Asylum Veneris,  
OR A SANCTVARY for LADIES.  
justly PROTECTING THEM, their virtues, and sufficiencies from the foul aspersions and forged imputations of traducing Spirits.  
Ipsa sibi Virtus pretium nihil indiga laudis. Claud:  
LONDON Printed by Edward Griffin for Laurence L'isle, and are to be sold at his shop in Paul's Churchyard at the sign of the tigers head. 1616.   

with all variety of Graces and Abilities. Every thing grows there in so good order, that the searching eye of Malice can find nothing to be lopped, little to be pruned. The hand of Heaven hath made it as it were a Nursery, from whence many Virtues & Perfections are oft times transplanted into others.  
This inward Beauty, graced with an outward comeliness, makes me think you, that complete Heroine, which Venus spoke of, when she said;  

Haec est caeruleis me cum consurgere digna  
Fluctibus, & nostrâ potuit consider Conchâ. 

Well was she worthy on the seas to ride,  
And in our Shell sit with us side by side.     
Hence, Madam, I presume to place you, like an armed Cherubin, at the very entrance of this Sanctuary, to put back such, as have not on the Livery, which yourself do wear.  
That serviceable Love, wherewith I have always honoured your noble Family the Spencers, & their Allies, directing itself upon some respects in a more particular manner to you, was the chief occasion that I first erected it. Protect it, and having kissed your worthy hands, I will ever rest,  
Your affectionate Servant, D. T.   

To the Reader.  
I Know this age to be very Stoical and Critical, and that many will censure the Author to have seriously busied himself in an idle subject; as making no account of virtue in women, though they come far short of it themselves. But I have Plutarch, and many other worthy persons for my Precedents, Besides I considered with myself that if the Trophies of Miltiades were of power to recall Themistocles from his effeminate and wanton courses, much more should their Perfections & Sufficiencies, whom we account the weaker Vessels, be of force to stir us up to all heroical attempts and achievements. And blessed S. Augustine doth most ingenuously confess, That from their constancy he received much encouragement in his first conversion. But the slight approbation I make of it myself, may be witnessed by my long suppressing it. And but to prevent others, who had gotten from me some imperfect copies, I would never have published it now. Careless therefore of all snarling Cynics & their taxations, with Horace I only court the learned and the good.  

— quibus haec sint qualia cunqne  
Arridere velim; doliturus, si placeant spe  
Deterius nostra.—    

To the loser sort of Women.  

STand of you foul adulterate brats of Hell,  
Whose lungs exhale a worse than sulphurous smell,  
Do not attempt with your profaner hands  
To touch the Shrine, in which chaste Virtue stands.  
Hence Messalina, hence, back to the stew,  
And in that cage thy blooded Pinions mew.  
Hence you that weigh not, so your thoughts be stilled,  
Though Naboth's blood be innocently spilled;  
And being bankrupt of each native grace,  
Think to catch jehu with a bird-limed Face.  
Hence frisking Faëries, that like Herod's Noise,  
Esteem of dancing, as your chiefest piece,  
And with Sempronia care not, so your Lute  
Delight the Hearers, though your Souls be mute.  
Hence you, that seek by Philtres, drugs, & charms,  
To bring the curl'd-head Youth into your arms;  
And do not fear by poison to remove  
A worthy Husband, for a worthless love.  
Hence you, that practice Aretine's vile shapes,  
Yet can so fairly solder up your 'scapes.  
That in your Nuptials first assaults, the Bed  
Shall boast the conquest of a Maidenhead.  
Hence you that strive to have your outsides brave,  
Yet are within far fouler than your Slave;  
And will not let, being stirred by ranker veins,  
The Groom away, to try your Stallions reins.  
For Women only is this Place ordained,  
But you are Monsters, and their Sex have stained.  
Hence therefore, hence, you base, unhallowed crew,  
Hope for no shelter here, All such as you,  
That hitherwards for help, and succour fly,  
Plucked from the Altar, must abjure, or die.    

In delicatum Lectorem, è MART.  

COnsumpta est uno si lēmate pagina transis,  
Et breviora tibi, non meliora, placent.  
Dives, & ex omni posita est instructa macello  
Coena tibi; sed te mattya sola jwant:  
Non opus est nobis nimium lectore guloso;  
Hunc volo, qui fiat, non sine pane, satur.    

To the nice and dainty READER.  

Hath one conceit by chance filled up a side,  
Thou skip'st it over, & dost the work deride.  
Amongst them all, those which the briefest be,  
And not the best, are pleasing'st unto thee.  
I have not spared to furnish out my board,  
With all choice Meats, the Shambles could afford  
Veal, Mutton, Lamb, Pig, Capon, but in sooth  
Save junkets, nothing likes thy liquorish tooth.  
We such a Reader, trust me, do not need,  
As too much like an Epicure doth feed:  
Give me that Man, who when he sits to eat,  
Will fill himself with bread, as well as meat.    

The Contents.  

The poem.  
CHAP. 1. Of women's worth in general.  
CHAP. 2. Of their Beauty.  
CHAP. 3. Of their Chastity.  
CHAP. 4. Of their outward modesty.  
CHAP. 5. Of their Humility, and supposed Pride.  
CHAP. 6. Of their Silence and falsely objected Talkativenesse.  
CHAP. 7. Of the Constancy of their Affections.  
CHAP. 8. Of their Learning and Knowledge.  
CHAP. 9 Of their Wisdom and Discretion.  
CHAP. 10. Of their Valour and Courage.    

The Epilogue. 11.  
In which their abilities and graces are proved to be as weighty as men's; their weaknesses and imperfections only shadow of theirs: and Men generally taxed for their erroneous and side-respect in the choice of wives, as the main cause of their after-complaints.   

Asylum Veneris, OR A SANCTVARIE for WOMEN.  

Proaemium.  
VIrtue is made a whited wall, which every idiot doth delight to soil. He that knoweth no part of her but the name, will notwithstanding have her banished for her worth. If she flourish never so little, some trick or other must be put in practice to give her a remove: but she, who as the Poet saith.  

Nec sumit, aut ponit secures  
Arbitrio popularis aurae. 

Nor takes, nor leaves her dignity, and crown  
For any vulgar fawn, or base frown,     
Can at her pleasure free herself from check; and with the splendour of her majesty disperse those earthly exhalations which being belched out of the bosom of wretched malice, would obscure his glory. She stands continually firm and upon her square: her constancy is like the suns, which neither for our praises, nor our curses will be moved to hasten or slacken his career. She imitates the Moon, and howsoever savage wolves do howl and bark at her, she is not moved to forego her Sphere. Antoeus like, the oftener she is cast to ground, the greater strength she still recovereth. Hi● foils do serve her as a file, to give him courage point. She is Colossus etiam in puteo; put her into a dungeon she retains her state. He that laboureth by the interposition of some scandalous delation to eclipse her brightness, may peradventure with the silly Fly, make the object of his envy an occasion of his tragedy.  
What sweet perfections are in women, which ill disposed men have not endeavoured to deprave, through false and forged imputations? what fair abilities and graces, which they have not sought to black with their calumnious aspersions? She hath been a long time the white, at which their hate hath leveled; but as they that shoot against the stars, may peradventure hurt themselves, but never endanger them; their arrows many times have rebounded back, and delivered a fatal answer to those that sent them: The dissection of their weakness hath happened to be a strict anatomizing of their own.  
The snuffers in the Temple were of pure gold, to signify unto us, that such as take upon them to remove from others the superfluity of the week, that their light may burn out the clearer; ought to be free from all taxation themselves. It were ridiculous for any man to talk of a mote in his neighbour's eye, when there is a beam in his own. He may well bear with a wart, who is himself disfigured with a wen. But alas! it is the nature of sick and crazy appetites, to think the meat which is set before them, is unsavoury, when indeed the fault proceedeth not, but from a mere distemperature in their own palates. The diseased person complaineth of the hardness of his bed, when the cause of his disquiet is a weakness in his bones. Look upon such as are overcome with wine, and ye shall see them ready to accuse even temperance itself of their own folly: the earth, which standeth still immovable, cannot escape their censure. They will by no means be persuaded, but it is that which reeleth, when alas! it is only their own brains, which are set on wheeling. But I will not here profess myself a champion to that sex, lest by so doing I might be thought to question their sufficiency: the strength of their own merit, without the help of any foreign supply, is that which must free them from the siege of barbarous opposition, and set their honour out of the reach of daring contradiction, which out of doubt will easily be effected, as by the sequel briefly shall appear.   

CHAP. I.  
Of women's worth in general.  
THere is no greater argument of a generous mind, then to joy in whatsoever it seeth generous in others. The Owl and the Bat, though they have eyes to discern there is a sun, yet have so evil eyes, that they cannot delight in the sun: it is for Eagles only, and such kingly birds, as have had no other aery for their breeding, than the lap of love, to gaze with pleasure & admiration on his glory. The meaner sort of people, whose spirits are oppressed & aggraved with such grosser humours, as the channels of their blood are usually dammed up with; dare not but with cowardly fear approach the palaces of Princes: it is honour enough for them, they think, if they may be suffered to observe the frontispiece, or at the most to take a view of such inferior offices, as are in them. Their ambition is of a shorter wing, then to aspire so high as to look into a room of state; yet even these, if in these meaner parts their duller observation find any thing, which holds not correspondency with their conceit, will not stick at their departure for a little error to discommend the workmanship of the whole frame. They which out of a cynical disposition do wound the reputation of Women with invectives, are men of no better garb. The graces have found no sweeter habitation upon earth to rest in, than their bosoms. Our Saviour did not scorn when he came down from heaven to make the womb of a Virgin, the receptacle of his glory. Whereupon Saint Bernard transported with a diviner ecstacie, crieth out, O venture capacior coelis, diffusior terris; latior elementis; qui illum continere valuit, quem totus mundus capere non potuit. O blessed womb, wider than the heavens, broader than the earth, larger than then the elements; which was able to contain him, whom the whole world was too little to receive. And to say truly, where could virtue in the pourpris of this universe, have picked out a fairer mansion? It seems to me that Women were erected of purpose for her to sojourn in; and that, by the hand of God himself, who built her, built her I say, (for this is the proper word, by which the mouth of wisdom in the original expresseth her creation) to show the absoluteness of his skill, in the closing up of his work. But Calumny suggesteth here, that she was built indeed, but the foundation was a crooked rib. 
Ind genus curuum, placidae virtutis inane.   
And from hence a crookedness both in manners and behaviour hath ever since descended by way of propagation, from her to her posterity; which I will no otherwise confute, than by condemning such of ignorance, as have been authors of this improper speech: Art would have termed it an Arch, which of all kinds of Architecture is both the firmest, and the fairest. But this is not the period of their traducements: they will seem to tax the Artisan himself of error and mistaking. He made her for a help, say they, to Man, when she fell out to be nothing less; as if that patron of all exemplary goodness had been ill advised in his ends. They consider not the fault is in themselves, if they prove contrary to his intention. Their own perverseness is that, which maketh them such as they report them. Let Phoebus have the guiding of the day and ye shall see it clear and lightsome, but if Phaethon have the managing of those steeds, his presumptuous over weening will go near to set all things in combustion. I but, say they, she was according to that Spanish adage; Armas del Diablo: cabeza del Peccado: destruction deal Parayso; The sword wherewith the devil cut the throat of man's felicity; she was the head of sin, the overthrow of Paradise. But let them consider the good they gained by this her error, and transgression; and unless their foreheads be of Adamant, they will recant those blasphemies and cry out with a better reformed zeal, O foelix culpa, quae talem, ac tantum meruit Redemptorem! O necessarium Adae peccatum, quod Christi morte deletum est! O happy fault of Eve, which stood in need of such a worthy, and so mighty a redeemer! O needful offence of Adam, which was not to be canceled, but by the death of Christ. Then was it, and not till then, that the doors of those everlasting taberacles, in which the king of glory hath is residence, were opened unto wretched man.. He was driven out of an earthly Paradise by one Angel, that he might be welcomed by Legions of them into a heavenly one, whereof that other was but a figure and a type. And this it may be, was the cause why God after the time of her fall, and not before, entitled her Hevah, the mother of the living. I will omit many things, and not insist upon any long.  
Her breast is as a precious cabinet in which the choicest of all Virtues are preserved. Our Saviour himself could not but wonder at the faith which he found in the woman of Canaan, and forgot not in the height of his admiration to crown it with applause. Malice notwithstanding would persuade the world, that their outside is a shop for vanity; their inside a warehouse for impiety; that conscience in them is but peevishness; chastity, waywardness, and gratefulness a miracle. In a word, that their bosoms are fuller of mischiefs and disasters, than ever was Pandora's box: and that like the Apothecary's painted pots, they may be fair without, yet full of poison within. And surely I must needs confess, that there are some, on whom she may justly fasten these reproaches. For howsoever the matter be the same, there is a difference notwithstanding in the form. The finest cloth hath a list, and the purest gold, is not without some dross. But let not prejudice, like one of Circe's charms work such a fearful metamorphosis upon the minds of men, as to make reason brutish; judgement and understanding, things of little sense. Let them not show themselves, like bores, as ready to root up a bed of roses, as a dunghill: but consider that the earth hurteth not the sun, with those misty vapours, and exhalations, which she breatheth forth against it; but depriveth herself by them of that comfort, which the cheerfulness of his beams would otherwise afford her. And so from these general notions and conceits of women's worthiness, I will now slide to some particulars, amongst which their Beauty is the first that offereth itself to be considered.   

CHAP. 2.  
Of their Beauty.  
THis is that blazing light which virtue like another Hero, setteth up in the face of Women, as in the turret of her habitation, to guide thereby the course of those generous and heroical Leander's, who being enamoured of her fair deserts, cannot brook that the threats and menaces of a rebellious fortune should hinder them from repairing to her lodge, or that any other disastrous accidents whatsoever, should prevent their affection from making a personal presentment of their service, to so sweet and heavenly a mistress: It is the only harbinger, which provideth a resting place both for her and hers, whithersoever they do go: it is the loadstone of all hearts; and in a word, a loadestarre to all eyes. Beasts only cannot discern it, and let them be in the role of beasts that do not honour it.  
The force thereof is such, as hath enforced the greatest conquerors to submit their glory, and to cast the trophies of their victories, as ensigns of their subjection at her feet. Samson, who like another Atlas could carry cities on his shoulders, and by the vigour of his arm which served him as an army, both confront and confound the batalions of his uncircumcised enemies; did notwithstanding this his more than natural strength, become an homager to her. Solomon for all his wisdom was made her liegeman; and David who in his youth had overcome the Lion and the Bear, and did afterwards vanquish that prodigious Philistim, the thunder of whose Threats proclaimed nothing but terror and amazement to the Israelites: upon the sight of Bershabe, & that at a sufficient distance, was captivated by her comeliness. Darius may be so great in power, that all regions may fear to touch him. Yet Apame his concubine will dare to take the crown from his head, and set it upon her own. If she strike him, he must be patient, & when she any way distasteth him, seek by flatteries and smooth insinuations to work his reconcilement. 1. Esdr. 4. v. 30.  
What should I tell you how Achilles doted on his Brisis? or how Alcides was enthralled to his Omphale? The very Gods themselves, if any credit may be given to the fictions of Antiquity, have acknowledged by their submission, a greater deity in women's faces, than their own. Beauty even in the capitol of heaven hath hung up many monuments of her conquests. And hence it may be, grew that speech of Leonidas, who, when he beheld an image of Venus armed, said, it was more than needed, considering how, when she was naked, and altogether unprovided of such steely complement, she had subdued Mars himself. It is not then for any mortal eye to withstand the fierceness of her assault. Virtue itself can be no armour of proof against her shot.  

