APPENDIX.
TheReflector, who hopesReflectoris not badEnglish, (nowGovernoris 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 OriginalMS.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 suchunseasonable Truths, or to have betray’d theArcana Imperiiof 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 asthinkthey are good Judges, but with anEnglishSpirit 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 DomestickSubjects. 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 ofGod, 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 theNatural Inferiorityof 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, thateveryMan is by Nature superior toeveryWoman, which is the obvious Meaning, and that which must be stuck to if they would speak Sense, it would be a Sin inanyWoman, to have Dominion overanyMan, 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, theSalique Law, as unjust asEnglish Menhave ever thought it, ought to take Place over allthe Earth, and the most glorious Reigns in theEnglish,Danish,Castilian, and other Annals, were wicked Violations of the Law of Nature!
If they mean thatsomeMen are superior tosomeWomen, this is no great Discovery; had they turn’d the Tables, they might have seen thatsomeWomen are superior tosomeMen. Or had they been pleased to remember their Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, they might have known, thatOneWoman is superior toAllthe 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 shallnever 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 byAffirming, but byProving, so that every one may see with theirownEyes, and judge according to the best of theirownUnderstandings; 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 byHear-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 ofGod, and that this is her End. BecauseGodmade 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 Serviceshe 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, 1Cor.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 Churchare 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, thatthe Head of every Man is Christ, and that the Head of the Woman is the Man, and the Head of Christ isGod; 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, thatthe Man is the Glory ofGod,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, andthat even Nature it self teachesus, thatif 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, theConclusion the Apostle draws from his Argument concerning Women,viz.that theyshould have Power on their Heads because of the Angels, is so very obscure a Text, that that ingenious Paraphrast, who pleads so much for theNatural Subjectionof Women, ingenuously confesses, that he does not understand it. Probably it refers to some Custom among theCorinthians, 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.Paulwrites against, hadled Captivesome of their rich and powerful, butsilly Women, who having as mean an Opinion of the ReasonGodhad given them, as any Deceiver could desire, did not, like the noble-mindedBereans, 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’dthese 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 ofCorinth. And therefore St.Paulthought 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 ofGod. The Relation between the two Sexes is mutual, and the Dependance reciprocal, both of them depending intirely uponGod, and upon Him only; which, one would think, is no great Argument of the natural Inferiority of either Sex.
OurReflectoris of Opinion, that Disputes of this kind, extending to Human Nature in general, and not peculiar to those to whom the Word ofGodhas been reveal’d, ought to be decided by Natural Reason only. And, that the Holy Scripture should not be interested in the present Controversy, in which it determines nothing, any more than it does between theCopernicanandPtolomeanSystems. The Design of those Holy Books being to make us excellent Moralists and perfect Christians, not great Philosophers; and being writ for the Vulgar as well as for the Learned, they are accommodated to the common way of Speech and the Usage of the World; in which we have but a short Probation, so that it matters not much what Part we act, whether of Governing or Obeying, provided we perform it well with respect to the World to come.
One does not wonder, indeed, that when an Adversary is drove to a Nonplus,and Reason declares against him, he flies to Authority, especially to Divine, which is infallible, and therefore ought not to be disputed. But Scripture is not always on their Side who make Parade of it, and through their Skill in Languages, and the Tricks of the Schools, wrest it from its genuine Sense to their own Inventions. And supposing, not granting, that it were apparently to the Womens Disadvantage, no fair and generous Adversary but would be asham’d to urge this Advantage: Because Women, without their own Fault, are kept in Ignorance of the Original, wanting Languages and other Helps to Criticise on the Sacred Text, of which, they know no more, than Men are pleas’d to impart in their Translations. In short, they shew their Desire to maintain their Hypotheses, but by no means their Reverence to the Sacred Oracles, who engage them in such Disputes. And therefore, the Blame be theirs, who have unnecessarily introduc’d them inthe present Subject, and who, by saying, that theReflectionswere not agreeable to Scripture, oblige the Reflector to shew, that those who affirm it must either mistake her Meaning, or the Sense of Holy Scripture, or both, if they think what they say, and do not find fault meerly because they resolve to do so. For, had she ever writ any thing contrary to those sacred Truths, she would be the first in pronouncing its Condemnation.
