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<DATE>2011-09-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Taryn Hakala</NAME>
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<P>THE VINDICATION OF AN Injured Lady.</P>
<P><HI>Written by the Lady</HI> FRANCESCA MARIA LUCRETIA PLUNKETT One of the LADIES of the Privy Chamber To the QUEEN-MOTHER of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI></P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="vindication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<P>_THough I &s;hall never take delight in being reckoned among&s;t the <HI>Ga&s;te papiers</HI> or Scri|blers of this Age, yet I am at this time en|forced by a more then ordinary nece&s;&s;ity for the defence of my innocency, to make u&s;e of a known Right, that Cu&s;tome, the practice of time, hath allowed, even from the date of Learning, which is by a mode&s;t An&s;wer in writing, to confute the calumnies and petulant reproaches of envious Adver&s;aries; <HI>Ad exempla igitur rev<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">camus, &amp; majorum vobis a&s;&s;erimus Con&s;uetudinem.</HI> Upon which ground I &s;hall proceed to my Vindication, by the Readers favour, without any ap|prehen&s;ion of fear to be taxed with a proud or &s;elf conceited &s;ingularity, hoping it will not be accounted a rea&s;onle&s;s imi|tation in me, if I follow the example of many prudent and vertuous Ladies, in a moderate defence void of pa&s;&s;ion and uncharitablene&s;s, and that my Adver&s;aries are not &s;o incorri|gible, but that they may be amended with the lenitives of &s;o|ber language, without the help of more operative Remedies; for having once cleared my &s;elf to the world, I &s;hall not &s;o much &s;eek their puni&s;hment, as reformation, and &s;hall take le&s;s plea&s;ure in &s;triking them with a rod of Palms, then in af|fording them unde&s;erved gentlene&s;s; for I &s;hall alwayes ap|prove of that noble <HI>Italian</HI>'s judgement who &s;aith, <HI>La forza di chi vince &egrave; Co&s;a human ma laclemenza di chipardona &egrave; Co&s;a di|vina.</HI> Though my Adver&s;aries be of the &s;harpe&s;t and mo&s;t cla|morous &s;ex, and are like the Placentine Advocates, <HI>Qui adeo (ut dicitur) &s;ubtili pollent ingenio, ut judicibus ip&s;is facile tenebras offundant,</HI> I would pa&s;s them by with that regardle&s;s neglect which u&s;ually &s;tifles their contumely, were not the too facil credulity
<PB N="4" REF="3"> of &s;ome heavy-headed per&s;ons, who are apt prodigally to throw away their belief on weak &s;ugge&s;tions, greater then their &s;ubtilty; but it being in this re&s;pect a nece&s;&s;ary duty, and for that no duty is more &s;tringent to a per&s;on of innocen|cy and generous &s;entiments, then the defence of reputation; for, <HI>Qui famam negligit, dicitur crudelis</HI> &s;aith the Canoni&s;t. And St. <HI>Paul</HI> the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>Expedit mihi magis mori, qu&agrave;m ut gloriam meam quis evacuct.</HI> For the&s;e rea&s;ons premi&s;ed, I am re&s;olved to clear my &s;elf beyond their oppo&s;ition, and the doubts of all others in the world, to &s;uch as in the peru&s;al hereof will make u&s;e of their judgement and rea&s;on, and in my progre&s;s I &s;hall not let loo&s;e the reins of rea&s;on at pa&s;&s;ions im|portunity, though I am provoked above imagination by tho&s;e women, to re&s;ent their injuries done unto me at the highe&s;t rate, which are greater then any others I finde within the Re|gi&s;try of my ob&s;ervation, remembrance or reading, to have been placed on a Lady of quality, by any per&s;ons of worthy &s;tate or condition, and therefore might have almo&s;t legitima|ted impatience.</P>
<P>But to make my entrance into this undertaking the more per&s;picuous, I &s;hall premi&s;e, as a proper <HI>adalantado,</HI> a few con&s;i|derations, worthy, as I humbly conceive, to be taken no|tice of.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, I have not heard that any one man who&s;oever, nor any woman that is acquainted with me, hath &s;poken any one word to my prejudice.</P>
<P>Secondly, Tho&s;e women who have opened their black mouths, or &s;hewed their bad teeth again&s;t me, are onely tho&s;e few who are noted for their meeting oftentimes at cer|tain places to none of the be&s;t purpo&s;es, as I conceive, and &s;uch as either would hold up the repute of their le&s;&s;ined vertues, or decayed beauties, by crying them down in others, as if they could re&s;tore irreparables in them|&s;elves,
<PB N="5" REF="3"> by endeavouring to deprive others of them.</P>
<P>Thirdly, As they do not pretend to have &s;o much acquain|tance with me, as thereby to ob&s;erve any thing of my deport|ment, to ju&s;tifie the character they have given of me, &s;o have they not to this day named any one per&s;on to be their infor|mer again&s;t me.</P>
<P>Fourthly, Of the many things uttered by them to my di&s;|grace, there is not any one, &s;o much as in one in&s;tance of exam|ple verified.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Tho&s;e women who know me not, like Sorcerers, who ca&s;t a mi&s;t upon the brighte&s;t morning, darkly and fal&s;ly in&s;inuate again&s;t me in doubtful terms, tho&s;e things which they dare not expre&s;s or declare again&s;t me; for, <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ub aequivo|cationibus latens Calumnia, lae<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">it tuti&s;sime.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly, There is nothing that they have uttered again&s;t me in the particulars hereafter mentioned, but have and will be refuted by the irrefragable te&s;timony of tho&s;e per&s;ons of cre|dit who know me, and will &s;peak plainly without the allay of intere&s;t, and with great rea&s;on in my vindication, u&s;ing no other arguments then &s;uch as are drawn from the chief induce|ments of belief.</P>
<P>Seventhly, Tho&s;e Ladies are not &s;o learned, nor &s;o wi&s;e, nor &s;o noted for &s;peaking truth, as that their a&s;&s;ertions can pretend to the dignity of Axioms.</P>
<P>Eighthly, No Magi&s;trate or Per&s;on of Honour hath given any &s;hadow of ju&s;tication, or afforded the lea&s;t colour of al|lowance to their proceedings again&s;t me, but on the contra|ry have wondered thereat, not without di&s;ta&s;t and dete&s;ta|tion.</P>
