GE to Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee]Lewes, London, 21 December [1865]
Title
GE to Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee]Lewes, London, 21 December [1865]
Title
GE to Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee]Lewes, London, 21 December [1865]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes
Date(s)
- 1865-12-21
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes, London, 21 December [1865]
MS: Mrs. Edward Hanson. Address: Mrs. Charles Lewes. Endorsed: 1865. Published: Paterson, pp. 118-119.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
December 21.
Dearest Gertrude
Ever since our Pearl promised me the frieze, 395 I have set my heart on having it in my study, on the Book case. A length of four feet would do to surmount the middle compartment; but I am ignorant of the mechanical requirements -- whether the frieze must be applied to something forming a back, or whether it can be simply superposed. I think the decision had better be deferred until you come and see the book case, so as to understand the conditions.
It has occurred to me since you were with us the other day, that something I said about "Church people" at Canterbury N. Z. was open to misapprehension. Your sister Octavia 396 once said to me "Have you never known any earnest church people?" -- and lest you should be unable to correct the sort of misconception implied in her question, I want to tell you that I was brought up in the Church of England, and never belonged to any other religious body. I care that this should be known, not at all on personal grounds, but because, as I have been, and perhaps shall be, depicting dissenters with much sympathy I would not have it supposed that the sympathy springs from any partiality of association.
As to its origin historically, and as a system of thought, it is my conviction that the Church of England is the least morally dignified of all forms of Christianity i.e. all considerable forms dating from the Reformation; but as a portion of my earliest associations and most poetic memories, it would be more likely to tempt me into partiality than any form of dissent.
What I referred to as dreading in a New Zealand settlement was the peculiar aspect which any religious body assumes when it is quite dominant in a new country, and is not under the stringent criticism of dissidents.
Perhaps all this explanation was needless, but lest it should not have been, I prefer to give it. Best love to all.
Always, dearest Chick,
Your loving
Mutter.
MS: Mrs. Edward Hanson. Address: Mrs. Charles Lewes. Endorsed: 1865. Published: Paterson, pp. 118-119.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
December 21.
Dearest Gertrude
Ever since our Pearl promised me the frieze, 395 I have set my heart on having it in my study, on the Book case. A length of four feet would do to surmount the middle compartment; but I am ignorant of the mechanical requirements -- whether the frieze must be applied to something forming a back, or whether it can be simply superposed. I think the decision had better be deferred until you come and see the book case, so as to understand the conditions.
It has occurred to me since you were with us the other day, that something I said about "Church people" at Canterbury N. Z. was open to misapprehension. Your sister Octavia 396 once said to me "Have you never known any earnest church people?" -- and lest you should be unable to correct the sort of misconception implied in her question, I want to tell you that I was brought up in the Church of England, and never belonged to any other religious body. I care that this should be known, not at all on personal grounds, but because, as I have been, and perhaps shall be, depicting dissenters with much sympathy I would not have it supposed that the sympathy springs from any partiality of association.
As to its origin historically, and as a system of thought, it is my conviction that the Church of England is the least morally dignified of all forms of Christianity i.e. all considerable forms dating from the Reformation; but as a portion of my earliest associations and most poetic memories, it would be more likely to tempt me into partiality than any form of dissent.
What I referred to as dreading in a New Zealand settlement was the peculiar aspect which any religious body assumes when it is quite dominant in a new country, and is not under the stringent criticism of dissidents.
Perhaps all this explanation was needless, but lest it should not have been, I prefer to give it. Best love to all.
Always, dearest Chick,
Your loving
Mutter.
Signature
Mutter.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee]Lewes, London, 21 December [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/93342