"Not but that, when you are the subject, one may perceive at the bottom of that susceptible mind, a certain tenderness, which friendship alone, though not less affecting, still expresses in a different manner; but I have long observed that it is impossible to see you, or to think of you with indifference; and if to that general affection which the sight of you inspires, we add the more tender impression which an indelible recollection must have left upon his mind, we shall find that it is difficult and almost impossible that, with the most rigid virtue, he should be otherwise than he is."
— Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778); Kenrick, William (1729/30-1779)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Griffiths and T. Becket
Date
1761
Metaphor
"Not but that, when you are the subject, one may perceive at the bottom of that susceptible mind, a certain tenderness, which friendship alone, though not less affecting, still expresses in a different manner; but I have long observed that it is impossible to see you, or to think of you with indifference; and if to that general affection which the sight of you inspires, we add the more tender impression which an indelible recollection must have left upon his mind, we shall find that it is difficult and almost impossible that, with the most rigid virtue, he should be otherwise than he is."
Metaphor in Context
He said little of his present condition with regard to you, and what he mentioned rather denoted respect and admiration, than love; so that I have the pleasure to think that he will return, much more confident as to the nature of his affections, than when he came hither. Not but that, when you are the subject, one may perceive at the bottom of that susceptible mind, a certain tenderness, which friendship alone, though not less affecting, still expresses in a different manner; but I have long observed that it is impossible to see you, or to think of you with indifference; and if to that general affection which the sight of you inspires, we add the more tender impression which an indelible recollection must have left upon his mind, we shall find that it is difficult and almost impossible that, with the most rigid virtue, he should be otherwise than he is. I have fully interrogated him, carefully observed him, and watched him narrowly; I have examined him with the utmost attention. I cannot read his inmost thoughts, nor do I believe them more intelligible to himself: but I can answer, at least, that he is struck with a sense of his duty and of yours, and that the idea of Eloisa abandoned arid contemptible, would be more horrible than his own annihilation. My dear cousin, I have but one piece of advice to give you, and I desire you to attend avoid any detail concerning what is passed, and I will take upon me to answer for the future.
(III, pp. 62-3)
(III, pp. 62-3)
Categories
Provenance
Google Books
Citation
At least ten entries in the ESTC (1761, 1764, 1767, 1769, 1776, 1784, 1795).
Text from Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Collected and Published by J.J. Rousseau. Translated from the French. 4 vols. (London: Printed for R. Griffiths and T. Becket, 1761). <Link to Vol. I><Link to Vol. II><Link to Vol. III><Link to Vol. IV>
Text from Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Collected and Published by J.J. Rousseau. Translated from the French. 4 vols. (London: Printed for R. Griffiths and T. Becket, 1761). <Link to Vol. I><Link to Vol. II><Link to Vol. III><Link to Vol. IV>
Date of Entry
07/14/2013