<P>The&s;e Ob&s;ervations premi&s;ed, I am now ready to encoun|ter my furious Adver&s;aries in the very front of oppo&s;ition, with purpo&s;e to refell every of their con&s;iderable Objections,
<PB N="6" REF="4"> whereof, if any &s;hall happen to be unan&s;wered, I de&s;ire it may be attribu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ed rather to the weakne&s;s of my memory, then their &s;trength. As for &s;ome of their le&s;&s;er Objections, I &s;hall omit to mention them here, either out of compa&s;&s;ion to their &s;im|plicity, or of contempt of their weakne&s;&s;es.</P>
<P>The&s;e Ladies, in the fir&s;t place, with intent to ju&s;tifie the re&s;t of their &s;ucceeding injuries, and to give credit to what ill reports may ea&s;ily be believed on that account, have pub|lickly reported me to be a Stage-player, but without any co|lour of proof. I have read, that when no proof is offered of an Objection, then a &s;imple Denial is Solution enough. Yet for An&s;wer hereunto, I &s;ay, that were I a Stage-player, or &s;o great a Player at Dice, as &s;ome of tho&s;e Ladies are, or an en|tertainer of &s;uch as u&s;e that game, I could not wonder that they &s;hould be thereby animated with hopes of impunity, to endeavour prejudice to my reputation by never &s;o notorious fal&s;hoods; for I have ob&s;erved within the view I have taken of the Civil Law (whereunto, as al&s;o unto the mo&s;t eminent Profe&s;&s;ors thereof, and particularly to one above the re&s;t, I do and &s;hall alwayes bear a great re&s;pect) that <HI>Ale|atorum &s;u&s;ceptoribus injuria damnumque datur impune.</HI> But fora&s;much as I am not &s;o Theatrical as &s;ome of tho&s;e Ladies are, who frequently &s;pend the time in the Play-hou&s;e, which the affairs of their hou&s;hould, or the exerci&s;e of Devotion might have more rea&s;onably and more profita|bly imployed el&s;ewhere, and that they fail in the very art of in|juring me lawfully, nor did I ever in my life tread on a Stage, nor was I ever acquainted with, or allied to any Stage-play|ers, or &s;o much as a Go&s;&s;ip to any of them, nor am I by Law, Quality or di&s;po&s;ition of mind liable to &s;u&s;tain injuries with|out due re&s;entments in my &s;elf, or the endeavour of having due puni&s;hment inflicted upon the Authours of them. I &s;hall give the&s;e Ladies to under&s;tand, that though I have hitherto
<PB N="7" REF="4"> proceeded as lei&s;urely, as the Knights of the Band are to walk by the Rules of their Order, that ju&s;tice to be admi|ni&s;tred &s;hortly again&s;t them, as reporters of fal&s;e news, will free me from this their lying imputation, and make them &s;u&s;pected in what they &s;hall report hereafter again&s;t me. This I &s;hall be forc't unto in due time, for to &s;pare them too long in a ca&s;e of this nature, would be a criminal indulgence, and a &s;hrinking from the due maintenance of my Honour, which I am bound to uphold. In the mean time I &s;hall leave it to the &s;ilent admiration of all &s;ober per&s;ons, how that any fancy could be &s;o wilde, as to think the world can be per&s;wa|ded to believe, that a per&s;on of a generous Education and Condition, &s;hould turn a Stage-player, they &s;hould, to have made their &s;tories more currant, have imitated <HI>Heliodorus,</HI> who though a fabulous Writer, as <HI>Bochartus</HI> &s;aith of him, <HI>Conatur tamen &s;cribere vero quam &s;imillima.</HI> They &s;hould fir&s;t of all have per&s;waded the wo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ld, that I was not de&s;cended from, nor allied to the mo&s;t Honourable and Il|lu&s;trious Family <HI>de la Torre</HI> in <HI>Venice,</HI> and to the Noble Fami|lies of <HI>Genoua,</HI> where my Mother yet lives in an opulent Con|dition, being the Wife of one of the States of <HI>Genoua,</HI> or that I had le&s;s to my Portion then three or four thou&s;and pounds, which &s;umme I brought in Marriage to my Husband, who is the Son of an ancient Noble man, and none of the late&s;t Earls of this Kingdom, or that we were de&s;titute of means to &s;upport our Quality and Degree, all which if they had done, they might have had more hopes to be believed; But &s;ome gue&s;s, their purpo&s;es were to gratifie the Genius of this City of <HI>Dublin</HI> with &s;ome report of News, though never &s;o foreign from Truth, as thinking perhaps it was, as <HI>Guildas</HI> &s;ayes of <HI>England</HI> in his time, <HI>Semper aliquid audire volens.</HI> La&s;tly, &s;ome of tho&s;e who have been too bu&s;ie in inventing or reciting this calumny, have at la&s;t &s;o much ingenuity to acknowledg, that I
<PB N="8" REF="5"> am not guilty thereof. This Calumny therefore which was laid on me, as an argument to induce the belief of other un|truths, having lo&s;t its force by a total evacuation, I &s;hall en|deavour to &s;hatter the whole &s;uper&s;tructure, with confidence, that my Reader will allow rea&s;on in matters of this nature to be the Grand Patron of belief, and that the lowdne&s;s of an ungrounded clamour ought not to prevail again&s;t the calm rea&s;on of a mode&s;t an&s;wer.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> 2. In the next place it is objected again&s;t me by tho&s;e Ladies, That a certain Learned Per&s;on is civilly treated by me when he comes to vi&s;it me.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> For An&s;wer hereunto, I &s;ay, That the malice of tho&s;e Ladies (for &s;o they would all be called) is as friend|ly to me in effect, as it was mi&s;chievous in their intentions, in&s;omuch, that their detraction &s;eems as it were &s;uborn'd to commend their enemy; for it hereby rather proves me civil, then convinces either of us guilty of &s;in. But, if in their way of rea&s;oning, they will infer from the admittance of civil Vi|&s;its an inclination to, or guiltine&s;s of immode&s;ty, I mu&s;t needs &s;ay, that according to my Logick, which is as artificial as theirs, it is a too violent and forc'd con&s;equence, unle&s;s they will confe&s;s, that the much more frequent vi&s;its which they receive daily from younger Gentlemen, and of le&s;s &s;trict be|haviour, may render them&s;elves ju&s;tly &s;u&s;pected of what they would &s;eem to charge me with. Again, I appeal to &s;everal of the &s;aid Ladies, whether the &s;ame Gentleman hath not been admitted to as private familiarities, and frequent con|ver&s;e with them as ever he had with me. In the next place, I &s;hall refer the Con&s;ideration hereof to the whole City and Kingdom, where he hath &s;hined from his infancy hitherto, as an Illu&s;trious Example of refined morality, and an extraordi|nary gravity, which hath rendred his Company alwayes ac|ceptable to the grave&s;t and mo&s;t vertuous of both Sexes
