work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
3761,"","Searching ""impression"" and ""mind"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-05-15 00:00:00 UTC,"Thus on a sure Foundation, as they thought,
They had their Structure to Perfection wrought
When God, who shews regard to Sacred Kings,
The Plot and Plotters to Confusion brings,
And in a moment down their Babel flings.
A Levite, who had Baalite turn'd, and bin
One of the Order of the Chemarim,
Who in the Plot had deeply been concern'd,
And all their horrid Practices had learn'd;
Smote in his Conscience with a true Remorse,
From King and Land diverts the threat'ning Curse.
Libni, I think they call'd the Levite's Name,
Which in Judea still will be of Fame;
Since following Heaven's Impulse and high Command,
He prov'd a Glorious Saviour of the Land.
By him the deep Conspiracy's o'rethrown,
The Treason, and the Traytors all made known:
For which from Baalites he had Curses store;
But by the Jews loaded with Blessings more.
The Hellish Plotters were then seiz'd upon,
And into Goals and Iron Fetters thrown;
From whence to Lawful Tryals they were born,
Condemn'd for Traytors, and hang'd up with Scorn:
Yet Chemarims with matchless Impudence,
With dying Breath avow'd their Innocence:
So careful of their Order they still were,
Lest Treason in them Scandal should appear,
That Treason they with Perjury pursue,
Having their Arch-priest's Licence so to do.
They fear'd not to go perjur'd to the Grave,
Believing their Arch-priest their Souls could save:
For all God's Power they do on him bestow,
And call him their Almighty God below.
To whom they say three powerful Keys are given,
Of Hell, of Purgatory, and of Heav'n.
No wonder then if Baalites this believe,
They should, with their false Oaths try to deceive,
And gull the People with their Dying Breath,
Denying all their Treason at their Death.
This made Impression on some easie Minds,
Whom or good Nature, or false Pity blinds;
Mov'd their Compassion, and stirr'd up their Grief,
And of their dying Oaths caus'd a Belief.
This did effect what the curs'd Traytors sought,
The Plots Belief into Discredit brought,
Of it at first, some Doubts they only rais'd,
And with their Impudence the World amaz'd:
Tho' Azyad's Murder did the Jews convince,
Who was a man most Loyal to his Prince,
And by the Bloody Chemarims did fall,
Because he seiz'd the Trayt'rous Priests of Baal:
Tho' Gedaliah's Letters made all plain,
Who was their Scribe, and of a ready Brain:
A Levite's Son, but turn'd a Baalite,
Who for the King's own Brother then did write,
And Correspondence kept i'th' Egyptian Court,
To whom the Traytors for Advice resort;
Who like a zealous, trayt'rous Baalite dy'd,
And at the Fatal Tree the Plot deny'd.
Tho' Amazia did at first believe,
And to the Hellish Plot did Credit give;
Tho' the Great Council of the Sanhedrim,
Among the Jews always of grèat Esteem,
Declar'd to all the World this Plot to be,
An Hellish, and a curs'd Conspiracy,
To kill the King, Religion to o'rethrow,
And cause the Jews their Righteous Laws foregoe;
To make the People to dumb Idols fall,
And in the place of God, to set up Baal:
Tho' all the People saw it, and believ'd;
Tho' Courts of Justice, hard to be deceiv'd,
Had added to the rest their Evidence,
Yet with a strange unheard of Impudence,
The Baalites all so stoutly had deny'd
Their Hellish Plot, with Vows and Oaths beside,
And with such Diligence themselves apply'd.
They at the last, their sought for point had got,
And artfully in doubt had brought their Plot.
A thousand cunning Shams and Tricks they us'd,
Whereby the simple Vulgar were abus'd;
And some o'th' Edomitish Evidence,
Who Mammon worship'd, were brought off with pence.
Libni, for whom, before their Harps they strung,
Who was the Subject of each Hebrew's Song,
Was villify'd by every Rascall's Tongue.
