text,updated_at,metaphor,created_at,context,theme,reviewed_on,dictionary,comments,provenance,id,work_id
"But how then does he Answer the Objection, which he puts against himself, of the many False Religions in the world? It was not the True Light which guided men into them. And if they have no other Light, how came they by them? He says, it was because they did not follow the True Light. But why did they not follow it? How could they help following of it, if they had nothing else to follow? What was it that Resisted It? Or, what could Resist It, if we have no Natural Light or Understanding to Refuse its Dictates? But suppose our No Light or Understanding could shut its eyes, and not follow this light; then it might lose the True Religion: But could no understanding invent another Religion? For that is something Positive; and something must Guide and Direct Men to it. The Absence of Light is Darkness, not a False-light. But an Ignis Fatuus, or Will i'th Wisp, is a Light that leads Men wrong. Men that are in Error follow a Light, but it is Falselight, and they think themselves to be in the Right. Our Understandings have a Natural, which is a Fallible-light; and therefore often leads us wrong. What else is the meaning of Prov. 3. 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own Understanding. It is true, that Understanding and the Natural light of it, was given us by God: And he made it Right and True; but Fallible, else it could never be mistaken. God has placed a Natural light, as a Candle in our Hearts; and His Supernatural light does Influence and Direct it, [Page 262 (135)] when we seek to Him for it, and serve Him according as He has commanded: Solomon says, Prov. xx. 27. The Spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord, searching all the Inward Parts. You will not call the Spirit of Man the Eternal Light, which is GOD. This was the Mistake which drove George Fox to make our Soul aPart of God. without Beginning, and Infinite in it self, &c. as shewn in The Snake, Sect. ii. and to make us even Equal with God, as shewn, Sect. iii. And Mr. Penn, p. 15. of this Book, ( Primit. Christian. ) allows no Natural light to the Understanding, For (says he) Man can no more be a Light to his Mind than he is to his Body: And thence infers, that as the Eye has no Light in it self, so neither the Understanding: He makes our Nature and Minds wholly Dark of themselves, only succeptible of Super-natural light, when sent into our Understanding: And that all the Light we have is thus Supernatural; and only called Natural, because, as he says, It is natural to Man to have a Supernatural-light. I will not take advantage of the Philosophy of this; for, I suppose his meaning to be, that it is Natural to the Understanding to Receive a Light that is infused into it, as for the Eye to see by an Extraneous light; that is, it is an Organ fitted to Receive Light, tho' it has none in it self; as the Understanding to Apprehend, tho' it has no Reason or Light in it self Thus he expresses it, p. 50. All men have Reason, (says he) but all Men are not Reasonable; which must be taken with the same grains of Allowance. For every Man is a Reasonable Creature, that is, the Definition of a Man. But according to His Hypothesis, tho' all men have Reason, yet not Natural. but supernaturally put into their Understanding: And so, tho they have Reason, yet are they not Reasonable, because that Reason is none of their own, only as Gifted, that is, Accidental, but not Natural to them; and so they can no more be called Rational, than a Bag can be called Rich, that has Money in it. For he says, p. 15. That God, is the Light of our Nature, of our minds, and understandings. If it were meant as an Assistant, Guide or Director, to the Light of our Understanding, there were no differance betwixt us: But quite to put out the Natural light of our understandings, and make it but only Passive, that is, succeptible of another light, that is the point on which I would Reason now with Mr. Penn. It is said 1 Cor. 1. 21. That the world by Wisdom knew not God. What Wisdom was this? it could not be a Divine light; and if Man have no Natural light; it must be the Quaker third sort of light, that is, No light at all. But if by Wisdom here, you mean Mens Natural light or Reason, the Text is Plain and Easy.
It is Written, 1 John. 3. 20. If our Heart Condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Now, by Heart, here must be meant the Natural light; because, if it means the Light which is God, God is not Greater than Himself. And it is supposed here that the Heart does not Know all Things: Therefore this must be meant of our Natural Conscience, and not of God. And now here is a Natural light, which does Reprove of Evil, which Mr. Penn supposes cannot be shewn, p. 30. Our Saviour says, Luk. xii. 57. Yea, and why even of your selves judge not what is Right? But why of your selves, if we have no Light at all of our selves whereby to Judge?