But what says the Holy Scripture? It speaks of Women as in a State of Subjection, and so it does of theJewsandChristians, when under the Dominion of theChaldeansandRomans, requiring of the one as well as of the other, a quiet Submission to them under whose Power they liv’d. But will any one say, that these had aNatural Superiorityand Right to Dominion? that they had a superior Understanding, or any Pre-eminence, except what their greater Strength acquir’d? Or, that the other were subjectedto their Adversaries for any other Reason but the Punishment of their Sins, and, in order to their Reformation? Or for the Exercise of their Vertue, and because the Order of the World and the Good of Society requir’d it?
If Mankind had never Sin’d, Reason would always have been obeyed, there would have been no Struggle for Dominion, and Brutal Power would not have prevail’d. But in the lapsed State of Mankind, and now, that Men will not be guided by their Reason but by their Appetites, and do not what theyoughtbut what theycan, the Reason, or that which stands for it, the Will and Pleasure of the Governor, is to be the Reason of those who will not be guided by their own, and must take Place for Order’s sake, although it should not be conformable to right Reason. Nor can there be any Society great or little, from Empires down to private Families, without a last Resort, to determine the Affairs ofthat Society by an irresistable Sentence. Now unless this Supremacy be fix’d somewhere, there will be a perpetual Contention about it, such is the Love of Dominion, and let the Reason of Things be what it may, those who have least Force or Cunning to supply it, will have the Disadvantage. So that since Women are acknowledged to have least Bodily Strength, their being commanded to Obey is in pure Kindness to them, and for their Quiet and Security, as well as for the Exercise of their Vertue. But does it follow, that Domestick Governors have more Sense than their Subjects, any more than that other Governors have? We do not find that any Man thinks the worse of his own Understanding, because another has superior Power; or concludes himself less capable of a Post of Honour and Authority, because he is not prefer’d to it. How much Time would lie on Mens Hands, how empty would the Places of Concourse be, and how silent most Companies, didMen forbear to censure their Governors, that is, in effect, to think themselves wiser. Indeed, Government would be much more desirable than it is, did it invest the Possessor with a superior Understanding as well as Power. And if meer Power gives a Right to Rule, there can be no such Thing as Usurpation; but a Highway-Man, so long as he has Strength to force, has also a Right to require our Obedience.
Again, if absolute Sovereignty be not necessary in a State, how comes it to be so in a Family? Or if in a Family why not in a State; since no Reason can be alledged for the one that will not hold more strongly for the other? If the Authority of the Husband, so far as it extends, is sacred and inalienable, why not that of the Prince? The Domestick Sovereign is without Dispute elected, and the Stipulations and Contract are mutual; is it not then partial in Men to the last Degree, to contend for, and practisethat Arbitrary Dominion in their Families, which they abhor and exclaim against in the State? For if Arbitrary Power is evil in it self, and an improper Method of Governing Rational and Free Agents, it ought not to be practis’d any where; nor is it less, but rather more mischievous in Families than in Kingdoms, by how much 100,000 Tyrants are worse than one. What though a Husband can’t deprive a Wife of Life without being responsible to the Law, he may, however, do what is much more grievous to a generous Mind, render Life miserable, for which she has no Redress, scarce Pity, which is afforded to every other Complainant, it being thought a Wife’s Duty to suffer every thing without Complaint. Ifall Men are born Free, how is it that all Women are born Slaves? As they must be, if the being subjected to theinconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary Willof Men, be theperfect Condition of Slavery? And, if the Essence of Freedom consists, as our Masterssay it does, in having astanding Rule to live by? And why is Slavery so much condemn’d and strove against in one Case, and so highly applauded, and held so necessary and so sacred in another?
