FOOTNOTES:
[25] 1 Pet. 3. 7. Ier. 50. 37. Nah. 3. 13. Gal. 3. 27, 28.
[26] —Ex parte natura (niſi ſit fortitude maioris gratiæ) faciliùs incarnatur ad malum ſexus formineus. Bonau. L. 2. d. 21. q. 3. p. 18.
[27] Rom. 3. 9.
[28] Rom. 3. 23.
[29] Epheſ. 2. 3.
[30] Rom. 3. 18.
[31] Eurip. Plutarc. de Tranquilit Mulier quantibuis proba, Mulier tamen eſt.
[32] Anima enim ſexum non habet.—De Virg. som. 1. lib: 3. fol. 99.
Firſt, a womans weakneſſe is naturally[36] greater than the mans, and therefore by how much her fleſh is weaker, and her ſpirit leſſe willing, by ſo much the combate ſhe hath, is more difficult, and the victory ſhe gets, more commendable. I know a man (Bleſenſis by name) that thought two things ſhould excuſe him at the dreadfull day of iudgement, the Frailty of his fleſh, and the Ignorance of his minde; but then he feared leſt God would iudge men by womē, whoſe ſex being more fraile, more ignorant than that of mens, were for all that oftentimes more holy, more deuout than many men.
Secondly, the Feare of the Lord is the trueſt Nobilitie (as Gerſon[37] proues) the nobleſt grace that can ennoble and extoll a man or a woman. Other naturall, ciuill, and meerely morall excellencies, perfections, and endowments a woman may haue, nay (which is neereſt the point) other kindes of Feare ſhe may haue, and yet be baſe, ſeruile, curſed as Iezebel[38], not praiſe-worthy, as namely, if ſhe feare men[39], or what elſe beſides more than God, or not for God (as Saint Bernard[40] limits) or if ſhee feare God as a Iudge, in reſpect of his puniſhments only[41], & not as a Father for loue of his goodneſſe, and from an hatred of wickedneſſe, or if ſhe haue caſt off the feare of the Lord, which ſhee hath ſeemed to haue, or if ſhee puts off his Feare from time to time, and continues not in it.