(p.261-4)
",2009-09-14 19:34:54 UTC,"""And so, tho they have Reason, yet are they not Reasonable, because that Reason is none of their own, only as Gifted, that is, Accidental, but not Natural to them; and so they can no more be called Rational, than a Bag can be called Rich, that has Money in it.""",2006-09-11 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,"","•REVISIT. Read the William Penn. Anglican Leslie desires ""to Expostulate a little"" with William Penn ""upon one Part of his Exposition of The Light within, [...] where [...] he will not grant that we have any Natural Light at all, or any other than that Divine Light of the Word, which is God; which he says, some, mistakenly, call Natural Light"" (p. 260)
•I've included twice: Bag and Money",Ad Fontes: Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts,10336,3953
"I do not understand (says he) how the Soul if she be at any time utterly without Thoughts, what it is that produces the first Thought again, at the end of that unthinking Interval. And what then? Must we therefore conclude it cannot be done? If that be a good Argument, we must deny the most common and visible Operations in Nature. Do you understand how your Soul thinks at all? How it passes from one Thought to another? How it preserves its Treasure of Ideas, to produce them at pleasure [on Co... ]ons? And recollects those it had [...] time Reflected on? How it moves [y... body] or is affected by it? These are Operations which I suppose you are not to [Sc..p..c.l] to doubt of, nor yet pretend to understand how they are done: And since we are certain that the Soul is affected with all the [...] Changes of the Body, that it is Sick and in pain, and unable to perform [....] according as the Body is disorder'd, since we so sensibly perceive ti to become Drowsy when the Body is so; so many degrees abated of its Action, even to very near not thinking at all, from that intenseness and vigour of Thought it had, and recovers when the Body is refreshed with Sleep; whatever is the Cause of these Effects, whether some immediate Connexion between them, or an Arbitrary Law of their Union, where is the difficulty to conceive that the same Cause which lulls it almost, shou'd lay it quite to rest and awaken it again with the Body?
(pp. 31-2)",2010-05-18 17:22:47 UTC,"""Do you understand how your Soul ... preserves its Treasure of Ideas, to produce them at pleasure""?",2005-03-23 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,"","•Trotter respond to Burnet.
•Crappy scan of the microfilm makes some of this unlegible. REVISIT, find better copy to work with.",Reading Trotter in ECCO,10372,3995
"But if the Remarker thinks, that if all our thoughts cease in sound Sleep, all our Ideas are extinct, and must be new imprest; I desire him to consider, when a Sleeping or Waking Man thinks, what becomes of all those Ideas which he does not actually perceive in his own mind, for the mind is capable of taking notice but of very few at once: Must not all the rest by this Argument be extinct? And so we must have them new Imprest; and are as it were, New Born when ever we have any Ideas which we have not always actually perceiv'd, i.e. every time we pass from one thought to another. This is a sure consequence, if when all our thoughts cease, all our Ideas must be new imprest, unless a Man cou'd actually perceive all the Ideas he ever had at once; for his having only one thought in his mind, can no more keep any other there, or excite any other that it has no connexion with, than if he had no thought at all: I am thinking for Example, in my Sleep, of a Horse; his Beauty, Strength, and Usefulness: Does this thought preserve in my mind, the Ideas of a Church, of Happiness or Misery? Or can it help me to any of them, when I have occasion for them? If not, then these Ideas must be new imprest when I awake; but if they remain in the Soul when I was only thinking of a Horse, whereever they are bestow'd, it may be presum'd, there is room for that one idea more without thrusting out another to give it place: and when that one is among them, I see no more reason why they must be all new imprest, than that the others must have been new imprest when I only thought of that one unless, it be suppos'd that the Soul has always, just one idea [more] than there is place for in the repository of its Ideas; and if that happen to crou'd in, before another has got out, they will all be stifled together, or fly away for Air.
