to take pleasure in her Victories, whilst she may.
Scene 11.
Enter two Citizens Wives.1. Wife
Come, come, Neighbour, we shall
get no room to see and hear
the young Ladies, if we go not quickly.
2. Wife
Yes, let us go; but
stay Neighbour, I must run home again, for
I have left the key in the Celar door.
1. Wife
Let it be there for this time.
2. Wife
By my truth I must not,
for my maid Joan, and the
Prentice, will
drink out all my Ale, and strong Beer, and there will be none
left to give my
Husband a draught when he goeth to bed.
1. Wife
What, Neighbour, are you come back already?
3 Wife
Why there is no getting in; the
Door-keeper beat me back,
and said there was no room for Citizens Wives, for the room was only
kept for Ladies, and Gentlewomen of Quality.
2. Wife
Well, we may come to be Ladies one
day, although not Gentlewomen,
and then we shall not so often be beaten back.
1. Wife
Let us go to the
Gentlemens side, they will receive us, and use
us kindly.
Scene 12.
Enter the Academy of young Ladies, and their Matrons. They allsit, and the Lady Speaker takes the Chair.
Matron
Ladies, let the Theam of our
discourse, at this time, be of
Truth.
Lady Speaker
Truth, although she
hath but one face, which is a natural
face, yet she hath many several countenances; for somtimes her
countenance
is severe, other times kind and familiar, sometimes it is sad,
sometimes merry,
other times pleasing and delightfull: also she hath as
different humours, as
she hath countenances, according to the Cause, or Occasion;
likewise, her
presence, or approach, shews the different Effects, and several
Causes; or
from one Cause on several Objects, or Subjects: As for Example,
sometimes
her Approach shews man to be Miserable, or Happy; as when
she
comes to inform him of good Fortune, or bad; or when she
presents him
with right Understanding of the condition he is in: But in Truth,
in whatsoever
countenance, or humour she puts on, she is a most
beautifull Lady:
for although she do not shine as the Sun, which dazles and
obscures the
sight with his splendrous beams, yet she doth appear like a
bright, clear
day, wherein, and whereby, all things are seen perfectly; and
although she
have various Humours, yet her Actions are just, for the
alteration of her
Countenance, and Humours, are not to deceive men, nor she takes
no delightlight
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in her own sad Approach, to grieve men, but she doth bear
a-part, both
of their Grief and Joy: she makes neither the Chances, Fortunes,
Accidents
nor Actions, but only declares them: she is neither the Cause,
nor Effects,
but only shews the several Effects of Causes, or what causes
those Effects:
She is of a sweet Nature, and an humble Disposition, she doth
as freely,
and commonly accompany the Poor, as the Rich, the Mean as the
Great:
Indeed, her constant Habitation and dwelling, is among the
Learned and
Industrious men; but she hath an opposite or rival, namely
Falshood, which
often obscures her, and is often preferr’d before her: this
Falshood, her Rival,
is of the nature of a Curtezan, as all Curtezans are, as to
flatter, and
insinuate her self and company, to all mens good liking, and
good opinion:
she is full of deceit and dissembling, and although she hates
Truth, yet she
imitates her as much as she can; I do not say she imitates the
Justice, Severity,
and Plainesse of Truth; for those, of all things, or
actions, she shuns;
but she imitates her Behaviour and Countenance; for although
Falshood
is fowl, and filthy of her self, yet by artificial Paint, she
makes herself appear
as fair, and pure as Truth; but the deservingly Wise can
soon see the
difference between the artificial fair of Falshood, and the true,
natural, fair
complexion of Truth, although fools do admire, and are sooner
catch’d,
so, for the most part deceived with the deceiving Arts of
Falshood, than the
natural Verity of Truth: for Falshood makes a glaring shew at
the first
sight, but the more she is viewed, the worse she appears;
whereas Truth,
the more she is viewed, the better she appears: also Falshood
uses Rhetorick,
to allure and deceive with her Eloquent Tongue, whereas
Truth
speaks little her self, but brings alwaies, and at all times,
and in all places,
and to all things, Right Reason, and plain Proof to speak for
her, who
speak without flourishing Phrases, or decking Sentences, or
Scholastical
Rules, Methods or Tenses, but speak to the purpose, deliver the
matter
briefly, and keep to the sense of Truth, or true sense, which
is both the
best and natural way of speaking, and the honest Practice of
Truth,
whereas Eloquence is one of the most cozening and abusing Arts
as is;
for as Paint is a Vizard on the face, so is Eloquence a Vizard on
the
mind, and the Tongue is the Pencil of Deceit, drawing the Pictures
of
Discourse; thus Falshood strives to resemble Truth, as much
as artificially
she can.
Act III.
Scene 13.
Enter two Gentlemen.1 Gent
How do you like the Ladies and their discoursings?
2 Gent
I like some of the Ladies
cdiscourses better than others; and
I like some of the Ladies bettetr than the
other; but let us go hear the
men.
Scene 14.
Enter a Company of Gentlemen, he that is to speak takesthe Chair.
