GE to Charles Bray, London, [9 December 1853]
Title
GE to Charles Bray, London, [9 December 1853]
Title
GE to Charles Bray, London, [9 December 1853]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Charles Bray
Date(s)
- 1853-12-09
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Charles Bray, London, [9 December 1853]
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Cambridge Street | Friday Morning.
Dear Friend
If you went to the Haymarket on Wednesday I hope you didn't carry away the impression that that stupid play -- the "Hope of the Family" -- was by Slingsby Lawrence. 416 I confess, the theatre is generally a very dreary amusement to me. The wit is generally threadbare as well as vulgar -- the actors and actresses are neither men and women nor gentlemen and ladies. I mentally resolved last night that it should be a long while before I wasted another evening there.
I rescued the letter I enclose from the flames the other day, thinking it might amuse you all. It shows a phase of human nature of which only editors have the full enjoyment.
The weather is brightening and making life easier.
By the bye, last night two young men -- cattle show comers, I think -- were chatting behind me, and one of them said -- "I remember being at a dinner at Coventry, where one man said in reply to some accusation "I never said you was." "No," answered another fellow, "I'm sure you couldn't possibly have said anything so ungrammatical!" "That is the smartest thing I ever heard in my life," said my narrator.
Ever yours affectionately,
Marian Evans.
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Cambridge Street | Friday Morning.
Dear Friend
If you went to the Haymarket on Wednesday I hope you didn't carry away the impression that that stupid play -- the "Hope of the Family" -- was by Slingsby Lawrence. 416 I confess, the theatre is generally a very dreary amusement to me. The wit is generally threadbare as well as vulgar -- the actors and actresses are neither men and women nor gentlemen and ladies. I mentally resolved last night that it should be a long while before I wasted another evening there.
I rescued the letter I enclose from the flames the other day, thinking it might amuse you all. It shows a phase of human nature of which only editors have the full enjoyment.
The weather is brightening and making life easier.
By the bye, last night two young men -- cattle show comers, I think -- were chatting behind me, and one of them said -- "I remember being at a dinner at Coventry, where one man said in reply to some accusation "I never said you was." "No," answered another fellow, "I'm sure you couldn't possibly have said anything so ungrammatical!" "That is the smartest thing I ever heard in my life," said my narrator.
Ever yours affectionately,
Marian Evans.
Signature
Marian Evans.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Charles Bray, London, [9 December 1853], 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/92132