{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_54984/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_54984","id":"gutenberg_54984","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54984","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Gender & Sexuality Studies","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Feminism -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources","Women's rights -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources"],"text":"A Serious\n\n  PROPOSAL\n\n  TO THE\n\n  LADIES,\n\n  FOR THE\n\n  Advancement of their\n\n  True and Greatest\n\n  INTEREST.\n\n  In two Parts.\n\n  _By a Lover of her SEX._\n\n  _LONDON_:\n\n  Printed for _Richard Wilkin_ at the _King\u2019s-Head_\n  in St. _Paul\u2019s Church-Yard_, 1697.\n\n\n\n\nA Serious\n\nPROPOSAL\n\nTO THE\n\nLADIES.\n\n\nLADIES,\n\nSince the Profitable Adventures that have gone abroad in the World\nhave met with so great Encouragement, tho\u2019 the highest advantage they\ncan propose, is an uncertain Lot for such matters as Opinion, not real\nworth, gives a value to; things which if obtain\u2019d are as flitting\nand fickle as that Chance which is to dispose of them; I therefore\npersuade my self, you will not be less kind to a Proposition that comes\nattended with more certain and substantial Gain; whose only design is\nto improve your Charms and heighten your Value, by suffering you no\nlonger to be cheap and contemptible. Its aim is to fix that Beauty, to\nmake it lasting and permanent, which Nature with all the helps of Art\ncannot secure, and to place it out of the reach of Sickness and Old\nAge, by transferring it from a corruptible Body to an immortal Mind.\nAn obliging Design, which wou\u2019d procure them _inward_ Beauty, to whom\nNature has unkindly denied the _outward_, and not permit those Ladies\nwho have comely Bodies, to tarnish their Glory with deformed Souls.\nWou\u2019d have you all be wits, or what is better, Wise. Raise you above\nthe Vulgar by something more truly illustrious, than a sounding Title\nor a great Estate. Wou\u2019d excite in you a generous Emulation to excel\nin the best things, and not in such Trifles as every mean person who\nhas but Money enough may purchase as well as you. Not suffer you to\ntake up with the low thought of distinguishing your selves by any\nthing that is not truly valuable, and procure you such Ornaments as\nall the Treasures of the _Indies_ are not able to purchase. Wou\u2019d help\nyou to surpass the Men as much in Vertue and Ingenuity, as you do in\nBeauty; that you may not only be as lovely, but as wise as Angels.\nExalt and Establish your Fame, more than the best wrought _Poems_ and\nloudest _Panegyricks_, by ennobling your Minds with such Graces as\nreally deserve it. And instead of the Fustian Complements and Fulsome\nFlatteries of your Admirers, obtain for you the Plaudit of Good Men and\nAngels, and the approbation of Him who cannot err. In a word, render\nyou the Glory and Blessing of the present Age, and the Admiration and\nPattern of the next.\n\nAnd sure, I shall not need many words to persuade you to close with\nthis _Proposal_. The very offer is a sufficient inducement, nor does\nit need the set-offs of _Rhetorick_ to recommend it, were I capable,\nwhich yet I am not, of applying them with the greatest force. Since you\ncan\u2019t be so unkind to your selves, as to refuse your _real_ Interest, I\nonly entreat you to be so wise as to examine wherein it consists; for\nnothing is of worse consequence than to be deceiv\u2019d in a matter of so\ngreat concern. \u2019Tis as little beneath your Grandeur as your Prudence,\nto examine curiously what is in this case offer\u2019d you, and to take care\nthat cheating Hucksters don\u2019t impose upon you with deceitful Ware. This\nis a Matter infinitely more worthy your Debates, than what Colours are\nmost agreeable, or what\u2019s the Dress becomes you best. Your _Glass_ will\nnot do you half so much service as a serious reflection on your own\nMinds, which will discover Irregularities more worthy your Correction,\nand keep you from being either too much elated or depress\u2019d by the\nrepresentations of the other. \u2019Twill not be near so advantageous to\nconsult with your Dancing-Master as with your own Thoughts, how you\nmay with greatest exactness tread in the Paths of Vertue, which has\ncertainly the most attractive _Air_, and Wisdom the most graceful and\nbecoming _Mien_: Let these attend you and your Carriage will be always\nwell compos\u2019d, and ev\u2019ry thing you do will carry its Charm with it. No\nsolicitude in the adornation of your selves is discommended, provided\nyou employ your care about that which is really your _self_; and do\nnot neglect that particle of Divinity within you, which must survive,\nand may (if you please) be happy and perfect, when it\u2019s unsuitable\nand much inferiour Companion is mouldring into Dust. Neither will\nany pleasure be denied you, who are only desir\u2019d not to catch at the\nShadow and let the Substance go. You may be as ambitious as you please,\nso you aspire to the best things; and contend with your Neighbours\nas much as you can, that they may not out do you in any commendable\nQuality. Let it never be said, That they to whom pre-eminence is so\nvery agreeable, can be tamely content that others shou\u2019d surpass them\nin _this_, and precede them in a _better_ World! Remember, I pray you,\nthe famous Women of former Ages, the _Orinda_\u2019s of late, and the more\nModern Heroins, and blush to think how much, is now, and will hereafter\nbe said of them, when you your selves (as great a Figure as you make)\nmust be buried in silence and forgetfulness! Shall your Emulation fail\n_there only_ where \u2019tis commendable? Why are you so preposterously\nhumble, as not to contend for one of the highest Mansions in the\nCourt of Heav\u2019n? Believe me, Ladies, this is the only _Place_ worth\ncontending for; you are neither better nor worse in your selves for\ngoing before, or coming after _now_; but you are really so much the\nbetter, by how much the higher your station is in an Orb of Glory.\nHow can you be content to be in the World like Tulips in a Garden, to\nmake a fine _shew_ and be good for nothing; have all your Glories set\nin the Grave, or perhaps much sooner! What your own sentiments are I\nknow not, but I can\u2019t without pity and resentment reflect, that those\nGlorious Temples on which your kind Creator has bestow\u2019d such exquisite\nworkmanship, shou\u2019d enshrine no better than _\u00c6gyptian_ Deities; be\nlike a garnish\u2019d Sepulchre, which for all its glittering, has nothing\nwithin but emptiness or putrefaction! What a pity it is, that whilst\nyour Beauty casts a lustre all around you, your Souls which are\ninfinitely more bright and radiant, (of which if you had but a clear\nIdea, as lovely as it is, and as much as you now value it, you wou\u2019d\nthen despise and neglect the mean _Case_ that encloses it) shou\u2019d be\nsuffer\u2019d to over-run with Weeds, lie fallow and neglected, unadorn\u2019d\nwith any Grace! Altho\u2019 the Beauty of the mind is necessary to secure\nthose Conquests which your Eyes have gain\u2019d, and Time that mortal Enemy\nto handsome Faces, has no influence on a lovely Soul, but to better and\nimprove it. For shame let\u2019s abandon that _Old_, and therefore one wou\u2019d\nthink, unfashionable employment of pursuing Butter-flies and Trifles!\nNo longer drudge on in the dull beaten road of Vanity and Folly, which\nso many have gone before us, but dare to break the enchanted Circle\nthat custom has plac\u2019d us in, and scorn the vulgar way of imitating all\nthe Impertinencies of our Neighbours. Let us learn to pride our selves\nin something more excellent than the invention of a Fashion; And not\nentertain such a degrading thought of our own _worth_, as to imagine\nthat our Souls were given us only for the service of our Bodies, and\nthat the best improvement we can make of these, is to attract the\nEyes of Men. We value _them_ too much, and our _selves_ too little,\nif we place any part of our desert in their Opinion; and don\u2019t think\nour selves capable of Nobler Things than the pitiful Conquest of some\nworthless heart. She who has opportunities of making an interest in\nHeaven, of obtaining the love and admiration of GOD and Angels, is too\nprodigal of her Time, and injurious to her Charms, to throw them away\non vain insignificant men. She need not make her self so cheap, as\nto descend to court their Applauses; for at the greater distance she\nkeeps, and the more she is above them, the more effectually she secures\ntheir esteem and wonder. Be so generous then, Ladies, as to do nothing\nunworthy of you; so true to your Interest, as not to lessen your Empire\nand depreciate your Charms. Let not your Thoughts be wholly busied in\nobserving what respect is paid you, but a part of them at least, in\nstudying to deserve it. And after all, remember that Goodness is the\ntruest Greatness; to be wise for your selves the greatest Wit; and\n_that_ Beauty the most desirable which will endure to Eternity.\n\nPardon me the seeming rudeness of this Proposal, which goes upon a\nsupposition that there\u2019s something amiss in you, which it is intended\nto amend. My design is not to expose, but to rectifie your Failures.\nTo be exempt from mistake, is a privilege few can pretend to, the\ngreatest is to be past Conviction and too obstinate to reform. Even\nthe _Men_, as exact as they wou\u2019d seem, and as much as they divert\nthemselves with our Miscarriages, are very often guilty of greater\nfaults, and such, as considering the advantages they enjoy, are much\nmore inexcusable. But I will not pretend to correct their Errors,\nwho either are, or at least _think_ themselves too wise to receive\nInstruction from a Womans Pen. My earnest desire is, That you Ladies,\nwould be as perfect and happy as \u2019tis possible to be in this imperfect\nstate; for I love you too well to endure a spot upon your Beauties, if\nI can by any means remove and wipe it off. I would have you live up to\nthe dignity of your Nature, and express your thankfulness to GOD for\nthe benefits you enjoy by a due improvement of them: As I know very\nmany of you do, who countenance that Piety which the men decry, and\nare the brightest Patterns of Religion that the Age affords; \u2019tis my\ngrief that all the rest of our Sex do not imitate such Illustrious\nExamples, and therefore I would have them encreas\u2019d and render\u2019d more\nconspicuous, that Vice being put out of countenance, (because Vertue\nis the only thing in fashion) may sneak out of the World, and its\ndarkness be dispell\u2019d by the confluence of so many shining Graces.\nThe Men perhaps will cry out that I teach you false Doctrine, for\nbecause by their seductions some amongst us are become very mean and\ncontemptible, they would fain persuade the rest to be as despicable and\nforlorn as they. We\u2019re indeed oblig\u2019d to them for their management, in\nendeavouring to make us so, who use all the artifice they can to spoil,\nand deny us the means of improvement. So that instead of inquiring\nwhy all Women are not wise and good, we have reason to wonder that\nthere are any so. Were the Men as much neglected, and as little care\ntaken to cultivate and improve them, perhaps they wou\u2019d be so far from\nsurpassing those whom they now despise, that they themselves wou\u2019d sink\ninto the greatest stupidity and brutality. The preposterous returns\nthat the most of them make, to all the care and pains that is bestow\u2019d\non them, renders this no uncharitable, nor improbable Conjecture. One\nwou\u2019d therefore almost think, that the wise disposer of all things,\nforeseeing how unjustly Women are denied opportunities of improvement\nfrom _without_ has therefore by way of compensation endow\u2019d them\nwith greater propensions to Vertue and a natural goodness of Temper\n_within_, which if duly manag\u2019d, would raise them to the most eminent\npitch of heroick Vertue. Hither, Ladies, I desire you wou\u2019d aspire,\n\u2019tis a noble and becoming Ambition, and to remove such Obstacles as\nlie in your way is the design of this Paper. We will therefore enquire\nwhat it is that stops your flight, that keeps you groveling here below,\nlike _Domitian_ catching Flies when you should be busied in obtaining\nEmpires.\n\nAltho\u2019 it has been said by Men of more Wit than Wisdom, and perhaps\nof more malice than either, that Women are naturally incapable of\nacting Prudently, or that they are necessarily determined to folly, I\nmust by no means grant it; that Hypothesis would render my endeavours\nimpertinent, for then it would be in vain to advise the one, or\nendeavour the Reformation of the other. Besides, there are Examples in\nall Ages, which sufficiently confute the Ignorance and Malice of this\nAssertion.\n\nThe Incapacity, if there be any, is acquired not natural; and none of\ntheir Follies are so necessary, but that they might avoid them if they\npleas\u2019d themselves. Some disadvantages indeed they labour under, and\nwhat these are we shall see by and by and endeavour to surmount; but\nWomen need not take up with mean things, since (if they are not wanting\nto themselves) they are capable of the best. Neither God nor Nature\nhave excluded them from being Ornaments to their Families and useful in\ntheir Generation; there is therefore no reason they should be content\nto be Cyphers in the World, useless at the best, and in a little time\na burden and nuisance to all about them. And \u2019tis very great pity that\nthey who are so apt to over-rate themselves in smaller Matters, shou\u2019d,\nwhere it most concerns them to know and stand upon their Value, be so\ninsensible of their own worth. The Cause therefore of the defects we\nlabour under is, if not wholly, yet at least in the first place, to be\nascribed to the mistakes of our Education, which like an Error in the\nfirst Concoction, spreads its ill Influence through all our Lives.\n\nThe Soil is rich and would if well cultivated produce a noble Harvest,\nif then the Unskilful Managers, not only permit, but incourage noxious\nWeeds, tho\u2019 we shall suffer by the Neglect, yet they ought not in\njustice to blame any but themselves, if they reap the Fruit of this\ntheir foolish Conduct. Women are from their very Infancy debar\u2019d those\nAdvantages, with the want of which they are afterwards reproached, and\nnursed up in those Vices which will hereafter be upbraided to them.\nSo partial are Men as to expect Brick where they afford no Straw; and\nso abundantly civil as to take care we shou\u2019d make good that obliging\nEpithet of _Ignorant_, which out of an excess of good Manners, they\nare pleas\u2019d to bestow on us!\n\nOne would be apt to think indeed, that Parents shou\u2019d take all possible\ncare of their Childrens Education, not only for _their_ sakes, but even\nfor their _own_. And tho\u2019 the Son convey the Name to Posterity, yet\ncertainly a great Part of the Honour of their Families depends on their\nDaughters. \u2019Tis the kindness of Education that binds our duty fastest\non us: For the being instrumental to the bringing us into the World,\nis no matter of choice and therefore the less obliging; But to procure\nthat we may live wisely and happily in it, and be capable of endless\nJoys hereafter, is a benefit we can never sufficiently acknowledge.\nTo introduce poor Children into the World and neglect to fence them\nagainst the temptations of it, and so leave them expos\u2019d to temporal\nand eternal Miseries, is a wickedness for which I want a Name; \u2019tis\nbeneath Brutality; the Beasts are better natur\u2019d, for they take care of\ntheir offspring, till they are capable of caring for themselves. And if\nMothers had a due regard to their Posterity, how _Great_ soever they\nare, they wou\u2019d not think themselves too _Good_ to perform what Nature\nrequires, nor through Pride and Delicacy remit the poor little one to\nthe care of a Foster Parent. Or if necessity inforce them to depute\nanother to perform _their_ Duty, they wou\u2019d be as choice at least, in\nthe Manners and Inclinations, as they are in the complections of their\nNurses, left with their Milk they transfuse their Vices, and form in\nthe Child such evil habits as will not easily be eradicated.\n\nNature as bad as it is and as much as it is complain\u2019d of, is so far\nimproveable by the grace of GOD, upon our honest and hearty endeavours,\nthat if we are not wanting to our selves, we may all in _some_, tho\u2019\nnot in an _equal_ measure, be instruments of his Glory, Blessings to\nthis World, and capable of Eternal Blessedness in that to come. But\nif our Nature is spoil\u2019d, instead of being improv\u2019d at first; if from\nour Infancy we are nurs\u2019d up in Ignorance and Vanity; are taught to be\nProud and Petulant, Delicate and Fantastick, Humorous and Inconstant,\n\u2019tis not strange that the ill effects of this Conduct appear in all\nthe future Actions of our Lives. And seeing it is Ignorance, either\nhabitual or actual, which is the cause of all sin, how are they like\nto escape _this_, who are bred up in _that_? That therefore Women are\nunprofitable to most, and a plague and dishonour to some men is not\nmuch to be regretted on account of the _Men_, because \u2019tis the product\nof their own folly, in denying them the benefits of an ingenuous and\nliberal Education, the most effectual means to direct them into, and\nto secure their progress in the ways of Vertue.\n\nFor that Ignorance is the cause of most Feminine Vices, may be\ninstanc\u2019d in that Pride and Vanity which is usually imputed to us,\nand which I suppose if throughly sifted, will appear to be some way\nor other, the rife and Original of all the rest. These, tho\u2019 very\nbad Weeds, are the product of a good Soil, they are nothing else but\nGenerosity degenerated and corrupted. A desire to advance and perfect\nits Being, is planted by GOD in all Rational Natures, to excite them\nhereby to every worthy and becoming Action; for certainly next to the\nGrace of GOD, nothing does so powerfully restrain people from Evil\nand stir them up to Good, as a generous Temper. And therefore to be\nambitious of perfections is no fault, tho\u2019 to assume the Glory of our\nExcellencies to our selves, or to Glory in such as we really have\nnot, are. And were Womens haughtiness express\u2019d in disdaining to do\na mean and evil thing, wou\u2019d they pride themselves in somewhat truly\nperfective of a Rational nature, there were no hurt in it. But then\nthey ought not to be denied the means of examining and judging what is\nso; they should not be impos\u2019d on with tinsel ware. If by reason of a\nfalse Light, or undue Medium, they chuse amiss, theirs is the loss,\nbut the Crime is the Deceivers. She who rightly understands wherein\nthe perfection of her Nature consists, will lay out her Thoughts and\nIndustry in the acquisition of such Perfections: But she who is kept\nignorant of the matter, will take up with such Objects as first offer\nthemselves, and bear any plausible resemblance to what she desires;\na shew of advantage being sufficient to render them agreeable baits\nto her who wants Judgment and Skill to discern between reality and\npretence. From whence it easily follows, that she who has nothing else\nto value her self upon, will be proud of her Beauty, or Money and what\nthat can purchase; and think her self mightily oblig\u2019d to him, who\ntells her she has those Perfections which she naturally longs for.\nHer inbred self-esteem and desire of good, which are degenerated into\nPride and mistaken Self-love, will easily open her Ears to whatever\ngoes about to nourish and delight them; and when a cunning designing\nEnemy from without, has drawn over to his Party these Traytors within,\nhe has the Poor unhappy Person, at his Mercy, who now very glibly\nswallows down his Poyson, because \u2019tis Presented in a Golden Cup, and\ncredulously hearkens to the most disadvantageous Proposals, because\nthey come attended with a seeming esteem. She whose Vanity makes\nher swallow praises by the wholesale, without examining whether\nshe deserves them, or from what hand they come, will reckon it but\ngratitude to think well of him who values her so much, and think she\nmust needs be merciful to the poor despairing Lover whom her Charms\nhave reduc\u2019d to die at her feet. Love and Honour are what every one\nof us naturally esteem, they are excellent things in themselves and\nvery worthy our regard, and by how much the readier we are to embrace\nwhat ever resembles them, by so much the more dangerous it is that\nthese venerable Names should be wretchedly abus\u2019d and affixt to their\ndirect contraries, yet this is the Custom of the World: And how can she\npossibly detect the fallacy, who has no better Notion of either than\nwhat she derives from Plays and Romances? How can she be furnished with\nany solid Principles whose very Instructors are Froth and emptiness?\nWhereas Women were they rightly Educated, had they obtain\u2019d a well\ninform\u2019d and discerning Mind, they would be proof against all those\nBatteries, see through and scorn those little silly Artifices which\nare us\u2019d to ensnare and deceive them. Such an one would value her self\nonly on her Vertue, and consequently be most chary of what she esteems\nso much. She would know, that not what others _say_, but what she her\nself _does_, is the true Commendation and the only thing that exalts\nher; the loudest Encomiums being not half so satisfactory, as the calm\nand secret Plaudit of her own Mind, which moving on true Principles of\nHonour and Vertue, wou\u2019d not fail on a review of it self to anticipate\nthat delightful Eulogy she shall one day hear.\n\nWhence is it but from ignorance, from a want of Understanding to\ncompare and judge of things, to chuse a right End, to proportion\nthe Means to the End, and to rate ev\u2019ry thing according to its\nproper value, that we quit the Substance for the Shadow, Reality for\nAppearance, and embrace those very things which if we understood we\nshou\u2019d hate and fly, but now are reconcil\u2019d to, merely because they\nusurp the Name, tho\u2019 they have nothing of the Nature of those venerable\nObjects we desire and seek? Were it not for this delusion, is it\nprobable a Lady who passionately desires to be admir\u2019d, shou\u2019d ever\nconsent to such Actions as render her base and contemptible? Wou\u2019d she\nbe so absurd as to think either to get love, or to keep it, by those\nmethods which occasion loathing and consequently end in hatred? Wou\u2019d\nshe reckon it a piece of her Grandeur, or hope to gain esteem by such\nexcesses as really lessen her in the eyes of all considerate and\njudicious persons? Wou\u2019d she be so silly as to look big and think her\nself the better person, because she has more Money to bestow profusely,\nor the good luck to have a more ingenious Taylor or Milliner than her\nNeighbour? Wou\u2019d she, who by the regard she pays to Wit, seems to make\nsome pretences to it, undervalue her Judgment so much as to admit the\nScurrility and profane noisy Nonsense of men, whose Fore-heads are\nbetter than their Brains, to pass under that Character? Wou\u2019d she be\nso weak as to imagine that a few airy Fancies joyn\u2019d with a great\ndeal of Impudence and ill-nature (the right definition of modern Wit)\ncan bespeak him a Man of sense, who runs counter to all the sense and\nreason that ever appear\u2019d in the World? than which nothing can be an\nArgument of greater shallowness, unless it be to regard and esteem him\nfor it. Wou\u2019d a Woman, if she truly understood her self, be affected\neither with the praises or calumnies of those worthless Persons, whose\nLives are a direct contradiction to Reason, a very sink of corruption,\nby whom one wou\u2019d blush to be commended, lest they shou\u2019d be mistaken\nfor Partners in or Connivers at their Crimes? Will she who has a jot\nof discernment think to satisfy her greedy desire of Pleasure, with\nthose promising nothings that have again and again deluded her? Or\nwill she to obtain such Bubbles, run the risque of forfeiting Joys\ninfinitely satisfying and eternal? In sum, did not ignorance impose\non us, we would never lavish out the greatest part of our Time and\nCare, on the decoration of a Tenement, in which our Lease is so very\nshort, and which for all our industry, may lose its Beauty e\u2019er that\nLease be out, and in the mean while neglect a more glorious and durable\nMansion! We wou\u2019d never be so curious of the House and so careless of\nthe Inhabitant, whose beauty is capable of great improvement and will\nendure for ever without diminution or decay!\n\nThus Ignorance and a narrow Education lay the Foundation of Vice,\nand Imitation and Custom rear it up. Custom, that merciless torrent\nthat carries all before it, and which indeed can be stem\u2019d by none\nbut such as have a great deal of Prudence and a rooted Vertue. For\n\u2019tis but Decorous that she who is not capable of giving better Rules,\nshou\u2019d follow those she sees before her, least she only change the\ninstance and retain the absurdity. \u2019Twou\u2019d puzzle a considerate Person\nto account for all that Sin and Folly that is in the World (which\ncertainly has nothing in it self to recommend it) did not Custom\nhelp to solve the difficulty. For Vertue without question has on all\naccounts the preeminence of Vice, \u2019tis abundantly more pleasant in\nthe _Act_, as well as more advantageous in the _Consequences_, as any\none who will but rightly use her reason, in a serious reflection on\nher self and the nature of things, may easily perceive. \u2019Tis Custom\ntherefore, that Tyrant Custom, which is the grand motive to all those\nirrational choices which we daily see made in the World, so very\ncontrary to our _present_ interest and pleasure, as well as to our\nFuture. We think it an unpardonable mistake not to do as our neighbours\ndo, and part with our Peace and Pleasure as well as our Innocence\nand Vertue, meerly in complyance with an unreasonable Fashion. And\nhaving inur\u2019d our selves to Folly, we know not how to quit it; we go\non in Vice, not because we find satisfaction in it, but because we are\nunacquainted with the Joys of Vertue.\n\nAdd to this the hurry and noise of the World, which does generally so\nbusy and pre-ingage us, that we have little time and less inclination\nto stand still and reflect on our own Minds. Those impertinent\nAmusements which have seiz\u2019d us, keep their hold so well and so\nconstantly buz about our Ears, that we cannot attend to the Dictates\nof our Reason, nor to the soft whispers and winning persuasives of the\ndivine Spirit, by whose assistance were we dispos\u2019d to make use of it,\nwe might shake off these Follies and regain our Freedom. But alas! to\ncomplete our misfortunes, by a continual application to Vanity and\nFolly, we quite spoil the contexture and frame of our Minds, so loosen\nand dissipate, that nothing solid and substantial will stay in them. By\nan habitual inadvertency we render our selves incapable of any serious\nand improveing thought, till our minds themselves become as light and\nfrothy as those things they are conversant about. To all which if\nwe further add the great industry that bad people use to corrupt the\ngood, and that unaccountable back wardness that appears in too many\ngood persons, to stand up for and propagate the Piety they profess; (so\nstrangely are things transposed, that Vertue puts on the blushes which\nbelong to Vice, and Vice insults with the authority of Vertue!) and we\nhave a pretty fair account of the Causes of our non-improvement.\n\nWhen a poor Young Lady is taught to value her self on nothing but her\nCloaths, and to think she\u2019s very fine when well accoutred; When she\nhears say, that \u2019tis Wisdom enough for her to know how to dress her\nself, that she may become amiable in his eyes, to whom it appertains to\nbe knowing and learned; who can blame her if she lay out her Industry\nand Money on such Accomplishments, and sometimes extends it farther\nthan her misinformer desires she should? When she sees the vain and\nthe gay, making Parade in the World and attended with the Courtship\nand admiration of the gazing herd, no wonder that her tender Eyes are\ndazled with the Pageantry, and wanting Judgment to pass a due Estimate\non them and their Admirers, longs to be such a fine and celebrated\nthing as they? What tho\u2019 she be sometimes told of another World, she\nhas however a more lively perception of this, and may well think, that\nif her Instructors were in earnest when they tell her of _hereafter_,\nthey would not be so busied and concerned about what happens _here_.\nShe is it may be, taught the Principles and Duties of Religion, but\nnot Acquainted with the Reasons and Grounds of them; being told \u2019tis\nenough for her to believe, to examine why, and wherefore, belongs not\nto her. And therefore, though her Piety may be tall and spreading,\nyet because it wants foundation and Root, the first rude Temptation\noverthrows and blasts it, or perhaps the short liv\u2019d Gourd decays and\nwithers of its own accord. But why should she be blamed for setting\nno great value on her Soul, whose noblest Faculty her Understanding\nis render\u2019d useless to her? Or censur\u2019d for relinquishing a course of\nLife, whole Prerogatives she was never acquainted with, and tho\u2019 highly\nreasonable in it self, was put upon the embracing it with as little\nreason as she now forsakes it? For if her Religion it self be taken\nup as the Mode of the Country, \u2019tis no strange thing that she lays it\ndown again in conformity to the Fashion. Whereas she whose Reason is\nsuffer\u2019d to display it self, to inquire into the grounds and Motives\nof Religion, to make a disquisition of its Graces and search out its\nhidden Beauties; who is a Christian out of Choice, not in conformity\nto those among whom she lives; and cleaves to Piety, because \u2019tis her\nWisdom, her Interest, her Joy, not because she has been accustom\u2019d\nto it; she who is not only eminently and unmoveably good, but able\nto give a Reason _why_ she is so, is too firm and stable to be mov\u2019d\nby the pitiful Allurements of sin, too wise and too well bottom\u2019d to\nbe undermin\u2019d and supplanted by the strongest Efforts of Temptation.\nDoubtless a truly Christian Life requires a clear Understanding as\nwell as regular Affections, that both together may move the Will to\na direct choice of Good and a stedfast adherence to it. For tho\u2019 the\nheart may be honest, it is but by chance that the Will is right if\nthe Understanding be ignorant and Cloudy. And what\u2019s the reason that\nwe sometimes see persons unhappily falling off from their Piety, but\nbecause \u2019twas their Affections, not their Judgment, that inclin\u2019d\nthem to be Religious? Reason and Truth are firm and immutable, she\nwho bottoms on them is on sure ground, Humour and Inclination are\nsandy Foundations, and she who is sway\u2019d by her Affections more than\nby her Judgment, owes the happiness of her Soul in a great measure\nto the temper of her Body; her Piety may perhaps blaze high but\nwill not last long. For the Affections are various and changeable\nmov\u2019d by every Object, and the last comer easily undoes whatever its\nPredecessor had done before. Such Persons are always in extreams, they\nare either violently good or quite cold and indifferent; a perpetual\ntrouble to themselves and others, by indecent Raptures, or unnecessary\nScruples; there is no Beauty and order in their lives, all is rapid and\nunaccountable; they are now very furious in such a course, but they\ncannot well tell why, and anon as violent in the other extream. Having\nmore _Heat_ than _Light_, their Zeal out-runs their Knowledge, and\ninstead of representing Piety as it is in it self, the most lovely and\ninviting thing imaginable, they expose it to the contempt and ridicule\nof the censorious World. Their Devotion becomes ricketed, starv\u2019d\nand contracted in some of its vital parts, and disproportioned and\nover-grown in less material instances; whilst one Duty is _over-done_\nto commute for the neglect of another, and the mistaken person thinks\nthe being often on her knees, attones for all the miscarriages of her\nConversation: Not considering that \u2019tis in vain to petition for those\nGraces which we take no care to practise, and a mockery to adore those\nPerfections we run counter to, and that the true end of all our Prayers\nand external Observances is to work our minds into a truly Christian\ntemper, to obtain for us the Empire of our Passions, and to reduce\nall irregular Inclinations, that so we may be as like GOD in Purity,\nCharity, and all his imitable excellencies, as is consistent with the\nimperfection of a Creature.\n\nAnd now having discovered the Disease and its cause, \u2019tis proper to\napply a Remedy; single Medicines are too weak to cure such complicated\nDistempers, they require a full Dispensatory; and what wou\u2019d a good\nWoman refuse to do, could she hope by that to advantage the greatest\npart of the World, and improve her Sex in Knowledge and true Religion?\nI doubt not, Ladies, but that the Age, as bad as it is, affords very\nmany of you who will readily embrace whatever has a true tendency\nto the Glory of GOD and your mutual Edification, to revive the\nancient Spirit of Piety in the World and to transmit it to succeeding\nGenerations. I know there are many of you who so ardently love God, as\nto think no time too much to spend in his service, nor any thing too\ndifficult to do for his sake; and bear such a hearty good-will to your\nNeighbours, as to grudge no Prayers or Pains to reclaim and improve\nthem. I have therefore no more to do but to make the Proposal, to prove\nthat it will answer these great and good Ends, and then \u2019twill be easy\nto obviate the Objections that Persons of more Wit than Vertue may\nhappen to raise against it.\n\nNow as to the Proposal, it is to erect a _Monastery_, or if you will\n(to avoid giving offence to the scrupulous and injudicious, by names\nwhich tho\u2019 innocent in themselves, have been abus\u2019d by superstitious\nPractices,) we will call it a _Religious Retirement_, and such as\nshall have a double aspect, being not only a Retreat from the World\nfor those who desire that advantage, but likewise, an Institution\nand previous discipline, to fit us to do the greatest good in it;\nsuch an Institution as this (if I do not mightily deceive my self)\nwould be the most probable method to amend the present and improve\nthe future Age. For here those who are convinc\u2019d of the emptiness\nof earthly Enjoyments, who are sick of the vanity of the world\nand its impertinencies, may find more substantial and satisfying\nentertainments, and need not be confin\u2019d to what they justly loath.\nThose who are desirous to know and fortify their weak side, first do\ngood to themselves, that hereafter they may be capable of doing more\ngood to others; or for their greater security are willing to avoid\n_temptation_, may get out of that danger which a continual stay in\nview of the Enemy, and the familiarity and unwearied application of\nthe Temptation may expose them to; and gain an opportunity to look\ninto themselves to be acquainted at home and no longer the greatest\nstrangers to their own hearts. Such as are willing in a more peculiar\nand undisturb\u2019d manner, to attend the great business they came into the\nworld about, the service of GOD and improvement of their own Minds, may\nfind a convenient and blissful recess from the noise and hurry of the\nworld. A world so cumbersom, so infectious, that altho\u2019 thro\u2019 the grace\nof GOD and their own strict watchfulness, they are kept from sinking\ndown into its corruptions, \u2019twill however damp their flight to heav\u2019n,\nhinder them from attaining any eminent pitch of Vertue.\n\nYou are therefore Ladies, invited into a place, where you shall suffer\nno other confinement, but to be kept out of the road of sin: You shall\nnot be depriv\u2019d of your grandeur, but only exchange the vain Pomps\nand Pageantry of the world, empty Titles and Forms of State, for the\ntrue and solid Greatness of being able to despise them. You will only\nquit the Chat of insignificant people for an ingenious Conversation;\nthe froth of flashy Wit for real Wisdom; idle tales for instructive\ndiscourses. The deceitful Flatteries of those who under pretence of\nloving and admiring you, really served their _own_ base ends for the\nseasonable Reproofs and wholesome Counsels of your hearty well-wishers\nand affectionate Friends, which will procure you those perfections\nyour feigned lovers pretended you had, and kept you from obtaining. No\nuneasy task will be enjoyn\u2019d you, all your labour being only to prepare\nfor the highest degrees of that Glory, the very lowest of which is\nmore than at present you are able to conceive, and the prospect of it\nsufficient to out-weigh all the Pains of Religion, were there any in\nit, as really there are none. All that is requir\u2019d of you, is only to\nbe as Happy as possibly you can, and to make sure of a Felicity that\nwill fill all the capacities of your Souls! A happiness, which when\nonce you have tasted, you\u2019ll be fully convinc\u2019d you cou\u2019d never do\ntoo much to obtain it, nor be too solicitous to adorn your Souls with\nsuch tempers and dispositions, as will at present make you in some\nmeasure, such holy and Heavenly Creatures as you one day hope to be in\na more perfect manner; without which Qualifications you can neither\nreasonably _expect_, nor are _capable_ of enjoying the Happiness of\nthe Life to come. Happy Retreat! which will be the introducing you\ninto such a _Paradise_ as your Mother _Eve_ forfeited, where you shall\nfeast on Pleasures, that do not like those of the World, disappoint\nyour expectations, pall your Appetites, and by the disgust they give\nyou put you on the fruitless search after new Delights, which when\nobtain\u2019d are as empty as the former; but such as will make you _truly_\nhappy _now_, and prepare you to be _perfectly_ so hereafter. Here are\nno Serpents to deceive you, whilst you entertain your selves in these\ndelicious Gardens. No Provocations will be given in this Amicable\nSociety, but to Love and to good Works, which will afford such an\nentertaining employment, that you\u2019ll have as little inclination as\nleisure to pursue those Follies, which in the time of your ignorance\npass\u2019d with you under the name of love, altho\u2019 there is not in nature\ntwo more different things, than _true Love_ and that _brutish Passion_\nwhich pretends to ape it. Here will be no Rivalling but for the Love\nof GOD, no Ambition but to procure his Favour, to which nothing will\nmore effectually recommend you, than a great and dear affection to each\nother. Envy that Canker, will not here disturb your Breasts; for how\ncan she repine at anothers well-fare, who reckons it the greatest part\nof her own? No Covetousness will gain admittance in this blest abode,\nbut to amass huge Treasures of good Works, and to procure one of the\nbrightest Crowns of Glory. You will not be solicitous to encrease your\nFortunes, but to enlarge your Minds, esteeming no Grandeur like being\nconformable to the meek and humble JESUS. So that you only withdraw\nfrom the noise and trouble, the folly and temptation of the world,\nthat you may more peaceably enjoy your selves, and all the innocent\nPleasures it is able to afford you, and particularly that which is\nworth all the rest, a Noble, Vertuous and Disinteress\u2019d Friendship. And\nto compleat all, that _Acme_ of delight which the devout Seraphic Soul\nenjoys, when dead to the World, she devotes her self entirely to the\nContemplation and fruition of her Beloved; when having disengag\u2019d her\nself from all those Lets which hindred her from without, she moves in\na direct and vigorous motion towards her true and only Good, whom now\nshe embraces and acquiesces in with such an unspeakable pleasure, as is\nonly intelligible to those who have tried and felt it, which we can no\nmore describe to the dark and sensual part of Mankind, than we can the\nbeauty of Colours and harmony of Sounds to the Blind and Deaf. In fine,\nthe place to which you are invited is a Type and Antepast of Heav\u2019n,\nwhere your Employment will be as there, to magnify GOD, to love one\nanother, and to communicate that useful _knowledge_, which by the due\nimprovement of your time in Study and Contemplation you will obtain,\nand which when obtain\u2019d, will afford you a much sweeter and more\ndurable delight, than all those pitiful diversions, those revellings\nand amusements, which now thro your ignorance of better, appear the\nonly grateful and relishing Entertainments.\n\nBut because we were not made for our selves, nor can by any means so\neffectually glorify GOD and do good to our own Souls, as by doing\nOffices of Charity and Beneficence to others; and to the intent that\nevery Vertue, and the highest degrees of every Vertue may be exercis\u2019d\nand promoted the most that may be; your Retreat shall be so manag\u2019d as\nnot to exclude the good Works of an _Active_, from the pleasure and\nserenity of a _Contemplative_ Life, but by a due mixture of both retain\nall the advantages and avoid the inconveniencies that attend either. It\nshall not so cut you off from the world as to hinder you from bettering\nand improving it, but rather qualify you to do it the greatest Good,\nand be a Seminary to stock the Kingdom with pious and prudent Ladies,\nwhose good Example it is to be hop\u2019d, will so influence the rest of\ntheir Sex, that Women may no longer pass for those little useless and\nimpertinent Animals, which the ill conduct of too many has caus\u2019d \u2019em\nto be mistaken for.\n\n[Sidenote: Mr. _Nor. Conduct of Hum. Life_.]\n\nWe have hitherto consider\u2019d our Retirement only in relation to\nReligion, which is indeed its _main_, I may say its _only_ design;\nnor can this be thought too contracting a word, since Religion is the\nadequate business of our lives, and largely consider\u2019d, takes in all\nwe have to do, nothing being a fit employment for a rational Creature,\nwhich has not either a _direct_ or _remote_ tendency to this great and\n_only_ end. But because, as we have all along observ\u2019d, Religion never\nappears in its true Beauty, but when it is accompanied with Wisdom\nand Discretion; and that without a good Understanding, we can scarce\nbe _truly_, but never _eminently_ Good; being liable to a thousand\nseductions and mistakes (for even the men themselves, if they have not\na competent degree of Knowledge, are carried about with every wind\nof Doctrine) Therefore, one great end of this Institution shall be,\nto expel that cloud of Ignorance which Custom has involv\u2019d us in, to\nfurnish our minds with a stock of solid and useful Knowledge, that\nthe Souls of Women may no longer be the only unadorn\u2019d and neglected\nthings. It is not intended that our _Religious_ shou\u2019d waste their\ntime, and trouble their heads about such unconcerning matters, as\nthe vogue of the world has turn\u2019d up for Learning, the impertinency\nof which has been excellently expos\u2019d by an ingenious Pen, but busy\nthemselves in a serious enquiry after _necessary_ and _perfective_\ntruths, something which it _concerns_ them to know, and which tends\nto their real interest and perfection, and what that is the excellent\nAuthor just now mention\u2019d will sufficiently inform them. Such a course\nof Study will neither be too troublesome nor out of the reach of a\nFemale Virtuoso; for it is not intended she shou\u2019d spend her hours in\nlearning _words_ but _things_, and therefore no more Languages than are\nnecessary to acquaint her with useful Authors. Nor need she trouble\nher self in turning over a great number of Books, but take care to\nunderstand and digest a few well-chosen and good ones. Let her but\nobtain right Ideas, and be truly acquainted with the nature of those\nObjects that present themselves to her mind, and then no matter whether\nor no she be able to tell what fanciful people have said about them:\nAnd throughly to understand Christianity as profess\u2019d by the _Church_\nof _England_, will be sufficient to confirm her in the truth, tho\u2019\nshe have not a Catalogue of those particular errors which oppose it.\nIndeed a Learned Education of the Women will appear so unfashionable,\nthat I began to startle at the singularity of the proposition, but was\nextremely pleas\u2019d when I found a late ingenious Author (whose Book I\nmet with since the writing of this) agree with me in my Opinion. For\nspeaking of the Repute that Learning was in about 150 years ago, _It\nwas so very modish_ (says he) _that the fair Sex seem\u2019d to believe\nthat_ Greek _and_ Latin _added to their Charms; and_ Plato _and_\nAristotle _untranslated, were frequent Ornaments of their Closets. One\nwou\u2019d think by the effects, that it was a proper way of Educating them,\nsince there are no accounts in History of so many great Women in any\none Age, as are to be found between the years 15 and 1600._\n\n[Sidenote: Mr. _Wotton\u2019s Reflect. on Ant. and Mod. Learn. p. 349, 350_.]\n\nFor since GOD has given Women as well as Men intelligent Souls, why\nshould they be forbidden to improve them? Since he has not denied us\nthe faculty of Thinking, why shou\u2019d we not (at least in gratitude to\nhim) employ our Thoughts on himself their noblest Object, and not\nunworthily bestow them on Trifles and Gaities and secular Affairs?\nBeing the Soul was created for the contemplation of Truth as well as\nfor the fruition of Good, is it not as cruel and unjust to preclude\nWomen from the knowledge of the one as from the enjoyment of the\nother? Especially since the Will is blind, and cannot chuse but by\nthe direction of the Understanding; or to speak more properly, since\nthe Soul always _Wills_ according as she _Understands_, so that if\nshe Understands amiss, she Wills amiss. And as Exercise enlarges\n& exalts any Faculty, so thro\u2019 want of using it becomes crampt &\nlessened; if therefore we make little or no use of our Understandings,\nwe shall shortly have none to use; and the more contracted and\nunemploy\u2019d the deliberating and directive Power is, the more liable\nis the elective to unworthy and mischievous options. What is it but\nthe want of an ingenious Education, that renders the generality of\nFeminine Conversations so insipid and foolish and their solitude so\ninsupportable? Learning is therefore necessary to render them more\nagreeable and useful in company, and to furnish them with becoming\nentertainments when alone, that so they may not be driven to those\nmiserable shifts, which too many make use of to put off their Time,\nthat precious Talent that never lies on the hands of a judicious\nPerson. And since our Happiness in the next World, depends so far on\nthose dispositions which we carry along with us out of this, that\nwithout a right habitude and temper of mind we are not capable of\nFelicity; and seeing our Beatitude consists in the contemplation\nof the divine Truth and Beauty, as well as in the fruition of his\nGoodness, can Ignorance be a fit preparative for Heaven? Is\u2019t likely\nthat she whose Understanding has been busied about nothing but froth\nand trifles, shou\u2019d be capable of delighting her self in noble and\nsublime Truths? Let such therefore as deny us the improvement of our\nIntellectuals, either take up _his_ Paradox, who said _that Women have\nno Souls_, which at this time a day, when they are allow\u2019d to Brutes,\nwou\u2019d be as unphilosophical as it is unmannerly, or else let them\npermit us to cultivate and improve them. There is a sort of Learning\nindeed which is worse than the greatest Ignorance: A Woman may study\nPlays and Romances all her days, and be a great deal more knowing\nbut never a jot the wiser. Such a knowledge as this serves only to\ninstruct and put her forward in the practice of the greatest Follies,\nyet how can they justly blame her who forbid, or at least won\u2019t afford\nopportunity of better? A rational mind _will_ be employ\u2019d, it will\nnever be satisfy\u2019d in doing nothing, and if you neglect to furnish it\nwith good materials, \u2019tis like to take up with such as come to hand.