"I chewed the cud of sweet remembrance, and with a heart and mind in pretty easy plight, gained the castle of peace and innocence about nine o'clock."
— Sancho, Charles Ignatius (1729-1780)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by J. Nichols
Date
1782
Metaphor
"I chewed the cud of sweet remembrance, and with a heart and mind in pretty easy plight, gained the castle of peace and innocence about nine o'clock."
Metaphor in Context
The stage contained five good souls, and one huge mass of flesh:--they, God bless them, thought I took up too much room--and I thought there was too little--we looked at each other, like folks dissatisfied with their company--and so jolted on in sullen silence for the first half hour;--and had there been no ladies, the God or Goddess of silence would have reigned the whole way:--for my part, quoth I to myself, I have enjoyed true pleasure all day--the morning was bright, refreshing, and pleasant, the delicious bowl of milk, the fresh butter, sweet bread, cool room, and kind hostess--the friendly converse, the walk--the animated flow of soul in I--M-- the little, but elegant, treat high-seasoned with welcome.--Oh! Sancho, what more could luxury covet, or ambition wish for? True, cries Reason--then be thankful:--Hold! cries Avarice, with squinting eyes and rotten stumps of teeth--hungry, though ever cramming--it cost thee one
shilling and nine pence, one shilling and nine pence I say.--What of that, cries oeconomy, we eat fairly half a crown's worth.--Aye, cries Prudence, that alters the case--od-so, we are nine pence in pocket, besides the benefit of fresh air, fresh scenes, and the pleasures of the society we love.--The sky was cloudless, and, to do me a particular favour, the moon chose to be at full--and gave us all her splendor;--but our envious Mother Earth (to mortify our vanity) rose up--rolling the whole way in clouds of dust.--Contention flew in at the coach-windows, and took possession of both the females:--"Madam, if you persist in drawing up the glass, we shall faint with heat."--"Oh dear! very sorry to offend your delicacy; but I shall be suffocated with dust--and my cloaths.--" "I have cloaths to spoil as well as other folks, &c. &c. &c."--The males behaved wisely, and kept a stricter neutrality than the French with the Americans.--I chewed the cud of sweet remembrance, and with a heart and mind in pretty easy plight, gained the castle of peace and innocence about nine o'clock.--Well, Sir, and how do you find yourself by this time?--I sweat, I protest--and then the bright God of day darts his blessings full upon my shop-window--so intensely, that I could fancy myself St. Bartholomew broiling upon a gridiron.
(II.xxxi, pp. 72-4; pp. 166-7 in Carretta)
shilling and nine pence, one shilling and nine pence I say.--What of that, cries oeconomy, we eat fairly half a crown's worth.--Aye, cries Prudence, that alters the case--od-so, we are nine pence in pocket, besides the benefit of fresh air, fresh scenes, and the pleasures of the society we love.--The sky was cloudless, and, to do me a particular favour, the moon chose to be at full--and gave us all her splendor;--but our envious Mother Earth (to mortify our vanity) rose up--rolling the whole way in clouds of dust.--Contention flew in at the coach-windows, and took possession of both the females:--"Madam, if you persist in drawing up the glass, we shall faint with heat."--"Oh dear! very sorry to offend your delicacy; but I shall be suffocated with dust--and my cloaths.--" "I have cloaths to spoil as well as other folks, &c. &c. &c."--The males behaved wisely, and kept a stricter neutrality than the French with the Americans.--I chewed the cud of sweet remembrance, and with a heart and mind in pretty easy plight, gained the castle of peace and innocence about nine o'clock.--Well, Sir, and how do you find yourself by this time?--I sweat, I protest--and then the bright God of day darts his blessings full upon my shop-window--so intensely, that I could fancy myself St. Bartholomew broiling upon a gridiron.
(II.xxxi, pp. 72-4; pp. 166-7 in Carretta)
Categories
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).
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