Her darts pierce deeper, and wound swifter far,  
Than the sharp arrows of the God of war:  
Who would be sure his enemies should die,  
Must touch his weapon with a woman's eye.  
jove, though he held the thunder in his hand,  
Was fain to stoop, when Leda did command:  
Bright Phoebus found in Daphne's looks a flame,  
Which scorched him more, than he this earthly frame.   
Arcesilaus an ancient statuary, to represent the fullness of her power unto us, made a Lioness of marble, and about it many little beauteous Cupids, sporting themselves therewith in sundry manners. Some made it drink out of a horn, some put shoes upon the feet of it: some tied it with ropes unto a stake: all of them according to their several humours made it the subject of their delightful pastime. The beast transported as it were with the fairness of those objects, seemed to forget her savage nature, and to joy in the course of their proceedins. And surely it hath often happened that beauty hath abated the edge of fury; & set a mild aspect upon the face of cruelty. She hath forced tyranny many times to alter his rougher dialect, and to utter silken words at her entreaty.  

Nought under heaven so strongly doth allure  
The sense of man, and all his mind possess,  
As beauties lovely bait, that doth procure  
Great warriors oft their rigour to repress,  
And mighty hands forget their manliness,  
Drawn with the power of an hart-robbing eye  
And wrapped in fetters of a golden tress,  
That can with melting pleasance mollify  
Their hardened hearts, enured to blood & cruelty   
Yet even this in women (and in them alone of all the creatures in this world in hath her chiefest perfection) standeth liable to scandal, Envy maketh it a proverb, that If she be fair, she must be foolish but the spirit of truth confuteth it as a popular untruth, with the example of Sarah, who notwithstanding her excellency in this kind was such, as had so set on fire the heart of Abimeleck, that if God himself had not interposed his authority, she must have been of necessity the spoil and prey of his intemperancy; was endued beside with such an extraordinary measure of knowledge and discretion, that the Lord commanded that worthy Patriarch her husband to show himself in all things obedient to her directions. Ester by means of both prevailed so far with King Assuerus, that she delivered her people from the merciless projects of their oppressors, and made them fall into the snares, which they had laid for others.  
What should I speak of judith, or of Deborah? the one so famous for the deliverance which she procured her country: the other for the prudent government, whereby she did long protect it? both of them notwithstanding most remarkable for their eminency in both. I could levy infinite examples out of the writings of profaner authors to convince this error; but I see, that even common sense doth give it the fatal blow. For indeed, where should we look for knowledge, but in her whose first ambition was the height of knowledge.  
It is not usual for any to covet, what they do not conceit. The silly Peasant regardeth a pearl no more than Esop's Cock, because he knoweth not the use thereof. The Queen of Shebas repairing to king Solomon, gave Israel an ample testimony of her understanding.  
But if according to that Tuscanphrase, tutto vain scorza, all be in the bark, and nothing in the body; If there be only a superficial tincture, an outward dye, not woaded with any graces or abilities, which might colour it in grain, this Sanctuary will afford them no protection. I must liken them myself unto a ragged wall, whose deformities are hidden with some curious piece of hanging: or to those carriages of state, which are covered over with embroidered sumpterclothes, when the loading consisteth of nothing peradventure but lome and rubbish; or last of all to a stately building, which putteth the weary travailer a far off, in mind of some great inhabitant, but when he draweth near unto it, he finds there is only some poor decrepit beldame, and her cur, residing in it. As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, saith the mouth of Wisdom, so is a fair Woman, which is without discretion. Prou. 11. 13,  
Olympias derided a lusty Gallant of her Court, who had matched himself, as she well understood, with one of the loulier hue, but loser crew, and said, that if he had been a creature endued with reason he would never have made his eyes the instruments of his contraction.  
Venus was seldom pictured without the graces by her. Antiquity held them for her true and faithful assistants, without whom she would not willingly do any thing. Hereupon it is reported, that when Paris was to reward her with the due price of her perfections, she did not only summon them, but Hymenaeus, Cupid, and all her little lovekins, to come and deliver their opinion & their counsel in that business. And out of question where these are wanting Beauty is but imposture. It is the devils maskingsuite, wherewith impiety and impurity do many times disguise themselves. Yea whensoever the spirit of darkness would seem an angel of light, he findeth not in all his ward rob a fitter habit. There are many though, which make this the only ground of their affections; and which, like little babies, so the cover of book be gay, respect not the contents. But alas! they suffer themselves to be guided by an Ignis fatuus, which without much wariness will lead them to their own destruction. The love of beauty argueth a lack of reason, and cometh as Saint Hierom saith within an inch of madness. Wisdom will never be deluded with these appearances; so the lining be good, let the outside be what it will. She knoweth that the foul to ade may have a fair stone in his head, that the fine gold is found many times in the filthy earth; and that the sweet kernel lieth often in a hard shell. Yet I must needs say with the Poet.  

Gratior est pulchro veniens è corpore virtus.   
That virtue liketh her much better, when she finds it in a comely lodging, then when she is bound to seek it in an ill favoured creature, like a pearl in a dunghill. Such as would be protected here therefore, must produce their warrant. If they be black without, they must make it appear by their manners and behaviour that they be beautiful within; and so on the contrary, if they be spotless in body, that they be spitelesse in mind; if they be fair as the moon, that they be likewise pure as the sun, or it will advantage them but little, to make this the refuge of their safety. She that hath a fair body, but a foul mind, is like unto him that hath a good Ship, but an ill Pilot. The period of that panegyric, which was penned by the Psalmist in praise of the king's daughter, was this, That she was all glorious within. And surely in such as are not so, neither beauty, nor embroidery can justly challenge the name of ornaments.  
It is not purple, needlework, or precious stones that must adorn and beautify a woman.  
These be arguments of her wealth, not of her worth, and get her nothing but a popular applause. 
Pulchrun ornatum turpes mores peius coeno collinunt,  
Lepidi mores turpem ornatum facile factis comprobant.   
Ill gestures defile good garments, but virtuous conditions are a rich lining to a mean outside. If she would therefore be the subject of discreeter admiration, she must esteem these accessary adjuncts, no better, than did Lysander those jewels and costlier tires, with which the tyrant of Sicily did court the love and affection of his daughters. She must eye them with no greater respect, than she would the trappings of a horse, which add not to the goodness of the beast, that beareth them; and wear them not so much for fame as for fashion. Virtue must be her chiefest garnish. Beauty may procure delight, but it will hardly purchase love, unless temperancy and modesty, like two judicial Schoolemistresses, have the fashioning of her carriage and conversation.  

Donec er as simplex animum cum corpore amavi;  
At mentis vitio laesa figura tua est. 

I liked thy body as I did thy mind  
Whilst in thy bosom I no craft did find;  
But those vile cankers, which have gnawn thy soul  
Have marred thy favour) made thy beauty foul.     
And so from hence will I now turn the course of my discourse, and come to speak a little of their Chastity, a thing excellent in many, yet traduced by the most. For behold, Hylax in limine latrat, I hear it closely pursued with hue and cry, even in the very entrance.  

I seek if any wench deny,  
Sophronius, up and down:  
But not a wench which doth deny,  
find I through out the town;  
As though it were a wicked thing,  
and whence disgrace might rise;  
Yea no way lawful to deny;  
no wench at all denies.  
Be none then chaste? yes out of doubt,  
we thousands chaste may call:  
What then do they? they do not grant,  
yet near deny at all.   
Which harsher censures, whether they proceeded from the discontented humours of these particular persons only whose feet well felt where the shoe did wring them; or from a general depravation rather of thosetimes, I know not.  

But there are many hold it as their creed,  
That all of them are false, if they be tried:  
If some seem chaste, it doth of this prrceede  
They have the wit to do, but not be spied;  
And know by deep dissembling & good heed,  
With sober looks their wanton lust to hide.   
With these the Satirist giveth up his verdict, & finding chastity for the rareness of it in those ruder times, as prodigious as either a milk-white Raven, or a coal-black swan, examineth such as go about to wive, what hellish furies they be which drive them to it; and wondereth that any, considering the world affordeth such infinite store of neckties, so many lofty turrets, and deeper wells, should endure to yoke themselves to the vicious imperfections of a creature so lascivious and imperious.  

— Tarpeium limen adora  
Pronus, & auratam Iunoni caede iuvencam,  
Si tibi contigerit capitis matrona pudici:  
Paucae adeo vittas Cereris contingere dignae. 

Within the temple prostrate on thy face,  
Offer the gods thy prayers in any case;  
To juno then, with loud, but hallowed cries,  
A horne-guilt Heifer see thou sacrifice,  
If thou a wife hast got, that's free from blame,  
chaste in her life, and spotless in her name;  
So few there be, whose purer worth appears  
Such as may claim the garlands Ceres wears.     
But out of doubt, these are not the legitimate children of a stayed conceit. jealousy that adulterate & spurious brat of love and fear, was their only sire: and indeed this is a monster, which never looketh upon virtue, but with a froward and suspicious eye. It resembleth in effect the ivy, which doth always hurt that most, which it most embraceth. Such as have it in their brain, will not be persuaded, but that which affordeth pleasure to themselves, doth give the like contentment to others. Bassa Ionuses, who with hissword, as with a pen of steel drew the conveyances, which did instate his Sovereign Selimus the first in the territories and dominions of the Mamalukes, became so desperately enamoured of the beauteous Lady Manto, by birth a Grecian, but by the chance of war his prisoner, that he did not only admit her to his board, but of his captive made her in a while the lawful partner of his bed. And for a time they so delighted in each others love, that as the Poet said of Shafalus and Procris.  

Non iovis illa viri thalamos praeferret amori:  
Non hunc quae caperet, non si Venus ipsa veniret,  
Vlla erat; aequales urebant pectora flammae. 

T' was not the state, nor sovereignty of jove  
Could court her chaste affections from her love;  
Nor was there any Venus in the skies,  
Could from her looks withdraw his greedy eyes:  
Both like true Turtles wheresoe'er they came,  
Consumed, and wasted in one equal flame.     
But desert we know is the fuel of desire; and good, whether it be sensible, or such as reason leadeth us to seek; is loves solicitor. It is the general object of each man's appetite, of each man's will, and therefore they which possess it; are no less totmented with fear, than they which yet pursue it. It is a treasure, which the more they joy in, the less secure they grow of their enjoying. They are prone to believe, that what their own palate doth like, cannot but like another's Witness this worthy Soldier, who by doting on his Mantoes face, began to doubt of her faith.  

— facies, aetasque iubebant  
Credere adulterium; prohibebant credere mores. 

Her age, and beauty willed him to believe,  
That her falsedealing gave him cause to grieve  
But when her virtuous carriage he did eye,  
His heart relenting gave those thoughts the lie.     
Yet in the end he suffered himself to be so far transported with this frenzy, that like a glutton, who fearing that any should wrong his maw by intercepting the dish it most delighted in, catcheth at it so rashly, and so roughly, that through his incivility he beguileth himself, and pleasureth only the earth with the purchase of his greediness; he altered quite the scene of his proceedings. His words were now not accented with love, as beforetime they had been. He unaceustomed himself to Cupid's dialect, and never uttered his mind unto her but in a tragical and churlish key. To be brief, his rage could find no rest, till such time as having chosen his weapon for the Physician of his Fury, her purer blood was made a purging Potion for his jealousy. Many to the great impeachment of women's worth have been sick of the like distemperature. Their Understanding hath had no Tutor, but their own idle Fancy, which hath settled in them such erroneous opinions, that what through prejudice and passionate Affections, they will by no means be persuaded that Honesty and Beauty can ever harbour under one roof; but that there is so great an Antipathy betwixt them, that like Castor and Pollux, they show not their motions together in one Sphere. And here they instance their assertions upon that firebrand of Greece, which being brought to Troy, did set it on a flame; and for better confirmation of their heresy produce that saying of the Poet,  

Formosis levitas semper amica fuit. 

Looseness was still companion to the fair.     
But those alas must be very narrow eyed, who if a Gnat but spread his wing betwixt them and the Sun, do think it is eclipsed.  
One drop of poison cannot infect the Ocean, though a little leaven may peradventure sour a great lump. It were ridiculous for any man to contemn the Rose because there is a prickle in the bush or neglect the Corn, because there is some cockle in the Barn.  

We should not let th'ensample of the bad  
Offend the good; for good by paragones'  
Of evil, may more notably be rade:  
As white seems fairer, matched with black atone;  
Ne, all are shamed by the fault of one. 
Sp. T Q Cant. 9   
For lo, in heaven, where as all goodness is,  
Amongst the Angels, a whole legione  
Of wicked sprights, did fall from happy bliss?  
What wonder then, if some of women all do miss?   
As there is often a Mars his heart in a Cupids body; so may we many times discover a Diana appareled in the garments of Venus. Witness Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel & Susanna, with divers others which stand upon record in the Court-roles of Heaven for their unmatchable perfection in either kind. I could bring both Lucrece and Penelope upon this Stage, and make their well known worthiness the pampering food of my discourse, but I will omit to speak of them: as likewise of her, whose husband, it may be, coming somewhat near the lips of his mistress, and finding himself denied the complement of his desire, because his breath was noisome and unsavoury, came home and blamed his wife, for having never informed him of that defect: when she, good soul, out of her chaste simplicity replied, She knew not but that all men's mouths had smelled like his. The daughter of Ericus, Governor of Calcis, the chief town in the Island of Eubaea, being taken by the Turks, was for her extraordinary beauty, as the choicest part of all the spoil, presented unto Mahomet the second, whom when he could neither by threats, nor flatteries conform to his desires, he most inhumanly commanded to be slain.  
But non est admirationi una arbour, saith the Philosopher, ubi in eandem altitudinem tota sylua succrescit. What should we make particulars the subject of our admiration, when Histories give us notice of whole countries peopled with Women of no less desert.  
The Lacedæmonians were generally so chaste, that when Geradas was asked why Lycurgus had made no laws for the punishing of Adultery: his answer was that amongst them there was not one addicted to such incontinency; But if there were, said the stranger: why then said he, he should pay for the forfeiture of his misdeed, a Bull of that growth and bigness, that standing upon the top of the Mountain Taygetus, he might drink out of the river Eurotas. It is impossible, said his Guest a creature of that greatness should be found. Geradas assured him with a smiling countenance, it was no less impossible, that Sparta should afford within her confines any such offender.  
One of the meanest amongst them both for birth and breeding, when a Chapman as she stood in the Market to be sold, demanded of her, whether she would prove honest if he should buy her; replied upon the instant. I will prove honest though you should not buy me.  
The Cianians were so free from any taxation this way, that for the space of seven hundredth years it was never known that any Matron amongst them had unloosed to a stranger the girdle of her honesty; or any Virgin bestowed upon a lustful friend the flower of her Virginity.  
The Eastern Indians did never prostitute their Bodies, but to him, who did present them with an Elephant; and that the law permitted them to do, with no little approbation of their worth, that could be valued at so high a rate.  
Those religious and holy Vestals, who had the charge of that immortal and sacred fire, which was by Numa consecrated to the gods, were so respected for their spotless purity, that if by chance they met at anytime some wretched malefactor, who by the appointment of justice was conducted to his Death, they had a privilege to reprieve him: so that the Votress upon her deposition would affirm that the encounter was only casual.  
Poets inform us that Venus had her chariot drawn by swans, to signify unto us, that Women as they labour to be neat and cleanly in their Clothes, should strive to be sweet and comely in their Conversation. Many may peradventure make it their delight, to stand & gaze upon the Ostrich for the rareness of her Plumes; but not any will make it the dish which their Appetite shall feed upon, because of the rankness of her flesh. They must harbour therefore always a special care within themselves, that as they have Vultum Veneris, the badge of Beauty in their Face; they have likewise cestum Veneris, the marks of Virtue in their Forehead; lest want of grace in their outward gesture, might make their inward goodness liable to misconstruction.  
Chastity must have settled Gravity for her Usher; and for her waiting-woman, bashful Modesty; or she shall never procure respective reverence and observance from those that do behold her. If Ladies of noble rank & quality, should now and then, though but to sport their Fancy, lay aside the ornaments of their state, and without their usual attendance show themselves abroad, disguised in some wanton manner, I doubt not, but they would quickly find, that many not acquainted with their intent, would not stick to rank them in the role of Courtesans, nor yet to rail upon them in a phrase, which only fitteth creatures of that condition. Immodesty is like a Vintner's bush, which giveth every man direction, where he may call for wine. Women alone are said by scandalous and traducing Spirits to give it countenance, a little therefore now of this; as likewise of the contrary.   

