GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Foleshill, April? 1846](5)
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Foleshill, April? 1846](5)
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Foleshill, April? 1846](5)
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1846-04
Place
[FOLESHILL]
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Foleshill, April? 1846](5)
MS: Yale. Brief extract published: Cross, I, 135-136.
Tuesday Morning.
Beloved Achates,
I have been idle, and have not done a stroke to the prefaces, but they shall be sent as soon as possible. Thanks for the copy of the Latin preface and letter. They are in preconceived harmony with my ideas of the appropriate. 618 I do not quite understand what you mean about the two first volumes being completed. Are then the prefaces and index to be printed immediately before the rest of the 3d volume? 619 It would be very stupid for a reviewer to see the 2 first volumes and no more.
The friend of whom I spoke is Miss Jenkins 620 whom you will remember as Mrs. Whittem's governess. This is quite a secret, and must above all not be mentioned to Cara or Mr. Bray, as Miss J. would be extremely hurt to find that her little project was known. She merely asked me for the sake of information on the subject. She is clever, but whether clever enough to trust to her brains alone for a living I dare not venture to say. She poor girl evidently has the utmost repugnance to the life of a governess. She is good and conscientious, but rather utopian and freakish. She thinks she could sit from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve, 621 translating German or French without feeling the least fatigue. I shall tell her that I have asked the opinion of one friend, who thinks the speculation h'f6chst prec'e4r, and shall I not say that that friend has had experience which warrants her to pronounce teaching better work for the soul than translating? There are not even the devil's wages for a translator -- profit and fame. She says she wants neither, but only food and clothing.
Once more, this is for thy private ear. In great haste,
Thine gratefully and lovingly
Pollian.
MS: Yale. Brief extract published: Cross, I, 135-136.
Tuesday Morning.
Beloved Achates,
I have been idle, and have not done a stroke to the prefaces, but they shall be sent as soon as possible. Thanks for the copy of the Latin preface and letter. They are in preconceived harmony with my ideas of the appropriate. 618 I do not quite understand what you mean about the two first volumes being completed. Are then the prefaces and index to be printed immediately before the rest of the 3d volume? 619 It would be very stupid for a reviewer to see the 2 first volumes and no more.
The friend of whom I spoke is Miss Jenkins 620 whom you will remember as Mrs. Whittem's governess. This is quite a secret, and must above all not be mentioned to Cara or Mr. Bray, as Miss J. would be extremely hurt to find that her little project was known. She merely asked me for the sake of information on the subject. She is clever, but whether clever enough to trust to her brains alone for a living I dare not venture to say. She poor girl evidently has the utmost repugnance to the life of a governess. She is good and conscientious, but rather utopian and freakish. She thinks she could sit from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve, 621 translating German or French without feeling the least fatigue. I shall tell her that I have asked the opinion of one friend, who thinks the speculation h'f6chst prec'e4r, and shall I not say that that friend has had experience which warrants her to pronounce teaching better work for the soul than translating? There are not even the devil's wages for a translator -- profit and fame. She says she wants neither, but only food and clothing.
Once more, this is for thy private ear. In great haste,
Thine gratefully and lovingly
Pollian.
Signature
Pollian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Foleshill, April? 1846](5), 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/93833