work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
4136,Soliloquy,Reading,2003-11-06 00:00:00 UTC,"Go to the poets, and they will present you with many instances. Nothing is more common with them than this sort of soliloquy. A person of profound parts, or perhaps of ordinary capacity, happens on some occasion to commit a fault. He is concerned for it. He comes alone upon the stage, looks about him to see if anybody be near, then takes himself to task without sparing himself in the least. You would wonder to hear how close he pushes matters and how thoroughly he carries on the business of self-dissection. By virtue of this soliloquy, he becomes two distinct persons. He is pupil and preceptor. He teaches and he learns. And, in good earnest, had I nothing else to plead in behalf of the morals of our modern dramatic poets, I should defend them still against their accusers for the sake of this very practice, which they have taken care to keep up in its full force. For whether the practice be natural or no in respect of common custom and usage, I take upon me to assert that it is an honest and laudable practice and that, if already it be not natural to us, we ought however to make it so by study and application.
(p. 72)",,10612,•Cross-reference: the preceding bit about self-dissection puts me in mind of Godwin. Is this an intertext?,"""You would wonder to hear how close he pushes matters and how thoroughly he carries on the business of self-dissection. By virtue of this soliloquy, he becomes two distinct persons. He is pupil and preceptor. He teaches and he learns.""",Inhabitants,2013-07-09 20:00:10 UTC,"Part I, Section 1"
4136,"",Reading,2003-11-06 00:00:00 UTC,"Much more is this the Case in Dialogue. For here the Author is annihilated; and the Reader being no way apply'd to, stands for Nobody. The self-interesting Partys both vanish at once. The Scene presents it-self, as by chance, and undesign'd. You are not only left to judg coolly, and with indifference, of the Sense deliver'd; but of the Character, Genius, Elocution, and Manner of the Persons who deliver it. These too are mere Strangers, in whose favour you are no way engag'd. Nor is it enough that the Persons introduc'd speak pertinent and good Sense, at every turn. It must be seen from what bottom they speak; from what Principle, what Stock or Fund of Knowledg they draw; and what Kind or Species of Understanding they possess. For the Understanding here must have its Mark, its characteristick Note, by which it may be distinguish'd. It must be such and such an Understanding; as when we say, for instance, such or such a Face: since Nature has characteriz'd Tempers and Minds as peculiarly as Faces. And for an Artist who draws naturally, 'tis not enough to shew us merely Faces which may be call'd Men's: Every Face must be a certain Man's.
(pp. 201-2, p. 90 in Klein)",,10626,"","""It must be such and such an Understanding; as when we say, for instance, such or such a Face: since Nature has characteriz'd Tempers and Minds as peculiarly as Faces.""","",2013-07-10 14:46:13 UTC,"Part I, Section 3"
7520,"",Reading; text from C-H Lion,2013-07-09 16:49:08 UTC,"It was heretofore the Wisdom of some wise Nations, to let People be Fools as much as they pleas'd, and never to punish seriously what deserv'd only to be laugh'd at, and was after all best cur'd by that innocent Remedy. There are certain Humours in Mankind, which of necessity must have vent. The Human Mind and Body are both of 'em naturally subject to Commotions: and as there are strange Ferments in the Blood, which in many Bodys occasion an extraordinary discharge; so in Reason too, there are heterogeneous Particles which must be thrown off by Fermentation. Shou'd Physicians endeavour absolutely to allay those Ferments of the Body, and strike in the Humours which discover themselves in such Eruptions, they might, instead of making a Cure, bid fair perhaps to raise a Plague, and turn a Spring-Ague or an Autumn-Surfeit into an epidemical malignant Fever. They are certainly as ill Physicians in the Body-Politick, who wou'd needs be tampering with these mental Eruptions; and under the specious pretence of healing this Itch of Superstition, and saving Souls from the Contagion of Enthusiasm, shou'd set all Nature in an uproar, and turn a few innocent Carbuncles into an Inflammation and mortal Gangrene.
