Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CVI. I. Of Dew. II. Whether it be expedient for Women to be Learned? (Book 106)

IF Pindar deem'd Water so good, that he thought nothing better to begin his Odes with; Dew, which is celestial Wa∣ter, [ I] deserves to be esteem'd,* 1.1 since it surpasses that as much as

Heaven, whence it comes, is elevated above the Earth. For Heaven is the source of Dew, whence it distills hither below, impregnated with all aethereal qualities and properties, incom∣municable to any other thing; whether it come by a transcola∣tion of super-celestial Waters, which the Hebrews call Maim in the Dual Number, to signifie the Waters on high and those below; or whether there be a Quintessence and Resolution of the Heavens whence it proceeds, like those Waters which Chy∣mists distil from Bodies put into their Alembicks, indu'd with their odour and other qualities, and sometimes augmented in virtues: Whence some Divines endeavour to derive the reason why Manna, which is nothing else but Dew condens'd, for four∣ty years together wanting one Moneth, and allotted by God for sustenance of his people, had all sorts of Tastes; for (say they) Heaven, whence it fell, contains eminently, as the efficient equi∣vocal cause, all the forms of things to whose generation it con∣curs here below; and therefore God employ'd this Dew to re∣present the several kinds of each Aliment, And Honey, whose sweetness is so familiar to our Nature, (yea, so priz'd by the Scri∣pture, that God promises his people nothing so frequently, to raise their longing after the Land which he had promis'd them) what else is it but this same Dew condens'd and gather'd by the Bees, who rubbing their thighs upon the flowers and leaves of Plants on which this Liquor falls, load themselves therewith, and lodg it in their hives? Wherefore Naturalists seem too gross, in teaching, Dew to be only a Vapour rais'd from the Earth, by the heat which the Sun leaves in the Air at his setting, and; for want of other sufficient heat, unable to advance it self higher than the tops of herbs: for its tenuity and effects mani∣fest the contrary; its tenuity much exceeding that of Water; witness their experiment, who make an egg-shell fill'd with Dew ascend alone to the top of a Pike plac'd a little bowing in the Sun; which it will not do, if fill'd with common Water, how rarefi'd soever. Its effects also are, to penetrate much more powerfully than ordinary Water; which is the reason why it very speedily whitens whatever is expos'd to it, as Linnen and Wax; for the effecting of which, Rain requires thrice as long time: But its penetrativeness appears yet further, in that it dis∣solves even Gold it self; for which reason some have thought fit to wash several times in it such Medicaments as they would have penetrate, as well as others are wont to do in Vinegar.

The Second said. If it suffic'd to speak of Dew in a Poetical way, I should call it the sweat of Heaven, ther spittle of the Stars, the dropping of the celestial Waters, or the crystalline humour which flows from the eyes or the fair Aurora; or else that 'tis a Pearl-Garland, wherewith the Earth decks her self in the morning, to appear more beautiful in the eyes of the Sun, and the whole Universe; to which if the Vapours serve for food, the Dew is its Nectar and Ambrosia. But to speak more soberly,

