GE to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans, Griff, 5 December 1840
Title
GE to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans, Griff, 5 December 1840
Title
GE to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans, Griff, 5 December 1840
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans
Date(s)
- 1840-12-05
Place
GRIFF
Letter Content
GE to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans, Griff, 5 December 1840
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Griff December 5, 1840.
My dear Uncle and Aunt,
You have I dare say thought me very slow in replying to a letter which it gave me real pleasure to receive; and unless you had been eye-witnesses of my circumstances for the last four or five weeks I could not hope to make you understand the reason of my long silence; so I will trust your ample kindness of judgment to pardon me, and only assure you that I am not less than ever your faithfully affectionate Niece. I am thankful to tell you that my dear Father is enjoying his usual good health and spirits -- but this news you may probably have heard from my Uncle William's family, as my Father was there, that is at Ellaston, about a fortnight ago. You kindly invite me to talk of myself and I am always but too ready to comply with such a request, notwithstanding I sometimes enter my protest against the practice. It certainly is a rich blessing to have friends like-minded with whom to share one's joys and trials. I am just now experiencing a weariness of body and spirit that I am led to hope may have a useful tendency, but which I yet desire to be freed from, lest it should render me inactive for those whose welfare and comfort I am chiefly called to seek. I desire to be entirely submissive and without care for the morrow, to be so intent on the improvement of present time and present blessings as to allow myself no leisure for dreaming about my worldly future; but nevertheless I find an increased uncertainty respecting that future to unhinge my mind a little. I earnestly desire a spirit of childlike humility that shall make me willing to be lightly esteemed among men; 267 this is the opposite of my besetting sin, which is an ever struggling ambition.
But "He giveth more Grace," 268 and I feel that I am the subject of so great and so many mercies that I should mourn for nothing but my sins. "They shall be all taught of God. He therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me," 269 saith the Saviour, and these blessed words give us the sum of eternal life, the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. What a portion for sinful man! To be called, justified, sanctified and in due time glorified, according to the sweet promise "Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off." 270 A striking contrast this to the prospect of those who have chosen idols, and say, "after them will we go." "They shall be ashamed of the oak they have desired and confounded for the gardens they have chosen." 271 I have always the comfort when thinking of you my dear Aunt and Uncle, that your path is that which will assuredly like that of our glorious, cheering sun shine more and more unto the perfect day. I fear you are sometimes cast down by the infirmities of the heavy, ailing body, and parental anxieties, but you are quickly reminded where lies your treasure, and that being oppressed, God will undertake for you, 272 carry you through the sea-like troubles of life and death dry shod, and order the circumstances of all belonging to you according to His Infinite wisdom, and therefore better than you know how to desire. I hope I shall have a cheerful account of your health soon, though I do not deserve it. Believe me with love to my Cousins,
Your truly affectionate Niece
Mary Ann Evans.
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Griff December 5, 1840.
My dear Uncle and Aunt,
You have I dare say thought me very slow in replying to a letter which it gave me real pleasure to receive; and unless you had been eye-witnesses of my circumstances for the last four or five weeks I could not hope to make you understand the reason of my long silence; so I will trust your ample kindness of judgment to pardon me, and only assure you that I am not less than ever your faithfully affectionate Niece. I am thankful to tell you that my dear Father is enjoying his usual good health and spirits -- but this news you may probably have heard from my Uncle William's family, as my Father was there, that is at Ellaston, about a fortnight ago. You kindly invite me to talk of myself and I am always but too ready to comply with such a request, notwithstanding I sometimes enter my protest against the practice. It certainly is a rich blessing to have friends like-minded with whom to share one's joys and trials. I am just now experiencing a weariness of body and spirit that I am led to hope may have a useful tendency, but which I yet desire to be freed from, lest it should render me inactive for those whose welfare and comfort I am chiefly called to seek. I desire to be entirely submissive and without care for the morrow, to be so intent on the improvement of present time and present blessings as to allow myself no leisure for dreaming about my worldly future; but nevertheless I find an increased uncertainty respecting that future to unhinge my mind a little. I earnestly desire a spirit of childlike humility that shall make me willing to be lightly esteemed among men; 267 this is the opposite of my besetting sin, which is an ever struggling ambition.
But "He giveth more Grace," 268 and I feel that I am the subject of so great and so many mercies that I should mourn for nothing but my sins. "They shall be all taught of God. He therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me," 269 saith the Saviour, and these blessed words give us the sum of eternal life, the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. What a portion for sinful man! To be called, justified, sanctified and in due time glorified, according to the sweet promise "Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off." 270 A striking contrast this to the prospect of those who have chosen idols, and say, "after them will we go." "They shall be ashamed of the oak they have desired and confounded for the gardens they have chosen." 271 I have always the comfort when thinking of you my dear Aunt and Uncle, that your path is that which will assuredly like that of our glorious, cheering sun shine more and more unto the perfect day. I fear you are sometimes cast down by the infirmities of the heavy, ailing body, and parental anxieties, but you are quickly reminded where lies your treasure, and that being oppressed, God will undertake for you, 272 carry you through the sea-like troubles of life and death dry shod, and order the circumstances of all belonging to you according to His Infinite wisdom, and therefore better than you know how to desire. I hope I shall have a cheerful account of your health soon, though I do not deserve it. Believe me with love to my Cousins,
Your truly affectionate Niece
Mary Ann Evans.
Signature
Mary Ann Evans.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans, Griff, 5 December 1840, 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/93182