’Tis true, thatGodtoldEveafter the Fall, thather Husband should Rule over her: And so it is, that he toldEsauby the Mouth ofIsaachis Father, that he shouldservehisyounger Brother, and should in Time, and when he was strong enough to do it,break the Yoke from off his Neck. Now, why one Text should be a Command any more than the other, and not both of them be Predictions only; or why the former should proveAdam’s Natural Right to Rule, and much less every Man’s, any more than the latter is a Proof ofJacob’s Right to Rule, and ofEsau’s to Rebel, one is yet to learn? The Text in both Cases foretelling what would be; but neither of them determining whatoughtto be.
But the Scripture commandsWivestosubmit themselves to their own Husbands. True; for which St.Paulgives a Mystical Reason (Eph.v. 22,&c.) and St.Peter, a Prudential and Charitable one (1Pet.iii.) but neither of them derive that Subjection from the Law of Nature. Nay, St.Paul, as if he foresaw and meant to prevent this Plea, giving Directions for their Conduct to Women in general, 1Tim.ii. when he comes to speak ofSubjection, he changes his Phrase fromWomen, which denotes the whole Sex, toWoman, which in the New Testament is appropriated to a Wife.
As for his not suffering Women to speak in the Church, no sober Person that I know of pretends to it. That learned Paraphrast, indeed, who lays so much Stress on theNatural Subjection, provided this Prerogative be secur’d, is willing to give up the other. For heendeavours to prove, that Inspir’d Women, as well as Men, us’d to speak in the Church, and that St.Pauldoes not forbid it, but only takes care that the Women should signify their Subjection by wearing a Veil. But the Apostle is his own best Expositor, let us therefore compare his Precepts with his Practice, for he was all of a Piece, and did not contradict himself. Now by this Comparison we find, that though he forbids Women to teach in the Church, and this for several Prudential Reasons, like those he introduces with anI give my Opinion, and now speak I, not the Lord, and not because of any Law of Nature, or positive Divine Precept, for that the Wordsthey are commanded(1Cor.xiv. 24.) are not in the Original, appears from theItalickCharacter, yet he did not found this Prohibition on any suppos’d want of Understanding in Woman, or of Ability to teach; neither does he confine them at all Times tolearn in Silence. For the eloquentApollos, who was himself aTeacher, was instructed byPriscilla, as well as by her HusbandAquila, and was improv’d by them both in the Christian Faith. Nor does St.Paulblame her for this, or suppose that sheusurp’d Authority overthat greatMan; so far from this, that as she is always honourably mention’d in Holy Scripture, so our Apostle, in his Salutations,Rom.xvi. places her in the Front, even before her Husband, giving to her, as well as to him, the Noble Title of,his Helper in Christ Jesus, and of oneto whom all the Churches of theGentiles had great Obligations.
But, it will be said perhaps, that in 1Tim.ii. 13,&c.St.Paulargues for the Woman’s Subjection from the Reason of Things. To this I answer, that it must be confess’d, that this (according to the vulgar Interpretation) is a very obscure Place, and I should be glad to see a Natural, and not a Forc’d Interpretation given of it by those whotake it Literally: Whereas if it be taken Allegorically, with respect to the Mystical Union between Christ and his Church, to which St.Paulfrequently accommodates the Matrimonial Relation, the Difficulties vanish. For the EarthlyAdam’s beingform’dbeforeEve, seems as little to prove her Natural Subjection to him, as the living Creatures, Fishes, Birds and Beasts being form’d before them both, proves that Mankind must be subject to these Animals. Nor can the Apostle mean thatEveonly sinned; or that she only wasDeceiv’d, for ifAdamsinn’d wilfully and knowingly, he became the greater Transgressor. But it is very true, that the SecondAdam, the Man Christ Jesus,was first form’d, and then his Spouse the Church. He was not in any respectDeceiv’d, nor does she pretend to Infallibility. And from this secondAdam, promis’d toEvein the Day of our first Parents Transgression, and from Him only, do all their Race, Men as well as Women, derivetheir Hopes of Salvation. Nor is it promis’d to either Sex on any other Terms besides Perseverance inFaith, Charity, Holiness and Sobriety.
