judge when a Retreat is necessary. A Woman does not know that she is more than half lost when she admits of these Suggestions; that those Arguments she brings for continuing a Man’s Conversation, prove only that she ought to have quitted it sooner; that Liking insensibly converts to Love, and that when she admits a Man to be her Friend, ’tis his Fault if he does not make himself her Husband.
And if Men, even the Modestest and the Best, are only in pursuit of their own Designs, when they pretend to do the Lady Service; if the Honour they would seem to do her, tends only to lead her into an imprudent, and therefore a dishonourable Action; and they have all that good Opinion of themselves as to take every thing for Encouragement, so that she who goes beyond a bare Civility, though she meant no more than Respect, will find it interpreted a Favour, and made ill Use of, (for Favours, how innocent soever, never turn to a Lady’s Advantage) what Shadow of a Pretence can a Woman have for admitting an Intimacy with a Man, whose Principles are known to be Loose, and his Practices Licentious? can she expect to be safe with him who has ruin’d others, and by the very same Methods he takes with her? If an Intimacy with a Man of a fair Character gives Offence, with a Man of an ill one, ’tis doubly and trebly scandalous. And suppose neither her Fortune nor Beauty can tempt him, he has his ill-natur’d Pleasure in destroying that Vertue he will not practise, or if that can’t be done, in blasting the Reputation of it at least, and in making the World believe he has made a Conquest, though he has found a Foil.
If the Man be the Woman’s Inferior, besides all the Dangers formerly mention’d, and those just now taken Notice of, she gives such a Countenance to his Vices, as renders her in great measure, Partaker in them; and, it can scarce be thought in such Circumstances, a Woman could like the Man if she were not reconcil’d to his Faults. Is he her Equal, and no unsuitable Match, if his Designs are fair, why don’t they Marry, since they are so well pleas’d with each other’s Conversation, which in this State only can be frequently and safely allow’d? Is he her Better, and she hopes, by catching him, to make her Fortune, alas! the poor Woman is neither acquainted with the World nor her self; she neither knows her own Weakness, nor his Treachery, and though he gives her ever so much Encouragement to this vain Hope, ’tis only in order to accomplish her Ruin. To be sure the more Freedom she allows, the more she lessens his Esteem, and that’s not likely to increase a real, though it may a pretended Kindness; she ought to fly, if she would have him pursue, the strictest Vertue and Reserve being the only Way to secure him.
Religion and Reputation are so sure a Guard, such a Security to poor defenceless Woman, that whenever a Man has ill Designs on her, he is sure to make a Breach into one or both of these, by endeavouring either to corrupt her Principles, to make her less strict in Devotion, or to lessen her Value of a fair Reputation, and would persuade her, that less than she imagines will secure her as to the next World, and that not much Regard is to be given to the Censures of this. Or if this be too bold at first, and will not pass with her, he has another Way to make even her Love to Vertue contribute to its Ruin, by persuading her it never shines as it ought, unless it is expos’d, and that she has no Reason to boast of her Vertue unless she has try’d it. An Opinion of the worst Consequence that may be, and the most mischievous to a Woman, because it is calculated to feed her Vanity, and tends indeed to her utter Ruin. For, can it be fit to rush into Temptations, when we are taught every Day to pray against them? If the Trials of our Vertue render it illustrious, ’tis such Trials as Heaven is pleas’d to send us, not those of our own seeking. It holds true of both Sexes, that next to the Divine Grace a modest Distrust of themselves is their best Security, none being so often and so shamefully foil’d, as those who depend most on their own Strength and Resolution.
As to the Opinion of the World, tho’ one cannot say ’tis always just, yet generally it has a Foundation, great Regard is to be paid to it, and very good Use to be made of it. Others _may_ be in Fault for passing their Censures, but we certainly _are_ so, if we give them any the least just Occasion. And since Reputation is not only one of the Rewards of Vertue, that which always ought, and generally does attend it, but also a Guard against Evil, an Inducement to Good, and a great Instrument in the Hand of the Wife to promote the common Cause of Vertue; the being Prodigal of the one, looks as if we set no great Value on the other, and she who abandons her good Name, is not like to preserve her Innocence.
