Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	excellent_a	find_v	great_a	421	4	2.1545	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59619	Miscellany essays upon philosophy, history, poetry, morality, humanity, gallantry &c. / by Monsieur de St. Evremont ; done into English by Mr. Brown.	Saint-Evremond, 1613-1703.; Brown, Thomas, 1663-1704.	1694 (1694)	Wing S306_VARIANT; ESTC R27567	181,183	477

prefer the Age of Augustus upon the account of Virgil and Horace and perhaps more yet upon the score of Maecenas who encouraged Men of Learning than for those Men of Learning themselves It is neverthelsess certain that their Parts as well as Courages began at that time to decay Grandeur of Soul was converted to Circumspect Conduct and sound Discourse to Polite Conversation I know not what to think of the Remains of Maecenas unless it be that they had something of Grimace which was made to pass for delicate Maecenas was Augustus's great Favourite The Man that pleas'd and whom all the Polite and sprightly Witts courted now is it not likely that his judgment over-rul'd the rest that they affected his Air and Ap'd as much as they could his Character Augustus himself leaves us no great Idea of his Latinity What we see of Terence what was reported at Rome of politeness of Scipio and Laelius the Reliques of Caesar and what we have of Cicero with the complaint of this last for the loss of what he calls Sales Lepores Venustates Vrbanitas Amaenitas Festivitas Iucunditas all together make me believe upon better consideration That we must search some other time than that of Augustus to find the sound and agreeable Wit of the Romans as well as the pure and natural Graces of their Tongue It may be said That Horase had a very nice Palate in all these Matters which perswades me that the rest of his Contemporaries had not For the nicety of his Relish consisted chiefly in finding that of others ridiculous But as for the Impertinencies false Manners and Affectations which he laugh'd at his sense wou'd not at this day appear so very just I own that of Augustus to have been the Age of excellent Poets but it follows not That it was that of Universal Genius's Poetry requires a peculiar Genius that agrees not overmuch with good sense It is sometimes the Language of Gods sometimes of Buffoons rarely that of a Civil Man It delights in Figures and Fictions always besides the reality of things tho' it be that only that can satisfy a found Understanding Not but that there is something Noble in making good Verse but we must have a great command of our Genius otherwise the mind is possess'd with something Foreign which hinders it from the free management of it self He 's a Block-head say the Spaniards that can't make two Verses and a Fool that makes four If this Maxim prevail'd over all the World we should want a thousand fine Works the reading of which gives us a very delicate pleasure but this Maxim respects Men of Business rather than profess'd Poets However those that are capacitated for such great Works will not oppose the force of their Genius for what I can say and it is certain that amongst Authors those only will write few Verses who find themselves curb'd more by their own natural Unaptness than by my Reasons Excellent Poets are as requisite for our pleasure as great Mathematicians for our use But it is sufficient for us to be acquainted with their Works and not engage our selves in the solitary Enthusiasm of the one or to exhaust our Spirits in Meditation like the other Of all Poets Comedians are most proper for the converse of the World For they oblige themselves to paint naturally what passes in it and to express after a lively manner the Thoughts and Passions of Men. How new an Air soever may be given to old Thoughts that sort of Poetry is very tedious which is fill'd with Similies of the Morning the Sun Moon and Stars Our Descriptions of a calm and a tempestuous Sea represent nothing which the Antients have not done much better Now we have not only the same Ideas but the very same Expressions the same Rhymes I never hear of the Harmony of Birds but I prepare my self for the murmuring of Brooks the Shepherds are always lolling upon Fern and you may sooner find a Grove without a Shade in its proper sight than in our Verses This must necessarily at length be very tedious which cannot happen in Comedy where with pleasure we see our own Actions drawn and are touch'd with Paralel Motions A Discourse of Woods Rivers Meadows Fields and Gardens make but a very languishing Impression upon us unless their Beauties be wholly new But a discourse of Humanity its Inclinations Tendernesses and Affections finds something at the bottom of our Souls prepar'd to receive it the same nature produces and receives 'em and they are easily transfused from the Actors to the Spectators The Delicacy of Love sooths me and its tenderness touches me and as in Spain they love the best of any Country in the World I am never weary of reading in their Authors Amorous Adventures I am more affected with the Passion of one of their Lovers than I shou'd be with my own were I yet capable of any The very Imagination of those Amours raises in me certain motions for the Gallant which I cou'd never feel for my self There is perhaps as much Witt in the other Writings of that Nation as in ours but it is a Wit that gives me no satisfaction