Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion, Title page – Publishers advertisement
Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion.
Or the Character and Happiness of a Virtuous Woman: In a DISCOURSE Which directs the FEMALE-SEX how to express THE FEAR OF GOD in every Age and State of their LIFE; and obtain both Temporal and Eternal Blessedness.
Written by COTTON MATHER.
Tertullian's Advice for the Ornaments of WOMEN.
Prodite Vos jam Ornamentis Extractae Apostolorum—Vestite Vos Serico Pietatis. Byssico Sanctitatis, Purpurâ Pudicitiae—Deum babebitis Amatorem.
In English.
Go ye forth now array'd with such Ornaments as the Apostles have provided for you; Cloath your selves with the Silk of Piety, the Sattin of Sanctity, the Purple of Modesty; so the Almighty God will be a Lover of you.
LONDON, Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns, the lower End of Cheapside. 1694.
TO THE Most Virtuous and Accomplish'd THE Lady Elizabeth Rich.
This Pattern of her own Character and Happiness is most Humbly Dedicated.
THE PREFACE.
'TIS very surprizing to see and read, what a [Mundus, or] World of Pretended ORNAMENTS, the Blessed Prophet Isaiah sets out The Daughters of Zion, which liv'd in his Days, as Rigg'd withal. But among all those One and twenty Ornaments, I find none of those which the Inspired Apostle Peter does Recommend unto the Women of all Ages, as Things in the sight of God of great price. And therefore as I did not wonder at the following Menace of the Almighty, I will take away the Bravery of their Ornaments; thus I also set my self to accommodate my Neighbours, with such Ornaments, as make up what Mary Chose, even, The good part which cannot be taken away. They that shall Criminate an Ʋndertaking to write a little Book for promoting the Fear of God. in the Female Sex, do but shew their Ignorance of what was' done by Tertullian, by Jerom, by Austin in the Primitive Times, besides what has been done by several Renowned Pens of a later Date; and perhaps they forget, That one Book in the Sacred Bible was written for An Elect Lady. As for the Manner of my own Writing, 'tis Plain, Brief, Chast; and not without an endeavour to imagine how such a Subject would have been handled by a Timothy, who was to address Women, and yet be an Example of Purity. But as for the Design of my Writing, 'tis purely to advance Virtue among those, who cannot forget their Ornaments, and yet often forget those things which are no less Necessary than Ornamental. Now may GOD prosper it.
Books Printed for Tho Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chappel.
A Body of Practical Divinity, consisting of above One Hundred Sermons on the Lesser Catechism of the Reverend Assembly of Divines at Westminster; with a Supplement of some Sermons on several Texts of Scripture. By Tho. Watson, formerly Minister of St. Stephens Walbrook.
Spirutal Mindedness.
Person of Christ.
A Discourse on 130th. Psalm.
The Doctrine of the Trinity.
Of Mortification of Sin in Believers.
An Humble Testimony concerning the Goodness and Severity of God in Dealing with sinful Churches and Nations.
A Treatise of Temptation.
Eshcol. or Rules of Fellowship. These Eight last by John Owen D. D.
Heywoods Baptismal Bonds renewed.
Grotius of Christs Satisfaction, in English.
Hursts Revival of Grace, i. e. on the Sacrament.
The good of Early Obedience.
A Sermon of Unity.
The Vision of the Wheels in three Sermons.
Spiritual Wisdom improved against Temptation.
The almost Christian discovered. All Five by Mat. Mead.
Consolation for the Afflicted, at the Funeral of Mr. Edward Rede. By Tim. Rogers. M. A.
Calamy's Godly-Mans-Ark in five Sermons, his Art of Divine Meditation.
Redemption of Time, the Wisdom and Duty of Christians in Evil days. By John Wade Minister at Hammersmith.
Intercourses of Divine Love betwixt Christ and his Church on the Ist. and 2d. Chapters of the Canticles or the Song of Songs.
Several Discourses of actual Providence in three Parts. These two last by John Collings D. D.
Spiritual Songs, or Songs of praise to Almighty God on several occasions with thirty Penitential Cries; with a Poem also of Dives and Lazarus.
The Midnight-Cry a Sermon. These two by John Mason M. A.
Mr. Corbets Self-employment in Secret.
