THE FEMALE ADVOCATE; OR, A Plea for the just Liberty of the Tender Sex, and particularly of Married Women. BEING REFLECTIONS On a late Rude and Disingenuous DISCOURSE, Delivered by Mr. JOHN SPRINT, in a Sermon at a Wedding, May 11th, at Sherburn in Dorsetshire, 1699. By a Lady of Quality.

—Hanc etiam Moecenas aspice partem.

LONDON, Printed for Andrew Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil, near Stocksmarket. 1700.

To the Honourable The Lady W—ley.

Madam;

ALL the World will agree with me, when I tell You that 'tis not because You have any occasion of a Discourse of this kind that I lay these Reflections at Your Ladyship's feet; but because You are a perfect Exam­ple how little need there is of an unsoci­able Majesty on the one hand, or a vile Submission on the other, where Virtue and Goodness, Noble and Generous Souls, Ten­der and Sublime Affections are mutually contemplated and enjoy'd, and do for ever banish every Thought that might begin the least uneasiness. For if the Beauties of Your Mind, and the perfect Agreeableness [Page iv] of Your Humor, and the mighty Charms of Your Conversation are enough to melt the Heart of the most barbarous Man, and soften him into a Generous Tenderness; how great is the Happiness of You both, when the noble Partner of Your Joys seems made for You, and has those Great and Endearing Qualities which do suffi­ciently justify the exalted Passion You have for Him, and the Opinion every one hath of Your Choice!

Madam,

May You thus go on, Live, Love and be Happy, till by just degrees You pass through all the Joys of this Life to those Above.

Your Ladiship's most obliged and most humble Servant, Eugenia.

PREFACE To the Female Sex.

Ladies;

IF you inquire who I am, I shall only tell you in general, that I am one that ne­ver yet came within the Clutches of a Husband; and therefore what I write may be the more favourably interpreted as not coming from a Party concern'd. Nor really do I hope to make my Condition the easier if ever I resign my self into the Arms of one of the other Sex. No, I am very well satisfy'd that there are a great many Brave Men, whose Generous Principles make 'em scorn the Methods that very Rea­son condemns. Not that I can boast of any great Beauty, or a vast Fortune, two things [Page vi] (especially the latter) which are able to make us Conquerors thro the World. But I have endeavour'd to furnish my self with some­thing more valuable: I shall not brag that I understand a little Greek and Latin (Languages being only the effects of Confu­sion) having made some attempt to look into the more solid parts of Learning, and having adventur'd a little abroad into the World, and endeavour'd to understand Men and Manners. And having seen something of the Italian and Spanish Humors, I so­lemnly profess I never observ'd in Italy, nor Spain it self, a Slavery so abject as this Author would fain persuade us to.

As for those of you that are already in the House of Bondage, and have found all the Charms of Innocence and good Humour, and the most exact Prudence ineffectual long to recommend you to the Smiles of your new Lords and Masters; I think indeed 'twill be very well if you can, as he advises you, bring down the very Desires of your Hearts to their Will and Pleasure, and fancy your selves happy in the midst of all.

And as for those of you that are happily married, your Life and Actions are a suffi­cient [Page vii] Contradiction to this Gentleman; while you let the World see that you can please your Husbands without that extraordinaay way which he recommends in his Sermon, that was thought so unmanly and scandalous, that (as I am inform'd) Mr. L—the Minister who is resident at Sherborn, look'd on himself as oblig'd to tell the World in the public News, that he was not the Author of that Discourse, lest, it being preach'd where he lives, they who knew not his Name might impute it to him.

In a word, Ladies, I would recommend to your Thoughts something that is great and noble, viz. to furnish your Minds with true Knowledg, that (as an Ingenious La­dy tells us) you may know something more than a well-chosen Petticoat, or a fashionable Commode. Learning becomes us as well as the Men. Several of the French Ladies, and with us the late incomparable Mrs. Bay­nard, and the Lady that is Mr. Norris's Correspondent, and many more, are Witnesses of this. Hereby we shall be far enough from being charm'd with a great Estate, or mov'd with the flowing Nonsense and Romantic Bombast of every Foppish Beau; and shall [Page viii] learn (if we choose Companions for our Lives) to select the Great, the Generous, the Brave and Deserving Souls, Men who will as much hate to see us uneasy, as this Gentleman is afraid of coming under the Discipline of the Apron.

Yours, Eugenia.

REFLECTIONS ON A late Rude and Disingenuous DISCOURSE, &c.

BEing presented with the Book I am now going to consider, by a Gen­tleman who I am sure was very far in it from the design of the Author, I took the liberty to pass a few Remarks on so singular and extraordinary a Piece; tho some think it beyond the bounds of Female Patience to peruse it. But (like a jealous Husband) I was willing to know all against our selves, especially that so celebrated an Author can produce. And indeed, when I had follow'd him to the end of the Chap­ter, I could not but wonder to find a Sex attack'd from the Pulpit with more confi­dent Impudence than ever they were on the Stage, tho with far less Wit and Ingenuity.

[Page 2] When I had in as little Time as Patience turn'd over all those bitter Leaves, tho I easily found his Design, yet for my heart I could never once find the strength of the Arguments by which he endeavours to drive it; so that after all I think a resolute and headstrong Yea or Nay would have done as well altogether. Hereupon I laid aside the Book as a most self-confuting Piece, till I found that Miracles were not ceas'd, and that some People were so charm'd with it, that they thought it worth their while to teeze every poor Woman they met with it. Upon this I began to have some design of taking Arms, and alarming the whole Power of Females against him. But upon second thoughts I resolv'd to save 'em the trouble, and enter into a single Combat with this great Goliah, this man of mighty Fame.

As humble thoughts as I have of my self, I began to be afraid that he would think himself honour'd by an Antagonist, and conclude for certain that there must needs be some mighty Force in his Arguments if any Resistance was made. But at last con­sidering his haughty Temper, and knowing 'twas impossible he should have greater thoughts of his last Piece than he has al­ready; I began to lay aside that fear, and only expected that he would fancy himself [Page 3] the Emperor of the Moon, and whoever writes against him to be one of the little snarling Animals that are angry at its Light and Glory. 'Tis not the first time a Woman has appear'd in Public, and 'twill be hard for any to accuse us for taking up Weapons since they are only defensive, and we are provok'd into the Field by so great and ho­nourable a Champion. Besides, the itch of being in Print which the Men have infected us with, and the Glory of having but lifted up a Pen against so great a Man, must needs be a sufficient Excuse beyond all Reply.

But you may easily imagin, notwithstand­ing all these Thoughts and strong Resoluti­ons, how I began to tremble when I came within sight of the Enemy, and perceiv'd with what a Front he appear'd. Not Don Quixot was more scar'd at the first sight of the Giant Caraculiambro. However the greater Danger, the greater Honour: So on I went with a mighty Courage till I came within reach of him, and began the Battel, which if it be not orderly and well pitch'd, 'tis owing to the motions of the Ene­my, whom I must follow up hill and down hill till he comes to the same place again.

