Mary Astell

“ Those impertinent Amusements which have seiz’d us, keep their hold so well and so constantly buz about our Ears, that we cannot attend to the Dictates of our Reason, nor to the soft whispers and winning persuasives of the divine Spirit, by whose assistance were we dispos’d to make use of it, we might shake off these Follies and regain our Freedom. But alas! to complete our misfortunes, by a continual application to Vanity and Folly, we quite spoil the contexture and frame of our Minds, so loosen and dissipate, that nothing solid and substantial will stay in them. ”

“ Our Devotions will be perform’d with due attention, those Objects that used to distract being now remov’d from us; simplicity of desire will beget simplicity of thought, and that will make our mind most intense and elevated, when we come to address our selves to the Throne of Grace. Being dead to the things of this world, we shall with greatest fervour petition for those of another; and living always in a lively and awful sense of the divine Majesty, our hearts will ever be dispos’d to approach him in the most solemn, serious and reverent manner. ”

“ No longer drudge on in the dull beaten road of Vanity and Folly, which so many have gone before us, but dare to break the enchanted Circle 11 that custom has plac’d us in, and scorn the vulgar way of imitating all the Impertinencies of our Neighbours. Let us learn to pride our selves in something more excellent than the invention of a Fashion; And not entertain such a degrading thought of our own worth, as to imagine that our Souls were given us only for the service of our Bodies, and that the best improvement we can make of these, is to attract the Eyes of Men. ”

“ We do not expect that all who come into this Society will be perfect, but we will endeavour to make them and our selves so as much as may be. Nor shall any be admitted who either have not, or are not desirous to have, that Divine yet humble, that Great and Generous, yet Meek and Condescending Spirit, that unfeigned Love to GOD and all Mankind which was in Christ Jesus. We set no other Rules than those of the Gospel, Christianity being the highest Improvement of a Rational Nature, and every one’s oblig’d to keep its Institutions whether they Live in such a Society or out of it. ”

“ To Eat and to Drink and to pursue the little Impertinencies of this Life? Surely no, our Wise Creator has Nobler Ends whatever we have; He lent us hither to pass our Probation, to Prepare our selves and be Candidates for Eternal Happiness in a better. And how shall this be done but by Labour and Industry? A Labour indeed, but such as carries its Reward with it, besides what it is entituled to hereafter.
The Truth is, that the Condition of our Present State is such, that we can’t do any thing, much less what’s Great and Excellent without some Pain and Weariness of the Flesh ”

“ Enjoying whom we have nothing to Fear, nor any thing to Hate but what wou’d deprive us of that Enjoyment. If we consider how much he has done to render us capable of this Happiness even when we fled from it; what affronts he has put up, with what Patience he bears our Follies and solicits our Return, in a Word, all the Wonders of his Love in Christ Jesus! We cannot sure do less than fix our Thoughts for ever on Him, and devote our selves Intirely to Him! All our Passions will be Charm’d, and every Inclination attracted! ”

“ Let it suffice that we remark a frequent Error which these engage us in, that is, an aptness to lessen the Human Mind, to detract from its Grandeur and abridge its Powers when we consider it in General, and as great a forwardness when we look on our selves to extend our Abilities beyond their bounds. Are we conscious of a Defect? the shallowness of Human Reason at large must bear the blame, we Harangue very excellently on the Ignorance and Vanity of Mankind, and it were well if we rested there, and wou’d forbear to murmur even at our Creator himself for allowing us so scanty a Portion. ”

“ Not suffer you to take up with the low thought of distinguishing your selves by any thing that is not truly valuable, and procure you such Ornaments as all the Treasures of the Indies are not able to purchase. Wou’d help you to surpass the Men as much in Vertue and Ingenuity, as you do in Beauty; that you may not only be as lovely, but as wise as Angels. Exalt and Establish your Fame, more than the best wrought Poems and loudest Panegyricks, by ennobling your Minds with such Graces as really deserve it. ”

“ But if we have such narrow hearts, be so full of mistaken Self-love, so unreasonably fond of our selves, that we cannot spare a Hearty Good-will to one or two choice Persons, how can it ever be thought, that we shou’d well acquit our selves of that Charity which is due to all Mankind? For Friendship is nothing else but Charity contracted; it is (in the words of an admired Author) a kind of revenging our selves on the narrowness of our Faculties, by exemplifying that extraordinary Charity on one or two, which we are willing, but not able to exercise towards all. ”

