work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
4611,"",Past Masters,2003-09-30 00:00:00 UTC,"This state of nature, therefore, is to be regarded as a mere fiction, not unlike that of the golden age which poets have invented; only with this difference, that the former is described as full of war, violence, and injustice; whereas the latter is painted out to us as the most charming and most peaceable condition that can possibly be imagined. The seasons, in that first age of nature, were so temperate, if we may believe the poets, that there was no necessity for men to provide themselves with cloaths and houses as a security against the violence of heat and cold. The rivers flowed with wine and milk; the oaks yielded honey; and nature spontaneously produced her greatest delicacies. Nor were these the chief advantages of that happy age. The storms and tempests were not alone removed from nature; but those more furious tempests were unknown to human breasts, which now cause such uproar, and engender such confusion. Avarice, ambition, cruelty, selfishness, were never heard of: cordial affection, compassion, sympathy, were the only movements with which the human mind was yet acquainted. Even the distinction of mine and thine was banished from that happy race of mortals, and carried with them the very notions of property, and obligation, justice and injustice.
This, no doubt, is to be regarded as an idle fiction; but yet deserves our attention, because nothing can more evidently shew the origin of those virtues, which are the subjects of our present enquiry.
(III.ii.2)",2010-10-04,12262,•As much an analogy as a metaphor. How to classify? REVISIT.,"""The storms and tempests were not alone removed from nature; but those more furious tempests were unknown to human breasts.""","",2010-10-04 17:26:21 UTC,III.ii.2
4684,"",Searching in ECCO,2006-10-10 00:00:00 UTC,"Ideas of Sensation furnish the Brutes, and altogether untaught Men with Objects of Use only to their Instincts, to enable them to exert those for their Personal Preservation to provide them with the Means of Subsistence, and to avoid Dangers; and of this Truth the New Holland and New Guinea Savages are as evident a Proof, as any other Species of mere Animals. To the instructed Man they afford a vast Quantity of Materials to exercise Knowledge on, but without being taught that [end page 26] Knowledge to apply them to artificial Purposes, they would signify no more to us, besides assisting the Instincts to take Care of that Body they were planted in, that vast Woods and Quarries of Marble in a Country would furnish it with Fleets, Palaces and Cities, without Workmen to fashion them, and Architects to put them into their respective beautiful Orders. Michael Angelo used to say, that a Statuary was a Man who only pared off Superfluities, since every Block of Marble contained in it all possible Forms; but without a Phidias, a Praxiteles, or a Michael Angelo himself, the Marble will lie for ever rude shapeless Mass in its Quarry. Some have said that the human Mind contained within it the Seeds of all Sciences; the Mind is indeed a Soil in which any of these Seeds may be sown, but it must be cultivated; and without an Husbandman it will continue a mere Tabula rasa, except what the Instincts write on it, without a possibility of astronomical, geographical or other learned Observations, let the Savage stare ever so much about him, and gaze up to the Skies all Night long, for the Stars are mere sensible Objects to the Brute and unlearned Man, as the Moon to a Dog, who only barks at it, or an ignorant Traveller, who neither doth nor can consider it farther than as he hath Occasion for its Light: But to the natural, moral and metaphysical Philosopher, all these become intel- [end page 27] ligible Species, Scientifick Objects, and afford Matter for great Variety and Depth of Learning. At present I require and will use no other Proof, than to desire any one to cast his Eyes and Observation on the ancient Athens and modern Setines, both as to Men and Buildings.
(pp. 26-8)",,12345,"•Rich passage. Postcolonial issues as well: savage as blank slates.
