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"Tho' Godolphin had one of the best tempers in the world--a temper which the roughness of those among whom he lived had only served to soften and humanize, and which was immovable by the usual accidents that ruffle others, yet he had also in a great excess all those keen feelings, which fill a heart of extreme sensibility."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Author

Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Work Title

Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle

Place of Publication

London

Publisher

Printed for T. Cadell

Date

1788

Metaphor

"Tho' Godolphin had one of the best tempers in the world--a temper which the roughness of those among whom he lived had only served to soften and humanize, and which was immovable by the usual accidents that ruffle others, yet he had also in a great excess all those keen feelings, which fill a heart of extreme sensibility."

Metaphor in Context

Tho' Godolphin had one of the best tempers in the world--a temper which the roughness of those among whom he lived had only served to soften and humanize, and which was immovable by the usual accidents that ruffle others, yet he had also in a great excess all those keen feelings, which fill a heart of extreme sensibility; added to a courage, that in the hour of danger had been proved to be as cool as it was undaunted. Of him might be said what was the glorious praise of immortal Bayard--that he was "sans peur et sans reproche;" and educated with a high sense of honour himself, as well as possessing a heart calculated to enjoy, and a hand to defend the unblemished dignity of his family, all his passions were roused and awakened by the injury it had sustained from Fitz-Edward, and he beheld him as a monster whom it was infamy to forgive. Hardly therefore had Mrs. Stafford concluded her distressing recital, than, as if commanding himself by a violent effort, he thanked her warmly yet incoherently for her unexampled goodness to his sister, recommended her still to her generous care, and the friendship of Miss Mowbray, and without any threat against Fitz-Edward, or even a comment on what he had heard, arose to depart. But Mrs. Stafford, more alarmed by this determined tho' quiet resentment and by the expression of his countenance than if he had burst into exclamations and menaces, perceived that the crisis was now come when he was prevailed upon to conquer his just resentment, or by giving it way destroy the reputation of his sister, and expose his own life in order to revenge it.
(III, pp. 122-3)