GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 31 December 1861
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 31 December 1861
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 31 December 1861
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor
Date(s)
- 1861-12-31
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 31 December 1861
Text: Cross, II, 324-325.
It was pleasant to have a greeting from you at this season when all signs of human kindness have a double emphasis. As one gets older, epochs have necessarily some sadness, even for those who have, as I have, much family joy. The past, that one would like to mend, spreads behind one so lengthily, and the years of retrieval keep shrinking -- the terrible peau de chagrin 900 whose outline narrows and narrows with our ebbing life.
I hardly know whether it would be agreeable to you, or worth your while, ever to come to us on a Saturday evening, when we are always at home to any friend who may be kind enough to come to us. It would be very pleasant to us if it were pleasant to you.
Text: Cross, II, 324-325.
It was pleasant to have a greeting from you at this season when all signs of human kindness have a double emphasis. As one gets older, epochs have necessarily some sadness, even for those who have, as I have, much family joy. The past, that one would like to mend, spreads behind one so lengthily, and the years of retrieval keep shrinking -- the terrible peau de chagrin 900 whose outline narrows and narrows with our ebbing life.
I hardly know whether it would be agreeable to you, or worth your while, ever to come to us on a Saturday evening, when we are always at home to any friend who may be kind enough to come to us. It would be very pleasant to us if it were pleasant to you.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 31 December 1861, 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/93592