GE TO MR. AND MRS. CHARLES BRAY AND SARA SOPHIA HENNELL, LONDON, [22 OCTOBER 1851]
Title
GE TO MR. AND MRS. CHARLES BRAY AND SARA SOPHIA HENNELL, LONDON, [22 OCTOBER 1851]
Title
GE TO MR. AND MRS. CHARLES BRAY AND SARA SOPHIA HENNELL, LONDON, [22 OCTOBER 1851]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES BRAY AND SARA SOPHIA HENNELL
Date(s)
- 1851-10-22
Place
LONDON
Letter Content
GE TO MR. AND MRS. CHARLES BRAY AND SARA SOPHIA HENNELL, LONDON, [22 OCTOBER 1851]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1851. Extracts published: Cross, I, 262.
Strand.
Dear <Friend> Creatures all
I was annoyed about the Combe affair 1038 before, and still more now I see his letter.
We have had three more £20 subscriptions since you left 1039 -- Newman, Robert Cox, 1040 and a Mr. Birch, 1041 without sending circulars.
Professor Forbes 1042 is to write us a capital scientific article whereat I rejoice greatly. The Peerage apparently will not [get itself done] as Carlyle says. I begin to fear that the Lombe patronage will be rather a bondage. The peerage is not an urgent question, nor does one see that, if the undue influence of the Peers on the elections for the Commons were done away with, there would be much mischief from the House of Lords remaining for some time longer in statu quo.
I have been reading Carlyle's life of Sterling with great pleasure -- not for its presentation of Sterling but of Carlyle. There are racy bits of description in his best manner and exquisite touches of feeling. Little rapid characterizations of living men too -- of Francis Newman for example, "a man of fine university and other attainments, of the sharpest cutting and most restlessly advancing intellect, and of the mildest pious enthusiasm." There is an inimitable description of Coleridge and his eternal monologue, "To sit as a passive bucket and be pumped into, whether one like it or not, can in the end be exhilarating to no creature." 1043
I can't write any more having to send an editorial missive to Greg. The business news is disquieting. Love to all from
Your
Pollian.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1851. Extracts published: Cross, I, 262.
Strand.
Dear <Friend> Creatures all
I was annoyed about the Combe affair 1038 before, and still more now I see his letter.
We have had three more £20 subscriptions since you left 1039 -- Newman, Robert Cox, 1040 and a Mr. Birch, 1041 without sending circulars.
Professor Forbes 1042 is to write us a capital scientific article whereat I rejoice greatly. The Peerage apparently will not [get itself done] as Carlyle says. I begin to fear that the Lombe patronage will be rather a bondage. The peerage is not an urgent question, nor does one see that, if the undue influence of the Peers on the elections for the Commons were done away with, there would be much mischief from the House of Lords remaining for some time longer in statu quo.
I have been reading Carlyle's life of Sterling with great pleasure -- not for its presentation of Sterling but of Carlyle. There are racy bits of description in his best manner and exquisite touches of feeling. Little rapid characterizations of living men too -- of Francis Newman for example, "a man of fine university and other attainments, of the sharpest cutting and most restlessly advancing intellect, and of the mildest pious enthusiasm." There is an inimitable description of Coleridge and his eternal monologue, "To sit as a passive bucket and be pumped into, whether one like it or not, can in the end be exhilarating to no creature." 1043
I can't write any more having to send an editorial missive to Greg. The business news is disquieting. Love to all from
Your
Pollian.
Signature
Pollian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE TO MR. AND MRS. CHARLES BRAY AND SARA SOPHIA HENNELL, LONDON, [22 OCTOBER 1851], 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/93133