Gentleman Speaker
Those women that retire themselves
from the Company
of men, are very ungratefull; as, first to Nature, because
she made
them only for breed; next to men who are their Defenders,
Protectors,
their Nourishers, their Maintainers, their Instructers, their
Delighters, their
Admirers, their Lovers and Deifiers; as men defend them from the
raging blustring Elements, by building them Houses, and not only
build
them Houses for shelter, but Houses for pleasure and
magnificency: Also
men protect them from wild ravenous and cruel Beasts, that
otherwise
would devour them; for as women have not natural strength to
build, so
have they not natural courage to fight, being for the most part
as fearfull as
weak: Likewise men nourish them, for men Fish Fowl, and hunt to
get
them Food to feed them, for which women would neither take the
pains,
nor indure the labour, nor have the heart to kill their food; for
women by
nature are so pittifull, and have such tender dispositions, as
they would
rather suffer death themselves, than destroy life in other
Creatures;
Also men maintain them by composing themselves into
Commonwealths,
wherein is Traffique and Commerce, that each Family may
live
by each other; Also Laws to keep them in peace, to rule them in
order, to
defend them with Arms, wbhich women could never do, by reason they
know
not what Government to settle in or to, nor what Laws to make, or
how to
execute those Laws that were made; neither could they plead
Sutes, decide
Causes, Judge Controversies, deal out right, or punish
Injuries, or condemn
Criminals: Also men are the Instructers to inform them of Arts
and Sciences,
which women would nere have had the patience to study, for they would
never
have allowed so much time and solitary musing, for the
perfecting or devering
those Conceptions, as those that first
invented or found them out; besides
if women were not instructed by men of the natural cause
of Effects,
how
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how often would they have been affrighted almost to death, with
the loud
and terrifying Thunders, the flashing Lightenings, the dark
Eclipses, the unsteady
Earthquakes, the overflowing Tides, and many the like
natural Effects
from hidden Causes? besides, women would want all those
conveniencies
that Art affords them, and furnishes them with: Also men
instruct women
with the Mystery of the Gods, whereas for want of which
knowledge,
they would have been damned through ignorance: Also men are their
Delighters,
they traffique on the Sea, all over the world, to every
several Climate
and Country, to find and to bring the Female Sex
Curiosities, hazarding
their lives for the same; whereas women could neither build
their
Ships, nor guide them on the Seas when they were built; they have
not
strength to pull and tug great Cable Ropes, to set and spread
large Sails, to
cast and weigh Massy Anchors, no, not in a calm, much lesse
in furious
storms, with which men often fight, though not with Arms, with
Subtility
and Skill, by which the Elements are conquered still, whereas
women are
conquered, and not only being strengthlesse and heartlesse,
but healthlesse;
for not only the roaring Seas, and whistling winds, and ratling
showres, and
rumbling Thunders, and fiery Lightenings, Rocks, Shelves, and
Sands unknown,
or not to be avoided, besides Mountains of Ice, if to the
Northern
Pole, all which would terrifie them, yet their weak bodies, sick
stomacks,
and nice Appetites, could never endure long Voyages; they would
vomit
out their life before they could sayl to their assigned Port,
or Haven: Also
men are womens admirers, they gaze on their Beauties, and praise
their
sweet Graces, whereas women through envy detract from each other;
Also
men are womens only True Lovers, they flatter, kisse and
please them,
whereas women are apt to quarrel, rail and fight with each other:
And
lastly, men Deifie women, making them Goddesses by their
Poetical Descriptions
& Elevations, whereas Nature made them meer Mortals,
Human creatures;
wherefore it is a great ingratitude, nay a horid ingratitude in
those women,
that denye men their Company, Conversation, and
Communication;
wherefore men have not only Reason to take it ill, but to be
angry
with those women that shun or restrain their Company from them;
but
good Counsel ought to go before Anger, for the difference betwixt
good
Counsel and Anger, is, that good Counsel goes before a fault is
committed,
and Anger followeth when a fault is committed, for as good
Counsel
or Admonishment is to prevent a fault, so Anger is a Punishment
for a fault
past.
Scene 15.
Enter three Antient Ladies.1 Lady
Is your Daughter put into the Academy?
2 Lady
Yes.
3 Lady
How long Madam hath your
Daughter been in the Academy?
2 Lady
This week, but she hath not profited
much, for I do not hear
her discourse.
1 Lady
First it is to be
considered, whether your Daughter be capable of
discoursing, for she must have a natural ingenuity to the Art
of Rhetorick.
3 Lady
My Daughter was alwayes a
pretty talking Girl, as any in all the
Country and Town I lived in.
2 Lady
Yes, Children may talk
prettily for Children, but when they
come to be women, it is a question whether they will talk wisely
or no;
but let us go hear which of the Ladies discourses to day.
Scene 16.
Enter the Academical Ladies and their Matrons; The Lady Speakertakes the Chair.
Matron
Lady, for
this time let the Theam of your discourse be of
Discourse.
Lady Speaker
Reverend Matron,
this Theam hath been discoursed of before
by one of our Academy; but yet by reason one and the same
Theam
may be discoursed of after different manners or wayes, I shall
obey you.
As for Discourse, there is of four sorts;
the first is discoursing in the mind,
which is reasoning.
The second is discoursing with words, which is speaking.
The third is discoursing by signs, which is action or acting.
The last is discoursing by Figures, which
is by Letters and Hieroglyphicks,
which is by Printing, Writing, Painting, and the like.
As for the first, which is a discourse in
the mind, which is Reasoning,
which reasoning is a discourse with things, and not with words,
as such a
thing is not such a thing, and what such things are, and what
they are not,
or in what such things agreee or disagree, sympathy, or
antipathy, or such
things resemble, or not resemble, or on the cause of things, or
their effects,
or the like: This discourse is in the mind, which is
distinguishing, and distinguishing
belongs to Judgement.
The second discoursing is with words,
which is Speech, and words are
not things or notches, but only marks of things, or nicks, or
notches to know
things by; and the Tongue is the Tally on which they are scored:
for Speech
is a number of words, which words are made and joyned together by
the
Breath, Tongue, Teeth, and Lips; and the continuance make a
discourse;
for a discourse is like a line or thread; whereon are a number
of words
strung, like as a Chain of Beads, if the words be well sorted,
and fitly
and properly matched, as also evenly strung, the discourse is
pleasant and delightfull;
this Chain of discourse is longer or shorter,
according as the
Speaker pleases. The third discourse, is a discourse by
Signes, which is in
Actions, as some can discourse by the Motion of their Faces,
Countenances,
Hands, Fingers, Paces, or Measures, or by the cast of the Eyes,
and many
such like Postures, Looks, Actions, and several such wayes of
Motion as have
been invented to be understood. This and the first kind of
discourse, as by
things
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things and motions, beasts may have, for ought we can know to the
contrary.