A Woman therefore can never have too nice a Sense of Honour, provided she does not prefer it before her Duty; she can never be too careful to secure her Character, not only from the Suspicion of a Crime, but even from the Shadow of an Indiscretion. ’Tis well worth her while to renounce the most Entertaining, and, what some perhaps, will call the most Improving Company, rather than give the World a just Occasion of Suspicion or Censure. For besides the Injury that is done Religion, which enjoins us to avoid the very Appearance of Evil, and to do nothing but what is of good Report, she puts her self too much in a Man’s Power, who will run such a Risque for his Conversation, and expresses such a Value for him, as cannot fail of being made use of to do her a Mischief.
Preserve your Distance then, keep out of the Reach of Danger, fly if you would be safe, be sure to be always on the Reserve, not such as is Morose and Affected, but Modest and Discreet, your Caution cannot be too great, nor your Foresight reach too far; there’s nothing, or what is next to nothing, a little Amusement and entertaining Conversation, lost by this, but all is hazarded by the other. A Man understands his own Merit too well to lose his Time in a Woman’s Company, were it not to divert himself at her Cost, to turn her into a Jest, or something worse.
And where-ever you see great Assiduities, when a Man insinuates into the Diversions and Humours of the Lady, liking and admiring whatever she does, though at the same Time he seems to keep a due Distance, or rather exceeds in the profoundest Respect; Respect being all he dare at present pretend to: when a more than ordinary Deference is paid; when something particular appears in the Look and Address, and such an Obsequiousness in every Action, as nothing could engage a Man to, who never forgets the Superiority of his Sex, but a Hope to be observ’d in his Turn: Then, whatever the Inequality be, and how sensible soever he seems to be of it, the Man has for certain his Engines at work, the Mine is ready to be sprung on the first Opportunity, and ’tis well if it be not too late to prevent the poor Lady’s Ruin.
To wind up this Matter; If a Woman were duly principled, and taught to know the World, especially the true Sentiments that Men have of her, and the Traps they lay for her under so many gilded Compliments, and such a seemingly great Respect, that Disgrace would be prevented which is brought upon too many Families; Women would Marry more discreetly, and demean themselves better in a married State, than some People say they do. The Foundation, indeed, ought to be laid deep and strong, she should be made a good Christian, and understand why she is so, and then she will be every thing else that is Good. Men need keep no Spies on a Woman’s Conduct, need have no Fear of her Vertue, or so much as of her Prudence and Caution, were but a due Sense of true Honour and Vertue awaken’d in her; were her Reason excited and prepared to consider the Sophistry of those Temptations which would persuade her from her Duty; and were she put in a way to know that it is both her Wisdom and Interest to observe it: she would then duly examine and weigh all the Circumstances, the Good and Evil of a married State, and not be surprized with unforeseen Inconveniencies, and either never consent to be a Wife, or make a good one when she does. This would shew her what Human Nature _is_, as well as what it _ought_ to be, and teach her not only what she may justly expect, but what she must be content with; would enable her to cure some Faults, and patiently to suffer what she cannot cure.
Indeed nothing can assure Obedience, and render it what it ought to be, but the Conscience of Duty, the paying it for GOD’S sake. Superiors don’t rightly understand their own Interest when they attempt to put out their Subjects Eyes to keep them Obedient. A blind Obedience is what a Rational Creature should never pay, nor would such an one receive it, did he rightly understand its Nature. For Human Actions are no otherwise valuable, than as they are conformable to Reason; but a blind Obedience is an Obeying _without Reason_, for ought we know, _against it_. _GOD_ himself does not require our Obedience at this rate; he lays before us the Goodness and Reasonableness of his Laws, and were there any thing in them whose Equity we could not readily comprehend, yet we have this clear and sufficient Reason, on which, to found our Obedience, that nothing but what’s just and fit, can be enjoin’d by a Just, a Wise, and Gracious _GOD_; but this is a Reason will never hold in respect of Mens Commands, unless they can prove themselves Infallible, and consequently Impeccable too.