•I've included thrice: Woods, Quarry, Marble","""To the instructed Man [Ideas of Sensation] afford a vast Quantity of Materials to exercise Knowledge on, but without being taught that [end page 26] Knowledge to apply them to artificial Purposes, they would signify no more to us, besides assisting the Instincts to take Care of that Body they were planted in, that vast Woods and Quarries of Marble in a Country would furnish it with Fleets, Palaces and Cities, without Workmen to fashion them, and Architects to put them into their respective beautiful Orders""","",2009-09-14 19:36:52 UTC,""
4684,"",Searching in ECCO,2006-10-10 00:00:00 UTC,"Ideas of Sensation furnish the Brutes, and altogether untaught Men with Objects of Use only to their Instincts, to enable them to exert those for their Personal Preservation to provide them with the Means of Subsistence, and to avoid Dangers; and of this Truth the New Holland and New Guinea Savages are as evident a Proof, as any other Species of mere Animals. To the instructed Man they afford a vast Quantity of Materials to exercise Knowledge on, but without being taught that [end page 26] Knowledge to apply them to artificial Purposes, they would signify no more to us, besides assisting the Instincts to take Care of that Body they were planted in, that vast Woods and Quarries of Marble in a Country would furnish it with Fleets, Palaces and Cities, without Workmen to fashion them, and Architects to put them into their respective beautiful Orders. Michael Angelo used to say, that a Statuary was a Man who only pared off Superfluities, since every Block of Marble contained in it all possible Forms; but without a Phidias, a Praxiteles, or a Michael Angelo himself, the Marble will lie for ever rude shapeless Mass in its Quarry. Some have said that the human Mind contained within it the Seeds of all Sciences; the Mind is indeed a Soil in which any of these Seeds may be sown, but it must be cultivated; and without an Husbandman it will continue a mere Tabula rasa, except what the Instincts write on it, without a possibility of astronomical, geographical or other learned Observations, let the Savage stare ever so much about him, and gaze up to the Skies all Night long, for the Stars are mere sensible Objects to the Brute and unlearned Man, as the Moon to a Dog, who only barks at it, or an ignorant Traveller, who neither doth nor can consider it farther than as he hath Occasion for its Light: But to the natural, moral and metaphysical Philosopher, all these become intel- [end page 27] ligible Species, Scientifick Objects, and afford Matter for great Variety and Depth of Learning. At present I require and will use no other Proof, than to desire any one to cast his Eyes and Observation on the ancient Athens and modern Setines, both as to Men and Buildings.
(pp. 26-8)",,12348,"•Rich passage. Postcolonial issues as well: savage as blank slates.
•I've included thrice: Marble, Quarry, Statue","""Michael Angelo used to say, that a Statuary was a Man who only pared off Superfluities, since every Block of Marble contained in it all possible Forms; but without a Phidias, a Praxiteles, or a Michael Angelo himself, the Marble will lie for ever rude shapeless Mass in its Quarry.""","",2009-09-14 19:36:52 UTC,""
4684,"",Searching in ECCO,2006-10-10 00:00:00 UTC,"Ideas of Sensation furnish the Brutes, and altogether untaught Men with Objects of Use only to their Instincts, to enable them to exert those for their Personal Preservation to provide them with the Means of Subsistence, and to avoid Dangers; and of this Truth the New Holland and New Guinea Savages are as evident a Proof, as any other Species of mere Animals. To the instructed Man they afford a vast Quantity of Materials to exercise Knowledge on, but without being taught that [end page 26] Knowledge to apply them to artificial Purposes, they would signify no more to us, besides assisting the Instincts to take Care of that Body they were planted in, that vast Woods and Quarries of Marble in a Country would furnish it with Fleets, Palaces and Cities, without Workmen to fashion them, and Architects to put them into their respective beautiful Orders. Michael Angelo used to say, that a Statuary was a Man who only pared off Superfluities, since every Block of Marble contained in it all possible Forms; but without a Phidias, a Praxiteles, or a Michael Angelo himself, the Marble will lie for ever rude shapeless Mass in its Quarry. Some have said that the human Mind contained within it the Seeds of all Sciences; the Mind is indeed a Soil in which any of these Seeds may be sown, but it must be cultivated; and without an Husbandman it will continue a mere Tabula rasa, except what the Instincts write on it, without a possibility of astronomical, geographical or other learned Observations, let the Savage stare ever so much about him, and gaze up to the Skies all Night long, for the Stars are mere sensible Objects to the Brute and unlearned Man, as the Moon to a Dog, who only barks at it, or an ignorant Traveller, who neither doth nor can consider it farther than as he hath Occasion for its Light: But to the natural, moral and metaphysical Philosopher, all these become intel- [end page 27] ligible Species, Scientifick Objects, and afford Matter for great Variety and Depth of Learning. At present I require and will use no other Proof, than to desire any one to cast his Eyes and Observation on the ancient Athens and modern Setines, both as to Men and Buildings.