In Secret, and inglorious did remain,
And the Plot thought the Project of his Brain.",,9700,"","""This made Impression on some easie Minds, / Whom or good Nature, or false Pity blinds.""",Impression,2011-12-21 18:07:47 UTC,""
3766,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-01-18 00:00:00 UTC,"Of Things in which Mankind does most excell,
Nature's chief Master-piece is writing well;
And of all sorts of Writing none there are
That can the least with Poetry compare;
No kind of work requires so nice a touch,
And if well done, there's nothing shines so much;
But Heav'n forbid we should be so prophane,
To grace the vulgar with that sacred name;
'Tis not a Flash of Fancy which sometimes
Dasling our Minds, sets off the slightest Rimes;
Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
Which though sometimes beneath a cloud retir'd,
Breaks out again, and is by all admir'd.
Number, and Rime, and that harmonious sound,
Which never does the Ear with harshness wound,
Are necessary, yet but vulgar Arts,
For all in vain these superficial parts
Contribute to the structure of the whole
Without a Genius too, for that's the Soul;
A Spirit which inspires the work throughout,
As that of Nature moves this World about;
A heat that glows in every word that's writ,
That's something of Divine, and more than Wit;
It self unseen, yet all things by it shown,
Describing all men, but describ'd by none;
Where dost thou dwell? what caverns of the Brain
Can such a vast and mighty thing contain?
When I at idle hours in vain thy absence mourn,
O where dost thou retire? and why dost thou return,
Sometimes with powerful charms to hurry me away
From pleasures of the night, and business of the day?
Ev'n now too far transported I am fain
To check thy course, and use the needfull rein;
As all is dullness, when the Fancy's bad,
So without Judgment, Fancy is but mad;
And Judgment has a boundless influence;
Not upon words alone, or only sence,
But on the world, of manners, and of men,
Fancy is but the Feather of the Pen;
Reason is that substantial useful part,
Which gains the Head, while t'other wins the Heart.",,9708,•I've included twice: Flash and Sun,"""'Tis not a Flash of Fancy which sometimes / Dasling our Minds, sets off the slightest Rimes; / Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done; / True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun; / Which though sometimes beneath a cloud retir'd, / Breaks out again, and is by all admir'd.""","",2009-09-14 19:34:25 UTC,""
3766,"","Searching ""brain"" and ""cave"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2006-01-18 00:00:00 UTC,"Of Things in which Mankind does most excell,
Nature's chief Master-piece is writing well;
And of all sorts of Writing none there are
That can the least with Poetry compare;
No kind of work requires so nice a touch,
And if well done, there's nothing shines so much;
But Heav'n forbid we should be so prophane,
To grace the vulgar with that sacred name;
'Tis not a Flash of Fancy which sometimes
Dasling our Minds, sets off the slightest Rimes;
Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
Which though sometimes beneath a cloud retir'd,
Breaks out again, and is by all admir'd.
Number, and Rime, and that harmonious sound,
Which never does the Ear with harshness wound,
Are necessary, yet but vulgar Arts,
For all in vain these superficial parts
Contribute to the structure of the whole
Without a Genius too, for that's the Soul;
A Spirit which inspires the work throughout,
As that of Nature moves this World about;
A heat that glows in every word that's writ,
That's something of Divine, and more than Wit;
It self unseen, yet all things by it shown,
Describing all men, but describ'd by none;
Where dost thou dwell? what caverns of the Brain
Can such a vast and mighty thing contain?
When I at idle hours in vain thy absence mourn,
O where dost thou retire? and why dost thou return,
Sometimes with powerful charms to hurry me away
From pleasures of the night, and business of the day?
