Commendation of vertuous daughters , with their number : Many daughters haue done vertuously .

Comparison , wherein one so qualified is preferred to all , But thou excellest them all .

Daughters carry their duty in their name : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A radicae . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A disicare . the word in the Originall springs from a root , which signifies , A building , or to build ; and may yeeld vs a twofold instruction .

First , that euery vertuous daughter is a building : and therefore in the creation of woman , it is said , that the Lord built her of the ribbe ; as men vse to doe stately houses , faire , strong , Gen. 2.22 . and well-seated , for their delight and profit ; without which they cannot well be . What Tisaphernes Lieutenant to the Persian King spake once of Alcybiades , comparing him to a faire house of pleasure , Plul. in vit. Aleybiades . See the Prophets prayer Psal. 144.12 is truely verified of a vertuous daughter ; she is a building both delightfull and fruitfull . Compared for statelinesse and profit , to a Merchants ship , Prov. 31.14 . Now in all buildings , we may obserue cost , comelinesse , and vse ; no lesse in vertuous daughters ; comely they are to the eye , many wayes beneficiall , and they want no cost , will spare none , or else none should be spared for their good : they are the Lords building , Psa. 122.3 . like Ierusalem , a house that is compact together at vnity in it selfe : not like the dropping house , Pro. 19.13.27.15 . mentioned in the Prouerbes , but like our Sauiours house built vpon a rocke ; Math. 7 , 24 which proues a constant defence for the owner , against the boistrous winds of violent assaults , and the scorching Sun-shine of alluring temptations , for outward structure of seuerall parts in order , for inward furniture , gifts and graces of the mind , admirable : obserue and see , the foundation , turrets , windowes , doores , inner-chambers , all hanged with rich iewels of intellectuall vertues , and diuine graces , and you will say , This onely deserues the name of None such : no building to the sight so pleasant , none for vse so profitable , as this liuing , Spirabile Coelum . Bodin . li. 1. c. 4. mouing , speaking Tabernacle : I might stay you ouer-long in the Entry ; should I stand to vnuaile the whole Fabricke : you may admire the rest by what you see a farre off , I dare but point to it , and passe away : excellency in any workemanship , calles for an exact or no description ; lest fruitlesse haste should eclipse the praise and glory of the Workeman .

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly , euery vertuous daughter is , and must be a builder ; we haue seene what she is , idle she may not be , her name implies such action , as tends to perfection : a builder she is , first , to her decayed parents , by vpholding the credit of an ancient family , by renewing and continuing their name , and nature with posterity , & by repairing the breach , age hath made in the ruinous houses of their bodies , with a timely supply of all their wants ; Pro. 23.22 . a vertuous daughter makes old parents begin to liue young againe , partly by feeling present comforts , and partly by feeding vpon hopes of future happinesse .

Secondly , she is a builder together with her husband , as copartner , yoke-fellow , Gen. 2.18 . and helpe meete for him , in the worke committed to their trust ; if one should build , and the other pull downe , we might expect a Babel , no prosperous building ; but Solomon tels vs , Pro. 14.1 . euery wise woman builds her house , the foolish onely plucke it downe with their hands ; and that was the reason his building in the later end , went so backewardly-forward , 1. Kin. 1.3 , 4 , 7 , 8. hauing so many vicious daughters about him : a good woman raises vp the ruines of decayed places , studying how to preserue her husbands credit and good name , both in regard of God and men ; when the contrary , makes the stateliest turrets stoup , through pride , O domus antiqua quam dispari domino dominaris ? ryot and idlenesse , dismantling ancient monuments of strength , to bury her husbands honour in the rubbish thereof : the dwelling of one is like the pleasant spring , euen in the middest of Winter , fresh , gay , and pleasant : the house of the other , like stormy Winter , in the middle of May , torne , ragged , and ill-fauoured : Pro. 24.30 , 31. I went by the field of the slothfull , and loe , it was all growne ouer with thornes , and nettles , and the stone wall thereof was broken downe .

