Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, To My Lord ***** [collected in Characteristics]

London

Printed for J. Morphew

1708, 1714

"Something there will be of Extravagance and Fury, when the Ideas or Images receiv'd are too big for the narrow human Vessel to contain."

Something there will be of Extravagance and Fury, when the Ideas or Images receiv'd are too big for the narrow human Vessel to contain. So that Inspiration may be justly call'd Divine Enthusiasm: For the Word it self signifies Divine Presence, and was made use of by the Philosopher whom the earliest Christian Fathers call'd Divine, to express whatever was sublime in human Passions. This was the Spirit he allotted to Heroes, Statesmen, Poets, Orators, Musicians, and even Philosophers themselves. Nor can we, of our own accord, forbear ascribing to a noble Enthusiasm, whatever is greatly perform'd by any of These. So that almost all of us know something of this Principle. But to know it as we shou'd do, and discern it in its several kinds, both in ourselves, and others; this is the great Work, and by this means alone we can hope to avoid Delusion. For to judg the Spirits whether they are of God, we must antecedently judg our own Spirit; whether it be of Reason, and sound Sense; whether it be fit to judg at all, by being sedate, cool, and impartial; free of every byassing Passion, every giddy Vapour, or melancholy Fume. This is the first Knowledg and previous Judgment: to understand ourselves, and know what Spirit we are of. Afterwards we may judg the Spirit in others, consider what their personal Merit is, and prove the Validity of their Testimony by the Solidity of their Brain. By this means we may prepare our-selves with some Antidote against Enthusiasm. And this is what I have dar'd affirm is best perform'd by keeping to Good Humour. For otherwise the Remedy itself may turn to the Disease.
(pp. 53-5; pp. 27-8 in Klein)

Container::Vessel

Reading; text from C-H Lion

At least 10 entries in ESTC (1708, 1711, 1714, 1733, 1744, 1751, 1757, 1758, 1773, 1790). Letter dated September, 1707; printed the following year.

See A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, To My Lord ***** (London: J. Morphew, 1708). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>

See also "A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm" in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. In Three Volumes. (London: John Darby, 1711). <Link to ESTC>

Some text drawn from EEBO and ECCO, most from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury. Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, ed. Lawrence E. Klein (Cambridge: CUP, 2001). Klein's text is based on the British Library's copy of the second edition of 1714. [Texts to be collated.]

07/09/2013