GE to George Combe, London, 13 November 1852
Title
GE to George Combe, London, 13 November 1852
Title
GE to George Combe, London, 13 November 1852
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
George Combe
Date(s)
- 1852-11-13
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to George Combe, London, 13 November 1852
MS: National Library of Scotland. Endorsed: Miss Evans | 20 Nov. ansd.
42 Strand | November 13. 1852.
My dear Sir
A visitation of my old London companion, the headache, which is still but partially relieved, has prevented me from writing to you for several days, and I must even now ask your indulgence for a letter written under a state of brain of which this foggy London November is the aptest symbol.
On my return here, I found that Mr. Chapman had been in communication with Dr. Hodgson, formerly of Manchester, and now residing at Bonn, with reference to Mr. Bastard's third article for the Westminster -- that on the Curriculum of Schools. 143 I believe Dr. Hodgson is known to you, but I have no idea whether you will concur in Mr. Chapman's opinion, that he would be likely to treat the above subject satisfactorily to Mr. Bastard. I will transcribe all that Dr. Hodgson says on the matter in his last letter.
"I shall be very glad to write such an article as you propose; and I think I can do it best in form of a review of a recent work by Professor Pillans on The Rationale of Discipline. 144 The main purpose would be, to set the importance of teaching modern languages above that of teaching Classics in schools for the young. I would give the Classics a high place even in education, but I should defer them to a period in the school course later than usual, and by that means, confine them to a smaller number of students, to those, namely, who by their longer stay at school are prepared to profit by them. My views are quite those of Professor Newman. I think, with him, that all the advantages in the way of mental exercise which the Classics give, can be as well derived from French and German, while in addition an acquirement of great, of universal, and of increasing importance is being made. I should range widely enough to take in the class of subjects suitable for schools of the rich as well as of the poor, and endeavour to lay down principles common to both, so as to determine the proper amount of divergence or difference. In essentials, unity; in all else, diversity. What then are the essentials? Here lies the question. I have the order of the article in my head, and some part of it already sketched out."
I confess that the above extract does not satisfy me as to the probability of Dr. Hodgson's meeting your and Mr. Bastard's views. I do not think you desire an article of which "the main purpose" shall be "to set the importance of teaching the modern languages above that of teaching the Classics" though you might agree in regarding that as one point of reformation. However, as the negotiation has gone so far, perhaps the best plan would be for you to state in a note to the Editors of the Westminster the chief heads which Mr. Bastard desires to see insisted on and for Mr. Chapman to forward &unknown;them&unknown; the note to Dr. Hodgson, in which case, if he declared his dissent from your views, it would be possible, without discourtesy, to withdraw the proposition that he should write the article.
Mr. Greg called on me a few days ago on his way to Paris. He brought his article on Charity. It contains much which is sound and valuable, though perhaps not everything we should have liked. He has headed it "Charitable Malefactors." 145 I remember you objected to this title and preferred another which he suggested but which I have forgotten. I will try to send you the sheets of this article as soon as it is in print.
We are to have an article on Webster 146 in the January number. I should like to know your opinion about his conduct with regard to the Fugitive Slave Law, and whether you believe in the necessity of that compromise. But I have no right to ask for any information in reply to so interrupted and illegible a letter as this. I felt that the matter of Dr. Hodgson and the article on Schools ought not to be deferred, or I would have waited until I was better able to write.
I have not yet procured the pamphlet you speak of. The writer is surely too broad in his statement, when he says there is no authority in Scripture for a separate and immortal soul. I think there is none in the Old Testament -- certainly not in the Pentateuch -- but there are many passages in the New Testament which seem to me to imply the doctrine. However I will get the pamphlet. Mr. Ellis sent me the other day, his new little book. 147 It looks "full of matter" -- like everything else of his.
My best love to Mrs. Combe. I hope to hear excellent news of you both. Alas! for the pure air I was breathing with you a month ago. My room here has the light one might expect midway up a chimney, with a little blaze of fire below, and a little glimmer of sky above. Ever, my dear Sir,
Yours gratefully and truly
Marian Evans.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Endorsed: Miss Evans | 20 Nov. ansd.
