Johnstone, Charles (c.1719-c.1800)

Chrysal; or the Adventures of a Guinea

London

Printed for T. Beckett

1760

"[W]hen the mighty spirit of a large mass of gold takes possession of the human heart, it influences all its actions, and overpowers, or banishes, the weaker impulse of those immaterial, unessential notions called virtues"

And as you may be at a loss, to know how I could arrive at the knowledge of such facts, many of which happened long before my converse with those persons, I shall inform you, that besides that intuitive knowledge common to all spirits, we of superior orders, who animate this universal monarch Gold, have also a power of entering into the hearts of the immediate possessors of our bodies, and there reading all the secrets of their lives. And this will explain to you, the cause of that love of gold, which is so remarkable in all who possess any quantity of that metal*[1]. For the operation of every material cause, is in proportion to [Page 7] the strength of the spirit actuating that cause; as the strength of the spirit is reciprocally in proportion to the quantity of his material body: and consequently, when the mighty spirit of a large mass of gold takes possession of the human heart, it influences all its actions, and overpowers, or banishes, the weaker impulse of those immaterial, unessential notions called virtues. And this intuition, and power of transmigration I have thus explained, to remove every shadow of doubt of what I shall relate.
(pp. 6-7)

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22 entries in the ESTC (1760, 1761, 1762, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1771, 1775, 1783, 1785, 1794, 1797).

See Chrysal; or the Adventures of a Guinea. Wherein are exhibited Views of several striking Scenes, with Curious and interesting Anecdotes of the most Noted Persons in every Rank of Life, whose Hands it passed through in America, England, Holland, Germany, and Portugal. By an Adept. (London: Printed for T. Beckett, 1760). <Link to Hathi Trust>

06/02/2005