Female Pre-eminence Or The Excellency of that Sex Above the Male Almighty God, to whose efficacious Word all

things owe their original, abounding in his own glorious Essence with infinite goodness and fecundity, did in the beginning Create Man after his own likeness, Male and Female, created he them; the true distinction of which Se es, consists merle in the different site of those !arts of the body, wherein Generation necessarily re"uires a #i$ersity% for both Male and Female he im!artially1 endued with the same, and altogether indifferent form of Soul, the Woman being !ossessed of no less e cellent Faculties of Mind, &eason, and S!eech, than the Man, and e"ually with him as!iring to those &egions of 'liss and Glory, where there shall be no e ce!tion of Se ( For though at the last )rum!ets2 uni$ersal Alarm, when our recollected bodies shall start u! ama*ed, to find themsel$es released from their +risons of #arkness3, we may !erha!s a!!ear in our res!ecti$e !ro!er Se es, yet shall we not then either need or make use of Se , but are !romised by him who is )ruth itself, a Con$ersation resembling that of blessed Angels in ,ea$en( ,ence -tis e$ident, that as to the essence of the Soul between Man and Woman, there can no +re.eminence at all be challenged on either side, but the same innate worth and dignity of both the /mage of their Creator being stam!ed as fairly, and shiningly as brightly in one, as the other; whereas in all other res!ects the noble and delicate Feminine &ace, does most to infinity e cel that roughewn, boisterous kind, the Male( )his may at first seem an odd Assertion, and e tra$agantly +arado ical, but will a!!ear a certain )ruth, when we ha$e !ro$ed it 0which is our !resent undertaking1 not with em!ty flourishes of words, or gaudy +aint of &hetoric, nor with those $ain 2ogical #e$ices, where.with So!histers too fre"uently in$eigle unwary understandings, but by the Authority of the most A!!ro$ed Authors, un"uestioned ,istories, and e$ident &easons, as likewise with )estimonies of holy Writ, and Sanctions of both Ci$il and Canon 2aws( Since 3ames are signs of things, and that all matter !resents itself to us clothed in words, the 2earned ha$e ad$ised us in all #iscourses, First, )o consider diligently the 3otations or a!!ellations of those things whereof we intend to )reat, which if we reduce to !ractice in our !resent Sub4ect, we may obser$e, that Woman was made at first so much more e cellent than Man, by how much she had gi$en her a 3ame more worthy than he; the word Adam, signifying but Earth, whereas E$e, is inter!reted 2ife; whence it seems, Woman is no less to be !referred before Man, than 2ife itself before sordid and contem!tible Earth( 3or let any weak heads fancy this Argument lame or in$alid, because from names it !asses 4udgment on things, since it must be acknowledged, that the All.wise Contri$er both of names and things, well knew the things before he im!osed names on them; and therefore 0it being im!ossible he should be decei$ed1 did undoubtedly bestow on them such fit and a!!osite names, as might best e !ress their intrinsic 3atures and #ignity( 3or is it only the holy )ongue that intimates this Se -s +re.eminence, the 2atins too seem $ery e !ress in asserting it, among whom Woman is named Mulier, "uasi Melior, as much as to say, 'etter, or more worthy than Man( And in our English 2anguage, although Some little Wits at Woman rail and ban, Swearing she's called so, quasi woe Man; Yet such wain Derivation are to blame, Since God himself Man's help meet name Women promote our !o"s, parta#e our woes,