\n\nWe pretend not that Women shou\u2019d teach in the Church, or usurp\nAuthority where it is not allow\u2019d them; permit us only to understand\nour _own_ duty, and not be forc\u2019d to take it upon trust from others; to\nbe at least so far learned, as to be able to form in our minds a true\nIdea of Christianity, it being so very necessary to fence us against\nthe danger of these _last_ and _perilous days_, in which Deceivers\na part of whose Character is to _lead captive silly Women_, need\nnot _creep into Houses_ since they have Authority to proclaim their\nErrors on the _House top_. And let us also acquire a true Practical\nKnowledge such as will convince us of the absolute necessity of _Holy\nLiving_ as well as of _Right Believing_, and that no Heresy is more\ndangerous than that of an ungodly and wicked Life. And since the\n_French Tongue_ is understood by most Ladies, methinks they may much\nbetter improve it by the study of Philosophy (as I hear the _French\nLadies_ do) _Des Cartes_, _Malebranche_ and others, than by reading\nidle _Novels_ and _Romances_. \u2019Tis strange we shou\u2019d be so forward to\nimitate their Fashions and Fopperies, and have no regard to what really\ndeserves our Imitation! And why shall it not be thought as genteel to\nunderstand _French Philosophy_, as to be accoutred in a _French Mode_?\nLet therefore the famous Madam _D\u2019acier_, _Scudery_, &c. and our own\nincomparable _Orinda_, excite the Emulation of the English Ladies.\n\nThe Ladies, I\u2019m sure, have no reason to dislike this Proposal, but I\nknow not how the Men will resent it to have their enclosure broke down,\nand Women invited to tast of that Tree of Knowledge they have so long\nunjustly _Monopoliz\u2019d_. But they must excuse me, if I be as partial\nto my own Sex as they are to theirs, and think Women as capable of\nLearning as Men are, and that it becomes them as well. For I cannot\nimagine wherein the hurt lies, if instead of doing mischief to one\nanother, by an uncharitable and vain Conversation, Women be enabled to\ninform and instruct those of their own Sex at least; the Holy Ghost\nhaving left it on record, that _Priscilla_ as well as her Husband,\ncatechiz\u2019d the eloquent _Apollos_ and the great Apostle found no fault\nwith her. It will therefore be very proper for our Ladies to spend part\nof their time in this Retirement, in adorning their minds with useful\nKnowledge.\n\nTo enter into the detail of the particulars concerning the Government\nof the _Religious_, their Offices of Devotion, Employments, Work, _&c._\nis not now necessary. Suffice it at present to signify, that they will\nbe more than ordinarily careful to redeem their Time, spending no\nmore of it on the Body than the necessities of Nature require, but by\na judicious choice of their Employment and a constant industry about\nit, so improve this invaluable Treasure, that it may neither be buried\nin Idleness, nor lavish\u2019d out in unprofitable concerns. For a stated\nportion of it being daily paid to GOD in Prayers and Praises, the\nrest shall be employ\u2019d in innocent, charitable, and useful Business;\neither in study in learning themselves or instructing others, for\nit is design\u2019d that part of their Employment be the Education of\nthose of their own Sex; or else in spiritual and corporal Works of\nMercy, relieving the Poor, healing the Sick, mingling Charity to the\nSoul with that they express to the Body, instructing the Ignorant,\ncounselling the Doubtful, comforting the Afflicted, and correcting\nthose that err and do amiss.\n\nAnd as it will be the business of their lives, their meat and drink\nto _know_ and _do_ the Will of their Heavenly Father, so will they\npay a strict conformity to all the Precepts of their holy Mother the\n_Church_, whose sacred Injunctions are too much neglected, even by\nthose who pretend the greatest zeal for her. For besides the daily\nperformance of the Publick Offices after the Cathedral manner, in the\nmost affecting and elevating way, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist\nevery Lords Day and Holy-day, and a course of solid instructive\nPreaching and Catechizing; our _Religious_, considering that the holy\nJESUS punctually observ\u2019d the innocent usages of the _Jewish_ Church,\nand tho\u2019 in many instances the _reason_ of the Command ceas\u2019d as to\nhim, yet he wou\u2019d obey the _letter_ to avoid giving offence and to\nset us an admirable pattern of Obedience; therefore, tho\u2019 it may be\nthought such pious Souls have little occasion for the severities of\nfasting and mortification, yet they will consider it as a special part\nof their Duty to observe all the Fasts of the Church, _viz. Lent_,\n_Ember_, and _Rogation-days_, _Fridays_ and _Vigils_; times so little\nheeded by the most, that one wou\u2019d scarce believe them set apart for\nReligious Purposes, did we not find them in the antiquated Rubricks.\nAnd as their Devotion will be regular, so shall it likewise be solid\nand substantial. They will not rest in the mere out-side of Duty, nor\nfansie the performance of their Fasts and Offices will procure them\nlicense to indulge a darling Vice: But having long since laid the\nAx to the root of sin, and destroy\u2019d the whole body of it, they will\nlook upon these holy times of recollection and extraordinary Devotion\n(without which Fasting signifies little) as excellent means to keep it\ndown, and to pluck up every the least Fibre that may happen to remain\nin them. But we intend not by this to impose any intolerable burden\non tender Constitutions, knowing that our Lord has taught us, that\nMercy is to be prefer\u2019d before Sacrifice: and that Bodily Exercise\nprofiteth but a little, the chief business being to obtain a a divine\nand God-like temper of Mind.\n\nAnd as this institution will strictly enjoyn all pious and profitable\nEmployments, so does it not only permit but recommend harmless and\ningenious Diversions, Musick particularly and such as may refresh the\nBody without enervating the Mind. They do a disservice to Religion\nwho make it an enemy to innocent Nature, and injure the Almighty when\nthey represent him as imposing burdens that are not to be born. Neither\nGOD nor Wise men will like us the better for an affected severity and\nwaspish sourness. Nature and Grace will never disagree, provided we\nmistake not the one, nor indulge the petulancy of the other; there\nbeing no Displacencies in Religion, but what we our selves have\nunhappily made. For true Piety is the most sweet and engaging thing\nimaginable, as it is most obliging to others, so most easie to our\nselves. \u2019Tis in truth the highest _Epicurism_, exalting our Pleasures\nby refining them; keeping our Appetites in that due regularity which\nnot only Grace, but even Nature and Reason require, in the breach\nof which tho\u2019 there may be a Transport, there can be no true and\nsubstantial delight.\n\nAs to _Lodging_, _Habit_ and _Diet_, they may be quickly resolv\u2019d on\nby the Ladies who shall subscribe; who I doubt not will make choice\nof what is most plain and decent, what Nature not Luxury requires.\nAnd since neither Meat nor Cloaths commend us unto GOD, they\u2019ll\ncontent themselves with such things as are fit and convenient, without\noccasioning scruple to themselves or giving any trouble or offence\nto others. She who considers to how much better account that Money\nwill turn which is bestow\u2019d on the Poor, than that which is laid out\nin unnecessary Expences on her self, needs no Admonitions against\nsuperfluities. She who truly loves her self, will never waste that\nMoney on a decaying Carkass, which if prudently disburs\u2019d wou\u2019d procure\nher an eternal Mansion. She will never think her self so fine, as when\nthe backs of the Poor do bless her; and never feast so luxuriously\nas when she treats an hungry person. No perfume will be thought so\ngrateful as the Odour of Good Works, nor any Wash so beautifying as her\nown tears. For her Heroick Soul is too great to ambition any Empire\nbut that of her own Breast, or to regard any other Conquest than the\nrescuing poor unhappy Souls from the slavery of Sin and Satan, those\nonly unsupportable Tyrants; and therefore what Decays she observes in\nher face will be very unconcerning, but she will with greatest speed\nand accuracy rectify the least Spot that may prejudice the beauty of\nher lovely Soul.\n\nIn a word, this happy Society will be but one Body, whose Soul is\nlove, animating and informing it, and perpetually breathing forth it\nself in flames of holy desires after GOD and acts of Benevolence to\neach other. Envy and Uncharitableness are the Vices only of little and\nnarrow hearts, and therefore \u2019tis suppos\u2019d, they will not enter here\namongst persons whole Dispositions as well as their Births are to be\nGenerous. Censure will refine into Friendly Admonition, all Scoffing\nand offensive Railleries will be abominated and banish\u2019d hence,\nwhere not only the Words and Actions; but even the very Thoughts and\nDesires of the _Religious_ tend to promote the most endearing Love and\nuniversal Good-will. Thus these innocent and holy Souls shou\u2019d run\ntheir Race, measuring their hours by their Devotions, and their days by\nthe charitable Works they do. Thus wou\u2019d they live the life of Heaven\nwhilst on Earth, and receive an Earnest of its Joys in their hearts.\nAnd now, what remains for them to do at Night, but to review the\nActions of the Day? to examine what Passions have been stirring? How\ntheir Devotions were perform\u2019d? in what temper their Hearts are? what\ngood they have done? what progress they\u2019ve made towards Heaven? and\nwith the plaudit of a satisfied Conscience sweetly to sleep in peace\nand safety, Angels pitching their Tents round about them, and he that\nneither slumbers nor sleeps rejoycing over them to do them good.\n\nAnd to the end that these great designs may be the better pursu\u2019d and\neffectually obtain\u2019d, care shall be taken that our _Religious_ be\nunder the tuition of persons of irreproachable Lives, of a consummate\nPrudence, sincere Piety and unaffected Gravity. No Novices in Religion,\nbut such as have spent the greatest part of their lives in the study\nand practice of Christianity; who have lived _much_, whatever the time\nof their abode in the world has been. Whose Understandings are clear\nand comprehensive, as well as their Passions at command and Affections\nregular, and their Knowledge able to govern their Zeal. Whose scrutiny\ninto their own hearts has been so exact, that they fully understand the\nweaknesses of humane Nature, are able to bear with its defects, and by\nthe most prudent methods procure its Amendment. Plentifully furnish\u2019d\nwith instructions for the Ignorant and comfort for the disconsolate;\nwho know how to quicken the slothful, to awaken the secure, & to dispel\nthe doubts of the Scrupulous. Who are not ignorant when to use the Spur\nand when the Rein, but duly qualified to minister to all the spiritual\nwants of their Charge; Watching over their Souls with tenderness and\nprudence; applying fitting Medicines with sweetness and affability.\nSagacious in discovering the very approaches of a fault, wise in\npreventing, and charitable in bearing with all pityable Infirmities.\nThe sweetness of whole Nature is commensurate to all the rest of\ntheir good Qualities, and all conspire together to make them lov\u2019d\nand reverenc\u2019d. Who have the perfect government of themselves, and\ntherefore rule according to Reason not Humour, consulting the good of\nthe Society, not their own arbitrary sway. Yet know how to assert their\nAuthority when there is just occasion for it, and will not prejudice\ntheir Charge by an indiscreet remissness and loosening the Reins of\ndiscipline. But what occasion will there be for rigour, when the\ndesign is to represent Vertue in all her Charms and native Loveliness,\nwhich must needs attract the eyes and enamour the hearts of all who\nbehold her? To joyn the sweetness of Humanity to the strictness of\nPhilosophy, that both together being improv\u2019d and heighten\u2019d by grace,\nmay make up an accomplish\u2019d _Christian_, for she who is truly so, is\ncertainly the best-bred and best-natur\u2019d person in the world, adorn\u2019d\nwith a thousand Charms, most happy in her self and most agreeable and\nbeneficial to all She converses with? And that every one who comes\nunder this holy Roof may be such an amiable, such a charming Creature,\nwhat faults they bring with them shall be corrected by sweetness not\nseverity; by friendly Admonitions, not magisterial Reproofs; Piety\nshall not be roughly impos\u2019d, but wisely insinuated, by a perpetual\nDisplay of the Beauties of Religion in an exemplary Conversation,\nthe continual and most powerful Sermon of an holy Life. And since\nInclination can\u2019t be forc\u2019d, and nothing makes people more uneasy than\nthe fettering themselves with unnecessary Bonds, there shall be no Vows\nor irrevocable Obligations, not so much as the fear of Reproach to\nkeep our Ladies here any longer than they desire. No: Ev\u2019ry act of our\n_Religious_ Votary shall be voluntary and free, and no other tye but\nthe Pleasure, the Glory and Advantage of this blessed Retirement to\nconfine her to it.\n\nAnd now I suppose, you\u2019ll save me the labour of proving, that this\nInstitution will very much serve the ends of Piety and Charity; it is\nmethinks self-evident, and the very Proposal sufficient proof. But if\nit will not promote these great ends, I shall think my self mightily\noblig\u2019d to him who will shew me what will; for provided the good of\nmy Neighbour be advanc\u2019d, \u2019tis very indifferent to me whether it be\nby my method or by anothers. Here will be no impertinent Visits,\nno foolish Amours, no idle Amusements to distract our Thoughts and\nwaste our precious time; a very little of which is spent in Dressing,\nthat grand devourer and its concomitants, and no more than necessity\nrequires in sleep and eating; so that here\u2019s a vast Treasure gain\u2019d,\nwhich for ought I know may purchase an happy Eternity. But we need not\nrest in generals, a cursory view of some particulars will sufficiently\ndemonstrate the great usefulness of such a Retirement; which will\nappear by observing first a few of those inconveniencies to which\nLadies are expos\u2019d by living in the World, and in the next place the\npositive advantages of a Retreat.\n\nAnd first, as to the inconveniences of living in the World; no very\nsmall one is that strong _Idea_ and warm perception it gives us of its\nVanities; since these are ever at hand, constantly thronging about\nus, they must necessarily push aside all other Objects, and the Mind\nbeing prepossess\u2019d and gratefully entertain\u2019d with those pleasing\nPerceptions which external Objects occasion, takes up with them as\nits only Good, is not at leisure to tast those delights which arise\nfrom a Reflection on it self, nor to receive the _Ideas_ which such a\nReflection conveys, and consequently forms all its Notions by such\n_Ideas_ only as it derives from sensation, being unacquainted with\nthose more excellent ones which arise from its own operations and a\nserious reflection on them, and which are necessary to correct the\nmistakes and supply the defects of the other. From whence arises a very\npartial knowledge of things, nay, almost a perfect ignorance in things\nof the greatest moment. For tho\u2019 we are acquainted with the Sound of\nsome certain words, _viz. God_, _Religion_, _Pleasure_ and _Pain_,\n_Honour_ and _Dishonour_, and the like; yet having no other _Ideas_ but\nwhat are convey\u2019d to us by those Trifles we converse with, we frame to\nour selves strange and awkward notions of them, conformable only to\nthose _Ideas_ sensation has furnish\u2019d us with, which sometimes grow so\nstrong and fixt, that \u2019tis scarce possible to introduce a new Scheme of\nThoughts and so to disabuse us, especially whilst these Objects are\nthick in our way.\n\nThus she who sees her self and others respected in proportion to that\nPomp and Bustle they make in the world, will form her Idea of Honour\naccordingly. She who has relish\u2019d no Pleasures but such as arise at\nthe presence of outward Objects, will seek no higher than her Senses\nfor her Gratification. And thus we may account for that strange\ninsensibility, that appears in some people when you speak to them of\nany serious Religious matter. They are then so dull you\u2019ll have much\nado to make them understand the clearest Truth: Whereas if you rally\nthe same persons, or chat with them of some Mode or Foppery, they\u2019ll\nappear very quick, expert, and ingenious. I have sometimes smil\u2019d\nbetwixt scorn and pity, to hear Women talk as gravely and concernedly\nabout some trifling disappointment from their Milliner or Taylor,\nas if it had related to the weightiest concerns of their Souls, nay,\nperhaps more seriously than others who wou\u2019d pass for Good, do about\ntheir eternal Interest; but turn the talk that way, and they grow as\nheavy and cold as they were warm and sensible before. And whence is\nthis, but because their heads are full of the one, and quite destitute\nof such Ideas as might give them a competent notion of the other, and\ntherefore to discourse of such matters, is as little to the purpose as\nto make Mathematical Demonstrations to one who knows not what an Angle\nor Triangle means. Hence by the way, will appear the great usefulness\nof judicious Catechizing, which is necessary to form clear Ideas in\nthe mind, without which it can receive but little benefit from the\nDiscourses of the Pulpit, and perhaps the neglect of the former, is\nthe reason that the great plenty of the latter has no better effect.\nBy all which it appears, that if we wou\u2019d not be impos\u2019d on by false\nRepresentations and Impostures, if we wou\u2019d obtain a due knowledge of\nthe most important things, we must remove the little Toys and Vanities\nof the world from us, or our selves from them; enlarge our Ideas, seek\nout new Fields of knowledge, whereby to rectify our first mistakes.\n\nFrom the same Original, _viz._ the constant flattery of external\nObjects, arises that querulousness and delicacy observable in most\nPersons of fortune, and which, betrays them to many inconveniencies.\nFor besides that it renders them altogether unfit to bear a change,\nwhich considering the great uncertainty and swift vicissitudes of\nworldly things, the Greatest and most established ought not to be\nunprepar\u2019d for; it likewise makes them perpetually uneasy, abates the\ndelight of their enjoyments, for such persons will very rarely find\nall things to their mind, and then some little disorder which others\nwou\u2019d take no notice of, like an aching Tooth or Toe, spoils the\nrelish of their Joys. And tho\u2019 many great Ladies affect this temper,\nmistaking it for a piece of Grandeur, \u2019tis so far from that, that it\ngives evidence of a poor weak Mind, a very childish Humour, that must\nbe cocker\u2019d and fed with Toys and Baubles to still its frowardness, and\nis like the crazy stomach of a sick Person, which no body has reason to\nbe fond of or desire.\n\nThis also disposes them to Inconstancy, for she who is continually\nsupply\u2019d with variety knows not where to fix; a Vice which some Women\nseem to be proud of, and yet nothing in the world so reproachful and\ndegrading, because nothing is a stronger indication of a weak and\ninjudicious mind. For it supposes us either so ignorant as to make a\nwrong Choice at first, or else so silly as not to know and stick to it,\nwhen we have made a right one. It bespeaks an unthinking inconsiderate\nMind, one that lives at Random, without any design or end; who wanting\njudgment to discern where to fix, or to know when she\u2019s well, is ever\nfluctuating and uncertain, undoing to day what she had done yesterday,\nwhich is the worst Character that can be given of ones Understanding.\n\nA constant Scene of Temptations and the infection of ill company, is\nanother great danger which conversing in the world exposes to. \u2019Tis a\ndangerous thing to have all the opportunities of sinning in our power,\nand the danger is increas\u2019d by the ill Precedents we daily see of those\nwho take them. _Liberty_ (as some body says) _will corrupt an Angel_,\nand tho\u2019 it is indeed more glorious to conquer than to fly, yet since\nour Vertue is so visibly weakened in other instances, we have no\nreason to presume on\u2019t in this. \u2019Tis become no easy matter to secure\nour Innocence in our necessary Civilities and daily Conversations,\nin which if we have the good luck to avoid such as bring a necessity\non us, either of seeming rude to them, or of being really so to GOD\nAlmighty, whilst we tamely hear him, our best Friend and Benefactor\naffronted and swallow it, at the same time, that we wou\u2019d reckon\u2019t\na very pitiful Spirit to hear an Acquaintance traduc\u2019d and hold our\nTongue; yet if we avoid this Trial, our Charity is however in continual\ndanger, Censoriousness being grown so modish, that we can scarce avoid\nbeing active or passive in it; so that she who has not her pert jest\nready to pass upon others, shall as soon as her back is turn\u2019d, become\na Jest her self for want of Wit.\n\nIn consequence of all this, we are insensibly betray\u2019d to a great loss\nof time, a Treasure whose value we are too often quite ignorant of\ntill it be lost past redemption. And yet considering the shortness and\nuncertainty of Life, the great work we have to do, and what advantages\naccrew to us by a due management of our time, we cannot reconcile it\nwith prudence to suffer the least minute to escape us. But besides our\nown lavish Expences concerning which one may ask as _Solomon_ does of\nLabour, _What Fruit have we of all that Sport and Pastime we have taken\nunder the Sun?_ so unreasonable is the humour of the World, that those\nwho wou\u2019d reckon it a rudeness to make so bold with out Money, never\nscruple to waste and rob us of this infinitely more precious Treasure.\n\nIn the last place, by reason of this loss of time and the continual\nhurry we are in, we can find no opportunities for thoughtfulness and\nrecollection; we are so busied with what passes abroad, that we have\nno leisure to look at home, nor to rectifie the disorders there.\nAnd such an unthinking mechanical way of living, when like Machines\nwe are condemn\u2019d every day to repeat the impertinencies of the day\nbefore, shortens our Views, contracts our Minds, exposes to a thousand\npractical Errors, and renders Improvement impossible, because it will\nnot permit us to consider and recollect, which is the only means to\nattain it. So much for the inconveniences of living in the World; if we\nenquire concerning Retirement, we shall find it does not only remove\nall these, but brings considerable advantages of its own.\n\nFor first, it helps us to mate Custom and delivers us from its Tyranny,\nwhich is the most considerable thing we have to do, it being nothing\nelse but the habituating our selves to Folly that can reconcile us\nto it. But how hard is it to quit an old road? What courage as well\nas prudence does it require? How clear a Judgment to overlook the\nPrejudices of Education and Example and to discern what is best, and\nhow strong a Resolution notwithstanding all the Scoffs and Noises of\nthe world to adhere to it? For Custom has usurpt such an unaccountable\nAuthority, that she who would endeavour to put a stop to its Arbitrary\nSway and reduce it to Reason, is in a fair way to render her self the\n_Butt_ for all the Fops in Town to shoot their impertinent Censures\nat. And tho\u2019 a wise Woman will not value their Censure, yet she cares\nnot to be the subject of their Discourse. The only way then is to\nretire from the World, as the _Israelites_ did out of _\u00c6gypt_, lest the\nSacrifice we must make of its Follies shou\u2019d provoke its Spleen.\n\nThis also puts us out of the road of Temptation, and very much redeems\nour Time, cutting off those extravagancies on which so much of it\nwas squandered away before, and furnishing us constantly with good\nemployment, secures us from being seduc\u2019d into bad. Great are the\nBenefits of holy Conversation which will be here enjoy\u2019d; As Vice _is_,\nso Vertue _may_ be catching; and to what heights of Piety will not she\nadvance, who is plac\u2019d where the sole business is to be Good, where\nthere is no pleasure but in Religion, no contention but to excel in\nwhat is truly commendable; where her Soul is not defil\u2019d nor her Zeal\nprovok\u2019d, by the sight or relation of those Villanies the World abounds\nwith?\n\nAnd by that Learning which will be here afforded, and that leisure we\nhave to enquire after it, and to know and reflect on our own minds, we\nshall rescue our selves out of that woful incogitancy we have slipt\ninto, awaken our sleeping Powers and make use of that reason which GOD\nhas given us. We shall then begin to wonder at our Folly, that amongst\nall the pleasures we formerly pursued, we never attended to that most\nnoble and delicious one which is to be found in the chase of truth;\nand bless our selves at last, that our eyes are open\u2019d to discern, how\nmuch more pleasantly we may be entertain\u2019d by our own Thoughts, than\nby all the Diversions which the world affords us. By this means we\nare fitted to receive the influences of the holy Spirit and are put\nin a due frame of Devotion. No doubt but He has often knock\u2019d at the\ndoor of our hearts, when the croud and noise of our Vanities would\nnot suffer us to regard or hear him, and could find no admittance\nwhen our house was so fill\u2019d with other company. Here therefore is\nthe fittest place for his Entertainment, for being freed from outward\ndisturbances, we are entirely at leisure to attend so divine a Guest.\nOur Devotions will be perform\u2019d with due attention, those Objects that\nused to distract being now remov\u2019d from us; simplicity of desire will\nbeget simplicity of thought, and that will make our mind most intense\nand elevated, when we come to address our selves to the Throne of\nGrace. Being dead to the things of this world, we shall with greatest\nfervour petition for those of another; and living always in a lively\nand awful sense of the divine Majesty, our hearts will ever be dispos\u2019d\nto approach him in the most solemn, serious and reverent manner. \u2019Tis\na very unseemly thing to jump from our Diversions to our Prayers; as\nif when we have been entertaining our selves and others with Vanity,\nwe were instantly prepar\u2019d to appear in the sacred presence of GOD.\nBut a Religious Retirement and holy Conversation, will procure us a\nmore serious Temper, a graver Spirit, and so both make us habitually\nfit to approach, and likewise stir us up to be more careful in our\nactual preparations when we do. For besides all other improvements of\nKnowledge, we shall hereby obtain truer Notions of GOD than we were\ncapable of before, which is of very great consequence, since the want\nof right apprehensions concerning him, is the general cause of Mistakes\nin Religion, of Errors in Speculation, and Indecorums in Practice; for\nas GOD is the noblest Object of our Understanding, so nothing is more\nnecessary or of such consequence to us as to busie our thoughts about\nhim. And did we rightly consider his Nature, we shou\u2019d neither dare to\nforget him, nor draw near to him with unclean hands and unholy hearts.\n\nFrom this sacred Mountain where the world will be plac\u2019d at our feet,\nat such a distance from us, that the steams of its corruptions shall\nnot obscure our eye-sight, we shall have a right prospect of it and\nclearly discern that all its Allurements, all those Gaities and\nPageantries which at present we admire so much, are no better than\ninsignificant Toys, which have no value but what our perverse Opinion\nimposes on them. Things which contribute so very little to our real\nGood, that even at _present_, which is their only season, we may live\nmuch happier without than with them; and which are so far from being\nnecessary to our Felicity, that they shall vanish and be no more when\nthat is consummate and perfect. Many are the Topic\u2019s from whence we\nmight declaim against the vanity of the world, but methinks Experience\nis so convincing that it supersedes all the rest, and wou\u2019d certainly\nreclaim us from the immoderate love of earthly enjoyments, did we\nbut seriously hearken to it. For tell me, Ladies, if your greatest\nPleasures are not attended with a greater sting; when you think to\ngrasp them, do they not either vanish into Air, or gall your fingers?\nTo want or to enjoy them, is equally tormenting; the one produces in\nyou the Pain of Hunger the other of Loathing. For in reality, there\nis no good in them, nothing but the Shadow and Appearance; if there\nwere, you cou\u2019d not so easily loath your old Delights and be so fond\nof variety, what is truly desirable never ending in disgust. They are\nnot therefore Pleasures but Amusements which you now pursue, and which,\nthrough your ignorance of better Joys pretend to fill their place,\ntoll you on with fair pretences and repay your Labour with defeated\nHopes. Joys not near so lasting as the slightest toy you wear, the\nmost capricious Humorist among you is more constant far than they.\nCome hither therefore and take a true view of \u2019em, that you may no\nlonger deceive your selves with that which profits not, but spurning\naway these empty nothings, secure a portion in such a Bliss as will\nnot fail, as cannot disappoint you! A Felicity which depending on GOD\nonly and your own Minds, is out of Fortunes reach, will place you\nabove the Batteries of the world, above its Terrors and Allurements,\nand enable you at once to triumph over and despise it. And what can\nbe more glorious, than to have a mind unshaken by the blandishments\nof Prosperity, or the rough shocks of Adversity; that passes thro\u2019\nboth with the same indifferency and integrity, is not to be tempted by\neither to a mean unworthy and indecent Action?\n\nFarther yet, besides that holy emulation which a continual view of\nthe brightest and most exemplary Lives will excite in us, we shall\nhave opportunity of contracting the purest and noblest Friendship;\na Blessing, the purchase of which were richly worth all the World\nbesides! For she who possesses a worthy Person, has certainly obtain\u2019d\nthe richest Treasure. A Blessing that Monarchs may envy, and she who\nenjoys is happier than she who fills a Throne! A Blessing, which next\nto the love of GOD, is the choicest Jewel in our Celestial Diadem;\nwhich, were it duly practis\u2019d wou\u2019d both fit us for Heav\u2019n and bring it\ndown into our hearts whilst we tarry here. For Friendship is a vertue\nwhich comprehends all the rest; none being fit for this, who is not\nadorn\u2019d with every other Vertue. Probably one considerable cause of the\ndegeneracy of the present Age, is the little true Friendship that is to\nbe found in it; or perhaps you will rather say that this is the effect\nof our corruption. The cause and the effect are indeed reciprocal; for\nwere the World better there wou\u2019d be more Friendship, and were there\nmore Friendship we shou\u2019d have a better World. But because _Iniquity\nabounds_, therefore the _love of many_ is not only _waxen cold_, but\nquite benumb\u2019d and perish\u2019d. But if we have such narrow hearts, be so\nfull of mistaken Self-love, so unreasonably fond of our selves, that\nwe cannot spare a Hearty Good-will to one or two choice Persons, how\ncan it ever be thought, that we shou\u2019d well acquit our selves of that\nCharity which is due to all Mankind? For Friendship is nothing else\nbut Charity contracted; it is (in the words of an admired Author)\na kind of revenging our selves on the narrowness of our Faculties,\nby exemplifying that extraordinary Charity on one or two, which we\nare willing, but not able to exercise towards all. And therefore\n\u2019tis without doubt the best Instructor to teach us our duty to our\nNeighbour, and a most excellent Monitor to excite us to make payment\nas far as our power will reach. It has a special force to dilate our\nhearts, to deliver them from that vicious _selfishness_ and the rest of\nthose sordid Passions which express a narrow illiberal temper, and are\nof such pernicious consequence to Mankind. That institution therefore\nmust needs be highly beneficial, which both disposes us to be Friends\nour selves and helps to find them. But by Friendship I do not mean any\nthing like those intimacies that are abroad in the World, which are\noften combinations in evil and at best but insignificant dearnesses, as\nlittle resembling true Friendship, as modern Practice does Primitive\nChristianity. But I intend by it the greatest usefulness, the most\nrefin\u2019d and disinteress\u2019d Benevolence, a love that thinks nothing\nwithin the bounds of Power and Duty, too much to do or suffer for its\nBeloved; And makes no distinction betwixt its Friend and its self,\nexcept that in Temporals it prefers her interest. But tho\u2019 it be very\ndesirable to obtain such a Treasure, such a Medicine of Life as the\nwise man speaks, yet the danger is great least being deceiv\u2019d in our\nchoice, we suck in Poyson where we expected Health. And considering\nhow apt we are to disguise our selves, how hard it is to know our\nown hearts much less anothers, it is not advisable to be too hasty\nin contracting so important a Relation; before that be done, it were\nwell if we could look into the very Soul of the beloved Person, to\ndiscover what resemblance it bears to our own, and in this Society we\nshall have the best opportunities of doing so. There are no Interests\nhere to serve, no contrivances for another to be a stale to; the Souls\nof all the _Religious_ will be open and free, and those particular\nFriendships must be no prejudice to the general Amity. But yet, as in\nHeav\u2019n that region of perfect Love, the happy Souls (as some are of\nopinion) now and then step aside from more general Conversations, to\nentertain themselves with a peculiar Friend; so, in this little emblem\nof that blessed place, what shou\u2019d hinder, but that two Persons of a\nsympathizing disposition, the _make_ and _frame_ of whose Souls bears\nan exact conformity to each other, and therefore one wou\u2019d think were\npurposely design\u2019d by Heaven to unite and mix; what shou\u2019d hinder them\nfrom entering into an holy combination to watch over each other for\nGood, to advise, encourage and direct, and to observe the minutest\nfault in order to its amendment. The truest effect of love being to\nendeavour the bettering the beloved Person. And therefore nothing\nis more likely to improve us in Vertue, and advance us to the very\nhighest pitch of Goodness than unfeigned Friendship, which is the most\nbeneficial, as well as the most pleasant thing in the world.\n\nBut to hasten; such an Institution will much confirm us in Vertue and\nhelp us to persevere to the end, and by that substantial Piety and\nsolid Knowledge we shall here acquire, fit us to propagate Religion\nwhen we return into the World. An habitual Practice of Piety for some\nyears will so root and establish us in it, that Religion will become\na second Nature, and we must do strange violences to our selves, if\nafter that we dare venture to oppose it. For besides all the other\nAdvantages that Vertue has over Vice, this will disarm it of _Custom_,\nthe only thing that recommends it, bravely win its strongest Fort and\nturn its own Cannon against it self. How almost impossible wou\u2019d it\nbe for her to sin, whose _Understanding_ being clearly illuminated\nwith the knowledge of the Truth, is too wise to be impos\u2019d on by those\nfalse _Representations_ that sin wou\u2019d deceive it with; whose _Will_\nhas found out and united it self to its true _Centre_; and having\nbeen long habituated to move in a _right_ line, has no temptation\nto decline to an _Oblique_. Whose _Affections_ have daily regaled\non those delicious Fruits of Paradise which Religion presents them\nwith, and are therefore too sublime and refin\u2019d to relish the muddy\nPleasures of sensual Delights. It must certainly be a Miracle if such\nan one relinquish her Glory and Joy; she must be as bad as _Lucifer_\nhimself, who after such Enjoyments can forsake her Heaven. \u2019Tis too\nunreasonable to imagine such an Apostacy, the supposition is monstrous\nand therefore we may conclude will never, or very rarely happen. And\nthen what a blessed World shou\u2019d we have, shining with so many stars\nof _Vertue_, who not content to be happy themselves alone, for that\u2019s\na narrowness of mind too much beneath their God-like temper, would\nlike the glorious Lights of Heaven, or rather like him who made them,\ndiffuse their benign Influences where-ever they come. Having gain\u2019d an\nentrance into Paradise themselves, they wou\u2019d both shew the way, and\ninvite others to partake of their felicity. Instead of that Froth and\nImpertinence, that Censure and Pragmaticalness, with which Feminine\nConversations so much abound, we should hear their tongues employ\u2019d\nin making Proselytes to heaven, in running down Vice, in establishing\nVertue and proclaiming their Makers Glory. \u2019Twou\u2019d be more genteel to\ngive and take instructions about the ornaments of the Mind, than to\nenquire after the Mode; and a Lecture on the Fashions wou\u2019d become as\ndisagreeable as at present any serious discourse is. Not the Follies\nof the Town, but the Beauties and the Love of JESUS wou\u2019d be the most\npolite and delicious Entertainments. \u2019Twould be thought as rude and\nbarbarous to send our Visitors away uninstructed, as our foolishness at\npresent reckons it to introduce a pertinent and useful Conversation.\nLadies of Quality wou\u2019d be able to distinguish themselves from their\nInferiors, by the blessings they communicated and the good they did.\nFor this is their grand Prerogative, their _distinguishing Character_,\nthat they are plac\u2019d in a condition which makes that which is every\nones _Chief_ business, to be their _Only_ employ. They have nothing to\ndo but to glorifie GOD, and to benefit their Neighbours, and she who\ndoes not thus improve her Talent, is more vile and despicable than the\nmeanest Creature that attends her.\n\nAnd if after so many Spiritual Advantages, it be convenient to mention\nTemporals, here Heiresses and Persons of Fortune may be kept secure\nfrom the rude attempts of designing Men; And she who has more Money\nthan Discretion, need not curse her Stars for being expos\u2019d a prey\nto bold importunate and rapacious Vultures. She will not here be\ninveigled and impos\u2019d on, will neither be bought nor sold, nor be\nforc\u2019d to marry for her own quiet, when she has no inclination to it,\nbut what the being tir\u2019d out with a restless importunity occasions.\nOr if she be dispos\u2019d to marry, here she may remain in safety till\na convenient Match be offer\u2019d by her Friends, and be freed from the\ndanger of a dishonourable one. Modesty requiring that a Woman should\nnot love before Marriage, but only make choice of one whom she can love\nhereafter; She who has none but innocent affections, being easily able\nto fix them where Duty requires.\n\nAnd though at first I propos\u2019d to my self to speak nothing in\nparticular of the employment of the _Religious_, yet to give a Specimen\nhow useful they will be to the World, I am now inclin\u2019d to declare,\nthat it is design\u2019d a part of their business shall be to give the\nbest Education to the Children of Persons of Quality, who shall be\nattended and instructed in lesser Matters by meaner Persons deputed to\nthat Office, but the forming of their minds shall be the particular\ncare of those of their own Rank, who cannot have a more pleasant and\nuseful employment than to exercise and encrease their own knowledge, by\ninstilling it into these young ones, who are most like to profit under\nsuch Tutors. For how can their little Pupils forbear to credit them,\nsince they do not decry the World (as others may be thought to do)\nbecause they cou\u2019d not enjoy it, but when they had it in their power,\nwere courted and caress\u2019d by it, for very good Reasons and on mature\ndeliberation, thought fit to relinquish and despise its offers for a\nbetter choice? Nor are mercenary people on other accounts capable of\ndoing so much good to young Persons; because having often but short\nviews of things themselves, sordid and low Spirits, they are not like\nto form a generous temper in the minds of the Educated. Doubtless \u2019twas\nwell consider\u2019d of him, who wou\u2019d not trust the breeding of his Son to\na Slave, because nothing great or excellent could be expected from a\nperson of that condition.\n\nAnd when by the increase of their Revenue, the _Religious_ are enabled\nto do such a work of Charity, the Education they design to bestow\non the Daughters of Gentlemen who are fallen into decay will be no\ninconsiderable advantage to the Nation. For hereby many Souls will\nbe preserv\u2019d from great Dishonours and put in a comfortable way of\nsubsisting, being either receiv\u2019d into the House if they incline to\nit, or otherwise dispos\u2019d of. It being suppos\u2019d that prudent Men will\nreckon the endowments they here acquire a sufficient _Dowry_, and that\na discreet and vertuous Gentlewoman will make a better Wife than she\nwhose mind is empty tho\u2019 her Purse be full.\n\nBut some will say, May not People be good without this confinement? may\nthey not live at large in the World, and yet serve GOD as acceptably\nas here? \u2019Tis allow\u2019d they may; truly wise and vertuous Souls will do\nit by the assistance of GOD\u2019s Grace in despite of all temptations;\nand I heartily wish that all Women were of this temper. But it is\nto be consider\u2019d, that there are _tender_ Vertues who need to be\nscreened from the ill Airs of the World: many Persons who had _begun_\nwell might have gone to the Grave in peace and innocence, had it not\nbeen their misfortune to be violently tempted. For those who have\nhonest Hearts have not always the strongest Heads; and sometimes the\nenticements of the World and the subtil insinuations of such as lie in\nwait to deceive, may make their Heads giddy, stagger their Resolutions,\nand overthrow all the fine hopes of a promising beginning. \u2019Tis fit\ntherefore, such tender _Cyons_ shou\u2019d be transplanted, that they may be\nsupported by the prop of Vertuous Friendship, and confirm\u2019d in Goodness\nby holy Examples, which alas! they will not often meet with in the\nWorld. And, such is the weakness of humane Nature, bad People are not\nso apt to be better\u2019d by the Society of the Good, as the Good are to be\ncorrupted by theirs. Since therefore we daily pray against temptation,\nit cannot be amiss if we take all prudent care to avoid it, and not\nout of a vain presumption face the danger which GOD may justly permit\nto overcome us for a due correction of our Pride. It is not impossible\nfor a man to live in an infected House or Town and escape with Life and\nHealth, yet if he have a place in the Country to retire to, he will\nnot make slight of that advantage; and surely the Health of our Souls\nis of greater consideration than the health of our Bodies. Besides,\nshe has need of an establish\u2019d Vertue and consummated Prudence, who\nso well understands the great end for which she came into the World,\nand so faithfully pursues it, that not content to be wise and good her\nself alone, she endeavours to propagate Wisdom and Piety to all within\nher Sphere; But neither this Prudence nor heroic Goodness are easily\nattainable amidst the noise and hurry of the world, we must therefore\nretire a while from its clamour and importunity, if we generously\ndesign to do it good, and having calmly and sedately observ\u2019d and\nrectify\u2019d what is amiss in our selves, we shall be fitter to promote a\nReformation in others. A devout Retirement will not only strengthen and\nconfirm our Souls, that they be not infected by the worlds Corruptions,\nbut likewise so purify and refine them, that they will become Antidotes\nto expel the Poyson in others, and spread a salutary Air on ev\u2019ry Side.\n\nIf any object against a Learned Education, that it will make Women\nvain and assuming, and instead of correcting encrease their Pride: I\ngrant that a smattering in Learning may, for it has this effect on\nthe Men, none so Dogmatical and so forward to shew their Parts as\nyour little _Pretenders_ to Science. But I wou\u2019d not have the Ladies\ncontent themselves with the _shew_, my desire is, that they shou\u2019d\nnot rest till they obtain the _Substance_. And then, she who is most\nknowing will be forward to own with the wise _Socrates_ that she knows\nnothing: nothing that is matter of Pride and Ostentation; nothing but\nwhat is attended with so much ignorance and imperfection, that it\ncannot reasonably elate and puff her up. The more she knows, she will\nbe the less subject to talkativeness and its sister Vices, because she\ndiscerns, that the most difficult piece of Learning is to know when to\nuse and when to hold ones Tongue, and never to speak but to the purpose.\n\nBut the men if they rightly understand their own interest, have no\nreason to oppose the ingenious Education of the Women, since \u2019twou\u2019d go\na great way towards reclaiming the men, great is the influence we have\nover them in their Childhood, in which time if a Mother be discreet and\nknowing as well as devout, she has many opportunities of giving such a\n_Form_ and _Season_ to the tender Mind of the Child, as will shew its\ngood effects thro\u2019 all the stages of his Life. But tho\u2019 you should not\nallow her capable of doing _good_, \u2019tis certain she may do _hurt_: If\nshe do not _make_ the Child, she has power to _marr_ him, by suffering\nher fondness to get the better of discreet affection. But besides this,\na good and prudent Wife wou\u2019d wonderfully work on an ill man; he must\nbe a Brute indeed, who cou\u2019d hold out against all those innocent Arts,\nthose gentle persuasives and obliging methods she wou\u2019d use to reclaim\nhim. Piety is often offensive when it is accompanied with indiscretion;\nbut she who is as Wise as Good, possesses such Charms as can hardly\nfail of prevailing. Doubtless her Husband is a much happier Man and\nmore likely to abandon all his ill Courses, than he who has none to\ncome home to, but an ignorant, froward and fantastick Creature. An\ningenious Conversation will make his life comfortable, and he who\ncan be so well entertain\u2019d at home, needs not run into Temptations\nin search of Diversions abroad. The only danger is that the Wife be\nmore knowing than the Husband; but if she be \u2019tis his own fault, since\nhe wants no opportunities of improvement; unless he be a natural\n_Block-head_, and then such an one will need a wise Woman to govern\nhim, whose prudence will conceal it from publick Observation, and at\nonce both cover and supply his defects. Give me leave therefore to\nhope, that no Gentleman who has honourable designs, will hence-forward\ndecry Knowledge and Ingenuity in her he would pretend to Honour; If he\ndoes, it may serve for a Test to distinguish the feigned and unworthy\nfrom the real Lover.