(pp. 33-4)",2011-08-25 20:16:46 UTC,"But if ideas ""remain in the Soul when I was only thinking of a Horse, whereever they are bestow'd, it may be presum'd, there is room for that one idea more without thrusting out another to give it place: and when that one is among them, I see no more reason why they must be all new imprest, than that the others must have been new imprest when I only thought of that one unless, it be suppos'd that the Soul has always, just one idea [more] than there is place for in the repository of its Ideas; and if that happen to crou'd in, before another has got out, they will all be stifled together, or fly away for Air.""",2005-03-23 00:00:00 UTC,"","",2011-08-25,Inhabitants,"•Great Population metaphor.
•Crappy scan of the microfilm makes some of this illegible.","Reading in ECCO; found again reading Jonathan Kramnick's Actions and Objects (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2010), 166-7.",10374,3995
"To Retain, to keep, or hold back a thing once deliver'd and afterwards demanded again; to preserve such good or bad Qualities as one had formerly; to keep in Mind, or to remember",2016-04-28 02:49:48 UTC,"""To Retain, to keep, or hold back a thing once deliver'd and afterwards demanded again; to preserve such good or bad Qualities as one had formerly; to keep in Mind, or to remember.""",2005-06-20 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,"","•INTEREST. This is not recognized as ""figurative"" in anyway at all?","Searching ""mind"" in Phillips's Dictionary (1706) in ECCO.",10508,4065
"Q. What was our Condition, when God Made the first
Man, at the Beginning of the World?
A. God made One Man, and One Woman, Adam and
Eve, in His own Image, Holy and Righteous.
Q. Into what Condition are we now fallen?
A. Our first Parents did Sin against God, by Eating
Forbidden Fruit, and made themselves, and all their
Children Miserable.
Q. What is the Misery of our present Condition?
A. My Heart is full of Sin; My Life is full of Sin; I
am under the wrath of God for Sin; I am a Slave to Sin
and Satan.
Q. Who is there to Save us from our Misery?
A. JESUS CHRIST is my Great Saviour ; and there
is none but He to Save me.
Q. Who is JESUS CHRIST, Our Saviour?
A. JESUS CHRIST is the Son of God, who took the
Man JESUS, the Son of the Virgin Mary, into One Person
with Himself.
(p. 37-38)",2014-08-10 05:34:55 UTC,"""My Heart is full of Sin; My Life is full of Sin; I
am under the wrath of God for Sin; I am a Slave to Sin and Satan.""",2011-08-25 15:43:42 UTC,"","",,Fetters,REVISED AER,Reading,19094,7069
"'Twas a sign that this Philosopher believ'd there was a good Stock of Visionary Spirit originally in Human Nature. He was so satisfy'd that Men were inclin'd to see Visions, that rather than they shou'd go without, he chose to make 'em to their hand. Notwithstanding he wou'd not allow the Principles of Religion to be natural, he was forc'd tacitly to allow there was a wondrous Disposition in Mankind towards supernatural Objects; and that if these Ideas were vain, they were yet in a manner innate, or such as Men were really born to, and cou'd hardly by any means avoid. From which Concession a Divine, methinks, might raise a good Argument against him, for the Truth as well as the Usefulness of Religion. But so it is: whether the matter of Apparition be true or false, the Symptoms are the same, and the Passion of equal force in the Person who is Vision-struck. The Lymphatici of the Latins were the Nympholepti of the Greeks. They were Persons said to have seen some Species of Divinity, as either some Rural Deity, or Nymph, which threw them into such Transports as overcame their Reason. The Extasys express'd themselves outwardly in Quakings, Tremblings, Tossings of the Head and Limbs, Agitations, and (as Livy calls them) Fanatical Throws or Convulsions, extemporary Prayer, Prophecy, Singing, and the like. All Nations have their Lymphaticks of some kind or another; and all Churches (Heathen as well as Christian) have had their Complaints against Fanaticism.
