Page:Letters on the Human Body (John Clowes).djvu/81

Rh, the soul must be acknowledged to have its taste, since, if this be denied, we must then be compelled to assert, that there is something in the body which is not in the soul; and must thus resort to the irrational idea, that matter, by its organization, hath acquired a faculty of its own, independent of the soul from which it derives all its other faculties. I am convinced, however, that your discerning mind will not assent to this conclusion, but will rather allow to the soul its faculty of taste; and this in agreement with the general sentiment of mankind, who, in all ages, have agreed in transferring the idea of bodily taste to the mind, by talking of a taste for arts and sciences—as for music, painting, poetry, &c. Accordingly you will find that the Latin Sapio, and also the Greek and Hebrew terms, which are expressive of taste, are all applied, by the writers in those languages, to express, not only bodily taste, but also mental taste, or discernment.

But why do I waste your time in arguing a point which has been long ago decided by the highest authority? For open now your, and you will there find that the term taste, whether used as a substantive or a verb, is frequently applied to express an affection of the mind. Thus it is written, in the 119th Psalm, verse 103, “How sweet are Thy words unto my !” and in Psalm xxxiv. 8, “O taste and