But had she not been an intelligent girl, she need not have constantly looked up.
It would be a great mistake to suppose that George Eliot's mental habits exacted such an attitude from those she conversed with.
Another very prominent and notable characteristic of that most remarkable idiosyncrasy was the large and almost universal tolerance with which George Eliot regarded her fellow creatures.

Often and often has her tone of mind reminded me of the French saying, "_Tout connaitre ce serait tout pardonner!_" I think that of all the human beings I have ever known or met George Eliot would have made the most admirable, the most perfect father confessor.

I can conceive nothing more healing, more salutary to a stricken and darkened soul, than unrestricted confession to such a mind and such an intelligence as hers.

Surely a Church with a whole priesthood of such confessors would produce a model world.
And with all this I am well persuaded that her mind was at that time in a condition of growth.

Her outlook on the world could not have been said at that time to have been a happy one.