Thirdly , she is a builder in regard of her children , instrumentally to giue them being , Education of children is the foundation of the Common-weale . and well-being , both for conception , birth , and education , by her industrious care , tender infants at first , like vnto the creeping Iuy on the wall , come to be tall and goodly Cedars in Libanon , profitable pieces to vnderprop a declining state ; whosoeuer knowes , hath seene or heard of this labour , what it is to beare and bring vp children , will say , that she is a painefull builder : her nauseous pangs before , & sleepelesse nights after the birth , when variety of change cannot alter , nor giue content to her tearelesse cryer ; one while she sits and sings , to deceiue or flatter the tediousnesse of time , with counterfeited mirth ; anon she sighs and weepes , ( the burden of her song , ) and sings againe , Gen. 3.16 . as if variety did ease , though not remoue her griefe ; all which doe sufficiently tell vs , her building in this kind , is multiplyed sorrow .

Fourthly , she is a builder to her selfe , of a good name , Eccles. 7.1 . which is a rare monument , better then precious oynment , rather to be sought then great riches , Pro. 22.1 . no shining titles of fading glory so famous , no glittering trophies of ancient Worthies so durable , as this building : a vertuous daughter cannot be obscured , no more then a City built on a hill , Fame borrowing the tongues of strangers to publish her desert : euery action speakes of her , and euen while she sleepes , the building goes forward .

Fiftly , she is a builder in regard of her neighbours , either by confection of salues , distillation of waters , or preparation of other necessaries for their reliefe , supply , and succour in time of need : a vortuous daughter is a true neighbour , euery one neere her is the better for her ; Innocency beares such sway in her , and is so powerfully preualent , that she cannot thinke of an iniury with delight , either to doe it to another , or to reuenge it , done to her selfe by others ; neither will her habituall goodnesse suffer her to be a carelesse helper ; when Satan hath sowne the seeds of strife and discord , and stird vp men by diuision , to weaken themselues with their owne , hands , she sleeps not , till those tares be pluckt vp , and peace and loue replanted in their affections .

Sixtly , she is a builder , in regard of the Church and Common-weale , though she may not publikely be seene , in her retiring roomes , she helps forward the building by prayers , teares , aduice , and the labour of her hands : like the wise hearted-women vnder the Law , who are commended by the Lord himselfe , as builders , Exod. 35.25 . euery one preparing & bringing something towards the finishing of the Tabernacle : let not women be discouraged , because they are not called to publike offices , vertuous daughters want not imployment , Familia prudenter instituta ciuitatis imago , Bodin , l. 1. c. 2. neither are they excluded , ( as some vnwisely-ambitious , haue repiningly-murmured , ) from this honourable seruice ; by their priuate diligence in pious , exercises , the Magistrate rules , the Minister teaches , the husband-man labours , Right ordering of a Family , is a branch of regal discipline . the Physician cures , the Lawyer pleades , and the Souldier fights the better : let them not thinke themselues therefore contemned , or that they can doe nothing , because they doe not euery thing , God hath wisely disposed of his creatures into seuerall rankes , as an expert Captaine doth his Army , allotting euery one such and so many talents , as his place required ; be content with your portion , the lot is fallen out vnto you in a good ground .

And so you see the subiect of this commendation , A daughter .

She is a delectable building , onely let her be mindefull , that she weary not her Lord , with ouer much needlesse reparation ; she must auoid fantastike fashions , curious gawdinesse , with all vaine superficiall trimmings ; such printed paper-houses pleases children onely , but cannot withstand a storme , and are iustly derided by euery vnderstanding passenger .

She is a conscionable builder , let her remember , she be not idle , nor slugglish in her labour , but like the spinning-Spider , or the gathering-Bee , let her daily bring some hony to the hiue : & in this common lation of a daughter , we haue three things commended to our obseruation .