except that of Cervantes in Don Quixot which I cou'd read all my life without being disgusted one single moment Of all the Books I have ever read Don Quixot is that of which I shou'd be most ambitious to have been the Author Nothing in my Opinion can contribute more to the forming in us a true relish of every thing I wonder how Cervantes cou'd as it were out of the Mouth of one of the greatest Fools in the World shew himself maiter of all the Understanding and Knowledge imaginable I admire the diversities of his Characters which are of the most uncommon stamp in the World and at the same time the most natural Quevedo indeed appears a very Ingenious Author but I esteem him more for wishing all other Books Burnt when he had read Don Quixot than for having been able to read ' em I am not acquainted enough with Italian Verse to taste their delicacy or admire their Grace and Beauty I meet with some Histories in that Tongue above all the Moderns and some Treatises of Politicks even above what the Antients have Written As for the Morality of the Italians it is full of Conceipts which savour more of a Fancy that aims to Sparkle than of solid Sense founded on deep Reflections I am very curious of every thing that is fine in French and am very much distasted at a thousand Authours that seem only to have written for the Reputation of being Authors I read not for the credit of having read abundance and this is it which tyes me up to certain Books where I 'm assur'd to meet satisfaction Montagne's Essays Malherbe's Poems Corneille's Tragedies and Voiture's Letters have established to themselves as it were a Title to please me during Life Montagne has not the same success with others through their

whole Course As he particularly lays open Men the Young and the Old are pleased to see themselves in him by the resemblance of their Thoughts The space intermediate to these Ages takes 'em off from Nature to other Professions and then they find less in Montagne that fits ' em The Art Military employs the General Politicks the States-man Divinity the Church Man and Law the Judge Montagne returns upon us when Nature has brought us back again to our selves and the approach of Age when we truly feel what we are recalls the Prince as well as his meanest Subjects from his Engagements to his Function to the more near and sensible interest of his Person I Write not this out of any impulse of vanity which urges Men to make their Fancies publick I instruct my self by what I say and understand my self better by expressing the Notion I have form'd of my self then I could by private thoughts and Internal Reflections The Idea a Man has of himself by simple attention to Internal Meditations is always a little confus'd The Image which is outwardly express'd is much more exact and gives us much truer Judgment of our selves when it is again submitted to the Examination of the mind after having been laid before our eyes Besides the flattering Opinion of our own merit loses half its Charms as soon as it comes into the light and the complaisance of self Love insensibly vanishing leaves behind it only a disgust of its sweetness and shame for a vanity as foolishly entertain'd as judiciously quitted To equal Malherbe to the Antients I find nothing finer then his own compositions I wou'd only in his works retrench what is not worthy of him It were injustice to postpone him to any one whoever But he must bear with us if for the honour of our own Judgments we make him give place to himself Almost the same we may say of Corneille He wou'd be above all the Tragedians of Antiquity if he were not in some of his pieces much below himself He is so admirable in what is fine that he take saway all patience for what is indifferent What in him is not excellent methinks is naught not that it is bad but that it wants the perfection of the rest It is not enough for him to please us lightly he 's bound to touch us to the quick If he ravishes not our minds they employ their utmost penetration enviously to discover the difference between him and himself Some Authors may simply move us But those are petty ticklings pleasing enough when we have nothing else to mind Corneille prepares our minds for transports If they be not elevated they are left in a condition more uneasie than languour It is I confess hard always to Charm Very hard at pleasure to raise a mind from its temper to unhinge a Soul But Corneille by having done it so often has laid upon himself an Obligation to do it always Let him expunge what is not noble enough for him and he will leave us in a full admiration of those Beauties which no one can Parallel I should not excuse Voiture for a great many of his Letters which he ought to have suppress'd had himself been the Publisher But he was like some Fathers equally kind and prudent who have a natural affection for their Children and in secret cherish those that want worth thereby to avoid exposing their Judgments to the Publick by their Indulgence He might have shew'd all his Fondness to some of his Works for there is something in 'em so unaccountably ingenious so polite so fine and so agreeable that it takes away all taste of the Sales Attici ' and the Roman ●rbanitas ecclypses quite the Spirit and Wit of the Italians and the Gallantry of the Spaniards We have in French some particular pieces of admirable Beauty of which number is the