"The constant sense of my guilt, the continual regret at having by my own ill conduct forfeited the happiness, which every action of Lord Peyton's proved that his wife might reasonably expect, fixed a degree of melancholy on my mind, which no time has been able to conquer."

— Scott [née Robinson], Sarah (1720-1795)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Newbery
Date
1762
Metaphor
"The constant sense of my guilt, the continual regret at having by my own ill conduct forfeited the happiness, which every action of Lord Peyton's proved that his wife might reasonably expect, fixed a degree of melancholy on my mind, which no time has been able to conquer."
Metaphor in Context
'The constant sense of my guilt, the continual regret at having by my own ill conduct forfeited the happiness, which every action of Lord Peyton's proved that his wife might reasonably expect, fixed a degree of melancholy on my mind, which no time has been able to conquer. I lived with my father till his death, which happened not many years ago; at his decease, I found myself mistress of a large fortune, which enabled me to support the rank I had always enjoyed. Though Lord Peyton had provided sufficiently for Mr. Selvyn's and our convenience, yet I constantly sent him a yearly present; till no longer able to deny myself the pleasure of seeing my dear child, I prevailed on him to remove to London, and to fix in the same street with me, taking care to supply all that was requisite to enable him to appear there genteelly. You know with what appearance of accident I first cultivated a friendship with you, but you cannot imagine, with how much difficulty I concealed the tenderness of a mother under the ceremonies of an acquaintance.
(p. 216)
Provenance
Searching "conque" and "mind" in HDIS (Prose); Found again searching "conque" and "reason
Citation
Five entries in ESTC (1762, 1763, 1764, 1767). Second edition, corrected in 1764; third edition in 1767.

Reading Sarah Scott, A Description of Millenium Hall, ed. Gary Kelly (Ontario: Broadview Literary Texts, 2001).

See also A Description of Millenium Hall, and the Country Adjacent: Together with the Characters of the Inhabitants, And such Historical Anecdotes and Reflections, as May excite in the Reader proper Sentiments of Humanity, and lead the Mind to the Love of Virtue. By A Gentleman on his Travels (London: Printed for J. Newbery, 1762). <Link to archive.org>
Date of Entry
09/23/2004

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