\n\nNow who that has a spark of Piety will go about to oppose so Religious\na design? What generous Spirit that has a due regard to the good of\nMankind, will not be forward to advance and perfect it? Who will think\n500 pounds too much to lay out for the purchase of so much Wisdom and\nHappiness? Certainly we shou\u2019d not think them too dearly paid for by\na much greater Sum, did not our pitiful and sordid Spirits set a much\nhigher value on Money than it deserves. But granting so much of that\ndear Idol were given away, a person thus bred, will easily make it\nup by her Frugality & other Vertues; if she bring less, she will not\nwaste so much as others do in superfluous and vain Expences. Nor can I\nthink of any expedient so useful as this to Persons of Quality who are\nover-stock\u2019d with Children, for thus they may honourably dispose of\nthem without impairing their Estates. Five or six hundred pounds may be\neasily spar\u2019d with a Daughter, when so many thousands would go deep;\nand yet as the world goes be a very inconsiderable Fortune for Ladies\nof their Birth, neither maintain them in that _Port_ which Custom makes\nalmost necessary, nor procure them an equal Match, those of their own\nRank (contrary to the generous custom of the _Germans_) chusing rather\nto fill their Coffers than to preserve the purity of their Blood, and\ntherefore think a weighty Bag the best Gentility, preferring a wealthy\nUpstart before the best Descended and best Qualified Lady; their own\nExtravagancies perhaps having made it necessary, that they may keep up\nan empty shadow of Greatness, which is all that remains to shew what\ntheir Ancestors have been.\n\nDoes any think their Money lost to their Families when \u2019tis put in\nhere? I will only ask what course they can take to save it, and at\nonce to preserve their Money, their Honour and their Daughters too?\nWere they sure the Ladies wou\u2019d die unmarried, I shou\u2019d commend their\nThrift, but Experience has too often shewn us the vanity of this\nexpectation. For the poor Lady having past the prime of her Years in\nGaity and Company, in running the Circle of all the Vanities of the\nTown, having spread all her Nets and us\u2019d all her Arts for Conquest,\nand finding that the Bait fails where she wou\u2019d have it take; and\nhaving all this while been so over-careful of her Body, that she had no\ntime to improve her Mind, which therefore affords her no safe retreat,\nnow she meets with Disappointments abroad, and growing every day more\nand more sensible, that the respect which us\u2019d to be paid her decays\nas fast as her Beauty; quite terrified with the dreadful Name of _Old\nMaid_, which yet none but Fools will reproach her with, nor any wise\nWoman be afraid of; to avoid this terrible _Mormo_, and the scoffs that\nare thrown on superannuated Virgins, she flies to some dishonourable\nMatch as her last, tho\u2019 much mistaken Refuge, to the disgrace of her\nFamily and her own irreparable Ruin. And now let any Person of Honour\ntell me, if it were not richly worth some thousand Pounds, to prevent\nall this mischief, and the having an idle Fellow, and perhaps a race of\nbeggarly Children to hang on him and to provide for?\n\nCou\u2019d I think of any other Objection I wou\u2019d consider it; there\u2019s\nnothing indeed which witty Persons may not argue _for_ and _against_,\nbut they who duly weigh the Arguments on both sides, unless they be\nextreamly prejudiced, will easily discern the great usefulness of\nthis Institution. The _Beaux_ perhaps, and topping Sparks of the\nTown will ridicule and laugh at it. For Vertue her self as bright\nas she is, can\u2019t escape the lash of scurrilous Tongues; the comfort\nis, whilst they impotently endeavour to throw dirt on her, they are\nunable to soil her Beauty, and only defile and render themselves the\nmore contemptible. They may therefore if they please, hug themselves\nin their own dear folly, and enjoy the diversion of their own insipid\nJests. She has but little Wisdom and less Vertue, who is to be frighted\nfrom what she judges reasonable, by the scoffs and insignificant noises\nof ludicrous Wits and pert Buffoons. And no wonder that such as they\nwho have nothing to shew for their pretences to Wit, but some scraps\nof Plays and blustring Non-sense; who fansie a well adjusted Peruke\nis able to supply their want of Brains, and that to talk _much_ is a\nsign of Ingenuity, tho\u2019t be never so little to the purpose, no wonder\nthat they object against our _Proposal_: \u2019Twou\u2019d indeed spoil the Trade\nof the gay fluttering Fops, who wou\u2019d be at a loss, had they no body\nas impertinent as themselves to talk with. The Criticism of their\nDress wou\u2019d be useless, and the labour of their _Valet de Chambre_\nlost, unless they cou\u2019d peaceably lay aside their Rivalling, and one\nAss be content to complement and admire another. For the Ladies wou\u2019d\nhave more discernment than to esteem a Man for such Follies as shou\u2019d\nrather incline them to scorn and despise him. They wou\u2019d never be so\nsottish as to imagine, that he who regards nothing but his own brutish\nAppetite, shou\u2019d have any real affection for them, nor ever expect\nFidelity from one who is unfaithful to GOD and his own Soul. They\nwou\u2019d not be so absurd as to suppose, that Man can esteem them who\nneglects his Maker; for what are all those fine Idolatries, by which\nhe wou\u2019d recommend himself to his pretended Goddess, but mockery and\ndelusion from him who forgets and affronts the true Deity? They wou\u2019d\nnot value themselves on account of the Admiration of such incompetent\nJudges, nor consequently make use of those little trifling Arts that\nare necessary to recommend them to such Admirers; Neither wou\u2019d they\ngive them opportunity to profess themselves their Slaves so long till\nat last they become their Masters.\n\nWhat now remains, but to reduce to Practice that which tends so very\nmuch to our advantage. Is Charity so dead in the world that none will\ncontribute to the saving their own and their neighbours Souls? Shall\nwe freely expend our Money to purchase Vanity, and often times both\npresent and future Ruin, and find none for such an eminent good Work,\nwhich will make the Ages to come arise and call us Blessed? I wou\u2019d\nfain persuade my self better things, and that I shall one day see this\n_Religious Retirement_ happily setled, and its great designs wisely and\nvigorously pursu\u2019d; and methinks I have already a Vision of that lustre\nand glory our Ladies cast far and near; Let me therefore intreat the\nrest of our Sex, who tho\u2019 at liberty in the world, are the miserable\nSlaves of their own vile affections, let me intreat them to lay aside\ntheir Prejudices and whatever borders on Envy and Malice, and with\nimpartial eyes to behold the Beauties of our _Religious_. The native\ninnocency and unaffectedness of whose Charms, and the unblameable\nIntegrity of their Lives, are abundantly more taking than all the\ncurious Artifices and studied Arts the other can invent to recommend\nthem, even bad men themselves being Judges, who often betray a secret\nVeneration for that vertue they wou\u2019d seem to despise and endeavour\nto corrupt. As there is not any thing, no not the least shadow of\na motive to recommend Vice but its fashionableness and the being\naccustom\u2019d to it, so there is nothing at all forbidden in Vertue but\nher uncouthness. Acquaint your selves with her a little, and you\u2019ll\nwonder how you cou\u2019d be so foolish as to delight in any thing besides!\nFor you\u2019ll find her Conversation most sweet and obliging; her Precepts\nmost easy and beneficial; her very tasks Joys and her Injunctions the\nhighest Pleasures. She will not rob you of any innocent delight, not\nengage you to any thing beneath your Birth and Breeding; but will put a\nnew and more grateful relish into all your Enjoyments, and make them\nmore delicious with her Sweetness. She\u2019ll preserve and augment your\nHonour, by allying you to the King of Heaven; secure your Grandeur\nby fixing it on a firm bottom, such as the caprice of Fortune cannot\nshake or overthrow; she\u2019ll enlarge your Souls, raise them above the\ncommon level, and encourage that allowable Pride of Scorning to do a\nbase unworthy action; Make you truly amiable in the eyes of GOD and\nMan, preserve even the Beauty of your Bodies as long as \u2019tis possible\nfor such a brittle thing to last, and when it must of necessity decay,\nimpress such a loveliness on your Minds, as will shine thro\u2019 and\nbrighten your very Countenances; enriching you with such a stock of\nCharms, that Time which devours every other thing, shall never be able\nto decay: In a word, \u2019tis Vertue only which can make you truly happy in\n_this_ world as well as in the next.\n\nThere is a sort of Bravery and Greatness of Soul, which does more\ntruly ennoble us than the highest Title, and it consists in living\nup to the dignity of our Natures, being so sensible of our own worth\nas to think our selves too great to do a degenerate and unbecoming\nthing; in passing indifferently thro\u2019 Good and Evil Fortune, without\nbeing corrupted by the one or deprest by the other. For she that can\ndo so, gives evidence that her Happiness depends not on so mutable a\nthing as this World; but, in a due subserviency to the Almighty, is\nbottom\u2019d only on her own great Mind. This is the richest Ornament,\nand renders a Woman glorious in the lowest Fortune. So shining is\nreal worth, that like a Diamond it loses not its lustre tho\u2019 cast on\na Dunghill. Whereas, she who is advanc\u2019d to some eminent Station and\nwants this natural and solid Greatness, is no better than Fortunes\n_May-game_, rendered more conspicuous that she may appear the more\ncontemptible. Let those therefore who value themselves only on\nexternal accomplishments, consider how liable they are to decay, and\nhow soon they may be depriv\u2019d of them, and that supposing they shou\u2019d\ncontinue, they are but sandy Foundations to build Esteem upon. What\na disappointment will it be to a Ladies Admirer as well as to her\nself, that her Conversation shou\u2019d lose or endanger the Victory her\neyes had gain\u2019d! For when the Passion of a Lover is Exchang\u2019d for\nthe Indifference of a Husband, and a frequent review has lessen\u2019d\nthe wonder which her Charms at first had rais\u2019d, she\u2019ll retain no\nmore than such a formal respect as decency and good breeding will\nrequire, and perhaps hardly that, but unless he be a very good Man\n(and indeed the world is not over full of \u2019em) her worthlesness has\nmade a forfeit of his Affections, which are seldom fixt by any other\nthing than Veneration and Esteem. Whereas a wise and good Woman is\nuseful and valuable in all Ages and Conditions: she who chiefly attends\nthe _one thing needful_, the _good part which shall not be taken from\nher_, lives a cheerful and pleasant Life, innocent and sedate, calm\nand tranquill, and makes a glorious Exit; being translated from the\nmost happy life on Earth, to unspeakable happiness in Heaven; a fresh\nand fragrant Name embalming her Dust, and extending its Perfume to\nsucceeding Ages. Whilst the Fools, and the worst sort of them the\nwicked, _live_ as well as _die_ in Misery, go out in a snuff, leaving\nnothing but stench and putrefaction behind them.\n\nTo close all, if this _Proposal_ which is but a rough draught and rude\nEssay, and which might be made much more beautiful by a better Pen,\ngive occasion to wiser heads to improve and perfect it, I have my end.\nFor imperfect as it is, it seems so desirable, that she who drew the\nScheme is full of hopes, it will not want kind hands to perform and\ncompleat it. But if it miss of that, it is but a few hours thrown away,\nand a little labour in vain, which yet will not be lost, if what is\nhere offer\u2019d may serve to express her hearty Good-will, and how much\nshe desires your Improvement, who is\n\n  LADIES,\n\n  _Your very humble Servant_.\n\n  _FINIS._\n\n\n\n\nLetters concerning the Love of GOD, between the Author of the Proposal\nto the Ladies, and Mr. _John Norris_; wherein his late Discourse,\nshewing that it ought to be intire and Exclusive of all other Loves, is\nfarther clear\u2019d and Justified, 8_vo._\n\n  Printed for _Richard Wilkin_.\n\n\n\n\n  A Serious\n\n  PROPOSAL\n\n  TO THE\n\n  LADIES,\n\n\n  PART II:\n\n\n  Wherein a Method is offer\u2019d\n  for the Improvement\n  of their Minds.\n\n\n  _LONDON_:\n\n  Printed for _Richard Wilkin_ at\n  the _King\u2019s Head_ in St. _Paul_\u2019s\n  Church-yard, 1697.\n\n\n\n\n  To her Royal Highness\n\n  THE\n\n  Princess _ANN_ of Denmark.\n\n\n  MADAM,\n\n_What was at first address\u2019d to the Ladies in_ General, _as\nseeming not considerable enough to appear in your Royal Highnesses\nPresence, not being ill receiv\u2019d by them, and having got the Addition\nof a Second Part, now presumes on a more_ Particular _Application to\nHer who is the Principal of them, and whose Countenance and Example\nmay reduce to Practice, what it can only Advise and Wish._\n\n_And when I consider you Madam as a Princess who is sensible that the\nChief Prerogative of the Great is the Power they have of doing more\nGood than those in an Inferior Station can, I see no cause to fear\nthat your Royal Highness will deny Encouragement to that which has\nno other Design than the Bettering of the World, especially the most\nneglected part of it as to all Real Improvement, the Ladies. It is by\nthe Exercise of this Power that Princes become truly Godlike, they\nare never so Illustrious as when they shine as Lights in the World by\nan Eminent and Heroic Vertue. A Vertue as much above Commendation as\nit is above Detraction, which fits equally Silent and Compos\u2019d when\nOpprest with Praises or Pursu\u2019d with Calumnys, is neither hurt by\nthese nor better\u2019d by the other; for the Service of_ GOD, _and\nthe Resembling Him, being its only Aim, His Approbation in a soft and\ninward Whisper, is more than the loud_ Huzza\u2019s _and Plaudits of\nten thousand Worlds._\n\n_I shall not therefore offend your Royal Ear with the nauseous strain\nof Dedications; for what can one say, when by how much the more any\nPerson deserves Panegyric, by so much the less they endure it? That\nyour Royal Highness may be All that is truly Great and Good, and have\na Confluence of Temporal, Sanctify\u2019d and Crown\u2019d with Spiritual and\nEternal Blessings, is the unfeigned and constant desire of_\n\n  MADAM,\n\n  Your Royal Highnesses\n\n  Most Humble and most\n\n  Obedient Servant.\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  Introduction,\n\n  Containing a farther\n\n  PERSWASIVE\n\n  TO THE\n\n  LADIES\n\n  To endeavour the\n\n  Improvement of their Minds.\n\n\nThe favourable reception which the graver and wiser part of the World\nwere pleas\u2019d t\u2019afford to a former Essay towards th\u2019improvement of the\nLadies, has encouraged her who made it to prosecute that design a\nlittle further, and to try if she can reduce to Practice what appears\nso well in Notion and Speculation. For how customary soever it be\nfor Writers to mind no more than their own Reputation, to be content\nif they can make a handsom flourish, get a Name among the Authors,\ncome off with but a little Censure and some Commendations; or if there\nare a few generous Souls who\u2019re got above either the Hope or Fear of\nvulgar Breath, who do not matter much what is dispens\u2019d more commonly\nby fancy or passion than by Judgment, they rest satisfied however in\na Good Intention, and comfort themselves that they\u2019ve endeavour\u2019d\nthe Reformation of the Age, let those look to\u2019t who will not follow\ntheir Advices: Yet give her leave to profess that she desires the Good\nof the World rather than its Applauses, and cou\u2019d with much greater\npleasure have found her Project condemn\u2019d as foolish and impertinent,\nthan see it entertain\u2019d with delight and approbation, and yet no\nbody endeavouring to put it in Practice; since the former wou\u2019d only\nhave reproach\u2019d her own Understanding, but the latter is a shame to\nMankind, as being a plain indication that tho they discern and commend\nwhat is Good, they have not the Vertue and Courage to Act accordingly.\nWere\u2019t altogether impossible t\u2019improve her Sex, were Women irremediably\ncondemn\u2019d to folly and impertinence, how much soever she desires their\namendment, she wou\u2019d make a Vertue of Necessity and endeavour to be\ncontent without it, but it will give her the greatest uneasiness to\u2019ve\nfound out a Method which every one judges so much to their advantage,\nif she can\u2019t persuade them to make use of it.\n\nAnd can you Ladies deny her so cheap a Reward for all the Good-will she\nbears you, as the Pleasure of seeing you Wise and Happy? Can you envy\nher the Joy of assisting at _Your_ Triumphs; for why does she contend\nfor Laurels but to lay \u2019em all at the Ladies feet? Why won\u2019t you begin\nto think, and no longer dream away your Time in a wretched incogitancy?\nWhy does not a generous Emulation fire your hearts and inspire you\nwith Noble and becoming Resentments? The Men of Equity are so just as\nto confess the errors which the Proud and inconsiderate had imbib\u2019d\nto your prejudice, and if you still allow them the preference in\nIngenuity, they\u2019re convinc\u2019d it is not because you _must_, but because\nyou _will_. Can you be in Love with servitude and folly? Can you dote\non a mean, ignorant and ignoble Life? Shall an Ingenious Woman be\nstar\u2019d on as a Prodigy, since you have it in your power to inform the\nWorld, that you can every one of you be so, if you please your selves?\nIt is not enough to wish and to would it, or t\u2019afford a faint Encomium\nupon what you pretend is beyond your Power; Imitation is the heartiest\nPraise you can give, and is a Debt which Justice requires to be paid to\nevery worthy Action. What Sentiments were fit to be rais\u2019d in you to\nday ought to remain to morrow, and the best Commendation you can bestow\non a Book is immediately to put it in Practice; otherwise you become\nself-condemn\u2019d, your Judgment reproaches your Actions, and you live a\ncontradiction to your selves. If you _approve_, Why don\u2019t you _follow_?\nAnd if you _Wish_, Why shou\u2019d you not _Endeavour_? especially since\nthat wou\u2019d reduce your Wishes to Act, and make you of Well-wishers to\nVertue and Good sense, become glorious Examples of them.\n\nAnd pray what is\u2019t that hinders you? The singularity of the Matter? Are\nyou afraid of being out of the ordinary way and therefore admir\u2019d and\ngaz\u2019d at? Admiration does not use to be uneasy to our Sex, a great\nmany Vanities might be spar\u2019d if we consulted only our own conveniency\nand not other peoples Eyes and Sentiments: And why shou\u2019d that which\nusually recommends a trifling Dress, deter us from a real Ornament?\nIs\u2019t not as fine to be first in this as well as any other Fashion?\nSingularity is indeed to be avoided except in matters of importance,\nin such a case Why shou\u2019d not we assert our Liberty, and not suffer\nevery Trifler to impose a Yoke of Impertinent Customs on us? She who\nforsakes the Path to which Reason directs is much to blame, but she\nshall never do any thing Praise-worthy and excellent who is not got\nabove unjust Censures, and too steady and well resolv\u2019d to be sham\u2019d\nfrom her Duty by the empty Laughter of such as have nothing but airy\nNoise and Confidence to recommend them. Firmness and strength of Mind\nwill carry us thro all these little persecutions, which may create us\nsome uneasiness for a while, but will afterwards end in our Glory and\nTriumph.\n\nIs it the difficulty of attaining the Bravery of the Mind, the Labour\nand Cost that keeps you from making a purchase of it? Certainly they\nwho spare neither Money nor Pains t\u2019obtain a gay outside and make a\nsplendid appearance, who can get over so many difficulties, rack their\nbrains, lay out their time and thoughts in contriving, stretch their\nRelations Purses in procuring, nay and rob the very Poor, to whom the\nOverplus of a full Estate, after the owners Necessaries and decent\nConveniencies according to her Quality are supplied, is certainly due,\nthey who can surmount so many difficulties, cannot have the face to\npretend any here. Labour is sweet when there\u2019s hope of success, and\nthe thing labour\u2019d after is Beautiful and Desireable: And if Wisdom\nbe not so I know not what is; if it is not worth while to procure\nsuch a temper of mind as will make us happy in all Conditions, there\u2019s\nnothing worth our Thoughts and Care, \u2019tis best to fold our hands with\n_Solomon_\u2019s Sluggard and sleep away the remainder of a useless and\nwretched Life.\n\nAnd that success will not be wanting to our Endeavours if we heartily\nuse them, was design\u2019d to be evinc\u2019d in the former Essay, and I\nhope I have not lost my Point, but that the Theory is sufficiently\nestablish\u2019d; and were there but a General Attempt, the Practice wou\u2019d\nbe so visible that I suppose there wou\u2019d remain no more place to\ndispute it. But this is your Province Ladies: For tho I desire your\nimprovement never so passionately, tho I shou\u2019d have prov\u2019d it feasible\nwith the clearest Demonstration, and most proper for you to set about;\nyet if you _will_ believe it impossible, and upon that or any other\nprejudice forbear t\u2019attempt it, I\u2019me like to go without my Wishes; my\nArguments what ever they may be in themselves, are weak and impertinent\nto you, because you make them useless and defeat them of the End they\naim at. But I hope better things of you; I dare say you understand your\nown interest too well to neglect it so grosly and have a greater share\nof sense, whatever some Men affirm, than to be content to be kept any\nlonger under their Tyranny in Ignorance and Folly, since it is in your\nPower to regain your Freedom, if you please but t\u2019endeavour it. I\u2019me\nunwilling to believe there are any among you who are obstinately bent\nagainst what is praise-worthy in themselves, and Envy or Detract from\nit in others; who won\u2019t allow any of their Sex a capacity to write\nSense, because they want it, or exert their Spleen where they ought\nto shew their Kindness or Generous Emulation; who sicken at their\nNeighbours Vertues, or think anothers Praises a lessening of their\nCharacter; or meanly satisfie ill-nature by a dull Malicious Jest at\nwhat deserves to be approv\u2019d and imitated. No Ladies, Your Souls are\ncertainly of a better Make and Nobler temper, your Industry is never\nexerted to pull down others but to rise above them, the only Resentment\nthat arises at your Neighbours Commendations is a harmless blush for\nyour own Idleness in letting them so far outstrip you, and a generous\nResolution to repair your former neglects by future diligence; One need\nnot fear offending you by commending an other Lady in your Presence,\nor that it shou\u2019d be thought an affront or defect in good breeding to\ngive them their lawful Eulogies: You have too just a Sentiment of your\nown Merit to envy or detract from others, for no Body\u2019s addicted to\nthese little Vices but they who are diffident of their own worth; You\nknow very well \u2019tis infinitely better to _be_ good than to _seem_ so,\nand that true Vertue has Beauty enough in her self t\u2019attract our hearts\nand engage us in her service, tho she were neglected and despis\u2019d\nby all the World. \u2019Tis this therefore you endeavour after, \u2019tis the\napprobation of GOD and your own Consciences you mainly esteem, which\nyou find most ascertain\u2019d by an humble Charity, and that you never\nmerit Praise so much, because you never make so great a progress in\nwhat is truly praise-worthy, as when your own defects are often in your\neyes t\u2019excite you to watch against and amend them, and other peoples\nVertues continually represented before you in their brightest lustre,\nto the end you may aspire to equal or surpass them.\n\nI suppose then that you\u2019re fill\u2019d with a laudable Ambition to brighten\nand enlarge your Souls, that the Beauty of your Bodies is but a\nsecondary care, your Dress grows unconcerning, and your Glass is\nne\u2019er consulted but in such little intervals of time as hang loose\nbetween those hours that are destin\u2019d to nobler Employments; you now\nbegin to throw off your old Prejudices and smile on \u2019em as antiquated\nGarbs; false Reasoning won\u2019t down with you, and glittering Non-sense\ntho address\u2019d to your selves in the specious appearance of Respect\nand Kindness, has lost its _haut goust_; Wisdom is thought a better\nrecommendation than Wit, and Piety than a _Bon-mien_; you esteem a\nMan only as he is an admirer of Vertue, and not barely for that he\nis yours; Books are now become the finest Ornaments of your Closets,\nand Contemplation the most agreeable Entertainment of your leisure\nhours; your Friendships are not cemented by Intrigues nor spent in\nvain Diversions, but in the search of Knowledge, and acquisition of\nVertuous Habits, a mutual Love to which was the Origin of \u2019em; nor\nare any Friends so acceptable as those who tell you faithfully of your\nfaults and take the properest method to amend \u2019em. How much better are\nyou entertain\u2019d now your Conversations are pertinent and ingenious,\nand that Wisdom never fails to make one in your Visits? Solitude is\nno more insupportable; you\u2019ve conquered that silly dread of being\nafraid to be alone, since Innocence is the safest Guard, and no Company\ncan be so desirable as GOD\u2019s and his holy Angels conversing with an\nupright mind; your Devotion is a Rational service, not the repetition\nof a Set of good words at a certain season; you read and you delight\nin it, because it informs your Judgments, and furnishes Materials for\nyour thoughts to work on; and you love your Religion and make it your\nChoice because you understand it; the only Conquest you now design\nand lay out your care to obtain is over Vice and Prophaneness; you\nstudy to engage men in the love of true Piety and Goodness, and no\nfarther to be Lovers of your selves than as you are the most amiable\nand illustrious examples of \u2019em; you find your Wit has lost nothing\nof its salt and agreeableness by being employ\u2019d about its proper\nbusiness, the exposing Folly; your Raillery is not a whit less pleasant\nfor being more Charitable, and you can render Vice as ridiculous as\nyou please, without exposing those unhappy Persons who\u2019re guilty of\nit; your Humour abates not of its innocent gaity now that it is more\nupon the Guard, for you know very well that true Joy is a sedate and\nsolid thing, a tranquility of mind, not a boisterous and empty flash;\nInstead of Creditors your doors are fill\u2019d with indigent Petitioners\nwho don\u2019t so often go without your Bounty as the other us\u2019d to do\nwithout their just demands; nor are you unjust to some under colour\nof being Charitable to others, and when you give Liberally, give no\nmore than what is lawfully your own. You disdain the base ungenerous\nPractice of pretending Kindness where you really mean none; and of\nmaking a poor Country Lady less instructed in the formalities of the\nTown than your selves, pay sufficiently for your seeming Civility and\nkind Entertainment by becoming the Subject of your mirth and diversion\nas soon as she is gone; but one may now pretty securely relie on your\nSincerity, for when this lower sort of Treachery is abhorr\u2019d, there\ncan certainly be no place for that more abominable one of betraying\nand seducing unwary Innocence. I do not question Ladies but that this\nis the Practice of the greatest number of you, and would be of all\nthe rest were it not for some little discouragments they meet with,\nwhich really are not so great as their own modesty and diffidence of\nthemselves represent \u2019em. They think they\u2019ve been bred up in Idleness\nand Impertinence, and study will be irksome to them, who have never\nemploy\u2019d their mind to any good purpose, and now when they wou\u2019d they\nwant the method of doing it; they know not how to look into their\nSouls, or if they do, they find so many disorders to be rectified, so\nmany wants to be supplied, that frighted with the difficulty of the\nwork they lay aside the thoughts of undertaking it. They have been\nbarbarously us\u2019d, their Education and greatest Concerns neglected,\nwhilst their imprudent Parents and Guardians were busied in managing\ntheir Fortunes and regulating their Mien; who so their Purse was\nfull and their outside plausible, matter\u2019d not much the poverty and\nnarrowness of their minds, have taught them perhaps to repeat their\nCatechism and a few good Sentences, to read a Chapter and _say_\ntheir Prayers, tho perhaps with as little Understanding as a Parrot,\nand fancied that this was Charm enough to secure them against the\ntemptations of the Present world and to waft them to a better; and\nso thro want of use and by misapplying their Thoughts to trifles and\nimpertinencies, they\u2019ve perhaps almost lost those excellent Capacities\nwhich probably were afforded them by nature for the highest things.\nFor such as these I\u2019ve a a world of Kindness and Compassion, I regret\ntheir misfortune as much as they can themselves, and suppose they\u2019re\nwilling to repair it and very desirous to inform themselves were\u2019t not\nfor the shame of confessing their Ignorance. But let me intreat them\nto consider that there\u2019s no Ignorance so shameful, no Folly so absurd\nas that which refuses Instruction, be it upon what account it may. All\ngood Persons will pity not upbraid their former unhappiness, as not\nbeing their own but other Peoples fault; whereas they themselves are\nresponsible if they continue it, since that\u2019s an Evidence that they\nare silly and despicable, not because they _cou\u2019d_ not, but because\nthey _wou\u2019d_ not be better Informed. But where is the shame of being\ntaught? for who is there that does not need it? Alas, Human Knowledge\nis at best defective, and always progressive, so that she who knows the\nmost has only this advantage, that she has made a little more speed\nthan her Neighbours. And what\u2019s the Natural Inference from hence? Not\nto give out, but to double our diligence; perhaps we may out-strip\n\u2019em, as the Penitent often does him who needs no Repentance. The worst\nthat can be is the perishing in a glorious attempt, and tho we shou\u2019d\nhappen to prove succesless, \u2019tis yet worth our while to\u2019ve had such a\nnoble design. But there\u2019s no fear of ill success if we are not wanting\nto our selves, an honest and laborious mind may perform all things.\nIndeed an affected Ignorance, a humorous delicacy and niceness which\nwill not speculate a notion for fear of spoiling a look, nor think\na serious thought lest she shou\u2019d damp the gaity of her humour; she\nwho is so top full of her outward excellencies, so careful that every\nlook, every motion, every thing about her shou\u2019d appear in Form, as\nshe employs her Thoughts to a very pitiful use, so is she almost past\nhopes of recovery, at least so long as she continues this humour, and\ndoes not grow a little less concern\u2019d for her Body that she may attend\nher Mind. Our directions are thrown away upon such a temper, \u2019tis to no\npurpose to harp to an Ass, or to chant forth our Charms in the Ears of\na deaf Adder; but I hope there are none so utterly lost in folly and\nimpertinence: If there are, we can only afford them our Pity for our\nAdvice will do no good.\n\nAs for those who are desirous to improve and only want to be assisted\nand put into the best method of doing it, somewhat was attempted in\norder to do them that service in the former Essay, in which they may\nplease to remember that having remov\u2019d that groundless prejudice\nagainst an ingenious Education of the Women, which is founded upon\nsupposition of the impossibility or uselessness of it, and having\nassign\u2019d the reasons why they are so little improv\u2019d, since they are\nso capable of improvement, and since \u2019tis so necessary that others\nas well as themselves shou\u2019d endeavour it; which reasons are chiefly\nIll-nurture, Custom, loss of Time, the want of Retirement, or of\nknowing how to use it, so that by the disuse of our Faculties we seem\nto have lost them if we ever had any; are sunk into an Animal life\nwholly taken up with sensible objects; either have no Ideas of the\nmost necessary things or very _false_ ones; and run into all those\nmischiefs which are the natural Consequences of such mismanagement; we\nthen proceeded to propose a Remedy for these Evils, which we affirm\u2019d\ncou\u2019d hardly be rectified but by erecting a Seminary where Ladies\nmight be duly Educated, and we hope our Proposition was such that all\nimpartial Readers are convinc\u2019d it wou\u2019d answer the Design, that is,\ntend very much to the real advantage and improvement of the Ladies.\nIn order to which it was in general propos\u2019d to acquaint them with\nJudicious Authors, give them opportunity of Retirement and Recollection\nand put them in a way of Ingenious Conversation, whereby they might\nenlarge their prospect, rectify their false Ideas, form in their Minds\nadequate conceptions of the End and Dignity of their Natures, not only\nhave the Name and common Principles of Religion floating in their Heads\nand sometimes running out at their Mouths, but understand the design\nand meaning of it, and have a just apprehension, a lively sentiment\nof its Beauties and Excellencies; know wherein the Nature of a true\nChristian consists; and not only feel Passions, but be able to direct\nand regulate their Motions; have a true Notion of the Nothingness of\nMaterial things and of the reality and substantialness of immaterial,\nand consequently contemn this present World as it deserves, fixing\nall their Hopes upon and exerting all their Endeavours to obtain the\nGlories of the next. But because this was only propos\u2019d in general, and\nthe particular method of effecting it left to the Discretion of those\nwho shou\u2019d Govern and Manage the Seminary, without which we are still\nof Opinion that the Interest of the Ladies can\u2019t be duly serv\u2019d, in the\nmean time till that can be erected and that nothing in our power may be\nwanting to do them service, we shall attempt to lay down in this second\npart some more minute Directions, and such as we hope if attended to\nmay be of use to them.\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  Second Part\n  OF THE\n  PROPOSAL\n  TO THE\n  LADIES.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n    _Of the Mutual Relation between Ignorance and Vice, and Knowledge\n    and Purity._\n\n[Sidenote: Part I. page 22, _&c._]\n\nWhat are Ignorance and Vice but Diseases of the Mind contracted in its\ntwo principal Faculties the Understanding and Will? And such too as\nlike many Bodily distempers do mutually foment each other. Ignorance\ndisposes to Vice, and Wickedness reciprocally keeps us Ignorant, so\nthat we cannot be free from the one unless we cure the other; the\nformer part of this Proposition has been already shewn, and the latter\nmay easily be made apparent; for as every Plant does Naturally draw\nsuch juices towards it as serve for its Nutrition, as every Creature\nhas an aptness to take such courses as tend to its preservation; so\nVice that spawn of the Devil, that _Ignis fatuus_ which can\u2019t subsist\nbut in the dark night of Ignorance, casts forth Vapours and Mists to\ndarken the Soul and eclipse the clear light of Knowledge from her\nView. And tho a Wicked Man may pretend to Wit, tho he have never so\nmuch Acumen and Facetiousness of Humour, yet his Impiety proclaims\nhis Folly; he may have a lively Fancy, an Intriguing Cunning and\nContrivance, and so may an Ape or a Fox, who probably if they had but\nSpeech, tho destitute of Reason, wou\u2019d outdo him in his own way; but\nhe wants the Ingenuity of a Man, he\u2019s a Fool to all Rational Intents\nand Purposes. She then who desires a clear Head must have a pure Heart;\nand she who has the first in any Measure will never allow her self to\nbe deficient in the other. But you will say what degrees of Purity are\nrequisite in order to Knowledge, and how much must we Know to the end\nwe may heartily endeavour to Purify?\n\nNow in Order to satisfie this demand I consider, That there are certain\nNotices which we may call the Rudiments of Knowledge, which none who\nare Rational are without however they came by them. It may happen\nindeed that a habit of Vice or a long disuse has so obscur\u2019d them that\nthey seem to be extinguish\u2019d, but it does only _seem_ so, for were\nthey really extinguish\u2019d the person wou\u2019d be no longer Rational, and\nno better than the Shade and Picture of a Man. Because as Irrational\nCreatures act only by the Will of him who made them, and according to\nthe Power of that Mechanisme by which they are form\u2019d, so every one\nwho pretends to Reason, who is a Voluntary Agent and therefore Worthy\nof Praise or Blame, Reward or Punishment, must _Chuse_ his Actions and\ndetermine his Will to that Choice by some Reasonings or Principles\neither true or false, and in proportion to his Principles and the\nConsequences he deduces from them he is to be accounted, if they are\nRight and Conclusive a Wise Man, if Evil, Rash and Injudicious a Fool.\nIf then it be the property of Rational Creatures, and Essential to\ntheir very Natures to Chuse their Actions, and to determine their\nWills to that Choice by such Principles and Reasonings as their\nUnderstandings are furnish\u2019d with, they who are desirous to be rank\u2019d\nin that Order of Beings must conduct their Lives by these Measures,\nbegin with their Intellectuals, inform themselves what are the plain\nand first Principles of Action and Act accordingly.\n\nBy which it appears that there are some degrees of Knowledge necessary\nbefore there can be _any_ Human Acts, for till we are capable of\nChusing our own Actions and directing them by some Principle, tho we\nMove and Speak and do many such like things, we live not the Life of a\nRational Creature but only of an Animal. If it be farther demanded what\nthese Principles are? Not to dispute the Number of \u2019em here, no body I\nsuppose will deny us one, which is, _That we ought as much as we can\nto endeavour the Perfecting of our Beings, and that we be as happy\nas possibly we may_. For this we see is Natural to every Creature of\nwhat sort soever, which endeavours to be in as good Condition as its\nNature and Circumstances will permit. And now we have got a Principle\nwhich one would think were sufficient for the Conduct of our Actions\nthro the whole Course of our Lives; and so indeed it were, cou\u2019d we as\neasily discern wherein our Happiness consists as \u2019tis natural to wish\nand desire it. But herein lies our great mistake and misfortune, for\naltho we all pursue the same end, yet the means we take to obtain it\nare Indefinite: There needs no other Proof of this than the looking\nabroad into the World, which will convince us of the Truth and raise\nour Wonder at the absurdity, that Creatures of the same Make shou\u2019d\ntake not only so many different, but even contrary Ways to accomplish\nthe same End! We all agree that its fit to be as Happy as we can, and\nwe need no Instructor to teach us this Knowlege, \u2019tis born with us, and\nis inseparable from our Being, but we very much need to be Inform\u2019d\nwhat is the true Way to Happiness. When the Will comes to ask the\nUnderstanding this Question, What must I do to fill up my Vacuities, to\naccomplish my Nature? Our Reason is at first too weak, and afterwards\ntoo often too much sophisticated to return a proper Answer, tho it\nbe the most important concern of our Lives, for according as the\nUnderstanding replies to it so is the Moral Conduct of the Will, pure\nand right if the first be well Inform\u2019d, irregular and vitious if the\nother be weak and deluded. Indeed our power of Willing exerts it self\nmuch sooner than that Rational Faculty which is to Govern it, and\ntherefore \u2019twill either be left to its own range, or to the Reason of\nanother to direct it; whence it comes that we generally take that\nCourse in our search after Happiness, which Education, Example or\nCustom puts us in, and, tho not always, yet most commonly, we tast of\nour first seasoning; which shou\u2019d teach us to take all the care we can\nthat it be Good, and likewise that how Good soever it appear, we be not\ntoo much Wedded to and biass\u2019d by it. Well then, the first light of our\nUnderstanding must be borrow\u2019d, we must take it on trust till we\u2019re\nfurnish\u2019d with a Stock of our own, which we cannot long be without if\nwe do but employ what was lent us in the purifying of our Will, for as\nthis grows more regular the other will enlarge, if it clear up, that\nwill brighten and shine forth with diffusive Rays.\n\nIndeed if we search to the bottom I believe we shall find, that the\nCorruption of the Heart contributes _more_ to the Cloudiness of the\nHead, than the Clearness of our Light does to the regularity of our\nAffections, and \u2019tis oftner seen that our vitious Inclinations keep\nus Ignorant, than that our Knowlege makes us Good, For it must be\nconfess\u2019d that Purity is not _always_ the product of Knowlege; tho\nthe Understanding be appointed by the Author of Nature to direct and\nGovern the Will, yet many times its head-strong and Rebellious Subject\nrushes on precipitately, without, its directions. When a Truth comes\nthwart our Passions, when it dares contradict our mistaken Pleasures\nand supposed Interests, let the Light shine never so clear we shut our\nEyes against it, will not be convinc\u2019d, not because there\u2019s any want\nof Evidence, but because we\u2019re _unwilling_ to Obey. This is the Rise\nof all that Infidelity that appears in the World; it is not the Head\nbut the Heart that is the Seat of Atheism. No Man without a brow of\nBrass, and an Impudence as strong as his Arguments are weak, cou\u2019d\ndemur to the convincing Proofs of Christianity, had not he contracted\nsuch diseases in his Passions as make him believe \u2019tis his Interest to\noppose _those_ that he may gratify _these_. Yet this is no Objection\nagainst what we have been proving, it rather confirms what was said\nconcerning the mutual Relation between the Understanding and the Will,\nand shews how necessary it is to take care of both, if we wou\u2019d improve\nand advance either.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Sidenote: _Where we must begin._]\n\nThe result of all then, and what gives a satisfactory Answer to the\nQuestion where we must begin is this; that some Clearness of Head,\nsome lower degrees of Knowledge, so much at least as will put us on\nendeavouring after more, is necessary to th\u2019obtaining Purity of Heart,\nfor tho some Persons whom we vulgarly call Ignorant may be honest\nand Vertuous, yet they are not so in these particulars in which they\nare Ignorant, but their Integrity in Practising what they know, tho\nit be but little, causes us to overlook that wherein they Ignorantly\ntransgress. But then any eminent degree of Knowlege, especially of\nMoral and Divine Knowlege, which is most excellent because most\nnecessary and useful, can never be obtain\u2019d without considerable\ndegrees of Purity: And afterwards when we have procur\u2019d a competent\nmeasure of both, they mutually assist each other; the more Pure we are\nthe clearer will our Knowlege be, and the more we Know the more we\nshall Purify. Accordingly therefore we shall first apply our selves\nto the Understanding, endeavouring to inform and put it right, and in\nthe next place address to the Will, when we have touch\u2019d upon a few\nPreliminaries, and endeavour\u2019d to remove some Obstructions that are\nprejudicial to both.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\n    _Containing some Preliminaries, As_ I. _The removing of Sloth\n    and stupid Indifferency_. II. _Prejudices arising._ (1.) _From\n    Authority, Education and Custom._ (2.) _From Irregular Self-Love,\n    and Pride. How to cure our Prejudices. Some Remarks upon Change\n    of Opinions, Novelty and the Authority of the Church._ III. _To\n    arm our selves with Courage and Patient Perseverance against_\n    (1.) _The Censures of ill People, and_ (2.) _our own Indocility_.\n    IV. _To propose a Right End._\n\n\n[Sidenote: \u00a7. I.]\n\nThe first thing I shall advise against is Sloth, and what may be\njoyn\u2019d with it a stupid Indifference to any thing that is excellent;\nshall I call it Contentedness with our Condition how low and imperfect\nsoever it be? I will not abuse the Word so much, \u2019tis rather an\nungenerous inglorious Laziness, we doze on in a Circle with our\nNeighbours, and so we get but Company and Idleness enough, we consider\nnot for what we were made, and what the Condition of our present State\nrequires. And we think our selves good humble Creatures for this, who\nbusy not our Heads with what\u2019s out of our Sphere and was never design\u2019d\nfor us, but acquiesce honestly and contentedly in such Employments\nas the generality of Women have in all Ages been engaged in; for why\nshou\u2019d we think so well of our selves as to fancy we can be wiser and\nbetter than those who have gone before? They went to Heav\u2019n no doubt,\nand we hope that by treading in their steps we likewise in due time\nmay come there, And why should we give our selves any farther trouble?\nThe lowest degree of Bliss in that happy place is more than we deserve,\nand truly we have too much Humility and Modesty to be Ambitious of a\nhigher.\n\nThus we hide our faults under the borrowed name of Vertue; an old\ndevice taught us by the Enemy of our Souls, and by which he has often\ndeceiv\u2019d us. But \u2019tis all mistake and nonsense to hope to get to\nHeaven, if we stint our Endeavours and care for no more but just to\nget there. For what\u2019s at the bottom of this pretended humble temper?