CHAP. I. Of the Subject of the ensuing Treatise.

THe Errour into which the great­estThe com­mon Er­rour, in the nature of Jealousie. part of the World is apt▪ to fall, believing, That Jealousie is not only an ordinary Effect of [...]ve, but even the strongest and most [...]nvincing proof of its Ardure, has gi­ [...]n occasion to the transmitting this [...]eatise abroad: Jealousie (say they) in speaking properly, an excess of Love, which, because of excess, may properly be led a sickly Love, viz. A Love that [Page 2] flames with the Fire, or greatest heat of a Lever, and by consequence is the strongest Ardure that true Love is capable of: So that a Person presumes to himself Honour, and to render his Love very com­mendable▪ when he expresses an exceeding Jealousie; Since Jealousie in this excess, is the highest degree that Love can reach to. It is this Errour, which is designed in this Treatise, to Encounter with all. It is this Jealousie unbounded, that Introduces these Civil-Bro [...]ls into Families that kindles the Fire of Discord between Man and Wife, and that breaks their Matrimonial-bands, which we shall in this Treatise endeavour to destroy; and the rather, since Erroneous Abuse would Authorize it, though in it self so pernicious.

That it may be the better known, it isFeigned Jealousies of Marri­ed People. requisite in the first place, to distinguish it from certain other Jealousies, which indeed do retain its name, but not at all its qualities. Some do excite in them selves, as we have had the experience certain feign'd and counterfeit Jealousies which they use to amuse or posse [...] some simple or stupid Genius's withal As for example, some Husbands pretend [Page 3] [...]o [...] be Jealous of their wives, to per­swade them of the entireness of their Love, according to these false Princi­ples, we now endeavour to refute, and to give way to this sort of Reasoning, My Husband is Jealous of me, therefore [...]e must have a most A [...]d [...]nt Love for me. On the other hand, there are certain Fe­males, which neither being Ignorant of this popular Maxime, fail not to make [...]t a Vei [...]o cover other designs. They [...]re themselves to death, with wearying their Husbands by affected Jealousies; yea, and often succeed so happily, that the most part, instead of warily avoid­ing the Pallacie, give place for advan­tage, by their Transports; flattering themselves▪ that their own Merits are the motives of these Passions; and at the same time languish with tender re­sentments of such their extraordinary Testimonies of their Love, which not­withstanding, are no more than tricks of nimble Wi [...]: they will not dare to open their Mouths to complain of any thing amiss, they number their very [...]ces, they constrain themselves in e­very thing▪ and abstain from any thing a [...]g [...] give offence, [...]east (say they) [Page 4] we should cast these poor Women into Despair; but we shall not at all meddle with these Personated Com [...]dies, intending to treat only of real Evils.

It is indeed much the same with theseFeigned Jealousies of Lovers. sort of Jealousies, which happen between Lovers, and their Beloved [...] mean such as are not yet united in Marriage: For the most part these are like­wise no more than Fictions, or Sleights of Love, wherewith they endeavour to kindle and maintain the Sacred Fire of Love; or, if perchance th [...]e may be something of truth on reality in their Jealousie, yet it has ordinarily nothing of offence in it, and tends only to move a Tenderness and Compassion in the Person Beloved; such are M [...]naces to stab themselves, to poison themselves, to throw themselves headlong from some Precipice, or, in short, to Enrich and Adorn the Romance of their Loves with some or other Tr [...]gical C [...]t [...]st [...] phe. Since therefore it▪ would exact a Voluminous Romance to display the di­vers incidents and attendants of this kind of Jealousie, whether real o [...] feigned, we shall not endeavoun it any further in this place, because it con [...] ­ces [Page 5] not to our present purpose, and be­sides, for the most part, no great In­conveniences need to be feared there from.

It is likewise requisite to observe, that,That Cor­rection from a Husband is no effect of Jea­lousie. for example, when a Man has a watch­ful Eye over the Actions of his Wife, when he gives her seasonable▪ Instructi­ons for her Conduct, and endeavours to hinder her falling, perhaps, into the Snares that attend the Age; these are in no case the effects of Jealousie, but on the contrary▪ the effects of Charity, who ordains them as a general Law to all sorts of Persons, and which the Laws of Marriage do indispensably impose upon all Husbands; which an Eminent Philosopher confirms in these words, It is not at all, properly, to be Jealous, to Des Cart. Treatise of Pass. endeavour to shun any Evil, when there is just cause to fear it.

It is also to be understood, that Jea­lousieJealousie in it self is Innocent. in general, considered as it is a Passion of the Mind, is not at all culpa­ble in it self, but on the contrary, de­serves a worthy esteem, if the end to which it tends be Laudable; for to use the words of the same Philosopher, Na­ture has imprinted in Man no Passion that [Page 6] is always Vi [...]us, and of which he may not make some good use. A Governour of a place is Praise worthy in being Jea­lous, that is, to have a distrust of any means whatsoever, whereby the place under his Command might be Surpri­zed. An honest Woman is not at all to be blamed for being Jealous of her Ho­nour, to wit, not only to have a stu [...] ous restraint of her self from commiting Evil, but also to have a sollicitous care to shun the giving of the least oc­casion of Scandal. She is to be ap­plauded for admitting of Jealousie, so far, as that it may excite her to please and give content to her Husband in e­very thing, and to excel in Merit, what­ever may stand in competition. So that it ought to be established for a Principle, (saith the same Philosopher) that A Passion is always good, when it a­riseth from a good Principle; as on the other hand, it must necessarily be bad, when it is grounded upon an Er­rour.

It remains then only to treat of theWhat real, or naughty Jealousie is. real, manifest, and unbounded Jealou­sie of Persons that are Married, name­ly, such a Jealousie, the sad effects [Page 7] whereof do always detect and make it manifest, whether its cause be known or not: for this kind is indeed of Two sorts. The one is that of such Persons as do visibly declare themselves Jealous, and let loose the Reins of their Actions to all the odi­ous effects that so powerful a cause can produce. The other is of those that con­ceal their Jealousie▪ or suppress the cen­sure thereof, by hiding their Mallice deeper in their Minds, that are Jealous without confessing themselves to be so, because it is Scandalous, yet act every part with them that declare themselves most openly; they are always Dum­pish and Moross, Exclaiming and Mur­muring always, Thwarting and Con­founding their Conversants, without giving a reason why. Now seeing this obscured and silent Jealousie is in it self more dangerous and insupportable than the other, though not so apparent, we shall endeavour, as a thing necessary, to create a dislike and horrour thereof, in shewing the deformity, as well of this as the other, against all its defenders: and to that end we shall oppose to their false Principles, not any specious Dis­courses, but the Principles and Rules [Page 8] of Nature, Reason and Christian Reli­gion.

I say of Christian Religion, becauseThat Chri­stian Reli­gion must be the rule of Passion. that treating of a Humane Passion, such as is Love, or Jealousie, we cannot well shun the determining the Question by the Principles of Religion, being that that gives Perfection to all Humane Conclusions and Reasoning; for though it be true, that natural Philosophy may discover the Original, Nature and Ef­fects of a Passion, yet it self alone is not capable of limitting or setting its just Bounds, without the help of Reli­gion.

CHAP. II. The Original of Jealousie, and what it is.

PAssions then in themselves are allThat Pas­sions are good; and the Prin­ciples of our Actions. good in their kind, to speak as the same Philosopher doth, and there is no­thing else incumbent on our parts to be done, but to avoid the wrong use and excess of them Yea, they are the very principles of all our actions, in such man­ner, that what is internally a passion, is externally an action most commonly. From whence it is consequent, that passions are so far from partaking of a crime, that on the contrary, a man clearly without Passion would be stupid or sensless, or rather not a man; yea, he would fall into discouragement, lan­guishing, and contempt of himself, for which he must-stand answerable to God and Nature. In sum, as an Animal, and particularly Man is fitly compared to a Political Estate Existi­mandum profecto est constare animal u [...] civitatem bene legi­bus muni­tam Ar. de anim. motu▪ [...]; and as an Estate cannot subsit without Counsil and Force, to procure the requisite advan­tages, [Page 10] and repel what tends to hurt; in like manner Nature has imparted to other Animals a natural instinct, and to Man the use of Reason, which is the seat of Prudence, for their Councel, and to every of them Passions correspon­ding to Armies, to the end they may procure to themselves what good is Convenient, and avoid the hurt that is imminent. Wherefore the use of Passi­ons in Man, saith the same Philosopher, consists in the disposing and exciting the Soul to Will the things, which the dictates of Nature pronounce to be convenient; and at the same time to keep in Action, the Spirits Serving to make us persist in this Will, and to pro­duce the Action necessary, for the ac­quiring the good we propose to our selves; whether it be a real good in it self, or the avoiding of an Evil, which in this case occupies the place of a real good.

But it will be very difficult to obtainThe Stru­sture of the Body. the knowledg of a Passion, what it is, and how it is form'd, without a compe­tent knowledg of the structure of the Body. To which purpose we shall make use of the descriptions of some [Page 11] Philosophers, and particularly of the Modern, who have abundantly enrich­ed and enlightned the Philosophy of the Anclents, with the curious and admira­ble Discoveries they have made in Na­ture.

There are very few but know e­noughExternal Organs. of the external Structure of the Body, and every one may see that Na­ture has bestow'd on us, as on the most part of Animals, Natural Senses, whose Organs, these I mean that are external, are double in every one of the Senses.

It is also known to every one, thatInternal Organs. within are contained these Visceras, viz. The Brain, the Heart, the Liver, the Spleen, &c. Now the mutual Com­munication of all these Parts, both ex­ternal, and internal, is so admirably framed, and their respect one to ano­ther so adequated, that the motion of one part causes the motion of another, much like the Springs of a Watch. All which is perform'd much after this manner.

The Brain, which is placed in theƲse of t [...] Internal Organs. highest part of the Body, is the Origi­nal of all the Nerves, which are dis­persed into all the Muscles of the Body, [Page 12] and have their Extremities inserted into all the Sensible parts thereof. The Heart is the Centre of Natural Heat, which is the principle of Life, and by consequence, of all the Motions of the Body: and therefore it is placed in the m [...]dle, That, as Aristotle saith, it may the more ap [...]ly communicate to all the Ex­tremities. N [...]sse est p [...]os [...] ­ [...] p [...]c [...] p [...]m mo­t [...]s [...] m [...] ­di [...] ess mov [...] [...]ramae; ut [...]rum (que) [...]nim e­tremor [...] [...]st [...] ultim [...]m. Ari [...]t­tle anim. cap. 9., and there indeed it ope­rates by the means of the Blood and Spirits, which it sends out without in­t [...]rmission, to all the parts of the Bo­dy. And to this effect, also contri­butes the Juice of the Meat we Daily feed on, for this Juice being prepared in the Stomach, and from thence run­ning through the Lacteal Veins, (so called, because this Juice as yet retains the colour of Milk,) after it has been transmitted by these Veins into other Channels, for its exacter Purification, it comes at last to enter into the right Ventricule of the Heart, where it rari­fies and expands it self, and begins to be tinged with the colour of Blood: then passing through the Lungs, it re­turns, and is discharged into the left Ventricule of the Heart, where it re­ceives its last Perfection. After which, [Page 13] being thrust out with Violence into the great▪ Arterie, and into every Branch thereof, it passes through all parts of the Body, imparting to them Life and Nourishment: from whence returning again to the Heart, and being again sent out as before, it makes a continual Flux and Reslux by means of its Circu­lation, which is apparently known by the continual Pulsation of the Heart and Arteries: For when the Blood is in the Heart, it dilates and rarities it self, whereby it extends the Heart, and af­terward the Arteries, which is the im­mediate cause of this Pulse and Beat­ing. And it is this Blood that main­tains that Fire or Natural Heat in the Heart, even as the Oil maintains the Flame in a Lamp.

Now the most Vivide and SubtilestThe Ani­mal Spi­rits. Particules of the Blood, are carried into the Brain, there to serve for the Execu­tion of the Principal Functions of the Animal, and to be distributed into the Nerves and Muscles, for the moving of the Body in all the different Motions it is Capable of; and these are they which we call the Animal Spirits, which not­withstanding the Appellation are Minute Bodies.

[Page 14]These Spirits are, as it it were, Fil­tred thorough the Substance of the Brain, and afterwards Reunite by their Concourse in some one part, which is the Imagination, and which cannot be far distant from the Origination of the Nerves, by which these Spirits are dis­persed afterwards into every part of the Body.

Now as it is this Organ that re­ceivesHow Sen­sation is made. the Impressions or the Species that are sent thither by the External Organs or Senses, it must by Consequence be in this Place, and in the Brain that Sensa­tion or the Perception which we have of things is perform'd, and not at all in the External Senses themselves, or a­ny other part of the Body. For al­though the outward Senses are as the Instruments, that the Imagination makes use of, for thee Reception of the Species of Sensible Objects; although they are as the ports of the Soul, by which the Species do enter; yet the Objects are Imprinted, and as it were Limned in these Organs (for we find by Experi­ence that we see by the Eyes, hear with the Ears, and that the Hand or Foot gives us the Sense of Pain) nevertheless [Page 15] without all doubt, we can have no Sensation, no Perception or discerning, [...]f the Species or Impressions have not passage to the Principal Seat of the Ima­gination or Common Sense. We have experience thereof in this, that if we [...]e very attentive to any thing, we per­ceive not the Pain of any hurt received, nor do we see the things that are before our Eyes; as it happens to these that are Apoplectick, they perceive not at all when they are pricked, no nor when they are Wounded, which must proceed from hence, that the Organ of the Ima­gination ceasing its Action, it receives no Impression, and consequently it pro­duces no Sensation; And what is more, these that have, for Example, their hand Amputated, do complain of great Pains in that very Hand, that was cut off.

The Sensation which is form'd in the Imagination proceeds from hence, that in the First place, the Nerves, which are the Instruments of Sense, having their Origination in the Brain, as we said before, extend themselves to every part, and Occupie with their Endings all the Extremities of the whole Body, in such manner that the least thing that moves [Page 16] the Surface of the Body, into which there must be the Extremity of some Nerve Planted, moves at the same time that part of the Brain where that Nerve hath it's beginning; in the Second place these Nerves being always full with the Spirits which are continually sent from the Brain to all the parts of the Body, these Spirits which are first moved, or re­ceive the Impression of the Object, Trans­mit that Impression, as from Hand to Hand, to their very Original, which is the Seat of the Sense Common. I say, from Hand to Hand, that I might thereby Intimate that this Motion is not made by a disorderly Retrogradation of the Spi­rits, but in manner of certain waves, as we see are made in standing pooles, where, by the throwing in of a Stone, the Wave first moved, is put forward by the Subsequent waves, following one another to the outmost Edge thereof▪ Only there is this difference, that the Motion of the Spirits is made with al­most inconceivable Swiftness, being of such an Extraordinary Subtile Nature, that they exceed all other Bodies in the Swiftness of their moving. This is the formal reason of Sense.

[Page 17]Seeing then Sensation is perform'd inWhere and how, the Passions are form­ed. the Imagination, and not in the Exter­nal Organs, or parts of the Body, whereon the first Impression is made, so likewise the Passions are not form'd in the Heart; as some beleive, but in the same Imagination also. And although the Heart indeed does Foment and Aug­ment them, by the means of the Spi­ [...]its sent continually by it to the Brain▪ [...]nd though also in Violent Passions it is much affected and altered, yet this pro­ceeds only from the Communication it [...]as with the Brain, by the means of certain small Nerves, which serve to [...]raiten or enlarge the Orifices of the Heart, and so to give Entry to a small­er or greater quantity of Blood.

The Passions then are formed in the same Organ that is the Seat of the [...]ancy or Imagination, and arise either [...]om the Temperament of the Body, [...] from the Perceptions, Imprinted by [...]e Natural Appetite or Affections, or [...]stly, from the Impression of External Objects on the Imagination. They pro­ceed from the Temperament, for if, [...] Example, Choler abounds, it excites [...]nger, if Blood, it enclines to Love. [Page 18] They arise from the Perceptions, Imprinted by Natural Appetite and Affections, as Hunger, Thirst, and other that Retain the Name of Natural Appetites; likewise Pain, Heat, and other Affections, which stir or move the Nerves, that are the Instruments of the Organ of Common Sense▪ and Transfer the Impression to the Brain. We desire to Drink, as▪ Aristotle saith, it is the Natural Appetite, Commands it for the Preservation of the Animal: Natural instinct, tells us it is water, for Example, and not Ink that we must Drink and immediately this Natural Passion puts the Animal in Motion fit to perform it. Biben dum est mihi dictat cu­piditas▪ hoc autem esse po [...]ul [...] tum sensus, vel phantasia, vel mens affirmat, confestim bibitur, Arist. de animi mot. c. 7. And lastly, Passions are produced by the Impressions of outward Object made upon the Fancy, by the mediation of the External Senses. But we must observe that the Fancy or Imagination (which is the Perception arising from the Internal Motion solely of the Spirits) [...] not the same, as Aristotle saith, with Sense (which is the Perception produced by External Motions) since it is easie to observe, that the Imagination Act when the Senses Act not at all; (Phanta­sia distin­cta a sensi­bus, quia vel ipsis quies centi­bus ad est, ut in [...]omno Arist. de ani. [...]. 3. cap. 4.) from whence are the Passions that arise by [Page 19] calling to Remembrance, or the bare [...]magination of any thing (Cogitatio & imagi­natio agen­tes addu­cunt affec­tiones, nam agentium species re­proesentant Arist. de anim. mo [...]. c. 11.) or by Dreams, and the Actions that are done in Sleep, because of the di [...]rse Impres­sions that the casual Motion of the Spi­rits, does then make upon the I­magination. The Image, the [...] or Spe­cies of▪ any thing passing, for Example, [...]w the Eyes, and Imprinting it self upon the Organ of Imagination where of we speak▪ by the Mediation of the Spi­rits always Eviron [...]ng it, it so falls out, that if that Object be Terrifying▪ by its Similitude or respect it has with any thing, that Nature or Experience Dic­tates to be hurtful to the Body, then it excites the Passion of Fear, or else Cou­rage, according to the different Consti­tution of the Body; and at the same time, the Spirits Reflected from the I­mage so formed upon the Organ, do en­terpa [...]t by the pores of the Brain, that Conducts them into the Nerves, serving to produce the Motions and Postures necessary to turn back, or Fly, part in­to the Nerves that enlarge or straiten the Orifices of the Heart, or which A­gitate the other Parts from whence the Blood is Conveyed to the Heart, in such [Page 20] sort, that this Blood being r [...]ed after an unusual manner, it a [...] Spirits to the Brain, such as m [...] i [...] fie the Passion viz that continue to keep open the same pores [...]h [...] by they [...]te [...] into the same N [...]es And i [...] be cou­rage that's excited [...]x [...] [...] P [...] the [...] Spirits enter by the Motion of this Organ in­to the pores of the Brain, that Conduct them into the Nerves▪ serving to move the Members to defend its self, as well as into th [...]se that Agitate and put forward the Blood to the Heart, in a man­ner suitable to produce proper Spirits, for the continuance of these Actions.

It is the same respectively in all other Passions, from what Original soever they arise: so that in speaking general­ly, the cause of Passions is not solely in the Sense, or in the Brain; but also in the Heart, in the Spleen, in the Liver, yea, and in all the other parts of the Body, insomuch as they Concur to the producing of Blood, and consequent­ly of Spirits conducing: for although all the Veins do carry the Blood they contain towards the Heart, neverthe­less it many Times falls out, that that which is in some, is thrust forward with [Page 21] much more force than that in others: And likewise it happens that the Ori­fices of the Heart by which the Blood enters, or by which it is expelled, are at sometimes more enlarged or more straitened than at others.

Now all this is perpetrated only byThat the Body acts and moves it self by the confor­mation of its Mem­bers, with­out the help of the Soul. the disposition of the Engine of the Bo­dy; that is to say, by the conformation of the Members and the Course which the Animal Spirits, excited by the Heat of the Heart, do naturally pursue in the Brain, in the Nerves, and in the Muscles [...] in the same manner as the Motion of a Watch is performed, as we said before, which goes and moves it self, by the Disposition of it's peices: for which reason, if it were possible, to [...]magine a Man without a Soul, we should see him Act in the same manner. For we must not think that it is the Soul that gives Life and Motion to the Body, although in some respects, it can dis­pose thereof, being Conjoint, but the Motion and Life Depends on the Fabrick of the Body. So that we may truly say, that the Separation of the Soul does not make the Body to Die, but that the Soul, [...]t Death, retires it self from the Body▪ [Page 22] because that then the Natural Hea [...] which we have mentioned, ceasing, the Organs that serve to the Actions of the Soul Corrupt and fail.