If the Learned will not admit of this Interpretation, I know not how to contend with them. For Sense is a Portion thatGodHimself has been pleased to distribute to both Sexes with an impartial Hand, but Learning is what Men have engross’d to themselves, and one can’t but admire their great Improvements! For, after doubting whether there was such a Thing as Truth, and after many hundred Years Disputes about it, in the last Century an extraordinary Genius arose, (whom yet, some are pleased to call a Visionary) enquir’d after it, and laid down the best Method of finding it. Not to the general Liking of the Men of Letters, perhaps, because it was wrote in a vulgar Language, and was so natural and easy as to debase Truth to common Understandings, shewing too plainly, that Learningand true Knowledge are two very different Things. “For it often happens (says that Author) that Women and Children acknowledge the Falsehood of those Prejudices we contend with, because they do not dare to judge without Examination, and they bring all the Attention they are capable of to what they read. Whereas on the contrary, the Learned continue wedded to their own Opinions, because they will not take the Trouble of examining what is contrary to their receiv’d Doctrines.”
Sciences, indeed, have been invented and taught long ago, and, as Men grew better advis’d, new modelled. So that it is become a considerable Piece of Learning to give an Account of the Rise and Progress of the Sciences, and of the various Opinions of Men concerning them. But Certainty and Demonstration are much pretended to in this present Age, and being obtain’d in manyThings, ’tis hoped Men will never Dispute them away in that which is of greatest Importance, the Way of Salvation. And because there is not any thing more certain than what is delivered in the Oracles ofGod, we come now to consider what they offer in Favour of our Sex.
Let it be premis’d, (according to the Reasoning of a very ingenious Person in a like Case) that one Text for us, is more to be regarded than many against us. Because thatOnebeing different from what Custom has established, ought to be taken with Philosophical Strictness; whereas theManybeing express’d according to the vulgar Mode of Speech, ought to have no greater Stress laid on them, than that evident Condescension will bear. One Place then were sufficient, but we have many Instances wherein Holy Scripture considers Women very differently from what they appear in the common Prejudices of Mankind.
The World will hardly allow a Woman to say any thing well, unless, as she borrows it from Men, or as assisted by them: ButGodHimself allows that the Daughters ofZelophehad spake right, and passes their Request into a Law. Considering how much the Tyranny, shall I say, or the superior Force of Men, keeps Women from Acting in the World, or doing any thing considerable, and remembring withal the Conciseness of the Sacred Story, no small Part of it is bestow’d in transmitting the History of Women, famous in their Generations: Two of the Canonical Books, bearing the Names of those great Women whose Vertues and Actions are there recorded.Ruthbeing call’d from among theGentilesto be an Ancestor of the Messiah, andEstherbeing rais’d up byGodto be the great Instrument of the Deliverance and Prosperity of theJewishChurch.
The Character ofIsaac, though one of the most blameless Men taken Notice of in the Old Testament, must give Place toRebecca’s, whose Affections are more reasonably plac’d than his, her Favourite Son being the same who wasGod’s Favourite. Nor was the Blessing bestow’d according to his, but to her Desire; so that if you will not allow, that her Command toJacobsupersededIsaac’s toEsau, his Desire to give the Blessing to this Son, being evidently an Effect of his Partiality; you must at least grant, that she paid greater Deference to the Divine Revelation, and for this Reason, at least, had a Right to oppose her Husband’s Design; which, it seems,Isaacwas sensible of, when upon his Disappointment, hetrembled so exceedingly. And so much Notice is taken even ofRebecca’s Nurse, that we have an Account where she died, and where she was buried.
