GE to Vincent Holbeche, Gorey, 13 June 1857
Title
GE to Vincent Holbeche, Gorey, 13 June 1857
Title
GE to Vincent Holbeche, Gorey, 13 June 1857
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Vincent Holbeche
Date(s)
- 1857-06-13
Place
Gorey
Letter Content
GE to Vincent Holbeche, Gorey, 13 June 1857
MS: Parrish Collection, Princeton. A draft of this letter in GHL's hand, identical except for "truly" instead of "faithfully" in the close, is at Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Rosa Cottage | Gorey | Jersey | June 13. 1857.
My dear Sir
I have just received your letter written to me by my brother's request, and I willingly reply to it at once by a statement of the facts concerning which you desire information; the more so, because I anticipated the probability of my having to correspond with you as joint Trustee under my Father's Will.
My brother has judged wisely in begging you to communicate with me. If his feelings towards me are unfriendly, there is no necessity for his paining himself by any direct intercourse with me; indeed, if he had written to me in a tone which I could not recognize (since I am not conscious of having done him any injury) I must myself have employed a third person as a correspondent.
Mr. Lewes is a well-known writer, author among other things, of the [Life of Goethe] and the Biographical History of Philosophy. Our marriage is not a legal one, though it is regarded by us both as a sacred bond. He is at present unable to contract a legal marriage, because, though long deprived of his first wife by her misconduct, he is not legally divorced.
I have been his wife and have borne his name for nearly three years; a fact which has been known to all my personal friends except the members of my own family, from whom I have withheld it because, knowing that their views of life differ in many respects from my own, I wished not to give them unnecessary pain. Other considerations, however, have at length determined me to inform them of my circumstances and of the responsibilities for life, which I have undertaken.
It may be desirable to mention to you that I am not dependent on any one, the larger part of my income for several years having been derived from my own constant labour as a writer. You will perceive, therefore, that in my conduct towards my own family I have not been guided by any motives of self-interest, since I have been neither in the reception nor the expectation of the slightest favour from them.
Mr. Lewes, as I have already stated, has an account at the Union Bank of London, Charing Cross Branch, 4 Pall Mall East. I have requested that any money due to me may be paid to his account there, because, as we are frequently out of England and away from town, the transmission of cheques is attended with much inconvenience. I presume that I have a legal right to appoint the payment of interest due to me to any person I may choose to name. But if there is any point necessary to be taken into consideration, which I have overlooked or of which I am ignorant, you will be good enough to set me right.
I have satisfaction in communicating with you in this case, rather than with anyone else, not only because you kindly undertook, from friendship to my Father, to become my trustee, but because I learned from him that it was owing to your considerate suggestion that some provision was made for me during the first year after my Father's death. 901 I daresay you have forgotten the circumstances, but I have always remembered gratefully that instance of thoughtfulness on my behalf, and am glad to have an opportunity of acknowledging it. I remain, my dear Sir,
Yours very faithfully,
Marian Lewes.
Vincent Holbeche Esq.,
MS: Parrish Collection, Princeton. A draft of this letter in GHL's hand, identical except for "truly" instead of "faithfully" in the close, is at Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Rosa Cottage | Gorey | Jersey | June 13. 1857.
My dear Sir
I have just received your letter written to me by my brother's request, and I willingly reply to it at once by a statement of the facts concerning which you desire information; the more so, because I anticipated the probability of my having to correspond with you as joint Trustee under my Father's Will.
My brother has judged wisely in begging you to communicate with me. If his feelings towards me are unfriendly, there is no necessity for his paining himself by any direct intercourse with me; indeed, if he had written to me in a tone which I could not recognize (since I am not conscious of having done him any injury) I must myself have employed a third person as a correspondent.
Mr. Lewes is a well-known writer, author among other things, of the [Life of Goethe] and the Biographical History of Philosophy. Our marriage is not a legal one, though it is regarded by us both as a sacred bond. He is at present unable to contract a legal marriage, because, though long deprived of his first wife by her misconduct, he is not legally divorced.
I have been his wife and have borne his name for nearly three years; a fact which has been known to all my personal friends except the members of my own family, from whom I have withheld it because, knowing that their views of life differ in many respects from my own, I wished not to give them unnecessary pain. Other considerations, however, have at length determined me to inform them of my circumstances and of the responsibilities for life, which I have undertaken.
It may be desirable to mention to you that I am not dependent on any one, the larger part of my income for several years having been derived from my own constant labour as a writer. You will perceive, therefore, that in my conduct towards my own family I have not been guided by any motives of self-interest, since I have been neither in the reception nor the expectation of the slightest favour from them.
Mr. Lewes, as I have already stated, has an account at the Union Bank of London, Charing Cross Branch, 4 Pall Mall East. I have requested that any money due to me may be paid to his account there, because, as we are frequently out of England and away from town, the transmission of cheques is attended with much inconvenience. I presume that I have a legal right to appoint the payment of interest due to me to any person I may choose to name. But if there is any point necessary to be taken into consideration, which I have overlooked or of which I am ignorant, you will be good enough to set me right.
I have satisfaction in communicating with you in this case, rather than with anyone else, not only because you kindly undertook, from friendship to my Father, to become my trustee, but because I learned from him that it was owing to your considerate suggestion that some provision was made for me during the first year after my Father's death. 901 I daresay you have forgotten the circumstances, but I have always remembered gratefully that instance of thoughtfulness on my behalf, and am glad to have an opportunity of acknowledging it. I remain, my dear Sir,
Yours very faithfully,
Marian Lewes.
Vincent Holbeche Esq.,
Signature
Marian Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Vincent Holbeche, Gorey, 13 June 1857, 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/94166