Which makes us beleive, that since the holy Scripture That Blood is the Soul of Beasts. Deut. 12. 23. says, that Beasts have the Blood for their Soul, they have no other but what consists in this Sym­metrie of the parts Vivified and moved as we have said, by the Animal Spirits▪ drawn from the Blood by the Fire of the Heart. And this might very well be the Reason why the Pen-Me [...] of the holy Scriptures, observing on one Hand, that Beasts have almost the same Passions that are incident to Man, for as much as they have a Love for their Young, a Jealousie for their Females, Anger, Fear, &c. And that on the other Hand, they are Destitute of Judgment; they have made use of this Word▪ Blood▪ Joh. 13. to express the Sensual and Fleshly Mo­tions that allure the reason and Agitate us like Beasts.

And indeed this does contribute very much to the Excellency of the reason­able Soul. That Beasts have not Passions, but only certain Im­pulses re­sembling them: For though it may be said that other Animals have the same Natu­ral Motions as Men have, yet it may be denied [Page 23] with Seneca Muta animalia humanis affectibus carent. ha­bent au­tem simi­les illis quosdam impulsus. Sen. de Isa. lib. 3. cap. 3. that they have Re­ [...]l Passions, all their Actions being no more than certain Impulses that Resem­ble Passions. Which also our Philoso­pher Des Cart. confirms saying, brutes have [...]o Conduct of their Actions, but certain Corporal Motions, resembling these in Men, which Passions do follow Custo­marily; and for this very reason they are not only easily allured into Snares, but often run Head long into greater Evils to Eschew a less. Now these Mo­tions are Naturally produced in them, no otherwise than by the apt Disposition and Symetrie of their Parts, whereof we have spoken before, as though they were performed by different Springs, as in an Engine, or the different Motions of any Instrument variously moved, Des Cart. tr. de. hom. art. 16. & 55. without having the least Enlighten­ing of Reason. We may see an Exam­ple of this in a Dog, who Bites the very Stone, that was thrown at him; for his Anger seems to proceed from this, that the Stone having with force pitch'd upon him, and thereby infering Pain, [...]is Spirits are incited so as to produce the Passion of Anger, or at least such Motions as Imitate it, and having not the [Page 22] [...] [Page 23] [...] [Page 24] use of Reason, the Stone is the Object of his Passion, which he Bites in Re­venge. This is likewise the Opinion of Aristotle, Ratioci­nari n [...]lli in est, [...]i non sit ra­tio. Ar. de an. l. 3. c. 3. Quibus­dam besti­ [...] phanta­sia, non ve­ro ratio in­est. id. lib. c. 4. The Ex­cellency of the Soul of Man. who saith, there is no Reasoning, where there is no Reason, and in Brutes there is no reason to be Found.

The Soul of Man therefore is only Capable of sharing of Reason and Free-Will, whereby Man is Master of his own Will, that is to say of himself, and there­in resembling his Maker: I say, sharing or En [...]oying, as his Part, Reason, which is, A Right and Just Judgment of things Divine and Humane; which is that Li­ving Law we carry continually within us, or to Express it in the words of Phil [...]n▪ A Law that knows not how to Err, a Law Immortal, not like that Es­tablished by Mortal [...]y [...]en; a Law not without Soul or without Life, like those Laws written on Paper, or inanimated Colomns; but it is a Law Exempt of all Corruption, being Engraven by Im­mortal Nature, on the Immortal Soul of Man. Hence, although the Soul does not Act without the Body, yet it is altogether distinct from it, and infi­nitely above it, by its Immortality, free and exempt from all Composition in its substance. Intel­lectus est sepa­rabilis & non mix­ [...]us, & im­patibilis, cum essen­tialiter sit actus.

[Page 25]The Soul then has no different parts,Faculties of the Soul: as some suppose; It is simply one, and unitely join'd to the whole Body, and all its parts, without being more in one than in another; for the Body is one, and in some respects, not divisable, by the relation it has to the disposition of its Organs, which have such a reference one to another, that if any one be want­ing, the whole Body becomes Defective. So it is the same individual Soul that Imagines, Remembers and Reasons; all which it performs by the means of this Organ we have Treated of.

For when the Soul would call a thingThe Me­mory. to Remembrance, this Organ pushes the Spirits to these places or pores of the Brain, where the Traces or Foot­steps remain of the Object which it would recal to mind, which Spirits re­flecting, present the same Object to the Soul.

When it will imagine, this Will hasThe Ima­gination. the force to cause that this Organ move it self, and in such a manner as is ne­cessary to push the Spirits towards the Pores of the Brain, by whose aperture the thing may be represented: and if it would consider the same thing with attention, the Will retains this [Page 26] Organ in the same Situation

As to Discourse Reasoning or Judg­ing;The Judg­ment and Discourse. for these, the Soul makes use of both the Faculties aforesaid, viz. Ima­gination and Memory: for Anima nunquam intelligit sine phan­tasmate▪ Arist. de an. l. 3. c. 6: not on­ly the Soul cannot Judg without the help of the Species, which the Imagina­tion or Memory presents to it, but al­so, it cannot Reason or Discourse by the one, without the help of the other, because that Reasoning or Discourse, Is a Judgment made, Comparatively, with some other Judgment made before. Ro­hault Phys. part 1. c. 2. The prin­cipal Seat of the Soul.

So this Organ, which is in the Brain as is shewed before, seems to be the Seat of the Soul, where it Wills, that is, exercises all its Actions: For to Will is properly the Action of the Soul, be­cause that comes directly from it, and seems to depend upon nothing else. The Soul is there, as a Sun who glances his Rays through the whole Body, by means of the Spirits, the Nerves, and also of the Blood: For it disposes all the Sensations that are imprinted o [...] this Organ, and also reimprints his own. And on the other hand, because of the strait Union between the Soul and Body, this Organ affects the Soul also with all the Impressions it receives, and [Page 27] by that means, as it were, solicits it to Will, whatever this Impression shall dis­pose the Body to; so that there can be [...]o Passion rais'd in the Imagination, whereof the Soul is not sensible.

Although indeed the Soul or Will ofThe power of Passion over the Soul. Man, be so far Free, that it cannot be changed nor constrained by the Body, but indirectly only, yet the Passions ex­cited by the course of the Spirits, and not at all produced by the Soul it self, are of such force, that they must have their Course, and cannot be changed by the Soul, but also indirectly only; in so much that there may be Motions and Passions in the Body, and the Soul not at all Contributing thereto: as for Example, it may so be, that by the Sole Disposition of the Organs, the Spi­rits may run towards the Nerves of the Heart, and that this Course, in passing, gives a Motion to the Organ of Ima­gination, that imprints the Passion of Fear in the Soul, and in the mean time, the Spirits Running towards the Nerves, that serve to move the Legs for Flight, this Organ by their Course receives a­nother Motion, which Imprints the Sense or Perception of this Flight in the Soul, without the Souls consenting thereto▪ [Page 28] It is also from this strait Conjunction that, as we see, if we have once Joyn'd any Corporal Action with any distinc [...] Cogitation, neither of these shall present it self afterwards to us, but the other shall present it self also. Moreover it may be said, that the Motions of the Organ of Imagination, are so natural▪ that they rather Obey the Motions o [...] Inclinations of the Spirits, or other di­stinct Organs, than the Will we have to give them this Motion; as it falls out, for Example, When a Man would dis­pose his Eyes to View an Object at a di­stance; for then the Pupil of the Eye enlarges it self, rather because of this Action, to which the Eyes are Deter­mined by this Organ, then for that we would that it should be enlarged.

It is this Repugnance in Nature, thatThe war­fare be­tween the Spirit and Flesh. has given place to believe, That the In­feriour part of the Soul should War a­gainst the Superiour; when as this Re­pugnance ariseth only from hence, That the Body on one side, by means of the Spirits, and the Soul on the other, by its Will, endeavour at the same time to excite different Motions in this Organ And indeed, all that contradicts Reason▪ comes from the Body, and not at all [Page 29] from the Soul. It is then these Two dif­fering Impulses, that are made together on this Organ, that causes this Com­bat: For Example, The Spirits strive to push this Organ we speak of, so as to excite the Desire of any thing in the Soul; and the Soul strives again to Re­pel that Motion, by the Will it has to avoid the same thing: If it gets the up­per hand, it remains Victorious; if not, the Spirits presently resume their first course, because of the disposition that has proceeded in the Nerves, in the Heart, and in the Blood, and then the Soul ceasing its Endeavours, finds it self prest to Desire, and not to Desire, one and the same thing.

Lo here the Warfare between the Spi­rit and the Flesh, which is so Violent, that no Humane Prudence is capable to resist it. It is therefore certain, that the Soul cannot in an instant overcome the Passions: For they are accompani­ed with such Commotions, excited in the Heart, and by consequence, in the whole Mass of Blood and Spirits, that the Passion remains always present with our Thoughts, till this Commotion have ceased; in the same manner, as Sensi­ble Objects are always present, during [Page 30] the time they Act on the Organs of Sense. But I mean here, the stronger Passions, which do indeed constrain us to confess, That we are not at all Ma­sters of our primary Motions.

The Soul has then a necessity ofThe Em­pire of the Soul over the Body. Powerful Helps, for the obtaining the Victory; which is no other than Pru­dence that Seconds it in this Combat: For this Prudence is no more than Rea­son it self, illuminated with the Lights of Morality and Experience, whose principal use is to prescribe Rules for the Regulating of Passions, making known to the Soul the quality and real usage of them; She undeceives it in the Errours of Sense and Imagination; She gives it to know what is really Good, or really Evil; in one word, She teacheth the Soul to put a right esteem upon things, and what is conve­nient, or inconvenient to Humane Na­ture. And indeed, the greatest Out­rages of Passions cannot avail against us, without the Inward Commotions of the Soul. It is upon this, that our Good or our Evil depend: For the Commotions of the Soul have much more Power over us, than the Passions themselves, From whence it is, that [Page 31] seeing the Soul may have always with­in, whereon to relie and satisfie it self, all the Troubles that can acrew thereto, from any other thing, have no power to hurt it; which does evidently de­monstrate its Perfection. But now it must be by means of Vertue it can have this Content, Constancy and Immovea­bleness we speak of; that is to say, by the Testimony a Man can bear for him­self, That he has always prosecuted the things he Judged to be best.

So when a Passion Attacks the Soul, it opposes thereto, as Armed Sol­diers, Judgments firm, Convincing, and undoubtedly decided by Penetrating and Unraveling the Nature of the Ob­ject that causes this Passion: Which a Christian Philosopher, not Ignorant of these Principles understood, when he said, That Vertue cousists not in Regulating the Passions, but their Objects; because, saith he, One may commit very great Crimes, when the Motions of the Passions are but weak; and on the other side, The Motions of a Passion may be very Violent without a Crime. Non in moderan­dis affecti­bus sapien­tiae ratio versatur▪ sed in cau­sis [...]orum, quoniam extrinse­cùs moven­tur: Nec ipsis potis­simum fraenas im­poni oppor­tuit, quo­niam & exig [...]i esse possunt in maximo crimine & maximi esse possun sine crimi­ne. Lact. The Soul weakning the Motion of the Organ of the Imagination, by strong Arguments, may at last stay it altogether: Or if it [Page 32] find its Arms to be too weak, it joins Policy, and strives to divert the Cur­rent which it cannot stop, and to that end Excites an other Passion, by moving this Organ some another way, with the Re­presentation of some Object able to in­stigate a Ballancing Passion. As for Ex­ample, If the Soul would remove the Passion of Fear, She endeavours her self to Impress an other Motion or Pas­sion on the Organ, by alledging the Reasons, or representing the Objects or Examples fit to create an Inclination to Generosity. But in the last place, If the Passion, agitating the Soul, do make so violent an Assault upon it, that it gives no time to deliberate; the Soul then makes a Couter Assault upon Na­ture, and stays, at least, the greatest part of the Motions, to which that Pas­sion, or the Organ, disposed the Body, as, for Example, That of the Hand, which Anger had caused to be lifted up to strike withal.

There is then so strait an Unity be­tweenThe mutu­al corre­spondency between the Soul [...]d the [...]dy. the Soul, the Organ of the Ima­gination, and the Body, that the Soul moves at its pleasure this Organ, by the means of this Prudence, and this Organ reciprocally Imprints in the Soul [Page 33] all the Impressions it receives by the va­rious Motions it undergoes; and the Body lastly, only from hence, that this Organ being diversely moved, ei­ther by the Soul, or by any other cause whatsoever, and pushing the Spirits that surround it, into the Nerves and Muscles, it moves it self, and produces the Action to which it was deter­mined.

The different Volitions of the Soul,What it is that we call the Passions of the Soul. then give different Motions to the Body; but it is to be understood, that these Volitions are of Two sorts, The one which Terminates in the Soul it self, as to Will the Love of God, or to apply it self to the Gonsideration of some im­material thing: The other which Ter­minates in the Body, and makes it to Act: Now if these last sort of Actions, or the Impressions which the Soul makes upon the Body, do happen to move the Spirits with such an Impetuous Mo­tion, that extraordinary Effects may be observed in the Body, these Motions are called Passions of the Soul. For Exam­ple, If the Body be observed to suffer, that is to say, to be alter'd in any thing from what it usually appear'd before, and especially in the Eyes or the Face, [Page 34] as if it change Colour, Tremble, growNon est quod ani­ma aliquid patiatur; sed quia id patitur in quo est a­nima: Arist. de an. l. 1. c. 5. Faint, or fall in a Swound; if it Laugh; Weep, Groan, or Sigh; we may con­clude, that the Mind suffers▪ and these Motions are called the Passions of the Soul, notwithstanding its Nature is not capable of Passion.

So that these Passions, Are the Per­ceptions, or Sensations, or Motions, of the Of the number of the Passi­ons of the Soul. Soul, which are particularly refered to it▪ yet, which are Caused, Maintained and Augmented by the Motion of the Spirits. And because the Soul not only can ex­cite Passions it self, but also perceives these that are rais'd by the temper of the Body, or from the impression of Objects, or the Natural Appetites, as we have remarked before; the number of Passions is almost infinite, seeing one Passion may be generated from ano­ther, and all these may be mixt and compounded one with another. Yet notwithstanding, Authors are wont to Constitute some as General or Primitive Passions, from which the other are de­rived as Species, that so they may be reduced to some Method: These are, Admiration, Love, Desire, Joy, Sad­ness, Hatred, and if you will, Fear.

[Page 35]For if we be taken with any new andHow the Passions are pro­duced. surprizing Object, we Admire it. If we find it to be good, and agreeable to our Nature, we Love it. If this good be absent, we Desire it. And after ha­ving desired it, if we obtain the posses­sion thereof, we Rejoice. As on the contrary, if after having possessed it, we lose it, this loss makes us Sad. On the other hand, if the Object present be a thing bad in it self, and hurtful, we Hate it. And if this Object be ab­sent, but represented to us, as bad, and to befal us▪ it excites a Fear in us.

Now Fear, which conduces to ourWhat Fear is. purpose, is a Commotion of the Soul, Agitated by the Spirits, in such manner as Creates an Apprehension, that an absent Evil will befal it, or that it will be bereft of some present Good. And it has under it, amongst other Species, the Passion of Jealousie, as the other General Passions have others su [...] ordinate or deduced from them, as we said before: Where­fore it ought to be carefully distinguish­ed from others which do resemble it, yet are of different Species: For Ex­ample, Jealousie is not the same with Envy, because Envy is deduced as a Species from Sadness; and is the Trou­ble [Page 36] one Resents for the Good which happens to another; when as Jealou­sie is, The Fear one has to lose, or let ano­ther What Jea­lousie is. partake with him in that Good, whereof he Loves the Possession. And this Jealousie has that as a property, that it does not arise so much from the force of Reason, Judging one may lose the thing he Possesses, as from bare Suspiti­ons one has, which yet he mistakes for right Reason.

CAAP. III. Of Marriage, according to the Law of Nature.

JEalousie being therefore a Fear to lose, or to let another partake ofJealousie is only be­tween Married People. the Good we Love and Possess, it neces­sarily follows, that it cannot have place, but between Persons that Love one ano­ther, & are as it were in lawful Possession one of another; so that one cannot right­ly understand the true Nature of Jealou­sie, unless he first know a right, what Love is, and also what this Possession is, that is, where this Love resides. For in­deed, if a Man were alone in the World without a Woman, or a Woman alone without a Man, there would be, without doubt, neither Love nor Jea­lousie: But since there is, not only an infinite number of Men and Women Replenishing the Earth, but also these Men and Women are made one for ano­ther, (which is indeed the Foundation of Marriage, or the Possession we speak of,) we shall Establish for the first Principle, that Love and Jealousie have [Page 38] their Natural Residence in Marriage, or in that Natural Propensity that Men and Women have to procure this Uni­on between them, which in this Case they look upon as present; and there­fore, for the further understanding of Jealousie, it is very necessary to com­prehend the Principles and Formal Reasons of Marriage also, and this Union made, or to be made, between Man and Woman.

And to that end; it is to be under­stood,That Man does natu­rally desire Society, and why. That Man, from his first entry into the World, has a desire and conna­tal Inclination to Society Grot. de Jur. bel. & pac. proleg. 6., and to that height, that his propensity thereto does resemble and equal the spontani­ous inclination of a Stone to descend; Which undoubtedly must proceed from these Two Reasons: The First is, be­causeHomo ci­vile ani­mal est, & ad Societa­tem vitae aptum na­turâ. Arist. Nicom. l. 9. c. 9. nothing in Man is more Excellent than Society, nor which by conse­quence, can agree more with the ex­cellency of Man, who, besides the light of Reason, is endued with Language whereby his Reason may be expressed, and which is an Instrument adapted to the entertaining of Society. The Second is, because that Man from his Nativity, being surrounded with cares, does na­turally [Page 39] desire help and comfort: From whence it is, that the end of this Society being the mutual good which Men do hope for one from another, and this hope naturally producing in us a kind­ness for them from whom we hope this good; from thence is produced this general affection that Men bear one another; and which is as the Bands andFrom whence Love comes Ciment of this Society. And as this affection does every day more and more augment, by how much more it is intimately revealed; and Arist. Nicom. mach. l. 8. c. 14. Nature has not onely intermingled this affection with pleasure and delight, but has found it convenient to perpetuate the things she has created, to distinguish them by differing parts and qualities (which makes the difference of Sex) it proceeds from thence, that each Sex in all Animals, retains a Passion and natural Inclination to oblige a Society with its like, as with that that is most agreeable to it Natu­ralis Socie­tas maxi­mè est in­ter marem & foemi­nam. Arist. de cur. rei fam. l. 1. c. 3. Vid. Plato. leg. 1. Ec­clesiast. c. 13..

[Page 40]And this is it which we call Love, whose Seed or Cause is so much the more powerful, in that it is Natural and Perpetual in us; Nature Ipsa natura hoc circuitu complet. perpetuita­tem vitae, specie ni­mirum, cum ne­queat nu­mero Arist. de cur. rei fam. l. 1. c. 3. Des. Cart. Tr. de pass. making use thereof, as is said before, to continue the Species of every thing, and to repair their Ruin and their Mortality upon the Earth, by this kind of Successive Immortality. It is Natural (I say) because Nature (to make use of the Words of our Philoso­pher) besides the difference of Sex, which She has Instituted in Man as well as in Brutes, hath also made certain Impres­sions in the Brain, which at a determined Age, disposes him to consider himself as defective, and as no more than the half of what he should be if compleated, and whereof a Person of the other Sex must be the other half; so that the obtaining of this other half, is in some sort repre­sented by Nature, as the greatest of all goods that can be imagined.

So that Marriage, which is a peculiarWhat Marriage is. Society of Man and Woman, is of all other the most natural and perfect Soci­ety; since this is the Model by which all other are formed, as this is form'd by the Model of the Soul and Body which compose Man, and which is of all Compositions the most admirable. [Page 41] Indeed, look by how much a particular Family preceeds a Civil Society, and is more necessary than it, because parti­cular families compose it; so much is the Society of Marriage, in Law of Nature, to be preferred before all other Societies, since it serves to continue the Species, to which all Animals have a greater proclivity, then to any other thing, and which is the ultimate end of of all Societies whatever Arist. nicomach. l. 8. c. 4. That Mar­riage, as all other Soci­eties, sub­sists by the Subordi­nation of its Parts..