It is therefore very much a Man’s Interest, that Women should be good Christians; for in this, as in every other Instance, he who does his Duty, finds his own Account in it. Duty and true Interest are one and the same Thing, and he who thinks otherwise is to be pitied for being so much in the Wrong: But what can be more the Duty of the Head, than to instruct and improve those who are under Government? She will freely leave him the quiet Dominion of this World, whose Thoughts and Expectations are plac’d on the next. A Prospect of Heaven, and that only, will cure that Ambition which all generous Minds are fill’d with, not by taking it away, but by placing it on a right Object. She will discern a Time when her Sex shall be no Bar to the best Employments, the highest Honour; a Time when that Distinction, now so much us’d to her Prejudice, shall be no more; but, provided she is not wanting to her self, her Soul shall shine as bright as the greatest Heroe’s. This is a true, and indeed, the only Consolation; this makes her a sufficient Compensation for all the Neglect and Contempt the ill-grounded Customs of the World throw on her; for all the Injuries brutal Power may do her, and is a sufficient Cordial to support her Spirits, be her Lot in this World what it may.
But some sage Persons may, perhaps object, that were Women allow’d to improve themselves, and not, amongst other Discouragements, driven back by the wise Jests and Scoffs that are put upon a Woman of Sense or Learning, a Philosophical Lady, as she is call’d by way of Ridicule; they would be too wise, and too good for the Men: I grant it, for vicious and foolish Men. Nor is it to be wonder’d that He is afraid he should not be able to Govern them were their Understandings improv’d, who is resolv’d not to take too much Pains with his own. But these, ’tis to be hoped, are no very considerable Number, the Foolish at least; and therefore this is so far from being an Argument against Womens Improvement, that it is a strong one for it, if we do but suppose the Men to be as capable of Improvement as the Women; but much more, if, according to Tradition, we believe they have greater Capacities. This, if any thing, would stir them up to be what they ought, and not permit them to waste their Time and abuse their Faculties in the Service of their irregular Appetites and unreasonable Desires, and so let poor contemptible Women, who have been their Slaves, excel them in all that is truly excellent. This would make them Blush at employing an immortal Mind no better than in making Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof, since Women, by a wiser Conduct, have brought themselves to such a Reach of Thought, to such Exactness of Judgment, such Clearness and Strength of Reasoning, such Purity and Elevation of Mind, such Command of their Passions, such Regularity of Will and Affection, and, in a Word, to such a Pitch of Perfection, as the Human Soul is capable of attaining in this Life by the Grace of _GOD_; such true Wisdom, such real Greatness, as though it does not qualify them to make a Noise in this World, to found or overturn Empires, yet it qualifies them for what is infinitely better, a Kingdom that cannot be mov’d, an incorruptible Crown of Glory.
Besides, it were ridiculous to suppose, that a Woman, were she ever so much improv’d, could come near the topping Genius of the Men, and therefore why should they envy or discourage her? Strength of Mind goes along with Strength of Body, and ’tis only for some odd Accidents which Philosophers have not yet thought worth while to enquire into, that the sturdiest Porter is not the wisest Man! As therefore the Men have the Power in their Hands, so there’s no Dispute of their having the Brains to manage it! Can we suppose there is such a Thing as good Judgment and Sense upon Earth, if it is not to be found among them: Do not they, generally speaking, do all the great Actions and considerable Business of this World, and leave that of the next to the Women? Their Subtlety in forming Cabals and laying deep Designs, their Courage and Conduct in breaking through all Tyes, sacred and civil, to effect them, not only advances them to the Post of Honour, and keeps them securely in it for twenty or thirty Years, but gets them a Name, and conveys it down to Posterity for some Hundreds; and who would look any further? Justice and Injustice are administred by their Hands, Courts and Schools are fill’d with these Sages; ’tis Men who dispute for Truth, as well as Men who argue against it: Histories are writ by them; they recount each other’s great Exploits, and have always done so. All famous Arts have their Original from Men, even from the Invention of Guns, to the Mystery of good Eating. And to shew that nothing is beneath their Care, any more than above their Reach, they have brought _Gaming_ to an Art and Science, and a more Profitable and Honourable one too, than any of those that us’d to be call’d _Liberal_! Indeed, what is it they can’t perform, when they attempt it? The Strength of their Brains shall be every whit as conspicuous at their Cups, as in a Senate-House, and, when they please, they can make it pass for as sure a Mark of Wisdom, to drink deep, as to reason profoundly; a greater Proof of Courage, and consequently of Understanding, to dare the Vengeance of Heaven it self, than to stand the Raillery of some of the worst of their Fellow Creatures!
Again, it may be said, If a Wife’s Case be as it is here represented, it is not good for a Woman to marry, and so there’s an End of Human Race.
