nothing indeed which witty Persons may not argue _for_ and _against_,
but they who duly weigh the Arguments on both sides, unless they be
extreamly prejudiced, will easily discern the great usefulness of
this Institution. The _Beaux_ perhaps, and topping Sparks of the
Town will ridicule and laugh at it. For Vertue her self as bright
as she is, can’t escape the lash of scurrilous Tongues; the comfort
is, whilst they impotently endeavour to throw dirt on her, they are
unable to soil her Beauty, and only defile and render themselves the
more contemptible. They may therefore if they please, hug themselves
in their own dear folly, and enjoy the diversion of their own insipid
Jests. She has but little Wisdom and less Vertue, who is to be frighted
from what she judges reasonable, by the scoffs and insignificant noises
of ludicrous Wits and pert Buffoons. And no wonder that such as they
who have nothing to shew for their pretences to Wit, but some scraps
of Plays and blustring Non-sense; who fansie a well adjusted Peruke
is able to supply their want of Brains, and that to talk _much_ is a
sign of Ingenuity, tho’t be never so little to the purpose, no wonder
that they object against our _Proposal_: ’Twou’d indeed spoil the Trade
of the gay fluttering Fops, who wou’d be at a loss, had they no body
as impertinent as themselves to talk with. The Criticism of their
Dress wou’d be useless, and the labour of their _Valet de Chambre_
lost, unless they cou’d peaceably lay aside their Rivalling, and one
Ass be content to complement and admire another. For the Ladies wou’d
have more discernment than to esteem a Man for such Follies as shou’d
rather incline them to scorn and despise him. They wou’d never be so
sottish as to imagine, that he who regards nothing but his own brutish
Appetite, shou’d have any real affection for them, nor ever expect
Fidelity from one who is unfaithful to GOD and his own Soul. They
wou’d not be so absurd as to suppose, that Man can esteem them who
neglects his Maker; for what are all those fine Idolatries, by which
he wou’d recommend himself to his pretended Goddess, but mockery and
delusion from him who forgets and affronts the true Deity? They wou’d
not value themselves on account of the Admiration of such incompetent
Judges, nor consequently make use of those little trifling Arts that
are necessary to recommend them to such Admirers; Neither wou’d they
give them opportunity to profess themselves their Slaves so long till
at last they become their Masters.
What now remains, but to reduce to Practice that which tends so very
much to our advantage. Is Charity so dead in the world that none will
contribute to the saving their own and their neighbours Souls? Shall
we freely expend our Money to purchase Vanity, and often times both
present and future Ruin, and find none for such an eminent good Work,
which will make the Ages to come arise and call us Blessed? I wou’d
fain persuade my self better things, and that I shall one day see this
_Religious Retirement_ happily setled, and its great designs wisely and
vigorously pursu’d; and methinks I have already a Vision of that lustre
and glory our Ladies cast far and near; Let me therefore intreat the
rest of our Sex, who tho’ at liberty in the world, are the miserable
Slaves of their own vile affections, let me intreat them to lay aside
their Prejudices and whatever borders on Envy and Malice, and with
impartial eyes to behold the Beauties of our _Religious_. The native
innocency and unaffectedness of whose Charms, and the unblameable
Integrity of their Lives, are abundantly more taking than all the
curious Artifices and studied Arts the other can invent to recommend
them, even bad men themselves being Judges, who often betray a secret
Veneration for that vertue they wou’d seem to despise and endeavour
to corrupt. As there is not any thing, no not the least shadow of
a motive to recommend Vice but its fashionableness and the being
accustom’d to it, so there is nothing at all forbidden in Vertue but
her uncouthness. Acquaint your selves with her a little, and you’ll
wonder how you cou’d be so foolish as to delight in any thing besides!
For you’ll find her Conversation most sweet and obliging; her Precepts
most easy and beneficial; her very tasks Joys and her Injunctions the
highest Pleasures. She will not rob you of any innocent delight, not
engage you to any thing beneath your Birth and Breeding; but will put a
new and more grateful relish into all your Enjoyments, and make them
more delicious with her Sweetness. She’ll preserve and augment your
Honour, by allying you to the King of Heaven; secure your Grandeur
by fixing it on a firm bottom, such as the caprice of Fortune cannot
shake or overthrow; she’ll enlarge your Souls, raise them above the
common level, and encourage that allowable Pride of Scorning to do a
base unworthy action; Make you truly amiable in the eyes of GOD and
Man, preserve even the Beauty of your Bodies as long as ’tis possible
for such a brittle thing to last, and when it must of necessity decay,
impress such a loveliness on your Minds, as will shine thro’ and
brighten your very Countenances; enriching you with such a stock of
Charms, that Time which devours every other thing, shall never be able
to decay: In a word, ’tis Vertue only which can make you truly happy in
_this_ world as well as in the next.