First , the necessity and benefit of History , to record the vertuous deeds of such daughters : the phrase here vsed implies so much ; presupposing a Catalogue of names , laid before the Pen man of this Prophesie , ( Many daughters : ) History vnto memory , is as a good wife vnto her husband , a helpe meet for him ; in regard of truth , both the mother , and nurce thereof , if the disposer be a man experienst in the affaires he treates of , iudicious and impartiall : it is a faithfull trusty Councellour of state , by whose aduice and direction a Common-weale may be framed , gouerned , reformed and preserued ; an Army ordered , enemies vanquisht , victory obtained : wee read of Lucius Lucullus appointed Captaine Generall ouer the Romane Forces against Mithridates , hauing no experience or knowledge in warre , Praesat . vit. Plutarch . more then he had gotten by reading History , and yet proued a discreet & valiant Commander , vanquishing at that time , two of the greatest Easterne Princes . It is and may be the directour of meanest men in any of their actions ; wherein they may see without danger , how others haue behaued themselues vpon seuerall occasions , and what hath followed : speculatiue experience yeelds the cheapest wisedome .

It is a punisher of vice , presenting aged folly , greene and fresh to posterity , not suffering sinne to dye , much lesse to bee buried in obliuion : the name of the wicked shall rot , saith Solomon , that is , Prou. 10.7 . the euill sauour of their filthy life , shall be conueyed through History to generations vnborne : it is a delusion of Satan , to thinke otherwise , sinne cannot be concealed : venter not on sinne , vpon a presumption of secrecie ; birds of the ayre shall cary the voyce , Eccle. 10.20 . and that which hath wings , shall tell the matter : many pennes are imployed this way , silently to obserue and note humane passages , that secret workes of darkenesse , contriued in closest corners , may be publisht hereafter on the house top ; men blinded with the glistering out-sides of Satans Iesuits pleasure and profit , cannot see into priuate Studies , ( the vnwilling prisons of rich Records , ) nor thinke of that which will disgrace them in the ages to come .

It is a rewarder of vertue , the proper end of History , to reserue worthy deeds , for imitation ; a good worke , though it dye in doing , is a reward to it selfe , yet that some dull natures might be stirred vp the more , and all benefited by seeing gracious steps before them : this onely is exempted by a firme Dec ee from the stroake of death , to liue in History , vertues preseruatiue , against the deuouring graue , encouraging many to doe well , that they may heare well ; to doe worthily in Ephratah , Math. 4 11. Math. 6.2 . that they may be famous in Bethlehem ; Trumpets are for glozing votaries , who study rather to seeme , then to be good ; let them hunt after applause , who know they deserue not to haue it brought home vnto them : be silently constant in good courses , commit your wayes vnto the Lord , Psa. 37.5 . trust in him , and he shall bring it to passe ; retired vertue yet neuer lost her praise .

But to returne : the History here meant , especially is Gods owne Booke , wherein we find the names of many vertuous daughters ; as of Sarah , Deborah , 1. Pet. 3.6 . Iudges 5. 1. Sam. 1.25.3 . Hannah , Abigail , Ester , Iudith , Mary , Martha , Lydia , &c. That of our Sauiour is most remarkable , enioyning the vse of History , to preserue the memory of a good woman , Math. 26.13 . Verily I say vnto you , wheresoeuer this Gospell shall be preacht thorowout all the world , there also shall this that she hath done , be spoken of , for a memoriall of her : Hence it is that humane Histories in imitation of diuine , haue beene so carefull to present these iewels to posterity , lest any vertuous daughter should be forgotten : onely this I find , men generally too sparing in praise of good women : seeing the Lord hath done it , men may proceed from a certainty of the lawfulnesse , to a necessity , his relatiue actions are for example , and so haue a binding power , saying to vs as our Sauiour did to the man in the Gospell , Luke 10.37 . Goe and doe likewise : it is a custome as commendable as ancient , at funerals , to mention those vertues most eminent in the parties deceased ; whosoeuer buries vertue in silence , or slubbers ouer worth in any by a carelesse stile , commits a threefold iniury ; one against God the Donor , whose praise and glory is hindered ; another against the persons in whom it was , robd thereby of some part of their right ; and a third against all suruiuing followers , who should be encouraged by such iustice , to wrestle with vice that so at last , they might goe home adorned with this Crowne of honour ▪ let none enuy the dead ; by negligence to enroule good women amongst this number of many .