The last is by Figures, or Letters, Prints, Hieroglyphicks,
and painted
Stories, or ingraven in Metal, or cut, or carved in Stone, or
molded, or formed
in Earth, as clay, or the like; in this kind of discourse,
the Pencil hath
sometimes out-done the Pen, as the Painter hath out-done the
Historian and
Poet: This discoursing by Signs, or Figures, are discourses to
the eye, and
not to the ear. There is also another kind, or sort of
discoursing, which is
hardly learn’d as yet, because newly invented, or at lest, to
what I have heard,
which is by Notes, and several Strains in Musick. I only mention
it, because
I never heard it but once, and then I did not understand it: but
yet it was
by a skilfull and ingenious Musician, which discoursed a story
of his Travels,
in his playing on a Musical Instrument, namely, the
Harpsical. But
certainly, to my understanding, or reason, it did seem a much
easier way of
discoursing, than discoursing by actions, or
posture. But to end my discourse
of Discoursing, which discoursing may be by several waies,
several actions
and postures, by several creatures, and in several Languages:
but reasoning is
the Souls Language, words the Language of the Senses, action the
Lifes
Language, Writing, Printing, Painting, Carving and Molding, are
Arts several
Languages, but Musick is the Language of the Gods.
Scene 17.
Enter two Gentlemen.1. Gent
How do you like the Ladies discourse?
2. Gent
As I like discourse.
1. Gent
How is that?
2. Gent
Why I had rather hear a
number of words, than speak a number
of words.
1. Gent
Then thou art not of the
nature of Mankind; for there is no man
that had not rather speak than hear.
2. Gent
No, it is a sign I am not
of the nature of Woman-kind, that will
hear nothing, but will speak all; indeed, for the most part,
they stop their
Ears with their Tongues, at lest, with the sound of their Voices.
Scene 18.
Enter a company of Gentlemen; The Speaker takes the Chair.Gentleman
Speaker
It were too tedious to recite
the several humours of the female
Sex; their scornfull Pride, their obstinate Retirednesse,
their
reserved Coynesse, their facil Inconstancy, by which they
become the most
useless, and most unprofitable Creatures that nature hath made;
but when
they are joined to men; they are the most usefull, and most
profitable Creatures
nature hath made; wherefore, all those women that have
common
reason, or sense of shame, will never retire themselves from
the company of
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men:
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668
men: for what women that have any consideration of
Honouur, Truth, or
touch of Goodness, will be the worst of all Creatures, when they
may be
the best? but the truth of it is, women are spoyled by the
over-fond dotage
of men; for being flattered, they become so self-conceited, as
they think they
were only made for the Gods, and not for men; and being
Mistrisses of mens
affections, they usurp their Masculine Power and Authority, and
instead of
being dutifull, humble and obedient to men, as they ought to be,
they are
Tyrannical Tyrannizers.
Scene 19.
Enter two Gentlemen.1. Gent
The young Gallants methinks
begin to be whetted with Anger.
2. Gent
They have reason, when
the women have such dull, blunt Appetites.
Scene 20.
Enter the Ladies of the Academy: The Lady Speaker takes theChair.
Matron
Ladies, let the Theam of your
discourse be, at this time, of
Friendship.
Lady Speaker
This Theam may more
easily be discoursed of, than Friendship
made; by reason it is very difficult to make a right
Friendship, for
hard it is to match men in agreeable Humours, Appetites,
Passions, Capacities,
Conversations, Customs, Actions, Natures and
Dispositions, all
which must be to make a true and lasting Friendship,
otherwise, two Friends
will be like two Horses that draw contrary waies, whereas Souls,
Bodies,
Education and Lives, must equally agree in Friendship; for a
worthy honest
man cannot be a friend to a base and unworthy man, by
reason Friendship
is both an offensive and defensive League between two
Souls and Bodies;
and no actions, either of the Souls or Bodies, or any
outward thing, or
fortune belonging thereunto, are to be denyed; wherefore Knaves
with
Knaves, and unworthy Persons with unworthy Persons, may make a
Friendship,
& Honest men with Honest men, and worthy Persons
with worthy Persons,
may do the like: but an Honest man with a Knave, or a
worthy
Person with a base man, or an Honourable Person with a mean
Fellow, a
noble Soul with a base Nature, a Coward with a Valiant man, can
make no
true Friendship. For, put the case, in such friendships, my
Friend should
desire me to do a base Action for his sake, I must either
break Friendship,
or do unworthily, but as all worthy Persons make Truth their
Godesse,
which they seek and worship, Honour the Saint which they pray
too, Vertue,tue
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the Lady which they serve, so Honesty is the only Friend
they trust and
rely on, and all the World is obliged to
Honesty, for upright and just dealing.
Act IV.
Scene 21.
Enter two Gentlemen.1 Gent
Methinks the
womens Lectural discourse is better than the
mens; for in my opinion, the mens discourses are simple,
childish,
and foolish, in comparison of the womens,.
2 Gent
Why, the subject of the
discourse is of women, which are simple,
foolish, and childish.
1 Gent
There is no sign of their
simplicity or folly, in their discourse or
Speeches, I know not what may be in their Actions.
2 Gent
Now you come to the point,
for the weaknesse of women lyes
in their Actions, not in their Words; for
they have sharp Wits and blunt
Judgements.
Scene 22.