Godis pleas’d to Record it among His Favours to the ingratefulJews, that He sent before them His ServantsMoses,Aaron, andMiriam; who was also a Prophetess, and instructed the Women how to bear their Part withMosesin his Triumphal Hymn. Is she to be blam’d for her Ambition? And is not the High PriestAaronalso, who has his Share in the Reproof as well as in the Crime? nor could she have mov’d Sedition if she had not been a considerable Person, which appears also by the Respect the People paid her, in deferring their Journey till she was ready.
Where shall we find a nobler Piece of Poetry thanDeborah’s Song? Or a better and greater Ruler than that renowned Woman, whose Government so much excell’d that of the former Judges? And though she had a Husband, she her self judgedIsrael, and consequently was his Sovereign, of whom we know nomore than the Name. Which Instance, as I humbly suppose, overthrows the Pretence ofNatural Inferiority. For it is not the bare Relation of a Fact, by which none ought to be concluded, unless it is conformable to a Rule, and to the Reason of Things: ButDeborah’s Government was conferr’d on her byGodHimself. Consequently the Sovereignty of a Woman is not contrary to the Law of Nature; for the Law of Nature is the Law ofGod, who cannot contradict Himself; and yet it wasGodwho inspir’d and approv’d that great Woman, raising her up to Judge and to Deliver His PeopleIsrael.
Not to insist on the Courage of that valiant Woman, who deliver’dThebezby slaying the Assailant; nor upon the Preference whichGodthought fit to give toSampson’s Mother, in sending the Angel to her, and not to her Husband, whose vulgar Fear she so prudently answer’d, as plainly shews her superiorUnderstanding: To pass overAbigail’s wise Conduct, whereby she preserv’d her Family and deservedDavid’s Acknowledgments, for restraining him from doing a rash and unjustifiable Action; the Holy Penman giving her the Character of aWoman of good Understanding, whilst her Husband has that of a Churlish and Foolish Person, and a Son ofBelial: To say nothing of thewise Woman(as the Text calls her) ofTekoah; or of her ofAbel, who has the same Epithet, and who by her Prudence delivered the City and appeas’d a dangerous Rebellion: Nor of the Queen ofSheba, whose Journey to hear the Wisdom ofSolomon, shews her own good Judgment and great Share in that excellent Endowment.Solomondoes not think himself too wise to be instructed by his Mother, nor too great to record her Lessons, which, if he had followed, he might have spared the Trouble of Repentance, and been delivered from a great deal of that Vanity he so deeply regrets.
What Reason can be assign’d why the Mothers of the Kings ofJudah, are so frequently noted in those very short Accounts that are given of their Reigns, but the great Respect paid them, or perhaps their Influence on the Government, and Share in the Administration? This is not improbable, since the wickedAthaliahhad Power to carry on her Intrigues so far as to get Possession of the Throne, and to keep it for some Years. Neither was there any Necessity forAsa’s removing his Mother (or Grandmother) from being Queen, if this were merely Titular, and did not carry Power and Authority along with it. And we find what InfluenceJezabelhad inIsrael, indeed to her Husband’s and her own Destruction.
