GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 20 December 1860
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 20 December 1860
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 20 December 1860
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1860-12-20
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 20 December 1860
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, II, 282-283.
Blandford Square | December 20. 60.
My dear Sara
Your vision of me as "settled" was painfully in contrast with the fact. The last virtue human beings will attain, I am inclined to think, is scrupulosity in promising and faithfulness in fulfilment. We are still far off our last stadium of development, and so it has come to pass that though we were in the house on Monday last, our curtains are not up and our oil-cloth is not down. Such is life seen from the furnishing point of view! I can't tell you how hateful this sort of time-frittering work is to me, who every year care less for houses and detest shops more. To crown my sorrows, I have lost my pen -- my old favourite pen with which I have written for eight years; -- at least, it is not forthcoming.
Enough of my "fat" grievances. I am glad, for all reasons, that you will stay at Ravensbourne till after Christmas, and then come and see us again, when I have cast anxieties about brooms and kettles behind me. Such a neighbour as Mr. Darwin 674 to see occasionally will make your visit doubly agreeable, and if you had not looked so well and strong already, I should have expected to see you brightened by the change.
We have been reading the proof of Mr. Spencer's Second Part, 675 and I am supremely gratified by it, because he brings his argument to a point which I did not anticipate from him. It is, as he says, a result of his riper thought.
After all the bustle of Monday, I went to hear Sims Reeves sing
"Adelaide" 676 -- that ne plus ultra of passionate song, and I wish you had been there for one quarter of an hour, that you might have heard it too.
I am writing with an arri'e8re pens'e9e of carpentry needing my attention, so I shall say goodby, now, only sending you this scrap of a letter to assure you that you are remembered by
Your affectionate Friend
P.
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, II, 282-283.
Blandford Square | December 20. 60.
My dear Sara
Your vision of me as "settled" was painfully in contrast with the fact. The last virtue human beings will attain, I am inclined to think, is scrupulosity in promising and faithfulness in fulfilment. We are still far off our last stadium of development, and so it has come to pass that though we were in the house on Monday last, our curtains are not up and our oil-cloth is not down. Such is life seen from the furnishing point of view! I can't tell you how hateful this sort of time-frittering work is to me, who every year care less for houses and detest shops more. To crown my sorrows, I have lost my pen -- my old favourite pen with which I have written for eight years; -- at least, it is not forthcoming.
Enough of my "fat" grievances. I am glad, for all reasons, that you will stay at Ravensbourne till after Christmas, and then come and see us again, when I have cast anxieties about brooms and kettles behind me. Such a neighbour as Mr. Darwin 674 to see occasionally will make your visit doubly agreeable, and if you had not looked so well and strong already, I should have expected to see you brightened by the change.
We have been reading the proof of Mr. Spencer's Second Part, 675 and I am supremely gratified by it, because he brings his argument to a point which I did not anticipate from him. It is, as he says, a result of his riper thought.
After all the bustle of Monday, I went to hear Sims Reeves sing
"Adelaide" 676 -- that ne plus ultra of passionate song, and I wish you had been there for one quarter of an hour, that you might have heard it too.
I am writing with an arri'e8re pens'e9e of carpentry needing my attention, so I shall say goodby, now, only sending you this scrap of a letter to assure you that you are remembered by
Your affectionate Friend
P.
Signature
P.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 20 December 1860, 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/94014