Enter the Ladies and Grave Matroness; The Lady Speakertakes the Chair.
Matronesse
Lady,
let the Theam of your discourse to day be of a
Theatre.
Lady Speaker
A Theatre is a
publick place for publick Actions, Orations,
Disputations, Presentations, whereunto is a publick resort; but
there are
only two Theatres, which are the chief, and the most frequented;
the one
is of War, the other of Peace; the Theatre of Warr is the Field,
and the
Battels they fight, are the Plays they Act, and the Souldiers are
the Tragedaniians,
and the Theatre of Peace is the
stage, and the Plays there Acted are the
Humours, Manners, Dispositions, Natures, Customes of men
thereon described
and acted, whereby the Theatres are as Schools to teach Youth
good
Principles, and instruct them in the Nature and Customes of the
World and
Mankind, and learn men to know themselves better than by any
other way
of instruction; and upon these Theatres, they may learn what is
noble and
good, what base and wicked, what is ridiculous and misbecoming;
what
gracefull and best becoming, what to avoid and what to imitate;
the Genius
that belongs to the Theatre of Warr is Valour, and the Genius
that
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670
belongs to the Theatre of Peace is Wit; the designer of the
rough Plays of
Warr, is a General or Councel; the designer of the smooth Plays
of Peace
is a Poet, or a chief Magistrate; but the difference of these
Plays Acted on
each Theatre, is, the one is real, the other feigned, the one in
earnest, the
other in jest; for a Poet only feigns Tragedies, but the
Souldiers do truly act
Tragedies; on the Poetical Theatre I will only insist, for this
Theatre belongs
more to our persons, and is a more fitter Subject for the
discourse of
our Sex, than Warr is; for we delight more in Scenes than in
Battels: I
will begin first with Poets, who are the Authors and makers of
these kind
of Plays; Fame hath spoke loud, both of antient and modern Poets;
as for
the antient Poets, they are a length out of the reach of my
Judgement, so
as my opinion will hardly reach so far; but as for our Modern
Poets, that have
made Plays in our Modern times, although they deserve praise,
yet not so
much nor so high Applause as is given them; for most of their
Plorts, or
Foundations of their Plays, were taken out of old Authors, as from
the Greeks
and Romans, Historians and
Poets, also all the Modern Romances are
taken out of these Stories, and many Playes out of these Romances.
Matron
Lady, give me leave a
little while to instruct you, as to tell you,
that all Romances should be so; for the ground of a right
Romance is a true
story, only falshood is intermixt therein, so that a Romance is
a compound
of Truth and Falshood.
Lady Speaker
Give me leave to
answer you, that in my opinion, a right
Romance is Poetical Fictions put into a Historical Stile; but for
Plays, the
true Comedy is pure Love and Humours, also the Customes,
Manners, and
the Habits, and inbred qualities of mankind; And right
Tragi-Comedies
are the descriptions of the Passions which are created in the
Soul; And a
right Tragedy is intermixt with the Passions, Appetites, and
Humours of
men, with the influence of outward actions, accidents, and
misfortunes:
but as I said, some Poets take the Plots out of true History,
others out of
feigned Historie, which are Romances, so as their Plots (for the
most part)
are meer Translations, and oft times the Wit is also but a translated Wit,
only metamorphosed after their own way; but the truth is, that
some of them
their Wit is their own, and their Plots were
stoln, or plainly taken, and
some their Plots are their own, but the Wit
stoln; but of all theft, Wit is
never confest; and some neither the Plot nor Wit is their own,
and others
both Plots and Wit are truly their own;
These last Poets (although but
very few) are the true Sons of Nature, the other but as adulterate
issues;
But for the most part, our Modern Plays, both Plots and Wit, are meer
translations, and yet come out as boldly upon the Stage, as if
the Translators
were the Original Authors, thinking, or at least hoping that the
alteration of
the Language conceals the theft, which to the unlearnned
it doth, but the
learned soon find them out, and see all their Bodies, Wings, Leggs, Tail,
and Feathers, although they hide their head in the Bush of
Ignorance. I
speak not in discommendation of these Translations, nor
Translators, for
Translations are so far from being condemned, as they ought to
be much,
nay very much commended, and highly praised, if it be such as is
praise
worthy, for old Authors may in some expressions be more
profitable and
good, both for Wit and Examples, than the
modern; and the Translators
may be commended both for their Judgement and Learning; besides,
very
good Translators must have a sympathetical Genius, with the Original
Au-
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671
Author, but their Condemnation proceeds from the Translators
unjust owning
of it, upon themselves, or in translating it to the Authors
prejudice.
Matron
Lady, let me interrupt you
once again, to ask your opinion how
you like the Italian and French Plays.
Lady Speaker
As well as I can
like any thing that is a strain beyond Nature,
or as I may say, Natures Constraint: for the truth is, in
their discourse
or rehearsals, they do not only raise their Voice a Note or two
too high;
but many Notes too high, and in their actions they are so forced,
as the
Spectators might very easily believe the Actors would break their
Sinew-
strings; and in their Speech they fetch their breath so short
and thick, and in
such painfull fetches and throws, as those Spectators that are
Strangers,
might verily believe that they were gasping for life.
Matron
But Lady, all know Love,
which is the Theam or Subject of
Plays, is a violent passion, which forces the Players to an
Elevation of Action
and Speech.