Now as no Society can subsist, with­out a due placing and subordination of the Parts whereof it is Composed; so Nature has likewise imposed this Law on Marriage, that the one should sub­mit to the other, that they may there­by preserve Union, and reap the ad­vantages they propose to themselves from this Excellent Society. And indeed we see in all Assemblies of many Persons, there is always one, that, as the most Noble by Right or Custome, Over-rules the rest, thereby maintaining Order in the Assembly. And where ever Persons are disposed to enter into any kind of Fellowship, the Mastery or Conduct thereof is always referred to one, that thereby Unity may be preserv'd. Grot. de jur. be. & pac. l. 2. c. 5. §. 8: 12. We see that People do voluntarily resign [Page 42] both their Wills and Powers to invest a Monarch therewithal; and to be solely at his Command: That Republiques do choose cheif Governours of their own accord; yea, all So­cieties and Commonallities of Persons whatsoever, choose Su­periours to whom all the rest must obey. Prodignitate e­nim vir imperat in quibus opportet vi­rum imperare; & quae mulieri conve­niunt ea permittit, Arist. nicom. l. 8. c. 12. So likewise this Subordination in Fellowship maintains Conjugal Society, puting, by natural Right, the Empire into the hands of the Man, because of the Nobility of his Sex, and imposing upon the Woman, because of the Weak­ness of hers, an indespensable necessity to respect and obey her Husband. Ʋxor marito (in honestis scilicet) ob­temperabit non aliter, quam si il­liusdomum venisset empta an­cilla, Arist. de cur. rei fam. l. 1. And this is a Prerogative given by the Sex, not onely to Man, but also to all sorts of Animals, that the Female should be subject, and under the Power of the Male; as we may see by experience in every particular Species; where we may observe, that the Male is larglier endowed with what respects the pro­vince of Commanding, than the Female; and particularly in Man, who has, in speaking generally, a more large and penetrating Wit, more Prudence, a greater Grandure and Elevation of the [Page 43] Mind, more courage and more strength than Women Vives de off. mar., so the Family of a Man is compared to a Monarchy, where there is but one alone that com­mands Dome­stica principatum habet unius Arist. de cur, rei fam. l. 1. c. 1..

The Subordination therefore isAll Nations give the Preemi­nence to the Hus­band. so Essential to Marriage, that all Nati­ons of the World, yea, these that have had no other Light than that of Nature, have at all times agreed to make the Man Master, yea and So­vereign Judg of the Woman Lege Romuli Ʋxor ita fuit in manu viri, ut de crimine ejus omni cum propinquis cog­nosceret statueret­que, Tacit. Ann. 2. Paucissima in tam numerosa (Ger­manica) gente, ad ulteria; quorum poena praesens, & marito permissa ac­cissis crinibus, nu­datam coram pro­pinquis expellit do­mo maritus ac per omnem vicum ver­bere agit Tacit. de mor. Germ. These People being perswaded that the Men ought to be Go­vern'd by the Publick Laws, but the Women by the Laws of their Husbands, insomuch that the Woman could not be equal­ly priviledged with her Hus­band in the use of any of the advantages of this Society, but only by this due Submission. Nicom. l. 8. c. 8. Aristotle saith, that a respect or proportion ought to be ob­served in Friendships, where the one is more Excellent than the other: For since there is no real or equal Friendship, but [Page 44] between Persons that are equal, it is re­quisite then, that a Person Inferiour, prosecute▪ his Amity with Respect, to the end, that this Respect, join'd with his Amity, may correspond to the Su­periority of the Amity of the other, and so make up that Equality, which is the Property of Friendship.

The Husband then must be the sole Master of the Family, and all his Com­mands without Appeal: Yea, his Pow­er over his Family, is, in some respects, greater than the Power of a King over his Estates; and though the Woman Govern the House, yet it is under the Authority of her Husband: Viv. de off. Mar. Nei­ther does this Subordination tend to the Discouragement or Shame of the Wo­man, from which it is so far, that on the contrary, nothing Contributes so much to her Honour, as this due Respect, Compliance and Obedience: For it is the only Vertue and Character of an [Page 45] Honest Wife, whereby she gains more Praises, than by all other Advantages she can have other ways, when she ac­quits her self duly of this Duty, with­out any Repugnancy. Wives, saith Plutarch, deserve Praises, when they Sub­mit to their Husbands; but on the con­trary, When they Act the Mistress, they wound Decency, and so much the more, that their Hnsbands suffer them to Com­mand.

So if any Demand, what ought Na­turallyRules for Persons that are Married. to be the true Rule of Conduct to Married Persons, between them­selves, as well as of all other sorts of Friendship; it is no other thing, than to Observe the Right that each one has in this Society Viro cum uxore & omnino amico cum amico quo­modo sit vivendum si quaera­tur, nihil aliud est quam quaerere quid inter eos juris intercedat. Ar. nic. l. 8. c. 14., to the End, that re­taining themselves within the Bounds that are thereby prescribed to them, they may preserve between themselves that Harmony and Agreement, which causes the Union of divers Persons to subsist, and which is the ground of Amity in Marriage.

In sum, Love or Amity is the BondThat Love is the foun­dation of Marriage. of this Society; for it could be no more a Society without Union, and there can [Page 46] be no Union without Love. For which Reason, the Submission of the Wife, as well as the Command of the Husband, must be unmoveably grounded upon Love, that Pleasure, Advantage and Peace, may Reign, which Nature looks upon as the Chief End of this to be admired Conjunction. The Husband must be Master of his Wife, not as a Man is Master of a Thing, in which he has a Property, and may dispose of at his Pleasure; but as the Soul is Master of the Body, whose Sensations are all common to it, and to whom it is joined in a strait Unity; so that the Soul has a care of the Body, without, neverthe­less, condescending to all its Enormities, or Disorder of Passions: Even so the Government of the Husband ought to be a Government of Joy, Consolation, and Amity. (a) The Ancients werePlut. Con­jug. Prax. wont to place Mercury near to Venus, to shew, that the pleasure of Marriage consists particularly in the Consolation of Convers, whereof Mercury is a Sym­bole. They gave her likewise for Com­panions, the Goddess of Perswasion, and the Graces, intimating thereby, that Husbands should Command with Perswasions, and not with Threats.

[Page 47]Now, Love is an Act of the Soul, in What true Love is. prosecution of a Judgment already made, whereby it Wills to be joined with the thing it esteems Good, that is to say, to pass of it self into the Object Beloved, and by this Conjunction of the Will, to make up no more than one entire, of which, as we may apprehend, the Lover Constitutes one part, and the thing Loved, another Des Cart. Tr. de Pass.;

So Love causes us, as it were, to put on, or assume, intirely the Person Loved, that (if it may be so said,) we have no more Soul to Animate us with­al of our own, but use that of the Per­son we Love, instead of our own; that is to say, we Relinquish all the Thoughts, Desires and Actions, of our own Soul, to conform them to these of the Person Loved; so that all the Acti­ons and Thoughts of his Soul are ours, or the same that our Soul Acts or Thinks; we Desire what he shall In­spire [Page 48] us to Desire; we Hate whatsoe­ver we see him Hate; we Fear Laert. l. 8. c. 2. what he Fears. In short, we Dispute nothing, but with his Thoughts, and upon his Principles, nor do we Will any thing, but by his Will Idem velle at (que) idem nolle, ea demum firma a­macitia. Salust.; that is, we De­sire nothing but what he Wills; and to abridg the Description in one word, with Aristotle, The Person whom we Love is our other self Ami­cus alter idem. Nicom. l. 9. c. 9.,

It is this Love that is altogether Di­vine, since it has no other Motive but Vertue. It is this Love that is so much Affected and Transported with that which it finds Laudable in the thing Loved, that it makes it its whole De­light. And it is this generous Love that has made so many Lovers Renown'd.

Now you see in short, what Love is.Sensual Jealousie can have no place in true Mar­riage. We have also shewed what Marriage is. And, as we have supposed before, that there is no Jealousie without Love, yea, such Love as can mutually Unite the Hearts of Man and Woman: It is now time to see, where this Jealousie we speak of, ought to be placed; since then Marriage, on the Mans part, is nothing else but a Superiority, intirely grounded on Love; since on the Wo­mans part, it is nothing else but Re­spect, [Page 49] Submission and a compliance full of Love, and with all true Love, has neither will nor desire, but what pro­ceeds from the Person loved; and since on the other hand Jealousie, is that con­tinual Anguish which is nourished with Suspitions, Distrust, Rage, and Vexa­tions, and which declares it self in heats of Passion, Obstinacy, Controlings, and capricious Humours, as it speaks for it self, where then I pray shall we place it? And how can it consist with true Love in the Marriage of Persons in their right Wits.

It must then certainly arise from someIt is Sensu­al Love that cre­ates Jea­lousie. other Original. Now there are two sorts of Love, the Reasonable and Bru­tal; and since this inward Chafeing can­not in any Case proceed from the Rea­sonable, as we have shewed, it must of necessity arise from the other sort, or that we call Brutal Love. There areWhere Sensual Love is. (says Plato) two sorts of Love, one Heavenly, the other altogether Earthly Earthly or Sensual Love is a blind, low, dishonest Love, which fixes only on things contemptible and shameful, and never looks up to things more elevated. Divine Love on the contrary Pausa l. in Symp. Psa [...]. is more clear sighted, and looks upon nothing [Page 50] but Vertue and things that excel in real Beauty, and have therein a resemblance of things Coelestial: Or to express it inDes cart. tr. de pass. the words of the Philosopher of this Age; true or reasonable Love is like that of a Father towards his Children, who desires to receive nothing from them, or to possess them otherwise than he does, or to be more nearly conjoyn­ed with them than he is; but consider­ing them as his other selves, he seeks after their good as his own, or rather with greater care, because representing to himself that he and they together make up but one entire, and of which he cannot be the better Part, he prefers their Interest to his own, and fears not to cast himself away to save them, on the contrary, Brutal Love, regards no­thing but the possession of the Object of this Passion, and not the Object it self, that is, a Man loves the thing for his own Interest, and not for the sake of the thing it self.

From this Love, Earthy and Carnal, it is that Jealousie proceeds; by this Love it is we pretend to Love others, when indeed we Love only our selves; by this we have a false Joy for the good of our Friends, and a false Sorrow for their [Page 51] Evils, for they proceed only▪ from the peculiar Interest we have in the one, or in the other: by this we have a com­pliance, and yeild obedience to their Wills indeed, but they are only feign'd and dissembled, to the end we may draw them to ours: by this Love we fear the loss of the thing loved, but it is because of the good we hope for from it. Sunt qui utili­tates in a­micitiis spectant, ut epicurei, despicabi­les & sor­didi homi­nes, & a­more in­digni ut qui ami­cum non a­mant, sed seipsos. Viv. de off. mat. Per­sons of un­derstand­ing reckon it not ho­nourable to be Jea­lous.

The thing being so then, it must be certainly true, that if a Man Love not his Wife, or is not Jealous of her upon any other grounds then this of self Love, as he cannot be Jealous of her on any other, his Jealousie does only signalize his Brutality instead of demonstrating his Love; It must be true that if a Wo­man, in like manner, Love not her Husband, or is not Jealous of him but by this Principle of Love of her self; if she Love him for no other end than to satisfie her Passion, she does thereby only render her Sensuality publick and manifest; so far is this Jealousie from gaining Esteem, as some pretend. So that to speak after the fashion of the World, we grant that Jealousie is a mark of extraordinary Love, yet it is an ex­traordinary Love of ones self, that it is [Page 52] an excess of Love, yet it is an excess of Concupiscence: That it is the supream Degree of Sensuality, and therefore there can be nothing that dishonours a Man more than Jealousie, that would have himself believed to be guided by the use of right Reason; nor can a Wo­man that would be accounted Modest or Prudent, render her self more ridicu­lous, or procure a greater contempt of her self by any thing than by being Jealous.

CAAP. IV. Of the Marriage of Christians, ac­cording to the primary Institution thereof by God himself, and its re-establishment by Christ.

IF Jealousie be in no Case suitable toJealousie breaks off the Society which God himself has est­blished. Married Persons, according to the Order of Nature, it must be infinitely less becoming these Persons that profess the Name of Christianity; for Jealou­sie breaks the Bands of Society that God himself established in the Creation of Men and Women, and destroys the very Essence of Marriage by which he would unite them, that thereby they might have the oppertunity to perform all the Duties that true Love requires of them in all their occasions: and that the more for that we ought not only to consider the Inclination that Nature has Imprin­ted in every Animal to produce its like but the Intention and Will of the Au­thor of Nature, all whose precepts we are obliged to perform, for by these ve­ry precepts at the end of time, we shall be Judged either to Life or to Death.

[Page 54]And we must know that God esta­blishedWhy God established Marriage. Marriage to be a Society of Man and Woman wherein they are united by an Indissoluble tye, and that this Tie is no o­ther than a Band of Love, which God employs as an Instrument to preserve Nature, and to make Charity Spring here below amongst Men, until he shall be pleased one day to perfect it in Hea­ven by the fulness of his Love.

In short, could the Love, whichOf the force of the Ʋinion of Marriage. ought to be the Band of Marriage, be better expressed, or more efficaciously enjoyn'd, than when God says, the Man shall leave his Father and Mother to cleave to his Wife, and to be one Flesh with her, and that this is a Conjunction made by the hand of God, which no Man ought to break; Mat. 19. 4. Likewise a famous Divine explaining this Passage, Jausen. in concord. Evang: c. 11. saith that the Union of the Husband ought to be nearer and more insepera­ble with his Wife, than with his Parents, for as much as the Wife of the first Man was Formed of part of his Body, when as a Man is not Formed of part of his Parents Body; God willing thereby, give us to know that Married Persons ought to be firmly United one to the other as though they were no more than [Page 55] one single Person; and that Marriage was instituted to make them one Flesh, by means of the Nuptial Bed. This is indeed the Natural consequence of these Words, he shall eleave to his Wife, and they two shall be one Flesh: The Man shall cleave (saith God) that is, by Love, in loving her as his own proper Body, and by the Nuptial Bed, whose Bands are not to be unloosed. What is it, in effect, to quit ones Father and Mo­ther, and cleave to his Wife, but to Love her with that affection that surpasses all other? Even that, that Naturally Unites the Hearts of Children to their Parents, which is the strongest and tenderest of all other affections besides.

So the Husband ought to supply to his Wife the place of Father, Mother, Brother, and all other Relations; Yea, much more, two Persons must make up but one. Behold then the highest pitch that Love is capable of reaching too. Behold the height of the most ar­dent [Page 56] Amity that can be conceiv'd, to be so conjoyn'd with the thing loved as to become one and the same thing with it. Viv. de off. mar. This Love is a Symbole of that Cae­lestial Love that shall be perfected in the Elect, when having put off this sinful Flesh, and are renewed by Christ, they shall be made one with him. Can that Union then between the very Soul and Body, be more perfect than is that of Persons joyned in Marriage? Can there be any thing more admirable, since to comprehend it we must conceive a kind of Miracle, imagining two Persons are not two, but simply one? That is to say, the one ought to be so nearly Uni­ted to the other by Love, that whatever touches the one, be it Good or be it Evil, it also affects the other so lively, that there is no difference in their resent­ments. It is this miraculous Love that makes the Union of Marriage, which Union is undissolv [...]ble, according to our Divine Law-giver, so long as this Love subsists, and is not banished by infideli­ty to that Bed which God has made Sa­cred to Marriage. Mat. 32.

If then it be this Love that, according [...]at Jea­ [...]usie is in­ [...]sistant. to the intention of the words of our Sa­viour, is the Sacred Tye of the Mar­riage [Page 57] of Christians, there can be no­thingwith the Marriage of Chri­sti [...]s. more opposite to it than Jealousie, since, being the pernicious Bud of Lux­ury, the most unbridled of all our Pas­sions, it is impossible that it can consist with the tenderness and holy peace of that Love that conjoyns Man and Wife. Now this Love being a Command of God, which we violate by these Mo­tions of Self-Love, it necessarily follows that we commit a manifest Sin every time we give way to this Passion of Jea­lousie: And therefore to say that a Man or Womans Love is commendable for their being Jealous, is the same thing as to say, it is commendable to offend God.

But that we may be yet further con­vinced,Contracts▪ of Marri­age occor­ding to St. Paul, Hus­bands must Love their Wives. St. Paul does not only give us the Commands of God on this Subject, but on his own part he gives us the con­dition of Marriage between Man and Wife; in as much as on the one side he recommends to Christian Husbands to Love their Wives; and on the other he recommends to the Wives to be submis­sive to their Husbands in loving them: Husbands Love your Wives, saith he, even as Christ loved his Church, and gave him­self to Dye for it, Ephes 5. 25. so let Husbands Love [Page 58] their Wives even as their own Bodies. Ephes. 5. 28. Indeed, saith a Learned Doctour, Estius in Epist. ad Eph. c. 5. v. 22. in explaining this Passage, as Jesus Christ is over and Rules his Church, and which he Governs and Protects for its own Good, even so a Husband ought to Command and Govern his Wife, both for her own and whole Families good. But we must here observe that since St. Paul has ordered Husbands to Love their Wives, he thereby teaches them not to Command or Govern them Imperiously, but with Mildness and in Love, that thereby the Yoak of the Power of the Husband may be rendered lighter and more easie. So the Husband, saith ano­ther Learned Man, must know that Marriage is the highest degree of all Amities whatever; and that Amity is vastly different from Tyranny, since Tyrants are not obeyed but by force. Viv. de [...]ff. mar. This for the Part of the Husband.

As to what respects the Part of the Wife, he ceases not to preach submission to them: Let Wives, saith he, submit to That Wives must sub­mit to their Hus­bands. their Husbands as to the Lord, because the Man is the head of the Woman, even as Christ is the Head of the Church, which is his Body, and whereof also he is the Savi­our; as therefore the Church is obedient to [Page 59] Christ, so let Women also be obedient to their Husbands in all things. Eph. 5. 22. Let Women then consider the Person of our Lord and Saviour, who is the Head and E­spouse of the Church, in the Person of their Husbands. Neither does this sub­mission at all exclude the Love of the Wife towards the Husband, but on the contrary ought to be accompanied with Love; as though St. Paul should say, I charge the Wife that she not only love her Husband, but also that she fear him, and bear to him a respect as to her Master and Head to whom she ones submission, for which reason she ought to take all care not to give him offence, and thus much for Women.

In which we cannot but admire theReciprocal: Duty of Man and Wife. Justice, and at the same time the im­portance of the words of this great Apostle. He saith to Husbands, Love your Wives; knowing well that if they loved them they would not hearken to any Infidelity that could loosen their conjugal Unity, for Love is the very Tye and Cement of this Union; he knew well that to Love them is to Love their own selves, Qui [...] ligit ux [...] rem su [...] corpus su­um diligit & pro in­de seipsum [...]i quan­tum caput & corpus unim quid constitum Estius in Epis. 1 ad cor. 7. 4. since they are one Flesh with them, and to oblige them to a reciprocal Love: and lastly he saith [Page 58] [...] [Page 59] [...] [Page 60] to them, Love your Wives. Thereby giveing them to understand that the Su­periority of the Husband ought to be altogether in Love. Then he saith to the Women, Love your Husbands; but he adds, be ye subject to your Husbands. Let them that are grown up in years, saith he, 1 Epist. to Tit. 2. 4. instruct the young Married Women with Prudence, teaching them to Love their Husbands and Children, to be Orderly, Chast, Diligent in Ruling their House, Good, submitting to their Husbands. He adds it, to let them know that a Woman should so Love her Husband, that she bear him Respect, and so to Respect him that she Love him also; for from these two Sentences conjoyned arises the Duty of a Wife towards her Hus­band. A Woman must be not only Good and Compliant, but also submit­ting and Obedient to her Husband, be­cause he is her Head. The Apostle com­mands Obedience in the Woman, be­cause he knew from the Nature of Hu­mane Genius, that this Submission would Infallibly maintain Love in the heart of the Husband, nothing in the World ten­ding so much to win the heart and cre­ate Love as Submission; so that Sub­mission in the Woman nourishes Love [Page 61] in her Husband, and the Love of the Husband reproducing or multiplying it self in Habet viri amor presens continuo suum prae­mium: & in pectus uxoris transit ea flamma, ut ea quoque flagrantissime amet, viv. de off. mar. the Woman, from thence Springs that marvellous Unity which God design'd in distinguishing the Sexes, and instituting Marriage, in which Holy Contract, it is the Mans part to Fur­nish Love, and the Womans Obedience and Respect.

So St. Paul does not describe this LoveThe Love of Hus­bands to their wives according to St. Paul. of a Husband as a common Love, but proposes for example the inviolable Love of Christ Jesus for his Church, (as far as Man is capable of imitating this great example) thereby giving it the Character of the sincerest of all Loves, nor can there be a greater Love than to dye for one, as by this example Hus­bands are obliged to dye for their Wives if necessity requires it.