Funerall Oration of the Queen of England by Monsieur de Meaux There is a certain Spirit diffus'd through the whole discourse which gives as great an opinion of the Author before he is known as of his Work after 't is read His Character is impress'd on all that he says so that altho' I have never seen him I pass easily from the admiration of his Discourse to that of his Person Nor am I less affected with the Abridgment of General History done by the same Prelate Such reach is there in his Reflections The sense so sound so great a purity of Reasoning What a capacity of mind must he have in one Scheme to comprehend so great a variety of Events so far disjoyn'd both in time and place What Judgment to reconcile 'em as he do's and draw from 'em Consequences so advantagious to the true Religion How great soever the pleasure of Reading is to me yet that of Conversation will ever be more sensible The acquaintance of the Ladies would afford the sweetest if their Charms did not put us to too much pain to defend our selves from doing Homage to ' em Yet this is a violence I rarely suffer as my Age renders me unacceptable my Experience makes me nice and if they can't be pleas'd with me I am by way of return as little satisfied with them There are some whose Merits make a considerable impression on my mind but their Beauty has little influence on me And if I am at any time surprized by it I presently reduce my Passion to a pleasing reasonable Amity that has none of the uneasinesses of Love Amongst Ladies the most meritorious person with them is the Lover the next the Confident of their Inclinations the third he that ingeniously sets off all that is amiable in ' em If nothing will win their hearts we may at least gain their Favours by Complements for next to the Lover to whom all must give place he pleases 'em most that can make 'em please themselves best When you converse with 'em avoid carefully all indifference they are from their Souls Enemies to such coldness or love your self or flatter what they love or paint 'em so as to plunge 'em still deeper in Love with themselves For Love of some sort or other they must have it is a Passion their Hearts are never unfurnish'd with Direct a poor Heart how to employ it 'T is true some of 'em can have esteem and even tenderness too without Love and others there are as worthy of our Confidence and Secrets as the most trusty of our Friends I know some that have no less Wit and Discretion then Charms and Beauty But those are Rarities that Nature wantonly bestows on the World whether by design or caprice and we can draw no Consequences in Favour of the Generall from things so particular and from Qualities so uncommon Women so extraordinary seem to invade the Character of Men and perhaps it is a kind of revolt from their Sex to shake off the Natural Conditions of it for the real Advantages of ours I confess I have formerly been more difficult in

so strange as this of ours will procure you no inconsiderable Honour These are neither Hobgoblins nor Faries said the Irish-man they are Spirits of the first order and of the Legion of Lucifer Proud Demons great Enemies to obedience and very hard to expell You will not take it amiss Gentlemen pursued he turning to the Assembly that I examine my Books a little for I have occasion for words that are not of the common stamp Thereupon he with drew into a Closet in order to turn over his Books and Papers and after having made use of a hundred forms as too weak against such powerful Enemies he fell at last upon one that was capable in his opinion of confounding and expelling all the Devils in Hell The first effect of the conjuration was upon himself for his Eyes began to rowl in his Head with so many Grimaces Convulsions that he might very well appear distracted to those who came to seek his assistance After having turned his Staring Eyes on all sides he fixed them at length upon this Virtuous Couple and striking both of them with a Wand which was not without Vertue Be gone Devils says he go ye Spirits of dissension and exercise discord in Hell and by your departure let that happy Union be re-established which you have impiously broken Then he approached softly to the Ears of the pretended Possessed and raising a little the tone of his voice I hear you murmur Devils at the obedience which ye are forced to render me But were ye to burst with madness ye must be gone Depart depart and you my Friends go and enjoy that repose which ye have been deprived of so long It is sufficient Gentlemen I protest to you that I am all in a Sweat with the Labour which the opposition of these obstinate Devils has given me I Believe I have had to do with two Thousand Spirits in my life time who all together have not given me so much pain and trouble as these Which being done the Irish-man retired and all the company went out of the House and our good People returned to their Lodgings with a satisfaction more wonderfull than the Prodigy which had been effected in their Favour When they were come home every thing appeared agreeable to them by this new alteration of mind which created a strange severity in their Senses They found a smiling Air in all things they lookt upon themselves with pleasure and were not wanting in sweet and tender words to express their Love But vain delights how little dependence is there upon your duration and how unseasonably do