There is a sort of Bravery and Greatness of Soul, which does more
truly ennoble us than the highest Title, and it consists in living
up to the dignity of our Natures, being so sensible of our own worth
as to think our selves too great to do a degenerate and unbecoming
thing; in passing indifferently thro’ Good and Evil Fortune, without
being corrupted by the one or deprest by the other. For she that can
do so, gives evidence that her Happiness depends not on so mutable a
thing as this World; but, in a due subserviency to the Almighty, is
bottom’d only on her own great Mind. This is the richest Ornament,
and renders a Woman glorious in the lowest Fortune. So shining is
real worth, that like a Diamond it loses not its lustre tho’ cast on
a Dunghill. Whereas, she who is advanc’d to some eminent Station and
wants this natural and solid Greatness, is no better than Fortunes
_May-game_, rendered more conspicuous that she may appear the more
contemptible. Let those therefore who value themselves only on
external accomplishments, consider how liable they are to decay, and
how soon they may be depriv’d of them, and that supposing they shou’d
continue, they are but sandy Foundations to build Esteem upon. What
a disappointment will it be to a Ladies Admirer as well as to her
self, that her Conversation shou’d lose or endanger the Victory her
eyes had gain’d! For when the Passion of a Lover is Exchang’d for
the Indifference of a Husband, and a frequent review has lessen’d
the wonder which her Charms at first had rais’d, she’ll retain no
more than such a formal respect as decency and good breeding will
require, and perhaps hardly that, but unless he be a very good Man
(and indeed the world is not over full of ’em) her worthlesness has
made a forfeit of his Affections, which are seldom fixt by any other
thing than Veneration and Esteem. Whereas a wise and good Woman is
useful and valuable in all Ages and Conditions: she who chiefly attends
the _one thing needful_, the _good part which shall not be taken from
her_, lives a cheerful and pleasant Life, innocent and sedate, calm
and tranquill, and makes a glorious Exit; being translated from the
most happy life on Earth, to unspeakable happiness in Heaven; a fresh
and fragrant Name embalming her Dust, and extending its Perfume to
succeeding Ages. Whilst the Fools, and the worst sort of them the
wicked, _live_ as well as _die_ in Misery, go out in a snuff, leaving
nothing but stench and putrefaction behind them.
To close all, if this _Proposal_ which is but a rough draught and rude
Essay, and which might be made much more beautiful by a better Pen,
give occasion to wiser heads to improve and perfect it, I have my end.
For imperfect as it is, it seems so desirable, that she who drew the
Scheme is full of hopes, it will not want kind hands to perform and
compleat it. But if it miss of that, it is but a few hours thrown away,
and a little labour in vain, which yet will not be lost, if what is
here offer’d may serve to express her hearty Good-will, and how much
she desires your Improvement, who is
LADIES,
_Your very humble Servant_.
_FINIS._
Letters concerning the Love of GOD, between the Author of the Proposal
to the Ladies, and Mr. _John Norris_; wherein his late Discourse,
shewing that it ought to be intire and Exclusive of all other Loves, is
farther clear’d and Justified, 8_vo._
Printed for _Richard Wilkin_.
A Serious
PROPOSAL
TO THE
LADIES,
PART II:
Wherein a Method is offer’d
for the Improvement
of their Minds.
_LONDON_:
Printed for _Richard Wilkin_ at
the _King’s Head_ in St. _Paul_’s
Church-yard, 1697.
To her Royal Highness
THE
Princess _ANN_ of Denmark.