To begin therfore with his forlorn Hope; he tells the World in his Preface that we may easily see cause enough to believe 'twas [Page 4] design'd for the Pulpit, not for the Press. No, certainly, he meant no such thing at all as to affront the Ladies in public: and indeed he must be possest of very strange Thoughts, and exceding vain in his Imagi­nation, that could hope to do the least good by such a Discourse from the Pulpit, and yet much vainer to hope it from the Press. And yet that very Reason which should have deter'd him for ever from the least thought of preaching, at this rate is made an excuse why he should print it. It hath, he says, so fallen out (and that one half blind might have seen before-hand) that the Doctrine therein contain'd is unhappily represented to the World by some ill-natur'd Females. Now, by the way, this is a very pleasant Invention for any well-dispos'd Person to get into the World by: 'Tis but to utter some Doctrine or other that a Man may be sure before­hand will be justly spoken against; and be­cause 'tis unhappily represented by some ill­natur'd People, away to W. B—y's of Bristol with it, or any other Printer that has no other Business but Mountebanks Bills, Wedding-Sermons, and Ballads, with such other honourable things; and so immediate­ly set up for an Author, and expect that every one should complement him on the occasion. Ay, and this is a most clever [Page 5] excuse too for a second and third Edition with Additions, &c. So that if this Re­verend Gentleman should have the Mortifi­cation to find at Christmas that some ill-na­tur'd Females had been so spiteful and pro­fane as to have put his excellent Discourse at the bottom of minc'd Pies; he may hereupon tell the World, that they have found out a wicked way to obscure the Glory of so dread an Author; and there­fore for this and many other reasons him thereunto moving, he resolves to reprint it, and 'tis no hard matter to prophesy with what Success. But that it may not be thought that I suppose the Author has not purchas'd that Reputation which he de­serves, and which he seems to be so very apprehensive of, when he talks so prophe­tically of purchasing the Character of a dull Blockhead, I think it will without much dispute be granted that his words were omi­nous; only this I must add, that Dulness and Malice are commonly very near Com­panions, and help out one another at a dead lift: And yet he hopes he says (good Gentleman!) that he shall avoid the impu­tation of Impudence, yes, tho it be by one of the grossest Instances of it that a Person of his Character is capable of. As a proof of which in the next words, he makes Pro­clamation, [Page 6] Be it known unto all Men that I have not met with one Woman among all my Accusers, whose Husband is able to give her the Character of a dutiful and obedient Wife. And this also is a most infallible way of defending any thing in the World. Just so, when the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Non-resistance was cry'd up and down with a mighty Confidence, 'twas but to say that all that spoke against this Doctrine were disloyal and rebellious, and the business was compleatly done and ended, and needed no further Confirma­tion. So, because the Ladies can't bear so harsh and imperious a Doctrine as his is, therfore it shall be a Justification of his Doctrine that they cannot, and prov'd to be reasonable because 'tis intolerable. Strong Thoughts! a mighty Argument! especially if we consider that the Husbands he speaks of, 'tis likely, measure the Duties of their Wives by the boundless Limits which this Gentleman has laid out for them; and if so, no wonder if they are not able to give them the Character of dutiful and obedient Wives. Then he tells us that good Wives are not offended with his Discourse; now by good Wives he certainly means such as he describes, and then no wonder they say not much against him, since a word [Page 7] against his Doctrine is enough to purchase them a very rough and unwelcome Saluta­tion from their Lords and Masters. But I believe it would be no hard task to make a Catalogue of very good Wives who have censur'd him as an Instrument of Oppressi­on and Tyranny to others, tho they them­selves are not under it. However he is in a good humour for once, and tells us he'll promise to say as much to the Men (I'll forgive him if he does) when this Discourse of his has reform'd imperious Wives. Now this is a most dexterous turn, and has very much in it; and supposing his Notions to be ever so just and reasonable, yet hereby he'll excuse himself from ever publishing any thing for the instruction of Mankind how to behave themselves towards us, for doubtless there are and will be still some imprudent and unreasonable Creatures on both sides. Now as he makes this a Rea­son why he will not speak to the Men, so if he had begun with them, he might have made it a Reason why he would never have vouchsafed to dictate to the Women. In the Conclusion of his Preface he begins a Triumph, tho it may not seem a very pro­per place for it, especially considering the Foundation on which he grounds it. He finds, he says, upon the whole that 'tis Wo­mens [Page 8] Guilt that puts 'em to so much Pain which they feel in their Consciences, for which he knows no better an Antidote (you must know he has an insight into Physic) than a speedy Repentance and Reformation: very well, but I wonder how he came to know that the Women feel such Pain in their Consciences, for I suppose very few will make him their Father-Confessor. This Gentleman has a most absolute way to discipline his Consort; if she ever is un­easy at any of his Impositions, 'tis but for him to tell her, this is a Pain in her Con­science, and then the spiritual Antidote is whatever he shall command her to repent of or reform. But the Conclusion is bolder than all; he is not contented to make them bear the Cross, and suffer Persecu­tion in this Life, but he tells them, these things shall pursue them to Judgement. But under favour, he must first of all perswade us that what he says is Jure Divino, before he can fright any of us with a Purgato­ry hereafter, for not being willing to endure a Hell upon Earth while we are here.

I shall make but one Remark more on his Preface, and the strength of the Argu­ments he makes use of. As to his Ser­mon, he has this to say for it, that 'twas not design'd for the Press; so that 'tis to [Page 9] be expected that the Preface, which cer­tainly was design'd for it, should be much more strong and labour'd than his careless Discourse, which he deliver'd from the Pulpit. I have consider'd it, I think, with abundance of Patience and Fairness; so that we may judg by the strength of the Argu­ments in the one what we are to expect in the other, which he has attempted to force from these words,

1 Cor. vii. 34.
But she that is married, careth for the things of the World, how she may please her Husband.

This the Author makes the bottom of his Harangue; and to give us a taste of his Learning, he tells us (p. 1.) the original meaning of the hard and obscure word [careth] and by a most deep and doughty Criticism neatly contrives his Doctrine, which he makes so very much haste to be at, that he seems to leap quite over the Connexion between the Text and the Ar­gument. The Criticism is this, that the word [careth] (take notice Ladies) sig­nifies more than ordinary Care, and implies a dividing of the Mind into divers thoughts, [Page 10] casting this way, and that way, and every way, how to give best Content: that is to say, Fetch and bring, Go, and she goeth, Come, and she cometh; To the Right, to the Left, as you were, and so on. Now to use a hard word, this is a most Etymologi­cal Argument, and worthy of Considera­tion. Thus some Divines tell us the word signifies a dividing, distracting Care; whence at this way of arguing, we might be told that Marriage was a divided distracted Condition, &c. which would not be a Doctrine calculated to increase the num­ber of this Gentleman's Female Proselytes. I could by the same method prove a Doc­trine not very pleasing to him: for in the words before,ver. 33. He that is married careth for the things of the World, how he may please his Wife; the original word is the very [...]. same: therefore I say that a Man ought to divide his Mind, to cast this way, and that way, and every way, how to please and content his Wife, since he tells us this is the true and proper signification of the word, and if it be not, 'tis his own fault. But however, he thinks this one Criti­cism so great a thing, and has so much in't, that he tells us he can meet with no other verbal Difficulties.

[Page 11] [Careth for the things of the World, how she may please her Husband] intimating, ac­cording to our Reverend Author's way of arguing, that without the things of the World, a Husband will not be pleas'd. But it seems he was resolv'd that this Point should most clearly spring from his Text,

It is d Duty ineumbent on all married Wo­men, to be extraordinary careful to content and please their Husbands. And if they are all such as this Gentleman, how can they choose! From this Doctrine he says he'll faithfully represent the Woman's Duty, and a very faithful Representer he is: and by the way, may not this be the reason, why the celebrated Author of the Irish Scuffle gives him the renowned name of Fido in that unparallel'd Book?

Our Author finding that 'twould be look'd upon as a very rude and barbarous thing to treat the weak and defenceless Sex with such a Discourse as he had pre­par'd for 'em, without saying any thing al­most to the other side, and how little it would become the Honour of a Gentleman, the Gravity of a Minister, or the Chari­ty of a Christian to aggravate the Faults of some and impute them to the Sex, and say every thing imaginable to exasperate the Government (for so let the Husbands be [Page 12] call'd) against them, and never once touch the notorious and visible Faults and Barba­rities of a great many He-Brutes; he doubtless foresaw this, and therefore be­fore he advanc'd his precious Matter, he thought it necessary to answer an Objecti­on, which he brings in the Women making, and offers at some Reasons why he thought it not all convenient for his purpose (as to be sure it was not) to rip up his own and other Mens Faults, and so condemn himself out of his own mouth.