Secondly we haue here the manner how he commends her , not before he had giuen others their due praise : detraction from others , is no solid ground , for the commendation of our owne ; we may not steale from our neighbours , to enrich our selues , or those we loue , with goods or good name , nor dispraise others , to augment our owne praise : it was an iniurious practice of the proud Pharise , Luke 18.14 . I am not as other men are , extortioners , vniust , adulterers , nor as this Publican : building his owne perfection vpon the weakenesse of his brother ; concluding himselfe ( proudly ) good , because not so sensibly bad ; sound , because not so apprehensiuely sicke as others : it is a cold kind of praise , that is drawne from the vices of any , a deceitfull demonstration , taken from the worser part : The relation of imperfections , is meat to feed malice onely , sitter it is to bewaile them in secret , then to publsh them with delight for any end ; table-talke in any places ,

Quisquis amat dictis abscutum , rodere vitam .

Hanc mensam indignam nouerit esse sibi . Aug.

Thirdly , we haue here the matter of his commendation : it is not said , Many daughters haue beene beautifull ; Prou. 31.30.11 , 4 , 23.5.14 . fauour is deceitfull , and beauty is vanity : nor , Many daughters haue beene rich : house and riches are the inheritance of Fathers , which profit not in the day of wrath , but make themselues wings , and fly away as an Egle : neither is it said here , that many daughters haue beene , and are borne of high parentage , Qui genus lactat suum , aliena laudat Sen. it may be a benefit , no praise vnto women to come of great kinred ; a good old stocke may nourish a fruitlesse branch , a Noble family yeeld and impious progeny ; the commendation runnes not of riches , beauty , or birth , ( though these be commendable in their place and ranke , ) but of vertue .

Many daughters haue done vertuously .

Teaching vs this lesson , That vertue onely wins women true praise , and wiues deserued commendation : we find Sarah commended for obedience , Rebekah , for wisedome , Rahel , for plyant loue , sweetly-winning , and firmely-holding affability towards her husband ; Abigail , 1. Sam. 25.3 . Ruth . 3.11 . for a good vnderstanding , and Ruth , for vertue in generall : the Spirit of God moues the hard question , not of a rich or beautifull , but , Who can find a vertuous woman ? Men may easily find faire women wantons , rich women proud , and surely , great women idle and impious , more then comly or lawfull ; more difficult to find a vertuous woman , Iob 28.15 , 16 , 17 , 19. chaste , humble , obedient , discreet , fearing God ; whose sweet composure of her selfe in all places and company , stirs vp in the beholders an admiring affection ; let him say , and thinke he is rich enough , her prize is farre aboue Rubies , no pinching pouerty could euer lodge with such a Pearle : let him say , and thinke , Prou. 18.22 , 19 , 14. he hath found fauour with God , a prudent wife is from the Lord , who must be prayed vnto before , and daily praised after : vertue is amiable , wheresoeuer found , but most of all in women ; the weakenesse of their sexe , addes a kind of strength and luster to their graces : vertue from beauty , euen in men is most attractiue , but in women , we find it hath a power strangely coactiue , causing not onely the good , but the worst of men to honour it : vertue hath had this priuiledge in all ages ; beauty may please the eye for a time , as an obiect ouer-delightfull to vnregenerate nature , but by the presence of any of deaths messengers , it is put to slight , not daring to receiue a thought of death , much lesse the sight ; riches may serue to gild ouer many imperfections in women , and make them seeme louely , which neuer were , while passion guides reason , and the sensuall appetite vsurps authority to sway the will , against the voyce of iudgement : the flesh will be satisfied with either of these , the mind fully contented with neither : both are momentary & mutable , insufficient to make women honorable ; that is vertues prerogatiue Royall : honour is a vertue , and will be imployed about nothing but vertue ; nor stick to any thing but what is immortall , free from change , as vertue is ; were there ten thousand ages , attended with as many diseases , which should come tumbling like Iobs messengers , one in the necke of another , yet vertue like some impregnable Castle , would still flourish , out-facing the stormes of age , sicknesse , death , and the graue : the more vertue suffers , the brighter it is , Virescit vulnere virtus . the longer it liues , the younger it growes , increasing by the communication , the oftner seene and vsed , the lesse feared to be lost ; theeues cannot steale , nor time deface it : who can find a vertuous woman ?

