GE to Charles Bray, London, 29 December 1862
Title
GE to Charles Bray, London, 29 December 1862
Title
GE to Charles Bray, London, 29 December 1862
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Charles Bray
Date(s)
- 1862-12-29
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Charles Bray, London, 29 December 1862
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1862. Extract published: Cross, II, 347-348.
Blandford Sq. | December 29. 62.
Dear Friend
I obey your instructions literally, and send a pound, but another is ready whenever you will tell me to send it. I have been fearing that Coventry would be minus of help, from the concentration of effort in Lancashire. 129
Poor "Lizzie"! I am disappointed with that clause "no wittles" -- I had hoped she was well off.
I am not quite sure what you mean by "charity" when you call it humbug. If you mean that attitude of mind which says "I forgive my fellow-men for not being so good as I am," I agree with you in hoping that it will vanish, as also the circumstantial form of almsgiving. But if you are alluding to anything in my letter to Sara, I meant there what charity meant in the elder English and what the translators of the Bible meant in their rendering of the XIIIth chapter of I Corinthians -- Caritas, the highest love or fellowship, which I am happy to believe that no philosophy will expel from the world.
My health has mended since I grumbled to Sara, and so has Mr. Lewes's. Cara's sign manual was very welcome at the end of your letter. I hope her geographical labours are nearly over.
Ever yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
C. Bray Esq.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1862. Extract published: Cross, II, 347-348.
Blandford Sq. | December 29. 62.
Dear Friend
I obey your instructions literally, and send a pound, but another is ready whenever you will tell me to send it. I have been fearing that Coventry would be minus of help, from the concentration of effort in Lancashire. 129
Poor "Lizzie"! I am disappointed with that clause "no wittles" -- I had hoped she was well off.
I am not quite sure what you mean by "charity" when you call it humbug. If you mean that attitude of mind which says "I forgive my fellow-men for not being so good as I am," I agree with you in hoping that it will vanish, as also the circumstantial form of almsgiving. But if you are alluding to anything in my letter to Sara, I meant there what charity meant in the elder English and what the translators of the Bible meant in their rendering of the XIIIth chapter of I Corinthians -- Caritas, the highest love or fellowship, which I am happy to believe that no philosophy will expel from the world.
My health has mended since I grumbled to Sara, and so has Mr. Lewes's. Cara's sign manual was very welcome at the end of your letter. I hope her geographical labours are nearly over.
Ever yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
C. Bray Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Charles Bray, London, 29 December 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/92147