(pp. 13-14; p. 9 in Klein)",,21575,"","""They are certainly as ill Physicians in the Body-Politick, who wou'd needs be tampering with these mental Eruptions; and under the specious pretence of healing this Itch of Superstition, and saving Souls from the Contagion of Enthusiasm, shou'd set all Nature in an uproar, and turn a few innocent Carbuncles into an Inflammation and mortal Gangrene.""","",2013-07-09 16:49:08 UTC,Section 3
4103,"",Reading,2013-07-09 19:30:05 UTC,"There is indeed a kind of defensive Raillery (if I may so call it) which I am willing enough to allow in Affairs of whatever kind; when the Spirit of Curiosity wou'd force a Discovery of more Truth than can conveniently be told. For we can never do more injury to Truth, than by discovering too much of it, on some occasions. 'Tis the same with Understandings as with Eyes: To such a certain Size and Make just so much Light is necessary, and no more. Whatever is beyond, brings Darkness and Confusion.
(p. 62; p. 30 in Klein)",,21585,"","""'Tis the same with Understandings as with Eyes: To such a certain Size and Make just so much Light is necessary, and no more. Whatever is beyond, brings Darkness and Confusion.""",Eye,2013-07-09 19:30:05 UTC,""
4103,"",Reading,2013-07-09 19:32:13 UTC,"Nor is it a wonder that Men are generally such faint Reasoners, and care so little to argue strictly on any trivial Subject in Company; when they dare so little exert their Reason in greater Matters, and are forc'd to argue lamely, where they have need of the greatest Activity and Strength. The same thing therefore happens here as in strong and healthy Bodys, which are debar'd their natural Exercise, and confin'd in a narrow Space. They are forc'd to use odd Gestures and Contortions. They have a sort of Action, and move still, tho with the worst Grace imaginable. For the animal Spirits in such sound and active Limbs cannot lie dead, or without Employment. And thus the natural free Spirits of ingenious Men, if imprison'd and controul'd, will find out other ways of Motion to relieve themselves in their Constraint: and whether it be in Burlesque, Mimickry or Buffoonery, they will be glad at any rate to vent themselves, and be reveng'd on their Constrainers.
(p. 71; p. 34 in Klein)",,21587,"","""Nor is it a wonder that Men are generally such faint Reasoners, and care so little to argue strictly on any trivial Subject in Company; when they dare so little exert their Reason in greater Matters, and are forc'd to argue lamely, where they have need of the greatest Activity and Strength. The same thing therefore happens here as in strong and healthy Bodys, which are debar'd their natural Exercise, and confin'd in a narrow Space. They are forc'd to use odd Gestures and Contortions.""","",2013-07-09 19:32:13 UTC,""
4136,"",Reading,2013-07-09 21:27:21 UTC,"Now such as these Masters and their Lessons are to a fine Gentleman, such are Philosophers, and Philosophy, to an Author. The Case is the same in the fashionable, and in the literate World. In the former of these 'tis remark'd, that by the help of good Company and the force of Example merely, a decent Carriage is acquir'd, with such apt Motions and such a Freedom of Limbs, as on all ordinary occasions may enable the Party to demean himself like a Gentleman. But when upon further occasion, trial is made in an extraordinary way; when Exercises of the genteeler kind are to be perform'd in publick, 'twill easily appear who of the Pretenders have known Rudiments, and had Masters in private; and who on the other side have contented themselves with bare Imitation, and learnt only casually and by rote. The Parallel is easily made on the side of Writers. They have at least as much need of learning the several Motions, Counterpoises and Ballances of the Mind and Passions, as the other Students those of the Body and Limbs.