1 2 3 Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Revelation 8:1 2 !ngels so"nd #r"m$ets; "shering in the %nd of the &orld. 'risons of (arkness mortal )odies; now stained )* +riginal Sin

$ut we men wor# our own, and their rethroves, -)is too great a derogation from the known !rudence and !iety of our Ancestors, to imagine them as once so in4urious and im!ious, as to brand this noble Se with a 3ame, diametrically thwarting that Character which ,ea$en itself had gi$en of its 3ature( We may with much more !robability, 0the only Com!ass to fail by in an 5cean of Etymologies1 su!!ose the word, Woman, to be deri$ed, "uasi Woe man, she being the 2oadstone of Man-s #esires, and the sole ade"uate 5b4ect of his Affections, whom he is to woe, court, and settle his 2o$e on; or else from With Man, abbre$iated in the !ronunciation, intimating the need Man has of her !resence and com!any, and his dull heartless condition without her( Society is the 2ife of 2ife, and Women the 2ife of Society, com!ared with whom all other !leasures and di$ersions are but flat and melancholy; whereof the +roto!last, e$en while he was in his state of /nnocency, and had a Garden of !leasure for his ,abitation, was not insensible; of whom thus a minor +oet, %dam alone in &aradise did grieve, %nd thought 'den a Desert without 've, (ntil God pit"ing his )onesome State, *rowned all his Wishes with a )ovel" Mate +o reason then had man to flight or flout her, Who could not live in &aradise without her . ,owe$er if we shall not be allowed the !ri$ilege of contri$ing for the ,onor of the Female Se , such ad$antageous Etymologies, yet let us at least affirm from the mysterious 2earning of the Cabalists, that the Woman-s 3ame in the original 2anguage, has a much nearer Affinity with the ineffable )etragrammation, or sacred 3ame of the #i$ine Essence, than the Man-s which bears no &esemblance there to either in Characters, Figure, or 3umber( 'ut wa$ing 0at !resent1 this abstruser mode of !roof, as a matter read by few, understood by fewer, and re"uiring a more am!le E !lication, than our leisure, no less than the &eaders !atience, can here allow of, we !roceed from words to things, and come to in$estigate and dis!lay Female E cellency, not barely from the 3ame, but in &eality from its intrinsic worth and !ro!er Endowments; for long )angling about 3ominals, while Substances fleet by unregarded, may argue some smattering in Grammar, or So!histry, but no great stock of solid or useful 2earning( 2et us then 0as we are commanded1 search the Scri!tures, and dating our #iscourse with the World-s original, e amine what #ignity was alotted to Woman abo$e Man, by order of Creation( We know that all things made by the Almighty Architect, may not unfitly be branched into these two &anks, some remaining e$er incorru!tible, others sub4ect to corru!tion and mutation; in the Creation of both which, #i$ine Wisdom !roceeds in a Method of #issension and Ascension, beginning with the more noble of the one, and concluding with the most noble of the other( Essences, immaterial Angels and Souls, 0for so the great St( Augustine7 contends, that the Soul of our first +arent was created together with the Angels, before the !roduction of his body1 then the incorru!tible bodies, as the ,ea$ens, and those $ast numbers of glorious Stars, wherewith the same are embroidered, as also the Elements, incorru!tible
, . 7 Rethroves an archaic word or miss$elling; no definition availa)le. !n "nrecorded )allad. !n "nrecorded )allad St. !"g"stine of /i$$o 0nfl"ential ,th 1ent"r* 1hristian theologian.

