GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 9 January 1866
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 9 January 1866
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 9 January 1866
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Frederic Harrison
Date(s)
- 1866-01-09
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 9 January 1866
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison Esq | New Square | Inner Temple. Postmarks: LONDON-W. | 4 | JA 10 | 66; LONDON-W.C | 71 | JA 11 | 66. Hitherto unpublished. The "statement" which follows is reprinted from F. Harrison, Memories and Thoughts, Macmillan, 1906, p. 147. The MS has not been found.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 9. 1866.
My dear Mr. Harrison
I venture to send you the statement of my needs 400 before the arrival of your kind loan. I shall be very thankful to have the opportunity of reading Sugden, 401 but as I am anxious to save time, and should probably, in any case, desire your advice, I trespass on your goodness at once after your permission that [One inch of first leaf cut away.] lightly of this trouble that I am giving you. It had never occurred to me that I might make such an appeal to you, until yesterday morning. Before a "spirit of boldness" entered into me quite suddenly somewhere between breakfast and luncheon, I had thought that I must go sounding on my dim and perilous way 402 through law books amidst agonies of doubt. [Three inches at top of last leaf cut away.]
Yours always sincerely and with obligation
M. E. Lewes.
It is required to know the longest possible term of years for the existence of the following conditions:
That an estate, for lack of a direct heir, should have come into the possession of A (or of a series -- A, Auc0u8242 , Au8243 -- if that were admissible).
That subsequently a claim should have been set up by B, on a valid plea of nearer kinship.
That B should have failed in his suit from inability to prove his identity, over which certain circumstances (already fixed) should have cast a doubt, and should have died soon after.
That B's daughter, being an infant at the time of his death, should have come to years of discretion and have a legal claim on the estate.
These are the essentials as closely as I can strip them. The last, viz., the legal claim of B's daughter, might be dispensed with, if the adequate stretching of the time is not to be obtained by any formula of conditions. The moral necessities of the situation might be met by the fact of injustice and foul play towards B; but I should prefer the legal claim, if possible.
You see, I should be glad of as large a slice of a century as you could give me, but I should be resigned if I could get forty years.
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison Esq | New Square | Inner Temple. Postmarks: LONDON-W. | 4 | JA 10 | 66; LONDON-W.C | 71 | JA 11 | 66. Hitherto unpublished. The "statement" which follows is reprinted from F. Harrison, Memories and Thoughts, Macmillan, 1906, p. 147. The MS has not been found.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 9. 1866.
My dear Mr. Harrison
I venture to send you the statement of my needs 400 before the arrival of your kind loan. I shall be very thankful to have the opportunity of reading Sugden, 401 but as I am anxious to save time, and should probably, in any case, desire your advice, I trespass on your goodness at once after your permission that [One inch of first leaf cut away.] lightly of this trouble that I am giving you. It had never occurred to me that I might make such an appeal to you, until yesterday morning. Before a "spirit of boldness" entered into me quite suddenly somewhere between breakfast and luncheon, I had thought that I must go sounding on my dim and perilous way 402 through law books amidst agonies of doubt. [Three inches at top of last leaf cut away.]
Yours always sincerely and with obligation
M. E. Lewes.
It is required to know the longest possible term of years for the existence of the following conditions:
That an estate, for lack of a direct heir, should have come into the possession of A (or of a series -- A, Auc0u8242 , Au8243 -- if that were admissible).
That subsequently a claim should have been set up by B, on a valid plea of nearer kinship.
That B should have failed in his suit from inability to prove his identity, over which certain circumstances (already fixed) should have cast a doubt, and should have died soon after.
That B's daughter, being an infant at the time of his death, should have come to years of discretion and have a legal claim on the estate.
These are the essentials as closely as I can strip them. The last, viz., the legal claim of B's daughter, might be dispensed with, if the adequate stretching of the time is not to be obtained by any formula of conditions. The moral necessities of the situation might be met by the fact of injustice and foul play towards B; but I should prefer the legal claim, if possible.
You see, I should be glad of as large a slice of a century as you could give me, but I should be resigned if I could get forty years.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Frederic Harrison, London, 9 January 1866, 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/92420