"Neither cou'd our Spy, considering his Education in the Mahometan Religion, take a properer Method, in my Opinion, to disengage himself from the Legends of the Nursery, and Fables of the Schools, (as a great man calls our Infant Idea's of things) than to follow the Counsel of his beloved des Cartes, the French Philosopher, whom he so much admired; and who advises every one that wou'd perfect his Reason, and arrive at the Knowledge of undisguised Truth, to shake off the Prepossessions and Prejudices of his Infancy and Youth; to wipe, brush, or sweep his Soul clean of the very Dust and Relicks left behind on our Faculties, by these first Foreign Invasions and Encroachments on our Minds."
— Marana, Giovanni Paolo (1642-1693); Anonymous [William Bradshaw (fl. 1700) or Robert Midgley (1655?-1723)?]
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Rhodes, D. Brown, R. Sare, B. and S. Tooke, G. Strahan, W. Mears, S. Ballard, and F. Clay
Date
1723
Metaphor
"Neither cou'd our Spy, considering his Education in the Mahometan Religion, take a properer Method, in my Opinion, to disengage himself from the Legends of the Nursery, and Fables of the Schools, (as a great man calls our Infant Idea's of things) than to follow the Counsel of his beloved des Cartes, the French Philosopher, whom he so much admired; and who advises every one that wou'd perfect his Reason, and arrive at the Knowledge of undisguised Truth, to shake off the Prepossessions and Prejudices of his Infancy and Youth; to wipe, brush, or sweep his Soul clean of the very Dust and Relicks left behind on our Faculties, by these first Foreign Invasions and Encroachments on our Minds."
Metaphor in Context
Neither cou'd our Spy, considering his Education in the Mahometan Religion, take a properer Method, in my Opinion, to disengage himself from the Legends of the Nursery, and Fables of the Schools, (as a great man calls our Infant Idea's of things) than to follow the Counsel of his beloved des Cartes, the French Philosopher, whom he so much admired; and who advises every one that wou'd perfect his Reason, and arrive at the Knowledge of undisguised Truth, to shake off the Prepossessions and Prejudices of his Infancy and Youth; to wipe, brush, or sweep his Soul clean of the very Dust and Relicks left behind on our Faculties, by these first Foreign Invasions and Encroachments on our Minds. Having thus cleaned and polish'd the Soul, it becomes a pure Tabula Rasa, fit for the best or worst Impressions. And here's the first Start of the Free-Will: For, before this, a man is a perfect Slave, driven up and down by every Spirit that blows some Strength and Consistence in himself: Being able to say with interior and solid Reason: Cogito, ergo sum. Fixing there on this Foundation, he builds a Fortress, or Strong-Hold; from whence he defies all the Attempts of open Enemies, or sly secret interlopers [...]
Categories
Provenance
Searching "tabula rasa" in ECCO; found again reading Srinivas Aravamudan's Enlightenment Orientalism (U. of Chicago Press, 2012), p. 48.
Citation
Based on a 30-letter Italian original, L'esploratore turco (1684), by Giovannia Paolo Marana (1642-1693), L'espion turc was published in French in 1684; The Turkish Spy, in English in 1687. Multiple entries in the ESTC. Sixth edition in 1694, 19th edition in 1718, 25th in 1753. After the success of the first volume, the work was expanded to 632 letters and published in eight volumes, attributed to various authors in 1696-97.
Text from The First Volume of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy, Who lived five and forty years, undiscover'd at Paris: Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan, at Constantinople, of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe; And discovering several Intrigues and secrets of the Christian Courts (especially of that of France.) From the Year 1637, to the Year 1682. Written Originaly in Arabick, First Translated into Italian, afterwards into French, and now into English. 20th ed. Vol. 1. (London: Printed for J. Rhodes, D. Brown, R. Sare, B. and S. Tooke, G. Strahan, W. Mears, S. Ballard, and F. Clay, 1723).
Text from The First Volume of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy, Who lived five and forty years, undiscover'd at Paris: Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan, at Constantinople, of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe; And discovering several Intrigues and secrets of the Christian Courts (especially of that of France.) From the Year 1637, to the Year 1682. Written Originaly in Arabick, First Translated into Italian, afterwards into French, and now into English. 20th ed. Vol. 1. (London: Printed for J. Rhodes, D. Brown, R. Sare, B. and S. Tooke, G. Strahan, W. Mears, S. Ballard, and F. Clay, 1723).
Date of Entry
10/11/2006