Ev'n now too far transported I am fain
To check thy course, and use the needfull rein;
As all is dullness, when the Fancy's bad,
So without Judgment, Fancy is but mad;
And Judgment has a boundless influence;
Not upon words alone, or only sence,
But on the world, of manners, and of men,
Fancy is but the Feather of the Pen;
Reason is that substantial useful part,
Which gains the Head, while t'other wins the Heart.",,9709,"","""Where dost thou dwell? what caverns of the Brain / Can such a vast and mighty thing contain?""","",2009-09-14 19:34:25 UTC,""
3766,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-01-18 00:00:00 UTC,"Of Things in which Mankind does most excell,
Nature's chief Master-piece is writing well;
And of all sorts of Writing none there are
That can the least with Poetry compare;
No kind of work requires so nice a touch,
And if well done, there's nothing shines so much;
But Heav'n forbid we should be so prophane,
To grace the vulgar with that sacred name;
'Tis not a Flash of Fancy which sometimes
Dasling our Minds, sets off the slightest Rimes;
Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
Which though sometimes beneath a cloud retir'd,
Breaks out again, and is by all admir'd.
Number, and Rime, and that harmonious sound,
Which never does the Ear with harshness wound,
Are necessary, yet but vulgar Arts,
For all in vain these superficial parts
Contribute to the structure of the whole
Without a Genius too, for that's the Soul;
A Spirit which inspires the work throughout,
As that of Nature moves this World about;
A heat that glows in every word that's writ,
That's something of Divine, and more than Wit;
It self unseen, yet all things by it shown,
Describing all men, but describ'd by none;
Where dost thou dwell? what caverns of the Brain
Can such a vast and mighty thing contain?
When I at idle hours in vain thy absence mourn,
O where dost thou retire? and why dost thou return,
Sometimes with powerful charms to hurry me away
From pleasures of the night, and business of the day?
Ev'n now too far transported I am fain
To check thy course, and use the needfull rein;
As all is dullness, when the Fancy's bad,
So without Judgment, Fancy is but mad;
And Judgment has a boundless influence;
Not upon words alone, or only sence,
But on the world, of manners, and of men,
Fancy is but the Feather of the Pen;
Reason is that substantial useful part,
Which gains the Head, while t'other wins the Heart.",,9711,"","""Fancy is but the Feather of the Pen; / Reason is that substantial useful part, / Which gains the Head, while t'other wins the Heart.""","",2009-09-14 19:34:25 UTC,""
3761,"","Searching ""breast"" and ""crowd"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2006-03-08 00:00:00 UTC,"Hushai in Silence heard the Prince, and weigh'd
Each word he spake, then to him thus reply'd;
Great Prince, th' Almighty has to you been kind,
Stamp'd Graces on your Body and your mind,
As if he for your Head a Crown design'd.
We shall not search into Fates Secret Womb,
God alone knows the things that are to come;
But should you never sit on David's Throne,
'Tis better to deserve than wear a Crown.
Of Royal Blood, and of great Birth you are,
Born under some benign auspicious Star,
Lov'd by the best, and prais'd by every Tongue,
The glorious Subject of each worthy Song:
The young man's Wish, Joy of each Warlike Wight,
The People's Darling, and the World's Delight.
A Crowd of Vertues fill your Princely Breast,
And what appears more glorious than the rest,
You are of Truth and Loyalty possest.
That I would cherish in you, that would raise
To an admired height, that I would chiefly praise.
Let Fools and subtil Politicians scorn
Fair Vertue, which doth best a Prince adorn:
Whilst you her bright and shining Robes put on,
You will appear more great than Solomon.
Let not Great Prince, the Fumes of Vulgar Praise,
Your bolder Spirits to Ambition raise.
We cannot see into the Mist of Fate,
Till time brings forth, you must expecting wait;
But Fortune, rather Providence, not Chance,
The constant, stout, and wise doth still advance.
Let your quick Eye be to her Motions ty'd;
But still let Noble Vertue be your Guide:
For when that God and Vertue points the way,
There can be then no danger to obey.
But here in Wisdom's School we ought to learn,
How we 'twixt Good and Evil may discern,
For noble Prince, you must true difference make,
Lest for the one the other you mistake.