The first Reason he gives for the leaving out the Masculine part of his Sermon, is because the Woman's Duty is harder and more difficult than that of the Man. But I al­ways thought that it was sometimes as dif­ficult for Governors to carry themselves well as for the Governed, and that in some Tempers to avoid Tyranny and unreasona­ble Commands was as great a Virtue as a vile Submission in a Woman; and therefore I think that Reason vanishes. However I shall take notice by the way, that the Sub­jection which he thinks belongs to a Woman is a very hard and difficult thing, and there­fore the Women are the more excusable if they are not always so very much under the Hatches, since he owns they are but of very weak Abilities to learn. You Women, [Page 13] says he, will acknowledg that Men can learn to command and rule fast enough. Insolent Man! To preach us gravely into Slavery and Chains, and then deride and banter us, as the Babylonians did the Captive Jews when they had 'em fast in their power. And not contented with this, he makes the Word of God come in for a share, while he is insulting over us: Women, says he, have need of Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept, here a little and there a little, and all little enough to make them perfect in their Lesson. Now here is for certain a touch of Antiquity, and some of the true Veteran Jingle in little and little and little enough.

The second Reason he brings, is, Be­cause Women are of weaker Capacities to learn than Men. P. 5. This is exceeding plea­sant indeed; I suppose, if Men were to learn the same Lesson, their Capacities would be as weak. This brings to my mind the Story of the General, who when he had condemn'd the Soldiers of a con­quer'd Garison to leap down from a vast high Tower, one of them going to leap after his dead Companions made three or four Recoils; and being threaten'd with a more cruel Death by the General, reply'd, I'll give you twice as many times to do it. [Page 14] The Application is easy. According to this rule, what strange Inferences do na­turally follow. Suppose a Master and his Servants, a Lawyer and his Clients, a Physician and his Patients; 'tis you'll say the duty of these Servants, Clients, and Pa­tients to be govern'd and submit: But a Ser­vant may be abus'd by his Master, a Client cheated and impoverish'd by his Lawyer, and the Patient genteely dispatch'd by his Doctor. Now certainly any Man would be of a weak Capacity to endure these things, and therefore the Duties of Servants, Cli­ents, and Patients must be always rung in their Ears, and the Duties of Masters, Lawyers, and Physicians, never. Who sees not the mighty force, and feels not the close girds of so sinewy an Argument?

His third Reason is, because according to the Observation that he has made, most of the Distractions and Disturbances of a married Life are owing to the Indiscretion and Folly of disobedient Wives.

Now if this Gentleman has spent the time past of his Life in making these Observa­tions, he may have made a great many in his time, and deserves the name of the New Observator: and then no wonder, having been otherwise employ'd, that his Lucubrations produce such Sermons as this [Page 15] on so solemn an occasion. I suppose in his Observations he always happen'd to have the Women on that side he could see clear­est, and either knew not or wink'd at the Mens Mismanagements. But suppose it were true that his Observations had fur­nish'd him with few or none of the Mens Faults, it dos not follow that no ones Ob­servation else has.

However he has an unquestionable Argu­ment in store, which is this: I shall not scruple to affirm (says he) that the number of bad Hus­bands, which their Wives have made so, is great­er by far than the number of those whom their Wives have found so. Under which Head he is to be plac'd I need not determine. I had heard indeed before of a very short way of proving things, and that is by strong Affirmation: And this is an Argument so ready at hand, that it has been his inac­cessible Refuge in several places through­out the Book. Yet I think here he has pass'd an Act of Oblivion upon himself, and has forgot that he uses this very Argument of strong Affirmation in a thing quite con­trary to this, when he says of Eve's Daugh­ters, or Women in general, that if they will have Husbands, and have them good, they must take a great deal of Care and Pains to make 'em so. P. 18. Therfore certainly they find [Page 16] them very bad if they must take so much pains to make them good: And yet here he says, the number of bad Husbands whom their Wives have found so is little or nothing compar'd with those they make so. But the Pages lying at a convenient distance from one another, and hoping it's like what sort of Readers he was like to have, he might think no notice would be taken of it, or that none would peruse the Book but those that wanted sense to discover the Mistake. But I am willing to be more merciful to him than he is to us, and shall no further insist on his Failings than to manifest that they are such, and for our own Defence against a Man whose Arguments are like a two­edg'd Sword, and cut at once two contra­ry ways.

And therefore I pass on to the fourth Reason, which is, Because the Love of a Hus­band does very much depend upon the Obedience of a Wife. P. 6. If by Obedience he means a servile Subjection, 'tis a very clear Argu­ment, and will be very persuasive no doubt. But if he means only reasonable and gene­rous Compliance, such as is produc'd by the noble and resistless Charms of mutual Love, I grant him 'tis true, viz. that the Love of a Husband very much depends on the Love of a Wife. But my Understanding [Page 17] is not so far enlightened, as to see any rea­son in this why the Women should be teez'd, and the Men for ever escape. And here agen he hath another Paradox, and tells us that if the Wife becomes pliant and yielding (that is, becomes a good easy tractable Slave) to her Husbands Desire, she then may do e'en what she pleases with him: Which is as much as to say, If she be a perfect Slave, she may have her Liberty. I shall never be persuaded that such Gentle­men who desire the subjection of their Wives, and are willing to confine them to the treatment of Servants, have any great opinion of their Persons or their Liberty. And yet after all, this well-bred Gentle­man, this Learned Doctor tells us, we are more afraid than hurt; and if we are, I am sure 'tis not owing to his Temper, his Wishes, nor his Discourse.

The 5th and the last Reason he names is this: Because that all he pretends to is to lay our Duty before us. Very well! But where the consequence is (supposing this be his true and upright Intention) I can't tell. It's true, I grant him, 'twould prove that we ought to hearken to it; but however, it does not offer any Reason why the other part should not be insisted on: for the self­same Argument would bring the Men upon the stage. If he had but said, You Gentle­men [Page 18] Husbands, I design to say nothing but what's your Duty; this would have been thought a very strange Argument why no­thing should be said to us. But so it is, and away he goes with it, and tells us, as for good Wives, The knowledg and practice of their Duty is so comfortable and pleasant to them, that they are not listed in the number of these Objectors. And hereby he affirms, that 'tis impossible to be a good Wife, and yet object against the omission of the Mens part; which is a Mistake so gross that it may be felt. And in the midst of all this Goodness and Charity which this Gentle­man here professes, he cannot forbear, but breaks out, and says that he wishes where there is one good Wife, there were a thousand; whereby he most uncharitably insinuates, that there is but one among a thousand good. So that if it be as he thinks and says, he has a very strong opinion of him­self, to imagine that one single Sermon, with its poor Endeavours (as he expresseth it) can make so many bad Women good, when the number of the Bad, according to his Computation, is a thousand to one. These five Reasons he imagins to be so gross, solid, and thick, that he resolves to venture under their shelter in the face of his Female Adversaries: mighty Courage, and an Heroic Attempt! But whether I [Page 19] have not shot this massy fivefold Shield through and through, let the World judg, I mean the just and generous part of it, who have at least common sense, and a mo­derate portion of Ingenuity.

Having thus, like a Man of Valour, and one of the seven Champions, cleared his way through all manner of Reasons, Arguments, Objections, Remonstrances, &c. he now again sets up his Standard with this Inscrip­tion: That 'tis a Duty incumbent on all mar­ried Women to be extraordinary careful to please their Husbands. I suppose the Phrase here is somthing extraordinary and significant; that Expression, incumbent on married Wo­men, hath something in it, and he thought it perhaps very suitable to a Nuptial Occa­sion; and any one that considers with what an Emphasis he pronounc'd the word [In­cumbent] will easily judg what sort of Me­taphor he intended, and to what he made the Allusion. But however, for once, I shall think it a Duty incumbent on me to con­sider what he says to us, and follow him thro the whole set of Arguments that he has rang'd in order; and I promise to con­sider the force and strength of them, and not to conceal any part of it that I can dis­cover. And here in the first place he says he shall prove it by Reason and Argument, which really are two excellent things when [Page 20] they are well managed. 2dly. He promises to show how and which way married Women must endeavour to please their Husbands (how and which way, two excellent Heads well explained.) 3dly, To make some Im­provement of the whole, i. e. to make the best of a bad matter.