In short, It is this that Sanctifies Mar­riage,Why Mar­riage is a Sacrament. for it is a Sacrament, because the agreement of their Wills, and the Uni­on of their Bodies, signifie on the oneNote, This is a Tenet of the Ro­mish Doc­trine, which it seems the Aut. pro­fest, and though our Religion does not al­low it to be a Sacra­ment be­cause not Instituted by God as a Mistical Seal of a Covenant, between him and us: Yet that ought not to abrogate or lessen our esteem of it, be­ing a thing so sacred and necessary as the Author well proves, in whose conclusion we may acquiess, he not having a greater Veneration for it under the mistake of a Sacrament, than we ought to have for it as a Law Instituted by God, and so indispensably commanded by Nature. hand the Charity, which is according to the Spirit, between God and Righ­teous Souls, or the Church, and on the other the Sacred Marriage that Jesus [Page 62] Christ has contracted with the same Church by the Mistery of his Holy In­carnation. This Sacred Marriage ought therefore to serve for an Example to Man in Marriage; Husbands ought to Love their Wives as Christ loved his Church; not that St. Paul exacts of Man an equal affection; but only that they imitate his Example: For Hus­bands ought to look upon Christ who is the Espouse of the Church, as a Model for all the Circumstances of their Love, wherewith they ought to Love their Wives.

On the other hand, he is not to beWhat kind of Submis­sion the Wife must yeild. understood on the part of the Woman, as if he spoke of some slight kind of Submission, but a Submission perfectly entire, in all things whatsoever, espe­cially respecting the conduct of the Fa­mily of the Husband, whereof she is a Member. In such sort that in this So­ciety there must be no more than one sole Will, and which is that of the Hus­band; [Page 63] two differing Wills not being ca­pable of Union: So that to say it once over again, the Husband commanding or imposing nothing on the Wife but what is reasonable, and consonant to the Power that God has given her, and to the perfect Love he has commanded him to have for her: And she for her part being Obedient and Submitting to him in the Lord in every thing without any exception; they together effect that which is altogether admirable, that of two Persons they make but simply one in Marriage.

Upon these immoveable Principles,Laws of Marriage according to the Canons and the Fathers. not only the Ecclesiastical Laws, who contain the Precepts of the Gospel, and the Interpretation of the Fathers, but also the Civil Laws are founded, to esta­blish the Discipline we ought to observe in a State of Marriage. All which do so unanimously ordain a mutual Love between the Persons Married, the Su­periority of the Husband, and the Sub­mission and Obedience of the Wife, to the forming of Marriage, that if any one of these be a wanting, they ac­knowledge there no more Society, al­though the Bands are not broke before the Death of one of the two Married [Page 64] Persons: It is not the Bed, says the Law­yer, but the agreement of their minds that makes a Marriage, and where ever this mutual agreement is not, there can be no Marriage.

Now to all this, No place is wantingƲxor do­mina est & sociare rerum ma­riti ipsius; sed domi­na dicitur quia non potest agi furtum, li­cet furtum committat. Gloss. Gratian. 27. q. 2. cap. 17. of Authorities for recommending to the Woman Submission, Subjection, and Obedience; for though she may some­times be called. (a) Mistress of the Fa­mily, or Companion, by her Husband; yet, this does not give her any Com­mand nor any Share in the Authority of the Family. When she is Marrying, they Cover her with a Vail thereby shewing her, that she ought to be Hum­ble and Submissive to her Husband. As soon, saith St. Ambrose, as Rebecca per­ceived Isaac coming, asking who he was, and being enformed, that it was he that should Espouse her, she Bared her Feet, and began to Cover her self with a Vail, thereby Teaching us, that a Submissive Shame-facedness should even preceed their Marriage. Nor can any Wife be per­mitted to perform it, if she have Vow­ed a Vow of Continence, without the permission of the Husband, and that, because she must be Submitting to her Husband in all things. It is agreeable [Page 65] to the Order of Nature, that Women Submit to their Husbands, as well as Children to their Parents, since it would be injust, that the Greater should be Subject to the Less. The true Mark, [...]hat Man is the Image of God, is, that he is as Lord, and Exercises an Empire, which only appertains to God; for e­very King, or he that Exercises Com­mand, carrys thereby the Image of God; and from hence, in part, it may be said, that God made Man after his own Image; for which reason, the Apostle saith, That Man ought not to Co­ver his Face, because he is the Image and Glory of God; whereas the Woman ought [...]o Cover hers, because she cannot be said to be either the Image, or the Glory of God. A Woman that refuseth to Obey her Husband, who is the Head of the Woman, as Christ is the Head of the Husband, does not Offend less therein, than the Husband should, if he denied to Obey Christ. The Woman Scanda­lizes the Word of God, when she Con­temns that Sentence that was by him pronounced to her, Thou shalt be under Gen. 3. 16. He shall Rule over thee. the Power of thy Husband; Dishonour­ing thereby the Holy Gospel, in as much, as against the Law, and the In­tention [Page 66] of Nature; she that professeth Christianity, and by the Order of God ought to be Subject to her Husband yet notwithstanding, would Command him; yea, although the very Paga [...] Women Obey and Submit to their Hus­bands, following only the Law of Na­ture. Lastly, Since Adam was De­ceived by Eve, and not Eve by Adam, it is but Just that she should take him for Master, whom, by making him ac­cessary, she made Guilty of the Punish­ment, for the Fault that was hers; and the rather, that being under his Con­duct, she may not fall again by the Weakness of her Sex. Now all this we are Taught by the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, and the Cano­nical Law.

Let us now ask the Question of theJealousie is Inconsistent with these Principles. People of this World, Whether or no, according to these Rules which ought to be Inviolable and Sacred to us, since our Destruction and Salvation depend thereon; a Man that makes profession of Christianity, imitates, as he is ob­liged to do, the Union and Love of Christ for his Church, when he has a Sensual Jealousie of his Wife? I would Ask, Whether or no, a Christian Wo­man [Page 67] gains to her self a good Report, by being Jealous? And how that Mo­desty, which ought to accompany Marriage; together with this Com­mand of God, Wives be Subject to your Husbands? Can consist or agree with the many Contradictions she Daily wea­ [...]ies her Husband withal? How with her Haughtiness, Outrages, Reproach­es, Invectives, Disobedience, and Fret­ings, which her Jealousie continually [...]ut her upon? Can this be to be Sub­ [...]ect to her Husband, to Elevate her self above him, in pretending to Instruct him, and to Censure and Examine all his Actions, thereby Raising Contests, Bitterness and Contempt?

So far are these Extravagancies from being the Attendants of the Holiness of a Sacrament (See the Note at p. 61 & 62.) Instituted by God, [...]hat they are directly a Reversing of both Divine and Humane Laws; they are the Violation of Marriage, and the breaking off of Union: For if by this Holy and Inviolable Contract, and as God has Commanded by St. Paul, the Husband is Obliged to Love his Wife, with the most Pure and Perfect Love of all other; and the Woman is Obliged to Humble, Obey and Submit, her self [Page 68] to her Husband; it necessarily follows that, if the Husband only Love his Wife with a Sensual Love, which give way for him to commit a Thousand Outrages against her; and the Woman not Humbling her self, and Submitting to her Husband; they destroy the Commands of God; the one for being a Tyrant, instead of a Father; and the other, for not only Transgressing the Rules of Obedience, which is her Lot, but also Extinguishing the Love God has Commanded her Husband to have for her, by her Vexatious Humour. And indeed, if he Love her afterwards, as he is Obliged to do by the Rules of Charity; he can have no other Love for her, than such a one, as a Man has for an open Enemy; not a Tender and Holy Love. Which being so, there remains no more Conjugal Love, no more Union, nor no more Society, for which God Instituted Marriage.

CHAP. V. Of the Jealousie of Husbands, and the Remedies thereof.

IF you will descend now from these general Truths, to particular Acti­ons,Jealousie is Cruel. you will then see the Effects of what we have advanced. But who can be capable to play the Painter hereof aright? Who can be able to give a right Idea, in Words, of the Unhappi­ness of Marriage, when, for Example, the Power of a Husband falls into the Hands of a Man Distracted with this Brutal Jealousie, with that Jealousie so Blind and Enraged, that even the Ver­tue it self, of the Person Beloved, Irri­tates and Excites it? Every Day gives the experience of this Surprising Truth. For as there can be nothing that At­tractsThe more Vertuous a Wife is, the more Jealous an unreasona­ble Man is. the Heart so much as Vertue, by how much the Woman indued there­with, possesseth a larger share, and by consequence becoming so much the more Aimable, by so much their Pas­sion makes them more afraid of the [Page 70] loss, and burns with more vehemency So that to undertake the decipherin the inhuman ties of this Brutallity, when it is arrived to the excess of Blindne [...]s and Fury, as it often falls out, were to undertake the Description of the Cruelties of a Savage mad Beast, that nothingThe more under­standing a Sensual Man has, the more Jealous he is. can Reduce or Tame. But what is yet more deplorable in these Persons then in the very Beasts; these that are most in lightned with Natural understanding do suffer themselves to be transported with this Passion more than any other if they be sensual; For as their Wit is quick and piercing, so it is Suspitious their Distrust arising from that very ex­tent of their Apprehension, whereby they understand, or at least believe they understand the most abstruce and hidden things. So we see that the best Genius's are the most Subject to these kind of Transports, when their Natural Inclination possesses the Authority that is due to Reason.

If you desire Examples, we may takeThe Jea­lousie of Mithrida­tes. that, which History first supplies us with­al, of Mithridates K. of Pontus, whose Ver­tuous Qualities and Great Power made him thought worthy by the Romans to Employ their Armes upon. This Prince beset [Page 71] with the Passion of this kind of Love we speak of, for Monime his Queen, who was endued with an excellent Beau­ty, and had yet a greater share of Ver­tue, as the Author of the History has it, kept her all her life as in a Prison with Eunuchs and Barbarians, and at last be­ing Defeated by the Romans, he sent a Slave to cut her Throat, fearing least She might fall in the hands of his Van­quishers; as even after Death he would be jealous of her.

Herod the Great, who surpassed allThe Jea­lousie of Herod. the Princes of his time in political pru­dence, would imitate him in that, for he had given orders twice to put his Wife to Death, if Antonius and afterwards Augustus, to whom he was obliged to come and Justify himself in some Affairs of Government, should have taken away his own Life; and moreover at last through Jealousie, upon false Reports, he condemned her to die, although, as as the Historian saith, (Jose­phus lib. 15. cap. 4.) She was a Prin­cess extreemly Chast and Vertuous.

We should never have done if weThis Jea­lousie is in­cureable. should expatiate upon this Subject; but we shall not exaggerate the pernicious effects of this Passion, it being our Duty and Task to suppress them, and is much [Page 72] more Incumbent upon us to heal the Sore if possible, than to reveal its detestible Consequences. But what mean can be used to give Light to one that naturally blind, or how can Counsel be Administred to one that stops his Ear [...] to all Reason?

Yet since, as I hope it is true, there is no Christian will suffer himself to be hurried to these extreems of Infidels and Men below the range of Sa­vage Beasts: We shall leave them to themselves, as God has already done, and direct our Discourse to such as have their groundwork yet sound, and whose Minds are onely like the Sun covered and darkned with Clouds, which once scattered, he resumes his former Lustre.

Jealous Persons may be divided into two Cla [...]es, the first is of these whose Jealousie is rather a weakness of the Mind than an inward resentment of the Passion; the other is of those whose Jealousie is a formal Blindness that quite overthrows Reason.

A Husband that is Jealous and in theJealousie of weakness and its re­medie. first Rank (which we may call reason­ably Jealous, because Reason is not al­together blinded with Passion in them) ought [Page 73] always to regard two things in [...]he Jealousie he has of his Wife. The first is, if the Fear he has be grounded upon any likelyhood or appearance of [...]ruth; and the second, whether it be [...]or grounded onely on bare suspicions; [...]nd indeed, since this tends to the ta­king away of the Honour of the Wife, which is in some cases equal to life it self, and since the Husband is the onely [...]udge therein, it behoovs him to have [...]he same Circumspection and precauti­on, as if he should go upon her life; otherwise he commits Injustice.

Now if any appearance of Truth, or some Dissolute Carriages give occasion to the Husband to fear a real Evil, he [...]ought in this Case to call to mind the Principles that we have Established, and to consider with himself, that not only Jealousie it self, but also even his Duty obliges him on all occasions to watch and observe the Conduct of his wife, and to wean and reform her Inclination from what is not good, by seasonable and apt Counsels, and to let her see the ill Consequences (which perhaps she is not capable to discern her self) of ma­ny of her Actions, which yet may some of them be indifferent; all which, and [Page 74] other Instructions necessary, he ought especially, and with more reason endeavour to apply, if he be perswaded tha [...] his Wife has not a due attention or regard over her Actions. He must there let her understand with Mildness, and Speeches full of Charity, the Care she ought to take to shun not only the evil but much more (if we may so say) the appearance of evil; for Reputation is unhappy in this, that the bare ap­pearance stains it, equally with the Fact it self. He must also shew her Examples of Vertuous Women, for Examples are of great force over the Minds of those that have not trampled all Modesty un­derfoot. It may be requisite also for him to use some Artifice or other, as having by observation sounded her bent and Inclinations to Substitute some sui­table(b) Virea eliget qui­bus sibi a­nimum uxor [...]s con­ciliat, illam que totam devinciat, propriam que possi­deat, Arist. de cur. rei. fam. Object that will take up her Thoughts, and Divert her from any un­happier Engagement her Inclination might make her prone too: for in de­sperate occasions a lesser evil supplies the place of a real good. But what will be of great efficacy in this Malla­dy, is that the Husband order his (a) Conversation so with his Wife, that she may thereby manifestly see her Injustice [Page 75] in having only an indifferency for him: that is to say, that the Husband engage her by his care, even in the least occur­rences, by his good humour, his honest carriage, and affectionate entertain­ment, to forget of her own accord any deluding extravagancy that might o­therwise possess her mind. And above all he ought to teach her Exem­plo conti­nentiae do­cenda est uxor, ut se castè gerat iniquum [...]st enim ut id exigas quod ipse praestare non possis. Lact. Inst. 11. cap. 123. Conti­nence by his own proper Example, it being unjust in him to require that of her which he does not observe himself, the obligation in that part being equal on both sides.

But if his Jealousie have no other ground but bare suspitions, and the di­sturbed thoughts which he himself raises in his own mind; I mean if it be that sensual Jealousie, which he have pain­ted out so lively before, which he La­bours under; he ought to detest it, and oppose Reason and her Arms she is fur­nished withal by Prudence against it: He ought according to the Rule of our Philosopher, Des Cart. Tide p [...]ss. to perswade himself, when he perceives his Blood moved with the Passion, that whatever is represen­ted at that time to the Imagination, tends only to deceive the Soul; and when the Assault of the Passion is very [Page 76] violent, he must abstain for the time from giving any Judgment or Determi­nation, but divert his Mind with other Thoughts, till time and rest have throughly setled the Motion of the Blood. And as when a Man is set upon at unawares by an Enemy. if he be seized with fear, he ought to divert his Thoughts from the thinking of Danger, by proposing to himself the Thoughts of the Honour there is in not Flying; so ought he in the same manner, when this Beast of Jealousie agitates the Soul with Imaginations that are disadvantagious to his Wife, to divert his Thoughts ime­diatly, and settle them upon the consi­deration of something that he knows to be Vertuous in his Wife.

As for those that are affected with aFormal and violent Jealousie. blinded Jealousie, and transported so far with its violence, that they are no more capable of understanding Reason, it is not properly the Diseased Party that is to be cured; for he is not at all capable of Cure; but the Woman, which causes this Distemper: She mustThe reme­dy thereof. Cure her Self if she intend to Cure her Husband; She must oppose, to all the evil treatments she suffers, a Life that is directly contrary to what is, or may, in [Page 77] any Case seem to be the occasion of this inhumane Passion.

And to this end the Woman ought inThe perni­cious effects of Adul­tery. the first place to shun the Acting evil, as we said just now, and also the very suspition of it. She must shun the Act­ing of it by Fortifying her Mind with these considerations, that Infidelity to the Nuptial Bed is the mark of a low and servile Spirit, and does of it self Bury both the Husband and all his Fa­mily in shame, and though perhaps in the Carear of Youth, in which as in the height of a Feaver, one has no sense of himself, she may not be affected with the reproach thereof, yet she lays up in store for Old Age a wounding and mortal abhorrency, and a shame un­supportable: She ought to consider that this unfaithfulness violates all the Laws both of God, of Man, and of Nature: That it is a Robbery and Enormous in the highest degree, obliging her by the very Law of Nature, to recompence not only her Husband, but also her whose right she assumed to her self in this unlawful Action: And especially, if the natural effects thereof does follow; for which Cause the Jealousie of a Hus­band may be esteemed (as a lesser Evil [Page 78] may be esteemed good in respect of a greater) lawfuller than that of the Wife, because her Crime herein involves the whole Family, where his Crime extends no further than to himself. So God made a Law expresly, by which it was permitted to the Husband, to adjure his Wife by the High Priest in the pre­sence of God in the Temple, upon the bare suspition he might have of her In­fidelity, which was called the Law of Jealousie, and which had its proper Ce­remonies, its Sacrifices and terrible Im­precations; but we find no priviledge like this for the suspitions of the Wife.Numb. 5. 1.

The Wife ought also to shun the very appearance of Evil: For although her Conscience can testifie for her, that her Husbands Jealousie has no other ground but bare Suspicion, yet she ought not to cease her endeavours to allay that Suspicion by all her Actions, as much as if it had a real Ground. She must shun every thing that may give but so much as a Shadow of her Incontinency. She must avoid the company of Men that are any way suspected Non admittet haec exter­num quem­quam viro non juben­te, perti­nescens ea imprimis quae vulgo de mulic­rum cor­ruptela per hiberi solent. Ar. de cur. rei [...]am., Set Meet­ings, and Gaddings abroad; but above all, she must shun the Society of Unre­gulated and Scandalous Women, for they [Page 79] are indeed more dangerous than Disorderly Men themselves, since these sort of Women have some appearance, [...]ut False and Simulated, of Vertue: And indeed it is in this that the meaning of that place of Scripture takes place, That the Iniquity of Man is to be prefered Eccles. 42. 14. before the Vertue of a Woman.

But some that are Interested with That dome­stick Peace is an une­stemable good. Self-Love, will Object, Why should the Woman deprive her self of all Pleasure, since a Prison, in such Case, would be equally Comfortable? We do not say, that the Woman must deprive her self of all Recreations that are honest in themselves, but that she must conform her Pleasures to those of her Husband. Yea, granting she should refrain her self from all these Toys which carry the Name of Pleasures, can any thing e­qualise the Pleasure of Domestick Peace? Is that a Pleasure; for Example, to run to Balls at Nights, when she is sure at her return to find her Husband trans­ported with Anger and Rage at home? Is it a Pleasure to frequent Comedies, especially in suspected Company, when she is sure at her Return to be oppres­sed with Affronts and Reproofs? And lastly, can it be a Pleasure to live al­ways [Page 80] in fear least her Husband shoul [...] come to the knowledg of her appointed Meetings, and other Extravagan [...] Courses? To live always in Disguise­ment and unsetledness? When on the contrary nothing can equal the Pleasure of Peace and Union, both according to the Judgment of Persons that have had the Experience thereof, and of all o­thers that understand themselves, even so far that it is established for an un­doubted Maxim, that nothing so ad­vantagious or desirable can accrew to Man, as concord and agreement of de­sires between Man and Wife in their Family.

It is necessary then, that the honest Wife, who would maintain Peace, and heal the Diseased Mind of her Husband, do shun the company of censured Wo­men; and instead thereof do invite honest Women for their Society at home, I mean such as are truly Vertuous, and I say invite them: since to go abroad to seek them might yet perhaps nourish the suspition of their Husbands, and moreover for this Advantage that may accrew thence, that her Husband may see by them Examples of the mildness and confidence of other Husbands.

[Page 81]And withal she must keep at a di­ [...]tance, all these insignificant desires or Fancies, that lead to a Childish base­ [...]ess; Employing her self in things that are of Moment, and in governing of her House; Practising these Vertues that are most contrary to these kind of Enor­ [...]ities, & applying herself to some kind of work or other thing that may give an apprehension far different from that of the disorder she may be suspected of.