MADAM,
_What was at first address’d to the Ladies in_ General, _as
seeming not considerable enough to appear in your Royal Highnesses
Presence, not being ill receiv’d by them, and having got the Addition
of a Second Part, now presumes on a more_ Particular _Application to
Her who is the Principal of them, and whose Countenance and Example
may reduce to Practice, what it can only Advise and Wish._
_And when I consider you Madam as a Princess who is sensible that the
Chief Prerogative of the Great is the Power they have of doing more
Good than those in an Inferior Station can, I see no cause to fear
that your Royal Highness will deny Encouragement to that which has
no other Design than the Bettering of the World, especially the most
neglected part of it as to all Real Improvement, the Ladies. It is by
the Exercise of this Power that Princes become truly Godlike, they
are never so Illustrious as when they shine as Lights in the World by
an Eminent and Heroic Vertue. A Vertue as much above Commendation as
it is above Detraction, which fits equally Silent and Compos’d when
Opprest with Praises or Pursu’d with Calumnys, is neither hurt by
these nor better’d by the other; for the Service of_ GOD, _and
the Resembling Him, being its only Aim, His Approbation in a soft and
inward Whisper, is more than the loud_ Huzza’s _and Plaudits of
ten thousand Worlds._
_I shall not therefore offend your Royal Ear with the nauseous strain
of Dedications; for what can one say, when by how much the more any
Person deserves Panegyric, by so much the less they endure it? That
your Royal Highness may be All that is truly Great and Good, and have
a Confluence of Temporal, Sanctify’d and Crown’d with Spiritual and
Eternal Blessings, is the unfeigned and constant desire of_
MADAM,
Your Royal Highnesses
Most Humble and most
Obedient Servant.
THE
Introduction,
Containing a farther
PERSWASIVE
TO THE
LADIES
To endeavour the
Improvement of their Minds.
The favourable reception which the graver and wiser part of the World
were pleas’d t’afford to a former Essay towards th’improvement of the
Ladies, has encouraged her who made it to prosecute that design a
little further, and to try if she can reduce to Practice what appears
so well in Notion and Speculation. For how customary soever it be
for Writers to mind no more than their own Reputation, to be content
if they can make a handsom flourish, get a Name among the Authors,
come off with but a little Censure and some Commendations; or if there
are a few generous Souls who’re got above either the Hope or Fear of
vulgar Breath, who do not matter much what is dispens’d more commonly
by fancy or passion than by Judgment, they rest satisfied however in
a Good Intention, and comfort themselves that they’ve endeavour’d
the Reformation of the Age, let those look to’t who will not follow
their Advices: Yet give her leave to profess that she desires the Good
of the World rather than its Applauses, and cou’d with much greater
pleasure have found her Project condemn’d as foolish and impertinent,
than see it entertain’d with delight and approbation, and yet no
body endeavouring to put it in Practice; since the former wou’d only
have reproach’d her own Understanding, but the latter is a shame to
Mankind, as being a plain indication that tho they discern and commend
what is Good, they have not the Vertue and Courage to Act accordingly.
Were’t altogether impossible t’improve her Sex, were Women irremediably
condemn’d to folly and impertinence, how much soever she desires their
amendment, she wou’d make a Vertue of Necessity and endeavour to be
content without it, but it will give her the greatest uneasiness to’ve
found out a Method which every one judges so much to their advantage,
if she can’t persuade them to make use of it.
And can you Ladies deny her so cheap a Reward for all the Good-will she
bears you, as the Pleasure of seeing you Wise and Happy? Can you envy
her the Joy of assisting at _Your_ Triumphs; for why does she contend
for Laurels but to lay ’em all at the Ladies feet? Why won’t you begin
to think, and no longer dream away your Time in a wretched incogitancy?
Why does not a generous Emulation fire your hearts and inspire you
with Noble and becoming Resentments? The Men of Equity are so just as
to confess the errors which the Proud and inconsiderate had imbib’d
to your prejudice, and if you still allow them the preference in
Ingenuity, they’re convinc’d it is not because you _must_, but because
you _will_. Can you be in Love with servitude and folly? Can you dote
on a mean, ignorant and ignoble Life? Shall an Ingenious Woman be
star’d on as a Prodigy, since you have it in your power to inform the
World, that you can every one of you be so, if you please your selves?
It is not enough to wish and to would it, or t’afford a faint Encomium
upon what you pretend is beyond your Power; Imitation is the heartiest
Praise you can give, and is a Debt which Justice requires to be paid to
every worthy Action. What Sentiments were fit to be rais’d in you to
day ought to remain to morrow, and the best Commendation you can bestow
on a Book is immediately to put it in Practice; otherwise you become
self-condemn’d, your Judgment reproaches your Actions, and you live a
contradiction to your selves. If you _approve_, Why don’t you _follow_?
And if you _Wish_, Why shou’d you not _Endeavour_? especially since
that wou’d reduce your Wishes to Act, and make you of Well-wishers to
Vertue and Good sense, become glorious Examples of them.
And pray what is’t that hinders you? The singularity of the Matter? Are
you afraid of being out of the ordinary way and therefore admir’d and
gaz’d at? Admiration does not use to be uneasy to our Sex, a great
many Vanities might be spar’d if we consulted only our own conveniency
and not other peoples Eyes and Sentiments: And why shou’d that which
usually recommends a trifling Dress, deter us from a real Ornament?