Lady Speaker
Most Reverend
Matron, my opinion is, that though it be
commendable and admirable for the Poet to be elevated with a
Poetical Divine
Inspiration to outdo Nature; yet for the Actors, their best
grace is to
Play or Act in the Tracts or Paths of Nature, and to keep within
Natures
bounds; and whensoever they go awry, or transgresse therefrom,
they are
to be condemned, and to be accounted ill Actors; and as for the
Passions of
Love, certainly the strongest Love is like the deepest Water, which is
most silent, and least unnecessarily active; they may
sometimes murmur,
with winds of sighs, but never roar; they neither foam nor
froth with
violence, but are composed into a heavy body, with a setled
sadnesse: But
in short, the Italian and French Players act more Romantical
than Natural,
which is feign’d and constrain’d: but to conclude with the Poet, he
delights
the Ear and the Understanding with the variety of every thing
that Nature,
hath made, or Art invented; for a Poet is like a Bee, that gathers
the sweet
of every Flower, and brings the Hony to his Hive, which are the
Ears and
Memory of the Hearers, or Readers, in whose Head his Wit swarms; but
as Painters Draw to the life, so Poets should Write to the life, and Players
Act to rthe life.
Scene 1323.
Enter three Gentlemen.1 Gent
The Academy
of Ladies take no notice of the Academy of
Men, nor seem to consider what the men say, for they go on
thier
own serious way, and edifying discourses.
2 Gent
At which the men are so
angry, as they have sworn to leave off
talking, and instead thereof, they will sound Trumpets so loud,
when the Ladys
are in their discoursings, as they shall not hear
themselves speak; by which
means they hope to draw them out of their Cloyster, as they swarm
Bees;
for as Bees gather together at the sound of a Basin, Kettle, or
such like metledGggggggg2
led
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672
thing: so they will disperse that swarm of Academical
Ladies, with
the sound of brazen Trumpets.
3. Gent
Why the Ladies look
through their Grate, upon the men, whilst
the men are speaking, and seem to listen to what they speak,
as the men
do on and to the Ladies.
2. Gent
That is true, but they
take no notice of them in their literal Discourses,
as what the men have said; for they neither mention the
men, nor
their Discoursings, or Arguments, or Academy, as if there were
no such
men.
Scene 24.
Enter the Ladies, and their Matrons: The Lady Speaker takes theChair.
Matron
Lady, let the Theam of your
discourse be, at this time, of Vanity,
Vice, and Wickedness.
Lady Speaker
There is a
difference betwixt Vanity, Vice, and Wickednesse:
Wickednesse is in the will, Vice in the desires, and
Vanity in the
actions. Will proceeds from the Soul, Vice from the Appetites, and
Action
from Custom, or Practice; the Soul is produced from the Gods, the
Appetites
created by Nature, and Custom is derived from Time: As
for Desires,
we may desire, and not will, and we may will, and not act,
and we may
act, and neither will, nor desire, and we may desire, will, and
act all at
once; and to some particulars, we may neither desire, will nor
act; but
the Will makes Vice Wickednesse, and Vanity Vice; the willing of
good,
procceeds from the Gods, the willing of evil proceeds from the
Devils: so
that Sin is to will evil, in despight of good, and Piety is to
will good, in despight
of evil, as neither the perswasions, nor temptations of
the one, or the
other, shall draw our wills; for sin, or wickednesse, is
neither in the Knowledg,
nor Appetites: for if our Great Grandmother Eve, had
not wilfully
eat of that which was strictly forbidden her, she had not
sinned, for if that
she had only heard of the effects of that Fruit, or had desired
it, yet had
not wilfully eaten thereof, she had never damned her Posterity:
Thus, to
will against the Gods command, is Wickednesse: but there is no
such thing
as Wickedness, in Nature, but as I said Wickednesse proceeds
from the
Soul, Vice from the Appetites, and Vanity from the Actions: as for
Wickedness,
it is like a dead Palsie, it hath no sense, or feeling
of the Grace or
Goodness of the Gods, and Vice is like an unwholsome Meat, cut
out by
the Appetites, for the Appetites are like knives, whereas some
are blunt,
others are sharp, and as it were, too much edged, but they are
either blunt,
or sharp, according as Nature whets them: but if they be very
sharp, as to
be keen, they wound the body, and make the life bleed. As for
Vanity, it
is as the froath of life, it is llight, and swims a-top, which
bubbles out into
extravagant and unprofitable actions, false opinions, and idle,
and impossible
Imaginations. But as I said, it is not the knowledg of
Vanity, Vice and
Wickednesse, that makes a creature guilty thereof, but the Will,
and wilfull
Practice thereof, for Wickedness, Vice, and Vannity,
must be known as
much as Piety, Virtue, and Discretion, otherwise men may run
into evil,
through
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673
through ignorance; wherefore it is as great a shame to Education,
not to be
instructed in the bad, as it is a glory to be instructed in the
good: but the Question
will be, whether Knowledg can be without a partaking
thereof? I Answer,
not a perfect Knowledg, but a suppositive Knowledg: for
there are many
things which cannot be perfectly known, but suppositively known:
so we must
only know Wickedness, Vice, and Vanity, as
we do know the Gods and Devils,
which is by a lively Faith; so as we must be instructed
in all that is Pious,
Virtuous, and Judicious, as we are instructed of the Power and
Goodnesse
of the Gods; and we must be instructed in all that is Wicked,
Vicious, and
Idle, as we are of the Evil, and Power of the Devils. Now I must
inform
you, that there are three sorts of Knowledge, as a knowledge of
Possession, a
knowledge of Action, and a knowledge of Declaration; the knowledge
of
Action lies in the Appetites, the knowledge of Declaration lies in
the Senses,
the knowledge of Possession in the Will, Action and Declarations. As
for example, we may hear, and see, Drunkenesse, Adultery,
Murther, Theft,
and the like, and have no appetite to the same Actions; also we
may
have an appetite to the same Actions, yet not a will to act the
same;
but if we have a desire, and will act the same, we have, and are
possess’d with the most perfect Knowledge thereof; but this
last Knowledge
is utterly unlawfull in things that are evil, but not in
things that are
good: But to conclude, we must be instructed by a Narrative way,
and by
the intelligence of our ears, and eyes, in that which is evil, as
well, and as
plainly, as in things that are good, not to be ignorant in any
thing that can
be declared unto us, not staying untill we be Old, but to be thus
instructed
whilst we are young; for many that are young Novices, commit many
evils
through ignorance, not being instructed, and informed
plainly and clearly,
but darkly, and obscurely, caused by their foolish,
cautionary, formal
Tutors, or Educators, who hold that erronious opinion, that Youth
ought
not to know such, or such Things, or Acts; which if they had
known, evil
might have been prevented, and not left untill their evil be known
by Practice;
so that more evil is rather known by Practice, than
Declaration, or
instruction of Information: but if our Senses are a guide to our
Reason,
and our Reason a guide to our Understanding, and that the
Reason and
Understanding governs our Appetites, then tis probable, our
Sense, Reason,
and Understanding, may govern our Will.