I conceive it a thin and subtle Vapour, rais'd by a moderate Heat; till either meeting some Body, it adheres thereunto; or being attracted neer the Middle Region of the Air, 'tis con∣dens'd by cold, and falls down again upon the Earth. Neverthe∣less, this Vapour proceeds not only from a humour purely Aque∣ous, but somewhat partaking of the Spirits of Nitre, Sugar, or a sweet Salt; since the thinnest part of it being evaporated, the rest remains condens'd upon leafs and stones, or becomes Honey and Manna; and whoso shall lightly pass his tongue over the leafs of Nut-tree, and other compact and close Plants, shall taste a sweetness upon them in temperate Climates or Seasons, which is nothing else but an extract of this same Dew. More∣over, the fertility which it causes in the Earth, its purgative and detersive virtue, sufficiently manifest this Truth. For Dew could not fertilise the Earth, if it were bare Water, destitute of all sort of Spirits; and particularly those of Nitre, which is the most excellent Manure that can be used to improve Land; for the Earth from which it is extracted remains barren, till it have been anew impregnated with those Spirits by the influx of Dew, to which they expose it for some time, that it may again become capable of producing something. This purgative virtue, where∣of not only Manna partakes (being a gentle purger, of serosities) but also pure Dew, which sometimes causes a mortal Diarrhoea or Lax in Cattle, purging them excessively when it is not well concocted and digested by the heat of the Sun, which consumes its superfluous phlegm; and that detersive Faculty whereby Dew cleanses all impurities of the Body, which it whitens perfectly, cannot proceed but from that nitrous Salt, which, as all other Salts, is penetrative and detersive. Nor can that ascending of the Egg-shell proceed from any other cause but the virtue of certain leight and volatil Spirits; which being actuated and fortifi'd by the heat of the Sun-beams, are set on motion; and flying upwards, carry the inclosing shell with them; which an aqueous humour cannot do; because though the heat of the Sun could so subti∣lise, attenuate, and rarefie it, as to render it an aery Nature, which is the highest point of rarity it can attain; yet it would not sooner attract the same than the rest of the air; much less would it raise up the Egg-shell; but it would transpire by little and little through the pores of the shell, or be expanded in it so far as it had space, and at last either break it, or be resolv'd into fume; Heat imprinting no motion in Water, but only ra∣rifying and heating it by degrees; which is not sufficient to raise up the Vessel which contains it, since the same being full of heat∣ed air, would remain upon the ground.

The Third said, That all natural things being in a perpetual flux and reflux, to which this Elementary Globe supplies Ali∣ments, to make them return to their Principle; Dew may be term'd the beginning and end of all things, the Pearl or Dia∣mond which terminates the circular revolution of all Nature;

since being drawn upwards by the Sun from the mass of Water and Earth, subtilis'd into vapour, and arriv'd to the utmost point of its rarefaction, it becomes condens'd again, and returns to the Earth, to which it serves as sperm, to render it fruitful, and to be transform'd upon it into all things, whose qualities it as∣sumes; because being nothing but a Quitessence extracted from all this Body, it must have all the virtues thereof eminently in it self. Moreover, anciently the ordinary Benedicton of Fathers to their Children was, that of the Dew of Heaven; as being the sperm of Nature, the First Matter of all its Goods, and the per∣fection of all its substance, recocted and digested in the second Region of the Air: For the same vapour which forms Dew in the Morning, being that which causes the Serein in the Even∣ing; yet the difference of them is so great, that the latter is as noxious as the former is profitable; because the first vapours which issue out of the bosome of the Earth, being not yet depu∣rated from their crude and malignant qualities, cause Rheums and Catarrhs; but those of the Morning being resolv'd of Air condens'd by the coldness of the Night, have nothing but the sweetness and benignity of that Element; or else the pores of the Body being open'd by the diurnal heat, more easily receive the malignant impressions of extraneous humidity, than after having been clos'd by the coldness of the night.

The Fourth said, Although Vapour be an imperfect Mixt, yet 'tis as well as other perfect Bodies compos'd of different parts; some whereof are gross others tenuious. The gross parts of Vapour being render'd volatile by the extraneous heat, where∣with they are impregnated, are elevated a far as the Middle Region of the Air, whose coldness condenses them into a cloud, which is ordinarily dissolv'd into Rain, sometimes into snow or hail; into the former, when the cloud before resolution is ren∣der'd friable by the violence of the cold, which expressing the humidity, closes the parts of the cloud, and so it falls in flocks: and into the latter, when the same cloud being already melted into rain, the drops are congeal'd, either by the external cold, or else by the extream heat of the Air, which by Antiperistasis augmenting the coldness of the rain, makes it close and harden; which his the reason why it hails as well during the sultry heats of Summer, as the rigours of Winter. And amongst the gross parts of the Vapour, such as could not be alter'd or chang'd into a cloud, descend towards our Region, and there form black clouds, and mists or foggs: But the more tenuious parts of this Vapour produce Dew; in which, two things are to be consi∣dered. I. The Matter. II. The Efficient Cause. The Mat∣ter, is that tenuious Vapour, so subtil as not to be capable of heat, and too weak to abate it. The Remote Efficient Cause, is a moderate Heat; for were it excessive, it would either con∣sume or carry away the Vapour; whence if comes to pass, that there is no Dew made but during the Spring and Autumn, which

