GE to Maria Lewis, Foleshill, [27 May 1842]
Title
GE to Maria Lewis, Foleshill, [27 May 1842]
Title
GE to Maria Lewis, Foleshill, [27 May 1842]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Maria Lewis
Date(s)
- 1842-05-27
Place
FOLESHILL
Letter Content
GE to Maria Lewis, Foleshill, [27 May 1842]
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
My very dear Friend,
Several days alas! have flown away from me, without bearing on their wings any letter from me to you, since I saw the announcement of what, I am sure, causes you some sorrow. I fear your poor pupil, 432 from the period she lingered, must have suffered much bodily, and her mother mentally. You are always ready to exemplify the beautiful precept, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep," 433 a blessed duty which like all others [is] its own reward.
I am anxious to know how you feel and how you are circumstanced in the near approach of your Vacation. I know you must be more than ordinarily busy, so I cannot expect to hear from you just yet, indeed I should like better to see you and be told by you viv'e2 voce that you were come to chat away some days of your holidays with us. You would be heartily welcomed if you could do so, by both the Master and Mistress of our mansion, and I do not know any one to whom I would rather [do the honours] or do honour, without technicality, than yourself. Chrissey will leave Meriden on the 21st June; 434 I wish you could take what I may almost anticipate will be a farewell peep at her. We do not at all like her departure from our vicinity for many reasons, but our duties in this instance, as in so many thousands of others, are passive, not active. You will want to come to Coventry on business, perhaps? I hope such may be the case, and we shall then be sure of you.
You remember Chrissey's third babe, Mary Louisa. She died a week or two ago, 435 after a little life of smiles and roses that seemed the promise of a healthy maturity. It is like the breaking off of a sweet melody to poor parents when these jewels are taken, but to spectators it is one of the beauties of this earth. The meltings of sorrow on such occasions are to the harder sex one of the surest means of subduing and refining the spirit. I am hurried, and am going to send you what is hardly worth the penny tax unless you would choose to give so much for the assurance that I am ever
Your truly affectionate
Mary Ann.
Foleshill | Friday.
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
My very dear Friend,
Several days alas! have flown away from me, without bearing on their wings any letter from me to you, since I saw the announcement of what, I am sure, causes you some sorrow. I fear your poor pupil, 432 from the period she lingered, must have suffered much bodily, and her mother mentally. You are always ready to exemplify the beautiful precept, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep," 433 a blessed duty which like all others [is] its own reward.
I am anxious to know how you feel and how you are circumstanced in the near approach of your Vacation. I know you must be more than ordinarily busy, so I cannot expect to hear from you just yet, indeed I should like better to see you and be told by you viv'e2 voce that you were come to chat away some days of your holidays with us. You would be heartily welcomed if you could do so, by both the Master and Mistress of our mansion, and I do not know any one to whom I would rather [do the honours] or do honour, without technicality, than yourself. Chrissey will leave Meriden on the 21st June; 434 I wish you could take what I may almost anticipate will be a farewell peep at her. We do not at all like her departure from our vicinity for many reasons, but our duties in this instance, as in so many thousands of others, are passive, not active. You will want to come to Coventry on business, perhaps? I hope such may be the case, and we shall then be sure of you.
You remember Chrissey's third babe, Mary Louisa. She died a week or two ago, 435 after a little life of smiles and roses that seemed the promise of a healthy maturity. It is like the breaking off of a sweet melody to poor parents when these jewels are taken, but to spectators it is one of the beauties of this earth. The meltings of sorrow on such occasions are to the harder sex one of the surest means of subduing and refining the spirit. I am hurried, and am going to send you what is hardly worth the penny tax unless you would choose to give so much for the assurance that I am ever
Your truly affectionate
Mary Ann.
Foleshill | Friday.
Signature
Mary Ann.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Maria Lewis, Foleshill, [27 May 1842], 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/92877