that one fees their Breafts thro' it, nor even when they make their Breafts quite bare, if it ⚫ be in Compliance with the Cuftom of the Coun try, and not from any wicked Intention.' Thus, according to Father Leffeau, Cuftom and Fashion is the establish'd Rule for the Behaviour of Women, fo that if by degrees it fhou'd grow into a fashion to go ftark naked, Women wou'd not fin by following the Mode. Be filent then ye Preachers, who cry out fo earnestly against immodest Actions. Know that the Gospel of our Days is that of Cuftom and Fashion. Don't exclaim as you do against Concupifcence, which breeds all thefe Modes, there's not fo much harm in it as you imagine. What did I fay? 'Tis really good; and of this the Bull Unigenitus affures you, by afferting that it does not make an ill Ufe of the Senfes. C Neither is there any more harm in Ornaments, Paint or Perfume, which are the pious Arts of Concupifcence, to fupply the defects of Nature; and a Man muft have no Tafte who condemns them. Know therefore once for all, and 'tis a grave Author who fays it, for 'tis Father Stoz the Jefuit, Know that if a Woman makes use of vain Ornaments, Paint and Perfumes, purely from a Principle of a little vain Glory, and to gratify her defire of appearing handfome, fhe does not fin mortally, tho fhe knows in her Heart, that when the Men fee her thus drefs'd they will be violently in Love with her (y). This is what we may properly call talking like a Jefuit; whereas an unmannerly Janfenift, if he faw a Face patch'd, lick'd over, or perfum'd, wou'd be apt to fay bluntly with Juvenal, "The Face which is in need of fo many Plaisters and Oint (y) Stoz, in his Trib. de la Poenit. L. i. Part. 3. Quæft. z. art 3. §. 3. n. 312. p. 228. col. 2. ments, ments, what fhall we call it a Face or an Ul cer (z)? If Women were talk'd to in this manner, they wou'd become fober and modeft; but the Jefuits avoid it, because then they cou'd not say with that ill-natur'd Pleafure what the Poet we have now quoted declar'd with a hearty Sorrow, That a virtuous Woman is a Creature as rare as ' a black Swan (a). Nor cou'd they confine the long stay of Chastity upon the Earth, to the Reign of Saturn only (b), when their Society was not yet in being: In a word, they wou'd think their Miffion vain, their Works fruitless, and that they had loft their Time and Labour if they shou'd hear the fame Commendation of all Women that Seneca gave of his Mother Helvia. (c) Immodefty, fays he, which is the prevailing Vice of THIS AGE, never carry'd you to the • CIRCLES or ASSEMBLIES. Pearls and pre (2) Sed quæ mutatis inducitur atque fovetur Juv. Sat. vi. (4) Rara Avis in terris nigroque nigroque fimillima cygno. (b) Credo pudicitiam Saturno rege moratam In terris, vifamque diu. Juven. ibid. Juven. ibid. (c) Non te maximum fæculi malum, impudicitia, in numerum plurium adduxit, non gemmæ te, non margaritæ flexerunt: Non tibi divitiæ, velut maximum generis humani bonum refulferunt: Non te bene in antiquâ & feverâ inftitutam domo periculofa etiam probis, pejorum detorfit imitatio: Nunquam te fæcunditatis tuæ quafi exprobaret ætatem, puduit: nunquam more aliarum, quibus omnis commendatio ex formâ petitur, tumefcentem uterum abfcondifti, quafi indecens onus; nec intra vifcera tua conceptas fpes liberorum elififti: Non faciem lenociniis ac coloribus polluifti: nunquam tibi placuit veftis, qnæ nihil amplius nudaret, cum poneretur. Unicum tibi ornamentum, pulcherrima & nulli obnoxia ætati forma, maxi. mum decus, vifa eft pudicitia. Senec, de Confol. ad Helv. Tom. i. p. 199. 3 < cious ⚫cious Stones have made no impreffion upon you. You have not been dazzled by the Splendor of Riches, which are esteem'd the greatest happiness of this World. The Example of the Wicked which is fo dangerous even to the Good, has been of no prejudice to the good Education you had in a Family which was regulated by the fevere Discipline of our Ancestors. You never blush'd at your bearing many Children, as if it had been the Reproach of your Age. You never • conceal'd your Pregnancy as if you had been afham'd of the Burden, like other Women, • WHO HAVE NOTHING TO RE• COMMEND THEM BUT THEIR BEAUTY. You never promoted Abortion. • You never defil'd your Face with PAINT, and borrow'd Colours. You was never pleas'd • with that fort of Garments which expos'd Women as much as if they were undrefs'd. All 'your Ornament, all your Drefs, all your Beauty, and your greatest Honour was CHASTITY, that BEAUTY which fadeth not away. Here I beg leave to obferve, that St. Peter gave juft fuch a Leffon to the Primitive Chriftian Women. 