Act V.
Scene 25.
Enter the Academical Gentlemen.1. Gent
This is not to be suffered:
for if we should let these Ladies rest
in peace and quiet, in their inclosed Habitation, we shall have
none but Old Women; for all those young Ladies, that are not in
the Academy,
talk of nothing but of going into a Female Academy.
2 Gent
You say true, insomuch as
it begins to be a Mode, and a Fashion,
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for
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674
for all the Youngest, Fairest, Richest, and Noblest Ladies, to
inclose themselves
into an Academy.
3. Gent
Nay, we must seek some
way, and devise some means to unroost
them.
4. Gent
There is nothing can do
it, but noise; for they take such pleasure
in the exercise of their Tongues, that unless we can put
them to
silence, there is no hopes to get them out.
1. Gent
Trumpets, I doubt, will not be loud enough.
6. Gent
Let us try.
All the Gentlemen.
Content, Content, &c.
Scene 26.
Enter the Ladies, and the Grave Matrons; The Lady Speaker takesthe Chair.
Matron
Lady, let the Theam of your
discourse be, at this time, of
Boldness, and Bashfulnesse.
Lady Speaker
There are three
sorts of Boldness, or Confidence, the one
proceeds from Custom, or Practice, as it may be observed by
Preachers,
Pleaders, and Players, that can present themselves, speak, and
act freely, in
a publick Assembly.
The second sort of Boldnesse,
or Confidence, proceeds from Ignorance,
not foreseeing what errors, or follies, may be committed, or
chance to fall
out, or what is fittest to be done, or said; like as poor mean
Countrey people,
who have neither Birth nor Breeding, have so much
Confidence, as they
can more confidently present themselves, or presence, to those
of Noble
Birth and Breeding, and can more freely, and boldly, talk to any
Person, or
Persons, of what Quality, or Dignity soever, than those Noble
Persons can
talk to them.
The third, and last sort of
Confidence, or Boldnesse, proceeds from an
extraordinary Opinionatedness, or self-conceitednesse; for
those that think, or
believe themselves to be above others, in Wit, Person, Parts, or Power,
although they have neither, will be most haughtily, and proudly
confident,
scorning, and undervaluing all others, as inferiour. Thus bold
Confidence,
or confident Boldnesse, is produced from Practice, Ignorance,
and
Pride.
Also there are three sorts of Bashfulnesse.
The one proceeds from too great an Apprehension.
The other from a poetical Fiction.
The third from an aspiring Ambition.
First, from too great an
Apprehension, as some are afraid that their Observers,
or Friends, should make an evil Construction of their
good Intentions.
Others will be Bashfull, and out of Countenance, upon a
poetical
Fiction, as imagining of some impossible, or at least some
improbable accident,
which may fall out to their disgrace. The third and last
is, through
an aspiring Ambition, desiring to out-act all others in
Excellencies, and
fearing
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675
fearing to fail therein, is apt to be out of Countenance, as if
they had received
a foyl; thus we may perceive that the Stream of good Nature,
the
peircing Beams of Wit, and the Throne of Noble Ambition is the
true
cause of bashfulness, I mean not shamefastness, but sweet
bashfulnesse: but
although bashfulnesse is a sweet, tender, noble, and peircing
Effect, of and
from the Soul; yet bashfulnesse is apt to unstring the Nerves,
to weaken the
Sinews, to dull the Senses, to quench the Spirits, to blunt the
eyes or points
of Wit, and to obstruct the Speech, insomuch as to cause the
words to run
stumblingly out of the mouth, or to suffer none to passe
forth: but a little
Anger in the Mind will take off the extreme bashfulnesse of the
Behaviour,
although much Anger doth obstruct the Senses, Spirits and
Speech, as much
as extreme Bashfulnesse doth: for extreme anger, and extreme
bashfulnesse,
have often one and the same Effects to outward
Appearance.
Scene 27.
Enter two Gentlemen.1 Gent
The
Gentlemen will turn Trumpeters, for a Regiment of
Gentlemen
have bought every one of them a Trumpet, to sound a March to
the Academy of Ladies.
12 Gent
Faith
if the Ladies would answer their Trumpets with
blowing
of Horns, they would serve them but as they ought to be
setrved.
1 Gentleman
Women will sooner make
Hornes, than blow
Horns.
Scene 28.
Enter the Lady and their Matroness; The Lady Speaker takesthe Chair.
Matron
Lady, let
the Theam of your discourse at this time be of
Virtuous
Courtships, and wooing Suters.
Lady Speaker
Some Poetical and
Romantical Writers make valiant gallant
Heroicks wooe poorly, sneakingly, and pedlingly.
Matron
Lady, let me interrupt you;
would you have gallant Heroicks
in their Courtships to Fair young Ladies, as Commanding as in the
Field,
or as Furious as in a Battel.