CHAP. 4.  
Of their outward modesty.  
IT is an injury to Virtue, to be committed always close-prisoner to the Heart. she desireth to look out at the eyes, and to go forth now and then in the words. If she see herself restrained of this liberty, she will go near with grief to fall into a hectike Fever, and so to die of a languishing Consumption.  
Evil words are, as the Apostle saith, the very gangrenes of good manners; if they eat them not out, they will at least deface them. If Women have immodest looks, it will avail them little for avoiding the world's censure, to have honest hearts. A book is censured many times, by what the title promiseth; and Silver, into what fashion soever we melt it, though it cease not to be silver, yet the outward stamp is that which maketh it currant.  
Crassus' had a liking to a goodly Manor belonging to a certain Vestal, which that he might the better purchase, he took occasion to meet with her in sundry places, & at sundry times, omitting nothing in his carriage & conversation, which might any way endere him to her; but by this courteous intercourse her Innocency grew to be suspected, and in the end, (as Malice is ever ready to pick a hole in Virtues coat) she was publicly accused, to have incestuously conversed with him. Postumia was a little too much in clinde to laughter, and now and than delighted freely to discourse with Men, but this her freedom brought her to be arraigned as an Adulteress, whereof when she had thoroughly acquitted herself. Spur. Minutius, the high Priest absolved her, but withal advised her, ne verbis vitae castimoniam non aquantibus uteretur, so to order her life thence forward, that the outward fashion might not prejudice the inward form.  
Forbearance of the Action is no sufficient demonstration of a chaste Devotion. 'tis from the settled disposition of the Will, that this purer Virtue doth receive her form. A certain Spanish Lass having passed through the hands of Soldiers; God be thanked, said she, that once in my days I have had my fill without sinning. But herein silly wretch, she deceived herself: for howsoever Violence were Prologue to the fact, the delight she took in the performance convinced her of a fault.  
Some could be content to have it, but they would not be thought to desire it. They wish another would foil them, when of themselves they have a will to fall. Such as are truly modest, and such assuredly are the most, will not stick to make their lives the ransom of their Fame: for fear, though they consented not to the doing, they might be thought to be well enough contented with the deed.  
Theoxena to free her Sister's children and her own from the lascivious embraces of King Philip, put weapons into their weaker hands, and persuaded them Vt imminens ludibrium morte effugerent; to rescue themselves by Death from imminent disgrace, where in she had no sooner prevailed, but with a heroine resolution she showed them by her own example, that what she had taught them, was easy to be done.  
Hippo a Grecian, when the Ship in which she travailed was taken by the Enemy, cast herself immediately into the soft embraces of the sea, to free her Honour from the luxurious courtship of her Foe. A Gentlewoman of Capua did the like. But these examples are a little too vehement, that which followeth is somewhat more considerate.  
Cn. Manlius having given the Galathians a mighty overthrow at the mount of Olympus, there was amongst the captives that were taken. Chiomara, the wife of Orgiagontes, a Ruler in that Province of some note, who being compelled by the Centurion that had her in custody, to satisfy the beastly appetite of his debauched affections, imparted afterwards the wrong she had received, to some of her friends, who were come thither to redeem her, and willed them to kill him as he should kiss her at the farewell. This done, she caused his head to be cut off, and bringing it home in her own lap, cast it for a present at her husband's feet who vented the passions, which the sight thereof had stirred up in his bosom, with words which savoured somewhat of reproof: O Woman, faith is an excellent thing: But she confronted his pity with her own purity, and told him, It was more excellent by far, there was but one man living, that ever knew her.  
A Vestal Virgin to prevent the violence of an unlawful pursuit in a Prince, who much affected her for the beauty of her eyes, plucked them out herself, and having cast them on the ground before him, bade him glut himself with those traitorous objects, which had conspired with his lustful Thoughts, to make her a prey to Infamy. A Gentlewoman of Portugal, to cut off the importunacy of divers, who in the time of her widowhood, did continually solicit her for some nightly kindness, fearing lest the flesh might in the end betray her, seared up those natural parts with a burning firebrand, saying: God forbid that for thee I should ever fall into so foul a sin.  
Fatua, the wife of Faunus from the day of her marriage was never known to be the object of any masculine eye, but her Husbands. She did not fashion herself according to the Moon, who then looketh merriest, when the Sun is furthest off: but to the Marrigolde, which never openeth itself but whilst he doth eye it. Zenobia so much renowned in the East, for many singular virtues and abilities that were in her, never imparted herself, no not to the partner of her Bed, any longer, than she knew herself not to be with Child.  
Pulcheria, sister to the Emperor Theodosius the second, and rightly so named for her more than ordinary beauty, both in body and mind, matched herself to Marcianus with no other intent, then to add thereby some strength to his authority, as well appeareth by the conditions, to which she first of all had tied him. viz. That either of them should for ever preserve their Chastity untouched; a thing which was willingly accepted of by him, and thoroughly performed by both.  
The Milesian Virgins, whether through the distemperature of the air, or upon any occasion of discontent, I know not, were on the sudden possessed with such a fury, that neither the prayers of their friends, nor the tears of their Parents, could divert them from an obstinate and self-willed resolution, which they had to hang themselves, and many notwithstanding the wariness of their Keepers, to the terror and amazement of the whole City, did continually by subtle slights and devices, give these their tragical purposes their determinate effect; till at the length one of the wisest Senators caused a Law to be proclaimed, That whosoever in that manner did abridge her days, should after her death be carried naked through the marketplace: the consideration of which dishonour, such was their settled Modesty, did not only restrain them, but free them from this frenzy. Shamefacedness, is nothing else, saith the Philosopher, but a fear of Ignominy and just Reproach. These Virgins were so sensible thereof, that to remove it even from their Ashes, they were content to forbear that which they most desired.  
I could muster up an army royal of those heroical examples, to destroy those Monsters, which make the Virgin fame of Women their tributary food. But who seeth not, that even the most of those few, which are Actors of uncivil parts, can produce Men for their Authors. Such a one who preferred her Honour before her Life, hath notwithstanding for her safety of her Husband suffered it like litter to be trampled on by the Lust of a deadly Enemy, and done that for him, which she would by no means have committed for herself. There are of those, who for their Husband's profit and advantage do lend their bodies out, and that by their express appointment and entremise. Phaulius the Argien offered his wife unto King Philippe through ambition; as Galba did out of courtesy and civility; when having feasted Maecenas at a Supper, and finding that his wife and he began with signs and glances to plot a further matter, that he might the better shoulder up their love, he feigned a heavy sleep, which he avouched with no little grace. For upon the instant a fellow being emboldened thereby to cast a thievish hand upon his Cupboard of Plate, he cried out unto him freely. Stay, stay, thou knave, seest thou not, that I sleep for none, but for Maecoenas?  
Phaedo a Philosopher, after the desolation of his Country, made the prostitution of his wife, the substance of his Revenue. And how many be there amongst us, who cull out the choicest Beauties of of the Land, and having married them, stall them afterwards, as they do their Wares, with no better intent then to procure themselves that good which Pharaoh did to Abraham for Sarahs' sake? In a word, if we examine every thing but with indifferency, we shall find, let Women be what they will, they cannot possibly be so bad as Men.  

For when a man is bend to speak his worst,  
That in despite of Women he can say,  
He calls them but incontinent and cursed,  
No greater fault he to their charge can lay:  
To rob, to spoil, houses to break, and burst;  
Whole Cities, Towns, & Countries to betray;  
Usury, Murder, all such sins appear  
Proper to Men, Women of them are clear.   
Again, that even in those things, wherein we report them faulty, they can unburden themselves on Men, as on the sole Solicitors, and Counsellors of their irregular proceedings. Ahashuerosh will not suffer a Virgin to come near him, till after six months purification with oil of Myrrh, and other six months with pleasant odours, and sweet perfumes.  
Some Husbands have such curious eyes, that if their wives want colour of their own: they must seek for a supply. They had rather behold them artificially painted, then naturally pale. This is that which tieth their Affections to the perch, which otherwise peradventure being prove to bate at any thing, would get on wing & follow game. But alas! they consider not that as Pythias, Aristotle's Daughter was wont to say, The fairest colour in the face of a Woman is that, which ariseth from her bashful Modesty; and that only Blushes are the Scarlet Robes in which the Grace's delight to show themselves abroad. She that is clothed with these vermilion Habits, and hath this glorious tincture in her Countenance, need not fear the rude assaults of an Elephant, nor start at the fierce incursions of a Bull. It is a Shield of surer temper, then that of Pallas to defend her Honour from invasion. Pudor arx pulchritudinis, saith Demades: It is Beauty's fortress: and according to Saint Bernard, Venustatem ingerit gratiam auget; it adds comeliness, and gives an increase of grace. The brightness of it dazzleth the eyes of Sin, putteth Lust out of his part; and maketh Temptation to forget his Qu. Those other borrowed decencies, are nothing but mere sophistication and imposture. An able judgement will never suffer itself to be deluded by them. The King of Ethiopia viewed the sumptuous Garments that were sent him for a present by Cambyses Emperor of Persia, with no little admiration, but when he understood by those that brought them, that the purple die they were of, was an invention of Men: Surely said he, both the garments and the men are full of deceit. The application would be fit, if charity did not suppress it.   

CHAP. 5.  
Of their supposed Pride.  
PRide had her original in Heaven, but having forgotten, as it were, the way, by which she fell from thence, could never since return. Like an exile did she place the Earth, and found no habitation, till some say Women took her in, and made their hearts the settled place of her abode. Conformable to this is that unhallowed fiction of another, who reporteth to the world, how Satan, that sworn enemy to Man, having matched himself in marriage with Iniquity, had by her nine children, which he placed with several persons, fitting in disposition to their several humours and inclinations in manner following. viz. Simony with Priests, Hypocrisy with professors, Oppression with Nobles, Usury with Citizens, Deceit with Merchants, Falsehood with Servants, Sacrilege with Soldiers, Pride with Women, Luxury with all.  
Plutarch condemneth those of his time as overmuch addicted to the service of this hellborn Fiend. The Egyptian wives, saith he, by the decrees, and ordinances of their Ancestors, were forbidden the use of Shoes, to put them in mind, that it was their duty to keep still at home, a point which many now observe, but alas! out of another respect. They will not stir abroad, saith he, because they have not their embroidered Pantofles, their chains of Pearl, their costly Carquanets, their ear-rings, and their Unions. And behold, me thinks, I hear some whisper, that by the beating of the Pulse, those of our Age should labour of the like distemperature. For let them be well rigged, and set out, they will be gadding presently with Dinah, though the loss both of life, and honour were the propounded guerdon of their folly. They consider not, say they, that the snail is safe while it harboureth in the Shell; but so soon as she cometh forth to make show of her Horns, she meeteth with many lets, which occasion their drawing in again to her grief and shame.  
A Woman, saith Simonides, should be like the Bee, chaste and frugal, busied still about her huswiverie; no wanderer at any time abroad, but always careful of her progeny at home.  

The virtues that in Women merit praise,  
Are sober shows without chaste thoughts with in  
True faith, and due obedience to their make,  
And of their children honest care to take.   
How to govern well her Family should be her chiefest study. She should not hunt ambitiously after popular applause, but rest contented with the Conscience of her own deservings, and think it praise enough to be thought praiseworthy by such as live within the bounds of her own threshold. She should remember with Thucydides, 
That those of Women still are counted best,  
Of whom in praise or dispraise men speak least.   
The Lacedæmonians could not endure to hear their wives commended by a Stranger. They thought it not fit their Virtues should be known to any but to their Husband; and hence it was, their Virgins went always open-faced, till such time as Hymen had linked them to some loving Mate, and then their beauty was canopied from the general view of all, and made the solitary object of their particular choice alone. The Turkish Women are forbidden by the Alcoran to show themselves unveiled to any but their Fathers and their Husbands. And the Venetians observe in a manner the like custom, even at this day say our adversaries, but by their favour it is notout of any good respect: for in them it is only a depraved and corrupt opinion, which the knowledge of their own wickedness maketh them carry off another's worthiness. Nor do I speak this unadvisedly; for it is a Maxim of infallible truth, That open suspecting others cometh of secret condemning ourselves. These Women-quellers would seem to countenance their proceedings, thinking to break the back of innocency, by overcharging it with scandalous imputations, which they can no way prove by any surer demonstration than their own adulterate opinions. To what end, say they, is that prodigious variety of apparel which they use, but to ensnare the hearts of ignorant and undiscreeter persons?  

uni, si qua placet, culta puella sat est. 

