GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 2 June 1875
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 2 June 1875
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 2 June 1875
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Frederic Harrison
Date(s)
- 1875-06-02
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 2 June 1875
Text: Typed copy, Coventry and Warwickshire Collection, Coventry City Libraries. Extracts published: F. Harrison, Memories and Thoughts, 1906, p. 149.
June 2. 75.
Dear Mr. Harrison,
Herewith the statement you have kindly allowed me to send. It occurs to me that in my brief fragmentary chat with Mr. Bowen 270 he had gathered Sir H. to be a tenant in tail coming of age, so that his father could make no disposition without his consent; but even then I don't see why he, Sir H., should have objected to a settlement in the given sense. Do you? This question has reference simply to my alarms about apparent improbabilities.
Yours thankfully
M. E. Lewes.
It is required to know the longest possible term of years for the existence of the following conditions.
That an estate, for lack of a direct heir, should have come into the possession of A (or of a series -- A, a, auc0u8242 -- if that were admissible).
That subsequently a claim should have been set up by B on a valid plea of nearer kinship.
That B should have failed in his suit from inability to prove his identity, over which certain circumstances (already fixed) have cast a doubt; and should have died soon after.
That B's daughter, being an infant at the time of his death, should have come to years of discretion and have a legal claim on the estate.
These are the essentials as closely as I can strip them. The last, viz. the legal claim of B's daughter, might be dispensed with, if the adequate stretching of the time is not to be obtained by any formula of conditions. The moral necessities of the situation might be met by the fact of injustice and foul play towards B; but I should prefer the legal claim, if possible.
You see, I should be glad of as large a slice of a century as you could give me, but I should be resigned if I could get 40 years.
Text: Typed copy, Coventry and Warwickshire Collection, Coventry City Libraries. Extracts published: F. Harrison, Memories and Thoughts, 1906, p. 149.
June 2. 75.
Dear Mr. Harrison,
Herewith the statement you have kindly allowed me to send. It occurs to me that in my brief fragmentary chat with Mr. Bowen 270 he had gathered Sir H. to be a tenant in tail coming of age, so that his father could make no disposition without his consent; but even then I don't see why he, Sir H., should have objected to a settlement in the given sense. Do you? This question has reference simply to my alarms about apparent improbabilities.
Yours thankfully
M. E. Lewes.
It is required to know the longest possible term of years for the existence of the following conditions.
That an estate, for lack of a direct heir, should have come into the possession of A (or of a series -- A, a, auc0u8242 -- if that were admissible).
That subsequently a claim should have been set up by B on a valid plea of nearer kinship.
That B should have failed in his suit from inability to prove his identity, over which certain circumstances (already fixed) have cast a doubt; and should have died soon after.
That B's daughter, being an infant at the time of his death, should have come to years of discretion and have a legal claim on the estate.
These are the essentials as closely as I can strip them. The last, viz. the legal claim of B's daughter, might be dispensed with, if the adequate stretching of the time is not to be obtained by any formula of conditions. The moral necessities of the situation might be met by the fact of injustice and foul play towards B; but I should prefer the legal claim, if possible.
You see, I should be glad of as large a slice of a century as you could give me, but I should be resigned if I could get 40 years.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 2 June 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/92404