'Let not your adorning says he (d), be that ' outward adorning, of plaiting the Hair, and of ⚫ wearing of Gold, or of putting on of Apparel but let it be the hidden Man of the Heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the Orna'ment of a meek and quiet Spirit, which is in the fight of God of great Price--- But fuch Difcourfes as thefe, like old Medals which were of Currency and Service in their time, are of no worth now but for their Antiquity. We bring you others that are more modern and fuited to the Tafte of the prefent Age. (d) 1 Pet. iii..3, 4. .: • Ever (e) Ever fince the Creation, the Youth,' ('tis that polite Jefuit Father le Moine, who fpeaks this to the young Ladies and pretty Miffes) the Youth, fays he, always thought they had a Right to adorn themselves. Nature every Day decks * with new Colours, the Rifing Sun--- Therefore it may be lawful to put on Ornaments at an Age which is the Bloffom and Verdure of Life, the very Morning and Spring of Time---: 'Tis only allow'd to the Stars, fays he again (f), to be always in Affembly, always in a Dance, because perpetual Youth is granted to the Stars ' alone.' As to other Perfons who are advanc'd in Years, he talks to them in a very different Strain. In this refpect (g), he tells them, the best way wou'd be to confult Reafon and a good Looking-Glafs, to conform to Decency, and to retire when Night approaches. Surely there's little Pleafure, and much lefs Honour in affecting an appearance among the Beau monde, with the ruins of a good Face or Shape, and in frequenting all ⚫ Affemblies and Drawing-Rooms, when the Per• fon ought rather to be thinking of a Churchyard or a Coffin---. In a word (h), that must be a green Head indeed which is not ripe at an Age, that wou'd rot Oaks and demolish Mar⚫bles.' I grant it; but is a Tongue that expreffes it felf after fuch a manner, a certain Sign of a very ripe Head? And in fuch Flights as these, do we discover the Language of a NEW GABRIEL, or a NEW RAPHAEL? But the next Leffon which is yet more extraordinary, is the Edification which the Jefuit propofes at the Lady's Toilet, and the Leffons of Modefty which he (e) Father le Moine's eafy Devotion, p. 163. (f) Page 127. (g) Ibid. (b) P. 128, pretends pretends to find in their very Diversions and Ornaments. Nay, fays he, in his Letter to Madam 'de Toify, there are Leffons and Patterns of Mo" defty in your Diverfions and Ornaments, and 'I know not whether there is more to be seen · at Courts and Balls, or in the Concerts and Affemblies of the Stars.' Is this again the Language of a Priest, or is it not the Voice of a Devil transform'd into an Angel of Light (i)? or rather into a Jefuit? Alas! young Ladies, Seneca tells you (k), That of all things you must beware of the Speeches of fuch 'Men. These are they that infinuate Vices, and carry them into all Countries far and near. 'Heretofore they who betray'd Converfation, and turn'd Informers, were reckon'd the worst of Men; but these Men carry Vice it self about 'them wherever they go. Their Difcourfe is very 'mischievous. For tho it does not do immediate Hurt, yet it leaves that Seed of Poifon in the Mind, which after we are gone from them breaks out and spreads. In fhort, as a Concert of fine (i) 2 Cor. xi. 14. (k) Horum omnium fermo vitandus eft. Hi funt qui vitia tradunt; & alio aliunde transferunt. Peffimum genus homi num videbatur qui verba geftarent. Sunt quidem qui vitia geftant. Horum fermo multum nocet. Nam etiamfi non ftatim officit, femina in animo reliquit, fequiturque nos etiam cùm ab illis difcefferimus, refurrecturum poftea malum. Quem admodum qui audierint fymphoniam, ferunt fecum in auribus modulationem illam ac dulcedinem cantûs, quæ cogitationes impedit, nec ad feria patitur intendi: fic adulatorum & prava laudantium fermo diutiùs hæret quàm auditur, nec facile eft animo dulcem fonum excutere: profequitur & durat, & ex intervallo recurrit. Ideo claudendæ funt aures malis vocibus, & quidem primis. Nam cum initium fecerunt, admiffeque funt, plus audent. Inde ad hæc pervenitur verba virtus & philofophia, & juftitia, verborum inanium crepitus eft. Senec. Epift. cxxiii. Tom. 2. p. 615. Q Mu |