GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, [27 April 1852]
Title
GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, [27 April 1852]
Title
GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, [27 April 1852]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray
Date(s)
- 1852-04-27
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, [27 April 1852]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: Apr? 22. Extracts published: Cross, I, 277-278.
Strand | Tuesday.
Dearest Friends
I find it very difficult to resign myself to the fact of your having parted with the old place in Much Park Street, 60 and am still impatient and rebellious. Well, we will love each other the better, the more destiny chooses to flout us.
I received the newspaper and proof this morning. The answer is admirable -- much improved, of course, by the expurgatorial process. There are some capital bits in it, and the winding up with the quotation from Whateley is exceedingly well-chosen. 61
Our fortunes here are as usual -- chequered --
"Twist ye, twine ye, even so Mingle human weal and woe." 62
In the first place, the Bookselling affair promises to be a complete triumph over the Association. But, en revanche, Mr. C.'s business is flagging fearfully, and he is in the lowest spirits about it. I am not without hope that [there's a good time coming] 63 for it seems reasonable to expect that the numerous introductions he has had of late to first-rate men, the general approval of his article, 64 will win him prestige as a publisher -- and that is the direction in which it is most desirable that his business should expand. Grote is very friendly, and has propitiated J. S. Mill, who will write for us, when we want him. At the same time it must be confessed that our Review Treasury is almost exhausted and no new funds pour in. So it is really creditable to be jolly.
We had quite a brilliant soir'e9e yesterday evening. W. R. Greg, Foster (of Rawden), 65 Francis Newman, the Ellises, and Louis Blanc were the stars of greatest magnitude. I had a pleasant talk with Greg and Foster. Greg was "much pleased to have made my acquaintance." Foster, on the whole, appeared to think that people should be glad to make his acquaintance. Greg is a short man, with a hooked nose and an imperfect enunciation from defective teeth, but his brain is large, the anterior lobe very fine and a moral region to correspond. Black, wiry, curly hair, and every indication of a first-rate temperament. But when you see him across the room, you are unpleasantly impressed, and can't believe that he wrote his own books. Mrs. Charles Hennell was here with her tall, honest-looking brother, Herbert. 66 He strikes me more agreeably than any Brabant I have ever seen. We have some very nice Americans here -- the Pughs, friends of the Parkes's -- really refined, intellectual people. Miss Pugh, 67 an elderly lady, is a great abolitionist, and was one of the Women's Convention that came to England in 1840 and was not allowed to join the Men's Convention. But I suppose we shall soon be able to say, [Nous avons chang'e9 tout cela,] 68 in spite of Mr. Bray and all retrogradists.
I went to the opera on Saturday -- I Martiri, at Covent Garden -- with my "excellent friend Herbert Spencer," as Lewes calls him. We have agreed that we are not in love with each other, 69 and that there is no reason why we should not have as much of each other's society as we like. He is a good, delightful creature and I always feel better for being with him.
I am sorry to hear of Miss Parkes being hurt. I hope you have explained that my stay was short and that I really had not time to go to Leamington. Is Mr. Bray coming to London soon, as he supposed? I enclose Geo. Combe's sequel to the Mesmeric Case. Please return it. This letter is of course for Sara as well. I have not time to write to all three separately. Bless you, dear ones.
Ever your true
Marian.
Mrs. Chapman's thanks for the Fig-pudding.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: Apr? 22. Extracts published: Cross, I, 277-278.
Strand | Tuesday.
Dearest Friends
I find it very difficult to resign myself to the fact of your having parted with the old place in Much Park Street, 60 and am still impatient and rebellious. Well, we will love each other the better, the more destiny chooses to flout us.
I received the newspaper and proof this morning. The answer is admirable -- much improved, of course, by the expurgatorial process. There are some capital bits in it, and the winding up with the quotation from Whateley is exceedingly well-chosen. 61
Our fortunes here are as usual -- chequered --
"Twist ye, twine ye, even so Mingle human weal and woe." 62
In the first place, the Bookselling affair promises to be a complete triumph over the Association. But, en revanche, Mr. C.'s business is flagging fearfully, and he is in the lowest spirits about it. I am not without hope that [there's a good time coming] 63 for it seems reasonable to expect that the numerous introductions he has had of late to first-rate men, the general approval of his article, 64 will win him prestige as a publisher -- and that is the direction in which it is most desirable that his business should expand. Grote is very friendly, and has propitiated J. S. Mill, who will write for us, when we want him. At the same time it must be confessed that our Review Treasury is almost exhausted and no new funds pour in. So it is really creditable to be jolly.
We had quite a brilliant soir'e9e yesterday evening. W. R. Greg, Foster (of Rawden), 65 Francis Newman, the Ellises, and Louis Blanc were the stars of greatest magnitude. I had a pleasant talk with Greg and Foster. Greg was "much pleased to have made my acquaintance." Foster, on the whole, appeared to think that people should be glad to make his acquaintance. Greg is a short man, with a hooked nose and an imperfect enunciation from defective teeth, but his brain is large, the anterior lobe very fine and a moral region to correspond. Black, wiry, curly hair, and every indication of a first-rate temperament. But when you see him across the room, you are unpleasantly impressed, and can't believe that he wrote his own books. Mrs. Charles Hennell was here with her tall, honest-looking brother, Herbert. 66 He strikes me more agreeably than any Brabant I have ever seen. We have some very nice Americans here -- the Pughs, friends of the Parkes's -- really refined, intellectual people. Miss Pugh, 67 an elderly lady, is a great abolitionist, and was one of the Women's Convention that came to England in 1840 and was not allowed to join the Men's Convention. But I suppose we shall soon be able to say, [Nous avons chang'e9 tout cela,] 68 in spite of Mr. Bray and all retrogradists.
I went to the opera on Saturday -- I Martiri, at Covent Garden -- with my "excellent friend Herbert Spencer," as Lewes calls him. We have agreed that we are not in love with each other, 69 and that there is no reason why we should not have as much of each other's society as we like. He is a good, delightful creature and I always feel better for being with him.
I am sorry to hear of Miss Parkes being hurt. I hope you have explained that my stay was short and that I really had not time to go to Leamington. Is Mr. Bray coming to London soon, as he supposed? I enclose Geo. Combe's sequel to the Mesmeric Case. Please return it. This letter is of course for Sara as well. I have not time to write to all three separately. Bless you, dear ones.
Ever your true
Marian.
Mrs. Chapman's thanks for the Fig-pudding.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mr. Charles Bray and Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, [27 April 1852], 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/93169