<PB N="9" REF="5"> where&s;oever he re&s;ided. And wherefore I &s;hould be account|ed an Heteroclite in moralitie, by conforming to the rule and example of the Be&s;t, I &s;hall leave to the admiration of all judi|cious per&s;ons, who&s;e ears are not &s;tufft with ob&s;tructive pre|judice, who will ea&s;ily pronounce, that this argument is as light as the breath that framed it. Much more may be &s;aid in An&s;wer hereunto, but having &s;aid &s;o much already, I &s;hall re&s;olve again&s;t needle&s;s amplifications, which are but te&s;ti|monies of o&s;tentation, or at the mo&s;t but expletives to fill up the place of arguments. I &s;hall onely add this Con&s;ideration, That the&s;e Ladies &s;eal their own doings with the Signature of approbation, and brand mine with a mark of di&s;like, whil&s;t we do the very &s;ame things, which I cannot conceive to be agreeable to the rules of decency, of civil deportment, or of ju&s;tice: for though they be &s;tiled a Convention, they have not authority &s;ufficient to bring their judgement into credit again&s;t this tran&s;cendant rule of Nature, <HI>Quod tibi fieri non vis, alteri ne feceris;</HI> for their juri&s;diction being but a u&s;urpation, it is as incompetent as their debates have been impertinent. Fi|nally, where the judgement of a Court is covered with the veil of a black hood, it is no wonder if the Sentence be erro|neous.</P>
<P>The next Objection again&s;t me, is, That I have practi&s;ed witchcraft to gain &s;ome ends on the Per&s;on above-mentioned. I &s;hould look upon this Objection as a matter of infinite amazement, were I not a&s;&s;ured that it proceeded onely from the fancy of them, who u&s;e to be afflicted with their own dreams, as taking them for divine adverti&s;ements, and who are daily troubled with <HI>Chimera's,</HI> like tho&s;e of the <HI>Allum|bradoes</HI> of <HI>Spain,</HI> which have no beeing but in the mon&s;trous compo&s;ition of wilde and di&s;tempered brains, infected with a diabolical malice and envy, which by &s;ingularity of deno|mination, is called the Sin of the Devil.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="6">
<P>It is my happine&s;s, and I heartily render thanks to God for it, all ears that have heard this report are not &s;o credulous, as the tongues of that bui&s;ie Si&s;terhood are licentious; yet I &s;hall neverthele&s;s &s;ay &s;omething in an&s;wer to this Objection, whereby it will appear, that I am rather <HI>mi&s; randa,</HI> to be piti|ed, for being cau&s;le&s;ly loaded with prophane calumny, then <HI>crube&s;cenda,</HI> to be put to &s;hame, for any thing of guilt they can truly charge upon me of this kinde. And let the world fi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t judge, according to its common apprehen&s;ion of things, whether mo&s;t of my Adver&s;aries have not more likely fea|tures in their faces of &s;uch infernal intelligencers, and more Signatures of wrinkled Old Age, the mo&s;t u&s;ual characteri|&s;ticks of Witches, then any they can di&s;cern in me, who have not yet compleated the 24th. year of my Age. This premi|&s;ed to the con&s;ideration of the world, I &s;hall now write a wotd or two by way of Introduction to the under&s;tanding of the nature of Magick and Witchcraft, though I &s;hall not pre|tend to the ability of handling it learnedly; for, <HI>Magus quo peritior, eo dete&s;tabilior,</HI> which done, I &s;hall ente<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> in<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">o a more per&s;picuous path for the clearing of my &s;elf briefly, without bringing my Self or the Readers into the circles of tedious Di&s;cour&s;es. As for Magick, and all other Arts of that perni|cious kinde, the invention whereof is a&s;cribed to <HI>Zoroa&s;tres</HI> the King of the <HI>Bactrians,</HI> who wrote much thereof, I mu&s;t rather refer it to the invention of the Devil, for no man could have invented &s;o much mi&s;chief, who had not the Devil for his Tutour; for the&s;e works do far exceed humane under|&s;tanding, as appears in the Canon Law, 26 <HI>q.</HI> 2. <HI>cap. Qui &s;i|ne Salvatore,</HI> where it is &s;aid, <HI>hoec vanitas magicarum artium ex <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span">ione malorum Angelorum in toto orbe terrarum plurimis &s;e|cu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span">luit.</HI> Therefore I am of opinion, that <HI>Zoroa&s;tres</HI> is &s;aid to be the fir&s;t inventour of tho&s;e Arts, not in a &s;trict &s;en&s;e, be|cau&s;e he fir&s;t found them out, but becau&s;e he fir&s;t received
<PB N="11" REF="6"> them by tradition from the Devil, and committed them to writing, and taught them to other men, &s;o that I am none of tho&s;e who deny Witches or Witchcraft, but of the number of tho&s;e who make the Devil the authour of all Witchcraft and Fa&s;cinations. And though the &s;everal Laws of the Code, under this title, <HI>De Maleficis &amp; Mathematicis,</HI> are conceived onely in the ma&s;culine Gender, I conceive they are to be ex|tended unto, and do comprehend the feminine Gender. For it is a rule in that Law, and, as I take it, in Divinity al&s;o, that a ma&s;culine pronounced in a matter i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> different to man or wo|man, doth comprehend the feminine, <HI>ff. De verborum &s;ignifica|tione.