You must not think you may your self advance,
By laying hold on every proffer'd chance.
Tho Fortune seems to smile, and egg you on,
Let Vertue be your Rule and Guide alone.
Thus David for his Guide his Vertue took;
Nor was by Fortune's proffer'd Kindness shook.
His Vertue and his Loyalty did save
King Saul, when Fortune brought him to his Cave.
And if that I may to you Counsel give,
You should without a Crown for ever live,
Rather than get it by the Peoples Lust,
Or purchase it by ways that are unjust.
David your Ancestor, from whom you spring,
Would never by Rebellion be made King;
But long in Gath a Warring Exile stay'd,
Till for him God a lawful way had made.
In Hebron, full of Glory and Renown,
He gain'd, at last, and not usurpt the Crown.
By full Consent he did the same obtain,
And Heav'n's anointing Oyl was not in vain.
I once did seem to Amazia dear,
Who me above m'ambitious hopes did rear;
I serv'd him then according to my skill,
And bow'd my Mind unto my Soveraign's Will.
Too neer the Soveraign Image then I stood,
To think that every Line and Stroke was good.
Some Daubers I endeavour'd to remove,
And to amend their artless Errours strove.
My Skill in secret these with slander wound;
With every Line I drew still faults were found;
Till wearied, I at last my Work gave o're.
And Amazia (I shall say no more)
Did me to my lov'd Privacy restore.
For this they think I must my Vertue change,
For Envy, Malice, and for sweet Revenge.
Me by themselves they judge, who would do so,
And cause the King suspect me for his Foe.
But by th'advice I give, you best will find
Th'Integrity and Plainness of my Mind;
And that I harbour not that vile intent
Their Poets and their Malice do invent.
Far be't from me, to be like Cursed Cham;
A good Son strives to hide his Father's shame.
A King, the Father of his Country is;
His shame is every Act he doth amiss.
Good and just Kings God's Image bear; but when
Their Frailties let us see they are but Men,
We cannot every Action so applaud,
As if it came from an unerring God.
Kings have their Passions, and deceiv'd may be,
When b'others Ears and Eyes they hear and see:
For Sycophants, of Courts the Bane and Curse,
Make all things better than they are, or worse.
To Evil prone, to Mischief ever bent,
Th'all Objects with false colours represent;
The Guilty clear, condemn the Innocent.
Thus, noble Prince, they you and me accuse
With all the Venome Malice can infuse.
Baal's Priests, Hell, and our Foes, new Arts have got,
The filthy Reliques of their former Plot;
Whereby they would our Lives in danger bring,
And make us cursed Traytors to the King.
What mayn't these cunning men hope to atchieve,
When by their Arts few men their Plot believe?
When b'horrid ways, not known to Jews before,
Their Plot's transform'd, and laid now at our door?
But fear not, Sir, we have a sure Defence,
The Peoples Love, God, Law, and Innocence.
Keep fast your Vertue, and you shall be blest,
And let alone to God and Time the rest.",,9712,"","""A Crowd of Vertues fill your Princely Breast.""",Inhabitants,2011-12-21 18:07:22 UTC,""
7097,"",Reading,2011-09-16 20:19:28 UTC,"It is a main point to take Care that we propose nothing but what is Hopeful, and Honest. For it will be equally troublesome to us, either not to succeed, or to be asham'd of the Success. Wherefore, Let us be sure not to admit any Ill Design into our Heart; that we may lift up pure Hands to Heaven, and ask nothing which another shall be a Loser by. Let us pray for a Good Mind, which is a Wish to no Man's Injury. I will Remember always that I am a Man, and then consider, that if I am Happy, it will not last Always; if Unhappy, I may be other if I please. I will carry my Life in my Hand, and deliver it up readily when it shall be call'd for. I will have a care of being a Slave to my self; for it is a Perpetual, a Shameful, and the heaviest of all Servitudes; and this may be done by moderate Desires. I will say to my self, What is it that I Labour, Sweat, and Sollicit for, when it is but very little that I want, and it will not be long that I shall need any thing?
