GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, London, 16 March 1865
Title
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, London, 16 March 1865
Title
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, London, 16 March 1865
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve
Date(s)
- 1865-03-16
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, London, 16 March 1865
Text: Cross, II, 398-399.
I did not promise, like Mr Collins, 323 that you should receive a letter of thanks for your kind entertainment of me; but I feel the need of writing a word or two to break the change from your presence to my complete absence from you. It was really an enjoyment to be with you, in spite of the bodily uneasiness which robbed me of half my mind. One thing only I regret -- that in my talk with you I think I was rather merciless to other people. Whatever vices I have, seem to be exaggerated by my malaise -- such "chastening" not answering the purpose of purification in my case. Pray set down any unpleasant notions I have suggested about others to my account -- i.e., as being my unpleasantness, and not theirs. When one is bilious, other people's complexions look yellow, and one of their eyes higher than the other -- all the fault of one's own evil interior. I long to hear from you that you are better, and if you are not better, still to hear from you before too long an interval. Mr Congreve's condition is really cheering, and he goes about with me as a pleasant picture -- like that Raffaelle the Tuscan duke chose always to carry with him.
I got worse after I left you; but to-day I am better, and begin to think there is nothing serious the matter with me except the "weather," which every one else is alleging as the cause of their symptoms.
Text: Cross, II, 398-399.
I did not promise, like Mr Collins, 323 that you should receive a letter of thanks for your kind entertainment of me; but I feel the need of writing a word or two to break the change from your presence to my complete absence from you. It was really an enjoyment to be with you, in spite of the bodily uneasiness which robbed me of half my mind. One thing only I regret -- that in my talk with you I think I was rather merciless to other people. Whatever vices I have, seem to be exaggerated by my malaise -- such "chastening" not answering the purpose of purification in my case. Pray set down any unpleasant notions I have suggested about others to my account -- i.e., as being my unpleasantness, and not theirs. When one is bilious, other people's complexions look yellow, and one of their eyes higher than the other -- all the fault of one's own evil interior. I long to hear from you that you are better, and if you are not better, still to hear from you before too long an interval. Mr Congreve's condition is really cheering, and he goes about with me as a pleasant picture -- like that Raffaelle the Tuscan duke chose always to carry with him.
I got worse after I left you; but to-day I am better, and begin to think there is nothing serious the matter with me except the "weather," which every one else is alleging as the cause of their symptoms.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, London, 16 March 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/93624