\nNo real Love to GOD and longing to enjoy him, no appetite for Heaven,\nbut since we must go thither or to Hell when we quit this dear beloved\nWorld, a taking up with that as the more tolerable place. Had we\nindeed any true Idea of the Life to come, did we but fix our Eyes\nand Thoughts in the Contemplation of that unconceivable Blessedness,\n\u2019twou\u2019d be impossible not to desire it with the warmest vigor, not\nto be Ambitious of all we are able to attain. For pray wherein do\nthe Joys of Heaven consist, but in the Fruition of GOD the Only and\nAll satisfying Good? and how can we Enjoy Him but by Loving him? And\nis it not the property of that Passion to think it can never Enjoy\nenough but still to thirst for more? How then can we Love GOD if we\ndo not Long and Labour for the _fullest_ Enjoyment of him? And if we\ndo not Love Him how are we like to Enjoy Him in _any_ the _least_\nDegree? He needs neither our Services nor our Company, He loses nothing\nof His Happiness, tho we will not fit our selves to receive those\nCommunications of it He is desirous t\u2019impart to us; and therefore we\u2019ve\nno reason to think He will force His Bliss upon us, render those\nFaculties He has given us needless, and make us Happy how unfit soever\nwe are for Beatitude. What did we come into the World for? To Eat and\nto Drink and to pursue the little Impertinencies of this Life? Surely\nno, our Wise Creator has Nobler Ends whatever we have; He lent us\nhither to pass our Probation, to Prepare our selves and be Candidates\nfor Eternal Happiness in a better. And how shall this be done but by\nLabour and Industry? A Labour indeed, but such as carries its Reward\nwith it, besides what it is entituled to hereafter.\n\nThe Truth is, that the Condition of our Present State is such, that\nwe can\u2019t do _any_ thing, much less what\u2019s Great and Excellent without\nsome Pain and Weariness of the Flesh; even our very Pleasures are\naccompanied with Pain, nor wou\u2019d they relish without it, this is the\nSauce that recommends them. And why then shall we be averse to the\ntaking a little Pains in that Case only in which \u2019twill be worth our\nwhile? A Title, an Estate, or Place, can neither be got nor kept\nwithout some difficulty and trouble; an Amour, nay even a paltry Dress\ncan\u2019t be manag\u2019d without some Thought and Concern, and are our Minds\nthe only thing that do not need, or not deserve them? Has our Bountiful\nLord set no limits to our Happiness but the Capacity of our Nature, and\nshall we set less, and not strive to extend our Capacities to their\nutmost reach? Has the obliging Son of GOD thought \u00b7 no difficulties too\nmighty, no Pain too great to undergo for the Love of us, and shall we\nbe so disingenuous and ungrateful as to think a few hours Solitude, a\nlittle Meditation and Watchfulness too much to return to his Love? No\ncertainly, we cannot have such narrow groveling hearts; no we are all\non Fire, and only want to know wherein to employ our Activity, and how\nto manage it to the best advantage, which if we wou\u2019d do we must in the\nnext place.\n\n\n\u00a7. II. Disengage our selves from all our former Prejudices, from our\nOpinion of Names, Authorities, Customs and the like, not give credit to\nany thing any longer because we have once believ\u2019d it, but because it\ncarries clear and uncontested Evidence along with it. I shou\u2019d think\nthere needed no more to persuade us to this, than a consideration of\nthe mischiefs these Prejudices do us. These are the grand hindrance\nin our search after Truth; these dispose us for the reception of\nError, and when we have imbib\u2019d confirm us in it; Contract our Souls\nand shorten our views, hinder the free range of our Thoughts and\nconfine them only to that particular track which these have taken;\nand in a word, erect a Tyranny over our free born Souls, whilst they\nsuffer nothing to pass for True that has not been stampt at their own\nMint. But this is not all their mischief, they are really the root of\nScepticism; for when we have taken up an Opinion on weak Grounds and\nstifly adher\u2019d to it, coming afterwards by some chance or other to be\nconvinc\u2019d of its falseness, the same disposition which induc\u2019d us to\nreceive the Premises without Reason, now inclines us to draw as false a\nConclusion from them; and because we seem\u2019d once well assur\u2019d of what\nnow appears to have nothing in\u2019t to make us so, therefore we fancy\nthere\u2019s nothing certain, that all our Notions are but Probabilities,\nwhich stand or fall according to the Ingenuity of their Managers, and\nso from an unreasonable Obstinacy we pass on to as unreasonable a\nLevity; so smooth is the transition from believing too easily and too\nmuch, to the belief of just nothing at all.\n\nBut pray where\u2019s the force of this Argument, \"This is true because\nsuch a Person or such a Number of Men have said it. Or, which commonly\nweighs more, because I my self, the dear Idol of my own Heart have\nsometimes embrac\u2019d and perhaps very zealously maintain\u2019d it?\" Were we\nto Poll for Truth, or were our own particular Opinions th\u2019Infallible\nStandard of it, there were reason to subscribe to the Sentiments of the\n_Many_, or to be tenacious of our _Own_. But since Truth tho she is\nbright and ready to reveal her self to all sincere Inquirers, is not\noften found by the generality of those who pretend to seek after her,\nInterest, Applause, or some other little sordid Passion, being really\nthe Mistress they court, whilst she (like Religion in another Case) is\nmade use of for a Stale to carry on the Design the better; since we\u2019re\ncommonly too much under the power of Inordinate Affections to have our\nUnderstandings always clear and our Judgments certain, are too rash,\ntoo precipitate not to need the assistance of a calmer thought, a more\nserious review; Reason wills that we shou\u2019d think again, and not form\nour Conclusions or fix our foot till we can honestly say, that we have\nwithout Prejudice or Prepossession view\u2019d the matter in Debate on all\nsides, seen it in every light, have no bias to encline us either way,\nbut are only determin\u2019d by Truth it self, shining brightly in our eyes,\nand not permitting us to resist the force and Evidence it carries.\nThis I\u2019me sure is what Rational Creatures ought to do, what\u2019s then the\nReason that they do\u2019t not?\n\nLaziness and Idleness in the first place; Thinking is a pain to those\nwho have disus\u2019d it, they will not be at the trouble of carrying on a\nthought, of pursuing a Meditation till it leads them into the confines\nof Truth, much less till it puts \u2019em in possession of her. \u2019Tis an\neasier way to follow on in a beaten road, than to launch out into the\nmain Ocean, tho it be in order to the making of new Discoveries; they\ntherefore who would be thought knowing without taking too much pains to\nbe so, suppose \u2019tis enough to go on in their Fore-fathers steps, to say\nas they say, and hope they shall get as much Reputation by it as those\nwho have gone before.\n\nAgain Self-love, an excellent Principle when true, but the worst and\nmost mischievous when mistaken, disposes us to be retentive of our\nPrejudices and Errors, especially when it is joyn\u2019d as most commonly\nit is with Pride and Conceitedness. The Condition of our present State\n(as was said before) in which we feel the force of our Passions e\u2019re we\ndiscern the strength of our Reason, necessitates us to take up with\nsuch Principles and Reasonings to direct and determine these Passions\nas we happen to meet with, tho probably they are far from being just\nones, and are such as Education or Accident not right Reason disposes\nus to; and being inur\u2019d and habituated to these, we at last take them\nfor our own, for parts of our dear beloved selves, and are as unwilling\nto be divorced from them as we wou\u2019d be to part with a Hand or an Eye\nor any the most useful Member. Whoever talks contrary to these receiv\u2019d\nNotions seems to banter us, to persuade us out of our very Senses, and\ndoes that which our Pride cannot bear, he supposes we\u2019ve been all along\ndeceiv\u2019d and must begin anew: We therefore instead of depositing our\nold Errors, fish about for Arguments to defend \u2019em, and do not raise\nHypotheses on the Discoveries we have made of Truth, but search for\nProbabilities to maintain our Hypotheses. And what\u2019s the result of all\nthis? Having set out in a wrong way we\u2019re resolv\u2019d to persist in it, we\ngrope in the dark and quarrel with those who wou\u2019d lead us out of it!\n\nBut is there no Remedy for this disorder, since we hope that All are\nnot irrecoverably lost, tho too many are so invellop\u2019d in Prejudice\nthat there\u2019s little probability of disengaging them? Why really the\nbest that I can think of at present is, to Resolve to be Industrious,\nand to think no Pains too much to purchase Truth; to consider that our\nFore-fathers were Men of like Passions with us, and are therefore not\nto be Credited on the score of Authority but of Reason; to remember\nlikewise our own Infirmity, the shortness of our Views, and the bias\nwhich our Passions and secular Interests give us; generously to\ndisengage our selves from the deceptions of sense, from all sinister\nand little Designs, and honestly to search after Truth for no other\nEnd but the Glory of GOD, by the accomplishing of our Own and our\nNeighbours Minds, and when we have humbly implor\u2019d, as now we may very\nwell hope for the Divine Assistance, that the Father of Lights will\nshine upon us, and that He who is _the Way, the Truth and the Life_\nwill lead us into all Truth; why then we shou\u2019d do well to take notice,\nThat it is of no great consequence to us what our old Opinions are\nany farther than as we persist in \u2019em; that there\u2019s no necessity that\nthey shou\u2019d be true, but \u2019tis highly necessary we shou\u2019d fix on what\nis so; therefore these also must be made to pass the Scrutiny, and be\ncashier\u2019d if they stand not the Test of a severe Examination and sound\nReason.\n\n\u2019Tis a great mistake to fancy it a reproach to change our Sentiments,\nthe infamy lies on their side who wilfully and unreasonably adhere to\n\u2019em. Not but that it is mean and shameful to be ever on the tip-toe,\nand indeed to change in any Case where pure and disinteress\u2019d Reason\ndoes not oblige us to it. To be once willing to alter our sentiments\nif there be just occasion for\u2019t, wou\u2019d for ever after secure us from\nChanging, to which the Precipitate and Obstinate are most liable;\nwhereas such as suspend their Judgments till after a sufficient\nExamination and Weighing of all things they see cause to fix them,\ndo seldom Change, because they can hardly meet with any Reason to do\nso; and indeed whatever may be the Character of a Wit, Stay\u2019dness and\nDeliberation is that of a Wise Person.\n\nBut as there is an extream on one hand in being too resolutely bent on\nour Old Opinions, so is there on the other in inordinately thirsting\nafter Novelty. An Opinion is neither better nor worse for being Old\nor New, the Truth of it is the only thing considerable; tho properly\nspeaking all Truth is Antient, as being from Eternity in the Divine\nIdeas, \u2019tis only New in respect of our Discoveries. If we go about\nto assign a Reason for this insatiable desire of Novelty, I know not\nhow to find a better than our Credulity and easy assent to things\ninevident. Truth being the proper Object of the Understanding it does\nnaturally search after it, and tho this search will never wholly cease,\nbecause our Understandings are more capacious than our Discoveries,\nand the view of one Truth is but a Preparative to look farther; yet\nhad we clear and certain Evidence for our Conclusions, tho that wou\u2019d\nnot end our Inquiries, it wou\u2019d however satisfie us, so far at least\nas they had gone. Whereas on the contrary your hunters after Novelty\nare commonly never satisfied, they pull down to day what they had built\nup yesterday, and Why? But because they concluded too soon? and their\nNovel Hypothesis is founded on Fancy or Passion, or any thing rather\nthan Right Reason.\n\nBut when I speak of the little deference that is to be given to Names,\nAuthorities, and receiv\u2019d Opinions, I extend it no farther than to\nmatters purely Philosophical to mere Humane Truths, and do not design\nany Prejudice to the Authority of the Church which is of different\nconsideration. For tho it be necessary even in this Case, to deposite\nwhatever may look like a Prejudice, arising from that particular way\nof Worship, whereby that Communion in which we\u2019ve been Educated is\ndistinguish\u2019d from all other Christians, yet as to the Substantials\nof Faith and Practice, tho every one be allow\u2019d to Examine, for they\nwill bear the Test, yet it is not fit that he shou\u2019d draw Conclusions,\ncontrary to what has been already determin\u2019d by the Catholick Church,\nor even by that particular Church of which he is a Member, unless where\nit does plainly and evidently contradict that sense of Holy Scripture\nwhich has been receiv\u2019d by the Church Universal. Nor is this a giving\nup our selves to Authority barely as such, \u2019tis only a modest deference\nto Truth. Philosophical Truths are not open to every Inquirer, an\nelevated Genius and great application of Mind is requir\u2019d to find them\nout, nor are they of that importance but that Men may give Scope to\ntheir Thoughts, and very often think, tho indeed unreasonably, that\nthey\u2019re oblig\u2019d in point of Honour to defend their own Hypotheses.\nBut the Articles of our Faith and the great Principles of Christian\nMorality are of another Nature, GOD _wou\u2019d have all Men to be sav\u2019d and\nto come to the Knowlege of_ these _Truths_, tho he did not design \u2019em\nall for Philosophers, and therefore they carry a Proof and Evidence\nsuited to the very Vulgar, which he who runs may read, which every one\nought to acquiesce in, tho according to their leisure and capacity \u2019tis\nfit they inquire why. And being a matter of the highest concern such\nas our Eternal Happiness or Misery depends on, it may reasonably be\nsuppos\u2019d (tho to the shame of our Folly we sometimes find the contrary)\nthat Men won\u2019t play fast and loose in a Business of so vast importance,\nbut that all Christians have as they are oblig\u2019d seriously and fully\nconsider\u2019d it, and especially those who are more peculiarly set apart\nby the Divine Appointment for the study of Sacred Truths. So that to\nacquiesce in the Authority of the Church, so far as it is here pleaded\nfor is no more than this, The calling in to our assistance the Judgment\nand Advice of those whom GOD hath set over us, and consequently whom he\nassists in a more especial manner, to discharge that Function to which\nhe has call\u2019d them; and, in such disputable points as we\u2019re not able\nto determine for our selves, a quiet submission to the Voice of our\nGuides, whom Modesty will incline us to think have greater Abilities\nand Assistances, as well as more Time and Opportunity to find out the\nTruth than we.\n\nAs Prejudice fetters the Understanding so does Custom manacle the Will,\nwhich scarce knows how to divert from a Track which the generality\naround it take, and to which it has it self been habituated. It wou\u2019d\nbe too large a digression, to examin throughly a Subject so fit to be\nconsider\u2019d, being it is the root of very much Evil, the last refuge of\nVice where it fortifies it self when driven from all other retreats.\nWe shall therefore forbear to enquire from what mistakes it draws its\nforce, what Considerations are proper to disarm it of its power, and\nwhat else might be of use to deliver us from its Slavery, and only\nremark; That tho great deference is to be paid to the Ways and Usages\nof the Wise and Good, yet considering that these are the least number\nof Mankind, \u2019tis the Croud who will make the Mode, and consequently\nit will be as absurd as they are: Therefore Custom cannot Authorise a\nPractice if Reason Condemns it, the following a Multitude is no excuse\nfor the doing of Evil. None but the Weak and Inconsiderable swim down\nwith the Torrent, brave Spirits delight to stem the Tide, they know\nno Conquest so Glorious, because none so difficult, as that which is\nobtain\u2019d over foolish and ill-grounded Maxims and sinful Customs; What\nwou\u2019d they not do to restore Mankind to their Lawful Liberty, and to\npull down this worst of Tyrannies, because it enslaves the very Souls\nof Men?\n\n\n\u00a7 III. But a Generous Resolution and Courageous Industry are not only\nnecessary to enable us to throw off Sloth and to Conquer the Prejudices\nof Education, Authority and Custom, the same Resolution and Courage\nwhich help\u2019d us to this Victory, must secure and continue to us the\nFruits of it. We shall have need of Patience and constant Perseverance\nthro the whole course of our Lives if we mean to prosecute the noble\nDesign we have begun; we must not think the Business is over when we\nhave smooth\u2019d the entrance; there will still be Difficulties, tho no\ninsuperable ones, but such as will wear off by degrees, the greatest\nuneasiness being in the first effort. And tho our Progress shou\u2019d\nnot happen to be answerable to our Desires, there\u2019s no reason to be\ndiscourag\u2019d, we shou\u2019d rather be animated by such noble Desires to\ngreater Industry. Where\u2019s the Glory of an easy Victory? \u2019Tis Labour\nand Cost that inhanses the value of every thing. And to the end we\nmay not be discourag\u2019d, \u2019tis fit that we arm our selves against all\nAccidents by considering them before hand. We have the Malice and\nIndustry of many Cunning and Powerful Adversaries, as well as our\nown indocility to contend with. The grand Enemy of Mankind is very\nunwilling that they shou\u2019d arrive at that State of Innocence and\nPerfection from which he fell, and of all the Artifices he makes use of\nto hinder it, scarce any\u2019s more effectual than the mischief he excites\nus to do one another. What are they employ\u2019d in but his Service who\nwill neither do any thing that\u2019s excellent themselves, nor if they\ncould hinder, suffer it to be done by others? Who employ all their\nlittle Wit and Pains in Scoffing at such who they say in derision\nwou\u2019d be wiser then their Neighbours? We must be content to suffer\na scornful fleer, a parcel of hard Names and a little ridiculing,\nif we\u2019re Resolv\u2019d to do such things as do not deserve \u2019em. Dogs will\nbark at the Moon, and perhaps for no other reason but because she is\nout of their reach, elevated above them. But the Author of our Nature\nto whom all the Inconveniencies we are liable to in this Earthly\nPilgrimage are fully known, has endow\u2019d us with Principles sufficient\nto carry us safely thro them all, if we will but observe and make use\nof \u2019em. One of these is _Generosity_, which (so long as we keep it\nfrom degenerating into Pride) is of admirable advantage to us in this\nmatter. It was not fit that Creatures capable of and made for Society,\nshou\u2019d be wholly Independent, or Indifferent to each others Esteem\nand Commendation; nor was it convenient considering how seldom these\nare justly distributed, that they shou\u2019d too much regard and depend\non them. It was requisite therefore that a desire of our Neighbours\nGood Opinion shou\u2019d be implanted in our Natures to the end we might be\nexcited to do such things as deserve it, and yet withall a Generous\nneglect of it, if they unjustly withheld it where it was due. There\u2019s\nso little reason that we shou\u2019d be discourag\u2019d from what is truly\nexcellent and becoming on account of being Scoft and Laugh\u2019d at for\nit, that on the contrary this is a new accession to our Glory, we\nnever shine so Illustriously as when we break thro these little Clouds\nand Oppositions which impotently attempted to obscure our Rays. To be\nReproach\u2019d for Weldoing is a higher Encomium, than the loftiest Praises\nwhen we do not deserve them: So that let the World think as it list,\nwhilst we are in the pursuit of true Wisdom, our Reputation is secur\u2019d,\nour Crown is furbishing and tho it do not shine out in this Envious and\nIll-natur\u2019d World, it will however, which is infinitely more desirable\nappear in all its Lustre and Splendor in a better.\n\nAnd as we disregard the Censures of ill People, so are we patiently to\nbear with our own backwardness and indocility. There goes a good deal\nof Time and Pains, of Thought and Watchfulness to the rooting out of\nIll-habits, to the fortifying our Minds against foolish Customs, and\nto the making that easie and pleasant which us\u2019d to be irksom to us.\nBut we ought not to be disheartn\u2019d, since \u2019tis necessary to be done,\nand we cannot reasonably say \u2019tis Impossible, till we\u2019ve attempted and\nfail\u2019d in\u2019t. But then let\u2019s attempt it in the most prudent Method, use\nthe properest Means, allow sufficient Time for their Operation and to\nmake the essay: Let\u2019s not set about it by fits, or in one or two good\nMoods, nor expect it will be done on a sudden, but by degrees and in a\nproper season, making it our main Design and Business, and then I dare\nconfidently affirm the success will answer the Pains we have spent\nabout it.\n\n\n\u00a7. IV. But one thing more, and then I shall go on as well as I can,\nto lay down what seems to me the best Method for Improvement. Whoever\nwou\u2019d Act to purpose must propose some End to themselves, and keep it\nstill in their Eye thro\u2019out their whole progress. Life without this\nis a disproportionate unseemly thing, a confused huddle of broken,\ncontradictory Actions, such as afford us nothing but the being asham\u2019d\nof \u2019em. But do we need to be taught our End? One wou\u2019d rather think\nthere were no occasion to mention it, did not Experience daily convince\nus how many there are who neglect it. What End can Creatures have but\ntheir Creators Glory? And did they truly understand their own Happiness\n\u2019tis certain they wou\u2019d have no other, since this is the only way of\nprocuring their own Felicity. But it is not enough to have barely an\nimplicit and languid desire of it, \u2019twere much better to hold it ever\nin view, and that all our Actions had in their proportion a warm and\nimmediate tendency thither. This wou\u2019d stamp the impression of Holiness\nupon the most indifferent Action, and without this what is Materially\nand to all outward appearance very good, is really and truly no better\nthan a specious folly. We are not made for our selves, nor was it\never design\u2019d we shou\u2019d be ador\u2019d and idoliz\u2019d by one another. Our\nFaculties were given us for Use not Ostentation, not to make a noise in\nthe World, but to be serviceable in it, to declare the Wisdom, Power\nand Goodness, of that All-Perfect Being from whom we derive _All_ our\nExcellencies, and in whose Service they ought _Wholly_ to be employ\u2019d.\nDid our Knowlege serve no other purpose than the exalting us in our\nown Opinion, or in that of our Fellow Creatures, the furnishing us with\nMaterials for a quaint Discourse, an agreeable Conversation, \u2019twere\nscarce worth while to be at the trouble of attaining it. But when\nit enlarges the Capacity of our Minds, gives us nobler Ideas of the\nMajesty, the Grandeur and Glorious Attributes of our adorable Creator,\nRegulates our Wills and makes us more capable of Imitating and Enjoying\nhim, \u2019tis then a truly sublime thing, a worthy Object of our Industry:\nAnd she who does not make this the End of her Study, spends her Time\nand Pains to no purpose or to an ill one.\n\nWe have no better way of finding out the true End of any thing, than by\nobserving to what Use it is most adapted. Now the Art of _Well-Living_,\nthe Study of the Divine Will and Law, that so we may be Conformable to\nit in all things, is what we\u2019re peculiarly fitted for and destin\u2019d\nto, what ever has not such a Tendency, either Directly or at least\nRemotely, is besides the purpose. Rational Studies therefore next to\nGOD\u2019s Word bid fairest for our Choice, because they best answer the\nDesign above mention\u2019d. Truths merely Speculative and which have no\ninfluence upon Practice, which neither contribute to the good of Soul\nor Body, are but idle Amusements, an impertinent and criminal wast\nof Time. To be able to speak many Languages, to give an Historical\nAccount of all Ages Opinions and Authors, to make a florid Harangue, or\ndefend right or wrong the Argument I\u2019ve undertaken, may give me higher\nthoughts of my Self but not of GOD, this is the _Knowlege that pufeth\nup_, in the Words of the Apostle, and seldom leads us to that _Charity\nwhich Edifieth_.\n\nAnd as the Understanding so the Will must be duly directed to its End\nand Object. Morality is so consonant to the Nature of Man, so adapted\nto his Happiness, that had not his Understanding been darkn\u2019d by the\nFall, and his whole Frame disorder\u2019d and weakened, he wou\u2019d Naturally\nhave practis\u2019d it. And according as he recovers himself, and casts\noff those Clouds which Eclipse his Reason, so proportionably are his\nActions more agreeable to Moral Precepts, and tho we suppose him\nignorant of any higher end, he will however do such things as they\nenjoyn him, to th\u2019intent he may be easy, obtain a good Reputation, and\nenjoy himself and this World the better. Now were we sure that Reason\nwou\u2019d always maintain its ground against Passion and Appetite, such an\none might be allow\u2019d to be a good Neighbour, a Just Ruler, a plausible\nFriend or the like, and wou\u2019d well enough discharge the Relative Duties\nof Society, and do nothing misbecoming the dignity of Human Nature.\nBut considering how weak our Reason is, how unable to maintain its\nAuthority and oppose the incursions of sense, without the assistance\nof an inward and Spiritual Sensation to strengthen it, \u2019tis highly\nnecessary that we use due endeavours to procure a lively relish of our\ntrue Good, a Sentiment that will not only Ballance, but if attended to\nand improv\u2019d, very much out-weigh the Pleasures of our Animal Nature.\nNow this is no otherwise to be obtain\u2019d than by directing the Will in\nan elicit Act to GOD as its only Good, so that the sole End of all its\nmovements, may be to draw near, to acquiesce in and be united to him.\nFor as all Natural Motions are easie and pleasant, so this being the\nonly Natural Motion of the Will must needs be unspeakably delightful\nto it. Besides that peculiar delectation, which this Fountain of Joy\nbestows as a Donative, on all who thus sincerly address themselves to\nhim. So that it is not enough to be Morally Good because \u2019tis most\nReputable and Easie, and most for our Pleasure and Interest in the\npresent World, as this will never secure our Duty, so is it too low an\nEnd for a Creature Capable of Immortality to propose, nothing less than\nan intire devoting of our selves to the End for which we were made, the\nService and Enjoyment of the most amiable and only Good, can keep us\nConstantly and Uniformly in our Duty, or is a Design that\u2019s worthy of\nus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. III.\n\n    _Concerning the Improvement of the Understanding._ I. _Of the\n    Capacity of the Humane Mind in General._ II. _Of Particular\n    Capacities._ III. _The most common Infirmities incident to\n    the Understanding and their Cure._ IV. _A Natural Logic, And_\n    V. _Rhetoric propos\u2019d._ VI. _The Application and Use of our\n    Knowlege._\n\n\nThe perfection of the Understanding consisting in the Clearness and\nLargness of its view, it improves proportionably as its Ideas become\nClearer and more Extensive. But this is not so to be understood as if\nall sorts of Notices contributed to our Improvement, there are some\nthings which make us no wiser when we know \u2019em, others which \u2019tis\nbest to be ignorant of. But that Understanding seems to me the most\nexalted, which has the Clearest and most Extensive view of such Truths\nas are suitable to its Capacity, and Necessary or Convenient to be\nKnown in this Present State. For being that we are but Creatures, our\nUnderstanding in its greatest Perfection has only a limited excellency.\nIt has indeed a vast extent, and it were not amiss if we tarried a\nlittle in the Contemplation of its Powers and Capacities, provided\nthat the Prospect did not make us giddy, that we remember from whom\nwe have receiv\u2019d them, and ballance those lofty Thoughts which a view\nof our Intellectuals may occasion, with the depressing ones which the\nirregularity of our Morals will suggest, and that we learn from this\ninspection, how indecorous it is to busy this bright side of us in mean\nthings, seeing it is capable of such noble ones.\n\nHuman Nature is indeed a wonderful Composure admirable in its outward\nstructure, but much more excellent in the Beauties of its Inward, and\nshe who considers in whose Image her Soul was Created, and whose Blood\nwas shed to Redeem it, cannot prize it too much, nor forget to pay\nit her utmost regard. There\u2019s nothing in this Material World to be\ncompar\u2019d to\u2019t, all the gay things we dote on, and for which we many\ntimes expose our Souls to ruin, are of no consideration in respect of\nit. They are not the good of the Soul, its happiness depends not on\n\u2019em, but they often deceive and withdraw it from its true Good. It was\nmade for the Contemplation and Enjoyment of its GOD, and all Souls are\ncapable of this tho in a different degree and by measures somewhat\ndifferent, as we hope will appear from that which follows.\n\n\n\u00a7. I. Truth in general is the Object of the Understanding, but all\nTruths are not equally Evident, because of the Limitation of the Humane\nMind, which tho\u2019 it can gradually take in many Truths, yet cannot\nany more than our sight attend to many things at once: And likewise,\nbecause GOD has not thought fit to communicate such Ideas to us, as are\nnecessary to the disquisition of some particular Truths. For knowing\nnothing without us but by the Idea we have of it, and Judging only\naccording to the Relation we find between two or more Ideas, when we\ncannot discover the Truth we search after by Intuition or the immediate\ncompanion of two Ideas, \u2019tis necessary that we shou\u2019d have a third by\nwhich to compare them. But if this middle Idea be wanting, though we\nhave sufficient Evidence of those two which we wou\u2019d compare, because\nwe have a Clear and Distinct Conception of them, yet we are Ignorant\nof those Truths which wou\u2019d arise from their Comparison, because we\nwant a third by which to compare them.\n\nTo give an instance of this in a point of great consequence, and of\nlate very much controverted tho to little purpose, because we take\na wrong method, and wou\u2019d make that the Object of Science which is\nproperly the Object of Faith, the Doctrin of the Trinity. Revelation\nwhich is but an exaltation and improvement of Reason has told us, That\nthe Father is GOD, the Son is GOD, and the Holy Ghost is GOD, and our\nIdea of the Godhead of any one of these Persons, is as clear as our\nIdea of any of the other. Both Reason and Revelation assure us that\nGOD is One Simple Essence, Undivided, and Infinite in all Perfection,\nthis is the Natural Idea which we have of GOD. How then can the Father\nbe GOD, the Son GOD, and the Holy Ghost GOD, when yet there is but\nOne GOD? That these two Propositions are true we are certain, both\nbecause GOD who cannot lie has Reveal\u2019d \u2019em, and because we have as\nclear an Idea of \u2019em as it is possible a Finite Mind shou\u2019d have of\nan Infinite Nature. But we cannot find out how this should be, by the\nbare Comparison of these two Ideas without the help of a third by which\nto compare them. This GOD has not thought fit to impart to us, the\nProspect it wou\u2019d have given us wou\u2019d have been too dazling, too bright\nfor Mortality to bear, and we ought to acquiesce in the Divine Will. So\nthen, we are well assur\u2019d that these two Propositions are true, _There\nis but one GOD_; And, _There are three Persons in the Godhead_: but we\nknow not the _Manner_ how these things are. Nor can our acquiescence be\nthought Unreasonable, nor the Doctrin we subscribe to be run down as\nabsurd and contradictory by every little warm Disputer and Pretender\nto Reason, whose Life is perhaps a continual contradiction to it, and\nhe knows little of it besides the Name. For we ought not to think it\nstrange that GOD has folded up his own Nature, not in Darkness, but\nin an adorable and inaccessible Light, since his Wisdom sees it fit\nto keep us ignorant of our own. We know and feel the Union between\nour Soul and Body, but who amongst us sees so clearly, as to find out\nwith Certitude and Exactness, the secret ties which unite two such\ndifferent Substances, or how they are able to act upon each other? We\nare conscious of our own Liberty, who ever denies it denies that he\nis capable of Rewards and Punishments, degrades his Nature and makes\nhimself but a more curious piece of Mechanism; and none but Atheists\nwill call in question the Providence of GOD, or deny that he Governs\n_All_, even the most Free of all his Creatures. But who can reconcile\nme these? Or adjust the limits between GOD\u2019s Prescience and Mans\nFree-will? Our Understandings are sufficiently illuminated to lead us\nto the Fountain of Life and Light, we do or may know enough to fill\nour Souls with the noblest Conceptions, the humblest Adoration, and\nthe intirest Love of the Author of our Being, and what can we desire\nfarther? If we make so ill a Use of that Knowledge which we have, as\nto be so far puffed up with it, as to turn it against him who gave it,\nhow dangerous would it be for us to have more Knowledge, in a State\nin which we have so little Humility! But if vain Man will pretend to\nWisdom, let him first learn to know the length of his own line.\n\nTho the Human Intellect has a large extent, yet being limited as we\nhave already said, this Limitation is the Cause of those different\nModes of Thinking, which for distinction sake we call Faith, Science\nand Opinion. For in this present and imperfect State in which we know\nnot any thing by Intuition, or immediate except a few first Principles\nwhich we call Self-evident, the most of our Knowlege is acquir\u2019d by\nReasoning and Deduction: And these three Modes of Understanding,\nFaith, Science and Opinion are no otherwise distinguish\u2019d, than by the\ndifferent degrees of Clearness and Evidence in the Premises from whence\nthe Conclusion is drawn.\n\nKnowlege in a proper and restricted Sense and as appropriated to\nScience, signifies that clear Perception which is follow\u2019d by a firm\nassent to Conclusions rightly drawn from Premises of which we have\nclear and distinct Ideas. Which Premises or Principles must be so clear\nand Evident, that supposing us reasonable Creatures, and free from\nPrejudices and Passions, (which for the time they predominate as good\nas deprive us of our Reason) we cannot withhold our assent from them\nwithout manifest violence to our Reason.\n\nBut if the Nature of the thing be such as that it admits of no\nundoubted Premises to argue from, or at least we don\u2019t at present\nknow of any, or that the Conclusion does not so necessarily follow as\nto give a perfect satisfaction to the Mind and to free it from all\nhesitation, that which we think of it is then call\u2019d Opinion.\n\nAgain, If the Medium we make use of to prove the Proposition be\nAuthority, the Conclusion which we draw from it is said to be Believ\u2019d;\nThis is what we call Faith, and when the Authority is GOD\u2019s a Divine\nFaith.\n\nMoral Certainty is a Species of Knowlege whose Proofs are of a\ncompounded Nature, in part resembling those which belong to Science,\nand partly those of Faith. We do not make the whole Process our\nselves, but depend on another for the _immediate_ Proof, but we our\nselves deduce the _Mediate_ from Circumstances and Principles as\nCertain and almost as Evident as those of Science, and which lead us\nto the immediate Proofs and make it unreasonable to doubt of \u2019em.\nIndeed we not seldom deceive our selves in this matter, by inclining\nalternately to both extremes. Sometimes we reject Truths which are\nMorally Certain as Conjectural and Probable only, because they have\nnot a Physical and Mathematical Certainty, which they are incapable\nof. At another time we embrace the slightest Conjectures and any thing\nthat looks with Probability, as moral Certainties and real Verities,\nif Fancy, Passion or Interest recommend them; so ready are we to be\ndetermin\u2019d by these rather than by solid Reason.\n\nIn this enumeration of the several ways of Knowing. I have not\nreckon\u2019d the Senses, in regard that we\u2019re more properly said to be\n_Conscious_ of than to _Know_ such things as we perceive by Sensation.\nAnd also because that Light which we suppose to be let into our Ideas\nby our Senses is indeed very dim and fallacious, and not to be relied\non till it has past the Test of Reason; neither do I think there\u2019s any\nMode of Knowlege which mayn\u2019t be reduc\u2019d to those already mentioned.\n\nNow tho there\u2019s a great difference between Opinion and Science, true\nScience being immutable but Opinion variable and uncertain, yet there\nis not such a difference between Faith and Science as is usually\nsuppos\u2019d. The difference consists not in the Certainty but in the\nway of Proof; the Objects of Faith are as Rationally and as Firmly\nProv\u2019d as the Objects of Science, tho by another way. As Science\nDemonstrates things that are _Seen_, so Faith is the Evidence of such\nas are _Not Seen_. And he who rejects the Evidence of Faith in such\nthings as belong to its Cognizance, is as unreasonable as he who denies\nPropositions in Geometry that are prov\u2019d with Mathematical exactness.\n\nThere\u2019s nothing true which is not in it self demonstrable, or which\nwe should not pronounce to be true had we a Clear and Intuitive View\nof it. But as was said above we see very few things by Intuition,\nneither are we furnish\u2019d with Mediums to make the Process our selves\nin Demonstrating all Truths, and therefore there are some Truths which\nwe must either be totally ignorant of, or else receive them on the\nTestimony of another Person, to whose Understanding they are clear and\nmanifest tho not to ours. And if this Person be one who can neither be\nDeceiv\u2019d nor Deceive, we\u2019re as certain of those Conclusions which we\nprove by his Authority, as we\u2019re of those we demonstrate by our own\nReason; nay more Certain, by how much his Reason is more Comprehensive\nand Infallible than our own.\n\nScience is the following the Process our Selves upon Clear and Evident\nPrinciples; Faith is a Dependance on the Credit of another, in such\nmatters as are out of our View. And when we have very good Reason to\nsubmit to the Testimony of the Person we Believe, Faith is as Firm, and\nthose Truths it discovers to us as truly Intelligible, and as strongly\nProv\u2019d in their kind as Science.\n\nIn a word, as every Sense so every Capacity of the Understanding has\nits proper Object. The Objects of Science are things within our View,\nof which we may have Clear and Distinct Ideas, and nothing shou\u2019d be\ndetermin\u2019d here without Clearness and Evidence. To be able to repeat\nany Persons _Dogma_ without forming a Distinct Idea of it our selves,\nis not to Know but to Remember; and to have a Confuse Indeterminate\nIdea is to Conjecture not to Understand.\n\nThe Objects of Faith are as Certain and as truly Intelligible in\nthemselves as those of Science, as has been said already, only we\nbecome persuaded of the Truth of them by another Method, we do not\n_See_ them so clearly and distinctly as to be unable to disbelieve\nthem. Faith has a mixture of the Will that it may be rewardable, for\nwho will thank us for giving our Assent where it was impossible to\nwithhold it? Faith then may be said to be a sort of Knowlege capable of\nReward, and Men are Infidels not for want of Conviction, but thro an\n_Unwillingness_ to Believe.\n\nBut as it is a fault to Believe in matters of Science, where we\nmay expect Demonstration and Evidence, so it is a reproach to our\nUnderstanding and a proof of our Disingenuity, to require that sort\nof Process peculiar to Science, for the Confirmation of such Truths\nas are not the proper Objects of it. It is as ridiculous as to reject\nMusick, because we cannot Tast or Smell it, or to deny there is such a\nthing as Beauty because we do not hear it. He who wou\u2019d See with his\nEars and Hear with his Eyes may indeed set up in _Bedlam_ for a Man of\nan extraordinary reach, a Sagacious Person who won\u2019t be impos\u2019d on, one\nwho must have more Authentick proofs than his dull Fore-fathers were\ncontent with. But Men of dry Reason and a moderate Genius, I suppose\nwill think Nature has done very well in allotting to each Sense its\nproper employment, and such as these will as readily acknowlege that\nit is as Honourable for the Soul to Believe what is truly the Object\nof Faith, as it is for her to Know what is really the Object of her\nKnowlege. And were we not strangely perverse we shou\u2019d not scruple\nDivine Authority when we daily submit to Human. Whoever has not seen\n_Paris_ has nothing but Human Authority to assure him there is such a\nplace, and yet he wou\u2019d be laugh\u2019d at as ridiculous who shou\u2019d call it\nin question, tho he may as well in this as in another Case pretend that\nhis Informers have designs to serve, intend to impose on him and mock\nhis Credulity. Nay how many of us daily make that a matter of Faith\nwhich indeed belongs to Science, by adhering blindly to the Dictates of\nsome famous Philosopher in Physical Truths, the Principles of which we\nhave as much right to examine, and to make deductions from \u2019em as he\nhad?\n\nTo sum up all: We may know enough for all the purposes of Life, enough\nto busie this active Faculty of Thinking, to employ and entertain the\nspare Intervals of Time and to keep us from Rust and Idleness, but we\nmust not pretend to fathom all Depths with our short Line, we shou\u2019d\nbe Wise unto Sobriety, and reckon that we know very little if we go\nabout to make our _Own_ Reason the Standard of all Truth. It is very\ncertain that nothing is True but what is conformable to Reason, that\nis to the Divine Reason of which ours is but a short faint Ray, and\nit is as certain that there are many Truths which Human Reason cannot\nComprehend. Therefore to be throughly sensible of the Capacity of the\nMind, to discern precisely its Bounds and Limits and to direct our\nStudies and Inquiries accordingly, to Know what is to be Known, and\nto Believe what is to be Believ\u2019d is the property of a Wise Person.\nTo be content with too little Knowlege, or to aspire to over-much is\nequally a fault, to make that use of our Understandings which GOD has\nFitted and Design\u2019d them for is the Medium which we ought to take. For\nthe difference between a Plow-man and a Doctor does not seem to me\nto consist in this, That the Business of the one is to search after\nKnowlege, and that the other has nothing to do with it. No, whoever has\na Rational Soul ought surely to employ it about some Truth or other,\nto procure for it right Ideas, that its Judgments may be true tho\nits Knowlege be not very extensive. But herein lies the difference,\nthat tho Truth is the Object of every Individual Understanding, yet\nall are not equally enlarg\u2019d nor able to comprehend so much; and they\nwhose Capacities and Circumstances of Living do not fit \u2019em for it,\nlie not under that obligation of extending their view which Persons of\na larger reach and greater leisure do. There is indeed often times a\nmistake in this matter, People who are not fit will be puzling their\nheads to little purpose, and those who are prove Slothful and decline\nthe trouble; and thus it will be if we do not throughly understand our\nselves, but suffer Pride or Ease to make the estimate.\n\n\n\u00a7. II. It is therefore very fit that after we have consider\u2019d the\nCapacity of the Understanding in general, we shou\u2019d descend to the view\nof our own particular, observing the bent and turn of our own Minds,\nwhich way our Genius lies and to what it is most inclin\u2019d. I see no\nreason why there may not be as great a variety in Minds as there is\nin Faces, that the Soul as well as the Body may not have something in\nit to distinguish it, not only from all other Intelligent Natures but\neven from those of its own kind. There are different proportions in\nFaces which recommend them to some Eyes sooner than to others, and tho\n_All_ Truth is amiable to a Reasonable Mind, and proper to employ it,\nyet why may there not be some particular Truths, more agreeable to each\nindividual Understanding than others are? Variety gives Beauty to the\nMaterial World and why not to the Intellectual? We can discern the\ndifferent Abilities which the Wise Author of all things has endow\u2019d\nus with, the different Circumstances in which he has plac\u2019d us in\nreference to this World and the Concerns of an Animal Life, that so\nwe may be mutually useful, and that since each single Person is too\nlimited and confin\u2019d to attend to many, much less to all things, we\nmay receive from each other a reciprocal advantage, and why may we not\nthink he has done the like in respect of Truth? that since it is too\nmuch for one, our united Strength shou\u2019d be employ\u2019d in the search of\nher. Especially since the Divine Being who contains in himself all\nReality and Truth is Infinite in Perfection, and therefore shou\u2019d be\nInfinitely Ador\u2019d and Lov\u2019d; and If Creatures are by their being so\nuncapable of rendering to their Incomprehensible Creator an Adoration\nand Love that\u2019s worthy of him, it is but decorous that they shou\u2019d\nhowever do as much as they can. All that variety of sublime Truths of\nBeautiful and Wondrous Objects which surround us, are nothing else but\na various display of his unbounded Excellencies, and why shou\u2019d any of\n\u2019em pass unobserv\u2019d? Why shou\u2019d not every individual Understanding be\nin a more especial manner fitted for and employ\u2019d in the disquisition\nof some particular Truth and Beauty? \u2019Tis true after all our researches\nwe can no more sufficiently Know GOD than we can worthily Love him,\nand are as much unable to find out all his Works as we are his Nature,\nyet this shou\u2019d only prompt us to exert _All_ our Powers and to do our\nbest, since even _that_ were too little cou\u2019d we possibly do more. We\ncan never offer to him so much Praise as he deserves, and therefore it\nis but fit that he shou\u2019d have _All_ that Mankind can possibly render\nhim. He is indeed immutable in his own Nature, but those discoveries\nwe daily make of his Operations will always afford us somewhat New and\nSurprizing, for this All-glorious Sun the Author of Life and Light is\nas inexhaustible a Source of Truth as he is of Joy and Happiness.\n\nIf then we are convinc\u2019d that there\u2019s some peculiar Task allotted\nus, our next business will be to enquire what it is. To know our own\nStrength and neither to over not underrate our selves is one of the\nmost material points of Wisdom, and which indeed we are most commonly\nignorant of, else we shou\u2019d not reach at all, how unable soever we are\nto attain it, nor make so many successless attempts and be forc\u2019d to\ncome off with that pitiful Apology, _I was mistaken, I did not think\nit_. But we can scarce duly estimate our Understandings till we have\nregulated our Wills, reform\u2019d Self-love and a train of immortified\nPassions, which it is not our Business to speak of here, we shall have\noccasion to do\u2019t hereafter. Let it suffice that we remark a frequent\nError which these engage us in, that is, an aptness to lessen the Human\nMind, to detract from its Grandeur and abridge its Powers when we\nconsider it in General, and as great a forwardness when we look on our\nselves to extend our Abilities beyond their bounds. Are we conscious\nof a Defect? the shallowness of Human Reason at large must bear the\nblame, we Harangue very excellently on the Ignorance and Vanity of\nMankind, and it were well if we rested there, and wou\u2019d forbear to\nmurmur even at our Creator himself for allowing us so scanty a Portion.