work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
3911,"",Browsing in EEBO,2004-01-08 00:00:00 UTC,"If Man would understand the Excellency of the Soul, as far as it is capable of comprehending it self, let him, after serious Recollection, descend into himself, and search diligently his own Mind, and there he shall find so many admirable Gifts, and excellent Ornaments, that it must needs strike him with Wonder and Amazement, as Reason, Understanding, true Choice, ability of Wit, Memory, and divers other Faculties, that absolutely approve the Soul to be more admirable, than that any should imagine it to be finite, or subject to Annihilation, yet by reason of its many Offices and Operations, whilst in the Body it is specified under sundry dominations. For, as St. Augustine saith, when it enlivens the Body, it is called the Soul; when it gives it knowledge, the judgment, the min[d], when it recall things past, the memory, whilst it discourseth and discerneth reason, whilst it contemplates the Spirit, whilst it is in the sensitive parts of the Senses; and these are the principal Offices, whereby the Soul declares its power, and performs its actions; for placed in the highest part of the Body, and nearest Heaven, it diffuseth or disperseth effectually its force into every Member, not propagated from the Parents, nor mixed with gross matter, but the infused Breath of the Almighty, immediately proceeding from him, nor passing from one to another, as fond and absurdly the Pithagoreans have insinuated in their Opinions about the Transmigration of the Soul; and so vain were they, that they did not only imagine the Souls of deceased Men passed into now-born Infants, but into Beasts also; and from thence it was they forbid the eating of Flesh, and abstained themselves from so doing, lest, as they fondly fancied, they might, as Tertullian records it, Eat their Grand-father in a Calf. But such frivolous and superstitious Notions are to be rejected by Christians, and those true ones observed, which are both reasonable and agreeable to humane Capacities; for Orthodox Divines conclude in general, that the Soul is given to every Infant by Infusion, when he or she is perfected in the Womb, which happens about the 45th day after Conception, especially for Males, that in likelihood will be born at the end of Nine Months, but in Females (who are of a weaker Constitution, and not so soon formed and perfected thro' the defect of heat) not till the Fiftieth day.
(pp. 32-4)",,10113,•Interesting citation of Augustine (by Aristotle! Ha!),"""If Man would understand the Excellency of the Soul, as far as it is capable of comprehending it self, let him, after serious Recollection, descend into himself, and search diligently his own Mind, and there he shall find so many admirable Gifts, and excellent Ornaments.""","",2013-06-11 17:59:32 UTC,""
7468,"","Searching ""mind"" in Project Gutenberg e-text.
",2013-06-17 19:34:06 UTC,"Now as to the peculiar Qualities of the Eye, that fine Part of our Constitution seems as much the Receptacle and Seat of our Passions, Appetites and Inclinations as the Mind it self; and at least it is the outward Portal to introduce them to the House within, or rather the common Thorough-fare to let our Affections pass in and out. Love, Anger, Pride, and Avarice, all visibly move in those little Orbs. I know a young Lady that can't see a certain Gentleman pass by without shewing a secret Desire of seeing him again by a Dance in her Eye-balls; nay, she can't for the Heart of her help looking Half a Street's Length after any Man in a gay Dress. You can't behold a covetous Spirit walk by a Goldsmith's Shop without casting a wistful Eye at the Heaps upon the Counter. Does not a haughty Person shew the Temper of his Soul in the supercilious Rowl of his Eye? and how frequently in the Height of Passion does that moving Picture in our Head start and stare, gather a Redness and quick Flashes of Lightning, and make all its Humours sparkle with Fire, as Virgil finely describes it.",,20893,"","""Now as to the peculiar Qualities of the Eye, that fine Part of our Constitution seems as much the Receptacle and Seat of our Passions, Appetites and Inclinations as the Mind it self; and at least it is the outward Portal to introduce them to the House within, or rather the common Thorough-fare to let our Affections pass in and out.""",Rooms,2013-06-17 19:34:06 UTC,""
7476,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-18 21:34:23 UTC,"How,--Evander not understand true English, who has been an Author these three and twenty years, and cou'd almost read his Criss cross-row in his Mother's Belly! Who has so many English Dictionaries in his Study, and another in his Head bigger than all together (and yet there's still room to spare both for Brains and Projects) Does not he?--nay--now you ruffle his smooth Soul, alter his fair Body, and discompose him all over.--If ye go on at this rate, with making Objections, a Man does not know how to answer (for their number, I mean not their weight) ye shall e'ne write your self, and let the World laugh at ye, for Evander will be your Fool no longer.--But not to overrule this Plea, we'll for once joyn issue, and giv't a fair Answer.