In the first place he comes to his Reason and Argument, the first of which is, That Woman was made for the Comfort and Benefit of Man. And if so, then 'tis to be grant­ed that Woman answers the end of her Creation when she does bring Comfort and Benefit to Man; and a very noble requital does Man make to her when he follows this Gentleman's Instructions. Now I own 'tis true that Woman was made for the Com­fort and Benefit of Man: but I think it a much nobler Comfort to have a Companion, a Person in whom a Man can confide, to whom he can communicate his very Soul, and open his Breast and most inward Thoughts, than to have a Slave sitting at his Footstool, and trembling at every word that comes like Thunder and Lightning from the mouth of the domestic Pharaoh. An honourable and noble Companion was doubtless intended by the wise Creator. It is not good that Man should be alone, I will make him an help meet for him: Certainly this is meant of a Creature that should be [Page 21] a social help, not a servile one. And the argument he takes from the Woman's being made for the profit of Man, is not so very strong, if we consider the ground upon which it depends, which is, that Man was created first. Now if it had so pleased the Eternal Father to have made the Woman first, then because Man was made last, tho he be, as he thinks, the nobler Creature, yet by this Argument he had been to have taken extraordinary Care to please his Wife. Now there are some Divines that tell us, that in the frame of this lower World God proceeded from the less to the more per­fect; and therefore, according to them, the Woman's being created last will not be a very great argument to debase the dignity of the Female Sex. If some of the Men do own this, 'tis the more likely to be true: The Great Milton, a very grave Author, brings in Adam thus speaking to Eve, in his Paradise Loft, lib. 9.

O fairest of Creation! last and best
Of all God's Works—

'Tis granted the Woman was created for the Man, but we deny that this is any pre­tence to use the limited Power which Hea­ven has given him to the Unhappiness and Ruin of a Creature that was made for him.

[Page 22] If the Scripture tells us, that tho the Beasts are made for Man, yet a good Man is mer­ciful to his Beast; much more regard is there to be had of a nobler Creature, which tho inferior in Brutal Strength of Body, yet in Strength and Beauty of Reason (when cultivated) equals the superior Sex. It's true, a Woman that abridges her Husband of his reasonable Authority, and has Impu­dence enough to put on the Breeches, does certainly pervert the end of her Creation; and such, without any Defence, I leave to the Mercy of this Gentleman, and the Dis­cipline their Husbands think fit to exercise upon them.

Tho Women are for the Comfort and Benefit of Men, yet that's no reason why they should be their most obedient Slaves and Vassals. I suppose the Author will grant that Men are to be for the Comfort and Benefit of Women; and yet the con­sequence will not be allow'd, that there­fore Man is to cast this way, and that way, and every way, how to please his Wife.

The 2d Argument he brings is, P. 12. Because by the Woman's occasion the Man was ruined and undone. 'Tis true both Sexes have reason to remember the first Apostacy from God with all imaginable regret; but I never heard or read that there was a particular Original Sin imputed to the Wo­man, [Page 23] and another to the Man. I thought learned Men had held that Original Guilt was convey'd alike to both Sexes, however it be explain'd, which I pretend not to do, only following his Argument, which suppo­ses the Imputation of original Sin. And certainly it must be granted that Adam was guilty of a very great Crime, to hearken to a Woman more than his God, and let go his Innocence upon the word of a guilty Creature. And if it be true, as some of the Divines tell us, that the Woman was created with less noble Faculties of Mind, weaker Judgment, and duller Thoughts, no wonder that she was more obnoxious to the Tempter, and that she fell first of all: He that, according to them, had the great­er Strength, must of consequence stand longer. But, according to this Argument driven home, all the barbarous Actions, Wickedness and Rebellion committed in former Ages, must be imputed to this Age; and they must suffer for it. So that I don't argue for our Mother Eve to defend her Transgression, but to show the unreason­ableness of the Inference from it. All the other Sex sprang from her as well as we, and are therefore, I think, equally guilty of her Transgression; and I would be glad to see any one strongly prove, that because we are of the same Sex, therefore [Page 24] that Sin in imputed to us more than the Men. Besides this, I think 'tis beyond doubt, that tho the Woman had retained her Innocence, yet it had not been impos­sible for the Man to have transgressed: for tho he was a happy Creature; yet not be­ing immutable, but left to himself and the Power he had given him from Heaven, he might have fallen singly, and by himself. All this, I think, something lessens the force of the Argument; and it has not so sharp an edg as our Adversary would threa­ten us with.1 Tim. 2. 14. And as to that place he quotes out of Timo­thy, I think there the Apostle speaks of Womens learning in silence and subjection, and not usurping Authority over the Man. This they'l own to be their Du­ty; for they are not ambitious of the Re­venues of the Church, nor envy any Man the Glory, especially of such Sermons as this I am now considering. However, since it hath pleased God so far to repair the honour of our Sex, as to send a Saviour into the World by the means of a Woman, methinks that should more than recom­pense for the consequences of the other, since we are told that the Happiness we are advanced to by the second Adam, is much more great and certain than that which the first possessed. If God hath so far par­don'd [Page 25] the fatal Transgression of the Wo­man, it looks a little too bold and revenge­ful for Man to pretend not to do it, but to exact so many unreasonable things on this pretence. Nay a late learned Man, whom I suppose the Author honours, has on the Verse following in Timothy, these words, viz. That by a Woman a Saviour came into the World, which is some reparation of the Ho­nor of the Sex. Now this coming from a Man, and one that was known not to be blass'd by any Passion for Women, it is the more noted and singular a Confession.

Then he tells us that God impos'd this Task upon her as a Punishment for seducing her Husband. (Very true!) And thy Desire shall be to thy Husband, and he shall rule over thee: Gen. 3. 16. And the Comment on this is very admirable indeed: Wherein is im­plied, says he, not only Subjection to him in obeying his Commands, but it reacheth farther to the bringing under unto him the very Desires of her Heart to be regulated by him so far, that it should not be lawful for her to will or desire what she her self liked, but only what her Husband should approve and allow. P. 13. I suppose this good Gentleman believes that these words contain part of the Curse for the Primi­tive Trespass; and by consequence he thinks it the Duty of a Man to execute the Curse of God upon his Wife. But let us [Page 26] try the Consequence which he makes, and see if the Thred of the Argument is not stretch'd very far. Suppose that be the meaning of the words, that our Sex shall have an universal desire to theirs (tho I believe if they were all such obliging Sparks as the Author, 'twould cure them of their Passion quickly) yet it no way fol­lows (with submission to the ruling Judg­ment of the Men) that therefore it shall not be lawful for her to will or desire any thing but what her Husband approves of; I think in some cases 'tis an Impossibility. Let it be granted that 'tis the part of a Wo­man, being the weaker Vessel, to submit and learn as well as she can the hard Lesson of Passive Obedience; yet I defy the meekest Woman in the World, if she meets with an unreasonable, imperious, domineering, insolent Creature, I defy such a Lady with all her Virtue and Patience to forbear wish­ing at least it were otherwise: No, she must not, our Author tells us, never groan, ne­ver sigh for a happy deliverance from her hated Chains. To use the same Phrase, suppose, I say, my Desire is towards my Friend, does it therefore follow that I must necessarily wish nothing whatever till I know 'tis agreeable to her Humors? But by virtue of his Office, this Gentleman I see can interpret this way, and that way, and every way.

[Page 27] 'Tis to be consider'd upon this Head, that whatever was pronounc'd in general then, can't be applied to every individual now. For instance (with modesty be it spoken) the Curse of Child-birth, which God may be thought to have denounc'd on the whole Sex, we are told some entire Nations have escap'd, as the Great Montaign tells us in his Essays (I think) Liv. 1. ch. 14. And with like force of Reason might it be con­cluded, that because God hath cursed the Ground, and said it shall bring forth Briars and Thorns, therefore it is utterly unlawful to root them out, and sinful to possess any Ground but what is overgrown with them. The Country People would quickly discern the force of such Reasoning in spite of all their Duties. So that tho we grant this to be the true sense of the place, yet it does not follow that the very Desires, and every Desire of the Heart of a Woman, must be according to the will and pleasure of the Man this way, and that way, and every way. But if I should meet this Gentleman out of the Pulpit, with his Hands tied behind him, and his Cane secur'd (that he might not use that method of Conviction which he thinks proper for a Woman) I would hum­bly presume to tell him there is a far other meaning of the place, and that not a late Fancy, but a very antient Translation.