It was aWidow-WomanwhomGodmade choice of to sustain his ProphetElijahatZarephah. And the History of theShunamiteis a noble Instance of the Account that is made of Women inHoly Scripture. For whether it was not the Custom inShunemfor the Husband to dictate, or whether her’s was conscious of her superior Vertue, or whatever was the Reason, we find it is she who governs,dwellingwith great Honour and Satisfactionamong her own People. Which Happiness she understood so well, and was so far from a troublesome Ambition, that she desires no Recommendation tothe King or Captain of the Host, when the Prophet offer’d it, being already greater than they could make her. The Text calls her aGreat Woman, whilst her Husband is hardly taken Notice of, and this, no otherwise, than as performing the Office of a Bailiff. It isherPiety and Hospitality that are Recorded,Sheinvites the Prophet toher House; who converses with, and is entertained byher. She gives her Husband no Account ofherAffairs any further, than to tell himherDesigns, that he may see them executed. And when he desires to know the Reason ofher Conduct, all the Answer she affords is,Well, or, as the Margin has it from theHebrew,Peace. Nor can this be thought assuming, since it is no more than what the Prophet encourages, for all his Addresses are toher, he takes no Notice of her Husband. His Benefits are conferr’d onher, ’tissheandher Householdwhom he warns of a Famine, and ’tisshewho Appeals to the King for the Restitution ofher HouseandLand. I would not infer from hence, that Women, generally speaking, ought to govern in their Families when they have a Husband; but I think this Instance and Example is a sufficient Proof, that if by Custom or Contract, or the Laws of the Country, or Birth-right, (as in the Case of Sovereign Princesses) they have the supreme Authority, it is no Usurpation, nor do they act contrary to Holy Scripture, nor consequently to the Law of Nature. For they are no where, that I know of, forbidden to claim their just Right: The Apostle,’tis true, would not have themusurpAuthority, where Custom and the Law of the strongest had brought them into Subjection, as it has in these Parts of the World. Though in remoter Regions, if Travellers rightly inform us, the Succession to the Crown is intail’d on the Female Line.
GodHimself, who isno Respecter of Persons, with whom there is neither Bond nor Free, Male nor Female, buttheyare all one in Christ Jesus, did not deny Women that Divine Gift the Spirit of Prophecy, neither under theJewishnor Christian Dispensation. We have nam’d two great Prophetesses already,MiriamandDeborah; and besides other Instances,Huldahthe Prophetess was such an Oracle, that the good KingJosiah, that great Pattern of Vertue, sends even the High Priest himself to consult her, and to receive Directions from her in the most arduous Affairs.It shall come to pass, saith the Lord,that I will pour outmy Spirit upon all Flesh, and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophesy, which was accordingly fulfill’d by the Mission of the HolyGhoston the Day ofPentecost, as St.Petertells us. And, besides others, there is mention of four Daughters ofPhilip, Virgins, who did Prophesy. For, as in theOld, so in theNew Testament, Women make a considerable Figure; the Holy Virgin receiving the greatest Honour that Human Nature is capable of, when the Son ofGodvouchsafed to be her Son, and to derive his Humanity from her only. And if it is a greater Blessingto hear the Word ofGodand keep it, who are more considerable for their Assiduity in this, than the Female Disciples of ourLord?Marybeing Exemplary, and receiving a noble Encomium from Him, for her Choice of the better Part.
It would be thought tedious to enumerate all the excellent Women mentioned in theNew Testament, whose humblePenitence and ardent Love, asMagdalen’s; their lively Faith and holy Importunity, as theSyrophenician’s; extraordinary Piety and Uprightness, asElizabeth’s; Hospitality, Charity and Diligence, asMartha’s,Tabitha’s,&c.(see St.Lukeviii.); frequent and assiduous Devotions and Austerities, asAnna’s; Constancy and Courage, Perseverance and ardent Zeal, as that of the Holy Women who attended ourLordto His Cross, when His Disciples generally forsook, and the most Courageous had denied Him; are Recorded for our Example. Their Love was stronger than Death, it followed our Saviour into the Grave. And, as a Reward, both the Angel, and even theLordHimself, appears first to them, and sends them to preach the great Article of the Resurrection to the very Apostles, who being, as yet, under the Power of the Prejudices of their Sex, esteem’d the Holy WomensWords as idle Tales, and believed them not.
