"But as good books are the medicine of the mind, if we should dethrone these authors, and consider them, not in their royal, but their medicinal capacity, might it not then be said, that Addison prescribed a wholesome and pleasant regimen, which was universally relished, and did much good; that Pope preferred a purgative of satire, which, tho' wholesome, was too painful in its operation; and that Swift insisted on a large dose of ipecacuanha, which, tho' readily swallowed from the fame of the physician, yet, if the patient had any delicacy of taste, he threw up the remedy, instead of the disease?"
— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
A. Millar and R. and J. Dodsley
Date
1759
Metaphor
"But as good books are the medicine of the mind, if we should dethrone these authors, and consider them, not in their royal, but their medicinal capacity, might it not then be said, that Addison prescribed a wholesome and pleasant regimen, which was universally relished, and did much good; that Pope preferred a purgative of satire, which, tho' wholesome, was too painful in its operation; and that Swift insisted on a large dose of ipecacuanha, which, tho' readily swallowed from the fame of the physician, yet, if the patient had any delicacy of taste, he threw up the remedy, instead of the disease?"
Metaphor in Context
But as good books are the medicine of the mind, if we should dethrone these authors, and consider them, not in their royal, but their medicinal capacity, might it not then be said, that Addison prescribed a wholesome and pleasant regimen, which was universally relished, and did much good; that Pope preferred a purgative of satire, which, tho' wholesome, was too painful in its operation; and that Swift insisted on a large dose of ipecacuanha, which, tho' readily swallowed from the fame of the physician, yet, if the patient had any delicacy of taste, he threw up the remedy, instead of the disease?
(97-8)
(97-8)
Categories
Provenance
http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/displayprose.cfm?prosenum=16
Citation
At least 12 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1759, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1774, 1778, 1796, 1798).
See Conjectures on Original Composition. In a Letter to the Author of Sir Charles Grandison. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in The Strand; and R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1759). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
The text was initially drawn from RPO and Chadwyck-Healey's Literature Online (LION). The LION text claims to reproduce the 1759 printing but is marred by typographical errors and has been irregularly modernized. These entries checked against Google Books page images for accuracy and corrected for obvious errors, but italics and capitalization have not yet been uniformly transcribed.
See Conjectures on Original Composition. In a Letter to the Author of Sir Charles Grandison. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in The Strand; and R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1759). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
The text was initially drawn from RPO and Chadwyck-Healey's Literature Online (LION). The LION text claims to reproduce the 1759 printing but is marred by typographical errors and has been irregularly modernized. These entries checked against Google Books page images for accuracy and corrected for obvious errors, but italics and capitalization have not yet been uniformly transcribed.
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
Date of Review
10/22/2003