If any wench delightful be to one,  
She's trim enough, and decking needeth none.     
Bravery in ancient English was called Bawdry; and curious Calls in those humbler times, were accounted but the stales of a careless Callot. They be the Wears and Nets of Lust. Virtue delights not in them at all: they be things which cannot any way advantage her. For as all men know,  

Her gloriousstate no borrowed grace doth need  
Her Beauty finds of skilful Art no lack,  
She seems as lovely in a Shepheads weed,  
As they that wear the Indies on their back.   
In a word, they be the noted ensigns of disorderly Pride, in which the very folds and motions of the Heart are charactered unto the life. Let us but cast a serious eye say they, upon the vanity of Women in this kind, & we shall quickly find them to be the least part of what they seem; Inter tot ● honestamenta vix invenies mulierem. They be fenced in on every with such innumerable borrels, and fantastical attoures, as Chaucer calleth them, that without some difficulty you cannot discover what creature it is that beareth them. And from this consideration peradventure grew that saying of the Comic; Negotij sibi qui volet vim comparare, navim, & mulierem, haec duo comparato. Nam nullae res magis duaeplus negotij habent; Hethat would busy himself indeed, must get him a Woman and a Ship. For there are not any two things in the world that require more trimming. Dum comuntur dum pectuntur, annus est; saith another. They be a year in keaming and in curling of themselves.  
I might well fear to be swallowed up of these waves, did not my Genius prompt me, that the Star, by which I steer my course, bids me not fear the rage of Scylla, nor the threatenings of Carybdis, but on with courage, till I have worthily achieved, what I willingly attempted: and I know, let women's adversaries make what head they can to overthrow the strength and glory of their reputation, there are exemplary Virtues enough in her alone, to protect it from the fury of malignant Tongues; and therefore I will boldly dare to defend them even from this.  
Ignorance itself must needs confess that Pride consisteth more in the Heart, then in the outward Habit, and that it peereth as often through a ragged coat, as through a velvet cloak. For if apparel, jewels, odours, and such like accesserie compliments did give it form, it were no way possible, that Women should be freed from this crime. But alas! these are no other than outward ornaments, which howsoever peradventure they may give it lustre, can add no life.  
Beauty, Birth, and Breeding, if any thing (for these be their chiefest pieces) would cause both tumour and inflammation in them, were their minds so light and wavering, as some would have them; but we see notwithstanding all these, how humble and how debonair Rebekah was, who did not only out of meekness satisfy the request of Abraham's servant, than a stranger to her, in giving him water to drink, as he desired, but went herself with all alacrity to the Well, and drew some likewise for those of his retinue, and their Camels. Nor did the massy Rings, and Bracelets, where with he afterwards rewarded this her kindness, alter any way the composition of this settled form.  
It is true that Vashti was degraded from her dignity, for the rebellious pride and disobedience which she showed toward her Lord and Sovereign; but Esther was elected in her place, who with her Buxom and lowly carriage found favour in the eyes of her Assuerus, and forgot not in this transcendent of her honour the miseries and afflictions of her distressed Countrymen, nor was she ever wanting in the performance of that due respect, which she did owe unto her poor friend Mardoche. It is true likewise, it may be, that the daughter of Nicephorus the Emperor, was so neat and so nice, that she never washed her but in dew, nor spent her time in any thing, but in painting, powdering, and perfuming of herself, which brought upon her in the end so odious and so loathsome a disease, that for the stench of her Body, there was not any could endure to come nigh her: all are not yet to be condemned of the like. This age as corrupted as Men would make it, affordeth many of extraordinary birth and quality, who having shook hands with Vanity, and took an everlasting Farewell of all worldly Pleasures, do altogether spend their hours in the solitary contemplation of celestial things, making with all humility and singleness of Heart, the goodness of their God, the continual subject of their Meditation. I could here set divers Precedents on foot, to back and second my discourse, but as our own English Poet, saith:  

This all men know full well, though I would lie,  
In Women is all troth, and steadfastness,  
For in good faith, Inever of them see,  
But much worship, bounty, and gentleness,  
Right coming, fair, and full of meekness,  
Good, and glad, and lowly, I you ensure,  
Is this goodly angelic Creature.   
Having freed them therefore from this, I will now turn my plea to the defence of their Tongue, which standeth at the bar of weaker judgement, accused of prodigious intemperancy, and hath many forged Writs and Processes served upon it for the same.   

CHAP. 4.  
Of their Lightsomeness.  
PHidias, say their adversaries, that worthy Workman, so renowned through the confines of Peloponnesus for the rareness of his skill, made an image of Venus, treading upon a tortoise, to show thereby unto us, that Women should be wedded to their Houses, as are the Statues of Saints and Martyrs to the Temples, never desiring to gossip it abroad; but making Silence always the God of their Devotion.  
They should never speak, but either to their Husbands, or by their Husbands; nor take it ill, if like a Trumpeter, or one that playeth upon the Cornet or the Flute, by suffering them to be the Organs of their speech, they send forth sounds more grave, and more delightful than their own. But alas say they, these principles are but lightly practised: for look wheresoever they come,  

— verborum tanta cadit vis,  
Tot pariter pelues, tot tintinnabula dic as  
Pulsari. jam nemo tubas, atque aera fatiget:  
una labor anti poterit succurrere Lunae. 

Such a tempestuous storm of words do fall,  
you'd think so many Basins jangling were,  
Or Orkeney's Bells were sounding in your Ear;  
Now none need spend their breath on Haubois more,  
Nor with loud Clarions make their inwards sore.  
One Woman's tongue, without the help of these,  
Makes noise enough the fainting Moon to ease.     
And some what suitable to this, is that Epitaph of theirs, by which the excessive talkativeness of a Spanish Lady is commended to the knowledge of Posterity. The substance thereof is this.  

Aquiyaze sepultada  
Lamas que noble Sennora,  
Quên su vida, punto ni hora  
Tuuò la boca cerrada  
Yes tanto lo, que hablò,  
Qne aunque mas no hade hablar,  
Nunca llegarà el callar.  
A donde el hablar llegò. 

Here lies entombed underneath this Stone  
A Dame, whose Tongue had cause enough to moon.  
It moved as fast, as doth the swiftest Sphere,  
And found nominutes' rest throughout the year,  
Forth rushed her words in such abundant store  
That now (how ener) she shall near speak more.  
Her silence yet will never equal be  
To what she spoke by many a large degree.     
And for a more pregnant proof of these malignant Pasquil's, Xantippe must be placed upon the Market-crosse, whose Passions like a deaf body, because they could not hear the voice of reason themselves, that reason might not be altogether uncapable of theirs, would be sure to express their meaning in the loudest strain. So that Socrates when he was demanded, how he could endure her clamours, had no other answer wherewith to shadow this her imperfection, then, That for the children which she bore him he could as well abide her prating, as he did the cackling of his Hens for the Eggs they laid him. A certain Portugal, how truly, though I know not, is made an Abettor to them in the like. His fellow Senators having convinced a criminal, of some more than ordinary fault, and consulting among themselves, what death was best to equal his offence; some would have him hanged in chains alive; some torn in pieces with wild-horses; others pined to death; and some again cast quick into his grave; Tush said he at length, these judgements are but jestings, if you mind to torture him indeed, use no delays, but marry him. And surely, say our opposites, this man according to that Castilian Adage, Hablò de la feria, segun lefue en ella: spoke of the Mart according as he found it. They allege another, who at a monthly Sessions in the Town, whereof himself was a Burgess, upon good deliberation and advise preferred a petition to the judges of the Bench, desiring them they would be pleased to grant him liberty to die. For he was not able any longer to endure the disdainful braves, and haughty menaces, which his Wife like a triple-mouthed Cerberus did continually thunder out against him; which favour if they would vouchsafe him, he made no doubt, but to find a speedy passage unto Heaven, having suffered so long a Purgatory here on earth. Another inscription of a Tomb is produced by them, composed in manner of a Dialogue, the Argument whereof doth show, say they, that howsoever Death be nothing but a suffocation, and extinction of all heat in every natural Body, he cannot yet with that icy coldness qualify the choleric and fiery temper of their Tongues.  
Heus viator! Miraculum. Virro & uxor non litigant. Qui simus, non dico. At ipsa dicam. Hic Bebrius ebrius me Bebriam ebriam nominat. Heus uxor! etiam mortua litigas?  Hus. 
List Passenger, thou shalt a wonder see  
Here lovingly the Man and Wife agree.  
Our names, and what we are, I will conceal.  Wif. 
But goodman goose, I will our Names reveal:  
This Beber, bibber, free of Drunkard's Hall,  
Me Bebresse, bibbresse doth at all times call.  Hus. 
Now out alds! good Wife, I prithee hold;  
For shame for bear, now thou art dead, to scold.  
judge here, say they, whether this wretched Man, that caused this to be writ upon his grave, lived not continually upon the rack, or no. In a word they set it down for a sure Position, that 
— Does est uxoria, lights.   
The only Dowry that a Woman brings, Are strifes, contentions, end less quarrel  
And are not ashamed to affirm with the Satirist, that  

Semper habet lights, alternaque iurgia lectus,  
In quo nuptaiacet: minimum dormitur? in illo 

Brawls chide, jars, attend the marriage bed:  
And where a Wife lies, seldom sleeps the Head.     
But I see it is high time to cast a bit into the mouths of these unbridled Steeds, lest with their headstrong course they tread this nobler Sex under their hooves, and make their innocency dung and litter for themselves to wallow on. And since they do oppugn us with the Achievements of the dead, that I may foil them at their own weapon, I will produce the Monument of Rubius Celer, which doth witness, that he lived with Caia Ennia, his wife, forty three years, eight months, having never received from her all this while, any just occasion of offence. That of Albutieus Tertius like wise doth avouch, that he lived 52. years with his wife sine querelâ, without any manner of vexation, quarrel or disturbance. The like equality of affections was without any let, or mixture of molestation in Acme and Septimius, as appeareth by that which is uttered by Catullus to the perpetual honour of them both.  

unam Septimius misellus Acmen.  
Mawlt, qùem Syrias, Britanniasque;  
uno in septimio fidelis Acme  
Facit delitias, libidinesque:  
Mutuis animis amant, amantur.  
Quis ullos homines beatiores  
Vidit? quis venerem auspicatiorem? 

Poor Septime rather had his Acme have,  
Then Syrias wealth, or Britain's Isles so brave;  
chaste Acme no strange dalliances doth try,  
Her thoughts near stir, but when her Septime's by  
With pure obseruace each to other move,  
With natural minds they be beloved & love:  
Who ever did a happier couple see,  
Or who two Turtles lovinglier agree?     
But this is not all, say they, Plenae sunt rimarum, huc atque illuc effluunt. Look what secrets be committed to their custody, shall be kept as safe, as water in a Sieve. And hereupon one of the three things, that Cato still repented him of, was, if he had imparted any thing to a Woman, which he would not all the world should know. They allege the weakness of Sempronia, Fulvia, and divers others in this kind to instance these erroneous propositions. But the sight of that worthy Roman Epicharis shall make them vanish like Meteores before the Sun, who being privy to a great conspiracy intended against Nero, was so constant in concealing it, that notwithstanding she were torturned day by day in the most grievous manner that could possibly be imagined, could no way be forced or induced to be wray her complices, and that to the perpetual shame of sundry noble Senators, who in the same trial fainting like cravens under the scourge of Tyranny, objected in hope of some release their very Brothers unto death, and cast their dearest friends into the jaws of danger. The Athenians caused a Lioness of Marble to be made without a Tongue, and erected it in the market place to the never dying honour of Leona, who upon the like occasion, and in the like extremity showed no less taciturnity than the other. I will not, because I think this point already clear enough, allege any more examples. It is an imperfection no way proper to the Universal, but such a one as by mere accident fasteneth itself upon some individual, whose carriage by reason of the meanness of her breeding and education, was never fortified with the retentive rules and principles of Morality, without which the mind is always very dangerously sick of a continual dysentery. And thus I think that want of Secrecy is as incident to Men and found as often in their bosoms, as in any of this Sex. Wherefore I come now to the next thing, which is questioned, and that is the sincereness and constancy of their affections.   

CHAP. 7.  
Of their affections.  
THey be like looking-glasses, say their adversaries, which represent no object longer than it stands before them, and not then, but with some flattery or deceit. Their words are like the Sirens, never uttered but to work some wrack, their tears like the Crocodiles, never shed, but to purchase some occasion to be cruel They have as the Frenchman saith, Visage d'Ange, the shape and semblance of an Angel; but alas teste de Diable, & oeil de Basilie. The brains of a Devil, and the eye of a Basilisk. The Tuscan giveth us in a little Volume their lively Character, Di di si, èfà di nò. Their thoughts are never seconded by their Words, nor followed by their Deeds. They come many times forth hand in hand, as if they did intend to tread one measure, but as in Galliard, they fall off on a sudden and forsake each other. They never eye one another but a squint, and are then most distant from each others view, when they seem to face each other most. In all their actions like the Crab, they look one way, but go another. And therefore say they, Ci dice donna, dice danno. He that nameth a Lass, in effect nameth a Loss; and in our native language Woman carrieth no other sound with it, than Man's Woe. The Latins to show the softness, but withal the swiftness of their affections, say she was called mulier quasi mollis aer; and for confirmation of this fantastical Etymology, that of Petrarch is alleged.  

Femina è cosa mobil per natura,  
Ond'io soben, amoroso stato  
In cuor di donna picciol tempo dura. 

Light wavering things by nature Women are:  
Hence in their Hearts, my knowledge is full sure,  
An amorous state can but a while endure.     
But let them show me an affection more sincere than that of julia, the daughter of C. Caesar towards her husband Pompey the great, who when his garment was brought her from the field all stained with blood, out of the fear she had of his well doing, fell strait into abortion, and by and by expired, the fruit of her womb serving but as a Prologue to her own ensuing Tragedy. Let them show me I say, one more grave and settled, then that of Portia towards Brutus, who scorning to survive his honour, and seeing Iron was denied her, made burning coals the convoye of her Spirit to her deceased love. In a word, let them show me one, more firm and constant, then that of Hipsicratea towards Mithridates, who desiring no better fortune, then should follow him, was content to vail her beauty under a manly habit, and withal to exercise her daintier limbs on horseback, and in deeds of arms, that she might the better participate with him in the dangers and cross occurrences of his wars. The consideration of which her loyalty, was such a comfortable cordial to him in that wretched and miserable estate, wherein he was, when he fled from the victorious sword of Cn. Pompeius, that cum domo, & penatibus vagari se eredidit, uxore simul exulante. He thought himself, notwithstanding he were no better than a fugitive, sole Lord of heaven and earth by the fruition of her company. Agathocles, King of Sicily finding himself well nigh diseased both of life and State by his rebellious Nephew, provided all things that were necessary, for the transportation of his Wife Theoxena into Egypt, from whence he had her. But she most affectionately besought him not to furnish Slander, with so fair a parallel for his kinsman's parricide, as her departure. Nubendo se non prosperae tantum, sed omnis fortunae inisse societatem. That by Marriage she had not made herself a companion for him only in prosperity, but in all adverse chances whatsoever. Neither was she unwilling to buy the embracing of his latest breath, with the hazard of her own. This puisne age of ours affordeth the like example in Isabel, sister to Charles' the Emperor, and wife to Christian King of Denmark, whose discontented subjects, when they had degraded him from that royal dignity; would willingly have conferred the types thereof upon her: but she most valiantly refused them; thinking it a greater honour, and more beseeming the duty of a Wife, to lead a languishing life in exile with her husband, then to live a Princess in the highest transcendent of all Sovereignty without him. What should I speak of Artemisia, or Alceste, when Provinces peopled with Women of no less integrity towards their Husbands, expose themselves unto our view? Those of Mynia in Thessaly, when their husbands according to the laws of Sparta, were by night to suffer death for their ambitions, and ungrateful usurpation over that City, under pretence of speaking with those condemned wretches before their execution, entered the prison, and having changed garments with them, veiling their faces under a show of grief, made means for their escape, themselves remaining in their place to abide with constancy, whatsoever the deluded Magistrate should inflict upon them, for this their bold attempt. Conrade. III. After he had compelled Guelphus, D. of Bavaria to open to him, and to his forces the gates of Winsbergh, and to yield up the town to his mercy, granted upon some easy entreaty, that the Duchess, and such other Matrons as were there, should depart untouched, and carry with them whatsoever they could conveniently upon their shoulders: whereupon forgetting their precious ornaments, and such things as Women usually most delight in, and charging themselves immediately with no other burden, then with their Husbands, they forsook the place; which pious act of theirs so mollified the heart of the Emperor, that he caused them to be brought back, & canceling the wrongs & injuries which had incited him to that sieg, received the Duke into his favour, restored him to his dignity, and seated him again without any charge or innovation at all in his ancient government. But I will now retire a little from these softer Virtues, which can no more be separated from this Sex, than whiteness from the Swan; and curtain up a while the Table, in which I have hitherto laboured, as with the pencil of Apelles to give each foule-mouthd Mantuanist the lively representation of women's perfections in a lovely Venus, whilst I endeavour hereafter withal the art I can, to limb them forth in an armed Pallas, sprung out of the very head of jove, and endued with such learning, wisdom, courage, and other the like abilities, which Men, overwhelmed with self-conceit presumptuously entitle Masculine, as being essential to themselves alone, that they may justly challenge the garland even from the greatest worthies, as in brief shall plainly appear.   