too, but obno ious to $arious mutations, of which last he com!osed all other things liable to corru!tion, beginning with the meanest, and so !roceeding u!wards again by se$eral degrees of dignity, to the !erfection of the 6ni$erse; so as first Minerals were brought forth, then s!routed u! 7egetables, +lants, ,erbs and )rees, afterwards +lant.Animals; then 2i$ing Creatures in order, cree!ing, swimming, flying, and four.footed, and last of all he formed our first +arents, after his own similitude, first the Man, and then the Woman, in whom was com!leted the ,ea$ens and the Earth, and all the glory of them, for after her Creation the great Creator rested, as ha$ing nothing more honorable to frame; and so well resented the !leasure of ha$ing finished this glorious work so ha!!ily, that he instituted a day of each se$en to celebrate its Festi$al( Woman then being the last 8 of Creatures, the end, com!lement, and consummation of all the works of God, what /gnorance is there so stu!id, or what /m!udence can there be so affronted, as to deny her a +rerogati$e abo$e all other Creatures, without whom the World itself had been im!erfect, it being im!ossible the same should be com!leted, but in some Creature most !erfect; and absurd to dream, that /nfinite Wisdom would conclude so noble a Fabric, with a thing any way tri$ial or defecti$e% for the whole 6ni$erse being Created by God, as an entire and !erfect Circle, it was re"uired the same should be made u!, and finished in such an e act and absolute !article, as might with a most strict )ie unite and glue together the first of all things with the last( )hus the Woman in relation to time indeed was formed last, but in res!ect of #ignity, first of all concei$ed in the di$ine /dea, 0as -tis written, 'efore the ,ea$ens were created / chose her;1 the End, according to the Catholic Creed on +hiloso!hers, being e$er first in /ntention, though last in e ecution% but Woman was the End, and last work of God, and introduced into the World, not unlike a 8ueen into her &oyal +alace, +aradise her Metro!olitan &esidence, being fitted and !re!ared before.hand for her &ece!tion and Entertainment, where the Man seemed only her ,arbinger or Attendant( #eser$edly therefore does e$ery Creature lo$e, and !ay res!ect and homage to her, who is of all Creatures the 8ueen, !erfection and glory; for which cause the wise Man says, ,e glorifies the Generosity of the Woman, ha$ing society with God, the 2ord of all has lo$ed her( 'ut further, in reference to the !lace of her Creation, how much Woman does sur!ass Man in #ignity, sacred 5racles liberally inform us, witnessing her to be Created in +aradise, a !lace no less noble, than !leasant and delightful; but the Man out of +aradise, in a rural Field, with irrational 'rutes( And therefore as great +ersonages, of noble E traction, though by the malice of Fortune reduced to E tremities, retain still some marks of Grandeur, and a Mean different from the 7ulgar, so Woman carries yet an Air of +aradise, something that s!eaks her sublime dissent, her /nclinations being generally more !ious and de$out, and her Countenance Angelical, and 0as accustomed to that sublime !lace of her first 'irth1 she en4oys this !eculiar !ri$ilege, that looking downwards, though from ne$er so high a !reci!ice, she is not sei*ed with that di**iness or dimness of sight, which fre"uently in such accidents ha!!ens to Men( As also if a Man and woman together chance to be e !osed to danger by Water, 0de!ri$ed of all e ternal aid or assistance1 you may behold her a long time floating on the Crystal Su!erficies, the com!assionate Element seeming unwilling to contract the guilt of destroying so much E cellency; while the Man straight sinks, and 0like other gross bodies1 tends to the bottom, as his !ro!er Center( 3ow that the dignity of the !lace of 3ati$ity conduces not a little to the ennobling a !erson, both the Ci$il 2aws2, and sacred Canons !lainly intimate, and the Custom of all 3ations confirms; and that not only in Men, but in all other Animals, yea inanimate Creatures, esteeming each so much more generous and noble, as they come from a more worthy !lace( )hus /saac commands his 9acob not to take a Wife of the 2and of Canaan, but of the then more renowned Country, Meso!otamia of Syria% not unlike which is that in 9ohn, where +hili! relating, that he had found 9esus of 3a*areth, 3athaniel13 0that true /sraelite1 nimbly "ueries, /f any thing good could come thence:
8 2 13 0n the 4ook of Genesis, %ve is created o"t of !dam5s ri), making her the final creation of God. %"ro$ean law which is )ased on late Roman law. 6athaniel an !$ostle of 7es"s