</HI> So that I &s;hall grant, that there are women of that Dia|bolical Art; for though the &s;aid Law of the Code doth ex|pre&s;s &s;uch per&s;ons in the ma&s;culine Gender, yet I ob&s;erve, that the <HI>Glo&s;&s;aries,</HI> and mo&s;t Authours who have written on that Subject, do &s;peak mo&s;t of all in the feminine Gender, not becau&s;e the feminine, contrary to the fore-mentioned Law, doth comprehend the ma&s;culine, but becau&s;e the&s;e Arts are oftener found in the practice of women then of men, which &s;ome argue from the en&s;uing rea&s;ons;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Women having le&s;s experience and learning then men, are more prone to believe, whereby they are more ea&s;i|ly deceived, according to that <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">te &s;aying, <HI>Quoe facile credit, facile decipitur.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Women abound in curio&s;ity, and de&s;ire the knowledge of &s;uch things as lea&s;t appertain to them; and it is well known, that curio&s;ity is a great di&s;po&s;ition to Super&s;ti|tion and Witchcraft. And, fora&s;much as, this, for the mo&s;t part, is the more &s;imple &s;ex, the Devil often deceives them, <HI>&s;ub &s;pecie recti.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Women are of the &s;ofter complexion, which ren|ders them the more ea&s;ie to take impre&s;&s;ion from evil &s;pirits; and, even as when, they are in&s;tructed and governed by good
<PB N="12" REF="7"> &s;pirits, they become great examples of virtue and devotion: &s;o when they yield to the &s;ugge&s;tions of the Devil, they be|come the wor&s;t of creatures; for, <HI>Non e&s;t malitia &s;uper nequi|tiam m<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">lae mulieris.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, The frailty of woman is greater then that of man; wherefore the Devil, even in the beginning, laid &s;iege to <HI>Eve,</HI> and drew her to &s;in</P>
<P>Fifthly, This &s;ex entertaining di&s;like or hatred again&s;t any per&s;ons, &s;wells higher in exce&s;s of anger, with &s;harper re&s;olu|tions of revenge, then ordinarily men do, but being weak in power. And, fora&s;much as, <HI>Vana est &s;ine viribus ira,</HI> the Devil having obtained &s;o fair an advantage, offers opportunities of revenge, and promi&s;eth the help of his a&s;&s;i&s;tance.</P>
<P>Sixthly, Many women are pu&s;ilanimous, and when they fall into fits of &s;adne&s;s and di&s;a&s;terous di&s;tractions, they know not well how to free them&s;elves from that &s;tate and conditi|on; and therefore many times remain &s;o long therein, untill the Devil may have the advantage of time to tempt and over|come them.</P>
<P>Seventhly, Illiterate women are, for the mo&s;t part, given to too much tatling; and therefore if they have learn't any evil Arts, they are apt to reveal them to their Con&s;orts, and can ea&s;ily per&s;wade them ro de&s;ire the like knowledge.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s, that I have made a mode&s;t and indu&s;trious in|qui&s;ition into the &s;ecrets of Nature, but herein I laboured more to humble my &s;elf by &s;ublime &s;peculations, then to &s;a|tisfie a vain and pernicious curio&s;ity; for which rea&s;on, though I have addre&s;&s;ed my painful &s;tudies to the under&s;tand|ing of many ancient and modern Philo&s;ophers, yet I never had the courage to addict my &s;elf &s;o much as to judicial A&s;tro|logy, though in it &s;elf lawful, lea&s;t it &s;hould creare in me a de&s;ire to draw back the impenetrable veil, which hangs be|tween me and forbidden Knowledge; for the Ca&s;ui&s;ts which
<PB N="13" REF="7"> I have read, for the right information and due regulation of my Con&s;cience, have &s;ufficiently in&s;tructed me of the danger that may en&s;ue therefrom, much le&s;s then would I conde|&s;cend to the beggarly Art of Witchcraft, which is altogether unlawful. By what hath been &s;aid it appears, that I confe&s;s there are Witches, that the invention of Magick and Witch|craft are truly a&s;cribed to the Devil, that there are women-Witches (I might have added, that &s;ome one or more of my Adver&s;aries, either are skill'd in that helli&s;h Art, or at lea&s;t have made u&s;e of tho&s;e who exerci&s;ed and profe&s;&s;ed the like Trade. I could al&s;o relate the curious Que&s;tions, and re|port the An&s;wers that have been given by the Profe&s;&s;ours of that Art, to one or more of that Si&s;terhood) and that they, for the rea&s;ons above rehear&s;ed, do exceed the number of men who exerci&s;e that Diabolical Art. But for my &s;elf, I ut|terly deny that I did ever exerci&s;e, or know any thing of Witchcraft; nor can any of my Actions (though perhaps far tran&s;cending the capacity of tho&s;e Ladies to comprehend the motives and force of them) with any colourable rea&s;on render me in the lea&s;t &s;u&s;pected thereof; nor have they, nei|ther can they alledge any proof thereof, in&s;omuch, that this calumny is &s;o far from being believed on the evidence of de|mon&s;tration, that it wants the recommendation of probabili|ty. But if the great &s;ignes of Witches be to have no mea&s;ure of their hatred, nor no end of their malice, which common|ly &s;ends ignorant women, (and &s;uch are mo&s;t of that Si&s;ter|hood) to revenge, which makes them often con&s;ult with the Devil, who per&s;wades them upon &s;uch occa&s;ions to be Witches. Who then are more in rea&s;on to be &s;u&s;pected of Witchcraft, they, who with infinite hatred, and the long continued <HI>&s;eries</HI> of a mo&s;t malicious pro&s;ecution, ari&s;ing from no known cau&s;e or provocation by me given unto them, nor any concernment of theirs in the late debate of things
<PB N="14" REF="8"> have afflicted me ince&s;&s;antly; or I, who in this affliction have u&s;ed no other guard again&s;t them, then innocency, pati|ence, and my daily prayers to Almighty God, to right me, and pardon them, as knowing, that a &s;anctified affliction is better then triumphing impiety, and that innocency is al|wayes be&s;t, though &s;ometimes un&s;afe; as al&s;o that the tears of my unde&s;erved affliction, will in the end prove &s;weeter then the immerited Trophies of their barbarous and unheard of revenge, pro&s;ecuted by &s;uch means as were never u&s;ed before, by women of quality or prudence, in&s;omuch, that all they, who have been ver&s;ed in tho&s;e rules, which may &s;erve to conduct us through the practical intercour&s;es of this life, &s;tand amazed, as being unable to parallel them out of the Hi&s;tories of meer <HI>Scythi&agrave;ns</HI> and <HI>Barbarians.</HI></P>