(II, p. 17)",,20971,"","""Who has so many English Dictionaries in his Study, and another in his Head bigger than all together (and yet there's still room to spare both for Brains and Projects) Does not he?--nay--now you ruffle his smooth Soul, alter his fair Body, and discompose him all over.""",Writing,2013-06-18 21:34:23 UTC,""
3876,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-19 19:51:52 UTC,"All Sense is made by Contact, You allow:
Contact from unseen Particles doth grow,
Which from all Objects to the Senses flow.
If they'r Material, whence do they arise?
What is't their Energy and Force supplies?
Whether they always in the Air do rove,
And wait Impulses, by whose Laws they move?
Or, when they'r wanted, by the Object made,
And thence with Message to the Sense convey'd?
If these their Subtlety to Motion owe,
Fragments, that from attrited Matter grow,
How happ's it, Time hath not worn all things so?
And why may not succeeding Ages fear,
That Length of Time the Universe should wear,
Till nothing Solid in the World appear?
The Senses various Particles employ;
What strikes the Ear, doth not affect the Eye;
And where the Ear is deaf, and Eye is blind,
The subtle Smell can a Sensation find.
The Atoms different, as the Organs are,
And various Forms, various Contextures wear
Besides the different Motions they dispence
From diverse Objects unto every Sense:
By which they to the Judging Soul do show,
Whether they Acceptable are or no.
The Eye doth Knowledge of each Colour take,
That various Motions doth i'th' Organ make;
In such Variety, such Cost and Dress,
Not all the Flowers of Rhetorick can express.
But whether What do these Impulses give
Their Power from Angulous Particles receive;
Or barely they This unto Motion owe;
A Secret lies we vainly wish to know.
Since then Effluviums from all Objects break,
And thrô the Air their unseen Journeys take,
To every Sense in various Measures come;
How is it that the crowding Troops find room?
Numberless Numbers to each Sense repair,
That various Motions, Forms, and Garbs do wear;
Enough to stifle up the liquid Air.
The justling Streams, always in Motions be,
To all around without Distinction fly.
And from all parts of Matter since they flow,
And heady Journeys in cross Paths do go:
Who in their Passage doth prescribe them Laws?
Or guards them, that they no Confusion cause?
Why do not Storms disperse the Rays of Light,
Why not obstruct their Journey to our sight?
Or those bright Rays, that in clear Days arise,
And from ten thousand Objects cheer our Eyes,
Hinder the Motion of progressive Noise?
In the same Moment from all parts they flow,
Contrary Courses in their Journeys go;
At the same time all Senses gratifie,
Yet we no Battle, nor Confusion spy.
'Tis true they'r Subtle; But they Numerous are:
They'r liquid: Yet the thwarting troops may jarr;
For waves meet waves, & streams with streams do war.
(ll. 76-133)",,21031,"","""Since then Effluviums from all Objects break, / And thrô the Air their unseen Journeys take, / To every Sense in various Measures come; / How is it that the crowding Troops find room? / Numberless Numbers to each Sense repair, / That various Motions, Forms, and Garbs do wear; / Enough to stifle up the liquid Air.""",Inhabitants,2013-06-19 19:51:52 UTC,""
4024,"",Reading,2013-09-11 21:09:49 UTC,"But to return. I am sufficiently instructed in the principal duty of a preface if my genius, were capable of arriving at it. Thrice have I forced my imagination to take the tour of my invention, and thrice it has returned empty, the latter having been wholly drained by the following treatise. Not so my more successful brethren the moderns, who will by no means let slip a preface or dedication without some notable distinguishing stroke to surprise the reader at the entry, and kindle a wonderful expectation of what is to ensue. Such was that of a most ingenious poet, who, soliciting his brain for something new, compared himself to the hangman and his patron to the patient. This was insigne, recens, indictum ore alio. When I went through that necessary and noble course of study, I had the happiness to observe many such egregious touches, which I shall not injure the authors by transplanting, because I have remarked that nothing is so very tender as a modern piece of wit, and which is apt to suffer so much in the carriage. [...]