[Page 28] The LXX (and they were all of his own Sex) take it thus, and thy Refuge or Re­course [ [...]] shall be to thy Husband; he shall be thy Refuge in Dangers. This old Egyptian Translation no question he knew well enough; and I suppose some will make bold to think it more easy and natu­ral than the forc'd Construction, and un­conscionable meaning he puts upon the words. Methinks it should suffice that the Women don't contradict their Lords and Masters, that they tamely submit, and bear with Patience what is impos'd on them: No, unless they are enamour'd of their Miseries, and the very Desires of their Hearts brought under, and in subjection, they are threaten'd in our Author's Pre­face with Judgment, and Damnation. This is a Tyranny, I think, that extends farther than the most absolute Monarchs in the World; for if they can but fill their Gal­lies with Slaves, and chain them fast to the Oar, they seldom have so large a Consci­ence to expect they should take any great pleasure in their present Condition, and that the very Desires of their Hearts should strike an Harmony with the clattering Music of their Fetters. Certainly, he said very true when he told us that Women were of weak Abilities to learn, as they must needs have so hard and impossible a Task.

[Page 29] After all this he acknowledges in plain words, that since the Fall, Man is grown more humorsom and hard to be pleas'd, which (tho he feelingly knows it) he would never have own'd, if he had not design'd to make even that an Argument against us: for, says he, 'tis not the Woman's pleading that her Husband is hard to be pleased that will ex­cuse her; no, tho it be impossible for an in­carnate Angel to bring him into a good. Hu­mor, and cure him of his Frowardness. And if the impossibility of a thing be not an excuse, I know not what is; yet I sup­pose there are some Instances to be given of such Tempers. This may, he says, be a Memento to her of her original Guilt; and why may not the Humors, and unsufferable Passions of some Men be a Memento to them of theirs too? But however he is resolv'd to advance an unheard-of Notion, That the ill Humors of some Men, and the diffi­culty of pleasing them, is a Motive to the Women to endeavour to please them; a very strong Motive no doubt! and 'tis very strange he recommends it to the World un­less he has found it a mighty Obligation to Obedience in his own virtuous Consort. This is a very fine touch indeed: If Mo­roseness and Ill-humor be a very good and great Motive to Obedience, then the higher degree of it the greater Motive; and so [Page 30] the more barbarous and cruel any Husband is, the more a Woman ought to respect, and love, and rejoice in him. Precious Doctrine no doubt! and easily believ'd by every one who has once cast off those foolish things call'd Liberty, Reason, and common Sense. What he says of the happy Tem­per and charming Soveraignty of Adam, and the good humor the first and best Hus­band was always in, seems only mention'd with a spiteful design to grate upon the Minds of the tender Sex, and vex them with the comparison between what Man is now, and what he was then: for immediately he repeats it over again, Man's Temper now is harsh and severe, and his Humors troublesom and tedious. He seems here to speak in ge­neral, as if he either thought all Men fur­nish'd with those excellent Talents of Seve­rity, and troublesom Humors (which if he has attain'd, I wish him much comfort in them) or else endeavour'd to infuse such into them. It looks a little uncharitable to his own Sex, among whom yet I hope he cannot find so many as he imagins whose Humors are so very troublesom and tedi­ous, for there are some great and generous Minds that scorn to take pleasure in the Mi­series of a poor feeble Woman: tho he is of another mind, and thinks that the ne­cessity of using a great deal of Art and Skill, [Page 31] Diligence and Industry, and various Methods in order to please a Husband, is a Truth expe­rienced by most Women. P. 17. And then he falls a raking afresh in the sacred Ashes of his Mother Eve (whom we hope God has pardon'd, and so should he too) and tells us we may thank her for it; and that now, if any of her Daughters will have Husbands, and have them good, they must take a great deal of care and pains to make them so. But if I can persuade those poor tame Souls he talks of, such sort of Men shall enjoy their Humours by themselves, and all the Care and Pains he talks of shall be saved, and bestowed on something that better de­serves it: for after their Care and Pains, they'l be nobly rewarded no doubt, and such Husbands will still say that all their Hu­mors and Moroseness are little enough to make a poor Slave perfect in her Lesson.

The 3d Reason he gives is, Because upon the doing or neglecting of this, the Happiness or Misery of a married Life does depend: and what then? Because such a state of Life cannot be very happy, unless both endeavour to make it so, therefore the Woman must be a Slave, therefore her Desires must be brought under, that she must not wish for better usage; for that's his meaning, P. 13. and in that latitude I understand him all a­long, when he speaks of the Woman's [Page 32] Duty to her Husband. And here for once (that he might not be guilty himself of a­ny Complement to our Sex) he makes a Quotation, or at least brings it out with a [says one] which will do as well, and tells us that the Women are indeed very bright and shining Creatures: A good Wife should be like a Mirror (a wonderful Discovery, that a Woman should be so exactly like a Looking-glass!) But mark the Design of it in the following words; Which has no Image of its own, but receives its Stamp and Image from the Face that looks into it. Now by this rule, whenever 'tis a frowning, peevish, fretful, stormy Face, that looks into this Glass, the Mirrour must send back the ve­ry same agen, or else 'twill be a false Glass. She must, he says, rejoice when he rejoices (ay most certainly, tho it be in abusing her, and doing all he can to make her Life a Torment to her, tho it be in caressing her Rival before her Face) and grieve and be troubled when he is offended and vexed. No doubt on't, he is here in the right; the most patient Woman in the World would grieve, and be troubled, when some Men are offended and vexed: So that 'tis plain he would never have passed this Comple­ment of a Looking-glass on us, if he had not intended it as an Argument for, or at least Illustration of our Misery. But now [Page 33] he begins to recollect some of his former Courtship and Gallantry, and tells us a very fair Story indeed, that if we will follow his advice, we should obtain e'en what we will of our Husbands; and that such Wives would be sooner tired in making their Requests than their Husbands in granting. (Dear, Tender, Charm­ing Sir!) But here I shrewdly suspect, to solve this, it must be remembred, that the Women he means that endeavour, in his ex­traordinary sense, to please their Husbands, will not dare to make any request, but such as they know before-hand are according to their Husbands minds; no, their very Desires must be in subjection, and so there is no great danger of their Husbands tyring with grant­ing their Requests, when according to him the Women must not desire to form one Petition to their Husbands. By this Interpretation that he has helpt me to, we may easily judg of his meaning in all those kind Expressions which he hath upon this occasion. The rest of this Head he spends in the description of a compleat Billingsgate, and here he fights with the Wind; for every one, of any sober Reason or handsom Education, will scorn to spend such Language on a good Husband, and on a bad one 'tis to no purpose: and if this Gentleman has lived where there are so many Examples of this kind, let him petition the Government for an augmentation of Ducking­stools, and let him solace himself, and quench [Page 34] his Rage with seeing the watry Punishment executed upon them; and I know none will rescue the Offenders out of his hands.

I heartily pity the poor Gentleman he men­tions, p. 22. who had so very tender a Heart, that the Breath of a Woman shatter'd it in pieces; and indeed he has done very well to leave his Memory to Posterity, since in this Iron Age there are few examples of so tender Spirits as to be capable of such dreadful exe­cution from the Tongue of a Woman. He would make the World believe that most of our Sex are very Mother Damnables, and al­ways ringing the Bells backwards in their Husbands ears, P. 6. But the Gentleman he mentions was doubtless a man of a very ten­der and delicate Composition, such as is not now a-days to be found.

He gives a very pleasant reason why an un­dutiful Wife is so very terrible a thing, p. 23. Because all Evils, as Elements, are most trouble­som out of their proper places, as Profaneness in Ministers, Injustice in Judges, and Discomfort in a Wife. Now this way of talking seems to imply, that Profaneness and Injustice in some persons look very well, and are in their pro­per places; by which what he intends is beyond my weak Ability to learn. If his meaning be good, I am sure his utterance and expres­sion are not very proper here; but however, 'twas done with an upright Intention, and a Design to bring down the Desires of all Wo­mens [Page 35] hearts into subjection to the high and mighty Sex.