Some Men will have it, that the Reason of ourLord’s appearing first to the Women, was, their being least able to keep a Secret; a witty and masculine Remark, and wonderfully Reverent! But not to dispute whether those Women were Blabs or no, there are many Instances in Holy Scripture, of Women who did not betray the Confidence repos’d in them. ThusRahab, though formerly an ill Woman, being converted by theReportof those Miracles, which, though theIsraelites saw, yet theybelieved not inGod,nor put their Trust in his Word, She acknowledges theGodof Heaven, and, as a Reward of her faithful Service, in concealingJoshua’s Spies, is, with her Family, exempted from the Ruin of her Country, and also, has the Honour of being named in theMessiah’s Genealogy.Michal, to saveDavid’s Life, exposes her self to the Fury of a Jealous and Tyrannical Prince. A Girl was trusted byDavid’s grave Counsellorsto convey him Intelligence in his Son’s Rebellion; and when a Lad had found it out, and blab’d it toAbsalom, the King’s Friends confiding in the Prudence and Fidelity of a Woman, were secur’d by her. When ourLordescaped from theJews, he trusted Himself in the Hands ofMarthaandMary. So does St.Peterwith anotherMary, when the Angel deliver’d him fromHerod, the DamselRhodatoo, was acquainted with the Secret. More might be said, but one would think here is enough to shew, that whatever other great and wise Reasons Men may have for despising Women, and keeping them in Ignorance and Slavery, it can’t be from their having learnt to do so in Holy Scripture. The Bible is for, and not against us, and cannot without great Violence done to it, be urg’d to our Prejudice.
However, there are strong and prevalent Reasons which demonstrate the Superiority and Pre-eminence of the Men.For in the first Place, Boys have much Time and Pains, Care and Cost bestow’d on their Education, Girls have little or none. The former are early initiated in the Sciences, are made acquainted with antient and modern Discoveries, they study Books and Men, have all imaginable Encouragement; not only Fame, a dry Reward now a-days, but also Title, Authority, Power, and Riches themselves, which purchase all Things, are the Reward of their Improvement. The latter are restrain’d, frown’d upon, and beat, notfor, butfromthe Muses; Laughter and Ridicule, that never-failing Scare-Crow, is set up to drive them from the Tree of Knowledge. But if, in spite of all Difficulties Nature prevails, and they can’t be kept so ignorant as their Masters would have them, they are star’d upon as Monsters, censur’d, envied, and every way discouraged, or, at the best, they have the Fate the Proverb assigns them,Vertue is prais’d and starv’d. And therefore, since the coarsestMaterials need the most Curing, as every Workman can inform you, and the worst Ground the most elaborate Culture, it undeniably follows, that Mens Understandings are superior to Womens, for, after many Years Study and Experience, they become wise and learned, and Women are not Born so!
Again, Men are possessed of all Places of Power, Trust and Profit, they make Laws and exercise the Magistracy, not only the sharpest Sword, but even all the Swords and Blunderbusses are theirs, which by the strongest Logick in the World, gives them the best Title to every Thing they please to claim as their Prerogative: Who shall contend with them? Immemorial Prescription is on their Side in these Parts of the World, antient Tradition and modern Usage! Our Fathers, have all along, both taught and practised Superiority over the weaker Sex, and consequently Women are by Nature inferior to Men, as was to be demonstrated.An Argument which must be acknowledged unanswerable; for, as well as I love my Sex, I will not pretend a Reply tosuchDemonstration!
Only let me beg to be inform’d, to whom we poor Fatherless Maids, and Widows who have lost their Masters, owe Subjection? It can’t be to all Men in general, unless all Men were agreed to give the same Commands; Do we then fall as Strays, to the first who finds us? By the Maxims of some Men, and the Conduct of some Women one would think so. But whoever he be that thus happens to become our Master, if he allows us to be reasonable Creatures, and does not meerly Compliment us with that Title, since no Man denies our Readiness to use our Tongues, it would tend, I should think, to our Master’s Advantage, and therefore he may please to be advis’d to teach us to improve our Reason. But if Reason is only allow’d us by way of Raillery, and the secretMaxim is, that we have none, or little more than Brutes, ’tis the best way to confine us with Chain and Block to the Chimney-Corner, which, probably, might save the Estates of some Families and the Honour of others.