“ Wou’d she, who by the regard she pays to Wit, seems to make some pretences to it, undervalue her Judgment so much as to admit the Scurrility and profane noisy Nonsense of men, whose Fore-heads are better than their Brains, to pass under that Character? Wou’d she be so weak as to imagine that a few airy Fancies joyn’d with a great deal of Impudence and ill-nature (the right definition of modern Wit) can bespeak him a Man of sense, who runs counter to all the sense and reason that ever appear’d in the World? ”

“ Let then these little things be drawn aside, these Clouds that hide the most adorable Face of GOD from us, these Mud-walls that enclose our Earthly Tabernacle and will not suffer us to be pierc’d with the Beams of his Glory, and wounded, not to Death but Life, with the Arrows of his Love and Beauty. ”

“ Truths merely Speculative and which have no influence upon Practice, which neither contribute to the good of Soul or Body, are but idle Amusements, an impertinent and criminal wast of Time. To be able to speak many Languages, to give an Historical Account of all Ages Opinions and Authors, to make a florid Harangue, or defend right or wrong the Argument I’ve undertaken, may give me higher thoughts of my Self but not of GOD, this is the Knowlege that pufeth up, in the Words of the Apostle, and seldom leads us to that Charity which Edifieth. ”

“ So that if we Love GOD with All our Soul, as He certainly Deserves, and as we certainly Must if we wou’d be Happy; we shall be so taken up with the Contemplation and Admiration of his Beauties, have so boundless an Esteem, such an awful Veneration for, and so great a Contempt of all things in Comparison of Him; that our Desires will be carried out after nothing but GOD, and such things as may further our Union with Him. His Favour, and the Light of His Countenance will be the Object of our Hopes, nor shall we much Fear any thing but His Displeasure. ”

“ A Title, an Estate, or Place, can neither be got nor kept without some difficulty and trouble; an Amour, nay even a paltry Dress can’t be manag’d without some Thought and Concern, and are our Minds the only thing that do not need, or not deserve them? Has our Bountiful Lord set no limits to our Happiness but the Capacity of our Nature, and shall we set less, and not strive to extend our Capacities to their utmost reach? ”

“ And yet considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life, the great work we have to do, and what advantages accrew to us by a due management of our time, we cannot reconcile it with prudence to suffer the least minute to escape us. But besides our own lavish Expences concerning which one may ask as Solomon does of Labour, What Fruit have we of all that Sport and Pastime we have taken under the Sun? so unreasonable is the humour of the World, that those who wou’d reckon it a rudeness to make so bold with out Money, never scruple to waste and rob us of this infinitely more precious Treasure. ”

“ Besides, this world is not a soil for perfect Happiness to Grow in, 275 Good and Evil are blended together, every Condition has its Sweet and Bitter, we maybe Made by Adversity and ruin’d by Prosperity according as we manage them. Riches and Power put opportunities of doing Good into our hands, if we have a Will to Use them, but at the same time they furnish us with Instruments of doing Evil. ”

“ To be able to hold an Argument Right or Wrong may pass with some perhaps for the Character of a Good Disputant, which yet I think it is not, but must by no means be allow’d to be that of a Rational Person; it belongs to such to detect as soon as may be the Fallacies of an ill one, and to establish Truth with the Clearest Evidence. For indeed Truth not Victory is what we shou’d contend for in all Disputes, it being more Glorious to be Overcome by her than to Triumph under the Banners of Error. ”

“ And whilst the strong arguings of the Schools like the Wind in the Fable, seems but to harden these Sturdy Sinners, your Persuasions like the Suns mild and powerful rays, may oblige them to cast off that Cloak of Maliciousness in which they are so much intangled. And surely it is worth your while to fit your selves for this: ’Tis a Godlike thing to relieve even the Temporal wants of our Fellow Creatures, to keep a Body from perishing, but it is much more Divine, to Save a Soul from Death! A Soul which in his estimate who best knows the value of it, is worth more than all the World. ”

