GE to Thomas Clifford Allbutt, London, 20 February 1879
Title
GE to Thomas Clifford Allbutt, London, 20 February 1879
Title
GE to Thomas Clifford Allbutt, London, 20 February 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Thomas Clifford Allbutt
Date(s)
- 1879-02-20
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Thomas Clifford Allbutt, London, 20 February 1879
Text: Oscar Browning, Life of George Eliot, London, Scott, 1890, pp. 131-132.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 20. 79.
Dear Dr. Allbutt
Your letter is among the most precious signs of sympathy that my kind friends have given me, because of what you say in it about my husband's influence over students. 177 That is what he himself cared for as among the chief aims of life. I am tempted to ask you whether it would be otherwise than repugnant to you -- whether you would have any satisfaction in writing, not a eulogistic, but a plain statement of your observation and experience in relation to the effect of my husband's work, to be printed in quotation, but not (unless you wished it) with your name, simply as a testimony of an experienced physician whose judgment is not simply that of a professional man, but of a scientific experimenter. I want, if I can, to write a [characteristik] of my loved one -- no memoir, but a brief sketch of his mental and moral qualities, and his way of looking at the work he tried to do.
Just now I am ill. Sir James Paget and Dr. Andrew Clark say I shall get better, but in the meantime my comparative incapacity for the work I want to do makes me anxious.
Can you help me with any suggestions as to founding (now while I live) some Lectureship or other efficient instrument of teaching Biology (including Psychology) in memory of my husband, and to be called by his name? I am trying to get good advice, knowing how difficult it is to make an endowment a [good custom] which shall not in the end become corrupt.
Please give my best remembrances to your wife, who I hope is strong enough to enjoy the blessedness of your united life.
Always yours gratefully,
M. E. Lewes.
I have not yet seen any one except our son Charles, and am unequal to anything more than feeble thinking and writing in relation to those chief objects. Any word you can send me will be valued.
Text: Oscar Browning, Life of George Eliot, London, Scott, 1890, pp. 131-132.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 20. 79.
Dear Dr. Allbutt
Your letter is among the most precious signs of sympathy that my kind friends have given me, because of what you say in it about my husband's influence over students. 177 That is what he himself cared for as among the chief aims of life. I am tempted to ask you whether it would be otherwise than repugnant to you -- whether you would have any satisfaction in writing, not a eulogistic, but a plain statement of your observation and experience in relation to the effect of my husband's work, to be printed in quotation, but not (unless you wished it) with your name, simply as a testimony of an experienced physician whose judgment is not simply that of a professional man, but of a scientific experimenter. I want, if I can, to write a [characteristik] of my loved one -- no memoir, but a brief sketch of his mental and moral qualities, and his way of looking at the work he tried to do.
Just now I am ill. Sir James Paget and Dr. Andrew Clark say I shall get better, but in the meantime my comparative incapacity for the work I want to do makes me anxious.
Can you help me with any suggestions as to founding (now while I live) some Lectureship or other efficient instrument of teaching Biology (including Psychology) in memory of my husband, and to be called by his name? I am trying to get good advice, knowing how difficult it is to make an endowment a [good custom] which shall not in the end become corrupt.
Please give my best remembrances to your wife, who I hope is strong enough to enjoy the blessedness of your united life.
Always yours gratefully,
M. E. Lewes.
I have not yet seen any one except our son Charles, and am unequal to anything more than feeble thinking and writing in relation to those chief objects. Any word you can send me will be valued.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Thomas Clifford Allbutt, London, 20 February 1879, 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/94164