The gallery of heroick women written in French by Peter Le Moyne of the Society of Jesus ; translated into English by the Marquesse of Winchester.

MORAL QVESTION.

Whether Great Ladies in Prosperity, be not in a better Condi∣tion then Those in Affliction.

IT is not only now adays that men finde something to alledge against the Works of God, and that his Providence hath need of an Apology. In all Times there have been Impious Censurers and Blaspheming Cri∣ticks. who have sought out Defects in the Fairest Pieces of the World; and Disorder in the Conduct and Motions thereof. The greatest and most ••nsupportable Disorder in the opinion of these conceited Men, is that which they observe in the distribution of the Blessings and Misfortunes of this Life. If we believe them in this Point, there is nothing but Trouble and ••onfusion; nothing but unjust and irregular Hazards; nothing but tumul••u••ry and misplaced Fortunes. Hail fall••s equally upon the Harvest of the Good and Wicked: Thunder beats down Churches, and spares Place•• of Debauchery Winds are not more propitious, nor the Sea more calm and favo••••ble to Pilgrims of the Holy Sepulchre, then to those of 〈◊〉〈◊〉. And it often happens that a Turk escapes the same Rock upon which a Christian suffers Shipwrack. They adde hereunto, that Violence is always Rich and Honoured, and Integrity ever Necessitous and Despised. They discover under the Feet of Proud and Prodigal Rich men the Blood, Substance, and Livelihood of the Poor, which dye of Hunger. They shew the Places, and quote the Times where happy and Crowned Injustice made advantage of its Impiety, and Reigned with the contempt of God and Men: whilst Innocence, loaden with Chains, and Executed, ex∣hibited upon a Scaffold a Spectacle of its own Dishonour and Punish∣ment.

It is true that such Tragedies have been often seen: And lately also 〈◊〉〈◊〉 produced one very like in the Person of Mary Stewart; England and Scotland 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thereto with very different Passions: And France saw it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 off with Sighs and Tears. The Picture of this History with which this Gallery is finished, gives me occasion to justifie here the Divine Pro∣vidence in the Conduct of this Innocent Princess; to disclose to great La∣dies under Affliction and Sufferance the Riches which are hidden in Tri∣bulations;

and to perswade them that they are more happy, and in a bet∣ter condition in sufferance, then if they remained in a continued prosperity.

I suppose that it is more advantagious to Women, for whom I write, to be apparelled with Vertue then Vice: to be of the chosen number: Of those whom God particularly cherishes, and prepares to Glory; then to be left in the Crowd, without mark or degree, without right or pretence to the future: And I believe that I have reason to suppose it because I write not under the Law of the Al••••oran, nor in the time of Fables: I write under the Law of the Gospel, and in the Age of Truth: And what I write will be read by Christian Women, and not by Sul••••••esses: It will be read by 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, by 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and not by Strat••nic••••s, by Cl••opatra's, by Messa••••••s. Now Adversity is the proper state of Vertue, and Vertuous persons: It is the most commodious and favourable Treatment which God can use towards those precious Souls which he cherishes with Pater∣nal Love, and which he hath withdrawn out of the Crowd. It is the Le∣gal Ornament and preparation of that Righteousness which he requires in his Spouses. And these their Advantages of Adversity deserve at least that we should not cast an ill look upon it, if we have not a mind to cherish it: They will deserve that we should receive it with patience, if we have not the Courage to meet it, and rejoyce at its arrival.

First, it is certain that bad times are the most proper for Vertue: Her good seasons are produced by Hayl-storms and Wind, by War and Tem∣pests: And if Adversity be not her Mother, she is at least her Nurse and Governess. You may see some smooth-faced, adjusted, and simpering Dame set out with holyed Grains and Chaplets; disguised with a con∣strained Modesty, and with Tears squeezed out by force: And this dis∣sembling Creature would have her self taken for Vertue. But you must not be mistaken in her, she is not Vertue: She is a counterfeit which would fain imitate her, but doth it unhandsomly; which Apes her, yet hath not one hair of her Head by which to resemble her. Vertue, as some imagine, is not an idle quality, and addicted to case: A habit made for shew, composed of Countenances. It is a laborious and active quality: It is a Warlike and Victorious habit: And wise men, to whom heretofore she appeared, never saw her unarmed; they never saw her but amidst Thorns, and upon Mountains: They conceived that her Pallace was built with shipwrackt pieces, with the remnants of burnt house, with great Oaks blacked and beaten down by storms of Thunder. She must be furnished then with Contrarieties, that she may labour; She must find resistance which may exercise her, and give force to the vigour of her action: And if she had no Adversity nor Adversaries; if all her hours were serene, and all her dayes, dayes of Peace, against whom would she offer Combat? In what season would she gain Victories? Upon what Title would she demand Crowns?