“ And whilst they have unrival’d the Glory of speaking as many Languages as Babel afforded, we only desire to express our selves Pertinently and Judiciously in One. We will not vie with them in thumbing over Authors, nor pretend to be walking Libraries, provided they’ll but allow us a competent Knowlege of the Books of GOD, Nature I mean and the Holy Scriptures: And whilst they accomplish themselves with the Knowlege of the World, and experiment all the Pleasures and Follies of it, we’ll aspire no further than to be intimately acquainted with our own Hearts. ”

“ When a Truth comes thwart our Passions, when it dares contradict our mistaken Pleasures and supposed Interests, let the Light shine never so clear we shut our Eyes against it, will not be convinc’d, not because there’s any want of Evidence, but because we’re unwilling to Obey. ”

“ For the design of Rhetoric is to remove those Prejudices that lie in the way of Truth, to Reduce the Passions to the Government of Reason; to place our Subject in a Right Light, and excite our Hearers to a due consideration of it. And I know not what exactness of Method, pure and proper Language, Figures, insinuating ways of Address and the like signify, any farther than as they contribute to the Service of Truth by rendring our Discourse Intelligible, Agreeable and Convincing. ”

“ Wisdom is thought a better recommendation than Wit, and Piety than a Bon-mien; you esteem a Man only as he is an admirer of Vertue, and not barely for that he is yours; Books are now become the finest Ornaments of your Closets, and Contemplation the most agreeable Entertainment of your leisure hours; your Friendships are not cemented by Intrigues nor spent in vain Diversions, but in the search of Knowledge, and acquisition of Vertuous Habits, a mutual Love to which was the Origin of ’em ”

“ You will not be solicitous to encrease your Fortunes, but to enlarge your Minds, esteeming no Grandeur like being conformable to the meek and humble JESUS. So that you only withdraw from the noise and trouble, the folly and temptation of the world, that you may more peaceably enjoy your selves, and all the innocent Pleasures it is able to afford you, and particularly that which is worth all the rest, a Noble, Vertuous and Disinteress’d Friendship. ”

“ You will only quit the Chat of insignificant people for an ingenious Conversation; the froth of flashy Wit for real Wisdom; idle tales for instructive discourses. The deceitful Flatteries of those who under pretence of loving and admiring you, really served their own base ends for the seasonable Reproofs and wholesome Counsels of your hearty well-wishers and affectionate Friends, which will procure you those perfections your feigned lovers pretended you had, and kept you from obtaining. ”

“ Is Charity so dead in the world that none will contribute to the saving their own and their neighbours Souls? Shall we freely expend our Money to purchase Vanity, and often times both present and future Ruin, and find none for such an eminent good Work, which will make the Ages to come arise and call us Blessed? I wou’d fain persuade my self better things, and that I shall one day see this Religious Retirement happily setled, and its great designs wisely and vigorously pursu’d; and methinks I have already a Vision of that lustre and glory our Ladies cast far and near ”

“ Let not your Thoughts be wholly busied in observing what respect is paid you, but a part of them at least, in studying to deserve it. And after all, remember that Goodness is the truest Greatness; to be wise for your selves the greatest Wit; and that Beauty the most desirable which will endure to Eternity. ”

“ Imitation is the heartiest Praise you can give, and is a Debt which Justice requires to be paid to every worthy Action. What Sentiments were fit to be rais’d in you to day ought to remain to morrow, and the best Commendation you can bestow on a Book is immediately to put it in Practice; otherwise you become self-condemn’d, your Judgment reproaches your Actions, and you live a contradiction to your selves. If you approve, Why don’t you follow? And if you Wish, Why shou’d you not Endeavour? ”

“ None but the Weak and Inconsiderable swim down with the Torrent, brave Spirits delight to stem the Tide, they know no Conquest so Glorious, because none so difficult, as that which is obtain’d over foolish and ill-grounded Maxims and sinful Customs; What wou’d they not do to restore Mankind to their Lawful Liberty, and to pull down this worst of Tyrannies, because it enslaves the very Souls of Men? ”

“ There is a sort of Learning indeed which is worse than the greatest Ignorance: A Woman may study Plays and Romances all her days, and be a great deal more knowing but never a jot the wiser. Such a knowledge as this serves only to instruct 56 and put her forward in the practice of the greatest Follies, yet how can they justly blame her who forbid, or at least won’t afford opportunity of better? A rational mind will be employ’d, it will never be satisfy’d in doing nothing, and if you neglect to furnish it with good materials, ’tis like to take up with such as come to hand. ”