GE to Clifford Allbutt, London, [August 1868]
Title
GE to Clifford Allbutt, London, [August 1868]
Title
GE to Clifford Allbutt, London, [August 1868]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Clifford Allbutt
Date(s)
- 1868-08
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Clifford Allbutt, London, [August 1868]
Text: O. Browning, Life of George Eliot, London, Scott, 1890, pp. 118-120.
My dear Dr. Allbutt
I had conjectured the fact, that some call of duty had summoned you back to Leeds earlier than you had expected.
Since you refer to our conversation, I must tell you that I am always a little uneasy about my share in the talk when it has turned on religion. The weaknesses of one's mind are always taken by surprise in hasty discussion, and the chief result left in the consciousness is that of having misrepresented the dearest beliefs. My books are a form of utterance that dissatisfies me less, because they are deliberately, carefully constructed on a basis which even in my doubting mind is never shaken by a doubt, and they are not determined, as conversation inevitably is, by considerations of momentary expediency. The basis I mean is my conviction as to the relative goodness and nobleness of human dispositions and motives. And the inspiring principle which alone gives me courage to write is, that of so presenting our human life as to help my readers in getting a clearer conception and a more active admiration of those vital elements which bind men together and give a higher worthiness to their existence; and also to help them in gradually dissociating these elements from the more transient forms on which an outworn teaching tends to make them dependent.
But, since you have read my books, you must perceive that the bent of my mind is conservative rather than destructive, and that denial has been wrung from me by hard experience -- not adopted as a pleasant rebellion. Still, I see clearly that we ought, each of us, not to sit down and wail, but to be heroic and constructive, if possible, like the strong souls who lived before, as in other cases [eras?] of religious decay.
I dare not enter on these wide, wide subjects in a letter -- for to write a letter at all, except about necessary details, is a difficult overcoming of indolence to me; but in relation to your despairing words that we seem to [be reaching the limits of our scheme,] I wish you could thoroughly consider (if you have not already done so) whether it is probable that in a stage of society in which the ordinary standard of moral possibility, nay, of moral requirements, is still so low as I think you must recognize it to be, the highest possible religion has been evolved and accepted?
If we were talking again, I should like to express what I fear was far from evident the other night -- my yearning affection towards the great religions of the world which have reflected the struggles and needs of mankind, with a very different degree of completeness from the shifting compromise called [philosophical theism.] But I am sure your favourite Marcus Aurelius would not have approved of my eagerness to say everything. I should try to make use of other interviews rather to get instructed by your rich practical experience -- experience grievously wanting to me, whose life is passed chiefly in study and always in domestic ease.
The invitation you give us is very tempting and pretty. If there came some beautiful autumnal weather, and other conditions were favourable in the third week of September, we might perhaps indulge ourselves with a journey into Yorkshire, get some breezes on the moors, and accept for a couple of days the pleasure your goodness offers us of seeing Leeds in your company. It is just the sort of thing I should like to do -- to go over the Hospital with you.
Mr. Lewes, I grieve to say, is headachy again -- frequently suffering from a malaise, which is sadly at war with the ardent interest that prompts him to work. He unites with me in the desire to express sincere gratification that we have come to know you in spite of distance. Believe me,
Yours always truly,
M. E. Lewes.
Text: O. Browning, Life of George Eliot, London, Scott, 1890, pp. 118-120.
My dear Dr. Allbutt
I had conjectured the fact, that some call of duty had summoned you back to Leeds earlier than you had expected.
Since you refer to our conversation, I must tell you that I am always a little uneasy about my share in the talk when it has turned on religion. The weaknesses of one's mind are always taken by surprise in hasty discussion, and the chief result left in the consciousness is that of having misrepresented the dearest beliefs. My books are a form of utterance that dissatisfies me less, because they are deliberately, carefully constructed on a basis which even in my doubting mind is never shaken by a doubt, and they are not determined, as conversation inevitably is, by considerations of momentary expediency. The basis I mean is my conviction as to the relative goodness and nobleness of human dispositions and motives. And the inspiring principle which alone gives me courage to write is, that of so presenting our human life as to help my readers in getting a clearer conception and a more active admiration of those vital elements which bind men together and give a higher worthiness to their existence; and also to help them in gradually dissociating these elements from the more transient forms on which an outworn teaching tends to make them dependent.
But, since you have read my books, you must perceive that the bent of my mind is conservative rather than destructive, and that denial has been wrung from me by hard experience -- not adopted as a pleasant rebellion. Still, I see clearly that we ought, each of us, not to sit down and wail, but to be heroic and constructive, if possible, like the strong souls who lived before, as in other cases [eras?] of religious decay.
I dare not enter on these wide, wide subjects in a letter -- for to write a letter at all, except about necessary details, is a difficult overcoming of indolence to me; but in relation to your despairing words that we seem to [be reaching the limits of our scheme,] I wish you could thoroughly consider (if you have not already done so) whether it is probable that in a stage of society in which the ordinary standard of moral possibility, nay, of moral requirements, is still so low as I think you must recognize it to be, the highest possible religion has been evolved and accepted?
If we were talking again, I should like to express what I fear was far from evident the other night -- my yearning affection towards the great religions of the world which have reflected the struggles and needs of mankind, with a very different degree of completeness from the shifting compromise called [philosophical theism.] But I am sure your favourite Marcus Aurelius would not have approved of my eagerness to say everything. I should try to make use of other interviews rather to get instructed by your rich practical experience -- experience grievously wanting to me, whose life is passed chiefly in study and always in domestic ease.
The invitation you give us is very tempting and pretty. If there came some beautiful autumnal weather, and other conditions were favourable in the third week of September, we might perhaps indulge ourselves with a journey into Yorkshire, get some breezes on the moors, and accept for a couple of days the pleasure your goodness offers us of seeing Leeds in your company. It is just the sort of thing I should like to do -- to go over the Hospital with you.
Mr. Lewes, I grieve to say, is headachy again -- frequently suffering from a malaise, which is sadly at war with the ardent interest that prompts him to work. He unites with me in the desire to express sincere gratification that we have come to know you in spite of distance. Believe me,
Yours always truly,
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Clifford Allbutt, London, [August 1868], 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/92262