(Chapter V, pp. 134-5)",,19181,"Actually, first created 2004-09-21, -- realized this was L'Estrange's rewriting (can't find corresponding passage in other translation and moved entry here. First located reading collections of quotations on the internet.
Added Title, Year of Publication, and context - PNH.
Reviewed 2006-10-30","""I will have a care of being a Slave to my self; for it is a Perpetual, a Shameful, and the heaviest of all Servitudes; and this may be done by moderate Desires.""",Fetters,2011-09-16 20:56:30 UTC,Chapter V
7097,"",Reading in Google Books,2011-09-20 14:42:00 UTC,"In all our Undertakings, let us first examine our own Strength; the Enterprise next; and Thirdly, the Persons with whom we have to do. The first Point is most Important; for, we are apt to over-value our selves, and reckon, that we can do more than indeed we can. One Man sets up for a Speaker, and is out, as soon as he opens his Mouth; another over-charges his Estate perhaps, or his Body: A Bashful Man is not fit for Publick Business: some again are too Stiff, and Peremptory for the Court: Many People are apt to fly out in their Anger; nay, and in a Frolick too, if any sharp Thing fall in their way, they'll rather venture a Neck, than lose a Jest. These People had better be quiet in the World, than busie. Let him that is naturally Cholerick, and Impatient, avoid all Provocations, and those Affairs also, that multiply and draw on more; and those also from which there is no Retreat. When we may come off at Pleasure, and fairly hope to bring our Matters to a Period, 'tis well enough. If it so happen, that a Man be ty'd up to Business, which he can neither loosen, nor break off; let him imagine those Shackles upon his Mind to be Irons upon his Legs: They are Troublesome at first, but when there's no Remedy but Patience, Custom makes them easie to us, and Necessity gives us Courage. We are all Slaves to Fortune; some only in loose and Golden Chains, others in streight ones, and Coarser: Nay, and they that bind us, are Slaves too themselves; some to Honour, others to Wealth; some to Offices, others to Contempt; some to their Superiors, others to themselves: Nay, Life it self is a Servitude: Let us make the best on't then, and with our Philosophy mend our Fortune. Difficulties may be softned, and heavy Burthens Dispos'd of to our Ease. Let us Covet nothing out of our Reach, but content our selves with things hopeful, and at hand; and without Envying the Advantages of others: For Greatness stands upon a Craggy Precipice, and 'tis much Safer and Quieter living upon a Level. How many Great Men are forc'd to keep their Station upon mere Necessity; because they find there's no coming down from it but headlong? These Men should do well to fortifie themselves against ill Consequences, by such Virtues and Meditations, as may make them less sollicitous for the future. The surest Expedient in this Case is to bound our Desires, and to leave nothing to Fortune which we may keep in our own Power. Neither will this Course wholly compose us, but it shews us, at worst, the end of our Troubles.
