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Article CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF THE DUMB PHILOSOPHER. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Curious Account Of The Dumb Philosopher.
and Tatlers , and always found it rise or fall exactly as the subject required ; insomuch that I was able to distinguish theaufhor of everyparticular piece , by my glass , before I came to the end of it , to know it by the final letter . Having made these experiments , with books of so many different subjects , I resolved , before I concluded , to make a trial with a book or two of divinity : the first that came to my hands was a volume of Archbishop Tillotson's Sermons , and L
soon found all the signs of a strong judgment , fervent zeal , and ardent desire of convincing mankind ofthe saving truths of the Gospel , which I had reason to expect from so great and good a man . I next made a trial with a small p iece of Baxter ' s , which , though the man ' s intent may have been upright , I found so clogged with the weight of dulness , that it seldom reached the middle region , without , at the same time , running up to all the hei ght of enthusiastica ! madness and extravagance .
My tea being by this time brought up , while I was drinking , I began to please myself with the hopes of being one day master of so useful and diverting a piece of art . I had observed , in my friend ' s repository , a p hial of liquor exactly of the colour of that in the tube ; and as I did not doubt but the virtue was contained in the spirits , ( conceiving it would be easy to get the machine made ) I hoped I might obtain a small share thereof . As we are apt to anticipate our
joys as well as our fears , I began to number the discoveries I should , from time to time , make with this new machine . There are , thought I , several particular societies , as well in the City of London as elsewhere , whose judgments and understandings I shall measure with the greatest exactitude , and I shall follow ( said I to myself ) the inhabitants of that great city and its suburbsin all their hauntsfrom the
, , church to the play-house . Nay , I flattered myself with the pleasing hopes that there should not be the least grain of corrupt depraved taste among us , but what I should ferret out and discover by means of this my thermometer ; that being detected , and exposed to the eye of the whole world , the evil mi g ht , by degrees , be removed , and a better taste and judgment be thoroughly restored and established
amongst us . I began to wish myself a larger portion of this wonderful liquor than I could hope to obtain , in order to make a present of one of these thermometers to every one of our journalists , that they might , with the hel p thereof , form better judgments of their authors than most of them have hitherto done ; and to the writers of our public news , and more particularly political papers , to whom it would be of
the same universal benefit . If every author ( thought I ) and every bookseller could have one , how much unnecessary labour would it save the former and expence the latter , and how many squabbles would it not prevent ! I concluded my speculations by thinking , that as the small stock of this inestimable spirit , which I could hope to have , would soon be exhausted , it might be for the good of the public to recommend it earnestl y to that illustrious body of inquirers into the wonders of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Dumb Philosopher.
and Tatlers , and always found it rise or fall exactly as the subject required ; insomuch that I was able to distinguish theaufhor of everyparticular piece , by my glass , before I came to the end of it , to know it by the final letter . Having made these experiments , with books of so many different subjects , I resolved , before I concluded , to make a trial with a book or two of divinity : the first that came to my hands was a volume of Archbishop Tillotson's Sermons , and L
soon found all the signs of a strong judgment , fervent zeal , and ardent desire of convincing mankind ofthe saving truths of the Gospel , which I had reason to expect from so great and good a man . I next made a trial with a small p iece of Baxter ' s , which , though the man ' s intent may have been upright , I found so clogged with the weight of dulness , that it seldom reached the middle region , without , at the same time , running up to all the hei ght of enthusiastica ! madness and extravagance .
My tea being by this time brought up , while I was drinking , I began to please myself with the hopes of being one day master of so useful and diverting a piece of art . I had observed , in my friend ' s repository , a p hial of liquor exactly of the colour of that in the tube ; and as I did not doubt but the virtue was contained in the spirits , ( conceiving it would be easy to get the machine made ) I hoped I might obtain a small share thereof . As we are apt to anticipate our
joys as well as our fears , I began to number the discoveries I should , from time to time , make with this new machine . There are , thought I , several particular societies , as well in the City of London as elsewhere , whose judgments and understandings I shall measure with the greatest exactitude , and I shall follow ( said I to myself ) the inhabitants of that great city and its suburbsin all their hauntsfrom the
, , church to the play-house . Nay , I flattered myself with the pleasing hopes that there should not be the least grain of corrupt depraved taste among us , but what I should ferret out and discover by means of this my thermometer ; that being detected , and exposed to the eye of the whole world , the evil mi g ht , by degrees , be removed , and a better taste and judgment be thoroughly restored and established
amongst us . I began to wish myself a larger portion of this wonderful liquor than I could hope to obtain , in order to make a present of one of these thermometers to every one of our journalists , that they might , with the hel p thereof , form better judgments of their authors than most of them have hitherto done ; and to the writers of our public news , and more particularly political papers , to whom it would be of
the same universal benefit . If every author ( thought I ) and every bookseller could have one , how much unnecessary labour would it save the former and expence the latter , and how many squabbles would it not prevent ! I concluded my speculations by thinking , that as the small stock of this inestimable spirit , which I could hope to have , would soon be exhausted , it might be for the good of the public to recommend it earnestl y to that illustrious body of inquirers into the wonders of