\nBut if Reason has shone out, dispelling those Clouds which Eclips\u2019d the\nbright face of Truth, we arrogate all to our selves. _My_ Discovery,\n_My_ Hypothesis, the Strength and Clearness of _My_ Reasonings, rather\nthan the Truth are what we wou\u2019d expose to view; \u2019tis that we Idolize\nour selves and wou\u2019d have every one Admire and Celebrate. And yet all\nthis is no more perhaps than another has done before us, or at least\nmight have done with our Opportunities and Advantages. The reverse of\nthis procedure wou\u2019d become us better, and it were more Glorious as\nwell as more Just to ascribe the Excellencies of the Mind to Human\nNature in the Lump and to take the Weaknesses to our selves. By this\nwe shou\u2019d both avoid Sloth, (the best use we can make of our Ignorance\nand Infirmity being first to be humbled for, and then sedulously to\nendeavour their Amendment) and likewise secure our Industry from the\nMixtures of Pride and Envy. By looking on our own Acquisitions as a\ngeneral Treasure, in which the Whole have a Right, we shou\u2019d pretend\nto no more than a share; and considering our selves as Parts of the\nsame Whole, we should expect to find our own account in th\u2019 Improvement\nof every part of it, which wou\u2019d restrain us from being puft up with\nthe Contemplation of our Own, and from repining at our Neighbours\nExcellencies. For let Reason shine forth where it may, as we can\u2019t\nengross, so neither can we be excluded from sharing in the Benefit,\nunless we wilfully exclude our selves; every one being the better for\nTrue Worth and Good Sense, except the little Soul\u2019d Enviers of \u2019em.\n\nTo help us to the Knowledge of our own Capacities the Informations\nof our Friends, nay even of our Enemies may be useful. The former if\nWise and True will direct us to the same Course to which our Genius\nPoints, and the latter will industriously endeavour to divert us from\nit, and we can\u2019t be too careful that these don\u2019t disguise themselves\nunder the specious appearance of the former, to do us an ill-turn the\nmore effectually. For it is not seldom seen that such as pretend great\nConcern for us, will press us on to such Studies or Ways of Living as\ninwardly they know we are unfit for, thereby to gratify their Secret\nEnvy, by diverting us from that to which our Genius disposes, and in\nwhich therefore they have reason to suppose we wou\u2019d be Excellent. But\ntho we may make use of the Opinions of both, yet if we will be Sincere\nand Ingenuous we cannot have a more faithful Director than our own\nheart. He who gave us these Dispositions will excite us to the Use and\nImprovement of \u2019em; and unless we drive him from us by our Impurity,\nor thro negligence and want of Attention let slip his secret Whispers,\nthis Master within us will lay most in our view such Lessons as he\nwou\u2019d have us take. Our care then must be to open our Eyes to that Beam\nof Light which does in a more especial manner break in upon us, to fix\nthem steadily, and to examine accurately those notices which are most\nvividly represented to us, and to lay out our Thoughts and Time in the\nCultivation of \u2019em. It may be our Humor won\u2019t be gratified, nor our\nInterest serv\u2019d by such a Method. Other Business or Amusements put on\na finer Garb, and come attended with more Charms and Grandeur, these\nrecommend us to the World make us Belov\u2019d and Illustrious in it: Whilst\nthe followers of Truth are despis\u2019d and look\u2019d askew on, as fantastick\nSpeculatists, unsociable Thinkers, who pretend to see farther than\ntheir Neighbours, to rectifie what Custom has establish\u2019d, and are so\nUnmannerly as to Think and Talk out of the Common way. He who speaks\nTruth makes a Satyr on the greatest part of Mankind, and they are not\nover apt to forgive him, he contradicts the vogue of the Times, is so\nhardy as to lay open Mens darling Errors, to draw a lively Picture of\ntheir most secret Corruptions, a Representation which they cannot bear.\nTheir Gall is touch\u2019d proportionably as their Wounds are more deeply\nsearch\u2019d into, altho it be only in order to a Cure. They therefore who\nLove Truth shall be Hated by the Most, who tho they openly pretend to\nHonour, yet secretly Malign her, because she reproaches them. And as\na plausible Life is not often a very Religious one, which made the\nbest Judge pronounce a Wo on those whom all Men shall speak well of,\nso neither is the most Just and Illuminated Understanding the most\nadmir\u2019d and trusted to, but a plausible Speaker, as well as a plausible\nLiver, commonly bears away the Bell. If then we consult our Passions\nand Vanity we shall go near to determine amiss, and make that use of\nour Intellectuals which Fancy or Interest pushes us on to, not which\nNature has fitted us for. Hence it is that those who might have done\nvery well in some Studies and Employments, make but bungling work when\nthey apply themselves to others. We go on apace when the Wind and Tide\nare on our side, but it costs us much Labour, and we make little speed,\nwhen we Row against both.\n\nAnd as a due Consideration of our Particular Capacity wou\u2019d put us\nright in our own Studies, so wou\u2019d it keep us from clashing with our\nNeighbours, whom we many times Contend with not so much out of a Love\nto Truth, as thro a humor of Contradiction, or because we think this\nthe best way to shew our Parts, and by this tryal of Skill to exalt\nour selves above them. But is there no better way to discover our\nPenetration, and to try our Strength, than by a Malicious and Litigious\nOpposition? The field of Truth is large, and after all the Discoveries\nthat have been made by those who have gone before, there will still\nbe untroden Paths, which they who have the Courage and Skill may beat\nout and beautify. If then instead of Jostling and Disputing with our\nFellow Travellers, of bending all the force of our Wit to Contradict\nand Oppose those advances which they make, we wou\u2019d well understand,\nduly Employ and kindly Communicate our Peculiar Talent, how much more\nService might we do our Lord, how much more useful might we be to one\nanother? What vast Discoveries wou\u2019d be made in the wide Ocean of\nTruth? How many Moral Irregularities wou\u2019d be observ\u2019d and rectify\u2019d?\nWe shou\u2019d be restrain\u2019d from aspiring to things above our reach, move\nregularly in our own Sphere, not abuse those good Parts which were\ngiven us for Common Benefit, to the Destruction of our selves and\nothers, be in a fair way to discern the Defects of our Mind and to\nproceed to the Cure of \u2019em.\n\n\n\u00a7. III. We have already exprest our thoughts concerning the Capacity\nand Perfection of the Understanding, and what has been said if duly\nconsider\u2019d, is sufficient to bring every particular Person acquainted\nwith their own defects. But because they who need Amendment most, are\ncommonly least dispos\u2019d to make such reflections as are necessary to\nprocure it, we will spend a few Pages in considering for them, and in\nobserving the most usual defects of the Thinking Faculty.\n\nIf we are of their Opinion who say that the Understanding is only\nPassive, and that Judgment belongs to the Will, I see not any Defect\nthe former can have, besides Narrowness and a disability to extend\nit self to many things, which is indeed incident to all Creatures,\nthe brightest Intelligence in the highest Order of Angels is thus\ndefective, as well as the meanest Mortal, tho in a less degree. Nor\nought it to be complain\u2019d of, since \u2019tis Natural and Necessary, we may\nas well desire to be Gods as desire to Know all things. Some sort of\nIgnorance therefore, or Non perception we cannot help; a Finite Mind,\nsuppose it as large as you please, can never extend it self to Infinite\nTruths. But no doubt it is in our Power to remedy a great deal more\nthan we do, and probably a larger Range is allowed us than the most\nActive and Enlightned Understanding has hitherto reach\u2019d. Ignorance\nthen can\u2019t be avoided but Error may, we cannot Judge of things of which\nwe have no Idea, but we can suspend our Judgment about those of which\nwe have, till clearness and evidence oblige us to pass it. Indeed in\nstrictness of Speech the Will and not the Understanding is blameable\nwhen we Think amiss, since the latter opposes not the Ends for which\nGOD made it, but readily extends it self as far as it can, receiving\nsuch Impressions as are made on it; \u2019tis the former that directs it to\nsuch Objects, that fills up its Capacity with such Ideas as are foreign\nto its Business and of no use to it, or which does not at least oppose\nthe incursions of Material things, and deface as much as it is able\nthose impressions which Sensible Objects leave in the Imagination.\nBut since it is not material to the present Design, whether Judgment\nbelongs to the Understanding or Will, we shall not nicely distinguish\nhow each of \u2019em is employ\u2019d in acquiring Knowledge, but treat of \u2019em\nboth together in this Chapter, allotted to the Service of the Studious,\nwho when they are put in the way may by their own Meditations and\nExperience, rectifie the mistakes and supply the Omissions we happen to\nbe guilty of.\n\nThey who apply themselves to the Contemplation of Truth, will perhaps\nat first find a Contraction or Emptiness of Thought, and that their\nMind offers nothing on the Subject they wou\u2019d consider, is not ready\nat unfolding, nor in representing correspondent Ideas to be compar\u2019d\nwith it, is as it were asleep or in a Dream, and tho\u2019 not empty of all\nThought, yet Thinks nothing clearly or to the purpose. The Primary\nCause of this is that Limitation which all Created Minds are Subject\nto, which Limitation appears more visible in some than in others,\neither because some Minds are endow\u2019d by their Creator with a larger\nCapacity than the rest, or if you are not inclin\u2019d to think so, then\nby reason of the Indisposition of the Bodily Organs, which cramps and\ncontracts the Operations of the Mind. And that Person whose Capacity\nof receiving Ideas is very little, whose Ideas are disorder\u2019d, and not\ncapable of being so dispos\u2019d as that they may be compar\u2019d in order to\nthe forming of a Judgment, is a Fool or little better. If we find this\nto be our Case, and that after frequent tryals there appears no hopes\nof Amendment, \u2019tis best to desist, we shall but lose our Labour, we\nmay do some Good in an Active Life and Employments that depend on the\nBody, but we\u2019re altogether unfit for Contemplation and the Exercises of\nthe Mind. Yet e\u2019er we give out let\u2019s see if it be thus with us in all\nCases: Can we Think and Argue Rationally about a Dress, an Intreague,\nan Estate? Why then not upon better Subjects? The way of Considering\nand Meditating justly is the same on all Occasions. \u2019Tis true, there\nwill fewest Ideas arise when we wou\u2019d Meditate on such Subjects as\nwe\u2019ve been least conversant about; but this is a fault which it is\nin our power to remedy, first by Reading or Discoursing, and then by\nfrequent and serious Meditation, of which hereafter.\n\nAs those we have been speaking of are hindred in their search after\nTruth, thro a want of Ideas out of which to deduce it, so there are\nanother sort who are not happy in their Enquiries, on account of\nthe multitude and Impetuosity of theirs. Volatileness of Thought,\nvery pernicious to true Science, is a fault which People of warm\nImaginations and Active Spirits are apt to fall into. Such a Temper is\nreadily dispos\u2019d to receive Errors and very well qualified to propagate\nthem, especially if a volubility of Speech be join\u2019d to it. These thro\nan immoderate nimbleness of Thinking skip from one Idea to another,\nwithout observing due Order and Connexion, they content themselves\nwith a superficial view, a random glance, and depending on the vigor\nof their Imagination, are took with Appearances, never tarrying to\npenetrate the Subject, or to find out Truth if she float not upon the\nSurface. A multitude of Ideas not relating to the matter they design to\nthink of rush in upon them, and their easie Mind entertains all comers\nhow impertinent soever; instead of examining the Question in debate\nthey are got into the Clouds, numbring the Cities in the Moon and\nbuilding Airy Castles there. Nor is it easie to cure this Defect, since\nit deceives others as well as those who have it with a shew of very\ngreat Ingenuity. The vivacity of such Persons makes their Conversation\nplausible, and taking with those who consider not much, tho not with\nthe Judicious; it procures for them the Character of Wit, but hinders\nthem from being Wise. For truth is not often found by such as won\u2019t\ntake Time to examine her Counterfeits, to distinguish between Evidence\nand Probability, Realities and Appearances, but who thro a conceit of\ntheir own sharp-sightedness think they can pierce to the bottom with\nthe first glance.\n\nTo cure this Distemper perfectly perhaps it will be necessary to\napply to the Body as well as to the Mind: The Animal Spirits must be\nlessen\u2019d, or rendred more Calm and Manageable; at least they must not\nbe unnaturally and violently mov\u2019d, by such a Diet, or such Passions,\nDesigns and Divertisments as are likely to put \u2019em in a ferment.\nContemplation requires a Governable Body, a sedate and steady Mind,\nand the Body and the Mind do so reciprocally influence each other,\nthat we can scarce keep the one in tune if the other be out of it. We\ncan neither Observe the Errors of our Intellect, nor the Irregularity\nof our Morals whilst we are darkned by Fumes, agitated with unruly\nPassions, or carried away with eager Desires after Sensible things and\nvanities. We must therefore withdraw our Minds from the World, from\nadhering to the Senses, from the Love of Material Beings, of Pomps and\nGaieties; for \u2019tis these that usually Steal away the Heart, that seduce\nthe Mind to such unaccountable Wandrings, and so fill up its Capacity\nthat they leave no room for Truth, so distract its Attention that it\ncannot enquire after her. For tho\u2019 the Body does partly occasion this\nfault, yet the Will no doubt may in good measure Remedy it, by using\nits Authority to fix the Understanding on such Objects as it wou\u2019d have\nContemplated; it has a Rein which will certainly curb this wandring,\nif it can but be persuaded to make use of it. Indeed Attention and\ndeep Meditation is not so agreeable to our Animal Nature, does not\nflatter our Pride so well as this agreeable _Reverie_, which gives us\na pretence to Knowledge without taking much Pains to acquire it, and\ndoes not choak us with the humbling thoughts of our own Ignorance, with\nwhich we must make such ado e\u2019re it can be enlightened. Yet without\nAttention and strict Examination we are liable to false Judgments on\nevery occasion, to Vanity and Arrogance, to Impertinent Prating of\nthings we don\u2019t understand, are kept from making a Progress, because we\nfancy our selves to be at the top already, and can never attain to true\nWisdom. If then we wou\u2019d hereafter think to purpose, we must suffer our\nselves to be convinc\u2019d how oft we have already thought to none, suspect\nour Quickness, and not give our desultory Imagination leave to ramble.\n\nAnd in order to the restraining it we may consider, what a loss of\nTime and Study such irregular and useless Thoughts occasion, what a\nReproach they are to our Reason, how they cheat us with a _shew_ of\nKnowledge, which so long as we are under the power of this giddy Temper\nwill inevitably escape us. And if to this we add a serious perusal of\nsuch Books as are not loosly writ, but require an Attent and Awakened\nMind to apprehend, and to take in the whole force of \u2019em, obliging\nour selves to Understand them throughly, so as to be able to give a\njust account of them to our Selves, or rather to some other Person\nintelligent enough to take it and to correct our mistakes, it is to be\nhop\u2019d we shall obtain a due poise of Mind, and be able to direct our\nThoughts to the thorow discussion of such Subjects as we wou\u2019d Examine.\nSuch Books I mean as are fuller of Matter than Words, which diffuse a\nlight through every part of their Subject, do not Skim, but Penetrate\nit to the bottom, yet so as to leave somewhat to be wrought out by the\nReader\u2019s own Meditation; such as are writ with Order and Connexion,\nthe Strength of whose Arguments can\u2019t be sufficiently felt unless we\nremember and compare the whole System. \u2019Tis impossible to prescribe\nabsolutely, and every one may easily find what Authors are most apt\nto stay their Attention, and shou\u2019d apply to them. But whenever they\nMeditate, be it on what Object it may, let \u2019em fix their Minds stedily\non it, not removing till it be throughly Examin\u2019d, at least not until\nthey have seen all that\u2019s necessary to their present purpose.\n\nDoing so we shall prevent Rashness and Precipitation in our Judgments,\nwhich is occasion\u2019d by that Volatileness we have been speaking\nof, together with an over-weaning opinion of our Selves. All the\nirregularities of our Will proceed from those false Judgments we\nmake, thro want of Consideration, or a partial Examination when we do\nconsider. For did we Consider with any manner of Attention, we cou\u2019d\nnot be so absurd as to call Evil, Good, and Chuse it as such, or\nprefer a less Good before a greater, a poor Momentary Trifle, before\nthe Purity and Perfection of our Mind, before an Eternal and Immutable\nCrown of Glory! But we seek no farther than the first Appearances of\nTruth and Good, here we Stop, allowing neither Time nor Thought to\nsearch to the bottom, and to pull off those Disguises which impose on\nus. This Precipitation is that which gives birth to all our Errors,\nwhich are nothing else but a hasty and injudicious Sentence, a\nmistaking one thing for another, supposing an Agreement or Disparity\namongst Ideas and their Relations where in reality there is none,\noccasion\u2019d by an imperfect and cursory view of \u2019em. And tho\u2019 there are\nother things which may be said to lead us into Error, yet they do it\nonly as they seduce us into Rash and Precipitate Judgments. We love\nGrandeur and every thing that feeds our good Opinion of our Selves, and\ntherefore wou\u2019d Judge off hand, supposing it a disparagement to our\nUnderstandings to be long in Examining, so that we greedily embrace\nwhatever seems to carry Evidence enough for a speedy Determination,\nhow slight and superficial soever it be. Whereas did we calmly and\ndeliberately Examine our Evidence, and how far those Motives we are\nacted by ought to Influence, we shou\u2019d not be liable to this Seduction.\nFor hereby the Impetuosity of a warm Imagination wou\u2019d be cool\u2019d, and\nthe extravagancies of a Disorderly one Regulated; we shou\u2019d not be\nDeceiv\u2019d by the Report of our Senses; the Prejudices of Education; our\nown Private Interest, and readiness to receive the Opinions whether\nTrue or False of those we Love, or wou\u2019d appear to Love because we\nthink they will serve us in that Interest; our inordinate thirst\nafter a great Reputation, or the Power and Riches, the Grandeurs and\nPleasures of this World, these wou\u2019d no longer dissipate our Thoughts\nand distract our Attention, for then we shou\u2019d be sensible how little\nConcern is due to them. We shou\u2019d neither mistake in the End and Object\nby not employing our Understandings at All about such things as they\nwere chiefly made for, or not Enough, or by busying them with such as\nare out of their reach, or beneath their Application; nor shou\u2019d we be\nout in the Method of our Meditation, by going a wrong or a round about\nway. For the GOD of Truth is ready to lead us into all Truth, if we\nHonestly and Attentively apply our selves to him.\n\nIn sum, whatever false Principle we embrace, whatever wrong Conclusion\nwe draw from true ones, is a disparagement to our Thinking Power, a\nWeakness of Judgment proceeding from a Confuse and Imperfect view of\nthings, as that does from want of attention, and a hasty and partial\nExamination. It were endless to reckon up all the false Maxims and\nReasonings we fall into, nor is it possible to give a List of them, for\nthere are innumerable Errors opposite to one single Truth. The General\nCauses have been already mention\u2019d, the Particulars are as many as\nthose several Compositions which arise from the various mixtures of\nthe Passions, Interests, Education, Conversation and Reading, _&c._ of\nparticular Persons. And the best way that I can think of to Improve\nthe Understanding, and to guard it against all Errors proceed they\nfrom what Cause they may, is to regulate the Will, whose Office it\nis to determine the Understanding to such and such Ideas, and to\nstay it in the Consideration of them so long as is necessary to the\nDiscovery of Truth; for if the Will be right the Understanding can\u2019t\nbe guilty of any Culpable Error. Not to Judge of any thing which we\ndon\u2019t Apprehend, to suspend our Assent till we see just Cause to give\nit, and to determine nothing till the Strength and Clearness of the\nEvidence oblige us to it. To withdraw our selves as much as may be from\nCorporeal things, that pure Reason may be heard the better; to make\nthat use of our Senses for which they are design\u2019d and fitted, the\npreservation of the Body, but not to depend on their Testimony in our\nEnquiries after Truth. Particularly to divest our selves of mistaken\nSelf-love, little Ends and mean Designs, and to keep our Inclinations\nand Passions under Government. Not to engage our selves so far in any\nParty or Opinion as to make it in a manner necessary that that shou\u2019d\nbe Right, lest from wishing it were, we come at last to persuade our\nselves it is so. But to be passionately in Love with Truth, as being\nthroughly sensible of her Excellency and Beauty. To embrace her how\nopposite soever she may sometimes be to our Humours and Designs, to\nbring these over to her, and never attempt to make her truckle to\nthem. To be so far from disliking a Truth because it touches us home,\nand lances our tenderest and dearest Corruption, as on the contrary\nto prize it the more, by how much the more plainly it shews us our\nErrors and Miscarriages. For indeed it concerns us most to know such\nTruths as these, it is not material to us what other Peoples Opinions\nare, any farther than as the Knowlege of their Sentiments may correct\nOur Mistakes. And the higher our Station is in the World, so much the\ngreater need have we to be curious in this particular.\n\nThe mean and inconsiderable often stumble on Truth when they seek not\nafter her, but she is commonly kept out of the way, and industriously\nconceal\u2019d from the Great and mighty; either out of Design or Envy, for\nwhoever wou\u2019d make a Property of another must by all means conceal\nthe Truth from him; and they who Envy their Neighbours Preeminence in\nother things, are willing themselves to excel in exactness of Judgment,\nwhich they think and very truly, to be the greatest Excellency. And to\nhelp forward this deception, the Great instead of being Industrious in\nfinding out the Truth, are generally very impatient when they meet with\nher. She does not treat them so tenderly and fawningly, with so much\nCeremony and Complaisance as their Flatterers do. There\u2019s in her that\nwhich us\u2019d to be the Character of our Nation, an honest Plainness and\nSincerity, Openness and blunt Familiarity: She cannot mould her self\ninto all Shapes to be rendred agreeable, but standing on her Native\nWorth is regardless of Out-side and Varnish. But to return from this\nDigression.\n\nAbove all things we must be throughly convinc\u2019d of our entire\nDependance on GOD, for what we _Know_ as well as for what we Are, and\nbe warmly affected with the Sense of it, which will both Excite us to\nPractise, and Enable us to Perform the rest. Tho\u2019 we are Naturally\nDark and Ignorant, yet in _his Light we may_ hope to _see Light_,\nif with the Son of _Syrac_ we Petition for _Wisdom that sits by his\nThrone_ to _labour with us_, and Sigh with _David_ after his _Light\nand Truth_. For then he who is _The Light that Lightneth every one who\ncomes into the World_, the Immutable Truth, and Uncreated Wisdom of\nHis Father, will _Teach us in the way of Wisdom and lead us in right\nPaths_, he will instruct us infinitely better by the right use of our\nown Faculties than the brightest Human Reason can. For in him are all\nthe Treasures of Wisdom and Knowlege which he Liberally dispences to\nall who Humbly, Honestly and Heartily ask \u2019em of him. To close this\nHead: Whatever the Notion That we see all things in GOD, may be as to\nthe Truth of it, \u2019tis certainly very commendable for its Piety, in that\nit most effectually humbles the most dangerous sort of Pride, the being\nProud of our Knowlege, and yet does not slacken our Endeavours after\nKnowlege but rather Excites them.\n\n\n[Sidenote: _Art of Thinking._]\n\n\u00a7 IV. As to the _Method_ of Thinking, if it be proper for me to say\nany thing of that, after those better Pens which have treated of it\nalready, it falls in with the Subject I\u2019me now come to, which is, that\n_Natural Logic_ I wou\u2019d propose. I call it natural because I shall not\nsend you further than your Own Minds to learn it, you may if you please\ntake in the assistance of some well chosen Book, but a good Natural\nReason after all, is the best Director, without this you will scarce\nArgue well, tho you had the Choicest Books and Tutors to Instruct you,\nbut with it you may, tho\u2019 you happen to be destitute of the other. For\nas a very Judicious Writer on this Subject (to whose Ingenious Remarks\nand Rules I am much obliged) well observes, \u201cThese Operations [of the\nMind] proceed meerly from Nature, and that sometimes more perfectly\nfrom those who are altogether ignorant of Logic, than from others who\nhave learn\u2019d it.\u201d\n\nThat which we propose in all our Meditations and Reasonings is, either\nto deduce some Truth we are in search of, from such Principles as\nwe\u2019re already acquainted with; or else, to dispose our Thoughts and\nReasonings in such a manner, as to be able to Convince others of those\nTruths which we our selves are Convinc\u2019d of. Other Designs indeed\nMen may have, such as the Maintenance of their Own Opinions, Actions\nand Parties without regard to the Truth and Justice of \u2019em, or the\nSeduction of their unwary Neighbours, but these are Mean and Base ones,\nbeneath a Man, much more a Christian, who is or Ought to be endow\u2019d\nwith greater Integrity and Ingenuity.\n\nNow Reasoning being nothing else but a Comparison of Ideas, and a\ndeducing of Conclusions from Clear and Evident Principles, it is\nin the first place requisite that our Ideas be Clear and Just, and\nour Principles True, else all our Discourse will be Nonsense and\nAbsurdity, Falshood and Error. And that our Idea may be Right, we\nhave no more to do but to look attentively into our own Minds, having\nas was said above, laid aside all Prejudices and whatever may give a\nfalse tincture to our Light, there we shall find a Clear and Lively\nRepresentation of what we seek for, unsophisticated with the Dross\nof false Definitions and unintelligible Expressions. But we must not\nimagine that a transient view will serve the turn, or that our Eye will\nbe Enlightened if it be not fix\u2019d. For tho\u2019 Truth be exceeding bright,\nyet since our Prejudices and Passions have darkned our Eye-sight, it\nrequires no little Pains and Application of Mind to find her out,\nthe neglect of which Application is the Reason that we have so little\nTruth, and that the little we have is almost lost in that Rubbish of\nError which is mingled with it. And since Truth is so near at hand,\nsince we are not oblig\u2019d to tumble over many Authors, to hunt after\nevery celebrated Genius, but may have it for enquiring after in our\nown Breasts, are we not inexcusable if we don\u2019t obtain it? Are we not\nunworthy of Compassion if we suffer our Understandings to be over-run\nwith Error? Indeed it seems to me most Reasonable and most agreeable\nto the Wisdom and Equity of the Divine Operations, that every one\nshou\u2019d have a Teacher in their own Bosoms, who will if they seriously\napply themselves to him, immediately Enlighten them so far as that is\nNecessary, and direct them to such Means as are sufficient for their\nInstruction both in Humane and Divine Truths; for as to the latter,\nReason if it be Right and Solid, will not pretend to be our sole\nInstructor, but will send us to Divine Revelation when it may be had.\n\nGOD does nothing in vain, he gives no Power or Faculty which he has\nnot allotted to some proportionate use, if therefore he has given to\nMankind a Rational Mind, every individual Understanding ought to be\nemploy\u2019d in somewhat worthy of it. The Meanest Person shou\u2019d Think as\n_Justly_, tho\u2019 not as _Capaciously_, as the greatest Philosopher. And\nif the Understanding be made for the Contemplation of Truth, and I know\nnot what else it can be made for, either there are many Understandings\nwho are never able to attain what they were design\u2019d and fitted for,\nwhich is contrary to the Supposition that GOD made nothing in Vain, or\nelse the very meanest must be put in a way of attaining it: Now how\ncan this be if all that which goes to the composition of a Knowing\nMan in th\u2019account of the World, be necessary to make one so? All have\nnot leisure to Learn Languages and pore on Books, nor Opportunity to\nConverse with the Learned; but all may _Think_, may use their own\nFaculties rightly, and consult the Master who is within them.\n\nBy Ideas we sometimes understand in general all that which is the\nimmediate Object of the Mind, whatever it Perceives; and in this large\nSense it may take in all Thought, all that we are any ways capable of\nDiscerning: So when we say we have no Idea of a thing, \u2019tis as much\nas to say we know nothing of the matter. Again, it is more strictly\ntaken for that which represents to the Mind some Object distinct\nfrom it, whether Clearly or Confusedly; when this is its import, our\nKnowledge is said to be as Clear as our Ideas are. For that Idea which\nrepresents a thing so Clearly, that by an Attent and Simple View we may\ndiscern its Properties and Modifications, at least so far as they can\nbe Known, is never false; all our Certainty and Evidence depends on\nit, if we Know not Truly what is thus represented to our Minds we know\nnothing. Thus the Idea of Equality between 2 and 2 is so evident that\nit is impossible to doubt of it, no Arguments could convince us of the\nContrary, nor be able to persuade us that the same may be found between\n2 and 3.\n\nAnd as such an Idea as this is never False, so neither can any Idea\nbe said to be so, if by False we mean that which has no Existence;\nour Idea certainly Exists, tho\u2019 there be not any thing in Nature\nCorrespondent to it. For tho\u2019 there be no such thing as a Golden\nMountain, yet when I think of one, \u2019tis certain I have an Idea of it.\n\nBut our Ideas are then said to be False, or rather Wrong, when they\nhave no Conformity to the Real Nature of the Thing whose Name they\nbear. So that properly Speaking it is not the Idea but the judgment\nthat is False; we err in supposing that our Idea is answerable to\nsomething without us when it is not. In simple Perceptions we are\nnot often deceiv\u2019d, but we frequently mistake in Compounding them,\nby Uniting several things which have no Agreement, and Separating\nothers which are Essentially United. Indeed it may happen that our\nPerceptions are faulty sometimes, thro the Indisposition of the Organs\nor Faculties, thus a Man who has the _Jaundice_ sees every thing ting\u2019d\nwith Yellow, yet even here the Error is not in the Simple Idea but in\nthe Compos\u2019d one, for we do not mistake when we say the Object appears\nYellow to our Sight, tho\u2019 we do, when we affirm that it does, or ought\nto do so to others. So again, when the Mind does not sufficiently\nAttend to her Ideas nor Examine them on all sides, \u2019tis very likely\nshe will Think amiss, but this also is a false Judgment, that which\nis amiss in the Perception being rather the Inadequateness than the\nFalshood. Thus in many Cases we enquire no farther than whether an\nAction be not Directly Forbidden, and if we do not find it Absolutely\nUnlawful, we think that sufficient to Authorize the Practise of it,\nnot considering it as we ought to do, Cloathed with the Circumstances\nof Scandal, Temptation, _&c._ which place it in the same Classes with\nthings unlawful, at least make it so to us.\n\nRational Creatures shou\u2019d endeavour to have right Ideas of every thing\nthat comes under their Cognizance, but yet our Ideas of Morality, our\nthoughts about Religion are those which we shou\u2019d with greatest speed\nand diligence rectifie, because they are of most importance, the Life\nto come, as well as all the Occurrences of This, depending on them. We\nshou\u2019d search for Truth in our most abstracted Speculations, but it\nconcerns us nearly to follow her close in what relates to the Conduct\nof our Lives. For the main thing we are to drive at in all our Studies,\nand that which is the greatest Improvement of our Understandings is the\nArt of Prudence, the being all of a Piece, managing all our Words and\nActions as it becomes Wise Persons and Good Christians.\n\nYet in this we are commonly most faulty; for besides the deceits of our\nPassions, our Ideas of Particular Vertues and Vices, Goods and Evils,\nbeing an assemblage of divers simple Perceptions, and including several\nJudgments are therefore liable to mistake, and much more so considering\nhow we commonly come by them. We hear the Word that Stands for such\na Thing, suppose Honor, and then instead of enquiring what it is at\nthe Fountain-head the Oracles of GOD, and our own, or the Impartial\nReason of the Wisest and the Best, Custom and the Observations we\nmake on the Practice of such as Pretend to it forms our Idea, which\nis seldom a Right one, the Opinions and Practices of the World being\nvery fallacious, and many times quite opposite to the Dictates of\nReason wou\u2019d we but give ear to them. For what a strange distorted Idea\nof Honor must they needs have, who can think it Honourable to break\na Vow that ought to be Kept, and Dishonourable to get loose from an\nEngagement that ought to be Broken? Who cannot endure to be tax\u2019d with\na Lye, and yet never think fit to keep their Word? What do they think\nof Greatness who support their Pomp at the Expence of the Groans and\nTears of many Injur\u2019d Families? What is their Idea of Heaven, who\nprofess to Believe such a thing, and yet never endeavour to Qualifie\nthemselves for the Enjoyment of it? Have they any Idea at all of these\nthings when they speak of \u2019em? Or, if they have, is it not a very false\none?\n\nNow that we may avoid mistake the better, and because we usually join\nWords to our Ideas even when we only Meditate, we shou\u2019d free them from\nall Equivocation, not make use of any Word, which has not a Distinct\nIdea annex\u2019d to it, and where Custom has join\u2019d many Ideas to one\nWord, carefully separate and distinguish them. For if our Words are\nEquivocal, how can we by Pronouncing such and such, excite the same\nIdea in another that is in our own Mind, which is the End of Speech,\nand consequently how can we be Understood? And if sometimes we annex\none Idea to a Word, and sometimes another, we may for ever wrangle\nwith those who perhaps wou\u2019d be found to agree with us if we Understood\neach other, but can neither Convince them, nor clear up the Matter\nto our own Mind. For Instance: Shou\u2019d I dispute Whether Evil were\nto be Chosen? Without defining what I mean by Evil, which is a Word\ncustomarily apply\u2019d to things of different Natures, and shou\u2019d conclude\nin the Affirmative, meaning at the same time the Evil of Pain, or any\nCorporal Loss or Punishment, I were not mistaken, tho\u2019 another Person\nwho annexes no other Idea but that of Sin to the word Evil, might\nJustly contradict me and say that I was. Or if in the Process of my\nDiscourse, I shou\u2019d without giving notice of it, substitute the Idea\nof Sin instead of that of Pain, when I mention Evil, I shou\u2019d argue\nfalsly. For it is a Maxim that we may Chuse a less Evil to avoid a\ngreater, if both of them be Corporal Evils, or if one of them be so,\nand we chuse it to avoid a Sin, between which and the Evil of Pain\nthere is no Comparison: But if the two Evils propos\u2019d to our Choice\nbe both of them Sinful, that Principle will not hold, we must Chuse\nneither, whatever comes on\u2019t, Sin being Eligible no manner of way.\n\nThus many times our Ideas are thought to be false when the fault is\nreally in our Language, we make use of Words without joyning any, or\nonly loose and indeterminate Ideas to them, Prating like Parrots who\ncan Modify Sounds, and Pronounce Syllables, and sometimes martial them\nas a Man wou\u2019d, tho without the use of Reason or understanding any\nthing by them. So that after a long Discourse and many fine Words, our\nHearer may justly ask us what we have been saying? And what it is we\nwou\u2019d be at? And so a great part, of the Good Breeding of the World,\nmany Elegant Complements pass for nothing, they have no meaning, or\nif they have, \u2019tis quite contrary to what the Words in other Cases\nsignifie.\n\nFrom the Companion of two or more Ideas clearly Conceived arises\na Judgment, which we may lay down for a Principle, and as we have\noccasion Argue from. Always observing that those Judgments which we\ntake for Axioms or Principles, be such as carry the highest Evidence\nand Conviction, such as every one who will but in the least Attend may\nClearly see, and be fully convinced of, and which need not another\nIdea for their Demonstration. Thus from the Agreement which we plainly\nperceive between the Ideas of GOD and of Goodness singly consider\u2019d,\nwe discern that they may be joyn\u2019d together so as to form this\nProposition, _That GOD is Good_: And from the evident disparity that\nis between GOD and Injustice, we learn to affirm this other, _That\nhe is not Unjust_. And so long as we Judge of Nothing but what we see\nClearly, we can\u2019t be mistaken in our Judgments, we may indeed in those\nReasonings and Deductions we draw from them, if we are Ignorant of the\nLaws of Argumentation, or Negligent in the Observation of them.\n\nThe First and Principal thing therefore to be observed in all the\nOperations of the Mind is, That we determine nothing about those things\nof which we have not a Clear Idea, and as Distinct as the Nature of\nthe Subject will permit, for we cannot properly be said to Know any\nthing which does not Clearly and Evidently appear to us. Whatever we\nsee Distinctly we likewise see Clearly, Distinction always including\nClearness, tho this does not necessarily include that, there being many\nObjects Clear to the view of the Mind, which yet can\u2019t be said to be\nDistinct.\n\n[Sidenote: _Les Princip. de la Philos. de M. Des Cartes._ Pt. I. \u00a7. 45.]\n\nThat (to use the Words of a Celebrated Author) may be said to be\n\u201cClear which is Present and Manifest to an attentive Mind; so as\nwe say we see Objects Clearly, when being present to our Eyes they\nsufficiently Act on \u2019em, and our Eyes are dispos\u2019d to regard \u2019em. And\nthat Distinct, which is so Clear, Particular, and Different from all\nother things, that it contains not any thing in it self which appears\nnot manifestly to him who considers it as he ought.\u201d Thus we may have\na Clear, but not a Distinct and Perfect Idea of GOD and of our own\nSouls; their Existence and some of their Properties and Attributes\nmay be Certainly and Indubitably Known, but we can\u2019t Know the Nature\nof our Souls Distinctly, for Reasons too long to be mentioned here,\nand less that of GOD, because he is Infinite. Now where our Knowlege\nis Distinct, we may boldly deny of a subject, all that which after a\ncareful Examination we find not in it: But where our Knowlege is only\nClear, and not Distinct, tho\u2019 we may safely Affirm what we see, yet\nwe can\u2019t without a hardy Presumption Deny of it what we see not. And\nwere it not very common to find People both Talking and Writing of\nthings of which they have no Notion, no Clear Idea; nay and determining\nDogmatically concerning the intire Nature of those of which they cannot\npossibly have an Adequate and Distinct one, it might seem impertinent\nto desire them to speak no farther than they Apprehend. They will tell\nyou Peremptorily of Contradictions and Absurdities in such matters as\nthey themselves must allow they cannot Comprehend, tho others as Sharp\nsighted as themselves can see no such thing as they complain of.\n\nAs Judgments are form\u2019d by the Comparing of Ideas, so Reasoning\nor Discourse arises from the Companion or Combination of several\nJudgments. Nature teaches us when we can\u2019t find out what Relation one\nIdea bears to another by a Simple view or bare Comparison, to seek for\na Common Measure or third Idea, which Relating to the other two, we may\nby Comparing it with each of \u2019em, discern wherein they agree or differ.\nOur Invention discovers it self in proposing readily apt Ideas for this\nMiddle Term, our Judgment in making Choice of such as are Clearest and\nmost to our purpose, and the excellency of our Reasoning consists in\nour Skill and Dexterity in Applying them.\n\nInvention indeed is the hardest part, when Proofs are found it is not\nvery difficult to manage them. And to know precisely wherein their\nNature consists, may help us somewhat in our enquiries after \u2019em. An\nIntermediate Idea then which can make out an Agreement between other\nIdeas, must be Equivalent to, and yet Distinct from those we compare by\nit. Where Ideas agree it will not be hard to find such an Equivalent,\nand if after diligent search we cannot meet with any, \u2019tis a pretty\nsure Sign that they do not agree. It is not necessary indeed that our\nMiddle Idea be Equivalent in all respects, \u2019tis enough if it be in such\nas make the Comparison: And when it is so to one of the Compar\u2019d Ideas\nbut not to the other, that\u2019s a Proof that they do not agree amongst\nthemselves.\n\nAll the Commerce and Intercourse of the World is manag\u2019d by\nEquivalents, Conversation as well as Traffick. Why do we Trust our\nFriends but because their Truth and Honesty appears to us Equivalent\nto the Confidence we repose in \u2019em? Why do we perform Good Offices to\nothers, but because there\u2019s a proportion between them and the Merit\nof the Person, or our own Circumstances? And as the way to know the\nWorth of things is to Compare them one with another, so in like manner\nwe come to the Knowlege of the Truth of \u2019em by an Equal Ballancing.\nBut you will say, Tho I may learn the value of a _Spanish_ Coin by\nWeighing, or Comparing it with some other Money whose Standard I\nknow, and so discern what proportion it bears to those Goods I wou\u2019d\nexchange; yet what Scales shall I find to weigh Ideas? What Hand so\neven as to poize them Justly? Or if that might be done, yet where shall\nI meet with an Equivalent Idea when I have occasion to use one?\n\nIn answer to this Demand I consider, that as Light is always visible\nto us if we have an Organ to receive it, if we turn our Eyes towards\nit, and that nothing interpose between it and us; so is Truth, we are\nsurrounded with it, and GOD has given us Faculties to receive it. If\nit be ask\u2019d, Why then do we so seldom find it? The Reason is, because\ninstead of making right use of our Faculties we employ them in keeping\nit out; we either shut our Eyes, or if we vouchsafe to open them,\nwe are sure to view it thro such unsuitable Mediums as fail not to\nmisrepresent it to us. As for those few Noble Spirits, who open the\nWindows of their Souls to let in Truth, and take the Films of Interest,\nPassion and Prejudice from before their Eyes, they will certainly be\nEnlighten\u2019d, and cannot miss of obtaining as much Truth as they are\ncapable of Receiving. For, to go on with the Comparison, as we can See\nno farther than our own Horizon, tho the Light shine never so bright\naround us; and as we cannot discern every Object even within that\nCompass Clearly, nor Any Distinctly but what we particularly apply\nour selves to; So neither are our Capacities large enough to take in\n_All_ Truth, as has been often said, nor are we capable of attaining\n_Any_, without Attention and diligent Examination. But if we carefully\nConsider those Ideas we already have and Attend to those Truths we\nare acquainted with, we cannot want Mediums to discover more, if our\nEnquiries be after that which is within our Reach. He who is the\nFountain of Truth is also a GOD of Order, and has so regularly connex\u2019d\none Truth with another, that the discovery of one is a step towards a\nfurther Progress; so that if we diligently Examine those Truths which,\nwe Know, they will clear the way to what we search after: For it seldom\nhappens but that the Question it self directs us to some Idea that will\nserve for the Explanation or Proof of it.\n\nThere is no Object, no Accident of Life but affords us matter of\nInstruction. GOD has so dispos\u2019d all the Works of his Hands, all the\nActings of his Providence, that every one of \u2019em ministers to our\nImprovement, if we will but Observe and Apply them. Indeed this Living\n_Ex Tempore_ which most of us are guilty of, our making no Reflections,\nour Gay and Volatile Humour which transports us in an Instant from one\nthing to another, e\u2019re we have with the Industrious Bee suck\u2019d those\nSweets it wou\u2019d afford us, frequently renders his gracious Bounty\nineffectual. For as the Diligent-hand maketh Rich, whil\u2019st the Slothful\nand Prodigal come to nothing, so the Use of our Powers improves and\nEncreases them, and the most Observing and Considerate is the Wisest\nPerson: For she lays up in her Mind as in a Store-house, ready to\nproduce on all Occasions, a Clear and Simple Idea of every Object that\nhas at any time presented it self. And perhaps the difference between\none Womans Reason and anothers may consist only in this, that the one\nhas amass\u2019d a greater number of such Ideas than the other, and dispos\u2019d\nthem more Orderly in her Understanding, so that they are at hand, ready\nto be apply\u2019d to those Complex Ideas whose Agreement or Disagreement\ncannot be found out but by the means of some of \u2019em.\n\nBut because Examples are more familiar than Precepts, as condescending\nto shew us the very manner of Practising them, I shall endeavour to\nmake the matter in Hand as plain as I can by subjoining Instances to\nthe following Rules, which Rules as I have not taken wholly on Trust\nfrom others, so neither do I pretend to be the Inventer of \u2019em.