Lest any hasty to answere , should be mistaken , either in estimation of themselues , affection to , or commendation of others , let vs enquire what it is to doe vertuously .

It is no ordinary act of common ciuility , ( as many in their conceits are mistaken , ) but an habituall practice of something more then morality : none can doe vertuously , without a habit of vertue ; one action yeelds no denomination ; and whosoeuer hath the habit of any one in deed and in truth , Augu. Epi. 29. Hieron . Aqui. 1.2 . q. 65. art. 1. must of necessity haue the rest in some degree ; vertues , ( excepting the intellectuall onely , which haue no such dependance nor connexion among themselues , ) are linkt as in a chaine together ; if you be owners of one , the rest will follow .

To this practice of vertue , there are three sorts of vertues requisite : all hauing , and keeping both their place and time , in a vertuous daughter , the eminency of some aboue others , breakes not the harmony : the first are intellectuall , and those either speculatiue , as knowledge to discerne , wisedome to direct , and vnderstanding to chuse , according to both : or practicall , as prudence which is actiue in electing , and Art , which is operatiue in performing the election , according to the rules of vertue . The second sort are vertues morall , such are Prouidence , or skill to giue good and wholesome counsell , when occasion is offered , to order all her affaires by the rule of right reason , to their proper ends , for the benefit of humane societies : Iustice , by an vpright diuision , to giue to euery one their owne portion : Temperance , consisting in a discret limitation of passion and affection , about words , dyet , apparell , and pleasure , that the fleshy part ouer-sway not reason : Fortitude and well-guided magnanimity , not against , but in defence of her husband , his person , goods , and good name , boldly to resist all euill motions and temptations , with a constant opposition of carnall lusts , which fight against the soule .

The third sort , are vertues Theologicall , such are those precious graces of Faith to apprehend , Hope , to hold fast , and Loue to glew her to the mysticall body of Christ ; So that an vnderstanding , sober , godly woman , is the vertuous daughter here meant ; to be iudicious , industrious , religious , in act & exercise , is to doe vertuously ; many daughters haue been so , many haue done so , and this is matter of commendation .

Men may esteeme thus of vertuous daughters in generall ; it is not sufficient in a husband , without some speciall application : his owne , if she striue to doe her best , and be in any tolerable measure so qualified , must be preferd in his conceit , as most vertuous and best for him ; such direction we haue from the comparison , which is my second part , and comes in the next place to be discust ; Though many daughters haue done vertuously , yet Thou excellest them all .

A Commendation , it is something beyond comparison ; to excell any , yeelds matter of praise alwayes ; to excell and passe all , affords matter of admiration ; which shewes the power of true affection , to change in respect of it selfe , the nature of things , and to produce effects aboue reason : a hearty Louer can neuer be a sound Grammarian ; Grammarians acknowledge and make vse of three degrees of comparison ; a true Louer admits no positiue , all his comparisons are superlatiue ; he thinkes none so vertuous , none so sit for him , as his owne portion ; and it is better , seeing the case thus stands , that all Grammarians should be angry with vs , then one God offended by vs : whose will it is , as we see here , that one should be preferred to all . Thou excellest all : A good woman must be singular in good . Deliuered not absolutely , in regard of any one here meant , and pointed out in the Text , ( though some might coniecturally appropriate it , to Bathsheba , or to the blessed Virgin Mary , ) neither is it to be vnderstood , as meant , or spoken of any , out of pride , vaine glory , flattery or a boasting humour , ( it is vnlawfull for men so to praise or preferre their owne , ) but respectiuely , with diuers limitations and so applyable to any : as first , in regard of qualification , such a one answering the description prefixt , Videa ver. 10. ad finem . is preferd to all that doe not , and are not so .

