_Sir Robert._ Nay, there's nothing in that--he has not recover'd
from his Fatigue--but there's his governor yonder. He can give
an account of him--call him in Sideboard. The Truth of the matter
is, I have not seen much of him myself, but by all accounts--O,
here comes Mr. Florid--Mr. Florid, they say is a particular sort of
Philosopher that talks much of characteristicks, I don't well understand
what characteristicks are, but he is a well spoken Man. O,
here he comes.
(_Enter_ FLORID)
_Florid._ Sir Robert, I hope I see you with your Spirits in due
Harmony, and all your Affections in proper ballance.
_Sir Robert._ I am very well, I thank you, if you mean that--Mr.
Florid, this is Mr. Quicksett.
_Florid._ The warmth of my Affections, Sir Robert, gives an instantaneous
glow to my Spirits, and I behold your Friend with Congenial
Feelings, and all the Impulse of Sympathetic Raptures. Sir,
your most Obedient.
_Quicksett._ Sir, your Servant--I am a plain spoken Man, lookye,
downright, and honest--my intended Son-in-Law, I find has been
under your Care. I should be glad to hear from you that he has
taken up a little, and sowed his wild Oats, as I may say.
_Florid._ Dear Sir, such an alteration was never known. The
Senses in general, Sir, have been wrongly confin'd to the five Classes
of External Senses--there are, Sir, in Human Nature many other
Inlets of Perception--there is the Public Sense--the Private Sense--the
Sense of Honor--the Moral Sense--the Internal Sense--
_Quicksett._ Ay, but has he common Sense?
_Florid._ The Sensus Communis, or the Public Sense is the same
thing. Now Sir, there is an amazing Connexion between the Organs
of Bodily Sensation, and the Faculties of Moral Perception, and
there are certain Powers in Human Nature--which seem to be Intermediate--
_Quicksett._ Sir Robert, I don't rightly comprehend this.
_Florid._ Those Intermediate Powers have been stiled in general
the Powers of Imagination, which do not seem to have given
him an ardent propensity to the Mimetic Arts--but his faculties of
moral perception have given him the To Prepon, the Kalogathia of
the Greeks, Honestum of the Latins, the Sympathetic Regularity,
the Responsive Harmony--
_Quicksett._ Odds, my life, I had as soon be at a Foxchase without
ever seeing the Dogs, as hear all this without understanding a
Word.
_Sir Robert._ Mr. Florid, my Friend Quicksett is like myself a
plain spoken Man--cou'd not you tell him now in plain English that
the Boy is reform'd?
_Florid._ Dear Sir, that's the very thing I'm about--the young
Gentleman has really very delicate Sensations, and when I have
fixed in him certain determinations to be pleas'd with the complex
forms of Beauty, Regularity, Order, Harmony and Proportion--
_Quicksett._ I am very much obliged to you, Sir--but I am as
far to seek as ever. And so now I'll go to the coffeehouse and see
if the Papers mention the taking of any more French ships.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account