is the only thing to give real satisfaction to human beings, she hopes,
with his help, to obtain it. One of the letters is chiefly devoted to the
concern felt by Marian Evans at Elizabeth Evans' illness; and another,
written at Foleshill, betrays some humor amid the trouble that afflicts her
about her own future. Their outward circumstances, she writes, are all she
can desire; but she is not so certain about her spiritual state, although
she feels that it is the grace of God alone that can give the greatest
satisfaction. Then she goes on to speak of the preacher at Foleshill, with
whom she is not greatly pleased: 'We get the truth, but it is not
recommended by the mode of its delivery,' is how she writes of this divine;
yet she is charitable withal, and removes the sting by adding that more
good may sometimes be obtained from humble instruments than from the
highest privileges, and that she must examine her own heart rather than
speak unkindly of the preacher. Up to this period it is evident that Marian
Evans' views upon religion were orthodox, and that her life was passed in
ceaseless striving for the 'peace that passeth understanding;' but in 1843
a letter was written to Elizabeth Evans by a relative in Griff, in which
Marian Evans is spoken of, and the change in her religious opinions
indicated. She writes that they are in great pain about Mary Ann; but the
last portion of the letter, dealing more fully with the subject, has
unfortunately got lost or destroyed. The close association of George Eliot
with Derbyshire, as well as her love for the quaint village of Wirksworth,
and its upright, honest, God-fearing people, breaks forth in more than one
of these communications."

Partly as the result of her studies and partly as the result of contact
with other minds, Marian began to grow sceptical about the religious
beliefs she had entertained. This took place probably during her
twenty-third year, but the growth of the new ideas was slow at first. As
one of her friends has suggested, it was her eagerness for positive