\n\nWe have heard already that a Medium is necessary when we can\u2019t discern\nthe Relation that is between two or more Ideas by Intuition or a\nsimple View. Could this alone procure us what we seek after, the\naddition of other Ideas wou\u2019d be needless, since to make a shew of Wit\nby tedious Arguings and unnecessary Flourishes, does only Perplex and\nIncumber the Matter, Intuition being the Simplest, and on that account\nthe best way of Knowing.\n\n\n_Rule_ I. And therefore we shou\u2019d in the first place, _Acquaint our\nselves throughly with the State of the Question, have a Distinct Notion\nof our Subject whatever it be, and of the Terms we make use of, knowing\nprecisely what it is we drive at_: that so we may in the second.\n\n\n_Rule_ II. _Cut off all needless Ideas and whatever has not a necessary\nConnexion to the matter under Consideration_, which serve only to\nfill up the Capacity of the Mind, and to Divide and Distract the\nAttention. From the neglect of this comes those causless Digressions,\ntedious Parentheses and Impertinent Remarques which we meet with in\nsome Authors. For, as when our Sight is diffus\u2019d and extended to many\nObjects at once we see none of them Distinctly; so when the Mind grasps\nat every Idea that presents it self, or rambles after such as relate\nnot to its Present Business, it loses its hold and retains a very\nfeeble Apprehension of that which it shou\u2019d Attend. Some have added\nanother Rule (_viz._) _That we Reason only on those things of which\nwe have Clear Ideas_; but I take it to be a Consequence of the first,\nand therefore do not make it a distinct one: For we can by no means\nUnderstand our Subject, or be well acquainted with the State of the\nQuestion, unless we have a Clear Idea of all its Terms.\n\n\n_Rule_ III. Our Business being stated, the next Rule is _To conduct our\nThoughts by Order, beginning with the most Simple and Easie Objects,\nAnd ascending as by Degrees to the Knowlege of the more Compos\u2019d_. I\nneed not tell you, that Order makes every thing, Easie, Strong and\nBeautiful, and that the Superstructure is neither like to Last or\nPlease unless the Foundation be duly laid, for this is obvious to the\nmost Superficial Reader. Nor are they likely to solve the Difficult,\nwho have neglected or slightly pass\u2019d over the Easie Questions. Our\nKnowledge is gradual, and by passing Regularly thro Plain things, we\narrive in due time at the more Abstruse.\n\n\n_Rule_ IV. In this Method we are to practise the Fourth Rule which\nis, _Not to leave any part of our Subject unexamin\u2019d_, it being as\nnecessary to Consider All that can let in Light, as to shut out what\u2019s\nForeign to it. We may stop short of Truth as well as over-run it; and\ntho we look never so attentively on our proper Object, if we view but\nhalf of it, we may be as much mistaken, as if we extended our Sight\nbeyond it. Some Objects agree very well when observ\u2019d on one side,\nwhich upon turning the other shew a great disparity. Thus the Right\nAngle of a Triangle may be like to one part of a Square, but compare\nthe Whole, and you\u2019l find \u2019em very different Figures. And a Moral\nAction may in some Circumstance be not only Fit but Necessary, which in\nothers, where Time, Place, and the like have made an alteration, wou\u2019d\nbe most Improper; so that if we venture to Act on the former Judgment,\nwe may easily do amiss, if we wou\u2019d Act as we ought, we must view its\nNew Face, and see with what Aspect that looks on us.\n\nTo this Rule belongs that of _Dividing the Subject of our Meditations\ninto as many Parts, as we can, and as shall be requisite to Understand\nit perfectly_. This is indeed most necessary in difficult Questions,\nwhich will scarce be unravell\u2019d but in this manner by Pieces: Ever\ntaking care to make Exact Reviews, and to Sum up our Evidence justly\ne\u2019re we pass Sentence and fix our Judgment.\n\n\n_Rule_ V. To which purpose we must _Always keep our Subject Directly\nin our Eye, and Closely pursue it thro all our Progress_; there being\nno better Sign of a good Understanding than Thinking Closely and\nPertinently, and Reasoning dependently, so as to make the former part\nof our Discourse a support to the Latter, and _This_ an Illustration\nof _That_, carrying Light and Evidence in ev\u2019ry step we take. The\nneglect of this Rule is the Cause why our Discoveries of Truth are\nseldom Exact, that so much is often said to so little purpose; and many\nIntelligent and Industrious Readers when they have Read over a Book\nare very little wiser than when they began it. And that the two last\nRules may be the better observ\u2019d, \u2019twill be fit very often to look over\nour Process so far as we have gone, that so by rendring our Subject\nFamiliar, we may the sooner arrive to an Exact Knowlege of it.\n\n\n_Rule_ VI. All which being done we are in a fair way towards keeping\nthe last Rule, which is, _To judge no further than we Perceive, and\nnot to take any thing for Truth which we do not evidently Know to be\nso_. Indeed in some Cases we are forc\u2019d to content our selves with\nProbability, but \u2019twere well if we did so only where \u2019tis plainly\nNecessary. That is, when the Subject of our Meditation is such as\nwe cannot possibly have a Certain Knowlege of, because we are not\nfurnish\u2019d with Proofs which have a Constant and Immutable Connexion\nwith the Ideas we apply them to, or because we can\u2019t perceive it,\nwhich is our Case in such Exigencies as oblige us to Act presently,\non a cursory view of the Arguments propos\u2019d to us, when we want time\nto trace them to the bottom, and to make use of such means as wou\u2019d\ndiscover Truth.\n\nI cannot think we are often driven to such straits in any considerable\nAffair, tho I believe that very many Subjects may be propos\u2019d to us,\nconcerning which we cannot readily pass our Judgment, either because we\nnever consider\u2019d them before, or because we are wanting in some Means\nthat lead to the Knowlege, of \u2019em. In which Case Reason wills that we\nsuspend our Judgment till we can be better Inform\u2019d; nor wou\u2019d it have\nus remit our Search after Certainty, even in those very Cases in which\nwe may sometimes be forc\u2019d to Act only on Probable Grounds. For Reason\ncan\u2019t rest satisfy\u2019d with Probabilities where Evidence is possible, our\nPassions and Interest may, but _That_ does not incline us to leave\noff Enquiring lest we happen to meet somewhat contrary to our Desires.\nNo, Reason requires us to continue our Enquiries with all the Industry\nwe can, till they\u2019ve put us in Possession of Truth, and when we have\nfound, enjoyns us to follow her, how opposite soever she may cause our\nLatter Actions to be to our Former. But by this we may learn (and so\nwe may by every thing that such weak and fallible Creatures as we are,\nperform) to think Candidly of those whose Opinions and Actions differ\nfrom our own. Because we do not know the necessity of their Affairs,\nnor in what ill Circumstances they are plac\u2019d in respect of Truth.\n\nAnd now to Apply what has been said; The State of the Question being\nDistinctly known, and certain Ideas fixt to the Terms we make use of,\nwe shall find sometimes that the Difference which was suppos\u2019d to be\nbetween the Things themselves, is only in words, in the divers ways we\nmake use of to express the same Idea.\n\nFor if upon looking into our selves we discern, that these different\nTerms have but one and the same Idea, when we have corrected our\nExpressions the Controversie is at an End, and we need enquire no\nfurther. Thus, If we are ask\u2019d _Whether GOD is Infinitely Perfect_?\nThere needs no Intermediate Idea to compare the Idea of GOD with that\nof Infinite Perfection, since we may discern them on the very first\nview to be one and the same Idea differently express\u2019d, which to go\nabout to explain or prove were only to cumber with needless words,\nand to make what is Clear, Obscure. For we Injure a Cause instead of\nDefending it, by attempting an Explanation or Proof of things so Clear,\nthat as they do not need, so perhaps they are not Capable of any.\n\nBut if it be made a Question _Whether there is a GOD, or a Being\nInfinitely Perfect_? We are then to Examin the Agreement between\nour Idea of GOD and that of Existence. Now this may be discern\u2019d by\nIntuition, for upon a View of our Ideas we find that Existence is a\nPerfection, and the Foundation of all other Perfections, since that\nwhich has no Being cannot be suppos\u2019d to have any Perfection. And tho\nthe Idea of Existence is not Adequate to that of Perfection, yet the\nIdea of Perfection Includes that of Existence, and if _That_ Idea were\ndivided into parts, one part of it wou\u2019d exactly agree with _This_. So\nthat if we will allow that _Any_ Being is Infinite in All Perfections,\nwe cannot deny that that Being Exists; Existence it self being one\nPerfection, and such an one as all the rest are built upon.\n\nIf unreasonable Men will farther demand, _Why is it necessary that All\nPerfection shou\u2019d be Centred in One Being, is\u2019t not enough that it\nbe parcel\u2019d out amongst many? And tho it be true that that Being who\nhas all Perfection must needs Exist, yet where\u2019s the Necessity of an\nAll-Perfect Being?_ We must then look about for Proofs and Intermediate\nIdeas, and the Objection it self will furnish us with one. For those\n_Many_ whose Particular Ideas it wou\u2019d have joyn\u2019d together to make a\nCompound one of All-Perfection, are no other than Creatures, as will\nappear if we consider our Idea of Particular Being and of Creature,\nwhich are so far from having any thing to distinguish \u2019em, that in all\nPoints they resemble each other. Now this Idea naturally suggests to us\nthat of Creation, or a Power of giving Being to that which before the\nexerting of that Power had none, which Idea if we use it as a Medium,\nwill serve to discover to us the necessity of an All-Perfect Being.\n\nFor in the first place, what ever has any Perfection or Excellency\n(for that\u2019s all we mean by Perfection here) must either have it of it\nself, or derive it from some other Being. Now Creatures cannot have\ntheir Perfections from themselves because they have not their Being,\nfor to suppose that they Made themselves is an Absurdity too ridiculous\nto be seriously refuted, \u2019tis to suppose them to Be and not to Be at\nthe same time, and that when they were Nothing, they were able to do\nthe greatest Matter. Nor can they derive either Being or Perfection\nfrom any other Creature. For tho some Particular Beings may seem to\nbe the Cause of the Perfections of others, as the Watch-maker may be\nsaid to be the Cause of the Regular Motions of the Watch, yet trace it\na little farther, and you\u2019l find this very Cause shall need another,\nand so without End, till you come to the Foundation-head, to that\nAll-Perfect Being, who is the last resort of our Thoughts, and in\nwhom they Naturally and Necessarily rest and terminate. If to this it\nbe Objected that we as good as affirm that this All-Perfect Being is\nhis own Maker, by saying he is Self-Existent, and so we fall into the\nsame Absurdity which we imputed to that Opinion which supposes that\nCreatures were their own Maker. The reply is easie, That we do not say\nhe Made himself, we only affirm that his Nature is such, that tho we\ncan\u2019t sufficiently Explain because we can\u2019t comprehend it, yet thus\nmuch we can discern, that if he did not Exist of himself no other Being\ncould ever have Existed. So that either All must be swallow\u2019d up in an\nInfinite Nothing, if Nothing can properly have that Epithet, and we\nmust suppose, that neither we our selves, nor any of those Creatures\nabout us ever had, or ever can have a Being, which is too ridiculous to\nimagine, or else we must needs have recourse to a Self-Existing Being,\nwho is the Maker and Lord of all things. And since Self Existence\nmust of necessity be plac\u2019d somewhere, is it not much more Natural\nand Reasonable to place it in Infinite Perfection, than amongst poor,\nfrail Creatures, whose Origin we may trace, and whose End we see daily\nhastning?\n\nTo Sum up all: Since there are Innumerable Beings in the World, which\nhave each of them their several Excellencies or Perfections; Since\nthese can no more derive their Perfections than their Being from\nthemselves or from any other Creature; Since a Self-Existing Being is\nthe result of our Thoughts; the First and only True Cause, without\nwhom it is impossible that any thing should ever have Existed; since\nCreatures with their Being receive all that depends on it from him\ntheir Maker; Since none can give what he has not, and therefore he who\nCommunicates an innumerable variety of Perfections to his Creatures,\neven all that they enjoy, must needs contain in himself all those\nBeauties and Perfections he is pleas\u2019d to Communicate to Inferior\nBeings; nothing can be more Plain and Evident than that there is a GOD,\nand that the Existence of an All-Perfect Being is Absolutely necessary.\n\nPerhaps these Arguments are not in Form, I do not oblige my Self to\nfollow servilely the Rules of Art, nor know I what better Judges will\nthink of \u2019em, but they seem to me to be Clear, Rational and Concluding,\nwhich is all I aim at. And I hope the Reader will receive from hence\nmore light into the way of Arguing, than she cou\u2019d have gain\u2019d had I\nspent as many Pages in prescribing Rules and giving trifling Examples,\nwhich when they are known, merit only to be forgot again. But if some\nare better pleas\u2019d with the usual way of Syllogism, and think an\nArgument cannot be rightly managed without one, for their Satisfaction\nwe will add another Instance.\n\nSuppose the Question were put _Whether a Rich Man is Happy_? By a Rich\nMan understanding one who possesses the Wealth and Good things of this\nWorld, and by Happy the Enjoyment of the Proper Good of Man. We compare\nthe two Terms Riches and Happiness together, to discern if they be so\nmuch one and the same, that what is affirm\u2019d of the one may be laid of\nthe other; but we find they are not. For if Riches and Happiness were\nterms Convertible, then all who are Happy must be Rich, and all who are\nRich must be Happy, to affirm the last of which is to beg the Question,\nand the contrary appears by the following Argument, which makes use of\n_Satisfaction with ones own Condition_ for the middle Idea or Common\nMeasure.\n\nHe who is Happy is satisfied with his Condition and free from Anxious\nCares and Solicitude (for these proceeding from the want of Good, he\nwho enjoys his proper Good cannot be subject to them.) But Riches do\nnot free us from Anxieties and Solicitude, they many times encrease\nthem, Therefore to be Rich and to be Happy are not one and the same\nthing.\n\nAgain, If there are some who are Happy and yet not Rich, then Riches\nand Happiness are two distinct things. But a Good Poor Man is Happy (in\nthe Enjoyment of GOD who is better to him than Thousands of Gold and\nSilver,) therefore Riches and Happiness are to be distinguish\u2019d.\n\nWe may further consider, that if the Enjoyment of Riches can make a Man\nHappy according to our Notion of Happiness, they must be his Proper\nGood. Now if we compare the Idea of Riches with that which we have of\nMan, we shall find in the former nothing but what\u2019s Material, External\nand Adventitious, but our Idea of the latter represents to us somewhat\nthat Thinks, and so is of an Immaterial and more noble Nature, a Nature\naltogether different from the former, and much more excellent and\nSuperior to it; and by Consequence the less Noble cannot be the Good of\nthe more, nor a Body or an Extended Substance, the Proper Good of the\nMind, a Spiritual or Thinking Substance. So that upon the whole matter\nwe find, that we cannot affirm a Man is Happy because he is Rich,\nneither can we deny it; Riches consider\u2019d absolutely in themselves,\nneither make a Man Happy nor hinder him from being so. They Contribute\nto his Happiness or they Obstruct it according to the Use he makes of\n\u2019em.\n\nAs for the Common Rules of Disputation they do more frequently Intangle\nthan Clear a Question, nor is it worth while to know any more of them\nthan may help to guard us from the Sophistry of those who use them,\nand assist us in the managing an Argument fairly, so long as it is\nTenable, and till we are driven from it by the meer dint of Truth. To\nbe able to hold an Argument Right or Wrong may pass with some perhaps\nfor the Character of a Good Disputant, which yet I think it is not,\nbut must by no means be allow\u2019d to be that of a Rational Person; it\nbelongs to such to detect as soon as may be the Fallacies of an ill\none, and to establish Truth with the Clearest Evidence. For indeed\nTruth not Victory is what we shou\u2019d contend for in all Disputes, it\nbeing more Glorious to be Overcome by her than to Triumph under the\nBanners of Error. And therefore we pervert our Reason when we make it\nthe Instrument of an Endless Contention, by seeking after Quirks and\nSubtilties, abusing Equivocal Terms, and by practising the rest of\nthose little Arts every Sophister is full of, which are of no service\nin the discovery of Truth, all they can do is to Ward off an Opponents\nblow, to make a Noise and raise a Dust, that so we may escape in the\nHurry, our Foil being undiscover\u2019d.\n\nIt were endless to reckon up all the Fallacies we put on our selves\nand endeavour to obtrude on others. On our selves in the first place,\nfor however we may be pleas\u2019d in the Contemplation of our own Craft\nor to use those softer Names we are apt to give it, our Acuteness and\nIngenuity; who ever attempts to impose on others is first impos\u2019d on\nhimself, he is cheated by some of those grand Deceivers, the World,\nthe Flesh, and the Devil, and made to believe that Vain-glory, Secular\nInterest, Ambition or perhaps Sensuality or Revenge, or any the like\ncontemptible Appetites are preferable to Integrity and Truth.\n\n[Sidenote: _Art of Thinking_ Pt. 3. Ch. 19, 20.]\n\nNeither is it necessary to reduce the most usual Sophisms to general\nHeads, since that\u2019s already very well perform\u2019d in a Book to which\nI\u2019de rather refer you, than be at the trouble of Transcribing, having\nnothing to add but this, that if I be not mistaken, all the false\nArguings enumerated there, and what others you may happen to meet\nwith may be discover\u2019d and avoided by the Rules already given, and do\nindeed proceed, so far as they relate to the Understanding, from the\nNon-observation of some of \u2019em.\n\nBut it is to little purpose to guard our selves against the Sophisms of\nthe Head, if we lie open to those of the Heart. One irregular Passion\nwill put a greater Obstacle between us and Truth, than the brightest\nUnderstanding and clearest Reasonings can easily remove. This every\none of us is apt to discern in others, but we\u2019re blind to it in our\nselves. We can readily say that it is Pride or Obstinacy, Interest\nor Passion or in a word Self-love that keeps our Neighbour from\nConviction, but all this while imagine our own Hearts are very clear of\n\u2019em, tho\u2019 more Impartial Judges are of another Mind.\n\nI wish there were no Reason to think that there are some who attempt to\nmaintain an Opinion which they know to be false, or at least which they\nhave cause to suspect, and therefore industriously avoid what wou\u2019d\nmanifest their Error. \u2019Tis hop\u2019d however that the greatest part of the\nDisputers of the World are not of this number, and that the reason why\nthey offer their Neighbours Sophistical Arguments, is because they\nare not aware of it themselves; That what makes them so Positive is\ntheir firm persuasion that they are acted only by a Zeal for GOD, an\nhonest Constancy and Stanch Integrity, tho at the very same time quite\ndifferent Motives move them under these Appearances.\n\nAnd indeed he must be an extraordinary good Man, a Wonder scarce\nproduc\u2019d in an Age, who has no Irregular Passion stirring; Who\nreceives no Manner of Tincture from Pride and Vitious Self-Love,\nto which all are so prone, and which hide themselves under so many\ndisguises; Who is got above the World its Terrors and Allurements,\nhas laid up his Treasure in Heaven, and is fully Contented with his\nPresent Circumstances, let them be what they will, having made them\nthe boundaries of his Desires; who knows how to live on a Little very\nhappily and therefore receives no Bias from his own Conveniency, nor is\nweigh\u2019d down by the dead Weight of his Appetites and Interests; which\nought to be the Temper of every Person who wou\u2019d find out Truth, and\nwho desires to make a Right Judgment in all things.\n\nWe all pretend to this it\u2019s true, and think our selves Injur\u2019d if\nit be not believ\u2019d that we are Disinteress\u2019d and free from Passion,\nthat no Humour or Private End, nothing but an honest Zeal for Truth\ngives warmth to our Discourses; and yet it often happens that e\u2019re we\nConclude them, we give just occasion to have it thought, that how large\nsoever our Knowlege in other things may be, we are not well acquainted\nwith our own Hearts. All which consider\u2019d, how confidently soever we\u2019re\nperswaded of our own Integrity, tho we think we have penetrated to the\nvery bottom of our Hearts, it wou\u2019d not be amiss to suspect our selves\nsometimes, and to fear a Bias, even at the very instant we take care to\navoid one.\n\nFor Truth being but One, and the Rational Faculties not differing\nin Kind but in Degree, tho there may be different Measures of\nUnderstanding, there could not be such Contradictions in Mens Opinions\nas we find there are, even in those who examin as well as in those\nwho do not, were they acted only by the Love of Truth, and did not\nSelf-Love perswade them that they shall find their own particular\naccount by such an Opposition. I wou\u2019d not be so understood as if I\nthought that in all Controversies one side must needs be Criminal,\nif not by Wilfully Opposing Truth, yet at least by an indulgence of\nsuch unmortifi\u2019d Passions as estrange them from her. No, without doubt\ngreat allowances are to be made on the score of Education, Capacity,\nthe Leisure, and Opportunity of Information we have had. But this we\nmay venture to say, that had we but a Modest Opinion of our selves,\nbelieving it as possible for us as for those who contradict us to be\nmistaken, did we behave our selves answerable to such a belief; were\nwe seriously convinc\u2019d that nothing is so much our Interest as a\nreadiness to admit of Truth, from what ever Hand it comes, greatest\npart of our Disputes wou\u2019d have a better Issue than we generally find.\nAt least if we cou\u2019d not be to happy as to Convince one another, our\nContests wou\u2019d be manag\u2019d with more Temper and Moderation, wou\u2019d not\nconclude in such a breach of Charity, or at best in such a Coldness for\neach other, as they usually do.\n\nIf we consider wisely we shall find it to be our Present Interest as\nwell as our Future, to do that in Reality which all of us Pretend to,\nthat is, to Search after and to Follow Truth. And to do it with all\nthat Candor and Ingenuity which becomes a true Philosopher as well\nas a good Christian, making use of no Arguments but what we really\nbelieve, and giving them up contentedly when we meet with stronger.\nOur _Present Interest_, which is that which weighs most with the\ngenerality, and to which we make all other considerations give place;\nFor what is it we Contend for? They who have such little Souls as to\nbait at any thing beneath the highest End, make Reputation their Aim,\nand with it that Authority and Wealth which usually attends it. But\nnow Reputation cannot be acquir\u2019d, at least not a lasting one, by\nFallacious Reasonings; we may perhaps for a while get a Name by them\namongst unwary Persons, but the World grows too quick-sighted to be\nlong impos\u2019d on. If a Love of Truth do not, yet Envy and Emulation\nwill set other heads a Work to discover our Ignorance or Fraud, they\nare upon the same Design, and will not suffer us to go away with the\nPrize undeservedly. And besides, with how ill an Aspect must he needs\nappear who does not Reason fairly, and by consequence, how unlike is\nhe to gain on those who hear him? There are but three Causes to which\nfalse Arguments can be refer\u2019d, Ignorance, Rashness, or Design, and the\nbeing suspected for any one of these hinders us very much in acquiring\nthat Reputation, Authority or Preferment we desire. I must confess were\nwe sure the Fallacy wou\u2019d not be detected, and that we shou\u2019d not lie\nunder Suspicion of it, we might gain our point; for provided the Paint\ndo not rub off, good Colouring may serve a present turn as well as a\ntrue Complection: But there is little reason to hope for this, because\nof what was just now mention\u2019d, and for other Reasons that might be\nadded.\n\nNow what can be more provoking than the Idea we have of a Designing\nPerson? of one who thinks his own Intellectuals so strong and ours\nso weak, that he can make us swallow any thing, and lead us where\nhe pleases? such an one seems to have an Intention to reduce us to\nthe vilest Slavery, the Captivation of our Understandings, which we\njustly reckon to be the highest Insolence. And since every one puts in\nfor a share of Sense, and thinks he has no reason to complain of the\ndistribution of it, whoever supposes that another has an over-weaning\nOpinion of his own, must needs think that he undervalues his Neighbours\nUnderstanding, and will certainly repay him in his own Coin, and deny\nhim those advantages he seems to arrogate.\n\nThe most we can say for our selves when the weakness of our Arguments\ncomes to be discover\u2019d, is that we were mistaken thro Rashness\nor Ignorance, which tho more pardonable than the former, are no\nrecommending Qualities. If we argue falsly and know not that we\ndo so, we shall be more pittied than when we do, but either way\ndisappointed. And if we have added Rash Censures of those who are not\nof our Mind, Pride or Positiveness to our Errors as we cannot so\nhandsomely Retreat so neither will so fair a Quarter be allow\u2019d as\nthose who Argue with Meekness, Modesty and Charity may well expect.\nSo that when we have cast up our Account and estimated the Present\nAdvantages that false Arguings bring us, I fear what we have got by\na Pretence to Truth, won\u2019t be found to countervail the loss we shall\nsustain by the Discovery that it was no more. Which may induce us (if\nother Considerations will not) to be wary in receiving any Proposition\nourselves; and restrain us from being forward to impose our Sentiments\non others.\n\nAfter all, \u2019tis a melancholy reflection that a great part of\nMankind stand in need of Arguments drawn from so low a Motive as\nWorldly Interest, to persuade them to that to which they have much\ngreater inducements. It is strange that we shou\u2019d need any other\nconsiderations besides the bare performance of our Duty, and those\nunspeakable advantages laid up for all such as do it sincerely,\nhereafter. When we have the Approbation of GOD and the infinite Rewards\nhe has propos\u2019d to those who study to recommend themselves to him,\nfor our Encouragement, how low are we sunk if the Applause of Men and\nthe little Trifles which they can bestow weigh any thing with us! I\nam therefore almost asham\u2019d of proposing so mean a consideration, but\nthe degeneracy of the Age requir\u2019d it, and they who perhaps at first\nfollow Truth as the Jews did once, for the Loaves only, may at last be\nattracted by its own Native Beauties.\n\n[Sidenote: L\u2019art de Penser, p. 22.]\n\n\n\u00a7. V. As Nature teaches us Logic, so does it instruct us in Rhetoric\nmuch better than Rules of Art, which if they are good ones are nothing\nelse but those Judicious Observations which Men of Sense have drawn\nfrom Nature, and which all who reflect on the Operations of their own\nMinds will find out \u2019emselves. The common Precepts of Rhetoric may\nteach us how to reduce Ingenious ways of speaking to a certain Rule,\nbut they do not teach us how to Invent them, this is Natures work and\nshe does it best; there is as much difference between Natural and\nArtificial Eloquence as there is between Paint and True Beauty. So that\nas a good Author well observes, all that\u2019s useful in this Art, \u201cis the\navoiding certain evil ways of Writing and Speaking, and above all an\nArtificial and Rhetorical Stile compos\u2019d of false Thoughts, Hyperboles\nand forc\u2019d Figures which is the greatest fault in Rhetoric.\u201d\n\nI shall not therefore recommend under the name of Rhetoric an Art\nof speaking floridly on all Subjects, and of dressing up Error and\nImpertinence in a quaint and taking garb; any more than I did that\nWrangling which goes by the name of Logic, and which teaches to dispute\n_for_ and _against_ all Propositions indefinitely whether they are\nTrue or False. It is an abuse both of Reason and Address to press\u2019em\ninto the Service of a Trifle or an Untruth; and a mistake to think\nthat any Argument can be rightly made, or any Discourse truly Eloquent\nthat does not illustrate and inforce Truth. For the design of Rhetoric\nis to remove those Prejudices that lie in the way of Truth, to Reduce\nthe Passions to the Government of Reason; to place our Subject in a\nRight Light, and excite our Hearers to a due consideration of it.\nAnd I know not what exactness of Method, pure and proper Language,\nFigures, insinuating ways of Address and the like signify, any farther\nthan as they contribute to the Service of Truth by rendring our\nDiscourse Intelligible, Agreeable and Convincing. They are indeed very\nserviceable to it when they are duly managed, for Good Sense loses much\nof its efficacy by being ill express\u2019d, and an ill stile is nothing\nelse but the neglect of some of these, or over doing others of \u2019em.\n\nObscurity, one of the greatest faults in Writing, does commonly\nproceed from a want of Meditation, for when we pretend to teach others\nwhat we do not understand our selves, no wonder that we do it at a\nsorry rate. \u2019Tis true, Obscurity is sometimes design\u2019d, to conceal an\nerroneous opinion which an Author dares not openly own, or which if it\nbe discover\u2019d he has a mind to evade. And sometimes even an honest and\ngood Writer who studies to avoid may insensibly fall into it, by reason\nthat his Ideas being become familiar to himself by frequent Meditation,\na long train of \u2019em are readily excited in his mind, by a word or two\nwhich he\u2019s us\u2019d to annex to them; but it is not so with his Readers who\nare perhaps strangers to his Meditations, and yet ought to have the\nvery same Idea rais\u2019d in theirs that was in the Authors mind, or else\nthey cannot understand him. If therefore we desire to be intelligible\nto every body, our Expressions must be more plain and explicit than\nthey needed to be if we writ only for our selves, or for those to whom\nfrequent Discourse has made our Ideas familiar.\n\nNot that it is necessary to express at length all the Process our Mind\ngoes thro in resolving a Question, this wou\u2019d spin out our Discourse\nto an unprofitable tediousness, the Operations of the Mind being much\nmore speedy than those of the Tongue or Pen. But we shou\u2019d fold up our\nThoughts so closely and neatly, expressing them in such significant\ntho few words, as that the Readers Mind may easily open and enlarge\nthem. And if this can be done with facility we are Perspicuous as well\nas Strong, if with difficulty or not at all, we\u2019re then perplext and\nObscure Writers.\n\nScarce any thing conduces more to Clearness, the great Beauty of\nwriting, than Exactness of Method; nor perhaps to Persuasion, for by\nputting every thing in its proper place with due Order and Connexion,\nthe Readers Mind is gently led where the Writer wou\u2019d have it. Such a\nStile is Easy without Softness, Copious as that signifies the omission\nof nothing necessary, yet not Wordy and Tedious; nor stuft with\nNauseous Repetitions, which they who do not Think before they Write and\ndispose their Matter duly, can scarce avoid. The Method of Thinking has\nbeen already shewn, and the same is to be observ\u2019d in Writing, which if\nit be what it ought; is nothing else but the communicating to others\nthe result of our frequent and deep Meditations, in such a manner as\nwe judge most effectual to convince them of those Truths which we\nbelieve. Always remembring that the most natural Order is ever best;\nthat we must first prepare their minds by removing those Prejudices and\nPassions which are in our way, and then propose our Reasons with all\nthe Clearness and Force, with all the Tenderness and Good-Nature we can.\n\n[Sidenote: _Lock_ of Hum. Und. B. 3. Ch. 7.]\n\nAnd since the Clearness and Connexion as well as the Emphasis and\nBeauty of a Discourse depends in a great measure on a right use of the\nParticles, whoever wou\u2019d Write well ought to inform themselves nicely\nin their Proprieties. an _And_, a _The_, a _But_, a _For_, &c. do very\nmuch perplex the Sense when they are misplac\u2019d, and make the Reader\ntake it many times quite otherwise than the Writer meant it. But this\nis not a place to say all that this Subject deserves; they who wou\u2019d\nhave much in a little, may consult an Ingenious Author who has touch\u2019d\nupon\u2019t, and from thence take hints to observe how these little words\nare applied in good Authors, and how themselves may best use them to\nexpress the several Postures of their own Minds.\n\nIn a word, I know not a more compendious way to good Speaking and\nWriting, than to chuse out the most excellent in either as a Model\non which to form our selves. Or rather to imitate the Perfections of\nall, and avoid their mistakes; for few are so perfect as to be without\nfault, and few so bad as to have nothing good in them. A true Judgment\ndistinguishes, and neither rejects the Good for the sake of the Bad,\nnor admits the Bad because of the Good that is mingled with it. No sort\nof Style but has its excellency and is liable to defect: If care be\nnot taken the Sublime which subdues us with Nobleness of Thought and\nGrandeur of Expression, will fly out of sight and by being Empty and\nBombast become contemptible. The Plain and Simple will grow Dull and\nAbject; the Severe dry and Rugged, the Florid vain and impertinent. The\nStrong instead of rousing the Mind will distract and intangle it by\nbeing Obscure; even the Easy and Perspicuous if it be too diffuse, or\never delicate tires us instead of pleasing. Good Sense is the principal\nthing without which all our polishing is of little Worth, and yet if\nOrnament be wholly neglected very few will regard us. Studied and\nartificial periods are not natural enough to please, they shew too much\nsolicitude about what does not deserve it, and a loose and careless\nStyle declares too much contempt of the Public. Neither Reason nor Wit\nentertain us if they are driven beyond a certain pitch, and Pleasure it\nself is offensive if it be not judiciously dispenc\u2019d.\n\nEvery Author almost has some beauty or blemish remarkable in his Style\nfrom whence it takes its name; and every Reader has a peculiar tast\nof Books as well as Meats. One wou\u2019d have the Subject exhausted,\nanother is not pleas\u2019d if somewhat be not left to enlarge on in his\nown Meditations. This affects a Grave that a Florid Style; One is for\nEasiness, a second for Plainness, a third for Strength, and a fourth\nfor Politeness. And perhaps the great secret of Writing is the mixing\nall these in so just a proportion that every one may tast what he likes\nwithout being disgusted by its contrary. And may find at once that by\nthe Solidity of the Reason, the purity and propriety of Expression, and\ninsinuating agreeableness of Address, his Understanding is Enlightned,\nhis Affections subdued and his Will duly regulated.\n\nThis is indeed the true End of Writing, and it wou\u2019d not be hard for\nevery one to judge how well they had answer\u2019d it, wou\u2019d they but lay\naside Self-Love, so much of it at least, as makes them partial to their\nown Productions. Did we consider our own with the same Severity, or\nbut Indifferency that we do anothers Writing, we might pass a due\nCensure on it, might discern what Thought was Crude or ill exprest,\nwhat Reasoning weak, what passage superfluous, where we were flat and\ndull, where extravagant and vain, and by Criticizing on our selves do\na greater kindness to the World than we can in making our Remarques on\nothers. Nor shou\u2019d we be at a loss, if we were Impartial, in finding\nout Methods to Inform, Persuade and Please; for Human Nature is for the\nmost part much alike in all, and that which has a good effect on us,\nwill generally speaking have the same on others. So that to guess what\nsuccess we are like to have, we need only suppose our selves in the\nplace of those we Address to, and consider how such a Discourse wou\u2019d\noperate on us, if we had their Infirmities and Thoughts about us.\n\nAnd if we do so I believe we shall find, there\u2019s nothing more improper\nthan Pride and Positiveness, nor any thing more prevalent than an\ninnocent compliance with their weakness: Such as pretends not to\ndictate to their Ignorance, but only to explain and illustrate what\nthey did or might have known before if they had consider\u2019d it, and\nsupposes that their Minds being employ\u2019d about some other things was\nthe reason why they did not discern it as well as we. For Human Nature\nis not willing to own its Ignorance; Truth is so very attractive,\nthere\u2019s such a natural agreement between our Minds and it, that we care\nnot to be thought so dull as not to be able to find out by our selves\nsuch obvious matters. We shou\u2019d therefore be careful that nothing pass\nfrom us which upbraids our Neighbours Ignorance, but study to remove\u2019t\nwithout appearing to take notice of it, and permit\u2019em to fancy if they\nplease, that we believe them as Wise and Good as we endeavour to make\nthem. By this we gain their Affections which is the hardest part of our\nWork, excite their Industry and infuse a new Life into all Generous\nTempers, who conclude there\u2019s great hopes they may with a little pains\nattain what others think they Know already, and are asham\u2019d to fall\nshort of the good Opinion we have entertain\u2019d of \u2019em.\n\nAnd since many wou\u2019d yield to the Clear Light of Truth were\u2019t not\nfor the shame of being overcome, we shou\u2019d Convince but not Triumph,\nand rather Conceal our Conquest than Publish it. We doubly oblige\nour Neighbours when we reduce them into the Right Way, and keep it\nfrom being taken notice of that they were once in the Wrong, which is\ncertainly a much greater satisfaction than that blaze of Glory which is\nquickly out, that noise of Applause which will soon be over. For the\ngaining of our Neighbour, at least the having honestly endeavour\u2019d\nit, and the leading our own Vanity in Triumph are Real Goods and such\nas we shall always have the Comfort of. It is to be wish\u2019d that such\nPropositions as are not attended with the Clearest Evidence were\ndeliver\u2019d only by way of Enquiry, since even the brightest Truth\nwhen Dogmatically dictated is apt to offend our Readers, and make\nthem imagine their Liberty\u2019s impos\u2019d on, so far is Positiveness from\nbringing any body over to our Sentiments. And besides, we\u2019re all of us\nliable to mistake, and few have Humility enough to confess themselves\nDeceiv\u2019d in what they have confidently asserted, but think they\u2019re\nobliged in Honour to maintain an Opinion they\u2019ve once been Zealous\nfor, how desirous soever they may be to get rid on\u2019t, cou\u2019d they do it\nhandsomely. Now a Modest way of delivering our Sentiments assists us in\nthis, and leaves us at liberty to take either side of the Question as\nReason and Riper Consideration shall determine.\n\nIn short, as Thinking conformably to the Nature of Things is True\nKnowledge, so th\u2019 expressing our Thoughts in such a way, as most\nreadily, and with the greatest Clearness and Life, excites in others\nthe very same Idea that was in us, is the best Eloquence. For if our\nIdea be conformable to the Nature of the thing it represents, and\nits Relations duly stated, this is the most effectual way both to\nInform and Perswade, since Truth being always amiable, cannot fail\nof attracting when she\u2019s plac\u2019d in a Right Light, and those to whom\nwe offer her, are made Able and Willing to discern her Beauties.\nIf therefore we throughly understand our Subject and are Zealously\naffected with it, we shall neither want suitable words to explain, nor\nperswasive Methods to recommend it.\n\nAnd since Piety and Vertue shou\u2019d in spite of the mistaken Customs\nof the Age be the principal Theme of a Christians Conversation; that\nwhich those who bear that Sacred Name ought always to regard some way\nor other, even when it might be unseasonable to speak of it directly,\nthe way to be good Orators is to be good Christians, the Practice of\nReligion will both instruct us in the Theory, and most powerfully\ninforce what we say of it. Did we truly relish the Delights of GOD\u2019s\nService, we cou\u2019d neither refrain from talking of the Pleasure, nor be\nso ill-natur\u2019d as not to strive to Communicate it; and were we duly\nwarm\u2019d with a Zeal for his Glory and concern for our Neighbours Soul,\nno Figures of Rhetoric, no Art of Perswasion wou\u2019d be wanting to us. We\nshou\u2019d diligently watch for Opportunities, and carefully improve them,\naccommodating our Discourse to the Understanding and Genius of all we\ncou\u2019d hope to do good to.\n\nBesides, by being True Christians we have Really that Love for others\nwhich all who desire to perswade must pretend to; we\u2019ve that _Probity_\nand _Prudence_, that _Civility_ and _Modesty_ which the Masters of this\nArt say a good Orator must be endow\u2019d with; and have pluck\u2019d up those\nVicious Inclinations from whence the most distastful faults of Writing\nproceed. For why do we chuse to be Obscure but because we intend to\nDeceive, or wou\u2019d be thought to see much farther than our Neighbours?\nOne sort of Vanity prompts us to be Rugged and Severe, and so possess\u2019d\nwith the imagin\u2019d Worth and Solidity of our Discourse, that we think\nit beneath us to Polish it: Another disposes us to Elaborate and\nAffected ways of Writing, to Pompous and improper Ornaments; and why\nare we tediously Copious but that we fancy every Thought of ours is\nextraordinary? Contradiction is indeed for our advantage as tending to\nmake us wiser, yet our Pride makes us impatient under it, because it\nseems to Lessen that Esteem and Deference we desire shou\u2019d be paid us.\nWhence come those sharp Reflections, those imagin\u2019d strains of Wit,\nnot to be endur\u2019d amongst Christians, and which serve not to Convince\nbut to Provoke, whence come they but from Ill-nature or Revenge, from\na Contempt of others and a desire to set forth our own Wit? Did we\nwrite less for our selves we should sooner gain our Readers, who are\nmany times disgusted at a well writ Discourse if it carries a tang\nof Ostentation: And were our Temper as Christian as it ought to be,\nour Zeal wou\u2019d be spent on the most Weighty things, not on little\ndifferences of Opinions.\n\nI have made no distinction in what has been said between Speaking and\nWriting, because tho they are talents which do not always meet, yet\nthere is no material difference between \u2019em. They Write best perhaps\nwho do\u2019t with the gentile and easy air of Conversation; and they Talk\nbest who mingle Solidity of Thought with th\u2019 agreableness of a ready\nWit. As for _Pronunciation_, tho it takes more with some Auditors\nmany times than Good Sense, there needs little be said of it here,\nsince Women have no business with the Pulpit, the Bar or St. _Stephens\nChappel_: And Nature does for the most part furnish \u2019em with such a\nMusical Tone, Perswasive Air and winning Address as renders their\nDiscourse sufficiently agreeable in Private Conversation. And as to\nspelling which they\u2019re said to be defective in, if they don\u2019t believe\nas they\u2019re usually told, that it\u2019s fit for \u2019em to be so, and that to\nwrite exactly is too Pedantic, they may soon correct that fault, by\nPronouncing their words aright and Spelling \u2019em accordingly. I know\nthis Rule won\u2019t always hold because of an Imperfection in our Language\nwhich has been oft complain\u2019d of but is not yet amended; But in this\ncase a little Observation or recourse to Books will assist us; and if\nat any time we happen to mistake by Spelling as we Pronounce, the fault\nwill be very Venial, and Custom rather to blame than we.\n\nI\u2019ve said nothing of _Grammar_ tho we can\u2019t Write properly if we\ntransgress its Rules, supposing that Custom and the reading of English\nBooks are sufficient to teach us the Grammar of our own Tongue, If\nwe do but in any measure attend to them. And tho Women are generally\naccus\u2019d of Writing false English, if I may speak my own Experience,\ntheir Mistakes are not so common as is pretended, nor are they the only\nPersons guilty. What they most commonly fail in is the Particles and\nConnexion, and that generally thro a Briskness of temper which make\nthem forget, or Hast which will not suffer \u2019em to read over again what\nwent before. And indeed, those who Speak true Grammar unless they \u2019re\nvery Careless cannot write false, since they need only peruse what\nthey\u2019ve Writ, and consider whether they wou\u2019d express \u2019emselves thus in\nConversation.\n\n[Sidenote: Art of speaking.]