This concerns the generall duty of all sorts of Vertues; I say even of those which are only industrious; which only labour exteriourly, and in a Mechanick way; which are limited by Time and Matter. The Vertue of

a Pilot hath its chief action amidst the tumult of turbulent Waves, and boysterous Winds; amidst the confusion of the melting Heavens, and the townng Seas. The Vertue of a Physitian, and of Drugs, express their force upon mutulated members, and wounds, through which the blood slides away with life. By the same reason a Wrastler is as no Wrastler at a Ta∣ble•••• and a Souldier is as no Souldier at a Ball. The Vertue of them both must be assaulted. It requires Resistance and Adversaries: it is atchieved by Sweat and Dust, with Blood and Wounds.

It is the same with Moral Vertue, nay with Christian Vertue, which is of an Order transcending all the rest. Her condition is to labour and fight, to part with her blood, and to receive wounds. And if this condi∣tion seem troublesome to her, she must remember, that in the list of this life the Prize and Acclamations of the Combat are not reserved for Spe∣ctators; for those lazie persons Crowned with Flowers and Perfumes, who are content to look on quietly and at their ease. They are for those that fight Couragiously, who mingle their blood and sweat with the dust of the lists, who shew great Hearts and great Souls by great Wounds.

But Vertue is Innocent: And the wounds of the Innocent are more pain∣full then those of the Culpable. Such persons as are wounded and over∣come in the L••sts, such as endure Rain and Wind in the Trenches, such as leave their Arms and Legs upon a Breach, or in a pitcht Battle, are not Criminals drawn out of a Dungeon or a Gally. And after all, if Wounds do so much torment this innocent Vertue, she may lay down her Arms, and depart out of the Lists: She may also settle her self if she thinks good near to Voluptuousness; paint and adorn her self like her, take half of her Nosegayes and Perfumes; borrow her Looking glass and Fan. But this once done, she must no longer call her self Vertue, nor pretend to Glory, and her Crowns. Besides, Vertue never yet appeared effeminate, and vo∣luptuous, nor painted or perfumed: And no person was ever seen to pretend to Glory, and run after her Crowns with a head covered over with painting, and loaden with Flowers, with a Fan in her hand, and a Looking glass at her Girdle.

Afflictions and Adversities are then the proper state of Vertue: as War is the proper season of a Souldier; as the Lists is the proper place for him who pretends to the Prize. And therefore let us no longer say that Inno∣cent and Vertuous Women are unjustly afflicted: Let us no longer im∣pute to hazzard and tumult, what is according to natural order, and placed in a just proportion. And let us learn once for all, that if Vertue be in her right place, when she is in Adversity: if she doth her duty when she suf∣fers; Ladies who follow her freely, and in good earnest, cannot complain of their ill Treatment, when God obligeth them to the same duty, and or∣dains them to remain in the same state.

On the contrary, he cannot afford them a more important tryall of his Love, not more efficaciously testifie that he hath the thoughts of Salvation, and the heart of a Father for them. Thereby he purifies and frees them from vitious superfluities: He deprives them of what adulterates and cor∣rupts:

He prepares them for Crowns, and the Inheritance of a Future Life. It is certain that there is no Vertue so pure, which hath not some stain: There is not any so sound, which hath not some part either infected or indisposed: And if this be true of Vertue, which saved her self in the Desert; which put off her shooes, and forsook with them the dirt and High ways at the foot of the Mountain: What will become of that Ver∣tue which resides at Court and amongst the great Ones; which hath been nourished with a dangerous and corrupted Fortune; which hath Dome∣stiques as much cryed down as Riches, as Scandalous and Debauch'd as Pleasures? Is it possible that she should be so sound, and have so good Pre∣servatives as the Ayr of the Court cannot corrupt her? that she should suf∣fer nothing from the Opinions and Customs of Men? that she should not be infected by the Contagion of Fortune? that Riches should not puff up her Heart and Head▪ that Pleasures should not beget in her Infirmity or Corruption? And if there be no Vertue so Vigorous, not Reason so well Fortified, which is able to resist so many things which spoil and corrupt; I ask of a Lady, what usage might be best for her in that state, and what choice she would make, if God had left it to her self? I hardly believe that she would choose to be given over by the Physitian. The Election would not be much better, then if she should make choice of a Precipice: the Dispute would not be about the End, but the way to it: And if she had rather perish by a Precipice, she cannot do it more certainly then by sick∣ness. It remains then, that she put her self into the hands of the Physitian, and relye on him for the ordering of her Maladies and Wounds.

