To her Royal Highness
THE
Princess ANN of Denmark.
MADAM,
What was at first address’d to the Ladies in General, as seeming not considerable enough to appear in your Royal Highnesses Presence, not being ill receiv’d by them, and having got the Addition of a Second Part, now presumes on a more Particular Application to Her who is the Principal of them, and whose Countenance and Example may reduce to Practice, what it can only Advise and Wish.
And when I consider you Madam as a Princess who is sensible that the Chief Prerogative of the Great is the Power they have of doing more Good than those in an Inferior Station can, I see no cause to fear that your Royal Highness will deny Encouragement to that which has no other Design than the Bettering of the World, especially the most neglected part of it as to all Real Improvement, the Ladies. It is by the Exercise of this Power that Princes become truly Godlike, they are never so Illustrious as when they shine as Lights in the World by an Eminent and Heroic Vertue. A Vertue as much above Commendation as it is above Detraction, which fits equally Silent and Compos’d when Opprest with Praises or Pursu’d with Calumnys, is neither hurt by these nor better’d by the other; for the Service of GOD, and the Resembling Him, being its only Aim, His Approbation in a soft and inward Whisper, is more than the loud Huzza’s and Plaudits of ten thousand Worlds.
I shall not therefore offend your Royal Ear with the nauseous strain of Dedications; for what can one say, when by how much the more any Person deserves Panegyric, by so much the less they endure it? That your Royal Highness may be All that is truly Great and Good, and have a Confluence of Temporal, Sanctify’d and Crown’d with Spiritual and Eternal Blessings, is the unfeigned and constant desire of
MADAM,
Your Royal Highnesses
Most Humble and most
Obedient Servant.
THE
Introduction,
Containing a farther
PERSWASIVE
TO THE
LADIES
To endeavour the
Improvement of their Minds.
The favourable reception which the graver and wiser part of the World were pleas’d t’afford to a former Essay towards th’improvement of the Ladies, has encouraged her who made it to prosecute that design a little further, and to try if she can reduce to Practice what appears so well in Notion and Speculation. For how customary soever it be for Writers to mind no more than their own Reputation, to be content if they can make a handsom flourish, get a Name among the Authors, come off with but a little Censure and some Commendations; or if there are a few generous Souls who’re got above either the Hope or Fear of vulgar Breath, who do not matter much what is dispens’d more commonly by fancy or passion than by Judgment, they rest satisfied however in a Good Intention, and comfort themselves that they’ve endeavour’d the Reformation of the Age, let those look to’t who will not follow their Advices: Yet give her leave to profess that she desires the Good of the World rather than its Applauses, and cou’d with much greater pleasure have found her Project condemn’d as foolish and impertinent, than see it entertain’d with delight and approbation, and yet no body endeavouring to put it in Practice; since the former wou’d only have reproach’d her own Understanding, but the latter is a shame to Mankind, as being a plain indication that tho they discern and commend what is Good, they have not the Vertue and Courage to Act accordingly. Were’t altogether impossible t’improve her Sex, were Women irremediably condemn’d to folly and impertinence, how much soever she desires their amendment, she wou’d make a Vertue of Necessity and endeavour to be content without it, but it will give her the greatest uneasiness to’ve found out a Method which every one judges so much to their advantage, if she can’t persuade them to make use of it.
And can you Ladies deny her so cheap a Reward for all the Good-will she bears you, as the Pleasure of seeing you Wise and Happy? Can you envy her the Joy of assisting at Your Triumphs; for why does she contend for Laurels but to lay ’em all at the Ladies feet? Why won’t you begin to think, and no longer dream away your Time in a wretched incogitancy? Why does not a generous Emulation fire your hearts and inspire you with Noble and becoming Resentments? The Men of Equity are so just as to confess the errors which the Proud and inconsiderate had imbib’d to your prejudice, and if you still allow them the preference in Ingenuity, they’re convinc’d it is not because you must, but because you will. Can you be in Love with servitude and folly? Can you dote on a mean, ignorant and ignoble Life? Shall an Ingenious Woman be star’d on as a Prodigy, since you have it in your power to inform the World, that you can every one of you be so, if you please your selves? It is not enough to wish and to would it, or t’afford a faint Encomium upon what you pretend is beyond your Power; Imitation is the heartiest Praise you can give, and is a Debt which Justice requires to be paid to every worthy Action. What Sentiments were fit to be rais’d in you to day ought to remain to morrow, and the best Commendation you can bestow on a Book is immediately to put it in Practice; otherwise you become self-condemn’d, your Judgment reproaches your Actions, and you live a contradiction to your selves. If you approve, Why don’t you follow? And if you Wish, Why shou’d you not Endeavour? especially since that wou’d reduce your Wishes to Act, and make you of Well-wishers to Vertue and Good sense, become glorious Examples of them.