\n\nBut for this and for _Figures_, &c. and indeed for all that relates\nto this Subject, I must refer you to an Ingenious Treatise which\nhandles it fully, and to which I\u2019me oblig\u2019d in great measure for what\nlittle skill I have. Observing only, that whatever it is we Treat of,\nour Stile shou\u2019d be such as may keep our Readers Attent, and induce\nthem to go to the End. Now Attention is usually fixt by Admiration,\nwhich is excited by somewhat uncommon either in the Thought or way\nof Expression. We fall a sleep over an Author who tells us in an\nordinary manner no more than we knew before: He who wou\u2019d Take must\nbe Sublime in his Sense, and must cloath it after a Noble way. His\nThoughts must not be superficial, such as every one may fall into at\nthe first glance, but the very Spirits and Essence of Thinking, the sum\nof many hours Meditation folded up in one handsome and comprehensive\nPeriod, whose Language is Intelligible and Easy that the Readers\nmay not lose the pleasure of the Kernel, by the pain they find in\ncracking the Shell. The most difficult Subject must be made easy by\nhis way of handling it; tho his Matter may deserve a Meditation, yet\nhis Expressions must be so Clear that he needs not be read twice to\nbe Understood; _these_ are to be Natural and Familiar, condiscending\nto the meanest Capacity, whilst his Thoughts are Great enough to\nentertain the highest. He Discourses always on a Useful Subject in a\nmanner agreeable to it, and pleases that he may Instruct; Nothing seems\nStudied in his whole Composition, yet every thing is Extraordinary, a\nBeautiful Harmony shining thro all its parts. No Sentence is Doubtful,\nno word Equivocal, his Arguments are Clear and his Images Lively; all\nthe Ideas he excites in your Mind, as nearly resemble the thing they\nrepresent as Words can make them. Whilst th\u2019 exactness of his Method,\nand Force of his Reason Enlighten and Convince the Mind; the Vivacity\nof his Imagination and insinuating Address, gain the Affections and\nConquer the Will. By the weight and closeness of the former you wou\u2019d\ntake him for an Angel, and the tender and affable sweetness of the\nlast bespeaks him a Friend. He considers that as mere Florish and\nRhetorick are good for nothing, so neither will bare Reason dull and\nheavily express\u2019d perform any great matter, at least not on those who\nneed it most, whose Palates being deprav\u2019d their Medicines must be\nadministred in a pleasing Vehicle. Since Mankind are averse to their\nReal Happiness, he does not only tell \u2019em their Duty but Interesses\nthem in it; and thinking it not enough to run \u2019em down with the\nstrength of Reason, he draws \u2019em over to a Voluntary Submission by\nth\u2019 attractives of his Eloquence. For he has a peculiar Turn and Air\nwhich animates every Period, so that the very same Truth which was\ndry and Unaffecting in a vulgar Authors words, Charms and Subdues you\nwhen cloath\u2019d in his. He shews no more warmth than may convince his\nReaders that he\u2019s heartily persuaded of the Truths he offers them; and\nif it is necessary at any time to make use of Figures to give a more\nLively Representation than plain Expressions cou\u2019d, to discribe his\nown Passions and excite the same in others upon a just occasion, in\na word to awaken a Stupid and Clear the Mind of a Prejudic\u2019d Reader,\nhis Figures are duly chosen and discreetly us\u2019d. For he knows that\nscarce any thing speaks a greater want of Judgment than the shewing\nconcern where there needs none, or is a worse fault in Oratory than\nthe polishing a Wrong or a Trifling Thought, the neatness of whose\ndress may strike with Admiration perhaps at first sight, but upon a\nreview it will certainly appear Contemptible. And therefore as he does\nnot abound in Superfluous Ornaments, so neither does he reject any\nthing that can promote his End, which is not his own Reputation, but\nthe Glory of his GOD and his Neighbours Edification. He considers the\nnarrowness of the Humane Mind, and says all that is necessary but no\nmore; Understands it so well as to know what will move and Please,\nand has so much command of himself as to give over when he has done\nenough. Yet he can exhaust the most fruitful Subject without making\nthe Reader weary; for when he enlarges it is in Things not Words, and\nhe mingles Variety without Confusion. All the divers excellencies of\ndifferent Stiles meet in his to make up a perfect one, Strength and\nEase, Solidity and Liveliness, the Sublime and the Plain. He\u2019s neither\nso Lofty as to fly out of Sight, nor so humble as to become Creeping\nand Contemptible. His Strength does not make him Rugged and Perplext\nnor his Smoothness Weak and Nice; tho every thing is Neat, there\u2019s not\na grain of Affectation; he is gratefull to the Ear, but far remov\u2019d\nfrom jingling Cadence. Brief when there is occasion without Dryness\nor Obscurity, and Florid enough to entertain th\u2019 Imagination without\nDistracting the Mind. There\u2019s not an Antiquated or Barbarous Word to be\nfound in him, all is Decent, Just and Natural; no peculiar or Affected\nPhrases, whether Courtly or Clownish, Grave or Burlesque. For Plain and\nSignificant Language is ever best, we have a mistaken Idea of Learning\nif we think to pretend to\u2019t by sending our Reader every minute to the\nDictionary. Words out of the common way are only allowable when they\nexpress our Sense with greater Force than Ordinary ones cou\u2019d, or when\nthey are so significant as to ease us of Circumlocutions, a hard word\nwhich I cou\u2019d not avoid without using half a dozen words.\n\nAfter all, it may not be amiss to take notice that Ornaments are common\nto Falshood and Truth, but Clearness and strength of Reasoning are not.\nThey who wou\u2019d propagate Error usually disguise it in Equivocal Terms\nand Obscure Phrases; they strive to engage our Passions, rather than\nto Convince our Reason, and carry us away in the torrent of a warm\nImagination. They endeavour to refute, or if they can\u2019t do that, to\nRidicule the contrary opinion, and think this Sufficient to establish\ntheir own. Being much better skill\u2019d in pulling down former Systems\nthan in building new ones, for it requires no great skill to Object,\nand there are many Truths which we\u2019re very Certain of, and yet not able\nto answer every Impertinent Enquiry concerning \u2019em. Their greatest Art\nis in confounding things, in giving a probable Air to what they write,\nin pretending to Demonstration where the nature of the Truth does not\nrequire\u2019t, and in evading it where it does. An Immoral or Heretical\nDiscourse therefore may be _Cunningly_ but not _well_ writ, for we can\nnever plead for Error and Vice with true Eloquence. We may trick\u2019em\nup in a handsom Garb, adorn\u2019em with quaint Expressions, and give them\nsuch a plausible turn as may enable them to do very much Mischief; but\nthis is only a fulsom Carcass, the substance and Life are not there if\nVertue and Truth are wanting.\n\n\n\u00a7. VI. For it is to little purpose to Think well and speak well, unless\nwe _Live well_, this is our Great Affair and truest Excellency, the\nother are no further to be regarded than as they may assist us in this.\nShe who does not draw this Inference from her Studies has Thought in\nvain, her notions are Erroneous and Mistaken. And all her Eloquence is\nbut an empty noise, who employs it in any other design than in gaining\nProselytes to Heaven. I am therefore far from designing to put Women on\na vain pursuit after unnecessary and useless Learning, nor wou\u2019d by any\nmeans persuade them to endeavour after Knowledge cou\u2019d I be convinc\u2019d\nthat it is improper for \u2019em. Because I know very well that tho a thing\nbe never so excellent in it self, it has but an ill grace if it be not\nsuitable to the Person and Condition it is apply\u2019d to. Fine Cloaths\nand Equipage do not become a Beggar, and a Mechanic who must work\nfor daily bread for his Family, wou\u2019d be wickedly Employ\u2019d shou\u2019d he\nsuffer \u2019em to starve whilest he\u2019s solving Mathematical Problems. If\ntherefore Women have another Duty incumbent on \u2019em, and such as is\ninconsistent with what we here advise, we do ill to take them from it:\nBut to affirm this is to beg the Question, and is what I will never\ngrant till it be better prov\u2019d than as yet it appears to be. For if the\nGrand Business that Women as well as Men have to do in this World be to\nprepare for the next, ought not all their Care and Industry to Centre\nhere? and since the matter is of Infinite Consequence is it equitable\nto deny \u2019em the use of any help? If therefore Knowledge were but any\nways Instrumental, tho at the remotest distance, to the Salvation of\nour Souls, it were fit to apply our selves to it; and how much more\nwhen it is so necessary, that without it we can\u2019t do any thing that\u2019s\nExcellent, or Practise Vertue in the most Perfect manner. For unless we\nUnderstand our Duty and the Principles of Religion, we don\u2019t perform\na Rational Service, it is but by Chance that we are Good or so much as\nChristians. We are their Property into whose hands we fall, and are led\nby those who with greatest Confidence impose their Opinions on us; Are\nas moveable as the different Circumstances that befall us; or if we\nhappen to be Constant in our first way, it is not Reason but Obstinacy\nthat makes us so. A great deal of Good will be omitted, and very much\nEvil, or Imperfection at least, stick to us, if we are not throughly\nacquainted with the Law of God and the secret springs and windings of\nour Hearts, which is scarce to be obtain\u2019d without much Meditation and\nthe helps that study affords.\n\nAnd as when a rash young Traveller is about to run into dangerous\nplaces beset with Thieves and full of Precipices, if you have any\nhearty concern for his safety, you\u2019l not think it enough barely to\nshew him his way, or even to tell him of the Danger, especially if\nthe entrance seems fair and inviting and treacherous Companions are\nupon the watch to decoy him into it: But you\u2019l expose it in all its\nfrightful Circumstances, endeavour to quicken his vigilance and excite\nhis Passions, and all little enough for his Security. So it cannot be\nthought sufficient that Women shou\u2019d but just know whats Commanded and\nwhat Forbid, without being inform\u2019d of the Reasons why, since this is\nnot like to secure them in their Duty. For we find a Natural Liberty\nwithin us which checks at an Injunction that has nothing but Authority\nto back it; And tho Religion is indeed supported by the Strongest\nReasons, and inforc\u2019d by the most powerful Motives, yet if we are not\nacquainted with \u2019em, \u2019tis all one to us as if it were not. But having\nspoke of this in the first part we shall not farther enlarge on it here.\n\nPerhaps it will be objected that we\u2019ve said _the great Truths of\nReligion carry a force and Evidence suited to the very Vulgar, and that\nGOD has not design\u2019d All for Philosophers_. And therefore if the way\nto the most necessary Knowlege be so very plain, and all Capacities\nare not fitted for higher attainments, what needs this ado about th\u2019\nImprovement of our minds? the only thing necessary is to be good\nChristians, and we may be that without being Philosophers. Suppose we\nmay: This will Justify such as want Time and Capacity, but can never\nexcuse the Sloth and Stupidity of those who have both.\n\nFor unless we have very strange Notions of the Divine Wisdom we must\nneeds allow that every one is placed in such a Station as they are\nfitted for. And if the necessity of the world requires that some\nPersons shou\u2019d Labour for others, it likewise requires that others\nshou\u2019d Think for them. Our Powers and Faculties were not given us for\nnothing, and the only advantage one Woman has above another, is the\nbeing allotted to the more noble employment. No body is plac\u2019d without\ntheir own fault, in such unhappy Circumstances as to be incapable of\nSalvation, but some are plac\u2019d in such happy ones as to be capable of\nattaining much greater degrees of Happiness than others if they do not\nneglect them: And shou\u2019d these last do no more than the very utmost\nthat is expected from the former, I know not how they wou\u2019d acquit\nthemselves, or what account they cou\u2019d give of their great Advantages.\nAnd therefore tho no body shall be condemn\u2019d because they _Cou\u2019d_ not,\nyet we have reason to fear if our Case be such as that we _Might_ but\n_Wou\u2019d_ not receive Instruction. She then who makes this Objection must\nnot take it amiss if we Judge of her in other Cases according to what\nshe Pleads in this: She must never set up for a Wit, or a censurer\nof her Neighbours, must not pretend to be a fine Lady or any thing\nextraordinary: but be content to herd amongst the Drudges of the World\nwho eat Their Bread in the Sweat of their Brows, if she says she wants\nLeisure; or in a less acceptable rank amongst the Fools and Ideots,\nor but one degree above them, if she says she wants Capacity for this\nEmployment. It is one thing to be content with Ignorance, or rather\nwith a less degree of Knowledge, on account of the Station that GOD\nhas plac\u2019d us in, and Another to Chuse and Delight in\u2019t thro a Stupid\nCarelesness, a fear of Trouble, or an Inordinate pursuit of the Cares\nand Pleasures of this Mortal Life. This last only shews our Disesteem\nof our Souls, our Contempt of GOD and the Talents he has given us,\nand exposes us to all the dreadful consequences of such a neglect; to\nPunishments to which not only those who misemploy their Lord\u2019s Talent,\nbut even they who don\u2019t employ it at all, are Obnoxious.\n\nAnd indeed as unnecessary as it is thought for Women to have Knowledge,\nshe who is truly good finds very great use of it, not only in the\nConduct of her own Soul but in the management of her Family, in the\nConversation of her Neighbours and in all the Concerns of Life.\nEducation of Children is a most necessary Employment, perhaps the chief\nof those who have any; But it is as Difficult as it is Excellent when\nwell perform\u2019d; and I question not but that the mistakes which are made\nin it, are a principal Cause of that Folly and Vice, which is so much\ncomplain\u2019d of and so little mended. Now this, at least the foundation\nof it, on which in a great measure the success of all depends, shou\u2019d\nbe laid by the Mother, for Fathers find other Business, they will not\nbe confin\u2019d to such a laborious work, they have not such opportunities\nof observing a Childs Temper, nor are the greatest part of \u2019em like\nto do much good, since Precepts contradicted by Example seldom prove\neffectual. Neither are Strangers so proper for it, because hardly any\nthing besides Paternal Affection can sufficiently quicken the Care\nof performing, and sweeten the labour of such a task. But Tenderness\nalone will never discharge it well, she who wou\u2019d do it to purpose must\nthroughly understand Human nature, know how to manage different Tempers\nPrudently, be Mistress of her own, and able to bear with all the little\nhumours and follies of Youth, neither Severity nor Lenity are to be\nalways us\u2019d, it wou\u2019d ruin some to be treated in that manner which is\nfit for others. As Mildness makes some ungovernable, and as there is a\nstupor in many from which nothing but Terrors can rouse them, so sharp\nReproofs and Solemn Lectures serve to no purpose but to harden others,\nin faults from which they might be won by an agreeable Address and\ntender application. GOD himself waits to be gracious and administers\nhis Medicines in the most proper season, and Parents shou\u2019d imitate\nhim in this, for the want of observing it, and of accommodating their\nMethods to the several Dispositions they have to deal with, is perhaps\nthe reason that many Pious Persons lose the fruit of their Pains and\nCare.\n\nNor will Knowledge lie dead upon their hands who have no Children to\nInstruct; the whole World is a single Ladys Family, her opportunities\nof doing good are not lessen\u2019d but encreas\u2019d by her being unconfin\u2019d.\nParticular Obligations do not contract her Mind, but her Beneficence\nmoves in the largest Sphere. And perhaps the Glory of Reforming this\nProphane and Profligate Age is reserv\u2019d for you Ladies, and that the\nnatural and unprejudic\u2019d Sentiments of your Minds being handsomly\nexpress\u2019d, may carry a more strong conviction than the Elaborate\nArguments of the Learned. Such as fence themselves against the Cannon\nthey bring down, may lie open to an Ambuscade from you. And whilst the\nstrong arguings of the Schools like the Wind in the Fable, seems but to\nharden these Sturdy Sinners, your Persuasions like the Suns mild and\npowerful rays, may oblige them to cast off that Cloak of Maliciousness\nin which they are so much intangled. And surely it is worth your while\nto fit your selves for this: \u2019Tis a Godlike thing to relieve even\nthe Temporal wants of our Fellow Creatures, to keep a _Body_ from\nperishing, but it is much more Divine, to _Save a Soul from Death_! A\nSoul which in his estimate who best knows the value of it, is worth\nmore than all the World. They who are thus _wise shall shine as the\nbrightness of the Firmament, and they who turn many to Righteousness\nas the Stars for ever_; which is a Glory we may honestly Contend for,\na Beauty we may lawfully Covet; O that we had but Ambition enough to\naspire after it! O that we had but so much at least as we see daily\nthrown away on a poor transitory Earthly Diadem, which sets uneasy on\nhis head who wears it, and which a longer arm may wrest from his Brows!\nBut alas it was in our fore-fathers days that the Kingdom of Heav\u2019n\nwas took by violence; they thought nothing, and we think every thing\ntoo much to Do or Suffer to obtain it! Not but that it is still as\nbright and glorious, as truly attractive, but we are dull and stupid we\nshut our eyes and won\u2019t behold its Charms. Were we but duly sensible\nof this we shou\u2019d think no Posterity so desireable as the Offspring\nof our Minds, nor any state so great as the carrying a large Train of\nFollowers with us to the Court of Heaven! So much Knowledge therefore\nas is necessary to engage and keep us firm in our Christian Course, to\nfit us to help others in theirs, to stir us up to pursue, and direct us\nin our endeavours after one of the brightest Crowns of Glory, does very\nwell become us; and more than this I do not contend for, being far from\ndesiring that any one shou\u2019d neglect her Necessary Affairs to amuse her\nself with nice Speculations. No; She who has a Family is discharging\npart of her Christian Calling whilst She\u2019s taking care for its Support\nand Government, and wou\u2019d be very much out, if she lock\u2019d her self in\nher Study, when her Domesticks had need of her direction. But there\nare few of those to whom I write, who have not a good deal of time to\nspare, if you reckon whats thrown away on fantastic Impertinencies,\nand \u2019tis this I wou\u2019d have better employ\u2019d: Were not a Morning more\nadvantageously spent at a Book than at a Looking-Glass, and an\nEvening in Meditation than in Gaming? Were not Pertinent and Ingenious\nDiscourse more becoming in a visit, than Idle twattle and uncharitable\nRemarks? than a Nauseous repetition of a set of fine words which no\nbody believes or cares for? And is not the fitting our selves to do\nReal Services to our Neighbours, a better expression of our Civility\nthan the formal performance of a thousand ridiculous Ceremonies, which\nevery one condemns and yet none has the Courage to break thro?\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\n    _Concerning the Regulation of the Will and the Government of the\n    Passions._\n\n\nAs the Capacity which we find in our selves of Receiving and Comparing\nIdeas is what we call the Understanding, so the Power of Preferring\nany Thought or Motion, of Directing them to This or That thing rather\nthan to another is what we mean by the Will: Whose Regularity consists\nin a constant Tendency towards such things as ought to be Prefer\u2019d, or\nin a word, in Conformity to the Will of GOD. That GOD\u2019s Will is the\nRule of ours is methinks so plain that it needs no proof; for why do\nwe Prefer a thing but because we Judge it Best? and why do we Chuse it\nbut because it Seems Good for us? Now GOD being Infinitely Wise all his\nJudgments must be Infallible, and being Infinitely Good he can Will\nnothing but what is best, nor prescribe any thing that is not for our\nAdvantage. This is I dare say what every one Thinks if they think at\nall about the matter and is the Rule they wou\u2019d Act by did they give\nthemselves leave upon all occasions duly to Consider and Weigh what is\npropos\u2019d to them.\n\nBut as there are some Ideas which our Understandings receive so early\nthat they seem to be born with us, which are never totally absent from\nour minds, and are in a manner the source of all the rest; so there\nare certain Motions or Inclinations inseparable from the Will, which\npush us on to the use of that Power, and determine it to the Choice\nof such things as are most agreeable to them. Nor shou\u2019d we do amiss\nin following these Inclinations did they keep that Impression which\nthe Author of Nature gave them, which is towards Good in general, or\ntowards himself, for he only is our True Good, and these are the Wings\nof the Soul which shou\u2019d carry it on vigorously towards him.\n\nWhether there is not in us an Inclination to do what is _Fit_, that is\nto think and Act agreeably to a Rational Nature, without considering\nour own particular advantage I shall not here dispute. For whether\nthis be so or no, \u2019tis certain that in our present Circumstances, we\ncannot separate _Fit_ and _Good_ in Reality, tho we may have distinct\nIdeas of them. What is really proper for Rational Creatures to do,\ntending necessarily to their Happiness, and nothing being able to make\nthem truly Happy but that which is fit to be done. Besides, so pure an\nInclination being wholly abstracted from Self-Love and Prejudice is not\nsubject to any Irregularity, and so needs not be spoken of here; and\nperhaps so few are acquainted with it, that it will hardly be known\nwhat we mean by it.\n\nAn Inclination therefore after Happiness is that to which we shall at\npresent reduce all the rest; which Happiness we pursue by removing\nas far as we can from that which is uneasie to us, and by uniting\nour selves as much as we are able to some Good which we suppose we\nwant. The former of these being indeed a pursuit of Good, tho not\nso Directly as the latter. Good then is the Object of the Will, and\nhitherto one wou\u2019d think there were no probability of our straying from\nthe Will of GOD, and that there were so little need of advising us\nto Will as GOD Wills that it is impossible we shou\u2019d Will otherwise;\nbecause whenever we oppose our Wills to his, we change in a manner the\nvery Constitution of our Nature and fly from that Happiness which we\nwou\u2019d pursue.\n\nBut the misfortune is as has been once observ\u2019d already, that we\nWill e\u2019re we are capable of examining the Reasons of our Choice, or\nof viewing our Ideas so exactly as we must if we wou\u2019d Judge aright.\nAnd the frequent repetition of such unreasonable Choices makes them\nCustomary to us, and consequently gives a new and wrong bias to our\nInclinations, which upon all occasions dispose the Will to the Choice\nof such things as we suppose, tho by mistake, to contribute to our\nHappiness. Add to this, that the Passions which are certain Commotions\nin the Bloud and Animal Spirits accompanying these Inclinations,\ndesign\u2019d in the Order of Nature for the good of the Body, as the\nInclinations were intended for the Good of the Soul, do so unite\nus to sensible things, and represent \u2019em with such advantage, that\nSpiritual Good which seems at a greater distance relishes very little,\nand abstracted Truths do not find us so Impartial as to examin them\nthroughly, and to give them their due Weight, when they\u2019re ballanc\u2019d\nagainst such things as may be Seen and Felt; these being commonly\npreferr\u2019d, not for their intrinsic worth, but for their outward Shew\nand the Bulk they carry.\n\nThat we always endeavour to be Happy is sufficiently evident, and that\nwe too frequently fly from GOD who only can make us so, Experience\nsadly Demonstrates. Which cou\u2019d not be did we not grosly mistake our\nHappiness, as we certainly do whenever we Will any thing in opposition\nto the Will of GOD, whatever Appearance of Good it may happen to carry.\n\u2019Tis true the Will does always pursue Good, or somewhat represented to\nit as such, but it is not always, or rather very seldom, determin\u2019d\nto the Choice of what is in it self the greatest Good. And though I\nsuppose we always Chuse that which in that Juncture in which it is\npropos\u2019d seems fittest for our Present turn, yet it is often such\nas we wou\u2019d not prefer, did we impartially examin and observe the\nConsequences. But we will not do that, chusing rather to Act by the\nWrong Judgments we have formerly made, and to follow blindly the\nPropensities they have given us, than to suspend our Inclinations as\nwe both May and Ought, and restrain them from determining our Will,\ntill we have fairly and fully examin\u2019d and ballanc\u2019d, according to the\nbest of our Knowledge, the several degrees of Good and Evil present\nand future that are in the Objects set before us. The neglect of which\nis at once both our Fault and Misery; Our Fault in that we precipitate\nour Choice, refusing to Consider sufficiently to rectifie our Mistakes.\nAnd our Misery because we shall certainly be Disappointed sooner or\nlater, and be convinc\u2019d that what was so Hastily and Unreasonably\nChosen, ought not even then to have been prefer\u2019d, how Pleasant soever\nit appear\u2019d, seeing it neither Was nor Cou\u2019d be Good for us.\n\nIt seems indeed the greatest wonder in the World how any Man in his\nSenses can prefer the short Pleasures of Sin, which are attended even\nin this Life with Pain and Shame, and a thousand Inconveniencies,\nto the Present Delights of Vertue, and the Prospect of a Felicity\nInfinite and Eternal, if he does at all compare them. An Eternity of\nJoys must needs be preferable to Fifty or Threescore Years of Sinful\nPleasures, weigh them in what Scales you please, and supposing these\nmuch greater than ever any Sinner found \u2019em, especially since they are\nattended with Eternal Pains, and no perverse Inclination can make us\nthink otherwise if it will allow us to consider. But it will not allow\nConsideration, or if it does a little permit it, it deceives us however\nwith fallacious Salvoes. It fixes our Thoughts on a Present Uneasiness\nwhich it says must be remov\u2019d, and our Desires gratify\u2019d at any rate,\nwithout suffering us to weigh the ill Consequences of doing so. And\nperhaps the Wrong bias which we receive from our Evil Inclinations does\nnot consist in the persuading us that a Present Sinful Pleasure or\nProfit, is the Greatest Good, or that it ought to be Prefer\u2019d before\nthe Favour of GOD and Eternal Beatitude, which whenever we Think of\nwe must needs acknowledge to be infinitely greater, but in keeping us\nfrom a full Conviction that th\u2019 one can\u2019t be Chosen without Renouncing\nth\u2019 other, and in making us unwilling to examine throughly, lest we\nshou\u2019d want the pretence of Ignorance or Passion to excuse what our\nConsciences can\u2019t but Reproach us with as an unworthy Choice, whenever\nwe permit our selves to Reflect.\n\nSo that the great aggravation of Sin seems to consist in this, That\nthe commission of it is a pretending to be Wiser or Stronger than\nGOD, an attempt to out-wit him by Fineness, or else by plain Force\nto wrest his Felicity from him whether he Will or no. For seeing we\nalways Will Happiness, and yet wou\u2019d be Happy after another manner than\nGOD Wills we shall, we express a Desire, and an Endeavour so far as\nwe\u2019re able to Oppose and Alter his Will and Order, by reconciling the\ngratification of a present unreasonable Appetite with the Enjoyment of\nHappiness, tho he has declar\u2019d they can\u2019t be reconciled, and made it in\nthe ordinary course of things impossible they shou\u2019d.\n\n[Sidenote: Mr. _Boyle_ Style of Scripture.]\n\nThe Will of GOD then is the Rule of ours, and if it be ask\u2019d how we\nshall come to the Knowledge of it? the Answer is ready, that the\nEternal Word and Wisdom of GOD declares his Fathers Will unto us, by\n_Reason_ which is that Natural and Ordinary Revelation by which he\nspeaks to every one; and by that which is call\u2019d _Revelation_ in a\nstricter Sense, which is nothing else but a more perfect and infallible\nway of Reasoning, whereby we are Clearly and Fully instructed in so\nmuch of GOD\u2019s Will as is fit for us to know. We must therefore Improve\nour Reason as much as our Circumstances in the World permit, and to\nsupply its deficiency Seriously, Devoutly and Diligently study the Holy\nScriptures \u201cthan which (to use the words of a most excellent Person) a\nChristian needs understand no other Book to know the duty of his Faith\nand Life, tho indeed to understand it well, \u2019tis ordinarily requisite\nthat a pretty number of other Books be understood.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: See P. 114, _&c._]\n\nIn the former Chapter we have laid down a Method of using our Reason so\nas to discover Truth, by observing of which \u2019tis hop\u2019d we may escape\nfrom considerable Errors, and consequently from great Offences. And\ntho I can\u2019t say we shall never be Mistaken nor Chuse amiss, yet our\nInfirmities will be very pitiable, such as our Just and Merciful Lord\nGod will never impute to us, tho we our selves ought to be humbled for\nand always endeavouring to rectifie \u2019em.\n\nAfter all, the best way to be further Instructed in the Knowledge of\nour Duty is to Practise so much of it as we Know already. By keeping\nGOD\u2019s Commandments, we get such a sound and strong Constitution of\nSoul, as leads us naturally to our True Good. For as a healthy person\nwhose Tast is not vitiated, is directed by that, without examining\nthe Philosophy of Bodys to such things as are fit for the nourishment\nof his own: So a Divine Sensation gives us a lively relish of what\u2019s\nGood, and a perfect aversion to the contrary. It endues the Soul not\nonly with a Sagacity of Understanding to discern readily what is best,\nbut likewise with such a Regularity of Will, as makes it even Hate and\nAbhor all evil ways.\n\nA most desirable Temper no doubt, the very top of Human Felicity, but\nhow shall we obtain it? We find our selves under the power of quite\ncontrary Inclinations and Relishes, and how to get rid of \u2019em we know\nnot. This is indeed a very wretched condition, the only thing that\ndeserves our Sorrow, yet the Case is not so desperate, but that by the\nhelp of an Almighty Physician we may be Cured, if in good earnest we\nset about it. And because the not discerning our true Happiness and the\nbeing accustom\u2019d to pursue a false one is the cause of our Disorder,\nsomewhat must be done by way of Meditation and somewhat by way of\nExercise.\n\nNow I know not any Subjects more proper for our Meditation on this and\nall occasions, than our own Nature, the Nature of Material Beings, and\nthe Nature of GOD; because it is thro the mistake of some of these that\nour Inclinations take a wrong bias, and consequently that we transgress\nagainst GOD, our Neighbour and our selves. For did we consider what\nwe Are, that Humane Nature conflicts in the Union of a Rational Soul\nwith a Mortal Body, that the Body very often Clogs the Mind in its\nnoblest Operations, especially when indulg\u2019d. That we stand not singly\non our own Bottom, but are united in some measure to all who bear a\nHuman Form, especially to the Community amongst whom we live, and yet\nmore particularly to those several Relations we may have in it. Did we\ngo on to consider what are the proper Duties and Enjoyments of such a\nnature as ours, that is, what performances do naturally result from\nthose Capacities we find our selves endow\u2019d with, which may therefore\nbe reasonably expected from us, and what sort of Pleasures we are made\nto relish. Again, were we so far at least Philosophers, as to be able\nto pass a due estimate on Material Beings, did we know \u2019em so well as\nnot to prize them above their real value. Did we in the last place\ncontemplate the Author of our Being, _from_ whom we Derive and _to_\nwhom we owe our _All_; and insted of prying saucily into his Essence,\n(an insufferable presumption in Creatures who are ignorant of their\nown) or pretending to know more of him than he has thought fit to\ncommunicate in his Word, and in that Idea of Infinite Perfection which\nhe has giv\u2019n us, Frequently, Seriously and Humbly Meditate on what he\nhas been pleas\u2019d to unveil. Did we but employ so much of our Time and\nThoughts on these things as we do on our Sins and Vanities, we shou\u2019d\nnot be long in discerning the good effects.\n\nFor I question not but that we shou\u2019d be convinc\u2019d that the Body is\nthe Instrument of the Mind and no more, that it is of a much Inferior\nNature, and therefore ought to be kept in such a Case as to be ready\non all occasions to serve the Mind. That the true and proper Pleasure\nof Human Nature consists in the exercise of that Dominion which the\nSoul has over the Body, in governing every Passion and Motion according\nto Right Reason, by which we most truly pursue the real good of both,\nit being a mistake as well of our Duty as our Happiness to consider\neither part of us singly, so as to neglect what is due to the other.\nFor if we disregard the Body wholly, we pretend to live like Angels\nwhilst we are but Mortals; and if we prefer or equal it to the Mind we\ndegenerate into Brutes. The former indeed is not frequent, it is only\nto be found amongst a few Scrupulous Persons, who sometimes impose\nsuch rigors on the Body, as GOD never requires at their hands, because\nthey are inconsistent with a Human Frame. The latter is the common and\ndangerous fault, for the most of us accustom our selves to tast no\nother Pleasures than what are convey\u2019d to us by the Organs of Sense, we\npamper our Bodies till they grow resty and ungovernable, and instead\nof doing Service to the Mind, get Dominion over it.\n\nThus we learn what is truly to Love our selves: for tho Self-Love as it\nis usually understood has a very ill Character and is the Root of Evil,\nyet rightly apply\u2019d it is Natural and Necessary, the great inducement\nto all manner of Vertue. They cannot be said to Love their Body who\nwou\u2019d not willingly suffer a little pain in a Finger to preserve\nan Arm, much more to save their Life; nor do they in reality love\nthemselves, who wou\u2019d not readily suffer any uneasiness in their Body,\nwhich may conduce to the good of their Mind; and who do not prefer the\nleast probability of bettering their condition in the next Life, to all\nthe Conveniencies of this, nay even to Life it self.\n\nAgain, when we consider that we are but several Parts of one great\nWhole, and are by Nature so connected to each other, that whenever one\npart suffers the rest must suffer with it, either by Compassion or else\nby being punish\u2019d for the want of it, we shall never be so absurd as\nto fancy we can do ourselves a Service by any thing Injurious to our\nNeighbours.\n\nAnd finding both that we\u2019re endow\u2019d with many excellent Faculties,\nwhich are capable of great Improvement, such as bespeak in us somewhat\ntoo Divine, to have it once imagin\u2019d that it was made for nothing else\nbut to move a portion of Matter 70 or 80 Years; to Act only on the\nStage of an Unjust and Ill-natur\u2019d World, where Folly and Wickedness\nusually go away with the Reward that is due to Wisdom and Vertue: And\nyet that for all these Excellencies, somewhat is still wanting to\ncomplete our Happiness, we do not find intire Felicity in our selves,\nbut we are conscious of many wants which must be supply\u2019d elsewhere.\nWe therefore look about to see where we may meet with this Supply, and\nMaterial Beings with which were compass\u2019d do first present themselves.\nThese are the Objects of our Senses, it is at their presence that the\nBody tasts all its Pleasures, no wonder therefore if it endeavour to\npersuade us that our Good is here, tho a little Consideration, if not\nour frequent disappointments when we seek no further, were sufficient\none wou\u2019d think to convince us that it is not. For when we come to\nweigh \u2019em in an impartial consideration we discern, that as they are\nGOD\u2019s Work they have a Perfection suitable to their several Natures,\nand are as perfect as is consistent with the several Ranks and Stations\nthey are plac\u2019d in, so that consider\u2019d Positively they are not to be\nContemn\u2019d, since they set forth the Wisdom, Power and Goodness of their\nMaker. But if we compare them with the Human Soul they appear of\nlittle value, and of none at all in comparison of Him who made them;\nand since their Nature is beneath, and their Worth much less than ours,\nwe cannot find our Happiness in \u2019em. They contribute \u2019tis true to the\nPreservation and Ease of the Body, they help to make it fit for the\nService of the Mind; But since a very few of \u2019em will do this, the rest\nare but a load and trouble, so far from being useful, that they indeed\nhurt us, unless they\u2019re made to minister to Charity and Contemplation.\n\nLet then these little things be drawn aside, these Clouds that hide\nthe most adorable Face of GOD from us, these Mud-walls that enclose\nour Earthly Tabernacle and will not suffer us to be pierc\u2019d with the\nBeams of his Glory, and wounded, not to Death but Life, with the Arrows\nof his Love and Beauty. In him we find that infinite Good which alone\ncan satisfie us, and which is not to be found elsewhere! Somewhat in\nwhich we lose our selves with Wonder, Love and Pleasure! Somewhat too\nineffable to be nam\u2019d, too Charming, too Delightful not to be eternally\ndesir\u2019d! And were we not sunk into Sense, and buried alive in a croud\nof Material Beings, it might seem impossible to think of any thing but\nHim. For whether we consider the Infinite Perfection of his Nature,\nor the Interest we have in, and our intire dependance on him. Whether\nwe consider him as Maker and Governor of all things, as filling all\nplaces, intimately acquainted with all Events, as Righteous in all his\nways, and holy in all his works. Whether we contemplate his Almighty\nPower; or what seems more suitable to our Faculties and Condition, the\nSpotless Purity of his Nature, the Moral Rectitude of his Will, which\nguided by Infallible Wisdom always Chuses what is Best. And more\nparticularly his Infinite Goodness, his Beneficence to the Children of\nMen; that he is not only Good in himself, but that he is also _Our_\nGood, the only Amiable Being, who is altogether Lovely, and worthy\nof All our Love, the Object of our Hope, the Sum of our Desire, the\nCrown of our Joy, without whom we shall for ever Languish and Grieve;\nEnjoying whom we have nothing to Fear, nor any thing to Hate but what\nwou\u2019d deprive us of that Enjoyment. If we consider how much he has\ndone to render us capable of this Happiness even when we fled from it;\nwhat affronts he has put up, with what Patience he bears our Follies\nand solicits our Return, in a Word, all the Wonders of his Love in\nChrist Jesus! We cannot sure do less than fix our Thoughts for ever on\nHim, and devote our selves Intirely to Him! All our Passions will be\nCharm\u2019d, and every Inclination attracted! We shall no more dispute his\nWill, nor seek exemption from it, but with all Sincerity of Heart, and\nardent Desire cry out, _Lord what wilt thou have me to do? Not my Will\nLord, but thine be done!_ The business of our Lives will be to improve\nour Minds and to stretch our Faculties to their utmost extent, that so\nwe may have the fullest enjoyment our Nature will admit, of this ever\nsatisfying and yet ever desirable, because an Infinite, and our True,\nGood.\n\nAs to what is to be done by way of Exercise, not to enter too far into\nthe Philosophy of the Passions, suffice it briefly to observe: That by\nthe Oeconomy of Nature such and such Motions in the Body are annext\nin such a manner to certain Thoughts in the Soul, that unless some\noutward force restrain, she can produce them when she pleases barely\nby willing them; and reciprocally several Impressions on the Body\nare communicated to, and affect the Soul, all this being perform\u2019d by\nthe means of the Animal Spirits. The Active Powers of the Soul, her\nWill and Inclinations are at her own dispose, her Passive are not,\nshe can\u2019t avoid feeling Pain or other sensible Impressions so long\nas she\u2019s united to a Body, and that Body is dispos\u2019d to convey these\nImpressions. And when outward Objects occasion such Commotions in the\nBloud and Animal Spirits, as are attended with those Perceptions in the\nSoul which we call the Passions, she can\u2019t be insensible of or avoid\n\u2019em, being no more able to prevent these first Impressions than she\nis to stop the Circulation of the Bloud, or to hinder Digestion. All\nshe can do is to Continue the Passion as it was begun, or to Divert it\nto another Object, to Heighthen or to let it Sink by degrees, or some\nway or other to Modifie and Direct it. The due performance of which is\nwhat we call _Vertue_, which consists in governing Animal Impressions,\nin directing our Passions to such Objects, and keeping \u2019em in such a\npitch, as right Reason requires.\n\nBy which it appears that it is not a fault to have Passions, since\nthey are natural and unavoidable, and useful too; for as the\nInclinations are the Wings of the Soul, so these give Life and Vigor\nto the Inclinations, by disposing the Body to act according to the\nDetermination of the Mind. But the fault lies here, we suffer \u2019em too\noften to get the Mastry of the Mind, to hurry it on to what Objects\nthey please and to fix it there, so that it is not able to consider\nany Idea but what they present. Whereas the Soul can if she please,\nand if she makes use of her Authority in time, divert the Course of\nthe Spirits, and direct \u2019em to a new Object, by Limiting or Extending\nher Ideas, and by laying aside those the Passions excited, and\nentertaining new ones. Nay, if we do but forbear to revolve such\nConsiderations as are apt to continue the Commotion of the Spirits, it\nwill cease of it self. This is what we _can_ and _ought_ to do, and\nif we do not perform it, we act rather like the Slaves of Sense than\nCreatures endued with Reason; but if we do, we can hardly receive any\nInjury from the Passions.\n\nThe way therefore to Govern \u2019em is to be always in a Temper fit for\nthis, Recollect and Compos\u2019d, holding our Minds in as even a poise as\never we can between Mirth and Melancholy, one of which Stupifies the\nSoul and the other Dissolves it; and both of \u2019em weaken and dispose it\nfor Passion. Nothing but what feeds the ill humor will make Impression\nwhilst it is under the power of _this_, nor any useful thing stay\nin it, but it lies open to all manner of evil, when it is violently\nagitated by _that_. Too much of either rendring us unfit to Converse\nwith our selves or others; such a mixture of both as makes us Serious\nwithout Sourness, and Chearful without Levity, being the happy Temper.\nIt is by surprize that the Passions injure us, they violently attack\nour Reason when she is not prepar\u2019d to receive them, so that the Will\nis determin\u2019d all of a sudden by Confuse Perceptions and Sensations.\nNor is it easie to repulse them when once they have gain\u2019d ground,\nbecause they often bribe our Guard, and get the Mastry of us by those\nvery Considerations which shou\u2019d have been arm\u2019d against \u2019em. But\nRecollection, a sedate and sober frame of Mind, prevents this Mischief,\nit keeps our Reason always on her Guard and ready to exert her self;\nit fits us to Judge truly of all occurrences, and to draw advantage\nfrom whatever happens. This is the true Art of Prudence, for that\nwhich properly speaks us Wise, is the accommodating all the Accidents\nof Life to the great End of Living. And since the Passiveness of our\nNature makes us liable to many Sufferings which we cou\u2019d wish to avoid,\nWisdom consists in the using those Powers, which GOD has given us the\nfree disposal of, in such a manner, as to make those very things which\nbefal us against our Will, an occasion of Good to us.\n\nFor if we do not live like Machines, but like Reasonable Creatures,\nthat is if we Observe, Examine and Apply whatever comes under our\nCognizance, every Turn in our own and our Neighbours Life will be\nUseful to us. It is not to be deny\u2019d that we\u2019re generally Critical\nObservators on our Neighbours, but I\u2019m afraid it is with an Ill not a\nGood Design. We do\u2019t to feed our Pride by an ungenerous insulting over\ntheir Infirmities, or thinking to Excuse and Justifie our own Faults by\ntheirs. But we seldom set a mark on the Precipices from whence they\nfell that we may avoid \u2019em, or note their False Steps, that ours may be\nmore Exact.\n\nAnd indeed as things are usually manag\u2019d, since Modesty, Breeding, or\nSheepish Cowardise, restrains even those who are capable of bettering\nConversation, from Edifying Discourses, the only use we can make of\nthat Time which the World borrows of us and Necessary Civility exacts,\nis to lay in Matter of Observation. I do not mean that we shou\u2019d make\nIll-natur\u2019d Remarks, or Uncharitable Reflections on Particular Persons,\nbut only that we take notice of the several workings of Human Nature,\nthe little turns and distinctions of Various Tempers; there being\nsomewhat peculiar almost in every one, which cannot be learn\u2019d but by\nConversation and the Reflections it Occasions. For as to the main, we\nlearn it by looking into our own Hearts, one Person being but the\nCounterpart of another, so that they who thorowly Know themselves have\na right Idea of Mankind in general, and by making reasonable allowances\nfor Circumstances, may pretty well guess at Particulars.\n\nBut even the Knowledge of our selves is not to be had without the\nTemper here recommended. For since the Passions do mostly depend on the\nConstitution of the Body, Age, Education and way of Living; so that\nthe same Object does not only Affect several Persons differently, but\nvariously moves the very same Person at several Seasons; and there was\nonce a time perhaps, when that which puts us now in a ferment had no\npower to move us: We must therefore to the general consideration of\nHuman Nature already spoken of, add a more minute inquiry into our own;\nObserving our Particular Passions, that especially to which we\u2019re most\ninclin\u2019d by Nature, on which all the rest in a manner depend; and all\nthe Peculiarities that are to be found in our own Temper. Very great\nthings many times depending on a trivial Humour; nor is it so often\nReason, as our particular way of using it that determines our Thoughts\nand Actions. Now nothing less than a continual Watch and Application\ncan procure us a sufficient Acquaintance with our selves, we cannot\nwell discern what Objects most sensibly touch us; which is our weakest\nside; by what means it is Expos\u2019d or Strengthened; how we may Restrain\nor rightly Employ a Passion we cou\u2019d not Prevent; and consequently grow\nstrong by our very Infirmities, whilst we make them an occasion of\nExercising and Encreasing our Vertue unless we\u2019re always in a watchful\nFrame, unless we make Remarks even whilst the Passion is working,\nand Constantly attend the least beatings of our own Heart. Our own\nHeart which is indeed one of the best Books we can Study, especially\nin respect of Morality, and one principal Reason why we\u2019re no better\nProficients in useful Knowledge, is because we don\u2019t duly consult it.\n\nAgain, we shou\u2019d endeavour to render Spiritual and Future things as\nPresent and Familiar as may be, and to withdraw as much as we can from\nsensible Impressions, especially from such as attack us violently.