The Curtezan Unmasked; or, The Whoredomes of Jezebel Painted to the Life:With Antidotes Against Them, or Heavenly Julips to Cool Men in the Fever of Lust
With Antidotes Against Them, or Heavenly Julips to Cool Men in the Fever of Lust
9781465555670
pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
The Text here presents you with a strange woman; with whom though I desire not to procure you a familiar acquaintance, yet I'le give you such cognizance of her, and excite that abhorrency of her baseness in all your minds, that if any have heretofore been sick for want of her company, he shall now be as sick of it; after I have made it appear that this [1]beautiful Siren, having a Womans face, ends in the Serpents tail; and discovered, not onely the Virgins-face of this unsatiable Harpye, but her cruel talons also shrowded under her wings. That you may therefore (as[2]Amnon did upon Tamar) bolt the door upon this strange woman, and no longer endure the whoredoms of this painted Jezebel; I'le endeavour to characterize her to you, and by the infallible clue of Truth conduct you through all her intricate and winding Labyrinths. Be pleased therefore, for the explication of the word [Strange] to take notice, that this Epithite was by the Græcians attributed to their common Prostitutes, which they called ?????, strangers: And hence, I conceive, it was that the Comœdian called [3]Glycerium who was thought to live by the unlawful submission of her body, Peregrinam, a stranger, a strange woman. But I have onely hitherto told you her name; I shall now therefore proceed further to describe her to you by her sordid actions, which will ascertain you of those miseries which are her constant waiting-women or attendants. That I may therefore speedily prosecute my design, She is one whom not Argus’s hundred eyes, nor brazen walls, nor the most vigilant Guards can secure from her lascivious incontinency: the bars and [4]hedges which Nature has made for her tongues confinement are not sufficient to restrain it within the limits of a modest discourse; and should we lock up her impure lips with a command of silence, yet could we never limit the infiniteness of her lascivious thoughts, with which she would as freely commit fornication, as if she were at liberty, and in the enjoyment of the greatest voluptuary; and we may say of her what Scipio in another case said of himself, [5]She is never less alone than when alone. She tricks her self up with such variety of gauderies as if she were to expose her body to bring the Devil to her lure, and tempt the Tempter himself to love her; and were that opinion of Tertullian true, That the Devils and fallen Angels had carnal commerce with the Daughters of Men, and they should desire one to satisfie their lustful appetite, I'de recommend the strange woman in the Text unto them; who (like Circe) is an amiable Sorceress, and when she hath once charmed her Gallant with youthful blood sparkling in his veins, and beauty dancing in his face, into the endless Circle of her lust, hee'l find a difficult [6]recovery. [7]Physitians tell us, that the reason we have in Feverish distempers our Paroxysme but every second, third, or fourth day, and not at every circulation of the blood about the body, is, because the blood when it arrives to the heart must acquire such a degree of corruption before it can effect it, and therefore because this corruption is not sensible before many circulations have been performed, it cannot so soon create a Paroxysme: But in this impure and libidinous strumpets heart 'tis far otherwise; for she endures the Paroxysmes of the Fever of Lust every hour and moment, and the circulation of her lusts in her heart is sooner performed then that of her blood. Medea had not more damnable Arts to preserve youth and beauty then she, who has perfectly attain'd the Art of making new beauty, new hair, and counterfeit teeth; and not thinking she hath charms enough to render her amiable, has recourse to the Merchants, as unto Natural Magick, to buy there what Nature would not give her, and to make her self liked in spight of Nature’s disfavours; and being accustomed to varnish over her decayed Cheeks, and the ruines of a good Face, with the fresh colours of an adventicious Paint, she by her licentiousness seems to usurp the power and liberty of Painters, who (according to the Poet) [8]were priviledg'd to do what they pleased; and (to say truth) she is an exact Painter in all her actions; for the varnishes over the deformed and execrable Name of Whore, with the flourishing and Colour of a Lady of pleasure: and whilest she discourses to her Gallant of the unlawful use of her body, she colours it over with the title of a great and incomparable favour; and (Mahomet-like) perswades all her adorers, that there’s no Paradise but that of carnal fruition, and the gratification to a domineering Lust: But I fear that this Paradise she puts them