But above all things lot her avoid ly­ing;The Dan­gerous Ef­fects of Ly­ing. for nothing in the World Contri­butes so much to rase Suspition in the Husband, and a Bad Esteem of her self in the World as this Vice; which being an infallible token of a double & deceitful Mind, the apprehension there of drives the Husband into distrusts and Jealousies that cannot be retrived.

As on the contrary Candour and In­genuity have so much Power over the Mind of Man, that although it were even almost overcome by some appa­rent Circumstances and yeilding to sus­petions, yet they fortifie it so that it will give its self the lie. Now when I say she must avoid lying. It is to be under­stood even in things private, and of the smallest Moment, as well as in things of [Page 82] greater Importance, because that a lie in the one as well as in the other, does produce the same Effect in the Mind of him it is related to.

We have hereof a Signal Example in History I Lips. Mon. & exposit. lib. 1. of Eudosia Wife to the Em­perour Theodosius, a Present being made to the Emperour of an Apple which for its excessive greatness, was very rare, for which cause he sent it to the Empress; She received it, and a little after, without thinking any harm, gave it to one named Paulinus, a Learned Man, for whom she had a respect, being Learned her self. He not knowing from whence it first came, and thinking it worthy to be presented to the Empe­rour for its rarity, goes and offers it to him; the Emperour at first admires it, not knowing it to be the same Apple, but at last calling it to Remembrance, he thereupon conceives a Suspition; and departing immediately, goes to the Empress, and presently asks her for the Apple. She not knowing what had passed, through simplicity, and per­haps for Fear he might take it ill that she had given it away; tells him she had eat it, the Emperour asks her a second time, to whom she answers the [Page 83] same thing, and confirms it with an Oath. Whereupon he being straightway in Wrath, shews her the Apple, and convinces her of a lie, which confirm­ing his Jealousie of a Criminal Love, he put Paulinus to Death and Banished the Empress.

Behold the [...]ce of a lie, and which might seem a Trivial thing, yet which in an Instant counterpoised the Ballance of the Opinion of a Husband, of the Merits, Ver [...] and rare quali­lities of his Princess; wherewith she was so largely endow'd, that thereby only from being a private Person be­fore, she was advanced to be the Wife of an Emperour. And indeed this Virtue retain'd its Lusture to the last, for being retire'd to Jerusalem, as the History saith, she liv'd and Dyed in Ho­ly Orders. This Example I have pro­duced to shew the dismal Effects of dou­ble dealing, let it appear never so In­nocent to us.

Besides all that we have already said,The ba [...] Consequences of Pride the Honest Wife will always be careful to express so much Compliance to her Husband, that though she receive ne­ver so bad usage from him, yet she will not loose nor lessen the respect she ows [Page 84] him. There is nothing provokes this Passion so much as Obstinacy and dis­dain. Which are commonly produced in Women, from the conceipt they have of their Beauty, or other External ad­vantages, and particularly the Passio­nate Love their Husbands express to them; they look upon these Baits as Chains wherewith they may draw them wheresoever they Please; and the more they perceive in their Husbands the Transports of Vehement Love, the more they become Arrogant and Dis­dainful.

In the mean while, they consider not that this Love, as it is qualified, is a Love sick Passion, which by frequent Provocations they cause to degenerate into a Phrensie or Mortal Hatred.

Mariam the Wife of Herod, of whom we spoke before, may be Example andJoseph. lib. [...]7. c. 11. a Lesson for them, she surpassed infinite­ly, saith the Historian, all the Women of that Age, in Beauty, in Majesty, and in Virtuous Qualities; which endow­ments were indeed the Cause of her Un­happiness. for seeing the King her Hus­band so Passionately Enamoured of her, she beleived no Danger of loosing his Affections; and laid a side the respect [Page 85] She ought him. But what followed? The King Changed his Love into Rage, and giving Ear to false Accusations of her Honour, his Jealousie gave way to let this Innocent Princess be Condemned to Death, as we said before.

Not much unlike to this, was that of a Roman Hero, who having put away his Wife, all People were Astonished at it, seeing she was so perfectly Beautiful and Lovely: yet he, having secluded her, because of her Arrogancy, and Stubborn Humours, wherewith she wearied him unces [...]antly, gave no o­ther Return, or Reason, but shewing them her Shoe; said, if you had put this on, you would have felt where it hurt you.

An Honest and good Wife, then must not presume upon either her Birth, if perhaps it be above that of her Hus­bands, or that she had the Fortune of a larger Portion, or in her Beauty, or any other Endowment whatsoever, but must settle her Ambition on these things, that do more intimately engage his Affections: Which are her good con­duct, her Mildness, her Compliance, and her Obedience; so that instead of being more and more conceited of her [Page 86] self, and Stubborn, as it is too Ordinary▪ she may be more and more agree­able and Lovely in all her Ac­tions. Plutar. conjug. praec.

And that she may succeed herein, as we have said before, she must bear all the Extravagancies of her Husbands Jealousie with Mildness and Humility; recalling to mind that from the very day of their Nuptials, it was imposd upon her for a Law by God, to con­form her self to the Humours of her Husband. Legem sibi ingeni­um & mo­res viri sui latam di­vinitùs, eo tempore quo nuptiae Juncta, & vitae sors consociata fuit, Ar. de. cur rei fam. The ad­vantagious consequen­ces of Pa­tience.

So it hehoves her to bear patiently all his rash and inconsiderate Demea­nours; which Patience will reward its self with Peace, wherein she will re­joyce. Quod si aequo ani­mo mores viri feret, admodum facilis est domestica administr­atio sui mi­nus, per quam diffi­cilis. Arist. ibid. And indeed there is nothing so capable of disarming his Fury, or to free him from that Evil Spirit possesses his Mind, as Patience and Mildness, whereby an Honest Wife smooths over, and takes in good part the overflowings of this Jealousie, censuring them as Effects of inconsiderateness, and hasty Humour, by this means the Vertue of the VVife resuming as it were a fresh Lustre, the Husband will of his own accord be forc't to acknowledg it, and sub­mit [Page 87] himself as soon as ever the Storm [...]f his Passion is blown over Si quid animo [...]moto vir [...]gerit atque deliquerit, ejus statem uxor oblivis [...]a­ [...]r aut in bonam partem interpraetatur; imprudentiae, neg­ [...]gentiaeque & egritudini ad Scribendo, &c. Depusa nube [...]rturbationum vertutem ipsius vir clariùs perspiciet. Ar. Ibid..

But to the End, these Remedies mayIn the last place, to have re­course to God. Operate against the Vehemency of this Passion, for her last Remedy, let her have recourse to God in Prayer, Re­pentance, and Tears: for it is by this means that the Devils are dispossest For this kind are not cast out but by Prayer and Fasting, Mat. 17. 20. she must utter her Groans before him, and beg Strength of him to support Patiently the Afflictions which he is plea­sed to lay upon her, and which he some­times sends to Honour Just Souls with the Glory of Martyrdom. She must recommend her Innocence into his Hands; and most assuredly, as he is the chief and true Espouse of a Godly and Chast Soul, he will take her to his Pro­tection, and will change the Heart of the Husband, or else will Sanctifie her Persecutions to her.

CHAP. VI. Of the Jealousie of Women, and the Remedy thereof.

WE have now seen some of the ef­fectsThe Jea­lousie of Women is more dan­gerous than that of Men. of this Virulent Jealousie, which may well be term'd a Savage Beast; but to hear another of a clear differing Character, and, which is strange, is, yet infinitely more dangerous and in­supportable than the other. Nature having denyed Force to the Woman, has abundantly recompensed her with Subtlety Pectus Instruxit dolis sed vim nega­vit, Senec. Octa. whereby She effects, yea outdoes, by artifice, whatever Man can doe by the overt means of force. Inso­much that whereas the Jealousie of Men rises up to apparent Transports of Passion, the Jealousie of Women, for the most part, shews it self in Artifices, in Dissemblings, in Scrutinies, in Ensna­rings, in Murrnurings, and in ill Hu­mours. And though at the first She does not appear so terrible nor so dan­gerous, nevertheless She is found at last to be so; and so much the more as secret Enemies are much more dan­gerous [Page 89] than those that are [...]ofest so, insomuch that one would rather abide with a Lyon or a Dragon than with a wicked Woman, as the Scripture says Eccle­siast. 25. 23. [...]n short, this Jealousie violent has its intervals, and its better moments make some recompense for its Paroxysms; but this deaf and subtle Jealousie never [...]ets go its hold; it is a slow working Poyson, yet operates without remission, and scarce obeys to any Antidote.

And what makes it more incurable is,The abuse of the rea­son. alledged for the Jealousie of Women. that Women do flatter themselves with certain Reasons, whereby they pretend to make their Passion lawful, and to ground it as upon Natural right. But since these Reasons are no more than mists which hinder them from see­ing true Reason, or rather rights, they assume by pure Usurpation; it will be expedient to consider them in particu­lar, to the end, that, if it be possible, they may be undeceived, and order, which is the Foundation of Peace in Marriage, may be reestablished.

In the first place, say they, althoughWhether submission be recipro­cal or not, since the bands are equally in­dissoluble on both parts, and the Sexes are equal, as they say. the submission that Women owe to their Husbands, be according to the Precepts and Laws of Nature, the commands of God, and Ecclesiastical and Civil [Page 90] Disciplin [...] yet it is reciprocal in respect of the Husband as well as of the Wife or at least it is no more than a submission out of decency or good manners since besides, that the Bands by which they are Joyned, are equally indissoluble on the Part of the Husband, as o [...] the Part of the Wife; they are according to Nature equal one to the other in all other things.

Indeed (say they) seeing Nature has made the Man and the Woman equal in all things, it will be preposterous to pretend that one should be inferior to the other. And this equality they prove invincibly (as they think) by affirm▪ that Nature has allowed nothing to Man but in what she has been as liberal to Women: A Body alike composed of the same Organs, and endowed with the same Senses, and by consequence capa­ble of all things alike, having the same Force and the same Artifice: likewise a Soul in like manner reasonable, and susceptible of Sciences, and the per­formance of all Functions whereof the Soul of Man is capable.

They confirm these things too by Au­thentick Examples, that Men them­selves, how unanimously soever they have [Page 91] conspired amongst themselves to bar Women from Sciences, from [...]gnities, or Masculine Employs, can no Case deny them. They show us [...]w the Amazons took up Arms Gene­ [...]usly, Fought Valiantly, and Vanquish­ [...]d the Men Gloriously. They re­ [...]onstrate to us Women that have excel­ [...]d, in the most sublime Sciences; in [...]rts, and in Tongues; they Report of Women that have Raigned and Govern­ [...]d States more prudently than Men. And they also alledg, that some People have chosen rather to be Commanded by Women than by Men Solitum Britannis foemina­rum ductu bollare Tacit. in Agr., and who have Reverenced them as Godesses, and lookt upon their Advice as upon Ora­cles. And Lastly, they confirm the Force of this Truth by the Examples of Kingdomes, where the Right of Suc­cession falls indiscriminatly upon the Women as well as the Men In esse iis sanctum aliquid & providum putarunt. Tacit demor▪ Germ. Nec Consilia earum aspernabantur nec Responsa negligebant. Id. ibid..

Now if you will pass to Religion, they shew us that God Created Woman as well as Man, and that of a Nobler Substance. They say, that though they were Cre­ated of the Bone of a Man, yet they [Page 92] were not produced by Man, God himself esteeming them equally worthy o [...] his handy work as the Man himself. And what Confirms this Equality to the very height, the Saviour of the World lai [...] down his Life for Women as well a [...] Men, and has opened the Treasures of his Grace to them equally; and as Grace has made Martyrs of Men for the Laws sake of this Divine Master, i [...] has also made Martyrs of Women, and as it hath made Men Saints, so it has made Women Saints; not to Insist upon what might give even the Prerogative to Women, that Christ should Honour them so much as to be Incarnated in the Womb of a Virgin. Now these things being so, it must arise from prejudice to think that Women ought to give place to Men.

That we may Answer to these Objec­tions,That Sub­mission Re­gards only the Wo­men. it is necessary to observe, that when we say that Man and Woman are equal between themselves, it is the same thing as to say the two Sexes are equal the one to the other; for these Gene­ralities comprehend all the individuals or distinct Persons that are comprehen­ded in either Species or either Sex. Whilst we Insist therefore upon shewing the [Page 93] Equality or Inequality of Man and Woman, it is to be understood of compa­ [...]ng the two Sexes together by this to­ [...]llity of Persons which compose them, and not by the Persons in Particular; or the whole, considered as so, is di­ [...]inct from the Parts whereof it is Com­posed, considered as parts, that is, the [...]hole considered as whole hath adjuncts which the parts have not: So that we must make an abstraction, and compare [...]ne whole to another whole, and not the parts of the two wholes one with another. For who, I pray, can be able to compare in the particular, each Man with every Woman, to know, by Ex­ample, if the number of Men be equal to that of Women; how many are big­ger, or how many less of the Men or of the Women; how many are more or less strong; how many more or less agile; how many are more or less Learned; how many more or less Ver­tuous, of the one than of the other? who can, I say, make this Comparison, to be able to conclude from thence, that one Sex is equal or unequal to the other? It must be then by this totallity of Persons taken as in a Mass together, that this Comparison must be made.

[Page 94]Likewise it will be very necessary understand well the word Equal, t [...] we may not deviate by its Ambiguity Geometricians admit Two sorts of quality, the one Absolute, the other Proportional. A thing is Absolutely qual to another, when compared there with, it contains that other, just so many times as that other contains it, the same Reason; as Two Circles th [...] have the same length of Diameter, an Equal one to the other, because t [...] parts of the one are Equal, in the sa [...] Reason, to the parts of the other; th [...] is to say the one shall contain the sa [...] number of parts, of the same bign [...] of the other, that this other shall co [...] tain of its parts, of the same bigne [...] Equality, Proportional, or Imperfe [...] is, when Two things have their pa [...] proportionally answering one another which yet are not of the same Exte [...] so a small Circle has Three Hundred and Sixty Degrees, as well as a large although one of these Degrees be n [...] of so large Extent, as one of the large Circle.

By this distinction, the Equality [...] Inequality of Solid Bodies is found, and because there is difference in Degree [Page 95] or more and less in things also Immate­ [...]al, as for our present Example▪ Mo­ [...]al things, so they are wont to com­pare them, by Analogy, in the same [...]orm and Method, using likewise the [...]me Term of Equal, to Express the Qualities of things that admit of Inten­sion or Remission, or More or Less, [...]s we do here in this Subject: For Man and Woman being Composed of Soul and Body, it is by the Proprieties and Qualities of these Two Essential Parts, that we must measure the Equality or [...]nequality between them, in either Spe­ [...]ies of Equality. For if they should have such an Equality between them­selves, that the one Sex contains no more, or whose Qualities are intended, no more than the other, this Equality by its very Name Excludes all Authori­ty, and we should infer an Injury on Women, to pretend that they should Submit to Men. On the other side, if [...] be made apparent, that there is an [...]nequality between them, I hope none will be so unreasonable, as to deny Submission, against the Laws of Reason and Nature.

And though it plainly appears, by the Principles we have already Esta­blished▪ [Page 96] That the Two Sexes are n [...] Naturally Equal▪ between themselves yet it may be easily demonstrated further; in the prosecution whereof, we shall begin with the Objections, and endeavour to Refel them, and thereby prove our Assertion, in the same Method as they have been proposed: In the first place then, it is true, That Nature has given a Soul and a Body to Women of the same Nature with that of Men: But it is not at all true, that the Souls and Bodies of Women are Endowed with Qualities Absolutely E­qual to these of Men, and consequent­ly Equally capable of the same per­formances.

The Body of the Woman is subject to sundry Infirmities, from which the Bo­dy of Man is Exempt. To this we may add, That they pass the half of their Time in Bearing and Bringing forth their Children, and, if you will, in Nourishing them; which is an una­voidable Engagement upon them, and in some respects, an Infirmity, to which Man is not in the least Subject. Now these Infirmities in Nature, causing by necessary Consequence, a Debility or Weakness in Women, it follows, that [Page 97] Men, as well as the Males of most part of Animals, as we said in another place, have more Strength and Vigor, than Women, or other Females. Ex­perience shews it plainly enough, with­out any necessity of words to prove it: And Reason it self lets us see, that it can not be otherwise, since there is Reason to expect more Vigor, more force, and more Performance, in any thing, from a Body that is Sound, [...]rong, and Vigorous, than from one that is Infirm and Weak.

Now since, according to Experience, and the Opinion of Philosophers, the [...]abitude of the Body passes to the Soul, because the Soul has so strait an Union with the Body, that it is affected with the Qualities thereof; it must fol­low, that as the Body of the Woman is Weak, the Powers of her Soul must be Weak also. The Body (saith Seneca,) Epist. 65.) is the Burden and Pain of the Soul▪ when it is Oppressed therewith it Faints, or it is kept Prisoner by it. It is for▪ this Reason, that Women, as we see, are [...]r the most part, Subject to these Vi­ [...]es which do ordinarily accompany Weakness (Sunt & quae­dam (pec­cata) non humanae simpliciter naturae, sed huic & [...]ne ine­vitabilia ob corporis concretio­nem in a­nimum transeun­tem. Grot. de jur. bel. & pac. lib. 2. cap. 20. par. [...]); as to be Fearful, Idle, [...]iven to Pleasure, Suspitious, Incon­stant, [Page 98] Indiscreet, Superstitious, Subtle, Envious, Covetous, Revengeful, and others of like Nature, which are all of them Failings, contrary to that force of Mind, that renders a Man capable to resist the Assaulting illusion, and stick fast to Truth.

It being so, as without doubt it must be, since the very finger of Nature shews it, it is Obvious, to conclude, that the Two Sexes are not Equal, be­tween themselves. But that they may be more thorowly convinced, we shall only apply to the Man, what Women can affirm of themselves, for the Ex­cellency of their Sex, and we shall thereby see the difference plainly. Now it is certain, and Experience confirm [...] it, that all the Vices we have spoken o [...] just now, are not to be found in that degree in Man, (in general speaking,) as in Woman. And for their Vertues Imagine to your selves as many Women as you please, which do or have Excelled in Vertue, you shall find yet more Men: Suppose to your selves the most Learned of Women, you shall find Men yet more Learned: Imagine to your selves the most Renowned At chievements perform'd by Women, you [Page 99] shall find that Men have done more Glorious Exploits: Imagine to your selves, in short, all the Goodly, Great and Heroick Actions, that have hither­to been done by Women, you will find yet Greater and more Transcendant Actions perform'd by Men.

There is therefore a Manifest and Na­tural Inequality between the Sexes: and which is indeed with reason, sinceGen. 2. 18. the Author of Nature himself, has pre­cisely Ordain'd it in the Creation of Man and Woman. For notwithstand­ing, he hath Created the Woman, as well as the Man, yet he Created the Man the first, and the Woman only be­cause of the Man, and for the Man. It is not good that Man should be alone, (said God,) let us make him a Help meet for him, or as other Texts have it, An Help that shall be in his Power, or, That shall be according to him Simile sibi Vers. Lat. quod sit penes eum. Chald. Se­cundum eum Vers. 70. Penes te est, quod quodam modo à te possidet. U [...]pian.. Now that which is as a help to a thing, or that which is not made, but for a thing, is not so Excellent as the thing it self, for whom it is made, or, to which it is only an help: This Position is so Natu­ral, that Philosophy makes it an Axi­ome Prop­ter quod unum quodque est tale, & illud ipsum est magis tale.. Moreover, that which is meet, agreeing, or convenient to any [Page 100] thing, is not equal to it, according to the Rules of Geometry, as we shall presently shew. And for as much, as by Nature and by the words of God himself, Man and Woman are not E­qual, between themselves; it follows, that Man has a Natural Prerogative o­ver the Woman. So that, since Nature will have the less, to give place to the greater, and that which is more imper­fect, to that which is more perfect, it is an undeniable Truth, that the Superio­rity belongs to the Man, by Natural Right. This conclusion holds, without any difficulty, in the State of Inno­cence, and uncorrupted Nature; and as for the State of Sin, after the Fall of Man, the Authority of the Man is not only Authentickly confirm'd, but the Submission of the Woman is enjoin'd by Command; Thou shalt be Subject to thy (b) Gen. 3. 16. English Translat. Thy Desire shall be to thy Hus­band. Husband, and he shall Rule over thee; saith God to the Woman (c).

Now, in like manner, as the un­doubted Maxims, which are universal­ly received amongst Men, deduce their Original with Nature it self, we see that the Prerogative of the Man over the Woman has been always, in all places, generally Establish'd, since the Creation [Page 101] of the World. In such sort, that it is so far from being true, to say, that Men do herein Usurp a Power to them­selves, to the Prejudice of the Woman; that, on the contrary, they only main­tain that Right, of which they have had the Possession, since the beginning of Time.