(pp. 49-50; pp. 25-6 in Klein) ",2013-07-09 17:00:11 UTC,"""'Twas a sign that this Philosopher believ'd there was a good Stock of Visionary Spirit originally in Human Nature.""",2013-07-09 17:00:11 UTC,Section 6,"",,"","",Reading; text from C-H Lion,21581,7520
"Something there will be of Extravagance and Fury, when the Ideas or Images receiv'd are too big for the narrow human Vessel to contain. So that Inspiration may be justly call'd Divine Enthusiasm: For the Word it self signifies Divine Presence, and was made use of by the Philosopher whom the earliest Christian Fathers call'd Divine, to express whatever was sublime in human Passions. This was the Spirit he allotted to Heroes, Statesmen, Poets, Orators, Musicians, and even Philosophers themselves. Nor can we, of our own accord, forbear ascribing to a noble Enthusiasm, whatever is greatly perform'd by any of These. So that almost all of us know something of this Principle. But to know it as we shou'd do, and discern it in its several kinds, both in ourselves, and others; this is the great Work, and by this means alone we can hope to avoid Delusion. For to judg the Spirits whether they are of God, we must antecedently judg our own Spirit; whether it be of Reason, and sound Sense; whether it be fit to judg at all, by being sedate, cool, and impartial; free of every byassing Passion, every giddy Vapour, or melancholy Fume. This is the first Knowledg and previous Judgment: to understand ourselves, and know what Spirit we are of. Afterwards we may judg the Spirit in others, consider what their personal Merit is, and prove the Validity of their Testimony by the Solidity of their Brain. By this means we may prepare our-selves with some Antidote against Enthusiasm. And this is what I have dar'd affirm is best perform'd by keeping to Good Humour. For otherwise the Remedy itself may turn to the Disease.
(pp. 53-5; pp. 27-8 in Klein)",2013-07-09 17:01:02 UTC,"""Something there will be of Extravagance and Fury, when the Ideas or Images receiv'd are too big for the narrow human Vessel to contain.""",2013-07-09 17:01:02 UTC,Section 7,"",,"","",Reading; text from C-H Lion,21582,7520
"The Question is, Whether this be fair or no? and, Whether it be not just and reasonable, to make as free with our own Opinions, as with those of other People? For to be sparing in this case, may be look'd upon as a piece of Selfishness. We may be charg'd perhaps with wilful Ignorance and blind Idolatry, for having taken Opinions upon Trust, and consecrated in our-selves certain Idol-Notion, which we will never suffer to be unveil'd, or seen in open light. They may perhaps be Monsters, and not Divinitys, or Sacred Truths, which are kept thus choicely, in some dark Corner of our Minds: The Specters may impose on us, whilst we refuse to turn 'em every way, and view their Shapes and Complexions in every light. For that which can be shewn only in a certain Light, is questionable. Truth, 'tis suppos'd, may bear all Lights: and one of those principal Lights or natural Mediums, by which Things are to be view'd, in order to a thorow Recognition, is Ridicule it-self, or that Manner of Proof by which we discern whatever is liable to just Raillery in any Subject. So much, at least, is allow'd by All, who at any time appeal to this Criterion. The gravest Gentlemen, even in the gravest Subjects, are suppos'd to acknowledg this: and can have no Right, 'tis thought, to deny others the Freedom of this Appeal; whilst they are free to censure like other Men, and in their gravest Arguments make no scruple to ask, Is it not ridiculous?