in will prove but a Fools Paradise; for I believe they'l quickly conclude, That the sulphureous flames which Ætna’s fiery paunch continually vomits into the Air bear not so forcible and durable a heat as the Calentures of her lustful blood; and that the poyson'd garment dipt in the Centaur’s blood, which caused Hercules to burn in living flames, had had not such vigour and vehemency as her enflamed Lust. Whilest I hear one Historian talk of Sempronia, and give her this character, [9]That she oftner courted men to her embraces then she was courted by them, I fancy he makes mention of the strange woman in the Text: and whilest I hear another report, that Julia arrived to that heighth of licentiousness, [10]That she would leave nothing undone which she could basely commit, either by Action or Passion, judging that lawful which pleased her humour best, me thinks he characterizes our strange woman to us. King Solomon (understanding a hot Prostitute) tells us, Prov. 6. 27. a man cannot take fire into his bosom, but he must be necessarily burnt; and I believe that many of the Gallants of our time, who have thought onely to warm and cherish their lusts at this she-fire, have at last been soundly burnt by taking her into their bosomes: for this strange Woman is not like the Glow-worm, that carries only a counterfeit heat, nor of so cold a constitution as the Moon was when she embraced Endymion; but he that embraces her shall find the same entertainment the Satyr did, that kiss'd the fiery coal and burnt his lips; and we may say of her, what the tyrant Nero once said of himself and his mother Agrippina, [11]That there can nothing come of her into the world but what is detestable and accursed. This Helena is hot enough to inflame Troy; this Hecuba can bring forth nothing but a Fire-brand. Though the Toad hath a precious Stone in her head, yet her body is poysonous: And so, though this Strange Woman may wear a handsome countenance, and for her superficial and skin-deep beauty seem an inestimable Jewel, yet, if we view her throughly, we shall discover the venom of her impure body; for, though her lips drop as an honey comb, and her mouth is smoother then oyl, yet her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edg'd sword. Upon which two Verses of the Text, as upon two pillars, I build this practical Proposition, That the short and transitory pleasures which the strange woman affords us, are accompanied with the sharpest and most permanent evils. And that, First, Because she'l wound and stain our reputation. How full is the adulterer of fears and jealousies, scorching desires, and impatient waitings, tedious demurrs, sufferance of indignities, and amazements of discoveries, and his uncleanness is ever attended by shame which is its eldest daughter; for let us consider how infamous it has ever been, to be noted for a common Pathick, or a lustful Amoretto, how opprobriously Adulterers have been used by most Nations. The Law of the Ægyptians was to cut off the Nose of an Adulterer; the Locrians put out the Adulterers Eyes; and (the more notoriously to intimate his effeminacy) others cloathed him with wool; and Solons Law was this, If any man take an Adulterer in the fact, he may use him how he pleases: And in the Twelve Tables, [12]If you take a man in the act of Adultery, you may kill him without danger of punishment; Impunity was intailed upon the murther of him. You may observe, that this sin of Adultery is in Scripture called a sin of darkness; intimating to us, how the Adulterer, asham'd of the light, sneaks up and down in obscure recesses, and is onely active and vigilant when others are quiet and taking their repose. Other sinners iniquities are in Scripture numbred by the hairs of the head; but we cannot number the Adulterers so, because as his sins increase his hairs do fall; the Spring of his sins is his hairs Fall o' th' leaf. The second account upon which the Adulterer will conclude, That the transitory pleasures which the strange woman affords us are accompanied with the sharpest evils, is, 2. Because hee'l finde she will impair the health of his body; for though her Lips drop as an Honey-comb, and she distil the Quintessence of Rhetorick in every expression; though she does amorously caress and embrace him, yet 'tis but as the encircling Ivie does the Oak, to make him rot, wither, and decay. Though he may think himself in Heaven, and imagine her curled Arms about him to be his Celestial Zodiack, yet hee'l (at length) finde them but as chains and fetters to enslave and captivate him to her insatiable Lust; the gratifications whereof whilest he endeavours to shew her, he must undergo as many gripes in his guilty Conscience, as Aches in his impure and vitious Body. She, it may be, will foment and cherish the flames of his Lust with these pleasing Blasts, by telling him that the Virgin Spring does not appear less chaste because many thirsts are