Martineau, James (1805-1900)

James Martineau was the younger brother of Eliot's close friend Harriet Martineau, and a Unitarian minister, theologian and philosopher who taught mental and moral philosophy at Manchester New College for forty-five years, serving as its principal from 1869 to 1885. Eliot knew him through Harriet and the Unitarian circle of Coventry, and then as assistant editor of the Westminster Review, where in 1851-52 she smoothed over a quarrel between Martineau and the proprietor John Chapman over payment for his article "The Ethics of Christendom," even writing Chapman's apology for him. She read his work with admiration, calling his pages "admirable" and praising his criticism of Kingsley's Phaethon, but she could also be sharp with him: in 1853 she was "thoroughly disgusted" with his reply to Francis Newman, and angry with Lewes for complimenting it. In July 1861 she twice tried to hear him preach at Little Portland Street Chapel, once with Charles Lee Lewes and once with Barbara Bodichon, and missed him both times. After Harriet's death, Eliot sided against him, agreeing with Sara Hennell in May 1877 that he was "deplorably in the wrong" in writing publicly about his sister.

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

To:
GE's Draft For J. Chapman to J. Martineau, Coventry, 29 August 1851

From:
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James Martineau (1805-1900), Martineau, James (1805-1900), Social Network Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed November 11, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/97173