As to the Proverb of Solomon he quotes, there is no doubt of the truth of it, nor his Comment upon it; but really I can see no great Piety nor Ingenuity in that Sentence he has from his Pious and Ingenious Author, That 'tis a hun­dred pities the Tongues of such Shrows had not as many Blisters as their Jaws have Teeth; and 'tis never better with their Husbands than when they are hoarse. If this be not Billingsgate of the coars­est Alloy, I know not what is; only coming from the Pulpit, 'tis sanctified, and becomes a very Pious and Ingenious Saying. What he says in the conclusion of this part of his Dis­course, that a clamorous and turbulent Wife, that spits Passion and Poison, is a Torment to her self and her Husband, is a most undoubt­ed Truth, and they are justly Self-Tormen­tors: only this I must add, that I think there needs no farther Torment for a Woman, than only being oblig'd, on pain of Damnation, to bring under her very Desires to the unaccount­able Humours of a wild and giddy Fop, who becomes more insolent by Submission, and grows more intolerable by being born with.

Thus I have followed this courteous Gentle­man thro all the pleasant Paths he hath here laid down for us. The next thing he tells us, is, how and which way married Women should endeavour to please their Husbands; And here he pitches on three very Canonical [Page 36] Heads, Love, honour, and obey: And tells us a very learned Story, that he hath heard some Women say, They never would nor did repeat the sacred Words; and that if he had been to officiate, he would have kept them to the Text, or made them lie alone all their Days, to their unspeakable Terror and Afrightment. This is a fine Period to be de­livered from the Pulpit; but being set off with a vehement Accent and a very earnest Delive­ry, it passed no doubt very well, and mightily affected the Auditory. I am not about to quarrel with the Compilers of the Liturgy, only I shall take notice, that they were Men who had a hand in it, and by consequence would not omit the binding our Sex as fast as possible: But 'tis also to be observed, that those words [with my Body I thee worship] if they have any meaning in them, can never be applied to such a sort of Creature as is a Slave, tho our Author should cast in his mind this way, and that way, and every way, to per­vert the sense of them.

He tells us, that every married Woman, in order to please her Husband, ought to love him. A notable Discovery! and who ever doubted or denied it? But however, a Man must be a person of extraordinary Merit, all Love and Kindness, and a thousand good Pro­perties, to bring a Woman to that extrava­gant height of Passion, as to be contented and pleas'd, tho all the World besides were an­nihilated. [Page 37] P. 28. And he seems to suggest some odd unlucky thing or other in this Ma­trimony, which gives a very strong Tempta­tion to the poor Ladies to be discontented as soon as ever they come under the Yoke; and accordingly he says, by all means a Woman, newly married especially, is to avoid all occasion of Difference with her Husband; and to this pur­pose makes a very grave and learned Citation out of Plutarch, for the edification of the Au­ditory, concerning his acquaintance with the antient Fathers; for so, it may be, he suppo­ses, that at least we poor ignorant Souls do think and know no better. Now by his pres­sing so obvious and uncontested a Matter with such vehemence, it looks as if he had a mind to represent us as a Generation of Vipers, that, as soon as ever any charitable Man is so kind as to lodg us poor willing Creatures in his Bosom, immediatly sting him to death.

Then he breaks out into the most scurrilous and ungenteel Language imaginable (P. 30, & 31.) and tells the World that young Wo­men before Marriage do all they can to en­gage the Affections of a Husband; so that in their Looks, Dress, and Behavior, you may read Come love me. Very coming and easy Creatures! Certainly if they were so very willing, abundance of little arts which the Men use, might very well be spared. 'Tis very easy for any Knight-Errant to fancy him­self happy, and that some great Lady loves [Page 38] him most desperately, if she is but civil in her behavior, cleanly in her dress, and has an air of Candor; especially if she happens to smile, tho it be at his Follies. And according to this rule, the Author should have made a more civil return to the Sex; for I doubt not but he has read Come love me, many a time, if this does express it. But is it not the Va­nity of the Men that makes the Women (if any of them are so vain) to use those petty Arts he here sets down? I hope this Gentle­man does not speak by experience, when he says, that as soon as ever they are married, their pleasant Looks are turned into Frowns, and the Neatness of their Dress into Sluttery, &c. Notwithstanding all this, there are some Ladies not so very easy of access, but hold out desperatly against all the arts of the un­dermining Sex, and the puling Lovers cannot spell Come love me, till they have given some very remarkable proofs of their Integrity; which, if they prove afterwards to be but Shams, are no very contemptible Tempta­tions to the new-married Woman to blot out the Impressions of undeserved Love, which Hypocrisy only had made in her Heart.

But in my Observation (for let me bring that as an Argument as well as he does his) I have found very few, if any Women, who have had obliging and respectful Husbands (for that's his own Phrase P. 20.) that have begun first to withdraw their Affections, as some have [Page 39] done, no question, who by the undiscover­able Arts of designing Men have been betray'd, and afterwards slighted to the utmost degree. But it becomes those who are guilty them­selves, to talk at this huffing rate, and silence all Complaints by the impudent Accusations they bring against those they injure. Thus he talks and raves, like one that has forgotten common Civility, and the generous Education of the Men of his Coat, and concludes this Head with a very wooden Simile, for the In­struction and Edification of all well-meaning Carpenters and Joyners, viz. That when two Boards are first glued together, a small matter will loosen them (especially such a confounded Jog as the Author gives us) but if carefully lookt to till they are well fastened, and the Glue be hardened, 'twill not be an easy matter to dis­joint or sever them. A most instructing Simili­tude! and the truth of which hath been con­firm'd by very many Witnesses of good cre­dit, as they are ready to attest. Either the Auditory he preached this to were persons of very wooden Understandings, or else they were in danger of apprehending the Com­parison to be very much akin to the Author.

Then he tells us, Married Women are to please their Husbands by honouring them (by all means, Honour to whom Honour is due.) But I think he goes a little too far when he makes it a Woman's duty to lie like a Spaniel at her Husband's feet, and suffer her self very [Page 40] civilly to be trampled on. This he intimates by the authentic story of the Persian Ladies, who had the similitude of a Foot worn on the top of their Coronets, P. 34. and by the bold and insolent Comment he makes on it. Now this you know is a most clear and oriental Ar­gument, and proves just as much as the strong­est Hieroglyphics of Egypt. Is it impos'd on them, or do they wear it willingly? If the former, where's the Virtue? If the latter, I can hardly think it proves what he would per­suade us, unless the Gentlemen of Persia are very obliging indeed. Here again we see ve­ry clearly what this Gentleman would be at: A Woman, when once she is enter'd within the Grates, and the Parson has turn'd the Key upon her, is no longer to look on her self as a Companion, but the highest place she can ex­pect is to be trodden under foot. This is the height of Glory, this is the Advancement our Sex is to meet with, if all Men were of such wonderful Temper, and noble Principles, as this our trusty and well-beloved Friend is. And under this Head he confesses something (in my opinion) not much to his design; for, says he, the Apostle calls the Woman the Glory of the Man, because 'tis an high Honour to him that so excellent a Creature as a Woman should be his Inferior. But if a Woman, ac­cording to this honest Confession, be so excel­lent a Creature, then hence I think it may very fairly be infer'd, that some acknowledg­ment [Page 41] is due to a Woman when she condescends to make her self inferior to any of them. And can it be the Glory of a Man to trample upon, and enslave, and render the Life of such an excellent Creature as miserable as he can? And here he insinuates that we take a great deal of freedom in our Thoughts. Certain­ly if we had not freedom there, we were ve­ry Slaves, and even that he would abridg us of (not that I think a Woman may harbor any wicked thoughts of her Lord and Master:) But 'tis very hard, and a strange Doctrine in­deed, that they must not be allow'd to have contemptible thoughts, no not of Persons and Things that are in themselves contemptible to the last degree. The Instance of Michal is quite another case, for there was the busi­ness of Religion in it, she despised David 'tis like for putting on the Linen Ephod, and submitting to meddle with sacred things as he did. However, if any of the Husbands are such brave and generous Men, of such ob­liging Principles, and such mighty Charms as David had, I think their Wives will find it a very difficult matter so much as to despise them in their Hearts. Reverence and Love are not things infus'd into our Breasts by hard Words, high Menaces, and huffing Language; that dear and tender Esteem is won by the Charms of an agreeable Temper, the Instan­ces of a noble Generosity, and those other powerful things which 'tis impossible to resist, [Page 42] and which will always secure Honor and Re­verence from very Strangers, much more in those who have the happiness of so intimate a Relation.