there quenched; and that those Waters stink soon that continue long in one place, but remain sweet and wholsome whilest they leave one bank and kiss another. But let us (like a prudent Ulysses) stop our ears to the fatal voice of this dangerous Siren, least, while we sail in the Ocean of this World, we suffer shipwrack of Grace and a good Conscience: Don't let us stand to dispute the case, and parley with her, but rather flie from her, and avoid her company: For, we must be extremely cold, not to be warmed by so fair a fire, and very strong, to make defence against so charming an Enemy. Nor can we touch Pitch with our hands, but a foul impress will be received from it: One rotten kernel of the Pomgranate infects the fellows; and St. Paul made that Verse Canonical, Evil communication corrupts good manners. And it is noted of Joseph, that as soon as his Mistress had laid her impure hands upon his garment, he leaves it behinde him, that he might be sure to avoid the danger of her contagious touch. And we shall assuredly finde, that she who but now compared her self to a pleasant Spring, will at last serve us with the bitter Waters of Marah. For I appeal to the common Adulterer, Whether he be not a walking Hospital and Pest-house of Diseases? Whether he is not alwayes possest with a ????????, a Devil that first tempts him to all Uncleanness, and afterwards terrifies and exanimates him with the greatest horrour imaginable? and whether the violent and fervent heat of his lustfull appetite be not as unquenchable as Hell-flames? Could we have Lynceus his eyes, and look through the decayed walls of his Body, what rottenness should we discover in his exhausted Bones? how would the whole Fabrick of his Body appear invalid and unnerved, and represent it self to us as the Embleme of a Sack of dry Bones, whose every part, were it anatomized and opened, it would corrupt and infect the Air, and store the World with as many Diseases as the opening of Pandora’s Box: insomuch that he who shall be besotted with so Lethargick a stupidity as to harbour and caress this strange woman, He (like the Hyrcanians) may be said to keep a Dog to devour himself, or (like the mad Romans in Arrian) court the Fever of his own Lust, that will soon consume him, and render him as meager and pellucid as the meerest Skeleton; causing withal a no less decay in his Estate then in his Body; and this I conceive induced Solomon to say, [13]That by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. But if this be not sufficient to deter the Adulterer from this Prostitutes company, I'le advance a step higher, and press him with a third Argument, to prove, That those transitory pleasures the strange Woman affords us are accompanied with the sharpest and most permanent evils: and that 3. Because by her means an irreparable and irrecoverable damage will accrue to his immortal Soul. And in this St. Paul shall be my President, who [14]bids us not be deceived, assuring us, That neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate persons, shall enter into the Kingdome of God. [15]It was not permitted to a Dog to enter into the Acropolis, because of his excessive heat in Venery; and so neither will it be permitted to those that (like the Dog) indulge themselves in the excessive heat of Venery, to enter into Heaven, which may for its heighth be called an Acropolis, which (being interpreted) is, a City built upon a Hill. Let us consider how impossible it is that our Prayers and Oblations should be acceptable to God, when they are offered with impure hands, reeking in lust: How can we expect to look God in the face (whose eyes are purer then to behold iniquity) with our impure eyes? How can we hope to be Eagle-ey'd enough to look up to God, whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the Sun, when we have so weakned our eyes by the Works of Darkness, that (like Night-birds) we dread to behold the Light? How should Chamberings and Wantonness hope to get room in Heaven, whence all kind of Marriage is excluded? When the two opposite Poles of the World meet together, and two Contradictions at the same time prove true, then, and not till then, will I believe that the Fornicator and Heaven can kiss each other. How can we call God Father, who utterly renounces those spurious off-springs of our sinful lusts, which have not their Original, nor derive their Pedegree from God, but the World and our depraved Natures? Which S. John[16] intimates to us; who making an Inventory of the Goods, or rather of the Evils of this World, besides the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of Life, he tells us, that the Lust of the Flesh is not of God, but of the World. It remains now that I should prescribe you some few Recipe’s and Antidotes; which if you'l make use of, I'le warrant to cure you of the Fever of Lust, into which the Strange Woman will endeavour to cast you: And my first is this