persons rejoyce that are born to Misfortunes when they obtain a small happiness Such was their tranquillity when a Lady of their acquaintance came to express to them the general joy of the Town for their Cure They answered this civility with all the discretion in the World and the usual Complements on this occasion being made and returned the Husband began a very pertinent Conversation upon the happy condition they were in after so long a train of miseries Our Wife either to cause a greater admiration of these wonders or else to please her own malicious humour enlarged her self with satisfaction upon the tricks which her Devil had suggested to her to torment her Husband Upon which the Husband jealous of the honour of this Devil or at least of his own authority gave her to understand That she talked too much of things past the remembrance whereof was irksom to him He added that in the state wherein they found themselves re-established she ought to think of nothing else but that obedience which a Wife ows to her Husband as he would only consider on his side how to make a lawful use of his priviledges in order to make their condition as happy for the future as it had been unfortunate hitherto Our Wife being offended at the word Obedience but especially at the cruel injunction to be silent forgot no arguments that might serve to prove an equality in Marriage saying That the Devils were not at such a distance but they might be recalled in case this equality was violated This Lady above mentioned who was as discreet and judicious as any of her Sex wisely represented to her the duty of Wives not forgetting the Conduct and good management whereto Husbands were obliged But her Reason instead of composing did but incense her the more and she became more insupportable than before You are in the right dear Wise replyed the Husband the Devils were not gone so far but they might be recalled or rather you have been so kind to yours that he was resolved to continue with you notwithstanding the command which was given him to leave you I am too weak of my self to be concerned alone with you and him which obliges me to retire exposed as I am to such dangerous Forces And I likewise retire say she with this Spirit that will not abandon me He must be a very ill humour'd damn'd sort of a Devil indeed if he is not more tractable than so troublesome and so cursed a Husband Then turning towards her Friend Before I go said she to her I am glad I have an occasion Madam to tell you with freedom that I expected quite another Treatment from your Friendship and that you have forgot the interest which obliges you to take a Wives part against the violence of her Husband 'T is a very strange thing to see my self run down by one that should support me Adieu Madam adieu your visits do me a great deal of honour but one may very well dispense with them if they do no more good than this This good but too discreet Lady was extreamly amaz'd instructed by her own experience that even Wisdom has its excess and that for the most part one makes an ill use of ones Reason with those who have none You may judge that she did not stay long alone in a House where nothing was talked of but Devils and nothing done but what was of the highest pitch of extravagance The Husband passed the rest of the day and all the Night in his Chamber ashamed of the short-liv'd joy he had received vexed at the present state of his Affairs and reflecting upon what might happen to him from this sudden return of his Wives distemper with great anxiety of Mind As the agitation of the Wife had been much greater so it remain'd not so long so that return'd soon to her Senses she made sad reflections upon the loss of those Pleasures whereof she found her self depriv'd There are certain tempers in the World that after a few moments come to themselves again and demand of their Reason why they should sacrifice their Interest and their pleasure to a foolish Spirit of Contention that does them no good at all This consideration that sometimes prevails with Women and chiefly a Nights when they cannot sleep had its desired effect upon our Lady in so much that resigning her self up

rather on the contrary give 'em some marks of our Esteem And as Contempt is it may be one of the greatest misfortunes of Poverty we may sweeten in some manner their troubles by declaring without affectation that we do not esteem 'em less however unhappy they be One must be affable and courteous to one's Domesticks and by this behaviour comfort 'em in their conditions 'T is the work of Fortune that they are so low and that we are above'em We must not be rigorous in what regards our own interests Nothing becomes a Man better than to release a little of his priviledge One must avoid great Play 't is a Divertisement too dangerous Anger Heat and Quarrels accompany it always it procures a Man often times bad nights and at long run it perpetually incommodes him Nor is this all he must be always upon his gard lest he be cheated and 't is but an uneasie condition to be always as in an Enemy's Country A Man ought not to have any thing remarkable or too gay in his Habit Discourse or Manners It seems to me that the modest Air becomes one better than that which they call the Bel-air 't is good to have in one's Countenance something great that procures both Esteem and Respect but the Courteous and Honest