But this is no fair Consequence, for all that can justly be inferr’d from hence, is, that a Woman has no mighty Obligations to the Man who makes Love to her; she has no Reason to be fond of being a Wife, or to reckon it a Piece of Preferment when she is taken to be a Man’s Upper-Servant; it is no Advantage to her in this World; if rightly manag’d it may prove one as to the next. For she who marries purely to do good, to educate Souls for Heaven, who can be so truly mortified as to lay aside her own Will and Desires, to pay such an intire Submission for Life, to one whom she cannot be sure will always deserve it, does certainly perform a more Heroick Action, than all the famous Masculine Heroes can boast of, she suffers a continual Martyrdom to bring Glory to _GOD_, and Benefit to Mankind; which Consideration, indeed, may carry her through all Difficulties, I know not what else can, and engage her to Love him who proves perhaps so much worse than a Brute, as to make this Condition yet more grievous than it needed to be. She has need of a strong Reason, of a truly Christian and well-temper’d Spirit, of all the Assistance the best Education can give her, and ought to have some good Assurance of her own Firmness and Vertue, who ventures on such a Trial; and for this Reason ’tis less to be wonder’d at that Women marry off in haste, for perhaps if they took Time to consider and reflect upon it, they seldom would marry.
To conclude. Perhaps I’ve said more than most Men will thank me for; I cannot help it, for how much soever I may be their Friend and humble Servant, I am more a Friend to Truth. Truth is strong, and some time or other will prevail; nor is it for their Honour, and therefore one would think not for their Interest, to be partial to themselves and unjust to others. They may fancy I have made some Discoveries, which, like _Arcana Imperii_, ought to be kept secret; but, in good earnest, I do them more Honour than to suppose their lawful Prerogatives need any mean Arts to support them. If they have usurp’d, I love Justice too much to wish Success and Continuance to Usurpations, which, though submitted to out of Prudence, and for Quietness sake, yet leave everybody free to regain their lawful Right whenever they have Power and Opportunity. I don’t say that Tyranny _ought_, but we find in _Fact_, that it provokes the Oppress’d to throw off even a lawful Yoke that fits too heavy: And if he who is freely elected, after all his fair Promises, and the fine Hopes he rais’d, proves a Tyrant, the Consideration that he was one’s own Choice, will not render one more Submissive and Patient, but I fear, more Refractory. For though it is very unreasonable, yet we see ’tis the Course of the World, not only to return Injury for Injury, but Crime for Crime; both Parties indeed are Guilty, but the Aggressors have a double Guilt, they have not only their own, but their Neighbour’s Ruin to answer for.
As to the Female Reader, I hope she will allow I’ve endeavoured to do her Justice; not betray’d her Cause as her Advocates usually do, under Pretence of defending it. A Practice too mean for any to be guilty of who have the least Sense of Honour, and who do any more than meerly pretend to it. I think I have held the Balance even, and not being conscious of Partiality, I ask no Pardon for it. To plead for the Oppress’d, and to defend the Weak, seem’d to me a generous Undertaking; for though it may be secure, ’tis not always Honourable, to run over to the strongest Party. And if she infers from what has been said, that Marriage is a very happy State for Men, if they think fit to make it so; that they govern the World, they have Prescription on their Side; Women are too weak to dispute it with them, therefore they, as all other Governors, are most, if not only, accountable for what’s amiss; for whether other Governments in their Original, were or were not confer’d according to the Merit of the Person, yet certainly in this Case, if Heaven has appointed the Man to govern, it has Qualified him for it: So far I agree with her: But if she goes on to infer, that therefore, if a Man has not these Qualifications, where is his Right? That if he misemploys, he abuses it? And if he abuses, according to modern Deduction, he forfeits it, I must leave her there. A peaceable Woman, indeed, will not carry it so far, she will neither question her Husband’s Right, nor his Fitness to govern, but how? Not as an absolute Lord and Master, with an arbitrary and tyrannical Sway, but as Reason governs and conducts a Man, by proposing what is just and fit. And the Man who acts according to that Wisdom he assumes, who would have that Superiority he pretends to, acknowledged just, will receive no Injury by any thing that has been offered here. A Woman will value Him the more who is so wise and good, when she discerns how much he excels the rest of his noble Sex; the less he requires, the more will he merit that Esteem and Deference, which those who are so forward to exact, seem conscious they don’t deserve. So then the Man’s Prerogative is not at all infring’d, whilst the Woman’s Privileges are secured; and if any Woman think her self injur’d, she has a Remedy in reserve, which few Men will envy, or endeavour to rob her of, the Exercise and Improvement of her Vertue Here, and the Reward of it Hereafter.
