A MOUZELL FOR MELASTOMUS, The Cynical Bayter of, and foul mouthed Barker against EVAHS' SEX. Or an Apologetical Answer to that Irreligious and Illiterate Pamphlet made by Io. Sw. and by him Entitled, The Arraignment of Women. By Rachel Speght. PROVERBS 26. 5. Answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his own conceit. LONDON, Printed by Nicholas Okes for Thomas Archer, and are to be sold at his shop in Popeshead-Pa●●●ce. 1617. To all virtuous Ladies Honourable or Worshipful, and to all other of Heuah's sex fearing God, and leving their just reputation, grace and peace through Christ, to eternal glory. IT was the simile of that wise and learned Lactantius, that if fire, though but with a small spark kindled, be not at the first quenched, it may work great mischief and damage: So likewise may the scandals and defamations of the malevolent in time prove pernicious, if they be not nipped in the head at their first appearance. The consideration of this (right Honourable and Worshipful Ladies) hath incited me (though young, and the unworthiest of thousands) to encounter with a furious enemy to our sex, lest if his unjust imputations should continue without answer, he might insult and account himself a victor; and by such a conceit deal, as Historiographers report the viper to do, who in the Winter time doth vomit forth her poison, and in the spring time sucketh the same up again, which becometh twice as deadly as the former: And this our pestiferous enemy, by thinking to provide a more deadly poison for women, than already he hath foamed forth, may evaporate, by an addition unto his former illiterate Pamphlet (entitled The Arraignment of Women) a more contagious obtrectation than he hath already done, and indeed hath threatened to do. Secondly, if it should have had free passage without any answer at all (seeing that Tacere is, quasi consentire) the vulgar ignorant might have believed his Diabolical infamies to be infallible truths, not to be infringed; whereas now they may plainly perceive them to be but the scum of Heathenish brains, or a building raised without a foundation (at least from sacred Scripture) which the wind of God's truth must needs cast down to the ground. A third reason why I have adventured to fling this stone at vaunting Goliath is, to comfort the minds of all Heuah's sex, both rich and poor, learned and unlearned, with this Antidote, that if the fear of God reside in their hearts, maugre all adversaries, they are highly esteemed and accounted of in the eyes of their gracious Redeemer, so that they need not fear the darts of envy or obtrectators: For shame and disgrace (saith Aristotle) is the end of them that shoot such poisoned shafts. Worthy therefore of imitation is that example of Seneca, who when he was told that a certain man did exclaim and rail against him, made this mild answer; Some dog's bark more upon custom then cursedness; and some speak evil of others, not that the defamed deserve it, but because through custom and corruption of their hearts they cannot speak well of any. This I allege as a paradigmatical pattern for all women, noble & ignoble to follow, that they be not inflamed with choler against this our enraged adversary, but patiently consider of him according to the portraiture which he hath drawn of himself, his Writings being the very emblem of a monster. This my brief Apology (Right Honourable and Worshipful) did I enterprise, not as thinking myself more fit than others to undertake such a task, but as one, who not perceiving any of our Sex to enter the Lists of encountering with this our grand enemy among men, I being out of all fear, because armed with the truth, which though often blamed, yet can never be shamed, and the Word of God's Spirit, together with the example of virtues Pupils for a Buckler, did no whit dread to combat with our said malevolent adversary. And if in so doing I shall be censured by the judicious to have the victory, and shall have given content unto the wronged, I have both hit the mark whereat I aimed, and obtained that prize which I desired. But if Zoilus shall adjudge me presumptuous in Dedicating this my Chirograph unto personages of so high rank; both because of my insufficiency in literature and tenderness in years: I thus Apologize for myself; that seeing the Bayter of Women hath opened his mouth against noble as well as ignoble, against the rich as well as the poor; therefore meet it is that they should be joint spectators of this encounter: And withal in regard of my imperfection both in learning and age, I need so much the more to impetrate patronage from some of power to shield me from the biting wrongs of Momus, who oftentimes setteth a rankling tooth into the sides of truth. Wherefore I being of Decius his mind, who deemed himself safe under the shield of Caesar, have presumed to shelter myself under the wings of you (Honourable personages) against the persecuting heat of this fiery and furious Dragon; desiring that you would be pleased, not to look so much ad opus, as ad animum: And so not doubting of the favourable acceptance and censure of all virtuously affected, I rest Your Honours and Worships Humbly at commandment. Rachel Speght. I f Reason had but curbed thy witless will, O r fear of God restrained thy raving quill, Such venom fowl thou wouldst have blushed to spew, E xcept that Grace have bidden thee adieu: P rewesse disdains to wrestle with the weak, H eathenish affected, care not what they speak. S educer of the vulgar sort of men, W as Satan crept into thy filthy Pen, E nflaming thee with such infernal smoke, T hat (if thou hadst thy will) should women choke? N efarious fiends thy sense herein deluded, And from thee all humanity excluded, M onster of men, worthy no other name, For that thou didst assay our Sex to shame. RA. SP. Faults escaped in this Impression. Page 1. lin. 12. in the Preface for roaring read roving. page 4. line 17. for Ironica read Ironia. page 7. line 19 for not touch read not to touch. page 11 line 20. for Meriam read Miriam. page 21. line 13. for tongues read tongues. page 32. line 21. for adulterous read idolatrous. page 33. line 20. for Arganox read Organon. ¶ Not unto the veriest Idiot that ever set Pen to Paper, but to the Cynical Bayter of Women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, joseph Swetnam. FRom standing water, which soon putrefies, can no good fish be expected; for it produceth no other creatures but those that are venomous or noisome, as snakes, adders, and such like. Semblably, no better stream can we look, should issue from your idle corrupt brain, then that whereto the ruff of your fury (to use your own words) hath moved you to open the sluice. In which excrement of your roaring cogitations you have used such irregularities touching concordance, and observed so disordered a method, as I doubt not to tell you, that a very Accidence Scholar would have quite put you down in both. You appear herein not unlike that Painter, who seriously endeavouring to portray Cupid's Bow, forgot the String: for you being greedy to botch up your mingle mangle invective against Women, have not therein observed, in many places, so much as as Grammar sense. But the empriest barrel makes the loudest sound; and so we will account of you. Many propositions have you framed, which (as you think) make much against Women, but if one would make a Logical assumption, the conclusion would be flat against your own Sex. Your dealing wants so much discretion, that I doubt whether to bestow so good a name as the Dunce upon you: but Minority bids me keep within my bounds; and therefore I only say unto you, that your corrupt Heart and railing Tongue, hath made you a fit scribe for the Devil. In that you have termed your virulent foam, the bearbaiting of Women, you have plainly displayed your own disposition to be Cynical, in that there appears no other Dog or Bull, to bait them, but yourself. Good had it been for you to have put on that Muzzle, which Saint james would have all Christians to wear; Speak not evil one of another: and then james 4. 