But she should be very ignorant, if she expected to be cured by him with divertisements▪ with leaving her to her ease, with making her laugh. Do the Maladies of the Body become obedient to such Remedies? Do they heal her wounds with Leaves of Roses, and the Oyl of 〈◊〉〈◊〉? Do they not proceed against them with Bitterness and Pain, with Irons and Fire? Nevertheless these Wounds remain only in the Superficies; and these Maladies are often caused by a grain of Sand which pains them, or by a drop of Humour slipt out of its place. And shall we likewise believe that Interiour and Spiritual Maladies; that voluntary and inveterate Wounds will be cured with Ragouts and Perfumes, that they will pass away at Play or at Table? Shall we believe that the Friendly and Domestick Pa••∣sions of the Soul, that Vices avowed by the Will, and habituated in the Heart will flie at the sound of Musick; will be chased away by the ••n oak of a Persuming Pan? They will need bitter Potions and painful Incisi∣ons: They will require Remedies of Iron and Fire: And these Reme∣dies of Iron and Fire are the Adversities which God Ordains them; and which are profitably and successfully applyed to them by Patience. It is much better then, for Ladies to be Purged and Cured by Adversity, how distastful soever her Medicines may be, then if by an unfortunate Indul∣gence they were abandoned to Contagious Prosperity, which would com∣pleat their Corruption.

This so harsh Treatment, and painful in appearance, will be yet found

more wholsom and beneficial; if we adde, that thereby they are prepared for the Wedding of the Lamb, and for the Crowns of the other Life. We are not received at this Feast with soul Garments, and hands fullied with d••t▪ And the fauest Head of the World which should have but one stain will never be Crownd there. It is necessary then for us to be purified be∣fore we present our selves to this Feast: And those Souls doubtless are the most happy which arrive there perfectly cleansed. Besides that, they are not made to wait at the Gate, they have Purity here at a cheaper rate then in that Country. The fire of Adversity, what hand soever inkindles it, what winde soever blows it, is not by much so ardent as the Fire of Purga∣tory: And we are better Treated by Tribulation, nay by the most severe and harsh can be imagined, then by these purifying Devils, which, as a Ho∣ly Father saith, Act the same thing upon Souls, as Fullers do upon Stuffs which are put out to be Dyed.

This so entire and perfect Purity ought to be accompanied with all the Features of an exact and compleat Beauty: And this Beauty also ought to be Royallie endowed, and to have a large stock of Riches. Now the Beauty of a Soul, which is beloved of God, and his Holy Angels, is not formed with Paint and Plaister, with Silk and Flowers: She is framed by Maladies and Wounds: and her most delicate Painting ought to be com∣posed both of Blood, Tears, and Ashes. The Beauty of St. Te••la was formed by Fire and the Claws of Lions: That of St. Apollo•••••• by Flines, with which her teeth were broken: That of St. Cicil•••• by the boiling wa∣ter of a Furnace: That of St Cath••rine by a Sword and a Wheel. And ge∣nerally there is no Beauty in Heaven, which Adversity hath not made, and Patience adorned.

As for those Riches which should make up the Dowry of this Beauty; they are not the Fruit of a sweet Life, nor the Revenue of Pleasure and Pastime. The very Riches of the Earth; even those gross and Material Riches which belong to the lowest Story of the World, are Fruits of Ad∣versity, and arrive to us from the Tribulations and Afflictions of Nature. Pearls and Coral are found in the Element of Tempests and Bitterness: Precious Stones are taken out of Precipices and Rocks: Gold and Silver are born Prisoners and in Dungeons: And if they be drawn out of their dark holes, it is to make them pass through Iron and Fire: it is to make them suffer all the Punishments of Criminals. Certainly, if Terrestrial and meer Imaginary Riches are the Fruits of Labour, and the Daughters of Adversity, it would not be Just, that the Riches of the Minde, which form the Great Saints of the Kingdom of God, and the quiet Possessors of Eternity should be the reward of Idleness, and the Heritage of De∣lights. These Spiritual Riches then are the Inheritance and Revenue of Ad∣versity: And consequently this harsh and Laborious Adversity is more Be∣neficial to great Ladies then Prosperity, which stain's and infect's them; which sometimes even impoyson's, and strangles them.

Surely they would be very nice, if they did bear their good Fortune impatiently and with complaints: if they were wounded by their Orna∣ments:

if they groaned under the Matter of their Crowns. Since Adver∣sity is sent them by the Bridegroom to prepare them for his Wedding; It is very just that at least so good an Office should make them rellish the rudeness of its Hands, and the severity of its Countenance. Surely they would weep with a very ill Grace, if they lamented that pressure which adornes them; Because it loads them with Gold and Jewels: because it pricks them by fastening on them Garlands and Crowns. They suffer in∣deed the Fortune on their Heads, and the Rack on their Bodies; they ex∣pose themselves to Iron and Fire to appear Beautiful in the eyes of men: And it would be truly a great shame that they should please God with less Trouble, and more at their Ease. But here is enough to justifie the Provi∣dence of God; and to shew to Vertuous and Afflicted Ladies how high∣ly they ought to esteem the Grace and Riches of Tribulation. It remains to confirm them by a second Example, which hath the same Features, and almost the same Colours as the first; and I hope it will have no less Force, nor prove less perswasive, though it be less fresh, and more remote from our sight.