GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 10 November [1865]
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 10 November [1865]
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 10 November [1865]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray
Date(s)
- 1865-11-10
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 10 November [1865]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1865. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
November 10.
My dear Cara
When your kind letter came into my hands I had just returned from my first visit to Mrs. Congreve and Miss Bury. The poor patient is recovering, but still needs great care. Both Mr. and Mrs. Congreve have suffered less physically than I feared they would. You may imagine what the strain on Mr. Congreve is when I tell you that he expects in a month to undergo the Examination of his Medical Studies. 381
I wrote a long letter to you nearly a fortnight ago, and burnt it, because I hesitated whether I ought to say what I had said in it. Yet I think I will tell you that the gist of it -- of course confided to you with perfect trust in your loving discretion -- was to beg of you not to accept our dear Sara's statements about her friends' words or their condition, because I felt convinced that her mental habits were of a kind that absolutely forbid her getting any accurate impressions about things outside her own theoretic world. That word will suffice -- is perhaps more than enough -- by way of additional caution to your own indisposition towards hasty judgments. I had also told you in that burnt letter, that the best compensation for not seeing you was to hear that the reason was a Tenant. Gaudeamus!
Poor Harry's case is one of the most difficult to deal with. I have been hearing from Miss Marshall how long-suffering and kind Mr. Bray is towards him -- as usual to those whom everybody else would crush against the wall.
Mr. Lewes is in worse health than usual -- that is my only grief. You would find it difficult to imagine that he can be a cheerful, much-producing man with the amount of headache and nausea he endures.
I was glad to see Miss Marshall had recovered her former self so thoroughly except as to her sight. Unfailing memory, dear Cara, from
Your affectionate
Marian.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1865. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
November 10.
My dear Cara
When your kind letter came into my hands I had just returned from my first visit to Mrs. Congreve and Miss Bury. The poor patient is recovering, but still needs great care. Both Mr. and Mrs. Congreve have suffered less physically than I feared they would. You may imagine what the strain on Mr. Congreve is when I tell you that he expects in a month to undergo the Examination of his Medical Studies. 381
I wrote a long letter to you nearly a fortnight ago, and burnt it, because I hesitated whether I ought to say what I had said in it. Yet I think I will tell you that the gist of it -- of course confided to you with perfect trust in your loving discretion -- was to beg of you not to accept our dear Sara's statements about her friends' words or their condition, because I felt convinced that her mental habits were of a kind that absolutely forbid her getting any accurate impressions about things outside her own theoretic world. That word will suffice -- is perhaps more than enough -- by way of additional caution to your own indisposition towards hasty judgments. I had also told you in that burnt letter, that the best compensation for not seeing you was to hear that the reason was a Tenant. Gaudeamus!
Poor Harry's case is one of the most difficult to deal with. I have been hearing from Miss Marshall how long-suffering and kind Mr. Bray is towards him -- as usual to those whom everybody else would crush against the wall.
Mr. Lewes is in worse health than usual -- that is my only grief. You would find it difficult to imagine that he can be a cheerful, much-producing man with the amount of headache and nausea he endures.
I was glad to see Miss Marshall had recovered her former self so thoroughly except as to her sight. Unfailing memory, dear Cara, from
Your affectionate
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 10 November [1865], 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/93263