<P>Again, It is ordinary with Negromancers and Witches to rai&s;e illu&s;ions and phanta&s;ms in&s;tead of realities: So <HI>Apol|lonius</HI> made <HI>Achilles</HI> appear in his Tent twelve foot high. <HI>Bantabaremus</HI> &s;heweth to <HI>Ba&s;ilius</HI> the &s;oul of his &s;on <HI>Con|ctantine, lamlicus</HI> made to appear in <HI>Syrta</HI> two figures of little children like <HI>Cupids,</HI> all which had nothing of re|ality, but were meer <HI>Spectres.</HI> Even &s;o the&s;e Ladies are not onely content to corrupt &s;ome truths with many per|fidious prevarications, but repre&s;ent things altogether fal&s;e under the colour of truth, which is the more dia|bolicle <HI>Spectre,</HI> by how much the more it tendeth to wrong an innocent Stranger; nay, the&s;e Ladies, for proof of their skill, endeavour to repre&s;ent that as rea|&s;on, which contradicts common &s;en&s;e, as will appear by that, which is the matter of my next enquity, into the rea&s;ons wherefore, and the means whereby I &s;hould be thought to have exerci&s;ed Witchcraft, to work out &s;ome de|&s;igns of mine on the above-mentioned Per&s;on.</P>
<PB N="15" REF="8">
<P>It cannot be thought that I &s;hould u&s;e Witchcraft to create an affection in him towards me, or to increa&s;e it; for it is well known, that almo&s;t at our fir&s;t interview, even before I could well pa&s;s the formalities of beco|ming a Witch, we had a high e&s;teem and affection for one another, and &s;ettled upon &s;uch &s;olid grounds of vir|tue, that they are as unalterable as they are unblame|able.</P>
<P>Nor can it be &s;uppo&s;ed, that I &s;hould endeavour to &s;queeze out of him any part of his goods or e&s;tate by Witchcraft, or other ba&s;e means, much below me to think of; I &s;hould rather, had I that Art, u&s;e it to tho&s;e who have greater e&s;tates, and le&s;s Charge to main|tain. What other ends I could have to bewitch one I honour &s;o much, others may gue&s;s. But I know not.</P>
<P>As for the means u&s;ed to bewitch him, I hear no other alledged, then my giving him a Ring with a <HI>Greek</HI> Po&s;ie in it. Fir&s;t, I an&s;wer, as in the pre&s;ence of God, That I never knew that he had a Ring with a <HI>Greek</HI> Po|&s;ie. Secondly, That I never gave him any Ring at all.</P>
<P>In the next place, It is as groundle&s;ly reported by &s;ome of tho&s;e Ladies, as it was maliciou&s;ly invented by others of them, That I am a common Liar, which were it a true allegation, it might ea&s;ily be proved, becau&s;e things that are common, are more clearly and frequent|ly ob&s;erved. But I am &s;o well known to all tho&s;e Per|&s;ons of Quality who conver&s;e with me (who onely are competent Witne&s;&s;es in &s;uch a Ca&s;e) that I am not guilt+ty hereof, that I may &s;ay to the loude&s;t Reporter of that untruth. What was given in an&s;wer by <HI>Libanius</HI> to <HI>Telemachus</HI> upon the like occa&s;ion, <HI>Velim ego apud to
<PB N="16" REF="9"> mendax e&s;&s;e, dum caeteri te mendacem e&s;&s;e dicere de&s;inant.</HI></P>
<P>But to gratifie them by yielding &s;o much as I can in this particular, I mu&s;t ingenuou&s;ly confe&s;s, That this their imputation onely wants truth to convince me of being a Liar. Again, So con&s;cienciou&s;ly have I alwayes conformed my &s;elf to the &s;peaking of truth without equi|vocation, or mental re&s;ervation, and &s;hall alwayes &s;o continue to do the like, that, as I had rather the&s;e few Leaves were an unwritten Blank then a rude Defence; &s;o al&s;o that it were an ab&s;olute Confe&s;&s;ion of Guilt, then a ly|ing Apology.</P>
<P>Thus much may &s;uffice in an&s;wer to this Objection, until my Adver&s;aries &s;hall in&s;tance in any one untruth that they ever heard proceed from my Lips; and if it &s;hall be thought that I have in this, or any other particular part of my An&s;wer, &s;aid too much again&s;t tho&s;e Ladies, I wi&s;h I could have &s;aid no more, though it be a great &s;atisfaction that one of them, who formerly lifted up her voice like a Trumpet, with loude&s;t exclamation again&s;t me, is, by denying what &s;he had &s;aid fal&s;ly of me, be|come a double liar.</P>
<P>But no more of exaggeration again&s;t them in this or any other particular; for my chiefe&s;t aim, Gentle Rea|der, is my own inoffen&s;ive defence; for which rea&s;on al|&s;o, though I want neither information, power, opportuni|ty, nor &s;harp provocations, I have not, not &s;hall I in the whole Contexture of this Book, either cau&s;le&s;ly ob|ject any thing again&s;t them, or wrongfully detract from them, as they have done from me, but &s;hall onely call them down as ba&s;e moneys to their true value, nor will I give them any new &s;tamp of impre&s;&s;ion, for the Im<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ge <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">nd Super&s;cription which they now bear in the Worlds
<PB N="17" REF="9"> e&s;timation, &s;ufficiently notifie them to be what they are, not onely injurious to me, but al&s;o as blames|ble for many other things, not mentioned here, as they are mainly culpable of &s;everal of tho&s;e things which they have fal&s;ly objected again&s;t me. If the&s;e Ladies, in the exerci&s;e of their late a&s;&s;umed authori|ty, had regulated their behaviour in this matter, ac|cording to the advice and example of a Noble Lady, who did not think fit to countenance their a&s;&s;embly with her continual pre&s;ence, their pa&s;&s;ions would have moved according to the &s;evere allowance of pru|dedce, gravity, and piety, and the due proportions of provocation given to, or apprehended by them, and they would have vented them&s;elves by the &s;ealed mea&s;ures of right rea&s;on; but not &s;ubmitting to that regulation, they are become, in the <HI>Spani&s;h</HI> Phra&s;e, <HI>Ieugo de muchachos,</HI> a laughing-&s;tock of Children. And their actions, relating to me, have not been warrant|ed in any one particular by any Principle of Piety, Rule of Charity, Moderation, Learning, Prodence, or Maxim of Policy; if they had had a regard to Prudence and Policy, they would not have intermed|led in this matter farther then the proportion of con|cern they had therein; for, <HI>Culpa est immi&s;cere &s;e rei ad &s;e non pertinenti.</HI> If they had been tempered by mode|ration, they would not have managed a bu&s;ine&s;s of &s;o little concernment, extending no farther then to pri|vate per&s;ons, with as much vigour of debate and con|te&s;t, as if the entire intere&s;t and propriety of the three Nations had been concerned in the debate: if they had been skilled in Argumentation, they would not have