A Treatise of the Day of Judgment: By Mr. Sam. Lee Minister.
Husbandry Spiritualized.
A Saint indeed.
A Token for Mourners. All these three by Mr. John Flavel Minister of the Gospel.
Satan sifting, or the Oyl of Joy for the Spirit of Sadness.
Whites Little Book for Little Children.
The rare Jewel of Christian Contentment with four useful Discourses, by Mr. Jer. Burroughs.
An Earnest Call to Family Duties being the substance of Eighteeen Sermons by Sam. Slater.
Hymns for the Sacrament composed mostly out of the New Testament.
Two Sermons against Quenching the Spirit. These two by Joyse Boyse Minister in Dublin.
Theological Discourses and Sermons on several occasions. By John Wallis D. D.
The Truest and Largest account of the late Earthquake in Jamaica, June 7. 1692. from a Reverend Divine there, to his Friend in London.
A Sermon Preached at St. Edmunds. Bury in Suffolk at the Assizes, March 18. 1693.
The best way to mend the World by perswading the Rising Generation to an Early and Serious Practice of Piety. Both by Samuel Peck Lecturer of Ipswich.
A Defence of Mr. Matthew Henery's Brief Enquiry into the Nature of Schism, and the Vindication of it: With Reflections on a Pamphlet called the Review, &c. With a Brief Historical account of Nonconformity from the Reformation to the present Time.
A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. Tho. Shewell M. A. and Minister of the Gospel in Coventry. These two last by William Tongue Minister, &c.
A Discourse concerning Old Age tending to the Instruction, Caution and comfort of Aged Persons. By Rithard Steell A. M.
A Sermon at the Funeral of the Worshipful John Symmonds late of Great Yeldham in Essex Esq; by John Brooke M. A. and Rector there.
A Vindication of the Church of Scotland, being an Answer to five Pamphlets; by Dr. Rule.
A Sermon of the absolute necessity of Family Duties Preached to the United Parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth, and St. Mary Wool Church. Haw in Lombard-Street.
His Farewel Sermon. These two by David Jones Student of Christ-Church, Oxon.
A Brief Tract on the IVth, Commandment, wherein is discovered the cause of all our Controversies about the Sabbath-Day; and the means of Reconciling them. Recommended by the Reverend Dr. Bates and Mr. John How.
Convivium Caeleste: A plain and familiar Discourse concerning the Lords Supper, shewing at once the Nature of that Sacrament; as also the right way of preparing our selves for the receiving of it: In which are also considered those exceptions which men usually bring to excuse their not partaking of it.
A Sermon Preached before the King and Queen at White-hall, Nov. 5. 1692. These two by Richard Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Ornaments for the Daughtes of Zion. OR, The Character and Happiness of A Virtuous Woman
From the words of the Wise Woman In Proverbs 31. 30.
Favour is deceitful, and Beauty is vain, but A WOMAN THAT FEARETH THE LORD, She 'tis that shall be praised.
IT may well be reckoned the brightest Honour of that Sex, which the Holy Spirit of God has declar'd worthy of a Chast and a Kind Honour from us; That when the Fulness of Time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a Woman. As a Woman had the Disgrace to go first in that horrid and woful Transgression of our first Parents, which has been the Parent of all our Misery; so a Woman had the Glory of bringing into the World that Second Adam, who is the Father of all our Happiness. A Woman had the Saviour of Mankind in the Circumstances of an Infant Miraculously Conceiv'd within her; and of a Mary was born that Holy Thing, which is called, The Son of God. There is a Woman, whom we do now without the mistakes, which made that expression the occasion of many Antient, and no less furious than curious Controversies, call, The Mother of Him that is God; in as much as that very Flesh which was born of her, and which the Trembling Hereticks of this Age, do not now Tremble to vilifie and nullifie with frequent Blasphemies; I say, That Visible Tangible Flesh, is Personally United unto the Second Person in the Adorable Trinity. Though we do not like the Popish Idolaters, for this cause, imagine that Blessed Virgin to have been free from Original Sin, when she was on Earth, nor now Implore her Mediation and Intercession in Heaven for us; and though I do not think, that the Holy Ghost referr'd unto her peculiarly, as there are Expositors who think he does, when he says, The Woman that fears the Lord, she 'tis that shall be praised: Yet we may safely account the Female Sex herein more than a little dignified. And how should it encourage all Women to seek a saving Interest in that Redeemer, who was Born of a Woman! How should all Women make their Hearts a Lodging for that Lord, who in a Woman received The Body prepared for him!
