"'But you understand Human Nature to the Bottom,' answered Amelia;' and your Mind is a Treasury of all ancient and modern Learning.'"

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)


Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1752
Metaphor
"'But you understand Human Nature to the Bottom,' answered Amelia;' and your Mind is a Treasury of all ancient and modern Learning.'"
Metaphor in Context
'Indeed, my dear Sir,' cries Amelia, you are the wisest as well as best Man in the World--'

'Not a Word of my Wisdom,' cries the Doctor. 'I have not a Grain---I am not the least versed in the Chrematistic Art, as an old Friend of mine calls it. I know not how to get a single Shilling, nor how to keep it in my Pocket when I have it.'

'But you understand Human Nature to the Bottom,' answered Amelia;' and your Mind is a Treasury of all ancient and modern Learning.'

'You are a little Flatterer,' cries the Doctor; 'but I dislike you not for it. And to shew you I don't, I will return your Flattery; and tell you, you have acted with great Prudence in concealing this Affair from your Husband; but you have drawn me into a Scrape: For I have promised to dine with this Fellow again To-morrow; and you have made it impossible for me to keep my Word.' (III.ix.5)
Provenance
HDIS (Prose)
Citation
13 entries in ESTC (1752, 1762, 1771, 1775, 1777, 1780, 1790, 1793).

See Amelia. By Henry Fielding, 4 vols. (London: A. Millar, 1752). <Link to ECCO>

Reading Henry Fielding, Amelia, ed. David Blewett (London: Penguin Books, 1987).
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
Date of Review
10/23/2003

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