(pp. 19-20 in OUP ed.)",,22704,"","""Thrice have I forced my imagination to take the tour of my invention, and thrice it has returned empty, the latter having been wholly drained by the following treatise.""","",2013-09-11 21:09:49 UTC,""
3866,"",Reading; text from ECCO-TCP,2013-09-17 16:52:20 UTC,"§. 7. If therefore we will warily attend to the Motions of the Mind, and observe what Course it usually takes in its way to Knowledge, we shall, I think, find that the Mind having got any Idea, which it thinks it may have use of, either in Contemplation or Discourse; the first Thing it does, is to abstract it, and then get a Name to it; and so lay it up in its Store-house, the Memory, as containing the Essence of a sort of Things, of which that Name is always to be the Mark. Hence it is, that we may often observe, that when any one sees a new Thing of a kind that he knows not, he presently asks what it is, meaning by that Enquiry nothing but the Name. As if the Name carried with it the Knowledge of the Species, or the Essence of it; whereof it is indeed used as the Mark, and is generally supposed annexed to it.
(II.xxxii.7, p. 178 in 1690 ed.)",,22773,"","""If therefore we will warily attend to the Motions of the Mind, and observe what Course it usually takes in its way to Knowledge, we shall, I think, find that the Mind having got any Idea, which it thinks it may have use of, either in Contemplation or Discourse; the first Thing it does, is to abstract it, and then get a Name to it; and so lay it up in its Store-house, the Memory, as containing the Essence of a sort of Things, of which that Name is always to be the Mark.""",Rooms,2014-06-22 18:18:24 UTC,"Book II, chapter xxxii"
7902,"","Searching in Project Gutenberg (PGDP) e-text. Confirmed in Bond.",2014-06-05 21:11:59 UTC,"Longinus has observed, that there may be a Loftiness in Sentiments, where there is no Passion, and brings Instances out of ancient Authors to support this his Opinion. The Pathetick, as that great Critick observes, may animate and inflame the Sublime, but is not essential to it. Accordingly, as he further remarks, we very often find that those who excel most in stirring up the Passions, very often want the Talent of writing in the great and sublime manner, and so on the contrary. Milton has shewn himself a Master in both these ways of Writing. The Seventh Book, which we are now entring upon, is an Instance of that Sublime which is not mixed and worked up with Passion. The Author appears in a kind of composed and sedate Majesty; and tho' the Sentiments do not give so great an Emotion as those in the former Book, they abound with as magnificent Ideas. The Sixth Book, like a troubled Ocean, represents Greatness in Confusion; the seventh Affects the Imagination like the Ocean in a Calm, and fills the Mind of the Reader, without producing in it any thing like Tumult or Agitation.
(Cf. III, pp. 254-5 in Bond ed.)",,23884,"","""The Sixth Book, like a troubled Ocean, represents Greatness in Confusion; the seventh Affects the Imagination like the Ocean in a Calm, and fills the Mind of the Reader, without producing in it any thing like Tumult or Agitation.""","",2014-06-05 21:11:59 UTC,""
7926,"","Searching in Project Gutenberg (PGDP) e-text. Confirmed in Bond.",2014-06-06 04:35:12 UTC,"One of the Final Causes of our Delight, in any thing that is great, may be this. The Supreme Author of our Being has so formed the Soul of Man, that nothing but himself can be its last, adequate, and proper Happiness. Because, therefore, a great Part of our Happiness must arise from the Contemplation of his Being, that he might give our Souls a just Relish of such a Contemplation, he has made them naturally delight in the Apprehension of what is Great or Unlimited. Our Admiration, which is a very pleasing Motion of the Mind, immediately rises at the Consideration of any Object that takes up a great deal of Room in the Fancy, and by Consequence, will improve into the highest Pitch of Astonishment and Devotion when we contemplate his Nature, that is neither circumscribed by Time nor Place, nor to be comprehended by the largest Capacity of a Created Being.
(Cf. III, p. 544 in Bond ed.)",,23929,"","""Our Admiration, which is a very pleasing Motion of the Mind, immediately rises at the Consideration of any Object that takes up a great deal of Room in the Fancy, and by Consequence, will improve into the highest Pitch of Astonishment and Devotion when we contemplate his Nature, that is neither circumscribed by Time nor Place, nor to be comprehended by the largest Capacity of a Created Being.""",Rooms,2014-06-06 04:35:12 UTC,""
7957,"",Searching in ECCO-TCP,2014-07-02 15:40:18 UTC,"Away the Skilful Doctor comes
Of Recipes and Med'cines full,
To check the giddy Whirl of Nature's Fires,
If so th' unruly Case requires;
Or with his Cobweb-cleansing Brooms
To sweep and clear the over-crouded Scull,
If settl'd Spirits flag, and make the Patient dull.
But asking what the Symptoms were,
That made 'em think he was so bad?
The Man indeed, they cry'd, is wond'rous Mad
You, at this Distance, may behold him there
Beneath that Tree in open Air,
Surrounded with the Engines of his Fate,
The Gimcracks of a broken Pate.