are temperate, Seasons; but never in Winter or Summer, the former congealing those Vapours, and the latter dissolving and consuming them. The Proximate Efficient Cause is the cold∣ness of the Night, which must also be moderate; otherwise it congeals them, not into Dew, but white-Frost, as it turns the Waters into Ice by the extream cold of the Air; which more∣over must be calm and serene, because if beaten and agitated by Winds, the Vapour cannot be condens'd, for the same reason which hinders running Waters from freezing, as standing do; whence also Dew is more frequent in low places than high. Now as Dew is form'd of Vapour alone; so if together with that te∣nuious Vapour, some terrene but very fine parts be carried up, especially towards the morning, there is produc'd a very sweet juice, of which Honey is made; and when those terrene parts prevail above the humid parts of the Dew, there is made a less liquid juice call'd Manna, whereof the best is found in Calabria; that of Brianson, and some other places, being through want of heat less digested than is requisite; or mingled with too many impurities, by the excess of that which attracted them too vio∣lently from the Earth: But the sweetness of this Honey and Man∣na proceeds from a most perfect mixture of siccity with humi∣dity, in a degree which is unknown to us.

Upon the Second Point it was said, That God having subjected [ II] the Woman to the Dominion of the Man (endu'd with strength to keep himself in possession of that Empire;* 1.2) as Absolute Pow∣er is sometimes accompani'd with Tyranny, so he hath not only reserv'd to himself alone the Authority of making Laws (where∣unto Women not being call'd, have always had the worst) but hath also appropriated the best things to himself, without, ad∣mitting them to partake therein: For Men, not content to have reduc'd them by those Laws into perpetual Wardship, which is a real Servitude; to have so ill provided for them in Successions; and to have made themselves Masters of their Estates, under the Title of Husbands; further, unjustly deprive them of the greatest of all Goods, to wit, that of the Mind, whose fairest Ornament is Knowledge, the chief Good both of this World and the next, and the noblest Action of the Souls most excellent Faculty, the Understanding, which is common to Women as well as to Men, over whom too they seem to have the advan∣tage of Wit; not only for the softness of their Flesh, which is an evidence of goodness of Wit; but because of the Curiosity, which is the Parent of Philosophy, defin'd, for this reason, The Love and Desire of Wisedom: And this vivacity is conspicuous in their loquacity and their artifices, intrigues, and dissimulations; their Wits being like those good Soils, which for want of better cul∣ture run out into weeds and briars. Their Memory, caus'd by the moist constitution of their Brain, and their sedentary and solitary life, is further favourable to Study. Moreover, not to