11. had you not seemed so like the Serpent Porphirus, as now you do; which, though full of deadly poison, yet being toothless, hurteth none so much as himself. For you having gone beyond the limits not of Humanity alone, but of Christianity, have done greater harm unto your own soul, then unto women, as may plainly appear. First, in dishonouring of God by palpable blasphemy, wresting and perverting every place of Scripture, that you have alleged; which by the testimony of Saint Peter, 1. Pet. 3. 16. is to the destruction of them that so do. Secondly, it appears by your disparaging of, and opprobrious speeches against that excellent work of God's hands, which in his great love he perfected for the comfort of man. Thirdly, and lastly, by this your hodgepodge of heathenish Sentences, Similes, and Examples, you have set forth yourself in your right colours, unto the view of the world: and I doubt not but the judicious will account of you according to your demerit: As for the Vulgar sort, which have no more learning than you have showed in your Book, it is likely they will applaud you for your pains. As for your Bugbear or advice unto Women, that whatsoever they do think of your Work, they should conceal it, lest in finding fault, they bewray their galled backs to the world; in which you allude to that Proverb, Rub a galled borse, and he will kick: Unto it I answer by way of Apology, that though every galled horse, being touched, doth kick; yet every one that kicks, is not galled: so that you might as well have said, that because burnt folks dread the fire, therefore none fear fire but those that are burnt, as made that illiterate conclusion which you have absurdly inferred. In your Title Leaf, you arraign none but lewd, idle, froward and unconstant women, but in the Sequel (through defect of memory as it seemeth) forgetting that you had made a distinction of good from bad, condemning all in general, you advise men to beware of, and not to match with any of these six sorts of women, viz. Good and Bad, Fair and Fowl, Rich and Poor: But this doctrine of devils Saint Paul foreseeing would be broached in the latter 1. Tim. 4. 3. times, gives warning of. There also you promise a Commendation of wise, virtuous, and honest women, when as in the subsequent, the worst words, and filthiest Epithets that you can devise, you bestow on them in general, excepting no sort of Women. Herein may you be likened unto a man, which upon the door of a scurvy house sets this Superscription, here is a very fair house to be let: whereas the door being opened, it is no better than a dogge-hole and dark dungeon. Further, if your own words be true, that you wrote with your hand, but not with your heart, then are you an hypocrite in Print: but it is rather to be thought that your Pen was the bewrayer of the abundance of your mind, and that this was but a little mortar to daub up again the wall, which you intended to break down. The revenge of your railing Work we leave to Him, who hath appropriated vengeance unto himself, whose Penman hath included Railers in the Catalogue of them, that shall not inherit God's Kingdom, and yourself unto the mercy of that just judge, who is able to save and to destroy. Your undeserved friend, RACHEL SPEGHT. In praise of the Author and her work. IF little David that for Israel's sake, esteemed neither life nor limb too dear, In that he did adventure without dread, to cast at him, whom all the host did fear, A stone, which brought Goliath to the ground, Obtained applause with Songs and Timbrels sound. Then let another young encombatant receive applause, and thanks, as well as he: For with an enemy to Women kind, she hath encountered, as each wight may see: And with the fruit of her industrious toil, To this Goliath she hath given the foil. Admire her much I may, both for her age, and this her Mouzell for a black-mouthed wight, But praise her, and her work, to that desert, which unto them belongs of equal right I cannot; only this I say, and end, She is unto her Sex a faithful friend. PHILALETHES. IF he that for his Country doth expose himself unto the fury of his foe, Doth merit praise and due respect of those, for whom he did that peril undergo: Then let the Author of this Monzell true Receive the like, of right it is her due. For she to shield her Sex from Slanders Dart, and from invective obtrectation, Hath ventured by force of Learning's Art, (in which she hath had education) To combat with him, which doth shame his Sex, By offering feeble women to perplex. PHILOMATHES. PRaise is a debt, which doth of due belong To those, that take the path of virtues trace, Meating their ways and works by Reason's rule, Having their hearts so lightened with God's grace, That willllingly they would not him offend, But holily their lives begin and end. Of such a Pupil unto Piety As is described, I do intend to speak, A Virgin young, and of such tender age, As for encounter may be deemed too weak, She having not as yet seen twenty years, Though in her carriage older she appears. Her wit and learning in this present Work, More praise doth merit, than my quill can write: Her magnanimity deserves applava ', In venturing with a fiery foe to fight: And now in fine, what shall I further say? But that she bears the triumph quite away. FAVOUR B. A Mouzell for Melastomus the Cynical Bayter of, and foul-mouthed Barker against EVAHS' Sex. PROVERBS 18. 22. He that findeth a wife, finds a good thing, and receiveth favour of the Lord. IF lawful it be to compare the Potter with his Clay, or the Architect with the Edifice; then may I, in some sort, resemble that love of God towards man, in creating woman, unto the affectionate care of Abraham for his son Isaac, who that he might not take to wife one of the daughters of the Canaanites, Gen. 24. 4. did provide him one of his own kindred. Almighty God, who is rich in mercy, having Fphe. 2 4. made all things of nothing, and created man in his own image: that is, (as the Apostle expounds it) In wisdom, righteousness and true Col. 3 30. holiness; making him Lord over all: to avoid Ephe. 4. 