'ut to !roceed; as in order and !lace, so also in matter of her Creation, Woman far e ceeds Man( )hings recei$e their $alue from the matter they are made of, and the e cellent skill of their maker% +ots of common Clay must not contend with China.#ishes, nor +ewter 6tensils $ie dignity with those of Sil$er( 5ne 2ine drawn by A!!elles 11 his e "uisite +encil, is more to be esteemed, than whole +ortraitures !erformed by the slubbering hands of $ulgar Artists( Woman was not com!osed of any inanimate or $ile dirt, but of a more refined and !urified substance, enli$ened and actuated by a &ational Soul, whose o!erations s!eak it a 'eam, or bright &ay of #i$inity( Man was taken out of the Earth, which of its own nature, with the co.o!eration of Celestial /nflu es, is wont to bring forth li$ing Creatures% but Woman, abo$e all /nfluence of the ,ea$ens, or a!titude of 3ature, without any assisting $irtue, or co.o!erating !ower, was formed miraculously by God himself, out of that &ib taken from dormant Adam-s side whereby Man became maimed and im!erfect; and thence e$er since, as a 3eedle that has suffered the Magnetic )ouch, stands always trembling -til it looks full on its belo$ed 3orth; so ,e can ne$er rest, will by taking a Woman, and /ncor!orating her with himself, he retrie$es that loss, and render himself again entire and !erfect( )he rare Art e ercised in rearing this Female.Fabric, is not obscurely intimated by the #i$ine ,istorian, in his 5riginal 2anguage, where God is said to make Man, but to ha$e built Woman; that im!lying but common work, this, much curiosity, and contri$ance% insomuch Man seems little more than the !roduction of 3ature; Woman, the more immediate handiwork of the God of 3ature( And therefore for the most !art Woman is more susce!tible of, and re!lenished with di$ine s!lendor and irradiance, than Man, of which her incom!arable 3eatness, and charming 'eauty, may be a !regnant e$idence; for 'eauty is nothing but the brightness or radiancy of #i$ine 2ight, shining in created Essences, and casting on us its glorious &eflections from fair bodies, as illustriously as our weak eyes are ca!able without da**ling to behold it( And this most fre"uently chooses to reside in Woman, rather than Man; whence she becomes beyond all e !ression amiable and delightful, her Flesh tender and delicate, her Color bright and clear, her ,air most becoming, her 2ocks 0Cu!id-s Fetters, and the only )hreads wherewith he strings his 'ow1 soft, long, and glittering, her Countenance more August and Ma4estical, her 2ooks more s!rightly, $i$id and 4ocund; a snow.white 3eck, and large smooth high Fore.head; S!arkling Eyes, armed with irresistible Glances, and yet tem!ered with a lo$ely grace and cheerfulness, Arched o$er with stately Eye.brows, 0half Moons, that boast more Con"uests, than the !roud )urkish Ensigns1 which being di$ided with a beseeming, !lain, and e"ual distance, her well !ro!ortioned 3ose leads to her !retty Mouth, and that dis!laying with an amorous Smile, the rosy +ortals of its soft ruddy 2i!s, disco$ers a &ow of inestimable +earl, her fine small )eeth, e$en, and out.$ieing /$ory for whiteness, yet fewer in number than Mans, as ha$ing less occasion to use them, being neither great Eater, nor 'iter( )hen her modest Cheeks, whose Colors are so !urely mi ed, that 2ilies and &oses seem there to contend for Su!eriority, and her !retty round Chin, beautified with a 2o$e.dim!le; a 7oice she has most sweet and enchanting; 'reasts which seem two S!heres of Snow, or swelling Mountains of #elight; long Arms, little ,ands, interwo$en with a curious 2abyrinth of A*ure 7eins; long slender Fingers, nimble 9oints, and all !arts of her body !lum!, 4uicy, and attracti$e( 'esides, her Gate is so modest, her Motions decent and natural, her Gesture more free and noble, her Air more taking and com!lacent, and the whole Form, ,abit, and Symmetry of her !erson, graced with such innumerable Charms, as without in4uring truth, we may affirm, )hat in the whole Series of Creatures there is nothing so much to be admired, or miracle so deser$ing to be seen, since in her alone all that ha$e not their eyes bleared with !re4udice or en$y, may clearly see, the great Creator 0who is the Fountain of all that is good and amiable1 has e!itomi*ed the 'eauty of all his other works; for those !erfections which S!arkle here and there in them, are collected and constellated in her, whom we may call, a #raft of the whole Creation in Miniature, or a Co!y of that $ast 7olume done in e "uisite Short.hand( ,ence all Creatures admire, lo$e, and almost adore her; for so 0; 2ib( S( 3at( ,ist(1 +liny12 0that great Clerk of 3ature Closet1 relates, )hat the 2ion which s!ares no other Creature,
11 12 !$$elles renowned $ainter in !ncient Greece. 'lin* the %lder renowned Roman statesman who lived in the 1st 1ent"r* !.(.