Lady Speaker
No, I would have
them wooe with a Confident Behaviour,
a Noble Demeanor, a Generous Civility, and not to be amazed or to
tremble
for fear, to weep for pitty, to kneel for mercy, to sigh and
be dejected
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with
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676
with a Mistresses frown; for though sorrow, sighs, tears and
Humility become
all Heroick Spirits very well, and expresse a Noble and
Generous
Soul, yet not in such a cause: for tears become all Heroick
Spirits, for the
Death or Torments of Friends, or for the sufferances of
Innocents, or Virtue,
yet not if only themselves were tormented, or to dye, or
for any obstructions
to their own pleasures or delights, but it becomes all
Heroick Spirits, to
tremble for fear of their Honour, or losse of their Fame, and
expresses a
generous Soul to grieve and to mourn in a general Calamity, and to
humble
themselves to the Gods for those in distresse, and to
implore and kneel
to them for mercy, both for themselves and others, as for to
divert the wrath
of the Gods; but not to weep, sigh, tremble, kneel, pray, for
their Effeminate
pleasures, delights, or Societies; nor to grieve or sorrow
for the losse
of the same.
Also some Writers, when they are to describe a
Bashfull and Modest Lady,
such as are Nobly and Honourably bred, describe them as if
they were
simply shame-faced; which description makes such appear, as if
they came
meerly from the Milk-boul, and had been bred only with silly
Huswives,
and that their practice was, to pick Worms
from Roots of Flowers, and
their pastimes to carry and fling crumbs of Bread to Birds, or
little Chickens
that were hatched by their Hens rtheir
Mothers gave them, or to gather a
lapfull of sweet Flowers, to Distill a little sweet Water to dip their Hankerchiefs
in, or to wash their Faces in a little Rose-water; and
indeed, this
harmlesse and innocent Breeding, may be Modest and Bashfull,
or rather
shame-faced, for want of other Conversation, which Custome and
Company
will soon cast off, or wear out, and then print Boldnesse
on their brow;
but true modest Souls, which have for the most part Bashfull
Countenances,
proceed from a deep Apprehension, a clear Understanding, an
ingenuous
Wit, a thinking Brain, a pure Mind, a
refined Spirit, a Noble Education,
and not from an ignorant obscure Breeding; for it is not
Ignorance that
makes Modesty, but Knowledge, nor is it Guiltinesse that makes
Bashfulnesse,
but fear of those that are guilty; but as I said, many
Writers that
would make a description of Modest and Bashfull women, mistake
and expresse
a shame-faced Ignorance and obscure Breeding: and
instead of expressing
a young Lady to be innocent of Faults, they expresse
her to be one
that is ignorant of Knowledge, so as when they would describe a
Modest,
Bashfull, Innocent Virgin, they mistake and describe a simple
ignorant
shame fac’d Maid, that either wants Breeding or Capacity.
Matron
But Lady, let me ask you
one question, would you have a young
Virgin as confident and knowing as a Married Wife?
Lady Speaker
Yes, although not in
their Behaviour or Condition of life,
but in her Virtue and Constancy; for a chast Married wife is as
Modest and
Bashfull as a Virgin, though not so simple, ignorant, and
shame-faced as a
plain bred Maid; but as I said, Writers
should describe the wooing of gallant
Heroicks, or Great and Noble Persons, to woo with a Generous
Confidence,
or Manly Garb, a Civil Demeanor, a Rational Discourse,
to an
honest Design, and to a Virtuous end, and not with a whining
Voice, in pittifull
words, and fawning Language; and if it be only for a
Mistriss, as for
a Courtezan, Bribes are the best Advocates, or to imploy others
to treat
with them, and not to be the Pimp, although for themselves.
Also Writers should when they describe
Noble Virgins, to receive Nobleble
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677
Addresses of Love, and to receive those Noble Addresses
or Courtships
with an attentive Modesty in a bashfull Countenance; and if to
tremble for
fear, to describe the fear, as being the Nature of the Sex; also
to describe
their Behaviour after a Noble Garb, and their answers to
theitr
Suters, to
be full of Reason, Sense, and Truth, and those answers to be
delivered in
as short discourses, and as few words as Civility will allow
of, and not like
an ignorant innocent, a childish simplicity, an unbred
Behaviour, expressing
themselves, or answering their Suters with mincing words that
have neither
Sense nor Reason in them.
Also Poetical and Romantical
Writers should not make great
Princes
that have been bred in great and populous Cities, glorious Camps,
and
splendrous Courts, to woo and make Love like private bred men, or
like
rude bred Clowns, or like mean bred Servants, or like Scholars,
that woo by
the Book in Scholastical Terms or Phrases, or to woo like
flanting, ranting,
swearing, bragging Swaggerers, or Rusters; or to woo a Country
wench, like
as a Noble Lady, or great Princesse.
Also not to make such women as
have been bred and born Nobly and
Honourably, to receive the Courtship of great Persons, like a
Dairy-maid,
Kitchin-maid, or like such as have been bred in mean Cottages, as
to behave
themselves simply, or rudely, as to the answer and speak
Crossingly, or
Thwartingly, as contradicting every word that is spoken unto
them, as if they
did believe what they said was not truth; for Civil and
Honourable bred
women, who have Noble and Generous Souls, will rather seem to
believe
all their Superlative Praises, than make Doubts, as if they knew
they lyed; for to make Doubts, is in the mid-way to give the
Lye.
Matron
Lady, how approve you of
those Lovers that kisse the Letters,
Tokens, Pledges, and the like, that are sent unto them from their
Lovers?
or such as wear Letters, Tokens, or Pledges in their Bosomes,
and
next their Heart, and take them and view them a hundred times a
day?