24. that solitatie condition that he was then in, having none to commerce or converse withal but dumb creatures, it seemed good unto the Lord, that as of every creature he had made male and female, and man only being alone without mate, so likewise to form an help meet for him. Adam for this cause being cast Gen. 2. 20. into a heavy sleep, God extracting a rib from his side, thereof made, or built, Woman; showing thereby, that man was as an unperfect building afore woman was made; and bringing her unto Adam, united and married them together. Thus the resplendent love of God toward man appeared, in taking care to provide him an helper before he saw his own want, and in providing him such an helper as should be meet for him. Sovereignty had he over all creatures, and they were all serviceable unto him; but yet afore woman was form, there was not a meet help found for Adam, Man's Gen. 2. 20. worthiness not meriting this great favour at God's hands, but his mercy only moving him thereunto: I may use those words which the jews uttered when they saw Christ weep for Lazarus, Behold how he loved him: Behold, and john 11. 36. that with good regard, God's love; yea his great love, which from the beginning he hath borne unto man: which, as it appears in all things; so next, his love in Christ jesus apparently in this; that for man's sake, that he might not be an unite, when all other creatures were for procreation dual, he created woman to be a solace unto him, to participate of his sorrows, partake of his pleasures, and as a good yoke-fellow bear part of his burden. Of the excellency 1. Cor. 11. 9 of this Structure, I mean of Women, whose foundation and original of creation, was God's love, do I intend to dilate. Of Woman's Excellency, with the causes of her creation, and of the sympathy which ought to be in man and wife each toward other. THE work of Creation being finished, this approbation thereof was given by God Gen. 1. 31. himself, That All was very good: If All, than Woman, who, excepting man, is the most excellent creature under the Canopy of heaven. But if it be objected by any. First, that woman, though created good, 1 Object. yet by giving ear to Satan's temptations, brought death & misery upon all her posterity. Secondly, That Adam was not deceived, but 2 Object. that the woman was deceived, and was in the 1. Tim. 2. 14. transgression. Thirdly, that Saint Paul saith, It were good for 3 Object. a man not to touch a woman. 1. Cor. 7. 1. Fourthly, and lastly, that of Solomon, who 4 Object. seems to speak against all of our sex; I have found one man of a thousand, but a woman among Eccles. 7. 30. them all have I not found, whereof in it due place. To the first of these objections I answer; that 1 Object. answered. Satan first assailed the woman, because where the hedge is lowest, most easy it is to get over, and she being the weaker vessel was with more facility to be seduced: Like as a Crystal glass sooner receives a crack then a strong stone pot. Yet we shall find the offence of Adam and Eve almost to parallel: For as an ambitious desire of being made like unto God, was the motive which caused her to eat, so likewise was it his; as may plainly appear by that Ironica, Behold, man is become as one of us: Not that he Gen. 3. 22. was so indeed; but hereby his desire to attain a greater perfection than God had given him, was reproved. Woman sinned, it is true, by her infidelity in not believing the Word of God, but giving credit to Satan's fair promises, that she should not die; but so did the Gen. 3 4. man too: And if Adam had not approved of that deed which Eve had done, and been willing to tread the steps which she had gone, he being her Head would have reproved her, and have made the commandment a bit to restrain him from breaking his Maker's Injunction: For if a man burn his hand in the fire, the bellows that blowed the fire are not to be blamed, but himself rather, for not being careful to avoid the danger: Yet if the bellows had not blowed, the fire had not burnt; no more is woman simply to be condemned for man's transgression: for by the free will, which before his fall he enjoyed, he might have avoided, and been free from being burnt, or singed with that fire which was kindled by Satan, and blown by Eue. It therefore served not his turn a whit, afterwards to say, The woman which thou gavest me, gave me of the tree, and I did eat: Genesis 3. 12. For a penalty was inflicted upon him, as well as on the woman, the punishment of her transgression being particular to her own fex, and to none but the female kind: but for the sin of man the whole earth was cursed. And he being better able, than the woman, to have resisted temptation, because Genesis 3. 17. the stronger vessel, was first called to account, to show, that to whom much is given, of them much is required; and that he who was the sovereign of all creatures visible, should have yielded greatest obedience to God. True it is (as is already confessed) that woman first sinned, yet find we no mention of spiritual nakedness till man had sinned: than it is said, Their eyes were opened, the eyes of their Genesis 3. 7. mind and conscience; and then perceived they themselves naked, that is, not only bereft of that integrity, which they originally had, but felt the rebellion & disobedience of their members in the disordered motions of their now corrupt nature, which made them for shame to cover their nakedness: then (and not afore) is it said that they saw it, as if sin were imperfect, and unable to bring a deprivation of a blessing received, or death on all mankind, till man (in whom lay the active power of generation) had transgressed. The offence therefore of Adam and Eve is by Saint Austin thus distinguished, the man sinned against God and himself, the woman against God, herself, and her husband: yet in her giving of the fruit to eat had she no malicious intent towards him, but did therein show a desire to make her husband partaker of that happiness, which she thought by their eating they should both have enjoyed. This her giving Adam of that sauce, wherewith Satan had served her, whose sourness afore he had eaten, she did not perceive, was that, which made her sin to exceed his: wherefore, that she might not of him, who ought to honour 1 Pet. 3. 7. her, be abhorred, the first promise that was made in Paradise, God makes to woman, that by her Seed should the Serpent's head be broken: Genesis 3. 15. whereupon Adam calls her Hevah, life, that as the woman had been an occasion of his sin, so should woman bring forth the Saviour from sin, which was in the fullness of time accomplished; by which was manifested, that he is a Saviour of believing women, Galat. 4 4. no less then of men, that so the blame of sin may not be imputed to his creature, which is good; but to the will by which Eve sinned, and yet by Christ's assuming the shape of man was it declared, that his mercy was equivalent to both Sexes; so that by Herod's blessed Seed (as Saint Paul affirms) it is brought to pass, that Galat. 3. 