"When Mrs. Montagu, in the purest and most elegant language, delivers sentiments equally just and sublime as his, we are surprised and delighted; the gracefulness of her manner seems to add beauty to her thoughts; her words sink into our hearts, like the softest sounds of the most perfect harmony, and produce the same placid effects."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell
Date
1776
Metaphor
"When Mrs. Montagu, in the purest and most elegant language, delivers sentiments equally just and sublime as his, we are surprised and delighted; the gracefulness of her manner seems to add beauty to her thoughts; her words sink into our hearts, like the softest sounds of the most perfect harmony, and produce the same placid effects."
Metaphor in Context
Yes, Stanley, Miss Harrison is very sensible; she has what I call a true feminine understanding, and is therefore more capable of inspiring love, than those ladies who are complimented with a masculine one. For I must dissent from your opinion, that there is no characteristic distinction between the understandings of the sexes--Manly sense has something awful in it. When Dr. Johnson speaks, we listen with respect and admiration, and feel our minds impressed with such an attentive kind of veneration, as I imagine was paid to the oracles of old. When Mrs. Montagu, in the purest and most elegant language, delivers sentiments equally just and sublime as his, we are surprised and delighted; the gracefulness of her manner seems to add beauty to her thoughts; her words sink into our hearts, like the softest sounds of the most perfect harmony, and produce the same placid effects.
(II, pp. 14-15)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1776).

The Story of Lady Juliana Harley: A Novel. In Letters. By Mrs. Griffith (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1776). <Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/19/2013

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