CHAP. 8.  
Of their Learning.  
LEarning in the breast of a Woman, is likened by their Stoical adversaries to a sword in the hands of a Madman, which he knoweth not how to rule as reason shall inform him, but as the motions and violent fits of his distemperature shall enforce him. It doth not ballast their judgements, but only addeth more sail to their ambition; and like the weapon of Goliath, serveth but as an instrument to give the fatal period to their Honour's overthrow. And surely this fond imagination hath purchased a free inheritance to itself in the Bosoms of some undiscreeter Parents, who hereupon will by no means endure that their daughters should be acquainted with any kind of literature at all. The Pen must be forbidden them as the Tree of good and evil, and upon their blessing they must not handle it. It is a Pander to a Virgin Chastity, and betrayeth it, by venting forth those amorous Passions, that are incident to hotter bloods, which otherwise, like fire raked up in embers, would peradventure in a little space be utterly consumed. But if this be their fear, let them likewise bar them the use of their needle: with this did Philomela fairly character those foul indignities, which had been offered her by Tereus the incestuous husband of her sister Progne; and why then may not others express their loves, and their affections in the like form? Cupid hath wings, and like another Daedalus, if his passage be stopped by land and water, he will cut through the air, but he will be Master of his desires. You cannot hinder his Pinnions from Soaring high, by depriving him of a quill or twain. Affection is ingenious, and can imp them, as it pleaseth her. Leander will not for a Hellespont be kept from Heros kisses, nor Daenae by a brazen Tower from jupiters' embraces. Be juno never so jealous, Love hath a Mercury, that can at all times delude her Spies. 
Et quid non fiet, quod volvere duo?   
To converse with the dead, and this is to converse with Books, hath been still accounted the readiest way to moralise our harsher natures, and to wean them from all inbred Barbarism to more human and civil conversation. And hence it was, that julius Agricola, when he had obtained the government of this our Isle that he might abaseth fierce and fiery temper of the inhabitants, whose knowledge could demonstrate nothing but by arms, took from the nobler Britons their sons, and trained them up in all the liberal Sciences, whereby he made them willingly submit themselves to the Roman Empire, and not prone to rise so often up in arms as formerly by reason of their rough-hewen dispositions they had accustomed to do. Now I see no hindrance why they should not produce the same effect in them, which they do in us, their bodies consisting of the same matter, and their minds coming out of the same mould.  
But if those prohibitions proceed from a providence in them to prevent a curious desire of searching further into the Cabinets of Minerva, then is fitting, an error incident to capriocious, and working Wits, such as they would have women's for the most part to be, let them show me what Men are free from the like weakness.  
Knowledge is infinite, and admitteth no bounds. It is Jacob's ladder, and reacheth from the lowest part of the Earth, to the highest place in Heaven. Man's Thoughts are like those Angels, which were seen by the Patriarch in his Vision, never at a stand, but still going either up or down. And therefore Solomon anouncheth, that Qui addit scientiam, addit & dolorem; an acquist of learning bringeth with it an increase of labour. For the more a man attaineth unto, the more he seeth to be attained, and so not content with any former purchase, wearieth out himself in pursuit of that, which is behind. Nil actum credens, cum quid sibi cernit agendum. Those that are altogether unfurnished of this diviner complement, are as the Italian termeth them humanate beftie, things that resemble reasonable creatures only in the bark and rind, and could not possibly be distinguished from Statues made of clay and marble, but by their outward sense and motion. These are they, which like Aesop's Cock, spurn at the jewel, which they cannot prise, and such were Nero, Domitian, Clisthesnes, who as Tacitus reporteth, Virtutem ipsam excindere concupientes; studying as much as in them lay, how to bring Virtue herself unto the Block, made Philosophy a capital offence, and put to death, those Professors of Wisdom and good Arts, which betimes did not retire themselves from the reach of their infernal rage. And such as these, no doubt are those, or at lest not many degrees short of them, who out of an idle supposition of their own addle brains think learning a thing superfluous in any. For as it is a plain testimony of Ignorance itself to know nothing: so is it an ample sign of Dullness to rest satisfied with the knowledge of any something. Adam's fingers, notwithstanding God's menaces, will be still itching at the forbidden Tree: The Children of Israel for all the threatening Proclamations which Moses doth divulge amongst them from the Lord, will hardly be restrained from advancing forward at the mount of Sinai. The Bethshemites will be peering into the Ark, though the lives of more than 50000. of them be made the forfeiture of their presumption. Divine S. Augustine will be diving into the mystery of the Trinity, till he see a child become the censurer of his folly: & holy, Daniel will trouble himself in searching after the condition of future times, till an Angel from Heaven will him to stand upright in his place. In a word, it so bewitcheth us, that we grow desperate in the chase. Pliny will have no other Urn, than the mountain Veswius for his ashes, when he cannot find out the reason of his flames: nor Aristotle any other Sepulchre than Euripus, when angling for the hidden causes of his ebbs & flows, he seeth nothing will hang upon his hook. And upon this intemperancy of Men, was grounded peradventure that Moral precept of Antiquities, Noli altum sapere, Aim not at things beyond your reach, as likewise that admonition of S. Paul's. Be wise unto sobrietic. From all which premises I gather this conclusion, That meats might as well be forbidden women for fear of surfeiting, as the use of learning for fear of overweening, unless we ourselves will be content to be registered with them, as liable to the like miscarrying, in the same role. But I hear our Adversaries cry out, what a prodigious thing it was counted among the Romans for a woman to speak in public, and when it happened, what speepy recourse they had unto their Augurs to know what disastrous fortune so strange an accident might portend to their Commonweal. Against which particular Custom of a people, which for Wit and Valour might boast themselves the legitimate children as well of Mercury, as of Mars, I will say nothing, though I could easily show with what good success the Daughter of Hortensius pleaded the Matron's cause, to the freeing of them from the greatest part of that grievous taxation, which the Trium-viri had most injuriously imposed upon them. As likewise how Amaesia Sentia, being arraigned before L. Titius then Praetor, pleaded so stoutly and exactly to every point of her Inditements, that she acquitted herself, maugre the power of her enemies, with the general applause of all.  
To that, wherewith they urge us out of holy Writ, touching the restraint of their teaching, and speaking publicly in the Temples, I answer that the blessed Apostle in that to the Corinthians. 1. Ep. 14. vers. 34. alludeth only to some ignorant and prating Gossips, who when attention should be given to the dispensers of God's mysteries, are continually ask to their own hurt, and others hindrance, such frivolous questions, as on the instant are begotten in their idle Brains. And in that to Timothy, 1. Ep. 2. vers. 12. where he permitteth them not to teach, because, as they would have it, Semel docuit, & omnia subvertit; She taught but once, and that once brought all things out of order, he doth but utter his own opinion, and howsoever he allow not of it, yet he doth not condemn it: So that his meaning, as I take it, there, is only this; They should not when men of sufficiency are in place, and such as can discharge the duties that appertain to so high a calling, usurp over their authority. For otherwise the Scripture informeth us, that Deborah was a Prophetess, and that Anna the Daughter of Phanuel. Luke 2. vers. 37. never stirred out of the Temple, but spent therein both day and night, in prayer & fasting, and speaking fervently of jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, to all that waited for their deliverance in jerusalem. And indeed the light of the Moon is needelesle; when the Sun is in his Transcendent, but if he be gone, her Beams, though not so pregnant, will afford much comfort. Apollo's may be eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures, Priscilla yet may take him unto her, and expound unto him the ways of God more plainly.  
But Scientia inslat; Knowledge puffeth up, and there is nothing, say our opposites, more swelling and imperious, than a Woman, that seeth she hath the superiority and start of her Husband in any thing: 
— Faciunt gravior a coactae juu. Sat. 6.  
Imperio Sexus; minimumque libidine peccant.  As if they should conform themselves to men's weaknesses, and pattern out their own Abilities by their Defects. He that is deprived of his bodily sight, is content to be led, though by a child: and shall he, that is blind in his understanding disdain to be directed by her, who by the ordinance of God, and the rules of sacred Wedlock, is allotted him a fellow-helper in all his businesses? The Husband and the Wife are the eyes of a Family; if the right one be so bleared, that it cannot well discern; the guiding of the Household must of necessity be left unto the left, or on the sudden all will go to wrack. And surely I see no reason but the Hen may be permitted to crow, where the Cock can do nothing but cackle. So that learning, we see, is an ornament, and a decency, most expedient for Women, were it for no other respect, then to supply, as occasion may require, the defects that are in Men. And truly some of them, by seconding a natural propension in themselves to letters, with an industrious pursuit, have attained to so high a perfection in them, that men considering how imperiously they challenge a pre-eminence over them herein, have had just cause to blush at their own ignorance. There are some, which Antiquity objecteth to our view, whose many rare and profitable inventions made them deserve the names of Goddesses here on earth, as Pallas, Ceres, and the Sibyls, whose mouth it pleased God many times to use as a sacred Oracle, whereby to publish unto the world, what he purposed in his will. Others again, which have had the tutor of diverse very famous and worthy persons, as Aspasia, Macrina and Diotime, who by her prayers and devouter sacrifices, prorogued a certain pestilence, which was then to light upon the Athenians, till ten years after. I could here allege Nicostrata, the mother of evander, who was the first that taught the Latins what letters were, as likewise Corinna, Sapph, Sulpitia, and the Schoolmistress of Pindare the Lyrike, all of them worthy admiration for their excellency in Poesy; but I desire not to travel far, for what I may procure near home. A countrywoman of our own, having disguised herself into the habit of a Student took her journey to Rome, where in a while she grew so famous for wit and knowledge, that from one degree of Dignity to another, she stepped at length into Saint Peter's Chair and had the custody of the Keys. And this if their adversaries like deaf Adders stop not their ears when Reason charmeth, may very well suffice to maintain them learned. Their Wisdom is the next, which men with their traducements would enviously impeach, but you shall quickly see it uncanopied of those misty clouds, which would obscure it, and shining out as clear as brightest day.   

CHAP. 9  
Of their Wisdom.  
WOmen are wise enough say their adversaries, if they can but keep themselves out of the rain. Indeed it would much advantage men, if their understandings were limited with such narrow bounds. Their imperfections would not furnish them with matter of laughter so readily as now they do, nor their ablest virtues be so often overmatched by them, as now they are.  
It hath been our policy from the beginning to busy them in domestical affairs, thereby to divert them from more serious employments, in which if they had not surmounted us, they would at least have shown themselves our equals, and our parallels. Spinning, knitting, sowing, preserving, & the like, as we would make them believe, are their chiefest pieces: But all ages have afforded some, whose Spirits being of a stronger temper, and harder edge, then to turn at such persuasions, have travailed beyond those Herculean Pillars, and made manifest to the world, that the Brains of a Serpent have been lodged in the Head of a Dove. For proof hereof let us search no farther into the bosom of Antiquity, than those times, in which the pride and glory of Italy, sat chained, as a Trophy, on the victorious arms of the barbarous Goths, and we shall find, that there lived then amongst them Queen Amalasunta, who with such wonderful discretion and moderation so managed their harsher minds, that she found not in them, all the while she reigned, the least rub or stop, which might interrupt the smother course of her proceedings. After her, we shall hear of Theodelinda, Queen of Lombardy, a Woman famous and much renowned for her singular virtue in the government of State affairs; and after her of Theodora, the Grecian Empress, one not inferior in Wisdom, or sufficiency to the former. But that we may draw somewhat nearer home; what King or Prince almost of the latter days, and make inquiry through the largest part of Christendom, did ever deserve to be compared to Isabel, Queen of Spain. At her first coming to the crown, she found the greatest part of her Estate in the hands of the greatest, which notwithstanding she recovered in so just and peaceable manner, that they, whom she dispossessed, continued most affectionate unto her, and were willing to forego, what formerly they had willingly usurped. After this she did not only defend her own Kingdoms from the powerful invasions of foreign enemies, but withal enlarged them to her perpetual honour, by the glorious acquist of the kingdom of Granado: besides all which there was in her, as is credibly recorded by such as knew her, such a diviner kind of Majesty, as drew from her Subjects all dutiful respect, and put the most rebellious, without any stir, or tumult, in mind of their obedience: withal such a discerning judgement in the choice and election of Ministers fit for those places, in which she meant to employ them, which as the Poet saith, is the chiefest Art that belongeth unto Sovereignty.  

Principis est virtus maxima nosse suos.   
And afterwards so liberal a mind to reward the worthiness of their deserts, that since, there have been few in Spain of any note or credit, which were not of her creation. Gonsaluo, the great Captain, did more highly value himself for the happiness he had to be preferred by her, then for all the famous victories, and worthy Acts, which made him honoured of all Men both in Peace and War. So that in a word, the glory and the reputation, which Ferdinand her husband got by her, was no less a Dower, than the Kingdom of Castille. What should I speak of Queen Anne of France, a Lady of no less worth, than wealth, wife to two Kings, Charles and Lewis, but to neither of them any way inferior, either in justice, clemency, liberality, or holiness of life? What of Lady Margaret, Daughter to Miximilian the Emperor, who with no less wisdom, moderation and equity governed her State a long time? Hungary, Naples, Arragon, and Sicily afford us divers examples of the like kind; but since the wind is fair, I will disanchor from these foreign Coasts, and having hoisest up my Sails, make haste unto our own. And behold I am met upon the shore by that wonder of her Sex, Queen Elizabeth of happy memory, of whom Tasso makes this honourable mention; That howsoever their own ill fortune had decreed, she should be separated from the Church, nevertheless saith he, l'Heroiche virtu dell animo suo, & l'altezza dell ingegno mirabile le rendeva affectionatissimo ogni animo gentile, & valoroso. The Heroical virtues of her Mind and the wonderful profoundness of her Wit, endeared every noble and valorous disposition most affectionately unto her. And indeed the world cannot produce a fairer example out of all Antiquities Court-roles, in which goodness was evermore equally matched with greatness; honesty with Policy; mildness with severity: liberality with frugality, or affability with majesty: and in which we may see such prudence in governing; such moderation in commanding; such readiness in rewarding, such discretion in promising, such religion in performing. So that all her abilities rightly considered we may say of her, as was said of Greece, Sola factorum gloriam ad verborum copiam tetendit. She alone hath equalled with her deeds all that ever could be said of her in words, and deserved that which Alexander wished, that Homer's quill to be the Trumpet of her Praises. But not to keep her Princely Ashes too long out of their Sacred Urn; I will only utter to the astonishment of Fame, that which the Muse of divine du Bartas sung of her with admiration, styling her, & that without flattery.  

