Anthony Trollope to GHL, Waltham Cross, 15 May 1862
Title
Anthony Trollope to GHL, Waltham Cross, 15 May 1862
Title
Anthony Trollope to GHL, Waltham Cross, 15 May 1862
Sender
Anthony Trollope
Recipient
George Henry Lewes
Date(s)
- 1862-05-15
Place
Waltham Cross
Letter Content
Anthony Trollope to GHL, Waltham Cross, 15 May 1862
MS: Yale. Published: The Letters of Anthony Trollope, ed. B. A. Booth, 1951, p. 114.
Waltham House, | Waltham Cross.
5 May. 1862.
My dear Lewes.
I know my letter will grieve you, but still I think I had better write it. They tell me at the Post Office that your son is not doing well. Nothing is said against his character, -- i.e. against his character as to conduct or good feeling; but they say that he utterly fails in making himself useful. "He is careless and very slow; and will not exert himself." That is the report made to me, and I am moreover told that this has been so strongly felt that for this reason he has been sent back to the Missing letter branch. I learn that his name has been taken off the list of candidates for the next step above him.
I fear that you will think me harsh to write in this way. But I am only doing as I would be done by. I believe his defect to be this, -- that he is more au fait in French or German than he is in English, and that he is awkward and slow in the use of his own language. If he wishes to remain in the office I would strongly counsel you to put him in the way of writing English quickly. I need not tell you how such lessons are to be learned. The Secretary's office at the G.P.O. is a very good office for a young man, if he can get his promotion in his turn. But it is anything but a good office, if a man is to be continually passed over. You should make him work at English in his after hours.
Very faithfully yours
Anthony Trollope.
MS: Yale. Published: The Letters of Anthony Trollope, ed. B. A. Booth, 1951, p. 114.
Waltham House, | Waltham Cross.
5 May. 1862.
My dear Lewes.
I know my letter will grieve you, but still I think I had better write it. They tell me at the Post Office that your son is not doing well. Nothing is said against his character, -- i.e. against his character as to conduct or good feeling; but they say that he utterly fails in making himself useful. "He is careless and very slow; and will not exert himself." That is the report made to me, and I am moreover told that this has been so strongly felt that for this reason he has been sent back to the Missing letter branch. I learn that his name has been taken off the list of candidates for the next step above him.
I fear that you will think me harsh to write in this way. But I am only doing as I would be done by. I believe his defect to be this, -- that he is more au fait in French or German than he is in English, and that he is awkward and slow in the use of his own language. If he wishes to remain in the office I would strongly counsel you to put him in the way of writing English quickly. I need not tell you how such lessons are to be learned. The Secretary's office at the G.P.O. is a very good office for a young man, if he can get his promotion in his turn. But it is anything but a good office, if a man is to be continually passed over. You should make him work at English in his after hours.
Very faithfully yours
Anthony Trollope.
Signature
Anthony Trollope.
Citation
Anthony Trollope, Anthony Trollope to GHL, Waltham Cross, 15 May 1862, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91714