28. male and female are all one in Christ jesus. To the second objection I answer, That the 2 Objection answered. Apostle doth not hereby exempt man from sin, but only giveth to understand, that the woman was the primaric transgressor; and not the man, but that man was not at all deceived, was far from his meaning: for he afterward expressly saith, that as in Adam all die, so 1 Cor. 15. 22. in Christ shall all be made alive. For the third objection, It is good for a man 3 Objection answered. not touch a woman: The Apostle makes it not a positive prohibition, but speaks it only because of the Corinth's present necessity, who were then persecuted by the enemies of the 1 Cor. 7. Church, for which cause, and no other, he saith, Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife: meaning whilst the time of these perturbations should continue in their heat; but if thou art bound, seek not to be loosed: if thou marriest, thou sinnest not, only increasest thy care: for the married careth, for the things of this world, And I wish that you were without care, that ye might cleave fast unto the Lord without separation: For the time remaineth, that they which have wives be as though they had none: for the persecutors shall deprive you of them, either by imprisonment, banishment, or death; so that manifest it is, that the Apostle doth not hereby forbid marriage, but only adviseth the Corinth's to forbear a while, till God in mercy should curb the fury of their adversaries. For (as Eusebius writeth) Paul was afterward married himself, the which is very probable, being that interrogatively he saith, Have we not power to lead about a wife, being 1. Corint. 9 5. a sister, as well as the rest of the Apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas? The fourth and last objection, is that of Solomon, 4 Object answered. I have found one man among a thousand, but a woman among them all have I not found: for Eccles. 7. 30. answer of which, if we look into the story of his life, we shall find therein a Commentary upon this enigmatical Sentence included: for it is there said, that Solomon had seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines, which number connexed make one thousand. These 1 King. 11. 3. women turning his heart away from being perfect with the Lord his God, sufficient cause had he to say, that among the said thousand women found he not one upright. He saith Pagnine. not, that among a thousand women never any man found one worthy of commendation, but speaks in the first person singularly, I have not found, meaning in his own experience: for this assertion is to be holden a part of the confession of his former follies, and no otherwise, his repentance being the intended drift of Ecclesiastes. Thus having (by God's assistance) removed those stones, whereat some have stumbled, others broken their shins, I will proceed toward the period of my intended task, which is, to decipher the excellency of women: of whose Creation I will, for order's sake observe; First, the efficient cause, which was God; Secondly, the material cause, or that whereof she was made; Thirdly, the formal cause, or fashion, and proportion of her feature; Fourthly and lastly, the final cause, the end or purpose for which she was made. To begin with the first. The efficient cause of woman's creation, was jehovah the Eternal; the truth of which is manifest in Moses his narration of the six days Genesis 1. 28. works; where he saith, God created them male and female: And David exhorting all the earth to sing unto the Lord; meaning, by a Metonymy, earth, all creatures that live on the earth, of what nation or Sex soever, gives this reason, For the Lord hath made us. That work than can Psal. 100 3. not choose but be good, yea very good, which is wrought by so excellent a workman as the Lord: for he being a glorious Creator, must needs effect a worthy creature. Bitter water can not proceed from a pleasant sweet fountain, nor bad work from that workman which Psal. 100 4. is perfectly good, & in propriety, none but he. Math. 19 17. Secondly, the material cause, or matter whereof woman was made, was of a refined mould, if I may so speak: for man was created of the dust of the earth, but woman was made Genesis 2. 7. of a part of man, after that he was a living soul: yet was she not produced from Adam's foot, to be his too low inferior; nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal; that where he is Lord, she may be Lady: and therefore saith God concerning man and woman jointly, Let them rule Genesis 1. 26. over the fish of the Sea, and over the fowls of the Heaven, and over every beast that moveth upon the earth: By which words, he makes their authority equal, and all creatures to be in subjection unto them both. This being rightly considered, doth teach men to make such account of their wives, as Adam did of Eve, This is bone of Genesis 2. 23. my bone, and flesh of my flesh: As also, that they neither do or wish any more hurt unto them, then unto their own bodies: for men ought to love their wives as themselves, because he Ephes. 5. 28. that loves his wife, loves himself: And never man hated his own flesh (which the woman is) unless a monster in nature. Thirdly, the formal cause, fashion, and proportion of woman was excellent: For she was neither like the beasts of the earth, fowls of the air, fishes of the Sea, or any other inferior creature, but Man was the only object, which she did resemble. For as God gave man a lofty countenance, that he might look up toward Heaven, so did he likewise give unto woman. And as the temperature of man's body is excellent, so is womans. For whereas other Creatures, by reason of their gross humours, have excrements for their habit, as fowls, their feathers, beasts, their hair, fishes, their scales, man and woman only, have their Gen. 1. 26. skin clear and smooth. And (that more is) in the Image of God were they both created; yea and to be brief, all the parts of their bodies, both external and internal, were correspondent and meet each for other. Fourthly and lastly, the final cause, or end, for which woman was made, was to glorify God, and to be a collateral companion for man to glorify God, in using her body, and all the parts, powers, and faculties thereof, as instruments for his honour: As with her voice Exod. 15. 20. to sound forth his praises, like Meriam, and the rest of her company; with her tongue not to utter words of strife, but to give good council unto her husband, the which he must not despise. For Abraham was bidden to give ear Genesis 21. 12 to Sarah his wife. Pilate was willed by his wife not to have any hand in the condemning of CHRIST; and a sin it was in him, that he Math. 27. 19 listened not to her: Leah and Rachel counseled jaacob to do according to the word of the Lord: Genesis 31. 16 and the Shunamite put her husband in mind of harbouring the Prophet Elisha: her hands should 2 Kings 4. 9 be open according to her ability, in contributing towards God's service, and distressed servants, like to that poor widow, which cast two mites into the Treasury; and as Marie Luke 8. Magdalen, Susanna, and joanne the wife of Herod's Steward, with many other, which of their substance ministered unto CHRIST. Her heart should be a receptacle for God's Word, like Mary that treasured up the sayings of CHRIST Luke 1. 