42 Strand | November 13. 1852.
My dear Sir
A visitation of my old London companion, the headache, which is still but partially relieved, has prevented me from writing to you for several days, and I must even now ask your indulgence for a letter written under a state of brain of which this foggy London November is the aptest symbol.
On my return here, I found that Mr. Chapman had been in communication with Dr. Hodgson, formerly of Manchester, and now residing at Bonn, with reference to Mr. Bastard's third article for the Westminster -- that on the Curriculum of Schools. 143 I believe Dr. Hodgson is known to you, but I have no idea whether you will concur in Mr. Chapman's opinion, that he would be likely to treat the above subject satisfactorily to Mr. Bastard. I will transcribe all that Dr. Hodgson says on the matter in his last letter.
"I shall be very glad to write such an article as you propose; and I think I can do it best in form of a review of a recent work by Professor Pillans on The Rationale of Discipline. 144 The main purpose would be, to set the importance of teaching modern languages above that of teaching Classics in schools for the young. I would give the Classics a high place even in education, but I should defer them to a period in the school course later than usual, and by that means, confine them to a smaller number of students, to those, namely, who by their longer stay at school are prepared to profit by them. My views are quite those of Professor Newman. I think, with him, that all the advantages in the way of mental exercise which the Classics give, can be as well derived from French and German, while in addition an acquirement of great, of universal, and of increasing importance is being made. I should range widely enough to take in the class of subjects suitable for schools of the rich as well as of the poor, and endeavour to lay down principles common to both, so as to determine the proper amount of divergence or difference. In essentials, unity; in all else, diversity. What then are the essentials? Here lies the question. I have the order of the article in my head, and some part of it already sketched out."
I confess that the above extract does not satisfy me as to the probability of Dr. Hodgson's meeting your and Mr. Bastard's views. I do not think you desire an article of which "the main purpose" shall be "to set the importance of teaching the modern languages above that of teaching the Classics" though you might agree in regarding that as one point of reformation. However, as the negotiation has gone so far, perhaps the best plan would be for you to state in a note to the Editors of the Westminster the chief heads which Mr. Bastard desires to see insisted on and for Mr. Chapman to forward &unknown;them&unknown; the note to Dr. Hodgson, in which case, if he declared his dissent from your views, it would be possible, without discourtesy, to withdraw the proposition that he should write the article.
Mr. Greg called on me a few days ago on his way to Paris. He brought his article on Charity. It contains much which is sound and valuable, though perhaps not everything we should have liked. He has headed it "Charitable Malefactors." 145 I remember you objected to this title and preferred another which he suggested but which I have forgotten. I will try to send you the sheets of this article as soon as it is in print.
We are to have an article on Webster 146 in the January number. I should like to know your opinion about his conduct with regard to the Fugitive Slave Law, and whether you believe in the necessity of that compromise. But I have no right to ask for any information in reply to so interrupted and illegible a letter as this. I felt that the matter of Dr. Hodgson and the article on Schools ought not to be deferred, or I would have waited until I was better able to write.
I have not yet procured the pamphlet you speak of. The writer is surely too broad in his statement, when he says there is no authority in Scripture for a separate and immortal soul. I think there is none in the Old Testament -- certainly not in the Pentateuch -- but there are many passages in the New Testament which seem to me to imply the doctrine. However I will get the pamphlet. Mr. Ellis sent me the other day, his new little book. 147 It looks "full of matter" -- like everything else of his.
My best love to Mrs. Combe. I hope to hear excellent news of you both. Alas! for the pure air I was breathing with you a month ago. My room here has the light one might expect midway up a chimney, with a little blaze of fire below, and a little glimmer of sky above. Ever, my dear Sir,
Yours gratefully and truly
Marian Evans.
Signature
Marian Evans.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to George Combe, London, 13 November 1852, 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/92462