(pp. 132-4)",,19187,"","""If it so happen, that a Man be ty'd up to Business, which he can neither loosen, nor break off; let him imagine those Shackles upon his Mind to be Irons upon his Legs: They are Troublesome at first, but when there's no Remedy but Patience, Custom makes them easie to us, and Necessity gives us Courage.""",Fetters,2011-09-20 14:42:00 UTC,Chapter 5
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:04:02 UTC,"We have been Discoursing all this while, how far a Wicked Man may be Oblig'd, and the Stoicks tell us, at last, that he cannot be Oblig'd at all: For, they make him incapable of any Good, and consequently of any Benefit. But, he has this advantage, that if he cannot be Oblig'd, he cannot be Ungrateful: For, if he cannot receive, he is not bound to return. On the other side, a Good Man, and an Ungrateful, are a Contradiction: So that at this rate there's no such thing as Ingratitude in Nature. They compare a Wicked Man's Mind to a Vitiated Stomach; he corrupts whatever he receives, and the best Nourishment turns to the Disease. But, taking this for granted, a Wicked Man may yet be so far Oblig'd, as to pass for Ungrateful, if he does not Requite what be Receives. For, though it be not a perfect Benefit, yet he receives something like it. There are Goods of the Mind, the Body, and of Fortune. Of the first sort, Fools, and Wicked Men, are wholly incapable; to the rest they may be admitted. But why should I call any Man Ungrateful, you'll say, for not Restoring That which I deny to be a Benefit? I answer, That if the Receiver take it for a Benefit, and fails of a Return, 'tis Ingratitude in him; for, that which goes for an Obligation among Wicked Men, is an Obligation upon them: and, they may pay one another in their own Coin; the Mony is Current, whether it be Gold, or Leather, when it comes once to be Authoriz'd. Nay, Cleanthes carries it farther; He that is wanting, says he, to a kind Office, though it be no Benefit, would have done the fame thing if it had been one; and is as guilty, as a Thief is, that has set his Booty; and is already Arm'd, and Mounted, with a purpose to seize it, though he has not yet drawn Blood. Wickedness is form'd in the Heart; and, the matter of Fact is only the Discovery, and the Execution of it. Now, tho' a wicked Man cannot either Receive, or Bestow a Benefit, because he wants the Will of doing Good, and for that he is no longer Wicked, when Virtue has taken Possession of him; yet we commonly call it one, as we call a Man illiterate that is not Learned, and Naked, that is not well Clad; not but that the one can Read, and the other is Cover'd.
(pp. 59-60)",,19188,"","""They compare a Wicked Man's Mind to a Vitiated Stomach; he corrupts whatever he receives, and the best Nourishment turns to the Disease. But, taking this for granted, a Wicked Man may yet be so far Oblig'd, as to pass for Ungrateful, if he does not Requite what be Receives.""","",2011-09-20 16:04:02 UTC,"Of Benefits, Chapter XIV"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:09:16 UTC,"A Good Conscience is the Testimony of a Good Life, and the Reward of it. This is it that fortifies the Mind against Fortune, when a Man has gotten the Mastery of his Passions; plac'd his Treasure, and his Security within himself; learned to be content with his Condition; and that Death is no Evil in itself but only the End of Man. He that has dedicated his Mind to Virtue, and to the Good of Human Society, whereof he is a Member, has consummated all that is either Profitable or Necessary for him to Know, or Do toward the Establishment of his Peace. Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels. We have a Veneration for all the Works pf Nature, the Heads of Rivers, and the Springs of Medicinal Waters: the Horrors of Groves, and of Caves, strike us with an Impression of Religion and Worship. To see a Man Fearless in Dangers, Untainted with Lusts, Happy in Adversity, Compos'd in a Tumult, and Laughing at all those Things which are generally either Coveted or Feared; all Men must acknowledge, that this can be nothing else but a Beam of Divinity that Influences a Mortal Body. And this is it that carries us to the Disquisition of Things Divine, and Human; What the state of the World was before the Distribution of the First Matter into Parts; what Power it was that drew Order out of that Confusion, and gave Laws both to the whole, and to every Particle thereof; what that Space is beyond the World; and whence proceed the several Operations of Nature. Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh? The whole Creation, we see, conforms to the Dictates of Providence, and follows God both as a Governour, and as a Guide. A Great, a Good, and a Right Mind, is a kind of Divinity lodg'd in Flesh, and may be the Blessing of a Slave, as well as of a Prince; it came from Heaven, and to Heaven it must return; and it is a kind of Heavenly Felicity, which a pure, and virtuous Mind enjoys, in some Degree, even upon Earth: Whereas Temples of Honour are but empty Names, which probably owe their Beginning either to Ambition, or to Violence. I am strangely transported with the Thoughts of Eternity; Nay, with the Belief of it; for I have a profound Veneration for the Opinions of Great Men, especially when they promise Things so much to my Satisfaction: for they do Promise them, though they do not Prove them. In the Question of the Immortality of the the Soul, it goes very far with me, a General Consent to the Opinion of a Future Reward, and Punishment; which Meditation raises me to the Contempt of this Lise, in hopes of a Better. But still, though we know that we have a Soul; yet, What the Soul is, How, and from Whence, we are utterly Ignorant: This only we understand, that all the Good, and lll we do, is under the Dominion of the Mind; that a Clear Conscience states us in an Inviolable Peace: And, that the greatest Blessing in Nature, is that, which every honest Man may bestow upon himself. The Body is but the Clog and Prisoner of the Mind; tossed up and down, and persecuted with Punishments, Violences, and Diseases; but the Mind it self is Sacred, and Eternal, and exempt from the Danger of all Actual Impression.