51. in her heart. Her feet should be swift in going to seek the Lord in his Sanctuary, as Marie Magdalen made haste to seek CHRIST at his Sepulchre. Finally, no power external or john 20. 1. internal aught woman to keep idle, but to employ it in some service of GOD, to the glory of her Creator, and comfort of her own soul. The other end for which woman was made, was to be a Companion and helper for man; and if she must be an helper, and but an helper, then are those husbands to be blamed, which lay the whole burden of domestical affairs and maintenance on the shoulders of their wives. For, as yoake-fellowes they are to suftayne part of each others cares, griefs, and calamities: But as if two Oxen be put in one yoke, the one being bigger than the other, the greater bears most weight; so the Husband being the stronger vessel is to bear a greater burden than his wife; And therefore the Lord said to Adam, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, Gen. 3. 19 till thou return to the dust. And Saint Paul saith, That he that provideth not for his household is 1. Tim. 5. 8. worse than an Infidel. Nature hath taught senseless creatures to help one another; as the Male Pigeon, when his Hen is weary with sitting on her eggs, and comes off from them, supplies her place, that in her absence they may receive no harm, until such time as she is fully refreshed. Of small Birds the Cock always helps his Hen to build her nest; and while she sits upon her eggs, he flies abroad to get meat for her, who cannot then provide any for herself. The crowing Cockerel helps his Hen to defend her Chickens from peril, and will endanger himself to save her and them from harm. Seeing then that these unreasonable creatures, by the instinct of nature, bear such affection each to other, that without any grudge, they willingly, according to their kind, help one another, I may reason à minore ad maius, that much more should man and woman, which are reasonable creatures, be helpers each to other in all things lawful, they having the Law of God to guide them, his Word to be a Lantern unto their feet, and a Light unto their paths, by which they are excited to a far more mutual participation of each others burden, than other creatures. So that neither the wife may say to her husband, nor the husband unto his wife, I have no need of thee, no more than the members of the body may so say each to other, between whom there is 1. Cor. 12. 21. such a sympathy, that if one member suffer, all suffer with it: Therefore though God bade Abraham forsake his Country and Kindred, yet he bade him not forsake his wife, who being Flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, was to be copartner with him of whatsoever did betide him, whether joy or sorrow. Wherefore Solomon saith, Woe to him that is alone; for when Eccles 4. 10. thoughts of discomfort, troubles of this world, and fear of dangers do possess him, he wants a companion to lift him up from the pit of perplexity, into which he is fallen: for a good Eccles. 4. 10. wife, saith Plautus, is the wealth of the mind, and the welfare of the heart; and therefore a meet associate for her husband; And Woman, saith Paul, is the glory of the man. 1. Cor. 11. 7. Marriage is a merri-age, and this world's Paradise, where there is mutual love. Our blessed Saviour vouchsafed to honour a marriage with the first miracle that he wrought, unto which john 2. miracle matrimonial estate may not unfitly be resembled: For as Christ turned water into wine, a far more excellent liquor; which, as the Psalmist saith, Makes glad the heart of man; Psal, 104. 15. So the single man is by marriage changed from a Bachelor to a Husband, a far more excellent title: from a solitary life unto a joyful union and conjunction, with such a creature as God hath made meet for man, for whom none was meet till she was made. The enjoying of this great blessing made Pericles more unwilling to part from his wife, then to die for his Country; And Antonius Pius to pour forth that pathetical exclamation against death, for depriving him of his dearly beloved wife, O cruel hardhearted death in bereaving me of her whom I esteemed more than my own life! A virtuous Prou. 12. 4. woman, saith Solomon, is the Crown of her husband; By which metaphor he showeth both the excellency of such a wife, and what account her husband is to make of her: For a King doth not trample his Crown under his feet, but highly esteems of it, gently handles it, and carefully lays it up, as the evidence of his Kingdom; and therefore when David destroyed Rabbah he took off the Crown from their 1. Chron. 20. 2. King's head: So husbands should not account their wives as their vassals, but as those that are heirs together of the grace of life, and with 1. Pet. 3. 7. all lenity and mild persuasions set their feet in the right way, if they happen to tread awry, bearing with their infirmities, as Elkanah did 1. Sam. 1. 17. with his wives barrenness. The Kingdom of God is compared unto Math. 22. the marriage of a King's son: john calleth the Reu. 19 7. conjunction of Christ and his Chosen, a Marriage: And not few, but many times, doth our blessed Saviour in the Canticles, set forth his unspeakable love towards his Church under the title of an Husband rejoicing with his Wife; and often vouchsafeth to call her his Sister and Spouse, by which is showed that with God is no respect of persons, Nations, or Rom. 2. 11. Sexes: For whosoever, whether it be man or woman, that doth believe in the Lord jesus, such shall be saved. And if Gods love even from john 3. 18. the beginning, had not been as great toward woman as to man, than would he not have preserved from the deluge of the old world as many women as men; nor would Christ after his Resurrection have appeared unto a woman first of all other, had it not been to declare thereby, that the benefits of his death and resurrection, are as available, by belief, for women as for men; for he indifferently died for the one sex as well as the other: Yet a truth ungainesayable 1. Cor. 11. 3. is it, that the Man is the Woman's Head; by which title yet of Supremacy, no authority hath he given him to domineer, or basely command and employ his wife, as a servant; but hereby is he taught the duties which he oweth unto her: For as the head of a man is the imaginer and contriver of projects profitable for the safety of his whole body; so the Husband must protect and defend his Wife from injuries: For he is her Head, as Christ is the Head of his Church, Ephe. 5. 23. which he entirely loveth, and for which he gave his very life; the decrest thing any man job 2. 4. hath in this world; Greater love than this hath no john 15. 13. man, when he bestoweth his life for his friend, saith our Saviour: This precedent passeth all other patterns, it requireth great benignity, and enjoineth an extraordinary affection, For men must love their wives, even as Christ loved his Church. Secondly, as the Head doth not jar or contend with the members, which being many, as the Apostle saith, yet make but one body; no 1. Cor. 12. 