(pp. 26-8)",,12351,"•Rich passage. Postcolonial issues as well: savage as blank slates
•I've included thrice: Seeds, Soil and Tabula Rasa","""Some have said that the human Mind contained within it the Seeds of all Sciences; the Mind is indeed a Soil in which any of these Seeds may be sown, but it must be cultivated; and without an Husbandman it will continue a mere Tabula rasa, except what the Instincts write on it, without a possibility of astronomical, geographical or other learned Observations.""","",2009-09-14 19:36:53 UTC,""
4684,Blank Slate; Lockean Philosophy,"Searching ""tabula rasa"" in ECCO",2006-10-10 00:00:00 UTC,"[...] And I think that every Age and Nation, every Man that ever lived in any, every Thing that any Man knows, every Thing that he does not know, the Greek and Barbarian, the Attic flowing Eloquence and Laconic fullen thrift of Words, Mithridates, with his twenty two Languages, and the New-Guinea Savage with none, are all equally Proofs and Instances as well as what I have quoted from Mr. Locke, that the human Mind is a Tabula rasa, that any Thing may be writ upon it, and that it cannot have [end page 109] any Thing unless it be write there, but will remain a Blank for ever; that there is a vast variety of Inscriptions made on it, which shews that the Stuff must be the same, which is capable of receiving equally of many Millions of different Impressions.
(pp. 109-10)",,12354,•Rich passage. Postcolonial issues as well: savage as blank slates
•Author reverses the argument of innatists who claim blank slate can't account for diversity.
•I've included twice: Tabula Rasa and Inscriptions,"""I have quoted from Mr. Locke, that the human Mind is a Tabula rasa, that any Thing may be writ upon it, and that it cannot have any Thing unless it be write there, but will remain a Blank for ever; that there is a vast variety of Inscriptions made on it, which shews that the Stuff must be the same, which is capable of receiving equally of many Millions of different Impressions.""",Writing,2009-09-14 19:36:53 UTC,""
7099,"",Contributed by John O'Brien,2011-09-20 19:15:15 UTC,"[...] It was even a Fashion among the Gay, and Young, to have a Taste or Tendre for Mrs. Bracegirdle. She inspired the best Authors to write for her, and two of them, when they gave her a Lover, in a Play, seem'd palpably to plead their own Passions, and make their private Court to her, in fictitious Characters. In all the chief Parts she acted, the Desirable was so predominant, that no Judge could be cold enough to consider, from what other particular Excellence she became delightful. To speak critically of an Actress, that was extremely good, were as hazardous, as to be positive in one's Opinion of the best Opera Singer. People often judge by Comparison, where there is no Similitude, in the Performance. So that, in this case, we have only Taste to appeal to, and of Taste there can be no disputing. I shall therefore only say of Mrs. Bracegirdle, That the most eminent Authors always chose her for their favourite Character, and shall leave that uncontestable Proof of her Merit to its own Value. Yet let me say, there were two very different Characters in which she acquitted herself with uncommon Applause: If any thing could excuse that desperate Extravagance of Love, that almost frantick Passion of Lee's Alexander the Great, it must have been when Mrs. Bracegirdle was his Statira: As when she acted Millamant all the Faults, Follies, and Affectations of that agreeable Tyrant were venially melted down into so many Charms and Attractions of a conscious Beauty. In other Characters, where Singing was a necessary Part of them, her Voice and Action gave a Pleasure which good Sense, in those Days, was not asham'd to give Praise to.