When I made these Reflections, I was of Opinion, that the Case of married Women, in comparison of that of their Husbands, was not a little hard and unequal. But as the World now goes, I am apt to think, that a Husband is in no desirable Situation; his Honour is in his Wife’s keeping, and what Man of Honour can be satisfied with the Conduct which the Licentiousness of the Age not only permits, but would endeavour to authorize as a Part of good Breeding? And what makes his Case the worse, he must dissemble his Uneasiness, stifle his Resentments, and not dare to take the proper Methods of preventing and curing the Disorder.
So great is our Corruption, that such as pretend to make a true Estimate of Human Life, and very freely Satirize both Sexes for lesser Crimes, are not asham’d to recommend this, prescribing a known Sin as a Cure for what is not absolutely unlawful in it self, though very pernicious in its Consequences, when carried to Excess.
Not that I would in any manner apologize for Gaming, which, when carried to Excess, is ruinous to both Sexes, especially to Women; who, when given to this Vice, disregard their Husbands, and Oeconomy, neglect the Education of their Children, spend their Fortunes as much as they can, and, which is not the least Inconveniency, when they lose to Men more than they are able to pay, they give their Creditor Opportunity to make insolent Demands. But sure, any Husband, who is not sunk to the lowest Degree of Infamy, had rather his Wife should waste his Money at _Quadrille_, than Intrigue with a _Colonel_. _If Sin you must_ (says an admirable Author, whose Panegyricks are Satires, and his Satires Panegyricks) ——_take Nature for your Guide, Love has some soft Excuse to sooth your Pride._ Can we read this excellent Advice of this very moral Satirist, without remembring what the _Psalmist_ says of some of his Cotemporaries; _When thou sawest a Thief thou consentedst unto him, and hast been Partaker with the Adultery_? For, sure of all other Thieves he is the most criminal, who (under Pretence of Friendship, perhaps) robs a Man of his most valued Effects, deprives him of his Honour, and of the Quiet and Comfort of his Life.
Nature and Love, as they, injuriously to both, miscall their brutal Appetite, are very different from what our Author would represent them.
Variety by no Means answers the End of Nature in providing for Posterity. And enough has been said, to shew, that such Professions of Love are most abusive, and the Effect of their Passion the most outrageous Injury that Hatred can produce: A Woman is never so effectually _humble_, as the Scripture elegantly expresses it, than when a Man obtains his Desires. And if she consents, she renders her self despicable in his Eyes as well as in the Eyes of others. Thus the _English_ Muse very truly sings: “_That wretched She, who yields to guilty Joys, Whoever makes a true Estimate of Christianity, who does not profess it, because as yet, ’tis the Religion of his Country, or for his Interest, or some such worthy Motive; but upon full Conviction of its Divine Authority, which he cannot want if he examines impartially, as a Matter of this Consequence deserves; such a Man will find Christianity requires the strictest Purity of Heart and Imagination, since in the thickest Darkness our Thoughts, as well as our Actions, are manifest to our Judge; and, that whoever looks upon a Woman to Lust after her, has committed Adultery with her already in his Heart.
_Horses and Bulls, and all the brutal Kind, } Range o’er the Field, to no one She confin’d, } They know not Love, for Love is in the Mind. } These following Nature are exempt from Blame, Unconscious or of Guilt, Remorse and Shame._ _But Man, unhappy Man! puts out his Light, Reason forsakes, to follow Appetite.
Sinks down to Brute, and labours but in vain, } To be like them, without Remorse or Shame; } To Guilt, inevitably follows Pain. } No Deeds of Darkness are conceal’d by Night, } He sees Who dwells in everlasting Light, } And ev’ry Thought is open to His Sight._ } APPENDIX.