To say then that Men and Women, so compared together by their Sexes, are Equal, were to offend Nature, to run Counter from Truth, and to de­ceive the World with a Sophism. For there is great difference between say­ing, (speaking in the general) that Men and Women are Equal, in an abso­lute and true Equality, and to say, they are so, in proportional Equality, or, if you will, in an Equality of Requisites▪ the First, which Excludes all Authority, or Superiority, is not at all true, for the Reasons alledged; the Second is true.

A Child, for Example, is like to a Man, because he is of the same Nature with him, and of the same Form that he is of, and speaks as he does. He is even equal with him too, in this propor­tional Equality; for he has as many Parts, and as many Members, as a [Page 102] Man has, in the same manner, as a lit­tle Circle has as many degrees as the largest: But it is a Sophism, to con­clude from thence, that an Infant and a Man are Equal; for they are altoge­ther unequal in an absolute Equality, whether you respect the Body, or the Mind. The thing declares it self so; for the Weakness of the Body, and also of the Mind, because of the Infirmity of the Body, renders the Child inferiour to a Man, and uncapable of the per­formances of a Man, in respect either of the Body, or of the Soul.

As therefore it would be Absur'd to say, without any restriction, that a Child and a Man are Equal, because they are so in this proportional and im­perfect Inequality; so it would be re­diculous to pretend, because of this imperfect Equality, a Man has, ac­cording to the Law of Nature, no Pre­rogative or Superiority over a Child, for this Superiority is very visible and plain.

Now as this Preheminence or Supe­riority of a Man over a Child, comes, because of the Feebleness of the Child, it follows from hence, this Feebleness or Infirmity, is the Positive or Physical [Page 103] Principle of the Inequality of differing Species. So that by this Rule it is, that Women have been lookt upon, by the Laws of God himself (Deut. 20. 14.), and of all Nations, in the same degree as Chil­dren (Pue­rum aet [...]s▪ excuset, faeminam Sexus. Senec. de [...]. lib. 5▪).

It is likewise the same of Equality, of Necessity or Requisites; for none deny, the Man and Woman being both neces­sary for the perpetuation of the Spe­cies, as which cannot be done without the Woman, more than without the Man, but that the Woman is of equal necessity in the World, with the Man▪ But it is a bad conclusion, to infer from thence, that the Woman is not Subor­dinated to the Man. And in the Progeny it self, to the Production whereof, they enter in common, and whereto the Wo­man without doubt, afterwards contri­butes more than the Man, whether you consider her Bearing, Bringing forth, or the Nourishing and Education thereof, yet the Universal Opinion of the World gives, nevertheless, more right over the Child to the Father, than to the Mother, be­cause of the Prerogative of his Sex▪ Where­fore, as it would be an unheard of Extra­vagancy, to conclude, that, because a King cannot be King, without Sub­jects, [Page 104] and by consequence, the Subjects are as necessary as the King himself, to the forming of an Estate, or Body Po­litick, therefore the Subjects must not be Subordinate to their King: So it would be as great an Absurdity, to conclude, that the Woman is Equal, and ought not to give Submission to her Husband, because she is of Equal ne­cessity with him, for the producing and continuing the Species.

Now after this manner, is the com­parison to be made between the Sexes, and from such comparisons are our conclusions to be drawn; and not pre­fering for indubitable Maxims, the In­ferences drawn from particular Actions; since it is a very uncertain and false way of reasoning, to draw general conclusions from particular propositi­ons. Now, admitting the Example of the Amazons to be true, yet this only lets us see how much their Enterprises were repugnant to Nature, and the Fe­male Sex; for it behoved them in their Infancy to Burn off one of their Breasts, to make them capable of the Exercises they were to perform; and were likewise forced to leave their Warlike Exercises, from time to time, to join [Page 105] themselves with the Men of the Neigh­bouring Nations, that thereby they might be recruited. So that this may be properly look'd upon as no more than a Tragy-Comedy, the Sex would for once Gratifie the World withal. And although they have sometimes o­vercome the Men, nevertheless, the Victory that the Men obtain'd at last o­ver them, so far, as to leave only a [...]light and confused Remembrance of them, has decided the Preheminency of the Sex.

The rest of their Instances are much of the same force. And though they may produce Examples of Women that have excelled in the Sublimest Sci­ences, yet that Establishes nothing in savour of the Female Sex, and less yet, as we have already shewed to the pre­judice of the Masculine Sex.

Likewise their Instances of those Women that have been rendered Famous, by their Prudent Governing their States, are of no greater Efficacy: For if we compare these with others, that have but badly Acquitted them­selves in their Provinces, by following the Natural Tendency of their Sex, I know not which Ballance would be [Page 106] found lightest; and as to that of the Descent of Crowns on Females, it is grounded on Policy, and takes only place where Males are destitute. For Policy and Experience do Teach the World, that nothing can be more De­structive to a Monarchical State, than Election, and by consequence, that, it is better to give way to the Succession of this Sex, than to hazard an entire Ruin, for by this means, they avoid all the Evil consequences of Contentious Elections; especially, if this succeed­ing Commandress be Married, or Mar­ry soon after.

So likewise, it may be, that some People that have highly esteemed Wo­men, and affected them for their Go­vernours; but it is as likely; that the Emulation and Ambition of the Gran­dees amongst themselves, for the Go­vernment, has put them upon this Hu­mour, rather than any other Conside­ration: and being withal, Superstiti­ous and Barbarous People Pieras (que) [...]arum sati d [...]cas, & auges [...]en [...]e superstati­one arbi­trabantur Deas. Tacit. 4. [...]., whose Soveraigns had the Authority of Coun­selling only, rather than Commanding Indeed it is true, when the People would only fill up a Valuity; that is to say when they desire a Soveraign only to [Page 107] be the first amongst his Equals, (as cer­tain People term it,) it is of no great consequence, whether it be a Man or a Woman, or▪ (if you will) a Stock, that Reigns.

It is true, that the Saviour of the World was Incarnated in the Womb of a Virgin: but in that he only lets us know, that he would follow the Laws of Nature, although by a means super­natural. And it will be sufficient to shew us once for all, the Preheminency he has given to Man, in that he was made Man, and not a Woman. Now, since he Died for both Sexes, and has Enrich'd them both, without distinction, with his Grace; we must conclude from hence, that, as Grace separates its self from the Dictates of Nature, so likewise the Life of Grace which we lead in this World, is the beginning of the Life of Glory, in which Men and Women shall both Rejoyce in Heaven; but as our Saviour said, They neither Marry, nor are given in Marriage: Nei­ther can they Die any more: For they are equal unto the Angels, and are the Chil­dren of God, being the Children of the Resurrection Luke 20. 35. 36.. So that we can con­clude nothing from hence, touching [Page 108] things that are simply Natural, as this is.

Now, though it may be said, that Christ has Raised some Women to the Honour of Martyrs; yet it cannot be said, that they have been admitted into the Apostleship, which is a degree far more Excellent; no nor to the Mini­stry of the Church; insomuch, that St. Paul forbids them to speak in the Assembly of the Faithful. Let your Women keep silence in the Churches: (saith the Apostle,) for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are Commanded to be under Obedience, as also saith the Law 1 Cor. 14. 34.. And in another place he saith, Let the Woman Learn in Silence, with all Subje­ction. But I suffer not a Woman to Teach 1 Tim. [...]. 11, 12.. Then which nothing can more significantly declare their Subor­dination, even in the State of Grace.

And therefore all these Reasons drawn from Nature, from Grace, from Examples, and from particular Cu­stoms of People, are so far from dis­proving the Truths we have advanced, that they much rather confirm them; [...]mean, the Inequality of the Sexes, because of the Preheminence of the Man over the Woman, and by conse­quence, [Page 109] the Subordination and Submis­sion of the Woman, in respect of the Man.

But although they prove nothing in Favour of the generallity or totallity of the Sex of Women, yet they plainly e­nough prove the equality, or indeed, the preheminency on the contrary part of some particular Persons. For as we said before, the Sex may be considered either in its totality, or in its individuals, if we compare the Masculine to the Fe­minine Sex in their totality, it is plainly evident, the Man excels the Woman; but on the other side, if we compare them in individuals, that is, some parti­cular Men, with some particular Wo­men, it is as evidently true, that Wo­men do not only equal, but excel some Men, who can aver (saith Seneca Ad Marc. c. [...].) that Nature has been cruel towards Women, in that she has alotted them a small share of understanding, or has dealt niggardly with them in any talent for Vertue, which she allows to Men? believe me, they have the same vivacity, the same disposition to good things, if they will make good use of it: and they are no less able than Men to undergoe labour and pains, if they be accus­tomed to it Senec. Epist. 92. and in another place he [Page 110] saith, their Qualities are not inferiour to these of Men, but they shew themselves less, and this is because of their infirmi­ties, and weakness of Nature, which ob­scures them, as Clouds do the Sun.

From which considerations, we can never Extol enough Vertuous Women, for that they diligently overcome these natural difficulties, or, if we may so say, for that they leave Nature it self, in as much, as they shun all its allure­ments, to apply themselves to Vertue. And in this Sense, a Woman is capable of what a Man can be capable of, yea, she may not only equal him, but infi­nitely surpass him. And indeed, how many Men do we see that degenerate from that Force and Nobleness of Spi­rit, that Nature has made him partaker of? how many Families do we see, that, as St. Augustin (Ex S. [...]ug. grat. [...]2. q. 6. [...]5.) says, have the Head cast down? meaning by this expression, that as the Husband is the Head of the Family, that Family has its Head cast down, where the Wife is more Vertu­ous than the Man.

But to return to our purpose, it does not follow from hence, what di­sparity soever may sometimes happen, to be between a Man and his Wife, or [Page 111] whatsoever advantage of Endowment a Wife may have above her Husband, that she obtains thereby this Prerogative we speak of. The interruption of the posses­sions of a right, doesnot disanul it, & much less a right that Nature gives, whose Laws are unchangeable, and in this especially, wherein it is stipulated with the express Commands of God, who has imposed in positive Terms, Submis­sion on the part of the Wife, without distinguishing whether the Husband does Merit it or not, whatsoever equa­lity or inequality then there may be between the Man and his Wife, the Man is nevertheless the Master, and the Wife must always Submit to him; for this Personal equality does not ex­clude the inequality of the Sex; the which being according to the Institution of Nature, exacts of the Woman not only a Submission of Decency and good Manners, but a Submission that's posi­tive and real.

The same things may be said to the Objection started, from the Bands that tie the Man and Woman in Marriage. It would be but a bad Inference to say, that because the Husband and Wife are under an equal Obligation, as to what [Page 111] regards the tye of Marriage; it not being permitted to the Husband to Marry another Wife, whilst this is li­ving, what Discontent soever may hap­pen between them; nor to the Woman to have another Husband, so long as this lives; therefore the one is of equal condition with the other in Marriage, The Soul and Body (as we have said be­fore) are joyned together, and do con­jointly Compose Man, as the Husband and the Wife do Compose one in Mar­riage: their separation causes the disso­lution and rupture of the Compound, as the Death of one of the Married Peo­ple causes the Dissolution of Marriage; nevertheless, none but those that have lost their Reason would say, that, be­cause the Union is of equal Necessity to the Soul, as well as the Body to the Forming and Being of Man, therefore the one is of equal Condition with the other; for Nature, Common Sense and Experience, Demonstrate to us, how far the Soul is Elevated above the Body, and in what great Prerogatives, Noble­ness and Excellence it su [...]passes it. And the same things are to be understood of the Man, in Regard of the Woman, which Nature, Common Sense and Ex­perience, [Page 113] shews us to be much Inferiour, to the Man; and therefore Obliged, by that Natural Rule, which says, the less Worthy shall give place effectively to the more Ex­cellent; to render to the Man a real and unfeigned Submission in all things, that have respect to Marriage, or the Society wherein they are conjoyned.

They Object in the Second Place,II. Whether the Power the Woman has over the Hus­bands Bo­dy, make her equal with him also in all other things, or not. That the Apostle, to confirm this Equa­lity of the Man and the Woman, has given to the Woman the same Power over the Body of the Husband, that he has given the Husband over the Bo­dy of the Wife, The Wife hath not power of her own Body, but the Husband: and likewise also the Husband hath not power of his own Body, but the Wife (1 Cor.), and by consequence, they are equal in Pow­er, the one to the other.

We Answer, That it is a wrong Inter­pretation of the words of St. Paul, which give a Reciprocal Power to the Man, and the Woman, over the the Bodies the one of the other, to un­derstand them of an equality of Power in all things. For the reciprocal inte­rest, respects only the Nuptial Bed, and the Duties to which Married People [Page 114] are obliged, the one towards the other without lawful impediment, to the en [...] the frailty of Nature may be restrain'd within the Bounds of Continence of Mar­riage. They are indeed, in that, both equal alike in Power, and in some respects, of an equal dependency the one of the other; but unequal in all other things. And this is the Explica­tion of this place by Divines. When (saith one Estius in Epist. ad Cor. 1. c. 7. 4.) St. Paul saith, That the Wife has no Power of her own Body, he there­by means, that it is not lawful to either of the Married Persons, to refuse the use of the Bed to the other that shall demand it, provided, as St. Thomas Re­marks, there be no lawful inpediment: And in this the Married Persons are, in some manner, each of them, under a re­ciprocal Servitude; though in other things, the one is unequal to the other, by vertue of that Law that was enjoyn'd to the Woman; thou shalt be under the Power of thy Husband. So like­wise it is on this Ground that the Books of the Discipliue of the Church remark, that, It is a Sin to refuse the Duty of Marriage, without a lawful excuse, when it is desired, according to that saying of the Apostle, Let the Husband render unto the [Page 115] Wife due Benevolence; and likewise also the Wife to the Husband, [...]he Reason whereof follows, because they have not Power over their own Bodies. They are then equal in the In­ [...]erest of this Duty: but in all other things that respect the Family, there is no E­quality between them; for they that are under the Power of others, are their [...]nferiours, and not their Equals.

They Object in the Third place, thatIII. Whether or no a Woman may be Jealous be­cause A­dultery is equally cri­minal on either part. [...]nsidelity in Marriage, being a Crime, on either part, that Causes Separation, since [...]t is as well permitted to the Wife to leave her Husband, if he be unfaithful to her, as to a Husband to put away his Wife, when she has fail'd in her Faith to him; therefore it may be law­ful and commendable for a Woman, to prevent so fatal a Separation, by her Distrusts, by her Care, yea, even by Re­proofs and Rebukes.

We Answer, That it is true, that aThat it is not per­mitted her, because she is his Infe­riour. Woman seeing her Husband give him­self over alltogether to disorder and infaithfulness, may leave him if she will, according to the words of the same Apostle St. Paul, Let not the Wife depart from her Husband, but, and if she depart, let her remain un-Married, or be reconci­led [Page 116] to her Husband: But it is not at a [...] true, that she ought to prevent this Evil, with Rebukes or Angry Speeches for what belongs to Correction, appertains to a higher Authority. Now Women in Marriage, and even before Marriage, according to both Natural and Divine Precepts, being Subordi­nate to their Husbands; it follows from hence, that as it is impossible, that which is Subject, can be Superior, so likewise it cannot be, that she that is Subject, can have Right of Correction, since Correction depends essentially on Superiority. The Wife indeed, on this Occasion, may well give some Advice, with mildness, to her Husband, concern­ing his Conduct, since this Advice is an Office of Charity; but to put herself in a Passion against him, to give him angry or sharp Rebukes, and Checks, is wholy to lay aside the Duty and Sub­mission she ows him. We may plainly see Subordination, even on this occasi­on, to be denoted by the Terms of Se­peration, although the Condition of the Man and Woman be thereby made equal; for if the Woman Violate her Faith, it is said, the Husband may put her away: but if the Husband be Un­faithful, [Page 117] it is not said the Wife shall put [...]im away, but only that she may leave [...]im Nisi causâ for­nicationis non licet Viro uxo­rem di­mittere, vel uxori à viro dis­cedere, Grat. q. 1., to shew the Superiority and [...]uthority of the Husband, and the Sub­ [...]ission and Silence the Wife ought to [...]bserve. And indeed, the Husband be­ [...]g her Master, her Superiour, yea her [...]ing, must she take upon her to set [...]im his Lessons? or what is more, dare [...]e Reprove or Despite him? Dare she, say, if she be a Christian, since she [...]ught to look upon her Husband, as [...]epresenting the Person of Jesus Christ, [...]s we said before?

In the fourth place, Women Object,IV. Whether Jealousie be a crime to cause Divorse, since the Scriptures have not expressed it, nor spoke a­gainst it. [...]hat if it were so great a Crime to de­ [...]lare their Resentments to their Hus­ [...]ands, when they suspect them to di­ [...]ide their Bed; the Holy Scriptures [...]ould have contain'd some Ordinances [...]o provide against it, and let them know, [...]hat the Wife therein committed an Of­ [...]ence, which might violate Marriage, [...]nd cause their Separation: Instead [...]hereof, it only signalizes the breach [...]f Faith, as the sole cause for which Married People can take occasion to [...]reak off Conjugal Society.

To which we Answer, That this is [...]ikewise a Fallacy, to believe, that, be­cause [Page 118] our Saviour said, that the Unfaithfulness to the Bed, was the cause of Divorce, therefore no other cause can be sufficient to separate Conjugal Society. For, according to the opinion of the Learned, when our Saviour particularized the breach of Faith, he did it only, because this Sin regards solely Marriage, whereof Fidelity is the very Soul and Life, and which is, by consequence, the most natural and direct cause of Divorce Vitive­ra hoc pug­ [...]at cum ipsa natu­ra conjugii. Jansen. Concord. Evang. cap. 11. Reliquae causa sunt generales aquavis so­o [...]tate Christia­nam liber­antes. Id. ibid▪: but he did not intend thereby to Exclude all other general Reasons, which may, of their own Nature, give that liberty to all Christians, of what Society soever they be; such as are a great Number of Vi­ces, and Pernicious Customs, amongst which Two are reckoned as Essential or Primary Causes. The First, is Un­beleif in Religion, whereby, they be­ing corrupted with some dangerous Doctrine, may Infect their Partners, and destroy their Salvation Note, For this point, See 1 Cor. 7. 12. Quer. Whether any other Cause, be­sides Adul­tery, be suf­ficient for Divorcing Man and Wife, in the Reformed Churches; yea, even this of Ʋn­beleif, or the fear of being Murdered.. The Second is, in Case the one Partner ha­ving committed some hainous Crime, remains Incorrigible in his Inclinations, and readiness to Perpetrate it again; in which Case, after the other Partner hath Three times Admonished, or Cor­rected [Page 119] him, and he not amending, he not only may, but ought to make a separation; which is the point in Con­troversie.

And indeed, of all the Vices a Wo­man can be subject to, there is none e­ [...]als, or is so unsufferable, or, which as so dangerous Effects, as Crosness of Humour, Stubbornness, and Incorrigi­bleness, for no other seizeth upon, and overthrows, the Holy Union, the Mild­ness and Peace of Marriage, which on­ [...]y make Men Happy in this World, with that Fury that these do, who can describe the Displeasure, the Distaste, the Trouble, and the Horrour, a Man under­goes, by a Wife that is given to Tatling and Bawling, that is Imperious, Quarrel­some, Furious, Passionate, Deceitful, Obstinate, Vexatious and Morose; which are like so many Monsters brought forth by Jealousie, or the Pre­judices this Infernal Passion blinds the Understanding withall? But it is not meet to Exaggerate these Disorders: These that suffer them, confess them­selves, that they cannot be exprest in words: And those, who by a particu­lar Favour of God, are free of them, if▪ they have but so much Sense as to [Page 120] apprehend their Blessing; will look upon it as a Happiness that exceeds all the Ideas can be given thereof in words▪ There is no Enjoyment or Riches in this World, can stand, in any comparison with the Value thereof: So that it was with good reason, the Wife King said Better is a Drie M [...]rsel, and Quietness Prov. 17. 1. therewith, then a House full of Sacrifices [...]e It was with reason also, he [...]ll in the Wil [...] Prov [...] [...]9. d [...] and an Angry Woman. And [...]ca [...] be expected from these co [...] Ga [...] ­sayings and Ob [...]cies of a Woman, but a continual Discord, since Jarrings of this Nature, are unvoidable.

