Letter from George Eliot, Griff, to Martha Jackson Barclay, 1838 September [i.e. October] 9 : autograph manuscript signed.

Discussing her current circumstances as housekeeper in her father's home at Griff; declining an invitation to visit, citing her domestic duties, which have been particularly demanding of late owing to the recent changing of servants; mentioning a recent visit with friends in Coventry and visits received from the "Miss Grills" who came to see her in Griff; mentioning her attendance of an Oratorio at St. Michael's Church in the company of Miss Rebecca Franklin "where we heard [John] Braham, [Henry] Phillips, Mrs. [Mary] Shaw and Mrs. [Deborah] Knyvett, and where, I think, I said farewell to all such expenditures of time and money" and further reflecting on the spiritual frivolity of such performances: "I think nothing can justify the using of an intensely interesting and solemn passage of Scripture, as a rope-dancer uses her rope, or a sculptor the pedestal on which he places the statue, that is alone intended to elicit admiration. ... I ask myself can it be desirable, and would it be consistent with millennial holiness for a human being to devote the time and energies that are barely sufficient for real exigencies on acquiring expertness in trills, cadences, etc.?"; discussing her recipient's and her own "variableness of mind & affection" which she concludes "is suited to humble and distress us, but may also quicken us for an increased ardour of exertion during our wakeful hours", and describing a process whereby "availing ourselves of passive impressions" may prepare one for an active spiritual existence "in a steadier conformity of will and action to the commands of God."; the letter resumes following Eliot's closing signature with a passage expressing her feelings of friendship towards her recipient and apologizing for the hasty nature of her letter.