(pp. 60-1; pp. 29-30 in Klein)",2013-07-09 19:28:06 UTC,"""They may perhaps be Monsters, and not Divinitys, or Sacred Truths, which are kept thus choicely, in some dark Corner of our Minds: The Specters may impose on us, whilst we refuse to turn 'em every way, and view their Shapes and Complexions in every light.""",2013-07-09 19:28:06 UTC,"","",,Rooms,"",Reading,21584,4103
"Much hurry and business had to-day perplexed me into a mood too thoughtful for going into company; for which reason, instead of the tavern, I went into Lincoln's Inn Walks; and having taken a round or two, I sat down, according to the allowed familiarity of these places, on a bench; at the other end of which sat a venerable gentleman, who speaking with a very affable air, ""Mr. Bickerstaff,"" said he, ""I take it for a very great piece of good fortune, that you have found me out."" ""Sir,"" said I, ""I had never, that I know of, the honour of seeing you before."" ""That,"" replied he, ""is what I have often lamented; but I assure you, I have for many years done you good offices, without being observed by you; or else, when you had any little glimpse of my being concerned in an affair, you have fled from me, and shunned me like an enemy; but however, the part I am to act in the world is such, that I am to go on in doing good, though I meet with never so many repulses, even from those I oblige."" This, thought I, shows a great good nature, but little judgment in the persons upon whom he confers his favours. He immediately took notice to me, that he observed by my countenance I thought him indiscreet in his beneficence, and proceeded to tell me his quality in the following manner: ""I know thee, Isaac, to be so well versed in the occult sciences, that I need not much preface, or make long preparations to gain your faith that there are airy beings, who are employed in the care and attendance of men, as nurses are to infants, till they come to an age in which they can act of themselves. These beings are usually called amongst men, guardian angels; and, Mr. Bickerstaff, I am to acquaint you, that I am to be yours for some time to come; it being our orders to vary our stations, and sometimes to have one patient under our protection, and sometimes another, with a power of assuming what shape we please, to ensnare our wards into their own good. I have of late been upon such hard duty, and know you have so much work for me, that I think fit to appear to you face to face, to desire you would give me as little occasion for vigilance as you can."" ""Sir,"" said I, ""it will be a great instruction to me in my behaviour, if you please to give me some account of your late employments, and what hardships or satisfactions you have had in them, that I may govern myself accordingly."" He answered: ""To give you an example of the drudgery we go through, I will entertain you only with my three last stations: I was on the 1st of April last, put to mortify a great beauty, with whom I was a week; from her I went to a common swearer, and have been last with a gamester. When I first came to my lady, I found my great work was to guard well her eyes and ears; but her flatterers were so numerous, and the house, after the modern way, so full of looking-glasses, that I seldom had her safe but in her sleep. Whenever we went abroad, we were surrounded by an army of enemies: when a well-made man appeared, he was sure to have a side-glance of observation: if a disagreeable fellow, he had a full face, out of mere inclination to conquests. But at the close of the evening, on the sixth of the last month, my ward was sitting on a couch, reading Ovid's 'Epistles'; and as she came to this line of Helen to Paris,
She half consents who silently denies;
entered Philander, who is the most skilful of all men in an address to women. He is arrived at the perfection of that art which gains them, which is, to talk like a very miserable man, but look like a very happy one. I saw Dictinna blush at his entrance, which gave me the alarm; but he immediately said something so agreeable on her being at study, and the novelty of finding a lady employed in so grave a manner, that he on a sudden became very familiarly a man of no consequence; and in an instant laid all her suspicions of his skill asleep, as he almost had done mine, till I observed him very dangerously turn his discourse upon the elegance of her dress, and her judgment in the choice of that very pretty mourning. Having had women before under my care, I trembled at the apprehension of a man of sense, who could talk upon trifles, and resolved to stick to my post with all the circumspection imaginable. In short, I prepossessed her against all he could say to the advantage of her dress and person; but he turned again the discourse, where I found I had no power over her, on the abusing her friends and acquaintance. He allowed indeed, that Flora had a little beauty, and a great deal of wit; but then she was so ungainly in her behaviour, and such a laughing hoyden—Pastorella had with him the allowance of being blameless: but what was that towards being praiseworthy? To be only