speak of those of the present Times, we have the examples of S. Bridgid, who excell'd in Mystical Theologie; Cleopatra, Si∣ster of Arsinous, in Physick; Pulcheria, in Politicks; Hupetia and Athenais, wife to Theodosius, in Philosophy; Sappho, and two Co∣rynnae, in Poetry; Cornelia, the Mother of the Gracchi, and Tul∣lia, doubly Cicero's Daughter, in Eloquence. Now if it be true, that Politicks and Oeconomicks are founded upon the same Principles, and there needs as much Knowledg to preserve as to acquire; then since Women are in a Family what Men are in a State, and are destinated to keep what Men get, why should not they have the knowledg of the same Maxims as Men have by Study and Theory; inasmuch as the reservedness and modesty of their Sex allows them not to have the experience thereof, by frequentation of the World? Hence, our ancient Gauls left to them the Administration of the Laws, and other exercises of Peace; reserving to themselves only those of War. And as for other Sciences, since their Encyclopaedy is a World which hath yet many unknown or less frequented Parts, if Women joyn'd together with Men in the discovery of them, who doubts but a feminine Curiosity would serve to exacuate the point of Mens Wits, distracted by extraneous Affairs, and make marveilous progresses, and find out sundry rare Secrets, hitherto unknown.

The Second said, That Women are of themselves prone enough to take the ascendant over Men, without need of giving them that of Learning, which, puffing up the mind, would render them more proud and insupportable than before; the good opinion they would have of themselves, being inconsistent with the Obe∣dience to which they are bound. We read, That our first Fa∣ther Adam was indu'd with Knowledg, but not Eve; on the con∣trary, her sole desire to become knowing, by eating the forbid∣den Fruit, ruin'd the whole World. The active life of Huswifry, to which they are born; the tenderness of their Bodies, impa∣tient of the labours and sweat wherewith Science is acquir'd; the humidity of their Brain, which is an enemy to Science; and the weakness of their capricious Spirit; are sufficiently strong Reasons to prohibit that Sex the Sciences, which require solidity of Judgment, always found wanting in the Writings of Wo∣men accounted the most Learned: Because Judgment is an act of the Intellect, reflecting upon its Notions; which reflection depends upon a dry Temper, contrary to that of a Womans Brain, whose Animal Spirits being obscur'd by the clouds of hu∣midity, she hits well sometimes at the first assay, but not in se∣cond thoughts, which are always weaker than the first; a most sure mark of their weakness: (On the contrary, the second thoughts of Men prevail over the first.) Whence it is that they are heady in their desires, and violent in their first Passions, wherein ordinarily they have neither measure nor mediocrity: Therefore a Woman always either hates or loves; she never knows a mean.

The Third said, Since the more imperfect a thing is, the more need it hath of being perfectionated; were the Minds of Wo∣men weak and imperfect, as is pretended, it would follow, that they have more need of the Sciences to cover their defects. Had our first Mother been indu'd with Knowledg, she would not so easily have suffer'd her self to be deluded by the fair promises of the Devil, who rightly judging, that Adam with all his Know∣ledg would have discover'd his subtilties, was aware of medling with him, but set upon the poor, ideot, and ignorant Woman. 'Tis therefore an injustice to require Women to be more perfect and wise than Men, and withal to interdict them the means of becoming so: For how shall they be virtuous, if they know not what Virtue is? which being a Habit of the Will (a Faculty of it self blind, till illuminated by the advisoes of the Intellect, which are acquir'd by the Sciences) 'tis impossible for them to attain it. Those who doubt lest the knowledg of natural things might prejudice the honesty and modesty of that Sex, know not that the cognition of bad things, as well as of false, is always ho∣nest and laudable; and that the Understanding is no more soil'd therewith, than the Sun by shining upon dunghils. For though the Will receive tincture of goodness and evil from the objects to which it tends, yet the Understanding is not corrupted by the most impure and abominable things which fall under its no∣tice. Yea, since Knowledg depends upon purity and simpli∣city; which makes Divines say, That Angels and separated Intel∣ligences are more perfect in their cognitions than Men; it seems, the safest course Women can take for securing their purity and Chastity (their only Treasure) is, to make provision of Learning and Knowledg. Moreover, 'tis a thing unheard of to this day, that a Woman was Learned, and not Chaste and Continent; which the Ancients meant to represent by Minerva the Goddess of Sciences, and the Nine Muses, all Virgins.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Of Dew.
• * 1.2

  Whether it is expedient for Women to be Learned?