Is’t not as fine to be first in this as well as any other Fashion?
Singularity is indeed to be avoided except in matters of importance,
in such a case Why shou’d not we assert our Liberty, and not suffer
every Trifler to impose a Yoke of Impertinent Customs on us? She who
forsakes the Path to which Reason directs is much to blame, but she
shall never do any thing Praise-worthy and excellent who is not got
above unjust Censures, and too steady and well resolv’d to be sham’d
from her Duty by the empty Laughter of such as have nothing but airy
Noise and Confidence to recommend them. Firmness and strength of Mind
will carry us thro all these little persecutions, which may create us
some uneasiness for a while, but will afterwards end in our Glory and
Triumph.
Is it the difficulty of attaining the Bravery of the Mind, the Labour
and Cost that keeps you from making a purchase of it? Certainly they
who spare neither Money nor Pains t’obtain a gay outside and make a
splendid appearance, who can get over so many difficulties, rack their
brains, lay out their time and thoughts in contriving, stretch their
Relations Purses in procuring, nay and rob the very Poor, to whom the
Overplus of a full Estate, after the owners Necessaries and decent
Conveniencies according to her Quality are supplied, is certainly due,
they who can surmount so many difficulties, cannot have the face to
pretend any here. Labour is sweet when there’s hope of success, and
the thing labour’d after is Beautiful and Desireable: And if Wisdom
be not so I know not what is; if it is not worth while to procure
such a temper of mind as will make us happy in all Conditions, there’s
nothing worth our Thoughts and Care, ’tis best to fold our hands with
_Solomon_’s Sluggard and sleep away the remainder of a useless and
wretched Life.
And that success will not be wanting to our Endeavours if we heartily
use them, was design’d to be evinc’d in the former Essay, and I
hope I have not lost my Point, but that the Theory is sufficiently
establish’d; and were there but a General Attempt, the Practice wou’d
be so visible that I suppose there wou’d remain no more place to
dispute it. But this is your Province Ladies: For tho I desire your
improvement never so passionately, tho I shou’d have prov’d it feasible
with the clearest Demonstration, and most proper for you to set about;
yet if you _will_ believe it impossible, and upon that or any other
prejudice forbear t’attempt it, I’me like to go without my Wishes; my
Arguments what ever they may be in themselves, are weak and impertinent
to you, because you make them useless and defeat them of the End they
aim at. But I hope better things of you; I dare say you understand your
own interest too well to neglect it so grosly and have a greater share
of sense, whatever some Men affirm, than to be content to be kept any
longer under their Tyranny in Ignorance and Folly, since it is in your
Power to regain your Freedom, if you please but t’endeavour it. I’me
unwilling to believe there are any among you who are obstinately bent
against what is praise-worthy in themselves, and Envy or Detract from
it in others; who won’t allow any of their Sex a capacity to write
Sense, because they want it, or exert their Spleen where they ought
to shew their Kindness or Generous Emulation; who sicken at their
Neighbours Vertues, or think anothers Praises a lessening of their
Character; or meanly satisfie ill-nature by a dull Malicious Jest at
what deserves to be approv’d and imitated. No Ladies, Your Souls are
certainly of a better Make and Nobler temper, your Industry is never
exerted to pull down others but to rise above them, the only Resentment
that arises at your Neighbours Commendations is a harmless blush for
your own Idleness in letting them so far outstrip you, and a generous
Resolution to repair your former neglects by future diligence; One need
not fear offending you by commending an other Lady in your Presence,
or that it shou’d be thought an affront or defect in good breeding to
give them their lawful Eulogies: You have too just a Sentiment of your
own Merit to envy or detract from others, for no Body’s addicted to
these little Vices but they who are diffident of their own worth; You
know very well ’tis infinitely better to _be_ good than to _seem_ so,
and that true Vertue has Beauty enough in her self t’attract our hearts
and engage us in her service, tho she were neglected and despis’d
by all the World. ’Tis this therefore you endeavour after, ’tis the
approbation of GOD and your own Consciences you mainly esteem, which
you find most ascertain’d by an humble Charity, and that you never
merit Praise so much, because you never make so great a progress in
what is truly praise-worthy, as when your own defects are often in your
eyes t’excite you to watch against and amend them, and other peoples
Vertues continually represented before you in their brightest lustre,
to the end you may aspire to equal or surpass them.