20. more must the husband with the wife, but expelling all bitterness and cruelty he must live Col. 3. 19 with her lovingly, and religiously, honouring her as the weaker vessel. Thirdly, and lastly, as 1. Pet. 3. 7. he is her Head, he must, by instruction, bring her to the knowledge of her Creator, that so she may be a fit stone for the Lords building. 1. Cor. 14. 35. Women for this end must have an especial care to set their affections upon such as are able to teach them, that as they grow in years, they may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ 1. Pet. 3. 18. jesus our Lord. Thus if men would remember the duties they are to perform in being heads, some would not stand a-tiptoe as they do, thinking themselves Lords & Rulers, and account every omission of performing whatsoever they command, whether lawful or not, to be matter of great disparagement, and indignity done them; whereas they should consider, that women are enjoined to submit themselves unto their husbands no otherways then as to the Lord; so that Ephes 5. from hence, for man, ariseth a lesson not to be forgotten, that as the Lord commandeth nothing to be done, but that which is right and good, no more must the husband; for if a wife fulfil the evil command of her husband, she obeys him as a tempter, as Saphira did Ananias. Acts 5. 2. But lest I should seem too partial in praising women so much as I have (though no more than warrant from Scripture doth allow) I add to the premises, that I say not, all women are virtuous, for than they should be more excellent than men, sith of Adam's sons there was Cain as well as Abel, and of Noah's, Cham as well as Sem; so that of men as of women, there are two sorts, namely, good and bad, which in Matthew the five and twenty chapter, are comprehended under the name of Sheep and Goats. And if women were not sinful, then should they not need a Saviour: but the Virgin Mary a pattern of piety, rejoiced in God her Saviour: Luke 1. 47. Ergo, she was a sinner. In the Revelation the Church is called the Spouse of Christ; and in Zachariah, wickedness is called a woman, to Zach. 5. 7. show that of women there are both godly and ungodly: For Christ would not Purge his Floor if there were not Chaff among the Wheat; nor should gold need to be fined, if among it there were no dross. But far be it from any one, to condemn the righteous with the wicked, Gen. 18. 25. or good women with the bad (as the Bayter of women doth:) For though there are some scabbed sheep in a Flock, we must not therefore conclude all the rest to be mangy: And though some men, through excess, abuse God's creatures, we must not imagine that all men are Gluttons; the which we may with as good reason do, as condemn all women in general, for the offences of some particulars. Of the good sort is it that I have in this book spoken, and so would I that all that read it should so understand me: for if otherwise I had done, I should have incurred that woe, which by the Prophet Isaiah is pronounced against them that speak well of evil, and should Esay 5. 20. have justified the wicked, which Prou. 17. 15. thing is abominable to the Lord. The Epilogue or upshut of the premises. GReat was the unthankfulness of Pharaohs Butler unto joseph; for though he had done him a great pleasure, of which the Gen. 40. 23. Butler promised requital, yet was he quite forgotten of him: But far greater is the ingratitude of those men toward God, that dare presume to speak and exclaim against Woman, whom God did create for man's comfort. What greater discredit can redound to a workman, then to have the man, for whom he hath made it, say, it is nought? or what greater discourtesy can be offered to one, that bestoweth a gift, then to have the receiver give out, that he cares not for it: For he needs it not? And what greater ingratitude can be showed unto GOD then the opprobrious speeches and disgraceful invectives, which some diabolical natures do frame against women? Ingratitude is, and always hath been accounted so odious a vice, that Cicero saith, If one doubt what name to give a wicked man, let him call him an ungrateful person, and then he hath said enough. It was so detected among the Persians, as that by a Law they provided, that such should suffer death as felons, which proved unthankful for any gift received. And Love (saith the Apostle) is the fulfilling of the Law: Rom. 13. 10. But where Ingratitude is harboured, there Love is banished. Let men therefore beware of all unthankfulness, but especially of the superlative ingratitude, that which is towards God, which is no way more palpably declared, then by the contemning of, and railing against women, which sin, of some men (if to be termed men) no doubt but God will one day avenge, when they shall plainly perceive, that it had been better for them to have been borne dumb and lame, then to have used their tongues and hands, the one in repugning, the other in writing against God's handy work, their own flesh, women I mean, whom God hath made equal with themselves in dignity, both temporally and eternally, if they continue in the faith: which God for his mercy sake grant they always may, to the glory of their Creator, and comfort of their own souls, through Christ Amen. To God only wise be glory now and for ever, AMEN. Certain QVAERES to the bayter of Women. WITH CONFUTATION of some part of his Diabolical Discipline. LONDON, Printed by N. O. for Thomas Archer, and are to be sold at his shop in Popes-head-Pallace. 1617. To the Reader. ALthough (courteous Reader) I am young in years, and more defective in knowledge, that little smattering in Learning which I have obtained, being only the fruit of such vacant hours, as I could spare from affairs befitting my Sex, yet am I not altogether ignorant of that Analogy which ought to be used in a literate Responsarie: But the bearbaiting of Women, unto which I have framed my Apologetical answer, being altogether without method, irregular, without Grammatical Concordance, and a promiscuous mingle mangle, it would admit no such order to be observed in the answering thereof, as a regular Responsarie requireth. Wherefore (gentle Reader) favourably consider, that as that Painter is not to be held unskilful, which having a deformed Object, makes the like portraiture; no more am I justly to be blamed for my immethodical Apology, sith any judicious Reader may plainly see, that the Bayter of Women his pestiferous obtrectation is like a tailors Cushion, that is botched together of shreds, so that, were it not to prevent future infection with that venom, which he hath, and daily doth sweat out, I would have been loath to have spent time so idly, as to answer it at all: but a crooked potlid well enough fits a wry necked pot, an unfashioned shoe a misshapen foot, and an illiterate answer an unlearned irreligious provocation. His absurdities therein contained, are so many, that to answer them severally, were as frivolous a work, as to make a Trap for a Flea, and as tedious as the pursuit of an Arrow to an impotent man. Yet to prevent his having occasion to say, that I speak of many, but can instance none, I have thought it meet to present a few of them to his view, as followeth, that if Follie have taken root in him, he may seek to extirpate it, and to blush at the sight of that fruit, which he hath already brought forth; a fruit I call it (not unfitly I hope) because a Crab may so be termed, as well as a good Apple. Thus, not doubting of the favour of well affected, and of their kind acceptance of my endeavours, of which I desire not applaud, but approbation: I rest, Your friend, RACHEL SPEGHT. ¶ The Preface unto the Subseqnent. WIth edged tools (saith the old Proverb) it is ill sporting; but far more dangerous: yea damnable is it to dally with Scripture, Hebr. 4. 