Then, he tells us, besides this internal there must be an external Honor; and that a Wo­man must use those Titles which may express the Dignity and Excellency of her Husband's Per­son. But suppose a poor Lady should meet with a Spark that is not at all dignified or dis­tinguish'd from the common herd of Mankind, that hath no Virtue, no Excellency to be com­mended for, that is of a base, ungenerous and sordid Spirit; yes, she must give him those Titles which may bespeak the Dignity and Excellence of his Person, i. e. she must banter him to his face, and provoke every one to reflect upon his real faults by attempting to cover them with the vain Names of ima­ginary Dignity. He brings the Example of Sarah calling Abraham Lord. But it must be consider'd that Abraham was indeed a great Man, and rich; and that it would look a lit­tle odd for a Man of low degree to be greeted, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient Ser­vant, &c. by his Lady in a blew Apron, or a high-crown'd Hat. And by the way, he has lost a most admirable Argument (which runs thus, according to the way of arguing by the Persian Shoo) in England the Women many of them (in that part however where he is) wear the similitude of a Steeple on their [Page 43] Heads, implying by the like Consequence, that Churchmen are peculiarly privileged to lord it over their Wives. This would have been a home thrust, and most pertinent to the matter in hand, for 'twould have invested his Brother Dear (whom he then married) with full Power and Authority to trample upon, and lead captive the deluded Sister. But to return from this Digression (which I have made only to let him see wherein he has fail'd) 'tis to be consider'd that the Apostles might injoyn more than ordinary Submission in the Primitive Times, that so by their humble Carriage they might charm their Husbands into a love of Christianity, What knowest thou, O Wife, whether thou shalt save thy Hus­band? says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 7. 16. But I shall never believe they design'd such a Govern­ment for the Men as this Gentleman and his Followers would fain erect.

Then he bitterly inveighs against one of the most innocent things in the World, at Womens calling their Husbands by their Christian Names, and their using familiar terms one to another. This is certainly the effect of Tenderness and Freedom, which will banish all the names of haughty Distance and servile Subjection. And his Consequence is very harsh, and disingenuous, that therefore they esteem them but as their Servants because they use such familiar Titles; and complains bitterly that some will call them by the so­lemn [Page 44] Names of Fool, Sloven, Clown, Sot, &c. I hope he never gives his Lady any occa­sion to bestow any of these venerable Titles upon his Worship. But what if so strange a thing should happen that a Man should be re­ally a Fool, must a Woman call him Solomon? If he be a Sloven, or a Clown, or a Sot, must she cry him up for a spruce, genteel, sensible, and temperate Man? Yes! she must give him those Titles that do imply the Dignity and Excellence of his person, which in some Men I am sure the Titles of Clown and Sot do fully express. They may modestly remember the Infirmities of their Husbands, and yet not usurp their Authority, tho they forget the Title of Lord and Master.

Now (that I may give one bold stroke for once) to prove that 'tis not always such an unpardonable Crime for a Woman to call her Husband by an ungrateful Name, on some just, great, and necessary occasion, I shall pro­duce him an Instance very sutable to a Man of his Profession, and that is of an Abigail. Na­bal was a foolish Churl; now according to this Mr. Crape, his Wife Abigail must give him the Titles sutable to the Dignity and Ex­cellence of his Person, which we find she does: Her words to David are, Let not my Lord, I pray thee, regard this Man of Belial, even Na­bal: for as is his Name, so is he; Nabal is his Name, and Folly is with him: 1 Sam. 25. 25. Hence (with submission) I infer, that if an [Page 45] Abigal does meet with a Nabal, a Man of Be­lial, a Fool, a Sot, 'tis not in all cases an un­pardonable Sin to call him so; not that a bad Man's failings are to be insisted on upon eve­ry occasion, tho a modest repetition of them be sometimes necessary, as in this case, for Self-preservation, which old-fashion'd Prin­ciple this modish Gentleman would fain have us cast away for ever and ever. So that 'tis hence very plain, that as the Scripture hath recorded some Instances of the profound, and deserv'd Respect that Men of noble Minds have obtain'd from their Wives; so on the o­ther hand, where Husbands deserve such unto­ward Names as this Gentleman complains of, 'tis something difficult to conceive how the Women of moderate Consciences can heartily attribute to them Titles which imply some mighty Excellence they never once had the least shadow of in their Lives. Nor is there any thing formidable in that Reason he gives, viz. for fear lest the Man should come under the Discipline of the Apron, which either he is not, or else (as I am inform'd) his Gover­ness was a great way off when he deliver'd this Discourse. If he be under such Disci­pline, he has doubtless had many a severe Curtain-Lecture for it since; tho most are of opinion that he is in very little Terror on that account. These comfortable, and easy things he has been insisting on, will, he tells us, facilitate the

[Page 46] Third Duty, which is to obey them, (which I confess is due to them that deserve to com­mand) and here he does make a bold stroke at once, and tells us, that Subjection and Obe­dience unto Husbands is required as peremp­torily as unto Christ himself, P. 40. I thought the Authority of Husbands had been at least one degree inferior to the Authority of Christ; but see whither a hot Brain, and insulting Temper will lead Men. The Authority or Husbands is as peremptorily asserted as the Authority of Christ! what else can be the meaning of it? A little more Modesty would have helpt him to another Interpretation of that place, Submit your selves to your Hus­bands as unto the Lord; Eph. 5. 22. Who does not see that 'tis meant so far as the Laws of Heaven require it, and in obedience to the Commands of Christ? So that if the Autho­rity of Husbands be limited, and that of Christ not, I think Obedience is not requir'd so absolutely and peremptorily as to Christ himself; which he seems to be apprehensive of, and so drops the Jus Divinum, and very prudently owns that a Man is to go no far­ther than what comes within the compass of his Authority to command: P. 41. And here he says, that nothing but what is con­tradictory to God's Laws, or impossible in it self, is excluded from the compass of a Husband's Au­thority. A goodly Dominion certainly! for according to this Rule, a Woman (if a [Page 47] Husband pleases) is bound to do a thousand foolish and ridiculous things. If it be his Will and Pleasure, his House must be her Pri­son all the days of her Life, she must never speak a word but to him, she must never eat but what he leaves, and the Dogs and she may scramble for the Bones; or she may be oblig'd to carry his Cloak after him when he goes abroad, and save the charge of a Groom by taking care of and rubbing down his Horse; and then upon the least disgust, she may be oblig'd to go barefoot twenty or thir­ty Miles to some eminent Wood, and thence cut and lug home a bundle of sticks, each of which may be made use of as a Pastoral Staff to discipline her Bones withal. These, and a multitude of other cruel and ridiculous things a Woman may be oblig'd to, because they are not impossible. If it be reply'd that these things, when impos'd, are contrary to the Divine Law; 'Tis all we desire to be granted. Then he tells us, that for a Wo­man to obey in what she thinks fit, falls in­finitely short of the Apostle's Intent; P. 43. Whence again 'tis plain that he means (as any one may guess) that a Husband's Autho­rity is unlimited, and infinite; for that must be infinite which another thing falls infinitely short of; tho just before he had set limits to this boundless Authority. Then he seems to tell us, that Ignorance is the Mother of all this Female Devotion, that a Woman must [Page 48] not use her Reason so far as to judg of the Laws that are pronounc'd to her: No! must obey by implicit Faith. This indeed, as he confesses, seems difficult on the first view, (and I dare say 'twill not seem easy on a second) yet for their comfort he tells them that this in conjunction with the two former will be very easy and pleasant, and will or should be sufficient to please their Husbands; P. 44. Ay good Sir! no doubt on't, unless they are Men that fall infinitely short of the least share of Reason, Conscience and Humanity.