\nShe whose Mind is busied about the former will find \u2019em of Weight and\nMoment sufficient to employ all her Passions, whilst the other will be\nscarce taken notice of; or be look\u2019d on with Indifferency, because they\nappear to deserve very little Admiration, Joy, or Sorrow, and are not\nof value enough to discompose the Mind. And tho we have not Ambition\nto aspire to St. _Paul_\u2019s Perfection, who was _Crucified to the World\nand the World to him_, a greater Character than that of _Universal\nMonarch_; tho we think it impossible to be wholly Insensible to it\nwhilst we live in it: Yet sure we can\u2019t deny that it is Possible, and\nvery much our Duty, to be more indifferent to the Objects of Sense than\nthe most of us are. For we certainly do amiss if we fix our Eyes and\nThoughts so constantly on \u2019em, as that at last we take them for the\nmost considerable things, and imagine that our Happiness is here; or,\ntho we can\u2019t be so gross as to _believe_ this, yet if we _act_ as if\nwe did; It wou\u2019d become us much better to argue, that the Possession\nof these Worldly Advantages which Mankind so much contend for, is Good\nif it can procure us Eternal Felicity; and that the Want of \u2019em is an\nEvil, if it exclude us from the Kingdom of Heav\u2019n.\n\nBy which we learn how necessary it is to Retire and Meditate\nfrequently; and how much it becomes us to keep out of the way of\nTheatrical Shows and inordinate Merriments, and not so much as to\nenter into a Parley with those Pomps and Vanities we renounc\u2019d in our\nBaptism. For tho some extraordinary Tempers may make use of these to\nstir up the Powers of their Soul, and to give them a greater aversion\nto Vanity, as some Poysons are said to be Antidotes against others,\nyet for the most part they have an ill Effect: Because they deprive\nthe Soul of real Joy and divine Serenity, by making too strong an\nImpression on the Senses, whereby the Animal Spirits are very much\nMov\u2019d and Exhausted, and being spent on trifles the Mind is left Dull,\nUnactive, and Melancholy too, especially if it Reflect on its Actions\nas it ought; so natural and necessary is it, that Vain Mirth shou\u2019d\nconclude in Heaviness.\n\n[Sidenote: _Les Passions de l\u2019Ame._]\n\nAgain, the Passions consider\u2019d as Bodily Impressions only, excite us\nmany times to the Gratification of the Animal in prejudice of the\nRational Nature. For tho Mankind had Originally no Appetites but what\nmight Innocently be satisfied; yet since our Degeneracy, and that we\nhave lost the true Relish of Good and Evil, they often give us false\nalarms, stirring us up to Pursue or Avoid what indeed we Ought not,\nif we consult our Good in the Main, and not the pleasing of a Part,\nnay the Worst part of us. But if we consider \u2019em as attending our\nInclinations, they can do no hurt, let \u2019em be as Brisk and Active as\nthey can, provided they fix on their Proper Objects. Now what these are\nis to be found by the Nature of the Passions, by which we are led to\nthe Use of \u2019em, since every thing ought to be employ\u2019d about that which\nit is fitted for. But this being already accounted for by _Des Cartes_\nand _Dr. More_, in his excellent _Account of Vertue_, I cannot pretend\nto add any thing to what they have so well Discours\u2019d. Only as a\nfurther confirmation of what has been already said we may observe; That\nAdmiration gives Rise to all the Passions; for unless we were Affected\nwith the Newness of an Object, or some other remarkable Circumstance,\nso as to be attentively engag\u2019d in the Contemplation of it, we shou\u2019d\nnot be any wise mov\u2019d, but it wou\u2019d pass by unregarded. And therefore\n\u2019tis very necessary not to be struck with _little_ things, or to busie\nour Minds about \u2019em, but to fix all our Attention on, and to keep all\nour Admiration for things of the greatest moment, such as are those\nwhich relate to another World.\n\nWe may further observe, that there is a leading Passion almost in\nevery one, to which the Temper of their Body inclines, and on which\nthe rest do in a manner wholly depend, especially if it be confirm\u2019d\nby Education and Custom, so that if we duly manage _this_, we have\nthe Command of all. Some are more subject to _Fear_, some to _Hope_,\nto _Joy_, _Sorrow_ or the like, than others; but _Love_ seems to be\nthe predominant Passion in every one, and that which makes one of\nthe former more remarkable than another, is only because it has been\noftner mixt with Love. And indeed, since this is at the bottom of\nall the Passions, one wou\u2019d think they\u2019re nothing else but different\nModifications of it, occasion\u2019d by some Circumstance in the Subject\nor Object of this Passion. Thus _Desire_ is a Love to Good consider\u2019d\nas Future; _Hope_ the Passion that disposes us to believe we may, and\n_Fear_ that we shall not obtain it. _Joy_ is a pleasant Commotion\nof the Soul in the Fruition of the Good we Love; and _Sorrow_ a\ndisagreeable one occasion\u2019d by the want of it, or presence of its\ncontrary. The like may be said of the rest, for even _Hatred_ tho it\nappear directly opposite to Love, may be refer\u2019d to it, the very same\nmotion that carrys the Soul towards Good, carrying her also from those\nthings which wou\u2019d deprive her of it, which on that account are call\u2019d\nEvils, and why do we Hate any thing, but because it does some way or\nother hinder our Enjoyment of what we Love?\n\nIf therefore our Love be Right, the rest of our Passions will of course\nbe so; and our Love which is _a motion of the Soul to joyn it self to\nthat which appears to be grateful to it_, will then be right when our\nNotions of Good and Evil are; That is, when we do not take up with\nImaginary or Particular, but pass on to the Sovereign Good, to GOD who\nis the only proper and adequate Object of our Love, as Sin is of our\nHatred, all things else being no otherwise to be Pursued or Avoided,\nthan in proportion to the Relation they bear to these. So that if we\nLove GOD with _All_ our Soul, as He certainly Deserves, and as we\ncertainly Must if we wou\u2019d be Happy; we shall be so taken up with the\nContemplation and _Admiration_ of his Beauties, have so boundless an\n_Esteem_, such an awful _Veneration_ for, and so great a _Contempt_ of\nall things in Comparison of Him; that our _Desires_ will be carried\nout after nothing but GOD, and such things as may further our Union\nwith Him. His Favour, and the Light of His Countenance will be the\nObject of our _Hopes_, nor shall we much _Fear_ any thing but His\nDispleasure. No _Grief_ will pierce our Heart but for our many Offences\nagainst, and our Imperfect _Enjoyment of Him_. _We shall perfectly\nHate all evil ways_, be _Jealous_ of Sin at the remotest distance, and\n_suspect_ every thing that has the least appearance of a Temptation. We\nshall be extremely Watchful over all our Actions, and never Resolve\nupon any till we\u2019re fully assur\u2019d it is conformable to his Will and\nPleasure. Whither will not our _Emulation_ rise, what Difficulties\nwon\u2019t our _Courage_ surmount, when th\u2019 Enjoyment of a GOD is what\nwe aspire to! The defects of our Services, and our failings in our\nDuty towards Him, will be the only occasion of _Shame_; for Reproach\nfrom Men when suffer\u2019d for His sake will be counted a high Encomium,\nand his Approbation our only _Glory_. If ever we are _Angry_ it will\nbe when His Laws are Contemn\u2019d and Right Reason violated; a just\n_Indignation_ will arise when the Worthless are Prefer\u2019d, and Merit\nis left unregarded. His Favourites will be ours, we shall dispense\nour _Good-will_ to every one proportionably as they are dear to Him;\nand shall think our _Gratitude_ can never enough express it self, to\nthat Bountiful Being from whom we receiv\u2019d our All. And Oh! with what\n_Joy_ and _Satisfaction of Mind_ shall we proceed in every step of\nthis! how pure and exalted is that Pleasure, how highly entertaining,\nwhich results from the right use of our Faculties, and Fruition of the\nSovereign Good! Happiness is the natural Effect as well as the Reward\nof an Ardent Love to GOD, and what necessarily flows from it, Universal\nPiety: That Holy Soul is always serene, and full of unutterable Bliss,\nwhose Reason Directs, and whose Passions readily Obey, whilst both are\nGuided by his Will and Spirit who is Infallible. She tasts a Pleasure\nwhich the World can neither give nor take away, nor can Worldly Minds\nso much as Imagine it: She is satisfied with the Past, Enjoys the\nPresent, and has no Solicitude for, but a Joyful Expectation of what\u2019s\napproaching. For why the Dawnings of a Blisful Endless Day, break\nforth already in that Happy Mind, whose Temper and Constitution is\nHeavenly; it has a Foretaste, and thereby a well-grounded Assurance, of\nnever-ceasing Joys to Come!\n\nSo far (by the way) is Religion from being an Enemy either to Nature\nor Pleasure, that it perfects the one, and raises the other to the\ngreatest height. It teaches us the true Use of the Creatures, keeps\nus from expecting more in them than we can ever find, and leads us to\nthe Enjoyment of the Creator who only can satisfie us. For I wou\u2019d\nfain know of any experienced Person, whether any of the Delights of\nthis World did ever answer Expedition when Enjoy\u2019d, and whether the\nJoys of Religion do not exceed it? We come to the first with mighty\nhopes and are always Disappointed, to the last we approach with Fear\nand Trembling, supposing it will rob us of all the Satisfactions of\nLife, we shrink at the Pain and Difficulty, and thats the only thing\nin which after a little Trial we find our selves much mistaken. Good\nChristians being indeed the truest _Epicures_, because they have the\nmost tastful and highest Enjoyment of the greatest Good.\n\n[Sidenote: Ladies Calling.]\n\nFor GOD is too Kind and Bountiful to deny us any Pleasure befitting\nour Nature; he does not require us to relinquish Pleasure, but only\nto exchange the Gross and Insipid for the Pure and Relishing, the\nPleasures of a Brute for those of a Man. He wou\u2019d not have us enslav\u2019d\nto any Appetite, or so taken up with any Created Good whatever, as not\nto be able to maintain the Empire of our Reason and Freedom of our Will\nand to quit it when we see occasion. And this is all that the Rules\nof Self-Denial and Mortification tend to so far as they are Rational,\nthey mean no more than the procuring us a Power and Disposition to do\nthat which we come now in the last place to recommend, which is, To\nsanctifie our very Infirmities, to make even the disorderly Commotions\nof our Spirits an occasion of producing Holy Passions. It were better\nindeed if they were rais\u2019d upon a right Principle; that the Passions\ndid not move the Mind, but the Mind the Passions; and that the Motives\nto Religion were not Sensitive but Rational. However in the Infancy\nof our Vertue, it may not be amiss to make some use of our Vices, and\nwhat we advise if it serve no other end, \u2019twill help at least to break\nIll-Habits and that\u2019s a considerable benefit. Agreeable to which did\nan excellent Author bespeak the Ladies sometime ago: _Let her that\nis Amorous, place her Love upon him who is the Chiefest among ten\nthousand; she that is Angry turn her edg against her Sins; she that is\nhaughty disdain the Devils Drudgery; she that is Fearful dread him who\ncan destroy, both Body and Soul in Hell; and she that is sad reserve\nher Tears for her Penitential Offices._ Which, with the rest of that\nAuthors Ingeniuous and Kind Advice, I heartily wish were not only to be\nseen in their Closets, but transcrib\u2019d in their Hearts and Legible in\ntheir Lives and Actions.\n\nNow in order to this, if our guard has been surpriz\u2019d, and some\nsensible Impression has strongly broke in upon us, so that we find our\nselves all in a ferment, let us manage the Opportunity discreetly,\nchange the Object and hallow the Passion. Which is no very difficult\nthing, for when a Passion is boyling it will spend it self on any\nObject that we please to fix it on. And the Proper Objects of our\nPassions, being most considerable in \u2019emselves, and naturally most apt\nto move us if we\u2019ll but give them fair play, that is allow \u2019em a place\nin our Thoughts, they\u2019ll work out the other, and make our Passions what\nthey shou\u2019d be: We have a plain Instance of this in Afflictions, in\nwhich our _Grief_ is at first excited by some outward Cause, and when\nthat has softned us, the Spirit of GOD who is never wanting unless we\nNeglect or Quench him, improves this Worldly into a _Godly Sorrow_ that\nworketh Repentance not to be Repented of.\n\nBesides, as there is a Pleasure in the Passions as well as in all the\ngenuine Operations of Nature, so there\u2019s a Pain accompanying \u2019em when\nmisplac\u2019d, which disposes the Mind to a readiness to rectifie them,\nthat so it may enjoy the Pleasure without mixture of Pain. If therefore\nwe assist it with a little Meditation, it will readily come over; and\ntho we may find it difficult absolutely to quash a Passion that is once\nbegun, yet it is no hard matter to transfer it, so that it may pour\nforth it self in all its pleasing transports, without fear of danger,\nor mixture of uneasiness.\n\nBut a Caution will not be amiss, which is, that we don\u2019t mistake the\nFits of Passion for a Spirit of Piety and Devotion. They are good\nbeginnings \u2019tis true, but if we\u2019re only wafted up to Heaven in our\nClosets, and shew forth nothing or very little of it in our Lives\nand Conversations, we may cheat our selves with the conceit of being\nHoly, but neither GOD nor Man will be so impos\u2019d on. She who mourns\nfor her Sins, tho never so bitterly, and yet returns to them at the\nnext occasion, gives a very good Evidence of her Weakness, but none of\nher Repentance. She who pretends to never so great transports of Love\nto GOD, and yet is wedded to the world, can part with nothing for his\nsake, nor be content and easie when He only is her Portion, gives Him\ngood words, and makes Him many fine Complements and that\u2019s the whole\nof the matter. She who makes shew of great Awe and Reverence towards\nthe Divine Majesty at Church and has no regard to Him in the World\nhis larger Temple, as good as declares that she thinks his Presence\nconfin\u2019d to a place, or that she hopes to commute a Days neglect for\nan Hours Observance, and expresses her Contempt of GOD much more than\nher Veneration. How can she profess to Hope in Him who is Anxious and\nSolicitous about the least Event? Or say that her Desires are fix\u2019t on\nGOD who has a great many Vanities and Sensual Aptites to be Satisfied?\n\nNor are we less out of the way when we tincture our Religion with our\nPassions, and fashion an Idea of it according to our own Complection\nnot the tenor of the Gospel. Hence comes that great diversity we meet\nwith both in Practice and Theory, for as there is somewhat Peculiar\nalmost in every ones Temper, so is there in their Religion. Is our\nDisposition Sad and Cloudy, are we apt to take Offence, Suspicious\nand hard to be pleas\u2019d? we imagine GOD is so, Religion is not our Joy\nbut our Task and Burden, we become extremely scrupulous and uneasie\nto our selves and others. And if Resolution and Daring be joyn\u2019d with\nour Melancholy, and Temptations fall pat in our way, we discard such\na troublesome Religion and set up for Atheism and Infidelity. On the\nother hand, if we\u2019re Fearful and Timerous our Superstition has no\nbounds, we pay less regard to those Laws our Maker has prescrib\u2019d, than\nwe do to those Chimera\u2019s our own Fancy has invented to reconcile Him.\nA mistake which the Brisk and Jovial are sensible of, but not of the\ncontrary extreme they run into; they discern that GOD\u2019s ways are ways\nof Pleasantness, and all his Paths are Peace, that Good Christians\nlive the Happiest Lives, \u2019tis their Duty to Rejoyce evermore, and all\nthe good things of the World are at their service. All which is very\ntrue, but then it is as true, that their Pleasures are not Sensual\nbut Rational and Spiritual, which is not a lessening, but an Addition\nto their Character; that we are to Use the World so as not to abuse\neither our selves or it, to testify on all occasions our Moderation and\nContempt of it, to be ready to quit it, nay even to part with Life it\nself when ever they come in competition with our Duty. In a word, if\nour Anger against our own Sins provokes us to be Peevish with others,\ntho not so good as they shou\u2019d be, it goes too far. If our Zeal finds\nfault with all who do not come up to our Heights, or who don\u2019t express\ntheir Devotion in our way, it is not according to Knowlege, that is, it\nis not Discreet and Christian. If our great Love to GOD takes us up so\nmuch, that we think we may be morose and ill-natur\u2019d to our Neighbour,\nwe express it in a very disagreeable way: And I dare say it wou\u2019d be\nmore acceptable to Him, if insted of spending it all in Rapture and\nDevotion, a part of it were employ\u2019d in Imitating his Beneficence to\nour Fellow-Creatures.\n\nTo wind up all; The Sum of our Duty and of all Morality, is to have a\nTemper of Mind so absolutely Conform\u2019d to the Divine Will, or which is\nthe same in other words, such an Habitual and Intire Love to GOD, as\nwill on all occasions excite us to the Exercise of such Acts, as are\nthe necessary consequents of such a Habit. This frame and Constitution\nof Soul is what we must all our Life time Labour after, it is to be\nbegun, and some Proficiency made in it whilst we stay on Earth, and\nthen we may joyfully wait for its Consummation in Heaven, the reason\nwhy we cannot be perfectly Happy whilst we tarry here, being only\nbecause we can have this Temper but Imperfectly. The want of which is\nthe Hell of the Damn\u2019d, the degree of their misery bearing a proportion\nto their opposition to the Divine Will. For Happiness is not _without_\nus, it must be found in our own Bosoms, and nothing but a Union with\nGOD can fix it there; nor can we ever be United to Him any other wise\nthan by being like Him, by an Intire Conformity to his Will.\n\nNow she who has obtain\u2019d this blessed Temper, whose Will is Right, and\nwho has no Passion but for GOD\u2019s Service, is pleas\u2019d that his Wisdom\nshou\u2019d Chuse her Work, and only prepares to dispatch it with the\ngreatest Diligence and Chearfulness. She keeps All his Precepts, and\ndoes not pick and Chuse such as are for her turn, and most agreeable\nto her own Humor; but as she does every thing for His Sake, so is she\neasy and pleas\u2019d under all his Dispensations; is truly indifferent to\nApplause, and fully content with GOD\u2019s Approbation. Indeed the Conquest\nof our Vanity is one of our last Triumphs, and a Satisfaction in all\nGOD\u2019s Choices for us, from a full Conviction that they are most for our\nadvantage, the best Test of a Regular Will and Affections. For these\nare heights to which we can\u2019t arrive till we have travers\u2019d over all\nthe Paths of Vertue, and when once our Passions are reduc\u2019d to this, I\nknow not in what they can oppose us.\n\nNot but that we\u2019re strictly oblig\u2019d to _Provide for honest things in\nthe Sight of Men_ as well as of _GOD_, to do nothing but what is of\n_Good Report_; _to Abstain from all Appearance of Evil_; not to _give\nOccasion_ of Slander to those who desire and _Seek_ it; but to _Let\nour Light so shine before Men, that they may see our Good-works and\nGlorify our Father who is in Heaven_. But when we have done this, and\nhave taken all possible care to approve our selves to GOD and Man,\ncan we be at Ease if we fail in the latter? Are we more desirous of a\nGood than a Great Reputation? and wou\u2019d we not to get a Name amongst\nour Fellow Servants, do any thing that may in the least Offend, or be\nless acceptable to our Common Master? Can we bear the being Censur\u2019d\nas Singular and Laugh\u2019d at for Fools, rather than comply with the evil\nCustoms of the Age? and are we much more Covetous of the Substance\n_Vertue_, than of the Shadow _Fame_? If it be so we\u2019re pretty sure\nthat all is Right, and that GOD\u2019s will is the Rule, and his Glory the\nEnd of all our Actions. It goes to a good Womans heart to receive that\nCommendation which the good-nature or Civility of another bestows on\nher, when she knows she does not Merit it, and to find whilst she\u2019s\napplauded abroad, a thousand Follies, Mistakes and Weaknesses in her\nown Mind. All the use that she makes of her Credit and Esteem in the\nWorld, is to excite her to Deserve it, tho at present perhaps she does\nnot, and _Really_ to come up to that Character which all are Ambitious\nto have.\n\nAgain, what is said of Submission and a perfect acquiescence in the\nDivine Will, is not to be so understood as if it were a fault to change\nour Circumstances when we\u2019re fairly and honestly call\u2019d to\u2019t, or that\nwe might not seek by honourable ways to enlarge them if they sit too\nstrait. But it is design\u2019d to correct that Complaining humor, which\nmakes us always dissatisfied with the Present, and longing after a\nChange; which, how Religious soever we wou\u2019d appear, is a very sure\nsign that our Passions are not mortified nor our Will reduced to a due\nRegularity: As hers is without doubt who can be pleas\u2019d when even her\nmost innocent Desires are denied, when she is disappointed in what she\nthinks her Best Designs. For such an one has nothing in her Temper that\nSensible Impressions can so strongly fasten on, as to discompose her\nMind; and what can she meet with to seduce her to Unlawful, who desires\nnot to be her own Chuser in Lawful and Indifferent things?\n\nThe Laws of GOD have a Natural and Inward Goodness, which wou\u2019d\nrecommend them to a Rational Mind tho they were not injoyn\u2019d, and\ntherefore no wonder that Temper inclines one, Conveniency another, and\nReputation a third to the Practise of some of them. But a Will duly\nregulated passes over these and is acted by a higher Motive, she who is\nReligious upon a Right Principle regards the Will of GOD only, for that\nand that alone is able to carry her Uniformly and Constantly thro all\nher Duty. Thus Acts of Beneficence, Liberality and Charity, are full\nof Lustre, they procure for their Possessor a lofty Character, and\ntherefore whether we Value them or no, we\u2019re willing however to _seem_\nto be fond of \u2019em. We fancy what mighty things we wou\u2019d do were we in\nsuch or such a Persons Circumstances, and long to be Rich and Great\nthat we may Relieve the Needy and Rescue the Oppressed. But we are\nnot so forward in aspiring after Poverty, tho nothing shews a Braver\nMind than the bearing it Nobly and Contentedly; we care not to be the\nOppressed Person, that we might exercise Meekness and Forgiveness,\nPatience and Submission. Not but that the Vertues of Adversity are as\nlovely in themselves, and as Acceptable to GOD as those of Prosperity,\nor rather more so, because they express a greater Love to GOD, are\nmore opposite to Vicious Self-Love, and do more eminently declare the\nVeneration we have for the Divine Wisdom and Goodness, which we can\nAdore and Delight in, which we can Justify and Applaud even in the\nmost uneasy Circumstances. But they don\u2019t make so great a Figure in\nthe World, they don\u2019t feed our Vanity so much, nor are so agreeable to\nFlesh and Bloud, and that\u2019s the reason why we care not for them.\n\n\u2019Tis true we profess that we desire Riches and Honour, a great\nReputation and Theater in the World, on no other account but to do GOD\nService. But if we are real in this, why don\u2019t we perform so much as\nwe might in our Present Station? Alas! we Cheat our selves, as well\nas endeavour to impose on others; and under Pretence of seeking GOD\u2019s\nGlory, in Reality pursue nothing but our own. For had we indeed that\nEsteem for GOD and Intire Conformity to his Will, which is at once both\nthe Duty and Perfection of all Rational Beings, we shou\u2019d not complain\nof his Exercise of that Power, which a Prince or even an Ordinary\nMaster has a Right to; which is, to set his Servants about such work as\nhe thinks them fittest for. If we allow that GOD Governs the Universe,\ncan we so much as imagine that it is not Govern\u2019d with the Greatest\nJustice and Equity, Order and Proportion? Is not every one of us plac\u2019d\nin such Circumstances as Infinite Wisdom discerns to be most suitable,\nso that nothing is wanting but a careful observation whither they lead\nus, and how we may best improve them? What reason then to complain of\nthe Management of the world? and indeed except in the Morals of Mankind\nwhich are visibly and grossly deprav\u2019d, I see not why we shou\u2019d so much\nas wish for any alteration. The Wicked Prosper sometimes and what then?\nshall we grudge them their Portion _here_, since that\u2019s their All, and\nalas a very sorry one!\n\nBesides, this world is not a soil for perfect Happiness to Grow in,\nGood and Evil are blended together, every Condition has its Sweet and\nBitter, we maybe Made by Adversity and ruin\u2019d by Prosperity according\nas we manage them. Riches and Power put opportunities of doing Good\ninto our hands, if we have a Will to Use them, but at the same time\nthey furnish us with Instruments of doing Evil. They afford us at once\nthe Conveniences of Life and fuel for irregular Appetites. They make us\nknown to others, but many times hinder us from being acquainted with\nour selves. They set us in view, so that if our Example be Bright it\nbecomes the more Illustrious; but we must also remember that our Faults\nare as conspicuous as our Vertues, and that Peoples eyes are most\nintent on _those_, and most inquisitive to find \u2019em, so that even our\ninnocent Liberties are many times misconstrued.\n\nBy Obscurity, and a Narrow Fortune, we\u2019re depriv\u2019d of somewhat\nNecessary or Commodious to our Present Living, but are quickned to a\nmore diligent concern for a Life to Come; we don\u2019t find our Good things\n_here_, and common Prudence will teach us to take care that we may\nenjoy them _hereafter_. If we do not Possess much, we have not much to\nLose, nor such great Accounts to make; have little Business and less\nAuthority with others, but hereby the more Command of our own Time and\nThoughts. Our Vertue is plac\u2019d in an ill-light, and our Wisdom rejected\nwith a _What Impertinents are these, who pragmatically attempt to\nInstuct their Betters_? but we have fewer Temptations to shock the one,\nand greater Advantages, as things are commonly manag\u2019d to improve both.\nWe\u2019re expos\u2019d to the Contempt and Outrage of the World, but that makes\nus less in love with it, and more ready to welcome Death, whene\u2019er it\nbrings the kind Releasing Summons.\n\nIt may be thought a considerable omission that no directions have bin\ngiven, any further than the management of our _Own_ Inclinations and\nPassions; tho\u2019t be very advantageous to know how to deal with other\nPeoples, both in regard of Education, and of the Influence that they\nhave on ours. But I have this to say, that Education is a beaten\nSubject, and has been accounted for by better Pens than mine: And that\nin this as in all other things, we are to treat our Neighbours as we\ndo our selves, shew \u2019em the unsuitableness of those Objects which\nIrregular Affections pursue, and persuade them to a willing use of such\nmethods as we take to Cure our own. It requires I confess, no little\nSkill to do this to purpose, and to convince them that, we\u2019re really\ntheir Friends, whilst we strive to divorce them from such Objects as\nthey\u2019re endear\u2019d and fastned to by a thousand tyes: And this is so nice\na matter, so laborious a task, that the more I consider it the more\nunable I find my self to give sit Directions for the performance of\nit. They who wou\u2019d do that, must have a more exact Knowlege of Human\nNature, a greater Experience of the World, and of those differences\nwhich arise from Constitution, Age, Education, receiv\u2019d Opinions,\noutward Fortune, Custom and Conversation, than I can pretend to. And\nperhaps there is no need of Directions since few will attempt to\npractise them; for if a Passion that is young and tender gives us work\nenough, as the difficulty of Education plainly shews it does, they had\nneed be very Kind, very Good, and very Wise, who set about the Cure of\nan Old and inveterate one. Nor can they who have so much Divinity in\ntheir Mind as to design such a noble work, be thought to stand in need\nof any advice how to perform it.\n\nHowever, I\u2019ll venture to say in general, that we must never oppose\nCommotion with Commotion, nor be in Passion our selves if we wou\u2019d\nreform anothers, else we lose many good Opportunities and seem to seek\nthe gratification of our own humor rather than our Neighbours good. No\ndiscouragements shou\u2019d shock us, no ungrateful returns shou\u2019d lower\nour Temper, but we must expect and be prepar\u2019d to bear many repulses\nand wild disorders, and patiently sustain that greatest uneasiness to\na Christian Mind, the bitter appearance that our Hopes are lost, and\nthat all the Labour of our Love is ineffectual! We must abound both in\nGood-Nature and Discretion, and not seldom make use of quite contrary\nMeans to bring about the End we aim at. Removing all Fuel from the\nPassion sometimes; and sometimes Indulging it as far as Innocently we\nmay; and if nothing else will do, give it line enough, that so it may\ndestroy it self in its own Excesses.\n\nBut ah! will any one drive us to such a desperate Remedy as often\nKills, and cannot Cure without a very great Care, and a more than\nOrdinary assistance of GOD\u2019s Grace, which they have little reason\nto hope for, who abandon themselves to Temptations, and push things\nto such Extremities! Will nothing less than Temporal Ruin which\nunreasonable Passions naturally end in serve to prevent Eternal? and it\nwere well if even that wou\u2019d do, for they usually involve in both. If\ntherefore such as are in Passion are capable of hearing any thing but\nwhat soothes \u2019em in their own way, I wou\u2019d beg of \u2019em for GOD\u2019s sake\nand their own, to grant but this one very easy and equitable Request,\nwhich is Calmly to Hear and to Consider what may be said against their\ndarling Passion. For if it be Right it will stand the test of all that\ncan be urg\u2019d against it; if it be not, is it Good for them to retain\nand cherish it any longer? And if they refuse to listen to the _Kind_,\ntho according to them, unseasonable and mistaken advice that is given,\nand seek no further than for Arguments to Justifie themselves, do\nthey not by so great a Partiality secretly confess that they are in\nthe Wrong, and wou\u2019d not have it discover\u2019d that they are so, because\nthey\u2019re resolv\u2019d with or without Reason to continue their irregular\nPassion?\n\nAnd the cause of this strange Resolution seems to be this, That a\nPassion of any sort having got the hank of one, it becomes so Natural,\nso Agreeable, that the going about to wean them from it, looks like an\nattempt to deprive them of all their Joy; and they\u2019re hardly persuaded\nto part with what\u2019s a _Present_ Delight, let its Consequences be what\nthey may, and tho the quitting of it be in order to th\u2019 enjoyment of\nthat much Sweeter, as well as Nobler Pleasure, which arises from\nthe due use of Reason; and with which those Wise and Holy Souls are\nentertain\u2019d, who prefer the relishes of a Rational before those of an\nAnimal Life.\n\nBut they ought not to think us their Enemies, when we endeavour their\nCure, tho we happen to Lance and Scarifie them. They who are Sick of\nPassion are like People in a Lethargy, insensible of their Danger;\nnay they\u2019re fond of their Disease, and set themselves against our\nMedicines; tho the greater unwillingness they show to be Disturb\u2019d,\nso much the more need of Rousing \u2019em out of their pleasing slumber.\nThe more secure they think themselves, the more wretched is their\nCondition, for that\u2019s a sign that the Passion has got an intire\nPossession of their Soul, and has fortified all its Avenues against\nReason and Wholesome Advice. And \u2019tis worth being remarqued, that our\nInclinations how Innocent and Harmless soever they appear, are always\nto be suspected if the Passions that accompany them are violent. For\nViolence does not Answer but Destroy the Use of Passion, it hinders\nth\u2019 Operations of the Soul, insted of disposing the Body to follow her\nDirections Vigorously.\n\nAnd as to the Influence that another Persons Passion may have on us,\nenough has bin said to warn us, not to dally with the Flame when our\nNeighbours house is on Fire, lest we be consum\u2019d in it; and carefully\nto avoid doing any thing which may excite, or encrease their Passions.\nBut when we discern that the Plague is begun, let\u2019s remove with all\npossible speed out of the infected Air. Great Passions arise from very\nsmall beginings, and that which appear\u2019d Innocent at first if allow\u2019d\non that account, does often become our Ruin, or gives us at least the\ngreatest trouble in overcoming it.\n\n\n\n\n_The CONCLUSION._\n\n\n[Sidenote: P.72, _&c._]\n\nThus you have Ladies, the best Method I can at present think of for\nyour Improvement, how well it answers my Design the World must judge,\nif you are so favourable as to think it comes up to\u2019t in any measure,\nwhat remains but to put it in Practise, tho in the way in which you\nlive, \u2019tis not probable that all of you either Will or Can, for reasons\nmention\u2019d in the first Part, and particularly because of the great\nwaste of your Time, without Redeeming of which there\u2019s nothing to be\ndone. It is not my intention that you shou\u2019d seclude your selves from\nthe World, I know it is Necessary that a great number of you shou\u2019d\nlive in it; but it is Unreasonable and Barbarous to drive you into\u2019t,\ne\u2019re you are capable of doing Good in it, or at least of keeping\nEvil from your selves. Nor am I so fond of my Proposal, as not to\nlay it aside very willingly, did I think you cou\u2019d be sufficiently\nserv\u2019d without it. But since such Seminaries are thought proper for\nthe Men, since they enjoy the fruits of those Noble Ladies Bounty who\nwere the foundresses of several of their Colleges, why shou\u2019d we not\nthink that such ways of Education wou\u2019d be as advantageous to the\nLadies? or why shou\u2019d we despair of finding some among them who will\nbe as kind to their own Sex as their Ancestors have been to the other?\nSome Objections against this design have already been consider\u2019d, and\nthose which I have since met with are either too trifling to deserve a\nserious Answer, or too Ill-natur\u2019d not to require a severer than I care\nto give them. They must either be very Ignorant or very Malicious who\npretend that we wou\u2019d imitate Foreign Monastries, or object against\nus the Inconveniencies that they are subject to; a little attention\nto what they read might have convinc\u2019d them that our Institution is\nrather _Academical_ than _Monastic_. So that it is altogether beside\nthe purpose, to say \u2019tis too Recluse, or prejudicial to an Active Life;\n\u2019tis as far from that as a Ladys Practising at home is from being a\nhindrance to her dancing at Court. For an Active Life consists not\nbarely in _Being in the World_, but in _doing much Good in it_: And\ntherefore it is fit we Retire a little, to furnish our Understandings\nwith useful Principles, to set our Inclinations right, and to manage\nour Passions, and when this is well done, but not till then, we may\nsafely venture out.\n\nAs for those who think so Contemptibly of such a considerable part of\nGOD\u2019s Creation, as to suppose that we were made for nothing else but to\nAdmire and do them Service, and to make provision for the low concerns\nof an Animal Life, we pity their mistake, and can calmly bear their\nScoffs, for they do not express so much Contempt of us as they do of\nour Maker; and therefore the reproach of such incompetent Judges is not\nan Injury but an Honor to us.\n\nThe Ladies I hope pass a truer estimate on themselves, and need not\nbe told that they were made for nobler purposes. For tho I wou\u2019d by\nno means encourage Pride, yet I wou\u2019d not have them take a mean and\ngroveling Spirit for true Humility. A being content with Ignorance is\nreally but a Pretence, for the frame of our nature is such that it is\nimpossible we shou\u2019d be so; even those very Pretenders value themselves\nfor some Knowlege or other, tho it be a trifling or mistaken one.\nShe who makes the most Grimace at a Woman of Sense, who employs all\nher little skill in endeavouring to render Learning and Ingenuity\nridiculous, is yet very desirous to be thought Knowing in a Dress,\nin the Management of an Intreague, in Coquetry or good Houswifry.\nIf then either the Nobleness or Necessity of our Nature unavoidably\nexcites us to a desire of Advancing, shall it be thought a fault to do\nit by pursuing the best things? and since we _will_ value our selves\non somewhat or other, why shou\u2019d it not be on the most substantial\nground? The Humblest Person that lives has some Self-Esteem, nor is it\neither Fit or Possible that any one should be without it. Because we\nalways Neglect what we Despise, we take no care of its Preservation and\nImprovement, and were we throughly possess\u2019d with a Contempt of our\nselves, we shou\u2019d abandon all Care both of our Temporal and Eternal\nConcerns, and burst with Envy at our Neighbours. The only difference\ntherefore between the Humble and the Proud is this, that whereas the\nformer does not prize her self on some Imaginary Excellency, or for any\nthing that is not truly Valuable; does not ascribe to her self what is\nher Makers due, nor Esteem her self on any other account but because\nshe is GOD\u2019s Workmanship, endow\u2019d by him with many excellent Qualities,\nand made capable of Knowing and Enjoying the Sovereign and Only Good;\nso that her Self-Esteem does not terminate in her _Self_ but in _GOD_,\nand she values her self only for GOD\u2019s sake. The Proud on the contrary\nis mistaken both in her Estimate of Good, and in thinking it is her\nOwn; She values her self on things that have no real Excellency, or\nwhich at least add none to her, and forgets from whose Liberality she\nreceives them: She does not employ them in the Donors Service, all\nher care is to Raise her self, and she little considers that the most\nexcellent things are distributed to others in an equal, perhaps in a\ngreater measure than to herself, they have opportunities of advancing\nas well as she, and so long as she\u2019s puft up by this Tumor of Mind,\nthey do really excel her.\n\nThe Men therefore may still enjoy their Prerogatives for us, we mean\nnot to intrench on any of their Lawful Privileges, our only Contention\nshall be that they may not out-do us in promoting his Glory who is\nLord both of them and us; And by all that appears the generality will\nnot oppose us in this matter, we shall not provoke them by striving\nto be better Christians. They may busy their Heads with Affairs of\nState, and spend their Time and Strength in recommending themselves\nto an uncertain Master, or a more giddy Multitude, our only endeavour\nshall be to be absolute Monarchs in our own Bosoms. They shall still\nif they please dispute about Religion, let \u2019em only give us leave to\nUnderstand and Practise it. And whilst they have unrival\u2019d the Glory\nof speaking as _many_ Languages as _Babel_ afforded, we only desire\nto express our selves Pertinently and Judiciously in _One_. We will\nnot vie with them in thumbing over Authors, nor pretend to be walking\nLibraries, provided they\u2019ll but allow us a competent Knowlege of the\nBooks of GOD, Nature I mean and the Holy Scriptures: And whilst they\naccomplish themselves with the Knowlege of the World, and experiment\nall the Pleasures and Follies of it, we\u2019ll aspire no further than to be\nintimately acquainted with our own Hearts. And sure the Complaisant and\nGood natur\u2019d Sex will not deny us this; nor can they who are so well\nassur\u2019d of their own Merit entertain the least Suspicion that we shall\novertop them. It is upon some other account therefore that they object\nagainst our Proposal, but what that is I shall not pretend to guess,\nsince they do not think fit to speak out and declare it.\n\nSome indeed are pleas\u2019d to say, that tho this appears in Speculation\nto be a very Happy and Useful way of Living, it will be quite another\nthing when reduc\u2019d to Practice. Variety of Humours will occasion\nResentments and Factions, and perhaps other inconveniencies not yet\nforeseen; nor can we expect that every Person there will be of such\nan agreeable, obliging and teachable Temper, as neither to Give nor\nTake Offence. And supposing the first Company were as tractable and as\nhappily cemented by the mutual love of Vertue, and prudent Management,\nas we cou\u2019d desire, yet how can we be secure of their Successors, or\nthat this as well as other good Institutions shall not degenerate?\n\nI agree so far with this Objection as to grant that our Proposal is\nnot such a piece of Perfection that nothing can be said against it,\nbut is there any thing in this World that is so? Or do Men use to quit\ntheir Employments and Houses, their Wives and Children, Relations and\nFriends, upon every little pet, or because they very often find trouble\nor disagreeableness? do they not rather if they are good Christians,\nbear with Infirmities and endeavour to mend them? He then who wou\u2019d\nObject to purpose must shew that the Good it may do is not equivalent\nto the Evil which may attend it; that the Ladies will suffer greater\nInconveniencies with, than without it, and that it will not in the\n_Main_ be best. Otherwise we shall take liberty to believe that it is\nHumor, Covetousness or any thing rather than Reason which restrains him\nfrom Approving and Promoting it. There is a certain Pride in the Mind\nof Man, which flatters him that he can See farther and Judge better\nthan his Neighbour, and he loves to feed it by scrupling and objecting\nagainst what another proposes, who perhaps has not over-look\u2019d those\nfine discoveries in which he hugs himself, but having view\u2019d them on\nall sides has discern\u2019d and despis\u2019d their insignificancy. I wou\u2019d\nonly ask our Objectors whether they think the World so good as that\nit needs none, or so bad as that it is not capable of Amendment? If\nneither of these, let them tell me whether Complaining and Wishing will\never do the business, or who is the greatest Benefactor to Mankind, he\nwho finds fault with every Project set on foot to better and improve\nthem, because it is not exactly after the Pattern in the Mount, that\nis indeed according to his own tooth and relish; it is not beyond\nexception, but has a touch of Humane Weakness and Ignorance mingled\nwith it? Or he who vigorously and sincerely with a pure heart and a\ndiligent hand, sets about doing what he Can, tho not so much as he\nWou\u2019d, were his abilities greater? We\u2019re all apt enough to cry out\nagainst the Age, but to what purpose are our Exclamations unless we go\nabout to Reform it? Not faintly and coldly as if we were unconcern\u2019d\nfor the success, and only wou\u2019d do somewhat to still the reproaches\nof our Consciences and to exalt us in our own Imaginations, with\nthe Pompous Idea of Zeal and Public Spiritedness; _but with all our\nMight_, with an Unwearied Industry and Vigor, I\u2019me asham\u2019d to say\nlike that which the Instruments of Satan express in making Proselytes\nto Wickedness and Prophaneness; but rather with such as becomes\nthe Servants of Christ, which bears some sort of proportion to the\nGreatness of our Master, the Importance of the Work and the Excellency\nof the Reward.\n\nWe do not expect that all who come into this Society will be perfect,\nbut we will endeavour to make them and our selves so as much as may\nbe. Nor shall any be admitted who either have not, or are not desirous\nto have, that Divine yet humble, that Great and Generous, yet Meek and\nCondescending Spirit, that unfeigned Love to GOD and all Mankind which\nwas in Christ Jesus. We set no other Rules than those of the Gospel,\nChristianity being the highest Improvement of a Rational Nature, and\nevery one\u2019s oblig\u2019d to keep its Institutions whether they Live in such\na Society or out of it.\n\nAnd as for that degeneracy which it may fall into, \u2019tis too general\nan objection to have any weight, and may as well be urg\u2019d against\nUniversities, all sorts of Government, and indeed against every\nthing, as against this. _May be\u2019s_ and _if\u2019s_ are endless, and he\nwho undertakes to provide against all Future Contingencies, either\nbelieves no GOD or fancies himself to be one. A Prudent Man will look\nas far as he can, and provide to the utmost of his Knowlege and Power,\nbut when that\u2019s done, he knows he\u2019s but a Man and therefore can\u2019t\npossibly Forsee and Remedy all things.\n\nLet\u2019s then do what we _Can_, and leave the rest to our Great Benefactor\nand Governor, but let us set about our own part, not only when the\nway is open and easy, who shall give us thanks for that? but in spite\nof all Difficulties and Discouragement, since we have so Glorious a\nLeader, so indefatigable in his Labours, so boundless in his Love, such\nan Omnipotent Assister who neither wants Power nor Will to help us. The\nPeevishness and Obstinacy of such as Quarrel with our Labour of Love\nand set themselves against all we can do to serve them, will only add\nto our Laurels and enlarge our Triumphs, when our Constancy in doing\nGood has at last o\u2019ercome those Perverse Opposers of it.\n\n\n_The End._\n\n\nERRATA.\n\nPage 22. Line 19. dele _yet_, p. 31. l. 13 d. _not only----but\nagainst_, p. 76. l. 5. r. _imm\u2019diate_, p. 87. l. 11. r. _Body_, p. 168.\nl. 17.f. _of_ r. _the_, p. 109, l. 8, after _Thoughts_ add _to_, p.\n135. Marg. l. 4. r. _Part_ I. \u00a7. 45, p. 180. l. 15.f. _a_ r. _an_, p.\n185. l. 9. f. _bad_ r. _had_, p. 260. l. 3. r. _Ingenious_.\n\n\n\n\n    _Books printed for_ Ric. Wilkin _at the_ King\u2019s-Head _in St._\n    Paul\u2019s Church-yard.\n\n\nA Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their true and\ngreatest Interest: Part 1. By a Lover of her Sex, the 3_d._ Edition.\n\nLetters concerning the Love of God, between the Author of the Proposal\nto the Ladies and Mr. _John Norris_. 8^o.\n\nBishop _Patrick_\u2019s Glorious Epiphany. 8^o.\n\n---- His Search the Scriptures. 12^o.\n\nDr. _Abbadie_\u2019s Vindication of the Truth of Christian Religion, against\nthe Objections of all modern Opposers. 8^o.\n\nDr. _Woodward_\u2019s Natural History of the Earth. 8^o.\n\nAn Answer to _W. P._ his Key about the Quakers Light within and Oaths;\nwith an Appendix of the Sacraments. 8^o.\n\nThe Lives and Acts of the Holy Apostles comprehensively and plainly\nrelated according to the Holy Scriptures and the Writings of the\nPrimitive Fathers of most approved Authority. 8^o.\n\nA Letter to the Honourable Sir _Robert Howard_: Together with some\nAnimadversions on a Book entituled _Christianity not mysterious_. 8^o.\n\nThe Inhuman Cardinal, or Innocence betray\u2019d, a Novel. 12^o.\n\n_Ibrahim_, the 13_th._ Emperor of the _Turks_, a Tragedy: Both written\nby Mrs. _Mary Pix_.\n\nThe Unnatural Brother: A Tragedy, by _Edward Filmer_, L.L.D.\n\n\n_FINIS._\n\n\n[Transcriber\u2019s Note:\n\nThe corrections listed in the Errata have been incorporated into the\noriginal.\n\nInconsistent punctuation and capitalization are as in the original.\n\nInconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]","title":"A serious proposal to the Ladies, for the advancement of their true and greatest interest (In Two Parts)","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":66699}