<PB N="18" REF="10"> laboured to infer immediate con&s;equences from far fetcht &s;urmi&s;es, ungrounded rumours, and peevi&s;h &s;u|&s;pitions, they would not have repre&s;ented that for rea|&s;on, which contradicts common &s;en&s;e; they would not have &s;crued up every light and temerary &s;u&s;pition to the height of a violent pre&s;umption; nor would they have thought, that their own bare reports were to be believed on the credit of their proper Te&s;t, without farther enquiry and examination they would not have concluded, becau&s;e I was civil to a Per&s;on of merit and civility, that therefore I had &s;ubmitted to uncha&s;te embraces, as if every civil friend mu&s;t needs be a partner in &s;in; or that becau&s;e that Per&s;on commended the liberality of Nature and Art, in be|&s;towing on me many gifts and endowments which they wanted, that therefore I was de&s;titute of mode&s;ty, and He guilty of a &s;inful Conver&s;e with me. I give but a touch of this matter here, becau&s;e I have refet|ted it to the more &s;ecure and prudent management of my Council, who will pro&s;ecute it with effect in the Archbi&s;hop's Con&s;i&s;tory, who may ea&s;ily make it ap|pear, that they ought to be cha&s;tized with the &s;harp|e&s;t Rods of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Di&s;cipline; for, injured re|putation, <HI>in re gravi,</HI> requires a reparation as publick, as the injury is notorious. In the m<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">an time it is well known to tho&s;e who conver&s;e with me, that though I be young, and in the verdure of my Age, I am none of tho&s;e who &s;port them&s;elves in the green ways of fading Plea&s;ures, but exerci&s;e my &s;elf painfully, and with no &s;mall a&s;perities, in tho&s;e &s;tudies, which may facilitate my progre&s;s to the chief of my aims, which
<PB N="19" REF="10"> is the Kingdom of Heaven; and I have alwayes pre|ferred the Garland of a Marital Cha&s;tity, before all glittering favours which can po&s;&s;ibly flow from the glorious circle of the brighte&s;t Imperial Diadem on Earth; nay, I had rather enjoy that virtue, then to be crown'd with the Royal State, and Imperial Com|mand of all the Kingdoms upon Earth. Nay farther, I had rather, were it not for the Conjugal &s;tate of life, whereunto I am bound by the Ordinance of God, withdraw my &s;elf into the rece&s;s of a Religious Re|tirement, then conver&s;e with any man who&s;oever he be; nay, I had rather live cha&s;tly and innocently in the lowe&s;t and darke&s;t dungeon of a melancholy retire|ment, then I would con&s;ent to the lea&s;t propo&s;al of any immode&s;t de&s;ire. La&s;tly, I had rather die a &s;peedy death, then to continue or prolong life with any di&s;|grace, which may &s;pread it &s;elf with a diffu&s;ive &s;tain, to the lea&s;t di&s;paragement of tho&s;e Illu&s;trious Families from which I have de&s;cended, or whereunto I have the Honour to be related; for which rea&s;ons, and for my own Vindication, I have directed a legal procee|ding again&s;t them for the clearing of my Reputation, which though mo&s;t tender, will bear a Tryal before &s;o indifferent and learned a Iudge as is the Archbi&s;hop, or his Chancellour. Some things, I know, are &s;o tender in their own nature, as if they be once fulli|ed, they are hardly capable of wa&s;hing: as for ex|ample, <HI>Garden Envi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">,</HI> which, as <HI>Avicenna</HI> &s;aith, lo&s;eth its virtue in wa&s;hing; and therefore he &s;aith in the words of his Latine Tran&s;lation, <HI>Interdictum est ab ablutione ejus lege &amp; medicina.</HI> But though the Reputa|tion
<PB N="20" REF="11"> of a Lady be tender in its &s;elf, and requires ma|ny nice rules and in&s;tructions for its Vindication. I &s;hall, with very much confidence, rely on the Iudges and Advocates for the management, of my Defence, and the clearing of my Reputation, which will nei|ther &s;hrink, nor lo&s;e its virtue in the wa&s;hing.</P>
<P>But to return from whence I have a little digre&s;&s;ed, I mu&s;t needs &s;ay, That if I had been guilty of &s;ome of tho&s;e enormities above-mentioned, it was no argu|ment of their prudence to urge them publickly again&s;t me; for if their memories had been &s;o officious to them, as to retain a repre&s;entation of what they have done them&s;elves, and whereof they are guilty, they would wi&s;ely have &s;pared me for at lea&s;t &s;ome of their own &s;akes; much le&s;s doth it become them, who&s;e roofs are covered with brittle Gla&s;s, to throw &s;tones at the more &s;olid covering of their Neighbours hou&s;es; for &s;uch is the prudent Adverti&s;ement of a <HI>Spani&s;h</HI> Pro|verb, <HI>El que biene teiados de vidro no tire piedra<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">, al de tu vezino.</HI></P>
<P>Again, They have not carried them&s;elves after the manner of Chri&s;tian Charity towards me, nor accor|ding to the duty of their own Con&s;cience; for that would have required, that they &s;hould fir&s;t have &s;po|ken to me, with a de&s;ire to have received &s;atisfaction, before they had publi&s;hed any thing again&s;t me, at lea&s;t, without proof, to my prejudice. Secondly, They have been uncharitable to them&s;elves, in that they have, by their cour&s;e of proceedings again&s;t me, caught others a facil way and method of injuring them|&s;elves; for, as <HI>Ordinata Charitas incipit &agrave; &s;eip&s;a:</HI> &s;o doth