And here at last he tells us that he'll dis­pense with the Persian Shoo, provided we will but once bring it in fashion to wear Ribbons on our Heads, with a Love, Ho­nour, and Obey woven into them. An excel­lent Invention, and for which (when it ob­tains) he will doubtless be mention'd with Honour to Posterity, as every one ought to be that invents any thing extraordinary.

Now he comes to the Improvement of the whole matter; and, first, he applies himself to the single Men, and the unmarried, and tells them what a fine time they'll have on't when they can persuade any willing Creatures to submit to their Yoke, and become their Ser­vants for ever. And here he runs out against the wild and extravagant Inclinations of the Women, and what those Inclinations are may be guess'd from his Discourse all along. There is indeed a very strong Inclination [Page 49] in us for the preservation of those things call'd Reason, and the Liberty of Rational Creatures; which wild and extravagant Hu­mour this Gentleman would by all means have timely corrected as a thing that is alto­gether inconsistent with his most exalted No­tions, and pious Design: Yet in the mean time, I leave the World to judg whether he has not given an infinite scope to the most wild and exorbitant Inclinations of some Men, tho, as he says, they can learn to com­mand fast enough.

In his closing Periods (where he addresses himself to the Married) he seems a little to tack about, and endeavors to roll up his bit­ter Pill in a few sugar'd Sentences: and bids the Men remember that our Duty is hard, (most undoubtedly true, according to his Description of it) our Frailty great, and there­fore our Task must not be made more difficult than necessity does require, &c. because they are (says he to the He-yoke-fellows) a part of your selves. This is certainly all very good. But if it be so, and this be a Man's Duty, then hence I collect, that a Man goes beyond his Bounds when he imposes things unnecessary, tho they be not impossible; which does not much resemble what he has told us, that no­thing but vitious or impossible things are excluded from the compass (or the en­chanted Circle) of a Husband's Authority. This makes me conclude that he would never [Page 50] have once mentioned the Mens Duty, when he tells them,

They must bear with and pardon our Weakness;

And submit to many Inconveniences for our sakes;

And interpose between us and Dangers;

And endeavour to promote our spiritual Good and Welfare.

(Indeed I have heard of a Ro­man Catholic who attempted to persuade a Protestant that Marriage was a Sacrament, because it did administer Grace; and being demanded what Grace, replied, the Grace of Repentance. Now in this sense the obliging Husbands that follow his Directions, may ea­sily promote their Wives spiritual Good and Welfare; for I'll engage, that any Women of sense enough to distinguish between Liberty and Bondage, after they have been a while within the compass of such a Husbands Au­thority, shall attain to the perfect exercise of a most true and unfeigned Repentance.) But these Duties of the Men he would, I suppose, never have mentioned, if it had not been for the sake of a most surprizingly witty Jest, which he designed to break, and leave with us for the parting Blessing: It is this; That he must forbear Enlargement (he means on the Duty of Mankind) lest by overlading the Memories of the Women, he should cause them to forget that Duty which hath been set before them. He might very well have spared this Jest, with which he does conclude his [Page 51] pious and ingenious Discourse; for no doubt the Women will not forget him in hast, nor the Doctrine he has delivered, as he will cer­tainly find, if ever he should have any oc­casion once more to attempt to persuade any one of them to renew the Experiment how obliging and extraordinary a Husband he would prove.

Thus I have hastily considered this extraor­dinary Piece, in which, I suppose, the Au­thor takes abundance of Pleasure and Satis­faction: But what could move him to vent such high-flown ranting stuff as we find here, I cannot imagin. If the Parliamert were all of his mind, we should have the Salique Law establisht on this side the Water, tho he scarcely hoped so great an effect of his first Endeavors. But I suppose he was resolved, since what he had hitherto published had not made him so famous as he deserved, he would now do something that should for ever mark him to posterity, and get him a Name, let it be what it will; as he that burnt the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, purely that the memory of the Fact might eternize his Name. Or perhaps, he so dearly loves his present Con­sort, that he was resolv'd, should he lose her, never once to think of another; and to that end and purpose, hath done something to make it impossible for him to hope any o­ther would ever smile upon him, or that he should read Come love me in any of them. But [Page 52] I know not what he will say to justify the Reverence of the Pulpit, after he has preach­ed a Sermon calculated to spoil the Gravity, and debauch the Devotion of a Saint. Those persons that could refrain from a loud Laugh­ter at many of his Periods, must have a greater degree of command over themselves than the Author has. Had he resolved to have talkt thus, the only time had been while he was slabbering the Sack-posset, or untying the Bride-woman's Garters: And it looks the more awkward, because he has here and there mingled Gravity even to Terror, and ever now and then all the Levity and Buffoonery of one that harangues the People from a large wooden High-place at Bartholomew Fair; which in the Pulpit is not, I think, in its proper place. Such a Discourse might have passed well enough in Spain or Muscovy (where the Discipline of the Crab-tree is patiently suffer'd by the Women) and he lost a mighty opportunity in not transporting himself with the Czar. But the mischief on't is, that here in England, tho he has done his endeavor to make it no more the Paradise of Women, yet there are many of the Men so generous that they were ashamed of his Design, and (as 'tis reported) earnestly persuaded him to let it die, and be buried in deserved Oblivion; but certainly one possest of such Notions is utterly beyond all advice.

[Page 53] Notwithstanding all the good he may think he has done by the preaching and publishing this learned Sermon, I suppose it will not be very hard to prove that he has done some mischief by it: As, suppose he hath caused hereby several poor patient Creatures to be made Muscovites, and to be cudgel'd two or three times a week more than usually: Sup­pose he has inflam'd the domineering Tem­per, and heighten'd the insulting Carriage of many a barbarous Husband. Why all this is nothing: They must thank their Mother Eve for it; tho in truth, if such Principles as his had never come abroad in the World, they might have scap'd tolerably well for all Mo­ther Eve.

But however, the poor distressed Lady, for whom this was preach'd, is doubtless very much edified by it. To come from Your humble Servant, and Yours to Command, tho it be my Life, &c. to the Persian Shoo, and the new-fashion'd Motto, was a vast change. From the melting Accents of a desperate Lover, to the harsh Cadence of such rugged Sentences, and such threatning Pronounce­ments! From such Prayers to such Preaching, was a mighty Leap, and no doubt gave the poor tender Heart a most abominable Jolt.

'Tis very natural also, from this Discourse, to observe the vast alteration there is in some men after they are sure of their Game: Be­forehand they'l do all the mean things in the [Page 54] World, and afterwards all the ungrateful and disingenuous ones.

I am sure (whatever a Woman is antece­dently obliged to) that when the Men shall promise and vow, when they shall protest by the most sacred things, that such shall be their Indulgence and Tenderness, as shall never give the least cause of Repentance; when they shall declare and swear to be for ever their Servants; they hereby oblige themselves before-hand to consider the Com­plaints that shall be made to them, if they are severe. So that in this sort of Tyranny, a Man not only violates common Justice, but his own Vows and Obligations. This Gentle­man knows the vast difference between [Bright and Transcendental Madam!] and the Persian Shoo; between [Yours to the Center of the Earth, and your Servant to the Antipodes] and know your Lord and Master.

Now those that are of this absolute and un­limited Gentleman's mind, if they'l be ge­nerous and honest, ought to tell the Ladies they address, what sort of Life they are like to lead, what sort of Bonds they are to come under, what vast Authority must be exer­cised, and that the very Desires of their Hearts must be under Government Masculine; and if after all this they'l come under Male-Ad­ministration, and then complain, they are cer­tainly the persons most concerned in the Au­thor's Discourse, and ought to consider it, [Page 55] and reap the benefit of it accordingly.

Thus I have cast away a few leisure hours on these Reflections which I have ventured to make, and done this Author an honour he could not expect: And being engaged in de­fence of the Sex, if he shall preach such a­nother Sermon, I hope some generous Gentle­man or other will save me the trouble, and let the World see, that even among his own Sex, there are some who are not Partakers with him, but hate the mean and dishonourable Design with which he was certainly big, when he uttered so ungenteel and unmanly a Dis­course.

FINIS.

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