The _Reflector_, who hopes _Reflector_ is not bad _English_, (now _Governor_ is happily of the Feminine Gender) guarded against Curiosity in vain: For a certain ingenuous Gentleman, as she is inform’d, had the Good-nature to own these Reflections, so far, as to affirm that he had the Original _MS._ in his Closet, a Proof she is not able to produce; and so to make himself responsible for all their Faults, for which, she returns him all due Acknowledgment. However, the Generality being of Opinion, that a Man would have had more Prudence and Manners than to have Publish’d such unseasonable Truths, or to have betray’d the _Arcana Imperii_ of his Sex; she humbly confesses, that the Contrivance and Execution of this Design, which is unfortunately accus’d of being so destructive to the Government, (of the Men, I mean) is intirely her own.
She neither advis’d with Friends, nor turn’d over antient or modern Authors, nor prudently submitted to the Correction of such as are, or such as _think_ they are good Judges, but with an _English_ Spirit and Genius, set out upon the Forlorn Hope, meaning no Hurt to any body, nor designing any thing but the publick Good, and to retrieve, if possible, the Native Liberty, the Rights and Privileges of the Subject.
Far be it from her to stir up Sedition of any sort: none can abhor it more; and she heartily wishes, that our Masters would pay their Civil and Ecclesiastical Governors the same Submission, which they themselves exact from their Domestick Subjects. Nor can she imagine how she any way undermines the Masculine Empire, or blows the Trumpet of Rebellion to the Moiety of Mankind. Is it by exhorting Women, not to expect to have their own Will in any thing, but to be intirely Submissive, when once they have made Choice of a Lord and Master, though he happen not to be so wise, so kind, or even so just a Governor as was expected? She did not, indeed, advise them to think his Folly Wisdom, nor his Brutality, that Love and Worship he promised in his Matrimonial Oath; for this required a Flight of Wit and Sense much above her poor Ability, and proper only to Masculine Understandings. However, she did not in any manner prompt them to Resist, or to Abdicate the Perjur’d Spouse, though the Laws of _GOD_, and the Land, make Special Provision for it, in a Case, wherein, as is to be fear’d, few Men can truly plead Not Guilty.
’Tis true, through want of Learning, and of that Superior Genius which Men, as Men, lay claim to, she was ignorant of the _Natural Inferiority_ of our Sex, which our Masters lay down as a Self-evident and Fundamental Truth. She saw nothing in the Reason of Things, to make this either a Principle or a Conclusion, but much to the contrary; it being Sedition at least, if not Treason, to assert it in this Reign. For if by the Natural Superiority of their Sex, they mean, that _every_ Man is by Nature superior to _every_ Woman, which is the obvious Meaning, and that which must be stuck to if they would speak Sense, it would be a Sin in _any_ Woman, to have Dominion over _any_ Man, and the greatest Queen ought not to command, but to obey, her Footman: because no Municipal Laws can supersede or change the Law of Nature: So that if the Dominion of the Men be such, the _Salique Law_, as unjust as _English Men_ have ever thought it, ought to take Place over all the Earth, and the most glorious Reigns in the _English_, _Danish_, _Castilian_, and other Annals, were wicked Violations of the Law of Nature!
If they mean that _some_ Men are superior to _some_ Women, this is no great Discovery; had they turn’d the Tables, they might have seen that _some_ Women are superior to _some_ Men. Or had they been pleased to remember their Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, they might have known, that _One_ Woman is superior to _All_ the Men in these Nations, or else they have sworn to very little Purpose. And it must not be suppos’d, that their Reason and Religion would suffer them to take Oaths, contrary to the Law of Nature and Reason of Things.
By all which it appears, that our Reflector’s Ignorance is very pitiable; it may be her Misfortune, but not her Crime, especially since she is willing to be better inform’d, and hopes she shall never be so obstinate as to shut her Eyes against the Light of Truth, which is not to be charg’d with Novelty, how late soever we may be bless’d with the Discovery. Nor can Error, be it as antient as it may, ever plead Prescription against Truth. And since the only way to remove all Doubts, to answer all Objections, and to give the Mind entire Satisfaction, is not by _Affirming_, but by _Proving_, so that every one may see with their _own_ Eyes, and judge according to the best of their _own_ Understandings; she hopes it is no Presumption to insist on this Natural Right of Judging for her self, and the rather, because by quitting it, we give up all the Means of Rational Conviction. Allow us then as many Glasses as you please to help our Sight, and as many good Arguments as you can afford to convince our Understandings: But don’t exact of us, we beseech you, to affirm that we see such Things as are only the Discovery of Men who have quicker Senses; or, that we understand, and know what we have by Hear-say only; for to be so excessively Complaisant, is neither to see nor to understand.