(pp. 138-40)",,19189,"","""Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels.""",Court,2011-09-20 16:09:16 UTC,"Of A Happy Life, Chapter VI"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:10:35 UTC,"A Good Conscience is the Testimony of a Good Life, and the Reward of it. This is it that fortifies the Mind against Fortune, when a Man has gotten the Mastery of his Passions; plac'd his Treasure, and his Security within himself; learned to be content with his Condition; and that Death is no Evil in itself but only the End of Man. He that has dedicated his Mind to Virtue, and to the Good of Human Society, whereof he is a Member, has consummated all that is either Profitable or Necessary for him to Know, or Do toward the Establishment of his Peace. Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels. We have a Veneration for all the Works pf Nature, the Heads of Rivers, and the Springs of Medicinal Waters: the Horrors of Groves, and of Caves, strike us with an Impression of Religion and Worship. To see a Man Fearless in Dangers, Untainted with Lusts, Happy in Adversity, Compos'd in a Tumult, and Laughing at all those Things which are generally either Coveted or Feared; all Men must acknowledge, that this can be nothing else but a Beam of Divinity that Influences a Mortal Body. And this is it that carries us to the Disquisition of Things Divine, and Human; What the state of the World was before the Distribution of the First Matter into Parts; what Power it was that drew Order out of that Confusion, and gave Laws both to the whole, and to every Particle thereof; what that Space is beyond the World; and whence proceed the several Operations of Nature. Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh? The whole Creation, we see, conforms to the Dictates of Providence, and follows God both as a Governour, and as a Guide. A Great, a Good, and a Right Mind, is a kind of Divinity lodg'd in Flesh, and may be the Blessing of a Slave, as well as of a Prince; it came from Heaven, and to Heaven it must return; and it is a kind of Heavenly Felicity, which a pure, and virtuous Mind enjoys, in some Degree, even upon Earth: Whereas Temples of Honour are but empty Names, which probably owe their Beginning either to Ambition, or to Violence. I am strangely transported with the Thoughts of Eternity; Nay, with the Belief of it; for I have a profound Veneration for the Opinions of Great Men, especially when they promise Things so much to my Satisfaction: for they do Promise them, though they do not Prove them. In the Question of the Immortality of the the Soul, it goes very far with me, a General Consent to the Opinion of a Future Reward, and Punishment; which Meditation raises me to the Contempt of this Lise, in hopes of a Better. But still, though we know that we have a Soul; yet, What the Soul is, How, and from Whence, we are utterly Ignorant: This only we understand, that all the Good, and lll we do, is under the Dominion of the Mind; that a Clear Conscience states us in an Inviolable Peace: And, that the greatest Blessing in Nature, is that, which every honest Man may bestow upon himself. The Body is but the Clog and Prisoner of the Mind; tossed up and down, and persecuted with Punishments, Violences, and Diseases; but the Mind it self is Sacred, and Eternal, and exempt from the Danger of all Actual Impression.
(pp. 138-40)",,19190,"","""Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh?""",Fetters,2011-09-20 16:10:35 UTC,"Of A Happy Life, Chapter VI"