Air does not create less good Effects 't is from thence that we make our selves belov'd For the fierce Air that is so much esteem'd in my Opinion is only proper for War We ought to learn not to disquiet our selves and to study well this Lesson The Court if I may say so is an Epitome of the whole Kingdom whatever is most Exquisite and Pure is there met with The manner of speaking the the Modes the Air and the Customs are there excellent The greatest part of these things are not learnt but by the Success as Physick is not well understood but by Experience However it seems to me that one ought to endeavour to know them by their Causes which would be the best and surest way And to this end we ought to know the nature of those things which please and be skill'd in the Hearts of Men. There is no other Study but how to please in the Courts of Princes because there a Man makes his Fortune by rendring himself agreeable Hence it comes that Courtiers are so Polisht On the contrary in Towns and Republicks where Men manage their Affairs by Labour the the last of their Cares is to Please and 't is that which renders them so Clownish That which we call the Last in a Figurative Sence is a very rare thing and is found but in very few People One can scarce learn it or teach it but it must be born with us Exquisite Knowledge seems to be above it and carries a greater Latitude but in truth for the Commerce of the World and most affairs of Life a true Judgment equals its Worth and possesses its place When we have got this Advantage we ought not to despise those which have it not To be agreeable and good Company a Man ought to think discreetly and readily upon all that is said in Conversation and this cannot be if one has not an excellent Wit a great deal of Memory and an Imagination suitable One ought also to be Master of one's Language by knowing all the Niceties Beauties and Delicacies of it We ought to suit ourselves to the Capacities of those we converse with and to take in some manner the Heighth and the Degree of their Wit We ought to take a great deal of care not to affect the Vanity to be the head of the Company One makes himself more agreeable when one hears willingly and without Jealousie and susters others to have Wit as well as himself There is no Subject so barren upon which there may not be something well said but even when the Subject affords nothing a Man of sense has always in Reserve some agreeable manner of speaking of which he is an absolute Master and which can never fail him Apt Words are rare and depend upon Time and Chance Narratives and Stories do not always succeed we ought not to make use of them often but when we find ourselves engaged in them we must take care that they be not long and that there be always something particular and diverting to surprize the Company One must avoid Repetitions We care not to hear what we know already and we can reap no more benefit by Things that are New Great Universal and those which have the Air of great Persons are always pleasing because Men are Curious because they despise those things that are limited and of small consequence and are commonly very much affected with Grandeur 'T is for this Reason that what comes from the Country from little Towns and private Quarters is but indifferently received We are apt to imagine that Politeness and a good Tast is not to be found there The same Reason occasions also that Figures d●●wn from War Hunting and the Sea are so well receiv'd and that we cannot endure those that are taken from mean Professions of which the World makes but small account One must not expect that Conversations should be always equal they depend upon Chance as well as other things A Man can't become Learn'd or Agreeable if he does not love Reading without it the best natural Parts are commonly dry and barren He ought to behave himself so that in his Actions Discourse and Manners there may be always a certain Air of Politeness that never forsakes him Nothing is more shameful than to be Ignorant Politeness is a mixture of Discretion Civility Complaisance and Circumspection accompanied with an agreeable Air scatter'd throughout whatever one says or does And as so many things are Essentially necessary to acquire this Politeness it is no wonder if it is uncommon Whether it is that Women are naturally more Polite or that to please them the Spirit raises and embellishes itself 't is principally from them that this Politeness is learnt A Letter to Monsieur Justel By Mr. Savage I Am over-joy'd to see you in England The Conversation of a Man so Knowing and so Curious as you will give me a great deal of Satisfaction But permit me to disapprove of the Resolution you have taken to quit France so long as I see you maintain for her so tender and so loving a Memory When I see you doleful and desolate on the shoar of our Thames wishing for Paris you put me in mind of the poor Israelites bewailing their Jerusalem upon the Banks of Euphrates Either live happy in England in an entire Liberty of Conscience or accommodate your self to the Catholick Religion in your own Country to enjoy the advantages you thirst after Is it possible that Images Ornaments Ceremonies and other such like things upon which you establish so many ill grounded Disputations and which you make so unreasonably the Subject of Separation should trouble the Quiet of Nations and be the