12. the twoedged Sword of the Eternal: for so to do is a breach of the third Commandment; and he james 2. 10. that fails in one point, is guilty of all. If the magnitude of this sin had been considered by the Bayter of Women, the lamentable, yet just reward thereof, as of all other sins without repentance, would, if he had but a servile fear, have restrained him from transgressing herein. But as one devoid of all true fear of God's indignation against wilful sinners (for as ignorance doth somewhat extenuate a fault, so doth knowledge much aggravate it) he hath made the exordium of his brainsick exhalation against women, to be a perverting of a part of holy Writ; ex v●guibus leonem, judge of this Lion by his paw. For if the fore foot be monstrous, doubtless the whole body is correspondent thereto. The Porch indeed is fowl, but he that views the sequel, as I have done, shall find a laystall of heathenish Assertions, Similes, and Examples, illiterate composition, irreligious invectives, and (which is worst) impious blasphemies therein included, filthy rubbish, more fit to be heaped up by a Pagan, than one that beareth the name of a Christian. But lest it should not only be thought, but also said, that I find fault where none is; or that I do ill to mislike the Work, and not make the Author therewith acquainted, that if he please, he may answer for himself: I think it not amiss to propose some few Quaeres unto the Bayter of Women, which I have abstracted out of his infamous Book, as himself confesseth it to be in his Epistle to Women. Certain Quaeres to the Bayter of women, with confutation of some part of his Diabolical Discipline. IF it be true, ass you affirm, Pag. 2. line 26. That women will not give thanks for a good turn. I demand whether Deborah and Hannah were not women, who both of them sang hymns of thanksgiving unto the Lord; the one for his mercy in granting her victory over Israel's enemies, the judg. 5. other for his favourable giving unto her a son, 1. Sam. 1. 11. & 2. 1. which she full oft and earnestly had desired? And where-asse you say, Page 4. line 22. that a woman that hath a fair face, it is ever matched with a cruel heart, and her heavenly looks with hellish thoughts: You therein show yourself a contradictor of Scriptures precedents: For Abigail was a beautiful woman, and tenderhearted; 1. Sam. 25. 3. 18. Rebekah was both fair of face and Gen. 24. 16. 18. pitiful. Many examples serving to confute your universal rule might be produced, but these are sufficient to dispel this your cloud of untruth. As for your audacity in judging of women's thoughts, you thereby show yourself an usurper against the King of heaver, the true knowledge of cogitations being appropriate Math. 12. 25. unto him alone. If your assertion, That a woman is better lost then found, better forsaken then taken (Page 5. line 4.) be to be credited, me thinks, great pity it is, that afore you were borne, there was none so wise as to counsel your father not to meddle with a woman, that he might have escaped those troubles, which you affirm, that all married men are cumbered with, Page 2. line 20. As also that he might not have begotten such a monster in nature Ass yourself, who (like the Priest which forgot he was Parish Clerk) defame and exclaim against women, as though yourself had never had a mother, or you never been a child. You affirm (Page 10. line 18.) that for the love of women, David purchased the displeasure of his God: It had been good that you had cited the place of story where you find it, For I never yet in Scripture read, that the Almighty was displeased with David for his love to women, but for his lust to Bathsheba, which afterward brought forth his adulterous act, and his causing Vriah to be murdered. In saying (Page 10. line. 25.) that jobs wife 2. Sam. 11. counseled her husband to curse God, you misconstrue the Text; for the true construction thereof will show it to be a Scarcasmus or Ironical speech, and not an instigation to blasphemy. Page 11. line 8. you count it Wonderful to see the mad feats of women, for she will now be merry, then sad: but me thinks it is far more wonderfoole to have one, that adventures to make his Writing as public as an Innkeepers Sign, which hangs to the view of all passengers, to want Grammatical Concordance in his said Writing, and join together Women plural, and she singular, Ass you not only in this place, but also in others have done. Albeit the Scripture verifieth, that God made woman and brought her to man; and that Gen 2. 22. a prudent wife cometh of the Lord: yet have Prou. 19 14. you not feared blasphemously to say, that women sprung from the devil, Page 15. line 26. But being, as it seems, defective in that whereof you have much need (for mendacem oportet esse memorem) you suddenly after say, That women were created by God, and form by nature, and therefore by policy and wisdom to be avoided, Page 16. line 12. An impious conclusion to infer, that because God created, therefore to be avoided: Oh intolerable absurdity! Men I say may live without women, but women cannot live without men, Page 14. line 18. If any Religious Author had thus affirmed, I should have wondered, that unto Satan's suggestions he had so much subjecteth himself, as to cross the Almighty's providence and care for man's good, who positively said, It is not good for man Gen. 2. 18. to be alone; But being that the sole testimony hereof in your own dico, I marvel no whit at the error, but heartily wish, that unto all the untruths you have uttered in your infamous book, you had subscribed your Dico, that none of them might be adjudged truths: For mendacis praemium est verbis eius non adhiberi fidem. Page 17. line 5. you affirm, that Hosea was brought unto Idolatry by marrying with a lewd woman, which is as true as the sea burns; and for proof thereof you cite Hosea 1. in which chapter is no such matter to be found, it only containing a declaration of the Lords anger against the adulterous jews, who had gone a whoring after other Gods, set forth in a parable of an husband and an adulterous wife. Page 19 Theodora a monstrous strumpet, Lavia, Floria, and Lais, were three notable Courtesans. Was not that noble City of Troy, sacked and spoiled for the fair Helena? Page 21. Therefore stay not alone in the company of a woman, trusting to thy own chastity, except thou be more strong than Samson, more wise than Solomon, or more holy than David, for these, and many more have been overcome by the sweet enticements of women, Page 22. I may as well say Barrabas was a murderer, Luke 23. 