trembles at a Woman, and hardly !roffers her that $iolence which usually he does to Man; as if 3ature had taught that sa$age Animal the &es!ect due to so fair a !resence( 3or is it only the Conceit of fond 5!inion, but a $ery credible )ruth, )hat e$en S!iritual 3atures, incor!oreal Essences, and #emons, ha$e many times been enamored on Women with wonderful !assion; for omitting those Stories +oets tell us, of the Amours of their fabulous #eities, as A!ollo and #a!hne, 3e!tune and Salmonea 13, or ram!ant ,ercules with his three Wenches, ,ebe,1, Fole, and 5m!hale1-, <c( )he holy Scri!ture seems to intimate no less; as in Genesis 1. we find, )hat the Sons of God seeing the #aughters of Men were fair, took of them for their Wi$es% to which we might add, 0if it be not thought too A!ocry!hal1 the ill s!irit Asmodeus17, who so 4ealously Courted the 2ady, that he destroyed all his &i$als, in the ,istory of )ebit( /ndeed these sacred &oll are fre"uent in recommending this di$ine 5rnament, 'eauty, and furnish us with $arious E am!les of its !ower and e cellency( )hereby it was Abigail !reser$ed her churlish ,usband-s 2ife and fortune, from the fury of incensed #a$id 18; for thus the &oyal Curtain accosts her, &eturn in !eace, ::: :heard thy usi::, and honored thy face, 0or as other 7ersions render it, Acce!ted thy !erson(1 All beauty is either intellectual, $ocal, or cor!oreal; in each of which this 2ady is recorded to ha$e been eminently accom!lished, being both !rudent in mind, elo"uent of s!eech, and beautiful in !erson, for which e cellent !erfections, #a$id after 3abal-s 12 decease acce!ted her for one of his Wi$es( ,ester-s 'eauty was a means to deli$er her !eo!le out of the 4aws of destruction, to which !roud ,aman had de$oted them( And fair 9udith-s23 Charms infatuating the besotted General, !reser$ed her 3ation from a &uin which seemed ine$itable( After those $arious tem!tations and tedious affliction of holy 9ob, ,ea$en 0as if it could now bestow a better earthly &eward on such a stu!endous and inimitable +atience1 blessed him with three #aughters so sweet, fair and attracti$e, that they sur!assed those Graces +oets fable of, and the whole World 0'ankru!t of such other E cellency1 could not !roduce their +arallels( Who reading the 2egends of the sacred 7irgins, can but admire in them that transcendent 'eauty, which the church $ouchsafes to celebrate with such solemn Eulogies of ,onor and es!ecially that immodest 7irgin, the blessed Mary21, whose 'eauty is said to be so e actly tem!ered with Chastity and ,oliness, that though it ca!ti$ated all hearts, yet is ne$er tem!ted any to folly, so much :: in thought( 3or is 'eauty only esteemed amongst Men, but Seems also to be !articularly regarded e$en by God himself, 0as indeed how can he but res!ect his own &eflections(1

13 1, 11. 17 4i)les. 18 12 (avid. 23 21

! list of Roman deities /e)e Greek goddess of *o"th +m$hale da"ghter of 0ardan"s, either a king of 8*dia, or a river god. Genesis .:1 8 !smode"s ! demon fo"nd in the 4ook of #o)it, which is incl"ded in the 1atholic 4i)le, )"t not in 'rotestant (avid 9ing of 0srael; an im$ortant fig"re in the +ld #estament. 6a)al a )"sinessman in the +ld #estament who offended (avid and was saved )* his da"ghter5s $leading to 7"dith a female +ld #estament hero who assassinated an !ss*rian general, saving her hometown. #he 4lessed :irgin ;ar* ;other of 7es"s; $artic"larl* venerated )* 1atholics, +rthodo< 1hristians, and !nglicans.