CCXI sociable letters written by the thrice noble, illustrious, and excellent princess, the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle.

CL.

MADAM,

MY Thoughts, although not my Actions, have been so busily Imployed about Huswifry these three or four Dayes, as I could think of nothing else, for I hearing my Neigh∣bours should say, my Waiting-Maids were Spoil'd with Idleness, having nothing to do, but to Dress, Curl, and Adorn themselves, and they Excusing themselves, laying the Blame upon me, that I did not set them to any Imploy∣ment, but whereas they were ready to Obey my Commands, I was so Slow in Command∣ing them, as I seldom took any Notice of them, or Spoke to them, and that the truth was, they oftener Heard of their Lady, than Heard, or Saw her themselves, I living so Studious a Life, as they did not See me above once a Week, nay, many times, not once in a Fortnight; wherefore, upon the Relation of these Complaints, I sent for the Governess of my House, and bid her give order to have Flax and Wheels Bought, for I, with my Maids, would sit and Spin. The Governess hearing me say so, Smiled, I ask'd her the Reason, she said, she Smil'd to think what Uneven Threads I would Spin, for, said she, though Nature hath made you a Spinster in Poetry, yet Education hath not made you a

Spinster in Huswifry, and you will Spoil more Flax, than Get Cloth by your Spinning, as be∣ing an Art that requires Practice to Learn it; be∣sides, said she, the Noise the Wheels make with Turning round, will be Offensive to your Hear∣ing. I was very much Troubled to hear what she said, for I thought Spinning had been Easie, as not requiring much Skill to Draw, and Twist a Thread, nay, so Easie I thought it was, as I did imagine I should have Spun so Small, and Even a Thread, as to make Pure Fine Linnen Cloth, also, that my Maids and I should make so much, as I should not have needed to Buy any, either for Houshold Linnen, or Shifts. Then I bid her leave me, to Consider of some other Work; and when I was by my self alone, I call'd into my Mind several Sorts of Wrought Works, most of which, though I had Will, yet I had no Skill to Work, for which I did Inwardly Complain of my Education, that my Mother did not Force me to Learn to Work with a Needle, though she found me alwayes Unapt thereto; at last I Pitch'd upon Making of Silk Flowers, for I did Remember, when I was a Girl, I saw my Sisters make Silk Flowers, and I had made some, although Ill-favour'dly; wherefore I sent for the Governess of my House again, and told her, that I would have her Buy several Co∣loured Silks, for I was Resolved to Imploy my Time in making Silk-Flowers; she told me, she would Obey my Commands, but, said she, Madam, neither You, nor any that Serves You,

can do them so Well, as those who make it their Trade, neither can you make them so Cheap, as they will Sell them out of their Shops, wherefore you had better Buy those Toyes, if you Desire them, for it will be an Unprofitable Employment, to Wast Time, with a Double Expence of Mony. Then I told her I would Preserve, for it was Summer time, and the Fruit Fresh, and Ripe upon the Trees; she ask'd me for whom I would Preserve, for I seldom did Eat Sweet-meats my self, nor made Banquets for Strangers, unless I meant to Feed my Houshold Servants with them; besides, said she, you may keep half a score Servants with the Mony that is laid out in Sugar and Coals, which go to the Preserving only of a Few Sweet-meats, that are good for nothing, but to Breed Obstructions, and Rot the Teeth. All which when I heard, I conceived she spoke Reason; at last I considered, that I and my Maids had better be Idle, than to Employ Time Unprofitably, and to spend Mony Idely; and after I had Mused some time, I told her, how I heard my Neighbours Condemn'd me, for let∣ting my Servants be Idle without Employment, and that my Maids said it was my Fault, for they were willing to be Employed in Huswifry; she said, my Neighbours would find Fault, where no Fault was, and my Maids would Complain more if they were kept to Work, than when they had liberty to Play; besides, said she, none can want Employment, as long as there are

Books to be Read, and they will never Inrich your Fortunes by their Working, nor their Own, unless they made a Trade of Working, & then perchance they might get a poor Living, but not grow Rich by what they can do, whereas by Reading they will Inrich their Understand∣ings, and Increase their Knowledges, and Quick∣en their Wit, all which may make their Life Happy, in being Content with any Fortune that not in their Power to Better, or in that, as to Manage a Plentiful Fortune Wisely, or to Indure a Low Fortune Patiently, and therefore they cannot Employ their Time better, than to Read, nor your Ladiship better than to Write, for any other Course of Life would be as Un∣pleasing, and Unnatural to you, as Writing is Delightful to you; besides, you are Naturally Addicted to Busie your time with Pen, Ink, and Paper; but, said I, not with Wit, for if Nature had given me as much Wit to Write, as For∣tune hath given me Leisure, my Writing might have been for some Use, but now my Time and Paper is Unprofitably VVasted in VVriting, as my Time and Flax would be in Spinning, but since I am fit for no other Employment but to Scratch Paper, leave me to that Employment, and let my Attending Maids have Books to read. Thus, Madam, for a time did I Trouble my Mind, and Busie my Thoughts to no Purpose, but was Forced to Return to my VVriting-VVork again, not knowing what else to do, and if I had been as Long Absent from my Lord as

Penelope was from her Husband Vlysses, I could have never Employed my Time as she did, for her work only Employed her Hands, and Eyes, her Ears were left open to Loves Pleadings, and her Tongue was at liberty to give her Suters Answers, whereas my VVork Employes all the Faculties and Powers of my Soul, Mind, and Spirits, as well as my Eyes and Hands, and my Thoughts are so Busie in my Brain, as they nei∣ther Regard, nor take Notice what Enters through the Ears; indeed those Passages are as Stop'd up, or Barr'd close, whereas had Pene∣lope's Ears been so Barr'd, her Lovers Petitions, Sutes, and Pleadings, would have been kept without doors, like a Company of Beggars, they might have Knock'd, but not Entred, nor any of the Mind's Family would have ask'd them what they Desired; neither would the Tongue, the Mind's Almner, have given them one word of Answer, and then it was likely her Amorous Lovers would have gone away, and not stay'd to Feed upon her Cost and Charge, as they did. But, Madam, give me leave to beg your Par∣don for VVriting so Long a Letter, though it is your Desire I should, I will Tire you no Long∣er, but Subscribe my self,

Madam,

Your faithful Friend and Servant.