Lady Speaker
Approve it say you?
you mean disapprove it; but let me tell
you, most Reverend Matron, that the very hearing of it makes me
sick, and
the seeing of it would make me die.
I have so great an Aversion
against such actions, for those actions: like as
whining Speeches, proceed from filthy Amorous Love, and Mean
Lovers;
for true Love in Noble Persons, receives gifts as an expression
of their Suters,
or Lovers Loves, and will carefully keep them as an
acknowledgment
of the receipt, and accept of them as a great Seal to their
affections; yet they
keep such Presents, but as Treasurers, not as Owners, untill
they be man and
wife; neither do they make Idols of such gifts, nor do they adore
the Owner
the more for the gift, nor the gift for the Owner; nor do they
think
fit they ought to give such outward expressions of Love, by
such uselesse
actions, when as htthey have a high esteem of
their Suters Love, a perfect belief
of their Merit, and a constant return of their affection,
and a resolution
to dye, or suffer any misery for their sakes if need required;
besides, true
Lovers have ever the Idea of their beloved in their Thoughts, by
which they
cannot forget their Memory, indeed Love-letters they may read
often, because
Letters are an injoyment of their discourse, although their
persons be at a
distance, and are also a recreation and delight in their Wits,
if there be any
Wit theerein; but to kisse the Paper; they neither find
pleasure, delight, nor
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678
profit, neither to themselves, nor to their Beloved; the truth
is, not one
Writer amongst a thousand make Lovers woo either wisely,
wittily, nobly,
eloquently, or naturally; but either foolishly, meanly,
unmanly, unhandsomely,
or amorously, which is corruptly.
Matron
Lady, you say very true,
and some Romantical Writers, make
long and tedious Orations, or long and tedious and fruitless
discourse, in such
times as requires sudden action.
Lady Speaker
You say right, as
to speak when they are to fight; but for
my part I hate to read Romances, or some Scenes in Plays, whose
ground or
Foundation is Amorous Love.
Matron
When
you read such Books, you must never consider the
Subject
that the Writer writes on, but
consider the Wit, Language, Fancy, or
Description.
2 Matron
Most Reverend Sister,
I suppose few read Romances, or the
like Books, but for the Wit, Fancy, Judgement, and lively
Descriptions; for
they do not read such Books, as they do read Chronicles, wherein
is only to
be considered the true Relation of the History.
Lady Speaker
Most Grave and
Wise Matronesse, I believe
though none
read Romances, or such like Books, whose ground is feigned
Love, and Lovers,
as they read Chronicles, whose ground should be unfeigned
Truth; yet
certainly, few read Romances or the like Books, either for the
Wit, Fancy,
Judgement or Descriptions, but to feed their Amorous Humours on
their
Amorous Discourses, and to tune their Voice to their Amorous
Strains of
Amorous Love; for it is to be observed, that those Books that
are most Amorously
penned, are most often read.
Scene the last.
Enter the Academical Gentlemen; to them enters aServant.
Man Servant
May
it please your Worships, there is an Antient Gentlewoman
that desires to speak with your Worships.
1 Gent
I lay my life it is one of the Matrons of the Academy.
2 Gent
Faith if the Humble Bee is
flown out, the rest of the Bees will
follow.
3 Gent
I fear if they do, they will swarm about our Ears.
4 Gent
Yes, and sting us with their Tongues.
5 Gent
Let us send for her in.
6 Gent
I will go and Usher her in.
Matron
Gentlemen, the Ladies of
the Academy have sent me unto you
to know the Reason or Cause that you will not let them rest in
quiet, or
suffer them to live in peace, but disturb
them in both, by a confused noise of
Trum-
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679
Trumpets, which you uncivilly and discourteously blow at their
Grate and
Gates.
1 Gent
The cause is, that they
will not permit us to come into their
Company, but have barricadoed their Gats against us, and have
incloystred
themselves from us; besides, it is a dangerous example for all
the rest of
their Sex; for if all women should take a toy in their heads to
incloyster
themselves, there would be none left out to breed on.
Matron
Surely it is very fit and
proper that young Virgins should live a
retired life, both for their Education and Reputation.
2 Gent
As for their Education, it
is but to learn to talk, and women can
do that without teaching, for on my Conscience, a woman was the
first inventer
of Speech; and as for their Retirement, Nature did never
make them
for that purpose, but to associate themselves with men: and
since men are
the chief Head of their kind, it were a sign they had but very
little Brain, if
they would suffer the youngest and fairest women to incloyster
themselves.
Matron
Gentlemen pray give me
leave to inform you, for I perceive you
are in great Error of mistake, for these Ladies have not vowed
Virginity, or
are they incloystred; for an Academy is not a Cloyster, but a
School, wherein
are taught how to be good Wives when they are married.
3 Gent
But no man can come to woo them to be Wives.
Matron
No, but if they can win
their Parents, or those they are left in
trust with, and get their good liking and consent, the young
Ladies have
learn’d so much Duty and Obedience, as to obey to what they
shall think fit.
4 Gent
But we desire the Ladies
good liking, we care not for their Friends;
for the approvment and good liking of their Friends, without the
Love
of the Ladies, will not make us happy, for there is no
satisfaction in a secondary
Love, as to be beloved for anothers sake, and not for their own.
Matron
If you be Worthy Gentlemen,
as I believe you all are, their
Love will be due to your Merits, and your Merits will perswade
them to
love you.
All the Gentlemen
Well, if you will be our
Mediator, we will surcease
our Clamour, otherwise we will increase our noise.
Matron
If you can get leave of
their Parents, and Friends, I will endeavour
to serve you, and shall be proud of the imployment that you
shall be
pleased to impose to my trust and management.
Gentlemen
And we shall be your Servants, for your favours.
on her, with their Hats in their
hands, Scraping and Congying to her.
Finis.