La docte Elizabeth, la prudente Pallas,  
Qui fait que le Breton, desdaigneux ne desire,  
Changer anmasleiougd'une femme l'Empire  
Qui tandis qu Erynnis lass d'estre en enfer,  
Rauage ses voysins, & par flame & par far,  
Et que le noir effroy d'vn murmurant orage,  
Menace horriblement l'vniuers de naufrage:  
Tient heurense paix sa Province, ou la Loy  
Venerable fleurit avec la blanch Foy,  
Qui nâ pas seulement l'opulence fecund  
Dn matern●lāguage; ains d'une bouche ronde  
Peut sibien sur le champ harenguer en Latin  
Grec, Francois, Espagnol, Tudesque & Florentin  
Que Rome l'Emperiere, & laGrece, & la France  
Le Rhin et l'Arne encor plaident pour sa naissance. 

Elizabeth the learned, Pallas the wise,  
Who makes the Britain's scornfully disdain,  
For the male yoke to change a females reign,  
Who whilst Erynnis, weary now of hell,  
With fire & sword doth all her neigbors quell,  
And that the black fright of a murmuring storm.  
The world with shipwreck threateneth to deform,  
In happy peace her provinces doth sway,  
Where Law & Faith do never fall away.  
Who is not only very richly stored  
With the sweet wealth her language doth afford  
But can so well and volubly address  
Her tongue upon the sudden, to express  
Her high conceits in Latin, and can speak  
Such Spanish, Dutch, such Tuscan and such Greek,  
That Rome, Greece, France, and Spain and Arne, and Rhine  
Each of them plead, and say, By birth she is mine.     
And so I leave this glorious Sun lodged in her West, till she rise again at the approach of the Sun of glory, to behold Queen Anne our gracious Sovereign, whose virtue like that Star in the East, draws Princes, from a far to do homage and service to her worthiness. Let us but consider with what wisdom and discretion she hath hitherto governed her own domestical affairs, and from thence we shall presently conclude in her behalf, as Artaxerxes, surnamed Mnemon, did in the behalf of that poor man, who presented him with an apple of extraordinary bigness, which when he had received with a cheerful countenance: and withal informed himself, that it was of his own planting. Persolem inquit, videtur hic mihi commissam sibi urbem de parva magnam redacturus. Now by the Sun, said he, were a City committed to this man's custody, of a little one he would surely make it great, of a mean one, mighty. I could here to stop the mouths of our adversaries produce the names of divers honourable personages, which like blazing lights do continually wait upon this glorious Cynthia, and are eminent in the eyes of the world for sundry notable graces and perfections; but I will now again look back a little upon those elder Times, and come to Helena the wife of john, king of Cyprus, who perceiving that her husband's weakness was a blot whereon the greatest part of his nobility continually played, and that the Kingdom was the stake at which they aimed, & which unless her better skill prevented, they by their false play were like to win; she took the government into her own hands, to the release of the Land, and the relief of all her subjects. And surely where the sword doth rust for want of use, or is so full of gaps and flaws, that it cannot well be used, I see no reason but the Distaff should be suffered to supply the place. God, when the children of Israel, after the death of Ehud the Beniamite did evil in his sight, sold them into the hands of jabin King of Canaan, who for twenty years most grievously oppressed them, and when there wanted a judge for their deliverance, he sent them upon the cry of their lamentation, Deborah a Prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth. jud. 4. 4. by whose counsels and directions Barak, the son of Abinoam freed them from the cruel hand of jabin, and the bloody sword of Sisera. And all the people, saith the Text, came up as occasion compelled them to her dwelling under the palm-tree, between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim, and received judgement from her. I cannot therefore but condemn the Salic law, and tax it of injustice, by which the worthiness of Women is excluded, as a thing altogether eccentrical from the crown of France. But leaving this, do we not see that the greatest Captains, and the gravest commanders have thought it no disparagement to their worth, to take a piece of the Fox from them, wherewith to piece out the Lion in themselves, for the safer effecting of their high designs? Coriolanus whom neither the majesty of the Commonweal in the persons of Ambassadors, nor the reverence of Religion in the countenance of the Priests could move, was by their tears, like a hard Diamond with the blood of Goats, so mollified, that on the instant he did abate the edge of his fury, and turned the point of his weapon from the bosom of his ungrateful Country.  
The Captain of that Garrison, which Hannibal had planted in Tarentum, was desperately en amoured of a certain gentlewoman, who had a Brother that served at the same time in the Roman army, under Fabius the Consul, which when he understood, he commanded him as a fugitive to hasten thither; where making use of his sisters cunning flatteries he drove the Governor in a short time to betray the town, which was committed to his custody. To be brief, what had become of the two sons of Alexander, King of the jews, when immediately upon their Father's death, the incensed multitude, in revenge of that hard and cruel slavery, wherein he had always held them during his life, hastened to the Palace with their weapons in a readiness to destroy them; and had given those their tragical designs a bloody Catastrophe, but that a Woman's wisdom on the sudden altered the Scene of their proceedings, and hatching a Dove out of a Serpent's egg, according to Sampsons' riddle; out of the fierce brought sweetness, and out of the devourer meat, by casting the corpse of her deceased Lord into the midst of the market place, and telling them, that as in his life time she would willingly have diverted him from those tyrannical and cruel courses, which had most justly stirred them up to anger against him: so now, being dead, she was ready there with them to torture his wretched carkasle, and to fling it to the dogs; only she entreated them to commiserate those little infants, which were so far from being guilty of any fault, that they could not possibly have been privy to any fact. Which words of hers wrought such an impression in their minds, that they did not only choose those children with one consent for their Sovereign Lords, but afforded likewise honourable burial to the exposed corpse. Nay what had become of the whole nation of the jews, if the wisdom of judith had not cunningly practised the harsh affections of Holofernes, and with her speeches, actions and behaviour so enchanted his warlike Spirits, that he minded no arms at all, but hers, which if at any time they happened to compass him, he thought himself no less than a glorious Planet in a golden Sphere?  
Queen Cleofis, after she had yielded herself to Alexander, redeemed by lying with him her lost kingdom; Illecebris saith Q. Curtius, consecuta quod virtute non poterat, having obtained that of him by flattery, which she could not keep from him by force; And undoubtedly there is nothing, if once they be pleased to employ their wits, in which they cannot very easily overreach and gull the wisest and the ablest men. David cannot so stiffly resolve to revenge himself on Nabal and his household, but Abigail will make him through her wise behaviour quickly relent. Out of which consideration it may peradventure be, and no worse, S. Aug. calleth them Muscipulas animae; latrones vitae: Mouse traps for our souls; Pickepurses of our affections. But I will here hang up Fabius his Shield, to handle a while Marcellus his sword; and having spoken of their Wisdom, come now to treat of their Valour.   

CHAP. 10.  
Of their Courage and Valour.  
Revenge and cruelty are the Symptoms of a sickly resolution, and cannot fasten upon the Temperature of a mind, that is truly valorous. But these in Women, say their Adversaries, have, like ulcerous Cankers eaten into their very marrow, and wrought such a general corruption in all the powers and faculties of their Souls, that there can not any Crisis possibly be made of their recovery. The world doth not harbour in it a Creature more vindicative, saith the Poet.  

Scylla, & Charybdis Sicula contorquens freta,  
Minus est timenda: nulla non melior fera est:  
Adeo cruentus stimulat faeminam dolour. 

Scylla, Charybdis, and those rocks that tear  
The Seas proud billawes, need not half that fear,  
There's not a Beast throughout the world so wide,  
Which, than a Woman, is not far more mild.  
Such bloody Passions, in her bosom reign,  
When outward crosses cause her inward pain.     
For instance whereof they allege Parisatis, who having apprehended the Carien, that had cut the hamstring of Cyrus her younger Son, caused him for the space of ten days to be continually tortured; after that, his eyes to be bored out: and finally molten mettle to be poured into his ears, till he breathed his last in this miserable torment. She condemned Mithridates, who had wounded him in the temples, to that hellish torture of the troughs, in which after he had pitifully languished 17. days together, with much a do he died. As for Mefabates, who deprived him of head & hands, having won him at dice of her son Artexerxes, she delivered him to the Executioners, & commanded them to flay him alive, and afterwards to tear his body in pieces, and to hang both his skin and it on several gibbets. The mother of Mahomet II. was so incensed against Moses Bassa, who by the command of his Sovereign had massacred her younger son, a child but 18. years old, that nothing could appease her fury, till she had him, with hands and feet fast bound, delivered up unto her; which being obtained, she struck him first into the breast with a knife, than made a hole in his right side, and by piece-meal cut out his Liver, and cast it before his eyes to the Dogs to eat. These things considered, the Satirist had reason, say our Opposites, to cry out:  

— minor admiratio summis  
Debetur monstris, quoties facit ira nocentem  
Hunc sexum, & rabieiecur incendente feruntur  
Praecipites, ut saxa iugis abrupta.— 

We need the greatest Monsters less admire,  
Then this same Sex of theirs, when rage doth fire  
Their livers; & to mischief bears them all,  
Headlong, like rocks, which from their cliffs do fall.     
Nor is it a thing to be much wondered at, say they, to see those so void of mercy, that are so full of fear. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; is a position out of check. The heart, that fainteth at the alarms of an enemy, cannot possibly be recovered, unless it drink the Spirit of his blood. To minister any other aurum potabile, than this unto it, is mere vanity, and will produce but a weak effect. This alone is that extracted Quintessence, which beyond all Chemical inventions, must free it from those Paralytical resolutions, and Epileptic convulsions, whereinto, upon the very noise of his approach, it is always apt to fall. The Emperor Maurice in a dream saw a Soldier, called Phocas, killing his Wife, his children, and afterwards himself, with which Vision being sorely daunted, he inquired of his son in law Philippicus if there were not such a fellow in the Army, who told him, yes; and withal that he was a roaring youth, but yet a very Craven; Whereupon the Emperor concluded with a troubled countenance, that if he were a Coward, he would sure be cruel. And indeed this argument may hold in men, in whom want of courage is occasioned either by some diminution, ablation, or depravation of the animal, and vital spirits; by reason whereof they never think themselves secure, till their enemy's death sign the Quietus est, which must set them free from the dangerous pursuit of hazard and molestation: but in Women it must fail, from the quickness of whose apprehension, ariseth many times a sudden fright, which upon a more serious consideration of the object doth as suddenly vanish. And thus let me see if the Soul of the wisest & the worthiest man be able to resist the first conceits and fantasies that assail him, and starteth not as out of a natural subjection, with much paleness and contraction at the noise of thunder, the unexpected discharge of a Cannon, or the sudden crack of some great ruin. Sure it sufficeth here, as in other Passions, that his opinion remain safe & sound, that the settledness of his discourse undergo no alteration or attaint, and that he give not his consent to his affright and sufferance. I must confess yet, there be many Vultures, Harpies, and hellish Furies amongst them, in whom as in Media, and the like, Passions are so predominant, that they make not a superficial impression, but penetrate so far into the seat of Reason as to infect it, and corrupt it. But if things may be censured with indifferency, our Adversaries will find, that Cruelty even in these, is not an imperfection of Nature, but a defect of breeding. Cyrus' his Nurse, while he was young would now & then suckle him with the blood of Beasts and fowls, that were newly killed, which bred such a habit in him, that being manlier grown, he never returned from the slaughter of his enemies, but he licked his sword: Which barbarous and beastly thirst of his, was an occasion that Tamiris having cut off his head, caused it to be cast into a tub of man's blood, with this exprobration of his cruelty. Satia te sanguine quem sitisti, cuiusque infatiabilis semper fuisti: Now glut thyself, inhuman Tyrant, with that, whereof heretofore, thou couldst never have thy fill. The Plants of Eden, in the state of innocency, were apt, it seemed, to riot in their growth; the walks and allies thereof were likewise subject to be quickly defaced, and overshadowed with weeds, and therefore the Lord himself took care that Man should be put therein to keep it, and to dress it. And indeed it is the property of some vigorous and active Spirits, when they find a vacation of good employments, to make themselves a Termtime of bad. The brightest sword will quickly rust, if it be not used; The fatter the soil, the sooner will the field be overgrown with nettles and briars, if it lie long fallow. Neglect is urenda filix innascitur agris. Nature, if she be not continually lopped and pruned, will suddenly grow debauched. It is said of Scylla, that he was cupidus voluptatum, Much addicted to voluptuousness; sed gloriae cupidior; yet never, but when business of more importance failed him. The like is likewise recorded of Demetrius, the son of Antigonus and divers others. But I am led a little from my level. It appeareth out of all these premises, that to say Women because they be fearful must of necessity be cruel, is a deceitful conclusion; and that Cruelty, because it is found in the untutoured bosoms of some few amongst them, must needs, like a beloved Guest, be inwardly harboured of them all, is a consequence, as void of Charity as the other was full of Sophistry. For as for the first.  

Mens immota manet, lachrymae volvuntur inanes. 

Some softer dews from their fair eyes may fall.  
But nothing can their nobler minds appall.     
And for the other, there can be no certain demonstration grounded upon particular observation. But not to follow women's valour any longer afar of, as Hippolytus did the Goddess Venus, I will begin to court it at a nearer distance, and make known in brief unto the world, that amongst them are very many, which deserve a wreath of Bays, as well as a garland of Roses; and to have their Temples shrouded under the Olive, as well as shadowed with the Lily. Pliny the younger had a neighbour, near unto a certain house of his in Italy, wonderfully tormented with certain Ulcers, which had befallen him in those parts that were the occasion of our first Parent's shame. His Wife in the end, considering how long he languished, besought him earnestly that she might view his grief, and that she would more freely than any body else tell him in brief, what he had to trust unto; which when she had obtained, she found it was impossible, he should ever be recovered, and therefore counseled him, as the safest and surest remedy, to kill himself. And finding him too soft for so rough an enterprise: Nay do not think, said she, sweet friend, that the pains I see you suffer, concern not me, as well as you, and that to free myself from them, I will not take the same medicine, I prescribe to thee. I will accompany you in the Cure, as I have done hitherto in the Care. Cast of this fear, and believe assuredly, that we shall meet but with pleasure in this passage, which must rescue us from such torments. Come, my Love, we will go joyfully together. This said, finding that she had already warmed her Husband's courage, she rosolueth from a window in their lodging to fling themselves headlong out into the Sea; and to maintain even to the end, this loyal and vehement affection, where with she had ever formerly embraced him, she would have him die within her arms; and that her strict enlacements, might not slacken either through the fall, or fear, she caused him to be fast bound unto her middle, and in this manner for the easing of his life, abandoned her own. But this was a Woman of mean rank, and amongst such, it is not so strange a thing to see now and than some traces of extraordinary goodness.  

extrema per illos  
justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit. 

