One may gain "absolute empire over the mind" of another
— Smollett, Tobias (1721-1777)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Robinson and Roberts
Date
1769
Metaphor
One may gain "absolute empire over the mind" of another
Metaphor in Context
Taycho, who had gained an absolute empire over the mind of the Dairo, and could not foresee how his interest might stand with his successor, was heartily disposed to concur in any feasible experiment for the recovery of Got-hama-baba: he therefore consented that the mouths of the council should be unpadlocked
pro hac vice, and the members were assembled without delay; with this express proviso, however, that they were to confine their deliberations to the subject of the Dairo and his distemper. By this time the physicians had discovered the cause of the disorder, which was no other than his being stung by a poisonous insect produced in the land of Yesso, analogous to the tarantula, which is said to do so much mischief in some parts of Apuglia, as we are told by Ælian, Epiphanius Ferdinandus, and Baglivi. In both cases the only effectual remedy was music; and now the council was called to determine what sort of music should be administered. You must know, Peacock, the Japonese are but indifferently skilled in this art, tho', in general, they affect to be connoisseurs. They are utterly ignorant of the theory, and in the practice are excelled by all their neighbours, the Tartars not excepted. For my own part, I studied music under Pythagoras at Crotona. He found the scale of seven tones imperfect, and added the octave as a fixed, sensible, and intelligent termination of an interval, which included every possible division, and determined all the relative differences of sounds: besides, he taught us how to express the octave by ?, & c. & c. But why should I talk to thee of the antient digramma, the genera, & c. of music, which with their colours, were constructed by a division of the diatessaron. Thou art too dull and ignorant to comprehend the chromatic species, the construction of the tetrachord, the Phrygian, the Lydian, and other modes of the antient music: and for distinction of ear, thou mightest be justly ranked among the braying tribe that graze along the ditches of Tottenham-court or Hockley-i'the-hole.
pro hac vice, and the members were assembled without delay; with this express proviso, however, that they were to confine their deliberations to the subject of the Dairo and his distemper. By this time the physicians had discovered the cause of the disorder, which was no other than his being stung by a poisonous insect produced in the land of Yesso, analogous to the tarantula, which is said to do so much mischief in some parts of Apuglia, as we are told by Ælian, Epiphanius Ferdinandus, and Baglivi. In both cases the only effectual remedy was music; and now the council was called to determine what sort of music should be administered. You must know, Peacock, the Japonese are but indifferently skilled in this art, tho', in general, they affect to be connoisseurs. They are utterly ignorant of the theory, and in the practice are excelled by all their neighbours, the Tartars not excepted. For my own part, I studied music under Pythagoras at Crotona. He found the scale of seven tones imperfect, and added the octave as a fixed, sensible, and intelligent termination of an interval, which included every possible division, and determined all the relative differences of sounds: besides, he taught us how to express the octave by ?, & c. & c. But why should I talk to thee of the antient digramma, the genera, & c. of music, which with their colours, were constructed by a division of the diatessaron. Thou art too dull and ignorant to comprehend the chromatic species, the construction of the tetrachord, the Phrygian, the Lydian, and other modes of the antient music: and for distinction of ear, thou mightest be justly ranked among the braying tribe that graze along the ditches of Tottenham-court or Hockley-i'the-hole.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "empire" and "mind" in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
7 entries in the ESTC (1769, 1786, 1795, 1797, 1799).
Tobias Smollett, The History and Adventures of an Atom, 2 vols. (London: Robinson and Roberts, 1769). <Link to ECCO>
Tobias Smollett, The History and Adventures of an Atom, 2 vols. (London: Robinson and Roberts, 1769). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
08/11/2004