Secondly , in regard of the husbands speciall notice and knowledge , many haue done vertuously , but thou in my iudgement and apprehension excellest .

Thirdly , in respect of his affection and liking , amongst many , none appeare to him so vertuous .

Fourthly , in respect of his contentation with the endowments of his yokefellow , he is best pleased with her endeauours .

Fiftly , in regard of his resolution , vpon the former grounds , forsaking all , to cleaue vnto her , aboue all others ; whosoeuer meets with a vertuous Daughter , thus qualified , is bound in conscience to thinke and say , To me thou excellest all .

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aradicè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scandere . Asicadere . The word signifies to ascend by climbing : as men in the field of warre doe aspire after honour , so women in the calme schoole of vertue , doe striue to goe higher , degree by degree , step after step ; yeelding vs many lessons worth our obseruation .

First , that euery vertuous Daughter is humbly high-minded and holily-ambitious after the best things ; climbing to ascend , that they may excell in euery good worke : the Apostle doth elegantly expresse it of himselfe , which I may here apply vnto them ; Psal. 3.13.14 . they count not themselues to haue apprehended , but this one thing they doe , forgetting those things which are behind , and reaching forth vnto those things which are before ; they presse towards the marke , for the price of the high calling of God , in Christ Iesus : it is the property of a disposition basely seruill , alwayes to looke downewards , and to thinke it selfe high enough , before there be any beginning to ascend ; whence it comes to passe , that many conclude they can doe nothing , because they dare not patiently thinke of the difficulty of doing ; iudging sinfull sluggishnesse , to be contented humility ; when noble spirits aspire daily after high and difficult things inossensiuely .

Secondly , that the way of vertue is the way to honour and preferment , in the loue of God , Prou. 11.16 . and opinion of good men : in Rome there was no comming to the Temple of honour , but by , and thorow the Temple of vertue : though it be narrow , yet it is an infaillible way : whosoeuer climbes in by the windowes , as into the Church , Iohn 10.1 . so vnto honour , is a theefe and a robber ; by treading vpon the pins of an vnlawfull ladder , men and women may ascend , not excell ; either by the mist of deserued censure , they are couered , and so not regarded , or else through the suddainesse of a shamefull fall , they haue no leisure to embrace their seeming happines ; when vertue aduancing any , like the radiant Sunne expels all cloudes , and makes them shine in the fulnesse of strength ; obserue and see , whether such as went in any other path , did euer finally prosper ? When women rise by falling , men by fawning and flattery , paying money , in stead of practising vertue , the higher they goe , the rarther will their infamy fly abroad ; onely vertue leades to true honour .

Thirdly , that vertuous daughters hauing once begun , neuer leaue good and godly courses , till they haue perfected their vertues by action : she that lookes backe , is not sit for the Kingdome of heauen ; remember Lots wife : it is a miserable thing to haue beene happy ; when that may be verified of them which the Apostle speakes of his Galatians , Yee did run well : yee were vertuous , chaste , Gal. 5.7 . sober , religious : But , &c. Goodnesse is discerned and commended by continuance ; either resolue to goe on , or begin not ; climbing is painefull , yet men vsually desist not ; till they attaine the top , and end of their desires ; especially if their aime be at such fruits , flowres , & showes , as are in this eminent Garden of vertue ; good women are no lesse valiant , with vnwearied patience , to vndergoe the heat of the day , knowing they shall not be depriued of their hope ; their labour cannot be vaine in the Lord : 1. Cor. 15. vlt. Reu. 2.10 . perseuerance vnto death , brings a Crowne of life .