When just Astraea stepped from earth to skies,  
From poor folk's hearts she took her latest rise.     
I will bring you others from the Palaces of Princes, where (some say) Virtue seldom quartereth. Arria, wife to Cecinna Poetus, when she saw, that her Husband after the overthrow of Scribonianus whose faction he had followed against the Emperor Claudius, was led away by the soldiers as a prisoner, and that she might not be suffered to accompany him in the same ship; hired upon the instant a fisher-boat, and followed him in that manner from Sclavonia to Rome, where one day, junia the wife of Scribonianus accosting her in presence of the Emperor somewhat familiarly by reason of the Society of their fortunes, she thrust her back veryeagerly with these words. heavens forbid that I should either speak or listen unto thee, in whose lap Scribonianus was slain, and thou yet alive. These and other the like words gave her friend's occasion to suspect, that she was not minded to continue long, the slavish captive of an insulting fortune. And hereupon did Thrasea her son in Law beseech her, not to lay violent hands upon herself, ask her whether she would be content that his wife her Daughter, if he at any time should chance to run the like hazard, which Cecinna did, should do the like? whereunto she answered, Would I? yes, yes, assure thyself I would had she lived so long, and so peaceably with thee, as I have done with him. These desperate replies made them more narrowly observe her gesture and demeanour: which when once she had discovered. You do wisely, said she, well may you make me die more uneasily; but keep me from dying at all, you cannot; and therewith rising furiously out of her chair, she ran her head against a post, and a while after being somewhat recovered of the blow; Did I not tell you, said she, that if you denied me an easy death, I would make choice of some other, how painful soever it did prove. The end of such an admirable virtue was this. Her husband Paetus was somewhat too fainthearted, to prevent what the Tyrant had cruelly designed against him, by doing it himself. One day therefore amongst other, having employed all the inducements, persuasions end exhortations that were fit for such a business, she took the poniard which he wore, and holding it naked in her hand, for the conclusion of her discourse. Paetus, said she, do thus; and having upon the very instant given herself a mortal stroke about the stomach, and then snarching it out of the wound, presented it unto him, as the Legacy of her affectionate love, with this noble, generous, and immortal encouragement, Paete non dolet. Hold, take it Paetus, it hath not hurt me at all. The Sum of which worthy story is punctually comprised in this ensuing Epigram. Mart. lib. 2. Ep. 14.  

Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Paeto,  
Quam de visceribus traxerat ipsa suis;  
Si qua fides, vulnus, q ᵈ feci, non dolet inquit;  
Sed quod tu facies, hoc mihi, Paete, dolet. 

When to her Paetus Arria did present  
The sword, wherewith her bowels she had rend;  
This wound, q ᵈ she, torment's me not, believe me  
But what thou mak'st, sweet Paetus, that will grieve me.     
And upon the instant he struck himself with the same weapon; ashamed, in my opinion, that ever he had needed so dear and precious an instruction. But shall I show you a Rosy Bud, that will bloom no longer, than it may lie in the bed of winter: a Fire that burneth not but when cold water is cast upon it: a Marigold, that openeth not, but at a setting Sun? look then upon that young and honourable Roman Lady, Pompeia Paulina, who having in the spring of her youth, matched herself with Seneca in the full fall of his age, would not, after Nero had decreed his death, upon any rearmes be dissuaded by him from dying with him. It was, she said, a necessary journey, and could never be better undertaken, then in his company. Seneca was much delighted with this glorious determination of hers, and told her, that he would not envy her that honour: and withal, that howsoever there might be an equality of constancy and resolution in both of them towards their common end: the beauty yet, and glory of the action would be greater on her side then on his by far. And so hand in hand after many sweet farewells taken, and soft embraces, they set themselves in a readiness to welcome death, and had their veins wide opened presently to let out life, to let in him.  
Harmonia the Daughter of Hieron the Syracusan, would needs be buried in those flames in which her Country burned. Mithridates knew not how to die, till his sisters had marked him out the way. Asdrubal, though very valiant, was fain to take a precedent from his wife to free himself from his foe.  
But I hear these magnanimous and high designs of theirs, traduced by our adversaries, as if a dull and stupid ignorance of the danger which they undergo, or some obstinate and selfe-willd humour to effect, what they undertake, were the principal causes of their being. When indeed their true original is an absolute and determinate will, to preserre honour and duty before all the dangers of the world, as the sequel in a more warlike and martial manner shall discover unto them.  
Marulla a Maid of Coccinum in Lemnos, when Solyman Bassa thought unexpectedly to have surprised the Town, took up the weapons of her Father, whom she saw slain before her in the gate, and did not only revenge his death upon those that approached her, but kept out the Turk and all his forces, till the Citizens moved with the alarm, made haste to succour her. At the siege of Alba Regalis, amongst other women was a tall Hungarian, who thrusting in amongst the soldiers, with a scythe in her hand, at one blow struck off the heads of two Turks, as they were climbing up the Rampire. At the battle of Coy, which was fought between Selimus the first, and Ishmael, and for the terribleness thereof entitled by the Saracens themselves, The only Day of Doom, were found in the fields of Calderan, amongst the heaps of men that were at that time slain, the bodies of divers Persian Women, who had armed themselves out of no other intent, than to share with their Husbands in those bloody purchases. At the siege of Agria, the women showed themselves no less valiant, than the men, in beating Mahomet from the walls, and massacring his Soldiers on every side. One amongst the rest, taking from her dead Husband his Sword and Target, did sacrifice therewith immediately the lives of three of her enemies to his Ghost, and her own revenge. But I will now muster up whole armies from sundry Nations, of generous and warlike Lasses, such as shall confound our Adversaries with their presence, and serve as a Test to discover much weakness in the stourest Men. The Persians flying from the Medes, are met without their City gates by their Mothers and their Wives, who taking up their garments, demanded those fearful hares, Num in uteros matrum vel uxorum vellent refugere, whether they thought to shroud themselves from the pursuit of their enemies, within the compass of those forms again, or no? with which spectacle and speech of theirs, they grew so much ashamed of their own saintheartednesse, that presently they turned head, and recovered the victory which before they had most basely lost, out of the hands of their enemies. Philip the son of Demetrius, having besieged the Town of Chio, caused Proclamation to be made, That as many slaves, as would fly from thence to him, should enjoy liberty, and with all their Master's wives, which ignominious affront so incensed the women, that without delay they ran armed to the walls, and assaulted him so fiercely, that in short space they enforced him, which the men could never do, to raise his Army, and remove his Forces, with no little loss of Honour, Labour and Expense. The very same persons, when their Husbands were assaulted by the Erithraeans and their confederates, & finding themselves unable to contend with them, were content upon composition to depart out of Leuconia only with one shirt and one upper garment: reproved them very sharply, that they could endure, having foregone their weapons, to march naked through the squadrons of their enemies, and wished them for the keeping of their Oath, in stead of their clothes to take their sword & their shield, and to tell them that those were the proper garments which belonged to men of valour. They obeyed them herein, and with this their boldness so terrified the Erithraeans, that they were glad of their departure. The Inhabitants of Curzola perceiving the Turkish forces to approach, out of cowardly fear for sook their town, leaving behind them, not above twenty men, and fourscore Women, who with great courage defended the place, and in the end, seconded, as it were, by heaven with a tempest from the North, rescued it wholly from the violent assaults of those barbarous mahometans.  
Nicholas Serpietre, chief Leader of the Ratians against Friar George Bb. of Varadine, in aid of Isabel, Cue: of Hungary, having most dishonourably lost, by reason of his fear and careless neglect, the greatest part of his Regiment, was for his baseness so much distasted by his heroic Wife, that she did not only reprove him, and that sharply, for the same, but withal absented herself from him a long time, as loathing the society of one so degenerating from the strains of true Nobility, as to prefer the safety of his life, before the safeguard of his Honour. What shall I need to show, how the Saguntines in defence of their Country, armed their dantier limbs against the troops of Hannibal? or how when the Dutchmen were overthrown by Marius, their Women being denied the favour of living free in the service of the Vestal Virgins, slew both themselves and their children; to show how much they hated and detested a servile subjection? The Celtes a people in France between the rivers Garunna, and Sequana, before such time as having passed the Alps they obtained that part of Italy, which afterwards they inhabited, fell at odds amongst themselves, with such implacable hatred, that it seemed nothing but the utter ruin and extirpation of each other could allay the tumult. But the women thrusting themselves into the midst of those factious levies, took notice of their differences, and reconciled them with such equity and dexterity, that they departed together from the field without the least sign of any former partialities amongst them; in honour of which their prowess and wisdom, they admitted them ever after to all their consultations both of peace and war. And in the league which they made with Hannibal, it was articulated and agreed upon, That if the Celtes should have occasion at any time to accuse the Carthaginians of wrong offered, the Carthaginian Captains and Commanders in Spain should have the hearing of the business; But if the Carthaginians should complain of the Celtes, the knowledge of the cause should be by reference committed to their Women. What should I speak of Tomyris amongst the Scythians: of Theoxena amongst the greeks; of Octavia, Portia, Caia, Cecilia, Cornelia or of Cloelia amongst the Romans: all of an extraordinary temper, and sprightly carriage, but the last, even by Posena, the professed enemy of her Country, for her stout and valiant attempts against himself, so much admired, that he presented her with a Horse, the only honovable reward of a true martial Virtue? The French talk of jane la pucelle? who when the Kingdom of France in the time of Charles the VII. lay panting for want of breath under the burden of our English arms, courageously relieved it, and having chased the forces of the Duke of Bedford from Orleans caused the King her Sovereign to be crowned at Rhemis, and set him afterwards in peaceable possession of all his Territories. Have we not in our own Confines, that princely Voadicia, for in this point I will not mention any later times, who with her warlike Amazonians maintained the reputation of her State, and kept it long on foot against the fierce invasion of the Romans? And therefore as our English Poet saith. Spencer F. Q. lib. 3. Can. 2.  

Here have I cause, in men just blame to find,  
That in their proper praise too partial be,  
And not indifferent to Womankind,  
To whom no share in Arms, or Chinalrie  
They do impart, ne maked memory  
Of their brave gests, and prowess martial,  
Scarce do they spare to one, or two, or three  
Room in their writs, yet the same writing small,  
Doth all their deeds deface, & dims their glorious all.   
But I have drawn this wire out too far, I will now therefore break it off, and in a little model express the large remainder of this work.   

The Epilogue.  
THucydides was of opinion that an honest and virtuous Woman should as charily cloister up her Fame from the Ears of Men, as she would her Face from their Eyes. But Gorgias was of another mind. For though he would not have their Beauties seen; he was content their virtues might be known. And Plutarch much approveth those Roman Laws, which permitted Women as well, as Men, according to their desert, and dignity, to be publicly praised, at the solemnizing of their Funerals. For howsoever Aristotle affirm, that nature intendeth always to produce that, which is most perfect, and therefore willingly would still bring forth the Male, counting Females, it should seem, like those, that are borne blind and lame, or any other way defective, the prodigious errors and mistake of her operations: Howsoever likewise their adversaries would deprive them of that glorious character of God's divinity imprinted in the heart of Man at his creation; because it is said in the 1. Cor. 11. v. 7. That man is the Image, and glory of God; but Woman is the glory of the Man; And hereupon would conclude, that their whole Sex is but an ample demonstration of nature's craziness, and their own unworthiness: Plato yet maintains, that if there be any distinction betwixt their sufficiency: and ours, it is not essential, but accidental, & such a one as is grounded merely upon use. And therefore, saith he, as both the Hands are by nature alike fit for all manner of actions, till application and employment bring in a difference of Right and Left. So Women and Men have in them the same aptitude and ability for the well managing of civil and military places, and it is exercise alone, which begets dexterity in the one and the other. Which example he drew peradventure from the doctrine of the Pythagorians, who divided all things into good and evil; and in the rank of those that were good, placed the Right-hand, the Male, and that which was limited and finite: in the rank of those that were evil; the Left-hand, the Female, and that which was infinite. But omitting this, his conclusion is, That as those bodies are most perfect, and fitting for every action, which can, if occasion require, as well apply their lefthand to the business, as their right: so is that Commonwealth the most absolute which for good government can make use of Women, as well as of Men.  
It is an Axiom in Schools, whereof no quaere can be made, That Substantiae non recipiunt aut maius, aut minus. Substances admit not either more or less: wherefore as one stone cannot be said to be more a stone, then another, so far as concerneth that essential form, which giveth a being to them both: no more can one man be said to be more perfectly Man then another. And so by consequence the Male shall not be thought more worthy than the Female, in regard of his essence, because they be comprehended both under one kind: but if in any thing he have the start, and advantage, it is merely by accident, and no way else. As concerning that forealleaged position of Aristotle's, I confess it is true, that nature in the production of things doth continually mind the perfectest; & therefore intendeth the bringing forth of Man in his kind, but not Male more than Female. For if she should always produce the Male, she should commit an extraordinary incongruity; because as from the body, and the soul, ariseth a compound more noble, than his parts, which is Man: so from the company of Male & Female doth redound likewise a compound, which is the only preserver of human generation, without which the parts would soon decay. Male and Female therefore, are by nature always together, neither can the one exist without the other. One Sex alone is an argument of imperfection; and therefore the Heathens did attribute both of them to God. Orpheus said of jupiter, that he was Male and Female. So that the graces and abilities which are in them, howsoever they may vary in some outward traces and lineaments, are in form and substance the same with ours. Let us consider if the magnificency of of Semiramis and that of Sesostris; the subtlety of Tanaquil, and that of Servius; the courage of Porcia, and that of Brutus; of Timoclea, and that of Pelopidas; do not resemble one the other very nearly. Virtue may alter now and then her habit, but she will never change her hue; the nature and condition, the temperature and constitution, the diet and course of life of those in whom she abideth, do but furnish her a wardrobe of so many several suits and shapes wherewith at her pleasure she disguiseth herself in outward appearance. Achilles was valiant in one kind, Ajax in another: Nestor's wisdom, and that of Ulysses were not alike. Agesilaus and Cato were both just, but not in the same manner. Eirene loved her Husband otherwise then Alcestis. Cornelia's magnanimity was of a differing strain from that of Olympias: yet notwithstanding all this there is but one Fortitude, one Prudence, one justice. The diversity of the operation ariseth only from the variety of the Organ. But self-conceitedness hath like a canker eaten into the hearts of Men, and possessed them with such an admiration of their own sufficiency, that they look but with a scornful eye upon the sufficiency of others. In choice of Wives they respect not any virtuous qualities. They account them but impertinences, and things of little use. Hath she wealth, she cannot possibly be without worth.  