A continual Droping in a very Rainy Prov. 27. 15. Day, and a Contentious Woman, are a­like, whosoever hideth her, hideth the Wind, and the Ointment of his Right Hand, which bewrayeth it self. Saith the same Wise Man. To let us know, than an unhappy Husband cannot tell where to dispose himself, for if he en­deavour with Prudence, to satisfie her on the one hand, she takes occasion to Insult over him on the other. What unparallel'd Perplexity must this be, especially, if the Husband be of a Mo­derate [Page 121] Temper; as the Scriptures de­scribe it, saying, The unruly Tongue of a Woman, is to a Peaceable Man, as a Sandy Mountain is to the▪ Feet of a Man that is spent with Age Eccles. 25. 27.. So the Dis­agreement that the Malice of such a Woman stirs up in the Family, is repre­sented to us in the comparison of Two Oxen that fight together in the same Yoak; Yea, the Evil a Man suffers is such, that it is said, that he that is joyn­ed to such a Wife, is as a Man that ta­keth a live Scorpion in his Hand. Eccles. 26. 18. But who can [...]ift out all the Deceits, all the Crafts, and all the Contrivances and Lewdnesses that their Jealousie suggests, to obtain their Ends, Satisfaction, and Revenge; we shall rather chuse to con­tinue the Phrases of the Scripture on this Subject, than give occasion to others to accuse us for intermingling our own Sense in these Invectives. It saith, That as the Sadness of the Heart is an universal Wound, so the Wickedness of a Woman is the fulness of Mischief, Eccles. 25. 17. It is also such a Wife as is there wished to the Wicked and ungodly, for a Curse. And that we may not doubt but that all these dete­stable Effects spring from Jealousie; we are there told it in plain Terms, where [Page 122] it's said, That this Sorrow and Affliction o [...] Heart, which exceeds all other Afflictions, is a Jealous Wife; Eccles. 26. 8. and that these Cries, Clamours, and Quarrels must be understood of a Woman that' [...] madded with this Passion; since it i [...] there added, That the Tongue of a Jealous Woman is Piercing, and She ceases n [...] to make her Complaints to all She meet with. If then these things be so, as n [...] doubt they are, since they are Atteste [...] by the Scriptures; The most of these In­vectives are out of Apocrypha; but though it were re­ceived as Scripture, yet Jealou­sie will not be suffici­ent cause of Divorce with us. we may conclude as we said before, That Jealousie is [...] lawful Cause of Divorcement, since it wicked Effects are no less inconsisten [...] with the Unity of Marriage, then thes [...] of Unfaithfulness it self, which is an undisputable Cause of Dis-union, according to the Law of Christ.

Women that are Jealous, Object i [...] V. Whether an honest Woman may be Jealous or not. the last place, That it is unreasonable that an Honest Woman, who is Con [...] joyn'd with an Husband of a Licentiou [...] Conduct, should be obliged to keep s [...] lence, and stifle her resentment there of. Is it so then, that he only must have the priviledg to censure his Wife upon Suspitions, though he be never so Criminal Himself, and that She must be obliged to keep silent her Suspitions [Page 123] notwithstanding her Honesty and Cha­ [...]tity, and that her Husband can lay no Blemish on her Conduct?

This Objection lets us see the Irregu­larityThat the honesty of a Woman gives her no privi­ledg to be Jealous. of the Mind of some sorts of Wo­men, who grow Proud upon that very Consideration, that they are Honest, be­lieving thereby to have a Right to Vex and Trouble their Husbands, as out of Revenge, and to Punish them for the good Fortune they had in Marrying an honest Woman. But to Retreive them from this Abuse, we have shown alrea­dy (clearly enough, I suppose,) that the Man being Master, has the right in this quality of Correction, and not at all the Woman. And indeed, he only is obliged to break silence, if by her ill Conduct She give place for Suspition, to Regulate her, not only upon a Princi­ple of Charity, but also for his Honour and particular Welfare; since the Re­putation of the Wife creates the Repu­tation of the Husband, and the Faults which he permits in her do return up­on himself; and fastens the same Infa­my and Punishment upon him as upon the Wife. The reason of which is, be­cause the Man is obliged, both by the Rules of Scripture, and by the Dignity [Page 124] and Rank which he Occupies in th [...] Matrimonial Fellowship, to Rule h [...] Wife and all his Family in right Discipline, and in their Duties. Take hee [...] saith the Preacher, that you make n [...] the least passage for the Water; that is t [...] say, that you open not the gate of Libert [...] to a perverse Woman. Eccles. 5. 34. And in another place, he saith, do not make the Wif [...] Mistress of your Secrets, least She tak [...] upon her the Authority that belongs to the [...] and thou fallest into Shame. Id. c. 9. 2. Fo [...] which Cause an Husband (saith a Learned Man) ought to remember himself that he is not born for the Woman, bu [...] the Woman is born for him; and tha [...] he ought to accustom her to the thing [...] that belong to her Duty, and to be have her self on such a manner, as She may know that She is only a Helper to her Husband in his Travails, and whereof She is to take such part as He shal [...] think sit; but not a Mistress to live in Idleness: (c) to this end therefore he is(d) Vives de off. mar. obliged to have a careful Eye over her by the Duty Incumbent on a Husband.

So that he is obliged to reprove his Wife seasonably, and also permitted, as being Master, to make use of moresevere [Page 125] Means, if the Disorder appear [...]o be firmlier Rooted in her Mind. But [...]n the contrary, She, because She is [...]ubject to her Husband, has in no Case Right to open her Mouth to Reprove Him. Yet, let not all this be under­ [...]tood, as if the Husband did not wrong his Wife, when he violates his Faith to her Nuptial Bed: Yet, notwithstanding [...]t is an Injury, the Condition of the Wife will not allow her any priviledge to contend with, or reprove her Husband for it, being received into the House of her Husband, in the Quality of a Sup­pliant, as Aristotle saith Om­nem inju­riae & vi­olentiae o­pinionem ab esse de­bet ab ea quae sup­plicis in­star sit, & tanguam a foco de­ducta, Arst. decur­rei fam. Now you see the Objections that Jealousie produces for its self, together with their An­swers deduced from Scripture and the Cannonical Law.

But the good and reasonable WifeRemedies against the Jealousie of Women. will reply, what must be done then to retrive and correct a licentious Hus­band? And upon the same Grounds we Answer, that She must do the same things She should do to correct a Hus­band that's Jealous. So in like manner, as we have done in the Jealousie of Husbands, we must also here distinguish that which has real Grounds, from that which arises only from Suspitions, or [Page 126] from the Report of some Persons tha [...] often cloak over dangerous designs with these kind of Informations. And in general, let her take for her Rules▪ what we have said for the Cure of the Jealousie of Men, which may likewise serve for that of Women.

In particular, if it arise only from Opinions, with which her sensual de­sires, and idle manner of living, do [...] poyson her Mind, the surest means will be to condemn them her self, and to suppress them before they can come to be known; calling to remembrance, that if it be not permitted to the Wife, to make Arguments in a real Injustice, much less then in what has no other ground but her own distrust, and of which none can be blamed besides her self. She must put out of her mind all Imaginations that tend that way, and apply her thoughts to some other things that are good in themselves, and parti­cularly to what may be necessary in the conduct of her Family, and to work with her own hands; for it is very cer­tain than an idle and unexercised Life, which begets, as we intimated before, these careful, unsetled, and vagrant co­gitations, would of it self alone be suf­ficient [Page 127] to keep Jealousie a foot, yea, although the mind had naturally no in­clination thereto.

But if she be Jealous with some goodThe Wo­man must not in any case be Jea­lous, and so she cuts off all occasion to the Hus­band. Reason, or Grounds, and be convinced by manifest Proofs, (for as we said just now, she must not herein trust her self) then she must do, and what? Even the very same thing. She must call to mind her condition, that is, She must retain her self in that Station wherein Reason and Nature have constituted the Wo­man. Now since they have forbid them to command or to censure, they must employ mildness and loving entreaties, and infinuate themselves into the minds of their Husbands with Speeches that are honest Respectuous and full of Love and Charity, thereby letting them know that the injury done by them, is rather to themselves than them. And if such charitable admonitions should produce no effect, then they must remain hum­ble and silent; for in one word, the only means to reduce a straying Hus­band, is the Vertue of a Wife.

And since she is not allowed to speakWomen must spe [...] only with their good Actions. with her Tongue in Arguing Terms, it remains for her then to make her Ac­tions plead for her effectually. For as [Page 126] [...] [Page 127] [...] [Page 128] we said before, nothing in the World is so effectual as good Examples, they pe­netrate both the Mind and the Affec­tions; and that man must be certainly void either of Wit, or of natural Love, that does not return and amend, when he sees his Wife contain her self in Ho­nesty, Humility, Mildness, Silence, and Obedience, whilest he goes Astray and lets loose the Reins of his Sensua­lity. Potissi­mum at (que) efficacissi­mum ali­quid est vi­tae exem­plum si id taciat quis quod jubet. Ne (que) enim [...]pertiùs [...]t fortiùs [...]ossunt v [...] ­ [...]uperari & carpi [...]ali, quam [...]onorum [...]ità. Viv. [...]e off. mar.

For which Reason it behoves her, that she stear her Course altogether contra­ry to the Actions of her Husband that are vitious. If the blindness of his Pas­sion lead him Astray after some Person, she must have a special care of her self, [...]he must [...]ave all [...]ertues [...]hat are [...]posite to [...]e vices of [...]r Hus­ [...]nd. that she do not fall into any kind of Lewdness, for this would be the same thing as to dig a Ditch for her self. If he be seldom at home, let her be sure to keep her self within doors. If he be Prodigal and Extravagant in Expenses, she must play the good Husband, and deprive even her own Person of things that she might otherwise have provided with greater Magnificence and Splen­dour. If he be of a hasty and passio­nate Temper, let her not offer to speak to him in his Passion, but watch his time [Page 129] and fit opportunity; let her Imitate the Prudent and Judicious Abigal, who was good and gentle towards her Dome­sticks, so Humble and so Patient to­wards her Husband, that she never contradicted him, but excusing and ta­king in good part all his defaults and vices, Ʋxores oportet esse placidas & mites erga domesticos▪ ne [...] ob stre­pentes ma­ritis, sed mores eo­rum a [...] vitia to­lerantes; qualis commendatur, Abigail uxor Na­bal Carmel Estius in Epist. ad Tit. c. 2. [...] He having scornfully refused provisions to David, and thereby occa­sioned that Prince to vow his Dsteruc­tion, and all his Families; to that end David Marching with an Army, inten­ded to put them all to the Sword and Fire; which when this Illustrious Ma­tron understood, She, without letting it be known to her Husband, takes store of Provisions and other Presents, and goes to meet David, and throwing her self at his Feet, obtained Mercy for her Husband and all his House. This done, She returns, and finding her Hus­band Drunk, She was so Discreet as not to speak to him till the day following: and then observing his Wine to be eva­porated, She let him know the great Danger She had preserved him from.

But above all things, let these WomenThe sincerity of the Heart. that would hereby be Instructed, re­frain from all kinds of Craft and De­ceitfulness, nor must they be sollicitous [Page 130] to inform themselves, or to dive into the Secrets of their Husbands: So likewise they must be exceeding watch­ful over themselves, that they act or do nothing that Anger or any concei­ved Imagination shall put them upon; but let them seriously consider on it, and deface all these conceiv'd Fancies before they act; which is a most whol­some Instruction.

They must be mild and real in theirMildness in Dis­course. Speeches, for mildness of Speech is more taking and charming than the sweatest Instruments in a Set of Musick, as the Preacher also says Eccles. c. 40.. Let the Wife speak little but that aptly and to the purpose, with a Submission and Respect full of Tenderness; consi­dering with her self, that when she speaks to her Husband, she speaks to her Master, to her Lord, to her King, and what is infinitely more than these, to Jesus Christ, of whom, in regard of her, he represents the Person, and ex­ecutes the Authority.

Let her have continually in herSubmissive Love. thoughts the Example of these Renown­ed Wives, which the Church, in the Celebration of her Marriage, has pro­posed to her for Patterns. Let her likewise [Page 131] always remember, that at that [...]ime she took upon her the Yoak of Love, that is, that Submissive Love she [...]ought to have for her Husband, and the Yoak of Peace, to signifie unto her that the Peace of the Family depends upon her Submission. She must en­deavour to make her self ameable to her Husband, as Rachel, who was even Mildness it self; She must be prudent as Rehecca; who was exceeding Judici­ous; Faithful and Submissive, as Sarah, who called her Husband ordinarily, her Lord, and her Master, and who loved him to such excess, that, far from be­ing enslaved with this sensual Jealousie of Women of the World, she Ipsa vi­cissim stu­debat ste­rilis conju­gii solati­um ex an­cilla quae­rere non dum enim talia tun [...] vetita e­rant, Chry sost de Sara. would give him her Handmaid, to divide his Embraces between them, that thereby he might be comforted against the Bar­renness of her Womb, in the Offspring, might arise from this Slave, according to the Custom of Polygamie, which was at that time permitted.

Let her Imitate, for an Example, the Industrious Wife which Solomon De­scribes Prov. c. 31▪ v. 1 &c., the which should gain the Heart of her Husband by her Vertue, her Prudence, her Activity, her Under­standing, her Courage, her Meekness, [Page 132] her Obedience, her Care, and her good Conduct, and which, by consequence was in every thing his Honour and his Glory.

She must know that the Love be­tween Persons, though Married, is but of short continuance, when it has no other Fuel to Feed upon, but Beauty and External Perfections; and that it is no more than the Love of a Compta & ornata ista conju­gum vita nihil dif­fert a Tra­gaedorum [...]n Scena ver santi­um ornatu, Ar. de cur. r [...]i fam. Co­median on the Stage, when it is not sustain'd by Vertue and solid Prudence. That it is not the Attire of the Body, though never so Gay, that Adorns and brings Honour to Married Women, but the Attire of the Mind Id. Ibid.; that is to say, the Adorning which is made up of Vertue, Meekness, Modesty and Obe­dience, to the Husbands S. Aug. de bon. con­jug. Charita­bleness of Women.

And Lastly, If the will Accomplish the Duties of an Honest Wife, and pre­serve Peace in her Family, she must be, as though she had not the Disposition to Motion of her self, but only to Move by the Will and Mind of her Husband, in such sort, that of her self she must use no Passion, but the Inclinations, that is to say, the Joy or Sorrow of her Husband, must be hers, as proper to her Plut. coning. prae [...]., and only her own; because it is [Page 133] this Conformity of the Mind that produces and nourishes Love In ami­citia per­manent, si consue­tudine vi­tae adhibi­ta mores dilexe­rint, cùm sint inter se moribus similes, Ar. Nico. l. 8. c. 5. Morum dissimili­tudo mini­mè est a­moris effi­ciens. Ar. de cur. re fam. and Peace, even as the Difformity or Disa­greement therein destroys it.

We may see an Example hereof in a Modern Author Erasm Colloq. uxor Mempsi­gamos., who gives us ve­ry pleasantly the Portraite and Abridg­ment of what we have said, in the Per­son of a Restless and Obstinate, that is to say, Jealous, Wife. She Deplores her Unhappiness to one of her Familiar Friends, but which was a Woman of Understanding, she gives an Account to her of the ill-conduct, between her and her Husband, and their continual Warfare, saying withal, as most do to Excuse, as they think, their Actings herein; Since he takes no Care of me, I shall take no Care of him neither. The Honest Wife endeavours to raise better Thoughts in her; she Represents to her, that in all Contestations, one of the Two must of necessity yeild, and good Order will have it to be the Wife in Marriage: That a Husband, let him be never so Bad, yet he remains still the Husband, and can not be cast off, but by Death: That there is no Hus­band at all but has his Faults; and though we must disapprove these Vices, [Page 134] yet we must uot hate the Person in any kind of Friendship, much less in Mar­riage: That it is better to suffer her Husband, seeing the Meekness of the Wife may render him more conforma­ble, but her Reproofs will certainly make him worse: That Amity in Mar­riage is Nourished by the Repute of the Wife join'd with her Meekness, that which is setled on Beauty, being only a Passenger: This Meekness is chiefly ap­parent, in having an extream care to please the Husband in every thing, and to displease him in nothing; in know­ing his Bent and Inclinations, that she may Love the Person that he Loves, and Observe the Times and Things that are most agreeable to him.

In the first place, says she, (pro­posing her self for Example,) I forget nothing that appertains to the Govern­ing aright the House within Doors, which is the Duty, under her Husband, of a Married Wife: I take the greatest Care imaginable, that all things, though of the least moment, may be accord­ing to my Husbands Humour, and I conform my self entirely to his Plea­sure; if I see him Sad, I speak not to him at all, and put on a Sad Counte­nance [Page 135] my self: If I see him Angry, I endeavour to Pacifie him by sweet Ex­pressions: If I see him transported with Anger, I hold my peace: If he have Drunk too much, I say nothing to him but pleasant Discourses to perswade him to Bed: If he have done any thing [...]amiss of Importance, (for as for small Trifles I wink at them,) I Advertise him thereof, and in particular, when he is no way disturb'd, and in a good Hu­mour, and has got no Drink, declaring my Advice to him in Loving Speeches, and Merry Discourse, but with all Re­spectuous, and having said it in Two words, I break off the Discourse, and convert it to things that are more a­greeable.

But, continues this Divine Wife, if the thing in Question be of very great concern, I have heard say, that the Wife ought rather to Employ another to speak to her Husband, then to speak to him thereof her self, and that rather to Employ the Relations of her Hus­band, than her own. I know, adds she, a Gentlewoman, that coming to know of an Engagement that her Hus­band had made with the Daughter of a Poor Woman, did her self, but under a [Page 136] borrowed Name, send in Houshold Goods, and other necessary Movea­bles, and Moneys likewise, towards the defraying their Expences; her Hus­band being Surpriz'd with this new change, had some Doubts, whether o [...] no it might come from his own Wife she confessing it, this Tenderness o [...] hers touch'd his Heart so Lively, that he broke off his Execrable▪ Engage­ments, to Observe his Natural Obliga­tions to so Honest a Wife.

Another in like manner, a little grown in Years, Observing that a Young Woman drew her Husband eve­ry Day to her Lodgings, provided a Lodging for her in her own House, en­tertaining her with the greatest wel­comness imaginable, to the end she might keep her Husband at home; and if at any time he might Sup abroad with this Young Woman, she would be sure to send them her best Mess, and wish them to make Merry: which Submission at last, had the same Effect on this Husband, that we related of the other.

Now, to repeat in Two words, allSincere Vertue on­ly procre­ates Love. that we have said, the Wife ought not in the least to complain, that her Hus­band [Page 137] does not Love her, but ought on such occasion, to discharge her Duty with a redoubled Diligence, and so [...]ender her self Ameable, to the end he may Love her. And as it is neither Riches, nor Beauty, nor a Formal or [...]tudied kind of Bravery, which most Women are affected withal, that can [...]eget true Love, it must follow then, that there is nothing besides Vertue that renders a Woman Lovely.

And by this Vertue, attended with Meekness and Condescention, the Wife shall assuredly Reduce and Reform an Enormous Husband, either sooner or later. I mean, if it be not a Feigned [...]or Dissembled Vertue, which she may make use of for a time in a Sleight; but a true and sincere Vertue, which intimately Teaches her Heart, and of which all her Actions, by an Uremit­ting Uniformity, bear a certain and perpetual Testimony.

And indeed it is most certainly true,The cer­tain effects of these Counsels. that a Woman beset with Jealousie, yet practising Vertue, and keeping her Passion in Subjection to Reason, and to the Precepts which Nature, Justice, and God himself have Prescribed to her, by injoyning her, as we have said, [Page 138] to have a Submission, Respect, and Obedience to her Husband, will much sooner obtain her honest design of Conquering and Reforming her lewd Husband, and with less trouble to her self than she possibly can do with her cross Humours, her Jarrings, her Quarrel­lings, her Obstinacies, her Melancholy or with her Despairing, Madness, Fury or Envy; so that it is likewise this Ver­tue that diverts a curse from the Fami­ly, and instead thereof procures the Blessing of Peace. It is this that gives a Woman the height of Renown in the World (Prov. 11. 16.). And it is by this that she truly Merits the qualification of an ho­nest Wife. And lastly, it is in this most humble and most prudent manner on­ly, that a Woman must be Jealous to gain Reputation, and not in following the Dictates of corrupted Nature, as too-too many People of the World do.

CHAP. VII. That it is True and Reasonable Love that produceth Peace in Mar­riage.