The Second, or a priviledge not far from the Second Advancement of that Sex, may be esteemed, the Share which it has had in Writing those Oracles, which make us wise unto Salvation. As one Woman was the Mother of him who is the Essential Word of God, so divers Women have been the Writers of his Declarative Word. Though the Apostle does abundantly intimate unto us, that such Inspirations as compos'd the Scriptures are not now to be expected, when he gives the prohibition so much Transgress'd by the most Absurd Sect in our Days, That the Woman may not speak in the Church; yet our God has Employ'd many Women to Write for the Chu…ch, and Inspir'd some of them for the Writing of the Scriptures. We have not only seen Women doing service for the Tabernacle by such Ingenious Writings as we find mention'd in the Catalogues of Beverovicius, Hottinger, and Voetius; or such as that most accomplish'd Lady, Anna Maria Schurman has in our Age addressed the World withal; for even the Books publish'd by that Sex, were enough to make a Library far from contemptible; nor has even the New-English part of the American Strand been without Authoresses that would challenge a Room in such a Library: They to whom the common use of Swords is neither Decent nor Lawful, have made a most Laudable use of Pens; and they that might not without Sin, lead the Life which old Stories ascribe to Amazons, have with much praise done the part of Scholars in the World: But we sometimes also find a Woman among the Amanuenses or Scribes of that Spirit, who moved holy Men to write the most sure Word of Prophecy. And how much does this oblige all Women to study that precious Bible, to the curious Workmanship whereof, the hand of a Woman has contributed? How ready should Women be to Read the pages, upon which they may see transcribed the heavenly discoveries made by the God of Heaven to an holy Woman; rather than to misspend their hours, and infect their hearts by the revolving of such Romances, as commonly leave a sensible Taint upon the minds of their unwary Readers?
We have not only the Song of Deborah, the Song of Hannah, the Song of Mary, and the Prophecy of Huldah, in this matchless Book of our God; but the Instructions of Bathshebah too, are entered in these blessed Registers. The thirty first Chapter of Proverbs contains a direction of Bathshebah to her darling Solomon. Solomon that in the fourth Chapter of this Book, records the Counsels of his Father, now in the last Chapter adds the Counsels of his Mother thereunto. So careful will wise Children be to remember the gracious Counsels of their godly Parents: We have Solomon here addressed by the name of Lemuel, which name some Interpreters judge to be a little and a loving imitation of his true Name; as 'tis useful with our Mothers, from the names of Edward and William, and the like, to form affectionate Appellations for us; but others waving so small a consideration, do look upon Lemuel as one of the eight Names which the Jews do ascribe unto that Man of Name, and they tell us, that as Jedidiah proclaimed his being Beloved of the Lord, Lemuel signified his Belonging to the Lord. Some famous persons in the World, have been signaliz'd by that Character of being Mother taught; such an one was our Solomon, who had not only a Father, that lest behind him Transcendent Songs for Solomon, but also a Mother, who taught him such things as the best should not be unwilling to learn. How free, how rich is the Grace of God unto Repenting Sinners! Bathshebah, after a very scandalous Fall, becomes a very eminent Saint, yea a Prophetess of the Lord. Although a Woman may have been remarkable and notorious for sin, yet let her endeavour to make her Peace with God: It may be made, and she may enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, before others that have not had such wounds upon them.