<PB N="21" REF="11"> uncharitablene&s;s many times end in it &s;elf: and the&s;e Ladies may be a&s;&s;ured, that as <HI>Tyrus</HI> had not long re|joyced at the mi&s;ery of <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> when the &s;ame mi|&s;ery came upon her &s;elf. So this injury which they have done to me, if it be not puni&s;h't in them, it will, as well by example as merit, bring on them the like affliction, which hitherto I have &s;o &s;adly born, hereof I know they will become &s;en&s;ible here|after (though their Con&s;cience be now &s;ealed up with &s;lumber and obduration) when the eye of their rea|&s;on (now dimm'd with foggy mi&s;ts, ri&s;ing from their tumultuous and fiery pa&s;&s;ions, &s;hall behold my clear|ed innocency cloathed with the brightne&s;s of a great|er glory (foe true metal will prove the brighter for rubbing) then will they wi&s;h that they had been checkt by the reins of a &s;ober and religions re&s;traint, &s;o as to have kept within the bounds of Truth, and that they had followed a le&s;s pa&s;&s;ionate, and more rea&s;on|able cour&s;e again&s;t me; for; without peradventure, when they &s;hall be returned to their more &s;ettled thoughts, they will be of another mind, and heartily de&s;ire that they had never endeavoured, out of unde|&s;erved malice, either to mu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">fle up the face of Truth in the ob&s;curity of a black Bag, or to fit things to their malicious de&s;ires, and de&s;tructive de&s;igns, by turning truth into lies, as hitherto they have done, wish a too bare-faced confidence, having ca&s;t off from their front the comely veil of due mode&s;ty; for &s;uch hath been their carriage hitherto towards me, that if I &s;hould have repre&s;ented in my actions and deport|ment the ab&s;olute portra<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">cture of <HI>Aristotle</HI>'s moral <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">|tues;
<PB N="22" REF="12"> or &s;hould I have lived in as &s;trict a regularity as a <HI>Carthu&s;ian,</HI> or could my cour&s;e of life and conver&s;a|tion have entituled me to a Rubrick in the Kalendar, or ju&s;tified the painting of me with rayes, yet they would have figured no better thoughts of me, then they ought to have of them&s;elves, they would have cen&s;ured me as extremely vitious; for deflexion from, and di&s;&s;imilitude to virtue, are the fierce&s;t cen&s;urers of the virtuous, and will draw all their actions into the wor&s;t interpretations. It hath been &s;aid, I know not how truly, of the <HI>Belgick</HI> Inqui&s;itours, that they did confe&s;s, when they met with any of the Ancients, &s;peaking otherwi&s;e then the Church, <HI>Quovis Commen|to,</HI> they u&s;ed any &s;hift to remedy it; and although the&s;e Ladies want ingenuity to confe&s;s the figments and prevarications which they have u&s;ed to make me &s;eem otherwi&s;e in my words and actions, then truth can warrant them to report of me; yet, thanks be to God, I am happy in this, that he hath placed me in the Noble City of <HI>Dublin,</HI> inhabited by very many pru|dent and truly Noble Per&s;ons of both &s;exes, who have ob&s;erved my deportment, and are not unacquaint|ed with the Maskaries the&s;e Ladies have u&s;ed again&s;t me in their late Earie-like Scenes, wherein they would have repre&s;ented me to the eye of the World, in the fal&s;e dre&s;s of their malicious impo&s;itions. It hath been long &s;ince &s;aid of Stage-players, that they are many times high in applau&s;e, but poor in reputation. The&s;e Actrices, perhaps in their fir&s;t Scenes, found &s;ome applau&s;e among&s;t them&s;elves, but the World knows they have not mended their own reputations, by en|deavouring
<PB N="23" REF="12"> to de&s;troy mine; and it now appears in great vi&s;ibility to every under&s;tanding per&s;on, that though they have wounded their own con&s;ciences to &s;tain my reputation, their wounds will not be &s;o &s;oon cured, as my reputation cleared. Wherefore I do &s;o much pity them, as that I de&s;ire they may e&s;cape the Satyrical Whip of Poets and Lampoons, and that they may be freed from the Strapadoes of an evil Con&s;ci|ence, by u&s;ing the due remedies pre&s;cribed by the Ca|&s;ui&s;ts, which are Retractation, Compen&s;ation, and a lowly penitent dejection of mind before God, which if they forbear to perform, they will not onely ren|der them&s;elves hereafter hateful to their own imagi|nations, but al&s;o lyable to be ca&s;t headlong to the lowe&s;t and mo&s;t painful tormentory of hell, which I pray God to prevent in his mercy, by giving them a &s;ight and true &s;en&s;e of their &s;ins, and thereby to put a &s;ea&s;onable &s;top to the fury of their malicious pro|ceedings again&s;t me; for if their own awakened pru|dence cannot bring them to the&s;e &s;entiments, yet I am well a&s;&s;ured it is po&s;&s;ible, that the Omnipotent Lord of Heaven and Earth, who made the Sun, that mighty Creature, the Prince of all the Lights in Heaven, to &s;top and &s;tand &s;till in the rapid Career of its greate&s;t velocity, can in an in&s;tant prohibit their cau&s;le&s;s pro&s;ecution again&s;t me, or render it vain, and of no effect; and that the &s;ame God, who made the impetuous Current of the raging Sea to recoil, and the mercile&s;s flame of devouring fire to become a &s;oft refre&s;hing air, can &s;o temper the rage of the&s;e tumul|tuous Ladies, as to make them immediately pull in
<PB N="24" REF="13"> their horns, and blunt their &s;tings, otherwi&s;e, at lea&s;t, when their immortal fouls &s;hall be &s;ummoned by grim Death to diflodge from their tottering tabernacles of cold clay, and &s;hall begin to enter into the di&s;puted Confines of Eternity, then will they wi&s;h that they had been as free from injuring me by their Calumny, as I am innocent of the matters they fal&s;ly lay to my charge.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not at this time &s;ay much more to the&s;e La|dies, I &s;hall therefore di&s;mi&s;s them with a few Ob&s;er|vations.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t confe&s;s, that though they have all been cul|pable, yet I do not think that they have been equal|ly cruel to me, notwith&s;tanding which, I &s;hall &s;ay, that every one of them hath been too cruel; for it is ob&s;erved, that the mo&s;t tame of Tygers is a cruel bea&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, I ob&s;erve, that tho&s;e Ladies who were interwoven in the Contexture of &s;o &s;trong a Faction again&s;t me, are not the onely per&s;ons who have in|jured me, for they who have excited them to detra|ction are not without &s;in, nay perhaps more guilty; for <HI>Malletus</HI> the Ca&s;ui&s;t &s;aith, The&s;e do not onely of|fend, as the Detractour, <HI>effectu detractionis;</HI> but al&s;o are unto others <HI>cau&s;&agrave; detrahendi.</HI> Nay, the Detractour is but the Authour of his own &s;in, but the&s;e are Au|thours of their own and others: for which cau&s;e, &s;ay|eth another Ca&s;ui&s;t, <HI>Tenetur ad restitutionem, ni&s;i De|tractor ip&s;e restituat.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Who&s;oever hath delighted him&s;elf in hearing detractions, though, as the Ca&s;ui&s;ts &s;ay, he
