GE to Mrs. Peter Taylor, London, 30 May 1867
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Taylor, London, 30 May 1867
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Taylor, London, 30 May 1867
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Peter Taylor
Date(s)
- 1867-05-30
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Peter Taylor, London, 30 May 1867
Text: Cross, III, 18-19.
I do sympathise with you most emphatically in the desire to see women socially elevated -- educated equally with men, and secured as far as possible along with every other breathing creature from suffering the exercise of any unrighteous power. That is a broader ground of sympathy than agreement as to the amount, and kind, of result that may be hoped for from a particular measure. But on this special point I am far from thinking myself an oracle, and on the whole I am inclined to hope for much good from the serious presentation of women's claims before Parliament. I thought Mill's speech sober and judicious from his point of view -- Karslake's an abomination. 634
Apropos of what you say about Mr Congreve, I think you have mistaken his, or rather Comte's, position. There is no denial of an unknown cause, but only a denial that such a conception is the proper basis of a practical religion. It seems to me pre-eminently desirable that we should learn not to make our personal comfort a standard of truth.
Text: Cross, III, 18-19.
I do sympathise with you most emphatically in the desire to see women socially elevated -- educated equally with men, and secured as far as possible along with every other breathing creature from suffering the exercise of any unrighteous power. That is a broader ground of sympathy than agreement as to the amount, and kind, of result that may be hoped for from a particular measure. But on this special point I am far from thinking myself an oracle, and on the whole I am inclined to hope for much good from the serious presentation of women's claims before Parliament. I thought Mill's speech sober and judicious from his point of view -- Karslake's an abomination. 634
Apropos of what you say about Mr Congreve, I think you have mistaken his, or rather Comte's, position. There is no denial of an unknown cause, but only a denial that such a conception is the proper basis of a practical religion. It seems to me pre-eminently desirable that we should learn not to make our personal comfort a standard of truth.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Peter Taylor, London, 30 May 1867, 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/93605