GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 31 July [1865]
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 31 July [1865]
Title
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 31 July [1865]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray
Date(s)
- 1865-07-31
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 31 July [1865]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1865. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
July 31. 1856.
Dear Cara
I wish the fact that caused me the satisfaction of hearing from you had been less sad. When you are writing to Miss Marshall, pray give her my love and deep sympathy. I had supposed that the reason of our not seeing her was probably Miss Collett's 361 increased need of attention.
We have been fixed in London through the season -- Mr. Lewes doing a miraculous amount of work, though with health frequently disturbed. All things have been well with us except health. I think
I have fewer troubles than any other mortal, and I feel utterly ashamed of myself that I don't make my life more precious, when I see what is done by dear friends who are not helped outwardly as I am. You, for example, dear Cara. When will there be an end to new worries for you and Mr. Bray? I had imagined all along that poor Harry Bray was dead. 362 And then that worry about Mr. Taunton 363 -- and the little bit of money you get for your close work. O dear, I wish we could find something better for you to do. But every way to work in London is choked by people on the spot.
George had a rather melancholy letter from Mr. Call the other day -- his sister dying leaving him guardian to her children under not very easy circumstances -- himself apparently oppressed in body and mind, and unable to revise an article which he prepared some time ago for the Fortnightly. He said nothing of Rufa, but perhaps you have heard from her.
Thank you for telling me about Mrs. Wansy's 364 annuity. It is a pleasant thing to know, instead of imagining her destitute. Yet, worse than that sort of destitution befalling an energetic woman is what we see in a friend of ours -- a woman who looks healthy but is practically helpless, from hysteria, I suppose, which is constantly creating illusory maladies. After all, the sound body and the sound mind are beyond any other good on the face of the earth. They don't make every one who has them happy, but the unhappiness created by the absence of themis the worst sort of unhappiness.
I hope Sara hears -- what I learn from Madame Bodichon -- that her friend Miss Carter's sufferings are accompanied with wonderful quietude of mind. And it is the same with Nannie Smith, who, you know, has been laid up for several years. These long maladies seem to have conditions that favour complete resignation.
We are not likely to go to "the other end of Europe" this year. A run in Normandy and Brittany for a month is the utmost we can allow ourselves. It is uncertain at what time we can leave, for Mr. Lewes must have two numbers ready in advance.
Ask Sara if she knows that Mr. Grote is past seventy? One likes to hear of cases in which old age can have the pleasures and dignity of labour. Browning is 55, and is now writing a longer poem than any he has hitherto produced. 365 He is as brisk as 35. Ever, dear Cara,
Your loving Friend
M. E. Lewes.
It grieves me to hear that Mr. Bray suffers so much from his cough. My love to him -- if only that could do his cough any good!
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1865. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
July 31. 1856.
Dear Cara
I wish the fact that caused me the satisfaction of hearing from you had been less sad. When you are writing to Miss Marshall, pray give her my love and deep sympathy. I had supposed that the reason of our not seeing her was probably Miss Collett's 361 increased need of attention.
We have been fixed in London through the season -- Mr. Lewes doing a miraculous amount of work, though with health frequently disturbed. All things have been well with us except health. I think
I have fewer troubles than any other mortal, and I feel utterly ashamed of myself that I don't make my life more precious, when I see what is done by dear friends who are not helped outwardly as I am. You, for example, dear Cara. When will there be an end to new worries for you and Mr. Bray? I had imagined all along that poor Harry Bray was dead. 362 And then that worry about Mr. Taunton 363 -- and the little bit of money you get for your close work. O dear, I wish we could find something better for you to do. But every way to work in London is choked by people on the spot.
George had a rather melancholy letter from Mr. Call the other day -- his sister dying leaving him guardian to her children under not very easy circumstances -- himself apparently oppressed in body and mind, and unable to revise an article which he prepared some time ago for the Fortnightly. He said nothing of Rufa, but perhaps you have heard from her.
Thank you for telling me about Mrs. Wansy's 364 annuity. It is a pleasant thing to know, instead of imagining her destitute. Yet, worse than that sort of destitution befalling an energetic woman is what we see in a friend of ours -- a woman who looks healthy but is practically helpless, from hysteria, I suppose, which is constantly creating illusory maladies. After all, the sound body and the sound mind are beyond any other good on the face of the earth. They don't make every one who has them happy, but the unhappiness created by the absence of themis the worst sort of unhappiness.
I hope Sara hears -- what I learn from Madame Bodichon -- that her friend Miss Carter's sufferings are accompanied with wonderful quietude of mind. And it is the same with Nannie Smith, who, you know, has been laid up for several years. These long maladies seem to have conditions that favour complete resignation.
We are not likely to go to "the other end of Europe" this year. A run in Normandy and Brittany for a month is the utmost we can allow ourselves. It is uncertain at what time we can leave, for Mr. Lewes must have two numbers ready in advance.
Ask Sara if she knows that Mr. Grote is past seventy? One likes to hear of cases in which old age can have the pleasures and dignity of labour. Browning is 55, and is now writing a longer poem than any he has hitherto produced. 365 He is as brisk as 35. Ever, dear Cara,
Your loving Friend
M. E. Lewes.
It grieves me to hear that Mr. Bray suffers so much from his cough. My love to him -- if only that could do his cough any good!
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Caroline [Mrs. Charles] Bray, London, 31 July [1865], 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/93306