ACcording to the Principles whichThat Jea­lousie cau­ses hatred instead of Love. we have proposed, it is easie to perceive, that the Love which begets Sensual Jealousie, is not at all that that produces Reciprocal Love, and by consequence, Peace in Marriage; since instead of inclining them to do these things that procure Love, on the con­trary, it inclines them to do every thing that's capable to procure them Hatred. We have (I suppose) suffi­ciently shown, that these Distrusts, these secret Contrivances, these Re­bukes, and these Heats of Passion which Jealousie suggest, are so far from being capable to prevent or cure the Evil that's fear'd, that on the contrary they only stir it up, and bring a scandal up­on it over and above.

[Page 140]So that we may Establish, for an un­questionableThat it re­turns back upon them­selves, that are Jea­lous. Maxim, that Jealousie re­turns back upon themselves that are Jealous; and that it serves them to no other use, but to fret their Minds, and to disturb them Day and Night, with Fears and Suspitions, which yet, most times, are no more than Dreams and Chimaeras; and Lastly, to make them undergo the most unparalel'd Torments in the World Zelo­typia ad quid vale­at non vi­deo equi­dem, nisi ut discru­cieris ani­mo, & te iis tormentis addicas & mancipes, quibus nulla pos­sunt in hoc mundo comparari. Viv. de off. Mar.. It serves, I say, to no other end, but to Toil themselves, and vainly to weary all that Converse with them; much like to Masti [...]f-Dogs that watch about a House, that Rave whilst Sleeping, Disturb and Torment themselves, and by their Barking and Howling, give the Alarm, and put all that are in the House into a Fright and Trouble. And, in short, it only serves to Disgrace themselves, by discovering those Sordid Passions that Agitate their Souls. For, as every one Contemns a Man, (saith our Des Cart. Tr. de Pass. Philosopher) that is Jealous of his Riches, because it pro­ceeds from his Avarice; so, in like manner, they disesteem him that's Jea­lous of his Wife, because that proceeds from his Sensuality. And indeed, it is an evident Testimony, that he does not [Page 141] Love his Wife as he ought to do, and that he has an ill opinion, either of her, or of himself. For if he had a real Love for her▪ he would have no Incli­nation to Distrust her. But it is not her directly that he Loves, it is only the Possession of her; and he fears the less thereof, because, either he knows himself to be unworthy of it, or that she is Unfaithful.

To all this we may add, That Jea­lousieJealousie is Contagi­ous. is a means, by so much the less capable to produce the effect desired, in that it is a Contagious Evil, which Communicates it self, and Infects with the same Distemper the other Party, which before was altogether free from it; so that thereby, instead of One, there are Two, found Diseased, and in­stead of some small hopes of Peace, which was before, there arises a con­tinual, and irreconcileable, Warfare, the mildest Remedy whereof must be a Separation.

We may be fully and thorowly con­vincedAnd in the end causes Se­paration. of this Truth, if we look upon the infinite number of separations of Marriages, which the Magistrates are obliged to make every Year, for the preventing of disasters, not to be con­ceiv'd [Page 142] without Horrour, which would otherwise ensue. If we examine th [...] This Cu­stom is not so usual here in England. causes of these separations to the bottom, and not rest upon these that appear or are pretended, we shall find under th [...]se pretexts that are always specious and plausible, that the Truth is that Jealousie introducing and nou­rishing between the Married couple, ill Humours, capricious Actions, Suspi­tions, Scrutinies, Reproaches, and tran­sports of Passion continually and with­out end, they have made themselves so insupportable the one to the other, that the Law was necessitated to interpose between them, like a Grate between Savage Beasts.

The reason of this reciprocal Jealou­sie,From whence comes reci­procal Jea­lousie. is easily to be found, for the Party that is not Jealous, seeing the other to be so, and knowing that he must be so because he Judges him criminal, and withal knowing that those that think themselves Armed with Justice for Re­venge, will do any thing that may con­tribute to it; he conceives a Suspition himself that the other may Revenge himself by the Infidelity which this other Judges him guilty of, which Ri­pening by degrees, breaks forth like [Page 143] Lightning at last, and blows the Fire of Domestick Sedition up to a destructive Flame.

It cannot be therefore this sensualThe real love of a Husband. Love that maintains Peace in Marriage, [...]t is reasonable and real Love, it is this Love that we have represented full of Meekness, which affects the Mind of the Husband with a real Tenderness, which enclines him to Reign over the Heart of his Wife by engaging Actions, and not by the Rigid Exercise of the right he has to Rule, which excuses smaller Faults, and covers greater Mis­demeanours with Charity and Compas­sion, when they cannot be retreived; which takes a greater share of all the Evils that befal her, than she does her self, which makes him ready to die for her sake, as Christ, who is his Example, died for his Church. It is this Love that removes all danger of these sad disasters we have touch't upon, without the me­diation of the Magistrate; whose Au­thority is so universal, because it is foun­ded upon natural Justice. That those that are the least enlightned with rea­son are under its Power; and not only so, but are also animated and encoura­ged thereby, against all dangers what­ever, [Page 144] that may any way invade th [...] beloved Object.

We have an Example of an Arabian An exam­ple of the real love of an Ara­bian. which may be a lesson for us of th [...] real Love and Tenderness; his Name was Raha, and commanded in Affrica in Quality of a General. One day Party belonging to the Neighbouring People, having surprized his Quarters in his abscence, took away great Spoy [...] and withal took his Wife Prisoner: And as they were going off with their Booties, the General was at the same time Returning with about Seventy Horse who meeting them loaded with Pillage and not knowing any thing of the Disaster of his Wife, he Charges them on the Reer, thinking to Scatter them; but seeing his Assaults to be in vain, and that he was too weak for them, he commands the Retreat; and just as they were wheeling about, he heard a [...] confused Voyce, in the middle of the Enemies Party, which cryed Raha; he stops a little, and understands it to be the voyce of his Wife, he goes directly back again by himself, and got leave to speak to her from the Commander of the Party, to take his last farewel of her. She at the first sight begins to reprove him [Page 145] of his Remisness, that he would suf­fer her to be taken away on such a man­ner: which words, with the seeing her in such a Condition, did so Enflame his Love, and Provoke his Jealousie, that he run to his Soldiers, and spoke to them, saying, If ever you have been sen­sible of Love, take Pity of my Dear Wife, and me; help us, I Conjure you by all that is Sacred to Mortals, by the Glory of our Nation, by my own Life, which can­not Subsist long, if they Ravish my Wife from me. Go to, my Dear Friends, For­tune helps the Generous, and Lovers. They went on indeed, Set upon the Bo­dy of the Party; Raha Kill'd the Com­mander with his own Hands, and put the Rest to Flight; he Delivered his Wife, and brought her back in Try­umph, with all the Spoil (J. Lips. Mon. & Expol. l. 2. c. 17.). Now such are the Effects of a Generous and Lawful Jealousie, Animated only by the Motions of Nature. We may ea­sily presume from hence, that Peace does Gloriously Reign in such a Mar­riage.

But to raise our Jealousie to a de­gree of Perfection, and to guide it ac­cording to the Light of Christianity▪ We need only to Imitate that Excellent [Page 146] Pattern of Marriage, in the Persons o [...] Example of the Love of Joseph for the Virgin Mary. the Mother of our Blessed Saviour, and of Joseph. The Meekness and Moderation of this Just Husband are Admirable. He did not Scandalize his Be trothed Virgin, although he knew he to be with Child; and not yet Instructed, that it was the working of the Holy Spirit. He did not Persecute he with Complaints, with Roughness, with Suspitions, with Passions, or with Violences; but he resolved to put her away quietly, and privately, because [...]aith the Holy Evangelist (Mat. 1. 19.), he was a Just Man, and Fearing God; So that it is Evident, that he Loved her with a Real and Reasonable Love, for her sel [...] only, and not for his own Ends, according to the Holy Rules of Amity, and not according to the Unregulated Instinct of Passion, which Besieges and Agitates the Minds of Sensual Persons▪ Now, it would be unnecessary to Ex­emplifie further, the Peace that Blessed this Holy Marriage, since it is so easie to infer, from this Peaceable Love al­ready rehearsed, that nothing could in­tervene between these Divine Lovers, but Calmness, and Admirable Meek­ness.

[Page 147]It is likewise unnecessary to Insist anyThe Means for Women to preserve Peace. longer, upon Instructing Jealous Wo­men in the Means to preserve Peace; since we have already Established by Proofs (I suppose) Invincible, that it depends only upon things that are op­posed to the Enormities of this Sensual Jealousie; that is to say▪ on Meekness and Submission of the Mind. Neither shall they pretend to say, That we have made it our Pleasure, to make their Condition worse then that of Men: For we have only followed Nature herein, whose Laws are a Law to all the Rest. Now, as a Man would be Rediculous, that would not Eat nor Drink, because he was not Born a Prince, so likewise, that Woman must be of a Capricious Humour, that will not do what she ought to do, because the Law of Na­ture has Subjected her to her Hus­band.

It is not of this then, that WomenBad Edu­cation, is a Cause of Divisions in Mar­riage. must Complain. But rather let them Complain of these Two things, which indeed are the true Causes of the Evils they Suffer themselves▪ and with which they Infect others.

First, Let them Complain, that the greatest part of Parents give their [Page 148] Children a Bad Education, and bring them up in a Love of themselves, by their too much Indulgency, which is the Original of Sensuality.

Secondly, Let them Complain, ofThe Abuse of making up Marri­ages, [...] an use. the little Care they take, or the wrong Ends they propose, in their Marriages, where they will give Ear to nothing but what may Answer their Pride or Tem­poral Interest. Indeed, it is a great A­buse in the World, to permit a kind of People to make a Publick Trade of Marrying others; and an Indignity in­sufferable, and Criminal, that these Creatures should Sell the Children of a Family Publickly.

These are People that keep Account-Books, and State Methodically in a Twofold Range, all Persons that are to be Married, of either Sex; and parti­cularly, of a great Number that come out of Remote Countreys This is Customary at Paris, and I wish it were not too com­mon also in London., many whereof come almost of no other Ac­count, but to Trie their Fortunes here­in; and indeed, their Counts are al­ways pretty full of these, and they make the best Returns by them; for having nothing to lose, for the most part, if they Hound them fairly, and they Kill, they are willing to divide the [Page 149] Prey with them. Now these Men-Mar­chants are wont to Insinuate themselves directly, if they can, into any House where they are in hopes to find any Game; or if they cannot do it direct­ly, they either Corrupt the Servants they can come acquainted with, or else they Subborn Persons of no more worth than themselves, to break the Ice, and there finding the Tender Mothers made up of Ears, for the Name of a Lord, a Knight, an Esquire, or such like, that will Raise their Daughters Quality, though in the end they prove but Cy­phers on the Left Hand of the Account, they easily win them over, to Commit their Childrens Fortnnes to the Mercy of Persons unknown to them, and who perhaps, know nothing themselves of the great Possessions and Riches pre­tended, saving Two or Three Guineas, which they spared of that Money they Borrowed, and to bring them up with­al.

Yet this is not to hinder a CordialNon est Virginalis pudoris E­ligere ma­ritum. Ex Ambr: Grat. caus▪ 23. Friend from making Choise, or Recom­mending a Suitable Match to a Young Person, whose Shame-facedness keeps him or her from Acting themselves: Nor that it is any way forbid, to take [Page 150] Counsel, and hear what may be said, in so Important an Affair, that thereon depends the Happiness or Unhappiness of this Life. But we would be under­stood to mean, that a Foresight or De­sign of only Temperal Advantages, must not so far Blind the Understanding of Parents, as to Sacrifice their Chil­dren, without knowing the Cause to the bottom; as though they should Sew them up in a Sack with a Dog, an Ape, a Cock and a Serpent This was the Punish­ment of Parricides, in some places., there to end their Days in Misery. It is ne­cessary to see attentively with the Eyes, both of Parents, and of intimate Friends, endued with Discretion; what kind of a Wife must be chosen for a Young Man, and what sort of a Hus­band must be chosen for a Young Wo­man; neither must they be chosen on­ly by the View, but by being also in­formed of their Reputation, of their Humours, of their Inclinations, and of the Temper of their Spirit Anti­quam illi nuberes, tempus e­rat expen­d [...]ndi quid viram ha­bere male­ [...]. Opor­t [...]b [...]t non oculis so­ [...], ve­rum etiam [...]bus maritum delige [...]e. Erasm. Colloq; That Meekness in a Wo­man ex­cels all o­ther Qua­lities..

But to return to our purpose; It is Absolutely necessary, if the Wife would make her self Lovely in the Eyes of her Husband, and by consequence▪ Live in Peace▪ and Taste the Sweets of Marriage, that she be Submitting, Good [Page 151] and Humble. For let her have all the good Qualities besides imaginable, yet if she have not Submission and Meek­ness, she Acquires only Disrespect to her self. Though she have the very Perfection of Beauty, yet if she have not Discretion and Submission, it is on­ly, as the Scripture says Prov. 11. 22., A Ring of Gold in a Swines Snout. When on the contrary, though she be Endowed with no Extraordinary Gift, yet if she have Meekness, Modesty, and Submission, there is no Heart but will yield to her; I mean, how hard Hearted or Unaffe­cted soever her Husband be, yet he will be thereby brought to Love her.

In short, being endued with Submis­sion,The Wo­man must Conform her self to the Hus­band. She will look upon her Husband as the Rule and Pattern of the Family, to the which She ought to Conform her self, as natural Reason commands her; since it is against Nature, that that which is a Rule should take its Proportion from the things whereof it is a Rule. So in like manner, the Wife (as we have already said) taking for the Rule of her Conduct, the Manners and Will of her Husband; She shall live in the middle of Peace, of Joy, and of Love: Nothing can trouble this▪ [Page 152] Rest; and there can be no Temporal Disgrace, nor no Danger, which this true Love will not overcome, yea, all the Frowns of Fortune will serve only to Signalize it.

We have Examples of Abundance ofExamples of the Love of several Women. Women, amongst the Antients, that without any Light besides that of Na­ture, have exceeded, even according to us, by their Love, their Fidelity, and this generous Jealousie, the out­most Limits of Conjugal Duty.

We Read of some that have prefer­ed the following their Husbands in Ba­nishment, and leading their Lives in Poverty; before the Pleasure of Living in Splendour at Court, where they have been desired to remain Camp. Fulg..

Some have shut themselves up in Caves and Sepulchres, and there Lain and Lived several Years, in an unima­ginable Silence and Secrecy, to accom­pany their Husbands that stole away, and hid themselves, from Persecuti­ons J. Lips. Mon. & Expol. 1. 2. c. 17..

We see some that have changed their Habits with their Husbands in Prison, that thereby they might Escape, whilst they themselves remain'd Exposed to the Rage of their Persecutors Id [...]bid..

[Page 153]And Lastly, We Read of Heroical Matrons amongst the Romans, which have been the Pattern of Honest Wives of their Age, who, though in all their Actions, they maintain'd the Glory and Majesty of their Royal Progenitors, who had Subdued Nations and King­doms; yet, at the same time, had as much Respect, Meekness and Submissi­on, towards their Husbands, as though they had been their Servants or Slaves Viv. de off. Mar..

And to come yet nearer our Subject, can there be any Patience and Submis­sion, more Admirable, then that of Octavia, the Sister of Augustus, during the Love between her Husband Antho­ny, and Cleopatra? Could there everExample of the Love of a Tartarian Woman. be a more Glorious Victory of true Love over Sensual Jealousie, than that which was gain'd by a Tartarian Wo­man? This Woman taking Compassion of a Man, which she saw pass along a­mongst the Prisoners, which the Tartars had taken in an Incursion into Thracia, Bought him, and in some time after Married him. Her Love was such to him, that for his sake, she would turn Christian; and for that End, would go into some Christian Countrey: But [Page 154] Conceiving with Child in that time that they waited for an opportunity, they were constrain'd to stay till she should be Deliver'd; after which, before they could have a favourable occasion, they staid so long, that she became with Child a Second Time. During which time, the Tartars made a Second Incur­sion into Thrace; and as they carried their Prisoners along, in their wonted manner, the Husband of this Tartarian Woman, seeing them pass by, disco­vered his First Wise amongst them; which so much moved his Compassion, that the Tartar perceiv'd it, and Asked him the Reason of his Passion? Which when she understood, she goes away, without saying any thing, and Buys this Wife, and takes her Home with her to be an Helper to her in her House: They Lived Peaceably altogether; and some while after, the Tartar was Deli­vered, they take their Journey into a Christian Countrey, and Arrive at last at Constantinople. The Christian Wo­man finding her self in a place of Pro­tection, goes and complains to the Pa­triarch, Demanding her Husband a­gain. The matter being Examined to the bottom, and the Case appearing to be [Page 155] singular, no Man durst give his posi­tive Judgment therein; till this Divine, though Tartarian Woman, decided it her self, saying, If my Husband Love his First Wife better than me, let him take her; I will also give him his Ransom. As for this Woman, finding my self not [...]n a Condition to give her the same Libe­rality, let her Repay me her Ransom, and let her go with her Husband; I my self will wait, with my Two Children, till it shall please God to dispose of me otherwise. Every Man admired at the Discretion of this Woman. So it pleased God to declare himself on her side: For the Thracian Woman being gone into her own Countrey, to procure wherewith­al to Pay her Redemption, she Perish­ed there, and was never heard of more; which left the Generous Tartar in Peaceable Possession of her Husband, and in perfect Unity with him, the rest of her Days J. Lips. Mon. & Expol. 1. 2. c. 17..

Behold the Effects of True Love; Behold the Effects of Honest and Lawful Jealousie, that Enclines and Inspires such generous Lovers, to deprive them­selves of their Dearest Enjoyments and Rights, to please their Husbands; to Employ all their Strength and Power, [Page 156] to Free them from Enemies, from Exiles, from Prisons, from Torments, ye [...] from Death, and Dieing themselves fo [...] them.

It is on this manner, that Jealousie i [...] an Excess of Love, and especially, i [...] this Jealousie retains it self within the Bounds, which the Religion we Profess prescribes to it, and which these Ancient [...] were Ignorant of.

Yea, It is this, Prudent Jealousie thatThe Praise of an Ho­nest Wife. is the Effect of Discreet Love, as this Love is the Effect of Meekness, Willing­ness, Modesty, Submission and Vertue of the Wife, which works such Won­ders and Produces that Peace in Marri­age, that cannot be Sufficiently esteem'd. It is this, which the Wise King under­stands, when he says Prov. 18. 22., Who so find­eth a (good) Wife, findeth a good Thing, and Obtaineth Favour of the Lord.

So likewise we are Commanded, Not to keep our selves at a distance from, an understanding Woman which one has re­ceived in the Fear of the Lord; for the Fa­vour Eccles. 7. 21. of her Countenance is more Precious than Gold. And likewise it is written, Happy is he, that abideth with an under­standing Wife Eccles. 25. 11.. Happy is the Husband of a good and Vertuous Wife, the Number of [Page 157] his Years shall be doubled Eccles. 26. 2.. And [...]ikewise that, She is an Excellent Lot. That, She is the Lot of them that Fear God. That, She shall be given to them, for their good Works Eccles.. But of the Vertues of a good Wife, it is Meekness, that is the Joy of her Husband, and Dis­tributes Strength to his Bones Eccles. 26. 16.; also to speak little, For this is a Testimony of her good Understanding. A Wife of good Understanding (saith the same Apochrypha) Loveth silence, nothing is comparable to a Soul that is well in­structed, or that hath Reservation.

In short, Gold cannot stand in com­parison with the Price of a good Wife. It is then, Meekness, Civility, Modesty, Silence, Understanding, and Prudence, that renders a VVife Commendable, that renders her Aimable, Dear and Precious beyond all the goods, and all the Trea­sures of the World, It is by these Ver­tues that she gains herself Renown, in being Jealous, and not at all by that Jealousie which has only self Love for its Object, and is Grounded upon Sensuality; and which by consequence dishonours Man, by rendering him like to Beasts.

[Page 158]But to Conclude, and to Reduce a [...] Conclusion and A­bridgment of the whole. the Counsells we have given to Husbands as well as Wives, into one maxime which may easily be Imprinted in thei [...] Memories, we shall only resume tha [...] Rule which an Ancient Father of the Church, has recommended to them in two VVords; in which he Comprehends, in short, both the Mutual Duties of Married People, and the infallible means to entertain Peace in Marriage▪ Let not the Wife, Saith this Reverend Father Chry­ad Ephes. c. 4., Pretend an Equal Right in Marriage, since she is under a Head; and let not the Husband despise his Wife, be­cause she is Subject to him, since she is his Body. Let the Woman therefore al­ways look upon her Husband as her Superiour, and let the Husband Love his Wife, as his own Body, and they shall Live in Peace.