"But if otherwise, he may take Advantage of the Confidence plac'd in him, to the Injury of some worthy Person, and by Degrees monopolize the young Gentleman to himself, and govern his Passions as absolurely, as I have heard some First Ministers have done those of their Prince"

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn
Date
1741 [1740]; continued in 1741
Metaphor
"But if otherwise, he may take Advantage of the Confidence plac'd in him, to the Injury of some worthy Person, and by Degrees monopolize the young Gentleman to himself, and govern his Passions as absolurely, as I have heard some First Ministers have done those of their Prince"
Metaphor in Context
This, dear Sir, is excellently said: 'Tis noble Theory. And if the Tutor is a Man void of Resentment and Caprice, and will not be govern'd by partial Considerations in his own Judgment of Persons and Things, it will be well: But if otherwise, he may take Advantage of the Confidence plac'd in him, to the Injury of some worthy Person, and by Degrees monopolize the young Gentleman to himself, and govern his Passions as absolurely, as I have heard some First Ministers have done those of their Prince, equally to his own personal Disreputation, and to the Disadvantage of his People. But,

All this, and much more, according to Mr. Locke, is the Duty of a Tutor; and on the finding out such an one, depends his Scheme of an Home Education. No Wonder then, that he himself says, "When I consider the Scruples and Cautions, I here lay in your Way, methinks it looks as if I advised you to something, which I would have offer'd at, but in Effect not done," & c. Permit me, dear Sir, in this Place, to express my Fear, that it is hardly possible for any one, of Talents inferior to those of Mr. Locke himself, to come up to the [Page 331] Rules he has laid down on this Subject; and 'tis to be question'd, whether even he, with all that vast Stock of natural Reason, and solid Sense, for which, as you tell me, Sir, he was so famous, had attain'd to these Perfections, at his first setting out into Life.
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
Over 53 entries in ESTC (1740, 1741, 1742, 1743, 1746, 1754, 1762, 1767, 1771, 1772, 1775, 1776, 1785, 1792, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799). [Richardson published third and fourth volumes in 1741.]

First edition published in two volumes on 6 November, 1740--dated 1741 on the title page. Volumes 3 and 4 were published in December 7, 1741 (this sequel is sometimes called Pamela in her Exalted Condition).

See Samuel Richardson, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. In a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel, to Her Parents: Now First Published in Order to Cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both Sexes. A Narrative Which Has Its Foundation in Truth and Nature: and at the Same Time That It Agreeably Entertains, by a Variety of Curious and Affecting Incidents, Is Intirely Divested of All Those Images, Which, in Too Many Pieces Calculated for Amusement Only, Tend to Inflame the Minds They Should Instruct (London: C. Rivington and J. Robinson, 1740). [Title page says 1741] <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to first vol. of 3rd edition in ECCO-TCP>

See also Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. in a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel to Her Parents: and Afterwards, in Her Exalted Condition, Between Her, and Persons of Figure and Quality, Upon the Most Important and Entertaining Subjects, in Genteel Life. the Third and Fourth Volumes. Publish’d in Order to Cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both Sexes. by the Editor of the Two First. (London: Printed for S. Richardson: and sold by C. Rivington, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard; and J. Osborn, in Pater-Noster Row, [1742] [1741]). <Link to ESTC>

All searching was originally done in Chadwyck Healey's eighteenth-century prose fiction database through Stanford's HDIS interface. Chadwyck-Healey contains electronic texts of the original editions (1740-1741) and the 6th edition (1742).
Theme
Lockean Philosophy
Date of Entry
09/03/2005

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.