(pp. 101-2)",,19201,"","""If any thing could excuse that desperate Extravagance of Love, that almost frantick Passion of Lee's Alexander the Great, it must have been when Mrs. Bracegirdle was his Statira: As when she acted Millamant all the Faults, Follies, and Affectations of that agreeable Tyrant were venially melted down into so many Charms and Attractions of a conscious Beauty.""","",2011-09-20 19:15:33 UTC,""
7099,"",Searching in ECCO,2011-09-20 19:42:03 UTC,"Now, Sir, when my Time comes, lest they shou'd think it worth while to handle my Memory with the same Freedom, I am willing to prevent its being so odly besmear'd (or at best but flatly white-wash'd) by taking upon me to give the Publick This, as true a Picture of myself as natural Vanity will permit me to draw: For to promise you that I shall never be vain, were a Promise that, like a Looking-glass too large, might break itself in the making: Nor am I sure I ought wholly to avoid that Imputation, because if Vanity be one of my natural Features, the Portrait wou'd not be like me without it. In a Word, I may palliate and soften as much as I please; but upon an honest Examination of my Heart, I am afraid the same Vanity which makes even homely People employ Painters to preserve a flattering Record of their Persons, has seduced me to print off this Chiaro Oscuro of my Mind.
(p. 3)",,19202,"","""In a Word, I may palliate and soften as much as I please; but upon an honest Examination of my Heart, I am afraid the same Vanity which makes even homely People employ Painters to preserve a flattering Record of their Persons, has seduced me to print off this Chiaro Oscuro of my Mind.""","",2011-09-20 19:42:21 UTC,""
7099,"",Searching in ECCO,2011-09-20 19:44:30 UTC,"And when I have done it, you may reasonably ask me of what Importance can the History of my private Life be to the Publick? To this, indeed, I can only make you a ludicrous Answer, which is, That the Publick very well knows my Life has not been a private one; that I have been employ'd in their Service ever since many of their Grandfathers were young Men; And tho' I have voluntarily laid down my Post, they have a sort of Right to enquire into my Conduct (for which they have so well paid me) and to call for the Account of it during my Share of Administration in the State of the Theatre. This Work, therefore, which I hope they will not expect a Man of hasty Head shou'd confine to any regular Method: (For I shall make no scruple of leaving my History when I think a Digression may make it lighter for my Reader's Digestion.) This Work, I say, shall not only contain the various Impressions of my Mind, (as in Louis the Fourteenth his Cabinet you have seen the growing Medals of his Person from Infancy to Old Age,) but shall likewise include with them the Theatrical History of my Own Time, from my first Appearance on the Stage to my last Exit.
(p. 4)
",,19203,USE IN ENTRY,"""This Work, I say, shall not only contain the various Impressions of my Mind, (as in Louis the Fourteenth his Cabinet you have seen the growing Medals of his Person from Infancy to Old Age,) but shall likewise include with them the Theatrical History of my Own Time, from my first Appearance on the Stage to my last Exit.""",Coinage,2011-09-20 19:50:31 UTC,""
7099,"",Searching in ECCO,2011-09-20 19:51:54 UTC,"[...] Not but there are among them a third Sort, who have the particular Happiness of unbending into the very Wantonness of Good-humour without depreciating their Dignity: He that is not Master of that Freedom, let his Condition be never so exalted, must still want something to come up to the Happiness of his Inferiors who enjoy it. If Socrates cou'd take pleasure in playing at Even or Odd with his Children, or Agesilaus divert himself in riding the Hobby-horse with them, am I oblig'd to be as eminent as either of them before I am as frolicksome? If the Emperor Adrian, near his death, cou'd play with his very Soul, his Animula, &c. and regret that it cou'd be no longer companionable; if Greatness at the same time was not the Delight he was so loth to part with, sure then these chearful Amusements I am contending for must have no inconsiderable share in our Happiness; he that does not chuse to live his own way, suffers others to chuse for him. Give me the Joy I always took in the End of an old Song,
My Mind, my Mind is a Kingdom to me!
