GE to [Mrs. Nassau John Senior], London, 4 October 1869
Title
GE to [Mrs. Nassau John Senior], London, 4 October 1869
Title
GE to [Mrs. Nassau John Senior], London, 4 October 1869
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
[Mrs. Nassau John Senior]
Date(s)
- 1869-10-04
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to [Mrs. Nassau John Senior], London, 4 October 1869
MS: Mrs. Sherburne Prescott. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 4. 69.
My dear Friend
I am wondering whether you are come home. If you are (and the chance of it makes me fear to address a letter to your Worthing house) your kind heart will make you glad to have this note with its bit of good news about our poor Thornie. He is going on well, we think, in his slow way: passing his days and nights with little suffering, and enjoying his food without frequent symptoms of indigestion. His face has more than ever of the wizened look that has come instead of its old beauty, and that pains me to see; I cannot shake off the impression it creates in me of slow withering. But this is a mere weakness of mine, and I recognize the probability of what Mr. Lewes insists on -- that the emaciated look may disappear in a week when once a more rapid assimilation has set in.
I have read your last letter to me several times, and bless you with all my heart for conscientiously reconsidering your opinion. That is, to my mind, the most important sign of spiritual life -- to be able always to reconsider one's conclusions and go well over the process by which they have been arrived at.
I have no personal knowledge of Mrs. Manning 108 and no practical connexion with the proposed college, beyond subscribing to it, 109 and occasionally answering questions which Miss Davies has put to me about the curriculum which would be desirable. I feel too deeply the difficult complications that beset every measure likely to affect the position of women and also I feel too imperfect a sympathy with many women who have put themselves forward in connexion with such measures, to give any practical adhesion to them. There is no subject on which I am more inclined to hold my peace and learn, than on the "Women Question." It seems to me to overhang abysses, of which even prostitution is not the worst. Conclusions seem easy so long as we keep large blinkers on and look in the direction of our own private path.
But on one point I have a strong conviction, and I feel bound to act on it, so far as my retired way of life allows of public action. And that is, that women ought to have the same fund of truth placed within their reach as men have; that their lives (i.e. the lives of men and women) ought to be passed together under the hallowing influence of a common faith as to their duty and its basis. And this unity in their faith can only be produced by their having each the same store of fundamental knowledge. It is not likely that any perfect plan for educating women can soon be found, for we are very far from having found a perfect plan for educating men. But it will not do to wait for perfection.
I write these hasty words to show you that I valued what you said to me. But do not let any one else see this note. I have been made rather miserable lately by revelations about women, and have resolved to remain silent in my sense of helplessness. I know very little about what is specially good for women -- only a few things that I feel sure are good for human nature generally, and about such as these last alone, can I ever hope to write or say anything worth saying.
Ever yours affectionately
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Mrs. Sherburne Prescott. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 4. 69.
My dear Friend
I am wondering whether you are come home. If you are (and the chance of it makes me fear to address a letter to your Worthing house) your kind heart will make you glad to have this note with its bit of good news about our poor Thornie. He is going on well, we think, in his slow way: passing his days and nights with little suffering, and enjoying his food without frequent symptoms of indigestion. His face has more than ever of the wizened look that has come instead of its old beauty, and that pains me to see; I cannot shake off the impression it creates in me of slow withering. But this is a mere weakness of mine, and I recognize the probability of what Mr. Lewes insists on -- that the emaciated look may disappear in a week when once a more rapid assimilation has set in.
I have read your last letter to me several times, and bless you with all my heart for conscientiously reconsidering your opinion. That is, to my mind, the most important sign of spiritual life -- to be able always to reconsider one's conclusions and go well over the process by which they have been arrived at.
I have no personal knowledge of Mrs. Manning 108 and no practical connexion with the proposed college, beyond subscribing to it, 109 and occasionally answering questions which Miss Davies has put to me about the curriculum which would be desirable. I feel too deeply the difficult complications that beset every measure likely to affect the position of women and also I feel too imperfect a sympathy with many women who have put themselves forward in connexion with such measures, to give any practical adhesion to them. There is no subject on which I am more inclined to hold my peace and learn, than on the "Women Question." It seems to me to overhang abysses, of which even prostitution is not the worst. Conclusions seem easy so long as we keep large blinkers on and look in the direction of our own private path.
But on one point I have a strong conviction, and I feel bound to act on it, so far as my retired way of life allows of public action. And that is, that women ought to have the same fund of truth placed within their reach as men have; that their lives (i.e. the lives of men and women) ought to be passed together under the hallowing influence of a common faith as to their duty and its basis. And this unity in their faith can only be produced by their having each the same store of fundamental knowledge. It is not likely that any perfect plan for educating women can soon be found, for we are very far from having found a perfect plan for educating men. But it will not do to wait for perfection.
I write these hasty words to show you that I valued what you said to me. But do not let any one else see this note. I have been made rather miserable lately by revelations about women, and have resolved to remain silent in my sense of helplessness. I know very little about what is specially good for women -- only a few things that I feel sure are good for human nature generally, and about such as these last alone, can I ever hope to write or say anything worth saying.
Ever yours affectionately
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to [Mrs. Nassau John Senior], London, 4 October 1869, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91966