"It is, my dear M----, the same with the rest of our passions;--we have Reason given us for our rudder--Religion is our sheet anchor--our fixed star Hope--Conscience our faithful monitor--and Happiness the grand reward;--we all in this manner can preach up trite maxims."

— Sancho, Charles Ignatius (1729-1780)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by J. Nichols
Date
1782
Metaphor
"It is, my dear M----, the same with the rest of our passions;--we have Reason given us for our rudder--Religion is our sheet anchor--our fixed star Hope--Conscience our faithful monitor--and Happiness the grand reward;--we all in this manner can preach up trite maxims."
Metaphor in Context
It is, my dear M----, the same with the rest of our passions;--we have Reason given us for our rudder--Religion is our sheet anchor--our fixed star Hope--Conscience our faithful monitor--and Happiness the grand reward;--we all in this manner can preach up trite maxims:--ask any jackass the way to happiness--and like me they will give vent to picked up common-place sayings--but mark how they act--why just as you and I do--content with acknowledging a slight acquaintance with Wisdom, but ashamed of appearing to act under her sacred guidance.--You do me much more honor than I deserve, in wishing to correspond with me--the balance is entirely in your favor--but I fancy you were under the malady of your country, hypp'd for want of fresh air and exercise--so sitting in a pensive attitude, with lack-lustre eye, and vacant countenance--the thought obtruded on your fancy to give Sancho a letter--and after a hard conflict 'twixt laziness and inclination--the deed was done.--I verily believe you commit errors--only for the sake of handsomely apologizing for them, as tumblers oft make slips to surprize beholders with their agility in recovering themselves.--I saw Mr. B---- last night--who by the way I like much--the Man I mean--and not the Genius (tho' of the first rate)--he chatted and laughed like a soul ignorant of evil. He asked about a motley creature at----. I told him with more truth than wit--that you was hypp'd.--I enclose you a proof print:--and how does Mad. M----, &c. &c.? Is Miss S---- better.--Is Mrs. H----, Mrs. T----, Mrs. H----. Lord preserve me! what in the name of mischief have I to do with all this combustible matter? Is it not enough for me that I am fast sliding down the vale of years? Have not I a gout? six brats, and a wife?--Oh! Reason, where art thou? you see by this how much easier it is to preach than to do--but stop--we know good from evil; and, in serious truth, we have powers sufficient to withstand vice, if we will choose to exert ourselves. In the field, if we know the strength and situation of the enemy, we place out-posts and centinels--and take every prudent method to avoid surprize. In common life we must do the same;--and trust me, my honest friend, a victory gained over passion, immorality, and pride, deserves Te Deums, better than those gained in the fields of ambition and blood.--Here's letter for letter, and so farewell, [...]
(I.vii, pp. 23-5)
Provenance
Reading; text from DocSouth
Citation
Five entries in ESTC (1782, 1783, 1784). [Second edition in 1783, third in 1784.]

See Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African. In Two Volumes. To Which Are Prefixed, Memoirs of His Life (London: Printed by J. Nichols, 1782). <Link to text from Documenting the American South at UNC>

Reading Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, ed. Vincent Carretta (New York: Penguin, 1998).
Date of Entry
07/11/2013

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