GE to Sarah Sophia Hennell, Foleshill, [6 April 1845]
Title
GE to Sarah Sophia Hennell, Foleshill, [6 April 1845]
Title
GE to Sarah Sophia Hennell, Foleshill, [6 April 1845]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1845-04-06
Place
Foleshill
Letter Content
GE to Sarah Sophia Hennell, Foleshill, [6 April 1845]
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, I, 130.
Foleshill Sunday.
My dear Sara,
Glad am I that some one can enjoy Strauss! The million certainly will not, and I have ceased to sit down to him with any relish. I have been so idle from headache and other woes lately that I can possess my soul in patience about Mr. Parkes, though I should work much better if I had some proof sheets coming in to assure me that my soul-stupefying labour is not in vain.
I thought I had invariably put p. instead of s. -- if not, s. would be better for all German works. 543 I am very sorry my oversights or carelessness have given you so much tiresome labour. I think f. and ff. are not proper in an English translation. When I have supplied them at all I have put et seq. Judaea and Peraea not Judea and Perea. s is correct for the middle of a word, s for the end. They both represent sigma. I do not mind about any alterations that will satisfy your taste, though I am at a loss to know the rationale of some. According to dictionaries and grammars, [as though] is good gentlemanly English as well as [as if,] and if you heard more evangelical sermons, dear, you would find that it is invariably 1stly, 2dly, 3dly, 4thly and lastly, not finally. It is St. Paul's Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, 544 which has created your association. But about all these matters I am perfectly indifferent and quite glad to make your pencil marks ink. Only do not make Miss Rebecca Franklin's name into an opprobrious common noun, for I assure you she is not responsible for my faults.
I have never yet half thanked you for taking an interest in my little personal matters. My unfortunate [affaire] did not become one [du coeur,] but it has been anything but a comfortable one for my conscience. If the circumstances could be repeated with the added condition of my experience I should act very differently. As it is I have now dismissed it from my mind, and only keep it recorded in my book of reference, article [Precipitancy, ill effects of.] So now dear Sara, I am once more your true Gemahlinn, which being interpreted, means that I have no loves but those that you can share with me -- intellectual and religious loves.
I want a walk before the next shower comes.
Goodbye
Mary Ann.
Is it worth while for me to see the translation again? You can judge whether I should like to do so. I have entire confidence in your judgment about the Greek and such things. I am more grateful to you than I can tell you for taking the trouble you do. If it had not been for your interest and encouragement, I should have been almost in despair by this time.
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, I, 130.
Foleshill Sunday.
My dear Sara,
Glad am I that some one can enjoy Strauss! The million certainly will not, and I have ceased to sit down to him with any relish. I have been so idle from headache and other woes lately that I can possess my soul in patience about Mr. Parkes, though I should work much better if I had some proof sheets coming in to assure me that my soul-stupefying labour is not in vain.
I thought I had invariably put p. instead of s. -- if not, s. would be better for all German works. 543 I am very sorry my oversights or carelessness have given you so much tiresome labour. I think f. and ff. are not proper in an English translation. When I have supplied them at all I have put et seq. Judaea and Peraea not Judea and Perea. s is correct for the middle of a word, s for the end. They both represent sigma. I do not mind about any alterations that will satisfy your taste, though I am at a loss to know the rationale of some. According to dictionaries and grammars, [as though] is good gentlemanly English as well as [as if,] and if you heard more evangelical sermons, dear, you would find that it is invariably 1stly, 2dly, 3dly, 4thly and lastly, not finally. It is St. Paul's Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, 544 which has created your association. But about all these matters I am perfectly indifferent and quite glad to make your pencil marks ink. Only do not make Miss Rebecca Franklin's name into an opprobrious common noun, for I assure you she is not responsible for my faults.
I have never yet half thanked you for taking an interest in my little personal matters. My unfortunate [affaire] did not become one [du coeur,] but it has been anything but a comfortable one for my conscience. If the circumstances could be repeated with the added condition of my experience I should act very differently. As it is I have now dismissed it from my mind, and only keep it recorded in my book of reference, article [Precipitancy, ill effects of.] So now dear Sara, I am once more your true Gemahlinn, which being interpreted, means that I have no loves but those that you can share with me -- intellectual and religious loves.
I want a walk before the next shower comes.
Goodbye
Mary Ann.
Is it worth while for me to see the translation again? You can judge whether I should like to do so. I have entire confidence in your judgment about the Greek and such things. I am more grateful to you than I can tell you for taking the trouble you do. If it had not been for your interest and encouragement, I should have been almost in despair by this time.
Signature
Mary Ann.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sarah Sophia Hennell, Foleshill, [6 April 1845], 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/93907