(p. 191; p. 86 in Klein)",,21599,"","The Parallel is easily made on the side of Writers. They have at least as much need of learning the several Motions, Counterpoises and Ballances of the Mind and Passions, as the other Students those of the Body and Limbs.""","",2013-07-09 21:27:21 UTC,""
7540,"","",2013-07-11 18:52:20 UTC,"To this I answer, that tho' Longinus did by long Study, and habitude know the Sublime when he saw it, as well as any Man, yet he had not so clear a knowledge of the Nature of it as to explain it clearly to others. For if he had done that, as the Objector says, he would have defin'd it, but he has been so far from defining it, that in one place he has given an account of it that is contrary to the true nature of it. For he tells us in that Chapter which treats of the Fountains of Sublimity, that Loftiness is often without any Passion at all. Which is contrary to the true nature of it. The sublime is indeed often without Common Passion, as ordinary Passion is often without that. But then it is never without Enthusiastick Passion. For the Sublime is nothing else but a great Thought, or Great Thoughts moving the Soul from it's Ordinary Scituation by the Enthusiasm which naturally attends them. Now Longinus had a notion of Enthusiastick Passion; for he establishes it in that very Chapter for the second Source of Sublimity. Now Longinus by affirming that the Sublime may be without not only that, but ordinary Passion, says a thing that is not only contrary to the true Nature of it, but contradictory of Himself. For he tells us in the beginning of the Treatise that the Sublime does not so properly persuade us, as it Ravishes and Transports us, and produces in us a certain Admiration mingled with astonishment and with surprise, which is quite another thing than the barely Pleasing or the barely perswading; that it gives a noble Vigour to a Discourse, an invincible force which commits a pleasing Rape upon the very Soul of the Reader; that whenever it breaks out where it ought to do, like the Artillery of Jove, it Thunders blazes and strikes at once, and shews all the united force of a Writer. Now I leave the Reader to Judge, whether Longinius has not been saying here all along that Sublimity is never without Passion.
(pp. 77-9)",,21661,"Whoa! — Crazy: sublimity and ""pleasing Rape."" INTEREST and REVISIT.","""For he tells us in the beginning of the Treatise that the Sublime does not so properly persuade us, as it Ravishes and Transports us, and produces in us a certain Admiration mingled with astonishment and with surprise, which is quite another thing than the barely Pleasing or the barely perswading; that it gives a noble Vigour to a Discourse, an invincible force which commits a pleasing Rape upon the very Soul of the Reader; that whenever it breaks out where it ought to do, like the Artillery of Jove, it Thunders blazes and strikes at once, and shews all the united force of a Writer.""","",2013-07-11 18:52:20 UTC,""
7704,"",Searching in Google Books,2013-10-13 16:01:50 UTC,"[...] You must therefore expect to have me live with you hereafter, with all the Liberty and Assurance of a settled Friendship. For meeting with but few Men in the World whose Acquaintance I find much reason to covet, I make more than ordinary Haste into the Familiarity of a rational Enquirer after, and Lover of Truth, whenever I can light on any such. There are Beauties of the Mind, as well as of the Body, that take and prevail at first sight: And where-ever I have met with this, I have readily surrendered my self, and have never yet been deceiv'd in my Expectation. Wonder not therefore, if having been thus wrought on, I begin to converse with you with as much Freedom as if we had begun, our Acquaintance when you were in Holland; and desire your Advice and Assistance about a second Edition of my Essay, the former being now dispersed. [...]
(p. 10)",,22958,"","""There are Beauties of the Mind, as well as of the Body, that take and prevail at first sight: And where-ever I have met with this, I have readily surrendered my self, and have never yet been deceiv'd in my Expectation.""","",2013-10-13 16:01:50 UTC,""
7804,"",Searching in ECCO-TCP,2014-03-02 19:12:11 UTC,"WHEN Labour was pronounced to be the Portion of Man, that Doom reached the Affections of his Mind, as well as his Person, the Matter on which he was to feed, and all the animal and vegetable World about him. There is therefore an assiduous Care and Cultivation to be bestowed upon our Passions and Affections; for they, as they are the Excrescencies of our Souls, like our Hair and Beards, look horrid or becoming, as we cut or let 'em grow. All this grave Preface is meant to assign a Reason in Nature for the unaccountable Behaviour of Duumvir, the Husband and Keeper. Ten Thousand Follies had this unhappy Man escaped, had he made a Compact with himself to be upon his Guard, and not permitted his vagrant Eye to let in so many different Inclinations upon him, as all his Days he has been perplexed with. But indeed at present he has brought himself to be confined only to one prevailing Mistress; between whom and his Wife, Duumvir passes his Hours in all the Vicissitudes which attend Passion and Affection, without the Intervention of Reason. Laura his Wife, and Phillis his Mistress, are all with whom he has had, for some Months, the least amorous Commerce. Duumvir has passed the Noon of Life; but cannot withdraw from those Entertainments which are pardonable only before that Stage of our Being, and which after that Season are rather Punishments than Satisfactions: For pall'd Appetite is humorous, and must be gratified with Sauces rather than Food. For which End Duumvir is provided with an haughty, imperious, expensive, and fantastick Mistress, to whom he retires from the Conversation of an affable, humble, discrect, and affectionate Wife. Laura receives him after Absence with an easie and unaffected Complacency; but that he calls insipid: Phillis rates him for his Absence, and bids him return from whence he came: This he calls Spirit and Fire. Laura's Gentleness is thought mean; Phillis's Insolence, sprightly. Were you to see him at his own Home, and his Mistress's Lodgings, to Phillis he appears an obsequious Lover, to Laura an imperious Master. Nay, so unjust is the Taste of Duumvir, that he owns Laura has no ill Quality, but that she is his Wife; Phillis no good one, but that she is his Mistress. And he has himself often said, were he married to any one else, he would rather keep Laura than any Woman living; yet allows at the same Time, that Phillis, were she a Woman of Honour, would have been the most insipid Animal breathing. [...]
