GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Richmond, 16 October [1855]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Richmond, 16 October [1855]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Richmond, 16 October [1855]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1855-10-16
Place
Richmond
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Richmond, 16 October [1855]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1855. Extracts published: Cross, I, 396-397.
Richmond October 16.
Dear Sara
Herbert Spencer is no longer at Tr'e9port. According to the latest news, he is in England, "moving along the coast," 634 but we are ignorant of his precise whereabouts. It is a pity for him not to have your nice notice of his book 635 just now, before tributes have become numerous. We were amused to see the British Quarterly 636 (in its short reviews) belauding a book so utterly destructive of its own theology. That is the only notice, besides yours, that I have seen at present.
I am very glad you find the book so precious to you, and I shall take the first opportunity of telling H.S. what you say, if indeed you will not tell him all yourself which you might do without scruple, if you enjoined him not to reply. As soon as I learn his address I will let you know it.
I agree with you that it is a pity he did not explain how and why he considers Phrenology "comparatively unimportant"; 637 indeed the whole of the latter part of the book has suffered greatly from the haste with which it was prepared for the press. But why you should object to his speaking of Sir William Hamilton's 638 contributions to a theory of perception as "valuable" I am unable to conceive. Sir W.H. has been of service to him as well as to others, and instead of repressing acknowledgments of merit in others, I should like them to be more freely given. I see no dignity or anything else that is good in ignoring one's fellow-beings. H.S.'s views, like every other man's views, could not have existed without the substratum laid by his predecessors. But perhaps you mean something that I fail to perceive.
Your bit of Teleology is very fine. Here is a delicious Hibernicism in return. In a treatise on Consumption, sent yesterday, the writer says, "There is now hardly any difference on this subject -- at least I feel none." 639
I do not know who wrote the article on Drunkenness in the W.R. Mr. Chapman's is an interesting and valuable article, and has cost him immense trouble. It is a sad pity that wretched article on the Newspaper Press 640 should have been admitted. Still, on the whole, the number is equal to the National.
What a family you will have with Nelly and Frank and the little Noels! Your life will be quite noisy and bustling. Ours has no incidents, except such as take place in our own brains and the occasional arrival of a longer letter than usual. Yours are always read aloud and enjoyed. Mr. Lewes says "Miss Hennell writes such nice letters." Yesterday we had two from the Princess Wittgenstein 641 telling us about Liszt and dear old Weimar -- also pleasant to read though aristocratically illegible. Nevertheless our life is intensely occupied and the days are far too short. We are reading Gall's Anatomie et Physiologie du Cerveau, 642 and Carpenter's Comparative Physiology aloud in the evenings, and I am trying to fix some knowledge about plexuses and ganglia in my soft brain, which generally only serves me to remember that there is something I ought to remember and to regret that I did not put the something down in my note-book. For "Live and learn," we should sometimes read "Live and grow stupid." Love to Cara and sympathy with her cold.
Ever yours
Marian E.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1855. Extracts published: Cross, I, 396-397.
Richmond October 16.
Dear Sara
Herbert Spencer is no longer at Tr'e9port. According to the latest news, he is in England, "moving along the coast," 634 but we are ignorant of his precise whereabouts. It is a pity for him not to have your nice notice of his book 635 just now, before tributes have become numerous. We were amused to see the British Quarterly 636 (in its short reviews) belauding a book so utterly destructive of its own theology. That is the only notice, besides yours, that I have seen at present.
I am very glad you find the book so precious to you, and I shall take the first opportunity of telling H.S. what you say, if indeed you will not tell him all yourself which you might do without scruple, if you enjoined him not to reply. As soon as I learn his address I will let you know it.
I agree with you that it is a pity he did not explain how and why he considers Phrenology "comparatively unimportant"; 637 indeed the whole of the latter part of the book has suffered greatly from the haste with which it was prepared for the press. But why you should object to his speaking of Sir William Hamilton's 638 contributions to a theory of perception as "valuable" I am unable to conceive. Sir W.H. has been of service to him as well as to others, and instead of repressing acknowledgments of merit in others, I should like them to be more freely given. I see no dignity or anything else that is good in ignoring one's fellow-beings. H.S.'s views, like every other man's views, could not have existed without the substratum laid by his predecessors. But perhaps you mean something that I fail to perceive.
Your bit of Teleology is very fine. Here is a delicious Hibernicism in return. In a treatise on Consumption, sent yesterday, the writer says, "There is now hardly any difference on this subject -- at least I feel none." 639
I do not know who wrote the article on Drunkenness in the W.R. Mr. Chapman's is an interesting and valuable article, and has cost him immense trouble. It is a sad pity that wretched article on the Newspaper Press 640 should have been admitted. Still, on the whole, the number is equal to the National.
What a family you will have with Nelly and Frank and the little Noels! Your life will be quite noisy and bustling. Ours has no incidents, except such as take place in our own brains and the occasional arrival of a longer letter than usual. Yours are always read aloud and enjoyed. Mr. Lewes says "Miss Hennell writes such nice letters." Yesterday we had two from the Princess Wittgenstein 641 telling us about Liszt and dear old Weimar -- also pleasant to read though aristocratically illegible. Nevertheless our life is intensely occupied and the days are far too short. We are reading Gall's Anatomie et Physiologie du Cerveau, 642 and Carpenter's Comparative Physiology aloud in the evenings, and I am trying to fix some knowledge about plexuses and ganglia in my soft brain, which generally only serves me to remember that there is something I ought to remember and to regret that I did not put the something down in my note-book. For "Live and learn," we should sometimes read "Live and grow stupid." Love to Cara and sympathy with her cold.
Ever yours
Marian E.
Signature
Marian E.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Richmond, 16 October [1855], 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/94087