Introduction
Several years after his death, some letters of Ignatius Sancho, a grocer trading from King Charles Street in London and a former slave, were presented to the public in the hope of demonstrating that he was a writer quite as accomplished as many a native English literary man. In this extract, dated October 24th, 1777, he talks (as he often does) about his wife Ann.
DAME Sancho would be better in health, if she cared less.* I am her barometer. If a sigh escapes me, it is answered by a tear in her eye. I often assume a gaiety to illume her dear sensibility with a smile, which twenty years ago almost bewitched me, and mark! after twenty years’ enjoyment constitutes my highest pleasure!* Such be your lot — with a competency such as will make economy a pleasant acquaintance — temperance and exercise your chief physician* — and the virtues of benevolence your daily employ — your pleasure and your reward! And what more can friendship wish you? — but to glide down the stream of time blessed with a partner of congenial principles and fine feelings — true feminine eloquence — whose very looks speak tenderness and sentiment.
* His wife was of course not really Dame Sancho — in the 1770s, she would have had to be a baronetess in her own right, and in that case she ought to be Dame Ann — but plain Ann Sancho, née Osborne, from the West Indies. It was just Ignatius’s humour to call her by that title, when he did not call her ‘my best half.’ He dubbed his children (he and Ann had seven) collectively ‘the Sanchonettas.’
* Ignatius is rounding up. The letter was written in October 1777, but the couple married in 1758. There is a short biography at The British Library.
* Those who knew him might have been taken aback by Ignatius advising anyone on keeping fit. He had been pensioned off in 1774 because his spreading figure meant he could no longer fulfil his duties as valet to George, Duke of Montagu; George set him up with a grocery store in King Charles Street instead. Ignatius’s words on temperance came from the heart, however. Drink and gambling had ruined him as a young man, before the Montagus gave him a second chance. He also accused British merchants of using alcohol to degrade African chiefs in the hope of taking their goods and land. See Study the Heart.
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Minuet 15 by Ignatius Sancho, performed by Adé Williams and Clayton Penrose-Whitmore.
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Précis
In a letter to a friend in 1777, Ignatius Sancho said that his wife Ann reliably mirrored his moods as reliably as weather is forecast by a barometer, and that beside sufficient income and good health he could wish a friend no greater blessing than an affectionate partner in life one who shared his outlook. (55 / 60 words)
In a letter to a friend in 1777, Ignatius Sancho said that his wife Ann reliably mirrored his moods as reliably as weather is forecast by a barometer, and that beside sufficient income and good health he could wish a friend no greater blessing than an affectionate partner in life one who shared his outlook.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: despite, just, must, not, ought, since, until, whether.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Dame. Eloquence. True.
2 Enjoyment. Feeling. Sensibility.
3 Often. Whose. Year.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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