(II, pp. 23-4; cf. I, pp. 378-9 in Bond ed.)",,23410,"","""There is therefore an assiduous Care and Cultivation to be bestowed upon our Passions and Affections; for they, as they are the Excrescencies of our Souls, like our Hair and Beards, look horrid or becoming, as we cut or let 'em grow.""","",2014-03-02 19:12:11 UTC,""
8012,"","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.
",2014-07-30 15:36:03 UTC,"[...] Now by reason of the great Variety that there is in differing Objects, as to the Quantity and Strength, and that the Retina, or sensating part is capable only of receiving Impressions to a certain Degree of Strength, without being hurt by it, there is a contrivance in the Eye, which I shall afterwards more fully explain, by which the Quantity of the Rays admitted is moderated, so as to keep it, that the impression does not exceed that limit: And this is the Aperture or Hole through the Iris, which is the black Hole that appears in the middle of the transparent part of the Eye; for this Hole which admits the Rays to pass into the Eye, is contracted or dilated, according as the object is brighter or darker; that a lesser Quantity of the stronger Rays, and a greater Quantity of the weaker Rays may be admitted, and hence it is, that a brighter Object: among dimmer Objects, does cloud and darken them, because the aperture of the Iris being contracted protionable to the strength of the brighter, the Rays, admitted from the fainter and more dim Objects, are not sufficient to make a sensible Impression. So that the effect of the Rays are by this means proportion'd to the Ability of the sensible Part of the Eye to bear the Impression, and where notwithstanding the utmost contraction of this aperture of the Iris, the Rays make too strong an impression upon the Retina, we are forc'd to wink and close the Eye-Lids nearer, to shut out part of that quantity of Light which would otherwise have entred into the Eye; or to look through a small Hole, or through an opacous Body. And hence it is, that any one may with ease look upon the Sun, if he look through a small Pin-hole in a Plate, by which means one may with pleasure see an Eclipse of the Sun, without using any opacous Glass; though if the Cornea, or any other part of the Eye, be any ways opacous, this way discovers the Defects of them, and does somewhat vitiate the Figure of the Object. But of this, and the manner of contracting of the Pupil, more, when I come to explain that part of the Eye; that which intention it for at present is, only to explain how the Eye becomes as it were a Hand, by which the Brain feels, and touches (the Objects, by creating a Motion in the Retina, the same, and at the same Instant; with the Motion of the lucid Object it self. For the make of the Eye is such, in all its Contrivance and Parts, that the Conical Ray of Light proceeding from a Point of the Object, terminating with a Divergency in the Aperture, or Cornea of the Eye, ib Refraction thereof again reunited into a Point at the Focus, which is in the Retina [...]
(p. 124)",,24373,"","""But of this, and the manner of contracting of the Pupil, more, when I come to explain that part of the Eye; that which intention it for at present is, only to explain how the Eye becomes as it were a Hand, by which the Brain feels, and touches (the Objects, by creating a Motion in the Retina, the same, and at the same Instant; with the Motion of the lucid Object it self.""","",2014-07-30 15:36:03 UTC,Section 5