If I can please myself with my own Follies, have not I a plentiful Provision for Life? If the World thinks me a Trifler, I don't desire to break in upon their Wisdom; let them call me any Fool but an Unchearful one; I live as I write; while my Way amuses me, it's as well as I wish it; when another writes better, I can like him too, tho' he shou'd not like me. Not our great Imitator of Horace himself can have more Pleasure in writing his Verses than I have in reading them, tho' I sometimes find myself there (as Shakespear terms it) dispraisingly spoken of: If he is a little free with me, I am generally in good Company, he is as blunt with my Betters; so that even here I might laugh in my turn. My Superiors, perhaps, may be mended by him; but, for my part, I own myself incorrigible: I look upon my Follies as the best part of my Fortune, and am more concern'd to be a good Husband of Them, than of That; nor do I believe I shall ever be rhim'd out of them.[...]
(pp. 13-14)",,19204,"","""My Mind, my Mind is a Kingdom to me!""","",2011-09-20 19:54:17 UTC,""
4611,"","Reading John Richetti's Philosophical Writing: Locke, Berkeley, Hume (Cambridge, MA; London, England: Harvard UP, 1983): 190.",2013-10-12 02:18:43 UTC,"The same system may help us to form a just notion of the happiness, as well as of the dignity of virtue, and may interest every principle of our nature in the embracing and cherishing that noble quality. Who indeed does not feel an accession of alacrity in his pursuits of knowledge and ability of every kind, when he considers that, besides the advantage which immediately result from these acquisitions, they also give him a new lustre in the eyes of mankind, and are universally attended with esteem and approbation? And who can think any advantages of fortune a sufficient compensation for the least breach of the social virtues, when he considers that not only his character with regard to others, but also his peace and inward satisfaction entirely depend upon his strict observance of them; and that a mind will never be able to bear its own survey, that has been wanting in its part to mankind and society? But I forbear insisting on this subject. Such reflections require a work apart, very different from the genius of the present. The anatomist ought never to emulate the painter; nor in his accurate dissections and portraitures of the smaller parts of the human body, pretend to give his figures any graceful and engaging attitude or expression. There is even something hideous, or at least minute, in the views of things which he presents; and it is necessary the objects should be set more at a distance, and be more covered up from sight, to make them engaging to the eye and imagination. An anatomist, however, is admirably fitted to give advice to a painter; and it is even impracticable to excel in the latter art without the assistance of the former. We must have an exact knowledge of the parts, their situation and connexion, before we can design with any elegance or correctness. And thus the most abstract speculations concerning human nature, however cold and unentertaining, become subservient to practical morality; and may render this latter science more correct in its precepts, and more persuasive in its exhortations.
(III.iii.6)",2011-03-06,22933,"Reassigned to 1740 printing. Record created on 2011-03-06 19:19:56 UTC
Record last updated on 2011-03-06 19:19:56 UTC
",""The anatomist ought never to emulate the painter; nor in his accurate dissections and portraitures of the smaller parts of the human body, pretend to give his figures any graceful and engaging attitude or expression. There is even something hideous, or at least minute, in the views of things which he presents; and it is necessary the objects should be set more at a distance, and be more covered up from sight, to make them engaging to the eye and imagination. An anatomist, however, is admirably fitted to give advice to a painter; and it is even impracticable to excel in the latter art without the assistance of the former.""","",2013-10-12 02:18:43 UTC,"Book III, Part 3, Section 6"