GE to Emily Cross, London, [13 January 1875]
Title
GE to Emily Cross, London, [13 January 1875]
Title
GE to Emily Cross, London, [13 January 1875]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Emily Cross
Date(s)
- 1875-01-13
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Emily Cross, London, [13 January 1875]
Text: Copy [by Mrs. Otter?], Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Dearest Emily,
I had a letter from "you know whom" last night, but I needed yours of this morning to give the finish to my joy. 197 What you say has comforted my heart and set it quite at rest. The future must always be in one sense dark, but with a deep love which enables us to be the light and bliss of another, we can never be without reason for saying "I am glad that I have lived." That is really the highest good of a wife -- to be quite 'abcertain'bb sure in the midst of the dimness and doubt which this difficult world surrounds us with, that there is one close to her whose life is every day the better for her. I do believe and hope that you will know this.
And please don't worry yourself about "cleverness," which is a doubtful sort of condiment or "Kitchen" to the excellent wheaten bread of a loving truthful woman's 'abheart'bb nature. Cleverness often leaves people very stupid about the best knowledge. If you were going to marry a shallow, green sentimentalist whose supposed affection might turn out to be a changeful fancy, I should wish him to get cleverness in return as the best he deserved. But you are going, I believe to marry a man of large comprehension and with that depth of feeling which means fidelity. You know how thoroughly your uncle enters into this happiness. I think he is writing to Mrs. Cross, and will ask her about the possibility of her coming to us with you. That might be too great an effort for her and I fear to urge it. Always dear child
Your loving Aunt
M. E. Lewes.
Text: Copy [by Mrs. Otter?], Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Dearest Emily,
I had a letter from "you know whom" last night, but I needed yours of this morning to give the finish to my joy. 197 What you say has comforted my heart and set it quite at rest. The future must always be in one sense dark, but with a deep love which enables us to be the light and bliss of another, we can never be without reason for saying "I am glad that I have lived." That is really the highest good of a wife -- to be quite 'abcertain'bb sure in the midst of the dimness and doubt which this difficult world surrounds us with, that there is one close to her whose life is every day the better for her. I do believe and hope that you will know this.
And please don't worry yourself about "cleverness," which is a doubtful sort of condiment or "Kitchen" to the excellent wheaten bread of a loving truthful woman's 'abheart'bb nature. Cleverness often leaves people very stupid about the best knowledge. If you were going to marry a shallow, green sentimentalist whose supposed affection might turn out to be a changeful fancy, I should wish him to get cleverness in return as the best he deserved. But you are going, I believe to marry a man of large comprehension and with that depth of feeling which means fidelity. You know how thoroughly your uncle enters into this happiness. I think he is writing to Mrs. Cross, and will ask her about the possibility of her coming to us with you. That might be too great an effort for her and I fear to urge it. Always dear child
Your loving Aunt
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Emily Cross, London, [13 January 1875], 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/92305