"They may perhaps be Monsters, and not Divinitys, or Sacred Truths, which are kept thus choicely, in some dark Corner of our Minds: The Specters may impose on us, whilst we refuse  to turn 'em every way, and view their Shapes and Complexions in every light."
Sensus Communis, An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour in a Letter to a Friend [collected in Characteristics]
A complicated publication history. At least 10 entries in ESTC (1709, 1711, 1714, 1733, 1744, 1751, 1757, 1758, 1773, 1790).<br>
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See <u>Sensus Communis, An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour in a Letter to a Friend.</u> (London: Printed for Egbert Sanger, 1709). &lt;<a href="http://estc.bl.uk/T47455">Link to ESTC</a>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://find.galegroup.com/ecco/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=ECCO&userGroupName=viva_uva&tabID=T001&docId=CW3316109411&type=multipage&contentSet=ECCOArticles&version=1.0&docLevel=FASCIMILE">Link to ECCO</a>&gt;<br>
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See also "Sensus Communis, An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour in a Letter to a Friend" in <u>Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. In Three Volumes.</u> (London: John Darby, 1711). &lt;<a href="http://estc.bl.uk/T30440">Link to ESTC</a>&gt;<br>
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Some text drawn from ECCO, most from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury. <u>Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times</u>, 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.]