<PB N="25" REF="13"> doth not offend <HI>contra justitiam,</HI> becau&s;e he is not <HI>efficax cau&s;a damni;</HI> yet he offends again&s;t charity, for that he takes plea&s;ure <HI>malo Proximi,</HI> which cannot &s;tand with cha|rity.</P>
<P>Fourthly, Superiours in Government, who do not cor|rect Detractors, do not onely &s;in again&s;t charity, but al&s;o again&s;t ju&s;tice, <HI>Cum Obligatione restituendi &s;i &s;ubditus, non restituat.</HI> &s;o &s;ay <HI>Le&s;sius Reginaldus,</HI> and <HI>Molina.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, Parents, Husbands, and Ma&s;ters, who have &s;i|lently heard their Children, Wives, or Servants detract from any one, though without delectation, are guilty of a moral incitation to detraction; for, <HI>Qui tacet, con&s;entire videtur:</HI> and <HI>Fernandes</HI> gives two rea&s;ons for this Ob&s;erva|tion, <HI>Tum quia non impedit malum Proximi, tum quia non emendat errantem.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly, They who have defamed any one by detracti|on, are bound to re&s;titution, not onely where the party had a po&s;itive good fame, <HI>i. e. bene audiebat,</HI> and therefore did &s;uffer the lo&s;s <HI>boni ce&s;sant<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">;</HI> but al&s;o where the party had but a negative good name, <HI>i. e. non male an<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ichat,</HI> and therefore &s;uffers an immergent lo&s;s, by po&s;itive infamy brought upon him; but e&s;pecially in the former ca&s;e, wherein I have been &s;o highly injured.</P>
<P>Seventhly, Re&s;titution is not always made according to the quality of the offence before God, but proportion|able to the infamy ari&s;ing therefrom; and therefore he who divulgeth a true crime to the defamation of his neigh|bour, &s;hall make equal re&s;titution with him who objected or impo&s;ed a fal&s;e one; wherefore <HI>Fernandes</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ae|qualitas re&s;titutionis non oritur ex aequalitate culpae, &s;ed ex aequ|litate damni.</HI></P>
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<P>Eighthly, Though <HI>Tolet</HI> be of opinion, That where a good fame is not to be re&s;tored <HI>in proprio genere</HI> by retra|ctation, it is not to be re&s;tored by way of another com|pen&s;ation: and though he enforceth his opinion from this con&s;ideration, That as life, &s;o a good fame is not <HI>pretio ae&s;ti|mabilis,</HI> and therefore cannot be proportioned to any e&s;ti|mation. I &s;hall hold the oppo&s;ite opinion, maintained by the Angelical and &s;ubtil Doctors <HI>Thomas Aquinas,</HI> and <HI>Scotus Thom. q.</HI> 32. <HI>ar.</HI> 2. <HI>Scot. in</HI> 4. <HI>d.</HI> 15. 9 4. as al&s;o by <HI>Soto</HI> 4. <HI>q.</HI> 6. <HI>art.</HI> 3. who &s;ay, That though life as well as a good fame do entitatively and e&s;&s;entially exceed any price, yet in re&s;pect to she e&s;timation of men, they may be reduced to a certain value: and I have read, that it is held to be the common opinion of School-Divines, that <HI>quan|do debitum compen&s;ari nequit, ad aequalitatem in eodem genere compen&s;andum est in al<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">o, quoad fieri pote&s;t compen&s;ando,</HI></P>
<P>I am afraid that I have held the Courteous Reader too long in the thorny terms of Ca&s;ui&s;tical and School-Divi|nity; yet becau&s;e it is nece&s;&s;ary to cure my Adver&s;aries, not onely by a prick of reprehen&s;ion, but al&s;o by &s;tirring up their Con&s;ciences by &s;ome pungent incitations to re|pentance and &s;atisfaction, I hope to be excu&s;ed, and the rather, for that I &s;hall lead the Readers patience by a mor<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> ea&s;ie and &s;hort way to a Conclu&s;ion, having but one Con|&s;ideration more to &s;ubjoyn, which is this.</P>
<P>If the private di&s;like of &s;o many Ladies, fomented by envy, after &s;o many &s;pies &s;et on my behaviour, and &s;o vi|gorous an inqui&s;ition had again&s;t me, and having a voraci|ous will to de&s;troy my Credit, cannot find any evidence to convince me of any thing &s;candalous, it is no &s;light Ar|gument of my Innocency. If all their endeavours again&s;t
<PB N="27" REF="15"> me met together, as the beams of the Sun, on a burning-gla&s;s cannot kindle a fire to my de&s;truction, their mo&s;t fre|quent attempts proving as the Rayes under the meridian which cannot produce a flame by reflection on a burning-gla&s;s, for want of &s;olid matter to work on. I hope the Reader will free me from all Attachments of bu&s;ie &s;u&s;pi|tion for the future, and that no man will own a nece&s;&s;ity of believing &s;ugge&s;tions upon the reputation of their accu|&s;ing me hereafter, for the reputation of &s;uch people as are found fal&s;e accu&s;ers, or like an <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> pair of Tongs, which grow &s;horter in the u&s;e.</P>
<P>I &s;hall conclude with a &s;tedfa&s;t Declaration of a well|grounded hope, which is, that all Per&s;ons of Quality of both &s;exes in this City, which is the Metropolis of Loy|alty as well as preheminency, will compa&s;&s;ionate my inju|red innocency, hitherto groaning under the in&s;olency of <HI>&s;he</HI>-cruelty and oppre&s;&s;ion, trampled upon, as it were, to du&s;t, by the barbarous feet of pride and unwomanly in&s;ul|tations; but that which begets in me my mo&s;t &s;ecure con|fidence, is that of <HI>Ioh, Behold now, my Witne&s;s is in heaven, and my record is on high,</HI> whereunto appealeth</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Frances Plunkett.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>P. 14. lege <HI>Syria.</HI> p. 19. l. <HI>Endive.</HI> p. 21.</P>
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