GE to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, London, 10 April 1879
Title
GE to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, London, 10 April 1879
Title
GE to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, London, 10 April 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Date(s)
- 1879-04-10
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, London, 10 April 1879
MS: The late Mr. Gabriel Wells. A copy found among the Cross papers is at Yale.
Published: Century Magazine, 104 (September 1922), p. 647.
The Priory | North Bank | Regents Park | April 10. 79.
Dear Friend
One word of thankfulness to you -- a word that I am the more urged to write because of your tender feeling that I should [be spared every possible burden.] Your first letter has made a gentle echo in my mind ever since I read it -- I mean its ending, where you say that [Death is not the worst sorrow.] That is what I need to keep within me as a ground of complete submission. The worst of all is such a moral change as disease often brings in a beloved being. They are happy, in the comparative sense that belongs to the word [happy] in this world of trouble, who see their best-loved die with a soul unblighted, leaving their image free from blot or shadow. The time will come, if I live, when I shall feel only my great, great share of blessedness, and my sorrow itself as a gift beyond the common lot, because it is the offspring of a love beyond the common lot.
I gave what you sent me about Gwendolen to our Son, who likes to read things that concern me, and I shall hear from him what he feels on the subject. Ever since the end of November I have been absorbed in preparing for the press such writing of my husband's as is left in a state to present to the public, and one of the volumes is to appear next month. And I am trying to found a useful studentship as a memorial of His life -- a prolongation of His work. I have only lately begun to write any letters except those demanded by business. But now I have just been writing to Mrs. Stowe, and I could not lay aside my note-paper without easing my heart of its gratitude to another of kindred feeling who has long entered into the meaning of [America] for my thought.
Yours always sincerely,
M. E. Lewes.
MS: The late Mr. Gabriel Wells. A copy found among the Cross papers is at Yale.
Published: Century Magazine, 104 (September 1922), p. 647.
The Priory | North Bank | Regents Park | April 10. 79.
Dear Friend
One word of thankfulness to you -- a word that I am the more urged to write because of your tender feeling that I should [be spared every possible burden.] Your first letter has made a gentle echo in my mind ever since I read it -- I mean its ending, where you say that [Death is not the worst sorrow.] That is what I need to keep within me as a ground of complete submission. The worst of all is such a moral change as disease often brings in a beloved being. They are happy, in the comparative sense that belongs to the word [happy] in this world of trouble, who see their best-loved die with a soul unblighted, leaving their image free from blot or shadow. The time will come, if I live, when I shall feel only my great, great share of blessedness, and my sorrow itself as a gift beyond the common lot, because it is the offspring of a love beyond the common lot.
I gave what you sent me about Gwendolen to our Son, who likes to read things that concern me, and I shall hear from him what he feels on the subject. Ever since the end of November I have been absorbed in preparing for the press such writing of my husband's as is left in a state to present to the public, and one of the volumes is to appear next month. And I am trying to found a useful studentship as a memorial of His life -- a prolongation of His work. I have only lately begun to write any letters except those demanded by business. But now I have just been writing to Mrs. Stowe, and I could not lay aside my note-paper without easing my heart of its gratitude to another of kindred feeling who has long entered into the meaning of [America] for my thought.
Yours always sincerely,
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, London, 10 April 1879, 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/92292