Frederic Harrison to GE, London, 5 February [1867]
Title
Frederic Harrison to GE, London, 5 February [1867]
Title
Frederic Harrison to GE, London, 5 February [1867]
Sender
Frederic Harrison
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1867-02-05
Place
London
Letter Content
Frederic Harrison to GE, London, 5 February [1867]
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
New Sq: | Lincs. Inn. | February 5.
My dear Mrs. Lewes,
I have been greatly vexed to find that an article on Felix Holt in an old number of the Edinburgh Review 583 not otherwise foolish there is a criticism on the law, equally absurd and ill-natured. The law is quite right and the reviewer is an ignoramus. To a lawyer his remark about Perpetuities is silly beyond description. The rule only applies to settlements when no one can unsettle or bar them. In the case of the Transome estates, the settlement could have been barred, only it was imperfectly barred. A settlement made at the Conquest would be perfectly good still, and the next in remainder might inherit under it now, if the intermediate possessors had never exercised their rights of barring and destroying the settlement. I only accidentally discovered this criticism the other day. I procured a friend of mine here, an excellent conveyancer and the lecturer on Real Property at the Law Institution to write to the Pall Mall 584 an exposure of the critic's blunder and a justification of the original text. He defends the law as right in every particular, and has written a most happy letter. I am only afraid that you have heard of it, and that you may have been annoyed by it, not knowing how foolish the criticism is. I wish you had told me.
I sent you as you asked the letters on Martial law. The Prosecution commences at once.
I hope that both you and Mr. Lewes are enjoying and benefitting by the air of the Pyrennees and that both of you are able to work more quietly than you can here. I think I can give you good accounts of all our friends here. When may we expect you back? Believe me to be
Sincerely yours
Frederic Harrison.
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
New Sq: | Lincs. Inn. | February 5.
My dear Mrs. Lewes,
I have been greatly vexed to find that an article on Felix Holt in an old number of the Edinburgh Review 583 not otherwise foolish there is a criticism on the law, equally absurd and ill-natured. The law is quite right and the reviewer is an ignoramus. To a lawyer his remark about Perpetuities is silly beyond description. The rule only applies to settlements when no one can unsettle or bar them. In the case of the Transome estates, the settlement could have been barred, only it was imperfectly barred. A settlement made at the Conquest would be perfectly good still, and the next in remainder might inherit under it now, if the intermediate possessors had never exercised their rights of barring and destroying the settlement. I only accidentally discovered this criticism the other day. I procured a friend of mine here, an excellent conveyancer and the lecturer on Real Property at the Law Institution to write to the Pall Mall 584 an exposure of the critic's blunder and a justification of the original text. He defends the law as right in every particular, and has written a most happy letter. I am only afraid that you have heard of it, and that you may have been annoyed by it, not knowing how foolish the criticism is. I wish you had told me.
I sent you as you asked the letters on Martial law. The Prosecution commences at once.
I hope that both you and Mr. Lewes are enjoying and benefitting by the air of the Pyrennees and that both of you are able to work more quietly than you can here. I think I can give you good accounts of all our friends here. When may we expect you back? Believe me to be
Sincerely yours
Frederic Harrison.
Signature
Frederic Harrison.
Citation
Frederic Harrison, Frederic Harrison to GE, London, 5 February [1867], 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/91850