19 joab killed Abner and Amasa, and Pharaoh Necho 2. Sam. 3. 27. slew josiab; therefore stay not alone in the 2. Sam. 20 10. company of a man, trusting to thy own 2. King 23. 29. strength, except thou be stronger than josiah, and more valiant than Abner and Amasa, for these and many more have been murdered by men. The form of argumentation is your own, the which if you dislike, blame yourself for proposing such a pattern, and blush at your own folly, Quod te posse non facile crede: for it is an old saying, how true I know not, that blushing is a sign of grace. Page 31. line 15. If God had not made women only to be a plague to man, he would never have called them necessary evils. Albeit I have not read Seaton or Ramus, nor so much as seen (though heard of) Aristotle's Arganox, yet by that I have seen and read in compass of my apprehension, I will adventure to frame an argument or two, to show what danger, for this your blasphemy your are in. To fasten a lie upon God is blasphemy: But the Bayter of women fastens a lie upon God: ergo, the Bayter is a blasphemer. The Proposition, I trow, none will gainsay, the assumption I thus prove, Whosoever affirms God to have called women necessary evils, fastens a lie upon God: For from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelation is no such instance to be found: But the Bayter affirms God so to have called women, Ergo, the Bayter fastens a lie upon God. The reward according to Lave Divine due unto the Bayter of women. Whosoever blasphemeth God, aught by his Law, to die; The Bayter of Women hath blasphemed God, Ergo, he ought to die the death. The Proposition is upon record, Leuit. 24. 14. 16. The Assumption is formerly proved. If thou marryest a still and a quiet woman, that will seem to thee that thou ride but an ambling horse to hell, but if with one that is froward and unquiet, than thou wert as good ride a trotting horse to the devil. Page 35. line 13. If this your affirmation be true, then seems it, that hell is the period of all married men's travails, and the centre of their circumference. A man can but have either a good wife or a bad; and if he have the former, you say he doth but seem to amble to hell; if the latter, he were as good trot to the devil: But if married men ride, how travail Bachelors? surely, by your rule they must go on foot, because they want wives; which (inclusively) you say are like horses to carry their husbands to hell. Wherefore in my mind, it was not without mature consideration that you married in time, because it would be too irksome for you to travail so tedious a journey on foot. Now the fire is kindled, let us burn this other faggot. Page 38. line 4. Beware of making too great a fire, lest the surplusage of that fires effect which you intended for others, sing yourself. She will make thee wear an Ox feather in thy Cap. Page 44. line 4. If Oxen have feathers, their hairs more fitly may be so termed then their horns. Page 50. line 28. There is no joy nor pleasure in this world which may be compared to Marriage, for if the husband be poor and in adversity, than he bears but the one half of the grief: and furthermore, his wife will comfort him, with all the comfortable means she can devise. Page 51. line 16. Many are the joys and sweet pleasures in Marriage, as in our children, etc. Page 34. line 5. There are many troubles comes galloping at the heels of a woman. If thou wert a Servant, or in bondage afore, yet when thou marriest, thy toil is never the nearer ended, but even then, and not before, thou changest thy golden life, which thou didst lead before (in respect of the married) for a drop of honey, which quickly turns to be as bitter as wormwood. Page 53. line 19 The husband ought (in sign of love) to impart his secrets and counsel unto his wife, for many have found much comfort and profit by taking their wives counsel; and if thou impart any ill hap to thy wife, she lighteneth thy grief, either by comforting thee lousngly, or else, in bearing a part thereof patiently. Page 41. line 12. If thou unfouldest any thing of secret to a woman, the more thou chargest her to keep it close, the more she will seem, as it were, with child, till she have revealed it. It was the saying of a judicious Writer, that whoso makes the fruit of his cogitations extant to the view of all men, should have his work to be as a well tuned Instrument, in all places according and agreeing, the which I am sure yours doth not: For how reconcile you those dissonant places above cited? or how make you a consonant diapason of those discords wanting harmony? Page 34. line 19 You counsel all men, to shun idleness, and yet the first words of your Epistle to Women are these, musing with myself being idle: Herein you appear, not unlike unto a Fencer, which teacheth another how to defend himself from enemies blows, and suffers himself to be stricken without resistance: for you warn others, to eschew that dangerous vice, wherewith (by your own confession) yourself is stained. Page 57 line 5. If thou like not my reasons to expel love, than thou mayest try Ovid's Art, for be counsels those that feel this horrible heat to cool their flames with herbs which are cold of nature as Rew, etc. Albeit you doubt not but by some to be reputed for a good Archer, yet here you shot wide from the truth, in saying without contradiction of Ovid's error, that Rew is of a cold nature: For most Physicians (if not all) both ancient and modern, hold it to be hot and dry in the third degree: and experience will tell the user thereof, that the temperature is hot, not cold. And though the sense of tasting, without further trial, doth repel this error, I doubt not but in citing this prescription, you have verified the opinion of that philosopher, which said, That there are some, who think they speak wisest, and write most judiciously, when they understand not themselves. But, ut opus ad finem perducam, sith I have trodden my utmost intended step, though left one path ungone, I mean the bearbaiting of Widows unviewed, in that I am ignorant of their dispositions, accounting it a folly for me to talk of Robin-hood, as many do, that never shot in his Bow, I leave the speculation (with approbation of their bearbaiting) to those that regard neither affability nor humanity, and wishing unto every such Misogunes, a Tyburn Tiffenie for curation of his swollen neck, which only through a Cynical inclination will not endure the yoke of lawful Matrimony, I bid farewell. F ret, fume or frump at me who will, I care not, I will thrust forth thy sting to hurt, and sp●re not: N owe that the task I undertook is ended, I dread not any harm to me intended, S i'th' justly none therein I have offended. Page 7. line 7. for Herod's read He●●●s