'Tis evident, that the nine first verses of the Chapter, are spent in Reciting the most prudent and winning Lessons of Bathshebah to her Solomon. But it is conceived that the rest of the Chapter is only Solomons Reciprocation in the praises of Bathshebah. It is indeed a most lovely thing to see such Correspondencies of Desert and Duty, as make Children to count their Mothers worthy of their honour: Noble Romans have sometimes made Florid Speeches at the Funerals of their Mothers, and professed, That they had never in their Lives been reconciled unto them, inasmuch as (they meant) they had never fallen out: It is the happiness of a Mother sometimes to have such Sons as Nazienzen and Austin were unto theirs, whose Names are by their means forever Celebrated: although for the most part we see in mens Readiness to Slight their Mothers, the Reason why the Mother is put first in that Charge of our God. Ye shall fear every man his Mother, and his Father. It is the Opinion of others, That the Conclusion of the Chapter, is also the Composure of Bathshebah; and that which confirms them in this Opinion is, The Skill in Houshold Affairs here manifested, which Carries a Little of a Female Aspect with it. However it be, we have here the Description of, A Virtuous Woman, in twenty two Verses, according to the Number and Order of the Letters, in the Hebrew Alphabet; Every letter in due sequence beginning a several Verse. 'Tis reported, that Children among the Jews of old Learning to Write, had their Copies usually given them from those Portions of the Scriptures, which were drawn up with such an Alphabet of the Hebrew Letters in them; whether that were so, or no, I am sure that Women among the Gentiles in our Days, Learning to Live, cannot easily find better Copies to follow, than those which are in our Context here set before them. It were to be wished, That the Sex which so often looks into the Glass, would sometimes cast an eye upon this part of that Sacred Word, which is compar'd unto a Divine Glass; that they may see whether they have the Features, or Habits of The Virtuous Woman, on them. And I pray, let no Woman count her self so great a Lady as to put in her Exceptions, against that Stroke in the Character of the Virtuous Woman here; She seeks Wooll and Flax, and Works willingly with her Hands, till she has procured the Alteration of the English Laws, wherein, Spinster, is a Term given to Women of the greatest Quality. When a Gentlewoman of Extraordinary Learning was presented before the first King of Great Britain, his first Question to her, was, Madam, Can you Spin? And several of the most Renowned Emperours▪ have not only Obliged their Daughters to Spin, but also Wore such Garments as those Princely Hands had prepared for them. The Cards at which many Gentlewoman Play wickedly with their Hands, are far more Debasing, than those Cards which fit the Wooll for the Wheel: and the Distaff is an Instrument of better Quality than the Dice. The Famous Queen Katharine, when persons of high Rank were sent unto her with a Message from King Henry, counted it no Disgrace to be found with a Skein of Red Silk about her Neck, at Work, with a Maid of Honour by her side. She that hath Bought a Field has not thereby Bought a Release from Domestick Businesses; the Hands which Carve at the most Noble Tables, may be Laid unto the Spindle, without being Dishonourably Blistered or Dirted there.
'Tis a foolish Custom which the Jews have in Reading Solomons Book of Ecclesiastes; that they Print the Last Verse but One, of it, over again in the Close of all, because they would have the remembrance and Impression of that Verse to be Stronger upon them, than that of the terrible verse which follows it. But having laid before you the Description of A Virtuous Woman, which closes up Solomons Book of Proverbs; I must upon another Account Print, and ask the Daughters of our Common Mother to Read the last verse but one, over again; 'tis this.
FAVOƲR is Deceitful, and Beauty is Vain; but a Woman, that Fears the Lord, She 'tis that shall be Praised.
The Words are, as one says of them, A Royal Garland set on the Head of a Virtuous Woman by the Hand of God. Some Interpreters do so Allegorize these Words, that they make this Virtuous Woman to be the Church of God. Indeed, there are more Women than Men, in the Church; and the more Virtuous they prove, the more Worthy will the Church be, to be figured by, A Woman that Fears the Lord. Some Interpreters again, do so Sublimate the words, that they understand every Holy, Pious, Devout Soul by this Virtuous Woman. And it were well, if Women were generally so Virtuous, as that they might worthily impart unto every Godly Soul, the Denomination of, A Woman that Fears the Lord. Other Interpreters do suppose Virtue it self to be meant by the Virtuous Woman. But, we should be sorry, if a Virtuous Woman prove so rare a thing, as to afford a stile for a Parable rather than an History. I confess, Virtue it self, and the Names of all Particular Virtues, are Grammatically of the Female Gender; and that the Things may Theologically abound in that Gender, is what we may thence take occasion to be wishing for. But after all, 'Tis a Real, Proper, Gracious Woman, that has her Character and Blessedness in these words Exhibited unto us.—
The first thing with which we are here treated is,