Optima, sed qnare, Cesennia, teste marito;  
Bis quingenta dedit; tanti vocat ille pudicam:  
Nec Veneris pharetris macer est, nec lampade feruet;  
Ind faces ardent; veniunt à dote Sagittae. 

Best was Cesennia by her husband thought;  
But why? she to him many hundreds brought:  
Her grace, and virtue he doth wholly rate,  
After the fair proportion of her State.  
He grows not lean through Paphiandarts or torch:  
Her dowrie's that, which doth his bosom scorch.     
They take upon them to be their Heads, and therefore if they prove not as they ought, the blame must light upon themselves. If Vashti be disobedient, let Assuerus be blamed, for commanding her that, which being contrary to the Laws of Persia, did not beseem her modesty to do. The eye is in fault if the foot do stumble. The Chariot of the Sun, as I said before was glorious, and did afford much comfort, but when Phaeton had the guiding of it, his unadvised rashness set all things in combustion. It is here as it is at Irish, if we have a bad cast, we must seek to better it by good play. If a woman be sharp and sour in her conversation, it becometh Man with the mildness of his behaviour, mingling as it were Oil with Vinegar, to qualify the tartness, and like a skilful Chirurgeon, never to apply a Cataplasm where he sees an ointment will serve the turn. If she be obstinate and self-willed, he must remember the Apologue, that the blustering Wind the stiffer he sought to blow the travailers Cloak from him, the straighter he made him bind it to him: whereas the Sun by shining gently upon him so prevailed, ut praeaestu simul cum pallio tunicam exueret, that through overmuch heat, with his Cloak he did likewise put of his Coat.  

— Bacchaes bacchanti sivelis aduersarier.  
Exinsana infaniorem facies; feriet saepius.  
Si obsequare unâ resolves plaga,   
Saith the Comic.  
Passions in women are like wild beasts sooner tamed by following, then overthrown by withstanding. tumors and inflammations are but exasperated by Corrosives, the readiest way to recover them is by lenitives.  

Lenefluit Nilus, sed cunct is amnibus extat  
Vtilior, nullas confessus murmur vires. 

Nile softly flows, but yet more profit yields  
Then all streams else, in making rich the Fields,  
Whilst gently gliding on his moister way,  
He with no murmur doth his force bewray.     
He must not think to use them, as Esop's Labourer did his God, from whom he then wrung most, when he did most wrong him. It is otherwise here.  

— peragit trauquilla potestas,  
Quod violenta nequit; mandataque fortius urget  
Imperiosa quies— 

Calm power with much facility doth do,  
What stormy force can near attain unto.  
Still peace doth bear a more imperious sway  
And far more strongly urge them to obey.     
This is that field of Bio's, which if you praise it, will yield more fruit, then when you plough it.  
If she be light and wanton, and that the freeness of her carriage make him suspect the fairness of her conscience, let him conceal it closely, and remember how joseph, when he doubted the B. Virgin's faith, would not make her a public example, but determined with himself to put her away privily: and this was noted in him as an effect of justice, and uprightness by the H. G. itself. Private admotions, like precious balms, are seldom applied but with good success: churlish restraints are of another nature.  

Sinunquam Danaen habuisset ahenea turris,  
Non esset Danae de jove fact a parens. 

If beauteous Danae had not been detained  
In walls of brass, great jove had never rained  
Into her chaster lap that golden shower,  
Which broke the stalk of her fair virgin flower.     
Like whetstones they set an edge upon the dullest appetite, and are oftentimes the occasioners of misdeeds in such as never thought to step awry.  

Nullus in urbe fuit tota, qui tangere vellet  
Vxorem gratis Caeciliane tuam,  
Dum licuit, sed nunc positis custodibus ingens  
Turba fututorum est.— 

Whilst to his wife, Caecilian, gave access,  
None did themselves unto his house address:  
He had no sooner though appointed Spies,  
But strait a swarm of Lechers thither hies.     
Prohibitions in this kind are but provoking. Besides they are to little purpose. For as our English Poet saith.  

It is not iron bands, nor hundredth eyes,  
Nor brazen walls, nor many wakeful Spies,  
That can withhold her wilful wandering feet:  
But fast good will with gentle courtesies,  
And timely service to her pleasures meet,  
May her perhaps contain, that else would algates fleet.   
Let him consider likewise if his own lordliness be not a main efficient of her lewdness. For indeed,  

Non benè conveniunt, nec in una sede morantur,  
Maiestas & Amor.— 

Love hath a smiling face, and cannot brook  
To see itself checked with a surly look.     
Mildness and Affability are the true Parents of legitimate Affections; all other Compliments and serviceable Demonstrations are but impostures; and to speak truly, the bastard issue of Sinister and Side Respects. Witness our witty Epigrammatist. Mart. lib. 2. Epig. 55.  

Vis te, Sexte, coli; volebam amare;  
Parendum est tibi: quod jubes, colêris  
Sed site colo, Sexte: non amabo. 

I would, good Sextus, fain have loved thee;  
But thou desirest worshipped to be:  
Thy hest shall be obeyed but thou wilt prove  
That they, which worship. Sextus, will not love.     
All Cynical rigour therefore and austerity must be quite divorced from the nuptial yoke. A Stoical brow, a churlish accent, or a countenance any way Tyrannical, and which shall seem to exact observance, is the bane and poison of amorous embracements. The ancient Pagans did always place the Statues of Persuasion, and the Graces near to that of Venus, to show, That married people should by fair demeanour and soft entreaty, without brawling or contention obtain their desires at each others hand. Isaac that blessed Patriarch, was seen by Abimelech as he looked out at a window, to sport himself with his Rebaccah; An example confounding the arrogant behaviour of such, as will not remember, that the woman was taken out of the side of man, to be ranked in equal estimation with him; and not out of his foot, to become litier for his proud and insolent ambition to wallow on. They are not all of them Saints, I must confess, but such as have their imperfections & defects, as well as we; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith Plato, There is no sweet, but hath some sour: The wine is not without his Lees; and the Bee, as it hath honey, so it hath a Sting.  

— Medio de font leporum  
Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis faucibus angat. 

There's nothing so delightful to our Taste,  
But leaves some bitter savour at the last;  
And ereit come to settle in our maws,  
Offensive proves even to our very jaws.     
But whosoever shall neglect them for these, resembleth those, who for one illrellishing grape forbear the whole cluster; or because they have been scratched with the Bush will forego the Berry. But were they never so crooked in their carriage, never so deformed in their conversation, that well-tempered Wisdom, by reason whereof men challenge such a pre-eminence over them, should easily, me thinks, work some amendment. For though not every Beast in the Forest, nor every Tree in the wood, can be thoroughly stripped of their wilder nature; the Huntsman notwithstanding out of those, and the Gardener out of these, will find a means to reap some profit. The water of the sea is vicious, and unfit for drink; Fishes yet make it their nourishment, and Mariners, as well, as Merchants use it as chariot to carry them into far countries. In a word, no sublunary thing is more needful unto man, than fire: It affordeth him both Light and Heat, yet if the Satire be too busy with it, he may peradventure burn his beard. The Physician can extract a cordial out of the deadliest poison; and out of the basest mineral a noble Quintessence. But men are so far from this, that women to countenance their basest actions can bring Precedents from home. ahab's weakness was a cause of jezabels' unworthiness. Such a one is proud and haughty, but if you mark her well, you shall find, her husband is the Glass by which she trimmeth herself. 
— in vulgus manant exempla regentum;  
Vtque ducum lituos, sic mores castra sequuntur.   
The deeds of men in authority, are always Patrons for those of lower rank. A subject usually eyes nothing but the example of his Superior. Doth Aristotle stammer? those that are under him will affect it as a sovereign grace: Is Plato any thing crook shouldered? he shall have many that will imitate him. Hath Alexander the great a peculiar writhing of his neck? no doubt but Hephestion out of his love would willingly seem to have the like. It is the nature of true affection not only to palliate and disguise the blemishes of a friend, but with all to joy in them somerimes. 
— Balbini polypus Agnam   
Delectat— and to make them often the subjects of settled imitation. Is there any tumour therefore or inflammation in the Leg, or other inferior parts of the body? let us see if the defluction which causeth it, proceed not from the Head, Where there is a near conjunction, no marvel if there happen a sudden infection.  

— grex totus in agris  
unius scabie cadit, & porrigine porci,  
Vuaque conspect â livorem ducit ab vuâ.   
One scabbed sheep may mar a fair flock, one measled hog endanger a whole heard. The clearest eye many times by viewing only that which is bleared, becomes abnoxious to the like peril. Let us not complain then like that foolish fellow, of a pain in the Hand, when there is an impostume in the Head. If we would have women without spots, let us keep ourselves without stains. But here our adversaries cry out,  

Quid juuat ad surdas si canlet Phemius aures?  
Quid miseram Thamyram picta tabella juuat? 

Deaf Ears in Music take but small delight,  
Fair Pictures please not, where there wanteth sight.     
Little availeth the wisdom of the Enchanter, if the Adder be not disposed to listen. What effect can either Precept, or Precedent produce in those, who have armed themselves with a wilful Resolution, to put by all good counsel and persuasion? Oleum perdit & impensas, qui bovem mittit ad ceroma; saith the Proverb, An Ox will never prove a Wrestler, use what care and cost you can. Let your pleas be never so well tempered with wisdom and discretion, your speeches sa- Let him spy one wrinkle on her brow, And he shall straight his Mistress disavow: Let her skin writhell; let her eyesight fail, Her teeth wax yellow; or her cheeks look pale; Pack housewife, hence, this honest man shall say; Out of my doors; dispatch, use no delay; Your dropping nose occasions my disdain, I must have one, that hath a drier brain.  
For there are, which make Virtue the mark whereat they level; Let us but listen a while, and we shall hear many tragically sighing out, what Demenetus uttered in the Comedy, Argentum accepi, dote imperium vendidi; I have gotten money but I have purchased misery, and for a large Portion foregone my liberty. M. Aurelius will not dare though, to cast himself into the loose embraces of a Strumpet, so she bring an Empire to him for her dowry. Many of lower rank, out of a coverous desire to solder up a cracked estate, let not to do the like; but in the end they may cry out with Esau, The pottage hath refreshed me, but my birthright's gone. Plaut. in Aulul.  

— sunt multae in magnis dotibus  
Incommoditates, sumptu sque intolerabiles;  
Nam quae indotata est, ea in potestate est viri;  
Dotatae mactant & malo, & damno viros.   
Let all things be rightly considered, and we shall find that rich wives are but bills of charge. She that hath no such addition to make her weigh will be continually ready to conform herself in all things to her Husband's will; but she that hath the start in that, will have it in all things else, or the whole house shall perish in her Fury. 
Intoler abilius nihil est quam foemina dives.   
There can be no greater torture to a man, then to be matched to a woman whose fortunes are of a higher built roof than his own. juv: lib. 2. Sat. 6.  

Nil non permit it mulier sibi, turpe putat nil,  
Cum virides gemmas collo circundedit, & cum  
Auribus extensis magnos commisit Elenchos. 

No Act so lawless; no attempt so vile,  
But she believes becomes her well, the while  
About her neck fair sparkling gems she wears,  
And with large Pendants loads her stretched ears.     
Beauty therefore is vain, and riches are deceitful, saith (Pro. 31.) the H. G. but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the Law of kindness. Her Husband shall be known in the Gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the Land. The frailty of the first is fully charactered in this ensuing Poem, occasioned, it should seem, by some great and sudden alteration discovered in the Subject, which for the corespondencie it holds with this discourse I will here wholly insert.  

A glorious place I did of late behold,  
Whose outside richly decked with burnished gold;  
Did seem to me a Mansion fit for jove,  
For virtuous Pallas, or the Queen of love.  
I thought so sweet a seat could not but be  
The sacred harbour of some Deity.  
The roof thereof was arched like the skies  
And graced with stars, which though but mortal eyes,  
Yet such they were as like Promethean fire,  
In frozen earth could kindle hot desire;  
Such as could warm the Liver; quick the brain,  
And move affection in the dullest Swain;  
It joyed me much to see my weaker sight  
Curiously search this Labyrinth of Delight.  
One Beauty seen, I straightway more discover,  
And ravished, cry; Who would not be a Lover?  
Through crystal Casements I might easily see  
The lovely Graces in their sport full glee;  
And by and by the Archer and his Mother  
With wanton dalliance courting one another.  
An entrance was into this princely place,  
Whose coral Gates took up a seemly space;  
From forth betwixt the Leaves issued a breath,  
Could set a gloss upon the face of death,  
And now and then came forth a gentle sound,  
Whose sweet consent did Orpheus quite confound.  
It much affected many mortal ears,  
And might have drawn bright Angels from their Spheres  
But beauty fades, and lovely parts decay,  
Green Herbs do quickly turn to withered hay;  
The blushing Rose, the glory of the morn,  
Doth oftentimes become the midday's scorn.  
This seeming Eden I did lately view,  
But all things varied from their former hew;  
Nothing I saw, which I might term the same,  
So short a Date hath every earthly frame.  
Yet in this change Time could not vaunt his force;  
So I had not finished half his annual course,  
Since first that glorious parcel of the skies,  
Was made the happy Object of mine eyes;  
Whereat th'affections, form in my breast,  
As underpropped with to weak arrest.  
In their own ruins did themselves entomb,  
And like Abortives perished in the Womb.  
My thoughts shall therefore never more embrace  
The washie tincture of a female face;  
Beauties imperious looks may force mine eye,  
But virtues Liegeman my poor heart shall die.  
Yet some may tax me for a wavering mind;  
Whose love goes out at every blast of wind:  
But let these know; buildings though near so tall,  
If once their Base, & groundwork fail, must fall.   
As for the vanity of the last, I will take Martial for my Patron, who being condemned by a friend, for having refused to marry with a wealthy Widow, returned him his reasons in this pithy Epigram.  

Vxorem quare locupletem ducere nolim,  
Quaeritis? uxori nubere nolo meae.  
Inferior Matrona suo sit, Prisce, Marito,  
Non aliter fuerint Faemina, Virque pares.  
Mart. lib. 8. Epigram. 12. 

Demand you why, with one that's rich  
to marry I denied?  
The reason was, unto my wife  
I would not be the bride.  
The Matrons must inferior be,  
good Priscus, to the Man;  
Or never will they equal be,  
do Priscus what you can.     
But the Covure-feu Bell hath already rung, and it is now time the Draw-bridge of this our Sanctuary were pulled up, and the gates thereof shut in. Such as had Oil in their Lamps are already entered; If any seek admission hereafter, whatsoe'er their allegations be, they must attend a jubilee for a second opening; till when to stop the mouths of their adversaries, most whereof, like Euripides, though they rail upon them at the board, are well contented with them in the Bed, I publish here in a little volume, this poetical Character of their worthiness.  

— They are the comfort of our lives,  
That draw an equal yoke without debate;  
A Playfellow, that for of all grief drives;  
A Steward, early that provides and late;  
Both faithful, chaste, and sober, mild, and trusty,  
Nurse to weak Age, and pleasure to the Lusty.    
FINIS.