I Do not propose this to prevent a Rebellion, for Women are not so well united as to form an Insurrection. They are for the most part wise enough to love their Chains, and to discern how very becomingly they fit. They think as humbly of themselves as their Masters can wish, with respect to the other Sex, but in regard to their own, they have a Spice of Masculine Ambition; every one would Lead, and none would Follow. Both Sexes being too apt to Envy, and too backward in Emulating, and take more Delight in detracting from their Neighbour’s Vertue, than in improving their own. And therefore, as to those Women who find themselves born for Slavery, and are so sensible of their ownMeanness, as to conclude it impossible to attain to any thing excellent, since they are, or ought to be best acquainted with their own Strength and Genius, She’s a Fool who would attempt their Deliverance or Improvement. No, let them enjoy the great Honour and Felicity of their tame, submissive and depending Temper! Let the Men applaud, and let them glory in this wonderful Humility! Let them receive the Flatteries and Grimaces of the other Sex, live unenvied by their own, and be as much belov’d as one such Woman can afford to love another! Let them enjoy the Glory of treading in the Footsteps of their Predecessors, and of having the Prudence to avoid that audacious Attempt of soaring beyond their Sphere! Let them Huswife or Play, Dress, and be pretty entertaining Company! Or, which is better, relieve the Poor to ease their own Compassions, read pious Books, say their Prayers, and go to Church, because they have been taught and us’d to do so,without being able to give a better Reason for their Faith and Practice! Let them not by any means aspire at being Women of Understanding, because no Man can endure a Woman of Superior Sense, or would treat a reasonable Woman civilly, but that he thinks he stands on higher Ground, and, that she is so wise as to make Exceptions in his Favour, and to take her Measures by his Directions; they may pretend to Sense, indeed, since meer Pretences only render one the more ridiculous! Let them, in short, be what is call’dveryWomen, for this is most acceptable to all sorts of Men; or let them aim at the Title ofgood devoutWomen, since some Men can bear with this; but let them not judge of the Sex by their own Scantling: For the great Author of Nature and Fountain of all Perfection, never design’d that the Mean and Imperfect, but that the most Compleat and Excellent of His Creatures in every Kind, should be the Standard to the rest.
To conclude; If thatGreat Queenwho has subdued the Proud, and made the pretended Invincible more than once fly before her; who has Rescued an Empire, Reduced a Kingdom, Conquer’d Provinces in as little Time almost as one can Travel them, and seems to have chain’d Victory to her Standard; who disposes of Crowns, gives Laws and Liberty toEurope, and is the chief Instrument in the Hand of the Almighty, to pull down and to set up the great Men of the Earth; who conquers every where for others, and no where for her self but in the Hearts of the Conquer’d, who are of the Number of those who reap the Benefit of her Triumphs; whilst she only reaps for her self the Lawrels of disinterested Glory, and the Royal Pleasure of doing Heroically; if this Glory of her own Sex, and Envy of the other, will not think we need, or does not hold us worthy of, the Protection of her ever victorious Arms, andMen have not the Gratitude, for her sake at least, to do Justice to her Sex, who has been such a universal Benefactress to theirs: Adieu to the Liberties, not of this or that Nation or Region only, but of the Moiety of Mankind! To all the great Things that Women might perform, inspir’d by her Example, encouraged by her Smiles, and supported by her Power! To their Discovery of new Worlds for the Exercise of her Goodness, new Sciences to publish her Fame, and reducing Nature it self to a Subjection to her Empire! To their destroying those worst of Tyrants Impiety and Immorality, which dare to stalk about even in her own Dominions, and to devour Souls almost within View of her Throne, leaving a Stench behind them scarce to be corrected even by the Incense of her Devotions! To the Women’s tracing a new Path to Honour, in which none shall walk but such as scorn to Cringe in order to Rise, and who are Proof both against giving andreceiving Flattery! In a Word, to those Halcyon, or, if you will,MillenniumDays, in which the Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together, and a Tyrannous Domination, which Nature never meant, shall no longer render useless, if not hurtful, the Industry and Understandings of half Mankind!