innocent, is not to be virtuous. He afterwards spoke so much against Mrs. Dipple's forehead, Mrs. Prim's mouth, Mrs. Dentifrice's teeth, and Mrs. Fidget's cheeks, that she grew downright in love with him: for it is always to be understood, that a lady takes all you detract from the rest of her sex to be a gift to her. In a word, things went so far, that I was dismissed, and she will remember that evening nine months, from the 6th of April, by a very remarkable token. The next, as I said, I went to was a common swearer: never was creature so puzzled as myself when I came first to view his brain; half of it was worn out, and filled up with mere expletives, that had nothing to do with any other parts of the texture; therefore, when he called for his clothes in a morning, he would cry, 'John—?' John does not answer. 'What a plague! Nobody there? What the devil, and rot me! John, for a lazy dog as you are.' I knew no way to cure him, but by writing down all he said one morning as he was dressing, and laying it before him on the toilet when he came to pick his teeth. The last recital I gave him of what he said for half an hour before, was, 'What, a pox rot me! Where is the washball? Call the chairmen: damn them, I warrant they are at the ale-house already! Zounds, and confound them.' When he came to the glass, he takes up my note—'Ha! this fellow is worse than me: what, does he swear with pen and ink?' But reading on, he found them to be his own words. The stratagem had so good an effect upon him, that he grew immediately a new man, and is learning to speak without an oath, which makes him extremely short in his phrases; for, as I observed before, a common swearer has a brain without any idea on the swearing side; therefore my ward has yet mighty little to say, and is forced to substitute some other vehicle of nonsense to supply the defect of his usual expletives. When I left him, he made use of, 'Oddsbodikins!' 'Oh me!' and, 'Never stir alive!' and so forth; which gave me hopes of his recovery. So I went to the next I told you of, the gamester. When we first take our place about a man, the receptacles of the pericranium are immediately searched. In his, I found no one ordinary trace of thinking; but strong passion, violent desires, and a continued series of different changes, had torn it to pieces. There appeared no middle condition; the triumph of a prince, or the misery of a beggar, were his alternate states. I was with him no longer than one day, which was yesterday. In the morning at twelve, we were worth four thousand pounds; at three, we were arrived at six thousand; half an hour after, we were reduced to one thousand; at four of the clock, we were down to two hundred; at five, to fifty; at six, to five; at seven, to one guinea; the next bet, to nothing: this morning, he borrowed half a crown of the maid who cleans his shoes; and is now gaming in Lincoln's Inn Fields among the boys for farthings and oranges, till he has made up three pieces, and then he returns to White's into the best company in town."" This ended our first discourse; and it is hoped, you will forgive me, that I have picked so little out of my companion at our first interview. In the next, it is possible he may tell me more pleasing incidents; for though he is a familiar, he is not an evil spirit.",2014-01-11 21:19:39 UTC,"""The next, as I said, I went to was a common swearer: never was creature so puzzled as myself when I came first to view his brain; half of it was worn out, and filled up with mere expletives, that had nothing to do with any other parts of the texture.""",2014-01-11 21:19:39 UTC,"","",,"","",Reading,23336,7789
"Memory then conceive to be nothing else but a Repository of Ideas formed partly by the Senses, but chiefly by the Soul it self: I say, partly by the Senses, because they are as it were the Collectors or Carriers of the Impressions made by Objects from without, delivering them to the Repository or Storehouse where they are to be used. Which Impressions being actual Motions, as I have plainly proved in the Explication of the Organ of the Eye, and the Operation of Light, those Motions conveyed to this Repository become Powers sufficient to effect such Formations of Ideas as the Soul does guide and direct them in: For I conceive no Idea can be really formed or stored up in this Repository, without the Directive and Archiectonical Power of the Soul; and the Actions or Impressions cease and fail without the concurrent Act of the Soul, which regulates and disposes of such Powers.
(p. 140)",2014-07-30 15:47:14 UTC,"""Memory then conceive to be nothing else but a Repository of Ideas formed partly by the Senses, but chiefly by the Soul it self: I say, partly by the Senses, because they are as it were the Collectors or Carriers of the Impressions made by Objects from without, delivering them to the Repository or Storehouse where they are to be used.""",2014-07-30 15:47:14 UTC,Section 7,"",,Rooms,"","Reading John W. Yolton, ""As in a Looking-Glass: Perceptual Acquaintance in Eighteenth-Century Britain."" Journal of the History of Ideas 40:2 (1979): 212-213.",24374,8012