Those Hoops a Sphere he calls,
That Ball the Earth;
And when into his raving Fit he falls,
'Twou'd move at once your Pity, and your Mirth,
To hear him, as you will do soon,
Declaring, there's a Kingdom in the Moon;
And that each Star, for ought he knows,
May some Inhabitants enclose:
Philosophers, he says, may there abound,
Such Jugglers as himself be in them found;
Which if there be, the World may well turn round;
At least to those, whose Whimsies are so strange,
That, whilst they're fixt to one peculiar Place,
Pretend to measure far extended Space,
And 'mongst the Planets range.
Behold him now contemplating that Head,
From which long-since both Flesh, and Brains are fled;
Questioning, if that empty, hollow Bowl
Did not ere while contain the Human Soul:
Then starts a Doubt, if 'twere not to the Heart
That Nature rather did that Gift impart.
Good Sir, employ the utmost of your Skill,
To make him Wiser, tho' against his Will;
Who thinks, that he already All exceeds,
And laughs at our most solemn Words and Deeds:
Tho' once amongst us he wou'd try a Cause,
And Bus'ness of the Town discuss,
Knowing, as well as one of us,
The Price of Corn, and standing Market-Laws;
Wou'd bear an Office in his Turn,
For which good Purposes all Men were born;
Not to be making Circles in the Sand,
And scaling Heav'n, till they have sold their Land.
Or, when unstock'd below their Pasture lies,
To find out Bulls and Rams, amidst the Skies.
From these Mistakes his Madness we conclude;
And hearing, you was with much Skill endu'd,
Your Aid we sought. Hippocrates amaz'd,
Now on the Sage, now on the Rabble gaz'd;
And whilst he needless finds his artful Rules,
Pities a Man of Sense, judg'd by a Croud of Fools
Then how can we with their Opinions join,
Who, to promote some Int'rest, wou'd define
The Peoples Voice to be the Voice Divine?
(pp. 286-8)",,24130,"","""Away the Skilful Doctor comes / Of Recipes and Med'cines full, / To check the giddy Whirl of Nature's Fires, / If so th' unruly Case requires; / Or with his Cobweb-cleansing Brooms / To sweep and clear the over-crouded Scull, / If settl'd Spirits flag, and make the Patient dull.""",Rooms,2014-07-02 15:40:42 UTC,""
8131,"",Reading in EEBO-TCP,2016-03-11 16:41:56 UTC,"As for the Method of Erudition in Literature, that seems to me to be most rational, which begins with those Sciences which are founded in Memory and Imagination, such as learning of Tongues, Grammar, and Poetry: For certain 'tis that Memory in Youth is infinitely more ready than in men of riper years, as appears from their different capacitys in learning of a Language; and then for Invention which always builds out of the Store-house of Memory, 'tis then most perfect and various when the Spirits are most airy, and in their greatest Circulation. Some are for Teaching young Scholars the Mathematicks, upon pretence of fixing their Thoughts, and of keeping them constant to one Subject, for upon the least roving they loose sight presently of the demonstration, and must begin anew. But I like not this Method; for 'tis too tedious, serious and puzling for young Capacities to strugle with: for tho the progress be most natural and convincing, and the deductions of Theorems from one another, though they may ravish the Contemplative, yet it requires a man to have a complex Apprehension of many Propositions at once, so that the least startings and wandrings of the Mind, disorder the whole clue and series of thoughts. As for Oratory, I think it not so proper for Youth, unless it be so far only as the Exercise thereof comprehends Repetition or Rehearsal: For by this we endeavour to perswade men, which we cannot do but by Topicks taken from the consideration of humane Affairs, from the Examples of past Ages, and of Foreign Countrys, to which must be added knowledge both of the Times and Persons we Converse with, and of the temper and inclination of their Passions, as also of the Nature of the Passions themselves, all which require much Reading, Judgment and Experience, and do suppose a man to be in some state of Maturity far above the Stations of Youth; Nevertheless the use of Declamations and Panegyricks, with such lesser Exercises as consist in Ornaments of Wit and Fancy, are not improper for them, as the performance and rehearsal of them begets boldness and a good address.
(pp. 25-7)",,24866,"","""For certain 'tis that Memory in Youth is infinitely more ready than in men of riper years, as appears from their different capacitys in learning of a Language; and then for Invention which always builds out of the Store-house of Memory, 'tis then most perfect and various when the Spirits are most airy, and in their greatest Circulation.""","",2016-03-11 16:41:56 UTC,Of Erudition. CHAP. III.