That the Custom of the World, has put Women, generally speaking, into a State of Subjection, is not denied; but the Right can no more be prov’d from the Fact, than the Predominancy of Vice can justify it. A certain great Man, has endeavour’d to prove, by Reasons not contemptible, that in the Original State of Things the Woman was the Superior, and that her Subjection to the Man is an Effect of the Fall, and the Punishment of her Sin: And, that ingenious Theorist Mr. _Whiston_, asserts, That before the Fall there was a greater Equality between the two Sexes.
However this be, ’tis certainly no Arrogance in a Woman to conclude, that she was made for the Service of _GOD_, and that this is her End.
Because _GOD_ made all Things for Himself, and a rational Mind is too noble a Being to be made for the Sake and Service of any Creature. The Service she at any Time becomes oblig’d to pay to a Man, is only a Business by the Bye, just as it may be any Man’s Business and Duty to keep Hogs; he was not Made for this, but if he Hires himself out to such an Employment, he ought conscientiously to perform it. Nor can any thing be concluded to the contrary from St. _Paul_’s Argument, 1 _Cor._ xi.
for he argues only for Decency and Order, according to the present Custom and State of Things: Taking his Words strictly and literally, they prove too much, in that, _Praying and Prophecying in the Church_ are allow’d the Women, provided they do it with their Head cover’d as well as the Men; and no Inequality can be inferr’d from hence, neither from the Gradation the Apostle there uses, that _the Head of every Man is Christ, and that the Head of the Woman is the Man, and the Head of Christ is_ _GOD_; it being evident from the Form of Baptism, that there is no natural Inferiority among the Divine Persons, but that they are in all Things Coequal. The Apostle, indeed, adds, that _the Man is the Glory of_ _GOD_, _and the Woman the Glory of the Man_, _&c._ But what does he infer from hence? He says not a Word of Inequality, or natural Inferiority; but concludes, that a Woman ought to cover her Head, and a Man ought not to cover his, and _that even Nature it self teaches_ us, that _if a Man have long Hair it is a Shame unto him_. Whatever the Apostle’s Argument proves in this Place, nothing can be plainer, than that there is much more said against the present Fashion of Mens wearing long Hair, than for that Supremacy they lay claim to. For by all that appears in the Text, it is not so much a Law of Nature, that Women should obey Men, as that Men should not wear long Hair. Now how can a Christian Nation allow Fashions contrary to the Law of Nature, forbidden by an Apostle, and declared by him to be a Shame to Men? Or if Custom may make an Alteration in one Case, it may in another, but what then becomes of the Nature and Reason of Things? Besides, the Conclusion the Apostle draws from his Argument concerning Women, _viz._ that they _should have Power on their Heads because of the Angels_, is so very obscure a Text, that that ingenious Paraphrast, who pleads so much for the _Natural Subjection_ of Women, ingenuously confesses, that he does not understand it. Probably it refers to some Custom among the _Corinthians_, which being well known to them, the Apostle only hints at it, but which we are ignorant of, and therefore apt to mistake him. ’Tis like, that the false Apostle whom St. _Paul_ writes against, had _led Captive_ some of their rich and powerful, but _silly Women_, who having as mean an Opinion of the Reason _GOD_ had given them, as any Deceiver could desire, did not, like the noble-minded _Bereans, search the Scriptures whether those things were so_, but lazily took up with having Mens Persons in admiration, and follow’d their Leaders blindfold, the certain Rout to Destruction. And it is also probable, that the same cunning Seducer imploy’d these Women to carry on his own Designs, and putting them upon what he might not think fit to appear in himself, made them guilty of indecent Behaviour in the Church of _Corinth_. And therefore St. _Paul_ thought it necessary to reprove them so severely, in order to humble them; but this being done, he takes care in the Conclusion to set the Matter on a right Foot, placing the two Sexes on a Level, to keep Men, as much as might be, from taking those Advantages which People who have Strength in their Hands, are apt to assume over those who can’t contend with them. For, says he, _Nevertheless_, or notwithstanding the former Argument, _the Man is not without the Woman, nor the Woman without the Man, but all Things of_ _GOD_. The Relation between the two Sexes is mutual, and the Dependance reciprocal, both of them depending intirely upon _GOD_, and upon Him only; which, one would